Trust in the Lord



 

Fred's mother passed away on Wednesday after a 14 year battle with cancer.  She is an example of strength and courage in the face of uncertain trials.  We will greatly miss her sweet spirit, practical council, and her love that she shared with everyone. We recognize God's hand in allowing us to be here before departing to Japan for the remainder of our mission. The time we have been able to spend with the family has been important to us.  The funeral will be on Tuesday where we will celebrate her life. 


God knows all things.  We see God's hand throughout our life the preparation for this mission. We lived in Japan 24 years ago. We have studied Japanese years before our call. Fred has continued to study since his mission. I have been studying for the past 4 years after receiving a prompting to learn Japanese. We have spent the last 6 months going to Spanish Fork almost every Saturday to spend time with our family.  These have been precious moments. In hindsight, we see one of the reasons why we have been waiting...

 

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 21, 2021 at 10:51 AM

    Thank you for such beautiful words. I know grandma and grandpa have loved having you close. I also know how grateful my mom was to have you at a constant resource as she helped care for grandma. You shared wisdom, gave her confidence, strength, and peace. God knows where to place his children. I am so grateful for the love and tender mercies that have been shown to our family.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Viviana Wilkinson November 21, 2021 at 6:15 PM

    God works in mysterious ways!
    We are sorry for your loss!
    We are so glad to know you, and your examples of faith and endurance are very valuable to us!❤️

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 22, 2021 at 2:06 PM

    We're so sorry to hear of your mom's passing. So glad you've been able to spend time with her. We'll be praying for comfort for your whole family.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The blacksmith...

Image
For our P-day (preparation day), we went to the knife stores in Sakai. We found a 5th generation blacksmith, Mizuno Tanrenjo. He creates knives the old fashioned way by forging carbon steel, heating it until it is red hot, and then hammering the metal out thinly. We got to see the workshop. The blacksmith was working with a blade and hammer when we arrived. We did not get to see the whole process but there were pictures taped to the wall so I took a few pictures of the pictures. I feel it is only fitting to make a moral to this experience. We are in the hands of the master blacksmith. God allows the fires of life to burn out our impurities, soften our hardness, and then he can mold us into the person we are meant to become. Mizuno-san also makes ceremonial swords for the sumo tournaments. This is Fred by some of the swords. We bought a vegetable knife which I am so excited about. We have been using a vegetable knife for several months. We found it while cleaning out a missionary apartm...
Read more

Language Study

Image
We interviewed 17 missionaries this week in an effort to organize English Connect for Missionaries.  We were so impressed with caliber of these young men and women.  Missionaries are encouraged to study language at least 1 hour a day.  The Japanese are encouraged to learn English and the English speaking missionaries are encouraged to learn Japanese.  We will be holding classes in the evening to help those studying English improve their English skills. I am still studying Japanese at least an hour a day.  I continue to have a teacher 1-2 times a week. I try to practice 100 vocabulary words a day. I also play Duolingo and Rosetta Stone. Fred found me some good children's stories to practice reading. This one is "The Three Bears".  The book reads from back to front and right to left, as it should be. My progress is slow but I do see gradual improvement.  Hopefully, learning a language will keep my mind young and active.  
Read more

10 more days--Our mission is coming to a close

Image
10 more days-- our mission is coming to a close. What an amazing experience this has been!! We have seen God's hand in our life in so many ways. We feel the windows of heaven have been opened to us that there is not even room to receive it. We have grown closer to each other and closer to the Lord. We arrived when the sakura trees were blooming. Now, they are blooming again. Walking under the blossoms gives you a sacred feeling that you are somewhere very special. This is my favorite walking path. There is a lady who cares for these flower boxes every day. I have enjoyed seeing them on my way to the river walk. Today, I saw a miracle with the ward choir. They asked me to lead the choir when we first arrived. I have sang in many choirs, all of my life. I have never led a choir. We started out just singing hymns but eventually added more and more difficult music.  I wanted to sing "Let Us All Press On". This is a difficult piece sung by the Choir at Temple Square. I had hig...
Read more