FANTASTIC WEEK!

This week was kinda crazy, but super awesome!!!

We didn't have District Meeting because we had Zone Taikai this week! Yay!! It was so much fun! 

 

But Wednesday was way good too. It was Elder Stump's birthday. So we made this brownie cake dealio, and it was pretty good actually. Oh but it had to be gluten free because Stump has an allergy. I was pretty impressed with our skills actually. But then Eikaiwa (English class) was a blast. I wasn't so sure about teaching kids' eikaiwa at first, but now I love it! Those kids are stinkin adorable! I sure love them! We're all friends now too. So cute! 

 

So then Friday was Taikai. It was in Kagoshima again. It was a LONG day, but it was pretty much the best day ever. Kinda. But we got up at like 4:20 and got to the train station. Then it's like a 2 hour and 15 minute train ride into Kagoshima. Then we walk up the giant hill to the church. We got there pretty early, so we just got to hang out and talk to the other missionaries! Naze (the island) missionaries came in! (They did Skype for ZTM) So I got to see Elder Willis (from her MTC district)!!! I also got to see Elders Malen and Bailey and just everyone! Kuroki Shimai was there too. I love seeing the other missionaries and hearing their stories. Kagoshima is seeing TONS of miracles right now. It's super crazy. Everyone just has all these crazy stories about the miracles they're seeing in their areas! 

 

Then the training was way good, like always! Kaicho (President), Shimai (his wife), and the AP's (Assistants to the President) talked about all kinds of stuff to help our dendo and help us as missionaries too. Shimai talked about part of our motto, "Love is the Motive". Her training is always so uplifting. I always feel super motivated to be better after Shimai talks to us! Kaicho talked about the importance of the sacrament. It was SO good! It really helped me to understand more of the importance of the sacrament. EldersChung and Bloomfield talked about making Baptismal Calendars to help our investigators progress towards baptism. I think it's an awesome idea, and it sounds like it's been way good for lots of people already. 

 

Then we had a testimony meeting afterwards. We have the most amazing people here in Fukuoka Japan. I'm serious. I am amazed at how strong, and just amazing these missionaries here are! I got up and bore my testimony too at the end. My mission has turned me into such a baby. I just cried through the whole thing. I used to never cry! But I cried...a lot...
 

We had to stay after taikai for a little while though because Kuroki Shimai, Higashi Shimai, and I had to get our departure interviews. Waaaa!!! There are too many people going home, so Kaicho won't have time to do all the interviews on Thursday when we go to the Honbu. So he did ours after taikai. More tears. I bawled through that whole thing too. Literally I was crying as soon as Kaicho said "have a seat" and then proceeded to cry through the rest of the interview. It wasn't fun. But I adore Kaicho! He is seriously the best! 

 

Then we had to say goodbye to everyone. That was hard too. But luckily I held in the tears for that. It took some effort, but I think maybe I was mostly cried out by that time. We headed back on the train, and got home at about 8:45 that night. So long day, but a super awesome day! 

 

Then we had normal dendo (work) Saturday and Sunday, but we saw some sweet miracles! Kaicho taught a while ago that we should pray at decision points. Times when we aren't really sure what to do. So we had a couple of those this week. And we prayed at those points, and we saw awesome miracles both times! We were able to find a guy housing that wasn't normally home at that time, but was that day. Then we gave him a Book of Mormon, and I think he'll become a new investigator! The other time, we met tons of cool people, and gave out another Book of Mormon. We also ran into a member who just moved to Miyazaki a few weeks ago, and she needs a little strengthening. Super awesome! 

 

We also had another lesson with Kai san. He is progressing slowly, but he's definitely moving the right direction! Yay! Miracles everywhere! There was a couple from South Africa that came to church yesterday too! A member invited them to come, so they came and checked it out. They only stayed for sacrament, but they liked it I think. 

Stump's B-day (our cake is the far right...blue frosting)

 

Me and Kakishita at Miyazaki Eki

 

Me, Bailey, Malen, and Willis at Taikai

The Tokutome Fufu

 

Missions are the best! The Church is true! Love you all!

Babcock Shimai 

 

Short and Sweet

Sorry no time this week. We had a computer problem.

 

But we saw tons of miracles! Seriously the Lord has been blessing us with so many miracles lately! We found another new investigator! Her name is Maiko and she came to church on Sunday! Way crazy. She pretty much invited herself. She sounds like she's going to come again next week too, so I am so excited about that! 

 

I got to dendou with Akuta Shimai this week. She's in Miyakonojo. It was way fun! She is hilarious! 

We also were able to meet with those two girls we met last week again. They are way cool. Yuu and Ryou. They are both like 20 years old, and just super awesome. We were able to teach part of the first lesson and give both of them a copy of the Book of Mormon! They are so cool! They are way busy, but we're hoping to be able to meet with them again next week. They seriously remind me of Mako and Akiho from Naha! So I already love them tons! We're basically best friends already. :) 

We also helped a member move so that was good. 

 

We were also given free bagels by this lady who owns a bagel shop. Crazy! There are like no bagels in Japan, but we found the shop, and she gave us free bagels. 

 

Unfortunately we haven't been able to get in contact with Hidaka san. The lady we were teaching before. Super sad. But we're going to keep praying and trying. 

 

Also we had a SUPER awesome lesson with our investigator Kai san. We mostly just asked him questions, but we were able to find out where he's at spiritually and what he needs. So that was a huge miracle and blessing. Our next lesson we'll be able to focus better on his needs because we asked good questions. The Spirit was definitely helping us out! 

 

I'm super excited for another awesome week here in Miyazaki! It started cooling down. I had to finally pull out my coat. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Babcock Shimai

 

 

The free bagels!

Happy Pocky Day!!! 11/11 ya!

Conquered a giant squirrel...no big deal...

Miracles!!

What's up! So this week has been full of miracles!! The Lord has really been pouring out blessings on us lately!

So last Monday, we had a super fun P-day with a member. Then after P-day was over, we went out and dendo-ed. We met this crazy awesome lady though! She had a ton of questions about different religions and stuff. She said she had seen our church and the missionaries, but she didn't know what we believed. So we told her we would love to tell her! We set up an appointment for Wednesday. And she came! We had a lesson at the church and taught most of the first lesson! She had some really good questions. She doesn't know a lot about religion, so she wants to know. But we had another lesson with her on Friday too! We watched the Restoration video. It was super good. I think she wants to know in her head, but not her heart yet. But it's ok! It's a start! We invited her to come to church, but she didn't come. Which was a huge bummer, but hopefully we will be able to meet with her again this week. 

I also spoke in church this week. It went pretty good I think. It's over, so that's nice :) 

We also had a lesson with another investigator, unfortunately she's not interested, so we had to drop her. But we had a member present lesson with a different investigator, and the joints did a way awesome job. 

District meeting was way fun. Kakishita is a way good district leader! The ZL's were at our district meeting, and it was super good. We not only have to have faith in the Lord, but we also have to have faith in ourselves. Good stuff! 

Then yesterday, we were streeting, and we talked to these two girls. They are like college age. But they were super awesome! They remind me of Mako and Akiho from Naha! So I liked them right away. We have another appointment with them next Sunday. They were way cute, so I hope they come!

Other than that, it's been lots of finding. But the people here are SO nice! Seriously! I can't believe how nice everyone is here. This really is a great place. Oh! I also got a call last night from Cascardi Choro, a ZL in Fukuoka. He served here in Miyazaki and he had a referral for us! Yay! I am way excited to go visit her. We have to figure some stuff out before we can go, so we'll probably go next week. But her son got baptized in Fukuoka maybe like a year ago, and her sister is in the Miyazaki branch, so she knows a little about the church. I am WAY excited! 

But things are going way good! We have Zone Taikai on the 21st, so I am super pumped for that! I'm excited for another awesome week this week! Love you all lots! Missions are the BEST!!! The church is true!

 

At the Beach...Sister Babcock's tag!

Flowers

Food...Yum!



The beach!

Miyazaki Palm trees

Going native!

Sakurajima...the volcano in Kagoshima

Miyazaki

Miyazaki

Hey hey hey!!!

So Miyazaki is great! Happy November by the way! I cannot believe it's November already! Time is FLYING!!! We had a super fun Halloween party this week. It was a great turnout! There were tons of people who came. So we helped a lot with that this week. It was really good though, because I had the chance to get to know some of the members a little better. They are the best! Let me just tell you, I have only been here for like a week, but I already feel like I'm a part of their family. They are so nice! I sure love them all!

 

Last week we went to the beach. So fun! It's still way warm here! I can't believe we're in November and I'm not wearing tights or a sweater! Crazy! 

 

We also had ZTM in Kagoshima. Super super fun, but it was a long day! It's like a 2 or 2.5 hour train ride into Kagoshima. So we had to get up at like 4:30 am to get to the train to get to Kagoshima on time. Then we didn't get back until about 6:30 pm. Then we went and helped clean up the Halloween Party stuff. So it was a long day. But I got to see some friends which is super good! Elder Bailey (I haven't seen him since the MTC) is the new Zone Leader. So it was a ton of fun catching up with him. Willis is in Naze, so I got to talk to him for a few minutes on Skype. He'll get to come in for Zone Taikai though, so I'll get to see him again!  

 

Stevenson Shimai is great! She is from American Fork. She is a super hard worker. We're just working super hard, but it's been really fun! 

 

Our investigator Satou san came to the Halloween party, so that was really cool. I really really want to meet with her. She hasn't actually been listening to the lessons for a really long time, but I think we can start teaching her again. She is super great! I sure love her already too! 

 

We also have a few other "investigators" that aren't very solid. So hopefully we can get some people progressing a little bit. We've been out doing lots of finding trying to find the Lord's elect! 

 

Sorry this is so short! Not lots of time, but I love you all! This Church is true!!! Being a missionary is the BEST!!!! :D

 

Babcock Shimai