Week 45 - Fussa, Japan

Well Hello there!

So yeah, I'm coming to you a little later than usual today, but well, our schedule has been upside down and over these past few days. So P-day is finally coming on Wednesday :).

Transfers are this Saturday, so while, like I told you last week, I do know that I'm officially transferring, I have yet to learn where. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, I've felt the Lord really bless me and help lift me up through Sister Derricott and also small miracles that have occured. We've decided to really use these 2 extra weeks of knowing the area is closing as a blessing rather than a curse and the Lord has been blessing us for that, fulfilling promises that He's made. Over the past week we've been able to set 2 baptismal dates and also amazingly 3 of the LA's we've been working with came to church! It doesn't make leaving this area in easier, but I've felt Heaven helping me as I come to a peaceful conclusion to my time in Fussa.

It's good too, as now we're having time to fully swing our investigators over to the elders and had some time to say goodbye to some of our favorite people who we wouldn't have gotten to see if we only knew we were leaving when we usually do.

Haha it's funny the word has slowly started getting out in the wards as well. We decided we weren't going to tell the wards until normal transfers but, well President Albrecht told the Bishop and Branch President, who then told the Councils, and well from there it's history... So even if President Albrecht hadn't have told us the ward members would have!

So it sounds like a lot is going on back in the States with everyone! Kim's moving, Beth restarting school, Mom and Dad, you have Sister Missionaries living with you, So you have to tell me how living with Sister missionaries works....do you share a fridge? where do they study? are you allowed to watch TV when they're in the house? Kind of random questions...

Oh so this is cool. Summer is festival season in Japan, so this past weekend was the Fussa Festival! It was way cool. Our apartment is right by the train station, which is where most everything happens in Fussa, so we got to see the decorations and everything going on for it. Plus on Saturday night we went with a member to the Hamura Festival (a city right next to Fussa, that's in our area) and the city thought it was funny to have 2 Americans who could speak japanese there. So they had us go and dance an おどり, a traditional japanese dance, with the dancers just so they could take pictures. That was fun, especially since we didn't know the dance at all! Luckily it was pretty simple.

Anyway, I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers!
Love

SIster Erin Benne