Thank you so much for the email! I hope you realize that in five days we shall be talking face to face! I will send you the details with the skype situation.
As far as your week goes - sounds like it was crazy as always! That is way sad about the Jeppesons! I love them and have learned so much from both of them. But I am glad they get that opportunity :)
Yep - one fun fact about teaching here in Japan - the majority of the people that we talk to every day and teach have never even heard of Jesus Christ before, or if they have, they don't know anything about him. It really is such an amazing experience to be able to start with that but then see someone's testimony of their Savior grow. It is incredible. So as of late, we have acquired a few Catholic investigators and I soon came to discover that I do not know how to teach Christians! :) But that is a-okay. We definitely had to do some switching of teaching styles, and everything is working out okay. We were able to teach Kimurasan and Sasakisan a few times last week. They are our cute little grandmas that love us, and they study the bible with their friends every week. Things are going well, but they are very content with their church and bible study. One thing that has been a little hard with them has just been that they haven't really been able to connect with us because we are young and American. We are going with one of the members from the Hikari, HIroshima ward this week to meet with them again, and I can't wait to see how that goes. I don't know if I fully explained this before, but our little group in Saijo is a group out of the Hikari ward (whichi is about 45 min by train from here). So, we go to Hikari every fast Sunday for church. A quick report on Ayako san!!! Things are really improving with her. She is one of our very Buddhist investigators. The first few times we met with her were some of the most frustrating lessons I'd ever been in. We would try to explain something and she would talk right over us, with random inapplicable questions, and wouldn't let us get more than one sentence out. We have been praying so much for her, and trying our hardest to do exactly what Heavenly Father needs us to do for her, and we have been blessed to see some huge miracles with her situation. The last two lessons we have had with her, we have really been able to see growth. She still has questions, but they are sincere. We have been able to really have good discussions, and strongly testify to her of why we know this message is true and will change her life. This has been one of the most treasured experiences on my mission to see how the Lord really is helping us to be the missionaries He needs us to be. I guess this really was just such a huge testimony of how this is His work; not ours.
I almost forgot to say, but we had another unforgettable experience this past week. Last p-day, we went to the Atomic bomb museum in Hiroshima. It was a very unique experience that I am grateful I was able to have. Honestly, it's pretty much impossible to describe how I felt during that. I have never felt so personally responsible for such a huge, devastating situation. It really was heartbreaking to see what happened, and the effects of that atomic bomb; especially after having lived among these people and growing to love them all so much.Basically, I could go on about how I feel about that - but I'll save that for another day.
Some last notes from the week -
I mentioned it earlier, but it was really great to be able to go to Hikari for church a few days ago and meet more of the members in the ward. One really nice thing - one of the families in the ward invited us over for dinner after church, and they fed us a feast. So much food it was ridiculous. I feel like that was the most food I had ever seen; it was so nice of them. They shared their conversion story , and how important the gospel is to them and it was one of the most touching things I have ever heard. The importance of member missionaries is huge. They are an awesome example to me. Really though, all the members here are. They are incredible. Last of all - we had an FHE (in Saijo) with members from our branch, less actives, investigators and missionaries last night and it was great. The exciting news is this - for the first time on my mission, I was able to do recreation therapy. And it was the first time I had ever done that in Japanese! We did a rec thearapy game, processed, figured out how everyone felt about it, and tied it in to a scripture that explained we all have various talents and that we all need each other. It was one of the happiest times. I love our Saijo family. It is an incredible place to be.
Anyway, sorry for the abruptness - I love you all and can't wait to see you in a few days! Have a great week - I love you!
愛しています！
フレーク姉妹
Playing the koto (traditional Japanese instrument)
Happy Mothers Day!!
Peace Banner made out of origami swans
The Atomic bomb dome
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