夷険一節＊一期一会: Last week of transfer 4!

Can you believe it? As of today, I am on my 5th transfer!

Ahhhhh! For whatever reason, 5 sounds considerably older than 4, and it's super scary because I still feel like a new missionary. Even after being senpai for a whole transfer, haha.

Anyways, this mission thing is going way too fast for my liking. I have less than a year left, if I only have 12 transfers!

Well. I suppose complaining about it won't help anything :P

This week, I want to start out with a highlight of the week.

During Relief Society in Takabata ward, they do a "musical moment" every once in a while, where someone brings in a CD, we all sing a hymn together, the accompanist just plays a hymn, etc.

Well, yesterday, the Relief Society President came up to me three minutes before Relief Society was about to begin, and asked if I could do the musical number before the lesson.

Having no other choice, I said "yes," while an inner battle started to rage within my head. Being the piano performance major that I am, I knew that I couldn't just go up and play a hymn straight from the hymn book. At the same time, being the horrible improviser that I am, I knew that there was no way that I would be able to pull off anything remotely nice, if I tried anything too crazy.

So, I decided to play "Nearer my God to Thee" because the chords are relatively simple, tried to semi-figure out what I was doing during the opening hymn, and then I just had to go for it.

Needless to say, it was a very unrefined performance. But as I prayed that I would be able to help invite the Spirit into the room, I really felt something. It was maybe the first time that I have felt the Spirit while playing (at least, the first time in a very long time), probably because I was improvising and had to rely on the Lord.

I am grateful that the Lord could take a Yamaha digital piano and some random notes, to give me a chance to bear my testimony in my favorite way.

I had been struggling this week with bearing my testimony through speech, so I'm also grateful for the Relief Society President who could be bold enough to ask me play, three minutes before the meeting began.

Well, let me talk about some other highlights from this past week!

On Monday we went to the Minato (port) Festival to see the fireworks! Holy cow, there were so many people, it was insane. Leaving the area was an absolute disaster, and we had to bike faster than we could to get back home in time. But the fireworks were amazing, and we FINALLY got to see Rena, one of our investigators! She had been busy this whole transfer, and Samowitz shimai hadn't met her yet! We didn't get to teach Rena a lesson, but it was a great excuse to talk with her and catch up and figure out a time to meet her again (:

港祭りの花火

And by the way, Japanese fireworks are the best. I didn't get any pictures, but there were fireworks shaped like hearts, rabbits, rings, dice, starts, smiley faces, etc. and the finale was just amazing. American fireworks pale in comparison....haha.

Tuesday evening, we visited Saki-san, our kind-of investigator, who we met through housing and may not really be interested? We were planning on a quick doorstep visit, when her boyfriend came out and we ended up talking for over 40 minutes. He's read the Bible and some other religious texts before, but apparently he has decided that his thing is philosophy, rather than religion.

It always makes me super nervous, talking to such opinionated, well-informed people, haha. He seemed a little interested in the Book of Mormon, though, We'll see. Saki-san said we could visit her every month in the future, so hopefully something will reach their heart (:

That's all I seem to be able to hope for these days.....haha.

Last night, we found our third investigator of the transfer! Yay! (: We take what we can get, you know? (;

Ok, I don't actually know if she's going to be a real investigator, but we housed into her yesterday and I asked if she would listen to us just once and she said yes and even gave us a time and date, so we'll see how that goes! When I first introduced myself, she kind of kekko-ed us, saying that she was Buddhist, but somehow we got a conversation started and she asked me what I think about Buddhism, and I think my answer helped open her heart a little (:

I'll keep you updated on what happens!

Other than that, we unsuccessfully tried stalking Ota-san (investigator) and Erika-chan (recent convert). We finally got to talk to Ota-san just as she was leaving the door, for about 3 minutes on Sunday, haha. We tried visiting Erika-chan about 4 or 5 times, but every time we went only her sister was home! Someday....we are going to catch her! haha

We also met with Nana-chan (youth) almost everyday this week, because she asked for help on her talk. I don't know how much I helped, but I enjoyed asking her questions to help her realize and remember spiritual experiences and insights that she has had in the past.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that I'm not transferring? haha, I totally forgot. I'm staying in Takabata and finishing training with Samowitz shimai!

It makes me sad that by the end I will have been in Takabata longer than Gifu, but.....oh well :P

Oh, and this also means that I will be in the hottest place in Japan during the hottest month of the year. Yay.....

Within 5 to 10 minutes of standing outside everyday, I feel like I have jumped into a swimming pool, between the humidity and the sweat. I can't even imagine what it will be like in August! Just be glad that you're not here (; haha

As a side note, though, I've noticed a little miracle lately. Normally, when I'm even remotely hot, neither my brain nor body will function and I lose all will to do everything. Since coming on a mission, though, the heat hasn't affected my motivation or the clarity of my thoughts at all! (or, at least, I think so....) Blessings of being a missionary (:

Ok, I think that's it for the week!

I hope you aren't getting bored of my emails....haha :P

You should let me know if there are things you want to hear that I don't include every week! It would help me know what to write about!

Love you all!

Sister Michelle Papenfuss