It's in the MIDDLE of SEPTEMBER

(Shoutout to Ellie for the subject line)

Things we did this week:

- We got a call on Thursday night that a member's brother had passed away and the funeral was on Friday and they desperately needed an organist! So we spent Friday morning at the church playing for the funeral of a man who wasn't a member of the church, but who had come sometimes before and whose sister is very active. I played the normal hymns, background music for scripture readings, and the usual. But when I got there, they said "hey, can you sing without piano accompaniment?" I usually get out of singing at meetings because I just play...but I was able to sing I Am a Child of God for the people attending the funeral. And it was a message I really wanted everyone to hear anyway - we are all children of God and He has sent us here to learn and grow and eventually return to Him. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation and the opportunity to share that with those who do not yet know.

- Sunday night, we visited the wife and daughter of the man who passed away. They immediately invited us in, gave us refreshments, and invited us to pay our respects to Egashira-san. It was fun to see how those of the Buddhist faith honor their ancestors in their homes. Incense, offerings, a butsudan (household altar), lots of dignity and respect.

- after church on Sunday, we ate all together and made friends with the branch!

- Saturday we went to an okonomiyaki place - favorite food. Will be making it regularly for the rest of my life.

- I cut Sis. Olsen's hair with craft scissors.

- We got ice cream at 31 and talked to a couple for half an hour about the gospel - they don't live here but were so cool! He will be a great ward mission leader one day.

- Sunday night was FHE with a member family and their friend. For the game, we did suikawari, which is where you hit a watermelon blindfolded like a piñata until it breaks! Woohoo summer! I guess it's almost the end but anyway...great week! Here's to the next one! Love love love!

Sister Janette Jorgensen

Japan Fukuoka Mission
9-16 Hiraozyosuimachi, Chuo-ku
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
Japan 810-0029

Legacy

I've been thinking about the legacy we create and add to as we progress through and ultimately out of life. I'm grateful to have been born into a family with a legacy of faithful followers of Christ, and to see that continue in my parents and siblings. I'm grateful to add to the legacy of people graduating from Sanderson High School, attending Vanderbilt University, growing up in North Carolina, all of it. We as individuals are in large part defined by who we become, and we become who we are through contributing to our own communities. Those communities then become defined in part by who we are.

My English is bad. But hopefully I sort of conveyed the idea. My dad likes to call it the "Ja-network." Truly by living in Japan for a little over a year now, the Japanese people, individually and collectively, have become part of the "Ja-network." That being said, I was especially moved this week as I realized that I am part of a much bigger work, that is the work of the Lord in Japan. We had the privilege of visiting a member family's home for dinner Saturday night. As we were eating the huge dinner they had prepared for us, we watched a three-minute picture slideshow of the growth of the church in Sasebo over the past fifty years. As you might expect, the branch started from a few faithful members, one of whom is still around, and, with a lot of faith and prayers grew steadily into the still small but strong branch we have today. I noticed the presence of missionaries in most if not all of the pictures - they were sent here to strengthen the church in Japan and members continue to love us for it. I just feel honored to serve among the saints of Japan, a people whom I love so much, who love the Lord and want to be faithful and reach out to others. For them, I will happily bike up every mountain in this area and knock on every door and smile at every person who tells me no. Because the members know it's true, I know it's true, and even if each week does not result in the baptizing of hundreds (not that it can't), I can feel pure joy knowing I am working towards bringing others unto Christ. I am part of the legacy of the church in Japan. That is worth more to me than any amount of money, any degree, any world travel opportunities I could possibly obtain.

This week, we dropped all of our investigators and are starting out fresh. I'm so excited for zone training meeting, in which we will train on consecration and the doctrine/importance of baptism. I love my companion and the other missionaries SO much. The members are amazing. The people we talk to every day, like the dad who will let us come back and visit if we don't talk about religion but just be friends with/good examples to his daughters...I love them all! There will be no counting down to come home, but just continuing to love each and every day, and the blessings I see in my life from faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's true and I love it.

Have a great week! Enjoy Labor Day, hopefully tropical storms aren't too bad. We had a typhoon pass through this weekend - nothing bad, just a lot of trash on the road around here. 

Love you all!

The Sasebo Burger. There is a little burger icon on the map in our apartment at every place that sells these. :)

Sister Janette Jorgensen

Japan Fukuoka Mission
9-16 Hiraozyosuimachi, Chuo-ku
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
Japan 810-0029