Week 12 Gelato in December

Konnichiwa!

WOW... what a week, I felt that this week just flew by! I cant believe I have been in Japan for 3 whole weeks! This week has been nothing, but fun, miracles, and Service!

This week was really interesting....well on Tuesday we were biking on our way to go around the Eki ( train station) to find people, we were saying hello to everyone we saw and to this girl across the street that was going the other way, but then yelledーOboeru (remember) and kept riding. We were so confused and turned around to talk to her, she was going fast so we tried to keep up, but as we were riding a young guy was about to cross the street, but then decided not to, backed up into the path where I was at, luckly he was wearing a backpack because I decked that backpack, lost my balance and my bike ran into a fence. My goal for the day was not to be awkward, because for some odd reason either Gusman Shimai and I are awkward or Japanese people are, so I just asked if he was okay and then went on my way. Luckly the only damage was to the fence and that wasnt even bad. my bike was fine and I and the guy were stunned. Sad to say, we never did find that girl that said she remembered, but we were happy that she did. 

  Later that evening we were at a Covenie (Covenient store) and were walking out, two young guys (looked like they were in high school) were walking into the parking lot and we said hello. Whenever we see younger people we say hello in english. Just because. They were really excited we said hello. We then said How are you? One of them said Im fine thank you, which is what you will get from anyone in Japan. We then asked if they like English, we went on to talking and learned that one of them met two young elders two years ago on a rainy day, and he really like them. We invited them to Eikaiwa (English Class). Another sad to say we never did see him again this week and he didn:t come to english class, but we were really excited that he remembered the missionaries on that rainy day two years ago. 

We left on Wednesday to Kowachiagano which is an area in our zone for a kokan(companion exchanges) with our STLs ( Sister Training Leaders). And that was so fun.On the way over we were riding a train, and these two girls that were sitting next to my companion and I would just fall asleep on our shoulders, it was the cutest thing ever... they were just so tired.

 I was paired up with Kawamura Shimai, she is from Tokyo and she is really nice and it was kinda hard sometimes to communicate, because she doesnt speak a ton of English. But, I learned so much from her. I learned to open my mouth, be confident in myself, and to always testify about Jesus Christ. One of the things that was really difficult in Kawachiagano is the HILLS! My goodness, I thought that the one hill in Wakayama was hard to go up, these hills are like monsters! No joke! They were really hard to go up. But, I tried riding a mamachadi again( the crazy bike that everyone in Japan swears by is the best bike, but for me is the hardest bike). HAHA... I tried hopping on it and immediately fell over hahaha. But, Kawamura shimai took it and let me borrow hers, which was really nice of her, except the part that she is really short and I felt like a kid riding hers, it was so low to the ground. HAHA! But, I didnt complain, I just rode that crazy bike up those huge hills. 

We left on Thursday, exhausted we slept all the way back to Wakayama. Oh and Thursday was the first of December, I hope all of you have been watching those christmas videos they have for LDS.org. My companion and I were so excited because they have the new #LIGHTTHEWORLD video out and 25 ways to be like Jesus calender, I hope everyone has one, I think you can get one from church. They are like a scatch calender, my family better have one! My companion and I will scatch it off and watch the video! Its one of the highlights of our days. So anyways Thursday was World Wide Service day, and my companion and I decided to pick up trash and make cookies for people. It was so fun! That was also the day I found bamboo! While picking up trash, we were to a forest like area and found wild bamboo growing. 

Friday was district meeting so that was really fun, after the meeting we went to a Okononiyaki house and had really good food. On our way back we were riding our bikes and this old grandma saw us and we said Konnichiwa and she said something like wow so many foreigners, when their was only Gusman Shimai and I haha. But, we were about to turn the corner, and my companion was about to say something to her, but instead the grandma starts yelling BYE BYE BYEBYE!!! We then left and laughed all the way home! We were pretty sure she was crazy.

Later that night we were riding back to the church and my companion stopped and started talking to a little girl about Christmas and Eikaiwa. When all of a sudden this other grandma stopped her bike, I was pretty sure at this point from all the grandmas I have seen lately she was crazy too. But, needless to say she was really nice and asked a bunch of questions and I do not know a lot of things to say yet, so that was hard. But, I told her who I was, where I was from, and a little bit about church. She asked I think where and when church was. I tried my best and told her. She then asked another question that I could not understand, so I grabbed my companion, she came over and started talking to her, she then thanked us and went on her way. I later had found out that her son had found the missionaries in Osaka and made cake or something? She did ask when church was and where. She also asked how long I had been in Japan... she was really sweet and I hope and pray she will come to church some day. 

 My Eikaiwa class on Friday was bigger from last weeks, there are three classes and I am one of the teachers. Last week I only had Ari San but this week I had 4 people! We talked about answering the phone in English, I made up a game to go with it and everyone had a blast. I was really excited that two new people that I had not come into contact with before came, and one was in my class. Ari San volunteered twice to say the prayer ( remember he is not a member) and after I gave him a pamphlet, and in two weeks we have an appointment with him. So, I:m really excited.

Saturday was really excited, we were on our way to go heart attack someone in our ward, and we were riding past these young girls, we said hello and kept going, we were stopped at a stop light, and were waiting when one of the girls got the courage and yelled hello! We then turned around and came and talked to them. They all started giggling and laughing. We then talked to them for a little bit, and talked about Christmas and Eikaiwa, who we are. We asked if any of them would be interested to talk with us again and one of the girls raised her hand and we got her contact information and got a picture with them and left! We then met a cute young couple that had twins, they were so nice and we invited them to go to church sometime. We also got to stop and have gelato 🍧 at this cool gelato and crepes shop I had mango and apple it was so good, I just sat there laughing because in Idaho we would never have gelato or ice cream in December, sometimes it just gets so warm I wonder if it's even December!

Okay, yesterday was a crazy day. Yesterday was fast sunday so we had to fast which I love doing for other people, and if I have a reason, it really not that hard for me, we also were invited over for dinner at a members house. So, after meeting with a less active we started our journey over there. It was raining really hard when we left, and I was already drenched, but we headed to their house. On the way their we were biking fast trying to make good timing, we were going over the meadle grate type of thing, when my bike lost its balance and my bike slipped and I fell with my bike. Luckly I landed with my hands, but hit the pavement hard, I scraped up my knees, and my hands now have bruises, my seat on my bike has a tare which I was so sad about, but I called Sister Welch and everything is just fine. We got to their house in record time and we had one of my favorite meals in Japan Mamadofu and Gioza (pop stickers) hand made and they were delicious! This morning was a little hard to get up, I have a nice bruise on both the palms of my hands, some bruising on my knees, but other than that Im doing just fine! I am very grateful for my Heavenly Father for watching out for me and keeping me ready and able to share this wonderful message with His children in Japan! 

I love you all and Im praying for you daily!

I hope all of you, share a little bit of Christs light and #LIGHTTHEWORLD!

Talk to all in a week!

あいしています！

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