Dearest Mom, Dad, Katelyn, and Eavesdroppers,
Hey it's me! Sister Brewer in the Japan Nagoya Mission. Currently
stationed in Toyohashi city, working happily but you haven't heard
much about it recently, sorry! We have been delightfully busy, and
sometimes even busy with the things we want to be busy with.
We had lessons this week!
In Japan:
We've been teaching English/Gospel lessons to a sweet, spunky woman
who loves the church but doesn't want to join it. You know, which
we've heard a couple of times. She's really nice but has been pretty
closed off. In this weeks lesson, Suleman and I were trying really
hard to decide what she needed. It's all the same as other machine
stories that you've heard from me and other missionaries… We prayed
really hard, tried to feel the spirit, and felt it! I taught the
lesson and it wasn't perfect but it went really well. We were able to
feel the spirit and she opened up a little bit more. Little by little
people! People open up. It sounds cliche until you experience it, but
faith and hope and people and in the Lord are so important.
On Friday, we were leaving a Kentucky from a meeting, and getting on
the train. We talked to a cute high school student who She was on her
way out. Turns out she had met the Okazaki sisters a few times last
month! I told her to call them when she had time. Well, she actually
did! Turns out that she goes to school in Okazaki but lives in
Toyohashi. Last school year, she stayed in St. George Utah with a
Mormon family and attended Doctrine and Covenants seminary, girls
camp, trek, the missionary lessons thrice, and church every single
Sunday. I think she beats me. She's in a really intense choir at her
school, so she usually has rehearsals on Sunday. However, she had this
week off, so she decided that she wanted to try to see what church was
like in Japan. She was so thrilled to find out that there was a church
in Toyohashi, that she came right away, and she was so fashionable! A
seriously cute outfit. Afterwards, she said she finally knew it was
missing from her weekends.
:O
Today a less active member is coming to the church to dress us up in
kimonos! There is a very fancy particular way to do it, don't you
know. We are very excited. Stay tuned for those photos.
#memoirsofageshiashimai
In Brasil:
Monday we had an appointment with a woman our ageish with the cutest
two year old toddler. You know, after we partied with her at the huge
Aeon mall for Pday. She had actually read her Book of Mormon
assignments AND answered the questions we wrote down for her AND wrote
down additional questions AND didn't come to church. You can't have
it all. But she is really progressing. Yay!
On Tuesday we had a dinner appointment at sister Irmã Arataque's
house, who makes ridiculously miraculous beautiful lovely gorgeous
Brazilian scrumptious food. Did I say it was delicious? Okay, so she's
making the food, and the particular pot that she's using to make the
dish, apparently is not working properly. So she asks us to run over
to the apartment next to hers, to another member's house, and ask to
borrow hers. We get there, they're so surprised to see us, and
immediately start making Brazilian pizza and heating up the oven
rapidly. We're trying to frantically explained that we are, but they
INSIST we partake of their pizza before returning. 30 minutes later we
are hobbling back to Irmã Arataque's is house, full of scarfed down
Brazilian pizza and grape juice. She was worried we wouldn't come
back, and said, "I knew I shouldn't have sent you there." And kept
cooking concoctions of celestial smells.
(I think. I still haven't miraculously learned Portuguese.)
Someone we made room for three helpings of the masterpiece she
created. I don't know what any of it was called, but it was delicious!
I testify that God, Jesus Christ is in charge of this work, which
involves all of us. Our job is to find out what we need to do to make
the plan work. We all have a part, we all fit in and will come out
happy. I love purely this gospel more than I even know.
I love you!
ブルーワ姉妹
Those flattering moments.
The good news is, it was real! Real, just like real life; the mission was exciting, beautiful, very difficult, confusing, strengthening, challenging, loving, and full of evidence of God. 
What anyone will tell any "discouraged" missionary is that your efforts are not measured by your results. Of course not. We can't make any conclusion like that because we have such a minuscule view of this thing as humans. No one can or does promise you "baptisms" as a missionary. As a missionary, your purpose is to help people develop the faith to be baptized, and keep those commitments eternally. No one my companions and I talked to or taught have been baptized yet, and sometimes that made me feel like a lousy missionary. Somedays, I probably was a lousy missionary. That's why I am grateful for repentance, and the Atonement. God commanded me to do something I wasn't able to do as a missionary in Japan. Though it meant I failed, if I didn't put all I could into accomplishing that purpose just because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it, I wouldn't have done what He needed, become what He needed me to do. If I knew I wouldn't see baptisms, I wouldn't have worked for baptisms, and learned so much on the way. That's also not what we're working for, baptisms. We are working for people, for Christ. The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. (Doctrine and Covenants 3:1) 
