はい, どうぞ!

July 10, 2017

はい, どうぞ!

(Title explanation: Elder Pinheiro says this literally all the time, haha. "Hai, douzo." And super fast. It just translates to "Yes, please". It makes no sense, but it's hilarious.)

What a week, what a week. We went on so many fun adventures this week, so grab a blanket and hot chocolate. This week's email is gonna be long.

To start off, here's a funny story from Eikawa. This past week we asked them "what's the craziest thing you've ever done?". Some of them had fun answers, some of them just said they didn't do anything crazy. And there's one older gentleman who rides motorcycles and so we assumed he'd have a crazy story. But when we asked he said "No, no, I don't do crazy. My...my safe self." It took all my willpower to not bust out laughing. Haha, it was so great. He said it with such confidence and it was great.

We also had our first typhoon this past week, so that was a fun party. Luckily a member warned us so we got inside before it started, but it certainly changed our plans, haha. We ended up just calling people and planning, but it looked crazy outside!

So on Thursday we went to a member's house to have a cooking party. They have 2 daughters who aren't super social, but do love eating. So in an attempt to get them out of their shells, we decided to cook with them. I made my dad's french toast recipe and taught them how to do it. And they loved it! Apparently Japanese French Toast is different than American, so they were in total shock. But they ate a lot and really opened up. One was even jumping up and down with joy by the end, haha. It was super great! So shout out to my dad's recipe. Pretty sure it's magic ;)

We also had a waffle party earlier this week with a couple of the other members. Yamauchi Shimai is the Bishop's wife and she's so nice!! Yamauchi Bishop is a professional chef, so their food is always amazing. The waffles did not disappoint. It was really yummy and super fun ^^

Update on Namiko! We met up with her again (this time at Tully's coffee, haha) and continued to talk to her about the church. She's so receptive and we always feel so great after her lessons <3 We taught about families and prophets and more about prayer and she said that she'll really try praying this week. We're meeting with her again tomorrow and I'm so excited to hear how it went. She's so sweet and I seriously have such a great feeling about meeting with her! Expect more updates in the weeks to come.

We also went out of our area this week! *gasp* Haha, we went to the area over because that's where the hospital is. One of the older members from our ward is there recovering from surgery so we went with another member to visit. it was super great to see her, but what was really great was the drive with the member. Koseki Shimai is from Brazil as is her husband. They have 3 kids and their family is SO NICE! They all speak English, Portuguese, and Japanese. Koseki Shimai told us all about her conversion story and how she has had so many wonderful experiences in the church. She has such a strong testimony and it built mine so much to hear her talk about it. The gospel really does bless families. It's amazing.

Also, guess who finally ate sushi? THIS GIRL! Haha, when we taught a member she took us out to eat afterwards and we went to one of those conveyor belt sushi places. All the sushi was 100yen ($1.00 approximately) and was SOOOO GOOOD! I ate way too much but I have no regrets, haha. Now I just have to eat Ramen and I'll be satisfied ;)

Random fact: The Yakuza (Japanese mafia) are very present in Toyohashi and it makes for some very interesting adventures. Mostly they just like to ride by really loudly on their motorcycles late at night to make sure everyone remembers they're there. But every once in a while we see some parked and quickly ride by, haha. It's a party.

We also had our first district activity this week! It was kinda chill, haha, just going out to lunch, but it was fun. We went and ate abura soba and then got McDonald ice cream, haha. But it was just fun to get to know the elders from the district a little better. One of the elders will also be going home soon, so we took a "death photo". It's this joke in the mission because when a missionary goes home everyone says that they died. So we take photos before they leave? I guess?? Haha, I was really confused, but it was interesting. Photos are attached.

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting! Haha... everyone said I did great, but it was definitely rough. But I gave a talk all in Japanese without a script, so I'm calling it a success!

Then after church we went to a lesson with some FI's (former investigators). They're from Brazil and their names are Katya and Sandro. They have two kids and their family is so great! They're so sweet and funny. They mostly speak Portuguese, but the mom and daughter speak some Japanese. It was so great though. They seem really excited to take the lessons again, so I'm really excited to meet with them again! Also, the mom has a hard time with American names, so she assigned us each names XD Jones Shimai is now Kelly and I am now Hana. Mine is because apparently I remind her of the main person from the show "13 Reasons Why", so that was fun!

Then we visited a member family who are also from Brazil but speak a fair bit of Japanese. She's been really sick lately so we just wanted to cheer her up, but they were so nice! They gave us delicious smoothies, snacks, and so many presents! Haha, they gave Jones Shimai shoes, a hat, and a skirt and shirt. Then they gave me a shirt, skirt, scarf, and Japanese address book (with a really pretty cover). But it was so sweet and we were so very grateful. We're going to wear our outfits on Sunday and I will send photos ;)

Alright, I think that's about everything for this week. Enjoy this photos! Thanks for all the emails <3

--Armour Shimai