Transfer six week... What week is it? Haha I forgot!

From: Lindsay Sanders <lindsay.sanders@myldsmail.net>

Date: June 14, 2015 7:15:47 PM MST

Subject: Transfer six week... What week is it? Haha I forgot!

Guess what this week is?? I hit 10 months of being a missionary! Woohoo!! In honor of this momentous occasion, here are my top ten favorite things about being a missionary!

10. Learning how to work hard. I have never been so tired in my life!! But I am also the happiest I have ever been! 

9. Opportunities to share my talents. I don't have very many talents to share, but I am trying to do what I can. I organize and start children's English class programs, I have organized choirs and musical numbers, I sing in church and on the street to get people's attention. I have become aware of more talents I didn't know I had! 

8. Lots of time to study the scriptures & doctrine. I love studying the scriptures. I get so much out of it! I have so much more knowledge now. I have scripture references for every main point of my testimony now. I love it!

7. Experiencing a new culture and language. Japan is so cool! The language is had,Mobut I am getting better at it and I act as Japanese as possible. The only problem so that I look sooooo American. I love Japan so much. I hope I will get to come back here again.

6. Having FUN! I have so much fun every day! We are having a challenge with the Elders to do one fun, random thing a day. We play a game of ninja or make up a song or do a funny lip sync video to efy songs!! 

5. Working with the other missionaries. My district is amazing. They work so hard and we love each other! They are my best friends. Elder Christensen, Elder Stanger, Elder Yanagida, Elder Sato, Sister Chun, Sister Madeux, and Sister Popham! They are the best! They are good examples to me. Whenever we see a miracle or having something good happen, we call each other and it gives us motivation to work harder.

4. Hearing how my family is being blessed. First off, my little brother is going on a mission! I am so proud! My mom wants to go out and help the missionaries in our ward. My dad gives service like crazy!! I know that they are being blessed! It makes me so happy to hear about the fun things they are doing. Especially when they share their spiritual experiences with me. It is my favorite!

3. Making people smile. I started counting how many smiles I see. Last week, I counted 328!! That is a lot of happy people! I have really been trying to focus on the positive and not worry about the negative. What is even better is when I am the cause of those smiles! I truly believe that my purpose in being here is to make people happy. 

2. Seeing the change in myself. I know I wasn't a bad person before my mission. But I feel a little bit more grown up. I rely on God so much more than I did before. I am not perfect, or anywhere close, but I am grateful for experiences that help me change.

1. Seeing the change in others. The biggest miracles I have seen have been people changing their lives because they feel god's love. I can see it in their eyes. There is a special light that people carry with them when they love God and they know that God loves them. It is a precious gift to me to be able to see this. I love, love, LOVE the Japanese people. They are amazing examples of faith. When they come to learn about God as a loving father, it is the most amazing thing.

I know I was sent here for a reason. I may not get to see many (or any) baptisms, but I don't care about that. I care that people's hearts are being touched. That they have a reason to smile. Even if that reason is because Sister Sanders can't speak Japanese well... At least they can laugh at that! I labor here to find those that are ready. They are hard to find, but just as Christ searches for us and longs to bring us home, I will search every moment I can to find my brothers and sisters. I love being a missionary!! Thanks for all of the love and support! It keeps me going. Have a great week!

Love Sister Sanders

Sent from my iPad