Hide and Go Seek

First things first, TRANSFER CALLS!!!!! Sister Nicholes tried to convince them to let her stay haha, but no luck. She is still going home this week. I am so sad!!! She has been an amazing companion!

My new companion is........Sister Shim!!! She is from Korea and is super fluent in Japanese. Two funny things about this transfer call:  two transfers ago when Sister Shim and I were both at the honbu to pick up our trainees (that's when Sister Atkinson became my companion) I told her I wanted to be her companion! I meant that we would be companions together in Niigata (I really want to go to Niigata, but Matsudo is great too!)

Lots of boxes

Just this morning I told Sister Nicholes "I had a dream. What if Sister Shim is my next companion? That would be so fun!" And she is!!!

I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of Matsudo is staying the same, except for Elder Lewis who is leaving to Koiwa for his last transfer.

In other news, this Saturday we will be moving into our new apartment! Yay!! The Honbu Elders are coming all the way to Matsudo with a huge truck and the Elders are going to help us move all our stuff into our new apartment. It will be exciting for sure. Today we had to go find some boxes to start packing...I had to balance them on my bike to get them back home. That was quite an adventure! There was this one corner that I just could not get around and two people walking by stopped to help. So nice! :)

Dinner with the Bishop and his family

Because this was Sister Nicholes' last week in Matsudo (she has been here 5 transfers, that's 7.5 months!) we had a lot of meal appointments. I got to know a lot of members and she got to say goodbye. It was so nice! The members here are the best! One day we went to eat with the Relief Society President, Yukimoto Shimai. She's Korean and made us super good Korean Sushi. It was so nice! She's super excited that Shim Shimai is coming.

Yesterday we and the Elders went to Bishop Nakanishi's house. Their kids are so cute! We had dinner and shared a really good message, then we played a game together. It was so fun! The kids have so much energy though. They just wanted to keep playing games, so we played hide and go seek with them. It was so fun! I love building relationships with the members because it helps them become so much more excited about the work. Members are so important and it is so important to know them (especially the leaders). This week was a really good opportunity to meet many of those members that we need to work closely with.

We also went to MLC again this week. Once a month, all the STLs and Zone Leaders in the mission gather for training from President Nagano and the Assistants. We learned a lot about faith in this meeting, especially faith to continue finding new investigators. At lunch we sang the EFY Medley and I felt the Spirit so strongly. Whenever I sing that song I just want to cry. It was so powerful to hear a group of missionaries sing it though. The EFY Medley is such a powerful song, I can always feel the power and love of Heavenly Father when I sing it.

MLC (Mission Leadership Conference)

At this MLC, Sister Nicholes and I were also selected to do a mogi (a role play) lesson in front of the whole MLC...and it was filmed for all of the mission to watch. I was so nervous! The moment I sat down, all my Japanese just flew out of my head. However, the Spirit really guided me to the things that I needed to say. I am so grateful for the Spirit which testifies of truth and guides us.

This past weekend at General Conference (I was lucky to have the chance to watch all the sessions in English this weekend) the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ were huge focuses. I love it! The Spirit is such an amazing gift that Heavenly Father has given us. He loves us so much and through the Spirit we can feel comfort and guidance and know that what we are hearing is true. When we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ and really strive to know him, we will truly find true happiness.

Kumon Shimai with a Layton, Utah jacket

This General Conference was so perfect! On Saturday, we taught out investigator, Ami-chan about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). Then when she watched General Conference she told us "I recognized so many of the words! They were talking about the Spirit!" It was perfect! She is really progressing so fast! We were able to meet her several times this week. She is only 17, but she is starting to see how the gospel can really change her life and bring her so much more happiness.

Yukimoto Shimai

I guess this week was all about the Spirit. We had a lesson with Shizuko-san where we just read lots of scriptures from the Book of Mormon about the Spirit and she told us "Wow, I guess I have felt the Spirit before!" For an investigator who has been off and on for a while, this was huge progress.

We are seriously seeing so many miracles in Matsudo! I'm excited to have another transfer here!

One last miracle! Last week on p-day when Sister Nicholes and I were taking pictures by the Sakura, a random lady came up and offered to take a picture of us. Then right before she left, she took a selfie with us. Well yesterday, we had just left our apartment to go to church and we saw a lady walking past us. We said "Konnichiwa" and she said "Oh!!!!! Sakura shasshin!! (Sakura picture)" It was so crazy to run into the same lady 1 week later and have her still remember us. :)

ALSO at General Conference, they announced a temple in Brasilia Brazil and I am so excited!!! My trainer Sister Pourre is from Brasilia Brazil and I am so excited for her and her family!!!! She told me about how she had to take an airplane to go to the temple before her mission. This is such a blessing! Yay!!!!

I am excited to be here in Matsudo. This is going to be a great transfer, I can feel it! Thank you all for your love and support! I hope you all have a great week! Enjoy the spring weather! The sakura is starting to fall here, which is sad, but it's being replaced by lots of green!

Love you all!

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai