Temple Week!

Konnichiwa!!

So, this last P-day was really fun, going with the Fujiwara mom and Shiho-san to Kumamoto, but it made me realize how much I miss the countryside! Being in Tokyo is very convenient and fun, but it sure gets old compared to mountains and trees and eagles. :) The buildings were beautiful, we got to see about five or six different temple complexes, each with many buildings for the monks to study in and pray in and sleep in, etc. I think most of them are for the Buddhists, but there may have been a Japanese Shinto shrine in there too I think. It was all very interesting, but made me so grateful as I thought how our temple work is all volunteer and just so simple! :)

I'm glad to hear they have a date for Mellie's surgery! I hope it all goes well!! You can bet I'll be praying hard over here.

And Mom, no you didn't tell me about massage school! That sounds like fun! And it's only from January to August? Nice. That'll be really great for you! I keep seeing all the flower shops here and end up thinking you should start a flower shop, but those are harder in America huh.. go big or go home... so I think massage is something you can kinda carry with you and do anywhere anytime, and it's not like it's a limited-time job! And Austin gets to take art and archery? lol, sounds like it'll be way fun! I'm glad he'll have something to be doing.

Well, today as we went to the temple, I realized I've already hit and passed my official halfway mark! Sheesh. It's way fast and way slow at the same time... I still feel like there's so far to go but I guess if it really is like a cross country race there is kinda that part in the middle and then you catch your second wind. I was thinking about it a lot at the temple, and remembering why I came out here in the first place, and am determined to not let my doubts and discouragements get me down any longer! It'll be really sad to not be home during Christmas and everything, and no I can't just have a break whenever I feel like it, but the Lord has sent me out here and I know He will support me if I can just trust in him.

Dad, you remember when I was leaving and you said it'd be interesting to see how it worked out for me to not just be able to do whatever I want when I feel like it? I have to admit, especially lately for some reason, I've been feeling the brunt of that, and really just wishing for a break. And mom, do you remember when we saw the Elders at the Seattle temple and you said 'oh, he must be having a hard time with his companion..' well, I've had a breakthrough with that too, that even if you have a great companion, Dendo can be just plain really hard. People reject you. Your investigators get busy. You miss things you used to be able to do, like play the guitar and go to the beach. But that's the amazing thing, is that we do it anyway. And that we CAN do it. Truly the Lord supports his missionaries, and as I was in the Temple today I just felt so much peace, and know again this IS where the Lord wants me to be, and we just need to trust him. God knows the heart of each of His children and he can make a way for us to reach them. And not only that, he knows OUR heart, and by ourselves it may grow hard but through his love only it can be softened. I know that we as missionaries are just supposed to 'forget yourself and go to work' but that proves easier said than done. I felt really good about it today, but I just hope I can keep that up, keep feeling peaceful about being here. Dad, do you have any suggestions, as you probably saw this coming?

But other than that, I really do love all of our investigators, and Sister Shipp is awesome, and we do have some really fun times and meet interesting people. Dendo really is the best of times, probably because it is the hardest of times, a person could ever have. I'm sure I will feel that same beaming success as I felt after I got through those five kilometers of cross-country races, and just look forward to that feeling that I gave it my all.

Oh, and I keep forgetting to say, we have a baptism this Sunday! :D Little ten-year-old Yumi-chan and her little brother Yuki-kun are having their baptism day together. Their mom is a recent convert as of March, and we're still trying to work with her a lot, too. She is Filipino but their dad is Japanese, so they basically speak three languages. I think I want to learn Tagalog next too along with Portuguese--the two non-Japanese languages that are really big here. Maybe I can get better than Vik ;P Well, we're stoked for Sunday, and have met with them almost every day last week, including going to their school play which was hilarious :) Miho also seems to be progressing a lot lately! We discussed baptism and she told us plainly the worries she still has, so we're going through them one by one with her trying to resolve them. We really do love her, and I think she feels it, and that's maybe the most important. She wrote us a letter each this week (even though because she is weak it's hard to write) and she did her best in English. It was very cute! She's just so sweet!

Anyway, I'm throwing in a couple pictures, because we have transfer calls this coming weekend and who knows this could be my last time to borrow Masuda choro's connector to upload pics.. :) Pray that I'll stay in the Hombu tho, ok? I love it here.

Love you all so much, take care and have an awesome week!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM!!!!!

LeFevre Shimai

PS Dad, I will tell my president about invitation week, that sounds AWESOME! It'd be worth a shot here!
PPS. I emailed BYU-H about application and sister Day sent me some info, but can I pass it on to you to work on or should I just give it my best from here?
PPS. I am really jealous of Sister Cardon's talent! And excited to hear how 'Built Upon the Rock' goes!
PPS-William: my toilet is good, i sent a pic of it, but the squatters are only in public bathrooms. Home toilets are usually really nice or WAY fancy, they even spray your bottom to wash it with water, and have a deodorizer come with it.. ! Biday's they are called kanna.