Week 51

Mon

I spent most of P-Day writing over-due letters. 31 in total! My hand hurt by the end. We showed up at our investigators's house without an appointment and were able to talk with her. She's worried about various things, ranging from her kids' school to her apartment to whether or not God is listening. We promised her that He was.

Tue

We get a text from this investigator saying that she got an A on her report for her license renewal. She said that it must have been because of God and because of prayer. Yay! Confirmation of prayers! We went to one member who is suffering a lot from morning sickness and helped clean her house and keep her company. Then we went out to a member who we have never visited before. Because we were out and about, we stopped by a convini for lunch. I bought what I thought was a dark chocolate ice cream bar to find out it was a coffee chocolate ice cream bar. Why is it that these things seem to be happening often lately? I guess I'll have to stick to things I know are ok and not try new things. We got a hold of a former investigator. She said that the Catholic church had a better image to her than our church because it had been around for longer. Plus, you can go and come as you please and there aren't people who are trying to get all in your business. I wonder if she actually goes to a Catholic church or if this is just the image she has of it.

Wed

We met with a member who asked us how she can bear her testimony better to her friends. I love it when members have conversations like that with us. She also said that she wants to befriend one of our investigators so please let her meet the members. I was also so happy to hear the member say that she wanted to get to know our investigator. Yay for member missionary work!

Thu

We helped one member straighten up her house because her mom recently entered a nursing home. When we got there, she was like before we work, let's eat and talk about missionary work. We gladly accepted. She made lasagna! She talked about the people in the ward that could use visits from the members and what the ward's spiritual goals were for the year. I was very happy to have this kind of conversation because the members know the ward so much better than we do, so they know what to do and who to say it to. Then she offered us some blankets since she has extra. I was happy to accept because we need extra ones for times when other sister missionaries stay at our apartment for meetings and such.

Fri

Interviews with the Mission President! I was there most of the day because the sister training leaders had a meeting with the zone leaders and assistants afterwards. Then we had a companion exchange with the Yokkaichi sisters. Since it was the 31st, we began our companion exchange by going to Baskin' Robbins and doing planning there. I got 31 love, a mint ice cream with lemon marshmallows. Not recommended. Our appointment canceled, so we decided to eat dinner and then visit investigators without an appointment. We ring one person's door and she says, yeah come in and let's have dinner together! So she made us egg sushi. It was good, but it was also our second dinner, so we couldn't eat very much.

Sat

We had a new family come to kid's eikaiwa. I really hope that the population of kids gets big enough so we can split it into older and younger because it is hard to teach a class that is oriented to both eight and four year olds. Then we went to visit investigators and members. On the way there, we met this one lady who said that she wanted to meet with us again because she had forgotten most of her English. I hope that we can meet with her again. Then, when we went on our way again, a man just fell over as he was walking in front of me. I slammed on my brakes so as not to run over him. He said that he was fine, his legs were just acting funny. Once he rested a bit he could keep going. So we hesitantly left. One member was home, but it was hard to talk because the bushes in front of her apartment were being trimmed by a power saw. As we were going back, the man who fell was gone. We spotted him down the street a little ways so when we caught up with him again, I expressed my relief that he was ok. We talked for a little bit and invited him to listen to the lessons. He said no, but he was nice. Sister Stremcha and I went back to the train station to switch back from our companion exchange. We arrived a little early, so we went to a nearby crepe shop and both bought blueberry cream chesse crepes. Sister Hansen and I get to the apartment to find that...our keys are missing. I take everything out of my bag and they are not in there. We go down to our bikes and I check the basket, not there. We walk along the street to our appointment's house (which we had traveled earlier) looking for the keys. Not there. So we called the honbu and they said that they would be there in 30-40 min with a spare key. In the mean time, we kept trawling the street looking for the keys. I kept hoping that they wouldn't have been picked up by someone and taken someplace else or kicked by a bike into a drain. The honbu missionaries deliver the key. By the end of the day, no keys found.

Sun

One member asked how our bikes were doing. I said that the spokes on my back tire were kinda bad so he kindly tightened them up for me. After church was done, we went back to the train station from the night before and asked if any keys had been turned in. No such luck. So we went about our day's plans. We stopped by a less active's house. She wasn't home, but her daughter was. Her daughter let us in and we had a long discussion about God and the purpose to life and motivations. We asked if it would be ok to come back and have this kind of conversation again, but she said no. We intend to go back anyway. We visited one less active, not home, so we go back to our bikes and start packing up. I felt like we should knock on doors at the apartment complex next door. So we did. No one home. As we get back to our bikes, I put my bag full of pamphlets and Books of Mormon in my bike basket. It seemed to jingle. I picked it back up and lo and behold the keys were in my bag. The unspectacular version of this story is I should have checked my dendo bag more thoroughly and we found it because we had used it. The spectacular version of this story is I followed a prompting and Heavenly Father answered my prayers in a miraculous way.

Mon

There was a festival at a nearby shrine. See pictures. I bought a skewer from the man giving a thumbs up. Very delicious. I wish I could send you the video I took, it's pretty cool.

Week 50

Mon

Nothing especially special happened that I can recall. We spent the day inside. I spent most of it writing more letters. We went out streeting and didn't meet many willing to talk. We tried housing, but it turns out the complex we chose was an assisted living place for old sick people. Oops.

Tue

We decided that we would make cards out a part of Elder Nielsen's talk from General Conference and give them to members to help increase their desire to do missionary work. We hope that the members feel a fire in them to do the work because we certainly can't do it alone. We met with a less-active who was happy to see us, which made us glad. She has some unfortunate circumstances that prevent her from going to church each week, so hopefully we can build her up to going at least more often. 

Wed

I went on a companion exchange with the Gokiso sisters. Sister Fowles and I had a really good time talking about missionary work and experiences and how to recieve revelation and the plan of salvation. We swapped stories about Sister Rogers because she trained both of us. Then we taught an after baptism lesson to a convert of about three weeks. She gave me a hair tie that looks like a wedding corsage. There are a lot of people on the streets in the Gokiso area! It's the smallest area in the mission but there are a lot of people packed in there.

Thu

We swapped back and Sister Hansen and I went to visit a less active. Unfortunately, their whole family had the stomach flu that week, but thankfully we went on the day that everyone was starting to heal up. The grandma made us rice pudding. I think that it was the first and possibly only time that I liked rice pudding. We asked her to write her testimony on a piece of paper so that we could put it in a Book of Mormon to give to a Potential Investigator. I think it helped her feel the spirit a little in this time that is hard.

Fri

DTM was fun. The Gokiso sisters got a call on the phone but they didn't know what the person was saying so they passed the phone over to me. Glad to be a sister training leader. We had an appointment with an investigator in mind, but they canceled last minute, so we housed. Some nice people, some not so nice people. We went to deliver a card to a member. She said that we came at the perfect time because it was her son's open school night where the parents come and see their kid's art and such. We went and admired and actually had some people ask us about Eikaiwa. Overall, a good way to spend the evening I think. The Yokkaichi sisters beat us to our apartment. They were staying over because the next day we had..

Sat

Leadership Training! All current leaders and potential leaders got together and had training from Brother Heaton, the manager of the MTC. We talked about having a worm's eye view and a bird's eye view in comparison to a missionary and God's view. We then talked about how to help investigators progress through recieving revelation by study. It was a Spirit filled day. Unfortunately, Sister Hansen caught the stomach flu (probably from the Less Actives we visited). However, I did get the box! The clothes fit. The only trouble is that the non plaid green dress is too big in the shoulders. I think I can make it work though. Thanks for the bike lights. I appreciate the Japanese children's songbook CD's. I listened to them yesterday.

Sun

Home all day because companion is sick. I kept busy by writing lesson plans and making cookies and studying the Plan of Salvation. I just hope that I make it through the week without having been to sacrament meeting.

 

Love you all,

Leah

Week 49

Mon

We had a district activity where we went to the Nagoya Science Museum. It was much like the children's museum, but in Japanese so not quite as interesting. They had a static discharge room with two giant tesla coils by which they made "lightning." Very loud. We wanted to get into the planetarium, but unfortunately the tickets were all sold out. On the way home we stopped by a convini and bought ice cream. I bought something that I hadn't ever seen before. It turned out to be tirimisu flavored. Oops. It did taste good though. Then we went to a family home evening with some members. Remarkably, the whole family was there for one point. It was only for about 3 min however. We made potstickers from scratch! Tasty.

Tue

We had a companion exchange planned with the Yokkaichi sisters, but both of our schedules changed last minute so there was some hasty planning and power walking to the train station to make it to our appointments. Thankfully it all worked out. I was with Sister Omine, a Japanese missionary from Okinawa who just got here three weeks ago. She is doing great for how long she has been out. We visited a former investigator. I think that investigator only likes Japanese missionaries because when I went with Hansen shimai it was a completely different reaction. We finally met this one Less Active! After four and a half months being here we finally went to her house at a time when she was home. She was glad to see us and said that she would like to meet with us again, but three of her kids are taking big tests (along the lines of the SAT or ACT) so once those were over she would have more time to talk. She is a girl scout troop leader and she wants to hear lots about what girl scouts is like in the States and what we did when we were girl scouts.

Wed

No one we visited was home. Met with a lot of refusals at doors. But, on the up side, the bishop brought us Pizza Hut pizza for dinner! There was only one beginner student at Eikaiwa, but that's ok.

Thu

We brought cards to some members who had birthdays this week. (Thanks for the stationary, it really helps!) Whenever we brought cards, they gave us something in return, like cookies or fruit or something. It suprised me because I usually just keep everything on my birthday. They are very generous. We had about 30 min extra time at the end of the day, so we decided to go to the train station and talk to people around there. We went at the time where no one was out, so we just sort of waited by the exit till another train pulled up. I was looking at the map of the street when people started coming out. I guess it must have looked like I was confused or lost or something, because this one girl stopped and asked where we were going and if we didn't know she would take us there. So I said that we were going to the library (which wasn't true, but she was willing to walk and talk with us so I picked someplace). She spent a year in New Zeland as an exchange student and went to church there. She learned a lot and really liked how she felt there. She said that when she came back to Japan she wanted to find a church but she never got around to it. So we said, hey, there's a church right there and we go to it and you should come. She is a college student and this is mid-term season for Japanese schools, so she said that she would go with us once midterms were over. We are praying that she does and that we can meet with her again before that.

Fri

We had District Meeting. It is much more fun with 8 people than with 4 people, but it is also easier to get off track. We went to curry with the elders before we headed back to our own area. We visited one sister who recently returned from visiting Iran. She said that the food was great and the weather even better. Her house was in this area with lots of tiny windy streets. It was fun to ride our bikes through there.

Sat

We had a good group of kids for Kid's Eikaiwa. If each week was like that, I would look forward to teaching it each week. But, I can't control who comes. It was a warm day, but at the end of the day some rain blew in. Thankfully we didn't get caught in it. It did ice over the streets at night, though.

Sun

The ward mission leader didn't show up for the weekly mission council. Hmm. We talked about temples and family history work in Gospel Principles. Thankfully some members were also there with the less actives and recent converts to help explain and provide experiences. If the same group comes next week, I think we should drop in on the family history class so they can learn how to do it themselves. We went over to a returning member's house to make a cake after church which turned into several hours of listening to her life. I was happy that she is friendly enough with us to invite us over and talk about things, but another part of me thinks about what else we could have done with that time, but another part of me thinks that if those things were really pressing, we would have left earlier. Ho hum. It was an enjoyable visit nonetheless. And the cake was good.

 

Love,

Leah

Week 48

Mon

We spent the first Monday in about two months at home. I was finally able to write some long due letters. Unfortunately, no one was free to go to the FHE at the honbu, so we spent the night looking up Less actives near Nagoya station. We were only able to actually talk to one person. Oh well. The sisters working in the Fuji area came to our apartment because on the next day

Tue

Leadership Council! We went an hour over because there was so much to talk about. I think we did talk about issues that are of importance however, so I was ok with it going over. We served ourselves lunch this time so I didn't walk away feeling over-full. We got back and only had a little bit of time, so Sister Hansen and I talked to people on the street. We came back home but satisfied with our work.

Wed

Rain. Cold cold rain. We planned to visit people living far away by train because we had a lot of time, so Sister Hansen didn't bring an umbrella. She got soaked. We stopped at a convini and bought an umbrella. By the end of the day all I wanted was to hold a cup of hot chocolate while wrapped up in a dry blanket. So I did.

Thu

President Yamashita wanted all missionaries to get flu shots, so we went and got them. The paper work at the beginning was the hardest part because not only was it in Japanese, but it was medical Japanese. The gift of interpretation of tongues was definitely at play that day because we managed to fill it out. It didn't hurt too bad. We did weekly planning and then delivered cookies to an investigator. She didn't answer the door so we thought we would leave them in her mail box but they wouldn't fit through the slot, so we just jammed them in. Crumbly cookies are still delicious.

Fri

We had ZTM and then I went to Gokiso on an exchange. We taught a lesson to a friend of a current investigator. The lesson was spirituall for all I think. I hope that the friend continues to meet with the missionaries. I ate a lot of candy there because they have alot still left over from Christmas since the elders gave them all of their candy.

Sat

We had an activity with the Relief Society where we made macrobiotic food. It was delicious and easy to make. Then we taught family eikaiwa. The mom read the Book of Mormon a little! We visited a less active from the Philipenes. She gave us key chains that look like frogs because they are made from frog skin. It's...interesting.

We spent most of the day with a recent convert having a winter picnic. While we were eating, many neighborhood cats started circling us. None of them were brave enough to come too close, but we did feel a little uncomfotable with six pairs of eyes watching us.

 

Love you lots

Week 47 Mochi Making

Mon

We finally went to the aqarium! It was basically like the aquatic part of the Indy zoo with the exceptions of killer whales, belugas, and a mackrel exhibit. For the mackrel exhibit, they had a bag of fish food on a wire that they would plunge into the tank so the mackrel would swarm in their silvery tornado to that point. Above the tank they had spotlights in various colors so the fish reflected those colors. For our entertainment they set it to music. It was actually pretty, but the novelty wore off after a few minutes. One poor penguin had no feathers on its head. I'm not sure if it was sick, if it got picked on, if it was born that way, or what. I finally filled up my first SD card! I have now switched to a new one. I don't think that I will fill this one up by the end of my mission unless I take a lot of videos. We went with the elders to their recent convert's house for a going away party since Elder Richard was transferring. We ate a lot of meat, which is rare in Japan.

Tue

We went out for the day, only to find Sister Hansen's front bike tire flat. I have tire patches, but no pump, and the elders have no pump, and all of the stores were closed for New Years (which is about as big as Christmas is in the States). So we had to do with no bikes for that day and for all day Wednesday. We had just finished lunch when one less active texted us and said "I'm so excited to meet with you today" and I said, oh no, I forgot we were meeting her today, so we had to rush out the door and catch the train. She then fed us second lunch and read our fortunes from what color nail polish we chose. She's a funny lady. Then we had to catch the bus and then walk to a member's house. Unfortunately we were late, but they were very understanding. We had cheeze fondue again. Maybe it's the thing to eat on holidays in Japan. Then we roasted marshmallows over the table stove. We taught a lesson about baptism and the spirit using pepper and soap to help their seven year old get ready for baptism.

Wed

The biggest holiday in Japan, but not a lot of pomp or commercialism or partying, just families visiting the local shrine and spending the day together. We went to the shrines and talked to people there. Saw some interesting things there that only get shown on the first, but no pictures of them because that's rude. The bishopbric asked us not to go housing this week because it is such a big deal in Japan. Imagine getting our doorbell rung on Christmas by Jehovah's Witnesses. But, it was hard not to because there were so many families together and at home. We spent the evening watching the Work of Salvation Broadcast since Sister Hansen didn't get to see it when it first came out.

Thu

We got Sister Hansen's bike fixed. There was some strange metal sharp thing that poked a hole in it. Then we went out to find some less actives. Most of the addresses we had didn't have apartment numbers, so we asked the people living in the apartment complexes and just guessed. We went to Denny's for lunch, but it is not anything like American Denny's. The only thing remotely close to breakfast food was salmon cakes on pancakes covered in holandaise sauce (which I got, it was good). Everything else on the menu was completely Japanese, like fish egg rice bake.

Fri

We met with a returning member whose circle of friends just got smaller because they got on the wrong side of the law. She was worried about various things, but we talked, and just as we were finishing up, the elders came and they gave her a blessing of protection. She said that she had been praying for help and that the missionaries coming to her house was a recognizeable answer to her prayers. As we were riding home, we ran into one of our investigators. We stopped and said hi, when the person with our investigator was like "hi, do you remember me, we met once in April. Here's my phone number, give me a call." I know that Heavenly Father put us there at that time so that we could meet with this former investigator once more. I know that he blesses others through us.

Sat

We went to a mochi making activity held by the ward. Mochi is pounded rice that is then topped with or filled with various things. See attached pictures. I ate so much mochi I had a stomachache. We visited with the bishop and got a betty crocker brownie mix from them. We were very delighted to take it off their hands. When we made it, I was only able to eat one because it was so sweet. I guess I have turned Japanese.

Sun

No investigators at church, but four less actives came. Yay! We found the first house to actually stump the missionaries. The first floor is the parking spot for the cars. The second floor is their business. The third floor is their house. There is only one stairwell and only one doorbell, which means that if you want to visit with the less active, you must disturb their business. They got the better of us this time. But we will be back!

 

Love ya,

Leah

Week 46

Mon

We went to Atsuta jingu (the fourth largest shrine in Japan) with an investigator family. See picture. It was very large and well kept. We then went to a mall and I found a new watch for $3 because Iost my old watch. After that, we went carrolling with a member and then went to an FHE with a member. I thought that a dinner-y type thing would be provided, but I was mistaken so we just had chips for dinner. But recently that's all that we've eating. There is a lot of junk food in the apartment and I've told myself that I'm just going to eat it until it's gone and deal with the consequences later because it't the holidays.

Tue

We went to help out a member clean her workplace because she had been asked to do the whole place on her own. Apparently the manager got a little upset that missionaries were helping her. I believe that any service done with good intentions is only in the service of God, but I do understand how it could be misinterpreted as the missionaries staking out new territory or something. Then we went and had dinner with a recent convert and her daughters. See picture. We had cheeze fondue. It was a little strange to be eating so much cheeze because dairy in Japan is not common.

Wed

Opened my box. Thanks for all the wonderful presents! Talked to you people. Then we went out and delivered the last of the cookies from the relief society to less actives. Then we got everything ready for the Eikaiwa party. About 20 people came, which was expected. We played pin the nose on the reindeer and talked about candy canes and ate a lot of food. Over all, it felt like a normal day. It really felt just the same as any other proselyting day.

Thu

Christmas had been building and building so it felt like it wasn't over, but it was. We taught lesson 2 and 3 to a family. The kids think that it's all true but the mom is still full of doubts. By the end of the day, it was raining, so we donned our rain suits and headed out to visit FI's and members and such. No one was home, but we pedaled anyway.

Fri

Went to a member's house to help her do her spring cleaning (except in Japan they do it in January). I am always so happy to do service. Then we went to a member's takoyaki shop. Then we went to a less active's house which was in the opposite direction of the takoyaki shop. Basically, we rode our bikes for about two hours straight. But there are no hills pretty much, so it was easy riding. We got a referral from the honbu! She met some missionaries on the train. They asked her about Eikaiwa and she wasn't interested. But she was interested in the church. Haven't made contact yet, but hopefully soon.

Sat

It snowed! The elders both thought they were going to die. I thought it was beautiful. I am very glad that we have hats and gloves and coats and such although. The ground wasn't cold enough for it to build up, so it was just wet. I was much happier that it was snowing than raining because then it wasn't as wet as it was on Thursday. Transfer calls: no change. Elder Richard is transferring however. No one came to kid's eikaiwa. We helped a member move out and then we went out to sushi with some members. We then took down the Christmas trees at the chuch and put them in the closet. I'm not sure how they are usually put away, so next year when they pull them out again they may be a little confused.

Sun

I heard an interesting theory from some members. Apparently the Japanese emperors all speak Hebrew. Wheneve Jews come and see events where they hear that language being spoken, they all say that it is Hebrew. Then, on the back of Ise-Jingu, the largest possibly the most famous shrine in Japan, is written in Hebrew "this is the place of the Messiah" or something like that. Therefore, many members believe that the emperors know that the Japanese are decendents of the Hebrews and that if they told the populace, many people would be baptized. Apparently there are books written about it. On Sunday we went out with a member to visit a less active. I think it went well. We also had delicious food. I finally found out the answer to my long pondered question "where do tomatoes and potatoes come from?" The answer is: they both come from the Andes mountains and were exported to Europe and other places when Columbus and other explorers returned home. I wish that we could do missionary work with members all the time. It is the better way.

 

Love you all,

Leah

Week 45 Christmas Eve!

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas already! I still feel like it is the beginning of December.

 

Mon

After we e-mailed our families, we went and delivered cookies from the Relief Society to Less Actives. We soon discovered that many addresses are either incomplete or incorrect. I wish that I could go in and change the information on the ward rosters, but I am not the Ward Clerk, so I can't.

Tue

We made cookies for a carroling activity. We made plain sugar cookies and the holiday fruit drops. The member that we made them with was so suprised to put dried fruit in cookies. Then I went to Gokiso on a kokan. Their apartment is actually an entire house. The downstairs has been remodled because it used to be a store of some sort but the upstairs is very old fashioned Japanese style. They also have a landing on the roof. I went to teach a family with Sister Nielson. Their son had a freak stroke at a young age and so he is bed bound and un able to talk, but still responsive. When we came in the door, he began to smile uncontrollably. The care worker who was there on his weekly visit said that it was the first time that he had ever seen the boy that happy in the entire year that he had been coming. We started the lesson in the next room over and the boy shifted himself so that he could be facing us. The worker and the parents were all suprised. It just seemed to me that it goes to show that anyone can feel the Spirit and everyone has spirits within themselves. We visited the former stake president unnanounced and his wife decided to feed us. I was very thankful because we didn't have time to eat dinner that day. I asked him when he was stake president what were the most effective missionary programs. He said that members creating a list of people they would like the Lord to bless, (specifically in chances to hear the gospel) ad then they prayed each day for those people. He also said that the ward having monthly activities for investigators or less actives was also effective.

Wed

We ended the kokan and went straight to a member appointment. It was raining and I didn't have an umbrella so we got pretty wet. And cold. But thankfully we didn't catch a cold. We then went To try and visit a less active, not home, so we bought dinner from a convini and ate it before Eikaiwa.

Thu

We finally got hold of an investigator that we have been trying to meet for a very long time. Yay! Her response at seeing us was better than I expected. We set up an appointment for the next day where...

Fri

She said that she wanted more time to think about baptism. She said that she had been feeling a little bit of pressure, so I said yes, it's ok to have some more time. Then another investigator called us up and said that she would like to meet because her schedule opened up and she had enough time. We talked about the Law of Chastity using the Family Proclamation as a tool. She seemed a little confused as to why this was an issue because she's already doing it. Then we went to a recent convert's birthday party. He pulled out his book of mormon and told pretty much all of the people who came about it and why it made him so happy. We have a few good potential investigators from that party.

Sat

We had kid's eikaiwa, prepared for the ward Christmas party, taught family Eikaiwa, and then went to the ward Chrristmas Party to help set up. I think that for the people who came who were not involved, it was fun, but for the members it was nothing but stress. Elder Richard played Santa. He is about as fat as a cow coming out of a famine, so he had to bulk up with jackets and bags, but it still wasn't enough. I laughed very hard when I saw him.

Sun

We had carrolling with a member for most of the day. It was very fun. Suprisingly, my voice was actually a little raw by the end. We had delicous cake with her.

 

Lots of Love, talk to you Wednesday!