FEBRUARY 22, 2016 - RINGING THE BELLS OF HELL!

Well where do I begin to describe this week.  Monday when I last emailed I had a burnt hand and it got to the point where it got way swollen. So we went to the hospital.  We had a member drive us, Hasegawa Shimai, she's so sweet and funny. Anyway while this is all
happening a snow storm is raging outside and so it took longer to get to the hospital. My hand at this point is seriously on fire and when we get there and get parked I nearly jumped out of the car and suck my hand in a huge pile of snow.


Their emergency room isn't so emergency like...nor do ferpa laws exist here....I'm not sure how to completely describe it but it's filled with a lot of grandmas just chillin'....anyway it takes forever to see a doctor and Hasegawa Shimai has aloe that she keeps dumping (I'm
serious it was so much aloe) on my hand and it would keep it cool enough.  As I'm sitting there, blowing on my hand she's asking me why I came on a mission and when I was younger what imashime (commandment) I didn't follow. I don't know, dating before I was sixteen?!  I was a little agitated because I had to respond in Japanese. But it all worked out and was pretty funny in the end.  We had to call the zone leaders tell them that we would be late and Elder Sugimoto, Japanese, was freaking out over us and called  Cannon Shimai (he worked with her before in Toyooka but now he is in Fukuchiyama) and told her in  English, "Cannon Shimai, Cannon Shimai, calm down! Be still your soul!"  We were laughing a little to loud for that.



The doc wrapped my hand in Vaseline and a bunch of white cloth and said I needed to go to this plastic surgery and reconstruction center the next day that was a little concerning but.....I didn't because Sister Welch told me to go to Zone conference instead! We had gotten home late and brother Hasegawa was able to give me a blessing in our genkan (it's the equivalent to front door or wash room). He struggledwith saying my name in katakana English. 「Ma-de-ri--n zo- ozuwarudo] but it was good blessing I understood most of it.



Tuesday then, we went to zone conference! And it was sooo good! We learned so much!! When I walked in though, everyone's eyes went straight to my hand. I disrupted the peace for a moment. So when you get hurt or sick you call Sis. Welch, well she's the BOMB-DIGGITY (a word I just taught the Japanese recently ;) and is like a stone rock in times of crisis. She and Welch Kaicho were so kind to me, just like my own parents and gave me hugs and drugs :) president Welch just whips out his stash and it was kinda funny. But in other words we had a great conference. I love the people I work with they are like my
family. Being with them I feel a sense of peace.



We learned a lot about Christ and his atonement. During his life time on earth, Christ, didn't teach anything "new", he didn't perform any "new" miracles that had not been done before but the one new thing he did do that no other could do, was the act of the atonement. We
discussed how The Atonement covers us in this life and the next life but that also means it covers the life before this one. In the pre-existence, we had to make mistakes, and learn all that we could before we came to earth. He knows and understands even that. Our suffering
and temptations are known, they are real! He covers that ten fold; after all that, the things we for sure cannot control, he covers even the things we choose to do wrong. Our sins are our own doing no one caused them but us and he still loves us enough to take that away.

As missionaries we do have those temptations and suffering. It's because we (everyone member, or not) need to have understanding. This understanding allows us to become like him. This is the first law (read 2 nephi 2 ). We only Understand a thimble full or really our pain and everything else we have ever felt is a thimble full. In the end you'll take your thimble full and dump in the ocean. The ocean is all that the savior felt for every single living thing. He absorbed it all.



We make mistakes and we give in to temptations, but he never gave in. The minute we entertain temptation is the min we begin to loose. The minute we shout from over river to see and hear what they are doing in the great and spacious building is the moment that Satan will try he's best to take you down. (Wow this is really intense). Really though
there was so much to be learned from the atonement. We have recently been given this challenge to read the Book of Mormon only looking for aspects of the atonement. I can't give the whole challenge out because it's top secret. I've started and my new Book of Mormon is already filled with notes and colors and there is so much to learn about the atonement.

Kaicho was talking about how Christ knows us and he's like he know what it's like to get burned.." He turns and give he's big ol grin, a dad kinda grin that makes you think really dad! But it was funny, I have other videos from that day but no time to write about that now.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were tough though. After being pumped up Satan again tried his hardest to bring us down. Emotionally, spiritually, physically..we later got a email from our Zone Leaders Sugimoto Choro and Seagle Choro.



"So recently as a zone we've been facing some adversity. Missionaries have been getting hurt, investigators randomly dropping, as well as load of other things so terrible that we won't mention them. Keeping all this in mind, we just wanted to give out a little warning to
everyone: BE CAREFUL! President Welch gave out a powerful reminder before Zone Taikai ended that the power of Satan is real!



Recently here in the mission and specifically in this zone we have been shaking the cages of hell a little bit...dso obviously Satan is trying to shake us right back. Let's all remember that the one who holds the real power is our savior Jesus Christ, and that no power on earth or below is anything compared to him. Yes it may be true that Satan is working his hardest to kill us, but none of that matters because we have divine help on our side.  We believe the real reason for all these attacks is simply that Satan is getting a little scared. When things are in the verge of excellence he comes out...keep on fighting. That's when the
miracles will come everyone.



There was more but it's too long...but another thing we've been doing is everyday at 6 we pray for the mission! I'd like to extend the challenge to you to pray for the Denver south mission (or what ever mission you live in) and the missionaries close in your life. I know
that prayers work and if we all do this miracles will happen here in Japan and back home!







Then came Saturday...the day started out fantastic, besides the rain, my comp and I just taught three awesome lessons in a row and the spirit was felt. We had told the elders the day before we wanted a blessing because we just felt it was needed. Well time ran out and so we wanted to meet up with them Saturday to do the doing. So we're biking and I get a phone call and its in my pocket and so I go to pull the phone out and it's just in my hand (yes still biking). Cannon shimai is ahead and she crosses a street and I looked to the side of me to see a little truck about to turn left, I realized I had to stop. But I was going too fast and there's a phone in my break hand and my breaks aren't working and for a second I had this thought, crap I'm going to hit this car so I brace my self and BAM! I hit the truck. My wheel gets caught in between the section of his truck and his wheel and because he is still moving it sucks my wheel under and it flings the back and the seat upward and forward so I land on the wall of the bed of the truck. I'm half in half out. I blacked out for a second and
woke up to my helmet and the phone in the bed of the truck. I take a breath and let out a cry. My hands rammed them selfs into the truck and my right hand, the one that I just burned five days before is bleeding and starting to swell up. The guy I hit, gets out and he
looks so scared, and angry. He has a cigarette in his mouth and asks me something but I can't understand. I just start apologizing, "gomenasai! Gomenasai!" He helps me off his truck and I grab the phone. He begins to call the police and I told him that my breaks were
bad. I was completely in shock because I was crying and blubbering.



This is when I realized that Cannon Shimai is gone. No where in sight, and I'm alone. It's raining and cold and I'm in shock, my hands possibly broken and to be honest that was the scariest moment ever in my life. I not sure who to call first, I'm so glad I had the phone,
but I try the elders because one of them is a nihonjin and understands Japanese. No answer. I next call sister Welch and no answer. I call the elders again, no answer. After that I'm leaning against the fence and then Welch Shimai calls me back! I lost it when she answered because it was English and someone I loved and someone who loves me. I
try to tell her what happened and she's like a stone mountain, calm and then there is me stuttering. She tells me to call a member or someone who could help. After I get off with her I called the elders a third time and a fourth time and then I text them "help" and then
finally I get an answer back!



On their end, they were in a joint member lesson and Elder Funaki, who had the phone (at least this is what they told me) and Funaki Choro said he had this hurt feeling in his chest and so by the fourth missed call he hands it to Hancock Choro to see what the four missed calls where about! So he calls and asks "hey what's up, are you okay?" And as soon as he answered the phone I break down again and it takes me a moment to get out that I've been hit by a truck! "What? Are you okay? Where's Cannon? " I tell him I don't know and I could hear him say "fetch!" Really loudly. After the call he gathers his comp and president Tada, the member who was jointing their lesson, who also is the branch president, and they are about to walk out the door, when cannon Shimai pulls up into the church parking lot.




Hancock looks at her and shouts at her saying, "she's been in a car accident, you stay
right there!" He was kinda freaking out a little bit. Cannon on the other hand almost booked it about to go run back after me and instead ran to the fence and almost kicked it. The poor girl every comp she has had (all two of them) has gotten hurt in some weird way or another, it because she is a beast and Satan knows that he can get to her though others, other wise she would constantly keep working to bring the gospel to others till she her self passed out with exhaustion.



So back at the "scene" the police show up and they tell me to get in the car, which the inside of Japanese police cars are actually way nice :) and they start asking my questions and I kinda just through my wallet at the guy because I couldn't understand anything and it had my address and such inside. Japanese police are very thorough with figuring out what happened and where to distribute blame. Finally Tada kaicho, the Elders and Cannon Shimai show up and they run to the car that I'm in. I soon as I see Cannon she hugs me and as we hug we both started crying with each other. That moment is when I started to feel
safe. The Elders and Cannon Shimai they are my family. They helped me in a way I can never repay them. There was a line of translation, the police to Funaki, Funaki in simpler Japanese to Hancock and Hancock to me in English.



So eventually we get to the hospital. And like I said before then emergency room isn't so emergency. Yay round two and this time I have translators. The shock kept all the pain at bay until like later that night so I was sort of okay.  After I get my blood pressure taken and
temp and such, the nurse comes out with neck brace and I said "no, no way are you putting that on me.." It was a bit of a fight but eventually I let them put it on.  Anxiety came back and I was annoyed...any way they call my name and the four of us all go back and the doctor was way confused at first and then just shrugged it off.  There's me sitting in one chair and my three other "parents" on the other table helping me understand. They told me I needed a CT scan and a few X-rays. We get all that done...which by the way x rays are scary because they don't put any led protection or anything like that.....but I needed a chest one and so the X-ray guy told Funaki that I needed to take my bra off but one he was so awkward about it
because he didn't know the English word for it...all along the way my companion and elder Hancock kept sister Welch informed...they were both kinda freaking out. so after spending hours (like 6) in the hospital they cleared me and nothing was broken, just very bruised and
sore and then came time to pay...the price was shown to us was 49,000 and we all look at each other and all just started pulling out all the money we had (that's about 490 dollars) then Tada kaicho came over and said he would pay and I'd just pay him back later.....oh man...



On the way home it's like 10 o clock but we're supposed to be home by nine or nine thirty if your teaching a lesson, and Tada kaicho is driving us home and he's like, "you got the okay to stay out late right?" And we said yes and then he proceeded to drive into the
parking lot of a restaurant. So we just went and ate food, by the end it was like 11:15 and that's when all the shock went away and I really in pain. I finally got home and went to bed. The next morning we went to church but that was a struggle...but there was so much love from the members! I only really wanted to go because of the sacrament.



As I was being blessed I realized I could understand the blessing in Japanese. And after Tada kaicho took his they came to me and I was the first to partake...I took the bread and then I looked down at my hands. I looked at how utterly busted they looked, torn, and burnt and bruised...and then I remembered that so we're His. My savior understood the literal pain I was in in that exact moment. It felt like he stood in front of me and then kneeled down and put his hand to my face seeming to say, "let me take this from you," it was a sweet,
overwhelming feeling of literal and actual love from my brother, Jesus Christ.



So don't worry. I'm okay, I have the love of those around me, I am safe, I am protected, there is no doubt in my mind that the Angels of heaven protected me from being more seriously damaged. I am loved. I love you all so very much. I know Satan is trying to take me out but it's because we're making miracles happen and he is getting scared.
Few days ago I was talking to an elder and we talked about how our area is a battlefield, a war zone between Christ and his missionaries and Satan. I'm just glad I'm on the winning side.



Food for thought:
To the savior: Thank you for loving me enough.



We are obedient we follow those commandments because we love God. We
are the reason he smiles and has joy! We know how to make God smile.



Why would you cheat on your savior?



Blessings are not one sided.



You open the door and let Christ pull you through. Promise God and he
will give you the way.



When we do things to shake heaven's kingdom, Satan's going to wake up.


When the announcement of a temple comes the bells of hell ring. And let
them ring!



Sister Madeline Zoe Oswald Missionary for Christ!