Just Happy:) (January 25, 2016)

IT WAS THE BEST THING EVERRRRRRRRR! Isn't her family so cute? T兄弟 (Bro. T) had to leave after the baptismal service so he missed her confirmation, but he got to baptize her and do her little introduction thing, and K kun was so good throughout the whole thing AND sacrament!

Winter Begins (January 18, 2016)

No actual letter today, but she sent a few photos!

Endo San said, it's your seijinshiki, amd made us food. She is one of my favorite people ever. (She is also stubborn. I've invited her to be baptized like four times. Well, one of these days, right?:)

(Note: Seijinshiki = 成人式 = "coming of age ceremony." The second Monday of each January is "seijin no hi," the day when traditionally everyone who turns 20 during the year [actually the school year, not calendar year] celebrates officially becoming an adult that year. Typically women dress up in fancy kimonos and everybody attends a [rather boring?] ceremony put on by the government. Since Lisa turned 20 during this school year, she was eligible to attend. I don't know whether she actually went to the ceremony or not.)

Kishi S was having a rough day. Joseph stopped in for a hello.

My Soul Hath often Found Relief (January 11, 2016)

Hey y'all! Time's short, got some music to practice, so I will attach a piece of my letter to the President:

... For some reason, I was very discouraged yesterday morning. I'm not entirely sure why, but my heart was heavy and I keenly felt my inadequacies and weaknesses. I was burdened by my shortcomings and was doubtful that I could have any impact at all. There was very little patience or charity or faith within me, and I was going through the motions as Sister Kishi and I attended DCS and as we waited for sacrament meeting to begin. Sister Tanaka, our investigator who passed her baptismal interview and is scheduled to receive the ordinance of baptism on the 24th, attended with her husband and baby, and although I was happy for them and excited as I watched them find baptismal clothing and prepare with the ward members, the light I saw in them didn't seem to make it to my cold heart. I was confused and frustrated with myself.

During sacrament meeting, however, Elder Uehara bore his testimony as he recently transferred to Nagamachi, and he quoted a verse of scripture from 2 Nephi 4:

Oh, then, if I have seen such great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men, hath visited men in such mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken becauae of mine afflictions?

That chapter is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon.

Following Elder Uehara, Sister Nakano spoke, and she told of a question she asked her son, who is a volleyball player. She asked what the trick was, how he could jump so high, and he answered, "Mom, before you jump high, you've gotta come down real low." Those words struck me, and I pondered on them as we prepared for the intermediate hymn.

We sang Sweet Hour of Prayer, a song I love and have loved for many years. But when we sang the words, "In seasons of distress and grief/my soul hath often found relief," I could not sing for the knot in my throat. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I remembered the truth, the fact that no matter what, I can turn to my Father for help. And I had been; I'd been pleading for patience and for hope and for the strength to smile all morning, but that sacrament meeting was a confirmation to me of a loving Father who reaches out to a daugter in distress.

As a missionary, as much as we'd wish it could be, it's not always rainbows and sunshine. Snowstorms, rainclouds, rocky roads--they all will come. However, with every step of our journey we draw close to Him and He guides us when the path seems dark and the road seems faint, and the sun has set and flowers wilted and dried away.

He is there in seasons of both distress and grief, and he offers each of us that precious relief that only comes from His grace and everlasting love.

P.S.

Hi parents! On the busy side today and I don't feel like writing much, I'm sorry, but Tanaka S passed her baptismal interview!!! and she came to church with her husband and baby:) Today was a 新年会 (New Year's party), and we did もちつき (mochitsuki - pounding glutinous rice into mochi rice cake). It was so fun!

Also, this week at MLC, 会長 (mission president) gave us a training on music and prayer. We did the music and prayer training at ZTM, and we had groups sing hymns that they selected for investigators. I also found out that I'm the only semi-proficient pianist in my zone, so I wanted to say thank you for the piano lessons and telling me to practice and all of the years, because I can play and I use that and translating so much here. I'm accompanying two musical numbers this week at a conference, too. Thank you:)

愛してますよ〜！

The Girl Who Can't Be Moved (January 4, 2016)

Transfer Nine, Area two, companion seven, blessings: too many to count.

Good news of the week is, I refuse to transfer. YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME, NAGAMACHI! I love it too much. :) Other good news is, Sister K and our entire district is also staying.

Not to be a jerk but we're busy today, so rest assured that I am alive and well and blessed and happy, and we rode bikes for forever this week and were healthy and well, so I will call that good and give you a break from my ceaseless chatter;)

Except for the picture explanations. :)

Pictures: Two girls visited our ward, they are sisters. One will head to the Tokyo South Mission in February and the other is waiting on her mission call.

Sister K and I celebrated our good friend Joseph's birthday. Speaking of birthdays, happy birthday to W, J, A, M, L, D, A, R, and anyone else who had a birthday this week, it occurred to me that a lot of people I know get older right around New Years';) Thanks for your love and support and the influence you've had in my life.

And, our Christmas haul. Between my parents, grandparents, the B family from Ginger Creek, her home ward, her other home ward, the ward we're working in, and her family, our apartment is 90% candy and 10% instant curry. No one is complaining. (Except for the elders have a lot of junk too, so no one to give it to... until splits come around again, hahaha!)

Bonus P.S. I asked Lisa what she did for New Year's, and here is her answer:

Visited a small jinja (Shinto shrine), got an omikuji (fortune), 私は吉でした。(My fortune was "lucky") Visited a TON of members and ate a lot of osechi (traditional New Year's food) and ozouni (traditional New Year's soup, which features mochi, a glutinous rice cake), painted half a kokeshi (traditional Japanese wooden doll) that I will give to you at some point in time, and cleaned our apartment. We took out eleven bags of trash this morning and that doesn't include our plastics. But, the elders beat us, partly because they have four people and since the APs live there, a LOT of ending elders live there, they had twenty bags of garbage, hahaha:) Good thing they cleared it out, we're gaining two elders in Nagamachi this transfer! Eight member district:) I'm staying, so I get to be at 田中姉妹's (Sister Tanaka's) baptism, I'm pretty happy:)

It's Been Said Many Times, Many Ways... (December 28, 2015)

メリークリスマス！To you:) The first half of the week was spent in Christmas festivities and LA visits, caroling, handing out treats and Christmas stockijgs, and celebrating the birth of Christ. The second half was spent in bed with a fever, so not a ton of interesting news, so we'll just touch on some highlights via photos:

Missionaries of Sendai and Sendai South Zone! We got all fourteen sisters in the two southern zones to sing for the special musical number, we threw Silent Night and Joy to the World together. Unfortunately, no one recorded it, so no evidence, but it was glorious.

Sister I took us on a multi-hour less-active member visit tour on Christmas Eve. The former Bishop lived close, so we popped in and said hey to him and his adorable daughter:) Hjs English is pretty good, he likes to say, "Sister Luke. May the force and the Spirit be with you."

Kills me every time.

Yesterday out of the blue he gave Sister K and I Star Wars breath mints with Luke's face on the package. #killinit

This is how I teach English.
Okay, only sometimes.
Kids are hard to catch, man.

I almost forgot. Tanaka S's baby, Kimi-kun:)


Japanese children are perfect. I rest my case.

I hope you each have a wonderful New Year and may the close of this year and the start of another bring you peace and the hope that comes from new beginnings. This year for me has been a whirlwind of change and growth, and I am grateful for 2015 and eagerly looking forward to what 2016 will bring.

May the Spirit and Force be with you;)

As ever,
Sister Luke:)

Christmas Ramblings (December 21, 2015)

Hello from the Luke Sister in Nagamachi! Life's a little chilly but rollin' as grand as usual. (Actually, it's been freakishly warm this year, we've only seen snow in our area once so far and that was a barely-qualifies-as-snow flurry. Fingers crossed!)

Last week was our District P-Day, so I apologize for not writing...

sorry to disappoint, but we moved Tanaka Ayuko S's baptismal date, so no baptism there. BUT, she will be baptized on January 24, her wedding anniversary, and her husband will be performing the baptism and blessing their baby boy on that day as well, so it seems like a fair trade;) We did complete all the lessons this week, got the interview scheduled, and everything is moving along really well.

Recently, I've been studying a lot about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know, I'm a missionary, so I've been studying about Him for about, eh, a lifetime, but this week in particular I've been studying 3 Nephi, the Gospel of Luke, and Jesus The Christ, and the more I learn of Him, the more I love and treasure this Gift of eternity. This Christmas Season is such a precious time to reflect on our lives and to see the change and blessings that come because there was a baby born so long ago.

One of my favorite paintings of the birth of Christ is the one where Mary is dressed in red, and everyone else is looking at the Christ child, but Mary's gaze is directed toward the viewer. There's a something sad about the look in her eyes, as if she is asking, do you know what this innocent child will suffer, what my firstborn son will sacrifice--for you? There are few things more painful than seeing one you love suffer, but Mary and indeed God the Father did just that as Christ undertook the act that would redeem the world from all of our pain, all of our guilt, all of our sadness. I join with the shepherds of old in saying, let us now go (Luke 2:15) as we in gratitude become the people we were designed to be.

Who were you designed to be? Take a step in the right direction each and every day, because leaving behind the old you is a priceless gift afforded us by the child born in Bethlehem. It's a gift of hope, of love, of warmth, and I am forever changed and forever grateful because of it.

Give your families some extra love this season! I'm far from mine, but I know they are the best family God could've sent me to love:)

Pictures: District Preparation Day was a lil' crazy...

Exchange with the perfect Sister Q, this woman is my hero!

And, one time a less active member gave us--you guessed it--250 kiwis. (I know, right???)

Sometimes I Never Shut Up... Buckle Your Seatbelts (December 7, 2015)

If a picture's worth a thousands words, here's a pretty long email.

Haha, just kidding, everyone knows I never stop talking (writing?) when I get going;)

The big news of today is, TANAKA AYUKO 姉妹 IS GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT WEEK. Truly adorable mom of a truly adorable little chunk of a baby, she's wanted to receive baptism (a sacred covenant with God where we promise to obey the guidelines he's set for our safety and happiness, and he promises to lead and guide us and be with us) for a while now, and the time has finally arrived. She will be baptized on Tuesday, December 15. We are so excited for her to be making this important step in her life! Her goal is to go to the temple to be sealed with her husband and baby, so that they can be an eternal family. So uh, if y'all wanna throw her in your prayers so this'll all work through without a hitch, it's be much appreciated. :)

We learned about goal setting in faith with guidance from God this week, and the neat thing was that on Tuesday, Sister K and I knelt as a companionship and prayed for guidance on the goal we needed to set for people to be baptized in the month of December. This took a bit of courage because to be frank, statistically speaking, our mission is one of the lowest baptizing missions in the world. (God sends his warriors here, shout it out.) However Sister K and I have seen enough miracles to know that nothing is impossible to the Lord; my faith is not yet even the size of a mustard seed, but to trust in Him is one thing I have begun to learn as I serve here in Sendai.

After some consideration, we set a goal of two baptisms here in Nagamachi during the month of December. That same day, we had interviews with the mission president, and my companion went first. She told me later that with no discussion, with no warning, President Smith looked her in the eyes and said, "Sister Kishi, I know that there are two people in Nagamachi waiting to be baptized."

Revelation is a real thing, brothers and sisters.

The following day, we were able to set that baptismal date with Tanaka Ayuko 姉妹, which is amazing! We are so excited! God's work truly is rolling forward. If this can happen in the Japan Sendai Mission, it can happen anywhere in the world. (I don't know who this is for, but I feel inspired to say that, so if you are a missionary feeling doubt today, my friend, don't give up. I know it can be hard sometimes, but keep it up! You're doing great! Live your life worthy of the miracle and it will unfold for you! I promise.)

But, one baptism in the month of December, though wonderful and life-changing for my dear sister Ayuko, this is not enough. We counselled with God and were lead to the goal of two baptisms. Honestly, I don't know who number two will be. We've got a few with potential, but they aren't responding to our attempts to contact them.

This is something we will hage to push for, and hard.

I'm a pretty weak and inadequate human being, so if it wouldn't be too much to ask, would you please send a prayer my way as well? I am lacking in faith and courage, it seems (among other things, but we take it a day at a time so we'll get there when we get there). There is someone out there waiting for Sister K and I to find them and invite them to come unto Christ. We'll keep you posted. :)

Thank you always for the support and putting up with my sometimes long, sometimes short, sometimes non-existant emails;) It means a lot to have the support and prayers. You are among my angels.

My love to all this Christmas season! May we take a moment to remember that behind the lights and bows and wrapping paper is a still moment so long ago, when earth and heaven moved at the sigh of a newborn child.


Love always,
Lisa Kasumi Luke 姉妹

Pictures: A missionary meeting! Took a group photo and then the elders left, so we took a shot with just the sisters.

This is back at transfers, when pretty much the whole mission gathered and everyone put their bags in the bag room... with about a hundred kids, probably about fifty of whom were transferring = a LOT of stuff.

The result of last week's picture, credit to Elders W and S.