こんいちわ!!
This week we got our iPads!!!! woohooo! They are super fun and almost
always pretty useful hahaha! Still weird getting used to using them
instead of my good old planner. The worst thing is typing though.. It
takes a little while on this thing. So today we went and bought
keyboards however the instructions is all in Japanese... Go figure.
Therefore it is no good to me. Hahaha! But obviously can't really
complain. I ripped mine open and immediately went to the photo booth
hahah! Definitely not a distraction... But really I'm so excited to
get to use these because now teaching lessons will be so much more
fun! Getting to kind of make slide shows of pictures to use or readily
have linked scriptures verses to share! It really will make teaching a
lot easier! Not to mention the amazing Japanese learning apps! We are
the only foreign mission to receive iPads. And I'm sure it's most
definitely because Japanese is a killer of a language. But still
loving it nonetheless!
It snowed this week! Yay! Everyone told us that this is the most snow
Tsukuba has seen in 20 years! We feel pretty honored to be here
hahaha! The snow makes riding bikes super hard! The snow just pelts
you in the face and wipes your makeup clean off. So that's been fun!
Also slipped off my bike going down a teeny hill and just payed there.
Defeated. But the snow is also a huge blessing! It means that everyone
is at home :) so we stopped by to say hi to Kato San! We had meet with
her a few times but she has been busy recently and hasn't been able to
meet. We really only stopped by to say hi but once she saw us covered
in snow she basically pulled us inside. Such a sweet lady! She made us
some hot chocolate too :) we sat and chatted with her for about an
hour. Then she invited us over to have dinner with her this Wednesday!
She is so cute! It really was such a huge miracle that we got to see
her and that she still likes us! I'm terrified of what she's going to
make us but it will be worth it!
We met with one of my newer best friends Atsuko San! She is the
kindest woman I've ever met! She invites us to her home so she can
teach us Japanese hahah! She also likes to practice her English. So we
also do what we can to bring up gospel related topics or even share
with her a little message at the end of each lesson but nothing really
seems to sink in. She even translates for us beautiful sentences about
gospel truths but still.. Nothing. But we just love her to much to not
keep trying! After our lesson she looks at me and says "I have great
idea" .... "You don't like sushi but you need to eat sushi. Let's go!"
Hahahahah uhhhhh... I died. But she is right. So we hopped in her car
with her little girl and went to sushi. As we were waiting in line she
looks at us and asks if we came on missions because of our parents. We
talked about why we wanted to serve and how we both came to know that
this gospel is true. She said she thought that was very interesting.
Then asks us if our church started in America. Well... Perfect lead
into the restoration! So we in line and gave her a simplified version
of the restoration of Christs church. After she looks at me and says "
next time we meet, please teach me more about your church."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! I almost screamed of happiness!!!
Finally!!!!! This woman who we have come to adore, trusts us enough to
let us teach her about such a special topic like religion!!! Ohhhhh I
am so excited for her! Then we sat down and ate raw fish. Yum.
Surprisingly though it wasn't as bad as it's been in the past. Still
not a huge fan but it was ok. I got raw salmon and tuna. That was
nothing compared to the nasty squid, and nato rolls that they got. I
think they both enjoyed watching me freak out for about 2 minutes
before I took a single bite of each sushi. So fun though! I love this
family!!
Saturday it snowed the worst. We were supposed to have sports day
outside but that obviously didn't happen. So instead we invited
everyone we could to ping pong in the church. Well Japanese people
really hate the snow so they all got scared and no one came to our
sports day. 8 pretty sad missionaries. The whole Davis family came
however so we played for a little with them :)
Because of all the snow, church got moved from 10 to 1. And we only
had sacrament. Biggest miracle yet though.... Anu (our Indian friend)
came to church!!!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!! We arranged for a member to
pick she and her little girl up and they actually came!!!!!!!!!
Happiest day of my life!!! The Davis family were amazing and made them
feel right at home! The whole Tsukuba ward ( ok the 15 people that
showed up for church) were all so sweet and kind to anu! She said she
wants to come again next week!!!!!!! I really just can't believe it!
Of all our investigators, anu!!!! Sister Kelley and I are just too
thrilled!!!!!
After church we met with a lady to teach her English. She invited us
to her home. Afterwards she let us stay for dinner! She and her
husband are so darling! We told them that they need to go on dates.
They said Japanese people don't do that. I told them how my parents
love date night and it when mom and dad are happy,everybody is happy!
So that was the commitment we left with them! Hahahah! Can't wait to
follow up on that one! After dinner, they were so kind and loaded our
bikes in the back of their truck and took us to the church. Sweetest
people!!!
And then today! We met with our investigator kaori! We really do have
lots of investigators but sadly no one is really progressing. We met
with her and koizumi shimai who just returned from her mission in
Kobe. Her mission president were the zinkis! ( no idea how to spell
that) kaori is my scuba diver friend! She sadly kind of dodged it
whenever we tried to talk about the gospel. She just needs some more
time. But she and koizumi shimai became instant best friends! So cute!
After we did purikura together! It's a cute photo booth thing where
Japanese people take pictures with crazy effects to make their eyes
bigger hahahahahaha! Wayyyyy fun! We still had some proselyting time
so we went to visit our friend who works at a smoothie place. We
walked up and saw that he was talking with a woman we had met before
as well! So we all sat down together and talked about the Holy Spirit!
Hahah! This lady doesn't have a religion but believes in strange
tongues...?? I don't know. We told her that we received the Holy Ghost
when we were 8 so she looks at us and asks us to speak in strange
tongues. I was so tempted to just start blabbering some noises so see
if she would by it hahahahahaha. Didn't work... But.... Our friend who
we originally came to see was more interested in what we had to say
then ever before. He told this other lady that we were good people. I
shared a scripture with him from the Book of Mormon and then gave it
to him. He looked at the pictures in the book of the strong Moroni. He
was way excited to read read and said he wants to talk about it when
he starts!!!! Miracles just all over the place!!!! Just like this
email.... Hahahahahaha! I really wish I could put into words how great
and wonderful this work is! It's impossible! We see miracle after
miracle each and every day! More hearts being softened and more people
being prepared by The Lord! I am the luckiest girl ever to have the
opportunity to serve in japan with such wonderful people that I have
come to love!!!! I know this church is true with all my heart might
mind and soul! Along with a little bit of work comes great
blessings!!!
I love you all! Have a good week!
Sister christensen
Sent from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment