👸🏻🏯🎎✌🏼

HEYOOOO!

This week was transfers!! I am now in.... ATSUBETSU. Home of the temple, our mission president, and the biggest ward in Hokkaido. I'm also back in the city!!! So many people. My new campionS (yes back to the trio life) are... SATO AND IWASA SHIMAI! They are both transfer 3 and Japanese. So yep I'm breaking 2 nihonjin! Didn't see that one coming!

Not gonna lie I had a bit of a panic attack when I got that transfer call. BUT turns out Atsubetsu is THE BOMB. 

1. We have the APs and honbu elders in our area. The APs right now also just happen to be my favorite elders in the mission so it's a PARTY and they drive us places in their car. (We're the cutest family ever rolling up to church in our swaggin van) 
2. The TEMPLE oh my goodness we get to see our beautiful temple whenever we go to Oyachi. So blessed. 
3. The ward is amazing. So many families so many kids so many YSA so fun. 
4. Our mission president and his family our in our ward!! Which means I get to go to young women's with Kacie and translate for her while my comps go to relief society hahah
5. I GET TO LEARN SHUWA (Japanese sign language) we have a class every Tuesday and our Sunday school class is all in Shuwa! So cool. 
6. The senior couple missionaries are also in our ward and we had a real American BBQ with them and kaicho on Friday!!! 
7. Costcooooooo!!!!!
8. I have a bunkbed!!!!! Which means for the first time in a year I'm not sleeping on the floor🏼

So yeah I'm living the life. Our zone leader called the other night and told me I'm officially the Princess of the mission because not only am I in Atsubetsu buttttt I'm also the only gaijin shimai in Atsubetsu. Reaping the blessings. 

My companions are super sweet. After our first day of being together one of my companions told me that her last transfer had been super hard and she wasn't able to leave the apartment much. She had an interview with kaicho a few days before transfers and kaicho had promised her that her next companion was someone he trusted and that would work hard and teach her how to be a good missionary.... no pressure

I'm so pumped for all the miracles we're about to seeeee! 

じゃっ～ またね。🤙🏽

ウィットリグズー

Saying bye to Yuki :(

Lucky 13 🤘🏼

おはようございます!

We got lost this week. A lot.

Monday we took the 6am train up to Asahikawa and when we got there we realized we left our phone in Ebetsu. First mistake. We had Zone Activity that day at the Suehiro church so we jumped on a bus that we thought would take us there, got off at what we thought was the right stop and walked in what we thought was the right direction forrrreverrrrrrr. We were wrong in every possible way. With no map, no address and no phone we were pretty かわいそう。we talked to sooo many people and no one could help us. We finally found a phone booth but only had one coin. So I called Hymas 長老。He gave us the address to the church but we ran out of time before he could give us any directions. Lay Shimai just looked at me and said "start praying Hymas comes to the rescue." We started walking again foreverrrrrr and right as we were about to turn down the totally wrong road and be lost forever who would come flying down the street but Hymas and Fukuda Choro to the rescue. Miracles are real people!! Hahaha so blessed.

Wednesday we went to the Hokkaido museum with an investigator except Lay Shimai and I got lost AGAIN. this time we decided to take a "bike path" through the woods, hoping it would get us to the museum. Yeah it wasn't a bike path. We started riding down this dirt path which turned to no path which turned to us flying through a bamboo forest which led to a GIANT drop off which we somehow managed to carry our bikes down, across the river and then back up the other side. All in the rain. But hey the museum was cool!

Thursday after teaching eikaiwa in Iwamizawa we jumped on a train back to Ebetsu. Except the train didn't stop in Ebetsu. Or anywhere near Ebetsu. So we got to take a unexpected field trip to downtown Sapporo! Good times.

This week is transfer week!! It's been a crazy 12 weeks with Lay Shimai. We've worked ourselves nearly to death haha but we've seen a lot of miracles. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" Lay Shimai and I definitely kept the faith the past 12 weeks and we've seen so many miracles because of it. The miracles don't come till after the trial of your faith but I know for sure that they come. Crazy to think I've only got 18 weeks left.

頑張りましょう。

愛してるるるる

リグズ

byebye hymas :(

🇯🇵🇳🇱

ヤーホ!

This week we went to Kushiro!!! It's the opposite side of the island from Sapporo. It was a lot of fun. Ozaki Shimai and I decided to do some basketball dendo so we went to this court right on the harbor and played ball right next to the ocean and a bunch of pirate ships. It was awesome!!!

Afterwards we were walking down the harbor and my exact thoughts were: "Wow I like this place. This reminds me of the Netherlands. Man I wanna live in the Netherlands" Literally 2 SECONDS later we walk past a gaijin so I ask him where he's from and he's like "The Netherlands!"

*que me freaking out*

We talked about how great Holland was for a bit. It was a good time.

BUT WAIT it gets better.

The next day we went to catch our bus home and he was there taking the same bus as us to Sapporo!!! 5 hour bus ride with my new Dutch bff. Turns out he's been to SLC and has met the missionaries in Holland (probably my dad) before!!! I gave him the only English "I'm a Mormon" card that I've been carrying around since I left the MTC 10 months ago and told him to find the missionaries again when he goes home.

So cool that God would send probably the only missionary in Hokkaido that knows anything about the Netherlands to the other side of the island the one day that someone from the Netherlands also happens to be on the other side of the island. "There's no such thing as coincidence when you're on the Lords errand" -Elder Bednar. If there's one thing I've learned on my missions it's how God loves His children individually, not just as a mass whole. He'll go through great lengths just to bring a smile or comfort to one person.

In other news North Korea shot a missile this week that came within 70 miles of hitting Sapporo haha...... yeah one of our eikaiwa students told us we should go back to America because Korea is getting closer and closer every week and they're probably going to hit Sapporo by the end of the year. I guess we'll see! Good times in Hokkaido!

愛してるるるる

Rigs

This week we had summer festival and got to wear yukatas (summer kimonos)!!!