Naha week 4; week 34

Monday November 30, 2015

This week we had to say farewell to our investigator Gima and her cute son; they are moving.

I made okonomiyaki for Bearman shimai

 We made homemade lasagna for an English class party, they loved it! 

It was a first for a lot of people!

The most American style church building in Japan, it's been so long!
This is in Okinawa city, we went there yesterday for training

Kimonos!

Monday November 30, 2015

I finally had a chance to send all these pictures!  So our last Pday in Maebaru, the members dressed us up in their kimonos! It was so fun! We had no idea what a process it is! It took about an hour to get all the clothes on! It was their goodbye gift to us!

Thanksgiving in Okinawa! (Naha week 3; week 33)

Thursday November 26, 2015

Since this week is Thanksgiving, our Pday is today. So much has happened in this last week! I love being out here on a mission, giving this time to Him has been so incredible! We don't have much personal time, but it's amazing how happy and uplifting this time is! It's hard, being a trainer, I
want to do everything exactly right and be an example, and I'm trying my best! I know the Lord is helping me and loves me. I know He knows each of his children and I know that He uses His missionaries to bless their lives!

 Thanksgiving in Okinawa! 

It was really windy but super beautiful!

 An American family in Okinawa 

invited us over for thanksgiving dinner which was delicious!

 I didn't ride it but our neighbor has this awesome, tiny bike!

We are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us. Naha week 2 (week 32)

Monday November 16, 2015

We've had a pretty awesome week here! I love Okinawa! It's late November and just gorgeous outside! The ward here in Naha is really awesome, there's actually enough members for two wards! Up until now the wards I've been in have been pretty small. It's kind of overwhelming to come into an area brand new, which we did in Maebaru too so at least I had some practice!

So on Saturday night, we went out to proselyte and it started sprinkling but we weren't really worried about it. Then someone came over the loud speaker and said something but we couldn't understand it so we just kept going. As we kept biking, the rain got harder and harder until the sidewalk was so slippery, we couldn't ride our bikes anymore.

After the crazy rain storm

So we got off and started walking, but as we were walking we realized we were pretty far from home and wouldn't be able to ride back because of how hard it was raining. So we decided to park our bikes and walk home. The wind was so strong and the rain so heavy we couldn't really look forward, so we followed the lines on the sidewalk home! It literally felt like we were swimming, there was so much water around us! So yeah, that was an exciting adventure!  Here's a video of me from when we finally made it home:

I love being a missionary! It's amazing how many people we have the opportunity to meet and serve whether it's a church member, a friend or random people we talk to on the street. Everyday it doesn't seem like anything terribly huge happens but then I take a step back and look at what we are able to do and the amount of people we are able to serve in the weeks and months that we are here, and I come to understand even more that "by small and simple things great things come to pass". Every day we talk to people and testify to them that they are children of a Heavenly Father who loves them. I know that this is true. I know that He loves and knows each and every one of us. He knows our struggles and our weaknesses. And He wants us to be happy so He gave us His Son Jesus Christ to provide a way to overcome those hardships and really enable us to find the joy in the journey of this life.

A really touching talk on the Atonement that Bearman Shimai and I studied was "None were with Him" by Jeffrey R. Holland, April 2009.  My favorite part: "Brothers and sisters, one of the great
consolations...is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path--the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of His Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said: I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you]." https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/none-were-with-him?lang=eng

I know that this is true. I know that as we rely on Jesus Christ He can and will Heal and strengthen us in ways no one and nothing else can.

 We met this guy who decided in August to bike around all of Japan

Bearman Shimai and me!

Us with Shimoji!

                     

Shimoji Shimai took us to this awesome goldfish art exhibit

The move to & 1st week in Naha! (week 31)

Monday November 9, 2015,

I love Okinawa! And I love training! It was hard to leave Maebaru and the people we were blessed to teach there. But I definitely will stay in contact with them! Okinawa is beautiful, the weather is perfect, about 70 degrees and sunny for the most part. It's gorgeous. I'm in Naha which is a huge
city it is so awesome because we get  to talk to so many people! And I love my new missionary, Sister Bearman. She's from D.C suburbs! She's awesome, we get a long really well and she is really willing to try to speak Japanese even though it's uncomfortable. It's a little crazy coming into a new area and getting a new missionary because there's a lot to figure out with getting used to the ward and the area and the investigators from the last missionaries. But I'm just glad I'm with Sister Bearman now, it's been really fun figuring it all out together. And the other two missionaries in our apartment are really awesome too. One is Japanese, Kasamatsu Shimai and the other is from Utah, Sister Malone. They are all really great.

Bearman Shimai, me, Shimoji Shimai

The sisters that were here before taught a woman who got baptized after a month of meeting with the missionaries! Her name is Shimoji Shimai. She's been through a lot, but ever since she's started learning about this Gospel, she's felt so happy! Which reminds me of a scripture: Mosiah 24:14-15 "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

I have been able to feel this strengthening power at so many different times in my life. I know that the Savior loves each one of us and even when we have difficult experiences, He can help us have the strength to overcome them and to count our blessings instead of dwelling on the difficulties of life.

We got to meet with our investigators one last time before we left Maebaru. I love these people so much!

 Edward

 And Noda, who we found while Housing! She is so sweet!

 And Sumie

Waiting for our plane to Okinawa!

My new roomies, Naha Shimai!

  An awesome tree by our new apartment!

We just ran into this festival competition thing, not really sure what
the object of it all is, but fun to watch!

 

Final week in Maebaru! (wk 12)! - Week 30

Tuesday November 3, 2015

This has been one of the craziest, most nerve wracking weeks of my mission. Let me tell you the story of this week:

Tuesday Morning: I get a phone call from the Mission President, President Egan. This is super rare  because there are a lot of missionaries (like 250) in the mission and President is super busy. So I was really surprised! He asked me how I was doing, I told him it's been difficult but I am okay. He said well I just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you, and you should get excited for this next transfer because there are some exciting changes happening....it was super brief and unexpected so I wasn't quite sure what to think about it. 

Thursday night: Packard Shimai hands me the phone and says its President Egan. He gets on the phone, asks me some questions and then asks me if I would accept the call to become a trainer! A trainer means that my next companion will be straight from The Missionary Training Center in America and I will basically teach her how to be a missionary in Japan! I nervously but excitedly accepted the call and when Packard Shimai came back in the room she said he had asked her the same thing! We found out we would both be trainers!! So then we wondered if one of us was going to stay here in Maebaru or both of us leave. But we if one of us was staying we wouldn't find out who until Tuesday (today) 

Sunday Morning: President calls us again and tells us that neither of us will be staying in Maebaru, we are both transferring out! Which means we need to let the people we are teaching know and introduce them to the others sisters before we transfer on Thursday. But at this point we still didn't know who was going where, just that we were both leaving!

Monday: we had training from President about how to be a good trainer

Tuesday (today): we just got the call.... And on Thursday I am going to transfer to Naha!! That's in Okinawa!! I can't believe it. I have always wanted to got to Okinawa but I never thought it would actually happen! I'll be training a new missionary in a new area in Okinawa. AND Packard Shimai is going to Okinawa too! She'll be in a different part but still! CRAZY! Now the last piece of this crazy puzzle is finding out who I will be training, which will happen tomorrow night after President has interviewed all the new missionaries. 

The stress of not knowing and the nerves of being a little worried and feeling incompetent have peaked this week. I have felt very humbled that the Lord trusts me with a new missionary to teach and lead and help. In many ways I feel very unqualified. But I know that the Lord qualifies whom He calls. I know that as long as I rely on Him for strength and guidance as I have so much in the past, He will qualify, strengthen, and bless me. I am so grateful for my savior Jesus Christ and for the opportunity that He gives me to overcome my weaknesses and become more like Him. As scary as this is, I am so grateful for this opportunity to grow and develop!


Thank you for the love and Support!

  I decided since we bow so much here I should just put my badge on my
head so it's easy to see!

We had a picnic with some foreign friends from Iran, China and Egypt!

 Maebaru Relief society!

 Mission coordination meeting with Kobe Kyoudai!

Our ward Halloween Party was so much fun!  Above are Kawaida and her children, Packard Shimai and me. Right are my three sister missionary roommates. Below are our investigator Sumie and her kids!