Sister Amanda Robertson: Week 54: Happy day. All is well.

There has been a lot of singing this week. And usually it is only the first line of the last verse of "Come, Come, Ye Saints." "And should we die before our journey's through, Happy day! All is well!"

4. And should we die before our journey’s through,

Happy day! All is well!

We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;

With the just we shall dwell!

But if our lives are spared again

To see the Saints their rest obtain,

Oh, how we’ll make this chorus swell--

All is well! All is well!

I just want to clear up that fact that no one is dying. So there is no need to freak out. Mostly our favorite part is that no matter what happens, and no matter how hard a day or a week, or a month may be, it is okay. "Happy day! All is well!" So that has been the theme of our lives this last week. I know that no matter what, Heavenly Father loves us. He will never forget us. The other day we shared "Forget Me Not" by President Uchtdorf with one of the Less Active sisters that we are working with. We focused on only two of the things President Uchtdorf encouraged us to never forget. "Forget not to be happy now," and "Forget not that the Lord loves you." Heavenly Father loves us SO much! And I have seen His hand in my life this week, mostly in little seemingly insignificant ways.

One way was when we were teaching a lesson to a mother and son. A Kun, the son is 9 years old. The same age as Liam. When we teach A Kun, I can't help but be reminded of my favorite little man. We were following up on how prayer has been going to see if they were praying, and if they were recognizing answers to their prayers. One of my favorite things is hearing what A Kun prays about. He has the sweetest little heart. This last week there was a bug that had somehow gotten into the house. His first thought was just to squish it, but then he had the thought that he should pray and ask Heavenly Father what he should do. After he prayed, he felt like he needed to take the bug outside, and not kill it. How precious is that? And what a great example of faith! A Kun is so ready for the gospel in his life, and I know that as he continues to learn and grow his mom's heart will be softened too.

(On our kokan we helped progressively heart attack their ward mission leader. They have been adding a few hearts every so often for the last couple of months. )

On Tuesday I was able to go on another kokan with Kagawa Shimai (she is half, and from Utah). I was so grateful to be able to get out and get to work. We had a very busy day planned, and I was able to see Heavenly Father's hand in every part of our day. One person canceled, on the way back we were able to teach a guy from Cuba who had been to church in Australia once. Next we went and taught a lesson, and then went to go finding in a Shotengai (a big shopping thing... Kindof like a Boardwalk or something, but it is all covered, and there are little stores and vendors lining the sides... basically there are always a lot of people, so it is a good place to go finding). At first the Shotengai was less than effective, so we stopped by a member's house and met his roommate. When we went back to the Shotengai, we were both talking to different people, but neither of them were really that interested, so we said goodbye and then were walking towards the exit. A guy came up to us and asked if we were Mormon, and then told us about how he had read the Book of Mormon when he was in California and wanted to know where the church was. It turns out that he lives in Joyo, the next area over, but we were able to exchange numbers with him, and get him the information of the missionaries in Joyo. We had so many other things like that happen that seemed like mere coincidences, but I know that that was Heavenly Father helping us to be in the right place at the right time in order to bring one of His children closer to Him. It is amazing to look back at our days sometimes and see just how perfectly Heavenly Father is intertwined in our lives. He knew exactly where we were, and what we needed to be doing so that M could find us, or so that J could talk with us. It truly is amazing.

(Sometimes we go on adventures to find a doctor's office. Who knew that even with a Japanese Companion we would still be going on adventures. :) )

(The arrow told us to turn, and walk down this alley.)

(We found the doctor's office, but we were a little bit shocked.

It looked really pretty though. Well, the garden did.)

(This is the clinic. It is really small.)

(And this is the bathroom. )

So, despite the hard times that you may be going through, don't ever forget to be happy now. Don't ever forget that the Lord loves you, and don't ever forget to look for the Lord's hand in your own life. But most importantly don't forget "Happy day! All is well!"

I love you all! Have a great week!

Robertson Shimai

アマンダ・K・ロボトサン姉妹

日本神戸伝道部

末日聖徒イエス・キリスト教会

Sister Amanda K. Robertson

Japan Kobe Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

(While looking for a Less Active Sister. The apartment complex and playground kind of reminded me of Ukraine.)