July 28th

Hey y'all! This will be a quick one. We got transfer calls and Sister
Bryson is leaving meeeeee so we chose to just have fun and not take
time for letters/email/relax time! I will be staying in Hibarigaoka
and Sister Merstrand will be coming from Kichijoji to be my new
companion! I'm actually way excited :)


the BEST manly man ramen shop in Hibari. Delish.

This week was lovely. Of course.

We taught Misako about baptism and invited her to be baptized. She
wasn't ready to say yes right then because there is so much that she
doesn't know about Christianity, but she said, "please teach me!" The
member present sort of apologized for our pronunciation because maybe
it's hard to understand but Misako told her it's okay because she
"needs us". She wants us to give her more commitments... More places
to read in the Book of Mormon, more things to ponder, etc. She read
her assignment in the Book of Mormon twice before the lesson. We love
her so much!


Indian Curry with Sister Bryson, Barnes, and Hathaway

We began talking about the plan of salvation with Tomoe. It's hard for
her to believe she lived with God before. We focused on her
relationship with God as his spirit daughter and talked about how her
older brother, Jesus, is God's only begotten son, therefore he had the
power to atone for her and make it possible for her to return home.
She had lots of questions and was so interested in learning about
Jesus Christ and how he wasn't just an ordinary man. After the lesson
we practiced music together. I accompanied on the piano as she played
violin. It was so amazing... There is a language and culture barrier
in between us but we both read music and understand that language. We
will continue to prepare together for her to play in sacrament meeting
and the ward party!

TEMPLE

Patrick's wife had her baby. Patrick grew up catholic but isn't
satisfied with being a catholic. He wants to find out if our church is
the true church.. A church he could join and never be dissatisfied. A
church he could be a part of for his life and where he could raise his
children. This is the perfect time for him to be investigating the
church as he has two young children. His wife agreed to have their
brand new son baptized. We explained that his baby doesn't have need
of baptism, but he (Patrick) could be baptized by someone who holds
the correct authority and power from God to perform baptisms.

Thursday night Sister Hathaway came to Hibarigaoka on an exchange with
Sister Barnes and she slept over! Got to steal more knowledge and
training from her and say our last goodbyes. She goes home on Friday!

Anyway... Loving the work in the BEST area in the world. Seriously our
ward is amazing.

I love you all so much. Thank you for the influence you have been in my life.

Have a beautiful week and don't die in the heat. Oh wait... You're
inside and there is air conditioning in America. Haha :)