One of Sydney's best friends is due to arrive home from her mission tomorrow!

This is Sydney's mom. One of Sydney's best friends is due to arrive home from her mission tomorrow! I have kept up with her through her blog posts, and wanted to share her last one. I am humbled and grateful to witness the blessed maturity and growth that these young souls go through as they live a 1 1/2 - 2yr "Lent on steroids" - giving up everything that is meaningful to them besides Christ and his gospel. They do not go out to baptize. They go to "pay back" a small portion of what they've been given, by proclaiming the good news of the Gospel to all who will listen.



BECCA'S FINAL UPDATE FROM HER MISSION...

The internet makes it possible for you to look up your house on an online map. By zooming out, you can see a whole neighborhood, but your own house looks smaller. The more you zoom out, the more you see how your little house fits in the picture of the state, the continent, the planet. But by that time, you are also convinced that your house is infinitely small. You can no longer see it. It is barely a cell in the whole mass of what you see.

Coming to the end of this week has made me think about my offering, about everything I covenanted to do, and made plans to do. There's always those thoughts... "I wish I had worked a little harder... appreciated everything more, given more!" But I think I did everything in my human capacity. Despite all my weaknesses, my natural selfishness and pride, I have spent a year and a half in the Lord's service. I kept all the commandments, I was obedient to the rules, and I overcame the natural man when I was tempted to put either aside. My offering, in the end, is just a widow's mite.
As a missionary, I have learned about the Savior's merits and Atonement. As that understanding has grown, my perspective has increased. I see just how completely and totally insignificant I am, and how tiny my impact is. Except that He, the Creator of everything, would call me important, and would pay an infinite cost for me.

I'm sure there are thousands of moments in the past year and a half, when I could have consecrated more my thoughts, focused more on my work, used time a little better, and had more courage when I testified of Christ. In my weakness, I have made millions of mistakes. I am infinitely far from my perfect potential as a daughter of God.

But in spite of all of that, I have seen many miracles. Obviously, they were nothing to do with what I did. But the Lord is merciful. He put up with me, worked the miracle of feeling my heart, and other's hearts become more converted to true discipleship and devotion to Jesus Christ.

Because of that, I can look back with "no regrets". Not because I never regretted anything... often it was corrective hindsight that helped me understand what I needed to do to improve. But I don't feel the sting of those mistakes anymore. I'm not harrowed up by my faults. I know that He was the source of all my blessings, and all my success all along. There is no "would have been". He was at the rudder all the time. My weakness was accounted for in His plans, and made up for in His sacrifice. The most extraordinary miracle of my mission has been, and is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That the knowledge of my own "nothingness" can coexist in my heart with peace, and a blazing hope that one day I will account to my Lord face to face.



I am so grateful for my missionary experience.

Senmin do exist!

3/4 金

We brought Ai Shimai with us to ZTM today, and on the way from the
Yamato-Koizumi station, we saw a kind of sketchy looking guy and a girl
squatting by a combini (small/convenience market), smoking.

We took the most natural course of action and struck up a
conversation. He has an interest in English and religion. So, we
invited him to that day's ZTM (zone meeting). He accepted that as
well as an invitation to do the 30/30 program. :DDDD

So around comes ZTM, and in he comes. All the missionaries in the
room, no enryo (self-restraint), just gawp, fish-eyed at him. As E. chourou
went to open the door, we're like, "Hey, by the way, that's your new
investigator."

So we had an AWESOME ZTM, and when we asked him (H was his name) how
it was, he was like, "Saikou." (translates to: highest/supreme/most) :B

A;LDFKJROHKAEWJJFIOAFJKLJKLVIOAFM,

They do exist! Senmin do exist! I was wondering if it was just one big
joke that only I wasn't in on. And his missionaries are B. and
E. chourou, so he's in really good hands :D

So we went home and, on the way, said hello to a guy we saw that
morning. We had walked with him and talked a little bit, and he
thought that it was really funny that we greeted everyone we talked
to. On the way back, when we met him, he was like, "Do you like
coffee?"
Us: We don't drink coffee.
Him: Juice?
Us: No, that's okay. *trying not to impede*
Me: *second thoughts* *not wanting there to be any confusion with the
Mormons* We drink juice, but we're--
Him: Okay, come on. *waves us over to a cafe*
Us: *come* *sit down*

Somehow... We ended up getting cake instead of juice. ("Because you
always ganbarou (do your best)") Not that I'm complaining. He also agreed to come to
church on the 13th because M. Shimai and I are singing :D

Last thing. On the way home, M. Shimai contacted a cute girl who
brought us to her house with her four friends and we talked, exchanged
numbers, and made an appointment. We also were given
melon-coconut-flavored Vietnamese candy :D

Five new investigators!

Today... was exhausting. We also got four dousekis, played dodgeball
(I played a bit of ping pong with At, but he got fed up with my
incompetence and we stopped pretty fast XD), eleven lessons, and most
importantly, listened to the spirit.

Today... was exhausting.

Holy cow. Did any of that really happen?

Mr T's aunt and yukatas

3/3 木

WOW. Today two pretty incredible things happened today.

First, we were going to the church, and had not taught as many lessons as we do most weeks. I saw a couple middle schoolers and felt a mental nudge, "Talk to them." I was being a pill and decided, "Okay, I'll stop and talk to them if they say 'How are you?'" I rode past, and instead of shouting out "Konnichiwa!", I shouted, "How are you?" to which, bless their cute souls, said "How are you?" back. Now, I almost kept going, but I thought "You promised" and turned back.

We had a fun conversation, and skipped a couple lights to keep talking to them. Finally, we invited, they turned us down, and we hugged and said goodbye. Just then, a big guy and a cute little nihonjin woman ride by, like "Missionaries?"

Turns out they're the T kazoku, a pair of LA's that we haven't been able to get into contact with the entire time I've been here. But Mr. T aunt was the one who wrote the letter to Spencer W. Kimball asking about blacks and the priesthood. He was like, "Man, there was an article in the Liahona, but I'll have to give you the meat and potatoes of it, later."
Us: Great, when can we meet?
Numbers were exchanged, appointments made, and I realized why I needed to stop and talk to those two kids.

God works in mysterious ways.

Also, today, I learned something very important about life: How to get yukata (summer form of kimono) from strangers.

1.) Go eat soba (noodles)
2.) Talk to a passerby
3.) Receive yukata

We decided to splurge even though we were poor and get soba :D On the way home, we were walking by a lady and said hello. We struck up a conversation, in which she said she was helped by Americans forever ago, and she's allergic to churches, and concluded it by offering to swing by Sunday before church and give us her daughter's old yukata.

Me: *explodes from disbelief and happiness*

Also had a meeting with the bishop. He wants E to be interviewed by the ZL's, but he's otherwise A-okay for the baptism. 3/13. :D

Sweet treats from sweet people

3/2 水


This week is really the week of receiving.

Today, we caught 'em all. Unfortunately, there were only three cute
Disney princess mint cases to be had :\ Cinderella, Rapunzel, and
Elsa. Super cute, though. We went down to visit F. kyoudai,
finally. and on the way, we passed Nagai Kouen. There were a couple of
policemen standing on the street corners, so we asked them what was
going on. It was a soccer game between Japan and North Korea. My
companion, a soccer fan, said it was probably a friendly to prepare for
the Women's World Cup. I was like, "Cool." She exercised some serious
self-discipline, and didn't let it distract her.

Unfortunately, F's house was...unfindable, so we ended up going back
to Nagai Kouen to dendo, and as we were about to head out, we saw a
guy and talked to him. His name is AS kyoudai, and we taught a really
solid lesson and committed him to pray and meet us again. I'm excited.

We went back to the church to teach Y Shimai. On the way, we bumped
into S kyoudai, who stopped me (M. Shimai ran inside to greet Y. Shimai)
and he was like, "It's hinamatsuri ("Girls' Day") tomorrow, and you guys gave me chocolate
for Valentine's Day, so I put something for you two in the fridge. Be sure to
get it, okay?" We gave him a big thank you and rushed inside, where Y
Shimai gave us bread. We had a solid, if a little long, lesson with H Shimai.
Y shimai's really changed.


Also, day before, A Shimai gave us macadamia nut Kisses and really
delicious brownies :D They were the best pre-packaged brownies I think
I've ever eaten.

By the way, we took home the food in the fridge, and it was this
beautiful 4x4x4 inch white box with a red ribbon. Beneath it was
another, slightly larger box. Inside it were two ADORABLE hinamatsuri
themed cupcakes--both with little disc-shaped, painted white-chocolate
figures of the main couple of the hinamatsuri. Super cute. I don't
want to think about how much it probably cost, but it was beautiful.
In the box beneath were four disc-shaped hinamatsuri-themed
(assumedly) white chocolate (it's colored pink and yellow).

WOW. We'll give him a big thank you this Sunday.

Are you smaller than a Buddha's nostril?

This week was a lot of fun. :D Today, we went to Nara with the
shimaitachi (Sisters) from Nara,( B. shimai and B. Shimai,) and
the shimaitachi from Yamatokooriyama,( K. Shimai and H. Shimai).

ALSO! We went to the Todaiji temple and there's a gigantic Buddha

statue, and a little pillar of wood with a hole in it the size of Buddha's 

nose. All the little kids like to see if they can fit through it, but because it
was raining so hard, no one was there. So, we got to try it out.
I actually slipped through really easily :D That was exciting. I took
one look at it in the beginning and went "nope". But I fit. Easily :D
Yokatta. Also saw a couple of really cool Hindu guards outside an otera 

that we passed by.

Being in the rain was so fun. And at 7-11, we found a bunch of really
cute Disney Princess mints. Bought them.

Happy Leap Year!

3/1 火

Today we biked all the way up to B shimai's in vain. She wasn't home,
but the door was open. :\ Abunai. But Y shimai's lesson was rocking!
We brought along M Shimai, and they got along so well. SUPER cute. At
the end, they gave each other a big hug. Y shimai's really changing.

We tried to go to the zoo

Today we bought batteries for M. shimai's bike (light?)! OBEDIENCE GET!

We also tried to go to the zoo. For some reason, instead of
being closed Sundays, 80% of exciting things are closed on Mondays/ 
preparation days. That includes the zoo. Now, we wanted to go to the
zoo, so we looked it up beforehand, and it didn't show any indication
of being closed Mondays. But, of course, when we got there, it was 
closed. So we walked around and ran into two women, with whom we 
began a conversation and visited a tower in Abeno. It was really exciting. 
I think I found Barry-san's new companion. Anyways, talking with them 
was really cool. :D We then got their numbers, etc. and I really hope to 
hear from them again.

2/16 火

We went to N-kyoudai's for lunch today, and on the way, we ran into a bunch of girls on some school's badminton team. They totally fangirled  over M. Shimai and I (particularly M. Shimai), and were like "AHH!!  KAWAII! KAWAII!" (“CUTE!!”) It was really funny... we couldn't figure  out why they were so excited, but it was really cute.

Eating at N-kyoudai's. I came close to death. He fed us so much. M. Shimai and I were somewhat prepared, she came out relatively unscathed, and A. chourou was actually chipper at the end. When N kyoudai had his back turned, I offered him one of the Swedish cinnamon rolls that we had received.

Him: Nah, it's fine. I can have as many as I want back at home-
Me: A. chourou. Take. It.
Him: *takes the cinnamon roll*

Also went down to visit a dear less-active (due to health) at a "lodging home," and it was really cute. She needed love. We then went around to everyone else in the room and gave them a big hug.

Also found a really cool gal.

They totally treat us like angels, and they work so hard

2/11 木

We met the M-family today. I. LOVE. THE. M FAMILY. I love them so so
so much! They totally treat us like angels, and they work so hard. We
did some mogi's with them to practice inviting people to the gospel.
It worked really well. They were totally solid, and M Shimai was super
into it.

Also, on the way to the M, we met a pair of super sweet
middle-schoolers, who told us that we could meet if we came to their
school. Hm... We'll have to see if we can work something out.

Also met W-San again--that guy we stood up last transfer. So we
finally made cake. It took like, four hours in the suihonki. So we
were like, "GOSH DARN IT, WE WILL GIVE W-SAN CAKE TODAY."

So we went to the place that he wrote down a while back, and as we got
there, a lady on a bike pulled up and was like, "Who are you?"
Us: ...Who are you?
So turns out, he was the nice lady's neighbor. He's also the most ADHD
human I know. But it was fun.

2/12 金

Ate food at Tanaka shimai's house :D I love her. I'm glad we got over
the whole Resurrection thing together. ;)

Also had our first sports night! A single investigator came, but we
had a lot of fun with him, R kyoudai and K kyoudai. And even N
kyoudai, our dendo shuni joined us halfway through. At the end, the
chouroutachi shared a message and as we were cleaning up, Si. and
A. chourou left the room skipping. It was really cute.

2/13 土

Started SKK. :| Also had a good lesson with K Shimai! The prayer rock
works! She hasn't forgotten a day :D She hasn't been using the houhou,
but she is, indeed, praying to God. Yokatta.

Did you know that you could fail at heart-attacking?

2/14 日

Today was pretty miraculous, at least in the A family corner. We were about to go out the door when we called B Shimai. She told me that E-chan would be going to church with P Shimai.

We went to the church and heart-attacked the bishop's desk (covered it with cut out paper hearts) like super secret ninjas. Then we took out all the chocolate bars that we had wrapped for Christmas and unwrapped all of them. I was like, "Hey, we should totally keep the wrapping on. I'd think it was funny." Then we looked at the wrapping job (*cough* S. chourou *cough*) and it was kawaisou sugita. So we took it all off and put it on a cute tray with a note that asked all the nihonjin (Japanese people) to take one. After DCS, we handed them out ourselves, because nihonjin never take free handouts on their own. But it was really cute to see all our priesthood holders (in Japan, girls give to the guys on Valentine's Day) get super excited when we gave them chocolate. And we got rid of about 40 chocolate bars. YOSH.

Afterwards, we attended a nabe party thrown by the YSA. It was delicious. Ichiban besto thing about having a male YSA leader throw a nabe party is that it is sure to have a lot of meat :D And it also had a bunch of delicious, thick, doughy-skinned potstickers. (Note: We did eventually clean up the salad we made Tuesday. Kesa, we found our plates in the freezer. They had been found and put in a safer place. There were black marks on the plates where the eggs were... *shudder* I am the worst human being in the world for making someone clean that up after me...).

Then we cut more hearts to heart-attack some of our favorite people.

1.) K's--The Ks were our first stop b/c our target's M-chan. ...We heard a noise on the stairs so we nigemashita (fled). Then as we resumed our
super secret heart-attacking, a van pulled into the street and look! It's K-kyoudai! He gave us a wave and told us to wait. We nigeta, but decided to stay, after all. So we sheepishly crept back and he invited us inside and gave us orange juice and got pizza while we talked with M-chan. The chouroutachi (elders) joined us, we watched a video on ridiculously high Japanese numbers and finally escaped after eating three cookies and a piece of pizza. The spirit was like, "Leave, fool." And after a bit, we finally managed to. We shared a nice message at the end. Failure. Score: bishop’s desk, win, M-chan’s, fail.  One out of two.

2.) I-shimai-- It took forever to find her house, but we did, and by the light of my new bike light, we stuck hearts all over her gate. SUCCESS!! 2/3!

3.) Y-shimai-- Buji ni (safely) stuck hearts all over her door. SUCCESS! 3/4!

4.) M's-- We found their house, attached to their business, and as we were sticking hearts all over their door, someone came to the door. Afraid of being found, we tried to escape. But they saw us and got upset. "They"... were not the M's... Confused, we rang the bell of the business and asked M Shimai if that was a different house, despite the fact that it shared a roof and an address. ...It was. Well. We thanked them, told them we loved them and that we accidentally heart-attacked their unhappy neighbor, and left. Then we came back and heart-attacked them. ...Not quite success. 3/5.

5.) K shimai-- Our neighbor. Stuck hearts all over her door and ran back inside to make curfew. BUT IT WAS A SUCCESS! Final score: 4/6.

Until today, we didn't actually know that someone could fail at heart-attacking. But we got 66 percent... Not even a C. But it was fun. :D

I'm ready to get back on the plane.

2/8 月

Today we organized the cupboard :D Then at the end of preparation day,
we ate soba :D I love soba. As we were sitting at the sobaya, a couple
of really cute kids and their grandma sat next to us. It was really
fun. A.chourou also dropped by Taisho for us and talked to B Shimai.
Good luck, A.chourou.

2/9 火

So... Today, we got a referral from D. S. chourou, who met
someone while coming home from Japan. He's such a champ :D I totally
adore him. What a boss.

Also had a solid lesson with Y-Shimai. She's got a few hurdles to
overcome, but we'll see what we can do.


2/10 水

Today we rode around for two hours. We were going to the Z family
house, but the pin I dropped was too far. So we overshot the Z house
by about thirty minutes. I'm pretty sure we left our area.

But Z Shimai was super nice and let us come anyways. TT_TT We got cake
twice today, though :D The second was from S Shimai. We had great food
at her house, per usual.

Afterwards, we met Y-Shimai again. She's doing good.

Today actually felt really good. Totally worth riding around for 2
hours. Also, on that note, My legs hurt not at all. Bam.
Power of the Atonement, right there. I'm ready to get back on the
plane. Purpose of the mission: GET.

Not really. I won't go home until E-chan gets baptized.

So we taught him prayer

2/5 金

Today we decided to visit E-chan and B Shimai, and at the end, the dad (a nonmember) came in. He was like, "Oh... Hello." (He had just woken up--he works really late)

Us: Hi. Will you join us for the prayer? We were just about to leave.
B-Shimai: How about you pray?
Him: ...
The girls start wheedling and talking and "it's not hard" and "you'll do just fine"* and finally he agreed.

Doseki power.

So we taught him prayer and he gave a really solid first prayer. At the end, E-chan corrected him, but everyone celebrated and he committed to try out praying for the next week.

So... Huh.

2/7 日

So, today we got to see the chouroutachi's (Elder’s) investigator be baptized. :) So that was super. Also, Y-Shimai came to the baptism, and thought it was super. So that was really good. P-Shimai brought E-chan to church, too, so that was great.
****

My ponderize scripture for last week was John 16:33 "...In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."

Not too much of a need to explain that one.

Love you all,
Sanzu Shimai

The perfect set for a horror film

This week has been an exciting week indeed. Here are some of the highlights.

Today we cleaned out our cupboards :D And there's still Ume-flavored (Plum?) soda in the combini's (similar to 7-Elevens):D Best find of the last two weeks: Ume Blossom Mitsuya Cider. It tastes... like ume. Hm. I'm not sure if the flowers taste just like the fruit, but the soda tastes just like normal Ume soda.

Preparation day, was super productive. We had left our bikes at the church, so we walked everywhere. We taught a few really good people, and one lesson in particular had the spirit stronger than I've felt it for a long time. They refused a return appointment, but we all walked away having had a really good experience. We also did like, 1 1/2 hours of paper work because we taught so many lessons last week... Downside of teaching.

Finally got into contact with a woman we’ve were trying to contact.
She was like, "Do you know Aiba chourou?"
Me: Aoba chourou? :D
Her: Aiba chourou.
Me: ...Aiba chourou?
Her: ...How did you get my phone number? Aibason chourou?
Me: OH, IVERSON CHOUROU. I know him – yes, yes he gave us your phone number!

But it would seem that we otherwise left a good impression.

The next day, we went outside running for the first time in a really long time. And by "we", I mean my companion, M. shimai, ran and I played with the jump rope. But a lady who always goes to Taiso nearby noticed us "Oh, you're still here." :D
Us: :D Hisashiburi. (Long time no see).

So that was fun.

Also had imitation crab on toast with cheese for lunch :D M. shimai's body revolted, though. Nothing gory happened, but she felt awful, so we'll hold off on that for now.

A. chourou also gave us cake. :D CAKE POWERS, ACTIVATE.

This week, we also went to Suminoe, but the farthest part of Suminoe. Like, the edge of our area. We had to change trains two or three times, and we sat in the front, so it felt like a rollercoaster :D. But when we got to it, it looked like a city but it had a sparse number of people, like in the countryside (This is Sydney’s mom – I think I translated that right…?). That was really weird. It was super cute, and looked supernatural. It would be the perfect set for 1.) a Romcom 2.) a children's book 3.) a horror film.

The escalators were weird, too, in the subway. But anyways, we got to meet a lot of interesting people like, a Vietnamese woman (SUPER CUTE), a gaijin (foreigner) Christian, a single mother who was toting around her kid's helmet, and a bunch of other fun people.

We also met a group of really beautiful Australians. It was kind of crazy. There were at least 15 of them, they were all tall, and all straight-up gorgeous. And they were all lost in Japan. Huh. So we helped out.

Then, on the way to the church, we went past an old man who was like, "Wait, do all you missionaries speak Japanese?" So we stopped and had a really good lesson with him. On that note, my beloved companion has gotten to the point in Japanese where she understands when I don't use masu (polite) form. It would seem that the time has come for me to repent.

Also had a couple more really solid lessons, but they took forever. This week was the week of really, really, really long lessons. Never again.

"Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded." 2Chronicles 15:7

This week was really, really good. I felt loved and cared for by God and by the members of the Abeno ward.

1/25 月

Today we had dinner with A and C-shimai. It was partially a "Welcome back to church!" / "Goodbye, chouroutachi (elders)!" Party. I really

like watching the two of them teach--I always end up being the loud junior companion, though, when that happens. I like teaching with them even more than watching them teach. They're really subarashii zone leaders :D

Also laid on the ground for a while (in the morning after souji) and ate "100% pure tofu," which had the consistency of pudding, but tasted like tofu. M. shimai liked it, so she got the majority of it. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it...

1/26

So we decided to finish last week's weekly planning.  T_T  Finished it. Wish we finished it five days ago when we were supposed to. Went to the bike shop to get a light for my bike and a little cap thingy for the wheel. Cap thingy was not there, and the shop owner said my bike would be just fine without it, so we just got the light. The light works.

OBEDIENCE, GET!

Also taught English class. Everyone was very sweet, and asked if I was all better, which thank heavens, I was.

Also got S. chourou's meishi (This is Sydney’s mom – I think that word means “rice”? which is apparently a hot commodity there). E. chourou was like, "You'll see me at ZTM. I'll give it to you then." Sure. Chouroutachiben: It's lost forever.

M. shimai's gotten a lot bolder. She's super. It's stretching my faith, too, but I'm learning to step back and let God take care of it. Gives me a lot less stress.

1/27 水 

So today was a pretty darn good day.

Started out with us realizing last night that we had 2 lessons schedule too close together and needed to move one of them. They turned out well, though.We also got to see the chouroutachi (elders) really quick! :D We passed off the manju, harassed E. chourou for not giving us his meishi, and taught another lesson and got a new investigator on the way (we’re hoping she’ll come to her next appointment) and pushed off to go visit M-shimai. We thought that she had made food but she was actually taking us somewhere else to eat ^^;) The entire ordeal was a little messy, but the food was delicious, and overall it was good. As we were leaving the restaurant, we struck up a conversation with this old guy. He recognized us as missionaries and asked if we really followed the Law of Chastity. We said yes, and he was like, "Good for you. I don't even want to think about that, so I'm not going to listen to your lessons." And we were like, "If you knew the blessings, you'd practice abstinence, too." The best part was his friends (he brought two)—they had their heads in their hands as this like, 70ish-year-old man was discussing chastity with a couple of young women. We finally gave him a flyer and told him to come by the church, sometime. I actually really like teaching old men. They think it's funny if I get sassy, so it's easier to talk without worrying about their feelings, etc. It was, all in all, pretty funny. Hm. Yes. After we got to M-shimai’s house, she was like, "Hey, I got these from a friend, and there's way too many for me to use..." AND BAM! Whips out a bunch of face products. We got to take some home, which was truly a Godsend, because I had recently reached the end of my face lotion. God does provide for his missionaries.

Also got cake. :D And sugar-covered anko-candy. Oishikatta. :D

1/27 木

Our new chouroutachi (elders) came in, today!!! We’ll meet them tomorrow. Also got a lot of good contacts while biking, so that was fun :D

1/28 金

Met the chouroutachi! Also walked down to E.'s house and taught a bunch of people on the way. It was really fun! SUPER time consuming, but that's okay, because other than SKK (weekly planning), we had nothing to do. Shimaitachi code: SKK is not finished. T_T

1/30 土

Talked to a bunch of people :D Helped out a Brazillian guy who, frankly, looked French. But he was super nice and we spoke to each other in Japanese, which was fun.

1/31 日

We had dinner at N-shimai's house today with the chouroutachi and their super-solid investigator. He's way cool. We had a bunch of Chinese food, and at the end, N. shimai was like, "Sands shimai, I'm glad you didn't transfer. I was planning on feeding the missionaries today either way, but I was hoping that you would stay and be able to come over."

I felt... I felt really loved.

**

This week has been exhausting, but really fun in a lot of different ways. We've managed to talk to a bunch of different people and help the ward progress, which is huge. I'm actually kind of glad that our new chouroutachi (elders) are groundworkers instead of zone leaders, because they can put all their time into preaching the gospel. Zone leaders are amazing people, but very busy helping other missionaries. Now that we have four people who can focus solely on the vineyard, I'm hoping we'll be able to really help Abeno.

My ponderize scripture for last week was 2Chronicles 15:7 "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded."

I've worked hard this last week, and I've felt really good. I don't know the whole story of the lives of those we touch, but I hope, always, that they change for the better. And I will continue to work until the end.

12 weeks left in the vineyard.

Love, Sanzu shimai.

Transfer update - M.shimai and I survived the storm

Transfer update

Ne.

So you know what I said about the "Too bad S. chourou is leaving, but thank heavens we have E. chourou..." thing right? Well, turns out that 1.) Abeno is no longer a zone leader Area, so he moved to Asuka. INAKA. And 2.) S. chourou is a trainer in Takatsuki. ALSO INAKA (as far as I know).

DARN IT.

But on the bright side, we got A. chourou (switched out our Dutchman for a Swede) and MC chourou (half-Navajo chourou trained by my douki friend, R. chourou). Both of them are fresh eyes and ready to work! That's just what Abeno needed.

Also, apparently, a whole ton of people got switched around this transfer, but M.shimai and I seem to have survived the storm. *closes umbrella* *opens the storm shutters* Both of us are staying! This is the first and last time that I will ever be able to train a trainee from weeks 1-12. I feel like this is a slightly bigger responsibility.

Happier, more blessed, and free

Friday, we listened to Choi chourou (one of the 70) and his incredible wife speak. They talked a whole lot about a bunch of really fantastic things. I'll try to organize my notes, but in short, it was really, really good. Our stake president who's already incredible, is in the repentance process and becoming an even more incredible stake president. I'm really excited to see what happens with him. (Also I got to see G. shimai and W. shimai and F. shimai again :D)

Saturday, we did karate with our Ward Mission Leader, who I love. He is SO on the missionaries' side. He loves us so much and wants nothing more for us than to be happy and healthy. He gave us a referral that we contacted that day, and we talked about God with her.
Us: Do you believe in God?
Her: No.
Us: Why?
Her: Because I believe in science.
Me: :D *insert "I love science" spiel* *"God's glory is intelligence" spiel*
Her: Oh.

So we taught her how to pray, and she gave the most adorable first prayer. I was actually really touched.

Sunday! We did a lot. We talked with a lot of leaders, tore a lot of hair, visited a less-active couple, then concluded the day with a birthday party for one of our youth and church with a really good Ward Council Meeting. It... was exhausting.
**

This week, my ponderize scripture was Psalms 119:44-45. "So I shall keep thy law continually forever and ever; and I shall walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts."

I love that. Obedience=freedom. If we get so caught up over the don't's, we will never see the do's. As we strive to be obedient, we'll find ourselves not only happier and more blessed, we'll find
ourselves more free. I LOVE obedience, and I want to strive to exercise it more in my missionary life, because it's getting down to the wire, but I know that even in this last 12 weeks, Sanzu shimai can make a difference in her little corner of the garden.

Love you,
Sanzu shimai

all I need to do is have a little more faith

1/25 月

So! Things have changed recently, and so we will not be getting any general transfer announcements ever again. We will receive individual calls to let us know whether or not we are transferring. And because it's an individual call and an individual trip (if I transfer, it will be the first time I will have traveled anywhere other than the bathroom by myself since October 2014), the days of travel will also be slightly  skeewompous.

Terrifying.

Calls are assigned Tuesday, so I expect to hear something around Friday.

But! Good news: MY BABY (my 1st of 3 trainees) BECAME AN STL (a trainer)! W. shimai got a call from our mission president today telling her that she would be going to... *drum roll* KAWACHINAGANO! That's 5/8 folks! Five out of eight companions of mine have gone to Kawachinagano, (D., W., W., G., and P. shimai), and the eighth one is still with me. I expect that she, too, will go to Kawachinagano.

Unfortunately, we're 99% likely to lose S. chourou. That's a bummer. For a good number of reasons, but we're happy to still have his American twin with us...kana? I think he'll stay...kana?

DARN TRANSFER CALLS!

I'm probably going to Antarctica.

Actually, my wish is to train for the rest of forever.

Some highlights of the week.

This week, by the way, was crazy. We had two days where we were totally booked with non-dendo activities (Trainer-trainee training meeting and the Choi chourou conference), but we hit higher lessons-taught than I've ever hit in my entire mission. Actually, if you combined my first four weeks of dendo in Japan, that's about how many we lessons we got this week--thanks to the love and care of our incredible STL's. (JUST LIKE W. SHIMAI'S GONNA BE :D)

So, this Monday, we finally went to the Disney store (because it would be a shame to not go with my companion since I'm going to Antarctica soon), and on the way back, we met the CUTEST pair of siblings. The younger sister was super sweet and had a curly head--not something you usually see in Japan.

Tuesday, we went to TTTM, and I got to hear about what's been going on in Imabari--there are a couple rocking sisters there, and it sounds like they're doing a really good job. I also got to see W. shimai and A. chourou for the first time in a long time as well as F. shimai. Had such a great time. Focused a lot more on “Preach My Gospel” and using it. That was cool.

Wednesday, I got to koukan (temporarily change companions) with O. shimai!!!! :DDDDD Definitely one of my top three koukan experiences. She is so incredible, and I learned that people are pretty easy to stop. O. shimai is really an incredible missionary. I'M SO HAPPY I GOT TO KOUKAN WITH HER! She taught me a lot about lessons, one of them being that all I need to do is have a little more faith. (On that note, M. shimai told me the other day, "Sands shimai, I feel like you get bolder every day." I hope so! That's how it should be! Heaven forbid that the boldness in me should die.) My goal for the day was to turn a first contact into a second appointment. No second appointments, but we did so much it was incredible, including running into cute little Tk shimai.

We also placed a Book of Mormon, and found an old man who offered to give a pamphlet to one of his friends. Thursday we found out that he read the pamphlets as well, and said that they had "good things" written in them. We taught him how to pray and committed him to this week.

Learned about inspired questions, contacts, referrals from people we don't know...
And, on that note, that's the first time I've had a companion who's better at Japanese that I am in... well, forever. It offered a lot of security, and I learned a bunch, but I think that overall, I'm pushed farther when my companion speaks no Japanese.

SO FUN!

Lastest thing for Wednesday: on the way home, we met a couple of young men with whom we struck up a conversation. We mentioned what we do, and one of them was like, "No interest. I don't believe in God."
O. shimai: Why?
Him: I've never seen him. I've never gotten help from him.
So we talked about how, like the wind, we don't see God, but we can feel him. And that's what we teach about in our daily missionary lives.
Me: Can we give you a challenge?
Him: Sure.
Me: I can promise you that, if you pray everyday this week, you'll be able to know for yourself whether or not God exists. Then we taught a quick lesson on prayer and committed him.
Him: Sure, I guess. I've never done it before, so I guess I'll try it out and see what happens.

That was a really cool reaction.

Then we stayed inside pretty much all day on Thursday because for training, my companion has to see a whole ton of videos, and, well, we don't have Wi-Fi in the apartment. But we do what we can.