The Typhoon That Wasn't...in Tokyo

Man, what a disappointing little rainstorm! I was so excited for some crazy wind and rain to rip through Machida, throwing cars and bikes around, shattering windows, snapping trees, but I watched from the warm comfort of my apartment, as the disappointing sprinkle brushed lightly against the window. The sad excuse for a hurricane could not have stood up to some of the torrential Texas deluges that I have witnessed. O typhoon, where is thy sting? O whirlwind, where is thy victory? There was none!..... Until I rode my bike for a little while and noticed that it was pretty humid! More humid than it has been for days! I guess that's what I get for making fun:)

This week was pretty great! I have seen a lot of great miracles. One of them is that the guy that I told you about last week, the one we gave a church tour to, is over 200 pages deep into the Book of Mormon! That puts him around the beginning of Mosiah (a Japanese Book of Mormon has about 750 pages). He really likes it! Which is great! Another thing is that he and a friend came to church yesterday! The greatest miracle of all is that we taught a lesson with our investigator right after church. We had a couple members attend the lesson too and it was an amazing experience! One of the members hasn't been to church in quite awhile, but he was there that Sunday and shared a great testimony of the Book of Mormon and about prayer. He talked about how we receive help in our lives when we read and pray and go to church. I am so grateful that he was able to recall his testimony about this simple truth. I think he will be coming to church more often now. I could tell that all five of us were feeling the spirit very strongly the entire time. That lesson was definitely a defining moment for the investigator and the less active member. It really strengthened my testimony as well that the more we share our beliefs with others, the stronger they become and we remember what we know and believe. That's what happened to our less active friend. He remembers what he has learned, known, and felt.

Another miracle happened with an investigator that we kind of share with the other elders in our area. He is 82 years old and has lost a lot of control over his mind. He can't maintain a line of conversation or thought for very long. Whenever we meet with him there are often 3 or 4 running conversations he switches between. It is mentally exhausting to keep up with him and even harder to teach him. So we met with him on Friday and talked to him for awhile. Here are the conversation topics we discussed: 1) a sword he thinks is cursed, 2) bullet trains
and their 50 year anniversary, 3) an eagle he saw 48 years ago that was so big it blew his mind, 4) his gall bladder, and 5) my future wedding and the speech he wants to make there. It was difficult to keep all of them straight! We finally managed to steer the conversation mainly to his gall bladder. He may need to have it removed, but he doesn't know if he should have this "very dangerous surgical procedure". He actually has a very deep feeling of unease and fear about it. After talking about it for awhile, we finally asked him if he wanted to pray about it. That stopped him right in his tracks. He told us he had never prayed before because he didn't think God had time for him. We used this opportunity to tell him about his relationship with God and how He loves us all and has plenty of time for each one of us. We finally convinced him to allow us to pray for him. Each one of us said a prayer: one given by my companion, one by yours truly, and one by our friend. By the time we were done the Spirit of the Lord was so strong in the room and I could see that the cloud of thought that had surrounded his mind had left. He was focused on the message we were sharing and on receiving an answer to his prayer. What a powerful testimony of prayer! I love being a missionary! 

I gotta go! Love you all!
Siebach 長老