Goodbyes, and becoming senior

This week has gone by so fast, and my head is kind of spinning,
because I'm trying to figure out what all is going on, and trying to
figure out members names and such, but it is coming, slowly, but it is
coming.

Monday after pday ended we visited the nakanos and said bye, they were
excited for me, but also sad to see me go. We wanted to teach lessons
as we said goodbye, but it was seriously so hard. The members just
want to say bye and wish you luck. Almost everyone told me not to get
in an accident again, which made us all laugh.

Tuesday was filled with more goodbyes, and my last lesson with Imai
San. She is so sweet, and is feeling better all the time. She was
basically in tears the whole lesson, and we abandoned our original
plan, and just built her testimony that she is a beloved daughter of
God, she really struggles to feel worthy of his love, she is so sweet!
We then taught Christmas carols for eikaiwa, and all the students
started jointing in, and it was hilarious. My students didn't want me
to leave Kurashiki, but ah well, not up to them, thankfully, cause my
new area is amazing!

Wednesday we had our final lesson with inoue San, and I'm pretty sure
mills Shimai will be dropping her, which is sad, but there is
literally nothing we can do to help her. She gets that unless she acts
on what she knows and among other things receives baptism, she will
not receive the blessings that she thinks are so great, and she said
no, kind of. She refused to answer, because she realized if she said
no we wouldn't be coming back, but not saying anything is saying no,
which is sad, but I don't think the missionaries can help her anymore.
She just collects missionaries basically, but mills Shimai will
decide, I just know it was a very sad lesson. But we also got to visit
Donna to say goodbye really quick, and she is really fighting, she has
a lot of challenges right now with family, but she is amazing, and
isn't letting anything get her down, she is so happy! So that was
good, and then we had my last lesson of Kurashiki with the ootsuka
family, and that was so much fun, just sharing how amazing Christmas
is, and bearing testimony of that.

Thursday was transfer day, so we got up extra early, and despite all
the mess ups and everything, we were able to make it to the transfer
point, and I met my new companion. Her name is Oswald Shimai, and she
is awesome, so just energetic and happy, we have already been laughing
tons.

Friday we didn't really have plans, but we did some finding, and using
a cool mini Christmas survey taught s couple of lessons. Everyone in
Kyoto is fairly willing to take a survey, and so it is really easy to
stop people that way, and get talking. Which was lots of fun. We also
got my iPad setup for shimogamo, because we had to fix that up, and
also did SKK.

Saturday we went to a park and did some finding with the elders.
Finding is so easy in Kyoto, everyone is just willing to talk, and
some people are even interested, which is just awesome! It is a little
weird doing so much finding, but also lots of fun! We then had the
ward Christmas party, and it was crazy, I just did my best to help out
and start learning everyone's names, and it was lots of fun. Luckily
the ward mission leader is American, so that makes that easier.

Sunday was another battle to learn names... I've decided that one of
the first phrases you hear from the other missionaries when you meet
someone, is 'he speaks English, you know' or the opposite... It is
quite funny, but right after that I normally just continue to speak to
them in Japanese... There are lots of foreigners in my new ward
though, which isn't bad, but there is definitely a good chunk of
English speakers. I'm shocked at how well I understand what people say
to me... I may not understand every word, but I understand the mist of
it, and am able to respond in a way that makes sense! Yay for the gift
of tongues! Sunday night we went as a zone, and Carole's at Kyoto
train station, and it was so much fun! We then went to visit a member
a wish her a happy birthday, which was just tons of fun! I know I'm
being repetitive, but seriously I had so much fun just trying my
hardest to adapt to the new area, and in some instances epically
failing! Love and miss you! I will see you on your Friday!

Love, Sister Makin

One of the hardest weeks, and yet most truly wonderful, And all be cause we followed the spirit and loved

This week was amazing! And crazy, so of course let's start at the beginning!

Monday was pday, and it was lots of fun, we decided to buy groceries
for two weeks, so that we wouldn't have to buy them after we receive
transfer calls, cause it is kind of crazy, so that was lots of fun! We
also taught Paula, and had a repeat lesson with her, cause she had
forgotten that we already read chapter nine, old people are so funny
sometimes, but we were just patient, and she actually had a ton of
questions about chapter 9 of first nephi again, so it turned out to be
a good thing.

Tuesday we tried to visit a bunch of less actives, without much
success, but we did talk to the non member wife of one of them
briefly, but she was busy, so we will probably go back and try
sometime this week/ after transfers, because that is crazy! And then
we also taught eikaiwa, and that was lots of fun, but kind of an epic
fail! Because we tried to teach werewolf, and it was just to hard for
them to understand, but it was hilarious!

Wednesday we taught inoue San. And had a good lesson ish with her. It
was the anniversary of her husbands death, so she was kind of low...
We don't really know how to help her, and it is a struggle. She likes
the promised blessings of the gospel, but is pretty much refusing to
act, which is just so sad! We also visited Aline Shimai, and helped
her make decorations for the Christmas party, and also taught her a
lesson, and then we rushed off to the last institute of the year,
where I had nabe, a kind of soup for the first time, and it was
delicious, and then we rushed home, because it was almost nine.

Thursday, we had a lesson with ofuji, and Nakano Shimai was there. It
started out really good, but then her questions took it all over the
place, we are trying to get her to act as well right now, but she is
also being fairly stubborn, because she doesn't see the point, the
struggle is real. We also visited less actives with the takatas, and
it was so much fun! We sang Christmas carols for those we visited, and
it just really brought the spirit, and was wonderful.

Friday we had district meeting with hilarious yogens, and then went to
Paula and nobus restaurant for lunch, and it was so good! And then we
did our last SKK as a companionship, which took a bit longer, but was
amazing, Kurashiki is going to flourish!

Saturday we went to takahashi, and it was sad, because we couldn't
meet with any of our investigators, but then that night we helped the
young women make Christmas cards, and then we went on splits with two
members, and did some housing, which was amazing! I was with megumi,
and mills Shimai was with Haruna, megumi is preparing to go on a
mission, so no experience, and I was technically the senior, even
though she is fluent in Japanese, but the amazing thing was that my
Japanese was better despite the fact that she was fluent, and I had a
wonderful time, and she had a lot of courage, and helped out some,
though it was mainly me! Ahhh! I love megumi! I love Kurashiki!

Sunday we got to watch the Christmas devotional, and it is amazing!
Everything in Japan is delayed one week, church broadcasting wise, but
it was so much fun! And then we went to the hiramatsus and taught
about Christmas, and made Osaka Okonomiyake with them! We had lots of
fun, and a made a silly joke, using Japanese, and then hiramatsus
kyodai said I was going to transfer, which made me laugh!

Funny thing is, I am transferring! I love Kurashiki so much, and the
experiences and love I have felt here could never be described in
words! I love the members, I am so happy for them, and I know that
Kurashiki is going to flourish, and that this beautiful ward and place
that I love will become so much more beautfiul and stronger! I am so
sad to be leaving, and it is going to be so hard to say goodbye, but I
know that goodbyes are not forever, and that I will be able to see
these wonderful people again one day, and at I will love them even
more than I do now! I am so excited though for the new phase in my
grand adventure! I am becoming senior companion, scary, but I am so
excited, because the lord really helps senior companions understand,
and follow the spirit, and also understand Japanese, and I know I can
do it! What a wonderful opportunity I have, and I get to go to Kyoto!
Only one of the prettiest places in e missin! My new area is
shimogamo, and my new companion is Oswald Shimai! It is going to be
weird not being in Kurashiki, but also lots of fun! I don't think I'm
quite ready yet, but I know when transfer day comes on ursday I will
be ready, and the lord will help me accomplish all that he wants me to
do! I am just so excited for the opportunity I have to serve the lord,
and continue my grand adventure! Stls pretty much it for this week,
because now I need to go pack, and figure out all of the crazy stuff
that is going to be happening so that I can transfer!

By the way, last weeks scripture: I just want to quickly say how
grateful I am for the fathers love, and that he sent his son to die
for us, and that is why we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!
Let us all remember that this Christmas season, and be truly grateful
for the blessings we have, because I know I am extremely blessed to
have such wonderful family and friends, and I couldn't thank the lord
enough for all of your support! I am so blessed, and the least I can
do is be grateful, and show that gratitude through my actions.

This weeks scripture isn't really about Christmas, but I think it is
appropriate for me this week: D&C 6:36- look unto me in every ought,
doubt not, fear not!

Love, Sister Makin

The end in the beginning, the new bishop, and the miracle answer to prayers,

Well this week has been utterly amazing, and since it is hard to know
where to begin, I'm just going to start at the beginning, the best
place to start, right?

Monday we taught Paula again, and that was a crazy experience. She
pulled out a news article about stuff in America, written in Japanese
English, which is weird by the way, and wanted us to help her
understand what they were saying, which wasn't really possible. The
thought that popped into my head was that I didn't care about politics
right now, but I decided to just treat it with love, and try to help
her understand, that went well. And then we read the Book of Mormon
together, and shared some things to help her see that the bible and
Book of Mormon support eachother, which seemed to make things be a
little smoother.

Tuesday we had a wonderful shortish lesson with Donna, and
strengthened her, and committed her to keep praying, and let the joy
that comes from the gospel shine, so that her husband can see it. Her
husband is extremely opposed, and won't even meet with us from what we
know, which is hard, but I think as he sees the joy it bring her, he
will consent, and that will be amazing! She is so awesome. She also
fed us/ taught us how to make pastels, which is a Brazilian dish, and
they were delicious!
During eikaiwa we taught about greetings, and farewells, and the fun
thing was that mills Shimai and I ended up singing short excerpts from
the sound of music, which was lots of fun. We also played heads up
seven up, which was fun for the students, they thought it was
hilarious!

Wednesday we did a role play with our ward mission leader assistant,
though it was more of a lesson with her, utilizing a resource we
wanted to get better at using. It went really well, she got the
opportunity to think back, and remember some wonderful experiences
that she had had, and went from that meeting extra happy, and
strengthened. It was awesome, I felt like it was just what she needed.
And then we went to the hospital! For the last time! I know, it is
shocking, but I'm don't, my hand is completely healed. I don't even
have to go back for rehab anymore, which is actually bittersweet. I
became good friends with my rehab Doctor, and I wish there was a way
for me to contact him now, so maybe he could become an investigator,
and receive the joy of the gospel, but the only way that will happen
is if he comes to the ward Christmas party, which we invited him to,
really praying for that! It was weird to walk out of the hospital
knowing I won't need to come back ever, but it was also nice, now I
can focus even more on helping people! My hand is still weaker than it
used to be, but it is getting stronger by the day, I think I'll
definitely have at least one scar from this one though, ah well.

Thursday we went to takahashi, and got to see Imai San. On e way to
her house, we ran into Imai kaicho, and he helped us get in, not that
that was necessary, but it did help, and it was awesome to just run
into him like that. He really wants to make things easier for the
missionaries, and is working hard to follow the spirit! He is an
amazing stake president, and he is going to make sure the work takes
off, I can feel it! Imai sans lesson wasn't the best lesson, had a
rocky start, but as we testified of prophets, and used the scriptures
to show her how important she is to her Heavenly Father, which is why
he gives us prophets even now, the spirit filled the room and it was
amazing. She is back home now, but still fairly weak, and struggling
to get her strength back, but she still loves the missionaries, which
is great. We got Imai kaicho to start praying with her as often as he
can, and she loves that too, she just really loves feeling the spirit.
We then did SKK, and that was great.

Friday we had ztm, which was amazing! The key to uniting faith is to
focus on the basics, and then build up. We don't all need to be in the
same place to untie our faith for a loved one, for the work, or for
anything, what is needed is the exercise of our faith in the right
direction. If we are all working our building our faith, making it
stronger, and pushing together to reach a goal, it will happen, no
matter how much space or time separates us. Isn't that amazing? I love
learning at ztm from everyone, and especially hearing the closing
testimonies of the missionaries returning home, despite not having
seen them the entire way through, I can see the changes the mission
has made in their lives, and it is amazing!

Saturday we had a lesson with ofuji, which went really well, probably
because we had help from Ono Shimai, cause she could make it to the
lesson. Ofuji San knows it's true, she knows everything, but she is
having a hard time with acting, especially reading the Book of Mormon
and going to church, at this point she knows it is important because
past missionaries have told her, but she needs that personal
experience, and then miracles will truly happen. We also taught
yoshida Shimai, and it started out as a Christmas message, and then
changed into a repentance message, and was a little bit all over the
board, but sometimes that is what people need, and you just have to go
with the spirit, it works so much better when you do that.

Sunday was amazing! The testimonies were so powerful, both of the old
bishopric, and the new bishopric, and avert one else who had a chance
to bear their testimonies. We have a new bishop! It is Okamoto kyodai,
and he is going to do amazingly. He is one of the younger brothers in
the ward, and I think it is going to take a bit of adjusting for the
ward to start calling him Okamoto bishoppu, instead of yun-Kun like
they are used to. There was a bit of struggle with that for the rest
of the meeting. One of his counsellors is mukaitani kyodai, so now we
need a new dendoshunnin... Funny how that happens. I thought something
like this might happen, and it is so cool! Okamoto kyodai is young,
but he will make a great bishop... I think he is 40, or something like
that, but he looks more like he is 25... Struggle is real knowing
Japanese people's ages. They have found the fountain of youth/ the
secret to it, and aren't sharing! Ah well.

And then for a miracle. Mills Shimai and I set a goal to never be
below ten lessons a week this transfer, and we have been praying
really hard for that to happen. Well, Sunday we were at nine lessons,
and didn't have any planned lessons. So we went out to contact an old
investigator of the elders that our dendoshunnin had pointed us to. It
was a ways out, and since we had been fasting, we weren't sure whether
or not we would have the energy to make it, and debated ending our
fast early. Instead we decided to bring a snack, and break it only if
we had to. We got to the guys house, and he wasn't there, but as we
were leaving, a random guy kind of recognized who we were. He saw our
helmets, and knew we must be like those other foreigners he had seen
around before. We talked for a while, about half an hour, and were
able to teach him a sudden unplanned lesson, which went really well. I
think he liked talking to foreigners more than anything, but we were
able to plant a seed, and that bumped us up to our ten lesson a week
goal. It just goes to show that when we put in the effort, and our
obedient, God always provides a way for us to accomplish his work,
often using something as simple as a helmet, which we wear for
protection. How grateful I am for that little miracle!

Now about Matthew 28:20, this is a pretty awesome scripture. We teach
what the savior taught, simple as that. More importantly, we need to
teach in the way that he taught, in a way that helps people understand
and come unto him. What a joyous opportunity we all have to invite
others to come into Christ. I know that as we do so, the promise he
has given us will be fulfilled, and he will always be with us. No
matter what trial we are going through at this time, or anytime in our
lives, Christ is there for us and has already paid the price. Life is
so much easier, when we chose to walk with him and be by his side. Why
would anyone choose anything else? I loved this scripture, because it
contains a commandment with a promise, just as all of gods
commandments do. As we follow him, and align our lives with his, we
will receive blessings that our poured out upon our head, and our
lives will be filled with joy, even amidst the struggle of our hardest
trials. I know this is true, God loves us, he is there and he paid the
price. Take a moment to ponder the true meaning of Christmas, and the
joy that it brings. God loves you enough to have given his son for
you, you are precious, and all he asks is that you try your best to
come back, so that he can have you back again, and you can receive the
true joy that that brings. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you tons, and miss you tons as well! Hope everything is going
well for everyone, and that you are enjoying the true spirit of
Christmas, and not stressing too much about the buying of gifts!

This week i will be ponderizing John 3:15-17.

Love, Sister Makin

Merry thanksgiving, and too many parties, oh my!

Anyway, is week was amazing! We had tons of fun, but there were a
bunch of parties is week... It was crazy! Monday we taught Paula, and
the lesson ended up focusing on obedience and who God is, which was a
good lesson. We also went to a pre-wedding party thing, because we
were doing some service there for one of our investigators and her
less active husband. Mainly I played the piano, and we helped get the
food ready. And then we raced home, because we had five minutes til 9,
and we made it just on time, though technically that shouldn't have
been possible. For the wedding party, I got some music from a music
store, which was crazily cheap! I was a bit shocked, about $2 for
pachabels canon. Music in Japan is basically a steal! We also got
dendoud (proselyted to) by some Jehovah's Witness missionaries, so we
dendoud them right back, and it was a pretty friendly exchange, just
funny. It surprised me a bit that they tried to dendou us, but it was
an interesting experience for sure.

But Tuesday we tried to visit some less actives with no results, and
mailed a bunch of people in the phone inviting them to the
thanksgiving party, in the hopes lots of people would come. We also
taught directions in eikaiwa again, and mills Shimai drew a city map
on the board so that they could practice giving directions. It was
lots of fun, and some new people came, so we had to teach more simply,
but that was ok. We yet again didn't have anyone come to kids eikaiwa,
which was sad, but we are working on promoting it with the members, so
that will be awesome when it really picks up.

Wednesday we ran everywhere! And of course since we were out of the
house, without our kappas (rain gear, it had to decide to start
pouring rain. It started when we were up in the mountain just about to
leave inoue sans, and so she gave us umbrellas, so we had some
coverage, til we got down to where we had parked our bikes, cause we
don't have the leg strength/ desire to bike up the entire mountain,
biking down is fun, but not worth the bike up. Inoue sans lesson
wasn't the best. The lesson went well, but she is so stubborn. She has
decided that she doesn't want to pick a religion, she just wants to
study. We have seriously been considering dropping her lately, but we
got told it wasn't the right way to do it right now, and that we need
to try to get her to act, cause faith without works is dead, and her
faith is very close to dying right now. But, then we wet and visited
the takatas! We had planned to visit takata Shimai and taught her a
lesson to encourage her and build up her faith. She is the relief
society president and works extremely hard, and I think it really
helped her. Then takata kyodai came home, so we talked with them some
more, and the showed us some pictures of kurashikis ward back when it
was just beginning. It was so cool! But when we left there house, the
rain was pouring down, and they grabbed us some plastic kappas that
they didn't need, so we ate least had some protection from the rain.
But we had to go meet the elders at a cheap supermarket to grab the
spices and such we needed for Saturday, with the help of funaki choro,
we were able to get almost everything there, though we didn't find
ginger and cloves til the next day. Japan is weird, and has things in
forms you wouldn't even think of, or at least I wouldn't. They don't
really have chicken broth, but the do have these pebble things that
make an excellent substitute, so we used that and it worked out just
fine. We then went home, warmed up really quick, and luckily the storm
ended then, and we were able to go visit the last person of the day.
Ootsuka Shimai and family. Her two boys were wiped, but the stayed
awake for most of the lesson, though one fell asleep part way through,
and the other was struggling hard core. Despite them being so tired,
it was a great lesson, and ootsuka Shimai really loved it. She is
working so hard! Love her!

Thursday we had SKK, in which we learned we are not to drop inoue, and
also that, thou we really want to, we shouldn't invite Donna to get
baptized right now. At this point we weren't really sure why, but the
spirit told us that that was so, so we are going to follow it. We also
visited less actives with the takatas, which was awesome! We got to
see almost everyone we tried to visit, which was 4 out of 5! This was
awesome, because we just drop in and hope to be able to see them, and
share a short message to strengthen them and help them. They took us
to dinner at sukiya, which is a fast food Japanese restaurant, that
has really good food, and is pretty cheap for Japan. Yay, we didn't
make them spend a ton of money on us!

Friday we had district meeting, where I learned a lot about the
connection between faith and charity. If you want to be charitable to
some one and help them, you first need to strengthen your own faith,
so that you are in a position to do so. You can't help someone improve
if you are at the same level, when you help someone, you are raising
them up to your level. I love how Christ does this with Peter when he
fears as he is walking in water. Christ didn't have to raise him to
his level, he could have dragged him to the boat. But he didn't, he
raised him to his level, and helped him to become stronger. That was
legit cool. We also went and visited Donna, and had an extremely
spiritual lesson. The spirit was just really stron, and the words that
we spake were from the spirit, not from us, and it was so cool! Ya, it
was in English, but it was still so cool! Found out that her husband
is extremely against her getting baptized, and so that is why it isn't
the right time, but we are encouraging her, and helping her see that
through her example, and just showing her husband how'd happy the
gospel makes her, his heart can be softened. He refuses to even meet
the missionaries, so that hasn't ever happened, so there is no way for
us to help him, but I know that there is a way, and that Heavenly
Father wants her to keep pushing towards baptism. She wants it, which
just have to clear the little stumbling blocks out of the way.

Saturday was awesome! We came to the church early in the morning and
put the stuffing in our rice cooker to cook, and then we attended the
ornament making party the relief society was having. Definitely
building great relationships with that one. And then we had a small
lunch with them, and then we had the thanksgiving party. We had 9
people there, including the yonnin of missionaries, so not lots of
people, but it turned out really well. Two of the people we randomly
mailed came, so that was a success, hopefully they become
investigators for the elders again, since they were both guys. Lots of
fun, and the member who helped us arrange all this really wants the
recipes, so now I need to translate those into Japanese, which should
be fun! I also got to play ping pong for the first time? If I've
played it before, I don't really remember it all that well, but I
wasn't as bad as I thought I would be, and kept on doing sneak attacks
and getting people out, though I hadn't been trying to do that, it
just kind of happened. We also tried to visit some less actives, but
no luck...

Sunday we had church, which was great, though I had a hard time
understanding, I know we talked about tithing, the book of
revelations, and also spiritual experiences, but the details are not
memorable. But we did go to takahashi! We weren't able to visit any of
our investigators, cause no one would answer, and Imai San was
probably sleeping, but we had an amazing lesson with Imai kaichou and
family. We taught about faith, and how they need to exercise their
faith if they want to see miracles. We focused it some on Imai San
getting baptized, but we also talked about Imai kaichos desire to
share the gospel with his friends. It is hard to know what to call
him, because there are three options really, kyodai (brother),
bishoppu (bishop), and kaicho (president). The struggle is real.
Kaicho is probably best, but he is also still the bishoppu of our
ward, and he prefers to be called kyodai, so that isn't confusing at
all. When mills Shimai kind of mentioned the confusion yesterday, he
told us to call him Imai kun, and, well it made us feel special, cause
we know he thinks of us as his friends, but we still have to be
respectful. Kun is the male close friend suffix that is common in
Japan. It is used mainly for younger guys, or friends, and we don't
really use that as missionaries, except for we do with one member, but
that's because he was introduced to us as a kun, and we know his first
name isn't just a, but we don't know what it is. Anyway it was a
really great lesson, and Imai kaicho is just the best! He works really
hard to help everyone, and he is working extra hard right now, since
he is still the bishop, but is also the stake president. He did let us
know that the new bishop had been figured out, no details, but soon we
will have a new bishop in Kurashiki, which will be good!

Guess that's basically all for this week. About last weeks scripture
(1 Nephi 15:27), if you didn't get what was so special about it,
that's ok, I didn't get it at first either, but just so you know, it
is an amazing scripture. Think about it. The water was extremely
filthy, but Lehi didn't notice. Where was his attention? It was on the
tree, on bringing his family to the tree, on the joy that the tree
could give. He knew the filthiness was there, but he barely even
noticed it. He was so focused on the tree, that nothing else mattered.
How wonderful would it be if we were so caught up in the joy of the
gospel, and all the wonder that brings, that we barely noticed that
the turmoil and filthiness of the world even existed? Yes it does
exist, but we don't need to dwell on thought of it, we can choose to
focus on the things that bring us joy rather than the things that
bring us sorrow.

This week I will be ponderizing Matthew 28:20! Love you all and miss
you tons! I am so grateful I have the opportunity to serve the lord,
and it is a wonderful joy to work so hard! Love you!

Love, Sister Makin

We are drowning in kakis!

So it is kaki (Japanese persimmon) season, and literally everyone has
been giving us kakis for the past couple of weeks. We had been keeping
up with it fairly well, but then the number of people giving us kakis,
as well as the number of kakis we were receiving shot through the
roof. We have so many of them, but they are super sweet and delicious,
so it is ok, we just make them into smoothies and such all the time.
One day we will catch up to the number we have.

But this week was a hard week. Lots of the lessons we had planned fell
through, or people had to cancel on us, but the lessons that we did
have went really well! We just have to work hard and get even more
amazing lessons this week!

Monday was pday, so that was lots of fun, and the only other Thing we
got done, besides teaching Paula, was getting our iPads fixed. The
lesson with Paula was interesting, basically the whole time we were
trying to make sure it didn't turn into a bible bash, which it didn't,
and then at the end, she was excited to keep studying the Book of
Mormon. Sometimes I can't figure her out, but I think once she knows
the hook of Mormon is true, everything else will just kind of fall
into place. We went to the church after pday to help the elders with
one of their investigators, but it turned out she couldn't make it,
but we had received an email letting us know how to fix our iPads. The
iPads recently decided that e most important app we have for
missionary work was untrustworthy, and no one knew how to fix this,
but we figured it out, thankfully. It was really hard to record the
work we were doing without that app. Silly technology.

Tuesday it was pouring tons of rain again, and we had my hospital
appointment and also Donna. My hand is doing a lot better, and I think
that sometime soon my appointments will go to every other week, so
that will be awesome. We had an awesome lesson with Donna. She is
taking care of her father in law right now, and it is totally wiping
her out, but also making her really happy. She totally recognizes how
happy service makes her feel! She is just amazing! She was so tired
though! He had kept her up all night last night watching tv, and she
was having a hard time, but she is definitely a trooper! She is
amazing! At eikaiwa we taught about ordering food over the telephone,
and calling 911/119 for Japan, and it was hilarious, because it got
extra polite, especially the ordering pizza part, and that was what
they understood, so it just made me laugh a bit. We also taught them
the game telephone, which they found hilarious. They kept on trying to
hear it right, and keep it the same, and as a result it got pretty
weird. The funny thing is that the English became Japanese English,
especially when one of us missionaries started the sentence, it went
from good English to Japanese english, which isn't very good, so it
just was hilarious. I think they enjoyed that game.

Wednesday we visited inoue San again, and that was interesting. She
recorded me singing... By the time I fully understood that that was
what she wanted to do, mills Shimai had already said it was ok... So I
did, and it went alright, but it was just funny. She thinks I have a
great voice, and at I'm going to become a singer... Not likely, but
she's a cute old lady, so it is all right. The lesson went pretty well
too. We also went and got our flu shots, because that is fairly
necessary for a missionary in Japan. If you get sick, if you even just
have a cough, no one will talk to you, and people will basically avoid
you. Most people wear face masks if they are sick, and sometimes just
to prevent themselves from getting sick, so we did that, which took
forever, and then we had institute. It was a good lesson about where
you place your heart, so that was cool, what I understood.

Thursday we had interviews with Welch kaicho again. It seems like just
the other day that I had my first interview with him, and now I have
had two! Yet again they were amazing! He really gave me the exact
advice that I needed, and that I had been hoping to receive, and I had
been trying to prepare myself for. We also had SKK, and that was hard,
not because it was hard to plan, but I jpg it so much guidance from
interviews, that I was just tired. We also had our follow ups with the
stls from our kokan, which was awesome, and then I had my follow up
with my district leader. Unfortunately, my brain about halfway through
my follow up decided it was bedtime, and I had an extremely hard time
focusing after that. And my district leader only speaks Japanese... So
that last half was a struggle, but luckily I had the phone on speaker
so that mills Shimai could help me understand, I just had to make him
repeat himself a lot. Yeah all the follow ups and interviews and
everything all in one day!

Friday we had district meeting, and we learned more about faith, which
was awesome. Mills Shimai taught, and she got asked to do that on
Thursday, just before dinner, so not lots of time to prepare, but she
did an awesome job. And then we biked everywhere, trying to visit
people, but no one was home, which was super sad! Some of the
addresses we had were old, and the place didn't even exist, but I
definitely got my exercise. By the way, I do stay pretty warm riding
my bike, at least right now, but I do wear layers, and especially
gloves at night. There is almost always a wind, and when my right hand
gets cold know, it is super stiff, and kind of hurts a bit, so I try
to not let it get cold. We also had our weekly meeting with our
dendoshunnin, which was great, but really fast. He has been getting
busier lately, and so doesn't have as much time.

Saturday we went crazy! We skipped lunch and went to takahashi, and
visited Imai San, who gets to leave e hospital this next week? Yay! We
also visited a potential investigator, and she is nice, though I'm not
sure how much interest she had in the gospel. We then winged it, and
got lost finding a members house that we didn't know how to get to,
but we were really close, so she was able to help us when we called,
and had an awesome lesson with her, and then we visited a less active.
Yagi Shimai .it kind of felt like we were getting a redo of our first
meeting, which we had kind of botched, and this one went a lot better.
And right after that, we had to run to the eiki, to grab the perfect
train to get back to Kurashiki in time to meet a former investigator
with the elders, and this was a way former investigator, he took us to
a yakiniku (basically a place where you buy the meat, and 'barbecue'/
fry it for yourself right there) it was really good, but that was just
way too much meat, I know understand what it means by meat in excess,
fully understand. Some of the meat was really good, it had been aged,
but lots of it wasn't, so it was just a lot of meat! Tons! Hopefully
the elders get a new investigator from that experience, but I don't
want to go to a yakiniku ever again. He just ordered for us too, so
all we did was eat what had been ordered, and then cooked. It was a
crazy experience.

Sunday was amazing! We went finding after church finally ended, and
were able to teach three small lessons, which was just awesome. I say
church finally ended, because we didn't have just the normal three
hour block. The members had gone crazy with a luncheon after church
for a sister who is engaged, and was visiting with her fiancée. There
was so much food, and a program, and that took a big chunk out of our
day. But it was lots of fun. Sacrament meeting was awesome. They had
the young man, who is almost the only guy in the young men's group
bear his testimony about the temple. It was so powerful, I didn't
understand everything, but he has truly come to love the temple, and
the spirit was so strong! Can I insert a plea to all of you who live
so close to the temple? The temple is amazing! It is a special place,
where we can feel the spirit of God literally surrounding us, and
getting to live so close to a temple is really a blessing. I didn't
fully recognize how much I would miss the temple before I left, but I
do miss it. Members here in Japan work so hard to be able to travel
hours to get to the nearest temple, and the joy they receive is so
worth it! Go to the temple! If you are struggling with anything, or
even if you are 100% happy and life is going well, go to the temple! I
wish I could go to the temple, I miss the peace that is in that
building, and it is a wonderful opportunity to get to live close to a
temple in normal life. Please make the temple a priority, I got it may
be hard to go, especially if you have young kids, but it is so worth
it, and brings so much joy. How blessed we are to have a father in
heaven who loves us, and wants what is best for us, and has been so
bounteous in bestowing the blessings of temples to us. I am so
grateful for the temple!

as I continued ponderizing Moses 6:34, the biggest thing that stood
out to me was that he invites us to walk with him. Not behind him, not
on the same path he walked, but with him. He is our companion in the
journey of this life, and we are his. Christ wants us to be with him
100%, and if we give him our all, and truly are committed to that, he
can work miracles through us, and we will be so much happier than we
would have been had we selfishly kept a part of our will back from
him.

This week I will be ponderizing 1 nephi 15:27: And I said unto them
that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his
mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of
the water.

I am so truly grateful for this gospel, and for the chance that I have
to spread it in the beautiful land of Japan. It is so true that
nothing brings joy like the gospel, the good news! I hope you are all
well! Know that I love you and miss you! I am so grateful that I am a
missionary, and that I have the support of my wonderful family and
friends! This church is true! I know it!


Love, Sister Makin

And the rain came tumbling down!

This week has been absolutely crazy! Some days it feels like it's
November, but a lot of the time it is hot! Definitely not looking
forward to summer, t thankfully I still have a while til then, and I
only have to survive the summer once in Japan.

Monday we taught one of the sweetest members ever! We found that she
ipexisted as we were going through our phone, and her email was
Jesus.baptsim, so we had to try and contact her. Turns out she is a
shut in, which is super sad, cause she is so young, but her faith is
super strong! And she reads the Book of Mormon in Japanese and English
side by side, which is a huge rarity in Japan, for non missionaries at
least, and she is definitely getting a lot out of it I think. Needless
to say, I think the fact that we happened to find her was a miracle,
and she was very happy to see us. It was pouring buckets of rain when
we were done, so she calls takata kyodai, and he and takata Shimai
came to our rescue and took us home. We had trained out there, since
the map said it was close to the eiki(train station), but the map
lied. I felt so bad for making them come out of their way, but they
seemed really happy to do it, and we just ended up strengthening our
relationship with them, which is awesome!

Tuesday we visited a recently returned less active who has been
extremely helpful with getting me to the hospital during this time,
and it was so much fun. Two hours worth of bike riding for it, but it
was a blast, and she loved it! We also met with our dendoshunnin
lesson, and mogid with her the new pamphlets I mentioned last week, I
think, it went really well, though I definitely need to get more
familiar with them in Japanese, so if I read a portion, I can let my
testimony show more, and not just stumble over the words.. They don't
have spaces in Japanese except after commas and periods, so it is
definitely a skill to be able to read Japanese well.

Wednesday, we taught inoue San again, but it didn't go to well. We
were able to help her, but she didn't want to talk about what we were
talking about, and just derailed us. Mills Shimai was doing her best,
but she got me by using hard Japanese, and then asking if I
understood, which I didn't, cause no one uses old Japanese except old
people,cal the struggle is real, and then she would explain it and go
off on another tangent... At least I have more words for my vocab
study now, right? But it was lots of fun. After that we did SKK,
because we were going to have way to much to do e rest of this week,
so we weren't going to be able to do it, and then Thursday happened.

Thursday every lesson that we had planned during the day canceled,
which was super sad, but there wasn't anything we could do... We did
go to the hospital, and everything is still going well with my hand,
it hasn't been as stiff lately in the mornings, so that is good. Most
mornings when I wake up is when my hand is stiffest, but it is getting
better. Still get to do lots of hand exercises though. So we really
got cracking on the less actives list during the time that we had, and
though we haven't been able to visit all of them yet, we are ready
with their addresses, and pictures of directions to their homes, so we
can work more effectively, and it was awesome. We also went with the
takatas and visited some less actives. It is crazy how much a simple
visit really does help, one of the sisters we visited has started
coming to church again, and it really is just super important to let
people know that you still care about them and love them.

Friday we had district meeting, and it was my first one in Japanese.
It is definitely a lot harder to learn in Japanese, but I did
understand a lot, but I don't know how much it helped me. I was
probably to focused on trying to understand what was going on, so I
only got some things from he spirit, but it felt good to be able to
understand, and I will figure it out soon I am sure. We also went to
sushi roll again, and I had some interesting sushi, pictures to follow
of course, just jot as many as last time. And then we had Kokans! It
was great. I was with Merrick Shimai, and it was her first kokan, so I
got her first ever kokan as an stl, which was cool. I definitely
learned a lot about myself, and we had a miracle.

We were housing, after trying and failing to visit one less active in
an area we had biked out to, and ended up ringing the doorbell of
another less-active, whom I didn't even know was in the area! I was
shocked, and I think she just really needed to talk, because that's
what she did. I did not understand a lot of it, but I think she
thought I did, because I just smiled, and made agreement noises as I
tried to understand. She is so sweet, but it is really sad. She
recently got offended by a member, and the saddest part is that she
knows she needs to change, and not let it get to her, but she doesn't
feel ready at this point. She asked us not to visit for a while, and
we won't, but we will still love her. We also taught Paula in Friday,
and my eyes were opened. She loves reading the Book of Mormon with us,
not because she doesn't try on her one, but because she has a hard
time understanding it most of the time, and being able to talk with us
about what is going on, and having us clarify the difficult English is
really helping her. She is still a bit stubborn about loving the Book
of Mormon being called another testament, but I think as she continues
to read, at will fade away. We also had our dendoshunnin meeting, and
though it had to be quick, and went really well, and so that was
awesome.

Saturday was crazy! I got mills Shimai back after the kokan, and then
we were off to takahashi to visit Imai San. She is doing better, but
is still struggling in the hospital. It is so sad. We shared a message
about God being our loving Heavenly Father, and invited her to pray to
feel gods love. It was sweet, she said she had never felt gods love
before, but then said maybe us coming and visiting her was a
manifestation of that love! She is so sweet, I really hope she gets
better soon! We also visited miyazato Shimai as a yonnin, the less
active who we visit with the takatas who recently started coming back
to church. I definitely messed up here. We were talking about snowball
fights for a little while, and then I got lost, and in two minutes the
subject had changed to people dying, and I did not realize this... So
I said ���, (that's good), and everyone was shocked, until they
realized I had gotten lost, and then they just laughed, but it wasn't
as good as mills shimais mess up of the night. She said ������ (don't
have a bathroom, basically), but she wanted to say ������ (it's not
far), which really got everyone laughing, so it was all good. It is
definitely hard having a basically Japanese district leader (he's
Brazilian, but was raised in Japan), because I still struggle with the
language, and I don't think he fully understands that, like he gets
it, but he doesn't, you know? So that has been fun trying to deal with
that this past week.

Sunday we had the primary program, which was adorable. In this small
ward, all of the children had tons of parts, basically,can't they were
so cute! Definitely love primary programs! We also got to see the less
active I found while on kokan, she is still having a hard time, but i
think she is going to try and push through it, the church is a
hospital after all. We also had ward council, and we now have flyers
for the ward Christmas party, so we can start helping with that and
handing those out, they want lots of people there, 100, which in Japan
is a ton, so we are goi to go crazy, and make it happen... :) we also
went and visited Ono Shimai, and had fun with her and her daughter.
Her daughter decided to have us be her students at one point, and was
having us try to read kanji that she wrote, and that was hard! I
barely read prayer and such now, and she was thinking I would know
skull and such. I utilized my dictionary, which made her laugh,
because i would often get the stroke order wrong, so we have a better
kanse I with her now, and I could learn some probably not useful
Japanese words if I wanted to.

I've decide to reponderize Moses 6:34, because I didn't really have
time this past week to really think about it with all of the crazy
stuff going on, and I've also decided to start reporting in hat at the
end of the week, so I will let you know how that one goes in my next
letter, but I am thoroughly convinced that my missions them scripture
is amazing! I love it!

Japan is wonderful! I am definitely going to miss having a real
thanksgiving dinner, though. It you find a way to package the smell,
please send me that package, I'm sure it won't be very expensive,
smell is lit, right? It has rained most of the week here, of and on,
though Friday and Saturday were the real downpours,can well as Monday.
Friday it was coming down so hard, that sitting inside you almost
couldn't tell it was raining, because it was raining so hard and so
fast,chat it just looked liked very cloudy day, but the rain was
definitely coming down. Maybe one day we will get snow, but from what
I hear, it doesn't last long in Japan. Love and miss you tons! Hope
all is going well with you!

Love, Sister Makin

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike... And now I can!

Dear family,

So obviously things have changed a bit as to how I am traveling as a
missionary, because I now can ride my bicycle! I don't now if you now
the song that my title starts out as, but I wrote some extra verses, I
hope you enjoy:
I want to ride my bicycle I want to ride my bike
It's been so long, since I have been allowed to ride my bike.
I now can ride my bicycle, I now can ride my bike,
It feels so good, I truly enjoy riding on my bike!

So is week was definitely an eventful one! Monday we taught Paula
again, and she actually read by herself this time, thou she didn't
remember a lot, but at least she read right? She is so funny, and was
very happy to hear that both of us were staying in Kurashiki. I have
to admit I was very shocked when I found out that I would be with
mills Shimai for three transfers, since at least in my mission it is
kind of rare for that to happen, but she is so helpful, and we
probably needed a real chance to do more missionary work together than
we were able to get done just walking everywhere.

So Tuesday, we tried to visit yajima and set up an actual visit, since
it is now November, and she said she would have time then, but she
wasn't home. Tuesday was a holiday, so it made sense, it just was
unfortunate, but we were able to leave a note letting her now that
we'd be able to come back on Thursday to try again. We also had a
takoyaki party with Ono Shimai, and Aline Shimai to say goodbye to
Viana choro, who was transferring before eikaiwa. Takoyaki isn't bad,
it isn't the best either like some people think it is. It is a fried
ball with octopus inside, that is extremely hot inside, and most
people eat it when it is mouth scaldingly hot. I'm not the biggest fan
of octopus, the texture is weird, but it actually doesn't taste very
bad, especially fried and covered in dough. Viana choro taught
eikaiwa, and he taught about animals, but it was entertaining for me,
but totally too complicated for our students, because he tried to
teach them the Latin names, and they didn't even know the English...
But it ended fun, because mills Shimai and I taught them a girls camp
song, and they thought it was funny, so at least they had some fun,
right?

Wednesday we went to the hospital, and I got permission from my doctor
to ride my bike! He actually seemed surprised, at least he looked at
way, that I hadn't been riding it before now. I would've been, but
mills Shimai wasn't going to allow it until I got an ok from the
doctor, so we didn't, but now we are, and it is amazing! We can travel
so much faster now that we have bikes! We've both lost some of our
biking muscles, so we have to work those back up, but with all the
biking we have to do, that shouldn't take very long. After the
hospital, we went to takahashi and visited Imai San in the hospital.
She is doing better, and was up to hearing a small message, but a real
message,can at is good! She is so sweet, and I hope she can leave e
hospital soon, she doesn't really like being in there. We then tried
to visit the oosugis, and kind of succeeded, oosugi San (the grandpa)
was headed out, so we got to talk to him for a couple of minutes.
Hopefully we can actually get a real lesson with them again soon. I
got to meet komiyama San, whom mills Shimai met while on a kokan
(companionship exchange), and she seems really sweet, she readily
accepted the restoration pamplet when we gave it to her, and asked her
to read it. So we might have another new investigator soon! We also
visited Imai kaicho and reported on our lesson with his mom. He is
constantly trying to find which of his friends he can refer to us
missionaries, which is amazing! He recently gave one to the elders,
and is considering others right now! He is definitely a great member
missionary. And then we headed back to Kurashiki to go to institute,
but we actually didn't end up attending much of it, because we got
called by our zone leaders, because they want to make sure we had
looked at the transfer logistics, which leads me to Thursday.

Thursday we were a shuttle service as you would call it mom, although
we took the trains. One of the Okayama sisters was transferring to
closer to Kobe area, and her companion had to meet her new companions
in Okayama, so we took her to the transfer point in sannomiya, and
then there was another sister who also had no one to go with at
sannomiya that was going to Okayama to meet her companion, so we took
her back. That took up most of our day, but it was awesome to briefly
see some old friends from the mtc, and talk with them for a little
while. It was an extremely long trip though. Once we got back, we went
to visit yajima, and she was making dinner, but we were able to make
an appointment! So that was great, and then we went home, and had
dinner, and then did SKK.

Friday we visited inoue San, and taught her and her daughter who was
visiting. Inoue sidetracked the lesson sometimes, but her daughter
definitely had interest, so we referred her to the Tokyo missionaries,
after we gave her a Book of Mormon and got her contact information.
We use these awesome new pamphlets that they have on the iPad's just
for Japan, introducing what missionaries are, and what to expect, and
also who God and Jesus Christ are. They are extremely useful, and the
Japanese is really good, because they were made specifically for
Japan. My mission is testing them out, and though it was a bit awkward
to use them at first, I am coming to love them, because they seem to
really touch the hearts of Japanese people, and they really love them!
She was kind of funny, taking pictures with us at random moments as we
learned how to make a simple Japanese dish with inoue San for lunch,
most of the time we didn't even know that she was doing it. And then
we went and visited Donna. She is so sweet! She has been keeping the
word of wisdom fully, and she is so much happier. She told us how now
when her husband is drinking, or she smells the stuff, it smells
disgusting to her! Mills Shimai and I were just so happy we were
speechless! She is such a wonderful daughter of God, and is working so
hard to become better. She asked us for advice on how to think more
positively about others who have hurt her, and we pointed her to the
savior, because he truly can fix any problem. We also gave her a
family the proclamation in Portuguese, and discussed the importance of
families. It was awesome! We also had our dendoshunnin meeting, and of
course the new elder was there. He is Brazilian, but raised in Japan,
so I get to try to communicate in just Japanese! Yay! It is hard, but
he is actually fairly good at understanding English, so it is not too
terrible. We also contacted a sweet old obachan in shin Kurashiki by
donnas house, it was kind of an accident, because she had bad ears, so
when we said konnichiwa, she started talking to us, which isn't
normal, and then it turned out pretty well, so that was awesome!

Saturday we had a lesson with ofuji, focusing on the importance of
reading the Book of Mormon. She has a really strong testimony of
prayer, so we are trying to build up her testimony of other things, so
she will actually be willing to receive baptism. It was awesome,can't
went a lot better than last lesson, because we both taught the lesson
together, and I just really prefer and enjoy having more to do with
lessons. We also visited a referral, and though she was having a bad
day due to pain, she talked with us for quite a while, and told us to
come back anytime. Definitely will be doing that! We also tried to
visit some less actives, but they were either not home, or basically
ran away when the heard that we were from the church. They politely
ran away, but still ran away. It was sad, but there was nothing we can
do for them if they won't even talk to us.

Sunday one of the members gave his farewell talk, cause he leaves for
the mtc tomorrow. He is headed to the Sapporo mission. He basically
just bore his testimony, and then we had a musical number, and then
the area seventy, who was visiting, spoke and told stories the rest of
the time. His name is Taiichi Aoba. Does his name ring a bell? He was
mentioned in this last conference. He lives in a small mountainside
village in Shikoku Japan... And he is a potter by trade. He was the
one talked about in elder maynes talk, living a Christ centered life,
and he is awesome! I didn't understand all of what he said, since it
was all Japanese, but I did get a lot of it, because he spoke simply,
and it was an awesome experience. He thanked us for our service,p when
we met him, and it was just an awesome experience. We also visited the
okamotos, finally. The last time we were able to make an appointment
with them was the day of my bike accident. They are fairly busy, so it
just hasn't been able to happen since then, but we were able to go
visit them, and it was so much fun! We shared a message about prayer,
and has some delicious stew type food, and also played games. They
were doing their family home evening last night, so we got to join in.
It was tons of fun!

I love and miss all of you, and I hope you have another fantastic
week! Love you mom and dad!

Love, Sister Makin

This week is Moses 6:34: Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.

This is my mission theme, walk with me, kind of cool considering the

talk I gave in my farewell talk. I have come to understand more about

what it means to walk with Christ. You walk with Christ when you do

what he would do. Doing what Christ does, helps us see people as they

truly are, sons and daughters of God. They are special, no exceptions.

You are special, you are his child, there is no exception to this

rule. He loves you, even if you don't feel like you deserve to have

his love. Show him you love him by exercising you pe faith in him, and

he will help you. Miracles will happen. The spirit will justify, or as

it more clearly says in japanese, make true all of our words. We may

not see the physical mountains move, or the rivers, but the mountains

and rivers that our blocking our access to the hearts of gods children

will move, and will turn from their course, and we will be able to

help our brothers in sisters. Faith is so key to everything we do in

this life, no matter what aspect of our lives it is in, if we act in

faith, we need not fear, and through us, our Heavenly Father will work

miracles that will change the world. Love you tons!

Love, Makin 姉妹

Love, Sister Makin

My training days are over!

Dear family,

This week has been wonderful. I can hardly believe I have been in
Japan for twelve weeks now, and am now officially a normal missionary.

Last Monday we taught Paula again, and I realized that sometimes she
isn't really arguing, she just likes to restate her opinion over and
over, and sometimes mills Shimai takes it as an argument... It was
very interesting to discover. She is definitely stubborn, but she is
awesome.

Tuesday we went to the hospital, and then had a totsuzen
(unexpected/unplanned) lessons it's one of our investigators. She was
supposed to meet with us Wednesday, it it became impossible, so she
met with us Tuesday instead. The elders were there to help out,
because she used to be their investigator, but I don't think it really
helped. Viana choro kind of took over the lesson, and mills Shimai was
able to keep up, but Reiley choro and I were just kind of left in the
dust, and by the end of that I had no clue what had happened. It was
quite frustrating, because I had no idea what they were saying,
partially because they were speaking in old Japanese, and also because
they were going so fast, and then all of a sudden Viana choro asks me
to share a personal experience about something, and I was just lost. I
didn't like that feeling, and I really didn't enjoy being left in the
dust. But it was over, and I am just trying to improve my Japanese so
that I can comprehend better.

At eikaiwa we taught. About sicknesses, and that was definitely
entertaining. Phrases like 'catch a cold'are just so weird to the
Japanese, and explaining why we say that in English is harder than you
would think. Also why it is 'the flu' and 'a cold', they picked up on
that, and it took a while to move on from that, but it was lots of
fun.

Wednesday we went up the mountain to visit inoue San, and discovered
the reason she is currently unwilling to receive baptism right now is
because she fears that by doing so she will become not Japanese... Not
quite sure how to help her with that one, but we are working on it.

Thursday we had trainer trainee training meeting. It was so much fun.
I learned so much, and I really loved it. But it did take up almost
all day. We were separated from our trainers for a while, which led to
some great discussions among us. With what was left of Thursday, we
worked in SKK.

Friday we had ztm. I actually got to go to all of it, because we
finally got the hospital off of Fridays! and it was amazing! I really
enjoyed how open of a discussion it was, and how they got our opinions
on af, and now they are implementing them. If it is done right, it is
going to be so cool. They also focused on find, teach, baptize,
rescue, and retain, and how important it is to work with members. And
then after that we went and helped Donna set up for her Halloween
party, and part of making macaroons. I so want macaroons! They are so
good! It made me reminisce back to when will made them. She said she
would make some for us next time we visited... Yum!

Saturday we went to the hospital, for a short little bit, and now I am
down to only having to go once a week! Yay! My hand is doing better,
and I think soon the sores will be gone, though I am pretty sure I get
one scar out of this, where they put the stitches. But that's ok. And
then we had a Halloween party, as a ward. I was an alien... Which was
quite hilarious in the skit we did, because I just made funny sounds
instead of speaking words. Didn't get a video of that, but everyone
laughed, and i did get some pictures with all the makeup we did, since
mills shimais mom sent Halloween makeup for our skit. It was kind of
crazy, but it all come off super easily.

Sunday was the best! It was actually quite cold, but it was awesome.
Takata kyodais missionary, the one who had converted him, was back for
a visit, and takata kyodai was just beaming. We sang love at home as a
yonnin, and the ward seemed to really love that. And then after
church, we went to takahashi. Members drove us there, and also back.
While there we visited Imai San in the hospital, and she isn't very
genki, but she was so happy to see us. We also tried to visit
oosugi's, but she wasn't home, and then we found a new potential
investigator, just randomly, it was awesome! She just started talking
to us... She hasn't had much interest in religion, but she has been
worrying about her ancestors, and when we told her a little about
eternal families, she liked that. We are definitely going to follow up
with her, and see how we can help her. We tried to visit another
potential investigator, but didn't have any luck, and then we visited
the imais. They fed us some dinner, and we introduced them to the new
pamphlets on the iPad, which my mission is testing out. We haven't had
much opportunity to use them, but they are cool, and since they were
made for Japan, I think they will also be really useful. We also
reported on the lesson we had with Imai San. And then we went to the
yanais, and had a very delicious dinner, including sesame seed
pudding, except for the NATO. Nato, is fermented soy beans, that are
supposed to be very healthy for you, and that Japanese people love. I
think it was worse than peanut butter... If you know me you
understand, but I had to eat it, cause a member gave it to me, and I
got to eat it plain... I am hoping to come to like it, or not have to
eat it again on my mission. It just was nasty, but I think it could
have been worse.

Anyway so that was my week. It is transfer week, and I get to stay in
Kurashiki again! The weird thing is that mills Shimai is also staying,
so we get three transfers together! That is kind of rare, and will be
weird, but she is awesome, so it will be ok.

This week I am ponderizing John 14:26-27: But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you.Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I really love this scripture. Basically if you need any guidance in
your life, and help at all, turn to Christ, and ask, and he will help
you through the spirit. The peace we receive from the gospel
transcends any peace the world could give. It is joyful! No matter
what challenges come our way, we can succeed, because Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ are there for us, and they will support us! I am so
blessed to be his missionary! I love you all, and I miss you! This
church is true! I know it, and I have the blessed opportunity to share
that knowledge with the people in Japan! Love you!

Love, Sister Makin