こんにちは!! I wanted to first give a happy bday s/o to my cake war buddy...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNS!! Not only is it your birthday, but you are a daddy!! Lillian is beautiful! I will be honest, I cried when I saw the pictures. I am soo sooo excited to meet her :') I hope Popo is doing great too! She is the cutest mommy I have ever seen :') I love you both so much. I am so grateful for the beautiful gift that we can be together with our families forever. FOREVER. that gives me so much hope. My heart is so happy :) I am so grateful you are all apart of my life. I love you all so much!
HEAVEN IN TOKYO
Last week was temple pday!! I LOVE THE TEMPLE SO MUCH. Can we just take a moment of silence?...*.......
thank you.
I had a really amazing experience in the temple, and I won't go into crazy detail...but I had the most incredible heart to heart with the Lord. I felt so SO much peace. Probably one of the most memorable and special moments on my mission so far. It felt better than being in really comfy sweats, drinking juice on the couch, and watching Disney movies all day. (ya know what I mean?) haha LIKE FAR BETTER THAN THAT. The peace that I felt...there is NO doubt in my mind that GOD KNOWS ME. and that he is aware of us. I was able to feel just a small portion of the most perfect love a father can have. I have been able to feel just how important the house of the Lord is. And how that beautiful place is the closest we can get to heaven. It is my home. I know who I am and where I belong. And I know that I belong with Him. What an amazing blessing we have!!! I encourage everyone to go and feel that amazing sense of love and peace that can only come from the one who loves us the most. I promise you will be able to feel that, if your heart is in the right place :)
HUMANS
After the temple, we went to the Shibuya crossing!! I HAVE MISSED TOKYO!! Sister Mitchell and I were a little homesick from Tokyo. That is where we both served before we came to Tsukuba. There are straight up millions of people. I have never seen so many humans in my life, in one place.
While we were there, we saw a real life Mario cart race!! LIKE WHAT IS LIFE? That one is definitely on my bucket list. ahah
I might of said this a while ago....but if there happened to be a zombie apocalypse in the world....the one place i wouldn't want to be,...is Tokyo. ha literally so many people!
CHANGE
There was something that took place in my life this week that I feel so strongly to share. something I hope can be a lesson to other missionaries in the field.
1- Obedience
I thought I was a pretty good missionary...ya know...pretty obedient to the rules..i never tried to break any of them...but then during my personal study this week the spirit definitely told me to get my act together. I had a mini/big spiritual kick to the throat haha. I told Sister Mitchell about it as well, and the same thing had happened to her in her study!! It was like it was a sign or something! ;)
but we got down on our knees and we pleaded for the Lord's forgiveness and we promised him that we were going to give Him everything. That we were going to follow every mission rule with exactness. And that we were going to step it up. And honestly, I can't begin to explain the joy that came into my life once we did so. I felt as if a burden of 2000 pounds just fell from my shoulders. My joy was just....wow. there are no words. JOY COMES WHEN ONE REPENTS & ALIGNS THEMSELVES WITH GOD. that is true joy. Holy cow. I just love repenting haha. That day we were able to feel the spirit in more abundance when we talked with people, and we were able to be more easily guided throughout the day. Obedience makes the biggest difference. even if you're not a missionary. Obedience brings change. What a great lesson i was able to learn!!! I am so grateful for this mission. and what i am learning every single day:)
I hope you all had a great week!! Thank you for all the prayers and love. Just an update with the language (because i have gotten a lot of questions about that haha,) I am speaking Japanese! It's still hard sometimes...but I can say just about anything I want to now! I have come to just LOVE this language. it is beautiful!!!!!!!!!
この 福音に心から感謝しています. イエス・キリスト長いない力によって私たちは本当の喜びを感じることができます. このめっさじは私の人生を変えました. 私は幸せです. みんな, がんばてね!
愛しています!
Sister Phelps
フェルプス 姉妹
