Happy New Year!!!

Well, Christmas was SO GREAT!!!  Got to talk to the fam, go ice skating, saw the awesome lights at Hakata Eki (train station).  So fun!  Now we're heading to New Years!  Whaa???!!!  Tomorrow is the first day of 2014!  New Years is kind of a big deal here...Christmas not so much. But New Years is like the biggest holiday in Japan.  So yesterday we went to, get this, a mochitaikai!!  :)  SO MUCH FUN!!! I was dying.  It was a blast!  We helped make mochi!  So I got to use a giant wooden mallet/hammer thing and pound rice into mochi.  (Mochi is a glutinous rice mashed and the gooey paste is formed into rice balls with flavoring on the outside.)  We rolled up the balls and ate it!  So fun.  I will definitely send pictures.  We did it at the Shiki family's house.  Their house is cool.  It is an old firehouse.  The upstairs is their house and the downstairs is a giant shop...wood, tools, and stuff.  They also have bees, and get their own honey.

We are going to the Watanabe family's house tonight for a New Year's celebration.  They live out on the island.  I don't really know exactly what we are doing, but it should be fun!  :)

Things have been good lately.  Kitigawa san is doing pretty well.  We had two lessons with him last week.  He struggles with prayer, so we had a whole lesson about prayer with him.  We thought it went really well.  We shared our testimonies, scriptures and experiences, and he said he would try praying.  But when we followed up the next lesson, he said nothing had changed.  It is heart-breaking when an investigator doesn't keep a commitment.  But he's cool!  He always reads the Book of Mormon, and he said he is really going to try to get to church even if it's only for 30 minutes like last time.

Baba san is still sick.  We went and visited her, and we email her all the time, but she is really not doing well.  As least she remembered us!  We're just praying for her, and trying to keep in touch with her, but there's really not a lot we can do until she gets better!

We moved!  We moved in one day from our old apartment to our new apartment with the help of the APs (assistants to the president), ZLs (zone leaders), and the Honbu (mission office) elders.  They're the best!  Our new apartment is nice.  It's smaller, but it's closer to the church and we can't see our breath inside, and we don't get slivers from the tatami (floor coverings), so I'm sold!  :)

We had a mini junkai (meeting) with the other Fujisaki sisters.  I went with Wilson Shimai, the other gaijin (white girl).  We are not really fluent in Japanese, but it was good!  I learned that I can talk to people and teach them about the Gospel even without a senior companion or a Japanese companion.  I think just knowing that made me feel a little better about my abilities as a missionary.  I may not be really good at it, but I CAN do it!  It was a good experience!

I think that's about it for this one!  Talk to you again in a week!  Or actually a short one tonight to update you on transfers....

Love you all so much!  Thanks for all the cards for Christmas!

We finally got our transfer calls.  I am staying in Fujisaki for another transfer. The other companionship in our apartment will stay the same...Wilson Shimai and Nakamura Shimai are staying.   Kuroki Shimai will be leaving.  I am now the senior companion.  My new companion is Nihonjin (Japanese). She is 6 weeks behind me in time in the mission field.  We'll see how it goes.  To be honest, I'm scared to death!  I'm sure the Lord has a plan!  Love you!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Japan!

We got to talk to Lacee on our Christmas Eve...her Christmas morning!  It was so great to hear her voice!  She is doing super!  They are in a new apartment...yay!  They actually have central heat and air!  Probably just in time to transfer next week!  :)  Their investigators have been sick, so they haven't been able to do too much teaching and then they have also been moving.  They went ice skating on Christmas Day!  So much fun! 

Until next TUESDAY!



Ice Skating for Christmas
 

Snail Mail!

I have asked Lacee lots of questions about her area and she wrote a snail mail letter to answer some of them:

"We may be getting a new apartment...eventually.  I guess they're in the process of making that happen.  We always wear sweats, sweatshirts, fuzzy socks, etc.  If it's really cold, scarves, gloves, or even our coats.  I wear my UA thermal running leggings and a pair of tights, and socks always.  It's cold outside!!  Usually we sleep warm, though.  Yes, we wear sweats and snuggle in our blankets!

"On Sundays, we meet in an actual chapel.  This one even has carpet!  The chapels here are different...the same, but tiny and somewhat different.  There are probably like 40-ish active members in our ward if you include the kids.  That's actually pretty big here though.  In Nakatsu, they have 4 missionaries and 8 members in their branch!!  I know most of the members in our ward.  They are super nice!  We have been able to get them to join us for lessons...so that's good!

"OK, so the Sunny (a store I asked her about...it's kind of a Japanese Walmart - actually part of the Walmart International system).  The one we go to is near the Muromi Eki (bus station).  It's like about a 20 minute bike ride from the Fukuoka Tower.  It's just a block or so from the river.

"In our apartment, there are four of us.  One was in the MTC with me and her native companion.   They're funny!  We don't do a ton of stuff together, but we all get along really well & have a lot of fun!  My companion is from Ibariaki-ken.  It's up by Tokyo.

"I love it out here!  I really do.  It's so hard!  It's ridiculous, but I know why I'm here...I'm here for the Lord.  I'm here to share what has blessed my life and brought me so much joy!  I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  I finished reading the Book of Mormon last month.  I LOVE that book!  Let me tell you what...IT IS TRUE!!  I know with everything in me that The Book of Mormon is true.  I love it more and more every day.  It's strengthened me and my testimony and my relationship with my Savior and my Heavenly Father so much!!

"I think I am becoming a little bit better person every day.  Maybe by the time I come home, I'll be super awesome!  I sure hope so!  :)  I'm trying really hard to let my mission change me.  Now I know why people are so different when they come home after a mission.  I think it would be hard NOT to change.  The Lord is preparing people here to accept the gospel, but I think He is also preparing missionaries for life.  I feel like after a mission, everything else will be easy in comparison!  Bring it on, life, I learned Japanese!"

She finished her letter in Japanese, so I will have to wait for her to translate it! Maybe next Christmas!  :)  We will be talking with her on her Christmas Day...our Christmas Eve.  Then it will be New Year's Day when I update this again after I get her email!

Merry Christmas to you all!  We love and appreciate you!  Thanks for keeping Lacee in your thoughts and prayers!

Better Late than Never!!!

Ok...sorry about no email!  We went to the church to email, and when we got there...the computers were all moved and taken apart!!!  So we couldn't use them.  We had to wait to use the computers here in Fukuoka.  We came for District Meeting and we have an Open House here at the honbu (mission office/home) tonight, so that's why we're here.

But, anyways...the temple was super awesome.  Funny story...it was English day!  I was kind of disappointed actually because I wanted to go in Japanese, but still it was way good.  The temple is GORGEOUS!!!!  It's also really little.  But it was so great!  I'm so glad we got to go!

This week was super good.  It was kind of crazy because we had so much stuff going on, but it was way fun!  We went caroling in Chikushino and Fujisaki as our District.  It was fun!  Cool story...we were contacting in Chikushino, and we talked to this lady.  We taught her a little bit, and she said she was interested, but she said she didn't live in Chikushino.  We asked her where she lived, she told us Nishijin!  Which is in Fujisaki!!  Whaa??!! So awesome, right? (If you didn't catch that...it's Lacee's area!  :) )  She took our information and said she would call.  I hope she really does!  So far...nothing.  Hopefully one day!  Then on Saturday we got to go caroling at Tenjin! (a huge shopping & cultural area) Wow so fun!!  It's this giant eki (station...like for bus, subway, etc.) in the middle of Fukuoka.  It's so awesome.  I've only been underneath, but we were up on the street (where all the shops & restaurants are).  There are lights everywhere and we were up on a stage and did our whole program thing.  We talked to so many people.  It was way fun!  We also sang at the honbu for all these Stake Presidents, their wives, and some other people.  Everyone was crying.  It was really neat.



Caroling in Tenjin

 

Also...Kitagawa san has a baptismal date!!! For January!  Yay!  He's so awesome!  His work schedule is just super taihen (difficult)

...so he can never come to church.  But he said he was going to switch his schedule around so he could come to the Open House tonight, so he'll be there tonight!  Yay!

Baba san got sick.  :(  We haven't been able to meet with her in a week.  She got a cold or the flu or something, but she's been real sick.  So hopefully we can meet with her again soon.  We're doing a 12 days of Christmas thing with her and Kitagawa san.  We have daily contact with them, and then on Christmas we will give them the Joy to the World DVD.  It's been so fun.

Still no new investigators.  We're doing a ton of finding and talking to so many awesome people, but no one that we can teach yet.  I guess we're just planting lots of seeds, huh?  Anyways I'm super excited for Christmas!  It's not really a big deal here in Japan though.  There's going to be a Christmas party for the ward, but that's about it.  Oh well.  Caroling was way fun!

So, next P-day is moved to Christmas.  Then the P-day after that will be on Tuesday because it will be transfer week. (So Mom...don't panic! :) )

Love you all lots!  Merry Christmas!!!

No Email... :(

Hey Blog Followers!

For whatever reason, I didn't hear from Lacee today.  I promise as soon as I hear from her, I will update her blog!

Thanks for all your love, support, and prayers in her behalf!
We both love you all!
Lacee's Mom

Temple Trip

Hey Blog Followers!

We got a surprise email from Lacee Friday evening...they are going to the temple (her Saturday) and this will count as their P-day, so we won't hear from her again until December 15th (her 16th).  She is doing well and is thrilled to be going to the temple!

They have been working on getting a new apartment.  The honbu (mission office) has sent them to look at a couple of apartments.  So one was fine, so that was good.  The girls told honbu, but the next day the mission office called and said they can't have that apartment.  They had told them before that sometimes apartments won't let them live there because they're Mormons.  But do you know why they can't have this apartment?? Because they don't allow "gaijins".  Lacee and one other sister are American and "white", so they can't have that apartment!  They have a strict no foreigners policy!  Lacee says she about died!  So hilarious!  So they obviously won't be living in that apartment!

She also had another funny experience with a little boy on a playground.  He was just staring at Lacee.  She said, "They're like out at recess or something.  He's probably, like, I dunno, maybe 5.  He's little.  So he's across on the other side of the playground staring at me.  Then I look over and he's on our side of the playground.  Then I look over again and he moved a little closer.  Then a little more.  Then he is right next to me...fingers through the fence just staring.  Ha ha ha! I said "hi" but he just stared!  Funny stuff!"

She also shared a couple of other great experiences from this week:

"Baba san is going to get baptized either on the 21st or 28th!!  Woohoo!  She has changed so much!  It's a miracle.  It really is!  She also still hasn't been sick.  She's coming to church every week, keeping her commitments, making friends in the ward.  She says she's excited to be baptized!  She still has a couple of concerns, but we're working on them!  But I really think she'll get baptized this month!"
"Also, I heard from Mako and Akiho!!! :) (the young women who were baptized in Naha, Okinawa, just after she transferred to Fukuoka)  They are doing SO GOOD!!!  They are loving being members and they say their lives are just getting better because of it.  They are amazing.  I love them SO MUCH!! Anyways, it'll be a while until I email again.  This counts as my P-day, but the temple is definitely worth it!"
"A lady in the ward gave me two sweaters yesterday.  She thought I looked cold once.  She was afraid that I didn't have warm clothes because everyone thinks southern Japan doesn't get cold, but it actually does.  I was confused at first, but Kuroki Shimai explained.  I laughed a lot.  They are both these 'old lady' sweaters, but I'm totally going to wear one to church just to make her happy.  One is handmade...I think by her mom.  She thought I looked cold, so she got them for me.  Bless her heart!  See how great these people are!!!! :)"

People are so nice....

So this week we didn't have a lot happen.  Sorry...Just kind of the usual, but some funny things happened.  This elderly lady patted me on the cheek and told me how cute I was like three times after she said she didn't want to listen to our message!  A bunch of little boys mobbed me on the street.  They asked, "nani jin/" Like what am I.  I told them American, and they were freaking out even more.  Hilarious!  They started asking all kinds of stuff like if I had been to China or England, and why I was here.  Funny.  I was laughing so hard.  I don't know if I told you that I got chased a couple of weeks ago by little kids.

Another lady told us she wasn't interested but felt bad that we were out in the cold, so she gave us some hard candies.  Bless her heart!

Then when we were housing, this lady was talking to us and staring at me the whole time.  The she was like, "you're so cute!"  I told her thanks, you know whatever!  But then she asked if she could shake my hand.  Ha!  So I shook her hand.  I don't know.  It's just funny to me!

Other than that, Baba san really is probably going to be baptized this month!  She understands that she has a baptismal date, and she is totally planning on being ready by then.  She continues to keep all her commitments, and comes to church.  She even told us that since she's started coming to church and taking the lessons, she hasn't been sick.  She's physically being blessed.  She also says she doesn't think it's a coincidence that it has happened since she's been coming to church!  YAY!!! SO cool!  She still has a ways to go before she'll be ready for baptism, but her date is the 28th, and she can totally make it!  I'm so proud of her!  It's way exciting!!!

We've met some pretty awesome people, but they won't make an appointment because they say they're too busy.  We seriously met the cutest lady yesterday.  She was with her son when I stopped her.  She seemed really interested.  She said she was really busy so she wouldn't take The Book of Mormon or make an appointment to meet again, but her eyes lit up when we were talking.  It was a cool contact!  She said if she had time she would call us and maybe come to church.  I really hope she does!  She was super cute.  She believes in God, and she said she was interested.  I'm praying for her!!

Anyways, this week should be another awesome week!!
Love you all, and thanks for all the love and support!!

Sometimes lots of rain is great!!!  It means I get to wear pants (even if they're just rain pants)!