Forgiveness and Fushimi Inari: Nihon Week 27

Fushimi Inari

Excerpts from my letter with some answers to my questions:

As far as your questions about me and Japan, yes it feels like home now, I have been here for six months, how crazy is that? Sometimes it still strikes me that I am here and that it is so beyond amazing, but then other times it has become a part of life for me. I am finally at the part where I understand basically everything that is said to me and I can BASICALLY communicate whatever I want back. It won't be pretty and there might be some pantomiming, but I am finally feeling comfortable here and I feel like a boss anytime I strut up to some tourist place and start speaking to them in Japanese. They get SO excited as I even try to talk to them, it just warms my heart so much, these people have hearts of gold. I was around a fair amount of Americans today at Inari and honestly I was so not amused with them haha. They were loud and rude and just so American and in that moment I realized how much Japan has changed me and my outlooks a lot haha. As far as things I miss from America...I miss my bed. My back is done with futons. I miss the pets and I miss Mexican food and Sour Skittles and real burgers and French fries. I also miss garbage disposals and dryers and feeling like I have a full night sleep...but really all is well. I love Japanese food and I love the culture here and there is so much that is just so special and I love so much. Such a unique place really. I will be happy to return to America someday, but I will also miss Japan terribly. It has become a part of me.

Funny thing is I actually prefer teaching in Japanese. Mom I am so awkward in English now, like you don't even know. I literally do not know how to dendo people who speak English. Sure I can do trainings for missionaries and teach a lesson here or there, but overall teaching in Japanese is just comforting. It is the weirdest thing. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that Japanese is my mission language and so that is what I was promised divine help in speaking. But yeah, interacting with people from all over the world is so cool. Very international.

I might get to see Ayaka next week! We are going to the Golden Temple (NBD) and she has a school break and wants to come see me. Honestly it makes me so happy because I am HER missionary. I am the only one that went through EVERYTHING with her and we have such a special bond. Love her to pieces, can't wait for you to meet her. She is everything to me and in this moment I hate serving so far away from home because I don't know when I will see her again. 

The "good" stuff:

Minasan, Konnichiwa!

Wow what another great week here in Shimogamo! I am seriously so
blessed to be serving in such a great area with an amazing
companion...we are having so much fun and seeing so many blessings and
missionary work just keeps getting better and better every single day!
Monday after emails we went and visited Shimogamo Jinja and then tried
to visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace but sadly it was closed on Mondays
because they hate missionaries or something. Then we just went and
shopped around Demachiyanagi before the proselyting day started and we
did some good old fashioned AreaBook Dendo and made a bunch of
chirashis to hand out to everyone about prayer. It has actually been
super successful thus far!

Tuesday after regular studies we had some awkward time before we had
to go to our first actual appointment of the day so we decided to go
and do some finding by the river. It was kind of hot (but not tire
melting hot, thank goodness that has passed) and we literally were
talking to so many people for about 45 minutes and not a single soul
would give us the time of day. It was kind of discouraging and we
didn't know what to do, and so we just both had the feeling that we
needed to just go aside and say a prayer for a minute. We prayed so
fervently and told God that we just wanted to find someone we could
teach and share the gospel with and we told Him we were willing to
work hard to do it...we just wanted to be able to fulfill our purpose!
Literally less than a minute after prayer we see some lady with an
umbrella in the distance and we just know we need to go hunt her down
and so we end up running in the other direction to go and catch her
and lo and behold, she believed in God and let us teach her. Then
shortly after, we were able to teach 4 more people back to back. We
were absolutely blown away that suddenly everyone was willing to
listen to the message, but then suddenly we weren't surprised at all. The power
of prayer is SO real. God loves us so much and He is so willing to
grant us so many blessings, all we need to do is just ask! He has been
pulling strings all along to be able to help us in our lives, we just
need to turn to Him and He will mercifully deliver, as our Father. It
was such a tender mercy and honestly the little daily miracles just
like that are what makes the mission so beyond worth it.

Wednesday we had ZONE CONFERENCE! We had the wonderful chance to get
together with the Kyoto zone (which as we were reminded, is the most
envied zone in all of Japan) and the AP's and the Welch's and receive
some great training. Folkman Shimai and I received so much revelation
for our area and how we can strengthen Shimogamo in the ward and our
investigators, and it was so cool to just feel the Spirit speaking to
us personally. As always, President Welch was phenomenal. Seriously
his trainings just blow me away. He is an incredible spiritual giant
and I learn so much! With him we talked a lot about how to focus our
studies on our investigators, and as we do so out of love for them, we
will receive inspiration for them and for us as well. As we have tried
to REALLY diligently apply that in our studies this week, we have seen
miracles in planning. So dang cool. Another training I really liked
was by the STL's and it was all about trusting in God. In life and in
the mission we all have desires to work hard and be obedient, but
sometimes we find that we have these little "Yeah buts", whether they
be about getting up on time or not contacting as much as we should or
maybe back at home rationalizing immodest clothing or not being honest
in school....needless to say we are all imperfect and have a lot of
"Yeah, buts" that we can improve on. I can testify however, that as we
try our best to fix those with obedience, we see the blessings and
power of heaven flow down around us as we allow God to help us
unhindered. As we trust in Him, we will be more blessed than we can
even imagine, in any aspect of our lives.

Thursday was a good day as well as we visited some members (I LOVE
JAPANESE PEOPLE) and I taught a cute grandma on the bus (slowly but
surely Obachan Nihongo is becoming a little easier to understand) and
then we did SKK and had a planning session wth the elders about how we
can baptize the world here in Shimogamo. We applied a lot from Zone
Conference and getting to work on it has been so fun.
Friday we had District Meeting in Katsura, and it was kind of fun
because Folkman Shimai and I were able to provide some training on
"Listening" from PMG. Listen to those you love with love, and  listen
to the Spirit, and you will be able to help everyone who talks to you.
I can testify to that so strongly! After DM we visited some members
and it was neat because that night we had the chance to share a lesson
with a sister who has been struggling lately. We talked about the
importance of reading the Book of Mormon and how it can strengthen us
beyond our own capacities as we make the time to read daily, and the
Spirit was so strong. I felt prompted to share an experience from my
own life and it was tender and emotional and the Spirit in the room
was just amazing. This sister was so touched and we saw her yesterday,
and she is reading regularly again and is doing worlds better. The
moments like those make me fall even more in love with my mission.
Getting to help lift someone a little bit with the doctrine of our
Savior is the coolest.

Saturday we taught some friends and had some great dendo and Sunday
was similar (church is amazing, translating is still hard), but we
finished off the week with a great dinner and lesson on the atonement
at our regular Mizoguchi family dinners. My goodness I love this area
so much.

My final spiritual thought this week comes from an experience we had
yesterday...we work with this less active who was once an incredibly
strong member but then about 24 years ago she stopped coming to
church. The reason that she gives everyone is that it was because she
thinks food storage is apostasy (don't get me started on how
ridiculous I think that is), but Folkman Shimai felt there was
something deeper. We went into the lesson yesterday with the resolve
to just listen with love and show as much love as we can to her (she
is fluent in English and sometimes like to sass us, if only she knew
pre-mission Sister Pickering, that would be fun), and the Spirit was
with us right from the very beginning. We just listened and barely
spoke but when we did it was through the Spirit, and she eventually
confided in us the real reason she left the church, and it has to do
with the fact that a member offended her and she has not been able to
forgive them. Because she has not been able to forgive this man, she
has lost out on blessings that the atonement and the temple and the
sacrament and the gospel has had to offer her for the past quarter
decade. Hearing the story just broke my heart for her and her choices,
but it has made me seriously contemplate a lot of things.

We are all so imperfect. All of us sin and mess up and hurt people on
almost a daily basis. Almost all of us could choose to be offended or
to hold grudges over any given things, but to what end? At the end of
the day, as we choose not to forgive others, we choose to stand under
a pavilion that doesn't allow the blessings of peace and forgiveness
and the atonement flow into our lives. As an authorized representative
of Jesus Christ, I testify that the Savior has never once held
forgiveness from us. Everyday we do things that require His
forgiveness, but as we plead to Him in mercy, we are always granted
that peace and forgiveness and love. As we choose to not allow others
to have that same peace, we are only holding back ourselves. I plead
with you now to FORGIVE. Big or small, whether it happened ten years
ago or today, please forgive those around you. We are all trying so
hard, and we are all on the path home. I have seen in my own life and
the life of investigators what happens as someone chooses to forgive
and chooses to let the Savior heal them, and I have seen what happens
as the opposite choice is made. The latter is heartbreaking and won't
help anyone, and so I just encourage you all to do whatever you can to
never let a grudge or hurt stop you from being welcomed to the
Savior's embrace.

Well everyone, I know this church is true. I know that it is blessing
my life and the lives of all those I come in contact with, whether
they realize it or not. God really is our Father, and He really does
love us. The Savior really did atone and die for us, and He is always
there waiting for us with welcoming arms and the invitation to be
healed. I love my mission so much, and I feel so blessed to be here. I
love being a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints!

Have a wonderful week everyone! Aishiteimasu!

Love,
Sister Pickering

P.S. Happy Willie Day to all my XC friends out there...I forgive you
all for not writing me :)
P.P.S. Today for P day we went to Fushimi Inari and it was AMAZING.
Please enjoy the overload of pictures from my beautiful mission and
amazing country.
P.P.P.S. Sorry my email titles are getting progressively lamer...I am
just boring now and I like alliteration, so there you have it.

Sorry My Emails Are So Long but Miracles:Nihon Week 26

Word of wisdom from my daughter.  I really miss her at times but how could I think of myself when she had such an amazing week with miraculous experiences.  I am so proud of her and her dedication.  And being able to see her in a video, like the one I posted at the bottom of this post, really helps me a lot and makes me smile.

 

Excerpt from my letter:

 

I have learned that it is so easy to lose your testimony. Every single day you are either progressing or regressing, there is no in between, and you have to make a conscience effort to learn and grow every single day. it definitely is not easy, but it is definitely worth it. God is there and is reaching out to every one of His children, they just need to look up and see for themselves. Luckily repentance is real and is a thing, and is something I have come to appreciate very much because it is something that I need like every two seconds, lol. I know really understand though that repentance is not just something you do to get rid of the bad, but it is something you do to become something good. The changing power is real and I am seeing it in others and in myself, and that is a neat experience for sure. I just feel so blessed to have been raised in the gospel like I did, in an environment where I was able to develop my testimony for myself under the nurturing of a wonderful family. If the Japanese could just figure out how to get that done, there would be so many less problems here. Most of the youth are second generation and their parents are converts and don't know how to raise kids in the church and so they are either way too relaxed or way too strict...either way the kids end up less active and the future of Japan is stuck needing leaders. It is definitely an interesting balance but what I have learned is that I am just going to teach my future children like my investigators now. They all have different learning styles and different ways to feel the Spirit, and so if I can hone in on that and just facilitate those experiences for them to learn, hopefully it will all be okay.

 
Group Email

Minasan, Konnichiwa!

Holy cow this week had so many tender mercies and little miracles and laughs and testimony building experiences and I don't even know where to start...ahhh I just love being a missionary so much and the fact that I hit 8 months this week is just so yabaii. I feel like I just barely got here and am still so new and learning, and yet if you blink time just keeps on escaping and so you have to just take every moment you have and run and enjoy it!

 

Last Monday for P day after emails we headed to Shijo Kawaramachi to show my country bumpkin companion (lol not really, she has just been banished to Shikoku her entire mission) what the big city looks like. We went shopping and visited the Disney store again (because you can never have too much Disney, AND both of our families are going to Disneyland without us in the near foreseeable future, so what the heck, we figured that we had to get our fill in), and it was great. That night we went and visited a member named Hazel and translated visiting teaching for her (she is from the Philippines and her teachers are Nihongin, naturally), and then after that we had the chance to teach a lesson to her roommate Regine! Regine is currently practicing another Christian religion but has been open to hearing our message lately, and so we decided to all read out of the Book of Mormon together and discuss it. As we did so, the Spirit flooded into the room so strongly and I felt prompted to talk about baptism with her and I was super nervous but the Spirit told me to do it so I kind of had a YOLO moment and went for it. My companion was totally on the same page as me, and so we were able to present a beautiful message through the Spirit, which ended with Regine telling us that she wants to get baptized. YATTA. We still have a lot of barriers to work over with her, but the point is that we followed the Spirit and something great happened...shoutout PMG for giving us the idea to all read together in the first place!

 

Tuesday was funny because we got to teach this really old grandma and we had a doseki from this sweet member in the ward (that was actually funny in and of itself, because we accidentally had two members show up because we have been really focusing on working with the members this week, shoutout Shimogamo Ward for being amazing), and it was great. We introduced her to the Book of Mormon and although she stubbornly insisted that she is Bukkhyo, she said that she would read the Book of Mormon, although she wasn't planning on converting or changing...we all told her, sure go for it, just read...and then all chuckled mischievously at the thought of her reading the Book of Mormon and not changing, because we all know that doesn't happen!  After that we went and taught Tomoko Shimai the recent convert, and tried to get her on board with visiting teaching.....before she was pretty nervous and didn't want to do it, but we decided to all read from the Book of Mormon together (that was another theme from this week, and just reading the Book of Mormon with people you want to teach is so boss, because the Spirit really is the one that does the teaching), and we slowly introduced the topic...haha it got to this point where she was telling us about how she was searching for her current mission in life and Folkman Shimai just bursts out "It is probably visiting teaching!" It was SO funny and I had to keep in the laughs, but hey, apparently something clicked with her, because now she is going to be a visiting teacher! (Also Tomoko Shimai is just the cutest and has the sweetest heart, and she is currently obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and told us very seriously how she wants to go to America and meet Marilyn's family and get permission to do her temple work, because she needs to be saved too haha).

 

Wednesday we had SKK and so we planned for like a million hours, and then we went finding and had Eikaiwa! Although we didn't find any new investigators, we were able to meet and teach some people that the Lord definitely had in store for us...getting to see His hand is the coolest ever.

Thursday we went to Fushimi and had a kokkan! I got to work with Rees Shimai again, and it was great fun, and we basically just continued in our endeavor to baptize the world, starting with the Kansai area of Japan.

FRIDAY WE SAW SO MANY LITTLE MIRACLES. We had district meeting and ate Indocurry which are of course just lovely, and then we had the chance to visit this less active. The lesson was going a little weird but then we just felt prompted to testify of the Savior, and the spirit just came rushing in and was tangible. SO NEAT. She also committed to come to church on Sunday, and she actually did! Then we visited an active  member, and were able to extend her an invitation through the Spirit that she told us Heavenly Father knew she needed (being an instrument of the Lord is the coolest). After that we were unsure of what to do because some plans and timing changed...we prayed and I felt prompted we should go visit this other less active and Folkman Shimai agreed...we prayed fervently to be able to go there and do what we needed to do, and meet anyone that we might need to meet. The second we got to the apartment complex and stepped in the elevator, we met a lady who we had actually seen before. She is from Egpyt and practices another religion but we actually were able to talk with her and teach her for a long time, and she wants to meet again! Holy cow the Spirit was so involved in us meeting her, and then we went and knocked on the door of the less active and she wasn't even home, but we didn't care because we met this other lady, but then we got to the elevator and sure enough, the less active just happened to show up at the right moment. Tender mercies for days!

 

Saturday was another day of tender mercies. We had a great doseki lesson on the restoration with our other little grandma investigator (once again, I just want to testify that the message of the restoration is TRUE), and the Spirit was so strong as we testified. Seriously such a neat experience. Then we went and met with this former investigator of the last sisters, who we had dropped but then she FINALLY contacted us out of the blue and wanted to meet! Such a miracle! She is from China and is SO Chinese...like she has literally been taught and raised that God is not there and so that is a challenge we are working with, but we are excited to see her faith grow, especially as the Spirit definitely guided that lesson. We finished off the night with another great lesson with a progressing less active, and then ping pong night (where our ward mission leader and his son dressed up like frogs to play us, because Japan).

Our Sabbath was amazing. So uplifting as usual, and the Spirit was in such abundance. We went and taught this other less active, and I actually went crazy bold on her (it kind of shocked me actually haha), but we built some good relationships and I am confident that we will see her come back to church.  Then we went and had dinner with our funky ward mission leader (his self-declared title) and it was the funnest night all week....he is such  crazy dude and kept wearing different disguises all during dinner so we had some great laughs, but at the end of the night, we had a great Spiritual experience together as we discussed dendo and prayer. Then finally, thanks to a random freak injury that appeared on my companion's leg that made us stop and have to search for a bandaid in the depths of my bag, we were able to perfectly time a spontaneous meeting with an investigator. Can God get any better?

 

Just as a final thought, I want to share two scriptures. 

Alma 26:36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

 

Even though I am currently in a "strange land" far away from home and speaking a language I am trying my best to learn, I know God is mindful of me. And not only that, and even better, I know He is mindful of the people here that I teach and that I love dearly. The Lord is my biggest hope, and I am so blessed to be His representative for the next 10 months. I love my mission and I love this gospel so much. I just know that it is true.

 

Aishiteimasu!

 

Love,

Sister Pickering

 

P.S. I just received an email and pictures that Ayaka's brother from Yamatokoriyama was baptized this weekend. So. Many. Blessings. 

 

P.P.S. Ignore the abundance of selfies, also it is September which means that it is basically Christmastime now, so we decorated this week. It's the most wonderful time...of the year!

 

 

I don't know what she ordered but it looks fun.

Ayaka's brother's baptism.  Oh happy day.

"Got this from Ayaka today...her brother got baptized this week! Ahh such a happy miracle I was able to be a part of. Seriously so many blessings come from missionary work. Love love love this family and this work."
昨日お兄ちゃんのバプテスマです！
あとベッチャー長老と高橋長老が来てくれました！✨✨
昨日はすごく楽しかったです！❤

Monster Inc. Eyeball Hair Elastics?

Out doing Dendo (or knocking doors)

Interesting picture

Ward Mission Leader and his son.

Ward Mission Leader

 

I know that Alyssa loves Christmas, but decorating in September might be a little ridiculous.

I Love Life and Dendo: Nihon Week 25

Pickering Shimai, Tomoko Shimai, and Folkman Shimai

Minasan, Konnichiwa!

Well transfers came and went and I am still here in Kyoto, but I
unfortunately had to send off my cute Nihonjin companion to finish her
mission on Shikoku for the last six weeks....my new companion is named
Folkman Shimai (and we were basically prepared from the foundations of
the world to be companions), but I will talk a little bit more about
her later on!

Last Monday was one of the happiest days, because after emails, my
cute little Ayaka Chan from Yamatokoriyama came and visited me here in
Kyoto! When I saw her across the street we literally ran to each other
like it was a movie scene and just hugged and my heart was so happy in
that moment, it could have burst haha. We spent a great afternoon
together shopping and talking and eating ice cream, and it was just so
happy. That little girl has literally become the epitomization of D&C
18:10-11 for me, and every single day I am just reminded of how
blessed I am to know and love her. She was also able to tell me that
her brother is getting baptized this weekend, and that was such happy
news! What an incredible miracle I was able to have a small part in.
Ahh missions are seriously the best.

Tuesday during studies we received the call that Uchida Shimai would
be transferring out of the area. It was super sad that we only had one
transfer to work together, but I learned so much from her and was so
grateful for the chance to learn from her great example (and Japanese
haha). So glad that Heavenly Father has let me be companions with such
wonderful sisters! That day we spent some time doing service and
visiting an investigator and a recent convert, but the highlight was
when a member went to Costco and brought me back muffins. It has been
seriously way too long!

Wednesday we went and visited this cute widow in the ward (I love
visiting old people, it has become one of my very favorite hobbies)
and other less actives, and did some good finding (we taught a lady
who is apparently healed and has faith in rays of light. Oh I love
apostasy), and then had DCS with our ward mission leader and came up
with some great plans to get the members more involved in dendo. I am
so excited, there is a lot of excitement in the area right now, and as
we are seeking to teach with more members and involve them in the
work, I just know it is the gateway to miracles. The Japanese members
are amazing and their testimonies are strong, and if we could just get
them sharing them more, the work would be unstoppable here!

Thursday I had the chance to spend about 7 hours at the Kyoto Station
while sending off one companion and meeting another one. In the
meantime I met a girl from Westlake who is in this mission now, as
well as the family of one of our AP's here who talked to us for a
while and bought us ice cream and just chatted. I love seeing members
from the United States here, it just feels so home. I love that we can
have that sense of love and family no matter where we go, all thanks
to the gospel of Jesus Christ! FINALLY I had the chance to meet
Folkman Shimai, and it only took me about three minutes before I
realized that this girl and I were meant to be companions, and it was
through the revelation from our Heavenly Father given to President
Welch! She is a 9th transfer and is from Ogden, Utah, and she is one
of the happiest and funniest and most loving people I have ever met in
my entire life. We clicked so fast and have been laughing ever since.
I feel so blessed to be working with her, and I know that I have found
a lifelong friend. We teach in great unity and work hard and yet know
how to laugh and have fun, and so I have found so much joy in the
little daily bits of dendo again. It has been such a blessing!

Friday we had the chance to visit some members and less actives and
get Folkman Shimai acquainted with the area. It was funny, because we
set an OYM goal that day that would help us talk to more people than
we ever had before, and so the night before we just randomly decided
to stop every single person we saw that was wearing purple, no matter
what. I swear that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor, because I
have never seen so many people wearing purple in my entire LIFE. Oh my
goodness literally every single person was wearing purple, I swear,
and ever since then, we haven't seen nearly as much! Haha it was such
a testimony to me that the Lord wants and NEEDS His missionaries to
open their mouths, and He will go to whatever extremes He needs to
get us to fulfill that purpose. There was one point at like 4 PM and
we had probably talked to like 25 people at that point, and I just see
this grandpa from afar and I just say "Oh that grandpa is NOT wearing
purple pants" and Folkman Shimai just laughs and goes "Oh yes...he
totally is." That was about the summary of our day, but it was great.
Getting rejected really doesn't bother me anymore, it is just funny (I
was also denied that day by some lady who told me she was too busy to
talk because she had to go make tempura), and I know I am one step
closer to finding someone that the Lord has prepared.

Saturday we had an amazing lesson with Hirokawa San, his faith is
growing so much and we are shooting to get him a date this transfer.
He is so prepared it is crazy, and his daughter is as well. Always
such a wonderful reminder that there are people waiting and ready for
this gospel!  We also had a great lesson with a recent convert who is
going to be going through the temple next month, and it was incredible
to see how her testimony has just grown so strong. She thanked us over
and over again for helping her, but it was just funny because it was
all the work of the Lord. He is so merciful. That night we met with
the Relief Society president and taught her and then planned for some
sisters in the ward, and it was great. I love working with the
members! They are the best of the best.

Sunday was hilarious because I was translating again...but this time
it was in Primary. There was a family of tourists and the Primary
President insisted that she needed help with the 4 year old son, and
so she asked us to come and translate, but really it ended up just
being a 2 hour adventure of us trying to keep this wild child under
control. Holy cow I love kids, but I haven't realized how different
Japanese and American kids are until yesterday! He was running around
everywhere and telling us the most random things and trying to escape
from class and the whole while the sweet teachers thought we were
translating what was happening in the lesson.  Haha oh the adventures
we find ourselves in. We also went out finding for a while and housed
an entire apartment complex, and the awkwardness of my English came
out for the first time after being with a Nihongin for 6 weeks
straight, because some dude opened the door and spoke to me in English
and I was in so much shock the only thing I said was "You speak
English?" And then he looked at me all weird and was like "Umm
yeah..." I was so awkward I wanted to die and my companion tried to
make a good save, but he wasn't interested haha. Shoutout all my
English speaking missionary friends, because I don't even know how you
do it!

One final thought I want to share this week...as usual we are
continuing along with our Atonement Challenge as we read the Book of
Mormon, and it just continues to astound me how much I learn every
single day. This week I was in 2 Nephi 2, and for some reason verse 25
really stuck out to me. It simply talks about how Adam fell that men
might be, and men are that they might have joy. I have used that
scripture in the past for a lot of different reasons before (i.e. God
wants us to be happy! The purpose of life is to have joy! Huzzah!) but
this time it took on a different meaning for me. I came to realize
that as Adam fell, he provided us the first opportunity that we have
to use and rely on and partake of the blessings of the atonement...and
because of that, we are able to have joy. Truly the greatest joys we
can experience in this life are all wrought through the power of the
atonement whether it be repentance, receiving strength during a
difficult time, or even receiving temple ordinances like the endowment
or sealings, but the fact of the matter is that it all comes from the
atonement of Jesus Christ. If you want more joy in your life, find
more ways to use the atonement. Go to the temple, rely on our Savior,
and repent and be happy about it! I testify that as we take the chance
to increase our experiences every single day with the atonement of
Jesus Christ, we will not only become cleansed from sin and become a
better person, but I know that we will be able to experience true joy
as well.
I
 love this work and I have absolutely loved this week. Lots of new
adjustments but lots of laughs and adventures and I just know that we
will see so many miracles this transfer. I feel so very blessed to be
working here in this area with this companion at this time, and I know
that the Lord answers our prayers, because He certainly has been
answering mine.

Hope you all have a wonderful week wherever you may be, and remember
to be use the atonement and be happy! Aishiteimasu!

Love,
Sister Pickering

Alyssa's last moments with Shimai Uchida.

Alyssa's new companion, Sister Folkman.

Tracting down a scary hall.

A cemetery??

It's a small world in the church.  Alyssa met up with another Sister from Westlake in the Kyoto train station.