Camera...Lost then Found! (email)

I have a funny story that happened today--today is preparation day, but we went to a member`s house for lunch--it took about 45 min. by bike to get to her house. We took a picture with this sweet member at the end, and I put my camera back into my bike basket. My bike basket cover was pretty old, so I had decided to buy a new one today--on our way back from the member`s house, my basket cover fell off two times before stopping by a store and buying a new one. I didn`t think too much of it, until we reached the mall where we were going to develop the pictures, and realized my camera was gone! Semba Shimai and I prayed together for God`s help to find it, then marked our way back to the store, then back to the member`s house, and didn`t find it. So then we went to the `police box` where you can report missing items, and if they are turned in, they`ll be returned to us. We talked to the police there, filled out a form...less than an hour later we got a call from them, saying the camera had been turned in! It must have fallen out of my basket, and someone brought it to the Police Box. I`m grateful God heard our prayers, and my camera was found!

Besides the camera drama today, this past week has been so wonderful, and full of miracles! Semba Shimai and I fasted and said a special prayer at the beginning of last week, because we really wanted to find those who are waiting to hear our message! After our fast, it seemed like each day there was just miracle after miracle that happened. One night we had a little bit of time to go housing--as we were riding our bikes we saw an apartment building that felt like a good place to go to. The very first person that answered the door was a nice, 50 year old woman who we found out had taken the lessons from the missionaries 20 years ago, but was afraid of water then so she hadn`t gotten baptized...but she`s no longer afraid of water! She came to church on Sunday, and wants to be baptized! Her name is Yamaguchi san...

We had invited another one of our investigators, Iizuka san, many times to be baptized, but she`d kept saying `no` even though she felt what we were teaching is true. She really believes in Jesus Christ and has pictures of him in her house. The last lesson we`d had with her, we had commited her to pray to God to know if God wanted her to be baptized or not. Last week when we went to visit her, she said she`d thought a lot about baptism, prayed, and wants to be baptized!! Her change of heart was truly a miracle--and true conversion! God definitely knows what`s best for us and will make us happy, and will tell us individually if we only ask Him...

I`m out of time today, but I wish I could tell about the many other little miracles we see each day as missionaries. This is truly God`s work, and I love being an instrument in His hands!

Love,
Sister Swain