Thanks for your email! It sure is great to hear all about your week! Dad, I hope you know I'm praying for you as well with your job and such! And mom, I'm so glad to hear regionals went well and my little brothers are keepin the family name proud! (I realize that sentence doesn't make much sense but give me a break - english is hard sometimes) I have come to realize that after teaching english classes and talking to people that are learning English as a second language, I sometimes start switching my grammar around as well. Awkward! But don't worry, I usually catch myself. Anyway, I'm glad you got to spend some time on the ranch! One of the elders in my district grew up on a farm, so we sometimes talk about acres and cows and branding and stuff like that. Speaking of that, dad I have a quick question - how many acres is the ranch? Just curious.But yeah - on to the week! It was definitely a highs and lows kind of week, if you know what I mean. Last Monday was one of the hardest days of my entire mission. We had a lesson with Michikosan, and it started off okay but ended horribly. Basically we were talking about some questions that she had had, and our joint (member) was a nice lady but pretty blunt. She and Michikosan kind of butted heads a bit - both had strong opinions. Basically the joint told michiko that she was wasting our (the missionaries') time if she wasn't interested in what we had to say. The member meant well but it was a little harsh. Michikosan said she wouldn't be coming to church anymore, gathered her stuff and left. I burst in to tears because I felt so bad about the argument and the different things they had both said, and poor sister Messer had no clue what was going on. It was pouring rain that day, and we didn't have our raincoats or anything so by the time we got home we were completely soaked from head to foot, and I was still in tears when we told the other shimai what had happened. I was heartbroken because I love her so much, and from the way the lesson ended it seemed like there was a chance we wouldn't be seeing her ever again. I was pretty discouraged, and was having a hard time not blaming myself for different things *could have used a different joint, different subject, etc* but after talking to the other shimai, I realized that it wasn't my fault, and that I just needed to trust in the Lord and in his timing. We sent her a text that night that said we were sorry about the lesson and that we valued our friendship and love her so much. Her response made me feel a lot better - she said Flake doesn't need to apologize to me - I love Flake! then she said something about not understanding the member very well, then it ended with Flake, you are a splendid lady. It may seem just like a simple text, but that was exactly what I needed to hear to be able to feel like everything was alright. She loves us, and really values our friendship. We talked to her a few more times throughout the week, and she called us this morning to explain a little more about how she is feeling. The miracle is this - when we texted her a few days ago, she told us that she wanted to continue to read the book of Mormon and see why we love it's teachings so much. Last week she was on page 44, but this week she is already on page 145. She read 100 pages in a week. She's done with the Isaiah chapters! It is sad, because she won't be coming to church anymore, and is not super interested in learning much more right now, but she really really really wants to understand the book of Mormon. She has a goal to finish reading it. Anyway, sorry for the super detailed story but that has been a big part of our week. And I hope you know that the members here are absolutely incredible - just the joint for that particular lesson has a pretty strong willed personality, and those 2 just didn't see eye to eye on some matters. We have learned and grown from the experience, and are trying to do our best to just stay good friends with Michikosan and be there for her with her questions and everything she is going through. I was reading D and C 6 a few days ago in personal study and it was incredible how much I felt like it was the Lord talking to me. I love that I get to have so many opportunities to learn from like this.
Almost all of our appointments fell through this past week (with members and investigators) so we had a LOT of finding time. It sure does help us get to know the streets of Fukuoka a little better, I guess~! But it all worked out. This week, we have more solid appointments and opportunities, so things will be good.
I really can't even believe it when I try to comprehend all of the things I have learned and the ways I have grown since being on my mission. I haven't even been out for a very long time, yet I already can't imagine how my life would be had I not gone on a mission. This is the exact place I need to be right now.
Sorry, now for a complete switch of train of thought - on to answer some of your questions! We do find some investigators from Eikaiwa, but often times it is more of a service that we do. It is a lot of fun, and our students are great. It is a really great experience being in Fukuoka - our Eikaiwa is huge! We have a beginning, intermediate, and advanced class and each class is pretty good sized. Weather - it goes back and forth between cold and really cold. The worst is a bitter cold wind. I think without this awful wind, it wouldn't be too bad, but man it is a bit of a killer! I am so glad to hear that Logan is doing well. I would be so happy for him if he gets his papers in by the end of the school year, but a little heartbroken if we will miss each other by a few months. I still can't believe he's a senior. My bean chan is a champion! She is doing really well. Seriously, I feel like she is an exact copy of me as a bean, but cooler. She is awesome but she doesn't have tons of confidence in her Japanese - a feeling I totally understand! But doing this 12 weeks program really is great. I feel like I am appreciating the direction from the program a lot more now than I did when I was a bean. Figures. And as far as my Japanese, things are going well. I still don't understand everything, but I understand what I need to. And I don't exactly talk like a native, but I am able to get my point across. I want to and need to improve, but I feel so blessed to be where I am with this language. To tell you the truth, when I was a bean, I don't think I even thought I would be at this point by the end of my mission. Basically, it's nice to see some progress.
Well, that's about all I've got for now. Sorry for the lots of details, but I bet you're not complainig too much. I hope you have a fabulous week - I always love hearing from you!!!
Ai shite imasu!!!
Flake Shimai
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