Dear family and friends,
This week has been really hard, but also a lot of fun, and there were
miracles that kept us going even when we didn't think that we could
keep going. Obon is the Japanese festival where families get together
and celebrate their ancestors. Not really a festival, but a big
holiday. It takes up a good chunk of this week, and most people return
to their hometowns. The clean the tombs of their ancestors, and just
show them respect. It is a way big thing here in Japan, and it made
dendo pretty hard in toyooka, just because it is already a small town,
but the lord helped us, and we were able to see miracles.
Monday we just relaxed at the church for pday, though we also went to
get ice cream for my year in Japan mark. Yep, it was on Thursday, but
I have officially been in Japan for a year now, and it doesn't feel
like it at all. That night we had family home evening, and we played
spoons. Definitely lots of fun. Only had some recent converts there,
but they really enjoyed it.
Tuesday we tried to visit so many people, and had no success. But we
had set a goal to give out a Book of Mormon, and we were able to do
that. A cute girl that we talked to loved reading, and so we
introduced the Book of Mormon, and gave her one, and she said she
would read it. It was way cool. That night we taught eikaiwa, and
mogid with our students. Showed them normal situations, they picked
the topic, and then we had them try. They picked shopping, and it was
way funny, because our elders mogid first, and they just were
themselves, and made it a silly mogi, but the students, the two that
we have enjoyed it. I felt like I spoke more in Japanese than English
though, because I was helping them understand, and one of our students
Tom, ended up only speaking to me in Japanese, though occasionally he
would speak English.
Wednesday they had a cheap bus rate for the day, so we used the
opportunity to go down to izushi, and tried to visit some less
actives, and terada Shimai. Unfortunately we had no success, no one
was home, but it was a fun adventure. That night we visited Hasegawa
Shimai, and had a run in with a weird pigeon. It was hopping up the
stairs, and since my companion and Hasegawa Shimai were both afraid of
birds, I went down to kick it so it would leave, but it would only hop
one stair down at a time as I went to kick it, and seemed reluctant to
even do that. Needless to say the bird was acting weird, but we had a
good visit with Hasegawa Shimai, and talked about the atonement. We
then tried to visit Yoshioka Shimai, and when we got there she was
gone. We sat there confused for a moment, because she is apparently
always home around the time we went. Sure enough just as we were about
to head out, she pulled up, and so we were able to talk with her. We
shared my favorite scripture, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and it really hit
with her, I think she really enjoyed that scripture, and she talked
about it a lot. One miracle, we tried to visit Tomoko, and she wasn't
home, and as we were leaving, my companion got the impression, 'did
you go to the right building?' We checked, and realized that we had
been going to the wrong one of the two buildings, so we went back, and
she still wasn't there, but we got the confirmation that we should
still keep trying with her.
Thursday we had a lot of appointments with members. It was mountain
day, and so everyone had work off and when we asked them this is when
they could meet. We met Kishida Shimai, and talked about repentance,
and she loved it. She is already awesome, but wants to get better, and
be better. We then visited the Nishikawas. They are a couple, and they
aren't members, yet. They come to church every week, and they feed us
more that most members, but they don't want to get baptized. Hopefully
we will be able to see that change. They had us over for a shoukuji
and a message. They fed us nabe, which was a surprised, because it was
so hot. Nabe is soup that is really warm, and typically served in the
summer, but it was so good. They also fed us ramen. It was good, but
tons of food. We then visited Tada Shimai, and talked with her about
the branch. That wasn't the plan, but she just started talking, and
trying to figure out what we can all do to strengthen the branch.
Toyooka needs strengthening, but I'm not really sure how to do it at
the moment. Working on figuring it out. That night we worked on SKK,
but we were both on the floor, cause we didn't feel to good because of
how much we got fed.
Friday was another day of trying to visit everyone, and without too
much success, but we did get to meet Tomoko, and she was willing to
give us her phone number, and she opened up about some of her current
struggles and how she wants to overcome them. It was way awesome, and
I felt so pumped after the lesson, I wasn't paying attention, and
almost ran into a big spider web. My companion saved me though.
Barely. We also had a lesson with Yamada San, and she is doing great,
she is keeping all of our commitments, and even read from the Book of
Mormon, which we hadn't asked her today. The only struggle is that
there are some forces working on her, and making it hard for her to do
these things, but she is awesome, really wants to, and is going to try
and work through them. We are hoping to get her a priesthood blessing
and see if that will help. But besides that struggle, she is doing
great, and loved church, and her kids may want to come as well. She
couldn't come this week because of obon, and next week is the Sapporo
temple dedication, so she won't be able to come then either, but we
are hoping that she will keep coming once we get back to normal
schedules.
Saturday we went to fukuchiyama for district meeting, they had to
change it this week due to some meetings in Kobe. It was a way awesome
meeting, and I learned a lot about making goals. The really funny
thing was when our nihonjin zone leader air dropped all of us a thing
about setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals, and most of us just looked at
eachother and laughed, and then we had to explain the history. He was
excited, cause he thought it would be new to us, and we all remembered
them from high school and what not, and most of us had not liked them.
They are way good, they were just not my favorite thing before the
mission, but now I enjoy setting goals. Thank you mills Shimai for
making me see they were important. The awkward thing was at the end of
district meeting during Jkaiwa. A less active that they had never been
able to meet, walked in, and told us that he had seen my companion and
I at the eki, and thought we were cute, so he came to meet us. That
did not bring good feelings, and it also kind of worried the elders.
So they distracted him, sent us off to meet them somewhere else, lost
him, and then we all met up, and they made sure that we made it back
safely. It was a lot for something that was probably ok, but we all
just felt alarms go off, and we weren't taking any chances. I am so
grateful that I have worked in areas with elders, and that they really
do take care of the sisters, and keep us safe if anything like that
comes up. That night we had a soumen nagashi party, and it was lots of
fun. We didn't plan well, cause we didn't think that obon we really
that big of a deal, but we still had some people come, and we all had
a good time. We played games, and one of them was a pie toss into the
missionaries faces. It was funny, cause it took us a good chunk of
time to convince them that it was ok to smash them in our faces. They
finally did, and seemed to enjoy it, though they also felt bad for
doing it, and immeadiately ran and got us towels, so we could wipe up.
Nihonjin are so funny. My companion was talking videos, and I heard
her say that she wanted to get hit, so I grabbed an extra tin, and got
her good. It shocked her, but it was way funny, and it made the
nihonjin realize that it was all good.
Sunday I got to play the piano during sacrament meeting, and most of
the songs I was sight reading, basically. I would've been a lot more
nervous before my mission, but I have gotten a lot better at sight
reading, and so it turned out all right. Plus they almost always sing
every song super slow, even the fasted ones, so I didn't really have
much to worry about. Once we got out of the church after eating lunch,
we tried to visit a bunch of investigators with no success, and then
visited a less active family the Hamadas. Hamada Shimai was happy to
see us, and talked to us for a while, but she was explaining their
situation and why they couldn't come to church. The nitty gritty of it
is that there are some grudges going on in the branch, and they aren't
welcoming them to the church when they do come. I don't really know
why that is happening, but I want to figure it out, and help everyone
forgive eachother, because I think they need to come back to church,
and they say that they want to. After that I wasn't feeling very good,
partially from the big lunch, and also from hearing that, and having
forgotten our water at the church. We were out of time anyways, and
heading back to the church. But we had set the goal to teach 20
lessons this week, hit the mission standard of excellence, and we were
only at 18. We decided to mount our courage, and stop the next person
no matter what. So we did, and then she set up another appointment,
and gave us her phone number! It was amazing, she has never thought
about God before, but really wanted to learn more. That miracle gave
us the gusto to try the other less active we had planned to meet, and
then keep going since she wasn't there, and we taught 21 lessons,
because I started talking to someone, and then a random grandpa
started talking to my companion. It was an amazing day, and we got
back and we were so tired, but we seriously felt so good! I love those
days, and when they finish off your week, it just is even more awesome
I feel like.
Sorry for the long email, but I had a lot of fun this week, despite
the fact that rarely were any of the people we tried to visit home. I
love Japan, I love being a missionary, and I love the gospel! I also
love all of you, and I am grateful for your love and support!
Love, Sister Makin
This week has been really hard, but also a lot of fun, and there were
miracles that kept us going even when we didn't think that we could
keep going. Obon is the Japanese festival where families get together
and celebrate their ancestors. Not really a festival, but a big
holiday. It takes up a good chunk of this week, and most people return
to their hometowns. The clean the tombs of their ancestors, and just
show them respect. It is a way big thing here in Japan, and it made
dendo pretty hard in toyooka, just because it is already a small town,
but the lord helped us, and we were able to see miracles.
Monday we just relaxed at the church for pday, though we also went to
get ice cream for my year in Japan mark. Yep, it was on Thursday, but
I have officially been in Japan for a year now, and it doesn't feel
like it at all. That night we had family home evening, and we played
spoons. Definitely lots of fun. Only had some recent converts there,
but they really enjoyed it.
Tuesday we tried to visit so many people, and had no success. But we
had set a goal to give out a Book of Mormon, and we were able to do
that. A cute girl that we talked to loved reading, and so we
introduced the Book of Mormon, and gave her one, and she said she
would read it. It was way cool. That night we taught eikaiwa, and
mogid with our students. Showed them normal situations, they picked
the topic, and then we had them try. They picked shopping, and it was
way funny, because our elders mogid first, and they just were
themselves, and made it a silly mogi, but the students, the two that
we have enjoyed it. I felt like I spoke more in Japanese than English
though, because I was helping them understand, and one of our students
Tom, ended up only speaking to me in Japanese, though occasionally he
would speak English.
Wednesday they had a cheap bus rate for the day, so we used the
opportunity to go down to izushi, and tried to visit some less
actives, and terada Shimai. Unfortunately we had no success, no one
was home, but it was a fun adventure. That night we visited Hasegawa
Shimai, and had a run in with a weird pigeon. It was hopping up the
stairs, and since my companion and Hasegawa Shimai were both afraid of
birds, I went down to kick it so it would leave, but it would only hop
one stair down at a time as I went to kick it, and seemed reluctant to
even do that. Needless to say the bird was acting weird, but we had a
good visit with Hasegawa Shimai, and talked about the atonement. We
then tried to visit Yoshioka Shimai, and when we got there she was
gone. We sat there confused for a moment, because she is apparently
always home around the time we went. Sure enough just as we were about
to head out, she pulled up, and so we were able to talk with her. We
shared my favorite scripture, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and it really hit
with her, I think she really enjoyed that scripture, and she talked
about it a lot. One miracle, we tried to visit Tomoko, and she wasn't
home, and as we were leaving, my companion got the impression, 'did
you go to the right building?' We checked, and realized that we had
been going to the wrong one of the two buildings, so we went back, and
she still wasn't there, but we got the confirmation that we should
still keep trying with her.
Thursday we had a lot of appointments with members. It was mountain
day, and so everyone had work off and when we asked them this is when
they could meet. We met Kishida Shimai, and talked about repentance,
and she loved it. She is already awesome, but wants to get better, and
be better. We then visited the Nishikawas. They are a couple, and they
aren't members, yet. They come to church every week, and they feed us
more that most members, but they don't want to get baptized. Hopefully
we will be able to see that change. They had us over for a shoukuji
and a message. They fed us nabe, which was a surprised, because it was
so hot. Nabe is soup that is really warm, and typically served in the
summer, but it was so good. They also fed us ramen. It was good, but
tons of food. We then visited Tada Shimai, and talked with her about
the branch. That wasn't the plan, but she just started talking, and
trying to figure out what we can all do to strengthen the branch.
Toyooka needs strengthening, but I'm not really sure how to do it at
the moment. Working on figuring it out. That night we worked on SKK,
but we were both on the floor, cause we didn't feel to good because of
how much we got fed.
Friday was another day of trying to visit everyone, and without too
much success, but we did get to meet Tomoko, and she was willing to
give us her phone number, and she opened up about some of her current
struggles and how she wants to overcome them. It was way awesome, and
I felt so pumped after the lesson, I wasn't paying attention, and
almost ran into a big spider web. My companion saved me though.
Barely. We also had a lesson with Yamada San, and she is doing great,
she is keeping all of our commitments, and even read from the Book of
Mormon, which we hadn't asked her today. The only struggle is that
there are some forces working on her, and making it hard for her to do
these things, but she is awesome, really wants to, and is going to try
and work through them. We are hoping to get her a priesthood blessing
and see if that will help. But besides that struggle, she is doing
great, and loved church, and her kids may want to come as well. She
couldn't come this week because of obon, and next week is the Sapporo
temple dedication, so she won't be able to come then either, but we
are hoping that she will keep coming once we get back to normal
schedules.
Saturday we went to fukuchiyama for district meeting, they had to
change it this week due to some meetings in Kobe. It was a way awesome
meeting, and I learned a lot about making goals. The really funny
thing was when our nihonjin zone leader air dropped all of us a thing
about setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals, and most of us just looked at
eachother and laughed, and then we had to explain the history. He was
excited, cause he thought it would be new to us, and we all remembered
them from high school and what not, and most of us had not liked them.
They are way good, they were just not my favorite thing before the
mission, but now I enjoy setting goals. Thank you mills Shimai for
making me see they were important. The awkward thing was at the end of
district meeting during Jkaiwa. A less active that they had never been
able to meet, walked in, and told us that he had seen my companion and
I at the eki, and thought we were cute, so he came to meet us. That
did not bring good feelings, and it also kind of worried the elders.
So they distracted him, sent us off to meet them somewhere else, lost
him, and then we all met up, and they made sure that we made it back
safely. It was a lot for something that was probably ok, but we all
just felt alarms go off, and we weren't taking any chances. I am so
grateful that I have worked in areas with elders, and that they really
do take care of the sisters, and keep us safe if anything like that
comes up. That night we had a soumen nagashi party, and it was lots of
fun. We didn't plan well, cause we didn't think that obon we really
that big of a deal, but we still had some people come, and we all had
a good time. We played games, and one of them was a pie toss into the
missionaries faces. It was funny, cause it took us a good chunk of
time to convince them that it was ok to smash them in our faces. They
finally did, and seemed to enjoy it, though they also felt bad for
doing it, and immeadiately ran and got us towels, so we could wipe up.
Nihonjin are so funny. My companion was talking videos, and I heard
her say that she wanted to get hit, so I grabbed an extra tin, and got
her good. It shocked her, but it was way funny, and it made the
nihonjin realize that it was all good.
Sunday I got to play the piano during sacrament meeting, and most of
the songs I was sight reading, basically. I would've been a lot more
nervous before my mission, but I have gotten a lot better at sight
reading, and so it turned out all right. Plus they almost always sing
every song super slow, even the fasted ones, so I didn't really have
much to worry about. Once we got out of the church after eating lunch,
we tried to visit a bunch of investigators with no success, and then
visited a less active family the Hamadas. Hamada Shimai was happy to
see us, and talked to us for a while, but she was explaining their
situation and why they couldn't come to church. The nitty gritty of it
is that there are some grudges going on in the branch, and they aren't
welcoming them to the church when they do come. I don't really know
why that is happening, but I want to figure it out, and help everyone
forgive eachother, because I think they need to come back to church,
and they say that they want to. After that I wasn't feeling very good,
partially from the big lunch, and also from hearing that, and having
forgotten our water at the church. We were out of time anyways, and
heading back to the church. But we had set the goal to teach 20
lessons this week, hit the mission standard of excellence, and we were
only at 18. We decided to mount our courage, and stop the next person
no matter what. So we did, and then she set up another appointment,
and gave us her phone number! It was amazing, she has never thought
about God before, but really wanted to learn more. That miracle gave
us the gusto to try the other less active we had planned to meet, and
then keep going since she wasn't there, and we taught 21 lessons,
because I started talking to someone, and then a random grandpa
started talking to my companion. It was an amazing day, and we got
back and we were so tired, but we seriously felt so good! I love those
days, and when they finish off your week, it just is even more awesome
I feel like.
Sorry for the long email, but I had a lot of fun this week, despite
the fact that rarely were any of the people we tried to visit home. I
love Japan, I love being a missionary, and I love the gospel! I also
love all of you, and I am grateful for your love and support!
Love, Sister Makin
I can use chopsticks with both hands! And right
hand is more awkward!
Epic last round of spoons, it was fun!
Mogiing in eikaiwa.
Death sauce, it's hot.
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