Transfer 9...Old Ladies in the Field!

So this week was a crazy week! But it was so good!!! We had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) on Tuesday. It was so awesome! We got to take the shink (bullet train) to Fukuoka. We had to leave at like 6:50 AM so it was an early morning, but it was fun. So we took the shink, and it only took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from Hiroshima to Fukuoka! Crazy fast! It was fun!

Then we got to see everyone so that was so much fun! Lots of friends from all over the mission. It was like a doki (MTC District) party too. Kuchar Shimai and I and then Merrill, Willis, Anderson, and Jensen Choro. So cool! And got to see Wynn Choro for the first time since my first transfer! Then a ton of other people were there. We learned a TON!!! They are doing some really cool stuff in our mission. We get to help test out some new pamphlets. They are really cool. One is about what we do as missionaries and the other one talks about the Godhead. They are both really simple and clear though. So we get to kind of test drive them. Kaicho and Shimai are the best ever though!!! I LOVE them!!! They are amazing! 

 

Then we had to do a training at ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). It was super scary! But it went pretty good I think. We made a rap. It was super funny. It was about the My Family booklets. We're going to start using them for dendo (missionary work). But we made a rap to the tune of the Fresh Prince theme song. It was way funny. The ZL's were our background dancers. It was super fun! I think the zone liked it. 

 

Then on Sunday Ling came to church!!! It was way awesome! She cried in Sacrament Meeting she said. She said she was touched. How sweet is that?! She really liked church and said she was going to come next week too! We taught a lesson with the ZL's and their Chinese investigator about Tithing. Ling was totally cool with it. She said after she gets baptized she's going to keep the Law of Tithing! Woohoo! She is so awesome! We have another lesson with her tomorrow. Okanoue Shimai has been the coolest ever. She helps us SO much! 

 

Then I had the Nevada International Party on Friday. It actually went really pretty good I think. People thought it was all really cool. They couldn't believe how small Panaca was. They also kept asking a bunch of questions. It's funny that they think Nevada is exciting...since no one else does haha :) But it was good. And Okanoue Shimai made pizza for it. We went over to her house and helped her get it ready, but really she had already done everything. She made the dough and the sauce and stuff. We just had to cut up some stuff and then she made a pizza for us for lunch. She is the coolest! I love her so much!!!

 

So this week was a little different than usual. We went up to A City again though. And we went and taught Eikaiwa (English class) at the Wada's. They are such an awesome family! I really want them to become investigators. We're working on it!! :) 

 

So we got our transfer calls......

 

We are both staying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Yay!!! I'm super excited! I was hoping they would leave us together for another one! We're going to be together to baptize Ling! :) It's super exciting! We're still the STL's too we're pretty sure. They didn't say anything, so we're assuming it's just staying the same. I guess we'll see huh? 

Well now we're transfer 9! Crazy! We're old ladies!

But anyways, talk to ya next week! Have a great week! Love ya!

Babcock Shimai

Us with Elders Kakishita and Chung

The Shink!!

Us on the Shink!

 

ひさしぶり博多！Long time no see Hakata (Fukuoka)

Kuchar Shimai, me, and Elders Merrill and WIllis

MLC & Miyajima

So the kimonos at Miyajima could have gone better!  It was HOT!!!! And super humid and kind of rainy.  But the cool thing... H Shimai came to the church to help us put them on.  That is the first time in five years that she has even been at the church.  And she came twice!!! Yay!  And we looked pretty cool I guess...2 American girls, a Brazilian, and a Japanese guy all dressed up.  Haha!  But the Elders were wearing the underneath part of the kimonos.  It was basically the "underwear" of the kimono.  They got some weird looks.  We got a couple of cool pictures though.  Mostly we just looked ridiculous. Kuchar Shimai and I were in one of the shops just looking at stuff.  There were two older gentlemen and a lady sitting there.  They probably owned the shop, but I heard them talking about us.  It was kind of funny.  They were talking about how we were white and wearing kimonos and stuff.  Then they noticed we were wearing name tags and wondered why.  I was listening then I just said "konnichiwa" and then explained that we were wearing name tags because we are missionaries for our Church.  I think they were a little embarrassed, but we just stopped and chatted with them a little bit.  They were very nice though.  We had so much fun just hanging out with everyone from our zone.  We were all there.  Fun, fun!

We had two AWESOME lessons with Ling this week.  We taught her about the Word of Wisdom.  She always brings a  bottle of ocha (tea) with her to the lessons so we were a little concerned.  We taught her about it though and she liked it!  She was like " I agree with that ".  She doesn't like coffee or alcohol.  She thinks they are gross and bad for you.  So she never drinks them. She doesn't smoke or do drugs either.  Perfect, right??   Then we talked about the ocha.  She said she would stop.  She said she didn't really like it that much anyway so she will stop.  She likes juice and water better anyway!  No way!  She is just so kinjin!  It's crazy!  I just love her so much!

The other lesson with her was at O Shimai's house.  She invited all the missionaries and Ling over to eat.  So wee ate, and it was fun.  Then after the Elders left we had a short lesson. She is good with everything we teach.  She wants to be good and follow the commandments.  She is excited to be baptized.  She is SO prepared! She really has a strong desire to be baptized!  It's amazing!  She is almost done with school, andf then she will have more time and she'll be able to come to church.  So awesome!  She is definitely going to make her date!!

This week we went on junkai in Hatsukaichi.  It was super fun.  I got to dendo (work) with Kuroki Shimai again! It's funny how we are so different but still so much the same.

This week is a busy one so next week's email will have a lot!  We have MLC (mission leadership council) tomorrow!! Yay!! We get to go to Fukuoka on the Shink...the bullet train!  SO exciting!!! Plus lots of friends will be there! Then we have ZTM (zone training meeting) on Thursday.  Then on Friday I do the International party for the ward about Nevada!

This is the last full week of this transfer which means next week P-day will be on Tuesday (your Monday). I can't believe this transfer is already almost over! :)

Love you all!  Have a great week!

Babcock Shimai

(Lacee's mom typed this on the tablet going back and forth between email & blog so if there are glaring errors, please forgive me!  We are not at home right now.  I will post her Miyajima pictures when we get back!)

Flats, Rain, & JOY!

Well this week was pretty crazy! We went and taught an Eikaiwa at a family's house, and they were super nice! We're hoping they will become investigators!

Then Tuesday, Kuchar's tire had a rough go of it. She got a panku (flat). So we had to walk it to the bike shop which is kind of far away. So we got there and turns out her tire was all messed up. It was like cracked and tearing kind of, so they needed to replace the whole tire. But we're in Japan and no one rides a mountain bike, so they didn't have the right tire. They said they could order it, but it would take a week to get it. So they told us a different place that we could go and see if they had the tire. So we went there, but they didn't have the tire either, so they just fixed the panku and we had to go somewhere else. So Otani looked up an asahi (a good bike place) on the phone, and told us how to get there. So we finally found that place and got her a new tire and stuff. What an adventure. 

 

The typhoon was pretty lame. It POURED rain for a couple days and was windy, but that was about it. 

 

The exciting news this week though is.......

LING HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!! Yatta!!!

August 23rd! We had a GREAT lesson with her!  She was super into it, and was understanding everything. We taught the Plan of Salvation and talked a little bit about temples. She was wondering what happened if she decided to follow the Savior but her family didn't so we talked about temples a little. She LOVED it! So we challenged her to be baptized. And she said yes! No hesitation. She WANTS to be baptized! She just needs to come to church. So in a few weeks when school is out and she isn't so busy, she's coming to church and getting baptized! :) I am SO happy! The Spirit was SO strong. Our member cried and I was about in tears. It was seriously the happiest thing ever. She is so cool! And so prepared! She has definitely been prepared by the Lord. 

 

Then we were in Saijo for 2 days on junkai. It was super fun. Saijo is super neat! They are seeing tons of miracles there! I was riding around on a mamachatty [don't know a definition for this!  :)] for 2 days. I'm so sore! It was super fun though. The sisters there are great! And we got to see Walton and Rees Choro! Yay! Love my doki! 

 

Sorry this is super short. Busy day! We're going to Miyajima, but a less active sister in the branch is putting us and Otani and Correa Choro in kimonos for it. It's going to be epic. Be prepared for some pretty neat pictures next week!!! :)

 

Have a great week! Love you lots!

Babcock Shimai

Basketball hoop - Japanese style

On my bike

Beautiful Japan!

Love the buildings!

My doki friends!  (Her MTC friends)

Happy Independence Day!

Hey!

Happy 4th of July!

So this week was pretty good! We weren't able to have a lesson with Ling this week because she got really busy, but we'll have one this week. 

 

The lady we found housing wasn't interested. We went back and taught a little lesson about families and the Book of Mormon, but she said she wasn't interested and please don't come back. But it was still good. Planting seeds! :)

 

Other than that, we went on our first junkai this week. It was way good! The sister I went with is 10 years older than me, Japanese, and doesn't speak English, so I was a little bit scared! But it turned out being really good. We were able to go visit a couple members and just dendo. She opened up to me and told me a lot of stuff. So that was good too. We can try to help people if we know what the problem is! But both that sister and her companion are Japanese and don't speak any English, so we went to visit an American family in their ward because I can talk to them. :) It was SO fun! It was weird to speak English to members! But it was super fun! I just chatted with them and got to know them a little bit. They don't speak any Japanese, so it was funny. I was translating for them and my Japanese companion. So the Japanese sister shared a message and bore her testimony, and I translated it for the family. It was a really neat experience! So the junkai wasn't as bad as I expected! And I learned so much!  We're going to Saijo on Friday and Saturday for junkai again, so that should be fun!

 

What else? Oh a couple weeks ago we got mooned by a little boy. I don't think I wrote about that. It was a little weird. Crazy kids haha

 

And we found 2 cockroaches in our apartment in 2 days. NOT COOL!!! The first one I saw it and jumped up in my chair. Ew. I HATE cockroaches. Then we found another one in the room we sleep in the next day. We sleep. on. the. floor. We cannot have a cockroach problem. Spiders and other things aren't fun, but cockroaches are NOT acceptable. The second time neither one of us could see because our contacts were out and we didn't have glasses on. So we saw it and we were both freaking out because we can't really see and we don't have anything to kill it with. So Kuchar picked up Kevin (my basketball) and starts just smashing it.  There were guts everywhere haha It was disgusting and hilarious. We have also been fighting mosquitoes. They are EVERYWHERE. Our legs are covered in bites. We have both slapped each other in the face killing mosquitoes for each other. 

 

Tuesday was Zone Taikai. It was SUPER good! Kaicho and Shimai and the AP's always do such a great job! We have the BEST Mission President and Mission Mom in the world here in the Japan Fukuoka Mission!!! We have new standards. We are doing really well as a mission right now, but we are trying to get a last push to try to get to the 210 baptisms this year. That was our goal. We're not quite halfway yet, so we're going to give it our all here for the last stretch! It was lots of fun. We got to visit with Kaicho and Shimai and our missionary friends. It's always a good time! Our mission has the highest rate of bike accidents in Japan though. Whoops! So we watched a bike safety video that was a little graphic. Needless to say, we are all now being SUPER safe on our bikes! We had a testimony meeting for the last little bit. It was way neat! The missionaries here are the best. We have so many amazing people in this mission. I feel so lucky and honored to be able to serve with and learn from them! 

Kuchar Shimai decided to set a really specific goal about what kind of new investigator we were going to find. The AP's talked about it in Taikai, so we did it. We decided Yasufuruichi needs a young family. A mom, a dad, and a couple little kids. The older kid would be like 9 and probably a little boy. And then a little sister. So we went up to A City all day Saturday. We left and 12 and came back at 9. We just went up there and dendoed the entire day. We knew we were going to find this family! So we talked to a TON of people and found a couple of families that fit our description, but they weren't interested. By the end of the day, when we had walked in our door at 8:59, we had found nobody. Not one person was really interested. I admit I was frustrated. We had made a good, specific plan, had expectations, and a TON of faith, but we didn't get anything out of it. But we did. We were able to actually talk and share our message with lots of people. Usually people just kekko us and don't listen, but a LOT of people listened. So it was a good day. And we didn't have any regrets. Zero disappointment in ourselves because we literally did all we could do. Like it says in PMG, you might be disappointed because people don't listen, but you won't be disappointed in yourself. That's what we felt. We did what we could, and we were planting seeds, and preparing those people for a later harvest! :)

 

This morning our water heater was broken. We showered in freezing cold water. Haha it's always an adventure! The things we do to be clean! Kuchar said it was like repentance. Being clean is worth the pain! :) 

 

Anyways, it was a great week! Love you all lots! This Church is true!!!

Babcock Shimai

 

We ate dragon fruit!!! It was gross! Do not waste your money on a nasty dragon fruit!

 

The church in Hikari was the old mission home for the Japan Hiroshima Mission. Cool huh?