Biking, Burritos and Being Led

Hello Everyone:

So, today we received news about transfers. Transfers is when we find out whether we will be moving to another part of the Kobe mission to work, or if we will be staying  in the area we currently are at. I felt okay with either staying in Akashi or leaving to go to another area - all that matters is that I am going where the Lord needs me. There is a song that comes to mind when I think about transfers. I'm sure many of you have  heard it, “I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord.” And it's true. No matter where the Lord sends us, we are His missionaries and are willing to do whatever He asks us. 

LDS Mormonad

But yes, it would appear that I will be staying in Akashi another 6 weeks! Yeah! I will have a different companion though. My current companion will still be in the area and even in the same apartment too, but she will be training another new missionary. I will be with a third transfer sister missionary. It will definitely be a time of faith, for neither of us know much Japanese. Luckily, we are not alone and have God on our side. We don't need to be eloquent, as long as we are speaking from our hearts and testifying of truth.

On Tuesday morning, my dearest companion woke up with a SPLITTING headache! It hurt so bad, that she could barely move. I convinced her to take some pain medication and then go back to bed (Japanese don't really like taking medication - it's sort of a last-resort...I'm-almost-dead sort of thing). I wanted to do something special for her, so I made a breakfast burrito! One of the members of the ward bought us tortillas from Costco (THIS IS A HUGE DEAL! YOU CAN'T GET TORTILLAS IN JAPAN) and it made a really great breakfast! I don't think I've ever spent so much time on making breakfast in the mission field before. BUT, the look on my companion's face when she woke up made it all worth it! She's Japanese so she has never seen a breakfast burrito before! She really loved it! Oh, and don't worry, after a short nap, she was feeling much better and ready to go out and serve the Lord! But honestly, NEVER EATEN A BURRITO BEFORE? What kind of madness is this? Haha, that's probably just my love of Chipotle talking :)

This week was filled with a lot of one thing: BIKING. LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of biking! I have never been so sore in my entire life! I have never exercised as much as I have this one single week! I think this one week might make up for a lifetime of couch-potato-ness. Maybe. Okay, maybe not. But still. At the end of every night, when I crash onto my futon, I can literally hear my body sighing in relief. I know that if it wasn't for Christ, that I would not have been able to do it. There were moments when my body said, "Stop. You can't go any farther." But guess what? I kept going. I was able to go farther. I am so grateful that Christ offers me some of His strength so that I can do this work. Without Him, I couldn't continue to bike. I couldn't continue to learn Japanese. I couldn't do this. This is hard work, and alone I could never have enough strength, both mental and physical, to accomplish it. But with Christ, I know I can do all things. Even biking up what seems to be an endless mountain (but for real, this hill DIDN'T END! At least biking down it was really fun, though).

One thing that really has become apparent to me is that every day is a day of miracles. We see miracle after miracle occur everyday, and it is amazing to think of what the Lord can and will do to move His work forward. For example, my companion and I have been trying to teach N-san another lesson. We stopped by his apartment on Friday, but he wasn't home. So, we just decided to try and talk to some people in the area instead. We just sort of started to walk and we went down a street we've never been before. We kept walking along this path, even though there wasn't really anybody to talk to. And then, would you believe it, we see N-san walking his dog! We ran up to him and was able to teach him another lesson on the side of the road.

The most amazing part was that N-san mentioned at the end of the lesson that he had never been down that way before. He just felt like he should go that way today. WHAT A MIRACLE! We were led down that road, even though there wasn't really that much of a logical reason for us to go that way. And N-san, too, was led there! I believe that God really wants N-san to have the gospel. God is doing all He can to put N-san in the pathway of us, the missionaries.

These experiences teach me over and over again something that I can't deny: that God is REAL. That He exists and that He loves me, and He loves you.

Of this I am certain.

Sister Weigl