One Year Older and Wiser Too

I'm officially 21 years old! Strange. This week was just too full of things to talk about! For one thing, we had a super cool miracle this past Wednesday. My companion accidentaly left her bag of pamphlets and Books of Mormon on the street car about two weeks ago. Wednesday morning we get a call from the police station saying they found it and they told us which train stop to go to. Later that day, we go down to that train stop, get off, and realize we have no idea where to go from there. After a few minutes of looking around trying to figure it out, we realize we're not so good at Japanese and we have no idea where to go. Heaton Shimai then calls the number that called us that morning and asks them where we're supposed to go. After about 10 minutes of trying to figure out the person's Japanese instructions, we decide they can just keep they bag, because we have plenty more pamphlets and Books of Mormon. We try to tell the people on the phone that its ok, but they just kept trying to explain to us where to go. Then, I look across the street and see our Korean investigator who speaks Japanese and English fluently. I call out for her to come over, and after a very shocked look on her face, she walks over to us. We quickly explain our predicament and give her the phone. Not two minutes later, we showed up at the police station, apologize to the man that we talked to on the phone, and retrieve our bag. It was seriously the craziest miracle! Nagasaki is a huge city and we had never been to that part of town before, yet, we just happened to bump into our investigator who speaks English and Japanese at just the right time! She was blown away by the experience of it and after we told her that God sent her to us because He knew we needed her help. She then proceeded to tell us that only a few minutes before she saw us, she was going to get on the train, but she had a feeling that she should just walk a few minutes until the next train station. Of course we told her that that was totally the spirit guiding her to us because that's how God communicates with us! She was totally blown away by that fact and was also super excited to realize that God really is influencing her life! I love being a missionary and helping people recognize all the different ways that God truly does have a hand in our lives. Pretty much all week long we were preparing for our branch Halloween (or Harroween as the natives say it) party. Because Halloween is an American Holiday, us missionaries basically just got to plan the whole thing however we wanted it to be because no one in Japan actually knows what Halloween is really like. It turned out to be a blast! I dressed up like a cat (surprise surprise), my companion and Lyles Shimai dressed up like spiders, and Cullison Shimai dressed up like a Japanese Fox character and looked super legit. The party was a total success too because most of our English class students ended up coming and bringing quite a few of their friends, and also we all had some of our investigators come and make friends with ward members which was awesome! We did face paining, bingo, halloween crafts, ate some delicious food, and at the end I taught everyone a super simple version of Michael Jackson's Thriller dance. It was hilarious and super fun! I apologize for not having more time to write! I spent more time uploading pictures this week. However, my birthday was awesome and my roommates made me a yummy cake that we all ate for breakfast. This week was another typhoon which we got stuck in without an umbrella or rain gear. Its always fun to show up to English class dripping wet and watch people's reaction :) The work in Nagasaki is seriously exploding and I'm so glad to be a part of it! Thank you everyone for the love and prayers! Ai shite Imasu yo! Wells Shimai