Think I hit a low

今日皆さん

Boy this week was for lack of a better word "mentally tough" there probably 50 better words I could use, but maybe by the end of this email you'll understand why I used that word.

Get pumped this is a good email!

Monday: chill P day. Bought some Star Wars chopsticks. They look like light sabers, and you can click a button and they light up. They're cooler than they sound I promise. I heard they're pretty popular around Japan, and it seems like every foreigner buys some. You best believe I turned off all the apartment lights, lit the chopsticks up, and acted like a Jedi for 5 minutes. Elder birch and I kind of had a fake fight. Mine are red and his are purple, so you best believe I won from the beginning.

Tuesday: did splits with the ZL and went up to his area for the day. I was in Moiwa, which is just 30ish minutes south of my area in shinkotoni (新琴似). It was way fun because I got to teach an English class with about 20 people. My English class in shinkotni has 4 at the most, my other class in odori has 1 person show up every week. Weird story: before Eikaiwa, we knocked a door and some guy came out being really obnoxious and just causing contention to cause contention. He told us to wait a minute, and then came back with a chair and sat down in the doorway and proceeded to ask about Christian history and war history for 30 minutes. We kept trying to leave, but it was hard. My temporary companion was getting heated and I didn't have a clue like always. Haha

Wednesday: we made the coolest origami I've ever seen. I'll attach pictures. You want to see these. I think learning how to make it caused a little bit of my feminine side to come out. Probably because what we made were broaches, but oh boy they are so sweet. After I learned how to make them, I made 6 more within the next 3 days. For 英会話(English class) our topic was communication and we expressed how you can communicate without words. One example was by using music. I played "sweet hour of prayer" while a sister missionary sang. Doesn't sound impressive, but I can't really read piano music and I'm learning piano on the mission, so I think it's pretty impressive. I guess mom was right. I shouldn't have quit piano when I was 11.

Thursday: normal long Thursday of planning then Eikaiwa.

Friday: most mentally tough day for me on the mission. We did splits again, but both my companionship for the day and my companion's companionship where in our area. So 4 elders in one area. I had to be in charge, which was way stressful because I found out I don't know how to navigate my area very well. If my companion transfers next transfer, I'm done for.

So the other missionaries on splits (my companion and elder Velasquez) made a baptismal date with one of my investigators!!! I was stoked, but I was fighting some bittersweet feelings. If you recall, Every time we have taught this investigator thus far, my companion takes over and I sit there for 3 hours. Because this baptismal date was made, I really thought about if I am fulfilling my missionary purpose. I really feel like I haven't done anything in those lessons, so when I found out they made a date for our investigator, I felt useless again. It was way hard. I was happy for my investigator, but still way sad that I haven't made much of an impact. I was way low that day, and it was probably the lowest point of my mission to be honest. I prayed a lot and I've received so much comfort that it seemed a little unreal. I made it a goal from here on to make sure I am a part of changing all of my investigator's life.

I expressed some of my feelings with my companion (mainly because he noticed something was up and interrogated me) and I straight told him that he needs to talk less and let me participate. I felt bad calling him out, but he said its been told before and he felt bad. It was an awkward talk, but he said it needed to happen. Now our relationship is greater than ever! Hopefully from here on I'll get to teach. Most lessons before I would say very little.

Saturday: Halloween party at the church. None of our investigators showed up and there were probably 20 people there. Way small of a turn out. Doing a bunch of fun games. Donut on a string, fishing for candy, etc...

Sunday: normal church. Main investigator かたやまさん didn't want to come :( (same one that has the newly made baptismal date), but we're staying positive and praying a lot for him.

Pretty bipolar week to be honest. My feelings were all over the place, but I think it ended way better than most weeks, so I can't complain. Appreciate all the prayers from everyone, and all the support.

Love you all! Have a great week :)

敬具 (sincerely yours)

ー  シャイト長老 (Elder Scheidt)