Cloudy with a chance of Transfers!

Wow...time is slipping on by, and apparently so is Randy...that is slipping over his handle bars on his bike (and breaking his bike). I guess I should be grateful that his $400 bike has lasted this long and thankfully it is a rather cheap fix. Again he sounds so happy and so ready to face the world. Just think 10 more months and he will be coming home. YIPEE! Although, I know he prefers I don't remind him of that part, as a mother, I can and will wait anxiously for his arrival home....


This week`s Forecast: Cloudy with a chance of Transfers! Tomorrow is transfer calls and thursday is tranfsers. I`m about 90% sure I`m transfering, but that`s because if I don`t transfer I`ll be here for 4 transfers, which will be way long.

Anyway, time to tell the tale of my week. Last Monday, we smashed a giant pumpkin for a Less active, that was loads of fun actually. Tuesday..... Was English class. Wednesday, I flipped over my handlebars because I pulled the wrong brakes (my fault) Note to Self: Don`t ride with one hand in your pocket. Thursday we rode our bikes over to Himeji and had a Companionship Exchange. Didn`t end up doing all that much but it was fun. Friday we had District Meeting which was loads of fun, then we came back to Kakogawa. Saturday we went to Akashi and all the missionaries in the zone sang at a little mini concert.

So now for the fun part. If any of you remember, about 8 or 9 weeks ago when I went to Himeji, I broke an Elder`s bike. Well, Oops, I did it again.... Except it was my bike this time. Note to self: Don`t downshift when you notice something is messed up with your gears. So my gear shift for the back tire has completely sheared off. That`s the really bad news. The good news is, that it`ll only cost me around $25 to get it fixed..... IF they can get the part. But that`ll have to be delayed till after tranfsers, because I can`t have them order the part, because if I do I`m not sure if I`ll even be here or not. Other good news, I only had to walk about 20 min. back to the apartment instead of almost 2 hours like last time.

Now, the reason why I am late this morning, is because I just had a 45 min. lesson turn into a 3 hour lesson. It`s amazing how long someone can go on about things that have nothing to do with the current conversation. So that has been half of my P-day, besides the point that it`s raining, we have to walk everywhere, and we still need to go buy food for the week. Hurray for adventrous days!!! At least it`s not the same as always, although I want get to go visit my favorite less-active, Matt Fugal at all.

Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Message of the Week

I`m kind of stumped this week. I`m not sure what to write today. I Guess I`ll just share what I`ve been studying lately

Recently, I`ve been trying to focus on the attributes of Humility and Charity. Actually, I picked them out so that I can work on them for next transfer, but I have begun to study them and try to find ways to improve them. So for Charity, I flipped to the typical place that must scriptorians would go to. 1 Corinthians 13. I read through each point. Pondering about all of them, and noticing as always, that the description of Charity and Love was on of action not simply an emotion. Then later as I flipped through the scriptures and read the first and greatest commandment. "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Compare that with the description of Charity and we gain a view point of what we should become in our relationship towards God.

But in reverse, we know that God holds that same love towards all of us. He will never abandon us, never forsake, never leave us alone so long as we seek after him. Recently as I have read the Old Testament I realize that more and more. God NEVER abandoned Israel, it was Israel that abandoned God. They turned to idols, to false gods for their help, yet they could NEVER find solstice nor safety amongst them. As the Assyrians told the Israelites at Jerusaluam when they laid siege, "The Gods of other lands did not save them when we invaded their lands." But the Assyrians took this even farther to blaspheme against the TRUE God and said "Why do you think that YOUR God will save you?" In reply to the faith of Isaiah, and Hezekiah, and those that remained faithful to God, the Assyrian army was smitten and thrown back by an angel of God. There are countless other stories contained within the Old Testament that Testifies again and again that so long as one Loves God "With all [his] heart, with all [his] soul, and with all [his] mind" he shall have the arm of God to rely upon, and have that sure confidence that God is with him.

It is written: "For with God, nothing is Impossible"

The power of our Beloved Father in Heaven is limitless. But we can only access him if we seek him. We must humble ourselves before him, we must not be ashamed to seek after him, to seek his love. We must love him with all our might. And when we do, that love shall become an anchor to our souls. For it is written, "charity NEVER faileth." We will be able to endure all things, to bear all things, to believe all things. We will rejoice in righteousness and in truth, we will reject evil and its iniquities.

I Love God. I love my Father in Heaven, every night I pray to him and seek his guidance and love. Without him I truly am nothing. He bears me up everyday. He helps me through my difficult times, he is the reason why I am here. I Love God, and everyday I strive to draw closer to him. As imperfect as I am, as frightened as I am at times, he calls to me with a loving voice "Come unto me!" And one day I will be able to return to his presence, to partake of his fullness. I await that joyful day, when I shall see my Heavenly Father`s face, with earnest anticipation.

I love you all and wish you all well. God Bless you all. In the name of Christ. Amen.

Elder Randall KK Tateishi