Sister Crofts-Called to Serve

September 8, 2014

WELL....we had transfer calls and guess what... MY　LAST　TRANSFER (6 weeks)。。。。 I am staying in YOKKAICHI!! Moore Shimai is transferring to Nagano. I will be training another new sister training leader... ODA SHIMAI!!! She is in our zone and I actually had an exchange with her last week. She goes home in December. To say that I am stoked to be her companion is the understatement of the century. It will be fun. I love her and we were actually talking about how we wanted to be comps. What do you know! It will be an awesome last transfer. We are going to work so hard.

Well, the biggest and most wonderful news I have to share is just how amazing Kobayashi san is doing. We met with him 3 times last week. During one of our lessons, he talked about how he has realized that this isn`t scary, it is a good thing. One of the members told him that we are volunteers and don`t get paid to be missionaries. He came to the next lesson and just started weeping about how grateful he is. He said thank you, thank you, thank you for sacrificing everything for me. He couldn`t even speak and we all were just crying. We watched “Finding Faith in Christ” with him and he was just speechless after it. All he could say was, I want to meet Him. We invited him to be baptized and at first he said he didn`t want to give a light answer because he knows that this is such a big decision. We talked about how it is still okay to do things with the Buddhist culture, it is just a matter of where your heart is. So we invited him again to be baptized September 28 when he receives a confirmation that these things are true. He just smiled and gave a thumbs up and said "okay!" ahhaha. So he called me this morning and I asked him how church was yesterday and he said it was amazing. He said "CROFTS SAN. I just wanted to call and tell you that I read that pamphlet about baptism! It was completely awesome. とても最高でした。I now understand why it is so important and what happens after we were baptized." He was soooo excited. Ahhhhh I loveeeee himmmmm.... He is a miracle and it is amazing to see how much he has changed since we met him.

We rode our bikes way far out to this place called Kuwana again. It just requires every ounce of physical strength we can muster. We are always exhausted for like 4 days after. hahaha but I love going out there, we always just push through. We decided to go and visit Minori chan who just found out she is pregnant. When we knocked on her door she was so surprised and she just told us how she had got in a fight with her mom and sister yesterday and was just crying to God because she felt so upset and then the very next day we show up at her door. She said that she couldn`t believe it and knows that God answers her prayers. While we were in Kuwana we visited several members who haven`t gone to church in 40 years that went to the branch there when it was opened. They had no interest in the church, but they were really nice. One lady didn`t have any interest in the church, but her whole family came out and was telling us every detail about the missionaries that used to come. I asked if we could say a prayer together before we leave and that I would say it. She said yeah you can pray by yourself right there, and then just walked out of the room. Me and Moore Shimai just looked at each other and busted out laughing. Hahaha seriously? I have never had that happen in my entire mission.

We taught Hasegawa san and her daughter Rei about Jesus Christ. Rei hasn`t ever learned about the church or anything, but Hasegawa san said you said that this church helped you when you were growing up and going to school and stuff, share it with Rei chan! So we shared a video about Jesus Christ and then bore our testimonies and the Spirit was so strong. She was listening so earnestly, she is so pure, she is only 16 years old and it was the very first time she heard anything. It made me really grateful for what I know. I hope we can teach her again!

Our mission is trying to use more media, we get iPads in December! Of course, after I leave. We shared a video with Chizu san and she loved it. She really wanted to know who our Savior is and what He did for us. She has been slowly and slowly reading the Book of Mormon and she called me to ask what the "promised land" is and she said there are lots of good things written in Nephi aren`t there? So cute.

We have had an awesome week, but we have really been struggling to find new people who will listen. Maybe it is God`s way of saying, you can do more, you can give more. We are talking to everyone we see all day every day. We even stop people riding their bikes to try and tell them about the gospel. I find myself even running after people to try and talk to them. hahaha no shame, these people need the gospel. I think the whole "you are awkward" thing doesn`t really phase me anymore. I love it so much. I will tell you straight up, I am exhausted in every way possible, but I am so happy. The Celiac diet is coming... We are trying to let the members know that I can`t eat gluten/wheat. They don`t really understand sometimes though and so it makes me sick ofttimes. I need to give a training or something to them about what is not okay. The thing that always throws them off is that I can`t eat soy sauce, that is like their staple. Sometimes I just get used to having incredible stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea, I am doing the best I can at this. If I do have it, it will be a lot easier to control what I eat at home I think.

たくさん愛、

クロフツしまい

Kobayashi San & the Itakuras

Sister Crofts new comp Oda Shimai. It was pouring rain. It has rained everyday for the past month. The weather will be beautiful and then out of nowhere it starts pouring rain.