Aug 30, 2015 - My missionary life

Baseball:
This week we played baseball. Wow it's been so long. I can't believe
how much I've missed it. It's a little different than softball ,but I
still had the same "ahhh" feeling. We played with some ward members
and man I guess I had a lot of stress of something because when I was
batting I really didn't hold back! It felt so good to run around the
bases. It was just so good to play with a worn in glove. After we
played, some of the ward members told me "good batting". It felt so
good to play and bat.

Typoon:
I always have the worst luck I swear! So this week. There was a typoon
last p-day I considered buying some rainboots but I thought nah I'll
be fine -_- I'm just unlucky! Anyways my companion and I tried to go
visit an investigator we walked down this hill with our umbrellas( and
wearing our rain jackets) the wind and water beat down on us and I
just kept saying "it's the winds of adversary!" I was pretty much
yelling it because the rain was so loud that we couldn't hear each
other. Each step was so difficult, it felt like pulling your foot out
of knee deep mud. But onward we went. Finally we made it to the
woman's home. We knocked on the door and her son answered. He told us
she was sleeping. He shut the door and didn't come back. My companion
and I looked at the door then at each other and we just were think
"ahhh well that's a bummer" we whipped out our umbrellas once more and
trudged to church because we were going to have a lesson soon. We
arrived at the church and stripped off our completely soaked jackets
and hung them to dry for later then we had our lesson. Our
investigator told us how she just thought satan was so strong and that
she just think she could overcome some of her problems.(she's about
the get baptized soon) for some reason I thought I should talk about
the typoon to her. Well I did. I said " the typoon was really strong
today" she gave me a weird look. " the typoon was really strong today
,but we went out and tried to teach people. Because that's our job
,but we had our umbrellas and raincoats. It was still hard ,but we
could do it. Just like the typoon satan is strong and he won't let up
,but you have an umbrella and raincoat. That's Jesus Christ, us, the
ward members and scriptures. It's going to be hard ,but you can do
it." Her face lit up when she made the connection. It was cool to see
her kinda recognize something she already knew.

Spiritual thought:
Ether 4
19 And blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last
day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for
him from the foundation of the world. And behold it is I that hath
spoken it.
^ I don't have any profound thoughts on this ,but I just like this. :)

Well love yall!

Love,
Fullmer shimai

August 23, 2015 - My missionary life

New apartment, new area, new companion. Opening an area is fun, but wow it is so stressful! I guess I had just gotten so use to my bean area that change really through me off. We were so busy this week. So my new area is in the mountains. I'm not kidding. There are times when cars are passing by us on these really long highways and I always think "hmm this is probably not safe". Probably really interesting to see 2 young girls in skirts bike up these mountains along side cars.. Usually I'm about 5 inches from speeding cars. When I first got here, my district leader welcomed me by saying "welcome to kitarokko! Your legs are gonna get so big!" 

Eikaiwa: 

So my last area English class was so relaxed. It was either me and 1 or 2 kids and we would just play games and have a good time. And if the kids didn't come I would help teach the beginners class. Very relaxed. This week the elders told me " oh you can't teach the kids class". I was so excited  because I thought it would be the same. Where I would just teach a few kids and we would play some games. Oh man I was dead wrong. I walked in and there were 16 kids and 3 moms too. 16 kids that don't speak the same language and my companion is Japanese so I am the only one teaching. At first the were super quiet, but as they started to relax... It got so crazy. There were kids on the floor and on the tables kids screaming and I just hopelessly tried to teach them the alphabet. After an hour of pure chaos, class ended. I must had looked exhausted at that point. I love kids ,but that was just so hectic. I think I'm teaching them again ,but I really really don't want to. So ya eikaiwa is scary now..

This week: 

So my area is definitely a housing area. I've heard so many funny excuses why people can't hear our message or if they tell us to go away here are a few "I can't because my leg is bad" "my mom is in the shower" "it's hot outside" " go away" *holds up arms likes an x and walks away* "nooooo!" And lots lots more. So after hours of no's it doesn't really phase you anymore. Well on last week we decided to maybe pray specifically where we needed to go. We prayed and just went on our way. We felt prompted to go up this hill and knock on a door. Well that person told us to go away. We did a whole block and nothing. However, we continued to housing because that's all we can do. We got to one house, and someone answered from the second floor. She opened her window and Said hello. I asked her if she believed in God. And she said yes. She then ran down the stairs and out the front door. We taught her a lesson and she told us she always wanted to come to the church ,but she didn't know if she was allowed. My comp and I wear like what.... This isn't happening! We got her address and phone number and we should be having another lesson soon! 

Spiritual thought:

3 Nephi 11: 

5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

^ every time I read this scripture I always pause at the words "and did open their ears to hear it". Not only do we have to ask the lord for guidance ,but we also have to be willing to open our ears to hear. He can try and to guide us ,but if we have all these distractions it becomes harder and harder to open our ears to hear him. 

Well I love y'all! Have a great week!

Love,

Fullmer shimai 

Aug 17, 2015 - New area!

Hello people! I am in Kitarokko! The people here are so nice! I love
the ward. They are always so kind to me and my companion and the dendo
Fire is strong here I love it.

So Kitarokko is up in the mountain is an hour bus ride from my old
area and a long time ago it used to be the same ward ,but they split
and a majority of the people are now here and go to this church. I am
really excited to be and working with my new companion. Yes, she is
Japanese. No she doesn't speak any English. It's fun though we laugh a
lot and I am getting really good at gesturing. The ward is huge! It
has about 100 people and a lot of little kids. Gosh Japanese kids are
probably the cutest. Since the other missionaries here are either
Japanese or halfs, I stick out like a sore thumb. The little kids just
stare at me with wide eyes and I wave at them and they get all shy.
It's so cute!

Primary:
On Sunday, we went to primary just randomly and they said hey can yall
talk about families. I had no idea what to say I just followed my
companion. I was so nervous. My Japanese isn't great and I usually
study that day for lessons this was just on the spot. We got in there
and my companion talked for a bit and then she turned to me. I was
probably shaking I was so nervous. Then out of no where I started
talking.. I honestly don't remember what I said. No it wasn't a
profound thought or anything. It was just a simple testimony about
families. My heart was so full of joy and I could just feel the spirit
so strong. My little testimony wasn't in perfect Japanese.. But I can
say I know what I was saying is true. I am so thankful for my family I
can't image what I would do without them.

Here's some pictures:
I found a frog :) we went up mount rokko... Elders yes elder ani was
taking a selfie

Aug 10, 2015 - Missionary life

Hello all! Just another week as a senkyoshi! It's been a busy busy week.

This week we had our first lesson through Skype with a really awesome
investigator named Miyu. Because she lives so far away we got
permission to skype her. It was really weird ,but really cool teaching
someone via Skype. And now we can "meet" with her on a regular basis.
Yay! Hasten the work!

Ok so we recently got our transfer mail. I'm leaving Nishinomiya...
That's really sad :( but I guess I have to leave the nest sometime. I
am going to a place called kitaroko. It's pretty close to Nishinomiya
and I'll still be in the Kobe zone. My new companion is.... *drum
roll* uchida shimai. She is Japanese! Yay! I am a little bit nervous
because I it's going to be so hard to understand and plan and ya. It's
just going to be difficult ,but fun. I think I will learn Japanese
faster. I know her though...she came here when i came ,so we are both
4th transfers. She is going to be the senior companion. We are going
to go open kitaroko. They didn't have sisters before ,so this should
be fun! I was actually companions for 3 days with her when I came
here. They just stuck us with people until we got our trainers. She's
really really nice ,so I'm not too nervous.

This week:
We had a summer festival at the church! It was really fun. We got a
lot of families to the church and we got to talk a bunch of new
people! I have never been so tired in my life. And then.. We
performed. Being a missionary rocks!

Cool thing of the week:
So a couple of weeks ago we went to visit a less active and she didn't
even come to the door. She just had her husband to tell us to go away.
Not a new thing,but this Sunday she came to church. We didn't know it
was her because  we didn't see her face last time ,but we went and
talked to her and she said "you visited me!" That's when we made the
connection. She only stayed for sacrament ,but that's a step! It's so
cool to see people progress and see the church grow... Gosh I am going
to miss Nishinomiya!

Spiritual thought:
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
^ I can't stress this enough, we can do all things through Christ. No
matter what the circumstance, we can do absolutely anything through
Christ.

Lots of love y'all!

Love,
Fullmer shimai

Aug 3, 2015 - My missionary life

Hello all! It's starting to get pretty hot here in Japan... When we
had our last zone conference our mission president told us that 9
people had been hospitalized that week due to the weather. That was a
couple a weeks ago when it was starting to get hot. I didn't know hot
until I got to Japan. I don't think a day has gone by where I am not
dripping. One of the church members told me I looked like I just took
a shower every time she sees me. Well it's kinda like a shower.

This was fun! I went on a companionship exchange(Kokan) with my sister
training leaders. I went with strong shimai. This is her last transfer
so her Japanese is really good! Well my first night with her we did
some Streeting and talked to this one lady named samosan. We invited
her to come to church and she said yes! And she came and stayed all 3
hours! <- but that was after the Kokan. So back to the Kokan... The
next day we did some more contacting to build up our investigator
pool. Strong shimai had me go talk to this one lady and it went pretty
well. After the lady left. Strong shimai said "oh wow! You understand
a lot!" I laughed and said " I have no idea what we talked about. I
was just pretending like I understood.." Strong shimai was surprised
so I think I'm pretty good at pretending like I know what's going on.
Yay!

Sorry I don't have a lot to write about this week. I'm just really
tired and I don't remember much from this week.

Spiritual thought:

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children;
nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.
^ I use this scripture a lot when I talk to people because it is
simple ,yet true. We don't know everything and we won't ever know
everything, but one sure fact that we do know is that God loves us.
And he will always love us no matter what.

We'll have a great week y'all! Sorry it's so short!

Love,
Fullmer shimai