Konnichiwa, kazoku!
Our district
Me and my awesome companion Sister Suzuki
Mom - please don:t feel bad about the letter last week - I just happened to email as early as we can possibly do it (10 on Mondaymorning) so that is probably why the times were so crazy. It is all good. And while we are on the subject of emailing late - sorry I am sending this Tuesday night instead of the normal Monday morning! Today is P-day this week - but I will get to that later. So last week after emailing and such on Monday we went to Aoshima with our district. I told you a little bit about Aoshima when we went like our 2nd week here, but this time was such a hilarious adventure. We went for the day with our district (the Miyazaki elders, the Miyakonojo elders, and us) and it was awesome! We got to play some beach volleyball, enjoy the sand, and climb over the rocks because it was low tide. Maybe one day I will actually go deeper into the island to see the famous shrine, which is why most people go. Maybe. :)
It says-Flake Shimai I love Miyazaki!
Our district
Me and my awesome companion Sister Suzuki
Anyway, onward with the week! We were able to meet with N-chan for a few lessons and she is doing really well. The zone leaders were here on splits this past week, so she had her baptismal interview last Friday and passed with flying colors - that is the good news! The sad news is that we still do not have her parents permission for the baptism, and we have not been able to meet them yet either. I feel like we have been trying so many things but they just keep falling through. But it is okay - we are just continuing to do our best and trusting in the Lord:s timing!
I would love to share with you know our awesome housing miracle of the week! So when it comes to streeting and housing, I personally prefer streeting, mostly because you always talk to the person face to face (as opposed to the little intercom thing) and when we house, often times people will not even answer the door. Anyway, so we were housing this week and it was kekko after kekko, time and time again (kekko is what people say a lot when we are housing - it basically means ``I`m good`` - aka I don`t need/want religion in my life right now! So it was kekko, kekko, kekko, everywhere we went and we were getting a little sad about that. Then we went to this one house and right after we said Hello! We are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints she jumped in and invited us inside. That never happens. It is almost always just a door talk, if we are able to talk for more than a few minutes to them. So she invited us in and gave us tea (Mugicha, the acceptable kind - don`t you fret) and listened to what we had to say. After we had just talked for a couple minutes she gave us delicious bread and milk, then asked us if we were selling anything, like books or something of the sort. We told her no we were not selling anything, but we had a book that we would love to give to her that explained a little more about what we believed. And we said it was free - the funny thing is, she kept trying to buy it. We had not even told her what was in it, but she basically told us she wanted it because she could see how happy we were. She also said she usually doesnt even answer the door when people come by, but there was something about how happy we were that she really wanted. So we were able to go and teach her and her mother (who is in her 80s - she is in her 50s) the next day and it was an awesome experience. We are going back tomorrow, and I can`t wait to talk to them some more! Sorry my story explanations are always so long. But it was an incredible experience to be sure. Last Wednesday was one of our craziest days. We taught about the same amount of lessons in one day that we usually teach in a week, then after all of that rushed to Eikaiwa and barely made it in time. Exhausting - but wonderful. I love being a missionary!
This has been our week of travelling. We went to Miyakonojo again for district meeting (its about a 1 hr train ride) last week, and yesterday (Monday) and today we were in Taniyama (which is about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs train ride from Miyazaki) because we had interviews with President and training from the APs. After that, yesterday afternoon, we got to go on exchanges with the Taniyama sisters and it was a blast. They are awesome! They are a threesome, the only other sisters in our zone. We stayed the night with them, and today we had a zone p-day. We had a barbecue, played some games, and just got to know some people in our zone a little better. Super great. Yes, so basically we just got back from Taniyama, and that is why I am emailing later than the norm :) Sorry bout that, mom!
Last exciting bit of news.\, then I will end this rambling. The investigator that we found housing at the beginning of last transfer, that we passed to the elders, finally let them come back and teach him more lessons so they have been teaching and working with him a bit more. We had an SA takoyaki party (have I told you about takoyaki? if not I will explain it in more detail next week) and he came so we were all able to get to know him a little better. Lots of fun. The awesome news is we invited him to a Single Adults volleyball event we:re doing next week and asked him to come and invite some friends - he called the elders today and asked if it would be okay if he brought 6 people. Awesome! What a blessing!
Anywho. Sorry this letter is ultra rambly today. I basically blame it on my lack of sleep and travel exhaustion. Just know that I love you all and I am so grateful for the chance I have to be here in Japan - I know it is exactly where the Lord needs me to be right now!!!
Ai shite imasu!!!
-Flake Shimai
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