Things are going so well here. This week had some awesome moments and some hard moments but hey - isn't that how every week goes as a missionary? It really was awesome to be able to start off the week by going last pday to the Hiroshima castle with the other missionaries, some ward members, and Okayamasan - then to his baptism that night. He was so happy. Seeing him and the elders just beaming all the time is such a happy thing. The gospel really brings such a light to people. I love being able to see that change over time.
This week was Obon - where everyone goes home to their parents' home and goes to the cemetary to worship their ancestors. People here are so surprised when they ask what it is called in English and I say we don't have a specific day or name for that. It made finding a little bit hard becuase everyone was with their families and not too interested in listening to us - but it was okay.
ANd yes to answer your questions - yes it rains ALOT here. Definitely have seen way more rain in the last year than I have ever seen in my life. Truth. But when it is not raining, it is super sunny, hot, and very yvery very humid. Basically come back to the apartment wet every day, weather from rain or sweat.
We taught ueda san again (different person than umedasan). I don't think I;ve told you much about her - we just found her a few weeks ago. She is very wise, kind of looks down on us a little and has a lot of questions that are usually asked more for the sake of having questions than wanting to hear answers, but we do our best to simply testify to her and share the things we know to be true. I just feel like every day that I am out here my heart grows bigger and more full of love for these people, and I feel the need to share the happiness of this gospel even more!
Okay. We've got a bunch of investigators that are at various stages - sorry I don't have time to share about all of them but I will tell you some happy stories! Teena and takeda are our current investigators with baptismal dates - tomiko doesn't have one right now - she is struggling with a few things but we are just doing our best to keep in contact with her, and work bit by bit.
Teena - she is from China, but has pretty good english and Japanese so our lessons are always a mix of all 3 languages. It is a lot of fun. The three of us are pretty good friends, and all the same age ish so it is a fun time. We taught word of wisdom this past week, and let me tell you, family - I know it is hard to teach wherever you are, but man oh man it is hard in Japan. Some teas are okay, and some aren't. Tea is such a cultural thing in asia - it is pretty hard for people to accept. She understood most of the word of wisdom but is having a pretty hard time with accepting the fact that green tea is against this commandment. Please pray for her!
Takeda is doing really well. Her work just became a little more busy so she won't be able to come to church for awhile, and we can't meet with her more than once a week now but she is growing her faith every day. :D
Most exciting news of the week - So shimai and I get to go to the temple on Saturday!!!!! So for us, we're only allowed to go to the temple once every yother transfer (I haven't been since last november, though) and temple day becomes pday. (except for email). So we're emailing right now than going back to our normal schedule of missionary work - finding, lessons, etc for the rest of the day, then on Saturday we're leaving from hiroshima around 4:30 in the morning to take the 4 1/2 hr bus ride to the temple and will come back late that night. I can't wait. The best part though is this - Lisa shimai, the RC we're working with from Malaysia will be coming with us! This will be her first time at the temple - so we're going to do baptisms together. I am so excited. Speaking of her - she is incredible. She told me one of the happiest things last week. She told us about one of her friends that had been having a really hard time in her family. Lisa said "Sisters, I remembered what you had taught me - Sea turtle! (C - celestial, TER - terrestrial, TEL - telestial) And I did my best to explain the plan of salvation to her! Although I would prefer if you would teach her next time. Can you come with me to visit her next week?"
This is about the most heart-warming thing I could have heard! What a blessing that was. Members help the missionary ywork so much more than I'm sure they even realize. They are essential!
Last super exciting news - Umedasan, our Brazillian friend. So her husband lives in Kumamoto (about 5 hrs ish away) for work and only is able to come back here to visit his family once a month. He was here this past week for the Obon festival, so when we went over to teach her about the plan of salvation last night we taught both of them. I spent language study yesterday on going between the Japanese, English, and Portugese pamphlets learning a few of the gospel words in portugese I would need for the lesson, and honestly it went pretty well! It's pretty fun to be teaching the plan of salvation with a missionary from Taiwan, missionary from America teaching a couple from Brazil - and all speaking in Japanese. God works in mysterious ways! It was such a wonderful opportunity to be able to promise them the blessings that come from this happy plan, and tell them how much God loves them. I felt it so strong. I know this church is true and am so grateful for the opportunity I have to tell people about it every day.
Thank you for your prayers and support - we really do feel it here! I love you!
Ai shite imasu!
Flake Shimai
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