Hello Everyone!
Wow- it was fun to read various comments from everyone! I sometimes forget that when I e-mail I am speaking to more than just my little sisters... sorry if I seem to talk about silly things. Thanks to each of my aunties or uncles who wrote. Uncle Craig, I can’t tell you how great it made me feel to have someone call me Mariah Chan! Thank you! :)
Well it’s a great time to be a missionary! Here are some things that happened this week:
Today we went to the temple with Yufie. That first picture is of her and Saiki Shimai and I at the temple. Yufie is an interesting person. She has been seeing the missionaries for over a year. Last week we were starting to teach her about some commandments at a member’s house and somehow the Celestial Kingdom was brought up. She asked what the celestial kingdom was and we reminded her about the plan of salvation, which her record says she has already been taught. She had no clue what we were talking about. So we quickly changed gears and taught about the plan of salvation instead (have I told you this already? I get confused between what i write in my journal and what I write home. Sorry if I have!).
Anyway, so Saiki Shimai taught her about the celestial kingdom and then Yufie started talking about it and saying things that I didn’t at all understand. Then she stopped talking and there was sort of a silence. Usually, that’s my little cue to bear testimony, so I proceeded to bear my testimony about how families really can be together forever, and how the celestial kingdom is such a great place because there you can live with your family for all eternity, and what a happy place it is because you can be together. When I finished I sensed that I hadn’t quite made the impression I was trying to make. Later Saiki Shimai told me that when Yufie had been talking she had said that if families live together in the Celestial Kingdom then she didn’t want to go there because she hates her mom. Also, her boyfriend is the only person she trusts, and since he’s not really the best of people he probably won’t go to the celestial kingdom, so she just wants to go to whatever kingdom he will go to. Wow. Also, apparently Yufie has dreams a lot that she is screaming terrible words at her mother. She really doesn’t like her family.
After I bore my testimony, Saiki Shimai asked Yufie to pray about the plan of salvation and we ended the lesson. The next morning at about 6:50 we got a call from Yufie saying that she had prayed. Then that night she had had a dream that she was with God and was very happy. We were so happy about that. She is beginning to trust God.
So now her struggle is Joseph Smith. So this morning we went with her and walked inside the temple and explained a little about temples and showed her the Liahona about temples. Then we had a lesson on Joseph Smith. It was powerful to be in that place talking about those things. Then we prayed together. Good lesson.
After the temple we went to this great little restaurant and ate Indian Curry. I dare say I:ve not tasted such deliciousness before. It was a "legit" Indian restaurant (to borrow a term from Elder Waite). Yum. I sure do love the food here.
Kurosawa - Is progressing along. We taught her yesterday about the word of wisdom. She loves wine and tobacco. Saiki Shimai (without telling me beforehand) told her that we would also give up something we love along with her. Then she volunteered me to give up eating apples. Wow. So for the first time in a very very very long time, I am not eating apples for a while. As soon as she said it I was really sad and thought about the 2 apples I had waiting for me in the fridge, one of which I was planning on enjoying that evening after we got back from the lesson. I’m almost ashamed of the sadness I felt when I thought about the idea of not being able to eat them. So, here goes. It’s all for the cause – I’ll let you know how both myself and Kurosowa have done next week.
This week we had another earthquake! It was more than just a little vibration too. It lasted about 40 seconds and our light was still swaying back and forth for a while afterwards. It sort of felt like we were on a boat all of a sudden. Not that I hope for more, but it was interesting to experience a bigger earthquake. Tomorrow we are supposed to have a typhoon. I’ll let you know next week how it goes.
Something about Japan: It gets light super early here, around 3:30 things start to get light and by 4:30 it seems like it:s midday outside. All the time I wake up in the middle of the night and think I’ve overslept because its light outside.
Dad - you asked a while ago why all our investigators are only women... I don’t know how things work in other missions, or even in other areas of the Tokyo mission, but here, as sister missionaries we only talk to women. We have two wards whose areas we are over, and each ward has a set of elders. So if we somehow run into a male, we refer them to the elders, and if the elders run into a female they refer them to us.
The other pictures I sent earlier are just places around our area and the last one is just outside our apartment.
Ok, wish I had more time but we need to go! I love you all!!! Best wishes on the trek!
Enjoy the summer!
-Waite Shimai
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