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