Week Forty-two

Dear kazoku ya tomodachi,
(Family and friends!)
I am so so glad I got to talk with you this morning! It was so fun to see my WHOLE family and the new additions too! The little babies are so cute!
Everyone looks so happy and it was fun to listen to you talk about American things :)
I know I already mentioned some of these stories when we talked on google hangout but for the blogs sake I thought I would put my stories in writing.
So the dancing carp and the cowboy. You know must of this story already but I left out a few details. So we have this investigator named Hitoshi san. He is 33 year old but pretty much still just a little kid. He is just the cutest. Every week he comes to our Eikaiwa class and after Eikaiwa he usually brings sometime strange to show us. Its not strange to him, but very strange to me! 2 weeks ago he brought two cats and one of them actually got away and is now roaming the streets of Akita somewhere... it was funny because he didnt even care. He just said, oh well so is life! and moved on to the next cat. Last week we walk outside to his car and this time he whips out two giant carps. I guess he went fishing earlier that day and wanted to show us what he caught. The fish were still alive when he showed them to us. He took both the fish out and gave one to the sister missionaries and one to another Eikaiwa student member whose name is Tamura san. Tamura san is pretty interesting... hes actually an excommunicated member but he still comes to all our activities. Well speaking of this Tamura san guy, he really likes to dance and we have been begging him to show us what kind of dance he does so in the  church parking lot he turned on some music on his phone and started dancing. It was like a mix between ballet and hip hop and traditional Japanese stuff. It was kind of cool and he looked happy but he wasnt necessarily the best dancer Ive ever seen so it was funny to watch. But next thing you know someone yells, CARP! and hands him the carp and he just keeps on dancing! I got a movie and some pictures, dont worry. But just imagine this! An excommunicated member poorly dancing in the church parking lot after english class with a carp. I never thought I would ever see something like that in my life, especially on a mission. In Japan. It was so funny. I love my mission!
You already know the story of us sisters trying to cut up our carp with a dull kitchen knife and a box cutter... we werent very successful. Plus we learned that carp can be poisonous and it is actually really hard to make food with them because they have so many bones. Good thing it was garbage day the next day! Now our little carp is in fish heaven.
For those of you that dont know, we tried to gut the fish in our kitchen sink but couldnt really do it. I will show you all the movie in 8 months! Its a good one.
But there is Hitoshi san for you... hes a great guy and we NEED him in the church! He would add so much to the Mormon Japan culture! I wonder what he will bring next week...
Before I change the subject to something else, Hitoshi san invited us to his farm last week. Yep, he is a Japanese cowboy! He raises cows and then sends em to the slaughter house. He loves his job, but also hates it. He really likes animals so being with the cows is so happy for him, but when he sends them away it is pretty sad for him. He will email us on our phone sometimes asking us our opinion on raising cows for meat. Its cute! I guess I dont really have an opinion on the matter. But I like to eat meat!
This last week we went to Morioka for zone training meeting. I saw two miracles while I was there! So the first one is this- Sister Luk lost her CTR ring in the Morioka Sisters apartment so we were searching for it forever but couldnt find it. We said a prayer together that we would be able to find it and then we kept searching and we found it! Seems pretty simple, but we were both really grateful! The next miracle was when we were on our way back to Akita me and Sister Luk were sitting in the train station eating ice cream waiting for our train to come when 4 elders from our zone walked by saying that one of them lost their ticket to go back to their area. We felt bad and said, we will pray for you! because thats just what you say as a missionary whether you really pray or not. But I actually felt pretty bad for them so I turned to Sister Luk and said, hey! Lets actually pray! So we said a quiet prayer together and right after we opened our eyes, maybe 10 seconds later, the elders come walking by saying, we found the ticket! And we said, Whoa! We just finished praying for you! And they said, Really? You should keep praying more often!! So yeah, there you go! 2 Miracles in Morioka. That could be the title of a book someday.
Yesterday in church I learned a lot in Primary. I like primary because it is simple Japanese so I actually learn and feel the spirit. There are 3 Tongan boys that come to primary and their family isnt super active in the church so they dont know very much about church stuff. One of the boys is 9 I think so he has been baptized but I asked him who baptized him and he said his dad. I told him that his dad could baptize him because he had the priesthood but the little boy had never heard the word priesthood before so I told him it was Gods power and that he could have it too someday when he turns 12. I told him when you have the priesthood you can pass the sacrament and he said, Oh like Tiuana Kyodai! (Tiuana Kyodai is another Tongan in our branch. He is Lita Shimais husband) and I said, yeah just like him! So he was really excited about it. Then I said, after you got baptized, do you remember when you received the Holy Ghost? And he said, Oh yeah that thing that is inside of me! My moms friend told me that if you dont listen to the Holy Ghost then little by little you cant hear it anymore. So you have to listen. I was in awe at this little boy! He doesnt know very much, but he remembers these adults around them and their examples and the things that they have taught him. It just goes to show that people are watching us even when we dont expect it. Later in Primary the Primary teacher asked this same little boy to say the prayer but he didnt want to so he told his brother to do it, but he didnt want to either so they both kinda fought a little until I said, Who wants to choose the right? and the both instantly raised their hands high and said, I want to say it! Pick me! Then they did the Japanese verision of rock, paper, scissors to see who would get to say the prayer. I thought it was the cutest thing ever, but we can also learn something from this. I would hope that me and all of you, when faced with a decision, will raise our hand to righteousness. Remember the blessings you receive from choosing the right, even if you dont want to choose the right at first! Just like these 2 little boys. God will always provide a blessing for doing the right thing.

Before I go, I want to make a request to all who read this. I already requested this of my family, but if you have the time please send me a hand written or typed letter of your conversion story. To convert means to change something from one thing to another. When you become converted to God you change from your natural ways to someone who follows Christ. If you have been changed I would love to hear your story. I know some of you got baptized at 8 and some at a later time in your life or some of you havent been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints before, but I believe we are all converted in some way and it doesnt have to be from one big giant moment, but rather a series of moments that you have experienced throughout your life. I would love to hear your stories, and if it is okay I would like to share them with people I am teaching so they can see they arent alone! Your story could help somebody in Japan with their conversion.

I love you all so much! 愛しています!
Love, Miranda