Rescue The One

Dear Minnasan, 

PLOT TWIST. 

Yeah, so, you know the whole like finding (tracting) thing that missionaries do? And like the whole teaching only non-members thing? You, know, like teaching people not of our faith. Yeah. Sisters aren't doing that anymore in the Japan Kobe Mission. 

In our mission, sisters are now supposed to focus only on less active members of the church - members who were baptized but then fell away and lost their faith. We won't be doing anymore housing or streeting. 

Big shock, huh? Yeah, I felt that way too. 

So, you're probably wondering how that is going to work. Well, the bishop, the ward mission leader, and the clerk will be organizing records of less-active members. We will receive such records and visit everyone. By ourselves, with members, whichever. The point is that we will visit them. All of them. We will invite them back, tell them they are needed and loved. If they want to come back, or aren't sure but want to meet with us, we will teach them and remind them why they became a member in the first place. That is it. We won't be finding because we'll be too busy visiting all these people. They've done this on Shikoku (a small island in our mission), and they found over 400 people who said they would be willing to meet with the missionaries again. So now, all the sisters in the mission are doing it. 

But Sister Weigl, what about your investigators you love so much? Do the Elders teach them? Well, the answer to that is that we will be able to choose to keep our investigators and continue teaching them, or choose to hand them off to the elders. It's our choice. We just won't be spending time finding. 

But Sister Weigl, what about less-active part member families? Can you teach the non-member child of a less active parent? Yes, we can. We can still teach non-members. In fact, they encourage us to do so with part member families. Zinke Kaicho told us that pretty soon, we'll have as many non-members to teach as less actives. So yes, we still expect to teach non-members and help them progress to baptism. 

But yeah. There are still a lot of questions we have about this whole thing. And they are just starting to get the ball rolling. We have a meeting with the bishop this week in which I assume he will talk with us about this change. 

This is a pretty big change. The elders are really jealous too. Our District Leader was joking about buying a wig so he could visit less actives too. Sorry, elders. Sisters are just way less scary than six foot tall gaijin (foreigners). And we know how to make cookies. :) 

I was thinking about why the Lord might have inspired our mission president to make this change. And the answer is God's love. That seems to have been really something on my mind recently. Not only does God love those who do not know about Him, but also those who once accepted Him, and then forgot. 

In Luke 15, it reads: 

"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." 

That is our focus now. On rescuing the one. God loves those who have forgotten Him. He wants them to come back. He wants them to enter the safety of the fold again, so much so that He has sent nearly 100 Sister Missionaries in Kobe to go find them. 

FIVE QUESTIONS:

1. Have the Cherry Blossoms come out yet? 

Yes, the cherry blossoms are out in full bloom.

2. Is the weather warmer? 

The weather got warmer last week, but then got a tiny bit chilly again around Saturday and Sunday. It's supposed to warm up again this week. 

3. When will you be seeing General Conference and will you be able to listen to it in English this time? 

We will see it this Saturday and Sunday in English! Yay! So excited. We saw a bit of it at a member's house this weekend (they put it on in English for us while we waited for them to prepare the dinner). 

4. Are you getting use to your new area....and the members and investigators? 

Yes, I love it here! It feels like I've been here forever, but it's only been a week! I love Kitarokko and B- Shimai! 

5. What kind of shape is your bike in? Is it new or old? Tall enough? 

It is...well...kind of not that great. It has only three gears, but it works just fine.