Dear all,
Happy Obon! [Shinto summer festival honoring deceased ancestors.]
A lottttttt happened this week.
So much. Sometimes I wish I was on "The District" so all of my dendo could be
filmed, but lets be honest, me and mom would probably be the only ones who would
want to watch it haha.
So remember the little boy
(Ryoga-kun) who we made a baptism date with last week? We made a baptism date with his mom this
week! She wasn't really into it at first but when we told her that he wanted to
get baptized, she said she wanted to get baptized with him. Yayyy!!!! Right now
we are trying really hard to get the ward involved so that when they get
baptized, they will stick but right now we are a little concerned because as of
next month, there will be no boys in primary. Also, there is no one his age.
Sooo either we need to go find another family with an 8 yr old, or reactivate
the only other little boy in the ward. But I have faith that the Lord will
provide, as long as we work our hardest. Teaching him is quite the challenge.
I've never prepared so much for lessons or thought so hard how to make it as
simple as possible, but it is so fun! His attention span is pretty short but
knows what to expect when we come. The other day when we went to visit, he was
outside waiting for us :) I seriously love that little boy. He kind of reminds
me of Jonah (who will always be 7 or 8 in my head). A little loud and crazy but
a really good kid. Ryoga just needs a little love.
We also met the little obaachan
[grandma] who also has a baptism date. We taught her the same thing we did before--a little
simpler--but I still don't think she understands. After we taught her lesson
one/restoration, she asked, so why are there so many churches? She had a bunch
of other church`s pamphlets and we explained to her the difference but... we
might have to explain it again. She isn't that old but she smokes and sits in
her apt all day watching horror movies by herself so Law Shimai thinks that hasn't
done her any favors. We`ll see though, she said she would come to church this
week. We love her so much though and are going back tonight!
So the elders are really into
unity right now. Unity between missionaries, missionaries and members, and
among members. They had this idea to do something for the bishopric and Relief Society
presidency so that they could become friends outside of the church scene. The
elders rented a room and we brought food that we made and showed them all the
appreciation that we have for them. We also made them go around in a circle and
tell each other why they were grateful for each other. It's probably Japanese
culture that that kind of stuff isn't said regularly, but there were a lot of
warm fuzzy feelings and smiling people in the room when we finished going
around the circle. These members work so so so hard and are always helping us.
The elders were brilliant with this idea. The members said that in all their
years of membership, no missionaries had ever done something like this before.
so we made history! The elders have really put their whole souls into uniting
this ward and we have just been helping on the side. It's only been one transfer
but we feel a difference in the ward. There is more dendo fire than before!
Yay!
We had two NAs [non active members] come to church,
wooooo! We have lots of people who have potential or who are interested and
that makes us very happy. This week is transfer week and although I would seriously
love to stay, I know its up to the Lord, so I'm not nervous at all. I trust
Kaicho :) On Tuesday I will get my last transfer call. So crazy!
Hope all is well back home. I
hope Ojiisan is okay and that Jim recovers soon. I pray for our family every day.
Love you all so very much and am grateful for the letters and love! Church is
true!
Love,
Sugihara Shimai
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