Update

Alright! Update time, everyone!

Thanks for all the people who took interest in my last blog and asked me questions about what’s going on and how they could help, it was really encouraging!

Let me start off by saying that I am giving a presentation at CrossRoad Baptist Church this coming Sunday, November 29th. If you would like to learn even more about my trip, be there! If you aren’t able to (because, you know, the whole Thanksgiving thing and all, haha) just let me know so I can tell you more, personally, about what’s going on.

Shout out to my mom who made awesome prayer bookmarks for me! Just ask and I’ll give you one!

Alright, let’s get down to it! So, I have about $2,000 raised as of October 29th, which is good! 1/6th of the way to where I would like it to be. I’m not sure how much more I have been getting throughout November, as the company I’m with gives me updates at the end of the month, but I’m sure that number will go up a little.

I’m hoping and praying that I will be able to be in Japan with the Smiths by sometime in February. I originally thought, “Hey, let’s aim for December!” but my parents mentioned it would be nice for me to be home for Christmas, haha. Then I thought, “January!” until it finally struck me how long it would take to raise support, so I kind of pushed it to February, hoping that it will give me enough time to raise support.

Recently, I’ve been trying to reach out to churches to see if they would like to support me. Let me tell you, I feel awkward as all get-out doing it, but praying before and trusting that God will give me the words to say helps a ton. I have one church that has said, yes, they would like to support me and that they would call me back. I had two more that said possibly and that they would also call me back later. So, I think that’s a good start, I hope, haha. (This is why I’m unsure as to when I’ll leave since the whole process of contacting churches has been taking longer than I thought it would.)

Attempts at learning Japanese have been good (I think?). I can now say things like, “I eat pizza”　（私はピザ を食べます）and “I’m going to Japan” （私は日本に行きます）　and phrases of the like. Super important there, especially the pizza part. Definitely.

Currently, I have been able to realize how amazingly blessed I am to be where I am currently. I have so many supportive friends and family who will listen when I have troubles or doubts and that will cheer me on to what God has planned for my life. I may not know the details of that plan (or honestly, even the broad picture), but I’m thankful for all that God has done in my life up until now. It’s just way too many things to count, but I want to give God the glory for every little thing He’s given me.

So, thank you so much for keeping up-to-date with me! It means so much, and I appreciate it like none other. I will try to keep this blog more updated (hopefully weekly) to let everyone know what’s up, especially as I get closer to my self-made deadline.

Thanks!

ありがとうございます！