Week 71: Counting my many blessings

Where do I even begin? It has been a pretty great week. It just is going to fast. I can't believe it is already Monday again, and we are on our way to Kobe. It feels like just last week that we had MLC! This week I have really enjoyed missionary work. I always enjoy it, but there are some weeks where I just think how lucky I am to be a missionary right now. I know that pretty soon, I won't be anymore, so I am taking in as much as I can get. And trying to learn and do as much as I can.

Zone Conference 

This week we got to go on a Kōkan with the Kurashiki sisters. I got to Kōkan with Mills Shimai. We went to go visit some members and investigators who lived in a part of their area an hour away by train. I am always so impressed when members who go so out of their way just to get to church, who sacrifice so much, and yet are still so strong. The saints here in Japan really are SO faithful. I've never lived within walking distance to the church except while I was in Hawaii, but I've only ever had to travel more than 30 minutes (that I remember) a handful of times. I am so grateful for the example of these wonderful saints. While we were out there we also ran into some really cool people, one lady who we ended up running into 3 times. She is excited for when the sisters can go back and visit someday.

Besides that this week, and having the chance to meet with a lot of people in Yonago this week, despite not really being there, we just had zone conference, and stake conference. Which was so great. I was able to learn so much. After stake conference on Sunday, we were talking with the Dendo shunin (Ward mission leader), and some of the members, and after talking about our goals, they told us to not be afraid to visit members. Even if it is just 5 minutes, they really appreciate it and will make time for us. We had a couple of experiences like that this week. We wanted to visit some members who had been sick recently, but we didn't want to take a ton of their time, so we decided to just stop by, sing a hymn, bear our testimonies, and invite them to come closer to Christ in some way. So, off we went. We were able to help uplift a sister who has been really sick lately and hasn't been able to come to church just by singing her favorite hymn, and reminding her that she was still loved. We were also able to visit some members, and they invited us to meet their neighbors who ended up being former investigators. Then we stopped by and visited a recently returned member, and although she was in the middle of cooking, she was just glad that we had stopped by even though she didn't have time to talk. It was really such a small thing, and visiting all 4 of them only took maybe an hour, but they were that much happier that day. We definitely want to visit more members. We have noticed that as we strengthen the members, they really do have more of a desire to share the gospel, and as a result, we have received quite a few referrals this week. The work really is hastening here! 

Lunch at a members ramen shop. :) they play EFY and church music! So cool. :)

I love Yonago! And I am SO grateful that I got to see everyone from Tsuyama yesterday. One of my favorite girls got her mission call! She is going to Tokyo Mission and she reports to the MTC on December 15! It was SO cool to see just how much everyone has grown. As I was talking with the triplets mom, she told me forever yoroshiku. (Which pretty much means, I hope you are okay with being their friend for the rest of forever.) :) man I love that family, and I really am excited to keep up with them for the rest of eternity! They really are like my own family. Just being a missionary makes my heart so full! I have never been happier!

I got to see some of my favorite girls again yesterday at Stake conference. :) I LOVE these girls! M Chan on the far left just got her call to Japan Tokyo Mission.

Thank you for everything always! You are in my prayers! 

I Love you!

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

Week 70: Now is the time

What a great week! I really love being in my area. :) With all of the kokans that we have been doing, and lots of taikais (meetings) and everything, this is the first entire week I have been in my area in a long time, and it was so great. We were able to see so many people. Yonago is such a wonderful area and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve here. 

As a mission we have been focusing on working with the members a lot more. I remember always hearing/ being told about what President Gordon B. Hinckley said. “So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the members of the Church." No matter how many times I heard it though, I never really fully understand what it meant. A couple of weeks ago during Missionary Leadership Counsel, we talked about working with the members. A lot of the time when we think of doing missionary work, we often just think of knocking on doors, and talking to people on the streets. The really cool thing about missionary work though, is that it is really SO much more than that. And working with the members really is the best way to do it. President Monson once said, "Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work." Now really is the time for the members and the missionaries to come together and work together. 

District Meeting with the incredible Nagata fufu (couple). They will be set apart this week as missionaries, and we will have the blessing of working with them here in Yonago until they get transferred at the beginning of next year.

We have been blessed with so many tools and "means" to share the gospel lately. The Lord's work really is hastening, and He has given us so many incredible tools. One of the tools that I would like to tell you all about is an new app, made specifically for Japan. It is called LDS Teachings, and has 3 pamphlets that help to explain things simply for those without a Christian Background. And as missionaries here in Japan, we have been given the opportunity to test them. We have been trying our best to use it, and because we are still trying to figure out how to use it best, we have been mogi-ing (practicing using) it with the members. And what an incredible blessing that has been! This week we got to meet with MH Shimai, a really sweet sister who moved her a little over a year ago when she got married. Her husband is not a member, and we thought maybe by sharing with her the first pamphlet (What to Expect when meeting with Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that perhaps she might feel like it is an easy way to share the gospel with her husband. What we learned though, and the experience we were able to gain through meeting with her was incredible. She is SUCH a wonderful lady, and I am so grateful we got to meet with her. We talked for a little while and got to know each other a little bit more, and then we went through the pamphlet with her. One of the cool things about these pamphlets is that it is just used as a way to direct and start conversation, not to just be read. We still teach by the spirit, and can stop wherever we feel like we should. There are also questions at the bottom of each page that help to check for further understanding. And embedded into the pamphlets are definitions for words that not every one is familiar with. When we started, MH Shimai pretended to be an investigator, but as we taught, she got really into it, and was just herself. There is one page in the pamphlet where it asks how the missionaries can help you. We asked if there was any way that we could help her. Through sharing experiences with her before, about who we are, and our purpose as missionaries, and also about why we are personally here on missions, I was able to share one of the reasons I am here. Because my life has been changed through the gospel, and I have been able to find so much peace, guidance and happiness. And I have also been able to see my own family change through the gospel. When we asked if there was any way that we could help her, she really opened up, and asked if we could pray for her brother and sister. They have been going through a hard time recently, and because she knows the power of prayer, she wanted us to pray for them too. It was such a simple thing, but for her to see that we really are just her to help her, she was able to share something important to her. It was a really cool experience. And through mogi-ing with her, we have been able to be more prepared as we use the pamphlets with our investigators, and the people that we are teaching. 

That may seem like a little experience, and I'm not sure how well I really explained that, but one of the biggest things that I have learned is the importance of becoming truly converted. When our own testimonies are strengthened, that is when we have the desire to share the gospel with others. It works the same way with everyone, not just missionaries. When members testimonies are strengthened, and they realize how much the gospel blesses their lives, that is when they have the desire to share it with others. We have had lots of times recently when we have been able to talk with members, and hear about their own conversion stories, or about how they have been sharing the gospel recently. We had a sister come up to us the other day that was SO excited that she was able to invite her friend to meet with the missionaries, and the friend said yes! Then N Shimai bore her testimony of how important it is to really believe that something is possible. If you are trying to share the gospel, and you really believe that someone you share it with will be ready and willing to listen, then you will be able to find that person. Because, like my little sister shared last week, Heavenly Father really does bless us with the righteous desires of our hearts. To have a member come to us to share her testimony of that, and to share that experience made us so happy! Now really is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together. Through being one and working together, that is how the work of the Lord will continue to hasten. I'm not sure if any of the made a whole lot of coherent sense, but I hope you all know that I have gained such a strong testimony of not just missionary work, but member missionary work. 

You are all awesome, and I hope you have a wonderful week. You are in my thoughts and prayers. 

-- 

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

Okayama Stake after the Aki Matsuri last week.

Deciding what to start sending home just incase I get transferred one last time before I go home in December. Time is going too fast!

Week 69: My heart is full

It has been a great week! 

I have never missed my companion so much though! We have had two Kōkans this week, and with MLC

Missionary Leadership Counsel in Kobe

too, we haven't really seen that much of each other besides travel time. So, it was really nice to finally be reunited with my companion. :)

Kōkan with dōki. :) we came to Japan together. I helped her fix her bike. :)

And a Kōkan with these beautiful sisters.

We also had Zone Training Meeting in Okayama this week.

We don't really have a ton of time this week because we had a stake activity, so I will just try to type quickly! :)

I really enjoyed watching General Conference this weekend, and feel like I learned SO much! There were some talks that stuck out to me. Some reoccurring themes too. I am excited to go back and read through/study conference. I really enjoyed listening to Elder Holland, President Nelson, and the Elder who spoke after President Nelson. As I listened to conference I kept thinking about how I could apply the things I am learning in order to become a better mom. On my mission I feel like the things I am learning/ have learned are all for me to become a better mom. I have been able to grow so much in my own testimony, and have learned just how important it is for me to have a strong foundation first, so that I can raise my children to be strong too. But, like President Nelson said, we need to be converted covenant keeping women. I am so grateful for all that I have been able to learn, and for my our conversion. I really do know that this is the true gospel. I know that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me. And I know that through my Savior, Jesus Christ, and through His infinite atonement I can do all things. I know that the things I am learning now are helping me so that I can be the kind of mother that I want to be, and that my future children need me to be.

Listening to conference this weekend also made me really grateful for my own mom. I don't think I had ever really realized how important moms are until I came on my mission. I mean I have always loved my mama, and I have always looked up to her, but I think that through out my mission, and everything that has happened since I left, I've realized just how grateful I am! Thank you mama for everything! I am so grateful for your example, and for everything you have, and are still teaching me. And I am so excited that I get to see you again soon!

Let's see. Besides that, everything is going pretty well. Just happy to be home in my own area with my companion. :) I am also SO happy that I got to see most of my loved ones from Tsuyama today at the Stake Aki Matsuri! My heart is full.

I also got to see these beautiful girls today!!! :) M on the far left submitted her mission papers and is waiting for her call. S in the red is just waiting for her interviews with Branch President and Stake President, and then she will have her papers submitted, and then M in the green is working on her papers right now too! I love all of these girls! And I am SO excited for them to go on missions!!!

I hope that you all have had the chance to watch General Conference, and if you haven't, go watch it! It will truly change your lives! :)

I love you all!!!

-- 

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

Week 68: What a great week

Happy October!

One of the cutest girls! The elders met her, and then she came to Eikaiwa!

What a great week, although I don't really even remember everything that happened. We don't really have a ton of time today, because we had to come up early for MLC in Kobe tomorrow. But, I love you all! 

Kobe

This week I learned a lot about the importance of relying on the Lord. We have had so much happen with sisters and investigators, and I have been trying my very best to know how to help serve those around me. There have been so many times this week that I have felt Heavenly Father answer my prayers. I know that Heavenly Father is always right there to help us. As I was studying this week for lots of different things, I learned a lot about our own divine worth. We are all children of a loving Father in Heaven. He knows us perfectly, and watches over us always. Because we are all children of God, that means we each have a divine nature. "Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." We are worth so much more than we can even imagine. Sometimes we may not feel that we are worth that much, and we may just see ourselves for the flaws and imperfections that we each have. I know though, that as we seek the counsel of others, and try our very best to see ourselves the way that others, and our Heavenly Father sees us, we will realize just how important we each are. :) you are special! Don't forget that. 

I love you ALL so much and I hope you have a wonderful week. Make sure to watch conference if you haven't already. I've heard that it is the greatest!

-- 

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

We had a Kōkan this week with some of the sisters! And Itabashi Shimai sent us tacos! (*Itabashi Shimai's mommy - Itabashi Shimai) All the supplies to make taco's including meat and cheese, and tortilla's! (I think there is a Sam's club in Japan, that you can place an order from. They received a box and when they opened it that was what was inside!