Week 58, November 9, 2014. Still in Obihiro four straight- no transfer! Trying not to panic that time is flying by so quickly..3 Nephi 9.

Hey there, 

Just another week in Obihiro, which is profound because it means that I didn't transfer! I am blessed to do four here and finish training Kempner Shimai. Not that it was a huge shock, but I was a little nervous.

This week we were able to do another team up lesson with Okuda Shimai for Tsuruno san. Having members in your lessons is so neat, I never want to go visit her with out Okuda Shimai ever again. I feel like with her there, they can become friends, and then when Tsuruno san comes to church she will have someone she knows to sit by and answer any questions, even when the missionaries are not there. Also her testimony is so powerful. I love how the converts of Japan are so strong and solid. When they convert, they really believe. It strengthens my testimony every time. 

We also were able to meet with Masuda san again, and she came to church. I guess her back is feeling a lot better now too! But she told us that she was having issues with her ears because of stress now and going to the hospital for it. We have another appointment with her, so we will have to see how it all goes. 

Lately I have really been trying to work on giving my all to every day I have. They all just fly by so quickly that I honestly start to panic a bit when I think about it. I recently read in 3 Nephi 9, I think it was, about how we shouldn't worry about tomorrow until it is today. I know that as I really focus on loving and helping these people everyday I will do more good than stressing about how quickly my time is going. 

Love you all, have a good week! 

Week 57, November 2, 2014. Laman and Lemuel are jerks and Harry Potter Halloween mixed with missionary work. The best

We had two really awesome lessons this week that I want to tell you all about!

So, Kikichi(2)san! We had been trying to get her to say she would read the Book of Mormon for the last 3 months, and finally she did! And she ended up reading the entire first book of Nephi! That was due to the fact that sometimes my Japanese is still terrible and she thought that was what I was asking this whole time. Won't say I'm sad, at all! Her impressions were that she thinks Laman and Lemuel are jerks, ha. I think so too. She told us she would keep reading too. I am perfectly confident that she isn't going to be able to put it down until she finishes it.

We were also able to do our first member present lesson in a really long time with Okuda Shimai and our cute little Tsuruno San, she was able to answer a bunch of questions she had and help with the Japanese as well. It really is so true that members do awesome work. :)

Our halloween party was this week as well, there were more than 100 people there, twice as many as we had hoped and about half of them weren't even members. The play we put on went well, and was a lot of fun. I was just so happy to be doing missionary work and Harry Potter at the same time. It was a once in a mission chance, and I am so glad we took it!

Love you all!

Week 56, October 26, 2014. Kimono dress-up, new investigators and Japanese Harry Potter!

Hey all!

We had a good week.

We went to a cute little ice cream shop working lady who comes to our English class. She gave us free ice cream and put us in kimonos! She holds a legit permit to do that kind of thing. Pictures to come! The one she put me in was a pretty light sage green, Kempner Shimai's was yellow. It was so fun to get all dressed up, I was worried that I would never have the experience, so I'm really grateful!

There was also a nice lady we met on the street who we were able to make an appointment with next week at a park, if we are able to meet with her I think that she may progress.

Right now we have two really awesome ladies we are working with, Tsuruno san and Takahashi san, I have high hopes for both of them. We really are wanting to get the members involved, so we have plans to do some member present lessons and to get them to church.

This next week we have a halloween party planned, with a Harry Potter theme. You know I am over the moon. :) We made wands for our district activity (I saw it on pintrest before the mission, ha) and are putting a play on, thanks to Ogasawara Kyodai. It is going to be a lot of fun, and I think a really good turn out as well..

Love you all, have a great week!

Week 55, October 19, 2014. Masuda san back update, new investigator's answer to prayer and baseball. Zone training and soba noodles

Hello,

So, we were able to meet with Masuda san again for the first time this transfer. She is doing pretty much the same as she was before, still in a lot of pain. She also has stopped really reading the Book of Mormon and praying, still just unable to focus on anything other than her back issues. It was really fun for me to just get to see them again though. I really just love them so much! She told us that she wants to go to church this week again, but then wasn't able to because of her health. Hopefully next week!

We met with one of our investigators who loves the Bible, but isn't sure about the Book of Mormon. It's nice to talk with her, she is a really nice lady, but until now she hasn't shown a lot of signs of progressing. So this time we went and she told us a cute story about how she was watching a baseball game and her team was losing so she remembered what she read in the Bible about if you ask God, you will receive, so she prayed and her team ended up winning! Kempner Shimai had just read a verse like that in the 3 Nephi so we shared it with her and she liked it a lot. After answering some of her questions about the Book of Mormon. We finally got her to say she would read the first chapter!

There was also a really sweet little family that we were able to give a restoration pamphlet to, I think that they will let us come back and teach them next week, so we are really excited about that.

Kikuchi san let us do lesson one with her again this week, but told us that she went to the dentist and found out about some tooth problem she has and for awhile won't be able to meet. I am not sure what that is going to mean for her baptism date.

We also went to Kushiro for zone training meeting, which we almost didn't cause we almost missed the train, ha ha. I really felt like the workshops were meant for me, and I felt really pumped after it. Miller and Soderquist Shimai, this transfer companions, were there too, and it was a lot of fun to see them together. They both seem so good, just doing their best!  I sure love them! We also did interviews with Kaicho, I really felt his love for us and me as an individual. It was a really good meeting overall. And we ended it with getting soba noodles!

Love you all!

Week 54, October 12, 2014. A very strange P-day with investigators- but with another, a wonderful experience of prayer and faith

Well, hey there,

What did we do this week?

On Monday we went and visited one of our investigators with a baptism date, and it ended up being really weird! When we told her that the transfers had come and that Nagamine Shimai had gone to Ebetsu, she sort of freaked out. Holding our hands and saying over and over, "I'm glad we met" (of course in Japanese), over and over. She then proceeded to slide down to her knees, still holding our hands and started to cry. This being my sweet bean's very first P-day, I quickly pulled out the Book of Mormon read the first scripture I flipped to, said a prayer and we booked it out of there. Not entirely sure what to do about her at the moment, but we are working on it!

Poor Kempner Shimai!

Then that night we were about to start passing out some flyers for our English class when we bumped into John, the American guy we found a month ago that came to church and then was never heard from again. And he didn't remember me! I guess he has some memory issues. We talked for a while and it was apparent that he really had no clue who we were, so we wrote him a note to go home and read the Book of Mormon and told him we'd sent the Elders his way. It was a werid day to say the least!

Our highlight of the week was going by and seeing Kikuchi san this week. She told us about how she had been feeling a lot pain in her hips lately and a few days ago she decided to pray about it, and guess what! The pain went away completely. We had a perfect opportunity to talk about faith, which just so happened to be what we had prepared to share with her. We were able to tell her that she has faith, and even though right now she doesn't know about a lot of things at church, she has a great starting point. We fixed her a new date and she told us it would be okay to go over all of the lessons again in prep for her baptism. I feel really good about it all, I think it should all happen without too much trouble.

We also were able to see Masuda san yesterday, finally. She had gone the hospital and we were having a really hard time getting in contact with her. So yesterday we felt like we should stop by and see if she was home, and the light was on! We were able to talk for awhile and Kempner Shimai got to say hello. We have an appointment to go see her next Tuesday.

And wasn't conference awesome! I know I am a week behind, but it was so good! Can't wait to read them all again. It was really sad since it was my last one as a missionary. So bittersweet.

Love you all so much, thank you for all you are doing!

Week 53, October 5, 2014. Johnson Shimai is a trainer, has a new bean- Kempner Shimai from Pleasant Grove. Bean power!

Weeeell... They made me a trainer. No one saw that coming. 

Her name is Kempner Shimai, and I like her. A lot. :) 

I was really surprised though, really. There was a part of me that was thoroughly convinced that I would be able to go the whole way as a junior companion. There is certainly a lot of stuff I'm now in charge of that I wasn't before. I'm the primary Japanese speaker now, I call the people on the phone, answer when they call and get to lead in all of the lessons and contacts. But it's working out, ha ha. I know I am getting some major extra help this time around. From Heavenly Father and my sweet companion. Even though she doesn't always know what is going on, she is always quick to help, always reminding me of things I've forgotten, and so patient with me when I have to take a second to figure out what on earth we should be doing. 

It's going to be a good transfer for sure. 

Also, bean power is real! We have had some really amazing contacts this week! We found several people who seem as though they have real interest and were able to get numbers and make appointments. 

Right now our biggest challenge is trying to figure out who of our investigators that we already have will really progress or not, and try to make the most use of the time we have. 

We had a cool experience this week when we did a member mogi, lesson practice, one of the sisters who hasn't been coming to church that much. I felt the spirit really strong and it was a really good, fun time. I'm hopeful that we will be able to keep building the relationship with her and help her come back to church.

Love you all! Have a good week! 

Week 52, September 28, 2014. No baptism for Masuda san. Megan reminded to just love them, be patient and remember faith, hope and love. Transfers are this week, Nagamine Shimai leaving?

Heeello,

Well, I'll tell you first off, Masuda san did not get baptized. It was all very heart wrenching too. We went by on Monday right after I had finished emailing, when we got there she was again laying down, unable to sit up again. She told us that for now she is not really sure that she can really focus on anything right now and for the moment that she is putting it all off until she recovers. We haven't been able to make another appointment and go back since. I was so sure that if she could realize that even though the gospel can't take her physical pain away, but that it is what she needs, that things would work out. We can't make people understand that though, its up to them. Sometimes that is the most frustrating thing as a missionary! With time I hope that we can help her get things figured out.

Right now my area has a ton of investigators, three of them having baptism dates coming up in the next few months. Normally that's exactly what you want but they all struggle so much with their faith and have a hard time keeping commitments. I'm not entirely sure what I need to change to get them to where they need to be, but I'm working on figuring it out. My mission president recently reminded me over email that I just need to love them. I guess it all starts there, ha ha. He asked me what kind of love I have for them, which has really made me think. I know what it is that they need for eternal happiness, but they don't understand that now. 

I need to be patient and show some faith, hope and love and things will work out. Maybe not how I want them to but that really isn't the point, ha. Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone and I get to be a small part in it for all of these people. 

Love you all, have a good week! Be looking for my email next week, transfers are upon us and I think my sweet companion Nagamine Shimai and I are parting ways!