Helloooo Family and Friends! こんにちわ！お元気ですか？
みんなさん、すばらしはなしが ありますよ！今週はほんとにおもしろかたです。
Wow, what if I had to write a whole letter like that!! :) Maybe someday I can. But for now I'll go easy on you ;) Yes, well it says I have some great stories, this week has been very interestings. So yes, lots to tell.
Of course, it's only been a few days since I last e-mailed, since transfer week P-day is on Wednesday we still have P-day the following Monday (which is nice because Transfer day is not really a P-day much at all, lots of tiring train riding and eating with the other shimai and it's fun but you don't have shopping and mending and resting time (the neccessaries of a great Pday apparently. ;) So, what has happened since then? Well let me tell you it feels like forever ago... My new companion, Sister Sakamoto, is very nice and has been here in Maebashi only a transfer before me. She speaks basically no English. Some phrases and words are good, like this week's phrase is 'shoot, I got a mosquito bite' but basically everything we do is in Japanese !.. :-s The first day it seemed really hard and made my head hurt to focus so hard trying to figure out what she was saying. The second day was better. And I think I'm really getting used to it now, but it's not like we can have deep heartfelt conversations.. yet.. so I gotta keep working. Plus, when we talk to members and investigators, etc., if I don't understand then I probably won't later because I can't turn to Perkins shimai and say "ok, what happened?" and have it explained in English. So... it's been good motivation to pay closer attention and try to stop and ask for words I don't understand (while before I kinda nodded and smiled) so it feels like my language learning has really picked up its pace. :) Hopefully I can keep it up and not plateau out again like I was kind of feeling in Kofu.
Anyway, enough about Nihongo. Things that have happened in this last week: We do mostly housing. Basically only housing. So there's been a lot of door knocking. But we did have one good lesson with a previous contact and they became new investigators. I guess they've had contact with members before, esp thru Eikaiwa maybe (English class) so they knew all about the Word of Wisdom :) But they said next time they really want to hear more about what we believe and why we're missionaries. That'll be fun preparing for that! :D Oh yeah! Did I say it was hot before?? Well I was lying. I think, THINK, it's starting to get hot NOW. Yesterday was 34 celcius? kana? But add that with humidity and it equals me sweating like crazy... Last week in Kofu there was one day in particular that was super hot too and it felt like that one time we drove thru Arizona and stopped at the gas station and as soon as you stepped out of the car it was a heat wave. Well, it was something like that effect... but Arizona had been 110F........ and we weren't riding our bikes.. anyway, shinchau gurai kamoshirimasen... (It's so hot I might die ;) demo! It is also very rainy these last two days in Maebashi. Yesterday I got to see my first show of Kaminari, or thunder/lightning. Apparently Maebashi is famous for it's kaminari... and now I see why! We were going to a lesson at the church from a 30min bike ride place and the sky started dumping! It was like someone turned on a shower. Some points it almost hurt the drops were so big! But then it would just stop suddenly for a minute and then turn on again! sheesh! And all the while there was lightning in the distance and thunder so strong you could feel it. It was about the whole ride home, at least 20 minutes the thunder lasted strong. It was beautifully terrifying :) But definitely a moment to remember.
Anyway, other than that we made lunch on Saturday with the YW (all two of them and their two leaders) for their YW activity (they're finally on natsuyasumi--summerbreak), and then on Sunday I got to meet the ward. There were 30 people there. There are three kids in primary, all 8 and up. And probably 10 of the people came alone. Soooo there's a lot of part members and less actives... I think that's going to be a big focus this transfer. I don't think I ever realized how important every member is, and why visiting teaching, home teaching, and all activation efforts are so neccessary until I came on a mission (well there are a lot of things I didn't realize before :) But really, our mission president even told us to consider proselyting, reactivation, and activation efforts of the same importance. And it's true, it's not like a soul that has already been baptized is of any less worth than one that is ignorantly living life their own way... everyone needs the opportunity to be guided by the Spirit of God to become the best they can be, so they can stand before their maker and be worthy of Christ's mercy. We need the Holy Ghost's help. We need Christ's help. And sometimes, we need each other's help.
If whoever is reading this is wondering what they can do for missionary work this week, look to your ward! Look to see if there is someone who needs a friend, someone who needs an invitation, who needs to hear your testimony. Member missionary work is not just by members, but like it says is Member-Missionary work. Go dendo those members (including your family!!)! We can all serve and learn together :) Ok well that's all I have time for this week so Aloha to you all.
Ok well everyone Have a Great Week and Remember: God made you special, and He loves you very much :) Bye now!
LeFevre Shimai
Transfer 3 Week 2: Maebashi
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Transfer 3: week one. A new start
Helloooo family!
Sooo we are in Kichijoji for transfers right now so get to e-mail at a place here in town before everyone meets up. I have had some AMAZING experiences this week. First off, this week has seemed very long since we didn't even get our Pday on Monday but now on Wednesday so it was like 10 days without stopping. But very fun. And the other day we biked out to the Maeda family for some service on a very hot sweaty day probably 7 miles up into the mountains, cut bamboo (which is surprisingly easy and fast but still a workout!) and weeded for 3 hours, then biked up another mountain to visit with Yuko shimai and have dinner at her family's house. We were SOO exhausted and sore! But it seems like Yuko's parents might be able to take the lessons, they had a lot of questions. She was baptized about two or three years ago so I'm sure they've seen the great things it's done for her! :) Ok but way cool: my first transfer. But first, I have to say that this was a testimony building experience as small as it is because you totally know before you even get transfer calls. The day before is planning day for the week, and kimochi-teki (by feelings) you know if you are staying or leaving.It's so crazy! Like, I just couldn't focus and did not feel like it really related to me anymore. And then the next morning we got calls and they told me I am going to MAEBASHI, Guma prefecture... but it was really no surprise. That just confirms so much that the Lord really is protecting and upholding his missionaries and that we DO recieve revelation for what we should do and where to go to help the people in our area! It was very cool.
So yeah, I'm transfering. It's goodbye to Kofu the biggest shimai area, and hello to Maebashi, the second biggest and slightly less countryside shimai area ;) The Lord truly knows me and that I might freak out in the city. Maybe he's easing me in and before I know it I'll be serving in downtown Tokyo :) Oh, and my new companion is a Nihon-jin! My very first Japanese companion. I'm pretty nervous. I've heard her English isn't even that good. But I'm very excited to meet her in just a few minutes! I don't know if we'll e-mail this next Monday but I'll try.
Well love you all lots and am excited to tell you about Maebashi and I will miss the amazing peaches and grapes we've been blessed to receive from members in Kofu. The Lord loves each of us and knows our hearts!
Have an awesome week and don't forget to read your Books of Mormon! They may not be on gold plates anymore but the contents are still worth as much as gold;)
Love,
LeFevre Shimai
Sooo we are in Kichijoji for transfers right now so get to e-mail at a place here in town before everyone meets up. I have had some AMAZING experiences this week. First off, this week has seemed very long since we didn't even get our Pday on Monday but now on Wednesday so it was like 10 days without stopping. But very fun. And the other day we biked out to the Maeda family for some service on a very hot sweaty day probably 7 miles up into the mountains, cut bamboo (which is surprisingly easy and fast but still a workout!) and weeded for 3 hours, then biked up another mountain to visit with Yuko shimai and have dinner at her family's house. We were SOO exhausted and sore! But it seems like Yuko's parents might be able to take the lessons, they had a lot of questions. She was baptized about two or three years ago so I'm sure they've seen the great things it's done for her! :) Ok but way cool: my first transfer. But first, I have to say that this was a testimony building experience as small as it is because you totally know before you even get transfer calls. The day before is planning day for the week, and kimochi-teki (by feelings) you know if you are staying or leaving.It's so crazy! Like, I just couldn't focus and did not feel like it really related to me anymore. And then the next morning we got calls and they told me I am going to MAEBASHI, Guma prefecture... but it was really no surprise. That just confirms so much that the Lord really is protecting and upholding his missionaries and that we DO recieve revelation for what we should do and where to go to help the people in our area! It was very cool.
So yeah, I'm transfering. It's goodbye to Kofu the biggest shimai area, and hello to Maebashi, the second biggest and slightly less countryside shimai area ;) The Lord truly knows me and that I might freak out in the city. Maybe he's easing me in and before I know it I'll be serving in downtown Tokyo :) Oh, and my new companion is a Nihon-jin! My very first Japanese companion. I'm pretty nervous. I've heard her English isn't even that good. But I'm very excited to meet her in just a few minutes! I don't know if we'll e-mail this next Monday but I'll try.
Well love you all lots and am excited to tell you about Maebashi and I will miss the amazing peaches and grapes we've been blessed to receive from members in Kofu. The Lord loves each of us and knows our hearts!
Have an awesome week and don't forget to read your Books of Mormon! They may not be on gold plates anymore but the contents are still worth as much as gold;)
Love,
LeFevre Shimai
Thursday, July 9, 2009
New Mission President!
Hello Family!
Well because I recieved so many wonderful e-mails this week I will have to keep this short So thanks but sorry :) And sorry Uncle Cory, I'll try and write a snail mail soon!! Thanks for the advice!
Ok, this week has been pretty crazy. We met our new mission president on Friday at Zone Conference and he seems very intense but very cool. He has a lot of great ideas and is going to be making some changes around here. First change actually comes from the new Area Presidency (which also changed this last week!) and that is that P-days will be on Mondays from now on. Sooo... the library is not open on Mondays.... we are going to do some searching but I'm just saying, no guarantees on an e-mail next week. Other than that he wants to really focus on the goals and plans we can accomplish and not making number goals for how many people will accept baptism, etc., because really we can't control other people's agency. Which is very true. And I think that's a good focus, to do all we can do and leave the rest to the Lord :) Ato wa.. We had a really great lesson with the Yuasa family and they are new investigators!! They are coming to church this Sunday and we are doing everything we can to make sure they are welcomed and loved and have the best time ever. I really felt like God has led us and supported us in meeting them, and I hope he can continue to give us help in knowing what we can do to help them come to Christ. I think it will just be a matter of their daughters falling in love with primary (which I'm pretty sure they will!) and they will just be adopted into the ward and step by step of course learn and grow. Ah, I'm so excited.
Oh and our sports night went great, so much fun! We didn't get to use the basketball hoop after all but played badminton, foursquare, and some soccer. We are having it again in another week! :) And a less active youth also came out to it which was probably the first time he'd been to that building in two years at least! And, yeah, we've just been doing a lot of service and visiting less actives. And Kofu is still getting hotter.. with mixed rain now, but still muggy and just sweaty all the time.
Which brings me to a request: not in this package but maybe a soon one (before the end of August?) Another short sleeved collared shirt would be nice. If there is a thin fabric like polyester-ish that's light and doesn't wrinkle, maybe if Brooke wants to go shopping in place of me since we're pretty much the same size! ;) That'd be great.... I have four short sleeves but that means I can't wear one every day and when it'd this hot long sleeves are kind of a pain...
And it sounds like Brooke is going to have quite the list for me of stuff to do when I come back.. sheesh you are going to make me trunky girl! ;) But I'm glad you had so much fun at girls camp.. send me pictures of Mt Thorp! That's a pretty funny mountain name..!
Larisa Vik and fam--thanks for the pictures again and give the kids a HUGE hug and kiss from me! And Vik, everyone here thinks you look Japanese. ? . lol.
Ok well thanks everyone for you love and e-mails and prayers and may God bless you with his Spirit to guide you this week in all that you do!
Aishiteimasu!!
LeFevre Shimai
Well because I recieved so many wonderful e-mails this week I will have to keep this short So thanks but sorry :) And sorry Uncle Cory, I'll try and write a snail mail soon!! Thanks for the advice!
Ok, this week has been pretty crazy. We met our new mission president on Friday at Zone Conference and he seems very intense but very cool. He has a lot of great ideas and is going to be making some changes around here. First change actually comes from the new Area Presidency (which also changed this last week!) and that is that P-days will be on Mondays from now on. Sooo... the library is not open on Mondays.... we are going to do some searching but I'm just saying, no guarantees on an e-mail next week. Other than that he wants to really focus on the goals and plans we can accomplish and not making number goals for how many people will accept baptism, etc., because really we can't control other people's agency. Which is very true. And I think that's a good focus, to do all we can do and leave the rest to the Lord :) Ato wa.. We had a really great lesson with the Yuasa family and they are new investigators!! They are coming to church this Sunday and we are doing everything we can to make sure they are welcomed and loved and have the best time ever. I really felt like God has led us and supported us in meeting them, and I hope he can continue to give us help in knowing what we can do to help them come to Christ. I think it will just be a matter of their daughters falling in love with primary (which I'm pretty sure they will!) and they will just be adopted into the ward and step by step of course learn and grow. Ah, I'm so excited.
Oh and our sports night went great, so much fun! We didn't get to use the basketball hoop after all but played badminton, foursquare, and some soccer. We are having it again in another week! :) And a less active youth also came out to it which was probably the first time he'd been to that building in two years at least! And, yeah, we've just been doing a lot of service and visiting less actives. And Kofu is still getting hotter.. with mixed rain now, but still muggy and just sweaty all the time.
Which brings me to a request: not in this package but maybe a soon one (before the end of August?) Another short sleeved collared shirt would be nice. If there is a thin fabric like polyester-ish that's light and doesn't wrinkle, maybe if Brooke wants to go shopping in place of me since we're pretty much the same size! ;) That'd be great.... I have four short sleeves but that means I can't wear one every day and when it'd this hot long sleeves are kind of a pain...
And it sounds like Brooke is going to have quite the list for me of stuff to do when I come back.. sheesh you are going to make me trunky girl! ;) But I'm glad you had so much fun at girls camp.. send me pictures of Mt Thorp! That's a pretty funny mountain name..!
Larisa Vik and fam--thanks for the pictures again and give the kids a HUGE hug and kiss from me! And Vik, everyone here thinks you look Japanese. ? . lol.
Ok well thanks everyone for you love and e-mails and prayers and may God bless you with his Spirit to guide you this week in all that you do!
Aishiteimasu!!
LeFevre Shimai
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Zone Conference and Goodbye to the Hills
Aloha to Mexico and Seattle and anywhere else that's reading!! :)
Wow, this week has been full. And it sounds like it's been pretty full on all of your ends too!! Thanks for all the great e-mails!
A quick note, I was reading in the white handbook and I guess I'm only supposed to e-mail immediate family. Do uncles and aunts count? I dunno... Uncle Craig, I might just have to write you letters but feel free to keep sending e-mails my way and I can always respond through these for small things and write snail mail too. :) So, President and Sister Hill have officially left the island. They are probably flying right now back to America. Crazy! I didn't even get to know them for that long but it felt longer than I had imagined it would. So now we have President and Sister Albrect. And even more crazy is we get to meet them in just two days! He is doing mensetsu's (interviews) with the whole mission this next week! He is going to be Tsukarechau'd! (tired out!) But we are the second area to be interviewed so hopefully we get the good end of it ;) Anyway, pretty excited to meet 'my' mission president. I mean, President Hill will always be great, but just the most of my mission will be with President Albrect. And he sounds pretty intense! Yikes.. :) Ok, so this week for me, started out with Zone Conference in Kichiouji which was basically a giant goodbye and last words of President Hill. It was a very emotional time for everyone and the very last zone conference the Hills were doing so they tried to make it the best ;) Well, it was very great and we talked a lot about going back to the basics and talked a lot about the atonement of Christ and how we can all find strength and comfort in that and that it's really the core message of what we are sharing with people! It was great. Then we've had a lot of housing and park dendo this week. There were some really nice people we met at Kose Sports park this week but no one really made a contact. One lady almost did but her husband said they'd have nothing to do with religion. :( But we did get to make an appointment to meet with a little girl's family that we met like my first couple of weeks here and they run a snack shop on mainstreet. Her name is Chieko and her little sister is Aiyako and they are like 7yrs old and 5 I think. They both, especially Chieko, speak English like nobody's business and they learned from their dad who taught himself! Anyway, they've been coming to Eikaiwa with their Dad and after we made an appointment to come over (where the mom just was so excited to have foreigners and wanted us to stay the night and play with their kids (a bit muri-impossible :) ) that week at English class the dad was asking some good questions about the church and about its history. We told him we'll tell them all about it on Sunday when we come over ;) He said he's excited to hear. So, they seem pretty great! Then we had our lesson on Monday with Yumiko the girl I contacted last week and she is just Golden! We had an awesome lesson about Christ's gospel and about faith and how it grows and she said she's always loved churches but never thought she could really go in one. So she's coming in three weeks. She would have come this week but she's having an engagement party! And the next week is her birthday so another party. Lol. But she is excited to come and is meeting with us again next week for another lesson!
Yay for great people that are actually interested in learning about church!!!
Ok, so that was pretty much this week. Oh, the bishop went and bought a basketball hoop for the ward since we said we wanted to start doing sports night! It's pretty funny cuz he hasn't been all that excited for our other proposed activities but he is just in love with this one and is taking steps on his own to help us. It's going to be a youth/Single adult activity we do weekly and just play sports to get the ward more together and have something fun they can bring their friends to. Apparently they do that a LOT here in Japan.
Ok well my hands hurt now from typing so a few comments then I gotta go:
Steph!!! you are going to Texas??!! Wow, that will be so much fun.. holy cow. Crazy! And is it the same area as Ryan Dance or chigau (diff)? Well anyway, that's going to be so perfect for you, they will absolutely love your big smile and big heart! :D And Dad-I am soooo jealous that it's so cheap there in Mexico. That's probably the biggest diff from Kofu. We tried to go clothes shopping a little today and the cheapest things that were missionary-poi at all were all at least $50 and a lot of shirts went well over a hundred. And a bag of quacamole chips that we found at this random foriegn goods store (where I found M&M's!!) were like four buck! sheesh.
If you all still need goodies to send I've thought of a few more: Peanut Butter M&M's, Skittles, RecesPieces.
Mom, I realized I didn't bring some of my favorite recepies... if you find my recepie box (big clear plastic tall box) please pass along the cream-cheese crab dip (the one we made up in Hawaii :) and some simple french bread or rolls recepies please! And banana bread!
Ok, phew, love you all tons and miss you lots and I think your prayers are working for Kofu to stay somewhat cold but it's sure getting pretty muggy and sweaty!! Keep praying onegaishimasu!! :D
ps. Steph, I loved that you spaced your e-mail out so I had to scroll.. It made me laugh :D pps. Happy fourth of July!!! We'll be having sports night!! ;) maybe we'll bring fireworks for the kids to do, sparklers, etc. Too bad missionaries can't play ;)
Love,
LeFevre Shimai
Kofu, transfer 2
Wow, this week has been full. And it sounds like it's been pretty full on all of your ends too!! Thanks for all the great e-mails!
A quick note, I was reading in the white handbook and I guess I'm only supposed to e-mail immediate family. Do uncles and aunts count? I dunno... Uncle Craig, I might just have to write you letters but feel free to keep sending e-mails my way and I can always respond through these for small things and write snail mail too. :) So, President and Sister Hill have officially left the island. They are probably flying right now back to America. Crazy! I didn't even get to know them for that long but it felt longer than I had imagined it would. So now we have President and Sister Albrect. And even more crazy is we get to meet them in just two days! He is doing mensetsu's (interviews) with the whole mission this next week! He is going to be Tsukarechau'd! (tired out!) But we are the second area to be interviewed so hopefully we get the good end of it ;) Anyway, pretty excited to meet 'my' mission president. I mean, President Hill will always be great, but just the most of my mission will be with President Albrect. And he sounds pretty intense! Yikes.. :) Ok, so this week for me, started out with Zone Conference in Kichiouji which was basically a giant goodbye and last words of President Hill. It was a very emotional time for everyone and the very last zone conference the Hills were doing so they tried to make it the best ;) Well, it was very great and we talked a lot about going back to the basics and talked a lot about the atonement of Christ and how we can all find strength and comfort in that and that it's really the core message of what we are sharing with people! It was great. Then we've had a lot of housing and park dendo this week. There were some really nice people we met at Kose Sports park this week but no one really made a contact. One lady almost did but her husband said they'd have nothing to do with religion. :( But we did get to make an appointment to meet with a little girl's family that we met like my first couple of weeks here and they run a snack shop on mainstreet. Her name is Chieko and her little sister is Aiyako and they are like 7yrs old and 5 I think. They both, especially Chieko, speak English like nobody's business and they learned from their dad who taught himself! Anyway, they've been coming to Eikaiwa with their Dad and after we made an appointment to come over (where the mom just was so excited to have foreigners and wanted us to stay the night and play with their kids (a bit muri-impossible :) ) that week at English class the dad was asking some good questions about the church and about its history. We told him we'll tell them all about it on Sunday when we come over ;) He said he's excited to hear. So, they seem pretty great! Then we had our lesson on Monday with Yumiko the girl I contacted last week and she is just Golden! We had an awesome lesson about Christ's gospel and about faith and how it grows and she said she's always loved churches but never thought she could really go in one. So she's coming in three weeks. She would have come this week but she's having an engagement party! And the next week is her birthday so another party. Lol. But she is excited to come and is meeting with us again next week for another lesson!
Yay for great people that are actually interested in learning about church!!!
Ok, so that was pretty much this week. Oh, the bishop went and bought a basketball hoop for the ward since we said we wanted to start doing sports night! It's pretty funny cuz he hasn't been all that excited for our other proposed activities but he is just in love with this one and is taking steps on his own to help us. It's going to be a youth/Single adult activity we do weekly and just play sports to get the ward more together and have something fun they can bring their friends to. Apparently they do that a LOT here in Japan.
Ok well my hands hurt now from typing so a few comments then I gotta go:
Steph!!! you are going to Texas??!! Wow, that will be so much fun.. holy cow. Crazy! And is it the same area as Ryan Dance or chigau (diff)? Well anyway, that's going to be so perfect for you, they will absolutely love your big smile and big heart! :D And Dad-I am soooo jealous that it's so cheap there in Mexico. That's probably the biggest diff from Kofu. We tried to go clothes shopping a little today and the cheapest things that were missionary-poi at all were all at least $50 and a lot of shirts went well over a hundred. And a bag of quacamole chips that we found at this random foriegn goods store (where I found M&M's!!) were like four buck! sheesh.
If you all still need goodies to send I've thought of a few more: Peanut Butter M&M's, Skittles, RecesPieces.
Mom, I realized I didn't bring some of my favorite recepies... if you find my recepie box (big clear plastic tall box) please pass along the cream-cheese crab dip (the one we made up in Hawaii :) and some simple french bread or rolls recepies please! And banana bread!
Ok, phew, love you all tons and miss you lots and I think your prayers are working for Kofu to stay somewhat cold but it's sure getting pretty muggy and sweaty!! Keep praying onegaishimasu!! :D
ps. Steph, I loved that you spaced your e-mail out so I had to scroll.. It made me laugh :D pps. Happy fourth of July!!! We'll be having sports night!! ;) maybe we'll bring fireworks for the kids to do, sparklers, etc. Too bad missionaries can't play ;)
Love,
LeFevre Shimai
Kofu, transfer 2
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