The Power of Faith

I'm starting to realize that once you hit the mission field, there really are no dull weeks. So, without further ado, here are the highlights of this week! 

On Monday we helped out someone from our English Class with her own kid's English class and it was super fun! There were about 15 kids and they were so much fun. Then she and her husband (who is Australian, so that's fun) took us out to dinner at a pasta place and it was SO yummy. I have missed Italian food, so it was really great. It was also a great chance to talk to them about some things in the gospel. They're not super interested right now, but I'm hoping they will be in the future.

Then Tuesday was a day of learning about the Lord's timing. We were planning on stopping by a member's house to say hi and then catch a train to go housing a little ways out. But the member decided to take us out to Yakiniku for her son's birthday. We obviously couldn't say no, so we went. And yes, it was delicious. But we also ate SO MUCH MEAT. And we were there for way longer than we should've. We ended up missing the train we were going to take, but decided to not stress about it and just took the next one that was available. Yes, we would have less time housing, but at least we spent time with a member.

So, we take the next train and then when we arrive at our station we have to charge our Manaca cards. (It's a train card that you charge so you don't have to buy a ticket every time). We saw someone standing in line behind us and (like the good missionaries we are) decided to talk to her. She seems really interested and it turned out we were heading in the same direction. We decide to walk together, but then her card freaked out and we had to go, so we exchanged numbers and she told us she'd run to catch up with us. We laughed and said goodbye. We figured we'd text her, but didn't have a ton of hope. But then she actually ran after us! IN HEELS! We were in total shock, but were so happy. It turns out she's Christian and is really interested in learning. We talked with her a bit about the Plan of Salvation, gave her a pamphlet, and set a next appointment. It was such a crazy experience and such a testimony builder for the Lord's timing. If we had taken the earlier train we would never have met her (Seika is her name by the way, she will most definitely be mentioned in future emails), and would never have been able to share the gospel with her. Trust in the Lord's timing! He always has a plan.

Wednesday was pretty relaxed. We taught some lessons, but nothing out of the ordinary. One highlight was riding a train we'd never ridden before. I've now dubbed it the "chill train" because it's apparently the train all the chill people ride. It was really funny to try and talk to them. Even in Japan, some people are just too relaxed to have a conversation with, haha. Glad to know some things are the same worldwide. We also taught a new investigator that night from Ghana! It's crazy that even in Japan I'm teaching people from all around the world. He told us that he's a very stubborn Catholic, but he's willing to listen and that's all that matters, haha. 

Thursday was...interesting. We ended up going to more meal appointments than there are meals. For lunch we went to a members and ate some kind of special sushi (it comes wrapped in leaves?) and we ate more than we probably should have, but they were really happy about us eating with them and we felt bad. It was really yummy though! But...we also had an appointment right after that. Luckily she only fed us snacks, because we were stuffed. But then we had a dinner appointment after that. We went with a new investigator (her name is Megumi, she's 20, studying to be a nurse, and is awesome) to an all you can eat pizza/pasta place. Which was super yummy and we wanted to eat a lot because 1) it was pricey and 2) she was eating a lot and kept insisting we eat more. So we stuffed ourselves on pizza and pasta and felt kinda like death, but the lesson went really well. BUT...then we had another appointment with a member. And she fed us dinner, too...ramen, salad and, sushi...It was very delicious and we tried our hardest to finish it, but by the time we got home I think I'd gained twenty pounds. A successful day, but one I hope to never repeat again, haha...

Oh, and to top it all off, on the way back from the last appointment something got caught in Jones Shimai's front wheel and she ended up going head first over her handlebars and crashing. It was insane and we were really blessed because she only scraped up her hands. The Lord was really watching out for her because it looked like it should've been a lot worse. But she's recovering well, which is good.

Friday we taught Watanabe-san again (the one from China) and she brought her son and he's SOOO CUTE! The lesson also went really well and we're excited to keep teaching her. That night we taught another English class and then afterwards one of the older students wanted to have a meeting with us. Haha, he works with the company "Black Thunder" (a very famous chocolate company) and they are trying to release the products in America. So he wanted to get our opinions (as Americans) on some of the products. It was kinda hilarious, because he told us to keep the products very hush hush. So sadly no photos ;) But it was fun! We also finally met the new elder. Elder Pinheiro transferred last week and now the new elder is named Elder Celli. He is also from Brazil and very sweet and nice. Elder Pinheiro will be missed, but we look forward to working with this new one. 

Saturday morning we went to watch 6th graders swim across a river with a member. Haha, at this school there's a "graduation" of sorts where all the 6th graders swim 300 meters across a river. It's as crazy as it sounds. But they all did it! The member's daughter swam and we went with her to support. It was awesome. Then on the way back we started talking to an older lady. She said that it was too hot outside to talk (and we expected her to leave) but then she said "let's talk in my car", haha. So we sat in this lady's car with her A/C blasting as we exchanged numbers and talked about church. She saw Jesus Christ on our name-tags and asked if we had a church. We told her where and when and she said she wanted to come. What??? It was amazing. Sadly her health was bad yesterday so she didn't end up coming, but she will this next week. So excited to see how that goes!

Saturday night we had a sports night with the ward and it was so much fun! We played volleyball, badminton, basketball, and dodgeball. It's been way too long since I've played an actual sport, so it was super fun and a good stress relief. And some less actives came too, so it was a great success on all fronts.

Finally (sorry this email is super long) we had Sunday. Church went well and then that night we had something called "Amigokai" (friend meeting). A bunch of Brazilians from all over came and even Ishii Kaichou (mission president) came. It was super fun. We had a testimony meeting and then ate food. 

But then afterwards things took a turn for the scary. One of the families from Toyota (who we'd met before) had their 18 year old daughter go missing. It was really scary and we were out for about 4 hours looking all over for her. Through prayers and faith she was found and returned safely. We were all very grateful.

Alright, that's it for this week. Enjoy many photos!

--Armour Shimai

Terrible Selfie

Kids swimming

Watanabe-san's son

With Muirasan

With Megumi