Look Out Okinawa...She's there!

OK...so Lacee made it to Japan.  They got into Fukuoka late Wednesday and had a quick orientation.  She is currently on Okinawa in the Naha East area. She says, "It's pretty cool."  She only had time to let us know she had made it safely and that she would write more on Monday.  She is in a threesome, one sister from Utah and one native Nihonjin (Japanese).  She loves them already! She has only gotten like 10 hours of sleep in the last 72 hours, so she's tired, but she's good!   Just thought you all might like to know where she is starting this adventure!

Small Miracles

We knew Lacee would be traveling today...Monday...and we also knew that most missionaries get to call home from the airport.  We knew she was leaving the MTC at 2:30 this morning and supposedly leaving SLC at 6:00.  So, I was fully expecting a call between 3:30-5:00 a.m.  When that call didn't come, I thought, "OK so maybe she'll call from Dallas."  Her arrival time was supposed to be 9:40 a.m. CDT and departure at 11:00.  When that call didn't come, I got on the computer to see if there was any information on the SLC airport site.  There was only one flight scheduled to leave at 6:00 a.m. going to Dallas and it was showing a delay until 12:30.  So, then I started wondering what was happening and how Church Travel was taking care of our missionaries!  About that time, the phone rang.  Of course, I grabbed it and was DELIGHTED to hear Lacee's voice!!!!! :)

She sounds GREAT!  She explained the situation...they were a little late getting out of the MTC and by the time they got checked in and through security, there wasn't much time for calling.  A few missionaries were able to call, but not all of them.  They got on the plane and were getting ready to leave but then the announcement came that the pressurization system was not functioning correctly and they were going to have to wait for the mechanic to come.  They ended up sitting on the plane for 2 hours!  Finally, they got them all off the plane and got their luggage off the plane and the flight was essentially cancelled.  The travel leaders knew they wouldn't make the connection in Dallas, so they started working with Church Travel.  Lacee wanted to know what was going on, so she went and talked to the people at the gate desk. (That's my girl!  (: )  There was a possibility that the missionaries would be sent back to the MTC until they could get this figured out, but then everything came together (small miracles).  There are 43 missionaries on this flight!  They are going to Dallas at around 5:00 this evening, staying in a hotel, then getting on a flight to Tokyo tomorrow morning at around 10:00.  About half of the missionaries will be staying in Tokyo, the other half will continue on to Fukuoka!  So, instead of arriving in Fukuoka at around 7:00 p.m. on TUESDAY...Lacee will be arriving at about the same time on WEDNESDAY!

She shared her testimony with us in Nihongo (Japanese).  Sounded good to me!  I was only able to pick out a couple of words - like Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father.  But she sounded like she knew what she was saying!  Now, we just look forward to hearing about the rest of the trip and her first impressions of her first area! 

Blessed with so many small miracles!

Final Prep Day in the MTC

Lacee is SO nervous about going to Japan, but at the same time, she is SO excited! They had a 9 hour in-field orientation.  She said she thinks that's mostly for the English missionaries because their time in the MTC is so short and it seemed to be stuff they have been learning for the last 8 1/2 weeks in her Nihongo (Japanese) classes.

The Provo temple is open again and she has been able to go again.  She was at the temple last week and saw Sis. Harr!  She said, "Isn't that crazy?! I was so excited to see her!  I love her so much!  It was weird to see someone that I know though.  And even weirder to have someone call me Lacee.  I'm so used to Babcock Shimai now that Lacee is hen (odd)."

Also from her email:

Oh and GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?! I SAW BRITT!!! (her roommate from BYU) :)  It was pretty dramatic! haha We found out a time to meet today so I could say good-bye and take a picture before I leave.  It was so great to see her though!  She looks awesome and it was just fun to see her!

OK, so my cool experience with our kyudosha (investigator), Toshi.  First off, I love him dearly.  We have been teaching him since like our 3rd week here.  Our sensei (teacher), Cook Kyodai, is Toshi.  Anyways we went in for our last lesson, and we were talking and just kind of wanted to see where his faith was and how he was doing before we "got transferred" :).  So we were talking and he really thinks he's a bad person, so we were talking a little bit about repentance again.  While we were talking he was saying how he had apologized to God in his prayers but he still felt bad.  So I had this thought pop into my mind, "Ask him if he's ever asked God to forgive him."  It was the weirdest thing.  It literally just popped in my head.  And I was thinking, "That's weird.  He just said he had apologized in his prayers."  So I ignored it.  Oh, and this whole time my companion is talking.  So like 30 seconds later, it popped in my head again.  This time I really felt like I needed to say it.  So I waited for my companion to finish, and then in my hidoi Nihongo (awful Japanese) I asked, "Toshi san, have you ever asked God to forgive you?"  He just kind of looked at me and didn't say anything for a minute.  Then he said, "I don't think so."  And so I told him that God wants to forgive us, and He will.  Sometimes He just wants us to ask.  Then I even had a scripture that I thought worked, so I had him read D&C 88:63-64. (For those who don't have access to the D&C, it reads, "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you.")  He read it and again just kind of sat there quietly.  We let him think, and then I told him if he asked he would be forgiven.  He said he really loved the scripture.  Then in our closing prayer he prayed and apologized, but he also asked to be forgiven.  Afterwards he said that he felt a little better and like he really had been forgiven a little.  So that was pretty neat, and I was feeling really good about everything.  I felt like I had really been led by the Spirit.  Sugoi desho? (Isn't that great?) Keredomo (and yet), it gets better!  So when we went back to class later, Cook Kyodai was teaching.  He was talking about how we were teaching the fake kyodosha (investigators) but that they were still real people.  He was getting a little flustered and excited as he talked about how sometimes the sensei (teachers) got answers to their mondai (problems) from the senkyoshitachi (missionaries).  And then he was talking about how one time a missionary was talking about forgiveness, and just asking for it ... and that it was just what he needed to hear.  As he was explaining it, it sounded so familiar.  Then it hit me...it was my lesson!!  It was what I had said!  Then he apologized for being flustered because he said, "Sorry it's just that this experience happened today and I'm still just...ah."  I almost cried right there.  I was being led by the Spirit!!  Through the Spirit, I had helped him with something he was struggling with.  It was so awesome!  I think I needed this experience so I feel like I can make a difference, and that I am in tune with the Spirit.  It really was so neat though!

I honestly don't even know what to say.  I'm freaking out a little, and this week has been ridiculous, so I don't even know what to write.  I will eventually get some letters written, but probably not today!  I still have so much stuff to do!

Tell Jer I say hi!! I'm sad I missed seeing him and Dant!  :(

Travel Plans!

Well, Lacee is down to her last week at the MTC.  She has her travel plans in hand!  She leaves Monday, Aug. 26th, at 6:00 a.m. and arrives in Fukuoka on Tuesday, Aug. 27th, at about 7:00 p.m....whoosh!  Long flights!  Long layovers!  :)  But she will get to call from the airport!  Mom is DEFINITELY looking forward to that call! (even at the wee hours of the day!  :0)

From her email: 

Oh GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? Elder Richard G. Scott spoke at our devotional on Tuesday.  It was so AMAZING!  I sang for an apostle!  Woot...go choir! His talk was about prayer, but something that was really cool (I thought) was that he left 2 apostolic blessings on the missionaries learning foreign languages.  He said that we would be blessed to learn the language and receive the gift of tongues according to our faith.  So awesome!  It really stuck out to me that it was according to our faith though.  It's not just going to be given to us.  We have to have faith and work as hard as we can.  So cool, right?  It was so amazing.  After he was done, as he was walking out, he turned around and yelled, "Be good!"  It was so cute!  It was just so amazing.  I'm so glad we got to hear an apostle speak. Kore wa honto ni tokubetsu deshita. It was really special!

The weeks are just kind of a blur now.  Everything is just all bunched together.  I can't believe that I've been out for almost 2 months!  It feels like I've been out forever, but at the same time, it's like I just barely got here.  This week is our last week of class.  I'm going to miss our senseitachi (teachers) so much!  I feel like after 8 weeks with them, we're all like best friends!

Not lots of time, but thanks to everyone who has been writing me!  I promise I will write back eventually, but we just have like zero time here!  I really do love and appreciate everyone!!!

That Ain't the Language They Taught Me in the MTC!

We had our Skype TRC.  It was interesting.  We talked to a man that was somewhere I had never heard of in the Nagoya Mission.  His name was Miyura.  He was this old man, and he was just so friendly and nice.  It should have been a wonderful experience, but I was so frustrated.  I couldn't understand anything he said.  It was ridiculous!...I wanted so badly to understand him and really talk to him, but I couldn't! This whole week it's been like I forgot everything I've learned!

However, on the "up" side:

We got our first official baptism date scheduled for a kyudosha (investigator/teacher),It's Wilkes Kyodai.  His name is Ryan and he is a 17 year old boy.  He has a rough life, but we invited him to prepare to be baptized the first lesson and then in the second lesson we felt like we should really invite him to commit to a date...and he did! Woo!  He is going to be baptized Aug. 24th.  Toshi is also making progress.  It's been neat to see them progress.

So let's see...the orientation for the new missionaries well pretty well I think,  They seem like a good group.  There are only 6 shimaitachi (sisters) total in both of the new districts.  So we lost 12 and got 6.  I saw Seth! (good friend from home going to her same mission just 6 weeks later)  He is not in my zone, but his classroom is just 2 doors down from mine. So that was fun! I have also seen Austin and Tyler (friends from her home stake).  Tyler's classroom is also just down the hall from me and Austin is on the next floor up from us.  I also have seen Harmony (high school friend) a couple of times.

I really don't even know what else happened this week.  Everything is just squished together in my mind.

As you can see, although Lacee is a little frustrated about not speaking Nihongo fluently (after just 6 weeks! :) ), she is doing well.  She's enjoying the MTC but is ready to move on!  Thanks to all of you for your love and support!

New Callings....New Challenges!

Well, Lacee's email this week informed us of her new calling as a Sister Training Leader for her zone.  She now has some added responsibilities along with learning the language and lessons!  She will be great! (She's worried, but I believe in her!)  She also has her first Skype lesson to a native Nihonjin speaker this week.  She's nervous but excited! 

So, from her email:

A member of my branch presidency gave a talk last Sunday.  He said the cutest things in his talk. He said if you're having a bad day, go outside and look up. It is so simple, but it reminds you that things are so much bigger than you. I think it puts you in perspective a little bit.

 

So at one of our devotionals H. Bryan Richards spoke. It was an amazing devotional, but he said that there are more than 73,000 missionaries out right now. He also said that we were the greatest generation of missionaries ever. So I was thinking about that. It's a neat thought, but I think we really need to live up to that. It's not enough to just wear the name of the Savior. We have to brand it in our hearts. In PMG, in the Gospel of Christ (Lesson 3) it talks about how faith leads to action. We need to not only learn about the Savior, we have to become like the Savior. We have to be obedient. Jujun wa shukufuku o motarasu demo chodo jujun ga miracles (can't remember that one) o motaraimasu. Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. I want to be such a great missionary. I really do. Something else he said that I absolutely loved was "What you do in your 18 months or 2 years will echo through eternity." WOW!!! I definitely want good things then! I don't want to have any regrets. I want to come back and be able to say that I worked as hard as I could, and did as much as I could. I want amazing things to be echoing through eternity!

 

Anyways, I just want you all to know that I do have a testimony. Kono kyokai wa shinjitsu desu. Iesu Kirisuto ga watachitachi no Sukuinushi to Aganainushi da to shite imasu. Kamisama wa watashitachi no Ten no Otosama desu. Ten no Otosama ga watashitachi no inori o kotaeru to shite imasu. Ten no Otosama to Iesu Kirisuto ga mina san o ai suru to shite imasu. Kono Fukuin o ai shite imasu. Honto ni ai shite imasu.

This church is true. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. God is our Heavenly Father. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love everyone. I love this Gospel. I really love it.

 

Watashi no kazoku wa ichiban desu. My family is the best!