what a week!
this week was so awesome! it was packed full of miracles and tender
mercies of the lord. the one i want to talk about though is the one
that happened with our proGressing investigator fujiwara shimai. so
two weeks ago she sent us a text in the middle of the night that just
said '助けて' which means 'help me' ever since then we have had very
little contact with her but we had just been sending her tOns of texts
of encouragement with scriptures attached to them. every once in a
while she would text back and just say that she was alright she just
needed time to overcome what she was facing, so we just kept sending
love and support and scriptures. she hadn't been able to come to
church for a while and we were getting really worrieD. but yesterday
it all came together. all day we had been fasting for her and her
safety physically as well as spiritually. our evening sacrament
meeting was starting and she still hadn't shown up. we were feeling
pretty down, but we got started with the meeting. the meeting had just
started when fujiwara shimai walked in. she sat down and was greeted
very warmly by our ward mission leader. as i watched her as the
meeting got going i saw a feeling of relief and peace on her face and
i also saw her wiping away tears. i was overcome with joy and started
to tear up myself. i was so happy to see her bacK in the church
building feeling the spirit. we finished the sacrameNt meeting and
then went and talked with her. we told her how happy we were to see
her. she then told us what had happened these last couple weeks. so
two weeks ago she was at work and her bOss gave her all of the day's
till to keep safe until they could deposit it. she said she can't
fully remember how but somehow she lost all of the money which was
about $1,100 she was so scared to tell her boss what happened and when
she finally did, her boss yelled at her and told her that she was
going senile and that it was because she was meeting with the mormons
and she basically just made her feel Worthless. she started to get so
overwhelmed and so stressed that she tried to open her mouth and speak
and no words would come out. she had gone completely mute. that is
when she texted us saying 助けて she said that she prayed and prayed for
help with her job and with her voice. the next day she decided to go
to the slots praying so that She could get the money back for her
boss. she started with almost nothing and ended up winning half of
what she lost. from there she went to the boat races and won the other
Half of what she owed there. she said that she knew that she wasn't
supposed to be gambling but that she felt like god was helping her.
she went back to her boss with all of the money that she had won and
paid back the money that was lost. but afterwards she still couldn't
speak. she trIed going to the doctor's but it was really hard for her
to explain what was going on because she had to write it all down. she
prayed so hard for just some form of comfort in all of these trials,
and then that same day she received a letter in the mail. it was from
a famous racer that she had written a while back who had been really
busy but decided to write her back. it was amazing! and then after 3
days of not being able to speak she slipped out of her bed in a weird
way that had never happened before and when she hit the ground she
said 'いたい！' which is like 'ouch!' She was so shocked to hear her own
voice again, and she suddenly started to receive back her voice. she
knew that her prayers had been answered. she told us that the whole
time all of these crazy trials were happening she was desperately
searching to receive words of encouragement, but she didn't find it
with her family, or her friends, or her coworkers, or even from
herself. but she said that the only words that came to her and
comforted her when she needed it were the words of the Scriptures that
we had been sending her. we then gave her a picture of christ with a
note and a scripture written on the back of it and she took it and
read it and just cried. she thanked us so much through the tears and
we told her how much we care about Her. we all cried. we planned to
start meeting again for lessons and we were all just overflowing with
joy. wow what a miracle. i know that god is conscious of each and
Every one of us. and that he knows us by name. i know that when we are
going through hard times in our lives that as soon as we turn to him
and allow him into our lives and trust him, then we will see miracles
as his loving hands shape us out of our trials into the Everlasting
joy of his love. i love my god and savior so very much. the amount of
gratitude that i have towards my heavenly father for the blessing that
it is that i have the knowledge of this gospel in my life is beyond
what words can describe. i know he lives. thank you all for your love
and support and i hoPe that you all have an amazing week.
愛しています！
アルレッド長老
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We journeyed unto the mountains to pray
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my boy fuumiya kun graduated
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We participated in an a cappella choir and breathed spiritual fire in lyrical
form
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