Little Piggy.

Week 78 (Fukuoka - Kurume: July 20, 2009)

Sister Osterloh's Mission will be over this week.

Dear Family,
Wow. 18 months! I can't believe I've been writing e-mails every week for 18 months!!!...oh, and dendo-ing(missionary work) too...

So, I don't really know what to write...cause I'll be seeing you guys in a few days...it'll be so much easier to just tell you all in person. Can you believe it, we can talk face to face!!! Wahoo!

Today is our last p-day, and we were invited over to the most incredible member family's house for pizza and chocolate fondue! Delicious! This is the second time we've gone over to their house, but both times as I left their home, I thought "this is the gospel. this is what it's all about" There is Love in that home. They are each other's best friends. Their home is a shelter from all the ick that surrounds us in this world. It's a place where true joy resides. I'm SO grateful to have that same blessing in my life. My home is my haven.I love you guys all so much! Family is the greatest blessing in my life!

Yesterday was my last Sunday as a missionary. It doesn't really feel like the end's come yet...but I got called on to say every prayer, they asked me to speak in Sacrament meeting, and I also did the musical number. Hehe, funny how when you leave, you get asked to do everything. I didn't mind though. It's the least I could do to show my appreciation for the Kurume ward and what they've done to help me, not only as a missionary, but as a person. I've learned so much in this last area, it's incredible. I've truly felt the love of my Heavenly Father through the love that all the members have shown me here. I'm definitely coming back to play sometime!
Only a few days left...but I'm going to do the best to make them the most memorable! Thank you all so much for supporting me for this past year and a half. Without the encouraging e-mails and Dear Sachi's, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish what I did. Mom, Dad, Mari, Kumi, Misa....I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Words don't do the feelings I feel justice...but I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for the incredible blessing he gave me by calling me to be a missionary, by allowing me to be an instrument in His hands. I know that as we lose ourselves, we truly do find ourselves....or at least we find true joy. the Lord works in mysterious ways...something I've come to truly believe during these past 18 months. He loves us. He wants us to be happy...and we CAN be happy....incredibly happy!
Well, I can't wait to see you guys! We have ALOT of catching up to do! I'll get to tell you all about the incredible miracles I've seen! And the incredible people I've met. Have a safe flight over, and see you on Thursday!
Sister Osterloh

Week 77 (Fukuoka - Kurume: July 13, 2009)

Can you believe it?! The time has come!!! CRAZY. It still hasn't really hit me. I don't know if it ever will until I step of the plane into dry Utah weather. I hope everything's all set to go...i guess all that's left is to pray that everything goes okay.


As for us over here in Kurume. The baptism went through, and was truly a moving experience. Tomimatsu-san has changed so much since we first met her. She was glowing on Saturday!!! She was ready and waiting to take this step towards returning to Heavenly Father. Meeting Tomimatsu-san was nothing short of a miracle. I'm sure I've told you already, but we just happened to be standing next to her as we were waiting at a red-light. Isn't it amazing how Heavenly Father places us where we need to be when we need to be there! Tomimatsu-san was waiting for the gospel...she just didn't know it. Did I tell you that she read half the Book of Mormon in a week? Not only did she read it, but she learned from it. She already knew the things we taught her cause she had read about it already! The time between our initial meeting at the red light and the day she was confirmed a member of the Church was one month to the day!!....this is not something we did on our own...it wouldn't have been possible to do this on our own. I am truly grateful for the power of the Book of Mormon, and Tomimatsu-san's willingness to act upon the promptings she felt from the spirit. This work is God's work!! And it's incredible to be a part of it.

Not only did we have an amazing baptism, but guess who performed the baptism? None other than our wonder boy Kazuki. I can't express in words how incredibly happy I was! Two months ago, Kazuki stepped into the waters of baptism and entered the gate to receive blessings prepared by our Heavenly Father, this last weekend, he made gave this blessing to another. The power of the priesthood is truly amazing.

I never thought I'd see a miracle as great as this during my year and a half here in Japan. What a wonderful way to leave Kurume. Heavenly Father has given me SO many blessings, for which I am grateful for from the bottom of my heart.
I could go on and on about how incredible the baptism was....but the incredible members of the Kurume ward are trying to make these last few weeks for me the best!...so we're going out to play with the members today. So I guess you'll just have to ask me about the rest of the story in person!
One more e-mail!

Week 76 (Fukuoka - Kurume: July 6, 2009)

Sister Osterloh: Fukuoka, Japan Mission

September 30, 2007 ---- turn in Mission paper
October 17, 2007 ------- Mission call came
December 27, 2007 ----- Endearment at Salt Lake Temple
January 20, 2008 ------- Farewell at Little Cottonwood Ward
January 30, 2008 ------- Entry to MTC
February 8, 2008 ------- gave 1st lesson in Japanese
March 3, 2008 ---------- leave MTC
March 4, 2008 ---------- 1st area Fukuoka -Kitakyushu ward
May 29, 2008 ----------- 2nd area Kagoshima -Taniyama ward
August 21, 2008 --------- 3rd area Fukuoka - Fukuoka ward
December 25, 2008 ----- 4th area Fukuoka - Fujisaki ward
March 18, 2009 --------- 5th area Fukuoka - Kurume ward
July 24, 2009 ----------- final day at the mission

Week 75 (Fukuoka - Kurume: June 28,2009)

As for the work we are continuing to see miracles!!! The lady I mentioned last week has finished all the missionary lessons. All that's left for her is the interview....and giving up alcohol. She's already quit smoking, tea, and coffee....but she really likes Sake. She's working on it though.

The other investigator, is busy and has lots of outside forces working against her...but she's trying hard. We're meeting with her often, and are trying to help her prepare to be baptized on the 11th. (same day with other lady)
Yesterday was President Iwaasa and Sister Iwaasa's farewell...It was a blast...but so sad at the same time. I can't believe yesterday was the last time to see President and Sister Iwaasa. They're an amazing couple!! I am so grateful to have been able to spend the majority of my mission with them as my mission mom and dad!
Another thing I realized yesterday is how much I have come to LOVE the Fukuoka Stake members. I don't think it is coincidence that I have spent almost my entire mission in the same stake. I love going to stake activities...and knowing so many people!!!! It brings back all the good memories of each of the areas I served in. I have truly been blessed by the Lord. A mission is amazing. I love it!
Well, sorry for the scatter brained e-mail. I think I got in everything I need to for this week (It's so weird...we're running out of time!!!)
Well, family, I CAN'T WAIT to see you all!!!!
LOVE YOU TONS AND TONS AND TONS!!

Week 74 (Fukuoka - Kurume: June 22, 2009)

I don't know what I've done to deserve it, but we are continuing to see miracle after miracle here in Kurume!!!
First off, let me tell you a little about my new companion. Harazoe Yu is from Tokyo. She's a "cute" sister. Always has a smile on her face and is super perky! She's the stereotypical Japanese girl...the gorgeous, skinny, nice girl that everyone loves! She's super optimistic and we have a blast working together.

It's incredible working with a bean. Everything we do in dendo is fun for her. Housing is fun, streeting is fun, lessons are fun...and everything we do is miraculous! Somebody stopped and listened to us!!!! Somebody took a book of Mormon!!!! Somebody said they'd come to eikaiwa(English conversation class)!!!!!!! I remember when I would get excited over the little things...and I think that's the way it should be. Sometimes we get so used to the miracles that we see everyday that we forget to be grateful for them. My companion has helped me re-realize how much the Lord helps us with our daily work.

Last week since we hadn't bought Harazoe-shimai's bike yet we were walking to an appointment with a less active member. As we were stopped at a red-light we started talking to a lady (late 40's). She didn't seem too interested, but we walked along talking with her(persistence is the key!!!) Anyways, she said she didn't have much time to talk, so we handed her a Book of Mormon and asked if we could call her to ask her how it was. We got her phone number and said goodbye. It was my companion's second day in the field...and probably the first telephone number we got together..., she was so excited that she started crying:) To me, this was just another contact like we do every other day...but to her it was a miracle. She was right, this contact was a miracle!

The next morning we gave the lady from the street a call. Come to find out she thought the Book of Mormon was "Sugoi(Amazing)"...(hmmmm...I heard this response before...oh yeah, that's exactly what Kazuki(recent convert) said) So we set up an appointment to meet with her that very night!

So we get to church and she comes wearing quite the outfit...So we teach her lesson one, and found out she had already read all the way through first Nephi!!!! Whoa!!! She'd only had this book for a day! We taught her about Joseph Smith and invited her to come to church, to which she said yes!

So Last Sunday she came to all three hours of church. Amazingly enough, the Sunday school lesson was about baptism! Couldn't have been more perfect. She's so in tune, and took everything in. At our next lesson we taught her about the plan of salvation (interestingly enough her outfit was a bit more modest than the first two times she'd come to church...and we hadn't taught her too much about the law of Chastity yet) Anyways, we talked about how Jesus Christ atoned for our sins so that we could become clean and return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. She goes..."Baptism right?" WHOA?! So we talked a little bit about baptism...but since we hadn't been preparing to set a date with her yet we didn't have anything in mind. So we asked her to pray about whether baptism was the right thing for her and scheduled another appointment with her two days later.

Well, at our last lesson on Thursday, we set a date for her for July 11th!!!!!!!! This woman is incredible! One week, and we already have a Baptismal date...and she's half way finished with the Book of Mormon!!!! Yesterday at Church, her dress was completely modest!!! She is the perfect example of someone who is learning by the power of the Spirit and the Book of Mormon. In this short week that we've known her she's already changing so much.
She's currently looking for a job, so we thought we should teach her about keeping the sabbath day holy early on. Well, when we brought up the sabbath day SHE taught US what it was! I said " today we want to talk about one of the commandments God has given us. God has commanded us to keep the sabbath day holy"...She goes "oh yeah, I read that in the Book of Mormon, God created a day for everyone to come together, go to church and pray...for six day we work hard and on the seventh day, Sunday, we rest" ...uh......exactly....who told her that?!?! My jaw was probably hanging open:)
So we're really looking forward to continue teaching her...or being taught by her. she's been prepared by the Lord and is thirsting and hungering after righteousness!!!

That's only the beginning of the miracles we are seeing here in Kurume...I could go on and on, but P-day's not long enough. So I'll tell you about one Family and a girl next week. Let's just say, Sundays are EXHAUSTING cause we have so many "friends" coming to church!

Week 73 (Fukuoka - Kurume: June 15, 2009)

So I guess rainy season decided to hit Utah instead of Japan. Rainy season officially started last Tuesday...and it's only rained once. In fact it's been really sunny for the past couple of days! I'm not complaining though, cause....I LOVE IT! Rain is nice...but sunshine is so much better!

Anyways, I went through my last "transfer" and am glad to report that I am still in Kurume. YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! I love this place SOOOO much. The ward members, the investigators, the people...everything is incredible! I know that Heavenly Father wants me to be here for another 6 weeks. And I am excited for it!

This last transfer I really felt that Heavenly Father is directing this work, leading the mission president to put each missionary where they are needed and who they need to be with. Remember how just about this time last week I was starting to burn out? Well, Heavenly Father sent me an incredible spark to light the dendo (missionary) fire in me again! The Lord has called me to be a trainer! Third time's the charm right? Maybe this time I can do a good job ;)
My new companion's name in Harazoe Yuu. She's 22. Born in 1986...October 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!! (because of the time difference Oct.4th is Oct. 3rd here in US ) We're practically twins! (We got really excited when we figured this out...haha...picture two sister missionaries jumping around squealing high pitched laughter...that was us last week) She's super skinny!! And lots of fun. She is literally a ball of energy! (As weird as that sounds) And she's really helped me get excited about working again. Everything we are doing is new and full of excitement for her. She's an incredible missionary and already I've probably learned more from her than I have been able to teach.

On her very first day here we had a lesson to do right away. We took a short half an hour, planned the lesson, and went and taught it. Missionaries right out of the MTC are incredible! It was as if she'd already been trained and in the field for a few months...not a bean. The lesson went great, and already we've found a new investigator.....who came to church yesterday!!! Incredible!

Anyways, so this transfer we've set a bunch of goals that we want to accomplish and have set our theme as savoring the joy of dendo(missionary work)!!! I can tell already that this transfer is gonna be alot of fun. I'm truly grateful to Heavenly Father who has given me this chance to pass on the fire that's left in me to a BRAND NEW missionary. She'll be able to continue on and carry it to so many who are waiting for this joyous message! I know that this companionship was put together more for me than for Harazoe shimai...there's alot Heavenly Father wants me to learn in these last six weeks, and he sent her to teach me. Sugoine (Amazing).
So. Right now we're continuing to work with 2 investigators. Both have obstacles in front of them...but we're praying that we'll be able to overcome them together and that the two will be able to be baptized within the next few weeks.

I have been so blessed to see so many miracles. There's still alot of hard work ahead, and I'm gonna try and give it all I've got!

So fun story of the week (sorry, short on time, so I gotta make it short) Last P-day, Motegi-shimai and I went to the big white scary statue thing in Kurume. We walked up it....there wasn't much to it...but afterwards, as you go down it, it leads to "hell". My companion and I went to hell last P-day!!!! It was fun...hahahaha. Really bloody and gross. I definitely don't want to go there after I die, that's for sure. There were a ton of oni's torturing "bad people"...people who had lied, or stolen, or wasted food, or were cruel to animals....the oni's were stuffing their mouths with iron balls, sawing their appendages off, sticking them in boiling pots, and making them climb up mountains made of needles....it was gross.....(you could see it all moving like a haunted house at an amusement park) but probably the funnest part of last p-day:) hahaha.
Welp, I've got to take my bean-chan out shopping and then for some famous Kurume Ramen. Until next week! Genki de ne! (Stay happy)
Love, love, love,
Sister Osterloh