Sister Malone's Mission in Fukuoka, Japan!: Sakura, sakura, sakura / Week #44

Konnichiwa minasan!

So this week in Kumamoto all of the cherry trees blossomed and it`s so beautiful because there is this one street that is lined with cherry trees so everyone comes out to look at them and have picnics underneath them, which is called a hanami (hana-flower, mi-look or see).

So this week has been a lot better as far as finding goes. We`ve been able to meet our goals and are still trying to apply the techniques we learned from our training a couple weeks ago. It`s really helped. We only had one lesson this week so we had a LOT of time for finding, so both of us have been pretty tired. We also had junkai this week. Or in eigo, exchanges! So Hilke shimai went with Pinzon shimai (oh grandma and granddaughter, how cute) and I went with Chun shimai! Former companions at it again! It was nice to dendo with another missionary and see how they do things. It`s also nice to know that other missionaries have some of the same weaknesses or things we want to improve on.

So we had a lesson with Yuri chan again. And we asked her where she was at in the Book of Mormon since she made the goal to read all of it. So it`s been a week so we`re expecting her to say she`s in 1 Nephi 8 or something. But no, she`s in 1 Nephi 19! Holy cow! We were happily surprised! So we talked about Moroni`s promise and read from Lehi`s dream about the iron rod and how we need to hold on to the rod (the word of God) but we can`t just read it. We need to apply it to ourselves, to "liken" them to ourselves. We also challenged her to pray about the Book of Mormon every time she reads it to ask whether it is true or not.

So the biggest miracle that happened this week is going to take some explaining. I hope I can do it without confusing everyone. We got a call from Tsukano shimai on Thursday saying that her friend Hori san has a referral for us, kind of. So Hori san was a former investigator. He`s not a member. But he knows Tsukano shimai and he trusts her. So basically he wants to introduce his co-worker (actually he`s technically her boss) Tomomi to Tsukano shimai so that she can befriend her and help her. Tomomi san is 24 years old. He wants Tomomi to meet members and go to Eikaiwa and church and experience some new things to help her because she`s kind of shy and she`s having a hard time right now finding balance in her life. So on Saturday we went to dinner with Tsukano shimai and met Hori san and Tomomi san. And they are both awesome (he should be an investigator again!) Basically we are getting handed this referral from a nonmember who is ordering that we befriend and teach Tomomi san. Why can`t all referrals be like this? Tomomi san is a little quiet but she is super nice and sweet! I can`t wait to get to know her better. She`s coming to church next week for the Easter program and she will most likely come to Eikaiwa too! Miracle? I would say so.

Last of all, we`ve been going through our area book and visiting former investigators houses. Most of the time they don`t live there anymore or they aren`t interested. But we went and visited this family. We met the dad and the two kids because the mom wasn`t home. It`s been like 6 years since they were taught but he totally knew who we were. He said they were busy eating dinner but we could come back another time to visit if it`s earlier. Then he straight up asked for a pamphlet. I was so surprised. He was like "Don`t you have a pamphlet or something to give us?" Yeah we do! So this week has been cool.

Well I`m jealous that all of you get to watch General Conference a week before I do but I hope you enjoy it! And don`t give any spoilers and ruin it for me! Just kidding. You can give me all the spoilers you want! Have a great Easter and make sure to show all your friends the new video "Because He Lives." It`s awesome! Go watch it right now!

Malone Shimai

It's beautiful here right now! Cherry blossoms lining the streets.