宮崎

Hey hey hey!

Shoutout from Hawaii...I mean Miyazaki! :) Seriously, I feel like I am either in Hawaii or Florida. It's SO cool here! There are palm trees everywhere, it's still nice and warm and sunny, there's just this tropical vibe here. Today we're heading over to hang out at the beach. Sweet right?! It's like being in Okinawa again! Funny how that works right? First and last transfers in a tropical paradise! 

 

So this week was lots of changes! It was SO sad to leave Yasufuruichi! Way super sad! Let's be honest, as much as I hate crying there were LOTS of tears. Saying goodbye was so hard! I can't even believe how hard it was. I am pretty sure I left a part of me in Yasufuruichi. I got all my stuff packed up (that was a miracle in itself! I can't believe it all fit in my suitcases! Tender mercies of the Lord for sure!) Then on Wednesday I had to say goodbye to everyone. So sad! I miss them all so much! We took lots and lots of pictures! 

 

Then on Thursday, Yoshimi, Okanoue Shimai, and Yagai Shimai went with me to the eki to say goodbye. We left at about 8:30 am. We went to the station and met up with all the other people transferring. So it's a way long story, but I didn't get to say goodbye to Kuchar. I was TICKED. It was ridiculous. Ridiculous. I won't get into it, but basically it was really dumb, and so we didn't get to say goodbye. Long story short, lots more tears. So I used Otani's phone to call her and talk to her before I left. Then we got on the bus, so I had to say goodbye to Otani. More tears! I love that kid! Him and Kuchar are family now! He gave me the best present ever! It's all these pictures of him with lots of people and he framed it. Way awesome! 

 

So I took the bus from Hiroshima to Fukuoka with 4 elders. I know Malen Chorou, so I talked to him on the bus. It was pretty fun. That's like a 4.5 hour bus ride. Then I waited at Fukuoka for a little bit. I got to see Merrill Chorou!!! Yay! It was so good to see him! I also saw some other people. I met Cascardi Chorou (another Brazilian!) and he served in Miyazaki, so he was telling me about it a little. He's way cool! Then they got me on my bus, and I rode all the way from Fukuoka to Miyazaki by myself. SO WEIRD!!! I was without a companion for 5 hours. Crazy right?! It was way weird. It was a pretty boring trip. I couldn't sleep, so I just sat there. The scenery was super pretty though. I drove all the way through Kyushu. I finally got into Miyazaki at around 8:30 PM. So it was a long day. 

 

Then we dendou-ed. My new comp Stevenson Shimai is way cool! She is from American Fork. Her mom is English (like from England) and her dad is Samoan. Cool right? She is way fun. 

 

We saw a couple way cool miracles already! We met this lady on the street, and at first she said she didn't believe in God. She said she couldn't see him, so she didn't believe. But we talked to her for a little bit. We talked about the wind. You can't see the wind, but you can feel it and it's there, right? So we compared that to God. She totally understood it, and said it was way easy to understand. She wanted to know more! So we got her number and tried to make a new appointment. She lives in Miyakanojo though :(  But we got it all  set up so the Miyakanojo sisters can meet with her. Way cool right?! 

 

The other miracle is there is an investigator here named Satou san. She is super awesome. She came to church yesterday! She sometimes comes for sacrament meeting, but today she stayed for the whole 3 hour block and the shokujikai afterwards!!! She is way solid, but they haven't really been teaching her lately, but we're going to start again, and get her baptized! 

 

The branch here is super awesome! I love them already! They are so nice, and they made me feel at home right away. I already have friends and feel like I fit in. We're having a super awesome Halloween Party on Wednesday! And then Thursday is ZTM. It's gonna be a crazy awesome week!

 

The Church is true! :) Love you all lots!

Babcock Shimai

 

Saying good-bye to Yasufuruichi!

 

Kuchar Shimai & Babcock Shimai

Transfer 11 宮崎 Miyazaki

Well we got our transfer calls...I am going to Miyazaki. I knew I was transferring, but today I found out where. Kuchar is training! She is going to be the best trainer ever!! I am way excited for her! I am going to get a 5th transfer missionary. Crazy stuff. I hear Miyazaki is super awesome, but I am SO SAD to be leaving Yasufuruichi. This branch is the best! They are so awesome. It's gonna be so hard to leave Ling, the Nishiyama's, the Okanoue's, everyone! It's going to be way sad!

 

But I'm sure Miyazaki will also be super awesome! I hear it's way great! Plus Kakishita Chourou will be there!! Yay! I love that kid! He was up here for a while. He's way fun. He's my DL I think, so that'll be way good. It'll be a new adventure! 

 

This week was super awesome though! We got to see Takanishi Shimai and Aya chan this week. Way cool stuff. We haven't seen them in forever! We also went over to Ling's apartment and she made us delicious Chinese food! SO good!!! 

 

We met a way awesome lady on the street too! She was way into it. We talked to her for a long time. She was way nice! We gave her a Book of Mormon, and talked about all kinds of stuff. She was like we should meet again! And then she asked if we could exchange numbers or emails. Crazy right! It was way way awesome! We made an appointment, but it didn't work out, but she wants to meet a different time, so hopefully Kuchar will be able to teach her!!!
 

Yesterday I went with Lane Shimai and Nigh Shimai to dendou in Hikari because Kuchar went to Fukuoka to go to trainers' training. So she was gone all day. It was way fun! But I missed Kuchar. I am going to miss her tons! It's been way too much fun here with her for 4 transfers. I'm going to miss Otani and Alger too! This branch and these missionaries have been my family, and I'm way sad to leave! :( But I'm excited for the opportunity to serve in Miyazaki! There tons of people there just waiting to hear the Gospel! :)

 

So next week I'll tell you about Miyazaki! Love you all lots!

 

Babcock Shimai

今週は最高だった！ AND 総大会と台風 General Conference and Typhoon!

FIRST OFF...this is Lacee's mom.  I have to apologize for being a slacker and not getting Lacee's blog updated for a few weeks!  We have been travelling and the wifi and connections to get this done just were not cooperating with me from most of the places we have been!!!  So, I'm sorry. But here are the last two weeks' emails!


Oct. 5, 2014
(For those who can read the Japanese characters - good on ya!  For those of us who can't, we just have to use our best guess or our imagination since Lacee didn't send me a translation!  :) )

This week was awesome! It was a way good week! We had our Special Training on Tuesday. Way cool stuff! They gave us some DVDs with Mormon videos and stuff on them. We talked about how we can use them with our investigators. They are starting to talk about how to use technology in our dendou (work) lately...I'm thinking it won't be too long until we get iPads here. Probably December or January. But the training was super good. Alma 22 is pretty much the coolest chapter ever! It is PMG (Preach My Gospel...the missionary handbook) chapter 10 used perfectly! Aaron is the man! It was way good to see everyone. We were combined...both Hiroshima Zones, so that was way fun stuff. We watched a video where Elder Nelson was talking. He said something I really liked. I didn't catch it exactly, but it was something along the lines of: perfection comes not in this life but the world to come. Something like that. You get the point. It was super awesome though!

Then we had another AB (after baptism) lesson with Ling on Wednesday. Airi and Chie chan did most of it. They are doing a really good job. They taught Ling and Ryoma.

 

Friday we went on Junkai (Working with the other sisters) in Hatsukaichi. It was way good! 

 

Saturday we went to go do Helping Hands up at the cemetery again. We were digging out haka and moving bags of dirt and stuff again. Then we went and dendo-ed. Super fun. It was just a great day of dendou (work). Then we went and visited Hasegawa Shimai. She is the nicest lady! I sure love her! We were almost late (sometimes it's hard to get out of there :) ) but we rode home SO fast, and made it at 8:59! Yay! 

 

Yesterday was way good! We had normal church and stuff. Ling is still coming every week! :) We had dinner at the Nishiyama's again. Super fun! This time Yoshimi went too, so Nishiyama Kaicho gave us a ride. That was nice. It was delicious and super fun. Kuchar and I had planned this awesome message to share (Mom- the one about fortifying families you sent...we translated it!) but we ran out of time, so we couldn't do it. :( Next time! But Nishiyama Kaicho drove us back home. He had to drop us off with Yoshimi at her house because we couldn't be in the car with just him. So we were walking to the church to get our bikes and go home. It was a little after 8:30, but we live super close so we had time. 

 

There was only one girl we saw on the way home. It was right after we started walking. It was late and raining, but I stopped her and started talking to her. She was super awesome! She is actually a new investigator now! She liked the message we shared and said she would be interested in hearing the lessons! We have another appointment with her tomorrow! She was super cool! Her name is Miyo! I am super excited about her! Pray that we can meet with her again and start teaching the lessons! It was definitely a miracle! 

 

This week is going to be crazy! We will be on junkai in Saijo on Thursday and Friday. Then General Conference is Saturday and Sunday in Takasu. All the missionaries from both Hiroshima Zones will be there. It's going to be crazy! But it's going to be an awesome week! 

The Church is true! Missions are the best!

 

Love you all!

Babcock Shimai

 

October 13, 2014

(This email came a day late because of the typhoon.  We received an email from the mission office notifying us that the missionaries would be staying in their apartments for safety during the typhoon.  They also told us that all the missionaries had a 72-hour kit in case of an emergency and that we would be contacted AFTER the typhoon had passed and the missionaries were safe.)

 

So this week was pretty busy!

It was pretty normal until Wednesday. We had normal District Meeting and stuff. P-Day was good. Wednesday we packed our stuff and left straight from Eikaiwa (English class) to go junkai (work/split/meet with the other sisters) in Saijo.  The junkai was way good. I got to dendo (work) with Burgon and Flake Shimai. They are super awesome. The Saijo missionaries are a blast! We were actually there at the same time that the ZL's (Zone Leaders) went on junkai with the elders, so for 2 days there were 14 missionaries (counting the Lamb couple) in Saijo. Isn't that crazy! We had a cereal breakfast with the 12 of us Thursday morning. It was way fun. 

 

We saw some crazy cool miracles! Last time we were on junkai in Saijo I went with Flake Shimai to teach the first lesson to this lady. This time we went and she was having her Baptismal Interview!!! Whaa! So awesome! She remembered me which was super awesome! She is so cool and is getting baptized this Saturday! Super cool miracle. I feel so blessed to have met her twice now on junkai. She is definitely one of the Lord's prepared people!

 

It is 酒まつり in Saijo right now. The Alcohol Festival! Exciting stuff. It was getting all set up and stuff. Saijo is super famous for it's alcohol. Apparently the water is really good or something. But there was a ton of stuff everywhere. They were going all out!  So Saijo was super great. There are a bunch of awesome missionaries in Saijo right now. Fun stuff!

 

Then Saturday and Sunday we had General Conference!!! Woohoo! It was SO GOOD!!! I LOVE Conference!!! All the missionaries from Hiroshima were in the one little English room. So much fun. It was way good to see everyone. Then the talks were amazing, like always! I learned so much, and have so much that I want to apply and work on now. I loved Elder Jorg Klebingat's talk! So good! He just threw down a little bit, but it was so good! 

 

Oh random fun fact, Elder Hamula that spoke, I knew his daughter in the MTC. She is in the Tokyo South Mission right now. Cool stuff! Oh an then we have the best branch ever! Kuchar Shimai and I were in  a hurry to make the train, so we forgot lunch on Sunday. We were sad because we couldn't even go buy food because it was Sunday. So we were just going to be hungry. We get there, and during the break between sessions, Kunichika Shimai, and Nishiyama Shimai both brought us food! It was way delicious, and the nicest thing ever! How awesome are they! I feel so blessed to be serving in such a great place. We have the best branch in the entire world!!!

 

Then yesterday we couldn't leave the apartment because of the big typhoon. It was rainy and pretty windy, but we didn't get anything too bad. The wind was the worst. So we were cooped up inside all day. We got our Area Book super duper updated and called all the people in it. No luck. We also super cleaned our apartment and did LOTS of studying. It was boring, but we did get some good stuff done. So P-Day was moved to today. We're going to hang out with the Hikari missionaries today in Hiroshima. Should be some pretty fun stuff! 

 

Next week is transfers! I can't believe it! This transfer has FLOWN by!!! P-Day is Tuesday again next week. Love you all lots!

 

Babcock Shimai



Junkai (working with other sisters) in Hatsukaicho....Miyajima is the island on the right in the background.

The Lambs were SO KIND!  They got oatmeal, tortillas and cheese for us from Costco!

 

Rees Choro, me, and Kuchar Shimai at Conference

The Sake Matsuri signs

Me drinking the famous Saijo water

It's a major Typhoon...take 2! (first one was in Naha over a year ago!)
 

Fun week,

So this week was pretty awesome...I washed my clothes with actual laundry soap for the first time in who knows how long, so that was a good start to the week! :)

We went to Miyajima again last P-Day. It was SO fun!!! We went with the Hikari sisters and the ZL's. Our ZL's couldn't come so that was a bummer. But Kuchar Shimai and I were getting on the train in Yokogawa and we stepped on and Ioka and Bullock Choro were standing there. It was super weird. We were just going to all meet at Miyajima, but we got on the same train car. Weird coincidence! It was way fun. Ioka kills me. He is the funniest guy ever. We went and ate the oysters and some oyster curry bread. It was pretty good actually. I was surprised! We also at the little leaf shaped things...I forget their name, but they are delicious! Kuchar bought some swords, and it was just a super fun day all around.

Then Tuesday we got stood up for an appointment. She didn't show. So we went housing by where we were supposed to meet. We ended up housing into this lady. She took us to the next apartment over. She said her daughter lived there and she spoke English. So we talked to the daughter. She lived in Washington D.C. for like 15 years or something like that. She was married to a black guy, and then her daughter came out. She was this half black girl. She was super cool. We couldn't get a return appointment, but it was still pretty cool!

We went and did Helping Hands again. This time we were cleaning up dirt and mud from a huge cemetery. It was totally destroyed. The graves are really like sacred here though, so we had to be really careful to not touch them or step on anything. It was super sad to see it all destroyed though. That is something that is so important to the Japanese people. So it was sad. But good to be able to go help. We got quite a bit done, so that was good! 

We found another new investigator! She's a young mom. She has a Christian friend. Not our church, but still. We're going back again this week, so hopefully she has lots of interest!

Then right after that, we went and had a basketball activity! It was super fun! The Nishiyama girls came. Then we played with these two guys. The elders got their contact information, so hopefully they will become new investigators. I am terrible at basketball these days!!! It's been way too long apparently! 

Then right after basketball, we went to the お疲れ様 Party. It was like a talent show and there was food and stuff, but it was SO FUN!!! Our branch is the best ever! For real though! I have a bunch of videos. I wish I could email them! There is lots of musical talent in this branch. It was really fun though. There were also 6 non-members there! How cool is that?! So it was super good!

Yesterday an Australian family came to church here. They were so cute! The mom and the dad both served missions in the Hiroshima Mission like 13 years ago. The dad served here in Yasufuruichi. They had 6 super adorable kids. So they asked Kuchar and I to go help in Primary. It was just those kids. So we translated for the kids. It was so much fun! They were super cute kids.

Then last night, we were out housing, and we saw a cool miracle. We housed into these two kind of young-ish guys. Probably 20's. But they both kind of had a Christian view of God. They knew a little bit about Jesus Christ too! It was awesome! They just moved here a month ago from Tokyo, but they said they would like to hear our message!! They are super busy right now because they are working 2 jobs, but they said they wanted to hear the lessons and they want to come to Eikaiwa! Cool right?! It was super awesome! I want to teach them so much! They seemed really cool! 

The other girl we met also called and cancelled on us. She was supposed to come to church this week, but called on Saturday night. She said she couldn't come and she's busy now, so she can't meet. We're sad! But we have her number, so hopefully we will be able to get in contact with her again!

We have a special training tomorrow. It's like a combined Zone Taikai. We're going to be with the other Hiroshima Zone. It should be super good!

Oh also, I almost forgot! I got to talk to Merrill Chourou for just a few minutes the other day. I called to see how Baba san is doing. And guess what?! Merrill said that she is doing really really good right now! I have gotten a couple letters from her, but that seriously made me so happy. It was such a relief to hear that! I almost cried...I was just so happy!!!

But anyways! I love you all tons! Missions are the best! Japan is the best!

Babcock Shimai