The bean-chan is here

Konnichiwa!

This week was just full of flashbacks and memories.

I only had one day with Sister Bede before she left for Matsudo and I went to get my bean-chan. It was so sad! We went and said goodbye to the Nemotos and they were really sad that she was leaving too. Ah! It was so hard to say goodbye to her and the Elders.

At the mission home with the new missionaries

 Wednesday was insane! We were running a little late so we literally had to sprint past the Elders who had come to the Eki to say goodbye to us to get on the train, and we just barely made it.

We took a few last selfies, then parted ways in Koiwa. I headed to Honbu, and she headed to Matsudo. She was such an amazing missionary! I will miss her so much.

New Missionary Training was the strangest nazakashii feeling (like looking back at memories fondly). Everything was the exact same as it was for me 5 transfers ago. It was so weird. It was so fun though because Sister Mitchell was there and SISTER ATKINSON!!!!!!

For those of you who might not remember, Sister Atkinson was in my MTC district, but she went home about a week before we came to Japan due to illness.  But now she is back!

The funny thing is, when she left the MTC she told us "You better hurry up and get trained so you can train me when I get there." And guess what? I AM HER TRAINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were so excited when we found out! AHHHHHH It's so funny because we are such different people from when we were in the MTC, we've gone through different trials, and learned different things, but it still feels the same. It's definitly a weird feeling because we are doki, but at the same time I'm 4 transfers ahead of her, but it has been way fun. She completely jumped into dendo right away and her excitement and energy has made me more excited and energetic.

With the mission president and his wife

Our first day together was completely insane. We had so many appointments set up. It would have been a crazy day for two normal missionaries. I felt a little bad since she was still brand new and I remember how that felt, but it all worked out. She worked hard and did her best. That's another way weird thing about being a trainer. It's weird to now be the one who knows more Japanese. I have to lead the lessons and help connect everything and make it all make sense. I'm realizing that I know a lot more Japanese than I thought I did, but there is still so much more to learn! Ganbatte!!!!

She did a great job though. Since being together, we've started finding some very cool people who are really interested in Mission School. Maybe Sister Atkinson is a lucky charm or something. Every person we've stopped on the street or talked to on the train has been really interested in Mission School. We have had some amazing contacts together. There was one girl who is going to cooking school and loves English and we also found a girl from Thailand (!!!!!!!!) who is basically fluent in English and wants to come and make some new friends. AHHHHH!!!!!!

The cute shopping cart

At Mission School, we saw some other cool miracles. Kazumi, an Eikaiwa student, came to Mission School because she just wanted to practice talking. It was way fun! We actually asked her if she had an interest in learning more about the gospel, and although she doesn't right now, we want to ask her if we can at least try to do some mogis (role plays) with her to practice our Japanese. She is so cute and so fun! She was trying to help us plan things to do on P-day and we ended up making plans to go eat Shaba-Shabu together in 2 weeks. I'm excited! She even stayed for Spanish class and she had so much fun! Teaching Spanish is way hard because I know Portuguese better now and sometimes I forget some of the words and can only think in Japanese, but luckily Alexander (the Brazilian) was there and helped me out a bit.

At Saturday Mission School, we had another little miracle. Core, a Chinese man that comes to learn English, came and he started asking me all these super hard English grammar questions. It was so hard! But we worked together and in the end we were able to answer all of the questions. He also has a lot of potential to become an investigator. Haha, he was getting so excited every time he figured something out, it was way funny.

Now for the most miraculous part of the week, SUNDAY!!!!!!

On Saturday, we had visited a family that just moved into the ward named the Futamis. Sister Futami was actually so happy we came because she wanted to go to church but she wasn't exactly sure how to get there. We told her we could meet her at the train station and walk together. Well, we got there on Sunday and she was running a little late. The first miracle of the day was that we all arrived at the church right as the sacrament was being passed, so we all got to take the sacrament. The sacrament is such an important, sacred ordinance, I am so glad we were all able to make it.

Second. We had a lesson planned with Aoi chan on Sunday night about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and through some crazy coincidences, we were able to practice the whole lesson throughout the day. We practiced half of it with the Young Women in a last minute lesson and the other half in a mogi with Sai Shimai. That night, our lesson with Aoi went really well. The Spirit was so strong! We had practiced and gotten out all the bad, so all that was left was the good and she really connected with it. We had a member there too and she was perfect. Her testimony and explanations really helped make the lesson amazing. Aoi really has a strong desire to come to church and that is so amazing! She has to work Sunday mornings, and that's really hard for her, but she is super excited to come to our night Sacrament meeting in February. She is such an amazing investigator! I am so lucky to be teaching her! She soaks everything up and isn't afraid to ask lots of questions which is amazing. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (I know I've said that a lot in this email)

Training is stressful, it's true, but it's also so fun. I get to show Sister Atkinson what real dendo is like and how much joy we can feel every day as we help even just one person come one step closer to Jesus Christ.

This transfer is going to be amazing. I can just feel it! We are going to see so many miracles together and it is going to be amazing!!

I will see you all next week!

ブラクラ姉妹
Black Shimai