About a week or so later, Yuka and I were headed to Troy's home in Takamatsu for a little gathering. Yuka was driving and we got lost. As we sat at a light where the road came to a "T" I kind of felt like the road to the left was highlighted or lighter to me. I told Yuka we should turn left. We did and as we drove I remained open to promptings from this source that lights up an area. I felt we should turn left again after a grouping of large trees. As we drove there were only small streets and I did not feel impressed that the left we needed to take was any of them. We got to a large intersection and turned left. I looked around, waiting for another impression but did not get one. I asked Yuka if she knew where we were. She looked around and said "Yes! I do. We are going right there!" and she pointed to a sign just half a block away. We turned in and picked up Masashi (I did not know we were picking him up) and continued just a few blocks away to Troy's home.
Another great tender mercy happened just a few days ago. I was recently called to be the Sunday School Teacher for our English Gospel Doctrine class. I was trying to prepare the lesson whilst getting everything done and didn't feel like it was coming together just right. As I approached my apartment complex Saturday night, I felt like I should take the elevator. I really didn't want to though since I had eaten fried food that day and had not had time to exercise for a few days. I really wanted to climb the seven floors to my apartment. Not being sarcastic. But I decided it was best to follow the prompting and as I approached the main entrance to the complex I thought "Oh, I might as well check my mail while I'm at it." I did and found that the last 3 months of Ensign's were in my mailbox!! I have been emailing Church Headquarters to find out why they were not forwarded and here they were! One of the 3 months was the Conference Issue of the Ensign. I looked through the topical guide and found 6 talks directly relating to Loving One Another (the topic for Sunday School the following morning). I decided to read all 6 that night in hopes of finding some great comments by the brethren. As I sat down to read, a page jumped into my mind. Page 47. I opened to find perfect quotes and thoughts by Elder Ballard that are directly related to the chapters in the New Testament that we were covering.
By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I didn't get to go over everything I wanted to in class, but that's ok because President Jackson came in to talk about Helping Hands and how the Church was paying for transportation, hotel, and meals for those wanting to go to the Sendai area to help with the relief effort. That fit in perfectly with the lesson and I am now excited to maybe have the chance to do something to serve the people here in Japan.
Last night Wakako and her husband came over and showed me how to make Udon. Just before they left I had a very strong impression that they needed to come to church with me and be sealed. They are such a great couple. They love and serve each other all the time and have a great relationship. The thought persisted and I was almost ready to just word-vomit a persistent sounding plea to come to church. Just before they left, I found the words and told Wakako she and her husband should come to church with me sometime. She said she would. These great people have to know about eternal marriage.
July 1st was Troy's birthday! Yay!! Happy birthday! It was a surprise. We made calzones and ate this amazing cake Yuka bought.
