Hello from Matsudo!!!!

Konnichiwa!

I will miss you Urayasu

Hello from Matsudo!!!! Only 45 minutes away from Urayasu (by train) but so different! The church building is 5 stories tall, there are 300 members, it's way more country than Urayasu was, and we live behind a Pachinko Parlor (aka a huge casino ^^).

So we live really close to the church, which is right next to the Pachinko, so as we walk to the church we like to look between the church and the Pachinko and just say "Zion, Babylon, Zion, Babylon" it's way fun.

Let's start with my last few days in Urayasu. It was a hectic mash of packing and visiting members. We set a last minute appointment to visit Sotodate Shimai and originally I was thinking "Ehhhh do we really need to visit her?" But we did, and it ended up being perfect. Just an hour before our meeting she was hit with some news that really gave her a hard time and she said that the only thing that got her through it was knowing that she would be meeting us. She said our visit was perfect and helped so much. I love the Spirit for guiding us to be there in her time of need!

Sotodate Shimai

We also helped Abe Shimai, who is pregnant, with her grocery shopping then had an amazing discussion about the Priesthood. I regret not working with her more while I was in Urayasu, but I know that Sister Atkinson will definitely use her to help!

Lastly, we visited the Kawamuras, my favorite people ever! I will miss them so much! Kawamura Shimai has made so many days even better. She is always a light!

Girl's Day decorations

On Wednesday, Kei Shimai met us to walk to the train because she wanted to say goodbye. It was hard to leave Urayasu because I have come to love it so much. The people there are amazing and it truly was a home to me. I love you Urayasu!!!!!!!!

Then came the 45 min train rides by myself...always an interesting experience. It's weird to be alone when you usually have a companion. I tried talking to this one girl who had a bag that said Seattle on it, but she was not having it. That's okay ^^

I arrived at Matsudo and got to see Sister Bede before she left! Sister Bede was my last companion before she moved to Matsudo and Sister Atkinson became my bean-chan. It was so good to see her! I love her so much! I also got to meet my new companion, Sister Nicholes!!!

My new companion, Sister Nicholes

A little bit about Sister Nicholes: She is half Japanese, she is adorable, she lived in Japan for all of elementary school and is fluent in Japanese and English so she has no idea what to do during language study. This is her last transfer in the mission, she is amazing, and so strong in the gospel. This week has been so amazing with her. I'm so glad I get to be her companion!!!! She also bikes way fast...so I feel like I did back in Oizumi where I am like 600 ft behind her...hehehe I've gotten out of shape in Urayasu. There are so many more hills here than there were in Urayasu.

A cool wall in Matsudo

And a little bit about Matsudo. There are a lot of people. There are a lot of names. There are a lot of meetings. I actually have a goal to memorize peoples names here because there are so many. Ahhhh!!!!! Also, since I know exactly when I will become Area Senpai (at the end of this transfer) I also know that I have a deadline to learn everything that Sister Nicholes knows. Yay! It's been good so far. One step at a time. Sadly, I am terrible with names, but it will get there. All the members I've met so far have been amazing and I love them already! They are so sweet and there are so many families here. They really do fill up all 5 stories of this church!

One investigator that I started working with right away was Rosa, a Filipino, whose sister is actually a Less Active that I was working with in Urayasu. Crazy! She is amazing though. They set a baptismal date with her about a month ago, then lost contact. They finally got contact back last week and I came in just in time to start teaching her most of the lessons again. We decided to try to do daily contact with her by teaching her half the days and reading the Book of Mormon the other half of the days. As the week went on, I started to see the change in her. She started smiling more and she had the light of Christ. It's so amazing to watch that change in people. I am so excited to help her come to baptism and come unto Christ.

Promoting Mission School

We are also trying to establish Mission School here in Matsudo. It's nice to know that areas all over the mission are experiencing similar problems that we were in Urayasu with establishing Mission School. I'm looking forward to helping Matsudo's Mission School grow really strong. I truly believe that Mission School is the future for dendo in Japan. It's an amazing tool to help the youth and young adults here learn and grow both in their English knowledge and their spiritual knowledge. Even if they aren't going to be baptized, they are being surrounded with good influences that will help them stay away from the Babylons of the world.

This week has definitely been a time of growth for me. There are many responsibilities that come with being a Sister Training Leader, but the best one is getting to know the Sisters and how to help them. I am so excited for this transfer. Matsudo is amazing! I love it here!

I will see you all next week!!!

ブラクラ姉妹
Black Shimai

Spinning Fake Food

Costco in Japan - doesn't it look familiar?