Hello! Can you send this to all the normal
peeps? I don't have my iPad so things are
weird.
This week was crazy and ALL OVER THE PLACE.
So I'll give you the highlights instead of
the day by day play by play. Because some
of the days were fairly rough and not much
exciting things happened.
[Emma's back was causing very significant
problems last week making it hard for her
to leave the house many days - see the
bottom for additional details]
Konaha eki (train station): we went with the elders
in another epic train trip to see less actives
that love way far out. We got off
the train and GREEN OVERLOAD. Rice paddies for
dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyz. It was beautiful. And we just
got to spend all day wandering around in this
beautiful scenery looking for 3 less actives houses.
We found all 3 (unheard of) and talked to 2 (even more unheard of). Also, as we
walked though the mixture of bamboo forest and rice paddies we found The World's
Largest Spiders. Larger than my hand. Fortunately they didn't seem in the mood to
attack.
Eikaiwa: during the conversation portion I was talking to 2 high
school girls and a college aged boy and I taught them tongue
twisters! It was hilarious. To get back at me they taught me a
Japanese one: Namamugi namagome nama tamago. Then they were
laughing at me. It was a good time. Way fun.
The Gap: there's a Gap in the shopping area towards the edge of
our area. We've been dendoing a lot in the shopping area because
it's nicer on my back and we can still get out and talk to
people. We've come good friends with a lot of store workers.
So we went to the Gap (where all the clothes were 50% off) and
were wandering around looking at all the American style cloths.
And the worker started chatting with us. Turns out she loves English and is going
to Australia soon to study English. She was WAY interested in Eikaiwa. It was way
cool to meet her. And she's works all day everyday so shop dedno was the only was
we could ever meet her.
Shion (how you say Zion in Japanese): she's a cute high
school girl we meet 2 weeks ago in the park. We had lunch
with her!! At McDonald's (which is a class institution
in Japan). We chatted and religious things came up. But
it was casual. At the end we shared "I am a child of God"
from the new meet the Mormons. And she LOVED IT.
She asked for a copy of it. Happy day.
North Korean spies: we just got word that one of our
creepier English class students might in actuality
be a North Korean spy.
Happy scientist: So. We randomly visited a less-active
this week whose family are pretty hardcore Happy Scientists. Which means they
believe that all religions are true.
We said hello at their genkan [traditional Japanese entry
way] and they happily invited us in,
sat us down, handed us chopsticks,
and shoved a bowl a freshly cut raw
fish in front us, commanding us to
eat. We were very confused but
happily partook. The less-actives
nonmember son was happy to talk to
us, and actually invited us to go
to a Happy Science activity with him.
We politely declined. Meanwhile the
mom of the household wandered in and out of the
conversation, and at one point returned with
someone's newborn baby. Never did receive clarification
about whose baby it was. Anyways, we shared a video about Jesus, which led to a
discussion about why American bombed Japan if America is a Christian country.
We didn't know, so we testified of how Christ can help us overcome our weaknesses,
heal, and forgive. We both left this encounter very confused, honestly we still
aren't sure what happened. (My lovely comp wrote this for me).
It was a strange week. We'll see what next week brings.
Love love love,
ベアマン姉妹
Sent from my iPad
[In a separate email from Emma]
9/19
Hey fambam,
Heard you got a call from President A. 😬 [President A is our Stake President, or
local church leader over the area where we live] Hopefully it wasn't too shocking?
Surprising? I was trying to keep you informed. But you know, not be terribly
depressing. [President A called me at Evan's soccer game and told me Emma's back is
doing badly, and she might have to come home early from Japan to get treatment for it]
So yeah. The first part of this week was a train wreck. Not much dedno. Having
my back hurt all day everyday had gotten to be tiring. Lots of feeling REALLY
UNBEARABLY SAD and sleeping (because I hadn't been sleeping at night). And stretching.
It was quite pitiful now that I look back on it. Well, we had interviews with Kaicho
and Shimai [Mission President and his wife] on Thursday. Well timed? Ill timed? Who
knows. Probs well timed. I was the first one to go in and talk to him. Well, I
figured we'd talk about going home. And we did. There was a lot of crying on my part.
And a lot of speaking God's word on his part. And we decided to take a week and
pray to know what God's plan is. Also, to pray for a huge miracle. He gave me a
blessing. In it he talked about both options equally. He blessed me to be healed
but there wasn't a clear time frame set for that... But he also blessed me not to
feel depressed and sad and since then, I haven't felt overwhelmingly sad. So yeah,
at this point, who knows. I talked to Shimai last [Mission President's wife]. She
just listened. And comforted. Man, they're amazing. After interviews I felt way
better. A lot lighter. I think I was really stressed thinking about talking about
going home. My back hurt less and so did my heart. Although this whole going
home business has me STRESSED but a different stressed because I want to make the
right decision. I want to have hope I'll be healed but like if that's not God's
plan I don't know what to think. In the blessing, God said He would grant me the
righteous desires of my heart and my desires are to stay but like what if that's
not righteous. Or the most righteous option. You know? I don't know. Anywho, after
interviews I felt a LOT BETTER. Kaicho called me on Saturday which was a little
startling. He told me he had called President A and that Pres A was calling you.
*minor freak out because that means things are getting serious.* Kaicho and Shimai,
Sister M and I all fasted yesterday to see a big miracle and to get an answer.
And I hear your fasting (fasted?) today with a bunch of people. [Fasting is going
without food for two meals and praying for a special purpose] At the end of my fast,
I asked an elder to give me a blessing of council. Man, I got counseled. God told me
He has a plan for me. And His plan is perfect. . .So I'm basically here in Japan
not really knowing what to do. I know what I want.
But I don't know if that aligns with what God wants. But I'm still praying for a
big miracle. Thanks for fasting for me (I'm grateful for everyone else fasting for
me too). I cried tonight when I realized how many people loved me enough to fast
for me. [Dana and I are very grateful to all who fasted with us, and we cried too
grateful for all the love and support. Thank you everyone!] I love you guys. Also,
feel free to share this email with more people. Or put it on the blog. Or not put
it on the blog. Either way really. I'm just sending it to you guys first. And I know
everything will work out the way it's supposed to.
Love love love
Emma
9/23
President A,
I am sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you but Sister Bearman went in to another doctor today
to see if she could get some relief and I wanted to know the results of that visit before calling you. This
was a Doctor here in Fukuoka which is about 2-3 hours away from where she is currently
living that she went to before she was transferred to Kumamoto.
Sister Bearman was very upbeat and happy today as the doctor told her that she was not as bad
as she was the first time that she came in for treatment and that he thought after another visit
(Next Thursday) that she would be back to where she was before she left Fukuoka.
This is great news. We will be praying that the doctor is right and that Sister Bearman will not need to
return home. Thanks for your prayers and fasting. The power of the fast is real.
Pres. E [Emma's mission president]
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