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.