Dear Mother, Father, Sisters, Brothers, Family, and Friends
Phew! I don`t even know where to start. This week was just jammed
back, and next week looks even worse. I`m exhausted both mentally and
physically, running around all over the place, sometiems I just feel
like a chicken with my head cut off!
Tuesday we went far far away, to a place I`d never been in our area,
and a place that isn`t even in our area, but we didn`t know that at
all. I had no idea where are area ended in that direction, and I
thought that it was my area. Yea, it was far away, and up hill.
Wednesday we were full. Had a lot of buisiness to do. Ran around and
before we knew it we had to be at the church for Eikaiwa, but only one
person showed up, which was annoying, seems like everyone is busy with
tests before Summer vacation.
Thursday we had District Meeting as well as an exchange with the
Travelling Assistants. I was with Elder Imai, possibly my favorite
missionary in the mission and we ran around like crazy talking to
everyone possible and just having a great time. My companion though
had a miracle with the other Travelling Assistant, but that`s a long
story. Suffice to say they found somebody that had long been looking
for peace in her life.
Friday we did weekly planning and walked out to visit a few members
that lived nearby, or at least THOUGHT lived nearby and ended up
taking a long time finding their houses and talking to random people
and knocking on random doors while we went. Even ran into a very large
farm area between our apartment and the church, which we thought was
ALL houses. Yea, random rice patty in the middle of a neighborhood.
Caught us off guard.
Saturday we visited a few people and then just did some more Dendo,
so nothing too exciting happened there.
Sunday was hectic, we were supposed to sing in Sacrament, had a
meeting after church followed by a lesson. I was really running around
worrying over everything, and really wishing that I could somehow
split myself in half and be in two places at once. I couldn`t do that
and so I did the next best thing and sent my young Companion off on
splits with a member. Luckily for him, the home teaching that he was
supposed to do fell through. The lesson we had was great, but it was
lots of listening to the Investigator, and less of us talking and the
part that really seemed to help her the most were the testimonies of
the Members that were in their with us. Which in and of itself was a
miracle. We had made plans for other members to joint with us, but
both fell through and we ended up with two entirely different members
than we had planned. But it worked out perfectly I think.
Then this morning the bishop wanted to talk to us and update us on
the ward plan for working with less actives and part member familes.
Phew, I have a lot of work to do and I think now I`m going to be
praying even harder so that my companion can speak Japanese!
Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Message of the Week
It is often said: "English speaking missionaries come back
scriptorians. Spainish speaking missionaries come back Linguists. But
Japanese speaking Missionaries come back humble."
Well, my experience as a missionary has taught me that the language,
although important, does not play such a major role in the development
of a missionary. I have learned to love the scriptures and bury myself
deep in their pages. I have learned how to speak, and to even read and
write a little bit of Japanese. I have also been humbled very greatly
by my experiences as a missionary. More than anything I have been
humbled by experiences as a missionary.
Humility. That is a great strength. A strength through which we can
learn to truly be a great person, a strength through which we can
obtain the favor of God and taste of his mercy and grace and love.
Humility is to be teachable. Humility is one of the greatest of all
attributes, it is that of recognizing weaknesses within ones own self
and knowing ones limitations. But not only that is recognizing the
strengths of others, and learning from those strengths to improve
one`s self. And even more than that it is learning to rely upon God.
In this past week not much has really changed in my skills. I am no
better a teacher than I was before, I`m no better at finding that I
was before, I`m no better in Japanese than I was before, but something
great has changed. I feel different than before, I think different
than before. That difference is that I have learned to rely upon the
Spirit. To trust in God even more than I had before. I have recieved
many times throughout the week a confirmation that what I was doing
was right, despite the fact that I thought I had messed up horribly.
Despite the fact that I was not nearly as good as Elder Imai was at
finding I still felt that the Lord was please with me, and even Elder
Imai was happy with the work that I did, no matter how little it was.
When everything fell through on Sunday, and the investigator came
late, when I did not know what to say during the lesson and prayed to
God in silent but fervent prayer, I felt and knew that everything
would be alright. The members testified, they fellowshipped and loved,
the investigator listened and accepted, and we set up another
appointment. Everything worked out.
As I and Elder Cloward have been discussing lately we came across the
topic of us being 20 year old boys out trying to preach the Gospel to
the world. Who are we, but 20 years of age, inexperienced, untried,
untested, young, and foolish, to go about and teach the wise, the well
educated, the old, and the experienced about life, about God, about
Families, about Love, about Truth? Why would God send out a couple of
20 year old small town boys to Japan? Then this morning I came across
this scripture in 1 Corinthians 1: "When preaching was foolishness,
God saw so fit to do so." Something along those lines.
God knows that we young boys alone are incapable of doing anything
here. But he sends us anyway. He wants us to learn, to grow and to
experience. He wants us to be humble and to rely upon his arm, to
recognize that it is through him that all things are possible. That
when we humble ourselves and bow down in prayer, that almighty God,
that all-knowing, all-powerful, ever present, eternal God will hear
our prayers and reach out his hands and answer them.
Humility. It is not pulling one`s self down, nor is it simply raising
someone else about one`s self. It is recognizing the weaknesses that
one has and relying upon God to overcome them. As it it is written "I
give unto men weaknesses, that they may be humble and come unto me.
And my grace is sufficient for all men who come unto me, and if they
humble themeselves and come unto me I will make weak things become
strong unto them." (Ether 12:27)
I am of myself a weak man. It is only through my prayers that I am
who I am, it is only through the Grace of God that I am where I am. I
know he lives, I know he guides me. I know that through him I can
become more than I could ever be alone. For that I am grateful, for
that my heart cries out in Joy. "Be thou Humble, and the Lord God
shall lead thee by the hand." Of this I testify in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.
With Much Love,
Elder Randall K. K. Tateishi
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