Laketown in Koshigaya

Crandall and Gottfredson

Dearest loved ones,

Hello! I'm back! I transferred safely to Koshigaya, my new area, and we have been so so so busy! I can't believe how much stuff we pack into one day. I am blessed to work with Sister Gottfredson. She is so sweet and loving. She has a lot of fire for missionary work and she works hard! We've had several meetings already, and we are going to MLC tomorrow. It'll be my first time!

Koshigaya is a beautiful place. (Not as beautiful as Kisarazu, though. You can't beat that.) There is a nice road that runs alongside a river, and we tend to bike along that a lot. Koshigaya is fairly big - bigger than Kisarazu, although not nearly as big as Matsudo. The weather has suddenly become a lot colder, and I am ever grateful for the coats that Carlile Shimai left behind when she left Matsudo. It has been fun breaking out my scarves.

On Friday, we went to a place called Kazeza where we spent time with a bunch of mentally handicapped people for an hour. It was so much fun!  We made some Christmas decorations. This is a service project that we do every week, and I am so excited to go back!

We went to church yesterday, and it was so strange to be in a ward again. I'm used to there being about twenty people at church, but this ward had around sixty people there! I am so excited to get to know these people more. I know that we are going to see a lot of miracles together! Our mission is focusing on having a Christmas Miracle of at least one hundred baptisms by the end of the year. I know that this miracle is possible. Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

On Saturday we visited with a less active named Mamzi. She is one of the coolest ladies I have ever met. She is so spiritual! After visiting with her, she let me try on a pair of her shoes. They were pretty great. She wanted to give them to me, but I told her that I couldn't wear them on my mission.

I got a flu shot on Saturday... about two inches above my elbow! I think that's the weirdest place I've ever gotten a shot before, but as long as it works I'm happy!

Today we went to a place called Laketown. It is a combination of three giant (like three story giant) malls. It was fun to go walk around and see all of the weird stores. There were even some stores that I recognized, like American Eagle. It was fun to finally go to the mall that everyone was talking about all weekend.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be in Koshigaya right now! I know that we are going to see so many miracles, including the Christmas miracle! I know that this is the place where I am supposed to be.

I am especially excited to skype with my family this transfer! I hope everyone has been working hard to finish memorizing the family proclamation as time is quickly running out. 頑張ってね!

Love, Crandall Shimai