July 21, 2014

皆さんこんにちは

Well it has been a really great week and I learned a lot, but I am having a really hard time with my body. I didn’t tell you this last week because I didn’t want to worry you, but I was feeling really dizzy last Friday and ended up passing out in the bathroom. I got a priesthood blessing and I was dizzy for a few days, but just kind of blew it off and kept working. Then Saturday, it got so bad that I had a hard time walking and had some nausea and what not too... The doctor told me to rest so I ended up sleeping for 8 hours during the day, woke up for a few hours and then went to sleep around 9 o clock at night and slept all night.  I went to church on Sunday but I was so dizzy I had a hard time sitting through class. The bishop and his wife ultimately offered to give us a ride back to the apartment. I am drinking lots of water and eating relatively healthy, so I don`t know what is going on with my body... But tomorrow we are going to the hospital to get a blood test to see if we can figure out what is going on. (It is "ocean day" in Japan, so all of the hospitals are closed....) I am really  sad about it to be honest because I only have 3 months left (as of today) and I want to work as hard as I possibly can, but man.. My body. It is so hard. Hopefully they can figure it out. Moore Shimai is soooo patient and she said that because I received a blessing, God totally could`ve healed it, but since it hasn’t gone away yet, maybe there is something He wants me to learn? I love my companion so much; she has seriously become one of my best friends. 

I want to share with you a crazy experience that I have had. So I went on a companion exchange with one of the lovely sisters in Takabata a while back. We visited Sister Ichishima who had been going through a hard time.  She was a single mother and her son had just gotten sick. She talked about how she felt so lost and hopeless and that she has a hard time waking up in the morning (even though she trusts god and knows he will help her). She just didn’t feel like she could do it.  It was kind of incredible, because her experiences related to some of the things we had gone through as a family a while back.  I shared with her some of our experiences as a family and how it strengthened us and brought us closer together and about a dream that I had one night after I had prayed my heart out and felt like giving up.  I hadn`t shared it with really anyone before my mission because it was so sacred, but I felt like I needed to share it with her. As I shared that experience, we all were just bawling. The Spirit touched all of our hearts with peace and she talked about how she knew that my experience was an answer to her prayers. I was so sad to leave her, because I wanted to help her more, but I was so grateful to have that time. Fast forward. So Elder Tsukamoto went on a companion exchange in Takabata and visited this same member. She asked if he knew me and she remembered my name and everything ku-ro-fu-tsu is super hard for Japanese people to pronounce, let alone remember. Then she went on to tell Elder Tsukamoto about how she was a missionary in Japan a long time ago, but that I was one of the two best missionaries she has ever met and how I was an angel sent directly from God to save her life and her family. She said that she will never forget me and the impact I left on her life.... When he told me this, I couldn’t help but be so grateful... I don`t share this experience for praise or any recognition on my part, but to acknowledge how much God answers our prayers... How much God gives us experiences so that we can help other people... I may have only met her once, but I know that she was one of the people I was supposed to meet on my mission. I love her sooooo much. 

We meet with Chizu san every week and teach her adorable son, Yuki, English for 30 minutes. She came to church last Sunday so she could listen to me play the piano! She usually just comes to church after sacrament to go play in the nursery with Yuki... Anyway, when she came on Wednesday, we were finally able to get a member to come to the lesson!  She believes there is a God in everything.. But she has been praying every single night asking “God are you there? Are you my heavenly father?"  But she said she wasn’t receiving any answers. We talked to her more about prayer and the member gave such an awesome testimony about the way God answers us and how we need to have patience. At the end of the lesson, she said how she was excited to try to find an answer again and she just seemed so much happier. After the lesson we thanked her for coming to church and she said how much she loved the sacrament meeting and felt a "warm feeling" inside her... We were like WHOA!!! CHIZU SAN!!!! That is the SPIRIT!!! That is proof that God loves you!!!!! She was super stoked, but it was just awesome to see how much God prepared her heart. She was feeling the Spirit and she didn’t even know it!!! 

We heart attacked Yamamoto san`s door... Still haven`t heard from her.. This time for her will make her a stronger member when she does come around!

Tanaka san called and said she can’t meet until September because of the August o matsuris... nooooooo.... whyyyyyyy....

Lots of cool O MY experiences... Giving out lots of Book of Mormons... Pamphlets.. Preparing the hearts of the children of men... Talking to everyone we can possibly see.. Living the dream... 

Well, I hope this week goes better for the health and what not! Saturday is transfer calls. So, Here’s hoping I stay with Moore Shimai. I only have 2 more of these! 

Have a great week! 

LOVE 

クロフツしまい 

Lunch with our district minus the Zone Leaders

We went housing and this man had made a little village in front of his home.  He was so rude to us so I asked if I could take a picture of his little village.  He made everything by hand so I thought it was cool & it gave us time to give him a pamphlet

Heart attacking Yamamoto San's door. Hopefully, the Lord will soften her heart.