2009 coming to an end...

wow this year has definitely been a year of growth. God challenged me in many ways and taught me to truly rely on Him.

Japan was amazing. I could go on and on about my experience in Japan because it has forever changed me. It was very humbling and just what I needed to grab ahold of my relationship with the Lord.

School was pretty good this semester. I learned a whole lot about friendships and how important relationships are beyond just surface level.

I am looking forward to the new year and what God is going to do in and through me in 2010! <3

Hardin Simmons Fall 2009

Well it's back to school time! I am leaving to go back to good ol' HSU tomorrow and I am so excited! I will be rooming with my best friend Sarah and our suite mates are two of our close friends! We are all sorority sisters!

I am excited for this semester because I think BIG things are going to happen. Not sure what all God has planned but I know something will happen because God is so good!

Some of my favorite pics from Japan <3

This is a "healing" god. People will rub their hands on it and then rub their own body wherever they feel pain in hopes that they will be healed.

This is one of my closest friends from the summer named Haley. She and I would often hold hands walking down the street..it's common for close Japanese friends to do the same :)
This is my friend Yasui. She worked at a grocery store at my station and a couple days before I left Japan my friend Brian and I had lunch with her and shared the Gospel with her. It was a precious time.
These are the intern girls I lived with.

This is my friend Matt from California. We were the bestest of friends in high school and look! We saw eachother again in TOKYO! Praise God!

This is my precious friend named Ai. This was taken after I baptized her. What a humbling moment.

This is a picture I took at the biggest temple in Tokyo, it's Psalm 115 :)

Precious Japan <3

well here I am in Plano, Texas... sitting, thinking about my time in Japan.

I'm trying to get my thoughts and feelings all together.

This summer living in Tokyo, Japan has changed me in many ways. I'm going to try and write all that I have learned and just my overall experience in Japan.

This summer was very humbling. God used me in so many ways...and often times more than others. Why did He choose me? To lead people to Him, have many contacts, and just overall allowed me to love people more than I ever have before. God blew me away. Maybe it's because I set the bar pretty low for God. Before coming to Japan I prayed that I would be able to at least tell one person about Jesus and that's all I would need to be satisfied for my summer. well....God allowed me to tell hundreds of people about Jesus! The Gospel was in my everyday speech...it became my love language. It was natural. How this happened was only because God chose ME and worked through ME. to love people and speak truth into many people's lives.

I am still in awe.

I have countless stories of how God moved not only in my life, but in the lives of people I met. I was able to see a person's life change in a matter of minutes and see their heart change from disbelief to having faith.

July 15, 2009. I was able to witness what life is all about. Seeing my precious friend who I had been having Bible study with...finally put her faith in the Lord made my whole summer worth it. and I will forever remember that moment because in that moment I was changed. I finally figured out that this is what matters in life. My purpose for living is to share with people Jesus' love for them. Then on July 30th I was given the privilege to baptize her! If this isn't humbling..I don't know what is.

I have learned to listen. This definitely was not a part of my character before coming to Japan. I have always been the talker and initiator of conversation. Learning to just BE. and listen to others has taught me way more than if I hadn't listened.

God is teaching me to be content. I haven't quite figured it all out because I am continually learning to delight myself in Him. I am learning to be found in Him. Christ is what defines me.

Through this experience I have acquired a somewhat different outlook on life. I desire nothing more than to love people regardless if they are Japanese or not. Jesus' love is for EVERYONE. I pray that this wouldn't just be something I did in Japan..but that I would continue living a missionary lifestyle wherever I am.

JAPAN!

Base camp is this Saturday-Tuesday.

I fly to Japan THIS Tuesday May 26!!!

woo-hooo JAPAN HERE I COME! :)

10 more days!!

Ten more days until I leave for Tokyo, Japan!!!

May 23-Aug 8 I will be living in a different country!

Pray for me and everyone on our team! :)

I am now a Sigma Alpha member!! It truly was a hard 5 weeks but now I have 27 new sisters that will be there for me whenever I need them!

Here we are at "crush" it was our date function. (look at us silly pledges)