Serving in a Telestial World

 Serving in a Telestial World

The Lord blesses all his children who seek after him, who pray for guidance, and have faith that he will be there to support them.  Through Jesus Christ we have been strengthened in going about trying to do good and be of service.

This last week we attended a dinner at the Mission President's home near the Tokyo Temple, for all the senior missionaries.  It was particularly instructive as we shared our thoughts, successes, and challenges.  We discussed how we could better support the young proselyting missionaries who, although have testimonies of the gospel, are still learning the gospel, a new language, and a foreign culture.  We all felt we have things to contribute to these young minds as part of our callings. 

During the last two weeks we have completed a few projects to serve others.  Some of these have been as a support to the young Elders and Sisters who serve as the proselyting missionaries in the area.  This support may come in the form of physical, emotional and spiritual support.  On one occasion we had the four missionaries serving in our branch over for dinner.  Donna prepared chicken cacciatore and Brian made a cake.  They four are always appreciative of the effort.  Normally a missionary will share a spiritual thought with the group, but in this instance Elder Melton felt inclined to share a story and thought he received earlier that morning.

The thought was of an old friend in Virginia who had his name removed from the church decades ago.  His wife was always faithful, and he always supported her through the years.  But he had reservations about his belief in God.  Brian had served as one of the family's home teachers for several years and had several discussions about Christ.  We found on Facebook that he was just baptized back into the church!  The message Brian shared with the missionaries was that we never know how much we may influence others in coming to Christ.  Many times, it may take years, and the support of many friends and family members.  Even more so, it depends on where the individual stands along their own personal Road to Damascus.  It is also in the due time of the Lord, so we told the missionaries not to lose heart if their efforts seem to fall short.  None of us know what's in the heart of others or what God's plan is for them.

We supported the four sister missionaries in our mission district by giving them access to NAF Atsugi on three more occasions.  Twice was to again provide volunteer service at the Atsugi Thrift Store.  This effort was in support of raising funds for enlisted service members.  Those who operate the store were very appreciative of the work they provided and also recognized the efforts as coming from missionaries from the church.  The third time was on the sister's preparation day.  Since it had been a while, we invited them onto the base to use our fitness facilities as our guests.  This was a nice diversion from their normal routine as they used both the weightlifting and played some basketball, still under our purview.  Heavenly Father asks them to serve him during their mission, but they must still take care of themselves physically and emotionally.  We saw all of these three times as doing just that.

After leaving the sisters that preparation day, we visited another family on base we had been wanting to visit for a while.  It was a delightful visit as they shared their own conversion stories and how they met.  We mentioned that we had to leave to take one of the sister's bikes to the church as it had gotten a flat tire during their time on the base. Upon us driving arriving back at the fitness center to pick up the bike, the faithful brother pulled up behind us and said our car was probably too little to transport the bikes.  He brought his van and moved the bikes for us as we followed behind. This again was a small blessing through the service of others.

During that same trip to take the bikes to the church, an employee of the fitness center also helped, and we got to know her a little bit.  Now, every time we've seen her, she says hi with a smile.  Again, you never know the impact you may have on others in the small ways you interact in kindness.

We just completed a CPR with the Red Cross.  It was just one of several steps required to work with children and teenagers at Atsugi as volunteer coaches and officials.  We have been working towards getting qualified over a few weeks, with the next sports season beginning in March.

Of course, while serving others as missionaries, we have to take care of ourselves.  It took several weeks but we finally were able to get signed in to the health clinic at Atsugi and have our first medical exams.  We were seen by a physician's assistant who was very kind and knowledgeable.  She is on loan for a few months from another Navy facility and seeing our missionary tags told us she had friends at her own base who are also MRMs.  It is interesting how many people are recognizing who we are and always have kind things to say.  A couple of days later we were attending a movie at the base theater.  Afterwards we ran into her again with her son and a brother.  It was impressive that of all the new people she would have seen in the couple of weeks she's been here, she recognized us as two of her patients and missionaries of the church.

Still, other challenges are constantly being given which we cannot ignore.  They take away from doing the work we would like to be doing, but are still necessary to do here in our earthly home.  One of the biggest things taking some time is applying for a Japanese driver's license.  The international license we received before coming here is only good for a year, so we are required to have a new Japanese license for the rest of our time here.  What we have learned is that the processing and waiting times can be quite long. It took a few weeks to gather all the required documentation which we had to show to the license office.  Fortunately, we did have all 10 required documents in order and they signed off our checklist.  We did have to wait a couple of hours for them to call our names.  Still, this was just a document check so they could then schedule us for a written exam with the earliest available date being Tuesday, April 22nd.  After passing the written test they will then let us take the closed course driving test about a month after that. We have heard that most people do not pass the first time and will have to schedule a retest.  We know people who have taken the driving test as much as six times.  Although it can sound daunting, we trust that if we study and have faith, at least one of us can get through by November.  This evening, we were on a zoom meeting with other MRMs and one asked us, somewhat humorously, to pray for him and his wife as they will be taking the driving exam this week.

Little things back home include still maintaining the house and still finishing closing Choice Eye Center.  We are blessed to have a daughter who lives there to assist in these matters, but these are still some of the things that one must pay attention to in the real world. We also continue to work in closing a timeshare we no longer need yet still require actions that distract from the work we have been called to do.

One of Brian's favorite quotes comes from Elder Neal A Maxwell from the October 1976 General Conference, just before he went on his first mission.  "Following celestial road signs while in telestial traffic jams is not easy"  So as we move forward in our mission with faith in Jesus Christ, we still realize that the things of the earth will still be with us.  Yet, our spiritual and personal journey will continue.

Tokyo Temple with the Missionaries

Supporting the District Missionaries

Inviting the Missionaries on NAF Atsugi

Dinner with four missionaries in our small apartment

One of ten documents required for a Japanese Driver's License

How pay parking works in Japan #1

How pay parking works in Japan #2

Shopping in Yamato