Week 44- July 20, 2014. Been out one year! Giving away Books of Mormon and thinking about her 40 week pregnant "sister" back home :)

Hello everyone!

I feel really good about this last week, we worked really hard. It's good to have a companion who is always ready to work and wants to be completely obedient. Nagamine Shimai really helps me be better every single day.. And she is so cute! She is your classic tiny, adorable Nihonjin, but with a really fun sense of humor. She is always laughing and joking around, even when she and I don't perfectly understand each other we always have fun. Working with her is the first time I haven't been able to fall back onto English. My Japanese is going to get improve like crazy. Yes! :)

We end up meeting so many people everyday, I couldn't possibly tell you about them all. Lots of Non-attending, investigators and people that we want to get investigating. Obihiro has so many old investigators, which I think I told you a bit about last time. We are just trying to make really good use of our time, going to those who have sincere desire to learn or need our help and then also making time to find new people to teach.

There was this really cool lady we found a few days ago, younger and loves to travel. A bit of a free spirit, you could say, but really neat. She took a copy of the Book of Mormon and we made a return appointment. We got a call from her yesterday and she told us that she was going to be going out of town to Sapporo because her friend was coming in from Australia. Today we are going to go by and see her again, but after that it might be hard to meet for awhile. 

We've really put a big emphasis on using the Book of Mormon this week, we actually set a goal for us both to put a copy in our bags and then give them both away before we get back. It feels so good to give them away, it really is the best tool that we have. I love leaving someone with and and just feeling the potential they have if they would only sincerely read, ponder and pray about it. There have been a few really cool people who have taken it and we have appointments to go back and see them! There isn't a better book in the world!

Love you all, have a good week. Make sure you go read the Book of Mormon today, alright? And if you see my poor overly pregnant sister give her a hug for me. Poor thing! 

Love,

the almost auntie,

Megan

Week 43- July 13. Surprise transfer! (Kushiro to Obihiro)

Hello everyone!

This may come as a shock, but I transferred! After only five short weeks in Kushiro, Nakatsuka Kaicho received revelation that I needed to go somewhere else, so they bumped me over one area to Obihiro. I'm in the same zone, so I'll go to Kushiro for zone training and all that still, but other than that everything is completely different. My companion is Nagamine Shimai, from Okinawa (Japan's Hawaii) She is so cute, and so hard working. I'm really feeling like we are going to see some really awesome miracles this transfer.

Obihiro is a pretty old area, there have been sisters forever, and at one time they had four, ha ha. That means that there are a lot of people that we have to work with, and most of them are not progressing at all but just like the missionaries. It's going to be some work to balance it all, but I'm really excited to get to know people and also find new, fresh, gospel searching people as well.

Ah, side note, Obihiro is hot! Such a shock from how Kushiro was! I am going to get so tan, ha ha.

Love you all, hope you are all doing well and being humble. Mosiah chapter 2, give all you have, do your best, and remember the source of all of your blessings.

Week 42- July 6, 2014. This girl is 21 today!

Hello!

This sister missionary is now 21! How strange it is that I would now just be heading out on my mission, instead of in the middle of it. I'm so grateful that I left when I did and for all of the crazy wonderful experience that it has been and for all the of the growth I've done and the amazing people I have met. There isn't a better thing for a person to do than serve a mission. I love this church, I love being a missionary, I love Japan, I love the incredible people, I love the rich culture and the beauty that is the country itself. Oh, and I love the food! I just might not come home. :)

It was a pretty good week too, we got to meet Nakatsuka Kaicho at the zone training meeting. He and his wife were so nice and kind, I instantly just loved them. The workshop he did was so good, he talked about obedience and the importance of following the commandments and rules with our hearts. The spirit was so strong, and I really felt a lot less nervous about the big change. 

We were able to do a lot of finding this week, mostly housing and we talked to a lot of neat people and have a few appointments for next week to follow up on. 

For the 4th of July we had an Eikaiwa party where we played a form of English question baseball and ate a bunch of American cookies. The elders also came and heart attacked our door in the shape of an American flag. 

My birthday was on fast Sunday, and it was basically a normal day. We went to eat dinner with Kakizaki Shimai and she gave us all Kimonos! I guess she had a few extra just lying around and let us have them. That night we went back and put them on (incorrectly) and took pictures, it was a lot of fun! My sweet companions also made me a little apple pie and sang to me, they were so sweet! It was a really good day, thank you for all birthday wishes everyone. :)

Love you all, have a good week! 

Week 41- June 29. Great contacts, getting to know new mission pres and 'Fire Meat Party'

Hey you people,

So after fighting off the cold that my companions had caught, I finally succumbed. Not that it really kept us from dendoing all that much, but it did make it a little bit more of an experience. Maybe sent a few more tender mercies our way. :)

This was a great week though, I'll tell you some highlights: On Wednesday we went to lunch with a member and an investigator, Kimio san, that we are teaching. They both speak perfect English, so it was really fun to relax and have a fun lunch with them and get to know them a bit. Later in the week we actually went and visited Kimio san and looked at her beautiful garden. She then let us in and we had a really good talk. It was my first time doing a lesson with her, but I guess she really opened up and we were able to learn more about what her problems are. She really trusts the missionaries, which is so amazing to me. I hope that we can get her to put some things aside and come back to try the church out again. She needs that so very crucial change of heart.

We had a really great ward activity this week too, a 'fire meat party' (direct translation) we basically all sat on the bank of a beautiful river and grilled a bunch of meat and veggies with our little plastic wrapped rice balls in hand. It was a lot of fun, and more importantly a bunch of nonmembers came and were able to meet the members! There is one family that came that we are actually meeting tonight to go get sushi who really are just so sweet, I hope that we can get them to listen to our message. They are the most membery nonmembers I have ever met! 

We also got to see some bamboo magic, it was so interesting! I wish I could explain it, but for the sake of time I will just let you guys imagine it up for yourselves.

Tomorrow we get to meet Nakatsuka Kaicho at the second ZTM of the transfer! He wants to meet everyone before he does transfer calls, ha ha. No pressure! 

It was a great week, and I'm really excited for the next one too! Who can believe that I've almost been out a year and I'm going to be 21. Anyone? I sure can't. But I love you all, talk to you next week!

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!