New Companion

Hello everyone!

In contrast to the cold weather that I've been hearing about in Virginia, it's getting really warm in Gifu!  In fact, the other day, it was super hot and I could only think about how hot it's going to be in the summer if it's this hot in March!  haha.  Start praying that I'll transfer to somewhere cool for the summer, OK? (;  (I can't remember if I already told you, but Gifu is the hottest place in Japan....)

Life is really different with a new companion.  My new companion's name is Sister Watanabe, she's from Provo, and her mom is American, dad Japanese.  She didn't speak Japanese before the mission, but her Japanese is pretty good and she understands mostly everything!  She's 21 too, but she only has 2 more transfers left (including this one).  Actually, she entered the MTC on the same day as Serene, and they know each other!

Well, last week after I emailed, the Pincocks (a couple who work in the Honbu) picked us up and drove us to the Honbu, and then I worked in Meito with Murakami shimai, just for the evening.

It was so sad to leave Sister Vincent ):  Although my new companion is great too, I miss her a lot!

At trainers/trainees training the next day, President Yamashita had us write down some good experiences from the first 6 weeks as well as points of improvement, and as I tried to figure out what to write, I realized that I only had good things to write about my trainer.

Above anything that she might have told me, Sister Vincent truly led me with her example and her pure love for the gospel, and I am so grateful for the experience that I had, being able to work with her.

Because Sister Watanabe is new to the area, I've been leading and figuring out what to do a lot.

We've been trying to visit a lot of members and less actives, and we've been biking around from one edge of the area to another! haha

I don't know what we're doing differently from the first 6 weeks, but I've just been soooo tired this past week!!  Not sleepy, just physically tired.  In fact, I've been waking up at 6:00 these past few days (my body just wakes up), but my body always feels tired, even after 8 hours of rest. haha

I guess the few weeks while Sister Vincent was sick really got me out of shape :P

I don't really have any updates on investigators (none of them can really meet for a while), but I've been thinking about something these past few days, as we've been visiting members and less actives.

Although as missionaries we can teach lessons, share scriptures, and pray with people, the gospel is really a lifestyle, not just a set of beliefs.  We believe that God is our Heavenly Father, that Christ atoned for our sins, that we can be families forever, but none of that really matters until you go to church, read and pray everyday, serve others, repent, and live the gospel!!

Like Elder Bednar says, a testimony is not enough--we need to be converted to the gospel.

Thinking about this made me feel really powerless and insignificant all of a sudden, because the most we can do as missionaries is to invite others to act.... and then it's all between them and God.

Ahhh, I don't even know what I want to say.  I just wish there was more that I could do as a missionary.  Helping the ward, less actives, and investigators suddenly seems like a huge task, in which we can't really play a significant role.

I know, I just need to have more faith in Heavenly Father....(:

Well, on that happy note, I've run out of time, so I will be back next week!

Love you!!!

Sister Papenfuss