"People put in my path to be my example"

Emily was transferred on Nov 24 to Adachi. Her new companion is Kina Shimai. Above is a photo and here's a link that describes the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adachi,_Tokyo

30 November 2009

Let me tell you about Kina Shimai, my companion. She is the only member in her family and has parents and two older brothers. She joined the church at age 11. Apparently her grandma is a member. She went to an all girls high school. Her parents were against her serving a mission, but let her go. Her dad wrote her for the first time last transfer. She is on her 5th transfer, I think... She has atrophy dermatitis. At least that is what it came up as when I changed the Japanese Atopi to Wnglish. She itches a lot and even itches in her sleep. She has had it since she was a little kid. She is a great companion and works well in unity during lessons, giving me time to talk etc etc. It is her 4th transfer here in Adachi.

My district is pretty sweet. Bertanogle Shimai is on her last transfer. Elder Harris, the DL, goes home next transfer. He white washed and trained in Koiwa last transfer. There are two elders who are on their second transfer. I am the only new member of the district this transfer.

Tuesday, as I told you, a mom and dad and recently RM son came to put my bike together. (the son served in Canada and the mom is Phillippino). My bike broke in transit! They took is back to their place and will buy a new part. It will cost about 15 bucks. It willl take about 2 weeks to fix. In the meantime another member, Sister Watanabe, was nice enough to let me borrow her mamachati(the beach cruiser type) until it is ready.　The DL and his comp were going to come over and fix my bike and take their pday to do it. Good thing they didn't! It was totally broken. A part where the chain meets the pack wheel area was broken off.

Last Tuesday we had a lesson with Kanno-san. She's taken the lessons for quite a while, even back when it was elders. We talked about faith a bit and then watched the Finding Faith in Christ DVD. Good times. She fed us crepes and Baskin Robbins raisin flavored ice cream afterwards. So good!

Wednesday we had a lesson with Furusawa Shimai. She is a less active. I guess before her baptism she was Jehovah's Witness and now is again. She thinks her name is off the church's records, but it isn't. She is a very nice lady and has very little money. She feels like she can't listen to us because she is Jehovah's Witness and in that religion people are not allowed to investigate other religions. She is a nice lady and really into 'odd' or 'unusual' experiences and believes she was led to become a Jehovah's Witness. Apparently in the closing prayer she prayed for us to find an investigator to take up the time during which we usually meet with her.

Next on Wednesday we rode our bikes to a nearby eki (train station) and met Elder Harris and his companion, whose name I have sadly forgotten. The joint for the lesson couldn't come so he called the elders. I had talked to Elder Harris on the phone and asked if he wanted to teach Ronney, the investigator, but he said it was our investigator and so we should and he would pipe in if it turned into 'bible bashing' or war of words etc. Well, Ronney loved the elders and he talked to them the entire time. Roney is a Phillippino and a preacher in another Christian church. He speaks perfect English. He talked for about 30 minutes, telling us that his job was to tell us to open our hearts and come unto Christ. He has been meeting with the missionaries for quite some times, back when it was elders. He met twice with the sisters last transfer. Anywho, he knows everything about Mormonism and has, apparently, read some anti Mormon literature. The elders didn't get many words in, but Elder Harris and his comp. were really great. They referred back to the Book of Mormon, saying it was true and that they, too, loved God and wanted Ronney to know for himself that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was God's restored church. At one point Elder Harris said " Ronney, I feel like you are attacking me" but very politely. After about 40 minutes and the elders telling Ronney that prayer would tet him know if our message was true or not, I said "Ronney, we can give you knowledge but understanding and testimony come through prayer. We want you to pray to know if these things are true." He responded by changing the subject and the elders were about to speak but I said "The elders live far and they need to leave."

The funny thing about this is that Brother Takahashi was there listening and asked Ronney for Bible Lessons. BRother Takahashi is not the most mental stable person around. He goes to teh Koiwa ward. We told Ronney he was a member of our church. Well, when Brother Takahashi and the elders left, Ronney told us to be careful of Brother Takahashi because he was not mentally all there, and then he showed us a picture of his family. Even though Ronney just wanted to study the Bible (he said he was not here to join any religion, but to find commonality and open our eyes to the love of God) I saw that picture and felt that dropping him as investigator would be not good. So, I told him I would give him a call. I called him a few days ago, saying we would not meet at McDonald's (where we had met) but only at the church. He said he would call again in regards to a next appointment.

Oh, and the cool thing I learned is that Elder Harris is a direct descendant of Martin Harris. Pretty neat. He mentioned it during our meeting with Ronney. Ronney asked if Elder Harris had read the entire Book of Mormon, to which Elder Harris said yes. Then Ronney asked if he had read the Bible in its entirety. Elder Harris also said yes to that, which was pretty cool I thought.

Anyways.... so much to write. Only 20 minutes.

We met later that evening with an invetigator, Aimi Nakamura. She is an inside person and loves computer games. We read from the Book of Mormon at the gym/communuity center place where she works then went out for Ramen. Sadly, she has not been reading the Book of Mormon lately.

Thursday was Eikaiwa. Before eikaiwa we with with Okamoto-san. He is maybe 40 years old. Bro and Sis Nibley jointed (note: Bro. Nibley is an American and the ward mission leader in Adachi. He's related to Hugh Nibley) . We talked about faith and watched Finding Faith in Christ. He did not make a next appointment, sadly. He is worried about his faith not being strong. Although we did the lesson in Japanese, he has perfect English.

For eikaiwa, I told them how to trace their hand and make a turkey. We wrote a thank you letter at the end of class. Fun times. I guess everyone really enjoyed it.

Now I would like to tell you about the Ito family. They are amazing. There is an older son and daughter, both of whom are married and have kids. Then there are three sons, all in wheel chairs, the eldest of whom died last month. He was 23 or so. They all have the same problem with their bodies, it seems. The youngest is Dan at age 17. He is the healthiest. Next is Tatsunari, age 21. The eldest is the one who passed away. The eldest was the skinniest. His legs and arms were bones, but his head was ok although it was a bit odd shaped from being in a wheel chair his whole life. Tatsunari is the next healthiest. He cannot move his legs or hands by himself. He and Dan have a helper with them all the time. Tatsunari kyodai, because he has a cold, breathes with a whisp and has persperation on his forehead. Dan is the healthiest and strongest. He can hold his head up, but cannot move his legs. He can move his arms more than Tatsunari-san, and therefore gets around by using his finger to push the button for his electric wheelchair. There is absolutely nothing mentally wrong with these guys. Only their body has a problem. I don't know the name for it though. They must be hand fed all the time. I didn't bring my journal, but I wrote about them last night. They have strong testimonies and I keep thinking how happy I am to know that we will one day be resurrected and that these boys will have the change to be married and have a family. I feel silly worrying about whether I am chubby or not, whether my food is seasoned just right nor not, when these boys can not even feed themselves. Dan is the healthiest and talks just fine. He is a gem and kind to everyone. I feel truly humbled and lucky to be in their presence, whenever I have the opportunity to be so.

Waaaa! 8 more minutes!

Well... we went to a presentation of the Messiah in Kichijouji with Ito Shimai, Dan, and Ryo. Ryo is 18. He is Dan's friend. We are going to slowly start teaching him the Gospel Lessons we teach as missionaries. The concert was amazing. There was piano, organ, harpsichord (they brought one in there!) violin, and trumpet. You gotta leave it to the Japanese to be meticulous. It was incredible. There were 5 people on the keys and they somewhat rotated. While they were all fit to win any competition, one was incredibly incredible. Totally amazing.

Also amazing was going with Dan. It was cool to see the worker people stop the escalator, make it to the other way, and have three steps come together to make a platform for his wheelchair. So cool. That was in a particular station when there was no elevator. Sister Ito bought us McDonald's before the performance. She is so amazing. They live in an apartment.

We have taught the helpers of Dan and Tatsunori. Their names are Asano and Nakagawa-san. Asano had heard lesson one one before I came. We taught it again with Nakagawa san and gave Nakagawa san a Book of Mormon. At the funeral of the eldest son last month, they got pamphlets about the Plan of Salvation. Dan was passing them out.

And, as for Kanno san, we met with her again yesterday and read a talk about Faith from the Ensign, which I really liked by the way. From the May 2009 Ensign, page 38 I think. ( to read the talk, click here: http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1032-13,00.html ) It talked about the relationship between obedience and faith. Anywho, she hasn't come to church, apparently since the elders were here. She said she thinks its about time she came jsut once. Kina Shimai was shocked. She has been here 4 transfers, as I said, and never heard her say something resenbling yes to a commitment they extended. She fed us fruit with cream on stop. Nice lady.

Well, I have two minutes. Life here is great. I get to meet lots of people who I feel have been put in my path to be my example and/or inspiration in some way or another.

I love you soooooooooo much !

Love, Sister McMahan