Baptism....kana?

 Decorated the door of a lady in our ward

 

Hello!!!

 

Komeda San got baptized on Sunday!!!!......that is I`m pretty sure she did. You see, I wasn`t there. Yep...got transferred again. Boooo.Haha. BUT my new companion and area are amazing so not a big deal. I`m now serving in a place called Fujisaki, which is about a 20 minute bike ride from my previous are of Fukuoka. Right now I`m in the Fukuoka church emailing which feels really strange...

Free cacti on the side of the road. We loaded up about 10 of these babies and gave them to all the people we visited that day. Our apartment is full of cacti now ;)

 

Anyway, the day I found out I was getting transfered I was basically in a little bit of shock but we visited Komeda san and talked to her for a good few hours. She basically bore her testimony the entire time, thanking us for everything and telling us how much her life has changed. It was awesome. I really felt as she was talking that even though i wouldn`t be there to see her be baptized, hearing her testimony and seeing the change she has undergone is really what this work is all about, and I don`t need to be there in person to feel that joy. We had a fun Eikaiwa class on Wednesday night with a record 10 people in attendance but the bad news is that the missionary replacing me in Ube is a Japanese Bean so Eikaiwa will be put on hold again. So sad. I love Ube soooooo much! I didn`t really cry until I said goodbye to Elder Fujitake on the phone. He is probably the most amazing member I`ve ever met and worked with. He helped us SO much and is one of the most Christ-like people I`ve ever met. He`s also really sick and possibly won`t be around for too much longer so it was hard having to say goodbye to him on the phone :(.

Kaneko Shimai! We haven`t taken any pics together, Gomen

 

My new companion is Kaneko Shimai. She went to BYU Hawaii so she`s basically fluent in English and she`s an opera major!! Its nice not being the only one singing around the house and in the shower now :). She is only one transfer behind me so we are both Dendo grandmas, which is awesome because we can combine all of our experiences so far and make this the best transfer ever! Our theme scripture this transfer is D&C 112:10 `Be thou humble and the Lord shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answers to they prayers,` or something like that. Even though we both have a tendency to be prideful, and both also feel like we`ve got this whole dendo thing down we want to be super humble this transfer, learn from each other, improve our teaching and finding skills, and do only the Lord`s will.

Me and Araki San at the ward BBQ

 

We have one investigator named Araki san who is due for baptism on the 12th of this month. Yayyy. We had a ward BBQ yesterday and there were like 7 non-members there so this area is basically the best ever. I already feel like part of the ward and that amazing things are going to happen from here on out. There are also a lot of Americans in the ward helping with Eikaiwa which is SUCH a relief. I cannot do that by myself anymore, haha. They all have super dendo fire and a really great vistion for increasing ward members. I`m so excited! Hopefully my body will cooperate and be able to carry out the desires of my heart. That is my biggest problem right now. I remember when I was a Bean and my trainer would take short naps during lunch sometimes and I was like, `what is wrong with you?! Why are you so tired? I`m not tired at all! Aren`t you sleeping at night?` and finally one day she said, `Sister Tingey, my body is just worn out OK!` I didn`t really understand what she meant until recently, haha.

 

Well, lets just say I`m super tired all the time no matter how much I sleep but I`m happy as a clam and enjoying the work more than ever. I feel sort of a serene, wise, calmness that might be a first in my life, haha. I can`t really explain it but this work has changed from a challenging, impossible task that is constantly taking me out of my comfort zone to something that feels natural and a part of me.  Feels good. I still have a lot to learn and experience and am praying everyday to find those waiting to receive this amazing restored gospel.

 

Love, Tingey Shimai