Pictures of Bugs and Serving

Always Serving!

This week was awesome. I don't really remember what happened so I'm just gonna go through my planner and tell you day by day. Monday: PDAY! We went to the recycle shop and bought some super fly Japanese clothing. Then that night, we attended the YSA FHE on base where we played games, listened to a nice message about faith and ate Zucchini bread! It was totally Utah Mormon Style. Tuesday: We started out our morning by helping one of the military families pack up and clean their house because they are moving! Then we went to district meeting and got super inspired by our district leader to be better missionaries. Then we all went out to lunch and enjoyed some Indian Food, followed by another Service project in which we got to go to a local hospital and clean wheelchairs. That night we took the 40 minute bike ride down to a place called Awase and checked up on and found some new Americans to teach! (American housing is still SUPER SCARY. Especially when the occasional good-looking young military man answers the door. I tend to freeze up a little and forget what to say...Yes I am a missionary, but I am also still human!) Wednesday we got to do another service project that consisted of helping our investigator Takeshima San weed his yard! Took like 2 hours in the super hot Okinawa humidity and we loved every minute of it! We then went and visited a LA that happened to run into the Elders one day on the street who's husband recently got deployed to Quatar. (Still not sure exactly where that is, despite having been told 3 times now.) She is one of my new best friends here because she is so stinkin cute and friendly and totally wants to come back to and get re involved in church! Thursday was weekly planning, a lesson with Takeshima san, and English Class! After English class we always do sports and stuff in the gym here to get to know people better and I ended up just hanging out over at the stage with Mrs. Nakama, the professional opera singer, who was playing the piano and I was singing along with the 5 year old who was making up all her own words. Good times :) Friday morning we woke up and did cross fit at the church taught by a less active to some of the relief society women here. Then studies, then visiting the English Class opera singer, not being able to meet her, and instead meeting a bunch of her super nice neighbors, a few of which said we can come back! Saturday morning started out with soccer, as usual here in Okinawa and ended with us going down to a super American populated part of town in hopes of housing some Americans, but realizing that Americans actually do things on Saturday nights and NO ONE was home, we quickly switched over to Japanese housing in the same area and then biked the long hour ride hill home! (This area keeps me in shape whether I want to be or not.) Sunday started out at the church at 7:30 with a branch council, then 3 blocks of church taking 7 hours, and then having another ward council after church and FINALLY leaving the building at 5:30 to go home for some dinner. Sundays here are absolutely EXHAUSTING. But they are also one of the best days of the week. And now you know in a nut shell the life of us missionaries here in Okinawa Japan! Gonna send some pictures now so hope you all have a wonderful week! Peace and LOVE!

Typhoon Rainbow Picture

The Typhoon

This is how it happened: Friday people start saying a storm might come to Okinawa. Saturday it looks like the storm is picking up. Sunday it's a typhoon and its definitely coming towards us. Most of the military men were missing from church because they were on base doing typhoon prep. Monday, its supposed to be the biggest typhoon in the last 50 years! Everyone is supposed to spend their Pday making sure their apartment is ready for the typhoon and making sure they have food and water. Tuesday we aren't allowed to leave the apartment all day. So we just do extra study and sit inside and watch the wind and the rain outside. Wednesday we get the ok to go back outside and be normal missionaries again! And that, my friends, is how a typhoon goes. Nothing too exciting. Some people lost power for like 24 hours. But we were just fine. Thanks for the concern and prayers! After losing a day this week, we got right back on track and started working hard to make up for the lost time. Some mentionable events include: 1. We had a companion exchange with the Sister Training Leaders down here on Friday and I got to work with Sister Maynes who was in the MTC at the exact same time as me, so I actually knew here before. It was super fun to work with her out in the field and we saw tons of miracles. 2. We played soccer again this past Saturday and I actually had people tell me like 3 times "Good job sister" ! I think I'm actually getting better! Or at least getting better at being in the way of the other team members. I'll take what I can get though. Who knew sports could actually be tons of fun? :) 3. At church this past week one of our investigators who has been coming to English class here for over a year now finally made it to church for her first time ever! Granted, she came like an hour and half late, and missed the sacrament meeting that she had planned on going to, but lucky for her, we've got 3 sacrament meetings in this building and she was able to make it to the Japanese Ward's sacrament meeting. Over all, she said she really liked it, and we are hoping and praying that she will come again! 4. I spoke in sacrament meeting in English for the first time in about a year! Goodness, you would think it'd be easier since it's my first language, but I'll just say it's much scarier than speaking in Japanese. In English, I don't have the excuse of it not being my first language if my talk doesn't make sense! However, it ended up going really well. 5. Our investigator, Takeshima san who has a baptismal date is doing really well. He also came to church again, and is getting more and more involved with the members and making more friends. Please continue to pray for him! Thanks for the love and support. Everyone enjoy your week in America! Love you all!

Sister Wells Is Now A Redhead

Spiritual Sweat

People keep on telling me here that it is going to get hotter than it is right now. August is supposedly the hottest. I'm not sure I'll survive the summer here so be sure to pray for me. I drink about 5 liters of water every day and sweat out all of it. Be grateful for a dry climate all you Utahns. This past week we saw SO MANY MIRACLES. Yikes I can't even count them. I'll start off with Mr. Takeshima. We've only been meeting with for like 2 weeks now, but about a week a half ago, he came to the baptismal service of one of the 8-year old American kids from the military branch. He then came to church the next day, and we were also able to teach him a lesson at which we talked about baptism and why we recieve it and what it means and things like that. He seemed really freaked out by the fact there were so many people at the baptism watching, especially with the little kids that all got up close to the front and peered over the glass to watch. So at that point, his biggest concern about baptism was all the people that would be watching. We met him again this past week and had a lesson to talk more about the matter. When we explained to him that the crowd doesn't have to be there, it could be just a few people, he still wasn't completely for it. He said he only wants the person baptizing, and us two missionaries to be there. When we explained to him there needed to be two more people as witnesses, he said "Ok, if it's only me, those two people, and you two missionaries, then I'll do it." After which we were excited and said "Ok, we were thinking the end of August. How about the 23rd or the 30th?" To which his response was "Oh I don't care at all when it is. It could be tomorrow. I just don't want anyone there watching me." To which we responded "August 23rd it is!" WHOOT! Takeshima san is getting baptized! We're pretty excited. He's already been to church twice and started making new friends with the members. Miracles. All over the place. It was also a pretty unique experience this last weekend to spend 4th of July around so many members of the military. I'll just say it sure held a special meaning celebrating our country's independence with the very people that are out here defending it. Or with the spouses and kids of the deployed soldiers that are out there this very moment protecting our rights. It sure made me have a greater appreciation for all of these strong men and women who choose to do so. Religious freedom especially is such a blessing that we have as Americans and something I have often taken for granted. I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July weekend, and took a moment to ponder about the blessings of living in America. God Bless America! Thank you for the prayers and support. We feel it every day. See you all in about 5 months! (AGH!) Sister Wells