floor of the apartment. The kitchen has a fridge, microwave, rice cooker and toaster oven.
Here's the porch leading to McMahan Shimai's apartment. Her bike is the one closest, with the basket. Emily says the Japanese moms ride everywhere on their bikes, with their baskets loaded with kids, groceries and everything else!
The picture above is McMahan Shimai and McMurtrey Shimai, along with two Elders (Choros) having a lunch appointment with a member family!
10 Feb 2009
Dear Family:
Our transfer theme is Mosiah 2:9. Open your eyes to God, mind to the gospel, mouth to the people, and heart to the atonement. We are to memorize the scripture in our non-native language.
We have met a number of Chinese people on the street who don't know Japanese too much. Nagase Shimai (note: Em's companion) shows them the kanji on the pamphlet. Since I have been here, I have met a couple people from the Philippines as well. It reminds me that I am in the Eastern Hemisphere. I usually don't feel far from home except for the times I find out someone is from China, Taiwan, or the Philippines.
We needed to do our visiting teaching to Shuto Shimai. I thought that was the name of the primary president and I remembered the primary president's house. So, on bike, I lead Nagase Shimai there. Yeah, it was the primary president but her name was not Shuto Shimai! Pretty funny. Nagase S. got to have a good chat with the president though and that was great!
Recently Nagase Shimai ran into a car on her bike. The car was coming out of a street. Her front wheel had a microscopic bend but enough to make the break not stop it correctly. Later that day her tire was completely flat. She was okay from the fall though. The car got scratched but the man driving was nice. He was older and had money. His car was nice and he was jolly. He was very apologetic and said not to worry about the car. He pointed to her name tag and said "christian." Luckily and elder went home last transfer, elder meyers. We went to the elders apartment in due time and switched out nagase shimais bike for his. he had a basket on his bike and that is what nagase shimai needed!
We met Yumi-san on the street at the end of the day yesterday. She was right by the eki (train station). the eki is a 7-minute walk on foot from the church. turns out this girl is 20 and did homestay in seattle for a year with a mormon fmaily. she went to church but the english was hard. what is cool is she had time and interest right then and there for a church tour. sooo we walked up the hill and did a church tour. i chatted with yumi while we walked. the japanese rolled out. that was refreshing. i think my japanese is improving because i speak japanese with nagase shimai. i am very poor at it, but spitting out even one word in japanese seems to help. at the end of the tour she took a book of mormon. she is afraid that if she joins our church she won't be able to go to other ones. for the tour we taught about the book of mormon, joseph smith, and the need for a restoration. i got to recite the first vision. i love doing that! there is such a power in those words. for the church tour we start with prayer in the entry and look at a picture of Christ and the children and talk about it. then we go to the baptismal font. we finish in the chapel.
we use the book of mormon streeting (contacting in the parks/streets) . it is so fun. we ask if we could share a small part of the book. the recent scripture i chose to share is the one about seeking, asking, and finding. nagase shimai is amazing! we stop every one we see. we had 8 conversations and 9 referral attempts. a conversation is: giving the church's name, bearing testimony and asking for a commitment. so, not all stops are conversations. sometimes if they do not have interest nagase shimi will say "kantan na chirashi dake" or "only a simple pahmplet." i used to be worried to stop people because the language was hard and i didn't get to talk very much. now i am so excited to stop people. i cant wait for the next person!
as missionaries we are always sleepy. it is so amazing. we get a lot of sleep but always sleepy. my body gets tired from getting on and off my bike so much and my brain gets worked from the language and constantly thinking about other people, but the inside keeps on going. i don't understand how people can do this for two years. it is sooo taxing.
i realize more and more the blessing of obedience. when we are obedient we can focus. focusing only on missionary work is important for a missionary. when we focus and have the spirit we will be better equipped to effectively share the gospel with others. i have found that smiling always gives me confidence and gives a sense of involvement.
dad, that is so crazy about the volcano. the air seems ok here. i am grateful. i didn't like the fires in california because my lungs are so sensitive! as for the rock band times, i am soooooooo sad i can't be with the fam. i get homesick for music and "mcmahan cinema"! i miss the big green couch and the fireplace but i know that time as a missionary goes way too fast and i always need to focus. that is how i can leave japan without regret.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEE YOUUUUUUUU
maku shimai
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