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!)