Heart Warmer

"Do nothing from selfishness or conceit but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Philippians 2:3-4

I can't believe it's already the weekend! Even though each day seemed pretty long/slow, the week went by fast... tomorrow = November. -_-;

Language school has been getting better. I made friends (from Korea & China) and it makes school more enjoyable! :) I think starting from next week, I'm going to go study with them. Yay! The Korean kids are soooo good... they always get in the TOP 3! Koreans... such overachievers. Praise report: I got 80/100 on my test! This was my second test and I know for most of you, you're thinking, "That's a B... minus." But I don't care! HAHA. I was so happy because 80 is the cutoff for no homework (if you get under 80 you get homework). :D I can't say I studied super hard for this test (obviously, right?), but I will try harder. I'm hoping that I'll do better on the next one so please pray that I can get over 80. Let me tell you... getting a good score (and yes, 80 is considered good... for now) does raise your spirits and it kinda motivates you. :0)

This week, I was able to finish "Disciplines of a Godly Woman" and "The Five Love Languages." Both were a good read and I can honestly say that I learned so much from both texts. Five Love Languages was a bit harder to put into perspective because I'm not married. -_- However, it had some good things to keep in mind in preparation for marriage (God willing). I don't want to go into an in depth analysis of both... but I did realize that after reading in depth about each love language, I had my love languages all mixed up! -_- I consider myself "bilingual" and it surprised me to see that some where higher/lower than how I first arranged them!

Wednesday night Bible studies are going well so far! The girls are so devoted and they hunger to know more of God's word. We are still going through Samuel and we had to read chapter 13-31. It was a blessing! I must admit... I don't think I ever read through Samuel all the way and so it was really helpful to understand the book as a whole! It was such a fun narrative... why did I miss out on such a great book before? :( If you haven't read all of 1 Samuel, I challenge you to read it! :)

After Bible study, my friend, Hitomi, invited me to her dorm for dinner. Tsuda College is an all-girls school and there are only like 2,000 students. The dorms are super close to the campus (it's pretty small but still pretty) and they literally share it like a huge house. The kitchen is for everyone in the dorm to use. They have their own food/cookware just out in the open/refrigerator/shelves... and the craziest part = people don't steal it! It's crazy how much trust there is in this culture. I was really amazed. すごいね！We made spaghetti and our friend, Kazumi (23 years old), made 덖볶이! She's Japanese but she studied abroad in Australia and she made Korean friends who taught her how to make it. It was really good! :) For dessert = japanese plain yogurt with canned peaches & blueberry jam. MMM.

Kazumi's testimony is really beautiful! She got saved while being in Australia... thanks to God's work through her Korean friends. It was truly the work of God's grace! Her entire family, however, does not know Christ. She has two younger brothers (21 & 19 years old). Please pray for her! She also shared with me another prayer request: she has a job lined up as soon as she finishes college in March (Japan's school year works that way), but the problem is, everyone in the company has to bow to the official flag every morning (it's ceremonial). She has made a difficult decision to tell her boss that she will not be able to bow down to the flag. She talked it over with her pastor and she felt that in her heart, it was wrong to continue doing it. WOW! Here is someone who wants to devote ALL of herself to God and not compromise in even the little things of this world. She expressed concerns over the outcome of her decision to tell her boss, but let's pray that God's will will be done. Through her example, I pray that people will be able to see Christ! She knows that everything is in God's hands... this kind of faith challenges/encourages me.

Reminds me of Matthew 5:13-16... SALT & LIGHT!

¹³"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

My new PASMO card... 6 months worth. I use this thing everyday and I guard it with my life. I'm so happy it is pink! Expires 4.28.10 (good thing it's an even number... I like even numbers).

I ate TAKOYAKI from a stand next to the train station by my house. I love this stuff! So good! 8 for 200 yen (about $2).

Closing story of the day: My niece (9 years old) wrote me a letter. SHE IS THE CUTEST!!! I am so blessed to have her in my life. I mentioned her in one of my earliest posts. I saw this and I was so touched/happy/excited/encouraged. She beat ALL OF YOU to sending me a letter. -_- She wrote on the outside of the envelope, "Be Happy" and "God is with you!" I'll leave you with what she wrote...

*I did not edit the minor errors 9 year olds make. :) It's cuter this way. Just in case you couldn't catch them, I italicized them for you. Reading my blog = get updated on my life in Japan + spelling lesson.

Dear Aunt Iris,

I miss you! I hope you still remeber what CA looks like. To help you remeber, I am giving you a CA state quarter. Be carful that you don't spend it. And remeber the words on the quarter 'in God we trust.' At school I am not doing well. I did'nt get any A+! I only got A, B+ and B. I forgot to tell you it is a congress report. But still... in your next letter please tell me about Japan and your openion of it. And please tell me if you are keeping my notes. May God bless you.

Anne