Kelsie Letter: “The bad, the good, the amazing
OK! Well let me just start off with a big thank you for all of your very sweet letters! I got the wonderful Birthday present; Stock shimai and I have listened to it everyday since! Thank you! I even got a package from Kurt…Chocolate Malt-o-Meal!!! It was a very good birthday, the night before Deguchi shimai took us out to dinner. She is so sweet! We had one of my favorites: omu rice-the Japanese version of omlets; salad and potstickers. I was so full of that and the yummy hot chocolate I could barely bike back to the church! Our Eikaiwa students gave me a nice scarf, hotpack things, and a really awesome set of chopsticks! Stock shimai gave me some pens (they are .25 mm, can’t find them in the US like that), a cute poster with Haichu (the yummy starburst type candy), and a
small cake!
We spent the night visiting a less active, whose daughter isn’t a member yet. We have high hopes of getting her into the waters of baptism though! We housed and froze our fingers and toes off, but I had a very interesting experience. The lady was a very sweet Shintoist. They are proof, to me, that the gospel was preached in this land long ago. They believe in being very, very kind to others. A lot like Christlike Attributes.
I felt prompted to ask her about her belief in after death, i.e. why they honor their ancestors so much. She thought and thought and responded with: Well, just like I honor my parents, my kids will honor me. That was it. I thought the whole time, what is the point of honoring someone if they don’t exist??? I told her about eternal families and even though she didn’t want to set up a appt. I really feel that we planted a big seed!
Chum, please daiji ni shite your back! (take care of it) I will keep you in my prayers! Pap, thank you for you story…I just got those DVDs and I am very excited to watch about Wilford Woodruff…and yes, I can picture you crying at the spirit! 
I am so excited to hear you gave Chum a blessing! Speaking of which…
Last week we went to Sakurajima. It was blast! We rode down huge slides, took pictures on all of the big dinasaur statues, etc. It was fun until we started to head for home. The hill up to the park is very long, very steep, and very windy. Just imagine Lumbard Street at a 70 degree angle, with a few less curves. We had to walk our bikes up. Well, we rode them down. Elder Muira flew past me, I thought, ‘You’re going way tooooo fast!’ He turned enough not to hit the fence head on, but still hit it hard. I came to a stop right behind him and watched as he took the skin of his thumb back onto the bone just about at the knuckle. It led to quite the ordeal. Sister Stock fainted, we got her up and all walked slowly to the ferry station where he was ferried back in an ambulance (he was back out housing after he got stitched up, he is fine and dany!) Both Sister Stock and I saw it happen, we both felt a little shaken up. That night we had our lesson with ‘Brigadoon man’ (who by the way would’t agree to an exact time to meet next time, but we have hope!). The next day we still just felt very odd. I can only describe as a though that, “that could’ve been me”; I gues it was shock. We talked about how we both felt and decided there was only one thing to do: a blessing! Tuesday night we asked Elder Ford and Elder Muira to give us both a blessing. The things he said in my blessing were amazing. I felt such a warm, powerful, loving feeling. I know with out any doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father loves me. I know this is his work. I will do anything to tell the people of Japan about it. I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood. I am so grateful for those who are worthy to exercise it.
We are starting a new surge to get referrals from the members. We are very excited to see the work move forward in a new, more effective way. Please pray that the members here will have the courage to prayerfully seek a friend they can introduce to us.
Funakura san is doing OK. She is willing to read, but right now it is more a fascinating thing then a search for the truth…but that will change. Kamikokuryo san is our new big hope. We had a great lesson with her last week. She said how it is so scary to raise kids right now. She said how we are so amazing, and realized herself that it is because of our knowledge that what our parents taught us was from God. She is really seeking, now if only we can get her to act on that! Here in Japan it is a big problem with husbands working alllllll week long. She told us she never really see’s her husband. I realized what a blessing it is to have the gospel, that it helps us keep our priorities straight.
Lor, I am glad to hear you are still in contact with Christie Ray! Do you have her address? I hope your munchkins get better. Good luck!
To all who went tubing…how fun!!!! I love all of you so much! Thank you for all you do! Until next week. 1 John 3:20-24…look it up, it’s awesome!
Love,
Sister Haymond
