The gospel is true, God loves his children.

Okay, this week, we pulled on our big-girl panties and finally went to the church and, each  taking a deep breath, pulled up our destiny on the internet. Transfer announcements. The slating: I would stay in Imabari and become a trainer. P. shimai would join forces with my 1^st companion in another area. There was much sorrowing and rejoicing on both ends.

Wednesday, opened the package from Mom (I'll send you a report soon) and we waited like, an hour and a half for someone we were suppose to meet, who didn't come, then went to someone else’s store and taught a quick lesson and took pictures with her and her son. He's super. Then we got on a train at 4 (which was really too late to go to Akashi. I was actually planning on going to Okayama. But Akashi was the direction given, so we went to Akashi. Me: Akashi? Where the heck is Akashi?!)(I was really sad we weren't going to Okayama...) Then we found out the Akashi missionary sisters don't actually live near the Akashi station. You have to hop a local train to a station with twelve syllables in its name. We were trying to find out how to get to this train station when our phone died.

All alone in Akashi. Trains left: 2. Time until last departure: 20 minutes.

Somehow, we got a payphone and called our mission president to ask for the sisters’ number. Called the sisters and managed to board the last train and make it to their eki. Cut it a little close that time. God gave us a lot of help on that one.

The next day, P. shimai and I had our misty-eyed goodbye as she transferred, and I went with Z. shimai to the honbu (HQ) to receive my new trainee/companion.

Trainee has been received. Her name is W. shimai. She's an inch taller than I am with red hair, majoring in music and theater. Her Japanese is probably the level of a late-2nd, early-3rd transfer, although she claims to have never studied it before her mission. She's very diligent, and very outspoken with her opinions. I would say she's pretty much perfect missionary material. There's not too much I have to do with this one, but I'm trying to find ways to push her out of her comfort zone.

So, haha, I've been biking faster than I have in a long time. She's holding up pretty well--I've only lost her twice.

On the way back, we went to the bus station (MUCH cheaper than trains) and after circling between three bus lines for two and a half hours, we found out that the next open bus to Imabari was at 6 P.M. on Friday.

Forget that. We're going to Okayama.

So …the missionary sisters there had changed their number. They didn't know we were coming until we were at their step saying howdy. It was really crazy. Okayama has changed so much. I, of course, nosed in and interrogated them about the faces I knew and loved. There was plenty of sweet and plenty of bitter. The less-active who pulled an all-nighter to see me before I left was now fully active and blessing the sacrament each week. And at one point, B. shimai mentioned 3 new people who they had started to teach, "M-chan, C-chan, and--"

I stopped her right there. My heart was hammering. Me: “Wait, <full name of both girls>?”

B. shimai: “Yeah. You know them?”

Do I know them? In my first eikaiwa (English class), M-chan, 10yrs old, came up to me and said, "You are beautiful." She brought her BoM to every class. C-chan was super interested in the gospel as well. M-chan wanted to marry a Christ-like person in the temple when she grew up. My companion (D. shimai) and I had asked if they wanted us to teach them about the gospel, but there was a problem: the parents were hantai (completely against the idea). I was heartbroken. I prayed so hard for those two--in Okayama and Imabari. What I would have given to be their missionary.

But here they were, taking lessons from the new Okayama Sisters. L. shimai had found them in the Area Book and met the family. (For those who need a refresher, LShimai is the one with super powers--my first STL.) I almost cried. I'm here writing this email and I still might cry. This is truly the best thing I could have ever hoped for. I feel like God had given that miracle just for me. I feel a little (just a little) like Alma the Elder when the angel comes to his son in Mosiah 27.

"Behold, the Lord that heard the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that though mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore; for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith."

It's true. The gospel is true, God loves his children. He works miracles even when we can't see them. I'm so grateful that he has answered my prayers concerning two of his most adorable children. I'm so grateful to L. shimai and B. shimai for being the missionaries through whom God worked. I'll keep you two in my prayers for a long while yet.