September 29, 2014
皆さんこんいちは
元気でしょうか？It has been another AWESOME week,
absolutely crazy in all forms (again). It all began last Monday...
So we went to Yakiniku with the
elders for P-day. On the way there, we met this girl named Kaori Chan, who is
half Brazilian. She came to church on Sunday and she said that she never liked
churches that she went to before, but she really loved our church. We meet her
again tomorrow! While we were grocery shopping, we were talking about cheese
and Garrett Shimai was saying how we have to try this one special cheese. There was this woman who was obviously
listening to us. So I asked her if she had ever tried the cheese and of course
the answer was no. But turns out, she
lived in Utah, knew the missionaries, both of her host families were Mormon and
she went to church for over a year. She even came to church like 20 years ago
in Japan! She says she hasn’t seen missionaries, but she wants to meet us soon.
Talk about someone prepared. There was a point where Adi said "I don`t
mean to be rude, but what proof do you have?" when we talked about Jesus
Christ & His resurrection. Of course, Oda Shimai misunderstood him and
thought she said "what poop do you have?" After the lesson she was so
confused and we basically were crying from laughing so hard because she still
never made the connection that it was proof. They were so open minded and even
though they are Hindu, they really want to learn more.
Kobayashi San was really struggling
last week when I talked to him, but we were able to do a lesson with the
Warners which was totally awesome. We talked about Agency and how God loves us
so much so he lets us choose happiness or unhappiness. Garrett Shimai has been
eaten alive by mosquitos here, so she kept killing them with her hand during
the lesson. hahaha. We taught a lesson to Mika with the Warners.. I guess you
can say it was not your standard missionary lesson. As you know, Mika is a very
spiritual person and was a median long ago. We think because she is so close to
the spirit world that Satan works on her a lot and spirits visit her a lot. We
struggled to help her understand the war in heaven (because she said that she
is Japanese and can’t imagine something like that) so then we read D&C 129
together and had to talk about how she can recognize a good spirit from one
from Satan. She was so excited and finally understood. After the lesson, Elder
Warner just said "that was a weiiiiird lesson." hahaha every lesson I
leave thinking that.
We went to Fukutoku for zone
conference with another zone. President Yamashita is so busy that we have to
combine them. It was way awesome and Oda Shimai & I gave training in it
about founding our missionary life on obedience. It was pouring rain on the way
back so when we showed up for eikaiwa (English class) at night we were soaked.
There is this little terror child that is 4 who comes to eikaiwa. His mom
seriously doesn`t do anything to control him. He wraps himself around my leg,
punched me, threw stuff at me, and even came up behind me and was sticking his
head in my butt. Elder Gacillian was in the class too and he was just laughing
so hard because of how much this kid was making me suffer.
Thursday our perfect san nin became
too good to be true. We got a call from the assistants randomly during the
afternoon and they wanted to talk to Garrett Shimai. It got really quiet and
next thing we know, she is bawling. Transferring. NOOOOO. There was a Shimai in
Fiji that was sent home because she was so sick, and we are the only 3 nin
companionship in the mission. So of course, she had to emergency transfer
again. Just like that our apartment went from 4 nin, 3 nin, to futari!! We
would always sing as a trio and it was basically the most wonderful thing ever.
We sang for everyone in almost every lesson. We would even start singing for
people on the street! We will miss her so much. Doing the things I love with 2
of my favorite people in the world all day? Too awesome. We sang for one less
active sister. She recorded it and said (your song has become my treasure). So
cute.
Friday, we had a lesson with
Kobayashi san again. We had daily contact with him last week. We taught him the
rest of the commandments so he can feel more confident about baptism. The first
commandment, about no other Gods before me, was the hardest for him. He said
that is shitsurei to the other Gods! He was able to understand by the end. But
he still says that he needs more time. We really tried to show him that he was
ready for this Sunday, but he feels he can’t do it yet. It is a big decision
and I am way glad he isn’t taking it lightly. On Sunday, he came to church and
was able to see a baptism. It was seriously awesome and I think it helped him
to feel a lot of peace about it. He loves church, he basically acts like a
member. He just needs to get the courage to be baptized. When he is not meeting
with us, he is thinking about what we teach him and what he needs to do. The
baptism was great and Ushino Shimai will be an awesome member. The elder found
her from housing. She looked so different after she was baptized!
We had a sports activity at the high
school next to the church and it was really fun! It was such a miracle because
a member we have always wanted to help one of our investigators (who is always
too busy) came and we were able to do a lesson with Nachan! Her parents are
against her being baptized and she still doesn’t know if God is really there or
not. She has prayed, tried so many things and never received an answer. So we
invited her to go home and write down all of the things that she is grateful
for and she will be able to see how much God really is there and blessing
her.
Garrett Shimai transferred on Sunday
right after sacrament meeting. I had to give a talk on Sunday about prayer and
we sung as all the missionaries. After 2 weeks of the gluten free diet, both of
my companions are struggling to not go half-crazy not eating wheat. It is
really hard. Hahaha. But it helps to do it all together and they have been
feeling lots better! We had to go on
splits because there were several of our investigators at church and we were
too busy. Yesterday, we were trying to figure out where we needed to go, so we
just started heading out to this one area that is a little bit father. Then the
elders called us and needed the gps for a less actives house so we had to go
there. We ended up feeling we needed to work in that area and it was really
awesome. We ended up finding 4 investigators yesterday. Sassy grandma gave us
this t shirt tissue case and told us that she was too busy playing by herself
to meet with us. . . what? hahaha. One of our new investigators, Motomura san`s
husband died right after she had her baby a few months ago and she is really
going through a hard time. I am so excited to help her have more hope!
I never thought I would be able to
achieve the standards of excellence for our mission, but God has helped us so
much and strengthened our faith and made it possible to do it. He always
prepares a way to accomplish the things He commands us. We just have to have
patience. I am so grateful for His mercy and love in helping us to work
hard and be obedient. I love the church. I love my mission. I love Oda
Shimai.
今週頑張りましょうね
クロフツ姉妹
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| Two of my favorite people in the world in our 3 nin companionship |
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| We love chocolate and Hi Chews |
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| Soaked by the rain coming back from eikaiwa |
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| This is what a Japanese train is like. It took great effort to accomplish this picture. |
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| Beautiful river by our apartment |
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| A shrine by Takagi Shimai's house |
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| Nakamura Shimai at zone conference. She is so cute. |
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| Ishida Shimai at zone conference |
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| We love sushi |
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| Our 3 with Sayaka Chan |
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| Our nightly routine |
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| Love Garrett Shimai |
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| The beauty of having a companion who studied hair |
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| Missing Garrett Shimai |
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| Garrett Shimai drew this. Ha Ha |
