Helllo all!
So I sent home dear Budge Shimai! She is now in Tokyo with her family!
I miss her, but I know she is still working just as hard as ever. She
is a true lifelong missionary, and she will help so many people come
to know this gospel in her life. I also look forward to hanging out
with her when I get home!
My biggest news this week though, Kimura san is now Kimura shimai! The
baptism was so wonderful. She was really nervous but in the end it was
so peaceful and beautiful. :) Its kind of odd to not have her be an
investigator anymore, Ive been teaching her for as long as I've been
in Japan. No complaints of course. I look forward to continue working
with her though, helping her prepare to enter the temple and do the
work for her husband.
AH, I love this Gospel.
I also have a new companion! She is Japanese! Her name is Amada shimai
and I love her. :) I was pretty afraid when I got the call telling me
that my next companion doesn't natively speak English, but it was in
vain. We both are working to learn each others languages, so it works
out. We've decided that we were going to speak only English or
Japanese every other day. I am so excited to see my language skills
pick up! On the personality level, we really have a lot in common!
It's been neat to see how similar we are is so many ways, ha ha.
Well, I love you all, I hope you are all doing great and giving away
the Book of Mormon to all of your friends. Tessa Daniels is a great
example of that! Until next week!
Love,
Megan
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Week 18, Mochi and Transfer Eve. Smith, Budge, ....? And "Good Timber"
Hello everyone!
Kimura san is getting baptized next week! So far everything is going
great for her! Her interview is next Thursday. I am so excited for
her. :) She came to sacrament meeting and we filled out her
paperwork, and we have one more appointment this week. We are going to
talk about eternal marriage and temple work. :)
Our other investigator, Watanabe san is sick right now. She also is
needing us to slow down our lessons to once a week. I still feel like
she is progressing, but she just needs it slower. It will be
interesting to see how it goes when Budge Shimai leaves. She really
loves her! Im sure we will all get along fine though, with who ever my
next companion is! Speaking of that, I find out tomorrow! I most
likely will be staying though, if I do, I most likely will get to see
Koho Shimai when she gets back! We havent been able to do our skype
lessons yet, but this week seems like it might work out. The member
who we are going to do it with has been very busy! Fingers are
crossed!
We also were able to go to Osanai san this week again. She wasn't there
the first time we went, but when we went back she was! She promised us
again that she would read, and we have another appointment with her on
Saturday! It's neat teaching someone with a Christian background.
We had a mochi tsuki this week too, where you pound rice into 'mochi'
with a mallet that is taller than almost everyone (except me and a few
others, ha...) and eat it in various ways, like filled with sweet
red bean paste, or putting in it seaweed with a soy sauce and sugar
sauce on top! It's all so good! I even got to try pounding the mochi a
bit, ha ha. I was terrible. But mochi is delicious!
It's been really cold! But the snow is beautiful, like always. Hokkaido
is just spectacular! I hope you all have a great week, and if you have
a chance, read President Monson's talk from last conference. Pay
special attention to the poem he quotes, "good timber" I read it today
for personal study, and I have decided to memorize it. It is a good
one. Love you all so much. OH, I hit my sixth month mark too! I almost
forgot!
Kimura san is getting baptized next week! So far everything is going
great for her! Her interview is next Thursday. I am so excited for
her. :) She came to sacrament meeting and we filled out her
paperwork, and we have one more appointment this week. We are going to
talk about eternal marriage and temple work. :)
Our other investigator, Watanabe san is sick right now. She also is
needing us to slow down our lessons to once a week. I still feel like
she is progressing, but she just needs it slower. It will be
interesting to see how it goes when Budge Shimai leaves. She really
loves her! Im sure we will all get along fine though, with who ever my
next companion is! Speaking of that, I find out tomorrow! I most
likely will be staying though, if I do, I most likely will get to see
Koho Shimai when she gets back! We havent been able to do our skype
lessons yet, but this week seems like it might work out. The member
who we are going to do it with has been very busy! Fingers are
crossed!
We also were able to go to Osanai san this week again. She wasn't there
the first time we went, but when we went back she was! She promised us
again that she would read, and we have another appointment with her on
Saturday! It's neat teaching someone with a Christian background.
We had a mochi tsuki this week too, where you pound rice into 'mochi'
with a mallet that is taller than almost everyone (except me and a few
others, ha...) and eat it in various ways, like filled with sweet
red bean paste, or putting in it seaweed with a soy sauce and sugar
sauce on top! It's all so good! I even got to try pounding the mochi a
bit, ha ha. I was terrible. But mochi is delicious!
It's been really cold! But the snow is beautiful, like always. Hokkaido
is just spectacular! I hope you all have a great week, and if you have
a chance, read President Monson's talk from last conference. Pay
special attention to the poem he quotes, "good timber" I read it today
for personal study, and I have decided to memorize it. It is a good
one. Love you all so much. OH, I hit my sixth month mark too! I almost
forgot!
Week 17, Watanabe baptism goal- Kimura baptism date
Today is a crazy pday! I only have about ten minutes to write today, so this will be sparse on the details. Sorry all! We had a lesson today with Watanabe san, she has a new baptism goal for the first of February. She has such a desire to change, and such hope that this church is what she needs to do it, and she is in the right place!
In two Sundays, Kimura san is getting baptized! I am so excited! We had
another lesson this week, and she is still on track. She was even able
to make it to sacrament this week, even though she is super busy. I
will give you another update next week, but as of right now she is
doing just so great. I love being able to work with her, every time we
leave her house I am just filled with joy.
We had spilts and ZTM this week too. ZTM was on goals, and what vision
we need to have in order to become the missionaries we want to before
our missions end. For splits I worked with Parker shimai, she was a
lot of fun! We have a lot of (nerdy) things in common, so it was
enjoyable. We stayed up much too late though. ha ha.
Other than that, this week has been full of finding time. And it is
cold! The snow won't stop falling either. As beautiful as it is, it
sometimes makes being out working more difficult than I thought it
would be, but we will keep on doing what we do.
Love you all, have a great week!
In two Sundays, Kimura san is getting baptized! I am so excited! We had
another lesson this week, and she is still on track. She was even able
to make it to sacrament this week, even though she is super busy. I
will give you another update next week, but as of right now she is
doing just so great. I love being able to work with her, every time we
leave her house I am just filled with joy.
We had spilts and ZTM this week too. ZTM was on goals, and what vision
we need to have in order to become the missionaries we want to before
our missions end. For splits I worked with Parker shimai, she was a
lot of fun! We have a lot of (nerdy) things in common, so it was
enjoyable. We stayed up much too late though. ha ha.
Other than that, this week has been full of finding time. And it is
cold! The snow won't stop falling either. As beautiful as it is, it
sometimes makes being out working more difficult than I thought it
would be, but we will keep on doing what we do.
Love you all, have a great week!
Week 16, New Years party with delicious Chawamushi- and Japanese Saturday's Warrior?!
This week was a lot of different! Including the fact that I just
emailed five days ago, so it's not even a full week, ha. We were able
to get back to normal on Friday though, so that was really nice.
Wednesday night, last pday, we went over to a members house, Iwayamas,
and had a little new years party. They had some traditional Japanese
food, like Chawamushi that was basically savory egg pudding with meat
and veggies inside. Really good! I have the recipe too. :) We then
watched Saturday's Warrior, in English. That isn't as random as it
seems though! You see, Iwayama shimai is an English teacher and they
saw Saturday's Warrior once before translated into Japanese. It was
really enjoyable, and really just as terrible as I remembered! We
shared a message that night about the new year, and made some goals
with them. It was a really fun time.
Thursday we spent the entire day cleaning. There isn't really anything
much to say about that, so I am moving on.
We've met a few really great potential investigators on Friday and
Saturday too! Nakamura san has a friend from high school that was
Mormon, we gave him a Book of Mormon and are planning on passing him
to the Elders. (Sooner rather than later.. He recently asked Budge
Shimai if she has a boyfriend! yikes!)
There is also Osanai san, who we gave a Book of Mormon to as well, we
have another apointment with her next Friday. I am really excited to
meet with her again! I think her heart is pure and soft, just right to
recieve this message. :) There was another woman too, she normally is
living in Australia, but was home for the holidays. She seemed pretty
interested, and she speaks English! We wouldn't be able to teach her
for long, but she would get a good foundation for the Australian
missionaries. :)
Kimura san is doing so great! She is just wonderful. I can't wait for
her baptism! The other woman we are teaching, Watanabe san, needs a
slower pace than we were going. Our last lesson ended up not being
about the Plan of Salvation at all, but instead we adjusted and talked
about the importance of forgiving others. It ended up being a great
lesson, I hope she was able to let it peirce her heart. The spirit has
a hard time being with you if you are so full of bitter feelings!
We'll keep working with her.
Budge Shimai is amazing, I'm enjoying being her companion. I learn so
much from her all the time, and I hope she has maybe learned something
from me too. I am so grateful that I got to snag her for her last
transfer!
Other than that, I don't have much. This week has been pretty cold,
and we have a lot of snow! Everything is so beautiful right now, I
really, truly love it here. :) I hope you all keep warm! Love you all.
Love,
Megan
emailed five days ago, so it's not even a full week, ha. We were able
to get back to normal on Friday though, so that was really nice.
Wednesday night, last pday, we went over to a members house, Iwayamas,
and had a little new years party. They had some traditional Japanese
food, like Chawamushi that was basically savory egg pudding with meat
and veggies inside. Really good! I have the recipe too. :) We then
watched Saturday's Warrior, in English. That isn't as random as it
seems though! You see, Iwayama shimai is an English teacher and they
saw Saturday's Warrior once before translated into Japanese. It was
really enjoyable, and really just as terrible as I remembered! We
shared a message that night about the new year, and made some goals
with them. It was a really fun time.
Thursday we spent the entire day cleaning. There isn't really anything
much to say about that, so I am moving on.
We've met a few really great potential investigators on Friday and
Saturday too! Nakamura san has a friend from high school that was
Mormon, we gave him a Book of Mormon and are planning on passing him
to the Elders. (Sooner rather than later.. He recently asked Budge
Shimai if she has a boyfriend! yikes!)
There is also Osanai san, who we gave a Book of Mormon to as well, we
have another apointment with her next Friday. I am really excited to
meet with her again! I think her heart is pure and soft, just right to
recieve this message. :) There was another woman too, she normally is
living in Australia, but was home for the holidays. She seemed pretty
interested, and she speaks English! We wouldn't be able to teach her
for long, but she would get a good foundation for the Australian
missionaries. :)
Kimura san is doing so great! She is just wonderful. I can't wait for
her baptism! The other woman we are teaching, Watanabe san, needs a
slower pace than we were going. Our last lesson ended up not being
about the Plan of Salvation at all, but instead we adjusted and talked
about the importance of forgiving others. It ended up being a great
lesson, I hope she was able to let it peirce her heart. The spirit has
a hard time being with you if you are so full of bitter feelings!
We'll keep working with her.
Budge Shimai is amazing, I'm enjoying being her companion. I learn so
much from her all the time, and I hope she has maybe learned something
from me too. I am so grateful that I got to snag her for her last
transfer!
Other than that, I don't have much. This week has been pretty cold,
and we have a lot of snow! Everything is so beautiful right now, I
really, truly love it here. :) I hope you all keep warm! Love you all.
Love,
Megan
Friday, January 3, 2014
Week 15, Happy New Year! And a baptism! (January 1, 2014)
Sorry about this being late, we had to change our schedule around
because of New years! I hope you all had a great Christmas. :) I have
a lot to catch up on, so lets see how I do, ha ha.
Last week we had a big Christmas party with all of the missionaries,
it was a lot of fun! The best part of it was seeing Miller and Smith
Shimai! They seem to be doing really great together. We played a lot
of games and ate some very american food and went caroling! Christmas
itself was a pretty normal day, except getting the phone call. But
seriously, I was in peril mode when the call didn't come when you said
it would. I may have been crying. :) So glad it all worked out! Loved
hearing all of your voices. :)
We taught a lesson that day to a new investigator, she came to church
a few weeks ago because she's noticed a change in her friend who's been
coming. I don't know why these really prepared people keep finding me,
but I will not complain! She really wants to change her life, and be
happier! We have a baptisimal date set for the 19, keep her in your
prayers.
Kimura san is doing wonderful as well, she is just eating up the Book
of Mormon, she loves Mosiah! We are just going to keep meeting until
she gets baptized. :)
I can't think of any other big things, except for yesterday we spent
all day reading the Book of Mormon, I didn't finish (drat), but it was
so neat to dedicate a full day to fasting and reading. I know that
book is true, and I love reading it! Speaking of loving and reading
(in general) I got your package, Auntie, I love you! and your family!
and really everyone, thank you all for the prayers and love and
support. Can't wait to see you all in almost a year!
Hope you all have a great week! Love you all.
Love,
Megan
because of New years! I hope you all had a great Christmas. :) I have
a lot to catch up on, so lets see how I do, ha ha.
Last week we had a big Christmas party with all of the missionaries,
it was a lot of fun! The best part of it was seeing Miller and Smith
Shimai! They seem to be doing really great together. We played a lot
of games and ate some very american food and went caroling! Christmas
itself was a pretty normal day, except getting the phone call. But
seriously, I was in peril mode when the call didn't come when you said
it would. I may have been crying. :) So glad it all worked out! Loved
hearing all of your voices. :)
We taught a lesson that day to a new investigator, she came to church
a few weeks ago because she's noticed a change in her friend who's been
coming. I don't know why these really prepared people keep finding me,
but I will not complain! She really wants to change her life, and be
happier! We have a baptisimal date set for the 19, keep her in your
prayers.
Kimura san is doing wonderful as well, she is just eating up the Book
of Mormon, she loves Mosiah! We are just going to keep meeting until
she gets baptized. :)
I can't think of any other big things, except for yesterday we spent
all day reading the Book of Mormon, I didn't finish (drat), but it was
so neat to dedicate a full day to fasting and reading. I know that
book is true, and I love reading it! Speaking of loving and reading
(in general) I got your package, Auntie, I love you! and your family!
and really everyone, thank you all for the prayers and love and
support. Can't wait to see you all in almost a year!
Hope you all have a great week! Love you all.
Love,
Megan
Week 14, a really big (fake!) sword, December 22, 2013
Well, we are going to have a white Christmas! The snow just won't stop.
:) And neither will the slick walkways, I won't even admit how many
times I've hit the ground already... It's good fun. :)
This week has been so wonderful too. I love working with Budge Shimai!
She is so on top of everything, we have had such a busy and uplifting
week. First of all, we've found three new investigators! One came to
us at church yesterday, it was really neat! She noticed a change in
the her friend who's been coming for awhile, and decided that she
wanted to try out our church! What a big deal being a good example is!
I am so excited to meet with her next week.
Kimura san is doing great too. We are going to go through the lessons
one more time before she gets baptized. Lately she has just been
glowing though. I dearly hope she can keep her doubts at bay!
One quick story, so the other day we were visting non attending
members and we found a man who hasn't been to church for some 20 years.
We sang a song and shared a scripture like usual, (I wasn't really sure
how mentally there he was though to tell you the truth) and invited
him to church. He said he might if his health was okay, so we started
to make our way out when he decided he wanted to show us his katana
(sword)! He just pulls it out and is holding it in front of us, making
it a little hard to retreat. I honestly thought we were toast! It
turns out it was fake, and he put it away, but I was afraid! ha ha!
That aside, it really is starting to look and feel a lot like
Christmas now, at first I wasn't really sure when it would, but it
happened! This ward is so sweet too, we have so many presents to open
from them! We are baking a lot of thank you cookies, needless to say.
:) Also, getting the 12 days of Christmas letters from some of my dear
loved ones has been so amazing. I am a little behind, but I read
Auntie Sarai's today, and it made me cry! I love you, Auntie! Can't
wait to read Guncle, Momo, Nana, Dada, Dad and Sophie`s! Thank you so
much, Mom, for getting that together for me. Love you! It feels like
Christmas!
The language might be speeding up too. We speak Japanese only,
everyother day. I think its going to be really good, already I've
noticed a difference in my hearing comprehension.
I read Mosiah 15 : 10-14 the other day, it really hit me hard,
especially at this time. You should check it out. :) We are Christ's
seed, and he loves us! And I love you! Thank you all for everything.
Love,
Megan
:) And neither will the slick walkways, I won't even admit how many
times I've hit the ground already... It's good fun. :)
This week has been so wonderful too. I love working with Budge Shimai!
She is so on top of everything, we have had such a busy and uplifting
week. First of all, we've found three new investigators! One came to
us at church yesterday, it was really neat! She noticed a change in
the her friend who's been coming for awhile, and decided that she
wanted to try out our church! What a big deal being a good example is!
I am so excited to meet with her next week.
Kimura san is doing great too. We are going to go through the lessons
one more time before she gets baptized. Lately she has just been
glowing though. I dearly hope she can keep her doubts at bay!
One quick story, so the other day we were visting non attending
members and we found a man who hasn't been to church for some 20 years.
We sang a song and shared a scripture like usual, (I wasn't really sure
how mentally there he was though to tell you the truth) and invited
him to church. He said he might if his health was okay, so we started
to make our way out when he decided he wanted to show us his katana
(sword)! He just pulls it out and is holding it in front of us, making
it a little hard to retreat. I honestly thought we were toast! It
turns out it was fake, and he put it away, but I was afraid! ha ha!
That aside, it really is starting to look and feel a lot like
Christmas now, at first I wasn't really sure when it would, but it
happened! This ward is so sweet too, we have so many presents to open
from them! We are baking a lot of thank you cookies, needless to say.
:) Also, getting the 12 days of Christmas letters from some of my dear
loved ones has been so amazing. I am a little behind, but I read
Auntie Sarai's today, and it made me cry! I love you, Auntie! Can't
wait to read Guncle, Momo, Nana, Dada, Dad and Sophie`s! Thank you so
much, Mom, for getting that together for me. Love you! It feels like
Christmas!
The language might be speeding up too. We speak Japanese only,
everyother day. I think its going to be really good, already I've
noticed a difference in my hearing comprehension.
I read Mosiah 15 : 10-14 the other day, it really hit me hard,
especially at this time. You should check it out. :) We are Christ's
seed, and he loves us! And I love you! Thank you all for everything.
Love,
Megan
Week 13, Transfer Week! December 15
Transfer week! I stayed in Shinkotoni, but my new companion is Budge
Shimai! This is her last transfer, so I am killing her!
Smith Shimai went to Ebetsu with my dear Miller Shimai, I am still
surprised about it. They will be great though, I know them both pretty
well after being companions with both of them.
This week was really busy. We spent a lot of time the first few days
visiting members so Smith Shimai could say goodbye. The best thing
that happened during those few days was making a baptismal date for
Kimura san! January 26! Pray for her, please. :) She picked the date
herself too, so I feel like she will probably keep strong until then.
For transfer day, we went to a church and had a huge singing practice.
I got to see Soderquist Shimai as well as Miller Shimai. It was a
really fun time! The actual music part was kind of boring for me, but
that's okay. Then instead of going off with our new companions we did a
giant kokan, (splits) I went with Fugita Shimai, and Nihonjin who
knows English, (phew) She was actually Miller Shimai's trainer, so
that was neat. Miller Shimai and I are always swapping companions
around!
The kokan was great, Fugita Shimai is an awesome missionary. I want to
learn how to be as calm and relaxed when I contact as she is.
I do miss being a bean, a bit. The pressure now is a little tough
since I dont have a reason to not know things. Especially since I am
now area sempai (the one who is supposed to know where everything is
in the area!) and its weird not having my cute little trainer around,
but I am sure this is what Heavenly Father wants for me!
Budge Shimai is an excellent missionary, its been really educational
so far, and I'm sure it will continue to be! It's been fun cooking with
her a little bit too. :) We haven't worked together for long. So I am
excited for this week to see how it all goes!
Love you all,
Megan
Shimai! This is her last transfer, so I am killing her!
Smith Shimai went to Ebetsu with my dear Miller Shimai, I am still
surprised about it. They will be great though, I know them both pretty
well after being companions with both of them.
This week was really busy. We spent a lot of time the first few days
visiting members so Smith Shimai could say goodbye. The best thing
that happened during those few days was making a baptismal date for
Kimura san! January 26! Pray for her, please. :) She picked the date
herself too, so I feel like she will probably keep strong until then.
For transfer day, we went to a church and had a huge singing practice.
I got to see Soderquist Shimai as well as Miller Shimai. It was a
really fun time! The actual music part was kind of boring for me, but
that's okay. Then instead of going off with our new companions we did a
giant kokan, (splits) I went with Fugita Shimai, and Nihonjin who
knows English, (phew) She was actually Miller Shimai's trainer, so
that was neat. Miller Shimai and I are always swapping companions
around!
The kokan was great, Fugita Shimai is an awesome missionary. I want to
learn how to be as calm and relaxed when I contact as she is.
I do miss being a bean, a bit. The pressure now is a little tough
since I dont have a reason to not know things. Especially since I am
now area sempai (the one who is supposed to know where everything is
in the area!) and its weird not having my cute little trainer around,
but I am sure this is what Heavenly Father wants for me!
Budge Shimai is an excellent missionary, its been really educational
so far, and I'm sure it will continue to be! It's been fun cooking with
her a little bit too. :) We haven't worked together for long. So I am
excited for this week to see how it all goes!
Love you all,
Megan
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