#Hallelujah

Week 56 - Star Spangled Banner

So I have little time today, again! Sorry one of these weeks I will devote more of my emailing time to this group email!!

I have seen many tender mercies of the Lord this week! We picked up a new investigator named Lucy! and Tee Tee (a recent convert in our ward) came with us! Tee Tee is just a ray of sunshine! I love knowing her! We also were able to talk to many people! I met lots of new people and invite them to learn more! (ps if any of you want to share with a friend this easter message, dont hesitate, just do! :) tell them to go to FollowHim.mormon.org )

This past week I lost my name tag on a random street in Baltimore and the next day the Jones falls elders found my name tag! They returned it after a day of "taking turns wearing it"...elders haha

I have continued to find so much joy in church and in the members of this ward! They are such a great support to each other! Bishop Slater is amazing and Christ is clearly written in his countenance. I love being able to serve!

This past preparation day we got to see fort McHenry! Yes so I didn't know this before but fort McHenry is where the original "Star Spangled banner" flew and what inspired the writers of America's national Anthem! I got to help take down the 15 star and 15 stripped flag that the original flag had! It was a pretty neat experience!

I love you all! hope your week is fantastic!
Pray for missionary opportunities and follow the promptings the Lord gives you :)

Week 55- Beautiful Spring & Brownies

Hello everyone!!

Okay so there wont be too much this week! I gotta hurry!

 So this week there were 5 days of BEAUTIFUL spring (almost summer) weather followed by 3 days of this icky cold rainy weather. But seriously the beautiful weather was worth it :)

Tuesday we got to meet with Alexa! Okay so she had been ignoring us since the Wednesday her car got flooded in a the church because she did not like having to answer to her Catholic parents about that. SO we texted her asking for my charger back and she responded right away and set up a time for us to come get it! Well turns out my GPS charger had gotten water damage from that night and I told her it was fine but she bought me a new charger! How nice! She is so sweet and just pray that she will call us back! She hasn't responded to us since that day :(

This past week we have had some great contact with people just walking on the streets! We have met many people and there are a lot that might become new investigators soon! We hope :) we gave some copies of the book of mormon out! One man, Christian, I promised that if he read the Book of Mormon every day that week by the end of the week he wont want to put it down! You all should try it too ;)

One man answered yes to me asking if he would be interested in learning more about our church and Sister Noa and I said "really??" we were shocked because we were used to so many rejections! Dont get used to rejections :) the Lord is preparing them! And we as missionaries are not here for those that are going to reject the gospel but for those that will accept it!

We had a lesson this week with Claire! We talked about temples and their purpose! We showed a video clip from the movie "Mountain of the Lord" it was great! Hey! If you have time this week watch it! Its so good :)

Yesterday Sister Noa made some brownies and by the end of the day almost the whole pan was gone! (okay 2 other sisters helped us too!) We ended the night making some music videos and getting rid of the energy we got! I also have some great pictures of me with it :) And you gotta love picture editing on your camera!

Have a great week everyone!!

Sister Nakata

Week 54 - Aquarium & Hard Times

Last monday the Hermanas and Sister Noa and I all went to the aquarium and I uploaded pictures for you! We also took some stellar companion pictures in "Tag Aly." Baltimore is the best!

Here are a few of the fun ones! We bought the little pictures they always have you try and make! We got the tickets for free so we thought, "why not!" Sister Noa was the least excited to be there! Haha

Anyways! Moving on with my week! So the work as far as meeting with our investigators is going slow but we are hoping that is speeding up soon. Our investigator, Alexa, is ignoring us for the most part. she said she's "lying low" because she lives with her parents and they wouldn't be very happy about her looking into the LDS church. So yeah. She said we could meet with her tomorrow though! I let her borrow my GPS charger as a phone charger the night of the flood (it literally saved her!) and so we texted asking for it back. I love it when I get incentives like that to get investigators to stop ignoring us! Haha!

Our investigator Jen isn't doing super great. She is definitely in a pretty dark place and its hard to be a missionary and not reach out as much as I could if I wasn't. We hope to meet with her soon.

So this week I had a day where I was just a grump and a big mess. I was crying and blaming others for things and just not my fun usual self. I think I may have just been disappointed in myself and that I was disappointing the Lord because I havent found the success here that I have found at other places. So yeah just very sad that day. Well we came home for dinner that night and I checked the mail finding the letter from my mom. So this is for you mom. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. That letter was an amazing lift to my spirits. In it she spoke about our true identity as divine beings and how "often we are big messes" and how Christ can carry us through the times of loneliness, self-doubting and so much more. I knew the whole day that Christ could take this away and lift me but I was stubborn and disappointed in myself and felt I disappointed Him so I didn't let him help me yet. Then that letter put it back in perspective for me. That it is all okay. And I can keep going on. That I have a Savior that loves me and will lift me through all my trials. And I have never understood how he does it. I really don't. There is just an unexplainable hope that comes from knowing that someone who loves me has gone through my pains, joys, trials, sorrows, best days, worst days, all of it, and knows how to help me. That hope is amazing and different than any other kind of hope to be found in this world.

Thank you for the time you all take to read my emails and letting me share my testimony of the Savior with you.

I also love the Baltimore YSA! I get to stay another transfer and I get to stay with Sister Noa! Whoohoo! Thats a first where there isn't a change for me! 

I love this Gospel! I hope you all have a good week!

Love ya!

Sister Nakata

Ps: Also I wanted to make a note from thoughts from an email last week or the week before: Sister Noa's family at one point felt that she should come home because she had so many trials and it had only been a month she had been out. But after She told them she is staying strong and staying on her mission when her brother got in a car accident the next week they told her and the 2 other sisters out on missions that they dont want them to come home just because he isn't doing well and her family is continuing to be a strong support to her :)

Week 53 - Rainy Wednesday & Miracle Thursday

Hey!!

Sorry! I dont have much time to email this week. Sister Noa, Hermana Dahle, Hermana Hicks, and I went to the National aquarium!! It was so much fun! :) So it cut our emailing time short today!

This week we had a miracle thursday! We started off with 4 investigator lessons that day! Crazy! Well two of them ended up not happening, but the two that did went great! :) We had a lesson with this girl, Jen, who is super spiritual. Has such a desire to talk with Christ and follow him. Just pretty broken inside and doesn't trust anyone can help her. But I am not sure she knows how to quite help herself. But! That is what we are here for. We are going to help her do what she needs to do to follow the Savior! We also met with Claire! We hadn't seen her in a while and got to eat dinner with her and two other sisters in the ward! How great. Then we talked about the great apostasy and how it resulted in so many different churches. And how many churches have truth but ours is the one that has all truth. And as she embarks to investigate other churches in the next year to look for the difference she feels in our church vs the other churches.

Wednesday night there was a TON of rain! We had a GREAT church tour with Alexa! She is amazing. She loved the church and mentioned (with out any knowledge of the Word of Wisdom) wanting to give up coffee! Wow, Alexa, what a great idea?? After the lesson was when the rain hit and we left the church and were planning on coming back, but by the time we were coming back we couldn't get to the church building! The intersections were flooded and cars and trucks were getting flooded out and stuck! It was crazy. Later that night we found out the Alexa's car got stuck! Miracle! Many members happened to be there and helped her and took her home because her car died.

Thats all I've got! Sorry! Love you all!

Sister Nakata

Week 52 - "I'm not Coming Home!"

This week has been a good one!

We got to have Zone Conference with President Christiansen! We learned a lot about charity and teaching repentance! It was a great conference. Wow is there a lot to repentance that I did not understand the depth of and importance. I can tell you one thing too. My companion is a rock. I love her so much. She has had a run of a stomach bug, home sickness, a burning shoulder (due to an injury before the mission), and a sprained ankle. And she hasnt even been in the field a month! At Zone conference she bore her testimony about how her family said they wanted her to come home and she told them that she loves them and appreciates them, but shes not coming home. This week we had to stay in a lot because of her ankle but when 9:00 hit I had to pull the areabook away form her and tell her to stop. So dedicated! I love it.

Anyways, many of our appointments fell through this week but with the hand of the Lord so we could stay in more. And this coming week is POPPING! We have so many appointments coming up. When it rains it pours! The work, I've felt, has been pretty slow lately but I do see the Lords hand in it's hastening! We are working with the members in their ward goal of every member in 2016 to 1. personally bringing someone into the church through baptism. 2. sheperd someone back into the fold and 3. take someone to the temple to do ordinances for the first time. How great! I am very excited to help the ward with these goals!

Also! I loved church this past week! we had ward conference and a great sacrament about Matt 11:28-30. I love church!

Oh and I got the key stuck in the ignition... Sister Noa got it out thankfully. It was pretty funny, here is a picture! The hook got on the key and before I noticed I put it in the ignition! I should pay attention more!

Also I added some videos and pictures from the day we had our huge storm to dropbox! So enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rtzosr0dsniry1w/AACivns_RVZaWXr6tHMrYfL0a?dl=0

love you!

Sister Nakata

Week 51 - How Many Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Can One Eat?

Oh man! This week has been quite a fun one!!

Tuesday:

We went by this guy Andrews house. So about a month ago we knocked on this guys door, gave him a BOM and after numerous times trying by, havent seen him since. He gave us the wrong number the first time so we couldn't contact him. So we go by one last time and he answers! He said he would totally be up for learning more and gave us his number again, except NOT. We walk away text the number and its not him. So Sister Noa is not having it. He totally just messes with us so she decides to go back and confront him! We do, not what I do naturally in the least. She knocks on the door and this pretty boy acts all chill and is like "whats up" and Sister Noa goes "See Andrew, we have a problem here, you've given us the wrong number twice now and this isn't funny. This message we have to share is important and if you dont want to learn about it just say it, but stop messing with us." Then he pulls something like, "oh I am interested, I wouldn't be out here talking to you if I wasn't." Then I start talking and testifying how this Book and religion changes lives and then Sister Noa gets his real number and we end up committing him to read the first chapter by the end of the week! Well its been a week now, we will see where his real intent is! But how legit is it having a Poly companion who isn't scared of confrontation? Its great!

Wednesday:

EXCHANGES!!!!!! So we get a call from our Sister Training Leaders (Sister Shepherd and Sister Buchi) the day before and they tell us we are going on exchanges! So fun fact, Sister Buchi was my MTC companion and our year mark is Feb 11, then next day! So She planned it so we could be together when we hit our year mark! How PERFECT!?

That wasn't the only great thing about exchanges! I got to go to the Chesapeake ward and see all the great things that are going on over there. We contacted 3 or 4 referrals and had a great lesson with their investigator, Sister Hackman! With her we watch Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration! In that lesson I felt with out a doubt the spirit working through me! I was a wonderful experience being able to work side by side my very first companion a year from the day we first met!

Also Sis Shepherd and Sis Buchi got a new companion in the past week and her name is Sister Garcia! She's from Longview, Texas! She came out with Sister Krause and in the past two months she has had quite a ride! we made a song for it to the tune of the 12 days of christmas:

5 companions

4 trainers

3 areas

2 months

1 crazy sister missionary!

(okay tune doesn't totally fit but whatevs :)

But yeah! She went to Virginia first with a trainer, then in the middle of the transfer was sent to Ellicot city with Sister Tilitson and her trainee that also just came out. And Sister Tilitson just finished being trained herself! Strong sister. Anyways part way the following transfer she got transferred to be with Sister Shepherd and Sister Buchi in Baltimore! like I said, quite a ride!

Thursday:

My year mark! got to do studies with Sister Buchi! Then we exchanged back and as celebration we ate some cookies! This day on I was give sugar cookies on 2 different occasions! So good! We had a Relief society activity on the 5 love languages! mine proved to be quality time! That was great!

Friday:

We spent the afternoon making cookies with a sister in our ward and then delivering them! It was so fun! I love service! We then went over to Sister Walks home and had pizza and watched Ephraims Rescue! Okay so on any other circumstance spending the whole night at a members home is not cool, especially on the weekend! But earlier this week Sister Walk got this notion that we were not doing well and we should just have a nice night and even CALLED PRESIDENT AND ASKED FOR PERMISSION! Then we called him and said, Uhh are you sure? and he said it would be fine. Also I think he is biased because Ephraim is his great great grandfather! Anyways great night!

Saturday:

So this is where the crutches are involved (well not quite we actually got those on Sunday, but the incident was Saturday) We were playing volley ball for sports night and Sister Noa jumps up to block a spike and falls down on her ankle :( SO sad! Theres a picture of it a few days later here! 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/me5s3g9en1wfpcu/AAD5YuGBJ8RLcM-K9rLHlqEea?dl=0

(PS also a video of us jamming to "A God like you" by Kirk Franklin while driving out of Baltimore)

She is going to be taking it easy for the next little while. Well correction, she is going to be taking it easy when I make her take it easy because she is just such a tough cookie!

Sunday:

We had a great Relief Society lesson about our trials and how we can look at them as preparations. God preparing us for other things he wants us to do! It was great

Sister Noa also beat the standing record of 9 and a quarter grilled cheese sandwiches eaten by an elder. She SMASHED That record by eating 11 and a half! She is the best!

Monday:

Got an xray of Sister Noa's ankle, good news! It is not broken! Then we ended up stuck in the appartement (luckily the Hermanas were there too) because the weather was bad again! Snow the freezing rain! Were were told it may even be dangerous to just walk haha. But we had a great talk with each other about whats been on our minds and what we've been struggling with and how we can lean on the Lord and each other to help ourselves out!

Well! Thats been my week! Way too much detail! Sorry! love you all!

Have a great week :)

Sister Nakata! 

Week 50 - Joy In Serving & Rededication

My week has been pretty good!

We got to have a great Zone Training on tuesday and thursday we got to go to the temple!!! I love the temple! I also got to see Sister Stolworthy my old companion there! That was awesome! I ended up having a migraine that day and Sister Noa had some stomach bug so it was a great day but then a not so great night! Then next day, friday, we also stayed in and I got to reorganize my desk, which was much needed! Sister Noa received a priesthood blessing in Samoan from the Elder who lives in these apartments too and is from Samoa! Even though Sister Noa's family is Samoan that was the first one she has received not in English!

Saturday was just a day FULL OF SERVICE! We got to go to bishop's storehouse and we love doing that ever Saturday! then we got to serve this woman Susan who is investigating! She is also not YSA so we passed her to the family ward sisters! Then we helped this Less Active YSA and her mother clean their bathroom! Then we had an AMAZING dinner with Tee Tee and her family! We were in completely authentic baltimorian home and Tee Tee made orange chicken (just for me :) for the first time and ROCKED IT! It was a wonderful dinner! And we shared scriptures from Matthew and from 3 N 18:19-21 and commited the whole family to pray together every night. They loved  the idea and said they had never thought of that before! They are a very religious family but TeeTee is the only member and joined last september. WE LOVE THEM! Then we ended the night playing some basketball! Great day!

Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting and I have felt less focused and dedicated as I would like to have been and so I repent and am redeciatied to working harder and being more focused! We also had a great lesson with our investigator Alexa! She says she isnt ready for a baptismal date but she is considering it and is commitend to reading the BOM 10 minutes every day to find out if it is true or not!

The Hermanas moved out of our apartment today :( its was sad but needed! Sister Noa can finally know what if feels like to just be you and a companion living together!

I have a great video of me and Sister Noa jamming to a song but pictures are being troublesome to day so you dont get it :( next week though!

Love you! Have a great week!

Sister Nakata 

Week 49 - Hope & Pranks

ALOHA!!

So I dont have a ton of time but I will do what I can!

I got a new companion this week! Sister Noa! She is amazing! She is dedicated and prepared to be serving! So much more prepared than I was to come out! She works hard, studies hard and preaches hard!

Since the Hermanas are still living with us we left for transfers and got back to a re-arranged appartment! We had beds in the living room and couches in the bedroom! I was so utterly confused as to why they would even do that! It was good fun though! Here is my reaction!

Then to get back at these lovely Hermanas Sister Noa and I turned their back packs inside out! then put everything back in! It was great!!

Okay now for some things I have learned this week! Man, I cant even remember! Well We had an amazing lesson with Alexa!! Two return missionaries came with us and testified and taught so well! She accepted Feb 27 as a goal for baptism! She just wants to know these things are true first, which is totally understandable!

Okay! So sorry there isn't that much here. I will share that I am trying to focus more on hope this week and here is what I read from PMG this morning! I loved it!

"Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. 

It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. 

It is believing and expecting that something will occur. 

When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence 

and assurance that all things will work together for your good. 

Hope helps you conquer discouragement. 

The scriptures often describe hope in JesusChrist as the assurance that you will inherit 

eternal life in the celestial kingdom."   

Preach My Gospel chapter 6, Hope

I am trying to be a good teacher, trainer, follower, missionary continually!

Have a great week!

Sister Nakata

Week 48 - Winter storm & Shoveling blessings

This week has been pretty crazy!!

SO! Wednesday we picked up a new investigator! Alexa. Sweet story. In the summer she took a quiz on a random thing that was "how well do you know the Book of Mormon?" and she scored something like "you know a little bit about it, you might even like it! Would you like a free copy?" so she thought, sure! Then missionaries met up with her shortly after, they taught her a bit and gave her a BOM and she never thought she would talk to them again. She also shared that that day she met the missionaries was one of the worst days for her mental health wise. Then fast forward until now, January and we call her up out of the blue, ALSO on one of the worst days for her. (mind you, these were the only two days of the past months she has had these terrible days). She said she wasn't really interested in meeting and then she said, "but if you do have people in the area you can give me a call." After we called that day she told God, if this is something  you want me to look more into, have them call me back. And then a few days latter we called her!!! She said she would meet with us! We had an amazing lesson teaching about Joseph Smith, the Holy Ghost, and the Book of Mormon! Super excited :)

This weekend we also had a HUMONGOUS storm! It snowed from Friday at 3pm to Saturday around 10 pm. There is snow out here up to my thighs! We weren't allowed to drive until yesterday morning. But even then we saw that our car was blocked in but the men who cleared the roads...

Before The Storm

 After The Storm

Our car trapped in!

We did a lot of service! Also the Hermanas who live two buildings down from us stayed with us through the whole storm! Their heater stopped working on Friday! They had to stay with us! It was a blessing in disguise! I love Hermana Hicks and Hermana Dahle! We had so much fun helping others and bonding!

So many miracles in helping people dig their cars out in the next few days!! Here are the highlights!

Vic - Saturday night we went and helped him out! He and his family are from Florida and he and his daughter were out playing in the snow and shoveling out his car. When we went in for the night we left him with our shovel and he worked getting some other peoples cars out too! He is a manager at the Bone fish grill and said we could come by and he'd take care of us!

Helda - Our Peruvian neighbor that asked to borrow our shovel sunday morning so she could get to work. We told her to just tell us which one it is and we would help her out! Also we found out that she and her husband didnt have any food!! So Saturday night we (well really Hermana Dahle) made a great homemade mac and cheese with bread sticks and a salad and gave servings of that and a bunch of other foods we had to them! Turns out she owns a resturaunt and said we are welcome to come and she will give us food :) We were able to dig her out that morning! And she made it off to work just fine! Also she speaks spanish and the Hermanas are totally going to teach her soon!

A man whose name I do not remeber! - After we helped Helda we helped this other hispanic man! The elders helped us get his car out too. He said he owned Wings, Things, and more and also told us to stop by!

Many others- a few other people we were able to help out and just get to know a little bit. It was interesting how nice some people were! we got to know so many of our neighbors it was great!

Reema - One of the neighbors that we helped out was Reema! She is from Liberia! (side note, Sister Krause and I inspire knocked on her door a month and a half ago! Not sure she remembers but I do! :) She was in the middle of moving to Florida! She wanted to get away from the cold. Well she definitely got stuck a day too late! Anyways Sunday night we helped her and then went back monday morning so she could make her train. Well turned out her train was delayed and she didnt need to leave as soon as she thought. What does she decided to do with her extra day home. She makes us an AMAZING dinner! It was so incredibly good! Also in the middle of the day she agreed to take the Hermanas to a much needed doctors appointment at a half hours notice! (we werent allowed to drive our mission cars yet and we didnt want to walk 3 miles for an hermana that was going to a chiropractor, yeah, not a good idea). Today we were allowed to drive cars but our car was blocked in and the Hermana's had a dead battery! So we walked out this morning at 8 am just in time to see Reema about to leave and she just so happens to have jumper cables and we were able to get their car started and make it to District meeting! 

Casey - Yesterday night we were able to go help our now new investigator, Casey! She is a rather fragile person physically and is very hesitant to walk her dog, Winston. (PS Shout out to Delaney, every time I see him it makes me think of your Winston). So we got to help her take him out and face the icey sidewalks ourselves instead of her. Winston is a medium sized dog, a liver floppy eared maybe-german spaniel! Looks so much like our dog at home Chloe! Anyways, he pulls a lot and she doesnt have the strength to resist. Winston was able to get out his energy and go to the bathroom. We then got to talk more about gospel things with her! Her boyfriend is Mormon and she is Jewish and trying to find faith in Christ! We are going over again tonight!!

Crystal - So! Reema only had room for the Hermana's in her car so Sister Krause and I decided to go out for a walk. Maybe find walmart or get some food. Well we totally took the wrong turn and walked somewhere I had never been before! We hoped that walking up this huge hill will help us get to some main store that we knew, nope. We had found a dead end at the top of the hill. So we climbed through a huge bank of snow, ontop of some garbage bins and out to a main road that we thankfully did recognize! Well I was pretty tired at this point that we walked all over and just wanted to get some pizza from the papa johns right in front of us! So we did that. Then we started walking back home, who knows how far that was. Anyways on the way back there were some cars stopped at a light and one woman pulled up and looked at us and we smiled at each other. We passed the car and I thought "No, she actually looked really nice!" I turned around, went to the window and asked if we could have a ride! She said "of course!" We hope in she asked where we lived and she knew the place and headed that way. Turns out SHES A MEMBER!! In a ward an hour away! She used to live in the Baltimore YSA. She joined the church 3 years ago. She works at a place just down the street from where we were and happened to be an hour early for work! She brought us all the way back home! How awesome! Tender Mercies of the Lord!!

Last important detail!! Sister Krause is leaving to go over to a ward in Frederick and I am staying and training a new missionary! AGAIN! Hahah how funny! I am just so grateful this time I know what I am doing and I have a car to help me get around (well I have a car as soon as the tons of ice/snow behind it get moved)

Anyways I love you all! Hope your week is amazing! I love this Gospel and I love all the people I get to meet and help in life! Do something this week to help others :)

Sister Nakata

Week 47 - Clothes & A Great Family Home Evening!

Hey everyone!!

So, again I added some more pictures! this week we went with the Spanish sisters to this fan shop here in baltimore. The owner LOVES mormons and gave us like half off and he calls it the "mormon discount" he is so great! Got a great shirt :) and hoodie!

So I cannot remember a ton that has happened this week but yesterday was great!

We went out knocking on some doors in search of someone (there are so many addresses we have of potential investigators that are building numbers but without apartment numbers!) Anyways, we knocked on a door two or three times, no one answered so we moved to a door right by it. It seemed like no one was home and we were about to leave and I thought "no lets try another knock on this door and wait" So we did! And then the door that we first knocked on opened! And we met this wonderful YSA woman named Blessing! How cool! We committed her to pray about looking more into this church and invited her to the activity that night and church!

The FHE activity that night was pudding Pictionary! It was so much fun! Amy came! She and a recent convert in the ward, TeeTee are really getting a long! It is great! Right before FHE we had a short lesson with her on the Book of Mormon! Last Friday we also had a lesson with Amy and in both lessons she said the closing prayer!! SO exciting! She doesn't have any religious background but she is so open to learning. 

This week we have a few appointments with some potential investigators and we are hoping good things!!

Have a wonderful week! I will try and make next weeks more detailed! Love you all :)

Sister Nakata

Week 46 - Tasting Colors & Understanding God

Hey family!!

This past week has been pretty good! I am a little low on time today!

So WE GOT A CAR!!! Man! over 3 weeks, no car, a whole stake! It has been a bit interesting! But we made it through and we now have a 2016 Toyota Carolla! It is brand new! It had 17 miles on it when we got it! #blessed 

We also got on exchanges this week!! Sister Shepherd and Sister Buchi (my MTC companion) are our sister training leaders! They are awesome! Sister Shepherd came with me in the BYSA area and Sister Krause went to the Chesapeake ward with Sister Buchi! One thing that is nice is that Sister Shepherd has served in this ward before! We got to go to this place called Matthew's Pizza in the city with the Bishop, his wife and other members!! It was so good! 

Sister Shepherd is just a great example! We talked to a few people on the bus! (we got our car later that night) We met a guy who tasted colors (....yeah) and some other nice people!

We had a lesson with our investigator Mimi who recently resolved that she is mad at God for letting bad things happen to so many people.. so we are going to work on helping her with that this week.

We also got to have the New Missionary meeting with President and the Assistants! That was really good. I love every meeting that President is in! 

From Exchanges I learned that I want to work on emphasising inviting others to come unto Christ in even the simple encounters I have.

Thursday we got to go to the Washington DC visitors center with Recent converts Tee Tee and Alexis and the senior missionaries! That was a wonderful experience!

Well thats all I have for now! Love you lots!

Sister Nakata

Week 45 - Holidays, Mormon-opoly, Puzzle & Tender Mercy

This week was great! I can't remember what happened lastMonday but on Tuesday the Hermana's were out of miles so we bused down to zone training together! Wednesday we also spent the day taking the buses around Baltimore city! And I feel confident in riding them now! Which is awesome because that has been my goal. Man did we get into some SKETCHY neighborhoods! Wednesday the Hermana's GPS died and we happened to find each other on the same bus and got to help them get home safe! Tuesday night they got lost and the Elders had to go save them, so Wednesday we made it back safe together. But man were those two days interesting! And even though we got turned around a few times there were many, many people who helped us find our way. Even though we were in the city and even found our way to parts of the city we are not allowed in past 5pm we never came across a person who was not kind to us! It was a tender mercy of the Lord. 

I got a package from my home ward in Texas! Some how after the Zone meeting the package got in the hands of the YSA elders and they got stuck bringing it back to our apartments while taking public transportation! Back to the package! Thank you so much everyone who contributed! One of the last pictures on the dropbox is of me with of those nice gifts! Also! Shout out to the RICKS! They sent me this adorable 2D nativity that I love! Thank you! Aussi Merci pour la package Nat et Jean Claude! Je vous aimez!

These holidays were awesome!! On New years eve the Hermanas who live 2 apartment buildings down from us spent the night together! We made an awesome dinner! So good! 

Then we played a few games a member let us borrow! We did a Greg Olsen puzzle! That was fun! We spent a good 3 or 4 hours on that! 

The next day we made breakfast and then played Mormon-opoly! It was so funny! we still have that game going! It is a fun one! They I got to rearrange our whole apartment and make it look a million times better!! I feel the spirit so much more in the apartment now that 3 large monstrosities were gone from our living room! (weight bench, unused recliner, a large ugly wooden desk). Then we went back to the Hermanas and played more monopoly and made another dinner! One of those pictures on dropbox was capturing the moment when 3 of us were in "spiritual darkness." Haha that game had so many mormon references I loved it!

We were able to meet the standard of excellence this week of getting 2 new investigators!! That was exciting! The first one was Carole! She was a referral from some spanish elders! She is the coolest! However, she is not a YSA and we had to hand her off to the Elders in her area :(

The other new investigator is Amy! She is a nanny from England! She is working for an LDS family and has expressed interest in the YSA activities and learning about the LDS faith! 

Sunday night we also got to have another lesson with our investigator Claire! She is very sure of wanting to be baptized only she wants the approval of her parents. They have asked her to spend a year investigating other churches and if after that she still wants to be a mormon she can. So her progress is going to be slow :( but it is all in the Lords timing! She has spent the past 4 years going to church and YW with her best friend so she knows it all and is working on getting her Personal Progress!

I am excited for the week to come! I hope all of you have had a great new year and are starting 2016 off well!

Love you!

Sister Nakata