Be Careful, Sunshine
The temperature is rising here in Toyohashi and wow, it is hot. The rainy season has ended so it's just getting hotter. Most days range between 90 to 100 degrees, and then have about 60-75% humidity. Just standing outside for a few seconds makes you sweaty. And we're riding bikes for over an hour. It certainly makes you grateful for water bottles, haha. The members keep telling us it's just going to get worse, so of course we're super excited. On the bright side my tan lines are getting even worse!
Speaking of which, when we left the church yesterday one of the members saw us and went "Be careful!" Then pointing at the sky went "Sunshine!". So there's that. It was super funny at the time XD
So, fun story (or more of a continuation of a story) for you all. Remember the Brazilian who we found housing last week? And who I wrote about meeting last p-day? Well, we went to the appointment at 7:30--when it was scheduled--and knocked on her door. But no one answered. At these complexes the bathroom is right next to the door, and the bathroom window was open with a light on. Slightly awkward, but clearly someone was home, so we tried knocking again. A man's face--we assume her father-- popped through the window, made eye contact, then closed the window. We decided to try waiting downstairs where we'd see her come in. She didn't come. But instead her dad and little sister came out of the apartment and drove off. So, we tried knocking again. Nothing. Jones Shimai--in a sure why not kinda way--tried opening the door. It opened. It was loud. It was awkward. We decided that it clearly wasn't going to work out, so we went to our bikes and started deciding what to do. As we are, the dad comes back and stops his car right outide, gets out, does something in the trunk, then waits. A few minutes later, her mom comes out and gets in the car. Then a few minutes later, the girl comes out and gets in! It was so weird! They sped off and we went on to do other work, but it was a super weird experience and I figured I'd tell the world. We're still unsure on if we should call again. But it's definitely an experience I'll remember for a while.
We also did splits this week! Splits are where you switch companions with another sister for two days. We switched with the shimai from Kariya and so Jones Shimai went to Kariya and I stayed in Toyohashi with Hansen Shimai. Hansen Shimai came out 6 weeks before me, so we were together in the MTC for 3 weeks. She was in a different zone, so we didn't know each other super well, but it was fun to see a familiar face. It was a little stressful because I was expected to know the area and lead the lessons and let me tell you, I do NOT know Toyohashi that well yet. I had to consult our map many times in order to figure out where we were going, haha. But we survived and it was super fun.
While we were on splits we went to this meeting called Genkikai--or smile meeting--which is just a bunch of old ladies who come together and do crafts/activities/etc. This week they were making things for Tanabata (star festival), so that was really fun! We made tons of different ornaments to hang on our bamboo shoots and got to chat with old ladies.
We also had zone interviews this past week in Okazaki, so we woke up super early on Thursday to go to those. It was fun to see all the missionaries from our zone and even more fun to see President and Sister Ishii! They really know how to motivate us as missionaries and are always so happy and genki.
Because of that the next day was so busy! We met with lots of investigators and taught lots of lessons. Just one highlight of many: We met with someone named Namiko-san. She's in her late 20's and so pretty! (Random fun side note: we met her at starbucks which was kinda ironic, but we had iced white hot chocolate's and they were so good!) She works at a salon doing hair and was really fun to talk to. And she's really great at English! We also taught her about God and prayer and she agreed to pray this week <3 We're meeting with her again next week and I'm really excited for how things will pan out with her.
Also, we went to visit a potential investigator who owns a bakery and speaks fluent English. She's very nice, but not super interested right now. Which is fine, some people need time. So for now we're just going to her shop every once in a while to build up the relationship. And to buy bread. Her bread is SO GOOD! We bought way too much, but it was cheap and so worth it. Japanese bread is amazing. I don't know why, but it's way better than American bread. Also, melon pan is as amazing as I'd heard. I have to be careful otherwise I'll gain tons of weight from eating so much bread, haha.
Last night we met with a Brazilian member and her family because it was her birthday. She also had another member family over from another city and it was fun to talk to all of them. They fed us Brazilian BBQ for dinner and it was delicious. It's been way too long since I've had good meat. Luckily they made a lot so I was able to eat tons! Reminded me of BBQ's at home ^^
We also went to a shrine today that's like, tucked into a mountain, so that was fun! It was a nice break from normal life and reminded me that we are actually living in Japan! (Believe it or not, sometimes I forget, haha)
Also, the two elders that we are serving with here in Toyohashi are named Elder John and Elder Pinheiro. Elder John is from Colorado and Elder Pinheiro is from Brazil. They're great, but sometimes say the most ridiculous things. Especially Elder Pinheiro. Since English is his second language, he doesn't always get the sayings. For instance: A few days ago we taught him the phrase "Slap Happy". But he didn't fully get it so when we said goodbye he rides off on his bike and calls back "Have fun slap faces!" Jones Shimai and I died laughing. Or another great one: At one of our English classes the rest of us had to step out for a minute, but when we came back in Elder Pinheiro was teaching the class about a "filler". We all looked at him and questioned what a filler was. He drew a picture on the whiteboard for us and we all tell him it's a "funnel." The class was very confused, haha. It's great!
I think that's all! It's been quite a week, with lots of ups and downs, but overall I'm doing great! Japan is beautiful--despite the heat--and I'm so happy to be here, serving the Lord.
Thanks for all the emails and prayers <3
--Armour Shimai
Maria, a super sweet woman, but who only speaks Spanish.
One of the cute chocolate rolls we got at the bakery.
Super excited with our bread!
The shrine we visited
My bike
With Sisi and Uchida Shimai
There was a lizard in the church haha
With Namiko at Starbucks
Elder Pinheiro, Brother Taniguchi, the Ishii's son (Or President Ishii's grandson. All their kids live in Toyohashi!), and Bishop Yamauchi creeping in the back haha
With the daughter of the Brazilian family that we visited.
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