Week Forty.

Hey hey hey!
Happy P day! What are you doing this wonderful Monday? Well I guess when you receive this it will be late Sunday night...
So this week has been quite eventful! The cherry blossoms are finally out! The word for cherry blossom in Japanese is sakura. They are quite pretty! I am so lucky that in my lifetime I get to witness them! They only blossom for about a week so it is really really short. Sister Luk and I spent a lot of time at a local park looking at the sakuras and trying to talk to people. There was a week long carnival thing with lots of food vendors and a little dance program thing happening. Everyone in Akita was there basically with their families picnic-ing and spending time with their friends and families. I wanted to talk to people but for some reason I was having a hard time building the courage to do so. Everyone looked so busy and happy with their familes and friends I didnt want to disturb them. I did end up trying to talk to a few people but the second they saw my badge they were very quick to reject me and Sister Luk. It is really scary you know... to get rejected and all. But after that experience I went home and took some time to look up scriptures about courage and I found some really good ones! I dont have the references right now to tell them to you but they really helped build my confidence.
Instead of going to the park for finding opportunities only we also went with an investigator once and also a potential investigator once in order to build stronger relationships with them. The investigator we went with is named Hitoshi san. I dont know if I have talked about him before but when I was with Sister Tuttle we only taught him once and tried to pass him to the elders but he got flustered or scared or something so we didnt see him for 6 weeks after that. But now Sister Luk and I are trying to teach him again and he came to the carnival with us and it was really fun! He is the cutest. He is a Japanese farmer so he will always show us pictures of his cows. He also plays these really cool Japanese drums and he brought them with him when we hung out with him and he played them for us! He also let me try but I pretty much just looked like a fool as I was pounding on them ha ha. The potential investigator we went with was Natsuko chan! I know I have talked about her before. She is our friends that took the lessons in the past but cant anymore because her parents are against it. I still really want to teach her. I was able to make a really good relationship with her on this day. I will attach a picture of us! I want to try and ask again if she still has interest in the lessons.
Last week at our weekly English Conversation Class we had almost 40 people come! There were so many people! And I just want to teach all of them! Its hard to make appointments with them because we arent allowed to talk about the church at Eikaiwa(English class) but after the class is over you can bring it up as long as it isnt between the hours of 7 and 8 pm. I teach the kids class though and it is a HASTLE so I never get to talk to the people after class because I am stuck babysitting their naughty kids which happens to be a tiny violation of the missionary standards!! We are trying to fix this problem dont worry.. we are working with the branch president.
So this week`s highlight is probably our lesson with Yurie chan. We have been texting her and trying to get a hold of her for awhile but she never replies. But then on Wednesday morning she texted us and said she had time later that day to meet so we did a surprise lesson with her on the hardest topic ever... the Atonement! We had no time to plan or prepare so we were just winging it the best we could. I dont think it would be too difficult if we were doing it in English but in a different language it is kinda hard. Anyways, it was Sis Luk`s first time to meet Yurie chan and they hit it off so good! They are basically best friends now! They had a lot in common and I have never seen Yurie chan connect to someone so well. Yurie chan`s Japanese is really really hard for me to understand so I havent really been able to connect with her even though I have taught her like 5 lessons now or so. But we taught this lesson on the Atonement and it actually went pretty good! Well, Sis Luk kinda taught pretty much all of it but I shared a testimony here and there and asked her to read a scripture out loud and that was it... Sis Luk and Yurie chan`s Japanese was just too complicated for me that I didnt know what they were talking about our where I could contribute! It was really difficult! But the lesson went good enough that Yurie chan actually said the closing prayer for the first time. She asked to know if God was watching over her and that if he was to please tell her. After her prayer she told us that she felt something! She said that when she said those words she got a really warm feeling in her heart and she was really excited about it! I told her it was the spirit and she was really happy! I am excited for our next lesson because I feel like she is really changing and really interested in this church!
Now I dont mean to bother you, my dear family, but I have a few requests...
1. Please please add my dear friend Rachel Worthington to the email list for my emails. She has been wondering about that a bit. rachel.worthington@myldsmail.net
2. We have a big Eikaiwa activity coming up and me and Sis Morgan are going to do a little info booth on Scotland. So I need information! If you havent already sent a package, could you send me maybe some Scottish stuff or visual aids like for example our family plaid? How about some Scottish food recipes for a little snack I could share? Dad you should send me a video of you playing the pipes! Anything and everything youve got on Scotland, send it over here. The activity  will be the Saturday after Mothers day so it is coming up.
3. I am realizing that I am kind of not a very good teacher. I always get the same improvement point after I do practice lessons with leaders and members that maybe using visual aids or an example would make it easier to understand. I am sure if you looked it up on the internet you could find examples or ways to explain the principles in PMG. Could you do that and then send them to me? I came with nothin!

Thank you so much! I cant wait to talk to you in a couple weeks! I will figure out everything for it and send you all the information in next weeks email. I love you!
Love Miranda

Week Thirty-nine.

Wowee thanks everyone for all your emails! I am overloaded with them that I probably cant reply to everyone today, so if you dont get an email from me... I am sorry!
CONGRATULATIONS PAIGE! I am an aunt again! Baby Lela looks so cute! I think she looks like Leslie, too. I am so excited to meet her! She will be walking and talking by the time I get home!

I had a wonderful Easter! We decided to have an Easter party with the youth in our branch and dye eggs with them so the dye came in handy, thanks mom! In Japan they dont celebrate Easter, but they have heard of it so it was everyones first time to dye eggs. We also did an Easter egg hunt in the church and we attempted to make deviled eggs but we didnt have any mustard... But we had paprika and mayo so we did our best ha ha. I thought it was pretty fun! It was nice to bring a little America to Japan.

Me and Sister Luk are getting along really good. I was really nervous at first and really missed Sister Tuttle for a few days. I started getting stressed but now that we made it passed Sunday and we have P Day today I can tell that everything will be okay. Sister Luk is fluent in English and Japanese! Sister Morgans new companion is Sister Stice and shes really nice! I like Sister Stice because she is pretty funny! She always speaks out loud everything that happens in her mind and it is always really interesting or funny ha I enjoy talking to her. She seems like the kind of girl that just needs to be listened to... I can tell that she might be one of the more difficult companions but I love her anyways and I know Morgan Shimai loves her already. We dont have any Japanese missionaries in our apartment now so we made a goal to have only Japanese days on Tues, Thurs, and Sat. It is easy to forget to speak Japanese but I am really going to try really hard.

This week not very much happened. Transfer weeks are always kinda slow and the numbers are always low. But today we have plans to go to a carnival thing at a local park with 2 16 year old girls, Rio chan and Natsuko chan. Rio is a member, but Natsuko isnt. Natsuko is actually an old investigator but her parents wont give her permission to listen to the lessons. I want to teach her so bad. Like really really really really bad. I think about her all day long and I pray about her in every prayer I say. Please pray that her parents will let her listen to the missionaries! We hang out with her all the time but we cant teach her until her parents let us!! Ahhh!

I am sorry I dont have much to report on... but yesterday was indeed Easter for me in Japan! President Rasmussen asked all the missionaries to read the 4 gospels before Easter, and I did it! It was the first time I have ever really read any part of the bible besides in seminary and with our family and in church. My testimony was strengthened so much about Jesus Christ. He really loves everyone. Just like you mom I cant understand the Atonement very well but I know that it is real and that it is only through Christs Atonement that we are saved! The purpose of Christs gospel is to help people become clean from their sins so they can stand spotless at the judgment seat. I have felt the burden of sin before and it is the worst. It is so terrible and depressing and sad. But I have also felt the cleansing effect of the Atonement. That feeling of cleanliness is indescribable! Its happiness! I want everyone to know about the Atonement and feel happiness, not depression and sadness. That is my purpose as a missionary. I need to tell these people here about this great message! I need to tell people that Christ atoned for us and that He lives! There is hope for us too! I am so grateful for this gospel and I know that it is true.

I love you!
Love Miranda

Here are pictures that Sister Robertson sent home.

Week Thirty-eight.

Dear Mama and friends and everyone,
Wahhh I got so many emails this morning! Thanks everyone! You are the best! Oh and this email is probably going to be all over the place... sorry.
So last P day we went to the zoo! It was quite fun, too. I will attach pictures!
Last week Sister Tuttle and I had another interesting experience with the spirit. We had plans to visit a Less Active but we felt for some reason that we shouldnt do that. So we prayed for guidance and both felt like we should go knock doors and find a new investigator because we have NO ONE to teach. So we grabbed the map of Akita from the church and prayed about where to go housing and after the prayer we counted to 3 and then both pointed to an area on the map. We repeated this process until we were unified in our decision. Then we went out to that area and started knocking! Everyone was busy or not interested, but we did knock on a young mans door that said he believed in God! That was a shocker! We shared a short message about God and shared our testimonies. We asked if we could come back and he said no pretty much. He said he is too busy. After that little experience we had no success with anyone else... So once again there is another experience where we felt really guided by the spirit but didnt see the results we were hoping for! I wonder what Heavenly Father is trying to tell us??
Let me tell you know about my birthday! So on Thursday we were on splits with the sister training leaders and we had district meeting. So we all went to the church and started having the meeting. My district leader, Elder Nishiie, was giving a training on following the spirit. He had two people come to the front of the room and put on blind folds and then everyone else would do something and the blindfolded people would have to guess what they were doing and "trust the spirit". I dont really know... it was in Japanese and I was kinda confused... but anyways everyone went and did the blindfold me except me, I was last! So I went and sat in the chair at the front of the room and put the blind fold on. I was supposed to guess from the noise I heard what everyone was doing... I couldnt guess it! I just thought everyone was cleaning or something. Eventually my trainer, Sister Morita, started singing a famous Japanese love song that she taught me when I was a bean and then everyone kinda started joining in... and at the end of the song they said I could take my blindfold off and when I did they all screamed HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and started singing! The elders made me a fancy cake and everyone gave me cute cards and we all ate cake and drank cream soda. It was my first surprise party and I was so happy! I started to cry even! I am a softy... That night the sister missionaries and the young womens had a party and we did each others make up and hair and it was way fun. I will attach a picture... I look pretty scary. Like really scary.
The next day was my ACTUAL birthday. Pres and Sis Rasmussen called me and sang happy birthday to me! my district and i spent most the day in tsuchizaki handing out flyers. We taught our new eikaiwa class that night and 3 members and 1 ex communicated member came! Wooo... I am not sure if that is much of a success... ha ha but thats okay. It was the first day.
On Saturday and Sunday we got to watch conference! I thought the theme was quite interesting. It seemed like a lot of it was about staying true to the truth in a world of changing values. A lot of it was geared toward the youth, too. I liked the talk by Holland. I dont have my GC notes with me right now so I cant remember what everyone talked about. But I REALLY liked the song Let Us All Press On that the MoTab sang. I had to rewind the DVD a few times and relisten to it!
Oh so we got the transfer phone call last night from President! I am staying in Akita, but Sister Tuttle is transferring! She is going to Aizuwakamatsu-my first area that I opened! She will become the new SISTER TRAINING LEADER for Koriyama zone! I wont get to see her because I am in Morioka zone but I am excited for her! She is going to do amazing and she will get to work with the wonderful Aizu members that I miss so so much. And she gets to live with my old companion Sister Tui. Oh she is so lucky. I miss Aizu. My new companion will be Sister Luk. She is from Hong kong! I heard her english is pretty good though and that her Japanese is fluent, so thats good. I have only had one japanese companion my whole mission so far and that was Morita Shimai for my first transfer when I couldnt speak or understand anything AND i had an american companion at the same time... lets just say my Japanese probably isnt where it should be... so if I cant have a Japanese companion yet still.. I guess a chinese will do! Morgan Shimai is staying in Akita with me and her comp Iwahashi shimai is transferring to nagamachi over by sendai. Morgan shimais new companion is also from china but she was raised in america.
I am pretty nervous for the next transfer. I feel like I dont have a very close relationship with the members or our investigators so I hope I dont ruin the work here in Akita... but sister Morgan and I have already decided to stick together and help each other. On the bright side, the elders didnt change and my district leader is still Nishiie Choro who is the BEST japanese boy I know! He is very kind. He calls the sisters every night and tries his hardest in the cutest english to talk to us. For some reason the only english he knows is pick up lines like "hey baby girl" and "how are you angel"  Its pretty cute I must say ha ha.
And now for other information... mom I turned 21! That means I need to update my drivers license. I know you can do it online somehow but I dont think I am allowed to go to the website to do it so can you do it for me? I will give you my license info in a different email.
I was wondering if my lovely parents could send me your conversion stories! Now I know that you got baptized when you were 8 and everything, but I am interested to know about how you have grown in the church or if you have had some strong experiences that have changed your life and helped you get closer to God. I want to know about your conversions! Also I would like the conversion story of William Clayton too. It was him that came to America with his brothers right after being converted in scotland? I want that picture of him and his brothers with the canes too! If you could send me all these stories in a letter, that would be awesome.
So my half way mark is coming up and I know I just received a wonderful birthday/easter package from you but there are a few other things that I would love if you could send to me! I will send the list in a different email.
Thanks again for all the birthday wishes and emails and love and prayers!
Aishiteimasu!
Love Sister Robertson
PS I can skype for mothers day probably! I just need to ask the members and get something set up.

Week Thirty-seven.

Mina san! (Everyone!)
Okay I am going to start by answering all your questions. Yes I still play the piano every so often. Speaking of which, you should send me some piano music! There is a book in the piano book stack that is says like seminary songs on the cover or something and it is cream colored. You should send that! I actually played the piano in sacrament meeting yesterday. The missionaries and some investigators sang together and I was the accompianist. I played "A Childs Prayer" from the childrens songbook.
We always get to watch conference a week later than when it actually happened so next Saturday and Sunday are the big days! While the Japanese are watching a session in Japanese, the English speakers are in a different room watching the other session in English. So usually I watch the afternoon session first while the Japanese are watching the morning session. Then we switch.
I am almost positive I can skype here! There are lots of members that have skype in Akita so I will be sure to set that up. When is Mothers Day anyways?
Dad! I hope you get feeling good! I suppose we should be thankful for everything, the bad and the good because God gives it to us. I think of King Ben in Mosiah and how he talked about just being grateful for everything and still being in debt to God. So might as well be thankful for your sicknesses too, ne! Also the garden and bees look so good. I love that you are so gardeny. And that you have bees. Me and Sister Morgan talk about Scotland a lot because she has ancestors from there as well. I told her you play the pipes and she was impressed. She is getting her tin whistle sent to her in a package so we will have fun listening to the little Scottish tunes she plays ha ha.
You sound like you are SO busy with travelling these next few months! Good luck to Paigey and her pregnancy! When is she due? How is baby Oliver doing?
Thank you for all the emails and birthday wishes! Can you believe that I will be turning 21? Mom! I grew up!
I received your package but I am saving to open it on Friday on my birthday so I had the other sisters in my apartment take off the customs thing on the package so I couldnt see what was inside. I really really want to open it but I have been waiting! I got a birthday card and a short letter from Kay Grandma and Jesse Grandpa. It was good to hear from them. Grandma told me in her letter that she was going to come visit you guys in Texas. Grandma if you are reading this, thanks for the money and card! I love you!
On my birthday we have plans to do 3 hours of handing out flyers for a new english conversation class that we are starting up in the northern area of Akita then we are going to teach english that night so it is going to be a LONG day. 3 hours of handing out flyers! Im gonna die. I will maybe have a tiny party that night from like 10 until bed time at 10:30 or something when I open my present. It should be good!
This week lots of our appointments got cancelled so we didnt have as much success as we hoped. But we were able to meet with Yurie chan our only true investigator that we meet with regularly. Shes 20 and really smart. At first she only wanted to learn about the church because she likes studying and was interested in all sorts of religions but yesterday she came to church and told us that she felt the SPIRIT and that she wants to come to general conference next week! Sister Tuttle and I have been praying that she would have a change of heart. We knew that it would only be through the spirit that she would change, and its happening! She really loves music so we are learning that she is able to feel the spirit a lot easier when we sing in lessons or at church. I really really hope I can be a good enough missionary for the spirit to help me when I teach! Honestly my Japanese probably still doesnt make sense and I cant express myself the way I want to and I can only understand her maybe 50 percent of the time so I really really need the spirit.
Yesterday Sister Tuttle and I had a really  busy schedule. We had plans to visit a family in our branch named the Yokoyama`s and also we wanted to visit the less active Tanaka Shimai but we didnt have enough time to visit both so we decided to pray to know who it is God really needed us to visit. So we went over and knelt down on the tatami (tatami is like small woven strands of bamboo or something that all bedrooms have in Japan.) and I said a prayer. I asked God specifically about each appointment and after each time I asked we both sat in silence and waited for an answer. After the prayer we decided that we felt the spirit after both names that we mentioned and so we decided "well, I guess if God wants us to visit both people then we will just skip dinner and break our fast when we have time later tonight." And then we went out on our bikes in the WORST wind ever. It was piercing cold and started to snow a little even. But we were determined to visit these people! We went to Tanaka Shimai house first and she wasnt home but we left a message in her post... then we decided to visit some friends we made in a barber shop that lived close by but when we visited the deaf husband answered the door but the wife was sleeping so we wrote a message for her when she woke up. I only know a little tiny bit of Japanese sign language so I couldnt really talk to him very much unfortunately. I wanted to though! Then we went to the Yokoyamas and since it was just a surprise visit it really caught Sister Yokoyama off guard. We shared a short easter message and talked a little bit but nothing spectacular happened and we didnt have an amazing experience. So why would we feel that we were supposed to visit these people if we saw no success? I dont know. But I do know that faith is really important. Even though we didnt see the results we were hoping for, I still have faith that Christ is my Savior. I still have faith that God is my Father. And I still have faith that he will send His spirit to guide me and my companion. Its important to ask God in prayer for what it is we want, but it is more important to have the faith to say "but if not" and then remain faithful. So Im glad that we had an opportunity to prove our faith yesterday!

Today is P day! We are going to the zoo today! I will send pictures next week of the zoo. Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes, prayers, and thoughts!
Aishiteimasu.
Love, Robertson Shimai

Pictures!!

Me and some elders from my doki! Doki means the group of people that I came to Japan with.
Elder Bethea, Elder Olsen, Me, Elder Poff, and Elder Hoskyns
We took this at Zone Meeting.

And by we I mean "I"!

I dont really know what I am doing. I think I was laughing at my district leader who was trying to change a flat tire. He is the cutest! He is a tiny little Japanese guy.  I love him! The tall guy next to me is Elder Earl.