November 4, 2013

皆さん　こんいちわ！

This has been another awesome week and I am loving my time here in Kariya. The ward is awesome, the people we teach are awesome and I feel so blessed to be here and have the blessing to work so hard. Words honestly cannot express how much I love it here! 

Last week we had the COOLEST opportunity to GO TO COSTCO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mayumi invited us and so we went with her! It was the busiest, most insane place I have ever seen. THese Japanese people know the good stuff. When we went in, our investigator said- "here, you do not act like a sister missionary. You just gotta push people!" hahahaha I love her. I will honestly be friends with her forever.  I was so excited and it was one of those weird flashback moments where I was expecting to look over and see mom and I was with both of them. I loved it though. It was nice to get some American food that is relatively cheap. Oh how I missed this stuff. It was hilarious because Mayumi would say "there is a million people here, ask them to hear about the church! Hand out flyers or whatever you do. Invite them!" She is so great and I love her so much. 

Me and Silva Shimai have almost found several new investigators every single day this week!!! So we are working hard and just need to improve our language skills so it isn`t so hard to get a follow up appointment. We have had some really cool teaching opportunities and been able to testify about the truths of the gospel so many times this week. I think there is nothing more incredible than when I talk to someone on the street and tell them how much God loves them and that their family can be together forever. It doesn`t mean they are interested, but I just love being able to testify of the restored truths. We have a new person that we are teaching right now and she is Brazilian, but doesn`t speak a lit of English/Japanese. So we were housing and found this sweet woman. I started talking in Japanese and then Silva Shimai just said... "I don`t think she speaks Japanese" and started talking in Portuguese. FOR THE NEXT HOUR AND A HALF they talked in Portuguese in the doorway. I was trying so hard to understand, but I haven’t learned any Portuguese so it was tough. It was the longest hour and a half of my life. I wish that I could help her... Why don`t I speak Spanish or Portuguese? These are the questions that taunt my heart. She loves music so I hope that I can kind of "communicate" with her through that. I absolutely love the people that I teach and they are each progressing so much. They KNOW it is true and are slowly progressing. Miracles are so real, and I know that God knows each of us! 

All six missionaries went to a dinner appointment at a member’s house this week. It was her birthday and so she went all out. We helped clean her house while her family prepared the dinner. Next thing we know, they are bringing out plates STACKED with many different types of raw fish. Nasty oysters, Miso soup with fish paste and mushrooms... All of the missionaries just went completely silent. Hahahahahaha. So this woman is the sweetest and she is all always doing so much to serve the missionaries, but out of the kindness of her heart she said that each massive plate of raw fish was for ONE COMPANIONSHIP. My eyes may have started watering. Silva Shimai turns to me and says that she is eating nothing of that. You know what that means: all ME. Dad and Mom, I don`t know if you remember when we went to that Japanese restaurant before my mission where there was only ONE small little raw fish I had to eat and I started gagging and had to spit it out???? Well, this plate consisted of at least 30 pieces of various plain raw fish and what not. And I was the lucky sucker who had to eat all of it. I would just take tiny bites and chug my way through the dinner, fight every single urge to just cry and puke it up.... Silva Shimai was eating the radish on the plate to try and help me... Hahahaha it was so bad. I honestly couldn`t even speak because I was just begging God to help me swallow that nasty stuff. The Elders and Smith Shimai were totally fine, because they were raised on that stuff... But not me! By some miracle, I finished it. And later that night when I finally got home, all I could do was lay on the floor because I was in so much pain. Hahaha It was the complete and total epitome of suffering. 

This has been a really humbling week, and every single day I realize how little I know and how much I need to learn. I am doing my best and receiving lots of help from the Spirit. I love being a missionary so much! I don`t know how I got so lucky. I LOVE YOU. 

Love, 

Sister Crofts

FHE at the Akasakas. Their daughters are darling. 

Costco Trip for American food. 

Peanut Butter in Japan. A true delicacy. 

Ogata Shimai and Megumi chan.

Sister Averell & Sister Crofts. SO FULL.