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!

Hello all!

This week we were determined to see some miracles. I believe that they happen all the time, but I just am too thick a lot of the time to recognize them, ha. We really are in need of someone to teach though. It's true that nothing happens in missionary work until you find people to teach (PMG :)). So we went off to find, and find we did. We had over 200 contacts this week, which is a lot! At least here in my mission, missionaries are happy to break 100! We made 11 appointments as well, I hope that we are able to meet with them. They seemed weak, but we will follow up and see what happens.

I have a couple stories to tell about some of the people we met that I thought were cool. At one place we were on our final building before we were going to head home, and we ping ponged a place that had a young girl inside. I started off the contact and found out that she goes to a Christian church every week and from there we were able to talk about the Bible and made a return appointment for next week. As we were going to leave (actually standing around the corner writing down her info) she came out of her apartment and stopped us, she had little yogurt drinks for us, it was so sweet! And she was so cute too, I want to share the gospel with her so much. I want to see her hang out with our YW and bring her family to church and all of that wonderful stuff.

Then a few days ago we were at a place that was at the very edge of our area, Hoshioki, and we had actually been fasting that day. It had gotten back and we were getting ready to go home, but we wanted to do one more block. And Fujita Shimai ping ponged this lady who has been to different churches and reads the Bible sometimes and was able to talk to her for more than 30 min through her speaker box on her porch. We made an appointment to go back too!

I'm still getting my butt kicked from my bike everyday, ha ha. Sometimes I feel like it's getting easier, and other times I don't think I will be able back home at night. Saturday night, coming home from Hoshioki was one of those nights, it was the farthest we had ever gone on bikes, and we added a whole new hill to climb up it turned out. I kept telling myself that as soon as I got to the top of the hill I would just be able to glide down, but once I got up there the wind was so strong that I almost had to peddle harder than I was going up. It was so frustrating! I was so hungry and tired and sore that I may have started crying. During the ride home (I did eventually make it home) I kept thinking about the people of Jared, which I am currently reading about in my personal study, and how they didn't float smoothly to the promised land, but instead had to endure great winds and storms. But they trusted the Lord, and praised him for the winds and were grateful for the light that he had provided for them while they crossed the ocean. My mission is like that, all of our lives are like that. Sometimes its harder than we think it should be, but if we trust the Lord and stay faithful the winds will always push us in the right direction, even if it seems like they are pushing us back up the hill we so dearly want to glide down.

I love the Book of Mormon, and all of you! I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Megan

PS- I am going to have some insane leg muscles by the end of this summer, ha.

Week 32, April 27. 150 contacts this week, and seeing beautiful Sapporo on top of mountain at night

Hello everyone!

This week has been really good, the weather has gotten a lot warmer
but we do have some wind blowing. (skirts are so dangerous!)

We had a great Zone Conference, Aoyagi Elder came and talked to us,
after the conference we were so pumped that we ran from door to door a
few times, ha ha. Also at the conference we were told that Elder
Christofferson is coming next month to speak to our mission! I am so
excited! It's been a long time since we had an Apostle come, I am a
lucky missionary. :)

The other day while we were going down a hill on our bikes I stopped a
girl. She was super nice and funny and we were able to make an
appointment with her for next, next week. She wouldn't tell us her
address, but she told us she would meet us in front of the nearby
store, ha ha. We did get her phone number though!

This week we did a lot of contacting.. In fact, we contacted 150ish
people, which is a record for me! I am hopeful that we will find some
one to listen soon.

The other day a member took us to the top of a mountain to see the
view of the city at night. Sapporo is just beautiful. I am a very
blessed girl to be able to serve here.  I love this work and I know the
gospel is true.

And I can't wait to call my mom in a few weeks!

Love you all!