Week 57

Mon

We went to the bird park again, but this time as a district. Elder Ottesen got pooped on. I went into the emu pen this time and fed them. They are so big and powerful that it's kind of scary but if you don't have food they kind of ignore you so it's fine. They are very coarse, not smooth like geese or ducks. We also fed pelicans this time. They are big birds. Then we visited some members. We tried to do a role play with them, but the grandma didn't seem to get the purpose of the role play so it was funny. We were trying to get them to practice using church words wherever you go. The situation was at the grocery store and the clerk asks you why you are buying that brand of herbal tea (hopefully you answer something along the lines of the Word of Wisdom) but the grandma only said "because I like it." 

Tue

We had a member present lesson which went pretty well. We taught a recent convert using PMG. She pulled out her copy and it was covered in notes. I was so impressed with her. We dropped by the Relief Society President's house to say thank you and we met her non-member daughter. She is very funny. We talked for a long time with her about gospel things so I think that she will become an investigator soon. 

Wed

We had planned some people to visit, but the weather was so nice that we changed our plans so that we would go visit some people far away so that we could ride our bikes in the sunshine for a longer time. They weren't home, but it was still a nice ride. Then we had a game night. it went spectacularly well. Over 15 of the neighborhood kids, 1 investigator, 3 PI's and 1 member came. Two of those PI's became investigators that night! YAY! We hope that as time goes on, more people come and more investigators are made. 

Thu

Companion exchange with Aoki shimai, my granddaughter. I had planned to work with her in Hamamatsu, but last minute I changed my mind and asked if the two of us could work in Fukuroi. She agreed and we rode around in the rain to member's houses and got sushi and hayashi rice and cookies and clam chowder and nori and hot chocolate and spinach. Then we went to Eikaiwa. One of the ladies was packing up her stuff and was going out a little later than the others when Elder Chiba said that as missionaries we teach Eikaiwa but we also teach about God. We taught about half of the first lesson right there. I shared the first vision. She accepted a Book of Mormon. I think that she is someone prepared by God for us. 

Fri

We had another spectacular DTM and then we went to another member present lesson. We taught about the Word of Wisdom. She said that she would try but she couldn't make promises. I hope she does. We went from there to another member's house and thanked him for his efforts in the branch. Then we went to a member's home for dinner, but we had the spiritual message first, so we only had about 10 minutes to eat before we had to leave. We made it 15 minutes because she brought out birthday cake, but then we had to book it back to Fukuroi because we had an appointment with the two girls that became investigators on Wednesday. They brought their friend with them. According to Oda shimai, they were talking to each other with their eyes the whole time. I didn't notice anything. Just as we were about to leave, one of them said that she wanted me to go with her to a seminar in Nagoya. But it costs $950. I said that I'm not made of that kind of money plus I can't leave my area. But they did agree to listen to the lessons. I'm at a complete loss as to what kind of seminar it was. It could be some debutant pageant. It could be a religious fair. It could be giant speed dating. It could be some sinister cult where they sacrifice pure and innocent sister missionaries. Who knows.

Sat

No one came to kid's eikaiwa. AGAIN. So we packed up and went home, planned for the week, and then went out to visit some less actives. Didn't find any of them, but we did find a family of investigators so it's all good. We knocked on their door and said we teach about God. Is it ok if we come back? And they said yeah, come back on Saturday. Can we have your number? Here's our number. We are looking forward to meeting them again. But no dinner.

Sun

Our investigator couldn't come to church because her husband was hung over and couldn't drive. She doesn't have a licence so she can't drive herself. Boo. The ward council decided to have a talent show. We are trying to scrounge up people to perform in it. Visited lots of PI's, no one home. Housed, no bites. But I did get to go to bed a little early.

Love you lots!

Leah

Week 56 FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

Mon

Sister Oda's desk finally came! Sister Oda bought a new (more expensive) rain coat and rain pants since the one that she has isn't very good. Mine isn't that great either, but I figure I've only got a little bit of time left so what the hey. In the store they played regular radio music. It was really weird to hear it. I have become a lot more sensitive to lyrics. Then we spent a little bit of time at home before we had to get on the train to go to Nagoya. We met up with the Nagano sisters in the station and had dinner together before we went to Yokkaichi to spend the night.

Tue

Leadership Council. I took the time before hand to write down some questions that I wanted answered and I seemed to get more out of this one than I have for a while. We thought it was going to end at 2, but it turned out to go till 3:30. Thankfully this time we were able to ride the less expensive train instead of the $50 one. As soon as we got off the train in Fukuroi we got into a member's car to go visit a part member family. We talked about prayer with the member's daughter and asked if she'd like to meet with us again. She said no, but I think that it was still a good chance to meet her. 

Wed

Rain. A lot of it. We had left our bikes at the train station because the member drove us home the night before, so we walked to the station and rode our bikes back. Then I made 7 layer dip because at advanced Eikaiwa, we held a birthday party for all the March birthdays. They were all very impressed by the dip. They thought it was salad though. Then we went home and Sister Oda just sort of curled up and died because she wasn't feeling well. So I worked on our map until some members came to pick us up to go out to eat. Lots of delicious food! And interesting drinks. Unbeknownst to us, it was a birthday party because last of all a birthday cake came out! We still have some left over in our fridge. 

Thu

Zone Conference. President Yamashita and Sister Yamashita came. They said that my part of the presentation was perfect and that I spoke slowly and clearly enough for everyone to understand. I felt rather pleased. When President Yamashita was speaking about the power of the Atonement, a warning saying that his laptop was almost out of battery. He exited out and continued speaking. He was in the middle of saying "through the Atonement you can recieve any power" when his laptop completely died. He said "but I just lost power." We all laughed really hard. I got a package from the honbu with various languages of pamphlets. It was big and heavy and couldn't fit in my bike basket properly so I was off balance going home. I finally just got off my bike and walked it home since steering was too crazy. 

Fri

Companion exchange! We met with a member referral with a member. She said that she'd be ok with baptism! She has a lot of questions though. I think that with time and learning they will all be answered though. We ate ramen with the member and then we rode home to get on a train to switch back. Then Oda shimai and I went out and visited some less actives and PIs. We finally were let into a PI's house and were able to teach her a lesson! Yay! We are hoping that she comes to the game night on Wednesday.

Sat

No kids came to Eikaiwa. :( So we took banana cake to PI's. And then Sister Oda's bike went flat. Thankfully we were close to home so we were ok. Then we went with a recent convert to a missionary fireside held by President Yamashita. His conversion story is very interesting. 

Sun

We taught Sunday school for one of the elder's investigators and a less active. Then we did planning and had a heart to heart. Just as our planning session was wrapping up, we hear many sirens very close to us. We look out the window to see the apartment building next to us on fire. Thankfully we were not harmed in any way and no one was harmed in the fire. Just the building. We thought about talking with the people there but we had an appointment so we couldn't stop. By the time we got back it was all over. Thanks to Heavenly Father for protecting us. 

Love you

Leah

Week 54

Claire's note: It turns out I skipped an email with some pretty cool pictures. Sorry folks.

Mon

SO MUCH FUN!!!!! We went with the elders to a ramen shop and the waiter/chef did a little song and dance as he stirred everything up. It was pretty good for ramen. Then we went to an aviary and got to hold and pet birds of all discriptions! I petted a duck, swan, flamingo, parakeet, owl, penguin, goose, and others. See pictures One of the geese would tug on my pants in order to get me to feed it. It was cute. There was also an emu pen where you could go in and hang out with them. Kinda scary, but no worries.Then we went out for ice cream and pizza before heading out to work.

Tue

We had an apartment check by one of the senior couples. Our apartment was clean but we still hadn't unpacked, so we hurriedly put all our clothes in the closet and our books in drawers. We were putting things away right up to the moment they came to our door, but thankfully we had just finished. Then we went out and did missionary work with the elders. In order for us to get to know the area a little better, they rode with us to members houses and we shared messages together. We left the church building at one and we didn't get back home until 8:00 at night. A headache started sending out its angry feelers but thankfully Elder Chiba had medicine and we got grape juice from a member earlier that day so I was able to make it home ok. It is very dark out here! I have to use my light on high brightness all night because there are no city lights and few highway lights. I'm glad that I got a nice light at the start. 

Wed

We went to visit an investigator, not there, so we housed some. We saw a 80 or 90 year old woman scale a wall. She was walking across the parking lot when she came to a section of a park-like area that was higher than the rest. The wall was about eye level and she worked her way up somehow. It was an amusing sight. Then we went and visited some PI's. Not home. Oh well.

Thu

We had weekly planning session in the morning and then we went on companion exchanges with the Hamamatsu sisters. Sister Anderson and I worked in Fukuroi and Sister Aoki and Sister Oda worked in Hamamatsu. Sister Anderson and I decided to go visit a Less Active couple that lived very far away because they are very similar to an investigator and her family. So we start riding out that way. After about an hour, I stop and check the map again to find out we've only gone half way. We had Eikaiwa that night, so we had to make the decision to either turn around and go back or keep going and not go to Eikaiwa. We decided to keep going. Just as we pull onto the street where they live, my back tire goes flat. This place is in the middle of nowhere, literally, and there aren't any shops for about 2 miles in any direction. We call the Less Actives, but the husband had to go to work so they couldn't take us to a bike shop. So we tried to find someone who could help us. Thankfully, a mom and her kids happened to walk out onto the street at that time and we asked them if they could help us. The dad came out and looked at my bike and declared that he couldn't fix it, but that he could drive us and our bikes to a nearby Lowe's like store that had a bike repair spot inside. We get to the store to find out that the bike repair service is only available until 5 pm. It is now around 7 pm. So we call the elders who call the members to see if anyone can come pick us up. Thankfully the branch president and the relief society president come to the rescue. Sister Anderson and I walked to the nearby grocery store, bought dinner, and then waited outside the bike repair spot until they got there. We got to the church around 8:15, just as Eikaiwa was ending. I was just glad that we got home and no one was hurt.

Fri

The elders showed us where a nice bike shop was and we left my bike in their care until District Meeting was over. There were some fantastic testimonies born. Elder Chiba's testimony in particular made everyone cry. Then we went out for katsudon, breaded pork over rice. Yum. Then sister Oda and I went to a bookstore to get a better map because we decided that the one that we had was not detailed enough. After we got that, we went to the bike shop to pick up my bike. Apparently, the rear reflector had gotten loose which had gotten tangled in the spokes which made them loose which then poked holes in my tube which damaged my tire. They had to replace the tube, tire, spokes, and straighten the rim. All said and done, $65. I like their prices. Then we went to visit a member. She offered to feed us and we gladly accepted. Then we went to sports night with a PI. Not very many people came, so we played basketball speed and crab soccer and did aerobics. Another PI was found that night, so hopefully it will develop into something better.

Sat

We taught kid's Eikaiwa and were able to give a Book of Mormon to a dad that came with his kids. Then we went with the same PI from the day before to an old folk's home to do aerobics with them. There was a lady there who is 101! Afterwards she took us to her friend's cafe where we got tomato soda. Ok, but not something I would get again I think. Then we went out again to visit some people who lived far away. After an hour of biking, Sister Oda's bike went flat. Yet again, we called the elders who called the members who came to help us. Thankfully this time only the tube was bad and not the whole tire. Twice in one week! I think as far as trials go this is a really funny one.

Sun

The elder's investigators came to church, which made them really happy. Just as church ended, a PI came to church with a box full of bakery delights for us. We tried to get her to stay but she left quickly. I have never had homemade food that is as divine as those baked goods were. We went with a member to an investigator lesson, but she wasn't there. I felt so bad for the member. But, it happens. Then the elders fixed Sister Oda's bike. I like the elder's fix-it-service, it's the cheapest:$0. We went out to visit another investigator later that night, but she wasn't home. So we housed some and came back again 45 min later. She wasn't home but her dad was home and said that she would be home the next day at 5:30. Here's hoping that we meet her! On the way home, my headlight ran out of battery. I had a small blinking light as well, so I turned that on but I might as well have had nothing on at all, for how weak it was. Riding on unfamiliar sidewalks at night with no light is not recommended. But we're safe and our bikes are fine, so all's well that ends well.

Love you lots,

Leah

Week 55 Our Birthday!!

Mon

The elders have an old version of Settlers of Catan that they found in their apartment. So we bought chips and soda and played from 2-5. Sister Oda won one round and Elder Chiba won the next. Then we had to go out to visit some investigators and PI's. We went housing near a PI and everyone we talked to wasn't Japanese. We met a Brazilian, Filipino, and a Peruvian. Pretty strange.

Tue

We visited one member who invited us in and then told us that she wanted to hear everything about how to be a missionary. So we started with the missionary purpose and went into prepared people. I always love it when members ask us for advice on how to do missionary work. Then we visited one member who wasn't able to make it to church the previous Sunday. Her daughter makes church related key chains for some cash. She showed us how she makes them. She sculpts the parts out of a special kind of clay and then she paints the pieces individually and then attaches them to the chain. I was impressed at how minutely detailed they were. She gave us both one. It looks good enough to eat! We tried to visit an investigator. Even though her lights were on, she didn't answer the door. We rang the door bell twice but no answer. So we started to walk away. I thought I heard the door open so I ran back up the stairs, but no such luck. 

Wed

Companion exchange with the Shizuoka sisters. Their apartment is on the first floor, which is nice. It is an older apartment, so there is a lot of stuff there left by other missionaries, including a Lion King soundtrack and the movie the Other Side of Heaven. Sister Obayashi and I went to find a PI. As we were riding our bikes around, we stopped a lady and asked her if she knew a Emi Goto. She said I'm Emi Goto. Come with me to my house. She let us in her house and the first thing I see is a spiral staircase in the middle of the room. Then lots of giant paintings. She took us into one room where she had a baby grand piano. She asked me my name and then she sang me a song in a really gravelly voice. She asked me if I wanted a Japanese name and I said yes so she then gave me the name of Yomiko, which means child of reading. She gave us a CD of hers and told us that she is home Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. We said that we would gladly come back. I walked out a little dazed at the experience. Then a member called and said I have time right now so come to the church and teach me. So we hustled over to the church and taught lesson 3. She said that it was very easy to understand and so she wanted to introduce two friends to us. We said yes we'd like very much to meet them why don't we come to your house for lunch with them. Then we visited a less active from South Africa. It was interesting hearing her accent. Then we went to a lesson with an investigator. Her grandmother gave us shiitake mushroom tea. Surprisingly good. It tasted like chicken soup broth with a mushroom overtone. We challenged her to come to church. Hopefully she does. 

Thu

RAIN. Unfortunately, because I was on a companion exchange, I didn't have a different set of shoes so my brown leather boots got soaked. Sister Oda and I rode the train home, had lunch, and then had our weekly planning session. Then we went to Fukuroi's eikaiwa for the first time. We talked about scary experiences. I thought that that people might say things like my car stalled in the middle of the intersection or a mean dog came really close. Most people talked about being in earthquakes and typhoons, but one person had an encounter with evil it seems like. Gave me the creeps. After Eikaiwa we went home and listened to hymns and talked about spiritual experiences. That made me feel better. 

Fri

DTM in Hamamatsu. Sister Oda accidentally left her scriptures on the bus. We thought that she wouldn't get them back again, but Elder Chiba called the bus station and they searched the bus and found them. YAY! Unfortunately, I left my Preach My Gospel somewhere. That's not as valuable as scriptures though. We ran from DTM to the bus stop to catch a bus to catch a train to ride our bikes home so that we could meet up with a PI to go to the nursing home and do aerobics with them. We made it on time. Afterwards, she took us to a local shrine. The toilets there were men and women toilets with open urinals. See picture. Akward. We were the only ones there except for the monks. We accidentally walked into places that were forbidden because we couldn't tell where the public spot ended and the off limits bit started. Outside the shrine building was a giant sandal and a giant shovel. See picture. Then we got ice cream. I got peony flavor, black sesame flavor, and roasted sesame flavor. All pretty good, but I think that I would get something different the next time. An appointment stood us up, so we went to the local volleyball club in hopes of meeting with a PI. No such luck. So we went home and worked on the area map. It covers half the wall in our living room. 

Sat

Sister Oda made me breakfast for my birthday, an omelette with rice. After kid's eikaiwa, we went to a cake shop and I bought myself a slice of cake. Then Elder Chiba bought me pudding and Elder Naylor bought me a banana crepe so I had a lot of food. Then we went to the church to meet a member so that we could go visit some less actives together. Unfortunately the member misheard the time, so we waited a fair bit of time before we got a hold of her and she came on her way. On the way home, she bought us strawberry daifuku, which is pounded rice over white sweet beans with a giant strawberry in the middle. Yummy. Then we went with the elders to a REALLY far mall and got sushi. My present to myself was expensive sushi. I was so full from eating sushi that I could still feel it the next morning. 

Sun

Two less actives and the elder's investigators came to church. YAY! I got chocolate from the branch president for my birthday. Then one member gave us a potted plant for my birthday. It's a marimba? morimba? Anyway, a pink daisy-like flower. Then after church we went with some members to visit more less actives. Not home, but we checked with the neighbors to see if they still lived there and the neighbors said yes. Then we went to visit PI's and investigators again. One person had an appointment with us, but they weren't there. When we tried to stop in at one PI's apartment, there was a man and a woman who seemed very much like missionaries of another church visiting with our PI. We didn't want to cause a scene so we backed out quietly. We were able to get the phone number of one PI, which is good. Then we went home and broke our fast. Curry. We thought that one Less Active was expecting us to come over, only to find out that she didn't and was actually at work. So we changed our plans and went to a PI's house. Her husband answered the door. We asked if she was home. He said wait a moment, turned around, glanced around the room, turned back and said no. Didn't even leave the door step. Pretty funny. 

Today I am expecting a package (they said they would deliver it between 12 and 2). I wonder what's in it? :)

Love you lots

Leah

Week 53

Mon

We went out to eat with the elders at a hot dog place because a member gave us coupons. I ordered a cheese dog thinking that it would be something like a nacho cheese, but when I got it, it turned out to be kimchee and cream cheese hot dog. But it did taste good. Then Sister Hansen and I went and took pictures together on our last day. We visited with an investigator and she commited to come to church. I hope that it's more than once and not just one time. We had a lesson with an investigator, so we asked a member to come, but the investigator was a no show. I felt bad for the member but glad that she was willing to take the time even if it didn't work out. Then we went to an FHE where I had seafood curry for the first time. Appetizing. Then we talked about family history and played a kanji game. We then decorated a cake and ate it ourselves. A nice last night in Takabata.

Tue

An investigator made time to meet with us so we talked with her at the church building for about half an hour. I shared President Uchtdorf's quote "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith" and urged her to keep learning. Then a member dropped by with some potato salad and a fruit roll for us. We made the honey comb given to us by the recent convert by the recipe, but I gotta tell ya, It wasn't good. It was the texture of fat with little flavor and a bitter smell. Yuck. Maybe we made it wrong, maybe it wasn't good, but whatever the case, I think I'll stick to normal honey. Then we went to the golden clock at Nagoya station and I met my new companion. Also guess who else was at the clock? Sister Eguchi, my old companion! See picture. She had the day off so she and a friend came to Nagoya for the day and ran into all the missionaries. I was so happy to see her. Then Oda shimai and I picked up our stuff and went with the other missionaries from the Shizuoka zone to the train to take us out there. It was so strange to be in a part of Nagoya eki that I've never been in before. I was also so amazed at the new scenery outside the train. I'm so used to the same scenery that it was a slight shock to see different things. The train ride was also rather long. We rode a taxi (my first time on my mission) from the eki to our apartment because it apparently takes about half an hour to walk. The apartment is SOOOOOOOO NICE! See picture. It was an apartment that a senior couple was going to use, but she got sick and so they had to go home, so President Yamashita decided to put shimai here. We have beds! Well, technically, it is two twin beds bolted together to make a queen sized bed so we only have one bed, but as soon as we get them unbolted, we will have our own bed! Part of me wants to sleep on a futon just to say that I went my whole mission on a futon, but the other part of me wants to sleep on the bed. 

Wed

We spent part of the day in Fukuroi. We met with the advanced Eikaiwa students, and then we had to go back towards Nagoya because we had Leadership Council the next day. I got to spend the night in Yokkaichi, which meant that I got to see many old friends. I really enjoyed being there.

Thu

At Leadership Council, President Yamashita told us to use our heads, pray, and answer what we think is right to the missionaries in our zone. Since we are representatives of him in our various zones, we have to use our powers of reasoning and think on our own. If we really don't know, we can ask him, but up until that point, figure things out on your own is the gist of what he said. I think that it will help the mission to have self-sufficient leaders and a support rather than a burden to the mission president. We went back to Yokkaichi and then Sister Oda and I had to ride a shinkansen (bullet train, my first ever!) back to Fukuroi to make it home before the deadline. The shinkansen was very much like an airplane, but with more space for your legs.

Fri

Zone Training Meeting. It is so different to be in a different zone in a different building with different missionaries. In any case, we talked about the training we recieved and then went out to lunch at this tiny restaraunt. We filled it up pretty much and then they kindly kicked us out once we were done. It takes so long to get places out here! Everything is so far away I feel like. Maybe I've just been spoiled being close to other things out in my other areas. At night, we went with the elders to a PI's volleyball club. Everyone there was very good, so she told us to sit it out because otherwise we would get hurt. So we played crab soccer and hide-and-go-seek with the kids. Apparently it was so fun that the kids asked us to come back. 

Sat

The ward had a sushi party as done by a member's husband who is a professional sushi chef. I learned the proper way for sushi rolls and nigiri sushi. Let's hope I remember it all so that I can teach you when I get back. That took up most of the day, but we got to meet with members and non members alike.

Sun

The Fukuroi branch is very small. Only 25ish active members. I think that the thing that will help them the most is more numbers so that the responsibilities fall on other shoulders. There are many old people here and almost no young people. But, we hope to build the branch in anyway that we can. 

Love you lots,

Leah

Week 52

That's right! As of tomorrow I will have been in Japan for an entire year! It has gone by faster than I thought. I hope to make the best of these last three months.

Mon

In the morning we went to the festial at the local shrine. I ate so much! I was full from 11oclock to 6oclock. But I still wanted to eat more... In the afternoon, we went to Sakae, the main shopping district in Nagoya. There were some really ritzy places there, but we didn't go in for fear of pushy sales people. I bought two cardigans for $16, which I think is pretty cheap. I also found salsa, so I bought that. Unfortunately, it started to rain while we were out and we didn't bring umbrellas. Thankfully, it wasn't heavy rain. We stopped in at a takoyaki shop that looked pretty sketch, but it was delicious and cheap. I had wasabi mayonaise flavor. Then we went with some investigators to the honbu FHE. They enjoyed it. The Elder's Quorum President drove them there. President and Sister Yamashita both thought that he was an investigator.

Tue

We left the apartment at 11 after our studies. We went to some far away members and less actives. We didn't get back to the apartment until 8:30pm. In the morning, it was warmish, but then around noon the weather changed to really cold and rainy. Again no umbrellas or raincoats, so we took shelter in a convini and then decided to house a nearby apartment complex. By the time that was done, the rain had cleared up, but we were still cold. Then we went to help the one sister who was having bad morning sickness again. I'm always glad to be of service. We got back and planned and then the Toyama sisters came by because the next day was...

Wed

ALL MISSION SISTER CONFERENCE! All the sister missionaries from the whole mission got together for a special meeting. When I first got here, there were 12 sisters. Now there are 42 and still more coming. We talked about the same things as what Brother Heaton taught us. Then Sister Yamashita taught us about hand and leg massages with aroma therapy oils. It was smelly. We had subway for lunch! I don't know where they found a subway in Japan, but they did. Then we came home and taught Eikaiwa. A seventy-three year old man decided that he wanted to come for the first time. Just goes to show that no matter how old you are you can always learn something new.

Thu

Went out to visit people, no one home, so we used a coupon we got from a member and had a very delicious lunch of tempura eel. We had an appointment with some investigators. We decided to try for a more lighthearted approach, and because of that, one of them agreed to come to church every week!

Fri

We had our last meeting as a district. We guessed where everyone was going and ate chocolate and took a picture and we also talked about being consecrated missionaries. Spiritual and fun. We went to visit a PI, but we weren't sure where she lived in the building, so we rang the doorbell of everyone from the top to the bottom. Turns out she lives right next door to a current investigator. She invited us in and we talked about many things. She almost became an investigator but we couldn't get another appointment, so we weren't able to count it. In the near future she will be an investigator I think. We then went to a less active's house and had an FHE with them. The two younger kid's said that they didn't know who Jesus was at all. It was sad to hear that. But we hope to improve this!

Sat

We woke up and it was snowing! Already a few inches on the ground. For personal exercise we went and made a snowman. Then, transfer calls. Guess what? I'm...TRANSFERRING! I'm opening Fukuroi which is in Shizuoka prefecture which is near Mt. Fuji, so be expecting pictures within the next month! My new companion is Sister Oda, who is a transfer 5 missionary. This may be my last area and my last companion, but there's still one transfer call left, so you can't be sure. In my stead, Sister Hart, the sister that came with me to Japan, will be here. I trust her with this area and our investigators. I will miss them though. So as it was snowing, the roads were slushy. I crashed 4 times. I have some lovely bruises and scar layer #7 for my knee. At least this time all the skin wasn't taken off, just sort of cracked open. I'm fine. I didn't cry, but I just sat down on the curb. After about two minutes I was fine. So we walked home and didn't ride our bikes the rest of the day. Thankfully my bike isn't busted up. I got a blessing from the elders that said comforting things.

Sun

Our investigator came to church and she agreed to be baptized! One less active came to church during Relief Society and asked us if we could go to a nearby park and bury her guinea pig which had died. We gladly went with her and said a prayer with her. We had a food party with the ward. Lots of good food. The cookies that we brought were all eaten. One member gave us a coupon for a hot dog shop so we are planning to go there today for lunch.

 

Love you all,

Leah