奇跡！‏= Miracle

皆さんこんにちは(Hello Everyone!)
This has been a pretty good week. On Tuesday, we had Zone Conference.
It was a great opportunity to receive revelation for investigators.
The biggest focus in the mission lately is loving the people. So, we
are focusing our dendou all around showing our love to our
investigators and the members. Mission work is more than just finding
and teaching people, but it is about sharing your love through the
gospel and building friendships. Ruplinger Shimai and I have seen a
big difference in the work when we focus more on the people we have
than on just finding.

Alright, so time to tell you about some 奇跡 (miracles!). So, the
apartment we are in is pretty new. It opened for the missionaries in
December. When it was being dedicated, president Dorff, the stake
president received revelation that there was a family in the building
that is going to be baptized. Since we aren't really allowed to house
the building, we have to find other ways to find this family. One day,
we decided to make cookies and deliver them to one of our neighbors.
We found out that our neighbor is a foreigner. She wasn't home, so we
left them there with a not and out number. Later that night while we
were doing weekly planning, she texted us and we talked to her and got
to know her. She is from Sadia arebia and is here for school. She
knows English. :) so we told her why we are here to. Her brother is
interested in Eikaiwa. Then, a few days later, she and her brother
came by and brought us a treat! They are super nice and were excited
to find new friends.

The next kiseki!(Miracle) After lunch one day, we went out and did a mitsuke taikai at the Eki to find new Eikaiwa students. After about ten
minutes, Ruplinger Shimai walks over to me and said she didn't feel
like mitsuke taikai was what we needed to be doing at that time. She
told me that she prayed about and asked me to pray about it too. So, I
did. At first I thought she just wasn't in the mood to do a mitsuke
taikai, but then I new it was more important to follow the feelings of
my companion. So, we decided to go street around the area near the
Eki. As we were walking down the street and saying hello to people, a
lady walks up from behind us and says "こんにちは!" So, we stopped and talk
to her. She new we were missionaries for the Mormon church and she
told us how she has seen boys in white shirts for our church before.
She asked us a few questions like "How long have you been in japan?",
"How long have you been members of the church?", and then she
mentioned that it is probably hard being Christian in Japan. She asked
if we had time to talk then, after a bit, she got a phone call and
said she actually had to go. So, we set up an appointment to meet with
her on another day. Her name is Arai San and is about 66 years old.
She is a super nice lady and ready to receive the gospel. The Lord
really prepared us to meet her on the street. I am thankful for Sister
Ruplinger listening to and following the spirit. I am also thankful
that The Lord is trusting us with His children. He is really putting
people in our path. Now, all that we have to do is love them and teach
them.

Those were only some of our kiseki for this week. Haha! Plus really
nice weather. :) haha.

This week, we also had a cooking party with the SA and some of our
investigators. We made Takoyaki. Balls of stuff with octopus in it.
They know I am picky, so they were nice and made some with out tako
(octopus) in it. It was fun and always a great opportunity to work
with the ward.

On Sunday, we had the Eikaiwa students scheduled to sing a song in
English. Only one student came, but it went really well. We have been
practicing the song with them in English for about a month now. I was
the one that had to play. We sang As I have Loved you. I accompanied
for them. It went really well and it was way fun. The Eikaiwa student
that came, that was his first time at church. We stayed for all three
blocks and a members baptism that was after church. That is another
kiseki. The elders said he had a good experience and enjoyed talking
to the church members. Then, last night, we had dinner with two
sisters in the ward. Midori Shimai and Fukunaga Shimai. Midori Shimai
speaks like perfect English and I had a really good conversation with
her, she gave me some really good advice about Japanese. This week has
been really good and we have a few things scheduled for this next
week. I am pretty excited. We are seeing the Lord's hand in the work.

It was fun hearing about the track meet. Thank you for the picture.
Just want to send a quick shout out to the track team. Run hard! Miss
you all even though I don't really know anyone on the team anymore.
Haha

That is fun that you are going to Arizona to see the martindales. Tell
them I say hello! Please travel safely. Dad, have fun on the road.
Haha. Enjoy your trip and enjoy the weather. It is getting nice and
warm here and I love it. Well, I better get going now. Next week we
have temple Pday so I will be emailing on Tuesday in Japan. I love the
temple!! I love you all too! Bye bye!

Sister Ivory
アイボリー姉妹

Ps the cherry blossoms are coming! :)