こんいちわ! Konnichiwa! Maebaru - Week 19

Monday August 17, 2015

To everyone - みなさんへ

On Thursday I transferred to Maebaru district, but it's actually in Itoshima Shi. But this wasn't just an ordinary transfer, they call it white washing. White washing is when they take out both missionaries
and put in new ones from different areas. So before us, Maebaru had two Elders, but this transfer they took them both out and put in four new Sisters! All of us are from different areas and have never been to Maebaru before!

My new companion is Packard Shimai! She is super awesome, we are really similar which is a lot of fun, we both love to cook so we are looking forward to recipe swaps! We are getting along really well. She is a super hard worker and is always doing her best!

Our Zone Leaders had told us the Elders had worked hard to clean the apartment for us, but when we got there...that didn't seem to be the case! They probably just packed their stuff and left! They did leave some groceries in the fridge which was nice of them. So we spent the rest of the day cleaning the apartment (it wasn't disgusting but it was pretty gross), moving random stuff they left behind into one area of the apartment, and made a list of cooking utensils that they must not have needed! Like spatulas and frying pans... Silly Elders! We haven't even touched the balcony yet, it is full of old junk just sitting out there!

Then the next day, Friday, the Elders had set up a lesson for us but they only left us the address. And we don't have our bikes yet so we used theirs...I don't know how they got around on those things! The tires are super flat, the gears don't change, it's all rusted. But! We worked with what we had and 45 minutes later made it just in time for the lesson, except we couldn't find the right house! The house numbers weren't marked so we started knocking on doors and asking people what their address was and if they knew where this specific house is. No one knew! After an hour of searching almost every house in the neighborhood, we were walking back to our bikes to just go home when a guy we had asked earlier comes out and says, I found it! So we followed him to the only house we hadn't knocked on and sure enough! We found the house of  who we were supposed to teach but his wife answered and said he had waited for us but ended up leaving because we were too late. So yeah! That was an adventure!

We still don't have our bikes so the past couple of days we've been walking around to members houses, getting to know them and introducing ourselves. The members here are super nice! They are all really excited to have sisters here, they haven't had sister missionaries here for 13 years! It's a really small town, a lot different from Nagasaki. In Nagasaki there were always people to talk to on the street, but here there aren't very many, which means a lot of knocking on doors! But that's okay, because I know we will be able to see miracles here in Maebaru. I know that the Lord wouldn't send four missionaries to a new unfamiliar area if He wasn't preparing people for us to find. I know that the Lord is at the head of this work and that He is preparing His children to open their hearts to receive His teachings. I am so grateful and so blessed to be His missionary.

Love,
Lowe Shimai
ロウ姉妹

First Days in Maebaru!

 

 There are so many rice fields here, it's absolute gorgeous!

 

 Me and Airi chan, pronounced eye-dee. Her birthday is just one day
before Emily! She turns six September 27th!

 Delicious meal with the Kobe family!

 When we transferred to Maebaru we had to carry all of our
luggage with just four of us onto a train and then switch to a subway,
we made it!

Last days in Nagasaki! I love these people so much! I am going to miss them like crazy.

Keiko (left) & Matano (right)  Shimai, 

two of the most awesome people I've met!

 Jenni! We cooked Chinese food together!