Kakizome

Hello family and friends,

It’s time for another update from your favorite missionaries serving in the most amazing city in the world.

We’re now five months into this adventure and we’re still amazed that we’re here. We pinch ourselves every morning when we walk out of our apartment and look at the sensory overload around us. And we tell each other: “I can’t believe we’re actually here doing this.”

Family Home Evening

We just finished tonight’s Family Home Evening for this week. We served churros that we bought at Costco and hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream. Everybody loved it and it was a perfect combatant for tonight’s cold weather.

We had 15 YSA kids show up. Three are investigating friends taking lessons from the missionaries. Two are recently returning members, one who came for the first time in a while. The entire evening was smiles and laughter and we loved the scene. Everybody was so kind and friendly to each other. It’s so wonderful see everyone so welcoming. It really felt like family.

We played a game called Chopsticks (In American, it’s called Spoons). Then we studied this week’s Come Follow Me lesson and Elder Low taught how in 1 Nephi 14:14, Nephi saw us, in our day, scattered across the face of the earth – even in Japan – and saw that we were armed with power and righteousness. That includes us gathered at this Family Home Evening.

It was a great night. As we were walking home we talked about how much has changed since we arrived back in September. There was no FHE happening at all back then. Now it’s a critical part of the week for many people and a key tool for our missionaries as well as being integral to the branch’s plans.

Institute Classes

This week for our Thursday night Eternal Family institute class we taught about “Uniting Families for Eternity.” We started off by asking the students, “As young adults today, what spiritual power and blessings are you in need of right now?” That ended up being a wonderful discussion. Then we discussed how to obtain that power. As part of that discussion, we talked about our grandparents and ancestors, who have already left this world, and are watching us, worrying over us, and cheering for us. We are loved by them, and we are blessed across generations. In the end, we ended up discussing the power that comes from temple ordinances that bind us all together and invited them to come to the temple more often. Interestingly, we had 2 YSA members show up at the temple that next night during our shift. We are loving our Wednesday nights at the temple.

Thursday night was our “Foundations of the Restoration” institute class and this week we discussed “The Miracle of the Book of Mormon.”  This ended up being a wonderful lesson that became emotional for all of us. We showed two videos that we think everybody (including you) should watch:

First – “Compelling Witness”

Second – “The Book of Mormon Experiment”

It’s true – anybody who reads the book and learns from its truths becomes a witness to the miracle that it is. Then we took the opportunity to “do our job” and we both testified that the Book of Mormon is true, and truly a miracle. 

Thursday night was our first substantive Japanese class at the Baba classroom. It took three weeks, but the elders worked hard and found people who wanted to learn Japanese. Four showed up on Thursday – two from China, one from Mongolia, and an amazing man from Nigeria. We were surprised at how excited they were to have the opportunity to learn Japanese from us and we had a great lesson that they all soaked up. Then as planned, the elders shared a message and invitation about the Book of Mormon. They asked our friend from Nigeria to read Ether 12:27, which he did, beautifully. Then the elders asked him, “What does this mean to you?” 

He quietly pondered for a minute, then responded, “This tells me that Jesus Christ can make me strong. Even with Japanese.”

Then the elders told them it’s time to say a closing prayer, because that’s how we end our meetings. Then this wonderful man from Nigeria stood up and said, “Wait. Before you pray, I want to express my extreme gratitude to all of you for caring for me and teaching me these wonderful truths. Please say that in your prayer.”

We were stunned. Such a sweet man. We’re preparing carefully for next week’s lesson.

First Calligraphy of the Year

On Sunday, after our meetings, the branch held a “Kakizome” (書き初め) event. Kakizome means “first calligraphy of the year.” It’s a Japanese ritual where you meditate, clear your mind and then write your “determination” or “theme” for the coming year using a traditional brush and ink.

President Murakami set up calligraphy brushes, ink, and washi paper for us and all the branch members took turns writing what they thought. One beautiful aspect of the Japanese language is that it allows you to express a complete thought or theme using just one or two characters.

After we all had taken turns, we laid all our compositions on the table and picked our favorite. One member wrote: “Bound to the Lord.” It now hangs on the wall in our building and will be there until the next time we do this event next year. We love this ancient Japanese tradition and love how it connects us to our eternal purpose.

That’s how our week went. We are so blessed. But there’s more to come, so stay tuned. Also, please, don’t forget to pray for us.

Love,

Elder & Sister Low

ロウ長老姉妹