#60 "One Jump Ahead"

So last week my companion was sick for a day or two. She was just out pretty much the whole day, so I puttered around the house studying and cleaning and writing up some forms in Japanese. It seems like everyone has been sick lately! Everyone is coughing and sneezing, and I'm just trying to keep 'One Jump Ahead' of all this sickness! I did get a flu shot, as requested by the Mission President, so fingers crossed that works!!

This week was fast, so please bear with me as I write all that I can remember...

Monday, for P-day, we got to go to Little World in Inuyama! It was...alright. Hahaha it can't top Disney, so maybe that's why I wasn't too entertained. (they did have a beautiful Christmas tree though!!) 

That night we left for an all-day Tuesday companion exchange in Gifu! I got to work with a sister who came with me to Japan at the same time. Her name is Sister Mineta, and I just adore her!! She's so funny, and she actually worked in Komatsu before, so we just talked and talked (as we worked and worked) about Komatsu. It was so much fun!! Their area had been struggling a bit too, and we were also able to find two new investigators, so that was fun too! 

Wednesday we were able to meet with Nakane san, who literally said she will get baptized as soon as her neighbor (her best friend/member of the church) 's husband comes back for Christmas break. She was so willing, that it threw us a bit, hahaha. We're gonna take a step back and just remind her how important a step like baptism is. I hope she follows through though, she's so amazing. 

Thursday we met with Kato Yuki san, and we talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and getting permission from her husband. We were a little scared to teach this lesson, but it went really well! She told us she wasn't too worried about work, she could shift things around to take Sundays off, it would just take some time. She was worried about talking to her husband (they just got married this year). She told us she knows she needs to do it, she just needs some courage. Please pray for her!! 

Friday we had our usual training meeting in the morning and then later that day we had a lesson with Sister Handa. She's doing really well, but she hasn't been to church in a while, so I'm getting nervous. We came to her house to talk about service and the priesthood, but as we got there, she told us that she was leaving for the hospital in an hour because she thought she had a stomach ulcer, so we changed pace haha. We instead taught about the Atonement and how it can help us overcome both sin and pain. We asked her to think about the Atonement as she is overcoming this trial, but I don't know how much she took in or understood, she seemed so different than usual. I haven't heard from her since that day, so please just keep her in your prayers. 

Saturday we did a service activity as a ward. They clean this building for handicapped people twice a year, and this is the second time I've done it...so I guess that means I've been here a while. 

Oh speaking of, Transfer Calls are this weekend, so stay tuned for what's next for Sister Johnson! 

That's all for now folks!

#59 "Hakuna Matata"

Well I ain't gonna hold back today - this week was HARD. It was short, so maybe that's why it feels like we weren't able to do much, but there was a particular day when I just wanted to say 'That's IT! I'm climbing in my futon, and don't wake me up until it's December!' It was a beautiful Thursday, and I was on a companion exchange when the sister I was with just freaked out on me. Not so much fun. But hey! Hakuna Matata! 

"You gotta put your behind in your past!" -Puumba 

"No no no no no. You gotta put your past behind you!" -Timon

Gotta love Puumba... But yeah! I'm putting that day in my past! I'm moving on to bigger and better things in my future. 

Lots of prayer and donuts tend to make any awful day better.  

Not so much to report this week, so I thought I'd just keep it short to this positive note that helped me to put my behind in my past - I mean, my past behind me.

#58 "Belle Notte... Or Not"

So this week we had a couple of cool things happen. 

I went on a companion exchange with a certain Sister Miki (Her real name is Mickelson, but here in Japan she goes by Miki because it's just plain easier to say). I had a blast hanging out with her in Ichinomiya, she's such a sweetheart I absolutely adore her. We talked for a long time (in between working really really hard, of course) and we ended up talking quite a bit about what it will be like to go home. As a Sister Training Leader, I'm supposed to do all I can for the sisters in my care to see that they are happy and healthy and safe, so when I was checking for these things the upcoming end of her mission became a topic of discussion. She was telling me about the stresses that come with　those final weeks in the mission field, and I realized that a lot of older missionaries are starting to 'die' now! It's kind of scaring me! It means I'm going soon too!! But I still have that extra time, so it's all good. Anyways, she's H.H.&S. and I'm H.H.&S., so all is well!

On another note, during that exchange while I was away from my area, one of our investigators picked a date to get baptized! Kato san decided on January 4th to be baptized. She's so prepared, so we think she can receive it sooner, but we won't push; I think she'll see it too, and maybe even want it sooner. We are so excited for her! Please keep her in your prayers!!

We also taught a wonderful lesson to Nakane san. We haven't seen her in a while, she's been so busy, but we were on our way to teach an FHE at one of her neighbor's house and we stopped by out of the blue and invited her. She came, but it turned out that the family was, for the most part, out with friends hahaha. So we ended up actually teaching her and the neighbor, her friend, a lesson. Things worked out for the best! Nakane san was able to ask us some questions that she has had lately, and she wanted to know how to read the Book of Mormon properly, so we talked about that. Lot's of good spiritual stuff. 

So we were riding home last night from that lesson with Nakane san, and of course, we talked to every person we could (I think sometimes it does not register to me just how scary it can be to be a missionary - we talk to every single person we see, but sometimes we don't wait to see if it is safe or not, we talk to them regardless). So we're riding home, and we're very close to our apartment, but I see this woman and I think 'okay, we're almost home, I'll just talk to this woman and we'll call it a night'. My companion had the same thought, because our conversation stopped and we slowed our bikes to pull up to her. I was closest to her, so I called out to her and started to introduce who we were and she completely interrupted me and walked right up close to me to say how wonderful we were....And then the wave of alcohol stench hit me. She was so drunk! She kept rubbing my arm, and telling us how we were so good to be missionaries and that people in Japan are so mean (my companion then asked her if she was Japanese and she said yes...haha). She kept talking to us, and as she was stroking my arm, I was thinking that we need to get away! But she was right up against my bike and I didn't want to hurt her!! My companion saw that and kept trying to end the conversation (or her very long rant about nonsense). Then she said it was cold, and proceeded to pat down my chest! I was so shocked!! That's when I just stopped talking and my jaw just dropped!! My companion kinda laughed but could tell that I wanted to go THAT VERY INSTANT, so she stopped being so polite and said goodbye, and the lady backed up to say goodnight and see us off (she tried to help push me on my way, but I put my arm up too fast for her). We left and I have been in total shock since. Needless to say, the Belle Notte was not really a Belle Notte. 

Haha gotta love being a missionary!!