Daibutsu

Sisters Chapman & Crandall

Dearest Family, Friends, and Missionaries,

I hope you all had a great week! Mine was super busy with packing my bags and then unpacking them... I was a little stressed until I finally finished unpacking, and we just cleaned up the kitchen today, so that was great. I'm looking forward to cleaning the rest of the apartment - which, by the way, is super fancy! No heated floors, but it does feel more modern. We have a heated toilet seat, which we had to unplug because it's too hot now...

Wow, Kisaradzu is so cool! The branch is way tiny, but the church building (the first floor of an apartment building) is super nice and friendly. I love it here! Kisaradzu is way more rural than Matsudo. There is greenery everywhere! There is a river that is full of koi, and sometimes as you bike by you can see the turtles basking on the side. ^_^ Kisaradzu is on a little peninsula by Tokyo bay. We're about three meters above sea level, so pray that there aren't any tsunamis anytime soon.

My amazing companion is Chapman Shimai! We have very similar personalities. We always get each other's jokes, which is great. I love her so much, and I am so excited to work with her this transfer!

We visited a few people this week. Most of the recent converts here have already gone inactive, so I think we'll be visiting a lot of them. I think the weirdest part for me is that we don't separate the investigators based on gender... Today was my first time teaching a male investigator! It was way weird.

We teach Eikaiwa three times every week: Wednesday and Friday, and Kodomo Eikaiwa on Saturdays. After normal Eikaiwa, we teach a lady named Sanae san. She loves to play the piano, so she will play hymns and we'll sing with her, and then we'll go over the meaning of the hymns. Sanae san isn't the only investigator that we sing with – I feel like we sing with everyone here! I love it!

Another of our investigators is named Eiko. She had a baptismal date and was apparently looking really good, but then her husband was super hantai (against her being baptized). She doesn't want to ruin the relationship. Whenever she tries to bring up baptism or the church, he starts to ignore her. Super weird stuff. Apparently there are a lot of hantai husbands here. The branch has four priesthood holders - many of the members are women whose husbands are not members. I am excited for the day when Kisaradzu will become a ward, although I don't know if I'll be here.

Today we went to a Daibutsu, a large statue of Buddha. It was so cool! We walked up to the top (inside) and took a lot of pictures. There was a statue of Mary and Jesus, which made me super excited. Apparently the statue was made as a sign of peace between Japan and Siberia. Way cool.

I had the opportunity to share my testimony at church on Sunday. I feel very strongly that this is where I need to be. Chapman Shimai and I are going to light this branch on fire! We are going to visit all of the members and really help them to feel the fire of missionary work! I know that this is God's work. I know that as we involve the members, we will find and baptize people who will stay strong. I know that as we work with the members, we will see miracles.

I am so grateful for this Gospel! I am grateful for my Savior and for His sacrifice. I am grateful for Joseph Smith, and his willingness to go to God for answers. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon.

Thank you all for your love and support! Ganbarimasu!

Love, Crandall Shimai