Series of Unfortunate Events

Saying goodbye to their 7-Eleven friends in Urawa

Fire clouds

New companions - Sister Teruya and Sister Parker

Hello everyone! 

Thank you for all the emails! There have been so many ups and downs this week.. So... This week. Where do I begin?! I am now in Okegawa with Sister Parker and Sister Teruya. Transfer calls were Monday and transfer day
was Wednesday.  Sister Sticht and I were so busy cleaning our apartment, packing, and telling our investigators
that the elders were going to teach them now... It was a rough couple of days. But wait, it gets better. I went to the mission home and Sister Sticht became companions with another sister leaving and they were going to be together for the next few days. I was with this Japanese Sister while we waited for our new companions to arrive. We went out finding and had a really fun time. A few hours later President Budge told me some sad news that Sister Kawabata was most likely going home... I was so sad and I was sent to go with the Nakano sisters who
serve by the mission home until they figured out what to do with me. I think their apartment is the smallest in the mission! I stayed on the floor for four days because there was only two chairs haha. President Budge called me Friday morning and told me where my new area would be. He said he and President Dorff talked and thought it would be best for me to serve in Okegawa. It is still in Saitama Stake but I am in a different zone.

I couldn't meet up with my new companions until Saturday evening because of schedules but I was happy because I got to meet Sister Sticht's family! She called me and we met up with them at a train station. I was so happy to meet them and it was almost like seeing my own family because I know so much about them. They gave me gifts too! They were so nice and then I had to say goodbye to Sister Sticht. It was so hard because she's going home and it's not like I can see her again during the mission. I cried when we hugged goodbye and she gave me encouraging advice. It's hard to leave my trainer and be away from everything I have known. New area, new companions, but I LOVE Sister Teruya and Sister Parker. Sister Teruya is from Okinawa and is so loving and hilarious and Sister Parker came into the MTC a few weeks before I left and she is hilarious! We are going to have a great time! I am so excited to serve with them and to work hard here in Okegawa. The members here are so nice and a lot of people say I sound like a Japanese person when I speak. Thanks to Sister Sticht! She helped me a
lot to focus on pronunciation. My vocabulary is very limited but at least my pronunciation is good!  The ward has so much dendou Fire and they love the missionaries. I still get to see Urawa people because I'm in the same stake so I'm happy about that.

Sister Fox shared a really cool talk with me. One of my favorite quotes is, "The doctrines are His, brothers and sisters, not ours. The power is His to delegate, not ours to manipulate!" I think that's so true. This is Christ's church. We are to obey His commandments. We can't pick and choose. If we do that, we won't receive the many promised blessings the Lord is ready to bestow upon us.

I love you all so much! I'm sad that I won't be in Koshigaya but I know I will have a good time here in Okegawa. I miss Urawa already and it will always be my home here in Japan, but I'm ready to do all that I can to help the people here. Thank you for all your love and support!

Aishiteimasu!

Love,
Sister Lacey