Konnichiwa!
This week was PACKED - like every week seems to be here! I'm sure Yuiko shimai
has been sending you pictures of a few of our Miyazaki adventures, but I'll
expound a bit on those soon.
I love hearing about
how everything is going back in AZ! That's so exciting that school is starting
back up again for y'all -- it's crazy because I left on my mission while you
were still all in school, and it doesn't seem like it's already been long enough
for you to be back again! Time is a crazy concept, that's for sure.
Yes, it is hot here.
Not as hot as Mesa, per se, but the humidity definitely makes up for the
degrees difference. It feels so much hotter here than AZ because the humidity
is a bit of a doozy sometimes. But enough with the dramatics - I've actually
adjusted to it a lot faster than I was expecting to! I think having a working
A/C now has helped with that alot :) And yes, Miyazaki is a pretty spread out,
big place but it is one of the smaller and more rural parts in our mission. One
huge blessing of being a little farther away from the big cities is that people
are nicer here, or so I've heard. Not that I'm the expert or anything, because
I haven't been anywhere else! Just know that I love it here. Miyazaki is so
beautiful - I can't even describe it! Ooh and another real fun fact on that
note - a few days ago we made a trek to visit some less active members that
live in the outskirts of Miyazaki. We rode our bikes for over an hour, and it was
through the most beautiful countryside. It was the first time since coming to
Japan that I had been in a place that was open fields, not surrounded by
buildings. Seriously, it makes me a little sad that I can't adequately express
how beautiful everything is here. Just know that it is, and that's that. :)
So last Monday for
Pday we went to Aoshima (which essentially means blue island) which is a
beautiful island at the edge of Miyazaki. GORGEOUS. The tide was out, so we
were able to hunt through the rocks and find edible sea snails, and we ate them
the next night for dinner! And they weren't even gross. Probably not something
I'd eat every day, but decent, nonetheless. Another super nice thing was Yuiko
shimai's brother, who is in Heber right now told her that if I was from AZ I'd
probably like Mexican food. So she made us mexican food! We had taco rice (aka,
everything you would put on a tortilla for a taco, just over rice instead) and
that was a nice combination of my life. Arizona and Japan. Awesome.
Ooh more fun facts
about food - I had my first kaitenzushi experience this week. Essentially a
conveyer belt of food rolls past each table and you order on a touch screen
what you want, and it just rolls right over to you. Pretty fun. And almost all
sushi. I was feeling adventurous, so I can now say I've tried squid, octopus,
and sea urchin - and the best thing is it's not that bad! Probably an acquired
taste, but hey I guess I'm on the right path.:)
I'd just like to take
a minute and apologize right now for the complete random order of things in all
my letters - it's essentially just my jumble of thoughts on paper (or I guess
the computer in this case) because I feel like we don't have enough time to do
everything so my mind is continually throwing things around!
In answer to your
question, the elders have met with the investigator we referred to them once
and have had a bit of a hard time meeting with him again because he's really
busy with work. But we just keep praying! I have high hopes. I love our
investigators. We're teaching an 18 year old girl who is good friends with one
of the families in the ward. She is really sweet, and very sincere. She was a
referral from this family, so we started teaching her our first week here. She
is super nice, and I love the things I'm able to learn during each lesson from
her and during the study time we have to prepare. This gospel is amazing!!!!
We're also teaching a really nice lady right now who's in her late 60s or
early 70s, and she is great. She has two adorable grandkids that she's watching
for a few weeks so she always brings them to Eikaiwa (english class) each week.
She was progressing pretty well, she always comes to church and such, but her
husband died a few months ago and so she doesn't feel like she could join this
church till all of the Buddhist funeral rites are over, out of respect and
such. The problem is they go on for about a year. Anyway, so we know she has a
testimony and I really do feel like she'll join the church eventually but it's
a bummer because things are kind of at a standstill with her. But we just keep
working, and loving her, and remembering that the Lord's timing is what
matters!
Miracle of the week!
So, a few days ago
during study time I was feeling a bit down and I wasn't sure why - I was
figuring things out, and studying what I should be doing, but for some reason I
was just feeling pretty overwhelmed with all of the things we had to do. I felt
like I should turn on a song on my mp3 and listen to the words, and things
would be better. I almost didn't because I never listen to music during study
time, but it felt like the right thing to do so I did. The first song that came
on was a version I'd never heard before, and I didn't even know it was on
my ipod. I was half listening as the intro to I am a Child of God started
playing, then I was surprised when the first thing I heard was "Kami no
kode su," aka the Japanese words for the song! It turns out the song was
just sung in several different languages, but I think Heavenly Father knew that
was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment in time. I almost started
crying because I could feel that love so strongly. I know that this is hard,
and that life in general is hard, but Heavenly Father is so involved in the
details of our lives! He loves us and helps us in so many ways everyday.
Recognizing these instances is sometimes hard to do, but with patience, it will
come!
Once again, thanks for
listening to my rambling. OH one more story - on Saturday we went to
see Hanabi - aka fireworks with some members and less actives in our ward.
And... we got to dress up for the occasion! The fireworks were in celebration
of the ending of summer festival. People were all dressed in traditional dress,
and we got to join in! We borrowed some yukattas (kind of like kimonos) from
one of the ward members and it was awesome. And the super nice part is that she
gave it to me afterward. I can't believe how nice everyone is here. I'll
treasure this forever! But anyway, yeah the fireworks were the most amazing I'd
ever seen. Definitely the most intense fireworks I'd ever seen. I'll try to
send a few pictures. :D
Thank you so much for
all of your words of wisdom - I am so grateful for all the advice you give me
and your love that I can feel, even though I am thousands of miles away! I love
you all, and good luck with all your adventures and endeavors this week!!!!
Ai shite imasu!!!
-Flake Shimai
Finding sea snails
Traditional Yukattas
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