6 months older and wiser too!

Konnichiwa!

It has been a crazy crazy week. I can barely remember what happened. However, I do know that there were many many miracles!

Last District photo

Also, let's get the important information out of the way. This week was transfer calls, and guess what? I am staying in Urayasu! And so is Sister Chinain!!!!! We are so excited that we get to spend Christmas together. She is going home on December 30th though (during week 4 of the transfer) so who knows what will happen to me. On the other hand, Elder Akagi and Elder Kooyman are both leaving. I will miss them! They are both great missionaries and I have learned a lot from them. This is the second time I have said good bye to Elder Akagi. We are convinced though that we will be in the same district again during our missions.

Onto the week! We started out this week so well (in terms of meaningful contacts). Because it was the 6th week, Sister Chinain had me lead the whole week. That means that I had to figure out how to get to places and I was the one stopping people on the street and starting our contacts. It was a little scary, but also fun at the same time. Those first few days, we stopped so many people! It was crazy! We were talking to everyone and it was great. All that talking led to our Miracle Wednesday:)

On Wednesday, we started out with a

Our companionship

great lesson with Bernadette. She is totally opening up to us. We brought her an advent calendar that we made last week and talked about Christmas and she loved it. Because it was December 1st we did the first thing with her which was sing a Christmas song. She showed us her favorite Filipino Christmas song and we sang it together. It was quite an interesting experience seeing as Sister Chinain and I don't speak Tagalog, but it was fun. She is so sweet! Ah! I get so excited every week when I see her at church!

Then on the way back to Urayasu, we talked to this woman on the train named Rio. She was super interested in our TOEIC classes and she really wants to come. It was so amazing. We get back to the church and we hop on our bikes and the first person we talk to is also named Rio! Coincidence? There are no coincidences in missionary work! She has been looking for a Christian church to attend for a long time. She even went to a cathedral in France because she just wants to go to church so bad. We told her that everyone is welcome to come to church on Sunday and she said she would love to come! (She didn't come this week, but who knows, she might come in the future!). So two Rios in one day! I know that Heavenly Father was blessing us for doing our best to talk to everyone.

Lunch with the Yamamotos

Then we headed to Mizue Eki (train station) to meet Nemoto-san and her daughter Rinka. We met them a few weeks ago and last week they texted us to set up a time to meet to do some tutoring. When we talked to them, they wanted to learn English and Spanish, but we weren't quite sure which one they wanted to learn today. Well, turns out they wanted to learn Spanish, so I had to dig really deep into my brain (because in Oizumi, even the Spanish speakers understood some Portuguese...so remembering the Spanish phrases was a little rough). Also, teaching Spanish in Japanese is a little difficult, but it's all good because Sister Chinain also took Spanish in high school so she was able to help out. It was a really fun lesson! Then we got to the spiritual thought. Usually for mission school/tutoring things we do a little video that shows a little bit about some of the things we believe in. That day we showed "Our True Identity" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf which talks about how we all have the potential to become beautiful and only God knows our true potential.

After the video, Rinka starts talking and it is the most amazing thing. She tells us about how her grandpa was searching for the true church to join, but died before he could, but because of his example, she is searching for the truth as well. We told her that we knew someone who had the same question and his name was Joseph Smith. We invited her to read the Restoration pamphlet and we taught her how to pray to feel God's love. Then we asked her to pray and she got so nervous and excited. Her prayer was so amazing though. She told Heavenly Father thank you for sending the Sisters and to help her know if this is the true path that she should follow. When she finished she was overjoyed and she said she felt "Happy!" It was amazing! She has such a strong desire to know and I am so excited that we will be able to work with her and her family more. She is truly a miracle!

On Saturday, we basically had a crafts day. It was Bishop Sakamoto's birthday, so the missionaries got together and decorated his office door at the church. It was great! We also had the idea to make little Christmas presents for the ward with some chocolates, 2 flyers for the Ward Christmas Party, and a little missionary work quote with an invitation to every family to invite one friend to the Christmas party. We really want to help encourage everyone to do some missionary work and to help introduce their friends to the gospel. It was a chaotic time though, trying to put those bags together. We ran out of bags, then the printer stopped working, then the Elders took a long time and came back with the wrong bags. In the end, Sister Chinain

and I ran out to the 100 yen store, bought bags, and sprinted back so that we could leave on time for our lesson. It was crazy, but everyone seemed to like the gifts as we handed out on Sunday. I love this ward so much! I feel so lucky to be staying here another transfer! Urayasu is a great area, seeing so many miracles. It's going to be another great transfer, I can feel it.

Sunday was also amazing. Because it was Fast Sunday (which happens on the first Sunday of each month) we had a night-time sacrament meeting as well and both Miki Shimai and Kei Shimai came! I have never met Kei Shimai, so this was my first time and she is adorable.

Miki Shimai

I have met and taught Miki Shimai a few times. Throughout the meeting and afterwards (in talking to her) we realized that she really just needs to feel our love. We showed her as much love as we could, and all three of us ended up in tears. She is an amazing member and we love her so much. She is so strong and so caring. We haven't talked much, yet I feel so much love for her.

I honestly believe we aren't called to serve in countries, we are called to serve people. Elder Bednar said once that apostles aren't sent all over the world to talk to people (although they do that too). They are sent to find the one. I feel the same way. I feel like missionaries are sent to find the one, and then to find another one. There are people prepared for us. There are people prepared for me. There are people that I am supposed to love and to help. I don't know who those people are, but Heavenly Father does and he will guide me to them.

I Love Japan

This week I hit my 6 month mark. It honestly shocks me that 1/3 of my mission is over already. Seeing Sister Chinain in her last 2 months of her mission has helped me to really relish the time I have here. Time is short, but I want to make the most of it. I can barely believe that it is December, let alone believe that I have been a missionary for 6 months. So much has happened and I feel like I have become a different person. I know that there is a lot more in store for me over the next year though. Today we went to Odaiba to eat lunch with Kei Shimai and the Sister Training Leaders, and as I looked out across the beautiful water, I reflected on these last few months a bit.

Biking with a big suitcase

A little over a year ago, I would have never imagined that I would be serving a mission, but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Every day, I have the chance to share this beautiful, joyous message with others. I've been studying joy a lot recently, and I realized that this gospel is joy. It isn't just happiness, it is the ultimate happiness that we can feel. It is pure joy. I have come to feel a little bit of this joy every day as I serve the people of Japan.

There are honestly so many things that I have learned in these last 6 months, but in the end, it all comes down to joy. There have been hard times for sure, but no matter how hard the day was, when I was out doing missionary work, it was impossible for me to be sad. I could only feel joy. I don't know what is going to happen over these next 12 months, but I know that I will be able to feel more of this joy.

Urayasu is honestly amazing. I couldn't imagine spending Christmas anywhere else, or with any other companion. I feel so much love from everyone I meet and I am doing my best to show them how much I love them as well. I was so scared today as we waited for transfer calls because honestly anything could have happened. However, now I am just excited to get to work again and see some Christmas miracles.

Thank you all for your love and support! You are all amazing!

ブラクラ姉妹
Black Shimai