Tropical Storms, Transfers and Testimonies!

This past week has been a little weird, as the week of transfers usually are, but it was definitely a week of learning. My companion and I are still together (Woot!) and we became the Sister Training Leaders of Okinawa. Olsen Shimai, who we lived with, transfered up to mainland, and Sister Pinzon is training a brand new bean! Her name is Sister Malone, and she's super great so far and has filled us in on all of the random things we've missed in the past 13 months. Quite enlightening. Notable things of the week: During Soccer on Saturday, when the ball was flying in the air towards me, I hit it with my head, in the right direction! Small thing, you might think, BUT I was pretty dang proud of myself. This past Saturday night, the Japanese branch here threw a Karaoke Activity. Let me just fill you in on Japanese people in general. They are shy, quiet, don't much like to be the center of attention, and super polite right? I was a little concerned about this activity. Much to my surprise, the stage was full, the ENTIRE time we were there, everyone wanted to sing, everyone wanted to do a solo, and they all got WAY into it. Our investigator, Takeshima-San, who's biggest concern about being baptized is the number of people who will be watching, even got up and sang a solo! I couldn't believe my eyes! Ears? Anyway, just thought you all should know, Japanese people go CRAY when it comes to Karaoke. This past week, we ended up having a tropical storm for a couple of hours which threw off some of our appointments and made us end up calling a bunch of past investigators to see if anyone had interest again. I called this one lady who said she wants to come to our church again and she didn't know exactly where it was, but she knew where the store closeby was, so we told her we'd meet here there Sunday morning. She wasn't positive about her schedule and said this week might not work, maybe the week after, but maybe just call Sunday morning and we can see. Fast forward to Sunday morning. We call her, and she doesn't answer. Tried again a few minutes later, and still nothing. I figure we'll just shoot for next week and tell my comp that she's probably not going to make it. My companion says "Well, why don't we just run to the store and see. We did say we'd meet here there." I still was a bit hesitant, but Nagamine Shimai thought we should go, so I faithlessly walked to the nearby store. We wait outside about 20 minutes. Still nothing. I decide to call her one last time. Still no answer. We decide to call it quits and go to the church. Just then, a lady walks out of the store, looks at me and says "Are you the missionaries?" I was so shocked! She actually was feeling a little bit sick, and couldn't make it this week, but she came all the way to the store so that she could tell us! We talked to her for a moment, learned that ALL of her family is members, she had just spent the last couple of months in Utah visiting her daughters, and she LOVES church. At which point I asked her "So are you a member?" to which she responded "No, I haven't been baptized. But maybe soon?" I was speechless! It was definitely a humbling experience. Fact is, this truly is the Lord's work, and I've gotta stop trying to do things my own way! I was really grateful that despite my lack of faith, the Lord provided me with a faithful companion, and a way to see such a cool miracle. I love being a missionary in Okinawa Japan! Thank you all for the love and support! Mata ne! Wells Shimai