Heyo! Or... Konnichiwa!
This week has been good. About the Typhoon . . . I didn't even know there was a typhoon. :) We just kept working. The rain suit is amazing, by the way. I was dry all week. I know on Monday the water levels were crazy high, but I didn't realize there was any flooding until I saw the picture you sent me today! Wow, that is crazy!
Fun fact about Japan I learned this week: it costs about $3000 to get your driver's license here. Yes.. that's dollars - not yen. So a lot of Japanese will fly to Hawaii and back to get their license because it's cheaper. Now I understand why there are a ton of bikes! I definitely am a fan of the bike parking structures (so cool).
Tourists- are definitely fun to watch. Some are a little bit more white trash than others. And some I just think "Out of all the people in America, you came to Japan!" But still, they are children of God who have an interest in Japan so shikata ga nai (it can't be helped).
Weather has been really nice and sunny so I'm super grateful. Definitely not drenched in my own sweat anymore. :D Yay
On Saturday, we had a couple of lessons. We had one in a cafe. Cafes here are REALLY expensive for very little food. But the environment was cool. It was this place called Coccao Magic. Not a fan. But at least we had a lesson with one of our investigators and the member who recommended the place came too. She's going on a mission next month to the Tokyo Japan South mission. I'm so excited for her!
Being on a mission definitely has it's rough spots. Especially when a new investigator drops. When they email you and say, "By the way, I'm not interested in learning any more about the gospel. Have a nice life." Rough. You can't help but think, "Did I do all I could?" "Was there anything else I could have done?" But then I knew I did my best and that it all came down to her choice. Which stinks... But we'll just keep finding more investigators to teach.
Last week Tojo Shimai and I went to the Shimogamo jinja. So cool! We were able to watch a bride having her pictures done at the temple. So cool!!! The bride was gorgeous! She was dressed in all traditional Japanese wedding clothes. Awesome!
This week we went to Kitanotenmanguu temple (try saying that three times fast). I just kept thinking while I was there - "I love Japan. I love Japan. I LOVE Japan! I love being here, it's so amazing!!"
The language still comes and goes. I try so hard to say what I want to say. And now I can understand the gist of conversations... sort of.. if they talk slow and with basic grammatical structures... :) So like 60% of conversations I can understand. But if they talk fast, I'm lost. But I keep trying. I have to keep reminding myself to be patient and to keep trying.
One more thing. This past week, Gomez Shimai and I made two pudding pies. :D I made this Black Thunder crust (inspired by the famous grammy's chocolate cream pie). Black Thunder is this chocolate covered cookie wafer thing that tastes amazing. We made two different fillings, one vanilla and one chocolate mousse one thanks to Jello! Yes, Jello is in Japan! We froze the chocolate one which had bananas on the bottom. The vanilla pie we chilled because we couldn't wait to eat it :)
Then we split it among the four of us accordingly - Gomez Shimai and I got American portions and our companions got Japanese size portions. Everyone was happy :)
See photos below!
Our Mongolian investigator is amazing, when we taught the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. She believed it immediately.... Nobody just believes immediately. She is definitely special. Tojo Shimai and I love her so much. But she hasn't been able to come to church because of work. I hope she comes enough times before her baptismal date in October. Cross your fingers!
Then our other investigator, the one at the cafe, has a great interest in the Book of Mormon and loves the lessons. She seems so sincere and wants to know more. We're hoping to make her a yakusukosha (an investigator with a baptismal date) in the next couple of weeks.
Hope you're doing well. Love you so much!
Bevan Shimai
