Birthday and shoukujis galore!

Dear family,
This week has been great, and so much fun! For those of you who don't
speak Japanese, a shoukuji is basically a meal appointment with
members most of the time, and this week we had a lot of them!
Monday was just a way nice relaxing p-day, nothing much to report
there, it was just nice to relax.
Tuesday we got new chirashis for our activities printed and cut out,
which look awesom, and we also went finding and had dinner at an
amazing ramen place with the elders and one of members, it was so
good! But it seemed more like gravy with noodles than ramen to me, but
that's ok, it tasted good! And then we had our game night, and the
Browns were there, which was just a ton of fun, of course I am always
going to have way too much fun!
Wednesday started out with a shoukuji with Takeda kyodai at an indo
curry place, which was way good, and then it got way rough. It was
cold, and so there weren't very many people out, and we just walked
all over our area, because finding had been our plan, and it was just
a struggle. Plus, my companion and I felt a little burnt out from
finding, because of all last week being mainly finding, but we kept
going, and it was ok, and then I had salmon for my birthday dinner,
and we stopped at a little cake shop and got dessert as well, so it
was a lot of fun. Eikaiwa was also lots of fun, and I got to see
misato again, and it was just great! So maybe not the best birthday
ever, but still good!
Thursday was more like a birthday to me, and since you were all on my
birthday over in America, it counts right? It was a holiday, and we
had two shoukujis, and went finding at the park. At the park we taught
eight lessons in the couple of hours we had, and it was so much fun,
the elders also went to the park, and we happened to run into
eachother, which was funny. At the first shoukuji we had Okonomiyake,
cabbage pancakes, yakisoba, noodles and veggies fried up together, and
udon, noodle soup, which was way good. And then at the second one we
had more okonomiyakes, just a slightly different style, and at that
one I ate squid, which actually tastes pretty good. The second one was
with our investigator and a less active, with the elders and another
member, and for the lesson we decided it was time to extend the
baptismal invitation, she said no, but wasn't able to explain why,
because the less active, her friend explained for her, and I didn't
understand a thing. She was using way hard, old people Japanese, and
bouncing around subjects, and I found out from Matsumoto choro, the
Japanese elder later, that it was even hard for him to follow it,
which made me feel better, but that was interesting, luckily the
member is awesome, and wrote out what he understood for us, as well as
some ideas for how to solve the problems that she talked about. The
less active was supporting her friend, it was just way a struggle, but
that's ok.
Friday we had district meeting, which was way good, and also lots of
fun, I love having language class before, and since we have a Japanese
missionary that speaks pretty good English, it is way helpful, it is
amazing to me how many Japanese people speak English, they are all
super skilled! We had SKK as well, and then we went finding at night,
which is notoriously not a good time, but taught four lessons in about
an hour, so that was awesome!
Saturday, there was a typhoon.... The rain was coming down like crazy,
the morning and early afternoon were fine, but during that time we
were delivering notes to members and less actives that we had written
together, and then the storm really hit. We headed home and had
dinner, and then went to the church for ping pong, and had to wear our
kappas, rain gear. I do not like wearing my kappa, it is a struggle to
tuck the skirt in. But since this week no one really turned up for
ping pong except for a couple of members, we just turned it into a
meeting to talk about what we could do with members, which was way
good!
Because Sunday we had ward council, and were able to start putting
those plans in action, and the members jumped into it, they loved it,
it was great. They wrote valentines for less actives for us, and we
will be delivering them to the less actives houses, it was a great
idea. And then we gave a church tour to our new investigator, Kanako.
unfortunately the stake was having a meeting in the chapel, so we
couldn't go in there, and she really wanted to, but we were able to
show her the baptismal font, and sing hymns, which she loves,
especially Christmas ones, and it was just so much fun. I am so
excited for her! I was about bouncing off the walls when she came to
the church, we invited her to church the day before, but didn't get a
response asking about the time til the next day after church which was
surprising, but it all worked out, and the weather was actually way
nice, which wasn't the forecast, so that was awesome!
And then today so far, a member let us try on her kimonos, for my
birthday, though she does it all of the time, and fully got us dressed
up in them, it was awesome, she is the best!
So that was my week! Love you guys! Hope you are doing good! I love
you and miss you!

Love, Sister Makin

26 lessons and utterly exhausted!

Dear family, this week has been crazy! We have been finding all week,
and really working to try and up our teaching pool, but so far we
haven't had much success, though there have been some great
experiences.

Monday we went to kiyomizudera and bought the rings that are famous
across the mission, I decide to get a gold ring, and when we got back
to our apartment that night, what should I happen to think of but lord
of the rinds, and the one ring... Yes I'm a bit of a nerd, but then I
turned to my companion and told her, and she had been thinking the
same thing! It was crazy! We get along so well, and sometimes the way
we think is so similar it is kind of freaky, but I love it! We also
found out that a lady we met on the train and got her number is
officially moving to Kyoto, so we will begin teaching her soon, we are
way sited for that!

Tuesday we went out finding and taught about five lessons in an hour
or so, and it was great! No numbers, and no investigators from it, but
we are determined! We are also so excited, and it is fun working so
hard! Major changes are going to be happening soon in Shimogamo! We
also had game night, and it was the elders recent convert Gis, last
time, since he went home to China for Chinese New Years, and then will
be headed off to Cambodia to do volunteer work, he is literally so
awesome! It was a great lesson, and we taught prayer using a hamburger
example, and it was so good. Remember the meat of any prayer, are the
words from your heart!

Wednesday we were going to have a lesson with inoue San, but both her
and Karahashi Shimai were way sick, so that wasn't able to happen. But
we didn't let that phase us, and went out and did some more finding,
and taught five more lessons, still no results, but I knew it can
happen!

Thursday we had a planned lesson, and that fell through, so we called
a potential investigator, got a lesson scheduled, asked our ward
mission leader last minute if he could participate, which isn't the
best way to do it, but he was willing, so it was awesome, and then
when we got there, they canceled, something had come up. So we got
advice about using dosekid from our ward mission leader, and then
taught him a lesson on the street. That kind of kicked me down a bit,
all the cancelatiions, but we decided to walk our bikes home for
dinner, and talk to people as we went, and we were able to do a couple
more finding lessons, so that helped boost my spirits, just in time
for SKK! Which went really well!

Friday we had ztm, and it was powerful! We talked a lot about our
goals, and using pmg, and how we can do it! And it was awesome! I am
way pumped, and I know that the miracles are going to start pouring
out as we continue to work super hard. We went to indo curry
afterwards, and it was so good, but I ate way to much, but we still
got out and went finding, and we handed out 2 book of Mormons! Which
was great, one guy said he would read it after he was done studying
about early man, so hopefully he does! He had seen elders three years
ago, so maybe it is his time now! Couldn't get his number, but that is
alright! The struggle to get numbers is real, people just don't want
to give them to you, it is a lot easier to get names, but still a
struggle. We also had family home evening at the friends home, a
members extra house, and it was really good, not very many people
there, but lots of fun!

Saturday we got back out on the street, and though we tried some
housing, it really just didn't work... Not terribly effective in the
city, so we did some more streeting, and I got the opportunity to play
a plastic trombone! I sounded terrible, compared to when I played it a
year ago and was learning, and I've forgotten a lot, but that's ok!
The girl we met who was playing it was so sweet! I connected music to
the gospel and she loved it! She also loved that we believe we are all
family, but was a little embarassed after she had called us older
sisters, but then found out we were younger than her... But that's ok.
She was super sweet, and we gave her a Book of Mormon, and our number,
but both my companion and I felt like we shouldn't press her too hard,
so now we are praying way hard that she will read and give us a call
so we can meet with her again, it would just be wonderful!

Sunday was fantastic! The members must've heard from the members in
DCS how well we did, because they were way engaged, and we got asked
for a ton of meals during this week, but we will not be letting that
slow us down! We are going to get even more lessons this week, even if
that makes us even more tired! The members are so ready to join in on
missionary work, and I think them seeing us kick butt to work hard,
just makes them more excited! So this week we had a grand total of 26
lessons, and inoue San came to church! It was great! But I was way
exhausted. Church was a little hard, because I was so tired, all of
the missionaries were, and we were sitting down the whole time. I
fought hard core not to fall asleep, and I made it, the my attention
wasn't always what it should of been, but that is ok! I will adjust to
working harder than I have been before, and I will be ok. The elders
taught 29 lessons this week, and so we have decided that this week we
are going to try and surpass them! I know as we continue working our
very hardest, and keep improving, the lord will give us blessings, and
we will be able to accomplish his work, and we will find those people
that he has prepared and begin to see weekly baptisms! I know it can
and will happen! And I am so excited to be apart of the work in Japan
at this time! I love you all and miss you! Sorry there isn't too much
to report at this time, but I do have some pictures I will send, and
they are worth more anyways! I love you all! Stay safe, and ganbate!

Love, Sister Makin

Transfers, they really should be called back to the drawing board time.

Dear family,

This week has been crazy, but still lots of fun, especially the second
half, so crazy!This week has been transfers, and it was so much fun!
But week talk about that in context... Hehehe.

Monday, we didn't find out who was transferring, it was still a
mystery, but we did have lots of fun going to that flea market and
then helping the elders as they taught their investigator who was
there, and also getting lots of ping pong chirashis cut out... We want
to explode that activity, so hopefully we can soon! We also went to
indo curry with the elders and Sam, and it was so good!

Tuesday we found out about lunch time, half of what was happening. The
elders called us, and let us know that Oswald Shimai would be
transferring, and that I would be t he only one staying, and my new
companions name was Lowry Shimai, and she was coming up all the way
from kouchi. But at his point, we didn't know where Oswald Shimai was
going, and if they had known, they weren't supposed to tell, have to
wait for her new zone leaders to call her and let her know what is
happening there. So at way stressed Oswald Shimai out, and everything
was kind of thrown out the door, and she started packing. I Called and
mailed the people we needed to, for as long as I could, but that
wasn't so effective, because Oswald Shimai would stop to say bye to
people, so that took a while. We then stopped at a dollar store to get
cards for game night and then had dinner and game night, it was way
competitive tonight, but so much fun, almost everyone was standing up
as they were dealing, and also talking about my dealing style, as
usual, it was way entertaining.

Wednesday we found out that Oswald Shimai is leaving for toyooka, one
of the coldest areas in the mission to become senior companion, she is
way nervous about that, but I think she will be ok, she also isn't
excited because it is very countryside, but that's ok, she will be
fine, and I finally knew who the elders were that came to Shimogamo to
take over. Their names are Barton choro and Matsumoto choro, and
Matsumoto choro is Japanese, though he speaks really good English, so
that is awesome, though there is a lot more Japanese now in Shimogamo.

Thursday was transfer day, and instead of having transfer points, I
met up with some other sisters, and we handed out eikaiwa flyers at
Kyoto train station as we waited for our companions. It was actually
pretty effective, and two people were way interested, one wants to do
the family eikaiwa program, which is half English half gospel, I
haven't had a chance to do that yet on my mission, and still won't,
cause she lives in another area, but it is way exciting, because it's
someone who can be helped. I definitely like this part of transfers.
We also cleaned up the apartment, and figured out how we wanted to do
things, and got some food, because there really wasn't much in the
apartment, because last transfer we ate at convenis a lot, but I am
looking forward to homemade food this transfer, it is going to be
awesome!

Friday we had three appointments set up, the first was with Sam, our
ward mission leader, so that he could meet the new missionaries, and
get their information for the introduction sheets posted in the
church, and then we met with hirota kyodai, and he dosekid for us at a
lesson that he set up with an old investigator couple that he knew,
which went really awesome. They still had their Book of Mormon, which
was so cool, they only stopped investigating, because their daughter
was opposed to the church, but hopefully that has changed, and we can
help them now. They said we could come back anytime, so we need to
make sure to do that.

Saturday we organized our area book, got things all squared away with
that as we did SKK, which took some time, but it is so much easier to
find things now, which is fantastic! We also had ping pong, and though
not many people came, it was lots of fun, and we practiced families
can be together forever, to sing tomorrow in sacrament meeting, it was
going to be great...

But it didn't happen, Sunday was awesome though. A young coupe, from
Utah on vacation here visited the ward, and I got a chance to
translate for them, cause the other missionaries were speaking, and
they don't speak Japanese. I actually managed to do pretty well until
it was the native speakers turn. She spoke so fast, and though I could
follow some of it, I missed some of the connecting peices that made
what she was saying powerful, ah well. Then when they were about to
start the rest hymn, the organist fainted, and flipped over the seat.
It was crazy! She is doing well from what I know, but the bishopric
had no idea what to do, so they decided to end the meeting right
there, and so the last member didn't talk, and we didn't end up doing
a musical number to close sacrament meeting, but that was ok. After
church we had a meeting about missionary work with most of the
bishopric which was so awesome, they had just finished a meeting to
get the members involved in missionary work, which was also awesome,
and we just talked about ideas, and things we want to do with the
members, I think we will be working a lot more closely with the
members now, and it should be lots of fun, I am way excited! We were
then able to finish SKK, and get more things organized and have
dinner. And then the week ended as we planned for today.

Today we will be going to kiyomizudera, it is pretty famous In the
mission, mainly because of this shop wear you can get personally
engraved rings, and the guy gives missionaries a discount, because he
knows us on sight now, which is actually pretty awesome, so I will be
getting one of those rings this week, and will let you know how much
fun I had next week if I remember to talk about it, I sometimes forget
to talk about Mondays.

So there are lots of changes happening here in Shimogamo and I am way
excited for them, we truly need to never look to the past, but work
towards the future, and enjoy the now! The poem was perfect, mom,
you're the best! Now is full of so much potential, there are so many
wonderful promises Japan has received about the future, but the time
to make them happen is now! They will never come to pass if we don't
act now to change Japan, and bring people to a knowledge of the
gospel! I know the time for Japan is now, we just have to work like we
believe it! I am so grateful that I get to be in Japan serving the
lord, I know this is where I was meant to go, and that the experiences
I am having ,and the people I meet, all of that is inspired by God. I
am truly grateful for the gospel, and the joy it brings to our lives!
Stay strong, remember the blessings you have received, and commit to
do one thing each day to improve, and become like the savior, it is
possible. Don't forget to look for the miracles in your day, they are
there, and seeing them, makes it so much easier to be happier in life!
I know this is true, and I love you all!

Love, Sister Makin