Last week in Takabata

Hey everyone!  Well, first things first.....I'm transferring to Shizuoka!!

I'm definitely sad to be leaving Takabata, especially because our investigators canfinally meet now, but this transfer call was not as bad as leaving Gifu, haha.  I'm excited to go to Shizuoka--everyone tells me that it's really beautiful, and it's also Watanabe shimai's first area! (:

Oh yah, and, my new companion's name is Thompson shimai.  She's on her 4th transfer and I hear that she plays the violin, so I'm hoping that we'll get to play together!

Ok, let's see what happened this week.....

Monday--Samowitz shimai and I went to Osu, a busy outside shopping area.  While we were there, I decided to get some Turkish kebabs (they had them all over in Vienna!  It made me miss Europe so much!  haha), and we ended up talking a little bit about our message with the storekeeper and his two other Turkish friends that walked in while we were eating.  They were super cool, and one of them lived pretty close to the church, so we invited him to Eikaiwa and he seemed really interested (sadly, he didn't end up coming because he had a work appointment come up on Wednesday, when we have Eikaiwa).

I was really glad to have been able to talk to those 3 Turkish men, because during dendo time, Samowitz shimai's tire went flat AGAIN!!!  Not to mention it was in the pouring rain and we were like a 40 minute walk away from our apartment.  It was so maddening!!!  haha  We ended up just walking home and doing training, since there wasn't anyone else we could visit and no one was on the streets.

Tuesday--We went to the bike shop in the morning to get Samowitz shimai's tire fixed, and then later that day, a 40 minute bike-ride away, she got another flat tire!!!  Let me just tell you, I got really tired of walking, and I'm so glad to be in a biking mission, instead of having to walk everywhere! haha

We walked.....forever, to the bike shop, where they found a piece of metal in the tire, which had been poking the tube, ever since last Monday.  No wonder we kept on having problems! haha.

As we were riding our bikes home from the bike shop, Samowitz shimai got hit by a car!!!  But it just happened so fast that neither of us had time to be surprised or shocked or anything.  It just kind of happened--One second Samowitz shimai was about to cross the road, and the next second there was a car.  There wasn't any damage or anything, so no worries!  I think the lady driving the car was the most flustered out of the three of us!  It was such an unmemorable event that Samowitz shimai even forgot to write it in her journal, haha.

Tuesday evening we also visited Ota-san for the first time in forever!  She's just been so busy ):  She said some really golden things while we were talking to her, though.  She told us that when she prays lately, she feels like she really is talking to ''Heavenly Father'', rather than some other God, and she asked us what makes Mormons so different from the other Christian missionaries that come around.  She's so good!!!  Ota-san just needs more time to meet with us ):

Wednesday--I OYMed into a really cool girl, named Shiori-san.  She was super open to having a conversation with us on the street, and we got her contact info!  Yay! (:  I don't know if she is all that interested, but at least we got something to work with!  With most people we OYM to, we never really get to have a conversation with them, so I really hope that we'll be able to get into contact with Shiori-san again, even though I won't be here.

Also, our investigator Rena brought her mom to Eikaiwa, and they both loved it!  Rena told us that her mom wants to come every week!! (--this is a really big deal, because the number of our Eikaiwa students are dwindling....we need more students!!!)

Thursday--we visited a bunch of people that are supposed to be home in the mornings and no one was home.  And it was raining.  It was just....one of those days....

Samowitz shimai and I had a really good DKK (Weekly planning session, where we talk about investigators, members, have companionship inventory, etc.), though, and it makes me sad to think that I'm leaving her in Takabata! ):  Samowitz shimai has been such a good bean-chan!

Thursday evening, we had mutual with the Young Women!  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I came up with the idea to have mutual run by the missionaries every week, since it wasn't really happening before, and our youth are really weak.  Only two of the Young Women came, but I think it went well, and I hope that it will keep running smoothly after I leave Takabata.

Friday--We had Zone Training Meeting in Yokkaichi, and in the evening we met with our investigator Ayano!!  We made Shepherd's pie and fruit pizza together, had a lesson about the Book of Mormon, and then she came to seminary with us!  While the two Young Women were basically dead during seminary, Ayano was the one that was the most interested and engaged, haha.  Ayano showed me her Book of Mormon too, and it was full of marks and notes!  What?!

I'm really really sad to leave Ayano since she has so much potential to progress, but the sister that is replacing me is actually the one that found Ayano on a companion exchange, so I'm sure everything will work out just fine.

I love Ayano so much!!!  ><

Saturday--Oh man, I'm running out of time....  We had transfer calls, went to lunch with two members, played ping-pong with Rena at the church, and taught a lesson to the grandparents of a member in Takabata.  We were really busy all day and I loved it!  I wish we could have so many appointments everyday....haha.

Sunday--The biggest highlight of the day, is that we had an investigator, Geraldine (she's from the Philippines), come to church!!!!  Yay (:  It was the first time in forever, haha.

We taught the Gospel Principles lesson aimed towards her, and she basically taught the lesson by herself.  Her faith and trust in God is so amazing.  I'm soooo sad that I won't get to teach her anymore, but hopefully Geraldine will continue to progress as well.

Good bye Takabata ward!

Ok ok, I'm out of time!  I love you all!  Wish me luck in Shizuoka!!!

Sister Michelle Papenfuss