Miracles!

Updates updates updates!!!

Chris Choro San is first up (I know this is Jekka's blog, but he's her sister!!)
Rain and temperatures are falling in Toyooka and waking up early is definitely not his thing. (HA HA!) After some spiritual insight, him and his companion went over to a little neighborhood by the oceanside and had a wonderful time with two potential investigators. Hopefully the baptisms will grow and the people won't mind cold water. The church building doesn't have a font, so baptisms take place right in the ocean! He and his companion are making great progress and hope to have a baptism soon. According to records, there hasn't been a baptism for over a year! So I hope they have luck there.

Jekka Shimai San!!
Important "fyi" if you ever find yourself in Japan... Sunglasses are looked down upon there. It gives the impression of "you're up to no good and you're a hoodlum". So don't wear them. Course from foreigners, they are more lenient, but people are more willing to speak to you if they can see your eyes.

With this in mind, Jekka had miracle! And it's best if she explains, so I will let her do the talking....
"So, we were challenged by one of the other Chourou in Tokyo to get 40 conversations in one day. Normally, we are supposed to get 10. A conversation is where you share a
brief principle, testify, and then invite the person to come to church. If possible, you try to set up an appointment to have them come to church or have a lesson (that is called a contact). Well, we took him up on that and ganbatti (did our best) the next day. We did it! We didn't get any contacts, but we had forty conversations. It was amazing, and what was more was that I had been feeling a little homesick but as soon as I was stopping people and talking to them, I forgot about it and became focused on the work. It was awesome. I wanted to talk to people. It was fun stopping people. When someone said 'kekkou desu' (no thank you) I bid them a good day and sought out my next victim. Really, I became a missionary on a mission. I learned why these eighteen months are called a mission. It really was a mission. A mission to stop people and find that elect that God has been preparing. Since we've been trying to have forty conversations, we've had a lot more contacts and people say that they want to come to church. It's been awesome.

"So, with that in mind, here's the miracle. Last night, we had finished with a lesson and we had two different routes we could take to get home: the one we took that day or another one that went by a member's house. Kawano Shimai asked me what I thought, and I said the way past the members house, but I wasn't sure. She thought differently so we pedaled a little ways and stopped by a hotel to say a quick prayer. As I was pedaling, I had the thought to go today's way but I was still unsure. Kawano shimai said the prayer, and as she prayed I could only think of the way we had come today. Afterwards, I told her that. She agreed, and we took off. We stopped at a combini (convenience store) to use a toilet and buy a few snacks, and because it was really late we decided to only stop young people. Well, we stopped some Philippine girls heading off to work and gave them chirashi's. After them, there was no one. No one whatsoever (except for danseitachi but we are only supposed to stop joseitachi-women). We started praying for one person. Just one person to talk to. Well, we got to the turn off for our apartment but had to wait because it was a *don't walk* light. On a bike next to us was a girl reading a text on her cell phone. Well, I said 'konbanwa' (Good Evening) to her and she replied with 'good evening'. I was surprised and asked if she spoke some English. She said she did, but only a little so Kawano Shimai started talking to her. We found out that she goes to a christian school and so we told her about our church. Then, Kawano Shimai decided to take a leaf out of Bertagnole Shimai's book (a something she had learned from our last recent exchange) and asked her if she would like to come to church on Sunday. She said she wanted to, so we set an appointment to meet her at 10:00 on Sunday and got her phone. It was great! It was awesome! Had we gone the other way, we would have ridden past her, AND if there were people for us to talk to, we wouldn't have talked to her! Honto ni, Kamisama wa inori wo kotaete kudasaimasu yo! Honto! It's awesome! God is amazing! It was great!"

Jekka has now visited the tallest tower in Japan, the Landmark Tower. Standing 296 meters, it holds offices, a hotel, restaurants, a shopping center and other community space. Apparently you can see Fujisama from the tower, but Jekka couldn't tell cause it was so hazy up there.

She's gotten her bike finally to which she plans on taking a picture of. She would like if possible people to write her letters. There are addresses in the previous post and I'm pretty sure that's how you write it... I'm going to check tomorrow with a friend in the branch who served his mission in Japan as well. I'll also be checking on a few words in here that I'm not sure of the meaning and freetranslation sucks when it comes to Romanji. -.- Dumb. Well, until next time! Write Jekka and Chris!! Any HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!