2 for 1 (Apr 2)

Happy Easter! And Happy General Conference Weekend! What an awesome combination. I won't be watching conference until next weekend, but I am so excited to listen to the words of our living prophet and apostles and apply their wisdom in my life. I am also so grateful to be spending Easter in Japan. My first Sunday in the MTC was an easter and it feels crazy that that was almost a year ago now. Easter is such a wonderful holiday, celebrating new life and re-birth. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of my Savior Jesus Christ and his resurrection. I'm also grateful for the chance I have to share that knowledge with the wonderful people here in Japan. 

Last Friday we had transfer calls and I am...staying, haha. No real surprise there. But Cope Shimai is transferring, which means I'll be getting a new companion tomorrow! My 9th companion in 8 transfers. Might just be a record ;) Her name is Sabin Shimai and she will be transfer 3. In mission terms, I will be her follow-up trainer (aka: in the mission your first two transfers you get trained and then in your third transfer you are follow-up trained. Really it's not that different except for a chance to see a style of missionary work different from your trainers.) I'm excited to see how this next transfer goes! Due to a mission president training at the end of next month, they are actually shortening this next transfer to 5 weeks. And then lengthening the transfer after to 7 weeks. It will be an interesting change of pace, but the important thing is that we only have 5 weeks to see lots of miracles, so we have to work harder than ever. 

These past two weeks have been really fun and really busy. Lots of finding, goodbyes, and packing, haha. Highlights:

-It's SAKURA SEASON! The sakura blossoms are SO beautiful and I feel so grateful that I have the oppurtunity to see them in person. I'll send lots of photos, but we did something called "花見" (which just means flower viewing) where you eat a picnic under the sakura trees and enjoy the beauty. It was amazing and I felt like I was living a dream. 10/10, would recommend to a friend.

-We had a Brazilian party on Saturday and it was so much fun! Everyone brought different Brazilian foods and we played games and did Brazilian dances and it was really weird, but really awesome, too. The Brazilian members in our ward are so amazing to still come to church even though they don't speak Japanese, and this party was a great way for the Japanese members to show love back. I'm so grateful that our church is international and that we are all children of God. Doesn't matter where you came from or what language you speak, God loves you. Isn't that awesome?

-We got lunch with two of the YSA in our ward, Akane and Shiori, and it was so fun! They're both adorable and so much fun to talk to <3 Akane is a recently returned missionary and Shiori is considering going, so it was fun to have people on all sides. We talked about missions and how crazy they are and also about other random stuff. It was super fun and I love making new friends here in Japan!

-Our ward mission leader is the coolest person in the world. But he actually is. Since it was the end of the transfer he took all four of us missionaries (and his family) out to all-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ. (If you're from Utah, think Tucanos.) It was DELICIOUS and I haven't had that much good meat in a VERY long time. Brazilian food is so good!

-A couple weeks ago we had another Ping Pong Party and it was awesome. Lots of people came, including some potential investigators, and I think everyone had a great time. We're excited to do another one in April, too!

-On Friday we had another DTM (District Training Meeting) and it was really good. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how it is literally the keystone of our religion. If the Book of Mormon is true, literally everything else has to be true as well. You can believe in the Book of Mormon without believing in our church. That's amazing! I'm so grateful for the wisdom and guidance I'm able to receive daily from the Book of Mormon. If you haven't read it lately--or at all!--I highly recommend you do. It can LITERALLY change your life!

Other than that, mission life is going along pretty smoothly. Weird to think that I'm coming up on my 1 year mark. Time sure does fly when you're serving the Lord! Can't wait to see what this next transfer brings!

愛しています! <3

アルマー姉妹
Sister Armour