Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Let's start with my Thanksgiving. Well, the day before we had Eikaiwa and I had all the students (which was only 4 this week for some reason) make turkey hands and write what they are thankful for on each feather. Then the next day on the real Thanksgiving we had our activity called Outreach that we have every week. It started at 6:30. We waited until 7:15 until someone finally came. Yep only one person showed up but we made turkey hands anyway! Then my companion and I thought, this can't be what our Thanksgiving consists of! So we went to a nearby grocery store slash mall and ate a nice fast food Japanese meal at the food court. Then searched the grocery store for something that resembled pie. So that explains the pictures. One of me and my apple pie fritter thingy, one of my companion and I on Thanksgiving at the food court, and one of our Eikaiwa class and their Thankful Turkeys. All in all, it was a pretty good, very missionary Thanksgiving. And I am grateful. Since it has been Thanksgiving week we have been going out and talking to everyone as usual but we have been asking them what they are thankful for. (after taking the time to explain what Thanksgiving is because they have absolutely no clue). It has been pretty interesting to hear all the different answers. Some people look at us like what!? I have never thought of that before! Most of them say things like, family, the fact that I am alive, the fact that I am healthy, the fact that I have a home to live in.. etc.. Then we ask them who is to thank for those things and if it is important to say thank you. That is when they really are befuzzled and don't know what to say. Then we teach them about God. I feel really grateful to know that there is a God above who is to thank for all of these amazing things we are given. I am also grateful that every single day, many (and as a missionary especially I mean MANY) times a day I go to Him in prayer and thank Him for all that He has given me. I love Thanksgiving!!!
Now that it has become the holiday season, we have started to go caroling and sing Christmas hymns for people! That is my FAVORITE part about being a missionary during the holidays. On Sunday after church we gathered as many members as we could and went down to the nearest mall, stood out in front of it and just sang all of the Christmas hymns while a couple of people handed out fliers for the Christmas Party that we are having in our ward to people passing by. While we were singing I thought, can you imagine this happening in America? Like picture the missionaries after church one day going around to all of the members and being like hey, do you have time right now? we want to go sing Christmas hymns in front of the Galleria Mall, you down? Because that is 100% what we did and a bunch of members came too! Needless to say, Japan is a little different than America but I dunno maybe you should call up your local missionaries, see how they feel about going and doing that... Another thing that our Stake is doing that I have never heard of being done in America: they call it the 40 day fast and it is literally just that. Every single day for 40 days someone or some people in the stake fast for missionary work. So for 40 days straight there is someone fasting for the work in the area. Along with that, the missionaries send in emails every night of the miracles they are seeing and then every single morning at exactly 7:29 am (why that time? idk) the stake president sends out an email to the whole stake writing about the miracles the missionaries saw and the testimonies of the members who were fasting and their experiences, etc. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!?! Like I know this is horrible to say but I certainly did not think about the missionary work in my stake that much at ALL. I've repented don't worry. haha All I have to say is you would be AMAZED at how involved the members are in missionary work here. Especially in this stake.
Also with the Christmas season well on it's way, my companion and I took the liberty of buying a tiny little tree for our apartment. It is not much, but very festive and we love it.
Happy holiday season!! Take this time to spread the joy of our Savior even more than normal!!!!
maybe start by sending this: http://mormon.org/christmas
Love you all!!!!
love love love
xoxo
gg
Ariel
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