And then there were three

Konnichiwa!

Sorry that my last email was so late in the week!

Goodbye to Sister Yamashita

Anyway, I sent that email on Thursday, and the day after we became a San-nin (3 person companionship). On Saturday, Sister Yamashita, who was in Tsukuba, went home due to medical reasons and so Sister Phelps joined us in Matsudo for the weekend. I will miss Sister Yamashita so much! I met her the first day I came to Japan and I have loved her ever since. She trained Sister Barton, was my STL, and then I had the chance to be her STL for just 3 short weeks. I will miss her sweet Spirit so much!!! But I also know that it is all in God's Plan. This upcoming week, another sister will be going home, which is also hard. Because of these sisters going home, President Nagano had to close the Mito Sisters and send one of them to Oyama and one to Tsukuba. It was so sad saying goodbye to Sister Akers today, as she goes up to Oyama.

However, I truly know that God has a plan for each of us. He wants us to grow and he has a perfect plan for us.

Momoko Shimai

Yesterday I was able to testify about this perfect plan many times. We had two miracle lessons yesterday. We were teaching a recent convert, Momoko Shimai, and a less Active, Mikami Shimai, one right after another and we planned to teach them both the Plan of Salvation. We really wanted to turn both lessons into discussions though and help each Sister really apply it in their lives.

In the first lesson we really emphasized Jesus Christ and the Atonement. Momoko Shimai was baptized recently and she told us that the Plan of Salvation was her favorite part of the gospel, so we just built off of what she already loved and helped her see the importance of living and applying the gospel to her life every day. She loved it! And we love her!

Our next lesson was completely different. We were still teaching the Plan of Salvation, but because Mikami Shimai is getting married soon and is really concerned about raising a family, we talked about families. We drew on the board three pillars of the Plan of Salvation (Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement) and talked about how each thing was required in order for us to have families.

I truly testify that this gospel is real. It applies to each one of us individually. It works in the lives of everyone, no matter what situation in life they are. We taught the same basic lesson, to two completely different people, in two completely different ways. It was all led by the Spirit. There were so many inspired questions asked, and Spirit-led testimonies born in those two lessons. These two lessons could not have been more different, yet each person we taught walked away with a stronger love for this perfect plan that our Father in Heaven created for them. I walked away with a stronger testimony as well, that God knows his children and he knows what they need. This is not a cookie cutter gospel. This is a real gospel that works in our lives if we let it. If we are willing to study and put in the work to be our best and follow Jesus Christ, it will work and we will be blessed.

Mission School

Those were just 2 miracles that we saw in our weekend as a trio. On Sunday, we managed to pull off some crazy Splits. Sister Phelps had an important investigator who was planning on coming to church today, so we felt that it was important for her and Sister Shim to go to Tsukuba Ward. However, at the same time in Matsudo we had a baptismal service (which one of our investigators was coming to), Ward Conference, a Father's Day Lunch, and a Ward Missionary Training. So yeah, it was impossible for all three of us to go to Tsukuba. Luckily though, we have an amazing Ward missionary (who is waiting for her mission call!) who was able to be my companion through it all! Yay Yui!! She was amazing!

We visited a few former investigators, guided the investigator through the baptismal service, talked to many members (aka missionary life every week at church because there are a bajillion people we have to talk to) and we made it to the amazing Ward missionary training. We were busy, but it was amazing!

Cookie Freak Shake

At the Ward missionary training, just wow. They helped the Ward missionaries set expectations to do more than just normal missionary work. They really inspired the Ward missionaries and I am excited to see the results. For example, one Ward missionary has been coming to Mission School, which is great. At the training they encouraged Ward Missionaries to fulfill their callings even more by not just coming, but fellowshipping the students, and inviting members and nonmembers to come. I can't fully explain why it was so amazing, but it was and the Ward missionaries were so inspired.

Yui wants to work more with the youth and inspire them to go on missions too. Right after the meeting, she marched straight into the seminary classroom and committed everyone there to come to Mission School once this week. It was so cool!!! She is going to be an amazing missionary!

Saturday, we helped Watanabe Shimai with her Father's Day Activity. We helped the kids make these really complicated photo cards that are super cool. I wanted to make one too! It was only slightly challenging to explain to a bunch of 4 year olds how to make it though. ^^

Friday, right before Sister Phelps came, I also got to go on splits with Kunishi Shimai! Also one of my favorite Nihonjin Sisters!! Hehe I also met her my first day in Japan because she trained Sister Anderson who came with me to Japan. Anyway, back when she was in Chiba and I was in Urayasu, we spent a p-day together (if you remember the pictures of me in traditional Korean clothes, that's when we were together) and I promised her that one day we would be companions. It didn't exactly work out how I planned, but 4 transfers and we finally got to be companions and it was just as amazing as I hoped! She spoke English all day and I spoke only Japanese. We must have looked strange on the street (a Japanese person speaking English with an American replying in Japanese) but it was way fun! I love learning from other sisters!!!

At the temple

Lastly, today was my last temple p-day. The temple will be closing in October until 2020 and in the coming months the temple will get really busy. As missionaries, our work is for the living, not the dead, so it was decided that this would be our last temple p-day. I had a few questions that I really really felt like I needed answers to so I fasted this morning before going to the temple. I also listened in English for the first time in a long time (usually I will listen to a mixture of Japanese and Portuguese). After the session, I just prayed and listened to the Spirit. I truly felt God's love for me. Through the Spirit I was able to receive answers to my questions and to questions I didn't even know I had. I know that Heavenly Father cares about each and every one of us. He will give us answers. I felt his overwhelming love for me and I know that each of you can feel that love too.

After the session we had one last lunch together with Sister Akers before sending her to Oyama, but I know I will see her again soon. I also had the chance to meet Sister Garcia, a Sister from Brazil who is going home this week. It was the first time I had ever met her, but I felt a special connection to her.

The mission is really like one big family, especially for the sisters, and especially for anyone who has served in Oizumi. Sister Garcia went there right after I left. Oizumi is a special place. I am so grateful that I was able to just meet her for a few moments today. I love this mission, and these missionaries so much. Every single missionary is special to me, even if I have never met them in person before. I love being a missionary here, every single day I am so so grateful that I followed those promptings a year and a half ago and chose to serve a mission.

I love you all and I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love,

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai