Last Full Week Before Transfers 6/16/13

80 year old member who rides her bike to church-!

Konnichiwa! 

First off, thank you all so much for your letters!!!! I almost felt bad for my companion who didn't get any but I'm so grateful for your love and support! I will do my best to reply as soon as I can. Its the last full week of this transfer. Crazy how fast time flies. And how oblivious I am to things outside. I completely forgot about graduation and fathers day haha. 

This week we had to deep clean. Once a year theres a cleaning check and people come from the honbu to make sure we arent living in filth. There's was a little bit of stress in the apartment but we got through it :) We passed but we missed some of the mold that's very common in the apartments. 

Our bishop is being transferred due to work so there was a going away party the other day. And wow, what a party. There was so much food. Tons of meat! Which for us shimai who don't buy a lot of meat was fun :) The members here are so nice to the missionaries. It makes me happy to think of all the missionaries our family fed while growing up; I feel like I'm getting some of that in return! Obihiro has been good to me; the scale can attest to that. It doesnt help that my companion loves to eat more than I do haha. But its fun and we love it here. I have no idea whats going to happen for transfers so Im going to enjoy it here while I can.  

We had two awesome lessons this week. One to an old investigator and another to someone we found while streeting. The lady we met streeting had a bunch of questions and we walked away with a next appointment and lots of excitement! The old investigator isnt interested in joining the church yet but she has a lot of desire to learn more about Jesus Christ and build her faith. We are teaching more lessons and Im really grateful for that. Finding is fun but not very effective. I prefer teaching lessons much more. This week we have a Zone training meeting (second one this transfer), lessons, and then this Saturday we are having an ice cream party the missionaries planned for investigators, members, and eikaiwa [English class] people. Im really looking forward to it and hope that maybe we will meet a few more people to teach! :)

Time is short again this week so thats about it for now. I love this gospel, love The Book of Mormon, and love being a missionary! Thank you all for your love and support! 

Love,

Sugihara Shimai