Debt is bad.

Ushiku Transfer 9 Week 2

Konnichiwa!

Week 2? It's going so fast! Ahhhhh!!!

Ward Missionary Pictures

So this week started off a bit rough. On Monday, after writing emails, we decided to go to Nitori (the furniture store) to buy Carbon Monoxide detectors and try to return some 600 yen (about $6) blinds that we didn't need for our apartment anymore. Well we got there and all was going well, but then they tried to swipe Sister Honda's card. It turns out that instead of just giving us the 600 yen back, they voided the entire transaction and were trying to charge us for the entire transaction minus the blinds again. The only problem was that the transaction was about 17000 yen and Sister Honda only had 88 yen on her card left. This led to a lot of confusion as they kind of tried to explain this to us, but not really. They called the credit card company, and we called the Commissarian to talk to them (but they just ended up asking him to come from Tokyo to pay for the transaction) and in the end, we had to pay for it with personal and emergency fund money. Luckily we had exactly 18000 yen between the two of us. That was a miracle. (Just that morning I decided to pull out 10000 yen in personal money even though I wasn't planning on buying anything. I had no idea why I did it, but later at Nitori I was very glad that I did).

I learned an important lesson that day. Don't get into debt.

I mean we had money, we weren't in debt, but when we got reimbursements over the next two days it was a pain to have to divide up what was actually personal money and what was emergency fund money. Just don't get in debt. Nothing good comes from it. Debt is bad. Even if you do it so that you can have plates and lights in your apartment. Don't do it. ^^

So that was our practical lesson learned from the week. :)

Natsu Masuri (Summer Festival)

This week we also tried to visit a college that is in our area. There are tons of young people over there and there is so much problem. The only drawback is that its really hard to get there by train, and biking takes 1 hour, with almost no one on the streets. And its now summer. The day we went, we were just trying to find an English club of some sorts and we didn't have much success. I was getting a little down thinking that maybe we had wasted our whole day. Then, as we were leaving, a student on his bike passed us and asked "Are you from the Mormon church?" Turns out that he is a Less Active member who comes to church every now and then. It was nice to just talk to him and here a little bit more about the college. We told the Elders later in the day and they decided to try and contact him again, so little miracles came from it. Yay!!!

Later that same day, we decided to do some housing and we saw so many little miracles! We were able to give away quite a few pamphlets and have face to face conversations with many people. Usually people just talk to us through the intercom doorbell and don't actually come out, so it was great to talk to people in person. One dad that we talked to kept straightening up in surprise whenever we mentioned Jesus Christ. It was pretty funny. It felt really productive though so that was good.

Our District

Right now, we are in a big finding phase because we only have 1 investigator. We are trying all sorts of things to find investigators. We tried the college, some housing, we talked to the Relief Society President and the Young Women President about people we can visit and who we can help, and most recently we went through the Elders' old investigators. We found all the females and sent them to ourselves. Many of them have a lot of potential, and the only reason they were dropped was because there were no Sister missionaries and the Elders were focusing on men. We sent almost 100 former investigators to ourselves, so we are excited to go through and see miracles from that.

One amazing miracle that we saw this week though was that we met this woman on the street who actually knew a little bit about the church. She remembered going there when she was really young and playing with the missionaries while her parents took the lessons. As we talked to her, I just saw so much light and potential. She lives in the Tokyo South Mission, so we could only give her a flyer and hope that she finds the missionaries, but I really really hope she does. I really felt like she was prepared for the gospel. I hope that she takes the chance to find the missionaries and open her heart to their message.

Another miracle happened on Sunday. In between the Japanese church meetings and the Portuguese church meetings we had 2 hours stuffed with lessons and meetings and talking to members. We hadn't planned for lunch so we were starving and Sister Honda was so hungry that she started searching through our fruit basket for food. Well we had one last meeting with the Young Women President and when we walked in, they were having a shoukujikai (potluck party) and they started giving us tons of food. It was such a miracle. I was so grateful.

Also, we had a dinner appointment at some Brazilian members' house and I got to eat Brazilian beans and rice and salgados (fried dough filled with meat)!!! Then today at our Summer Festival they had Guarana (Brazilian soda) and I almost cried. I was so happy!

Putting furniture together (cabinet took 2 hours)

Lastly, this week our futons, desks, table and chairs and kitchen cupboards all came, so we spent a lot of free time and meal times building furniture (luckily Sister Honda is an IKEA expert). As we built the furniture, we listened to some Conference CDs from 2010 that we found in the things that the Honbu Elders brought us. One talk that really hit me was one about pride and the priesthood. I don't really remember anything specific, but I do remember thinking a lot about pride.

I had many expectations when I came to Ushiku. I expected to work hard, but I also expected that Heavenly Father would have everything set up for us an that this would be just like any other area, with many investigators already and waiting for us. That was not the case. It is definitely a challenge to not be finding anyone. It's hard to feel like you aren't being successful, that your day may not have been effective because you didn't find anyone. It's hard to see the progress being made and feel proud of everything when there aren't many tangible fruits of your labor.

However, that being said, I think I came with a lot of pride. I thought that I could do this all on my own because I knew just a sliver of what Ushiku was like. Truthfully, I don't know much. Sister Honda and I are both just figuring these things out together. Of course there are going to be mistakes. Of course it's going to feel like we aren't being effective, it is because we aren't. We don't know enough to be effective yet. Heavenly Father doesn't expect us to know enough to be effective.

This past week had its rough patches, but I think that those challenges were necessary to help us to learn about the area and find the resources to be more effective. After that rough day at the college, we called some of the past Elders who had served in Ushiku and worked at the college and we received a lot of valuable information. Would we have done that if we hadn't had a subpar day? Trials are truly there for a reason. Heavenly Father knows exactly how to teach and help us.

One thing I recently learned about the way Jesus Christ taught was that he sometimes let people make mistakes so that they could learn for themselves. This is something I have a really really hard time with. All my life, I've known a lot of things, useful things, random things, important things, things other people don't normally know. I have always struggled with wanting to just tell people what to do and why they should do it. But that isn't how Christ taught. He let people make mistakes and from those mistakes, they were able to learn so much more. It is something I have been trying to work on not just in teaching investigators, but also in the way I try to teach others around me. Most importantly, I'm trying to apply it to myself. Making mistakes isn't a sign of failure, it is a sign of progress. If we didn't make mistakes, we wouldn't be using our agency to make choices and thus would not be fully embracing our Heavenly Father's plan for us. So embrace the mistakes!!!!!

I really hope you all have an amazing week! Love you all!

Love,

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai

From Your Friendly Apartment Moving Expert

Ushiku Transfer 9 Week 1

Konnichiwa!

Welcome to Ushiku!!!!!!!!! It's a magical place full of miracles!

I started out the week in Matsudo, doing a lot of packing. So much packing. I have too much stuff. I'm so sorry :)

However, on Monday we had a Family Home Evening with some members and mission school students and it was so powerful. We ate a bunch of really good food then Sister Shim and I shared a video called "The Hope of God's Light" and bore our testimonies. The Spirit was so strong and right before our eyes we saw a Mission School student whose heart had been really closed to the gospel, open up just a little bit. I then had the chance to share why I decided to serve a mission and I felt the Spirit so strongly. I am so grateful that I chose to serve a mission. Nothing has changed my life more than serving here in Japan.

Last night in Matsudo

On Tuesday, we had to spend a lot of time packing and doing last minute things, but we did have a chance to walk through the pouring rain after Mission School and go to a dinner appointment with Mami-san. We went to the Watanabes' and they were so cute! They even made a 4th of July Cake which was great since all of us had forgotten that it was the 4th of July. Whoops! I will miss all of them so so so much though!!!!

Wednesday was a special day though because usually transfers happen on Wednesday, however because Sister Honda and I were opening an area and didn't have an apartment, we had to stay the night in Matsudo. So I got to go to one more Eikaiwa!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYYAY! However, having gone to one more Eikaiwa, I realize why we transfer on Wednesday mornings. That last Eikaiwa was so hard, I didn't ever want to leave. Many of the students found out that I was transferring and wrote me notes, we took lots and lots of pictures, and some of my favorite members came to say goodbye. I was so sad. I am going to miss Matsudo so so much!

Last Eikaiwa in Matsudo

Before Eikaiwa on Wednesday though, we saw a huge miracle. Hitomi Shimai (a recent convert from Urayasu who moved to Matsudo and stopped coming to church) called us! I was able to talk to her for the first time in months and it was so good. She really wants to come back to church and I hope the sisters are able to meet with her. She is so sweet and adorable and I was just so so happy to talk to her.

Thursday was the day, the day we went to Ushiku.

We got to the eki (train station) on time, then the Ushiku Elders called us telling us that the Honbu Elders were closing the apartment in Mito (about an hour away) and were going to be late. So we made this huge list of questions for the Elders since we had no idea about anything in Ushiku.

Some of my favorite mission school students

Eventually the Honbu Elders came and we made it to our apartment where both the Bishop and his wife and Shigematsu Choro and his wife (the senior missionary couple who got released a little while back) were waiting. It was such a big surprise to see all 4 of them there! We thought it was just going to be us and the Elders. It was such a blessing though.

All of our furniture came from the Mito Elders' old apartment, so we had the chance to go through all the things we wanted and didn't want. There wasn't much to begin with, but we were able to get appliances and some shelves. Currently we are waiting on futons, a table, desks (our chairs arrived yesterday), and a washing machine. :)

A Sister in the ward found out that we didn't have futons and were just sleeping on some blankets on the ground and she came by with some futons for us to use. Ushiku members are so sweet!!!

We were also lacking a lot of important things, so on Thursday and Friday we went shopping with the Bishop and his wife. We spent so much money...like we had to go into our emergency money and personal money because we had to buy dishes, pillows, curtains, and lights (lights are so expensive). It was bad...but we are getting reimbursements so, we will be fine. The whole time we were shopping we just kept saying to ourselves "We are investing in future sisters."

I think I can safely say that I am an apartment moving expert now. If they ever need to move apartments somewhere else, I know exactly what to do. ^^

Since Wednesday, our apartment has improved dramatically and we are so so excited to be working here in Ushiku. We have had the chance to do some normal dendo and this area has so much untapped potential. It's amazing.

Some favorite Matsudo members

On Saturday, Sister Tobe invited us to a seminar she was teaching to talk to some of the moms and we met a mom who actually comes to Kodomo Eikaiwa and she is so sweet and has lots of potential. Masuda Kyoudai, a ward missionary from Matsudo, was also at the seminar and I almost cried when I saw him. I miss Matsudo already! But that's okay because I'm still in the same zone so I will see them again soon.

The funny thing about Ushiku is that I know a lot about Ushiku, but I know nothing at the same time. For example, I came to Kodomo Eikaiwa in Ushiku last week and met some people and knew a little bit about how it was run, but that didn't make it any less confusing when I actually went this week and had to teach. It was chaotic. Another example was the Portuguese Sacrament meeting. I know many of the people who come and they have all seen me at least a few times, but now this is my ward and I really need to get to know them and know how to help them. It's a small difference, but it's an important adjustment that needs to be made.

Side note: Sister Honda and Elder Kooyman (the other new Ushiku missionary) were both so confused during the Portuguese Sacrament Meeting. It was the funniest thing. At one point, they were talking about visiting teaching in different countries and Elder Kooyman thought they were arguing about Japan and America and Brazil.

Ayoko

The Elders here have been a huge help, they have referred many of their female investigators to us, so we aren't starting with nothing. One potential investigator came to church on Sunday and somehow I was thrown in a room with her and a member while Sister Honda and another member went in another room with a less active during the third hour of church. We were so confused. I just tried to build a relationship with the potential investigator and learn about her needs and desires and in the end I invited her to take the missionary lessons and see how they can help her in her life. Heavenly Father really blessed us this week to find this investigator. He knew that we were moving into a new apartment which didn't even have the basic necessities and that we knew nothing about the area, but he still helped us to progress the work forward this week.

I'm really excited to be working here in Ushiku. It's weird because I feel like I know a lot, but I know that I know nothing, but Sister Honda and I are so excited to work together and see lots of miracles this transfer. The transfers are starting to feel shorter and shorter and now more and more missionaries that I know are going home. It's getting real. Time really does fly on the mission and that is so scary. This transfer, Sister Honda and I will hit our 1 year in Japan mark together and that is insane.

Now for a few funny things, because you know there will be funny things when you have to go shopping for everything in an apartment:

1-Star pot for the apartment

So we had to buy a pot for our apartment because we had no cooking utensils whatsoever. We found a pretty good one, bought it and brought it home. Then as we were unpacking it we noticed that the package literally says that it is a 1 star pot. 1 out of 3. They didn't even try to hide it. We absolutely died (probably because it was the end of a really really long and tiring day) that of all the pots we bought the "1 Star Pot". Good times.

Second, so usually in Japan, when you move, the Landlord will give you this big complicated sheet explaining how to separate your garbage and what days the different garbages are picked up. Well, we never got this vital piece of paper, so the Elders' helpful suggestion was for us to go house our neighbors and ask when the garbage gets picked up. (Housing/tracting is when missionaries knock on houses to share the message about the gospel...however instead of sharing the gospel message we would be asking about trash).

Last. Let me just preface this by explaining that sometimes Portuguese, English, and Japanese hymns have slightly different melodies. One of these songs is "I Believe in Christ" where English and Japanese have the same tune, but Portuguese is different and Spanish is different from all the rest. Naturally, the branch decided to sing this song at sacrament meeting and I'm the poor pianist trying to play this song which people singing in Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese and it was just all wrong. Afterwards, everyone got into a big argument about this hymn and why we couldn't sing it and it was just a big disaster. The funniest part though was that Sister Honda and Elder Kooyman didn't understand what they were arguing about at first, then I told them that they were arguing about the hymn and they died. Well, naturally, they decided that we needed to try again so they sang it for Sunday School and Elder Kooyman decided to sing in English just to mess it up. It's the little things I guess.

This week wasn't really dendo heavy, but we were the recipient of a lot of help and miracles from the members. They really helped us out with moving, futons, buying us some food, and just helping us to jump right into missionary work. The ward is so excited to have sisters and we are so excited to be here.

Love you all! Have a great week!!!!

Love,

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai

Egg ood mother

Konnichiwa!

First of all, to explain the title. We taught English to this old lady this week and she brought her friend along, and she was trying to show off her English skills a little bit by doing this elaborate self-introduction. Her English was really good, but then we got into the lesson and I said something like "Is your daughter a good mother?" (The original sentence was "is your father a math teacher?"). Well, this woman starts going on and on about the different pronunciations of "a" and how she couldn't understand what I was saying and all she could hear was "egg ood mother." It was pretty funny.

Pizza for transfer calls

Also, it reminded me of my amazing mother who had her birthday this week. My mom is egg ood mother and I love her very much!

Now, onto the Transfer Call announcements. The biggest news is that I WILL BE COMPANIONS WITH SISTER HONDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It finally happened!!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!! (For those of you who may be wondering why this is a big deal, we've been friends for a long long time, reconnected when we both got called to Japan and have been hoping to be companions since Day 1).

It's actually kind of funny, because the email with the rosters came and Sister Shim and I were so confused because we hadn't received our transfer calls. We just got a bunch of emails that made our phone buzz and made us all nervous as we waited for our call. Well the roster came and we still didn't have our call, so we actually had to call the Assistants. Haha, they felt really bad. But yeah. I called Sister Honda right after and we are so excited!!!

The second big news is that we are actually whitewash opening Ushiku Sisters!!!!!! This means that there is no Sister in the area that has worked there before, so we will be starting from scratch. There haven't been Sisters in Ushiku for a very very long time, so we will be opening the area! Haha, we actually are moving into a new apartment (again ^^) on Thursday so we will spend Wednesday in Matsudo still. It will definitely be a challenge though. We will be starting with no investigators and very little information about the area, and it is a Portuguese and Japanese area so I will need to get all my Portuguese back.

This announcement wasn't a big surprise to me, since at interviews President Nagano told me that they were opening Ushiku Sisters soon. Since I've worked in Ushiku a little bit in the past (with the Portuguese sacrament meeting) I had a feeling that I might be going. I'm so excited to see Ushiku grow though! They are seeing so many miracles and it will be so great to work with Sister Honda!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

As for this past week. There were 4 major things that happened.

1. We weren't able to set a lot of lessons this week, so we finally had time to find and visit all the Less Actives that the ward has been asking us to visit. Wow, it felt so weird but good to have time to do all of that. Usually we are so packed that we barely have time to eat, so this was a change. Our investigators are still doing really well though and we have plans to meet with them this week.

From Bulgaria

2. We found out that Shizuko San's family is pretty hantai (against the church) so she is feeling really stressed and she feels like she needs some time, so we have dropped her baptismal date for now. She has a desire to still know if it is true, so we will continue to pray for her.

3. Culture Night!!!!!!!! Over the past 2 weeks we have been planning this Cultural Celebration activity for Wednesday after Eikaiwa. We asked two members (one from Bulgaria and one from Austria) to come and give short presentations about their home countries in English for the students. It went so well! The ward really came together and it went perfectly! The presentations were perfect, fun, and the students loved it. After the presentations, we had some snacks and tons of members came and talked with the students. Almost every student was talking to a member and when it came time to end, no one wanted to leave. It was such a good opportunity for students and members to mingle. We hope to hold more activities like this. What really amazed me was how simple it was. The activity was so simple, and we planned it so quickly, but it worked so well. It was truly a miracle. The members were really impressed too.

Sister from Austria

One thing that really hit me though was at the end when one member came up to me and said "Thank you for asking me to do this. I feel like my family doesn't contribute much to the ward, so I'm glad you invited me." She doesn't speak much Japanese and requires English translation at all of our church meetings so I can understand why she felt like she didn't contribute much. The amazing thing though was that her name was the very first one that popped into our heads when we started planning this activity. I'm so glad that we were able to incorporate her and her family into the activity and help her feel more like a part of the Matsudo Ward Family.

My bike and its twin

4. Lastly, IT WAS SISTER SHIM'S 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!!! Yep! We celebrated both of our birthdays this transfer! Yay! It was so fun! We had church that day so tons of members came up and said happy birthday to her (there was even one little boy who came up to me and said happy birthday, so I quickly redirected him to SIster Shim, it was so cute!). Some of the primary kids made her a card too! AHHHHH! For dinner, we brought an investigator and her friend to a member's house for dinner and it was great! The member was Yukimoto Shimai who is Korean so she made all sorts of traditional Korean food including a special soup they eat on birthdays and it was so so special. I tried to make it special for Sister Shim too by surprising her with a cheesecake and decorating her desk. It was a great day and she said she really enjoyed it. I'm so glad! I love Sister Shim so much!!!!!

Shinto shrine

This has truly been a crazy transfer. It flew by so fast! We are already in July and that is insane to me. We did so much this transfer, we saw so many miracles. I will really miss Sister Shim! She was an amazing companion and I learned so so much from her. She is such a strong missionary. Hehe I'm excited to go on exchanges with her this transfer ^^ Yay for still being in the Matsudo Zone!!!!!!!

There is one last experience I would like to share with all of you.

Over the past 2 transfers I have really been struggling with myself. Just knowing that I have so many weaknesses and feeling powerless to overcome them and become not just a strong missionary, but a strong person. It has been some thing that I have really been studying and trying to work on and overcome these past two transfers.

On Sunday, a Primary teacher asked us to come and be a surprise guest for her class of 4 year olds and talk about being missionaries. Well we walked into the classroom (filled with the cutest little 4 year olds ever!!!!) and they were just so excited to see us and hear us. As we introduced ourselves, I just felt a simple joy. There was something about telling these children that I was here to share a happy message with everyone I met, that just made me so happy. It truly is the little things.

BYU student who also knows my brother

After our little visit, we went over to the Young Women and they were singing one of the Youth Songs for this year called "Ask of God." We can't listen to EFY music, but I've sung this song in Young Women's several times since being here in Matsudo and it has come to be a very special and powerful song for me. As we sang, I could see the light from these beautiful daughters of God and it gave me hope.

Joy and hope. Heavenly Father really knows how to help us. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father who cares for me.

I hope you all have an amazing week. Please remember that you have a Father in Heaven who loves you.

Love you all!

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai

Ai Love or Ai Blue?

Konnichiwa!

We are nearing the end of the transfer, I can't believe that already! I swear the time goes faster and faster. We found some soda that Sister Nicholes told me Sister Bede bought, and then I realized that Sister Bede was here 6 months ago. I have been in Matsudo almost 4.5 months! Time flies so fast!

With girls running a Vietnamese booth at a school festival

This week was no exception to that either. I swear this week was only 1 day.

We had the chance to have interviews with President and Sister Nagano this week and it was a welcome opportunity to just talk with them and feel their love. They really helped me with some of the things I've been struggling with. I love President and Sister Nagano so much! I can't imagine any other Mission President.

This week was also the last of the exchanges for the week. We went to Tsukuba!!!! On the rainiest day ever! Luckily I brought my rain jacket and my more waterproof-ish bag (some pamphlets still didn't survive though :( ). I was back with Sister Van Pelt, one of my favorite missionaries ever! We went to visit some members and they were so sweet. We got completely soaked though (even with the rain coat). The funny thing is that even though the rain was pouring, no one was on the streets, and we couldn't even enter the homes of the people we visited because we were so wet, I was overwhelmingly happy. When we are on the Lord's Errand, doing his work, we will experience disappointments, but we will always be able to feel more joy.

The next day, we truly saw a miracle. We had a lesson with Ai-san, who we have only met a few times, but she has been coming to Mission School for a while. We didn't have a lot of time to prepare for the lesson, so we decided that we would read the pamphlet together, every paragraph, just like we have been mogi-ing in Zone Conferences. That was when the miracles came. Ai-San started asking the most amazing questions, and then there was a part in one of the paragraphs that we don't normally use in our lessons that just resonated with her. She really really wants to know if this church is true, and if it is, she wants to act on it. So, we were able to SET A BAPTISMAL DATE WITH HER!!!!!! She completely understood that the date helps us to work hard together to help her receive her answers. A baptismal date is so important because it gives her a real goal to work towards. Without a goal, what motivation do we have to do anything? She is really excited to work towards this goal, and we are excited to work with her as well!!!!! We love Ai-San!!!! (Hehe, Ai in Japanese means love, but Ai-San's name actually means blue which makes for some funny jokes :) )

The Ogawa's

Our other miracle lesson from this week was when we randomly stopped by Shizuko-san's house. She's our other investigator with a baptismal date. She's been struggling with the Word of Wisdom lately and remembering

why she wants to keep it, so we gave her a CTR ring (one of those green ones that kids always have) so that she can wear it and whenever she looks down she can remember why she is trying to keep these commandments. She loved it and it was such a powerful lesson. We were just standing at the door and testifying, but the Spirit was so strong. She has so many temptations right now with work and family, but she is really trying to overcome.

This week was seriously so jam packed with things (we went to 3 different areas this week for exchanges, District Meeting, and helping another ward) and there were so so so many miracles. It is impossible to share everything with you all, but the work in Japan is really hastening. I have never had so many progressing investigators and I have never had 2 people with baptismal dates on my mission, but I know that the Lord blesses us as we work hard and strive to be obedient. I am so blessed to be working in Matsudo right now. I don't want to leave! Next week are transfer calls though, so who knows. :(

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!!!!!!!

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai

Summer Sister Black is Back

Konnichiwa!

Father's Day Activity

Let me just start out by saying how much I love the members in Matsudo!! We have the best Ward Missionaries ever! If you remember last week (I think I mentioned it) we had a Ward Missionary Training Meeting. Well, this week one of our Ward Missionaries took this training really seriously and he has been seeing so many miracles! He is fellowshipping Mission School students, sharing the gospel with them, getting referrals from members, and on Sunday he was everywhere in a way we, as missionaries, just can't be. After sacrament meeting, he completely took care of a Recent Convert and her really sick son (who is an investigator) and helped them receive a priesthood blessing and get home safe. We had no idea until afterwards, but we were so so so grateful!

Father's Day

Then there is Yui, who has been waiting for her Mission Call and it came this week!! She opened it yesterday and she was called to the California San Jose Mission! I am so excited for her! This past week, I had the chance to go on splits with her again because we had too many appointments for just Sister Shim and I. Originally, she was just going to come to District Meeting with us and then come back at night for our splits, but on the way back from District Meeting, we ran into a Less Active, so Yui helped us teach her and it was such a good experience for her. She really felt the Spirit during the lesson guiding her as she talked. On our splits, we taught a Young Woman English and she helped me start to teach Kodomo Eikaiwa. She is so prepared to be a missionary. She really was amazing! Ahhhhhh I'm so excited for her!!!

Another miracle from this week was Ai-San and Mami-San. So a little bit of background. They are both Mission School students who took a church tour and wanted to take the lessons. They also live in the same sharehouse.

Some rolls from Ai-san.
I put faces on the picture.

First, Ai-San. We had an amazing lesson with her this week about the Restoration and she had a question about why Jesus had to die, so we talked about the Atonement. As we explained, all she could say was "Sugoi" (Cool, wow, amazing) and she was just so shocked that Jesus Christ would do something like that. She really appreciated it and really wants to know for herself if this is true. Well she came on Sunday to church and the Sunday School lesson was about the sacrament and why it is important, and she actually understood it! She was so happy! We were so happy too!

Her friend, Mami, is also an investigator, but we haven't started the lessons with her because at first she didn't seem all that interested. However, we invited her to church this week and she actually came (and brought Ai with her). She didn't understand a lot, but she really enjoyed it. Also, she's going to go study/work abroad in Canada for a year! The best news? She is going to Vancouver and really really wants to come visit Seattle so we are definitely going to meet up in a few months so I can show her around. I'm so excited!!!

The next Matsudo Member Miracle happened with Ai and Mami at church. They came for all three hours and it was their first time and many members came up to talk to them and introduce themselves, so it was great. However, Sister Shim and I had been invited to the Abiko Ward to help with their YW Event and in order to be there on time we had to leave right before Relief Society. We brought Ai and Mami to Relief Society and luckily we saw Mikami Shimai who actually dosekied for Ai-San once so they knew each other. Mikami Shimai saved the day! She volunteered to sit with them (Yui and another Sister also came over later in the class) and guided them through Relief Society when we couldn't be there.

Afterwards we messaged them and both Ai and Mami had a great time at church and both had really good experiences. I am so so so so grateful for the members that helped make their first church experience a special one. They are both so so special and I love seeing the ward slowly getting more and more dendo fire!

Father's Day

As for the Abiko Ward YW Event, that was so fun!!!

The funniest thing was that we got to church right as it was ending. A bit of background about Abiko, they have 4 Elders, and have not had Sister Missionaries in a long time. They have been practically begging President Nagano for Sisters. Well, when we got there, all the members started freaking out. "Did you get transferred here?" "Why are the Sisters here?" "What is going on?!?!?!?!" It was the funniest thing! This ward is dying for Sister Missionaries, so I am so glad that we were able to go and help just for one day. The YW there were so cute too! We taught a little lesson about dress and grooming and they all had amazing insights. Ah I just love the Youth so much!!!!!!

And with that little adventure, we have now worked in every single area in our Zone, including the areas that only have Elders (Ushiku and Abiko). Whee!!!! Sister Power!

One thing I have learned from the little time I have spent in both Ushiku and Abiko, and even here in Matsudo, is that we really need to be grateful for the missionaries we have. We never know when they will change or get taken away. Recently I talked to a family in Matsudo about how lucky they are to have 3 sets of missionaries in their ward. In my home ward, we have just 1 set of missionaries, so have fortunate Matsudo is to have 6 missionaries who are working full time to bring souls unto Christ. In the upcoming months, the number of missionaries coming to our mission is actually going to decrease so that we will have to close a few areas. Matsudo is so so so fortunate to have so many missionaries and especially to have Sisters in their area. Just last week, we had to close the Mito Sisters area. Please please please give thanks for the missionaries in your area. You never know what might happen, so don't wait until it is too late to work with them. They want to know you and work with you so badly!!!!!!

At the school festival

Last little miracle for the week was that a nearby college had a school festival where they had a ton of booths for food and games. We have an investigator and a recent convert who go to that college, so we decided to go check it out. We went first in the morning and saw the investigator. We only had a little bit of time so it wasn't super effective, but we promised her that we would come back a little bit later after out appointment. Well, later we ran into the recent convert who also wanted to go to the school festival, so we all went together.

We were worried that it wasn't going to be effective, but it was so effective!!! As we were walking in, Sister Shim mentioned the words Korean food, and one student just perked up and looked over and was like "There's actually a Korean booth over here" and it turned out that he was Korean! So of course he and Sister Shim start talking super fast in Korean and he introduces us to his friend and takes a Mission School flyer because he is also super interested in English. YAY!!!!! (P.S. I also got to eat Rotee which is this super yummy Thai street food and I was soooooo excited). We also talked to our investigator again and she brought her friend too who is actually really interested in learning if God exists! Therefore, it turned into a SUPER effective finding opportunity. Thank you Heavenly Father for guiding us that day!

As for a funny moment from today. For p-day we had to go fix our bikes a bit and then we went shopping. When she saw what I bought, Sister Shim said "That looks exactly like what you brought from home!" She is so funny because I promise you, the shirt I bought was quite different from what I brought on my mission. She wanted me to share this with you all. She is so funny! I love her!!!!!!!

Also, as an explanation for the title of this email. This was the first week in which it got so hot that I had to start putting my hair in a braid again. Thus, Summer Sister Black is Back again. I'm not sure I have any pictures with the braid, but yeah. It's back!

Mission School

Now just as a disclaimer. I have noticed that many of my emails are just filled with miracles and it may seem that nothing is hard or nothing goes wrong in my life as a missionary. There are hard days. There are hard trials. There are many many disappointments. However, I feel blessed that Heavenly Father helps me to see that all those disappointments and trials and hard days are there to help me see the miracles. One thing that we teach as missionaries is about the Fall of Adam and Eve. An important aspect of the Fall is that because they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve were able to know pain and sorrow and death. However, because they now knew pain and sorrow and death, they were also able to know joy and happiness. In order to know true happiness, we must also experience sorrow. If we didn't know sorrow, how could we know that we were happy?

When I write these emails, most of the time I remember only the good things, the miracles, and so that is what I share. I have hard days and frustrating experiences just like anyone else, but the blessing of being a missionary, is that we can see the big picture. Heavenly Father gives us trials so that we can grow. I am so so so thankful for that.

I love you all so much! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai

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

One year older and wiser too

Birthday box from my family

1 year older in several ways. Wow, what a week. I turned 20 on Wednesday, then hit my year markon Thursday. Both days were filled with miracles and love and I am so so grateful to be serving as a missionary right now in the Japan Tokyo Mission.

My birthday started out pretty ordinary. We actually had a lot of meetings planned that day, but at District Meeting everyone sang to me which was really nice. Right before Eikaiwa though, we met with a Young Woman named Akane who is going to America over the summer and will be going to Girl's Camp in America! Yay! So fun! But she needs to learn Church English, so we met with her before Eikaiwa and, at her request, did an English Mogi. It was really fun, but also a little weird to be doing a mogi in English. Haha, her mom made us all dinner though and brought us cake too! So sweet!!!!

Eikaiwa was by far the best part of my birthday. I felt really lucky to have my birthday on aWednesday this year because it meant that I got to celebrate with some of my favorite people! Everyone sang to me at the beginning of Eikaiwa, then we split into classes and the Kodomo Class sang to me again! We learned a bunch of birthday words (including surprise party, oh that was a fun one to teach) and then played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. So fun! After Eikaiwa, a few students gave me some gifts and we went upstairs and found a cake that Ishijima Shimai made for me! It was so sweet! Especially since cherries and strawberries are pretty expensive in Japan.

Birthday Cake and presents

Sister Shim also tried to make my birthday as special as possible by making me a fruit "cake" for breakfast and a special lunch. It was so special!

We also saw a birthday miracle! A new Eikaiwa Student came with her adorable 3 year old son (who already knows his ABCs) and she wants a church tour!!!! She has interest in the gospel! YAY!!!!!!!!

When we finally came home for the night, we ate birthday cake and opened presents. It was super special and thank you all for your birthday messages! For any of you that participated in my mom's little picture taking adventure, thank you too. It was a really special day, and although it didn't really hit me that it was my birthday, I definitely felt loved. Thank you all!

The following day, June 1st, was my 1 year mark as a missionary. Isn't that crazy? 1 year ago I entered the MTC! That probably scared me more than the fact that I am now 20! How in the world has 1 year passed by so fast?

We saw so many miracles on my 1 year mark! I was actually on exchanges with Sister Akers. We found several PI's and we saw a huge miracle at a college that we went to.

So this college is about 45 minutes away, so we normally don't have time to go, but we have heard many good things about it, so we decided to go check it out to see if there is potential for finding Mission School students or investigators there. We were just looking around and we found some boards with information about English programs at the school. We wrote down the information and were about to leave when one of the students asked us if we needed any help, IN ENGLISH.

Now, a bit of background. In the Japan Tokyo Mission, missionaries aren't allowed to stop or talk to members of the opposite sex as a safety rule, unless they talk to us first. Well this student was a young man, but because he talked to us first, we just told him that we were looking for an English Speaking Society or English Club. Well, it turned out that he had just met the Elders the day before, and was happy to tell us where to go to find more information. Out of all the people in that fairly large college, we happened to meet the exact same person that the Elders met. Crazy!!!!!!!

Birthday feast

That night, we went to a really special dinner with a member. She had a coupon so she decided to take us both to celebrate my birthday and her birthday which is later this month. It was so fun and there was so much food! It was crazy!!! Every time they brought out a new dish, I was shocked. She is one of my favorite people every though (Kawakita Shimai) and we were able to talk about how to help the Young Women more in our ward as well because she is a YW Advisor. Yay for miracles!!!!!!!!!

Well, right after these two amazing days, my health started going downhill again, and I was getting pretty disheartened. Over the past 2 months, I've gotten sick 3 times, and I was ready for it to stop. Sister Shim, being the amazing companion she is, made me call the doctor again and luckily that helped. I've never had allergies before, but these past two months, I've discovered that I'm probably allergic to something in Japan. I'm just glad that we found a solution so that I can stop feeling sick. Yay :)

Japanese pizza

This really was a week of miracles though! We had a mogi with a Mission School student named Ayako-san. Well it was supposed to be a mogi, but it turned into a real lesson because she just had the most amazing questions. Honestly, from the first time I met her, I felt that she was special, that she really was prepared for this gospel. She originally accepted to take the lessons about 2 months ago, but backed out at the last moment, and since then she has just been asking us gospel questions at Mission School. Then this week we asked if we could do a mogi, and she said yes! It went so well! We asked her to pray and she actually did!!!!!!!!!

We met again recently and she told us about her experience. She prayed on Friday, and on Sunday, when she was scrolling through Instagram, one of the people that she follows (and loves so much!!!!) posted a picture at Temple Square. Apparently they are LDS too!!!!! We've talked about Temple Square quite a few times, so she recognized it right away. She also recognized this as the answer to her prayer!!!!! She then spent a long time studying the church on the internet and learned a lot. We had planned to teach her the Restoration, but she already knew it and believed it, so we were instead able to focus on her other needs. It was so amazing and such a powerful lesson. She really has a desire to know!!!!!!

Flan - My entry in the Zone competition

The funniest thing, was that after our lesson, we went to Mission School and she pulled out her Eiken book and said "I spent all day studying about God. I didn't have time to study this book." It was so funny!!!!!

As for other small miracles from the week:

We met Momoko Shimai who is a recent convert who moved into Matsudo. The first missionary she met was actually Sister Shim's MTC companion, and she knows Elder Paskett who was in my MTC District

An Abiko Sister was working at the Matsudo Church right after Zone Conference, and when we biked past she asked "Are you the Matsudo Sisters? Which one of you is the one who can speak Spanish?" Apparently there is a member's wife who is not a member, and is from Peru that they are trying to work with, so they need a Spanish Speaking Sister :)
We had Zone Conference and I learned so much and got to see the amazing sisters in the zone!!!!

Armor for the Zone P-day battle

Lastly, and the reason why this email is a little bit late, is that on Monday we had Zone P-day. All the missionaries in Matsudo Zone came together for a cooking competition/feast and a battle. I don't even know where this idea came from...it just happened.

Everyone brought food (we made a huge King Pudding and granola rice krispies) and Elder Banks judged it all and gave out prizes. Then everyone made armor out of cardboard and proceeded to have a war. It was crazy...by far the craziest thing I have ever done for a p-day ever. I can't even fully explain it, you really just had to be there. It was a great bonding experience for everyone though and it was fun to see all the new people in the Zone.

I know this was a very long email, but thank you all so much for helping make the past week amazing. I really do appreciate all of you who sent me messages for my birthday whether it was by email or Facebook, or any other means. I felt a lot of love from those of you at home and from the amazing people here in Japan. I feel so lucky to be here right now, serving in the areas that I have served. Thank you so much!

Love,

ブラック姉妹
Black Shimai

Matsudo church - 1 year on my mission