the day of miracles

1/18 日

The sabbath. Tsumari, the day of miracles.

So, my companion and I got up at 5:30 to make the trek to E-chan's house, but on the way, we called B-shimai. And she was awake! And she was going to meet P-shimai at the eki (station) and come with her to church so that she could make it on time.

They actually came to church. Both of them. Holy cow.

Thanks to S. chourou speaking five languages, he was able to translate for B-shimai at church. It was really incredible to just see her change and brighten in the three hours of church. I think she may have genuinely left a different person.

Afterwards, we had a mochi party, but before that, we got to see one of our investigators K-shimai, come to Sunday school and get hardcore fellowshipped by T-shimai. That's always a pleasure. After church, they were joined by I-shimai, another investigator. And they and all the other cute little old people had a cute little old people party in the back of the church.

As we rejoiced, we also took a minute to talk with our leaders to see what we can do to help the youth in the ward. At the moment, it's a little shaky, but there is something special about Abeno. It's just a little dormant at the moment. Today, I felt like Abeno's breathing staggered just a bit. Maybe it rolled over in bed. But it stirred, even if just a little bit.

So, the mochi party. Now, there is the good, old-fashioned, smash-it-with-a-hammer mochi party, but there's also a machine that makes it. So we did that with the chouroutachi's investigator and his daughter. (The chouroutachi themselves couldn't make it, unfortunately.)

At the end, we shared a message and said, "M-shimai, you've met a lot of missionaries, but would you like to begin actually taking the lessons?"

And...well, long story short, she agreed.