Monday, February 24, 2014

Hello! 2/23/2014


Konnichiwa! 

How is everyone? Alive and genki? Staying warm?  

This week was a little crazy.  

We were gone for 3 days on kokans [Missionary splits] so our little area of Moiwa didn't get as much love as usual but it was a good week nonetheless.  

Being STL sometimes means being a therapist to every shimai in the mission. I don't ever want to be a therapist for real. But I have learned a lot and am continuing to learn. The biggest thing is probably love and compassion.  

We got back from kokans [Missionary splits] and our roommates told us we were down to one roll of toilet paper sooo as much as we could, go to the bathroom while out dendo-ing. Uhhhhhhh... That day we visited some members and asked if we needed/wanted anything. Furue s hesitated to answer and I couldn't figure out what she was wanting to ask. My little brain was thinking only about food but Furue s thankfully remembered and asked if we could have a roll of tp. They were nice enough to give us two :) Love being a missionary....  

I had such an awesome dream! Pres Monson came to a zone conference and when he was leaving, I chased after him and got a picture of us together. He was really nice and I was so pumped to have a picture with him! Sadly, I don't remember what his workshop was about at zone conference ha.  

Most likely due to stress, being busy, working out hard every morning, and a companion who desires to be healthy (but still eats chocolate with me), I'm down 8 lbs from when I got to Japan. I can do real push-ups now and do them almost every day :)  

We weren't able to meet with all of our investigators but they are doing okay. Not really interested in baptism, going through a lot of trials, etc. Their lack of progress is our fault and our lack of following up but we are trying to balance STL responsibility and our own area. We have been meeting frequently though with a recent convert and oh my goodness, I love her. She doesn't understand a lot of doctrine but she truly believes that this is the truest church on earth and to her, that is all that matters. Her faith and dendo fire is inspiring. I love teaching her! She is suuuper chatty and doesn't stop talking but somehow we manage the conversation :) 

So one day this week we were streeting and literally, everyone was running away from us, yelling at us, and telling us we were being しつっこい [rude, annoying, etc]。 I was tired and not loving it. But after that we visited a member family, had a good time, were cheered up, (their son served in Fukuyama!) and they gave us a referral to visit. I felt so much better afterwards and so uplifted. Somehow Heavenly Father always makes everything better :)  

The work moves forward! The area I kokan-ed in had a baptism on Sunday! The shimai are working hard and I love this work. Love the gospel with all my heart and church is true! Thank you for all your love and support! Don't forget I still love letters :)  

Love you all! 

Love,
Sugihara Shimai 
ps. Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!! Hope you had a good day :) 

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