It was the best of weeks, it was the worst of weeks.
It was the sunniest of weeks, it was the snowiest of weeks. It was the
Omihachi--est of weeks, and it was the New-est of weeks.
I spent the first half of the week saying goodbye to
everyone in Omihachiman that I`ve come to know and love in the last 6
months. It was harder than I ever could have imagined. You never really
know how much you love a place until you have to say goodbye. A sad part of me
deep down was feeling like I hadn`t really done anything in Omihachiman, like I
had let the Lord down and not helped anybody. I didn`t see any baptisms,
you know, and our numbers were really low. But telling my investigators,
and even former investigators, that I was leaving, and seeing the sadness in
their eyes, convinced me otherwise. I am really going to miss these
people. We went by to drop off my information card at H*********`s house
on Tuesday night. She told Y*********** (who I had only met a few times
that I was leaving), and they had to come back out of the house about 10
different times for her to wave goodbye to me until she started bawling,
insisting that I couldn`t go. H********* was sad I was leaving too, and
insisted I take an adorable bear mug with me. C********s family was sad I
was leaving. R********* immediately ran inside crying `WAIT, WAIT` to
grab me some chocolates, and R***** insisted I take a few from his store as
well. They wanted to know when I would be back to Omihachiman.
M******* and H********** bought me a cute little pouch to keep stuff in and
wrote me a beautiful letter. K********* and U******* stayed talking at their doors for a
little while longer than usual, making sure they had my contact information and
insisting that I go `Genki de, Genki de` Take care, take care. We
met with O****** and her friend for dinner on Tuesday, and asked if we
could share the message with them. O****** was all up for it, even if her
friend wasn't.
That`s okay. O****** was sad I was leaving too, but I hooked her up
with some contact information as well. We had a larger than
usual turn out at Eikaiwa. I had fun with those kids, but imagine my
surprise when one of them came up to me to give me a hug and said, `I`m going
to miss you!` They care, they care! I love my fluent little
Brazillians. And then they all gave me a hug. A had a big awkward
moment when D**** and L******* tried to hug me as well, but with a little
Sister Whitney-like awkardness, I wormed my way out before breaking mission
rules. I said goodbye to many of my favorite families in the ward, got a
big old hug from N********* Shimai and an English `I love you` that just about
broke my heart. Bishop called and said `Ai shite imasu, yo!`
The moral of the story isn`t that these people love me, but
that I love them. I knew I loved them, but now I love them even
more. But the other moral of the story is that wherever you are, you`re
making a difference. The people around you notice you. They see the
light that you put out, even when you don`t. You`re affecting their
lives. I sure hope I`ve made a little bit of a difference in
Omihachiman. There`s nothing that I desire more out of the last six months.
And I think I have. I sure wasn`t a perfect missionary, but I think I
became a better one. I think I became a better human being for being
there, and for what each and every one of these blessed people taught me.
None of the people I taught have been baptized yet, or are even necessarily
that close. None of the other people I talked to or met with seemed to
have had any dramatic reaction. But in general, dramatic reactions aren`t
what life is about. It`s a slow process, a change of degrees that slowly
sets people on a different course. These changes can generally only been
recognized in the long run. I`ve recognized them a lot in myself.
So, it was hard to say goodbye, but I look forward to new
and equally wonderful experiences and relationships in my new area.
My new companion is Derksen Shimai. She`s great.
She`s a really hard worker who really cares about the people in her area and
tries to rely on the Lord. You can also tell she`s a fun and real person,
which I appreciate. She has generously given me the chocolate Mochi
(sticky pounded rice stuff that I just can`t get enough of) that the branch
gave to her. (However, that actually has me a little bit worried. Who
doesn`t like mochi? That can`t be a good sign. Haha.)
My new area is really, really pretty. Apparently, it has
one of the most beautiful areas in all of Japan. It`s really far away,
though, but we`re going to try to make our preparation schedules work to fit it
in. And even though everyone says it`s really cold, it`s not actually any
colder here than in Omihachiman, which is good. It just rains and snows a
little more, which is unfortunate, but doable.
They`ve got a lot of good investigators here too! I
have yet to actually meet any of them, but I`m excited to. A little bit
nervous, though. The missionary before me, Hall Shimai, was here for 4
transfers, and an older missionary, so she had better Japanese and a long time
here to build a really strong relationships with them. I have some big
shoes to fill! They sound great though, and just hearing Derksen Shimai
talk about them and the love she has for them makes me love them already as
well.
I`m excited to take a crack at them with Derksen Shimai and the Lord on my
side.
I really am excited to be in here! It looks like
things are really looking up!
I love you all!
The church is true!
The book is blue!
Sister Whitney
Us and a super cute foodstuffs we bought at a conbini (gas
station like place)
Me and Heimuli Shimai from my district.
We have the same boots! But different colors.
