Another great week! 11-2-14

Konnichiwa, kazoku!

First off - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for your letter! I'm glad all of the Homecoming things went well - it sounds like you have a fun group this year. Also way fun to hear that the football team is doing so well, too. The allstate jazz choir, region show choir and normal choir stuff sounds as busy as ever but I know how fun that all is! Good luck with all of that! When is the jazz choir performance? And yes, in answer to your question about the Halloween party costume - let's just say Japanese conditioner is not quite as good as American conditioner. It took a bit of time to get my hair back to normal. Takeda shimai couldn't come to the Halloween party because of work but everyone else that came really had a great time. Speaking of, yes - Takeda shimai is doing GREAT. She jointed for us last week (as the member in a member present lesson) with Yotsujisan and it went really well. She bore her testimony of how having faith in Jesus Christ has helped her and told Yotsuji that she had just been baptized two weeks earlier so she was still learning but knows that she is happier and more at peace now than she was before.  It was incredible!

As always have quite a few things to report - ganbarimasu!

Hasuikesan - a bit of a strange situation. We had a way good lesson with her the week before and we met and taught the restoration this week but it was kind of hard because I think there was just a lot of new information that she had never heard before at all (absolutely no Christian background) and she has some hard things going on in her family right now so she was a little distracted. Anyway, she called us later that day and said she had some concerns that she wanted to discuss with us, so we decided we would meet a few days later to sit down and talk. Problem is, she didn't come to the appointment, and has stopped answering our calls and texts. We are hoping and praying to be able to contact her. During our last lesson, she shared an incredible experience. The previoius lesson we had taught her about prayer. She said that since that lesson she had been praying to know if God really exists, and just felt that she needed help and strength to get through some of the challenges going on in her life. She said that after she prayed she just felt peace, and felt as though she gained the strength from God to get through the struggles she was going through. AFter that experience, she came to believe in God. It is so wonderful because right now as missionaries  we are able to see these experiences that others have in their own lives and help them understand more about them. I love it! I am trying every2r yday to be more of the missionary Heavenly Father needs me to be so he can use me as a tool in his hands. 

Hasegawasan - she is our investigator that is cute and older - her hearing is kind of bad so we just teach really loudly (not quite a yell, but almost) but she is a sweetheart and doing really well. 

Nakayamasan - she has  a baptismal date and is doing great! we had a joint lesson with Lisa shimai which was fun - they are great friends now even though they don't speak a common language. When I was talking, gazdik would translate for lisa, and when gazdik was talking I would translate. Kind of an interesting way to teach a lesson but it worked out pretty well.

More things to report but no time. Just know that going from 4 sisters down to 2 has made our lives absolutely insane. We barely have time to breathe - we are always running to appointments, biking as fast as we can, planning, mogi-ing (in english I think that is roleplays? maybe?) contacting people on the street, and just tryhing our best! It is so much fun. I can't even think of a better way to be spending my last transfer. It is already flying by. We are having a blast!

Last big miracle of the week - Watanabe san! (sorry for the small print - just copied/pasted from my pres. letter

We met with Watanabe san last night. She had gone to the hikari branch last week at the invitation of a friend but lives in saijou. We asked her how she found out about the chruch and sshe said that she went to Utah a few months ago for a work conference, and when she was there she made a friend (a nihonjin lady living in oregon married to an american) that was LDS. She also saw the salt lake temple and was impressed with that. When they were on their way to something that day, their car had a flat tire. A man driving by stopped to help them figure out how to fix it and such, but it was going to take a while so he cancelled his meetings and things he had to do in order to help them. He was a mormon, too. She was blown away that someone would be so kind as to stop and help a complete stranger, and go as far as to cancel his own busy schedule to help someone he didn't know. Last week, her friend from oregon was visiting Japan and invited Watanabe san to go to church with her. She went and really enjoyed the environment and the peace there, which is why she was interested in meeting with us.
How incredible is that?!? I know that the Lord is involved in all of his childrens' lives! This is a huge testimony to me. I am so grateful to be here, working in Japan and am grateful for all the things I've learned on my mission.

I hope you have a great week - I love you all so much and am so grateful for your love and support!

Ai shite imasu!

Flake Shimai