Week 40- June 22, 2014. Zone Conference golf and big sleepover of sisters

Hey you guys,

It was a really fun week, we had a zone activity and training meeting this week. All of the sisters in our zone stayed in our apartment (that may sound like a big deal, but since there  are only five other sisters besides us in our zone, it actually wasn't) But it was a lot of fun! We ate sushi and did park golf for the activity, I surprised myself by beating everyone on my team! 

Smith Shimai came and since she was on her last transfer it was a really sweet blessing for me. I can't believe my little baby trainer is going home. I cried all throughout the singing of the closing song after listening to everyone that is going home testimonies. I just can't believe how quickly time goes, it seems like just yesterday I was a bean in Shinkotoni learning all about how to live in Japan with Smith Shimai. I love her! 

We had a lesson with Yoshikawa san, she is a referral from a member and is really awesome. She said she was reading the Book of Mormon everyday and during the lesson she felt the spirit too! Also she is coming to Relief Society activities and Eikaiwa every week. She is by far our furthest along person, I really feel like she could have a baptism date before this transfer ends. Can't wait to meet with her again.

Our ZTM had a really big focus on Eikaiwa, and since we have been doing a lot of English lessons with people it was good to get some more info on all of it. English is such a great way to get people into the church and has been a really good way of finding converts. Member referrals only can top it. :)

This was Evans Kaicho and Shimai's last week in Hokkaido, we were so lucky that they came and spoke to us for their last sacrament meeting. I am going to miss them both so much, but I am really excited to meet Nakatsuka Kaicho too! Change is good, even though it really isn't my favorite. 

Johnson Shimai cut my hair this week, it was kind of scary, but she did a good job. She hadn't ever learned how to before, but she thinks it's fun... She told me once that she used to cut her dog's hair sometimes, not sure if that was all that comforting! Maybe now my wild mane will chill out a bit! 

Love you all!

Week 39- June 16, 2014. Feeling more at home in Kushiro in the country. And hey, Japan has ants too, and they're creeps!

Hey guys, how are you all doing? Well, I hope! 

First of all... Happy Father's Day! Did you have a good day, Dad? :)

This last week flew by, (again..) but it was another good one, ha. I was able to meet a lot of investigators and members, and I feel a lot more at home now. The people out here in Kushiro are really special I feel like, this area is a miracle one. Since there aren't a lot of people on the street I was worried that we wouldn't be able to make very many appointments, but I've been proved so wrong! My number of contacts have gone down, but the number of appointments that we make hasn't. I know with a surety that Heavenly Father puts people in the path of missionaries who have been prepared. We just have to make sure that we stop everyone that we come across.

The members here are incredible too, we have a few sisters in the ward that are actively seeking people to tell the gospel to and bring them to activities all the time. In fact, tomorrow we have an appointment that a member set up herself with her friend! They are also really active with Eikaiwa, our English class, coming and bringing their friends, it's just great. When members and missionaries work together miracles happen, the prophets are right! 

There is a really sweet mom that we are teaching right now that we met with this week, we had a little lesson with her and are hoping to meet with her one more time before she goes to get a little surgery done next week. My companions are pretty sure that we will be able to get her a baptism date pretty soon too. 

We have like three ladies who really love English that we are doing the 'Free Family English Program' with. Essentially we spend an hour with them and split it half and half, gospel message and an English lesson. It's a lot of fun, and a really good way to teach someone who maybe doesn't think they have interest in the message, ha ha. One is a younger lady, in her 20's, who is really open to the gospel, I foresee some good lessons in the future!

There are a few recent converts that we are working with too, one is only going to be here for another week and then is going back to her hometown because her husband is getting let out of the hospital, which is great, but the ward she is going back to has some issues, so I am a bit worried about her. I hope that the missionaries take good care of her. Her little testimony is still in need of a lot of support. There are too many non-attending members as it is, sometimes I get really frustrated at how many people go inactive so quickly after converting. That is probably the hardest thing to see out here. 

We had an ant issue for a few days, but after a long battle (and many failed attempts, including tape, bleach, q-tips and the vacuum...) we were able to fend the pests off with some bug killer. I was really impressed with how quickly that cleared up the problem. I'm glad that someone knows what they are doing! It had gotten out of hand though, in a lesson with Nakamura Shimai, I noticed something moving in a strand of my hair and nearly screamed when I realized that it was an ant! And then not two minutes later, there was one climbing on my arm under my watch! Even though we finally got rid of them I haven't been able to shake it off completely. Little creeps! 

I love my companions, they are super missionaries and everyday is a lot of fun. Sometimes it's strange being three- but for the most part we just have a great time. We are all a little bit sassy, which can get out of hand, ha ha. This next week is going to be a lot of fun, we are having a big sleep over with four other sisters for a few days, including my trainer, Smith Shimai, for zone training meeting and a zone activity. Our dendo time gets cut into a bit, but it'll be a good week!

Love,

Megan

Week 38- June 8, 2014. Unexpected transfer! Good-bye to Teine, new adventures in rural Kushiro :)

Well hello there everyone, I have some news for you. 

I transferred! You probably didn't even realize that transfers were this week since I didn't say anything about it last week. That is how confident I was that I was going to be staying! But last Monday night my dear Fujita Shimai got a call from the APs saying that she was going to be becoming a trainer. There were many tears shed, to say the least. Fujita Shimai had been the very best companion to me, it was by far my favorite transfer that I've had so far. All night and all the next day at District Training Meeting we were blubbering like a couple girls. I am going to miss her so much, as well as the girls in our apartment, my district and the ward! Oh my sweet Teine!! I thought we had more time! 

Ah, I am cool, sorry. :) So! Ill tell you about the results from transfers! I am in a place called Kushiro, it is the furthest place from Sapporo that a sister can go, it took us four hours by train to get there. The sun hasn't come out from behind the wall of clouds since I got here either. When it isn't raining there is this ever present moisture in the air that sticks to my glasses, I guess it is the coldest place sisters go to as well, ha ha. And I love it! The weather reminds me of San Francisco a little bit, the fog and mist is so pretty and it is so green! After being in the city for almost a year straight, it is so good to see some uncultivated ground. And the trees! I have rarely seen so many trees in my life, I now realize that Utah really is a desert, ha. There are flowers everywhere and a bunch of rivers and it just has a really good feeling everywhere. Kushiro is a miracle area, I just know it. You guys should Google Earth it and see for yourselves. :)

Oh, my companion? I am in a threesome with Murray Shimai (my companion before Fujita Shimai) and Johnson Shimai (Yes, I am serious, my first MTC companion who has the same name as me, the jokes are ever-present and non-stopping). Our Heavenly Father must be funny guy. But they are wonderful missionaries and I am really excited to work here with them. I am going to have to do my best to make sure that I do my part here. Last transfer they worked here just the two of them and had a great time, but this time they have a new little tag on. I really know that I have a purpose for being sent here, I don't know what it is yet but I will figure it out. :) We have had a lot of fun already and I think that we are going to see a lot of progress in this area.

The ward is actually a branch of like 30ish people, a bit of a change but that is what happens when you go out in the middle of nowhere. They are all very sweet though! The area is on the ocean too, so everyone says that it has the best food and sunsets in the island. (Someone told me that it has the 3rd best sunset it the world, ha ha, maybe the sun will come out and I will see it!) We got some sushi today with a member who had us help with her English class and then took us out to lunch, it was really good!

I haven't done a lot of work yet here since I just arrived, but we did find a really sweet girl who said she would come to Eikaiwa. Also yesterday a lady who we said hi to that was on her porch chased us down with a tray of food that she had decided she wanted to give to someone, we invited her to Eikaiwa as well, ha. Contacting with two other people to work with is a bit different for sure, but it is also a lot of fun. There are rarely awkward silences since at least someone is able to think of something to say. Also, there are a lot less people on the streets and everyone seems to be in less in a hurry then they were in the city. So when we do find someone we have to make sure we do a good job.

Overall, I am excited to be here and I am going to give it all I've got and help these people learn about this gospel... And pick a lot of flowers and ride through all of the rain puddles. :)

And hey, this church is true! Love you all, have a great week! 

Megan

PS, have a good Fathers Day, Dad, Dada and any other man with children who might be reading this. :) I love you, Dad! 

Week 37- June 1, 2014. Elder Christofferson, and bike tire woes

Elder Christofferson came this week! I got to meet him and shake his
hand! As he walked into the room you could feel a more intense
concentration of the spirit enter with him. I know that he, and the
other prophets are called by God, and that they do really receive
revelation for this whole church. He did a question answer session
with us and told us about how to find the people who have been
prepared through the Spirit. He talked about what it feels like to be
edified. And he shared some really deep scriptures with us. I want to
hang out with him everyday! It was a huge testimony strengthener of
the truthfulness of this gospel and the restoration.

This week for work, we weren't able to meet with either of our
strongest investigators. I was really down about that, but like
always, we will keep going back! We did have a lesson with a lady that
used to listen to the Elders before, she told us that she would come
to church in a few weeks after the one year after her husband's death
has passed. I think she wants to get back into this gospel and meet
with some of the friend members that she has.

Yesterday while we were on our way to dinner at a member's house, at
the furthest place from our apartment, my bike tire went flat. We
called the member but he didn't know how to fix it, so we called the
Yoshizawa and Brown Choro and they told us that they could! They went
back to their apartment and got their bike repair kit and met us at a
nearby park. I was super impressed to see them work, I owe them some
cookies. A member also came over to help out, which ended up being
really good, because once we got the tire back into place we realized
that there was a little problem... the inner tube was pushing through
the outer where it had been punctured and was starting to swell, it
got bigger and bigger until it burst! My tire was very, very dead.
Nishijima Kyodai took the bikes back to the apartment for us, he is
always serving us! That night we went back to the apartment to find
out that the bishop had been told about my problem and had come and
put a new tire on for me! I am so blessed to have so many Christlike
people around me, I learn from their examples everyday.

I love this work and and I love all of you, have a good week!

Week 36- May 25, 2014. New promising investigators, and giant $100 parfait for 10 missionaries to try and eat- both gross and delicious!

Hello, hello, 

How is everyone? I had a good week this week, we officially have two progressing investigators! A young mom with four kids, Yamamoto san and Ochiai san, a cute grandma. We gave Yamamoto san a Book of Mormon and got to teach her a little bit about the Restoration. Next week we are talking about the plan of salvation a bit. :) She told us she would read the BOM and seems like she really has interest. Ochiai san had never let us into her house before, but last time we started talking about a painting in her genkan that it turns out she had painted herself. I pulled out a little book I have with some drawings in it and she decided to invite us in to show me some of her other stuff. It's fun using my love of art as a way to further the work of the Lord. :)

Last Pday a member took us and six other missionaries in taxis to go eat a giant parfait that was over $100 dollars! Nine people couldn't finish the beast, and four of them were elders, ha ha. It was really gross and delicious all at the same time. That night we were going on our way to go visit some people when Fujita Shimai told me that she felt like we should go house somewhere else instead. We ended up giving away a Book of Mormon to a guy who seems earnest and will read it, a man who made an appointment with us and also found a lady who used to be an investigator of the Elders! We have an appointment to go back tonight, and I am so excited! Thank you for listening to the spirit, my companion~ :)

We went last Saturday with the Kotoni Shimai and got taco rice at this cute hole in the wall place that played Taylor Swift in repeat for an hour. It was so much fun, I love Malmrose Shimai and Osugi Shimai, I am going to be so sad if they transfer. Having a four person apartment is the best! 

Oh, and next Wednesday Elder Chirstofferson is going to come speak to us all! Our entire mission is getting together for it, I am really excited! 

Love you all, have a good week~

Week 35- May 18, 2014, Giving away as many Books of Mormon as possible every day in Teine

Hello everyone!

So I went on splits with a sister training leader, Sugihara Shimai, this week, and it was insane. In one hour we gave away four copies of the Book of Mormon! We are now setting goals for how many copies of the Book of Mormon that we want to give away everyday. I have a new drive to use the Book of Mormon a lot more as I work, I think we are going to see some really good things because of it.

In fact, we met a really good person and gave her one! She lives alone and is working, but is really young. She told us she would read it and we were able to make a return appointment. :)

Lately the weather has taken a turn for the worse again, I have given up on the notion of Spring and just hoping that one day it will get hot and we can have a summer for a few months before the snow comes again. But it has just been raining so much, I have been wearing a rainsuit with pants too, ha ha. I look like a weirdo, but it keeps me pretty dry.

Well I love you all! I will just keep doing my best here and I hope you all do the same!

Love,
Megan

Week 34- May 11, 2014. Faith tester- not many showed for appointments. This is a short one :)

I loved getting to talk to my family this week! It was for sure the highlight of my week. Love you, guys!

 

This week was a bit of a faith tester though, we had so many people not show up to any of the appointments that we had. But hey, that is just how it is! My companion just came in and told me that the member who is taking us for lunch just got here and that we have to go.

 

So calling this a wrap, I love you all!