Dear family,
This week has been great with my new companion. She reminds me of a combination of Brookie and Heylee Fardig. She is not afraid to talk to anyone and is also just so helpful/youthful.
We went to Honbu to pick up our new companions and I don't know why I always get so nervous. I think because I will have this companion for the rest of my mission most likely. Anyway I talked to her for a little bit, before hand, and when they said, Sister Vail will be training Sister Tan I felt like we won the lottery. We were both so happy! I already love her so much and am learning alot from her. She even went to BYU Hawaii and I know her dad-Chef Tan! I kind of feel like one of my sister is here in Japan with me! She kept saying she knew we would be companions the second I passed by. She said she thought to herself "theres my trainer!" Its weird I felt the same way about my trainer too. Anyway half of our missionaries went South this week so now our mission is smaller. When I took her back with me to Utsunomiya it was super rainy and squished on the train, but she was so great and already wanted to talk to everyone. When we were grabbing her luggage from the Honbu we were stuffing things in her luggage and there was Pockey chocolate on her bed. She loves to eat. She is really funny and afraid of spiders.
We went for a run the other morning and before we got half way down the street a lady stopped us and asked how old I was. I said 25- she asked Tan Shimai how old she was-she said 20. Then she said, "Oh so your her mother" to me. I guess this mission is aging me but I think its okay it is worth it. We invited the Obachan to church and she sat on her stroller and we sang I am a child of God to her in the middle of the road. Randomly we saw her again today, and she really wants to come to church to hear the Hymns sung again.
We saw so many miracles already together. On Saturday we decided we really wanted to find a family. We both prayed really hard and when we left the house and, the second person we talked to was a mother and father and their one year old boy leaving their apartment going out for a walk. We asked if we could sing to them, and afterward we shared a little bit about our families and how through the Gospel of Jesus Christ our families are able to become stronger, and we are able to change through Christ. The father George, is half Filipino half Japanese, and grew up going to the Catholic church with his mom. We asked Takako-san, his wife, if she believed in God and Jesus Christ, and she said after her son was born last year, she has started to believe in God because it was so amazing. We were able to make an appointment with them next week on Saturday afternoon, we are super-excited! It was such a testimony to us that the Lord really does answer prayers if we have faith and are willing to work hard.
We saw so many miracles already together. On Saturday we decided we really wanted to find a family. We both prayed really hard and when we left the house and, the second person we talked to was a mother and father and their one year old boy leaving their apartment going out for a walk. We asked if we could sing to them, and afterward we shared a little bit about our families and how through the Gospel of Jesus Christ our families are able to become stronger, and we are able to change through Christ. The father George, is half Filipino half Japanese, and grew up going to the Catholic church with his mom. We asked Takako-san, his wife, if she believed in God and Jesus Christ, and she said after her son was born last year, she has started to believe in God because it was so amazing. We were able to make an appointment with them next week on Saturday afternoon, we are super-excited! It was such a testimony to us that the Lord really does answer prayers if we have faith and are willing to work hard.
Later that day we also were able to find another family. A single mother named Mayumi and her son Yuta. She seemed to be entranced by us and we talked to her I felt like she wanted to be with us more. So we invited her to come see the church. We all piled into her car and she drove us about 10 minutes away to our church. It was funny in the car because she liked to use English, I kept saying "right" which she thought meant "light" since the Ls and Rs sound the same to Japanese people. It was an adventure. She loved the church and said we are "special people". I know she felt the spirit and Sister Tan told her the first vision and at the end of our tour she knelt and prayed for the first time. It was really special. She said the only God she worships is her son, so that was kind of interesting. Japanese people have so much good in them, they are wonderful people.
Sister Tan and I tried to teach a blind man as he was walking through the city. After we talked to him we both were closing our eyes trying to walk on the sidewalk like him. Sister Tan is great, her first day here she asked Sayaka(with all the dogs and cats) if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized, she said no because she doesn't want to join any religion or give up coffee, but I anyway I was really proud of her for inviting.
This week we were streeting alot, talking to alot of people but didn't find anyone right away. One day I recognized this lady that I saw a few months ago near the train station. I noticed her because she had bright blonde hair and was really skinny and riding the same pink bike. I wanted to talk to her last transfer too but she was too quick on her bike and we were with another investigator. So when we saw her stopped at the cross walk I knew we had to talk to her. So we ran across the cross walk and introduced ourselves. We told her we were "Sister Vail and Sister Tan" because we are all brothers and Sisters from our Heavenly Father. She then said, "Kamaisama mo shinjimasu". Then she looked at us both for a long time and didn't say anything for what seemed like a whole minute. She then said, "I want to go to church". We were like "of course!" So we got her number and made an appointment with her.
This week we were streeting alot, talking to alot of people but didn't find anyone right away. One day I recognized this lady that I saw a few months ago near the train station. I noticed her because she had bright blonde hair and was really skinny and riding the same pink bike. I wanted to talk to her last transfer too but she was too quick on her bike and we were with another investigator. So when we saw her stopped at the cross walk I knew we had to talk to her. So we ran across the cross walk and introduced ourselves. We told her we were "Sister Vail and Sister Tan" because we are all brothers and Sisters from our Heavenly Father. She then said, "Kamaisama mo shinjimasu". Then she looked at us both for a long time and didn't say anything for what seemed like a whole minute. She then said, "I want to go to church". We were like "of course!" So we got her number and made an appointment with her.
This week we also had another lesson with Chika and Gihan the multicultrual family. Gihan is a computer whiz but says he cant convert to Christianity because it could be very dangerous for him. He showed us how to make nan and fed us this Turkish dinner called Dolma, which is like eggplant, stuffed with tomatoie rice. It was delicious to say the least. We showed them the restoration video and tried to do a puzzle with them without some of the pieces trying to show them why we have so many Christian Churches, but that without some of the pieces they are incomplete. Chika is really sweet and converted to Christianity when she was only 6. They both have had hard lives but have really strong faith in God. I love Chika, she always tells us she loves us too. I want her to try out our church.
Lastly we had such a huge miracle yesterday. We were teaching Irene, the girlfriend of one of our members, the Doctrine of Christ. She has been coming to church alot recently, pretty much every week now. We taught her more about baptism and how she was feeling, and last week we asked if she would pray about a date. She said that she did pray, and that God told her anytime she chooses she can be baptized! We prayed about a date for her and we told her we knew she would be ready by June 21st. She is really excited about it too! We also taught her the Word of Wisdom and she said it should be no problem. She said she wants to surprised Jonathan with her baptismal date, and in her prayer at the end, she said “thank you for helping me know the true way”. We are meeting with her again this week. She is just beaming with joy. Her dream now is to become an eternal family with Jonathan and her son.
Also at the begining of the week (last pday) Kentaroh and his mom took me and Sister Long (my temporary comp) out for lunch and to this place called the Oya temple. There is this Giant statue, which I heard stands as a symbol of peace and was built all over Japan after WW2 to help them to remember to be peaceful. We taught Kentaroh's mom again this time about Joseph Smith and his experience. Later that day she took us this underground cave, where they used to mine. It was super cold and creepy a little and playing weird music, apparently Enya has had an underground concert there. Anyway there was one pocket of light in the whole cave, and she said, "Sister Vail, isnt that beautiful, it seems like any minute now two beings are going to come down". I don't know if it was supposed to be funny but I didnt really know what to say. At least she is paying attention to our lessons, I guess.
Okay I have to go, but life is good, I love my new companion, and I am so excited for Irene and to teach these wonderful families.
Love you, love life
Marni
Also I know Heavenly Father answers prayers, as we involve him in our lives and not try to do things ourselves, and lean on him things just fall into place! I know this with all my heart. If we listen for his direction he will guide us step by step.
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