So I am in Fushimi and it is absolutely gorgeous! So mnay mountains and trees and all of the famous castles are in my area. So I now with a Nihonjin comapaion. Not going to lie, its rough. They are strict in areas they dont need to be. For instance, she kind of got upset at me for writing in my journal after planning. I was not okay with that. But luckily I dont really get too scared of people so I told her that it actually suggests we write in our journal in the white handbook and that even the prophet writes in his. She backed down. However, after this short little time, I think my brain is about to explode with Japanese. That first day was rough. I had no food and I had been speaking and listening to 6 hours straight of Japanese. Literally thought I was going to faint.
Plus, imagine this- dad, i will use you in this example. Imagine arriving to a new area and your bike was one of those beach bum bikes (called mamachatis). Now imagine if it were moms size (for me, nihonjin size). Now imagine if the tires were flat and everyday just to get from the church to your apartment (so at least once a day) you had to bike up 123rd. And then to find places to go housing, you had to bike up highland drive twice. Yeah, I thought I was going to die. To get anywhere here, you have to go through a mountain pass. I was struggling to keep up. I mean I knew I was out of shape but I didnt think I was that much. My knees were dying by the end of each night and somehow I got shin splits. I suppose I was try to use my feet more to take the pressure off of my knees. Luckily, Scheffler shimai (roomie) was willing to trade with me. Her bike is a bit bigger. O it made all the difference. Seriously, I was beating my companion up the mountain now. Who knew just a small change in bike could make the world of a difference. So then during conference, this is the connection I made to missionary work- and this applies to us all because we all are missionaries. Both bikes got the job done. I was able to go where I needed to go. But the larger bike for me was much more effective and enjoyable. So which bike am I going to be in missionary work? The more effective and fun missionary or the tired, one that only works because it has to type of missionary/ person? Will align my will with the Savior or will I do what He asks but do it grudgingling. Well Im trying to be the first. Not sure if Im there yet, but Im working on it. Anyway, sorry if none of that made sense. It does in my brain so I guess that is all that matters. Anyway, conference was great! I Elder Ballards was so motivating and i absolutely loved Gifford Neilsons from the Saturday session (exclamation point). And then of course I loved President Monsons on Sunday. I dont know if you can tell, but Japan is a hard mission- the language, the people, the culture, the weather,and just everything. But itll all be worth it in the end.
Anyway, the area is great. We have a lot of young investigators which I love. The older you get the more stubborn you are. We got a referral this past week and she is amazing! She just got a flyer and decided to come to church. When she went to Relief Society, she bore her testimony. Plus she opens up to people (not a nihonjin trai). She wants to get baptized, so we just have to teach her basically. It just goes to show how much the Lord is in this work. We didnt prepare her. The Lord did. `You will find them or they will find you.` Anyway, I cant wait to teach her. Anyway, I think that is all for this week. Sorry, I know have to go to an internet cafe so I dont have as much time. Love you all and thanks for your support.
Ai shite imasu
Ellsworth Shimai
Here are a few pictures from her last area. She is such a cute sister missionary!
 |
| Martha in front of osaka jou- eight stories high |
 |
| Shin shimai and Martha overlooking the city |
No comments:
Post a Comment