A Day In the Life

Spoiler alert:  It wasn't her best week.  That said, she persevered and she tried to find the positive.  Our challenges make us stronger and if we have the right attitude and perspective, we can learn from them and that's what she tries to do.  Thanks for reading and enjoy:

こんにちは、

This week was hard, still great, but hard. We worked so hard this week and really just tried to use our time as effectively as possible, but we just didn't see a lot of "success." But I guess that's life sometimes, right? We just gotta learn how to keep going even when it is hard. 

Discouragement vs. Disappointment: 

This week we had almost all of our appointments fall through on us. Wednesday was an especially hard day. We had appointments scheduled with 2 new investigators, a less active, and a member. Each of them canceled on us. Sister Her and I were so disappointed, but we were determined not to get discouraged. Why? Because when we get discouraged, that's when our faith weakens and that's when we're really in trouble. We kept our faith high and to every "No," or mean face that we got or every time that we just got straight up ignored, we just went on, smiling, to the next person ready to share our message. It didn't work. We didn't find any new investigators. Were we disappointed? You bet! Were we discouraged? Heck no! We were eating dinner when we get a call from the assistants. They tell us that they are going to refer their investigator to us because they think that she will progress more with us. Holy cow what a phone call, what a miracle, what a tender mercy, what a happy moment. We had kept our faith high, didn't get discouraged, and because of that, we were able to see a miracle. 

Sarah (the referral):

We already new Sarah pretty well because the assistants are in the same ward as us, so we have gotten to see and talk with her a fair amount. She is actually already one of my favorite people, and I've been secretly hoping that this would happen ever since I got to Nakano! Sarah is from Taiwan, but now lives in Japan. She originally met the missionaries when she was looking at the Tokyo temple and decided to go into the church next to it where there happened to be missionaries there right at that time. She then told them that she wants to learn more about Jesus Christ and ever since then she's been taking the lessons (this was a few months ago). Recently, she's began to plateau and the elders haven't really been able to figure out the problem or concern, so they thought that maybe we (the sisters) would better be able to understand her female emotions and thoughts. Holy cow I'm so excited to start meeting and teaching Sarah. 

Just Japan things:

I realized I haven't done a cultural segment in awhile and boy are there some good cultural differences that I just have to tell you. I love Japan and being able to experience a different culture!!

-no one says "how are you?" The translation is "genki desu ka?" But only the missionaries say it and people look at you a little funny and then chuckle when you ask it. 

-people hate getting tan here and I'm pretty sure they will do anything they can just to not get a little darker. They use umbrellas when it is super sunny outside and everyone either wears long sleeves (yes long sleeves in the summer, I was confused too) or short sleeves and then they buy these sleeve things (that they sell at the dollar stored here) to put over their arms. 

-there is no way to say "I miss you," or "I miss so and so," in Japanese. I actually asked one of our investigators how you say it and she said that there really wasn't a way. The closest thing is saying "Kazoki ni aitai," or in English, "I want to meet my family."

That's all the cultural facts for this week. Stay tuned for more fun facts about Japan next week!! 

Say your prayers peeps. 

愛しています、

Wunderli 姉妹

Pics:

1-5: just some pretty Japan scenery, enjoy

6. Exchanges = sleepovers 

7. When your bike chain falls off and you have to fix it

8. Movie night with the youth and bishop 

9. Okay okay sorry this is so scary. These are Japanese face masks... mine was suppose to be sully from monsters Inc. Even though I actually look like a serial killer... and sister her was suppose to be chip or Dale not a clown. Major fail. 

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for your support whether it is a positive thought, a prayer, or communication via snail mail or email.  She loves them all.  Hopefully this week will be a better week.