Happy Halloween! We had our Halloween party this past weekend, so I feel like Halloween is over already - the real Halloween is simply our transfer day, which is possibly the scariest Halloween I have had yet! I know I will love any new area I go to, but I love my area now - I don't want to leave! We'll see what happens! :)
This week we went on splits to Hakodate and to Obihiro - both of which take about three hours to get to in opposite directions - so it was a lot of travel this week! We were able to see a lot of miracles though, it was truly a blessing. On these splits I gained a new appreciation for Alma 37:37 "when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let they heart be full of thanks unto God". I had two experiences: The night before we were supposed to leave Hakodate on a train we got a call saying that due to a landslide in the rain no trains were going in or out of Hakodate. We scrambled and got a reservation for a bus instead, although it meant that we would have almost no time in Sapporo before we had to go on to Obihiro for the next splits. The next morning came, and we decided to go and at least check the trains, if nothing else to see if we could get our money back for our unusable tickets. But when we went to check - all the trains were running! All through the night, in the rain workers had gone to fix the tracks, and miraculously we were able to go as originally planned on the earliest train out of Hakodate, arrive earlier in Sapporo, and have a really wonderful lesson on the restoration with an investigator in that time that we had been given. We were so happy to be on that train! And I thought it was interesting as we rode, that had we not been told of the landslide the night before we would never have known that it was a miracle to be on that train, and I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.
Story number 2, is when we were in Obihiro. I woke up in the middle of the night to a fairly long earthquake. As I looked around at the other 4 sisters in the apartment no one else had woken up, and all of them were just peacefully sleeping, as I sat there wide awake waiting for the earthquake to die down. It went on for a fairly good amount of time, but it did stop, and everything was totally fine. I said a prayer of gratitude, and then went back to sleep. The other sisters woke up just as always, never knowing that they had been protected through the night.
I know that just as President Eyring said in his talk in conference that angels are sent to watch over us! I know that in countless ways the Lord watches over this children, he watches over me!, when we are sleeping, and even we are awake, but simply not aware. This week I was blessed to be made aware of some of the ways he is watching over me, but I know that there are so many more that I will never even know about - but either way I can rise in the morning with my heart full of thanks to God, for his love, his protection, and the gift of another great day!
I wish I could write about every day in detail - all the people that I was able to meet again in Obihiro (I am sending one picture of me with Onodera Eiko shimai, a sister that got baptized when I was there last year), and everything else! I am also sending a picture of the Halloween Party - it is me and my companion, and Watanabe san and her two kids, Aika chan and Yoshiki kun :) Yes, I was a Japanese High School Girl ;)
I hope you all have the most wonderful weeks! May we all wake up every morning with a heart full of thanks!
I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Budge
(P.S. I am sorry that I have been so terrible at writing hand written letters! Please know that you are all in my heart always, and in my prayers! Love you!)
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