Typhoons, Thanksgiving and Transfers

Wow, this week was just full of crazy events. Transfer weeks are always a little crazy. I'll probably start by talking about our transfer calls today. To put it simply, Heaton Shimai and I are still companions in Nagasaki!!!! That makes three transfers in a row with the same companion! But our dearly beloved mother, Lyles Shimai, is heading off to Fukuoka to be a Sister Training Leader!!! We're so sad, but also exciting because that means that she'll get to come back at some point next transfer to do splits with us! And the current Sister Training Leader, Eddy Shimai, isn't going to be a STL anymore, but instead is coming to Nagasaki to finish training Cullison Shimai! Wow, crazy times. Anyway, just some random crazy miracle events of the week: Our Korean investigator, come to our English class pretty much every week to improve her English and learn phrases (And sometimes to translate our English into Japanese because we're not so good at explaining things sometimes :)) But, anyway, this past week, we were learning the phrase 'from here on out' and after we explained it, we asked for example sentances. Our investigator raises her hand, and says "If she gets baptized, from here on out, she will have the gift of the Holy Ghost" All of us missionaries about died laughing! And pretty much everyone else in the room had no idea what was going on but she just looked at us and said "well that's what you guys always tell me!". Haha, I love our English class. Update on her, basically, she's planning on getting baptized. It's no longer a question of IF but more of WHEN. Because we've pretty much taught her everything she needs to know, but her husband still doesn't like her coming to church very much, and she still wants to tell her old preacher about leaving his church before she joins ours. I can't even express to you how much I love teaching her and I just am so excited to have another transfer here to watch her progress towards baptism! This past week we were out housing and we ended up knocking on an older lady's door who actually ended up letting us in and let us give her a Book of Mormon without making a big deal about it, (Quick side note, Japanese culture is kind of unique in that whenever someone gives you something, you're supposed to give them something as well, so it's often QUITE the challenge to give people a Book of Mormon even if they do want to read it because they don't have anything to give to us. Or other times, we give people a Book of Mormon, and they end up giving us some cookies or bread that they happen to have with them or around their house.) and she also scheduled a return appointment with us for next week! At first, she told us that she was super busy because she sews little stuffed demons (Japanese character demons, not anything too sketchy, dont worry) and said that it takes her so much time every day. You'd be surprised at the excuses people in Japan make up for being busy. Its basically just the socially acceptable thing to do is say that you're always busy. Especially the old grandmas. They're ALWAYS busy with SOMETHING. Don't ask me what. Anyway, after I told her we only would stay for 20 or 30 minutes and she was more than happy to let us come again! It was awesome too because she told us that just the day before, she had been talking to her brother who is Christian about Jesus Christ and thinking that she wants to learn more about it! I'm telling you, God is preparing these people of Japan! This past Sunday, our investigators Nozomi and Hikari who were baptized last week received the Gift of the Holy Ghost! Even though the blessing was in Japanese, and there were bits and pieces that were hard to understand, that still might go down as one of my favorite moments on my mission so far. I can't even explain to you the glow that those two young girls had on their faces during that sacrament meeting. It was just too wonderful! I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! My Thanksgiving will consist of sending my mission mother off to Fukuoka and welcoming Eddy Shimai to Nagasaki and inviting people to learn about Christ! It's going to be a great day, as most days in the mission are :) Even though Thanksgiving is an American holiday, our cute branch members put on a special Family Home Evening for us missionaries last night with a talent show and bit meal afterwards so that we could have a small piece of Thanksgiving even though we're in Japan. It was great fun. We sisters did our fake bagpipe routine for the branch members and they loved it. We also did a real musical number with Lyles Shimai playing the guitar while we all sang an arrangement of Jesus Savior Pilot Me and it turned out quite nicely. Anyway, I wish I had time to send pictures this week, but unfortunately time is almost up! Everyone eat tons of stuffing, yams, pie and turkey for me this week and always always always remember how much you have to be grateful for! Love you all! Wells Shimai