I LOVE CHRIST(MAS):Nihon Week 40

 If I could use one word to describe Alyssa and her week it would be JOY.  I can read it in her email and see it in her face in her many many pictures.  She is truly happy which makes me so happy.  She loves her ward, her companions, the culture, the people in general, and of course the Gospel and the Savior.  At this time of year I couldn't ask for a better gift.  Now if only I could get names and places to go along with the pictures she takes. :)

I also received an email and pictures this week from another lovely member of the Sakai ward.  I am so grateful for them.  Here it is:

Kristin,

Hello!!

I'm sister Kawakami who are a member of the church attending Sakai ward.

I just wanted to tell you that how much sister Pickering is beautiful and she speaks very good Japanese!!

I'm in primary so I don't have very many chances to talk to missionaries anymore but she is doing really good.

They are going to Kyoto today, I'm sure she is enjoying it! I wanted to go with them but I have work so too bad 😭

Have a good evening!

RIRIKO  Kawakami

Aren't people wonderful?  And of course her group email:

Minasan, konnichiwa!

First of all, I have an onegai for everyone. I received word this week
that my ward mission leader from my first area has been hospitalized
after having a brain hemorrhage this week...if y'all wouldn't mind
keeping a Brother Inamori in your prayers, I would be mighty
appreciative!

This week was so busy and so wonderful! It was a little different
because we had two full days out of our area, but we still managed to
see so many miracles and tender mercies from our Heavenly Father.
So first and foremost...we spent two days in Wakayama this week!
Wakayama is the zone leader area here in the Sakai zone and it is
super pretty and right by the ocean. On Wednesday we had Zone
Conference, and then on Friday we had Zone Training Meeting and both
were wonderful! Of course I loved Wednesday the most because we had
the chance to learn from our wonderful mission president and his wife.
I love the Welches! The theme of this past conference was Faith and
Repentance, and together we really dissected the topic and discussed
what it looks like for us as missionaries and how we can better
improve by using more faith and repenting more. I learned so many
things! It was so neat and as a follow up, as a mission we are all
going through the Book of Mormon together again this time with a focus
on faith and Repentance...I am so excited for this reading and to see
all the things we have to learn!

I know on my mission my perception
and understanding of these topics have grown leaps and bounds and I am
so grateful. I now have a better understanding of faith and how to use
it in my daily life and dendo, and I especially have come to love
Repentance. It is the best! It is just a daily consistent change that
allows us to become more like our Savior. All we need to do is try a
little better to be tomorrow who we weren't today, and that is enough.
Christ will always help us as we strive and make efforts to be more
like Him. We also talked a lot about angels, and how they are present
in our mission every single day. I know that to be true! Whether it is
the mysterious motorcycle dude that fixes my broken bike or a member
that drives us around all day to visit less actives, there are angels
that walk around every single day in the Japan Kobe Mission, and the
only question we have is whether or not we will recognize them.

After the conference I got to go on a nice long walk and have a good
life chat with Sister Welch while my companion had her final
interview. Gibson Shimai will be heading home to America this week,
and I will miss her lots! We have had a good four weeks together and
have seen lots of miracles and I can't wait to hear all about her next
transfer to America where she gets to pick out her next companion ;)
that being said I have no idea where I will be this week! I don't know
if another sister will come to me in Sakai or if I will go somewhere
or if I will become a threesome with the STL's until the end of the
year! Regardless God is in charge and it will be a fun adventure no
matter what happens, so stay tuned to see what happens there! I am
praying to stay here in Sakai because this ward is phenomenal and I
hope to keep working with them until the end of the year to see this
baptism!

So this weekend our ward put on a church open house for the community
and members and everyone to come and see! The ward members did a
wonderful job and our church was literally transformed into Temple
Square for like two days haha. There were displays about Christ and
the Book of Mormon in the gym area and then in the chapel we had a
Nativity and a Christmas tree and Christmas videos playing. The whole
setup was so perfect and everyone loved it! Sister Gibson and I were
so so busy as we ran around like crazy and gave tours to everyone that
came in. I was SO PROUD of the Sakai members! They all did their best
to invite their less active and nonmember friends, and we saw a lot of
success from it! A lot of less actives had super touching experiences
and expressed a desire to return, and likewise we got so many new and
potential investigators from the open house. It literally was just two
days straight of miracles. At the end of the whole thing, we ended up
receiving 14 new referrals that were friends of members that they
brought us to teach, and it was just so amazing! I know with all of my
heart that as we continue to work with the members here in Japan, this
will become one of the highest baptizing missions in the world. That
has been prophesied and that day will come and I feel blessed to see
just a little part of it here on my mission now. It was super funny
though because one of the tours we ended up giving happened to be to
the mayor of Sakai...one of our members is his neighbor and he just
went for it and invited him, and he showed up! They asked us to come
and give him this tour and we had no idea why everyone was being so
formal and bowing so much and using WAY formal speech and then only
afterwards when we were told who the guy is! It was funny though
because we became friends and invited him to church and I am fairly
confident that soon enough the city of Sakai's official religion will
become Mormonism haha.

This Christmas season has been just amazing. I have never felt more
close to my Savior at Christmas ever, and that is just the greatest
blessing of all. As we were giving tours to all these people, members
and nonmembers alike, the Spirit would just testify to me that Jesus
really is the Christ and that He is our Savior and is the light of the
world and the reason for the season. I cannot adequately put into
words the feelings that I have for my Savior. It has grown so much on
my mission and my goal is to develop a relationship here that will
continue to go stronger for the rest of my life. I love my Savior,
Jesus Christ with my whole heart. He is Christmas and He is everything
to me, and I feel so blessed to be His representative during this
special season.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and that you continue to Light the
World! Aishiteimasu, minasan!

Love,
Sister Pickering

P.S. Today for P day we went....wait for it wait for it...back to
Kyoto haha. Nobody in my district has ever been before and Gibson
Shimai wanted to go before she died...so we went with the elders and
Sakagami Shimai (a ward member) and met up with Fujii a Shimai, my
last companion! Such a great day and so much fun!

What a wonderful picture.  This shows love for former companions,  the wear and tear on her missionary clothes, and Alyssa actually looks tall which she isn't at all.

The Sakai Ward Open House

Look at the size of this mural.  The ward really went all out.

Kids are the same everywhere.

Alyssa's popularity continues with her blonde hair.

Zone conference

Alyssa had the opportunity to visit a Japanese hospital to have a Ganglion Cyst removed.  In the end, the outcome was a big needle in her hand, lots of pain and not much success.  A memory for the books though.

Alyssa loves her sushi bars.