Dear family and friends,
This week did see some improvements, not in the way I was expecting,
but some improvements, and we have kind of found a peace. Sometimes.
There is still tension a lot of the time, but it has definitely calmed
down some. Most of it is probably just from the fact that we are two
different people.
Monday we tried a less active, and then did SKK, finally. Did not get
it done, but made some progress, and actually had plans for some of
the lessons this week. SKK is just not really one of omisaki shimais
priorities, which bugs me, because it is important, but it is what it
is, right now I'm just hoping I can at least learn who people are
before the end of the transfer, so that if she leaves, which will
probably be the case, it will be ok. She has been in Hirakata for four
now.
Tuesday we got poured on. It rained really hard, but we didn't have
time to go back to the apartment, and we eventually dried off anyways.
We met some really nice people, one mom had a friend who was mormon,
but she didn't want to give us her contact info, and the kids were
freaking out because it was about to start raining, and Japanese
people do not like rain. They really don't. That night we had a good
eikaiwa, and a new student. After omisaki Shimai and I taught two
different lessons in the same rooms, with the members that were there.
I taught daimon Kun with nosaka Kyodai, and it was awesome. We talked
about God, and the purpose of life, and then transitioned into the
spirit, and how we recognize it. The first part felt better than the
other part, but omisaki Shimai has her spirit lesson she likes to
start with, and she joined not too long after I transitioned, so it
was probably a good thing, and that part of the lesson did go well.
Nosaka Kyodai has an amazing testimony, and he really connected with
daimon. At the end, he said the prayer as we all kneeled, and daimon
said he had felt that it was powerful, he was starting to feel the
spirit, and that was so cool.
Wednesday we got a call from the ZLs, they had heard I was stressed,
and wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help, any
doctrinal advice they could offer. They also wanted us to go on a
kokan this weekend, and so I was back with cannon Shimai for about a
day. That day I was actually doing pretty good, but omisaki Shimai was
out. She had been crying since before that call, and wouldn't tell me
why. When I finally got her to talk to me a little bit, she only
mentioned the call, and had assumed I was saying bad things about her.
Not the case, it was about me, and my stress, but ah well. I was
worried if she was ok. She cried and slept all day, and wouldn't say a
would to me when I checked on her, even when I asked. I ended up
cleaning the entire apartment that day.
Thursday I was wiped from the day before, and she was still
emotionally struggling. We were going to do SKK, but I couldn't, and
she wouldn't really. I decided I needed a little break, and so I was
going to take a nap, but the spirit kept on waking me up. As I would
start to drift off, I would jolt as if I had been slapped or
something. Which actually turned out to be really cool. I decided I
had to face omisaki Shimai, and I couldn't very well hid from her.
When I came out, she told me an investigator could meet in 15 minutes
at the church, and that she had set up a doseki. The investigator had
told us she could meet today, but hadn't said when. If I had slept, we
would have missed it. It was a really good lesson, but really long,
which omisaki Shimai planned. She said an end time at the beginning,
and I was shocked, but couldn't say anything, because the investigator
had already agreed, and we didn't need to fight in front of our
investigator and the member. It was an hour and a half though. After
that we had dinner, and then went to a community meeting to try and
find opportunities for service. It was weird. I looked up the actual
name of the thing we were at, they had what kind of a meeting it was
on the board in kanji. It translated into idle gossip, which is found
hilarious, but it seemed to be a good meeting.
Friday we had zone training meeting which was amazing, and then my
kokan with cannon Shimai began. It felt so right working with her
again, almost as if we were back in Kyoto. She has grown so much, and
is even more of an amazing missionary than she used to be. We didn't
have any set up appointments, except one with a recent convert, but we
had a lot of fun, and felt really guided by the spirit. Their
dendoshunnin ran into us, and because he stopped and said hi, a lady
stopped and talked to us, cause she knew we could speak Japanese. And
she ended up giving her address to us, and then the next lady gave us
her phone number. I hope that things turn out well with both of them.
They also both believed in God, which is rare, and was way cool. We
also were able to meet a less active, kitamoto Shimai, and as we were
sharing the message we were prepared, cannon Shimai was led to share a
really perfect scripture about the love of God, and bearing with
patience our afflictions. D&C 121:7-8. It seriously felt perfect to
me.
Saturday was another fun day. We taught a kids eikaiwa, and the kids
were bouncing off of the walls, but that is just normal kids I guess.
We also did some finding, and then the lesson we had had planned got
canceled, so we're were able to go to a meeting with sister carol f.
Mcconkie, she was in Osaka, and talked with the members about how to
teach their youth, and make them strong. It was all directed to the
youth, but I felt like it really applied to my investigators, to those
I teach, and missionary work. They need to have strong testimonies,
and the more Christlike I become, the better I will be able to help
them do so as well. We then switched back companions, but forgot to
get my keys back from the other sisters. Which included my bike key
and the apartment key. We carried my bike most of the way back to the
apartment, cause we couldn't leave it where they had parked it, and
then we rushed to meet the ZLs who brought our keys part of the way
for us, and then make it back to our apartment in time. We barely had
enough time, but we did it. Struggle of forgetting keys is real. I'm
sure we looked pretty funny dragging my locked bike back to the
apartment. Though it is more of a normal thing in Japan than it would
be in America.
Sunday we had fast Sunday, because of stake conference last week. We
also weren't able to go home until about 8:30, so it was a very long
fast, and I was so out of energy, but luckily the lord provided for
me, and I was able to make it back home, and also kind of coherently
testify when I needed too. There were also some Americans from Logan,
Utah visiting the temples in Japan, that stopped in our ward for
church, so I got to translate for them. That was fun. Their daughter
was super precious. She must have some disability, but it was clear to
me that she was a precious daughter of our father in heaven. They were
awesome members. Visited the mitanis as well, and shared a message
with them about eternal families. There dad isn't a member, so I
shared my experience, because I felt like I should, even though it
kind of felt awkward, because he was there, but when the spirit tells
you to do something, it tells you to do something.
All in all things are slowly improving, and I hope omisaki Shimai and
I can work together and see miracles. I love you all, and hope you are
all having fun, and working hard. Love you!
Love, Sister Makin
This week did see some improvements, not in the way I was expecting,
but some improvements, and we have kind of found a peace. Sometimes.
There is still tension a lot of the time, but it has definitely calmed
down some. Most of it is probably just from the fact that we are two
different people.
Monday we tried a less active, and then did SKK, finally. Did not get
it done, but made some progress, and actually had plans for some of
the lessons this week. SKK is just not really one of omisaki shimais
priorities, which bugs me, because it is important, but it is what it
is, right now I'm just hoping I can at least learn who people are
before the end of the transfer, so that if she leaves, which will
probably be the case, it will be ok. She has been in Hirakata for four
now.
Tuesday we got poured on. It rained really hard, but we didn't have
time to go back to the apartment, and we eventually dried off anyways.
We met some really nice people, one mom had a friend who was mormon,
but she didn't want to give us her contact info, and the kids were
freaking out because it was about to start raining, and Japanese
people do not like rain. They really don't. That night we had a good
eikaiwa, and a new student. After omisaki Shimai and I taught two
different lessons in the same rooms, with the members that were there.
I taught daimon Kun with nosaka Kyodai, and it was awesome. We talked
about God, and the purpose of life, and then transitioned into the
spirit, and how we recognize it. The first part felt better than the
other part, but omisaki Shimai has her spirit lesson she likes to
start with, and she joined not too long after I transitioned, so it
was probably a good thing, and that part of the lesson did go well.
Nosaka Kyodai has an amazing testimony, and he really connected with
daimon. At the end, he said the prayer as we all kneeled, and daimon
said he had felt that it was powerful, he was starting to feel the
spirit, and that was so cool.
Wednesday we got a call from the ZLs, they had heard I was stressed,
and wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help, any
doctrinal advice they could offer. They also wanted us to go on a
kokan this weekend, and so I was back with cannon Shimai for about a
day. That day I was actually doing pretty good, but omisaki Shimai was
out. She had been crying since before that call, and wouldn't tell me
why. When I finally got her to talk to me a little bit, she only
mentioned the call, and had assumed I was saying bad things about her.
Not the case, it was about me, and my stress, but ah well. I was
worried if she was ok. She cried and slept all day, and wouldn't say a
would to me when I checked on her, even when I asked. I ended up
cleaning the entire apartment that day.
Thursday I was wiped from the day before, and she was still
emotionally struggling. We were going to do SKK, but I couldn't, and
she wouldn't really. I decided I needed a little break, and so I was
going to take a nap, but the spirit kept on waking me up. As I would
start to drift off, I would jolt as if I had been slapped or
something. Which actually turned out to be really cool. I decided I
had to face omisaki Shimai, and I couldn't very well hid from her.
When I came out, she told me an investigator could meet in 15 minutes
at the church, and that she had set up a doseki. The investigator had
told us she could meet today, but hadn't said when. If I had slept, we
would have missed it. It was a really good lesson, but really long,
which omisaki Shimai planned. She said an end time at the beginning,
and I was shocked, but couldn't say anything, because the investigator
had already agreed, and we didn't need to fight in front of our
investigator and the member. It was an hour and a half though. After
that we had dinner, and then went to a community meeting to try and
find opportunities for service. It was weird. I looked up the actual
name of the thing we were at, they had what kind of a meeting it was
on the board in kanji. It translated into idle gossip, which is found
hilarious, but it seemed to be a good meeting.
Friday we had zone training meeting which was amazing, and then my
kokan with cannon Shimai began. It felt so right working with her
again, almost as if we were back in Kyoto. She has grown so much, and
is even more of an amazing missionary than she used to be. We didn't
have any set up appointments, except one with a recent convert, but we
had a lot of fun, and felt really guided by the spirit. Their
dendoshunnin ran into us, and because he stopped and said hi, a lady
stopped and talked to us, cause she knew we could speak Japanese. And
she ended up giving her address to us, and then the next lady gave us
her phone number. I hope that things turn out well with both of them.
They also both believed in God, which is rare, and was way cool. We
also were able to meet a less active, kitamoto Shimai, and as we were
sharing the message we were prepared, cannon Shimai was led to share a
really perfect scripture about the love of God, and bearing with
patience our afflictions. D&C 121:7-8. It seriously felt perfect to
me.
Saturday was another fun day. We taught a kids eikaiwa, and the kids
were bouncing off of the walls, but that is just normal kids I guess.
We also did some finding, and then the lesson we had had planned got
canceled, so we're were able to go to a meeting with sister carol f.
Mcconkie, she was in Osaka, and talked with the members about how to
teach their youth, and make them strong. It was all directed to the
youth, but I felt like it really applied to my investigators, to those
I teach, and missionary work. They need to have strong testimonies,
and the more Christlike I become, the better I will be able to help
them do so as well. We then switched back companions, but forgot to
get my keys back from the other sisters. Which included my bike key
and the apartment key. We carried my bike most of the way back to the
apartment, cause we couldn't leave it where they had parked it, and
then we rushed to meet the ZLs who brought our keys part of the way
for us, and then make it back to our apartment in time. We barely had
enough time, but we did it. Struggle of forgetting keys is real. I'm
sure we looked pretty funny dragging my locked bike back to the
apartment. Though it is more of a normal thing in Japan than it would
be in America.
Sunday we had fast Sunday, because of stake conference last week. We
also weren't able to go home until about 8:30, so it was a very long
fast, and I was so out of energy, but luckily the lord provided for
me, and I was able to make it back home, and also kind of coherently
testify when I needed too. There were also some Americans from Logan,
Utah visiting the temples in Japan, that stopped in our ward for
church, so I got to translate for them. That was fun. Their daughter
was super precious. She must have some disability, but it was clear to
me that she was a precious daughter of our father in heaven. They were
awesome members. Visited the mitanis as well, and shared a message
with them about eternal families. There dad isn't a member, so I
shared my experience, because I felt like I should, even though it
kind of felt awkward, because he was there, but when the spirit tells
you to do something, it tells you to do something.
All in all things are slowly improving, and I hope omisaki Shimai and
I can work together and see miracles. I love you all, and hope you are
all having fun, and working hard. Love you!
Love, Sister Makin
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