You Can Do It!

Dear 皆さん, 

こんいちわ!  お元気ですか?

Well, I could start this email with talk about the weather, or about how fast time flies, or any of that normal chit-chat, but I think I'm just going to get right into it and avoid boring you all by sounding repetitive. Just know that the weather is cold, but good, and that time is flying by faster than ever.

Anyways, let's start off with a story from the life of my wonderful companion. She told me this story this week, and it really affected my outlook on some things. She told me about her nephew, and how he would always tell her that he couldn't do it: he couldn't do the dishes, he couldn't ride his bike, he couldn't...he couldn't...無理！無理！("Muri, Muri!"), or being translated, "Impossible, Impossible!" That was his favorite little phrase. 

And what do think my companion told him? That he was right? Of course not! She always replied, できるよ！(dekiruyo!), or, "You can do it!" It seems like a simple little phrase -- "出来るよ！” -- and that's because it is, but it has a profound meaning behind it, I think. 

We as people, seem to define life in two categories: what we can do and what we can't. Now, whether we do this consciously or not, that is debatable. But I know I find myself doing it, even if I don't necessarily mean to. I can't be a good missionary, I can't speak Japanese...that sort of thing. But let's just stop and think about it for a second. Maybe when we think about going back to college or cliff diving, we think "無理！無理！," just like my companion's nephew. And if we do, then we are our own “self-fulfilling” prophecy. We will never go back to college. We will never go cliff diving. All because we chose to believe it was impossible.

The question I have thought about this week is this:  Is it?  Is it impossible?  Is it 無理? 

As I have gone throughout the week, I have tried to keep my companion's reply in my mind, "出来るよ!" You can do it! Honestly, the more time I spend here in Japan serving the Lord, the more I realize that progress really has everything to do with mindset.

This was demonstrated best through one of our investigators, S-shimai. She is around 90 years old, and has a less-than perfect memory. She wants to learn about Christ and God very, very desperately. She tells us on a regular basis, "I'm about to die soon, so I want to learn!" She wants to understand the things of Christianity -- things that no one has ever taught her or given her the opportunity to learn. However, she is 90 years old and remembering is so very hard for her. We will teach her a lesson, and by the next time we meet, she will have forgotten what we taught her. Now, we could take a very negative approach to this situation. We could say that her learning about the gospel and coming unto Christ through the waters of Baptism is 無理. Or, we could take the higher way of thinking. We can tell ourselves, できるよ and have the faith that the Lord will take care of it. For, after all, this is the Lord's work. Should we not let Him set the expectations, and not us?

In response to this, I would like to report that although S-Shimai has indeed forgotten much of what we have taught her, she is slowly starting to remember and to understand. Just this last time we met with her, she told us that she remembered to pray to God! This is a miracle, and I believe that it is largely due to the fact that we chose to side-step the easy route of impossibilities, and walk down the road of faith and positive thinking.

We had a meeting with all the missionaries in our area this week where we sort of talked about something similar to this. We discussed how many people ask, "why?" but that we, as the Lord's missionaries, need to ask, "Why Not?" The Lord is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-seeing. We either believe that, or we don't. If we do, then the world can truly become open to us. There is no limits placed upon the possibilities of things we can achieve. We can become better people. We can do it. As it says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me." 

So, できるよ。

Sister Weigl