Week 15

One week left of this transfer. I got two letters in the mail last week, I just forgot to tell you. The answers to your questions are:

• I don't need a poncho
•  Eguichi shimai is different from Rogers shimai, but not bad
• she's struggling with her own weaknesses right now
• she has been out 1 year and 3 months
• she has been a member her whole life, her parents are converts
• exercise on the bike led to weight loss I think
• We biked in the dark in the winter a lot, you kind of have to when gets dark at 5 oclock and you have 4 more hours of proselyting, but now we try to be home before it gets dark
• I feel like I am going to transfer
• mountainous areas are cooler but the make up for that in hills

Mon

I got a my hair trimmed. The man who did my hair looked like a throw back from the 80's with bleached hair and black jeans and a band t-shirt, but he was very nice, "soft cream" in his words.

Tue

One of the members invited us to his house where we baked homemade pizzas with an investigator. So delicious. The investigator opened up a little during the meal, yay!

Wed

A married couple of investigators accepted the invitation to be baptized! WOHOOOO! Their date is for the 7 of July. As we were teaching the lesson, I was bearing my testimony and I wondered to myself "is this the time where I invite them?" and I felt a very clear and strong voice say "Yes." So I invited and they, without hesitation, said "Yes." Nothing else, no complications, just yes. Thank you Heavenly Father for your Spirit. Because that lesson went longer than expected, we had no time for dinner. Oh well. It was worth it. We met another investigator on the way home. On the way to the lesson I had the thought we ought to stop in and say hi, but I thought it would be better to be a little early to the lesson than stop. On the way back, she was out walking her dog, so we said hello/goodbye. I guess Heavenly Father really wanted us to see her that day. I also saw two crows picking on a heron. The heron would fly from bank to bank of the canal and the crows would fly after him and peck at him. Kinda sad.

Thu

Elder Michael Ringwood of the Seventy came and spoke to our mission. It felt like a very personal message to me, and everyone else we talked to said the same thing. That's the Spirit for ya. I unfortunately, that day of all days, forgot my name tag. Oops. I finally finished Jesus the Christ. It makes me want to re-read it, but there are other things that I need to read. Also, I saw an old lady with vivid bright blue hair.

Fri

We went to a flower festival with a less active (see attatched pictures). There were roses the size of my face! I also ate rose ice cream and vinegar soda. The vinegar soda was actually pretty good. Imagine a very fruity, sugary red wine vinegar with light fizz.

Sat

I had a small bought of the stomach flu. Do not worry, I am fine. It was not something I ate. I am over it now. I have medications and I took them to feel better. NO PANICKING, FUSSING, OR WORRYING. I was feeling well enough to ride our bike to an investigator's house. When we got there, we met her father who was absolutely wasted. He tried to give me money, but we hastily got back on our bikes and rode away. It was a classic experience: missionary meets drunk.

Sun

We haven't been able to get an appointment with an investigator, but he did give us several concerns or questions that he has been thinking about, so we wrote our replies and scriptures to back it up and plan to drop them in his mailbox every so often.

Mon

Elder Hiruta is going home on Monday, so today we ate lunch with the elders and visited the shrine and then ate ice cream.

 

Love ya,

Leah