Week 77

Dear family and friends. 

It's December. CAN YOU FEEL CHRISTMAS IN THE AIR? Last night, lying in my futon, I could hardly sleep I was so excited. No, really. I sat there for about two hours, did a little bit of yoga to try to fall asleep, counted things, did weird relaxation techniques I learned in Performance Psychology 259 at BYU, but to no avail. I LOVE CHRISTMAS. 

And oh how the Christmas miracles are swirling. 

On Tuesday we were standing on the train ride home, trying to talk to a Chinese lady who happened to speak neither English nor Japanese. An 50ish year old lady walks up so us, looks at the Chinese woman and says, "Where you from?" No answer. She looks at us. "Where you from? Utah?" We tell her we are missionaries. She looks at the Book of Mormon Sister Dopp is holding and says, "Who's that one king in the Book of Mormon? Oh yeah, King Benjamin. I love King Benjamin." KING BENJAMIN? Oh my gosh. This lady loves King Benjamin. She hands us her address and gets off the train. It was the craziest 30 second exchange of my life. We are going to visit her soon. 

On Thursday we went and visited some referrals that we had visited a million times but could never get in contact with. Sister Dopp and I have been trying to make use of the "He is the Gift" video that the church recently put out (if you haven't seen it, click here and please do so: http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529). 

The lady we want to meet is just getting out of her car with her husband and a million dogs and looks like she is in no position to talk to us, so we awkwardly debate what to do and begin walking down the opposite flight of stairs to make a game plan. Just then, another lady is walking UP the stairs and stops and smiles at us widely. I mumble, "Hi nice purse." (My favorite conversation starter). She immediately engages us in conversation. Turns out she met the missionaries at work one day. She serves food at funerals. We show her the video standing on the staircase. Her face softens and she shares of the peace she felt. She runs into her apartment and gives us cake. She tells us to come back another day. The Light of Christ has a true and undeniable effect on people. Missionary work always has its perks, but the strawberry vanilla cake was a marvelous added bonus. We'll be back for dog lady. 

Sunday. We attended a baptism in Urayasu (home to Disneyland) for an eighteen year old girl who moved here from TWO WEEKS AGO. Our friend C---- came with, and the baptism and confirmation was all conducted in Chinese and it couldn't have been more perfect. Even more perfect, we had the help of President Budge, Elder Lee (an elder in our Ward from Hong Kong), the very recently baptized friend, and the Chinese recent convert who baptized her, all testifying to our friend of the blessings of the gospel in Chinese (with the exception of President Budge ... a mixture of Japanese and English). I'm almost motivated to learn Mandarin now. 

Last Tuesday I gave my departing testimony in zone conference. Every missionary gets up and states the cliché "I never thought this day would come ..." and well ... I always knew this day would come. I pretty much just stood up in front of everyone and bawled in unintelligible English about how much I love being a missionary. Because nothing warms your heart more than getting to share with people how much you love the Savior. 

I read this the other day. Says Elder Holland: "You can’t separate Bethlehem from Gethsemane or the hasty flight into Egypt from the slow journey to the summit of Calvary. It’s of one piece. It is a single plan. It considers ‘the fall and rising again of many in Israel’ [Luke 2:34], but always in that order. Christmas is joyful not because it is a season or decade or lifetime without pain and privation, but precisely because life does hold those moments for us.”

Christmas is not a season, but almost an attitude of sorts. To be had in our hearts all year long. Are you sharing the gift of our Savior? 

Love you all. Thanks always for your thoughts and prayers. I'm praying for you too. 

Love, Sister Margaret Willden 

(Monday, December 2)

Pic 1: Last temple p-day ever. I wanted to cry. 

Pic 2: A family showed up on our doorstep at 10pm on Thanksgiving night with homemade turkey and potatoes. Apparently she had been working on it all day for the missionaries and had a little mishap "but wanted the missionaries to have something American to eat." This is the same family that left cake on our doorstep last week. We don't deserve such kindness. 

Pic 3: Today I had the intention of splurging on something in Tokyo. I spent a total of thirty dollars. So I splurged on a pumpkin crepe instead from a stand in Harajuku. A worthy purchase.