Dear family and everyone
else who reads this,
I never know how to address this email, because so many different
people read it. This week was filled with some life changing
experiences, and i felt so good because of it. I can hardly believe
it's only been a week, because it feels more like two, and since I
can't type like lightning, I will just summarize the most important
things, hopefully.
Monday, we went out to nijo castle, which I have wanted to go to for a
while, and it was really pretty. The ground are huge though, and we
didn't have much time, but we had enough to see it, and so that was
great. Monday night, it was a complete downpour. Cannon Shimai had
thought to bring her kappa, and so I brought mine as well, and it
seriously saved us. No one was out, so we tried to visit a less
active, and housed her apartment, and that was good. The rain was
sheets, I still don't understand how hard it rains in Japan, because
it is nothing like Utah. Way stronger. We also met emi, and she
brought church things up first during our luncheon, which was so
amazing, and she has super strong interest.
Tuesday we housed an apartment, and tried to visit a bunch of people.
We were able to meet with our recent convert, Tomoko, who finally
reappeared after being gone for about four months. The hard thing is
that she has forgotten a lot, basically everything, she had even
forgotten who Christ was, which was really hard to see, but she still
loves the church, so we have hope, and we help her relearn everything
that she has forgotten. We also had game night, which was fun. The
elders recent convert brought a friend, which was awesome. Furui
Kyodai has had his life completely change because of the gospel, and
he is so excited to share it with others. He goes out and dendos with
the elders daily, because he is currently jobless, due to previous
health conditions, but he loves it, and he has been healed through the
gospel. It is so amazing.
Wednesday we visited Chieko, and realized we had gotten a bit too
excited. She definitely wants to learn, and she kind of half accepted
the commitment to baptism, but we are going to have to go slower so
that she can both understand and remember the message. She is an older
lady, so she struggles sometimes with that, but she always gives us
the biggest smile when she sees us. She also always asks us if we have
a boyfriend, or if there have been any Japanese guys that we like. Old
grandmas in Japan are really worried about us when they hear we don't
have boyfriends.. It is actually pretty funny. We also taught eikaiwa,
and had them gives us directions places, which was a lot of fun. We
ended with listening practice, and though they have a hard time
remembering, and understanding, they really enjoy the chance to
practice, and it is a good way to bring the spirit in with the I'm a
Mormon videos.
Thursday we learned how to make sushi. They had an activity, and one
of our potential investigators was teaching it, so we went, and were
able to give her a tour of the church. She likes hearing about what
religions believe, but doesn't want to learn what is right for herself
right now though, so she doesn't have as much potential as we had
hoped, but her best friend is a member, so I think she will slowly
change. We also met Koenen, and we were planning on teaching Jesus
Christ, but then I had the thought from our conversation to share the
plan of salvation, and I followed it. Definitely a prompting of the
spirit, because even though she hadn't thought of it before, it really
connected with her, and we saw her interest triple. She did try
praying, and she said she would read the Book of Mormon. She didn't
recognize an answer to her prayer, but we encouraged her to keep
praying. Right now she doesn't believe in God, but I think that as she
acts, which except for going to church she is willing to do, she will
start to learn about who God is, and what that means to her. She is
super nice and sweet.
Friday we had district meeting in Katsura, and it was amazing. I was
nervous, because my companion and I were training together, but my
companion is amazing, and we were able to really testify about the
importance of the scriptures, which reminded me how important they
really are. It is one of the most amazing blessings we have received
that we have the scriptures, because they are our source for help,
comfort and guidance in this world. That night we met with Ayako, and
taught another lesson about gratitude, she is a bit more committed
now, and I really feel that if she starts being grateful, she will be
a lot happier, and thus when people start asking her if she is genki,
she will be able to say yes instead of no.
Saturday we had a relief society activity, making Japanese food,
though I didn't understand most of the explanation, but I made sure to
ask for recipes. Koenen came though, and brought a friend, which made
it a lot better, and the food was really good. Weird, but good. They
had a ton of leftover rice though, which ended up really helping
people out the next day. That night we had stake conference, which was
a lot of fun, though I had a hard time understanding the last speaker.
And I never was able to catch his name, but he was one of the area
seventy. So that was cool, I understood him better on Sunday.
Sunday we packed lunches, because it was going to be a crazy day. I
packed lots of extra, just in case something happened to someone
else's lunch, and it turned out to have been worthwhile. That morning
we had stake conference, and we had to all leave early to get to Kobe.
It was kind of awkward for all the missionaries to get up and leave
during the seventys talk, but everyone knew it was going to happen, so
it paid off. The extra food I made served three elders, who had things
happen to their lunches, so I was really happy that I could help them
out that way. And now to the main event of the week.
I got to meet one of the twelve apostles! I actually got to shake his
hand! When he walked in the room, the spirit that was already there
intensified, which was super cool! And when he spoke to us, I learned
so much. We also had elder Choi of the seventy, and elder whiting the
Asia area north president and their wives. We were well fed by their
spirit, and their talks, and I left that conference much happier, and
much more motivated to give every single bit of energy I have into
every minute of dendo. Which twelve apostle? Elder Gary E. Stevenson.
The newest apostle. The cool part? He speaks Japanese, fluently. It
was really cool to hear him switch into Japanese sometimes, or throw
in Japanese words, just like I do. It was really a unique experience,
and words cannot describe that meeting. His testimony was one of the
most powerful things I have ever heard. He bore his special witness of
the lord, and that was a powerful thing to hear. It was amazing! I am
super lucky that he wanted to shake all of our hands, and made that a
priority, otherwise there wouldn't have been time. He is amazing!
I hope you all had an amazing week! The church is true! Their is not a
shred of doubt in my mind, no hope you can all day the same! If you
can't, I would advise you go in prayer to your Heavenly Father, and do
whatever it takes to strengthen your testimony! It is worth it! I love
and miss you!
Love, Sister Makin
I never know how to address this email, because so many different
people read it. This week was filled with some life changing
experiences, and i felt so good because of it. I can hardly believe
it's only been a week, because it feels more like two, and since I
can't type like lightning, I will just summarize the most important
things, hopefully.
Monday, we went out to nijo castle, which I have wanted to go to for a
while, and it was really pretty. The ground are huge though, and we
didn't have much time, but we had enough to see it, and so that was
great. Monday night, it was a complete downpour. Cannon Shimai had
thought to bring her kappa, and so I brought mine as well, and it
seriously saved us. No one was out, so we tried to visit a less
active, and housed her apartment, and that was good. The rain was
sheets, I still don't understand how hard it rains in Japan, because
it is nothing like Utah. Way stronger. We also met emi, and she
brought church things up first during our luncheon, which was so
amazing, and she has super strong interest.
Tuesday we housed an apartment, and tried to visit a bunch of people.
We were able to meet with our recent convert, Tomoko, who finally
reappeared after being gone for about four months. The hard thing is
that she has forgotten a lot, basically everything, she had even
forgotten who Christ was, which was really hard to see, but she still
loves the church, so we have hope, and we help her relearn everything
that she has forgotten. We also had game night, which was fun. The
elders recent convert brought a friend, which was awesome. Furui
Kyodai has had his life completely change because of the gospel, and
he is so excited to share it with others. He goes out and dendos with
the elders daily, because he is currently jobless, due to previous
health conditions, but he loves it, and he has been healed through the
gospel. It is so amazing.
Wednesday we visited Chieko, and realized we had gotten a bit too
excited. She definitely wants to learn, and she kind of half accepted
the commitment to baptism, but we are going to have to go slower so
that she can both understand and remember the message. She is an older
lady, so she struggles sometimes with that, but she always gives us
the biggest smile when she sees us. She also always asks us if we have
a boyfriend, or if there have been any Japanese guys that we like. Old
grandmas in Japan are really worried about us when they hear we don't
have boyfriends.. It is actually pretty funny. We also taught eikaiwa,
and had them gives us directions places, which was a lot of fun. We
ended with listening practice, and though they have a hard time
remembering, and understanding, they really enjoy the chance to
practice, and it is a good way to bring the spirit in with the I'm a
Mormon videos.
Thursday we learned how to make sushi. They had an activity, and one
of our potential investigators was teaching it, so we went, and were
able to give her a tour of the church. She likes hearing about what
religions believe, but doesn't want to learn what is right for herself
right now though, so she doesn't have as much potential as we had
hoped, but her best friend is a member, so I think she will slowly
change. We also met Koenen, and we were planning on teaching Jesus
Christ, but then I had the thought from our conversation to share the
plan of salvation, and I followed it. Definitely a prompting of the
spirit, because even though she hadn't thought of it before, it really
connected with her, and we saw her interest triple. She did try
praying, and she said she would read the Book of Mormon. She didn't
recognize an answer to her prayer, but we encouraged her to keep
praying. Right now she doesn't believe in God, but I think that as she
acts, which except for going to church she is willing to do, she will
start to learn about who God is, and what that means to her. She is
super nice and sweet.
Friday we had district meeting in Katsura, and it was amazing. I was
nervous, because my companion and I were training together, but my
companion is amazing, and we were able to really testify about the
importance of the scriptures, which reminded me how important they
really are. It is one of the most amazing blessings we have received
that we have the scriptures, because they are our source for help,
comfort and guidance in this world. That night we met with Ayako, and
taught another lesson about gratitude, she is a bit more committed
now, and I really feel that if she starts being grateful, she will be
a lot happier, and thus when people start asking her if she is genki,
she will be able to say yes instead of no.
Saturday we had a relief society activity, making Japanese food,
though I didn't understand most of the explanation, but I made sure to
ask for recipes. Koenen came though, and brought a friend, which made
it a lot better, and the food was really good. Weird, but good. They
had a ton of leftover rice though, which ended up really helping
people out the next day. That night we had stake conference, which was
a lot of fun, though I had a hard time understanding the last speaker.
And I never was able to catch his name, but he was one of the area
seventy. So that was cool, I understood him better on Sunday.
Sunday we packed lunches, because it was going to be a crazy day. I
packed lots of extra, just in case something happened to someone
else's lunch, and it turned out to have been worthwhile. That morning
we had stake conference, and we had to all leave early to get to Kobe.
It was kind of awkward for all the missionaries to get up and leave
during the seventys talk, but everyone knew it was going to happen, so
it paid off. The extra food I made served three elders, who had things
happen to their lunches, so I was really happy that I could help them
out that way. And now to the main event of the week.
I got to meet one of the twelve apostles! I actually got to shake his
hand! When he walked in the room, the spirit that was already there
intensified, which was super cool! And when he spoke to us, I learned
so much. We also had elder Choi of the seventy, and elder whiting the
Asia area north president and their wives. We were well fed by their
spirit, and their talks, and I left that conference much happier, and
much more motivated to give every single bit of energy I have into
every minute of dendo. Which twelve apostle? Elder Gary E. Stevenson.
The newest apostle. The cool part? He speaks Japanese, fluently. It
was really cool to hear him switch into Japanese sometimes, or throw
in Japanese words, just like I do. It was really a unique experience,
and words cannot describe that meeting. His testimony was one of the
most powerful things I have ever heard. He bore his special witness of
the lord, and that was a powerful thing to hear. It was amazing! I am
super lucky that he wanted to shake all of our hands, and made that a
priority, otherwise there wouldn't have been time. He is amazing!
I hope you all had an amazing week! The church is true! Their is not a
shred of doubt in my mind, no hope you can all day the same! If you
can't, I would advise you go in prayer to your Heavenly Father, and do
whatever it takes to strengthen your testimony! It is worth it! I love
and miss you!
Love, Sister Makin
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