week 51: happiness and heartache

- January 27, 2019

So much beauty to be found in Okinawa

こんにちは

Okay so this week was full of happiness and heartache. Sister Evangelista transferred and I felt like I was losing a close friend or family member. After 3 transfers together, we were ready to leave but at the same time not wanting to. So we had some goodbye meals and a lot of lessons. One thing we did is get haircuts together. After a year of not cutting my hair, I finally got one. At first I regretted the choice, because it was a lot shorter but now I love how it looks and how healthy it is! Thursday was the big transfer day. I was at the airport all day with couples while we waited for the new missionaries coming to Okinawa. It was really fun. Also RASMUSSEN SHIMAI IS HERE! My doki (missionaries we came into the field with) is gathering on Okinawa. 4 of the 8 are here! So fun! I got my new companion, sister Jorgensen. She is way cute and nice. We had lots of lessons this week and each one was way powerful. We met with Matthew and he is so solid and has an honest desire to learn. We also met with the Garcia family and 4 members joined for the lesson (lots of people). On Sunday, Elder Choi came to the Japanese stake conference. It was amazing!

Funny keiken: So this week we taught lots of lessons... lots! and so when our district leader called for hokokus (review) and he mentioned how many lesson we taught, one elder in the back yelled "What?!!" He was shocked that we had so many lessons on a transfer wee!. So that cracked me up!

Spiritual keiken: Elder Choi, a member of the seventy, came and spoke to us all. He talked about singing and about how if you don't like it, like it! (Well with the singing). He did an activity where he sang "I am a Child of God" in Korean and right after had the Macks and anyone else (missionaries) who knew it in English sing it in English. Then everyone else stood up and sang it together in Japanese. It was really powerful and brought the spirit right to us. It was truly amazing! His whole talk was about gospel learning and he related it to natto (fermented soy beans). He talked about how the first time he tried natto, he didn't like it, but he kept trying it because it's really healthy for you. Eventually he loved it. This is like gospel learning, at first we may not like it but if we keep trying, we will learn to love it and soon we won't be able to live without it.

New words:
せんりのみちもいっぽから(senrinomichimoippokara): a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step
せいてん(seiten): scriptures
あらし(arashi): storm

I know this church is true and that scripture study will make a difference. If you are down and sad, please sing a hymn or a primary song. It will allow the spirit to instantly enter your heart. I love you all and miss you all! Have a wonderful week！

Love,
Thompson 姉妹

Bits and pieces from family emails:

Sister Jorgensen grew up in Tokyo but moved to California when she was 12. She just has 12 weeks left!