Today is my 16th month mark! Just a bit left... Too be honest, I am not ready to go home yet but I can tell I will be ready in 2 months. At the end of your mission you just get so exhausted and just ready to get the rest of your life moving again... but I know I still have a lot to do right now.
I had a pretty good week I guess with some hard days but some other good days.
We taught a lesson to our investigator Tagami san. It was our first time doing a lesson with her. She was passed to us from the other pair of sisters that recently went home. Tagami san is a REAL investigator. She is actually seeking truth and answers. She told us her concerns and questions and we will start answering her questions and teaching her all the lessons again this week (shes already heard them all once). I see real promise in her.
We visited Ishibashi san again... and you know what that means... DOLCHE THE RABBIT. So we walk into her home and kneel down in front of the little coffee table thing like you always do when you enter a home (yeah no couches you guys. No chairs. Just kneeling for a very very long time.) and Dolche wasnt around at first but then she just kinda appeared out of nowhere and started sniffing my feet. I got really really nervous... then she started eating my scripture case and purse... then back to my feet... and I was so nervous she was going to start eating my feet or something. But then randomly Dolche ran away to.. somewhere... and I didnt see her again the rest of the time. PHEW I made it out alive this time. But anyways... Ishibashi san... she is doing good I guess. Not a REAL investigator I dont think. She has heard all the lessons and is way interested in history but not really interested in joining a church or changing her life. She just likes talking about the scriptures and the bible and stuff and sharing favorite scriptures. We will work on her this week and really figure out her needs and her wants.
We also had a lesson with Kumagai san- another investigator. She is crazy. So she is kinda a "ward missionary" for her own church. We went to teach her about Jesus Christ and what we believe about him and why his life and actions matter to us, but the lesson turned into her teaching us. So I dont know the name of her church but this is some of the stuff that she believes in. She believes some Korean guy received revelation like Joseph Smith and God appeared to him and told him to finish the mission that Jesus Christ didnt. In her mind the greatest commandment is to have a family and replenish the earth, but since Christ didnt get married in his mortal life and have kids, he failed his mission. So through this Korean guy God restored his perfect truths and restored his church I guess. Also she believes that God is a spirit and when he made man he started with Adam but since it was his first time making a person Adam was kinda the practice round and when he made Eve she was the more perfect version. Also the fall of Adam and Eve was a mistake I guess... but I dont really get that because if having kids is so important to her then you kinda need the fall of Adam and Eve right? Oh she also believes that Satan lives in every person between your skin and your muscles. Its like we all have a layer of Satan within us I guess. WHAT IS THIS STUFF! I was just blown away. She is so lost and it is so sad. I know God still loves her and I wish I could help her but when we shared what we know about Christ and his mission and his resurrection she wouldnt let any of it enter her. She is so firm in her own beliefs. If she would just let down her walls a little and allow herself to feel the spirit testify of REAL truth then she could be so much happier :( Anyways.. we had to drop her. No interest as you can tell...
Every Friday we have ping pong night at the church. I tried my best like always to talk to the non members and investigators and not the missionaries. I practiced connecting their interests to the gospel too and was pretty successful! One of the people there has a lot of interest in English so I asked him to do our 30 min Eng/30 min church program. He said he has no interest in the church so he said no. Then I also invited another person to church to watch the primary program, but he said no. Then I invited another guy to keep praying about which church is true (he is investigating our church and the Catholic church) and it turns out he has a bap date with the Catholic church... but hey. Even though my invites didnt get me anywhere and I got rejected pretty much every time, I am still happy that I fulfilled my purpose. Its easy to just want to chat about unimportant things but the best way to build a relationship is to talk about IMPORTANT things and when you show that you really want to help them and desire their happiness then they will trust you even if they arent necessarily interested in what you have to offer them.
We did a lot of housing this week and we heard a lot of KEKKOs. Kekko means "no thank you." Well technically it means "a lot" which kinda can translate into "I have enough already so I dont need what it is you are offering me." Which simply put can be "no thank you." Ha ha anyways yeah me and Iwasa Shimai sometimes play the Kekko point game. Once we reach a certain number of kekko points then we can change activities or take a break or something. Its fun.
We werent able to meet Yoshimi chan this week. She is busy with work but she said she can start meeting and doing English lessons in December. So I will let you know how that goes in a few weeks.
The weather here is cold. It isnt snowing but it is pretty chilly and windy sometimes. Some days are more cold than others. I heard it doesnt start snowing until after Christmas in Sendai. Yay!
Hmm for Christmas I want Marshmellow Mateys. I dont need any clothes... I am actually going to start throwing away some. It will just make it more difficult to come home with my luggage weight and stuff if I have more clothes. Hmm I guess I dont really need much for Christmas to be honest! Just nice letters from everyone is good. I really like getting mail!
Hey mom, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! O tanjoubi o medetou! I love you lots TOO!
Love, Miranda
PS- I probably got told I look like Ellie from Massan 50 times this week 20 of those times being yesterday at church. Seriously everyone tells me that.
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