Ups and downs of mission life. 1-26-14

Konnichiwa, kazoku!

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

The weeks keep flying by... 1-19-14

Konnichiwa, kazoku!!!

It's been a great week, as always! Thank you so much for always telling me the details of what's going on with you - I love it! I'm so glad things are going well with the musical, regionals, sports, etc... and THAT YOU GOT TO GO WATCH DEVIN in VOCAL POINT AGAIN!!!! Woo-hoo!!! I am so happy for you all!! Music and the Spoken Word, vocal point concert *that my brother is in", massive game night of cards - sounds pretty exciting to me! I am so glad that everything worked out with that!  

A little bout my week - YES - we were able to meet with Sawako san again! And the exciting thing is, she brought her friend Mayumisan! They are friends from their english class, and they loved speaking with us. The whole speaking with native speakers thing is a huge proselyting tool - fun fact. Anywho, we were able to tell them why we were here in Japan, explain about the gospel, and taught them a lesson about Christ and gave them each a Book of Mormon and invited them to church! It went really well, and they seem like they are interested so we are continuing to pray for them! Sawakosan is hilarious. They were saying something about how worried my parents must be, with me being across the world in a different country at such a young age and such, but that you must be so proud. I showed them the picture of the fam that I always carry around, and they just fawned over it. "Such a beautiful family! Only girl? Goodness and all different hair colors!" and so on. The best though, was when Sawakosan pointed to mom and said What? Your mother? I responded in the affirmative. She then told me that mom looks like a movie star and asked if she was one. And she said she looked really young. Anyway, I haven't mentioned it tons before but everyone here thinks our family is stunning! Haha it's cute. 

Michikosan is doing really well. She's progressing, reading the Book of Mormon a lot, and meeting with us a couple of times a week and coming to church. The only thing that is a little hard right now is she is the director of  a huge promotional event for her work so she is pretty busy with work this month. She is so good though. We are working on clearing up some confusions she has right now with things she's heard/read about our church, but she is trying to understand. We're working on strengthening her testimony and coming to know Christ as her savior. It is an incredible blessing to be here, and having the opportunity to see as people's testimonies grow day by day. I just feel so blessed all of the time. 

Fukuoka is cold. It's mostly just a bitter wind chill that is the worst these days. Makes for some fun adventures as we go finding every day. It can sometimes be hard, because there are so many people that don't even have any interest in one thing, and all we  were able to say to them was hello. But it's okay because the Lord really does put the prepared people in our path! This is his work, not ours. All that matters is that we work our hardest to be obedient, be dilligent, study, and just be a missionary! I've seen that as we try our hardest, the Lord is right there with us, helping us along. I want you to know how much I love Japan. The people are incredible. I feel like I can't even begin to describe how much I love the people of Japan. I feel like I learn so much every day. I absolutely love it. Anyway,  that's about all I have time for right now but I love you all so much! Keep up the good work, have a fabulous week, and tell the fam hello!!!!!

Ai shite imasu!

Flake Shimai

CUTE KIDS

Eating Nato(fermented beans) yum!!

Daily Miracles!! 1-12-13

Konnichiwa, kazoku!!! 

Goodness. I feel like I have so much I want to say, and so much to respond to from your email, and a thousand thoughts running through my mind but no time to say them all! I will try my hardest!!!

It sounds like things are going well in Arizona! I think this whole devin in vocal point business definitely means more Utah trips for you all ;) I:m glad that you all get to go to his concert! I:ll try to answer as many questions as I can in the short amount of time I:ve got today ;)

1. There are not tons of ingredients here for making reciipes from home. There are a lot, but they are geared toward Asian food. I can make banana bread - but that:s about the most *American* food that I can make. Haha that pizza dip was missing half of the normal ingredients but it still tasted good! Cheese is kind of a seasonal thing. I:ll explain in more detail on another day.

2. There are konbinis (pronounced kohn bee knees) on every block. It:s like a gas station, without the gas pumps. Just convenience store food and snacks and such - and they:re everywhere! Haha except instead of hotdogs and nachos, the fast food here is onigiddies, gyoza, and nikuman. I love it. Oh and they totally have 7-lls here, but they:re called 7i&holding. I don:t really know what that:s supposed to mean... but I love it.

3. Messer Shimai is a champion. I:m pretty sure she:s the one training me, not the other way around!!! She has a really great attitude, and is a lot of fun.

Okay I don:t really know why I started this list thing then ended it pretty fast, but anywho. I have some crazy miracles to share!!!!!!!!!!!

Last tuesday, we were streeting and basically the whole time Messer shimai had been here everybody we:d talked to was really not interested. I felt bad for her because it usually isn:t this crazy! Nobody would listen to us for a few days. But I knew that if we just kept pushing forward and doing what we needed to do, the Lord would bless us. And he DID. In the most amazing way!!! We were going, and a lady came running up to us and said SISTERS! I:ve been looking for you!! Yep, she said sisters. she was speaking to us in english. Turns out, this lady was baptized in America 20 years ago, then moved back to Japan and there was a fire, so she lost a lot of her records, and all her contact info for her american connections. she moved around japan a lot and such, and just lost contact with the church. She was finally able to reconnect with her missionaries that converted her a few months ago, and they told her to go to church. she moved to fukuoka like 5 years ago, and did not know where the church was and couldn:t find it so she had been wanting to meet missionaries! We told her the address, and gave her a book of mormon. She asked us to come to her house for dinner sometime, and said `Do you think you could teach me the lessons again? I could help you with Japanese, and I would love to feel a little more comfortable with the teachings again.` She is so nice! Anyway, she:s a little busy this week with work, but we will be meeting her next week I think. Such a tender mercy. 

Miracle numba 2 -

 Another miracle of our week occured when we went by train to visit Emiko shimai (RC) We took the train but transferred to an incorrect train at the station where we needed to transfer and ended up being on the train a lot longer than anticipated. I was kind of frustrated because I felt like I was trying so hard but because I:d messed up on directions, we were wasting precious time. Then messer shimai pointed out that it was okay, because we were trying our hardest so obviously this is what the Lord needed to have happen! We were able to finally get to Emiko:s house, shared a message with her, and ahd a good experience, then we went back to the train station. While waiting for the train, a spunky little lady named Sawako started talking to us. She was the cutest. She told us all about herself, like how she wants to visit Canada one day like Anne of Green Gables, asked us a ton of questions, and just kept talking to us. We talked all the way back to Hakata eki and she asked us for our phone number and if we could meet together again! She beat us to the punch! We gladly gave it to her and will be meeting with her again on Friday. The Lord blesses us so much as we give everything our best effort! I:ve seen this time and time again. It is INCREDIBLE. Well I have a thousand other things to say but I am totally outta time. But I love you so much! Have a great week!

Ai shite imasu!!!!!!!!!

Flake Shimai

あけましておめでとうございます！！！1-6-13

Oshogatsu-(New Years Eve meal)

                                                  My bean-chan (greenie) Sister Messer

Konnichiwa, kazoku! 

Fun fact - the title of this letter says Akemashite, omedetou gozaimasu! Or in other words, Happy New Year! Things were insane as always around here. One thing that was really interesting was the opportunity I had to be in Japan during o-shogatsu (new years). Fukuoka is always super busy, tons of people walking everywhere, tons of stores, lots of bustle - biggest city I:ve ever lived in, to be sure. But on new years day, it was a ghost town. Nobody walking through the streets, and most of the stores were closed. The fun thing about that is that it was bean dendo day! Where we get to take the new missionaries and basically go tracting for a few hours. Anyway, even though things were a little dead that day, we still had some great miracles and talked to some awesome people. I got to bean dendo with... my new companion! She didn:t know at the time that we would end up together. It was a lot of fun. Her name is Sister Messer - she is from Nevada, around the Las Vegas area. She is a sweetheart, and we are having a blast. She basically reminds me a lot of me as a bean - except she:s a lot cooler. ;D But yeah! We get along really well, and we are having a lot of fun here in Fukuoka. Lane shimai got transferred to Nagasaki - different zone but it:s the zone we combine with for zone conferences so maybe I:ll be seeing her around eventually! The other two sisters in our apartment stayed here as well, so that is fun. They are the greatest too.  Yes, we:re doing really well, but I:m not gonna lie - training is a bit of an adventure! I feel like it was yesterday that I stepped off the plane in Fukuoka. It:s interesting being the one completely leading in everything, but it really is a good experience. 1 Ne 3;7 really is the truth. The Lord does a provide a way for us to do the things we need to accomplish. I have already seen miracles this past week. One being I understand almost everything being said these days. Almost every word. And Japanese really isn:t as stressful anymore. I still have a long way to go, but I can get my point across, and say what needs to be said. It is amazing. Anyway, sorry for that little tangent. But things are good here!

One exciting thing from last week was we got invited to several oshogatsu (new years) meals. They are traditional meals, with food that is usually only made once a year. It was.......unique. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed the experience of eating the traditional Japanese oshogatsu food, but I am okay with the fact that I will not be eating it again. 

Fun fact with new year:s eve - I made pizza dip. Just for you, mom! Ha but really, it was a huge hit with the other 3 sisters in the apartment, and it made it feel like new year:s eve!

On transfer day, we got to help out at the train station all day, directing missionaries to different trains and buses and such. Heaps of fun, as our Australian ZL would say. I got to see Heaton shimai and we had a grand time. She is an STL this transfer - super awesome! I also got to see Suzuki shimai again and it was great. It sounds like new years was a party for all of you! I:m glad things are going so well back home. I had no idea Christian was even engaged - who did she get married to? And can you ask bryana and laura to send me a letter? I hate to be that missionary begging for letters (but yes, I have reached that point. and I]m pretty over it). Anyway, that is a little of what my week looked like! Michikosan was out of town until a few days ago so we weren:t able to teach her for a little while, but we did teach her after church on Sunday and it went really well. One thing that I love about her is that if she doesn:t understand something or if she thinks something is weird, she tells us exactly what she thinks. No beating around the bush. It:s great, because it helps us answer and clear things up! Another thing that is way exciting for this week is that we have a lot of potential investigators right now that were busy when we found them, but asked us to come back and talk to them the week after new years. So we:ve got a lot to do this week, but I couldn:t be any happier! I love Japan. I love Fukuoka. I love the people here. I just wish I could get across (even though its hard in an email) how much I love the people of Japan. they are incredible. I feel so blessed, every day, to be working with such wonderful people and spreading this message of joy! Gah I just love it here so much! Thank you for all of your love and support. It means so much to me. I hope you have an incredible week - good luck with all of the crazy things coming up! You:re the best!

Ai shite imasu!!!!

Flake Shimai

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! 12-30-13

                                               Christmas Morning!!

                                                                     Christmas lights!

                                                                  Making Mochi!!

Konnichiwa, kazoku!

To start off, let me just say it was soooooooo great to talk to you last week! I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to skype! I am grateful to hear so many things are going well for you. I love reading of the little miracles that occur every week. It is mind-blowing to think of how blessed we are, and how much Heavenly Father really does love each and every one of his children. Tender mercies are so real - we see so many every day. I'm glad you enjoyed the Christmas package - I hope it brought a little taste of Japan into your life! And make sure you start practicing with those chopsticks. When I return, I will be making a few things for ya that can only be eaten with chopsticks ;) 

I know I only talked to you a few days ago, but I feel like thousands of things have happened since then! We had a Christmas brunch at the honbu about an hour after I talked to you and it was so much fun. Kaicho and shimai had a son and his family visiting, so it was all of them and all the missionaries in our district. Lots of fun. Also Michiko came for the last part of it because she had brought a gift for their family. She is the greatest. One bit of a bummer is that she has been out of town for the past week, and doesn't get back till the end of this week so we haven't been able to have any sit down lessons with her, but we've been texting her and have talked to her on the phone a bit so things are good. Biggest miracle with her - we invited her to go to church in Miyazaki yesterday - and she did! She called us and told us all about it. More tender mercies! But I'm getting ahead of myself. On our Christmas p-day, we got together with some missionaries from our district and some from another district and went ice skating! It was so much fun. It is exactly the same in Japan as it is in America - down to the blue rental skates. Gotta love it! Then we went and saw the hakata station lights, then went to Eikaiwa! We had a special christmas eikaiwa that day. We got permission to watch It's a Wonderful Life. We watched it in english, with english subtitles - so the students could learn english still. It was so much fun. That movie has such a good message.

Christmas was bright and sunny, but the other days have been FREEZING. I think it's the bitter cold wind that blows while we're biking. Huzzah for great new experiences! OH and another fun thing with Christmas - our ward gave us a huge box of food and candy and presents - it was super thoughtful. They are all so sweet. Thanks again for everything in the package - my favorite things were the letters and the missionary newsletter that you included. It is so inspiring to hear other missionaries' stories, what they're doing, the miracles they are having, and so on. I have been able to learn so much from those. So thanks again! Last little random note - I have come to the conclusion that my taste buds have officially changed/ adjusted. We had saraudon at a member's house last week and it was incredible. It is a really thick creamy stew ish thing that you pour over crunchy noodles - it is creamy, full of vegetables, shrimp, and octopus. And I loved it. I think if I had had something similar on my first day, however, I wouldn\'t have enjoyed it quite as much. 

Last saturday was insane! We went with a potential investigator to a mochistuki - it was insanely awesome. we made mochi! It's made out of pounded rice - it's made by pounding this special kind of rice in a huge stone bowl with mallets. It turns into a soft, dough type thing that is super delicious. And it SNOWED that day. I love snow so much! And we made traditional newyears wreaths. New years is HUGE here. Bigger than Christmas. We can hardly even proselyte because nobody will ever listen on new years, apparently --- but we're still going to try!!! ANyway, that day after the mochitsuki we went and helped out with a feeding the homeless thing that a lady in our ward was involved in. It was a very humbling experience. After we went to Asami san's baptism! She is the other fukuoka sisters' investigator! Well, convert. She is the best. It was so good/. Whew. Lots of news, I'm telling you. And you haven't even heard the life-changing news yet. Here it goes.

Scariest moment of my life - are you ready for it?

I am going to be training this transfer.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. I am such a jumble of emotions! I am scared out of my mind, but so excited at the same time. She will be a fresh outta the MTC bean, and I will be her comp as of Thursday. Weird. I feel like I just got to Japan yesterday, but I'll be on Transfer 5 now. Crazy how time flies. Anyway, I got to go to  the trainers training meeting that the APs do for all the new trainers each transfer and it was awesome. I learned a ton from it, and I can't wait. I know this is going to be hard, but I have been praying and studying harder than I ever have for the past few days and I know that this is exactly where the Lord needs me to be right now, and exactly what I need to be doing. We will have the opportunity to learn a lot together. I know that because we are doing his work, the Lord will be right there beside us, helping us through everything as long as we do our best. Alma 37;6-7 is truer than true. It is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass. I am super excited, and ready to jump in and continue pushing forward with the work. I am so sad that I won't be companions with Sister Lane anymore, but I am so glad I was able to be with her for two transfers. I have learned a TON from her, and will always value the opportunity we had to be companions. Well that's about all the time I have today, but thanks for all of your prayers, love, and support. They mean so much to me! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! 

Ai shite imasu!

Flake Shimai

Christmas is coming!! So is skyping!! 12-15-13

Christmas in Japan

Konnichiwa, kazoku!!!

I have a lot of news. I will try to remember to say everything I need to say, and answer your questions as well!!! I have some good news and some bad news for you. The bad news is that I won:t be calling you for Christmas................but I will be skyping you if that is alright with you!!!!!! WOOT. Basically the lowdown on that was this - plan on calling, unless a member offers to let you use their computer, but don:t ask to use anyone:s computers. HA so it was a kind of crazy situation. But the office couple offered to let us skype! I:ll send more info in a bit on that.

Anyway, this week! Lots happened. Some big news of the week is that we officially dropped Christina and Karan. It was hard, but we have been praying and fasting about it and knew that it was the right thing for them. It was hard, but we talked to them and they agreed that this was not the right time for them. But they did say they will call the missionaries again when they are ready to keep commitments and learn more, so it went well. It was just so hard! But it felt right after, and we knew that it was what we needed to do. I love them so much, and I know that they will be baptized someday. It:s all in the Lord:s timing!

Michiko san is doing wonderfully. Okay, so I just realized I don:t think I:ve told you much about her personality - but she is hilarious. I love her so much. Basically she tells us things every day that just make us die laughing. She loves the Book of Mormon and she has tons of questions, all the time. She keeps us on our toes. She loves trying to learn English, so we have a fun little exchange of us teaching her English stuff and her teaching us Japanese stuff - it is a party. It was super funny - at the beginning of a lesson we had with her last week, we were just having some small talk with a few things. She showed us a picture her friend in America had sent her of him at a shooting range. Pointing to the picture, she said `If I shoot guns like this in Japan, I will go to jail. Then after jail, hoshinosakae (the Telestial Kingdom).`We were glad to hear that she remembered the plan of Salvation lesson we taught a few weeks ago! It was hilarious. 

Just really quick, before I forget - you may or may not be getting a little something in the mail from Japan.... If you do.... Don:t open it till Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! That:s all. 

This past saturday was basically one of the craziest and funnest days evah. We (our district and another district in our zone, about 22 missionaries) caroled for all of the stake presidents in our mission - they were at the mission home having a big meeting. That night, we had a caroling program at Tenjin! It was awesome. We sang several big christmas songs all together, and a few smaller group songs. I did a duet with Elder Iwaasa - we sang a really cool version of I know that My Redeemer Lives (in English) and it was a lot of fun! The Gustafsons came to watch us, and Kaicho (president) said the nicest thing to me afterward. He said something like this -- Flake shimai, that was beautiful. I don:t know how anyone could see you up there singing like an angel and not know that this message we bring is true.` It was so sweet! I love the Gustafsons so much. I really am blessed to have such an incredible family here in Japan. I miss you all so much but all the elders and sisters here really do feel like my brothers and sisters, and the Gustafsons are our awesome parents. It;:s awesome. 

We got to watch the Christmas broadcast last night! So good, as always. 

Oh and on a random note - we can eat sugar again. I had a chocolate bar for the first time in 2 months the other day. It was so good. It feels like there are so many things we can eat now. Kinda blows my mind a little.

In answer to your questions - yes, we do streeting and housing. Interchangeably. There are tons of apartment buildings here, so we often will start from the top  and work our way down. Basically, it depends on your area and your personal preferences if you do more streeting or more housing -- in other areas, there are hardly any people out walking. We like streeting here in Fukuoka because the streets are always crowded. Lots of people to talk to all the time on our way to other appointments that we have. I:ve gotten to be quite a pro at getting off my bike and back on again like a lady, really fast, rather than awkardly throwing my leg over and almost falling off (which may or may not have happened a few times my first transfer) haha. 

Christmas question - yes! Christmas is a big deal here. However, not very many people connect it to Christ or even know who Christ is. The commercial side of Christmas is a big deal here. But it is great because we use Christmas to introduce Christ sometimes to people we talk to. It is really neat. 

Well that is about all I have time for today but I love you so much! I can:t wait to SEE and Talk to you next week!!!!!

Ai shite imasu!!!!!!!!

Flake Shimai

The Christmas kisetsu...12-8-13

Konnichiwa, kazoku!!!

Mom - I love your long epistles! Thank you thank you! It actually hasn:t been as cold this week as it has been the past few weeks. But there is still  a Christmas feel in the air :) (fun fact - the japanese word for season is kisetsu....I think) And mother any time you want to use any of my stuff - go for it! I:m glad it:s being used! Sorry about all these colons instead of apostrophes. It:s either that or the only other option is typing in Japanese. not the best idea. I can:t believe all these people are already getting home from their missions - I swear they just barely left! Time sure does fly. I:m glad James and Rockie are doing well! Tell him that if he wants to see how I:m doing, to write me a letter! (Yes indeed, I am pulling the letter card that I:ve always judged missionaries for pulling. Letters are the best things EVER. Especially here in Fukuoka because the recorder (one of the office elders) always calls us and lets us know when we have one. Super exciting indeed). Okay but anyway - I hope the musical goes well! Make sure to take lots of pictures and videos for me!!! I:m glad everything is working out for you guys. 

I:ll give you the lowdown on our week real fast ---

And I will start a little bit backwards! Yesterday, we had the coolest opportunity. Lane shimai and I were asked by one of the ward members to go up to help out in an upstairs room during relief society. We went up there, and it turns out there was a family visiting from Utah on business and they had brought a few of their business associates to church. There had been a mix up with when they thought Sacrament meeting was, so instead they met in a room and had us and the zone leaders come and introduce ourselves and just explain a little bit about what we do as missionaries. It was really neat, because the couple:s son had his mission call and leaves in a couple of months, so he talked a little bit about why he wanted to serve. Then the dad gave an overview of our beliefs. There was such a strong spirit in there, and the business associates were really accepting and respectful. We helped a little with some translating as well, and overall it was just a really neat experience.

Another exciting thing that happened yesterday - Marquez shimai, one of the less actives we:ve been working with for the past transfer came to church for the first time since we:ve been working with her! It was so exciting. Sorry, this is a bit of a tangent but I just realized something interesting the other day. It:s funny because before my mission the Christmas season has always been such a flurry of activity - I:ve focused on Christ, and the actual reasons but have still been involved in a bunch of the other things as well, gifts and so on. But I realized the other day that the best gift I could even possibly imagine receiving would be to have several of our investigators and LAs come to church. I don:t want to sound cheesy or anything but it:s so true. I love these people with my whole soul and I just want them to see how incredible this gospel really is!!!

Okay, sorry for the rambling - but it really is how I feel!! So I have a few random stories from the week that I would like to share - 

1. When we were streeting a few days ago, we stopped to talk to this lady who was walking a tiny tiny dog on a leash. After we said we were missionaries (at this point the dog was walking around a little bit) she started walking away PRETENDING LIKE THE DOG WAS DRAGGING HER. It was SO funny. She basically said `I am so sorry - I would love to hear more but I just can:t right now` while gesturing to the dog. Funny stuff.

2. There are so many adorable children in this ward. But fun fact - there is a little girl who is probably 5 ish or something who acts and looks like the Japanese version of me when I was that age. I am serious. It  is crazy.

3. Last night, I ate a whole bowlful of chicken gizzards. It was the food that has been the hardest for me to eat here. It would suffice to say that is one food that I will not be making for myself......ever.

4. I started learning a tiny bit of kanji. It is hard but way fun and it makes the vocabulary make so much more sense! The dollar stores here have practice kanji books so I got one and I love practicing with it. I showed it to higashi shimai and said `I know you probably had one when you were five or something, but hey I:m way excited about this!` She replied (in a very encouraging voice) `No, I was 7... but I:m so happy for you!` It was hilarious.

5. Mom, you would be so proud of me. I SEWED. True story. I sewed straps onto my shoes - they broke forever ago and I:ve just been kind of dealing with it but I got some stuff and sewed them back on and it:s better than before and I will send you a picture someday. Just know that it:s a big deal.

Okay, now for a bit of a report - and then I:ve got to get going! 

Christina and Karan both work on sundays so they can:t come to church. We:re still trying to do our best, figuring out what direction to take with them. They want to keep learning but are struggling a bit with the commitments, so I:ll keep you updated on them.

Michikosan is doing great. She:s out of town this week, visiting her mom, but she is still doing great with reading the book of Mormon. She has tons of questions all the time, and it is awesome. 

Real fast Japanese lesson - basically it:s rude to call people by just their name. A real quick explanation is this - you add on san to their name if they are older than you (it:s basically like mr., miss., or mrs.) and chan if they:re your age or younger (girls), and kun for little boys. Or at church, shimai and kyodai are acceptable in place of san. Yep. So hopefully that helps when I talk about people!!
Japanese is still slow, but I;m chugging along. It is such a cool language. Another fun thing - Higashi shimai:s english is crazy good so we teach her all sorts of random phrases all the time that she doesn:t know yet (like It:s raining cats and dogs, or don:t ruffle her feathers) and things like that. Good times. The four of us have so much fun in this apartment. Anywho, I have got to run but I love you all - thanks for everything!!!

Ai shite imasu!!!

Flake Shimai