AFK

Final Post

2011-01-30T20:26:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been a while. I wasn't able to set aside some time during my last 2 p-days so I wasn't able to provide that last e-mail before I flew home.

It's pretty crazy to be writing this...sitting at a computer in my room, listening to music that has drums and lyrics and a beat to it...

Ahem.

My last week was pretty hectic. I wrote a pretty long description of it but considering I didn't take many pictures I doubt you'll want to read the huge wall of text. It was really crazy to pack my bags nearly a fully week before I actually headed home; living out of a suitcase made the remainder of my mission very surreal. In some ways I was disappointed with my last week---investigators still canceled on us, people still refused on the street...somehow I had gotten the idea that since it was my last week things would be different. I got no such miracle.

The members were very sad to see me go. Many of them took special time just to see me and say goodbye, or ask about my future and ask that I would please contact them. It was very sweet of them!

After shipping my luggage to the airport it got REALLY surreal...

My last Sunday was good. I was able to bear my testimony one last time. That was really special for me. That Sunday was really somethin' else. We visited one of the girls we are working with--she had a surgery in the hospital and I wanted to say goodbye so we visited her there--and then the members kidnapped us and dragged us all sorts of places for my farewell party. I wasn't expecting such things and I was really touched.

The flight home was tiring and long. It generally is when my luggage is really heavy--which it WAS--so it was an interesting time. When we touched down in LA and got our luggage we realized that 2 of use (me included) had missed our connecting flight. We were able to re-book for a flight leaving in 40 minutes and hurried over to our departure gate. People were...friendly. I dunno if you have ever spent a significant time in an Asian country (PARTICULARLY Japan) and then returned to either LA or Boston, but it can be pretty heavy culture shock. In Japan the customer is RIGHT and everyone knows it so the customer doesn't have to DO anything about it; everyone simply tried to sense your needs and assist you. My first time coming home from living in Japan for 3 months gave me a pretty big shock. This time I was more prepared, so while the other missionaries were shocked at the amazingly rude airport staff, I was able to realize that they were, in fact, being very helpful--just not overly polite. It was fun. I'm still not over this: many times I'll be surprised by some loud comment or mean sarcasm. I think part of it is because I served a mission and part of it is just getting used to American humor.

I'm glad we caught the second flight. I sat next to a girl who was leaving her family to live in Utah for the first time. She was really worried and we were able to talk. I hope I was able to calm her down some--she had told me I had done as much--and I'm really glad I was able to catch this flight so that I was able to talk with her. It made me feel better about a lot of things in a lot of ways.

Getting home to the SLC airport was FANTASTIC. A moment I had dreamed about. It was so great to be able to see all of my family. I had missed them all so very much and I was just so happy to be around them. It was amazing. Once I had hugged them, once I was standing there...it was like someone flipped a switch. I was home now, and I was able to do home things with my family. Most excellent!

I got home and was able to step into the house for a few seconds before stepping out again and meeting with my Stake President. So I was released from missionary service within hours of getting home. It helped make the switchover more complete.

Now I'm home. I'm working, I'm happy, and I'm with my family. Life is really good.

You know, I don't think I served the most stellar mission, and I certainly wasn't perfect. Even as I type this I feel comforted and realize that most missionaries probably feel the same way, but the Lord works with imperfect people to complete His designs. I have no idea what impact my mission may have had. I don't know who will remember me in a few years and who won't. I don't really think about it. It may be selfish, but this mission has done a lot for ME. I now have a rock-solid testimony, backed by numerous experiences where I saw a miracle---and I cannot deny it. There were experiences where I felt the Spirit, times when I saw, heard, or knew things that I cannot explain without the acceptance of divine intervention. I'm really grateful for that, I know it will help me a lot in future.

I understand more about this church and its mission. I understand more about Heavenly Father and His mission, too. I'm really excited knowing that I don't know much--but I can keep learning!

Right now I'm back home. I'm not a missionary anymore. I won't pretend that I'm still a missionary or serving a mission, but I cannot deny that I've changed.

And that's not a bad thing.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone! I hope this holiday finds you safe and well. I truly hope you enjoy the season, and never forget the reason!

I'm afraid this is one of those "no time" weeks, so I shall simply give a few brief notes that I really wanted to mention:

Firstly, to my friends, thank you so much for writing and also wishing me a Merry Christmas. Especially to Eve and to Liz -- I fully intend to write you thank you cards and letters and such but your addresses have gone missing in the abyss of my desk. It's weird, sorry. If you don't hear from me, know that it's lack of postage information, not lack of love, and that you shall hear from me later.

Secondly, I heard that the Provo Tabernacle burned down. That is incredibly sad and I am sorry to hear it. I really loved that building, and I can't imagine it being gone. I...I have nothing more to say about that. It's just sad.

Third, this is the last blog post of the year! Japan celebrates New Year's in style; they may devote more dedication to it than we devote to Christmas. At least, it seems that way...all public buildings are shut down for a week -- the library where I write these blog posts will be shut down from December 27th until roughly January 5th, so no blog or electronic contact next week. I would offer to write letters, but the postal service shuts down as well. I would offer to buy you souvenirs, but the banks and ATMs shut down, too! New Year's can actually be a little scary for new missionaries if they are unprepared -- if you didn't withdraw/reserve money before everything shuts down, you have NO WAY to access it for over a month. Hope the pantry is stocked!

I exaggerate slightly, but not as much as you'd think. It's pretty crazy. Shibuya was still in business because it's Shibuya (that was where I spent last New Year's) but Kofu is a whole 'nother story, and I suspect we shall witness 4 days of soulless streets.

So everyone please have a Merry Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Enjoy this time and remind loved ones just how much you love them. Speaking of which, 愛しています！

Acts of kindness are a big burden - Japanese Proverb

2010-12-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

When I heard that saying I laughed so hard. It refers to stories much like the example illustrated below.

I don't like sushi. I don't really have an issue with raw fish, although I would rather NOT eat it, that's not the problem. The problem is 1) I don't like the taste of dry seaweed, and 2) I REALLY don't like eating lukewarm/cold rice! Rice is a hot dish to me and I just can't enjoy the taste of it cooled down. It makes me gag. Dunno why, I'm sorry, but I just likes me some hot rice. So when members take us to a sushi restaurant, I have gotten to the point when I will simply admit that I am not a fan of sushi, so if it's alright I will just order something else off the menu. Members then agree and, trying to help, they then ORDER FOR ME and order EVERYTHING ON THE MENU THAT IS NOT SUSHI. This gives me a mountain of food to eat and leaves them in a panic trying to find other things to give me that are not sushi. I appreciate the thought, really, but I wish they wouldn't do it. Hence, the above saying my companion taught me last night. Other people trying to be nice can actually be a big problem for you.

It's actually a pretty depressing saying when you think about it.

Hello, everyone! Sorry about the radio silence last week. My last companion seems to love making lots of appointments on our preparation day so we didn't have time for shopping or e-mail last week. And since those are things that "can only be done on preparation day" she was most reluctant to take time out of other days of the week. It was most refreshing to be with such an obedient missionary! We had a lot of fun and worked very hard last transfer.

So now I would like to take a few minutes and give you a few updates on some of the things we did, starting with my birthday. Before I do, though, lemme say thank you so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It made me very happy indeed.

My birthday was great! We managed to time it so that I and another missionary (we went on splits, so I was with someone other than my companion) were able to go to the base and eat Thanksgiving dinner with an American family. It was amazing, both being on the base and being with that family. The base was so BIG! Is America really that spacious? I was most surprised. I was also shocked to see a US Post Office and the Chili's restaurant. Long time no see. Then there were the Fruit Gushers sitting on the counter in the house...it was pretty unreal. But we were able to spend a lovely time with that family and eat turkey, candied yams, potatoes, vegetables, and amazing pies. It was such a great feast and a great time. We all went around the table listing something starting with the next letter of the alphabet and saying why we were grateful for it. After clearing all the dishes the kids asked, "Can the missionaries help us put up the Christmas tree?" which made me laugh, and when the youngest daughter found out that it was my birthday around this time she made me a four foot tall birthday card made of paper taped together! It was very sweet of her and I loved it. It was a real blast.

We also were able to go visit Mt. Fuji last week! Two members took us and we were able to visit a few historic sites around Fuji, visit one of the 5 lakes near its base, and basically be tourists for a few hours. Near the end of the trip we stopped by a musical box museum, which was AMAZING and I was very sorry we didn't have more time. I shall try to persuade my companion to go there again another day.

My companion changed! That's the other bit of news. She got transferred. We were both very surprised. The other bit of surprising news is that my new companion is actually an old companion: She's been a missionary longer than me! So we are both very old missionaries, and we are both serving in Kofu---and she's served here before!

So, to explain this phenomenon, lemme start by explaining two things. First, Japanese missionaries serve longer than American missionaries because they don't go to the MTC for as long. So while the 18-months/2 years is including the MTC, Japanese missionaries have more transfers in the field because they don't have that MTC time in there. So a Japanese sister will serve for 13 transfers but an American will serve for only 11. So my companion is on her 12th transfer, making her older than me, but I go home this transfer! It's so weird to be the junior for my last time! (I'm not actually a junior companion, we're co-senior, I just think it's funny.) As for the Kofu thing, she has already served here for 4 transfers, and now she's back a year later! So after she finishes her time here she will have spent half of her mission in Kofu.

So that means that my new companion actually knows Kofu as well/better than I do. We are REALLY excited to use this chance to try and bring back some of the old investigators that fell away between her leaving Kofu and my coming in. It's gonna be a really fun time in Kofu this transfer.

My companion really is great. I was a little nervous at first, but she is so sweet! She went to BYU Hawaii for 3 years so she speaks English fluently--albiet with an awesome Hawaiian accent. She's really smart and funny too, so we are always talking and laughing. It's actually hard to stop and we actually have to DECIDE to stop talking so that we can finally get some sleep at night. I know that she's Japanese but it doesn't feel that way at all! She's really easy-going and thanks to her time at BYU Hawaii she understands a lot of why I do the weird foreigner things I do, so she doesn't get frustrated or mad. It's wonderful. I thanked her by putting together her bike after she arrived. She responded by reading my missionary picture journal and laughing so hard she collapsed into a ball of laughter on the floor. I like her.

---

In other news, it's DECEMBER now! That means we can officially listen to Christmas music nonstop. I love December because I love Christmas! For those of you who are wondering, Christmas is celebrated a little differently in Japan. Japan is not a Christian country so most of the celebrations are secular. The main traditions are chicken and cake. The family gets together and eats Christmas chicken--usually from KFC but McDonald's is putting up a big fight this year and they are selling this crazy $20 Chirstmas Chicken Box thing--then serves up and eats Christmas cake. You can start ordering these things in October and they are pretty expensive. A one layer 8-inch cake costs at least $20, and generally around $30 or $40. I guess they are pretty well decorated but that's still ridiculous to me, so we are making our OWN Christmas cake--and EATING it too!

Japan does have a holiday where they celebrate being a family and the family just gets together to spend time together, but that's not Christmas that's New Year's. New Year's is when the entire country shuts down for 4 days. As missionaries we can't really do much--we aren't supposed to knock on doors or visit members unless we are invited, so we are stuck with wandering around empty streets for a few days. It wasn't a big deal last year when I was in Tokyo because the streets were still pretty full even on New Years, but I am a little worried about Kofu--the streets are empty on a NORMAL day. Still, besides missionaries everyone has a wonderful time inside for New Year's. Good for them.

Okay, I think that's all the time I wanted to take for just now. I hope everyone is having a great time and preparing for the holidays. Have a great week, and God bless you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Sorry, but before I forget can someone please get ahold of Anthony? I think he moved and I need his new address. Thank you.

Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day full of family, friends, and gratitude! If it happens to include a large feast as well, great! For those who may not be aware, Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving, and when you say the word "Thanksgiving" they have no idea what you are talking about. They DO know what 感謝祭 is, however, and that roughly translates to the same thing (Gratitude Festival).

I wasn't planning on celebrating Thanksgiving this year as I am in an area with no foreigners, but then the military base called and asked if some missionaries wouldn't mind attending their Thanksgiving feast. Well, who am I to say no and disappoint all those hard working service men and women? So it turns out I'll be eating turkey on Thursday after all. Huzzah! I will let you know how it goes. If I remember to write about it.

This week we had some very neat things happen. First, a General Authority came and spoke to us. He kinda woke up the mission and reminded us that we TOO can see miracles, and we really do need to be more bold about our message. It was a great conference. He told us that we should be extending baptismal commitments after the first meeting and made us promise to do so at our next lesson. "You extend, they choose to accept or reject it. If they say no, that's their choice, but you should give them the choice." It was interesting and we agreed to try it from now on.

Well, the next lesson we had was with a high school student. We teach her English and the Gospel in her home. She wants to go to BYU-Hawaii someday in the future, but for now she just wants to learn as much as she can. Her family is really interesting. Her mom will often wander in and out of the room during lessons and change the subject while we are in midsentence. That's...yeah. But the girl is really sweet and wonderful.

Well, we explained the doctrine in the first lesson (oops, for those that don't know the lessons: the first lesson discusses God as our Heavenly Father, the importance of families, the role of prophets, the existence of Jesus Christ's church, the Great Apostasy, the Restoration through Joseph Smith, and a brief introduction to the Book of Mormon and prayer.), and then we explained that when you know these things are true, Heavenly Father wants you to act. We explained in very simple terms what baptism was and told her about how important it is. As we were in the MIDDLE of asking her to be baptized when she knew these things were true, her mother walks into the room and places some images on the table. And I can remember EXACTLY what she said (translated):

"Can you BELIEVE that they have adult comic books in the elementary school library?! Look at this filth!"

And yes, there on the table were some scanned covers of some very not-child-appropriate books. Not-anyone-appropriate books, for that matter.

...So, uhm, yes. Spirit GONE. It was bizarre and I almost wanted to start laughing, the timing was so perfect.

And for the record, once her mother left the room we were still able to commit her to baptism.

--

In other news, my birthday is tomorrow! Somehow the other missionaries found out. Before the conference last week we stayed with two other Sisters in their apartment as it was much closer to the conference than ours. That night they threw a surprise birthday party, and they pulled out this amazing homemade cake that they had made just for me! It was awesome and I wish I could show you pictures, but just suffice to imagine a white two-layer cake with chocolate, "Happy Birthday Sister C" written on top, candles, and strawberries for filling. I was incredibly touched and very happy.

I am also very thankful to everyone who sent me birthday well-wishes. Thank you. You are all wonderful and I love you all very much!

I LOVE AUTUMN SO MUCH

2010-11-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much to everyone who is trying to help my Spanish, I appreciate it immensely! It's been a great week in the mission, and I would love to tell you a few highlights. I need to write down the rest in my journal, but first I need to find some time to write...

By the way, the Bishop tells me that the mountain in the opening credit to Paramount Picture films is a mountain in SLC. Is that true? He isn't sure but we are now both curious.

This last week we have been working with members quite a bit. We went to the temple with our Ward last Saturday. It was very rewarding. There was a new member and it was her first time to the temple, so we were able to attend as well in order to go with her. She absolutely loved the experience. While there, she requested that everyone pray that her friend (who we are teaching right now) would get permission from her parents to get baptized. Up until this point her parents were not in favor of the idea and requested that she not be involved with our church to that point. She was all in favor of getting baptized but feared being separated from her family in any way, so we had hit a bit of a roadblock. Well, that very same evening she got a call from her parents telling her it was okay! So we have an excited investigator who is willing to hear the discussions again and take them seriously, and we all have a greater testimony on the power of prayer. That, needless to say, was a very good day.

The next day (Sunday) some members offered to give us a ride to Tsuru, a town which is pretty far from Kofu. The ride takes about 80 minutes by car and involves going over under and through quite a few mountains, so we were very glad not to have to go by bike. While in Tsuru we were able to meet with some old investigators and friends of members and really revitalized interest in learning spiritual things (missionaries used to bike there, but that died out a year or two ago, apparently. I could find no record of activity in Tsuru in the apartment records, so I had no idea). Many asked to meet with us again, so we are thoroughly excited, and the members were absolutely thrilled. We have already set up a few times next week to go back to Tsuru, and members are also asking us to visit their families as well. I haven't ridden a car this much in a long time. I think I may becoming a touch car sick, but I will gladly put up with it/ignore it--the payback is more than worthwhile!

Oh, also on that ride to Tsuru we discovered something amazing. Tsuru is closer to Mt. Fuji than Kofu. The members offered to pull over at a particularly nice spot while we were headed into town, and we agreed, as the car was getting a bit overheated and needed a break anyway. We pulled over and hopped out of the car. I didn't notice anything different and I was prepared to see the mountain slightly closer when I turned around and THERE was Mt. Fuji. It was HUGE! I have about 4 dozen pictures that simply do no justice, but if you have seen any postcards with that towering mountain with clouds creating a slight fog heading halfway up the summit and a lake stretched out below the base, then you have seen something half as beautiful as that view. It helped that Fuji is starting to get his iconic snow, and the leaves were changing color fantastically all around us.

Leaves changing color is my favorite sight in the world, and when the members heard that they stared at me and asked, "Have you ever been to Japan in Spring?"

"Yes. And the cherry blossoms are very beautiful, but to me this sight is better."

The two Sisters ferrying us looked at each other after that and then, in unspoken agreement, they took a brief detour. Apparently there is a very famous scenic road about 5 minutes out of the way that is COVERED in momiji trees (momiji=...maple?) and has the best view of Mt. Fuji and the iconic lake. I was trying very hard not to squeal with delight the entire time we were on that road. While I was snapping away and thoroughly enjoying the sights as we drove along, the two Sisters in front commented, "Wow, you really learn to appreciate all the normal stuff in your neighborhood when someone else reacts with such joy! We should come this way more often!"

Yes, and when I get back to Utah I REALLY need to go visit SLC Temple. :)

Anyway, I love autumn a little more, and I can sorta understand why Japanese people are so proud of Mt. Fuji. It really is an impressive sight.

On other thing I noticed on that drive that was a little more strange to me was the trees that lined the streets in the city. They are very beautiful to look at and provide mediocre shade, but what stands out more than anything else is their fruit they produce in Fall.

I do not know what that fruit looks like or tastes like and I never intend to find out because of what it smells like. It smells EXACTLY like dog droppings. So if you are driving along the street with your windows rolled down this curiously strong and powerful odor fills the car rather rapidly and I am amazed at all the many aspects of nature once again.

I wanted to focus more on the miracles this letter (there have been many) but I suppose my comments and thoughts have wondered off once again. We really are seeing a lot of miracles this transfer. I am having a blast in Japan!

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. I am still going strong!

See y'all next week~

Sorry I was gone last week!

2010-11-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Firstly, last week. Last week was miserable due to a major cold. I got it Sunday evening, was having a hard time breathing and moving and not sniffling on Monday (medicine didn't do a thing!), and by Tuesday I declared I was not getting out of bed and I slept the entire day. I was incredibly achy and I had a fever. It was not a fun day, but I am glad it was a p-day. I wanted to go out and do p-day things but come Tuesday morning I was very glad we stayed in the apartment all day. I guess that means this is my first real p-day of this transfer? I'm still recovering from that blasted cold, but I am now in the endless coughing stage, so I feel fine but sound terrible. I'm glad the worst part is over.

In other news, I have a new companion. She is great. She is a fantastic missionary that is quite reminiscent of my MTC companion. She is a great missionary, full of spiritualness and confidence, and we have already seen miracles.

Two of those miracles happened on Sunday and Monday. Sunday an older investigator who didn't want to take lessons opened up to us and we were able to help resolve some of her concerns. She is now willing to hear the lessons again and will plan on getting baptized. That was very nice to hear! We are meeting with her later today.

Monday was great too. We had a potential investigator and we were finally able to meet with her Monday afternoon. It was her first lesson and it went very well. We explained that we normally teach about the church with intent to baptize the people who take the lessons, and she got very excited and asked to be baptized (we explained the basics of what it was, first). We said why sure, you can get baptized. It normally takes about 2 months to hear all the lessons and prepare, will January be okay?

She replied, can I not get baptized in December? I really want to get baptized mid-December.

...Why yes, we can arrange that.

So we have a new investigator and she already set her own baptismal date. We were very excited to hear that, and I rather feel that it is the START to great things happening for the rest of this transfer! So yes, things are going rather well this transfer. We already hit the point where every day is so busy that we can't fit in all the things we want to do, so we started planning next week as well as this week, and next week is getting pretty full, too!

THAT's always fun, lemme tell ya!

I feel so blessed to be working right now. I am immensely enjoying my time as a missionary. Things don't always go exactly as I'd like them to, but who cares? I'm having too much fun and seeing too many miracles to complain.

Today we go coat shopping and shoe shopping (we will hunt for a sale, I really need shoes that don't feel like boats). Tomorrow I will visit the dentist (we have too many appointments today to do a full p-day) and see if I can't get this pesky tooth sorted out once and for all.

I got permission from the President to study Spanish for the rest of my mission. Kofu really needs Spanish speakers!! I would appreciate any help anyone can provide, even if it's just a vocab list (a phrase list may be better). I need someone to explain how to conjugate verbs into past and future tense; no one seems willing to teach me and getting books that teach Americans how to speak Spanish is surprisingly hard in the middle of Yamanashi Japan for some inexplicable reason. I will start reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I have arranged to teach the lessons with members from the pamphlets with lots of help. We'll see how it goes!

In other news, I apologize to people who have written me -- some even months ago -- and still have not gotten a reply. I have many half-started letters on my desk; they will go out! I am trying to catch up right now, so many will be receiving shorter letters but know that they are overflowing with love.

Also...sigh, this is rather embarrassing, but I figure this is the best way to get this out of the way. Yes, my birthday is coming up. I am very glad for people who have offered to ship me things. The best thing you could send me is a huge long letter full of wonderful news and personal progress and thoughts and things. For those who wish to send packages, I will provide the following, despite my embarrassment:

THINGS I DO NOT WANT
Clothes, books, and souvenirs. Basically things that will have to come back home with me. I'm fine on these fronts. If you give me any of these things, just know that they will not be coming back with me -- I will be leaving them behind for future missionaries.

THINGS I WOULDN'T MIND/WOULD LOVE
American food. Cornbread mix and Gingerbread mix, if those exist, are especially welcome (they are not in Japan! I miss them terribly!).

I am a huge fan of jerky (beef or turkey are my favorites), particularly hickory smoked or peppered.

I also LOVE LOVE dried fruit of all kinds, especially mango and apricot. I have never tried dried pineapple but I am sure I will like it. Something my parents ingrained in me that I love to do is eat beef jerky and dried mango at the same time. Both things I can obtain in Japan with a bit of effort, though, so I guess they are not a high priority?

Hot chocolate mix and/or marshmallows is also very welcome. Hot cider is also great.

Healthy snacks, like fruit snacks that actually fulfill fruit servings, are also welcome.

Fruit Gushers are something I have always loved and thus would also be most welcome.

I just thought of it, but salt water taffy, Rolos, and candy corn are also candies I love, but seeing as my companion and I are both trying to eat healthily most of that will be given to local Elders. They will love you for it, however.

Okay, enough awkwardness, I gotta go. Love you all tons!

I think I am going to spend my inheritance in Japan

2010-10-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have some new-news-going-old that I think I already mentioned, but just in case I did not I will bring it up again:

I have shrunk.

I have shrunk on my mission. Now, this is WONDERFUL news for me. I'm not slim yet by any means, but I have reduced in size just enough that my clothing is rather loose, and my shoes are now like little boats that would probably save me in the next Big Flood.

The shrinking is great news. The need for new clothing as a direct result of the shrinking is not good news. Why? Because Japanese clothes don't fit me, of course!

...

...Except now they kinda do. I now officially can wear the Large size clothing in Japan. Crazy, huh? I am now officially considered large by Japanese standards.

So I can buy clothes. Expensive crazy awesome amazing clothes.

Shyeah, except I won't be using them for that long and I dunno how many I would still wear after my mission.* I think I will stick with just keeping my eyes out for a new pair of shoes. I saw some shoes I really liked the other day and considered picking them up when I casually looked at the price tag. Yeah, $200 shoes is a little high.

All is well here. Kofu smells wonderfully like Fall and I persuaded the ward to have a Halloween party. Missionaries can't dress up but we are in charge of the games. Werewolf, anyone?

---

*Yes, many many thanks to my dear friends who have all kindly pointed out to me that I have 3 months left. I am also looking forward to seeing you again, but rather than saying I only have three months left, may I remind you that I still have three months left? It's such a little word and yet it makes a very big difference. I will happily make plans to visit and spend time with all of you -- IN three months.

I have now hiked TWO mountains

2010-10-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

We went with the ward and a few investigators back up the mountain trail. It was a lot of fun. I took a few pictures that it looks like I may actually be able to show you all next transfer. I am discovering that I actually enjoy hiking. The Y Trail just isn't a very fun hike.

Not much new to report in Kofu. I am trying to write letters back to people, but it is taking time -- sorry. I really do appreciate hearing from you. Every time I get a letter from one of you it makes my day. Thank you.

Not much news this week. Next week I am not sure if I will be able to e-mail; we have a pretty busy p-day. Next Sunday is transfers, by the way, so we'll see what happens.

Talk to you all again later!

I cannot wait to be able to upload pictures again

2010-10-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

I am still looking forward to getting personal computers, if for no other reason than I will be able to upload some of the cool pictures I have been taking lately. As it is, I am afraid you simply get a wall of text yet again.

Today before we came to the library we stopped by a store really quickly to buy new pens. As we were going into the store, I noticed an older woman heading for the door to leave. Without thinking about it too much I held the door open for her so that she could pass through. She stopped and waited for me, so I motioned her through. Her face lit up in surprise and delight and she bowed several times, thanking me, as she walked through the door. She then waved before turning the corner to the street.

I am not going to turn that into a sermon or a comparison of cultures, it was just something that made me think "huh" and remember, yet again, that I am not in Kansas anymore.

Things are going rather well this week. I managed to keep my bike tires free of flats, taught a lesson, met someone who might be interested in having us come back around, and climbed a mountain.

Which of those would you like to hear about first?

The bike tire being free of flats makes me incredibly happy, considering I have had 3 flats in the past week or so. I'm just glad I know how to fix a flat tire, or else I would REALLY have been in trouble. I am also careful to avoid riding in the areas where I am pretty sure I got flats last time. This makes for some interesting twists and turns and dancing with traffic, but it's quite fun.

You know what else is fun? Missionary work! Especially when you actually find people, but I've gotten to the point that just talking to people is fun, too. My companion disagrees (and I would have, too, when I was only 6 months old) so I am trying to make it more fun for her by introducing a weird game. The game has no name, but I shall call it the "Kekko" game. Kekko means "No thank you" in Japanese and it's the simplest way to turn someone down. We hear it a lot as missionaries. The game goes something like each companion chooses three different kekkos, and then if someone says one of them you get a point. So my kekkos were "I'm buddhist," "I'm too busy," and plain ol' "kekko," and my companion chose "I am part of another religion," "I don't like Christianity," and "I am hurrying home to my kids." These are all pretty common excuses given as people run the other way, but it's kinda fun to try and get bingo or something similar.

Of course we also focus on having really good conversations, but this is just something to try to make it more fun.

The lesson we taught was to an older person that wasn't really too keen on hearing from missionaries but agreed to listen once out of obligation to a friend. The lesson went decently well, but it wasn't brilliant (which is a shame). Still, it was infinitely better than having no lessons.

The person who may not mind having us come around was someone we met knocking on doors. She was nice and said it might be okay if we came back sometime when she was free, but she wasn't particularly fascinated. We will do our best to have the Spirit teach her better than we ever could.

The mountain was Mount Takao, one of Japan's "Top 100 Mountains" and therefore a neat touristy area. Our whole zone got together to climb it together. It was kinda interesting. Lots of gentle hills with very pretty forests. I had a bizarre experience, though. I had kinda thought we were hiking to the base of the mountain and then a little over an hour later, we were on top of the summit.

Huh.

It was pretty weird to climb a mountain when I didn't realize I was climbing a mountain, but it was fun. Not the easiest hike in the world (there was one point of endless tall stairs that I would not like to climb again in a hurry) but it was vastly different from the Y Trail, which I am gradually coming to realize is actually a pretty rough climb.

After we reached the summit one of the Elders who had climbed Takao before invited us all to get some incredibly famous ice cream. Intrigued by this fascinating prospect we took a different route home. The route home was full of GORGEOUS temples and amazing artifacts, with souvenirs available for purchase at every corner (I actually did pick up some postcards after remembering I collect those). The funniest part was when the Elders stopped and pointed out Lehi's dream was sculpted on one of the temple walls. What do you know, a guy underneath a tree eating a pale fruit as water and hideous dragons rage all around him. You could argue that one of the wooden support beams was the iron rod, but that might be taking it a bit far, seeing as the actual story was something completely different. I took a picture regardless. After the temples we came across a food shack which was indeed selling milk gelato, the famous ice cream in question. It cost $3.50. Yow, thought I, that's some famous ice cream. Still, I figured I wasn't going to be back this way again so I took the bait and bought the ice cream.

It was a $3.50 milk flavored ice cream cone. Whoopee, Elder. As the cone was passed into my hands I stared at him in betrayed disbelief, at which point he pointed out why the ice cream was so great. He took his own cone (4 in all bought this stuff), and marched over to the condiments. He then picked up a salt-pepper shaker, shook it all over his cone, strode to a nearby bench, sat down and ate it.

Intrigued I investigated the condiments myself. What do you know, there's a picture above the table of kids doing exactly what he just did to their ice cream. And what I had thought was salt and pepper was actually white and black sesame seeds. Huh. I sprinkled some on and tasted it.

It tasted like milk ice cream with sesame seeds in it.

Not altogether a bad flavor, but I no longer trust that Elder's tongue and sense of value. Still, perhaps if I were more adventurous I would have tried sprinkling fish flakes, dried tofu, or seaweed, all of which were also available. In the end I just swallowed my loss along with a pretty tasty ice cream cone. You might want to give ice cream and sesame seeds a shot, but I wouldn't say it's worth $3.50 for a cup of ice cream.

It was a pretty fun day, although I am surprisingly sore now. Not from the climb, but the descent! The different path we took was MUCH faster (20 minutes), but also at a very steep decline the entire way down. It was very hard on legs and toes, and I was happy and tired when it was over. My legs are now stiff and a little painful, which is refreshing in a way.

In other news, General Conference is this weekend here in Japan. I hope they have English available at the Kofu building; I am not sure if they will. The only people who speak English are me and the two Elders, and we all speak Japanese very well as well. Still, I am excited for conference.

I am having a beautiful, gently windy, nice and cool fall. It's exhilarating and I am in paradise.

In other news, I am noticing something I should like to rant about a tiiiny bit. It goes something like this:

HYPOTHESIS: Men are jealous of women.

Here's my reasoning:

We must first assume that people will attempt to imitate things they respect, admire, or wish to become like.

Women wear dresses and make-up.

These items are considered "women's clothing" and are thus found with women's clothing in stores.

Like purses, there are now male equivalents coming out for the manly counterpart.

Nonetheless, these are still considered pretty girly.

Make-up is for girls.

Mascara is definitely make-up.

Men wearing mascara, therefore, are imitating women.

Mascara companies WHO USE MALE MODELS IN ADVERTISING emphasize this.

If Japanese companies use it in their advertising, it is either considered normal or desired to become the new normal.

Japanese make-up companies want men to wear make-up.

Japanese men who wear make-up are doing what women have been doing for years, and (I reiterate) are thus imitating women.

Japanese men are totally jealous of Japanese women.

So there is my reasoning. It's rather flawed, but I gotta admit the number of make-up companies using male models is rather alarming. Possibly MORE alarming is the number of Japanese companions I have had who see absolutely nothing odd about it.

Okay, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this rather tall wall of text! Farewell until next time!

They would look like children to your eyes

2010-09-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

It's true that Asian faces tend to look younger than American faces, and it is difficult to judge age accordingly. This hasn't been a huge problem for me except for occasionally mistaking a middle school student as a high school student (because all high school students look so YOUNG to me). That is, at least, until I saw a TWELVE YEAR OLD driving a car.

She was probably 30-something and that young boy in the car was probably her son, but really? She looked like a preteen! Crazy!

It is true that I have gotten into the habit of adding 5-10 years to everyone's age based on how they look. If they look 12 they are probably 18. If they look 18 then that's probably their kid they are holding and they are married. If they look 40 then they are pretty old.

The only exception to this is smokers, who look their age.

This week has been long and full of rainstorms and flat tires. The best day, I think, was when we went several hours out in a HEAVY rainstorm, got lost and went a further 10 miles out -- up a mountain -- and then on the way back I suddenly got a flat tire. It was already pretty late but we were able to find a garage that was still closing up shop that was able to give me some fresh air. Thank you, garage people!

I always think it's funny that the rainy season is considered June. June of this year did indeed have a fair bit of rain, but it wasn't that bad, really. Coming into Fall I am starting to have some bad flashbacks of my bean area, wherein it rained nearly every day. Fall is the rainy season it seems. At least now the rain is the proper temperature -- cold.

It's finally cooling down! I love Autumn so very much. Summer decided to go out with a bang, giving us one of the hottest summer days possible the day before Fall equinox. The equinox itself was nice and cool, making me regret short sleeves but happy all the same because I LOVE fall weather!

I have finally unearthed my winter clothing. They've been sitting in vacuumed bags inside my suitcase for all summer, but finally they get to start making their debut. It's nice, too, because it feels like I just got a bunch of new clothes since I haven't worn them for so long. I am quite excited to create some new outfits, and once I am sure that summer is gone for good (he keeps trying to sneak in for a few hours) I shall take all of my summer blouses and throw them away. Or burn them. Whichever sounds more fun at the time.

Actually we have marshmallows in the apartment so burning the clothing makes more sense, huh? ;)

Mmm, hot chocolate. I am so excited. I love winter food. The one thing I miss is ginger. Not ginger as in the plant, but ginger as in gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, and gingersnaps. I LOVE gingersnaps but you can't get them here.

That's okay, Japan has some pretty interesting winter food too. It is the season of the hot-pot and the sukiyaki feasts. I am, naturally, enthused, and I have started a small workout program in order to make room on my body for all the meat I am about to eat.

Things are still fun in Kofu. We have actually had some success meeting people while going door-to-door, which is depressingly rare but always nice when it happens. I am looking forward to the rest of this week!

You are all great, and I am still trying to catch up letter-wise. Thanks for being patient! Talk to you again next week!

You can see Fuji from my house

2010-09-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

It's true, folks, you can see Fuji outside my study window. It's pretty awesome.

Kofu is nice. It's really pretty, and it's got lots of friendly people. It has a few overly friendly mosquitoes (I am now up to 100 bites between knee and ankle (le sigh) but as the weather cools down hopefully all those blasted creatures will DIE.

The first week after transfers always goes by too fast and we accomplished less than we wanted to. We are fixing that by being a lot more rigid on our plans, but it's still cutting things close for week 2. We plan to visit many more members and investigators this week. People live really far out and far apart, though, so we need to plan and segment carefully. It should be lots of fun.

Last night we were invited to FHE with some great families. They served an amazing meal and their house is my dream Japanese home -- lots of sliding doors and an amazing garden, all framed so that when you open the dining room doors (which are made out of paper, btw) you get this gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji while you eat. It was so cool.

The zone is planning on going mountain climbing next week. I am thrilled but a little concerned as I am not the most fit person at the best of times, and I am not sure how I am now. We shall see, won't we?

Life is beautiful, times are fun, and I still have no way to show you any pictures so you'll still just have to wait. It's getting a bit ridiculous, though. I have now filled up two memory cards. Good thing SD cards are dirt cheap, huh?

Pshyeah, like I have money.

Hope everyone is happy and well! Have a wonderful week, and go stare at some nature and contemplate just how amazing this earth really is. It's a worthwhile endeavor.

I transferred

2010-09-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

I have left Chiba for Kofu. I was going to be all prosaic but then I discovered that I don't actually have time.

Kofu is huge. It's an entire prefecture, so my new area is basically twice the size of Rhode Island. Considering all my areas up until now have been one city that's kinda a big deal.

The coolest part about Kofu?

Not the temperature -- Kofu is renowned for it's heat.

Not the produce -- I do love grapes, but that's not the best part.

Not my companion or our huge apartment -- both are really nice though.

Not the fact that it's THREE HOURS away from Tokyo, and we have to travel to Tokyo for all missionary conferences.

No no, Kofu is a VALLEY.

That means there are MOUNTAINS. EVERYWHERE.

I am surrounded by mountains!

I'd feel at home but they are all this weird GREEN color.

Oh, and JTTF! Happy Birthday to ASH! I wasn't able to put a package together in time, but I will get that letter siting on my desk into the mail at least.

To people who have written me but haven't heard from me: I am sorry. I have a bunch of half-written letters on my desk. I am working through them and sending them along. If you want to speed along the process, feel free to write me a note and remind me. ;)

Lost in Translation

2010-08-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

I think my Japanese might be improving a little. I'm starting to understand most if not all conversations, and the other day a member from Shibuya called me to ask me a question and there was much complimenting of my Japanese in the phone call. "When you were in Shibuya your Japanese was good, but it sounded a bit...childish, I suppose is the word. It's so refined now!"

Which makes me a little embarrassed and wondering what my Japanese must have been like back then, but I feel much better about it now. I can't personally really feel any difference...but there clearly is one.

I still am bad at reading kanji. I need to kick that study back into gear, as soon as I have cleaned my desk. I have FAR too much stuff. I want to get good at writing kanji and also being able to read out loud. I am still at the stage where I can recognize and understand kanji but I am not always great at readings yet -- with the exception of common names. I can read those no problem.

One thing that still fascinates me is that while my ability to speak and understand Japanese may be improving, there are still some things that I don't understand. These miscommunications are still lost in translation. Take humor, for example. People used to laugh at my humor when I was not trying to be funny, but didn't understand my jokes. Now people tend to laugh when I AM trying to be funny, although my jokes are still rather simple. I'm getting used to that, and I suspect that when I return to English someday in the distant future I will be utterly not-funny for a while.

But far beyond humor is the cultural differences. I will share an example. The other day my companion and I had biked out to Goi, one of the most inaka (countryside) places in our area, meaning that the buildings were only 2-3 stories tall and the color green was occasionally visible between all the Pachinko parlors. There we went to visit a member who has been struggling lately. We tried to catch her at home, but her kids told us she had already headed off to work. We trundled over to the store where she worked and found it relatively quickly. She works for a small meat stand, about as long and wide as a pickup truck. The line of customers was out the door and chatting gaily on the road while the employees hastily filled orders. We decided to wait for it to calm down a bit (all the customers were men) and watched on the other side of the road for a moment.

One of the orders seemed to call for chicken because the owner, a small tough woman, stepped over to the side of the store with a large bag (it was the size of a pillowcase) of chicken breasts. She then began to beat the bag of chicken against the sidewalk in order to break up the pieces. She then reached in, with her bare hand, and grabbed a few pieces, which she held against her not-exactly-clean apron to carry back into the store, put into a bag, and give to the customer. All this passed without comment, although my brain fused in several places as I cringed through the whole process. I kept thinking back to all the food training and cooking classes I had taken, and I had lost count of how many rules were just broken -- not to mention the chicken and sausage were not immediately put back in the fridge but were left as open bags outside. I am not sure how long they remained that way as we left a while later, but remember this is a hot summer, and it had not yet cooled down for the evening.

The next day we had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader and reported that we had met with this Sister, albeit briefly, at her work. I also made a small comment that I didn't think I would be able to buy meat from that store. Both my companion and the Ward Mission Leader looked at me, confused. I explained what I had seen, although I messed up at first and said "dirt" instead of "sidewalk." The Leader was quite surprised, but my companion figured out what I had meant and explained that the bag beating was on the sidewalk, not on dirt.

"Oh!" said the Mission Leader, looking relieved, "Well, that's all right, then."

I blinked, "It is? I mean, it's sidewalk. That bag doubtlessly got some holes from the beating and dragging around."

He waved his hand at me, trying to reassure me, "I know things are different in America. I've had some American companions, but it's okay. We do things a little differently here. That's completely normal."

"Ah," replied I and dropped the conversation. I suppose the germs in Japan are too polite to hop onto the chicken.

Really, I understand that there are some cultural differences, and I am totally okay with the idea of "different doesn't mean wrong." There are a lot of things about Japan that just wouldn't fly in America (public bath houses, for example, which would be the equivalent of a swimming pool without suits), but that doesn't make them wrong, just different.

But when it comes to health concerns I admit I can be a little picky.

And I think I shall be a bit more selective of where I do my shopping.

All else is well in Japan, and thanks as always for reading! Have a great week everyone!

Congratulations to D for the birth of a beautiful wonderful new child, and I am so happy to be an aunt once again! Please check out one of my siblings blogs for more details. I am sure there are plenty to be had.

[Note from Shana: I will have info on my blog after this Friday when I can get some good pictures! But Jenny is a beautiful and healthy redhead, and everyone is doing well.]

久しぶり！ Long time no see!

2010-08-24T15:26:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, it's been fun out here in the field. We've been a little busy--not with appointments back to back, but with appointments that are FAR apart distance-wise and they kept creeping into our preparation day (today), so we haven't actually had a day of rest in about a month. Bleah. We corrected that and took a day off properly today, but due to a few miscalculations it's now the afternoon and I am just writing this to let you all know I am not dead before we set off to do some missionary work this evening.

For those of you who may not be aware, missionaries have one preparation day, or "p-day" every week. In Tokyo it's Tuesday but the day varies from mission to mission. This is the day we do our laundry, get haircuts, shop for food, etc. If we want to go to a museum or zoo or something we would do it on p-day. P-day is from 11:00am until 6:00pm; we still study for 3 hours in the morning and we still do missionary work in the evening.

Lately we've been having some great success in meeting new people who are interested in learning more about the Gospel and the church. We have a lot of mini appointments set for this/next week so I hope it all works out. We also met with a member who feels all the members of the ward should go on splits with the missionaries and do finding (knocking on doors, calling out to people in the street, etc.) at least once a month. She has even provided a potential schedule. It was amazing. We also have a baptismal date set. Yes, I am rather excited.

We have been very busy lately, which makes me feel a little sorry for my dear bean-chan! This new missionary is working really hard and doing her best to keep up, but every time we have a chance to sit down for a few minutes she falls asleep! She's sleeping right now. I think missionary work must be really exhausting. I'm tired all the time, but that's just...I'm ALWAYS tired when I wake up early in the mornings regardless of when I go to sleep. I've been like this my whole mission. I don't fall asleep during the day, though, and I have enough energy to last me until 10:30. I guess you really do get used to the work! :)

We went clothing shopping today. Lucky me, I found some nice blouses on sale for $5! Well, for 500 yen, and I guess that means $7, huh? How IS the economy doing in America, anyway? Am I going to be able to get a job when I get back? The moral of the story is I have 2 new blouses and I am very happy about it.

Well, that's about it for this week. Time is flying by WAY too fast! Love you all, talk to you again soon!

A quick update

2010-08-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of update last week. I was planning to sit down and really grind out an awesome post this week but I just realized I forgot the peanut butter. I remembered to bring all the lesson materials but I forgot we were making cookies too so I forgot the peanut butter. Now we have to run back and get it.

The peanut butter and the lesson are for a wonderful family we are teaching. They got baptized shortly before I came into the area, and they are just fantastic. I am excited because the kids have a lot of questions to answer this time, and answering questions (or rather helping people answer their own questions) is one of my favorite things to do.

It is so HOT this week! It's nigh unbearable! I cannot wait for September. The simple act of stepping outside covers the body in sweat, and once you are actually out on your bike for a while you feel ready to collapse. Seriously, it's bad this week. I do not like summer.

We had a lot of miracles this week. We had a hearing-impaired couple chase us down the street and ask us for a pamphlet so that they could come to church. They saw us as we walked past them in the train station (we can't proselyte in or near train stations) and chased us down. That doesn't happen very often. I remembered enough sign language to communicate with them, but all the missionaries spent the weekend frantically studying to prepare for meeting them again. I now have enough vocabulary to give the first lesson in sign language, and I learned the name of our church and how to do Joseph's Smith First Vision. Huzzah! It was fun and I remembered a lot of my dormant signing in the process. Japanese Sign language is really similar but often involves kanji in their signs...

There is a less active who won't meet with us. We got her back by weeding her garden. Take that!

...She then meekly opened the door and invited us in. Wasn't really our plan (is it weird that I miss weeding?) but we didn't object. I was really glad to finally meet with her.

That is about all I can think of. Love you all verra' verra' much and I will talk to you again next week!

Oh, and I am a little behind in replying to letters. I am sorry. Sit tight, I will get to it, but it may take another week -- I am so exhausted that after this lesson I think I am going to sleep.

Love you all, so grateful to be here, the gospel is SO true!

TRANSFERS!

2010-08-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well, transfers happened on Monday. Greetings from Nakano! Nakano is home of the Japan Tokyo Mission Headquarters. It is surrounded by Assistants to the President, Secretaries, and I am sitting in the HQ writing on one of the office machines. It is a very different atmosphere.

I have not, however, transferred to Nakano. I will go back to my awesome area, Chiba, tomorrow. My dear, darling Japanese companion has left. I shall miss her! But I don't have much time to think about it because I will see my new companion tomorrow. Today I am in limbo (hence Nakano).

Why am I in limbo, you ask? Why didn't I meet my companion at transfers? That's because my companion was still at the MTC.

I guess I am a trainer now! I am very nervous and very excited. Mostly nervous, but mostly excited.

I don't have a lot of stories to share today, but I have seen a lot of miracles. I am really tired, really nervous, and really counting down the minutes until tomorrow though, so I am not in the right frame of mind to write blog posts.

Anyone with any advice for training? I have no idea how NOT to totally ruin this poor bean...I will simply have to do my best not to, I guess.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-08-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, Mom! I hope that you will look back on the enormous amount of stress I gave you with fondness.

I do not think there is a trunkier piece of mail

2010-07-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Guess what came in the mail last week? My death letter.

(Death letter: A missionary term referring to a letter that is typically sent to a missionary who has 6 months remaining. It consists of a reminder that the mission is winding down, along with a request not to get trunkie -- the actual term used in the letter -- and to instead sprint to the finish line and work hard. It also includes some paperwork asking about flights home and what airport we want to go to and if we want our parents to remember about us and pick us up.)

There is nothing like a death letter to get one's head OFF of missionary subjects. I think I am recovering well and doing okay by simply forgetting about it and continuing on, but now sometimes when I look at a store and see something interesting a small voice whispers, "Hey, would that fit in my suitcase?" Still, I still have 6 blooming months. That's a long time, so whenever that small voice suggests souvenirs I can still strangle it down.

Today my companion and I went with a good friend we made in the ward to the temple. It was an absolute blast, and afterward we celebrated with Mexican food in a restaurant that does pretty passable fajitas. Since this member was the one who initially introduced my companion to Mexican, and since this is her last week in this area (90% sure as it's her first area and it's been 6 months. Oh, and the President already told us) we simply had to celebrate.

The temple itself was amazing, as usual. It has been far too long since my last visit, and I was very grateful to be able to afford to go. It was a bit humbling to consider the Saints who sacrifice much much more for the same experience. I doubt I shall take the temple for granted again. It truly is heavenly.

Next week is transfers, and many people I know are going home, some of whom are going home rather unexpectedly -- I did not realize how old they were! I shall miss these missionaries a lot and I am glad I have a chance to say goodbye at transfers before they go. Next week I may well be in a new area, although again, I'm 90% sure that I will stay right here, so I will write again -- same time, same place.

Did I mention the awesome Sister who had a great experience and decided she needed to come back to church? She came back to church. It had been about 7 years since her last visit. She enjoyed it, but said it also hurt a little; she felt sorry she had been away so long. We hope she will be able to come back next week and every week; she really has changed into a brighter happier person since we started meeting with her.

And she gave us awesome mini-hats to commemorate her return. I wish I could upload pictures, they are so cute. They are about the size of a mini-CD and clip into your hair. She also told us how to make them.

This weekend we also had a BBQ. That was fun with a few bad-drama-cheesy-twists. That is a story for another day. The BBQ itself and the ward were both really wonderful.

It continues unbearably hot and we are trying to find various measures to ensure that we are not outside between 11:30 am and 4:30 pm. Seriously, people are collapsing and little children are dying in Osaka* (or so I hear. I do not actually have access to the news, so I have to go off of what people say). It is HOT.

I am gonna go now. I don't have much fantastic news...I still don't like humidity, I am still attractive to bugs, I still have a dendou baby** and the world is still big and missionary work still awesome. Love you all and thank you for your prayers.

*Presumably from being forgotten in cars. I can't believe it's boiling-blood hot just from the sun.

**Pot gut. Lots of Japanese missionaries get 'em. It's because we only use our bikes, and that doesn't work the stomach much at all, so if you don't do ab workouts in your morning exercises you are DOOMED.

P.S. I forgot to mention the big earthquake! There was a big earthquake!

Well, in terms of earthquakes it was pretty small. I mean, nothing even fell over, but it was big enough to wake both me and my Japanese companion (who sleeps through anything), and it felt like we were riding in the back of a truck on a bumpy road.

Our room is totally not earthquake prepped. There are no nearby doorways and the outside wall is entirely glass. I shall simply have to rely on faith and the Holy Ghost should a larger earthquake decide to hit Tokyo/Chiba.

Also? I love studying Japanese poetry. I found a hilarious one the other day. Nestled between an ode to snow and a description of summer is a beautiful poem lamenting that an ex-girlfriend hasn't yet been punished by divine will. It was gut-bustingly surprising and I love it.

'Twas a good week

2010-07-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry my post is so late this week. We had a ridiculously busy Tuesday and yesterday was my companion's birthday so we used it as an excuse to meet with people. More on that in a second. I have some quick announcements:

NAKKI: AISHITEIRU YO! GANBATTE NE.
JTTF: Hey, I have a long letter for you, but it sounds like you are moving...tomorrow? I want to send it off but I am sorta waiting to hear about your new address. Until I hear a new addy I will just keep adding to this letter until it becomes a SUPER letter, mmkay?

Okay now for a cool story. I've been avoiding religious stories since this is a public blog but the more I think about it the more they are AWESOME and frankly, I am a missionary. If I avoid topics of religion it narrows what I can talk about greatly.

Wednesday was my companion's birthday. We celebrated by visiting a Sister in the ward who is presently not attending church. When we first met her she wasn't doing anything religious, and she was deliberate and decided in her decision not to attend, but she was happy to have us over. We met with her a few times, and as our meetings continued she was gradually admitting that she was once again praying, reading the scriptures, etc., but she still wasn't ready to come back to church. All fine and well, we'll just keep giving her little spiritual boosts now and then.

So, this Wednesday we have a birthday party at her apartment. At the end of the party we share a brief message about how we can turn to Christ whenever we are having struggles, and through Him we can become happy again one way or another. After we bore testimony about the truth of this scripture (D&C 68:5-6, I think) we asked her if she had ever had an experience where her faith helped cheer her up.

She then shared with us a story of how she was currently friends with a friend from a very different church. They were getting along very well lately and...

(At this point I was a little nervous. Was she about to tell us she was leaving our church forever?)

...when they were talking about what this friend believes, the Sister realized that what they believed was temporary, and since truth is eternal...well, they just couldn't mix. She asked about why the church was changing their beliefs and the friend didn't know. The friend didn't know a lot of the whys and wherefores.

Then the Sister realized that she believed the Mormon church was true, but she had forgotten some of the whys and the wherefores. She wanted to have that sure knowledge again -- she wanted a stronger testimony. We were pleasantly surprised. Then she said:

"So I think I better come to church on Sunday."

We looked at each other and then looked at her. "Yes, that would be a good idea. Would you like to sit with us?"

"Oh, yes, that would be nice!"

So, there you go. A great story and I didn't even do anything.

Oops, we gotta go! More next week, or possibly the week after! Love you all lots!

Randomness

2010-07-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of time (what else is new?) so I am just copying from an e-mail I wrote earlier commenting on random facts about Japan. Most of this I think has been mentioned at one point or another on one blog or another, but just in case you forgot, here's some random facts about Japan!

Traffic
Bikes are incredibly typical and may actually outnumber the number of cars on the road -- although they ALWAYS ride on the sidewalk and are considered pedestrian traffic. Therefore it is safe to ride your bike, even at night, because cars know you are there and know to look for you. Bikes are also expected to go very slowly so that they could stop on a dime (so as to avoid hitting old people, actually) and thus speeding Elders racing along still manage to get into bike accidents -- albeit rarely. Bikes are the main transportation for missionaries, to the point that sometimes people we stop on the street ask if a bike is actually part of being a missionary for our church (these are people that have seen us riding around before).

Cars drive on the left side here. Cars are pretty small, and leg room is not really a high priority. Sometimes this frustrates me, but their gas consumption is amazing, so. Parking lots are packed and often several stories high (you park in the bottom and a lift carries your car up to the respective floor and puts it on a little shelf) and people are able to back into a parking spot that is exactly the width of their car. It terrifies me when they do this and I always have to close my eyes when they do it. The other day I saw a parking lot that was 6 stories high, which was a first for me. Up until now the most I have seen was 4. This isn't a parking lot where you drive up to the respective floors, but the elevator kind. There are also plenty of normal typical parking lots, too, although there is never enough parking and it's usually pretty far from where you want to really be. People are used to walking around here -- a 20 minute walk is considered pretty typical to get from store to train station or from bus to home.

Living Quarters
Do you remember that reality show thingy they showed at the MTC? The District or something. Do you remember looking at that apartment and thinking, "Geez, that is as big as the house I live in now."

Yeah, Japan is the opposite.

All Japanese houses have a Genkan, or a...front...area? A place that is usually lowered where you put your shoes. You ALWAYS take off your shoes at the genkan -- wearing your shoes in the house is simply unthinkable. The rest of the house is raised slightly, so you step up to go inside. People will generally wear slippers around the house. These slippers do NOT go into the bathroom -- you take them off. There is sometimes a pair of slippers for you to wear while you are in the bathroom so that you don't have to touch the floor.

The bathroom is a weird setup; if you don't know about it remind me and I will explain next time.

The flooring is not wooden; it's tatami. Tatami is like tightly woven dried grass. It's not very comfortable (don't lie down directly on it; it is kinda sorta itchy?), but it is slightly cushion-y. People sit on this all the time. They sit in a position called seiza, which is basically kneeling as if you are going to pray (sit on your ankles). You take off your slippers before entering a room with tatami. Most people have a wooden floor kitchen and a tatami for most of the other rooms. Our apartment is pretty western. The only room with tatami is our sleeping room.

Did I mention we sleep on the floor? I desperately miss beds. We sleep on a futon, which is about the width of most simple blankets and use a...I dunno how to spell duvet (DOO-vey). We use that for a blanket.
---
Japan is really humid and REALLY hot right now (yesterday was what, about 95-100F?). I feel bad for the Elders on Sundays because suit coats are required. They always greet members drenched in sweat. All well, at least being drenched in sweat is pretty standard in Japan and in the summer no one really comments on it. Still, it can't be pleasant for them.

Can't think of much else right now. There is a shrine next door to our apartment that is pretty big, and they have a festival tomorrow and the day after. Our entire neighborhood is lined in rope and twisted paper like Christmas lights. I can't remember the point of the paper; I think it welcomes good spirits, chases away bad spirits, or marks the land as spiritual, not sure which it means and it might be all three.
-----
So there are your cultural facts for the week. Life is going well for me as a missionary. We had a mini zone conference yesterday that focused on finding people. We went out determined to find lots of people and got turned away all day -- most people wouldn't even stop or look at us, they just walked around us -- but we weren't sad because we were trying hard. Today we got a totsuzen (sudden, unexpected) member referral and two people we have been having trouble getting ahold of called us and set up appointments. I guess we get blessed in different ways, and the Lord really is paying attention to our efforts. That's how I felt, anyway.

Love you all lots!

Albino Paradise?

2010-07-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Why is it that in America everyone likes being tan and in Japan everyone wants to be white/pale? Is it just because it's hard to do? It's really easy to get a tan here in the summer and I was terribly pleased with myself the other day when I looked at how pronounced my tan line was getting where my watch rests, and STILL people will walk by me and say, "Ah, what a pale person!" in much the same way we would say, "Ah, how beautiful!"

I am not objecting, mind you. Not at all.

I had a few curious events happen this week, including one definite miracle, which I will save for last (read as: scroll down for the awesome bit).

First, I would like to make an addition to my growing list of reasons I am not a fan of skirts on bikes. I do not know if I have made this list yet, in which case I will start now!

Why I Don't Like Skirts on Bikes

The skirt gets caught in the wind at embarrassing moments

It sometimes reduces movement and range

Standing at a stop light and remaining modest is nearly impossible (you have to stay seated)

The skirt gets caught in the chain/back wheel resulting in huge and ugly black stains

Skirts grab onto shoes during mounting and cause bike accidents

The last addition I only discovered this week, when I got into a bike accident. Not a bad accident, mind you; it was a collision between me and the ground, see. Now, I'll admit partial blame, but really I think the ground ought to take some responsibility for all of this.

It happened when I was getting on my bike in a parking lot. I was wearing a skirt I was not used to and my spare shoes, so it wasn't the best combination. My shoe got caught in my dress as I was raising it over the frame bar, and instead of my shoe coming down nicely on the pedal it remained caught somewhere near the bike seat. The bike, however, was expecting a foot to push down on the pedal to get things started, so when no foot came down it hesitated, tapped a slight bump and fell over. Naturally it fell over directly onto my jutting knee.

I will not lie: it hurt a LOT.

So now we have a collapsed bike, a surprised companion, and a missionary in pain. Worse yet, we have a ruined pair of nylons. There was a HUGE hole in the knee! I was stuck with hole-in-the-knee nylons and a good trek away from a new pair. It was most distressing.

Seriously. My knee still hurts and I'm limping still, but I am most upset about the nylons. I have yet to find nylons my size in Japan which means I have to make do with what I brought. A hole in mandatory irreplaceable clothing is a big deal!

Anyway, I'll get over it. At least it was an older pair of nylons.

The bike is fine, by the way. I haven't checked in with the ground's family but I believe he's fine.

--

Second, I wanted to wish everyone a happy July 4th! This is not a holiday in Japan for some weird inexplicable reason. Still my companion and I celebrated by getting 'steaks' (minced meat shaped into a rectangle beef patty) on Saturday night. It was actually pretty neat; they brought the meat out done "medium" with a tiny little hot plate about 2 inches in diameter and told us we were free to cook the meat to our desired doneness. It was a neat trick although sadly the hot plate got cold about halfway through the meal. Still, I liked the idea and enjoyed the meal. It was the first trip to a restaurant this transfer!

--

The next trip to a restaurant was a district lunch at Popoki. Popoki is a tiny little restaurant (barely enough room for the bar where you sit) crammed full of amazing souvenirs from all over the world. The owner has these souvenirs because he has BEEN all over the world -- he takes a vacation once a year and he and his wife travel like demons. The restaurant can only sit 10 but it is a lot of really good food at a really good price, so naturally he recognized missionaries on sight. It was a yummy lunch and I am amazed I had not been sooner.

--

We finally got a chance to use the Goi Bikes! The Goi Bikes might take a brief explanation. There is a train station called Goi. It is in our area, but it is a considerable distance from where we live, and thus we don't bike there -- we take the train. Sadly, the people who live in Goi live very far apart and not at all close to the train station, so if you go to visit someone in Goi it's a day trip.

What's the solution?

Old missionaries donate their old bikes to Goi!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, there are two insanely old bikes parked in the free bike garage (designed, it seems, with this sort of purpose in mind) that missionaries have the lock-key to and are welcome to use at any time. It's perfect! The only trouble is that the brakes are stiff, the chain and gears are shot, and oh, there are no bike seats.

Still, when you have to go to Goi, they are perfect. We finally gave them a shot and at one point were even able to achieve the daring speeds of 6 mph! We laughed and joked and were really grateful for the bikes since they turned a 30 minute walk in the hot humidity into a bizarre but simple bike ride. Woohoo!

--

I have finally, FINALLY met someone who was so happy to be greeted in the street by strangers that she burst into tears and hugged us. She called her friend to say how she had met such wonderful people and told us we had changed her life.

It was awesome, frankly.

She wasn't crazy by the way, just a little tipsy. Still, it was a fun experience.

--

Okay, I guess I should talk about the awesome wonderful miracle at some point. This blog post has gotten very long anyway. Does anyone remember me talking about a woman who wasn't coming to church very often but finally came back with her friend in tow, and her friend it turns out may or may not have already been a member from a long time ago?

Well many weeks and a few dramas later it turns out she IS a member, and we now have her record. She was so happy! She asked us to contact her family as well, so we have a referral to pass along and a wonderful story.

I'm sorry, I had intended to go into more details but I just realized a great deal of this story isn't really Internet appropriate, in that it's not something for the general public. This woman is truly a miracle who has had a very tough life. Her life will still be tough, and she still has a few problems with visas and the like, but for all of us this was a huge step in the right direction and a blessing. I am extremely excited for her and adore her, and I look forward to seeing how everything will turn out for her and her family.

Speaking of which, I need to go give the honbu (HQ) a referral, so I had best be going soon.

It is raining today. Japan is too humid for a poor lil' desert girl like me, and I am VERY MUCH looking forward to the end of the rainy season. It can't possibly be too much longer...right?

It doesn't make sense to me that rain should make the temperature hotter, but I have been proven wrong thanks to local weather.

Love you all lots, talk to you again soon!

I am sleepy

2010-06-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

I think I will, for the first time on my mission, take a nap on p-day. Sorry to people I SHOULD be writing, but I am just running on empty today. These past few days have been really busy, where we basically spend 30 minutes in lessons (usually we spend 45 or so), say goodbye, dash out the door and pedal like crazy to our next appointment. This is mainly because we had a mis-communication and set up 2 appointments that are on opposite sides of the planet. More than a sign of sheer busy-ness but yeah.

We did have a baptism on Saturday! It was a wonderful brother the elders have been working with lately. We were all happy to see him get baptized, and the Spirit was really strong. He's an amazing man and I congratulated him deeply and warmly.

Well, sorry for the short-ness, but I hope you all have a great week and I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers!

Not much this week

2010-06-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

This first part is for anyone who can read Japanese, although it mainly came due to a member's request.

NAKKI TIME!!
なっき、こんにちは！今回わたしは日本語で書きたいと思います!今週の伝道はすごく楽しかった。厚かったけど、毎日自転車をのりました。日曜日の夜にわたしは吉祥寺に行きました。同僚交換をしました。同僚交換というと同僚が24時間でスイッチします。すごく楽しかった、たくさん学びました!あぁ、あとねぇ、転勤ありましたよ！私達転勤しませんでした!よかったね！この次の６週間にもよろしくおねがいします！！

A (C's brother) provided this translation: Nakki, hello! This time I think I want to write in Japanese! The mission was wonderfully fun this week. It was hot, and we rode bikes every day. On Monday evening I went to Kichijouji. We did a companion exchange. During a companion exchange, we switch companions for 24 hours. It was great fun, I learned a lot! Oh yeah, one other thing, there was a transfer! I wasn't transferred! Phew! So let's have lots of fun over the next six weeks too!
---
Okay, that's enough for now.

It is hot in Japan. In fact, for the first time (in my life?) I have a crazy awesome tan. It's funny because when I take off my watch it's like looking at the skin of two different people. Seriously, I'm pretty dang tan right now. There is a stark and distinct tan line, both on my wrist and on my feet where the shoe strap lies. It is also Tokyo, so I am sweating more than I would have ever imagined possible, but I have the hopeful sure knowledge that this cannot possibly last more than 60 days...right?

It is rainy season, although unseasonably not-raining (It is insanely humid, though). Many people are freaking out since that means the rice won't do well, and people may have to buy foreign rice, gasp!

In other news, my brother is getting married. Congratulations again! I know I have already announced it before, but meh, whatever, it's still news.

Also, happy birthday to Isshi-kun! I hope you have a great day and year!

Hope everyone is well. Anyone who wants to send me some advice on dealing with cockroaches, it would be appreciated. Not that, you know, our apartment is messy or anything...

...It's really not. I have no idea why we had a cockroach in it yesterday, but that sucker was HUGE and surprised me quite terribly. Right after deep cleaning, how fair is that?

Japanese Summer

2010-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

I like Japan. I like a lot of things about Japan. I do not like the fact that deodorant is not yet mainstream in Japan. Alas.

Here's a quick game I learned from a soon-to-die missionary; I will share it and then be on my way.

BOOK OF MORMON BASEBALL
1. One person says 'Pitch' and starts flipping quickly through the pages of the Book of Mormon, from start to end.
2. The other person says 'Swing!' The first person stops on that page.
3. The first person asks if the 'batter' wants the left or the right page, left or right column. The batter tells the 'pitcher' which page and which column.
4. The pitcher looks at the verses in that column and asks according. For example, suppose the batter asked for the right page, right column. The pitcher looks and sees verses 4-7 in that column, and says "Four through seven." The batter chooses a verse which the pitcher then reads.
5. The batter must then guess book and chapter without opening their Book of Mormon or peeking. They have 3 strikes.

This is a surprisingly fun game although I got 3 in a row correct so my companion won't play anymore unless we do it in Japanese.

Heighten Games' Exposedness

2010-06-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

That is part of a translation one of our investigators did for her company. She asked me to correct her English and I was happy to oblige. Still, some of the quotes like the one above had me silently giggling for a good 10 minutes. She meant to say something like 'Gives games more advertising.'

Okay, a story and then I need to go. We are working with two people who got baptized recently but due to work and strain have a hard time coming to church every week. Lately, one has been coming to church every week and we are happy to see her! In fact, she's brought her friend with her these last two times. We'll call her friend Vy. Vy was a missionary dream come true! She was a mother of two young girls, she loves church and asks questions, she is Christian and recently she's been going to a different church, but she wasn't satisfied and she really likes our church. It makes her feel at home, she told us. On her second visit to church she requested that the missionaries come visit her.

Dream come true, right?

We had failed to ask a rather important question the first time we met her. It is a rather important question, but not one we often need to ask. The question goes along the lines of, "By the way, are you already a baptized member of our church?" I am sure you can see how this question is important, and you may also be able to see why we don't need to ask it very often; most people tell us off the bat or we can just tell.

Well, in this case we probably should have asked. Halfway through the first lesson she told us about her baptism when she was 8, and she had a copy of the Joseph Smith movie. We learned that she has always believed the Mormon church was true, but didn't know there were Mormon churches in Japan so when she moved here she started attending other churches. Well, she found us again! Now we just need to find her record.

She still wants us to come over and teach her. Her family went inactive shortly after baptism so she doesn't know anything beyond Primary. We were happy to oblige. She's an absolute angel and I like her; we just thought it was funny.

So, yes, ask important questions, even if they seem odd. That's the moral of the day.

Oh, and before I forget, I promised I would write a small message to Nakki in Japanese:

NAKKI! Konnichiwa! Kanji de kakenai, kedo, ogenki desu ka? Kyou watashi wa pizza tabemashita. Sugoku oishikatta. Taberu to, nantonaku Nakki to isshouni hanashitai kimochi ga kimashita. Ashita otanoshimi shiteimasu!

Is it seriously June?

2010-05-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Where on earth has this year gone? How can it already be June? Just yesterday I was taking photos in the snow, and now it's June? Wow. That's so crazy.

It wasn't really snowing yesterday although that would have been an awesome lead-in to talk about weird weather.

It HAS been unusually cold lately. Summer, apparently, decided to shove Spring out of the way in order to flash us all with some bright, hot, burning sun somewhere around April, and now Spring is gently sliding back into place and cooling us all with rain, strong winds, and cloudy skies. It's still long-sleeves and raincoat weather here in Chiba.

Not much to report story-wise this week. I climbed a ginormous 3-story tower structure made entirely out of rope this morning. My companion and I spotted it a while ago and I have been aching to climb it ever since. It felt really good to climb something. I haven't been using my hands at all lately. I have a strange urge to take apart my bike and clean it top to bottom while I'm at it...which wouldn't be a bad idea; that bike hasn't been scrubbed since...ever.

The tower, by the way, is constructed of several ropes tightly pulled together into geometric shapes with large stakes pinning the three base corners into the ground and a large central pole to hold it all together in the middle. It looks a little like the base for the Eiffel Tower, and it was a LOT of fun to climb although really scary when you got close to the middle and the ropes started to give under your weight. Needless to say I stayed near the outside.

I got really, really sick last week. As in, we took a taxi home and I sat on my bed and waited to die.

I didn't die, and happily after a few hours I started to feel like it would be okay not to die. I was fine after that.

We are teaching many people, and many people have started to come back to church. They have also dragged their neighbors along with them, which is always great to see. I really do love this area.

Short but sweet

2010-05-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

I don't have a lot of new detailed information, so far as people are concerned, but I do have a few brief comments.

I have located D&D Deodorant. The name is coincidental but the implications HILARIOUS and it made me smile on the train ride home.

It is raining. I WISH it were rainy season, but this week's rain has nothing on that miserable week in June. At least the weather is relatively cool at present. We have been getting a curious mix of hot and cold lately. My arms are very freckled from the sun, but this week is scheduled to rain the whole time. Rainy season, or tsuyu, is rain nonstop for a few days, but it is HOT and HUMID and the rain itself is warm. It is most unpleasant to be in but something that will be endured because I don't really have a choice.

We had a member run up to us in church and excitedly tell us about her friend, whose entire family seems interested in the Gospel. We dutifully took down information and before we had a chance after church the member called us again and told us that she called her friend and had set up an appointment for us, could we go visit her on Wednesday?

Why yes, yes I think we can.

I really like this ward. We visited the bishop unexpectedly in order to ask him a question (and figure out where he lived), and he and his wife cheerfully invited us up into the apartment where we were served homemade cookies, homemade herbal drinks, homemade ice cream, and homemade curry (using mostly spices she grew herself). His wife is astounding and decorated most of their home with various paintings, masks, and wall hangings. She is a good artist and a VERY good cook. They cheerfully entertained us and we were able to learn a great deal about the ward and what was expected of the missionaries, and we were able to share a few of our ideas in return. It was a happy meeting and I have new respect for the bishop, who I admit seemed a little scary at first. What was I thinking? The man is a true comedian!

In the ever changing and updating food legacies, I have discovered that I don't mind seafood curry, but I have to have NO IDEA of what I am eating. I carefully explained the idea to the Japanese members, as follows:

To me, eating squid and octopus is very hard. This is because I do not think of them as food, but animals. How do you feel about eating dogs, cats, or insects? It seems a little odd to you, right? (Yes, is the usual reply.) Well, I've eaten insects before and I can tell you they don't taste all that bad. If I said that, would you be willing to try it? (Some say yes and some say no, but generally the reply is reluctant). Well, that's what squid and octopus are like to me. I would have just as hard a time eating them as eating insects, dogs, and cats because they are animals, not food. If I don't think about it or don't know what I'm eating then it actually tastes pretty good, but the moment someone tells me I put a tentacle into my mouth it becomes vile to me.

This is my same issue with cheese although I really do object to the flavor. Cheese is rotten milk to me, if I think about it, and it just tastes bad to me either way.

Oh, the curry was served with cheese bread. I think I had more issue with the mayo on the cheese bread than with anything else.

OH! The whole point I wrote this blog was to give instruction on how to eat a Tim Tam. If, for some reason, some of you receive Tim Tams from me in the near future, please take note of these instructions. (A Tim Tam is a chocolate biscuit made in Australia).

HOW TO EAT A TIM TAM
1. Prepare some hot milk or hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is better but really sweet.

2. Take a Tim Tam and bite off two opposite corners. The bite should not be too big, but you should be able to see the chocolate cream within the cookie pretty well. This Tim Tam will be used as a straw.

3. Dip one bitten end of the Tim Tam into the drink and use the other bitten end as a straw. The Tim Tam will start to melt. Eat it before it falls into your drink!

4. Glory in a sweet chocolate-ness you have doubtless not experienced until now.

NOTE:
-The hot chocolate should not be so hot that you are forced to slurp it, but it should be quite warm. If you can drink a tablespoon without burning yourself then you are good. If you can't melt chocolate in it then it's not hot enough.

This method of eating the chocolate biscuit is called "A Tim Tam Slam."

Extracted from a letter to the parents

2010-05-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

My new companion, Sister S, is a lot of fun. I am immensely enjoying my time with her. She asked me to say, "She is very small" just now. Indeed, she is rather short but not as short as one of my previous companions. Isn't it curious that all my companions have been Japanese thus far, save my trainer (who was originally Japanese but got changed at the last minute)? I swear, Japanese is supposed to be a language I am to master or something.

Being a follow-up trainer is much easier than I thought. Sister S is always cheerful and an utter joy to be with. I am teaching little and learning much.

This area is great. We have some really great investigators along with some really frustrating ones. We have one investigator who agreed to get baptized last lesson, although it may take a while before she is actually prepared. She is now "taking lessons with intent to be baptized," which I say in the same accent as that someone "courts with intent to marry."

We found a park nearby that has a flower museum with exhibits changing very rapidly as various species of flowers come into bloom. Since last week was my P-Day, today is Sister S's P-Day, and she has elected to essentially go to a really cheap/famous/delicious Melon Bread store and then lounge around in our freshly cleaned apartment. I will have to investigate the park next week along with the ENORMOUS rope tower that children are free to climb. That thing would never pass in sue-happy America, but small children happily monkey several dozen feet in the air on a suspended rope tower the shape of the Eiffel Tower. There is a small and not-safe-looking net underneath parts of it to theoretically catch falling children, I
suppose, but it still looks insanely dangerous.

I desperately want to climb it.

Hey, it's been a while!

2010-05-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Did I mention transfers last week? Transfers were Monday. I got transferred, which was most unexpected. I only spent 1 transfer in my beloved Yokohama. I am now back in Chiba, which is where Matsudo is located, only now I am also in a city called Chiba.

For anyone who remotely cares, Chiba is a prefecture, which is kinda like a state. Yokohama is in Kanagawa prefecture. They are close to each other. Shibuya is in Tokyo prefecture, so I have been in 3 prefectures in my mission so far.

I really like Chiba. It's a little more countryside, but it's still JAPAN so rather than having a lack of convenient things close by it's more like having a group of people who will smile and stop to talk to you. Ideal for missionaries!

I am now with a new companion, who is actually rather new to the mission field so I am her Father, or her second companion. This means I am a follow-up trainer. I am nervous but excited.

This place is really cool so far. We taught a former Yankee (the Japanese term for school-punk) last night. She is one of my new favorite people. It was really interesting to teach someone who sounds like a punk in the vocabulary they use but someone who loves the gospel based on what they talk about. It was a good lesson. She really wants to get married in the temple and is considering giving up on her current crush since temple marriage isn't on his menu.

My bike got damaged pretty badly during shipping and a few parts need to be replaced. As a really poor missionary who has had a number of unpleasantly expensive and ineffective expenses lately (did I mention I went to the hospital last transfer? I can't remember.) I am not too happy about having to pay to repair my bike, but I will endure. The apartment is well stocked so if nothing else I can just survive on NOTHING until June, when I shall have money for trains and things again.

Well, it feels really good to be able to see a computer screen again but I would dearly love to go get back to work. It's pouring rain but that just keeps things interesting. Love you lots!

Oh, and by the way, I really appreciate your letters. There are a few people I have not been able to respond to lately as these last few P-Days have been hectic, but I will respond as soon as I am able, and it should be either today or next week. Sorry! I am repenting! Wait just a little longer!

Oh, and PS. JTTF, D=Girl.

Is a geek without a computer still a geek?

2010-05-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

YES. I WISH I had time to show you the pictures but to make a long story short we found an investigator via a 30 minute conversation about cosplay, and she showed me her cosplay stuff, and now I have a picture of me as a missionary wielding 2 keyblades:[Image and links added by Shana after several Internet searches]

All is well in Yokohama. Sorry, we have a few appointments today and I needed some time to send some pictures home in preparation for my brother's wedding. Augh! Bye for now!

This post is brought to you by the postman!

2010-04-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

So, I need to apologize for the incomplete post of last week. I had fully intended to create an amazing post this week, but my new area is REALLY lacking in public computers within safe, missionary-friendly areas. I do not, by any means, have reliable access to the Internet and I do not expect that to change until hopefully June or so. Therefore I am handwriting this and hopefully it will arrive before too long.

I had told you all that I had transferred, but I did not tell you where I had gone. Well, here is the answer: Yokohama.

"What's that you say?" I hear you ask. That is correct, ladies and gentlemen! I have come to my favorite city in Japan: Yokohama!

I am not in the same area I was in before. I am now in an area called Kohoku. This is in the area NEXT to the area I was in last time (Yamate), and it is the same stake as Yamate. This means that YES, I have met most of my friends over the past two weeks. Super Mama gave me a hug and a huge gift when I first met her. I was super surprised and very happy. I love Super Mama!

I met her and the majority of my other friends at General Conference this last weekend (April 10-11).

"But hang on," you might be saying, "General Conference was Easter weekend. You mean April 3-4."

Yes and no. It takes a week to translate General Conference, so the JAPANESE version airs the weekend after. I still watched it in English. They divided the church into several areas. Japanese was downstairs, and English, Spanish, Korean and Chinese were upstairs. It was really cool to step out, get a drink, and hear the prophet speak five different languages :)

Oh yeah. Happy Easter! I looked up Easter in the Bible Dictionary. I had no idea about Eastre; that was interesting.

Well, I need to actually start wrapping up. I need to prepare a lesson for one of our newest investigators. She is amazing; I can't wait to meet with her again.

Before I go, congratulations, D, on your new baby girl. I cannot wait to meet her.

I also want to extend a thank you to everyone who is still continuing to write me. I know the responses are infrequent and I apologize, but I do read and treasure every letter. So again, thank you.

Okay, that's all for now! I hope to write a REAL post next week. But if not, see you after this transfer! (Maybe!)

In retrospect, "I don't like bread, it's too sweet" should have tripped some alarms.

2010-04-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have learned to like some foods. I have learned to like some foods that I did not expect to learn to like, and then I get all confident that I can handle all other foods, too. Then I get THIS: Umeboshi, pickled spinach, vegetable jello (with cabbage!), mochi soup, and plum tea.

To give you an idea of what the whole meal tasted like, take plum tea. I think this is how you make it:

1 cup vinegar
3 cups salt

Mix, heat, drink.

Yeah.

In other news, I transferred. That's why I didn't respond last week, and that's why this week is so short. I don't have free access to Internet for now. Oops, time's up! More next week if I can!

Quick Update

2010-03-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

I used up most of my time this week writing to various folks and I forgot that a lot of short e-mails equals one very long chunk of time, so here's today's status:

I am sunburned quite badly on my face.

This is because we went to a BBQ in Abiko and the sun made an appearance. We went to a very VERY wide park and, sasuga Japan ("that's Japan for ya"), it was very minimalist and there was NO shade in the entire field. I did not expect either of these things (the sun nor lack of shade), so I was outside and happily enjoying myself playing Japanese Ultimate Frisbee (it's the same but with real vests and a whistle and a ref and stuff) and eating burgers. When I came home I felt hot and sick and terrible and today I have a VERY red face.

Boy, is my face red.

Ha.

My First Run-in with the Law

2010-03-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

We had a few interesting things happen to us this week. We met some new and interesting people, and I am now certain that I have seen a very drunk man and a slightly deranged woman. The one was dancing and singing in a classic manner, and the other was shouting at the air next to her suitcase on the train. It was actually a little sad, to be honest.

In other MUCH happier news, my big brother is engaged. Woohoo! My happiness knows no bounds. Congratulations to the happy couple! I wanted to have a picture of my reaction to his 'I'm engaged' e-mail but I didn't have my camera ready, so this blog is going without photos this week.

In other other news, I talked in my sleep in Japanese again. This time I had a fairly decent conversation, but my companion forgot the topic (she was a little drowsy herself and she was mainly just surprised that I was speaking Japanese again). I am embarrassed that I talk in my sleep, but at least I'm getting some language practice in!

Last night we met with T.Y. Shimai, who was baptized last transfer. She is so wonderful. She really wants her husband to get baptized too, and she is working with him gradually. He isn't opposed to the church, but he's just not interested. She is taking small steps. Small, ADORABLE steps. Last night when they prayed, they said Aisuru Ten no Otousama (Our Dear Heavenly Father) and Amen together, and she filled in everything in between. So, in a way, she's getting him started in prayer. He also listened to our spiritual message and he has agreed to let the missionaries start teaching him. It was an AWESOME day!

As for the blog title, we got to meet the police on Sunday. After church we went over to a member's home for a Ward FHE. It was a lot of fun (as usual) and we all enjoyed it. This member has Ward FHE at her home every month. Well, apparently this month there were too many bicycles and cars out front, which aroused the suspicions of the police patrol because they came to break up the potential illegal activities or insurrection. Honestly, I'm not sure what they thought we were doing and I don't know if they know either, but the fact is that our celebration was indeed ended rather quickly by the arrival of the police. I guess one of the cars was parked illegally so they threatened to ticket EVERYONE if we didn't break things up soon. Or something. The moral is the cops questioned us (Japanese style, mind you, so it was very friendly and polite) and I have now met the fuzz as a missionary. It was much simpler than the time I forgot my passport at the airport, and no one was arrested this time.

That's all the news for this week. Next week we already have appointments for every day, and most appointments overlap so we are going to be doing a lot of splits with members. I am excited but starting to get tired. Doing splits is pretty stressful, and not being with your companion is a little unsettling. All well, we really appreciate the members for being so willing to work with us, and we are able to get a lot more done. Go, members!

I am having fun in Tokyo, I hope you are also enjoying life wherever you are. Oh, and P.S., it's totally short-sleeve weather over here. Isn't that nice?

Happy Hinamatsuri!

2010-03-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Greetings from a ridiculously cold and cloudy Tokyo! Lately we have been having more and more Spring days so this week's sudden turn for the worst is MOST unwelcome. The cherry tree blossoms should be appearing soon, and there are already a few early bloomers. I am VERY excited!

Yesterday my companion and I decided to bike from our apartment in Matsudo to the church in Abiko. We are over both areas, but the train is not the cheapest so we wanted to see how feasible it was to go by bike. Our appointments for the day were few (one) and late (dinner appointment! Whoo!) so we decided to head out after morning study, arrive at the church, estimate how long it took and house with our spare time, then return with enough time to look good and nice for the appointment (i.e. smooth our hair in the mirror and remove bugs from our teeth).

Well, we got a REALLY neat referral that required some coordination (I'll talk about that next week, after we've met with her, but basically she's a pro-manga artist. I am excited.) so we set out later than we originally planned but still with plenty of time. We decided to use more back roads rather than the main road because we could have better conversations if we didn't have to yell over the noise of busy traffic. It was all going well until I asked my companion to lead but gave her bad directions. She set off with a blast and went straight...when she really, REALLY needed to turn right. Augh, I thought, I've just killed my companion. Well, no, but going straight did mean that we went DOWN a mountain when we were supposed to go along the top. And we had just spent the better part of an hour climbing aforementioned mountain. (A note to Utah readers: mountain = large hill, no higher than the Y, but that's still high!)

After racing to catch up with my zooming companion and explaining what I had done, we discovered a new route that was actually faster but required much more map chacking due to the labyrinth of roads commonly found in Tokyo. By the time we made it to Abiko church we were cold, tired, and had made 3 bad turns making the total trip 3 hours.

Our appointment was in 90 minutes and was about 10 minutes from our apartment.

We decided to go for it and raced home on the main busy road. It was exactly 90 minutes later when we rang her doorbell, panting but smiling and VERY pleased with ourselves.

We slept very well that night.

All in all it was a great day. We went far, we talked to a lot of people along the way, and we learned a lot about the roads.

Tomorrow we are conducting a training for the Zone Conference. It will be my first time conducting training. I am excited but rather nervous, as the topic is "How to speak Japanese fluently." You may scoff and say, "You'll be fine, you already spoke Japanese." Ah, I shall respond, but my audience are all older than I am in terms of mission-age, and many of them speak MUCH better Japanese than I do.

I am still looking forward to it.

I have written a number of letters over the past two weeks, but if you feel you haven't gotten a letter from me lately and you desire to bask more fully in the love I feel for you all, drop me a line (either e-mail or a letter) and be sure to include your correct mailing address. Family, you can do this too.

See you next week!

We added her flowers to the cherry blossoms we got the night before

2010-03-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Spring! The weather isn't quite sure if it's ready to change from winter to spring yet, but we've been getting more rain than snow lately and the sun has decided to make a few brief but very impressionable appearances. Some of the trees have started blooming as well, leading to a lot of fun dendou (missionary work)!

In fact, one particular experience was directly related to a tree blooming. For those of you who may not be aware, I LOVE flower blossoms. I think a tree in bloom is one of the most gorgeous things, and it can only be triumphed by the loud and proud colors of Autumn. There are times when I just have to stop and marvel. That happened today, when we were biking to a member's house to drop by and say hi. There in the front yard of one of the most amazing Japanese gardens I've ever seen was a plum tree in full bloom. I hit the brakes and just stared. I turned to my companion and said, 'Kirei!' (Pretty!) I then turned back around and noticed that the owner of the house was outside sweeping. I nodded to her, 'Konnichiwa.' (Hello)

She yelled. At first I was startled that I had upset her, but then I realized she was saying 'O-kotoba JOUZU!', which is basically saying 'Your Japanese is so amazing!'

...A big reaction for a hello, but hey. 'Arigatou gozaimasu,' I responded. (Thank you)

She screamed with joy again. It started a rather interesting conversation. She had little interest in the Gospel, but she really loved our appreciation for her garden. She gave us some flowers freshly picked to take home with us. She offered us to come inside and have a cup of tea as well, and we certainly would have if we didn't have an appointment in the next 15 minutes. We agreed to stop by again later. It was a very welcome change of pace, and just goes to show that just saying 'hi' on the street can sometimes lead places.

Actually, later that same day (about 5 minutes later, in fact) we came across a man walking a dog in the park. I had met this gentleman before, so he recognized me and came up to say hullo again. He had investigated our church for 6 months but came to the conclusion that all churches taught of God and therefore were true. He therefore would go to the Protestant church because it was closest to his house. He told us that if we did not reach this same conclusion we weren't reading the Bible.

Which is ironic, since the Bible is what I am studying in Personal Study right now. It was very hard not to Bible bash. My trigger finger itched to whip out my Japanese set a few times. I suffered to only say that I was enjoying the Bible right now.

Ah, but it's not enough just to read it for the sake of having said you've read it, he responded. You have to search for the truth, and God's words.

That's true. I can't agree with anything else he said, but I will admit that's absolutely true.

Well, he's agreed to grace us with his presence at Eikaiwa (English Class) so yeah, the Elders will have fun.

Lately my companion and I have both discovered that we enjoy Housing, so whenever we have free time that is mainly what we do. There are a lot of massive apartment buildings in this area -- danchi are big apartment buildings that are about 11 stories high and have about 10-20 rooms on each floor. This area is COVERED in them. We have taken up starting at the top floor and working our way down. My last companion would not do this because apparently one time while housing in a danchi a man came to the door with a rifle and threatened to shoot them.

This has not yet happened to us.

We are now in charge of two areas, Matsudo and Abiko, and this week we went to Abiko to greet everyone at church. We had very good timing; they had two baptisms that day, one before Sacrament meeting and one after church. It was a very good day to be a missionary, although we felt bad that some of the members seemed to be giving us Sisters credit for the Elders' hard work. We tried to correct it as much as possible without painting the picture that we were terribly and lazy, but I feel I should apologize to all once and future Elders here. Sorry, Elders! We don't do it on purpose!

That's about all the news I have time for. Love y'all, having a blast, see you again later!

Oh, and P.S., if you haven't recieved a letter from me lately and feel like you are being left out, drop me a line either by letter or e-mail. I am trying to write to 2-3 people each week, so hopefully you will hear from me soon.

Twitter-style!

2010-02-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

I have a couple random tidbits of information so I am gonna list them below. I had to spend some time setting up this new account so it ate up most of my e-mail time, which I regret.

1. I have a new...*ahem* excuse me...

I have a new myldsmail account.

The former account, 'firstnameinitial' + 'lastname@myldsmail' should still send forwarded e-mails to this new account. However, if you would like to e-mail directly to the new inbox, my new account is as follows:
(my first name fully spelled out).(my last name fully spelled out)@myldsmail.net
There are no spaces but there really is a period.
I also find this weird but handy -- I certainly have a larger inbox and an interface I am familiar with now.

2. My new companion is neat.
Sister K is loads of fun and we are enjoying tromping around Matsudo. We will have a lot MORE fun once we are both healthy. We seem to have picked up a cold, and while I have mostly recovered my companion is still a few days behind me on the road to recovery. We are hoping to be up and about and preaching like mad things within a few days. Which is not to say we aren't doing anything right now; we just feel pathetic that we both have to stop and just sit for a few minutes every couple hours due to our bodies giving out.

3. I talk in my sleep.
Apparently I talk in my sleep. This would not be interesting information except I talk in Japanese. I am immensely happy about this, perhaps unreasonably so.

4. Abiko is just as cool as Matsudo.
We are enjoying covering both areas.

5. It's nice and warm.
I just thought I'd rub that in. My profound sympathies to all the people on the East Coast, and I hope those in the Rockies are doing well, too. I'm in a short sleeve blouse and a light jacket right now, and I am thinking about removing the jacket. The dreadful weeks of February are ending! Spring is on the horizon!

That's actually about it, really. We have made some interesting discoveries here in Matsudo lately (my current companion is a huge fan of taking many different routes to go places) so we are going to check them out today. We found a few stores that look absolutely bizarre, and we have found Tim Tams in Matsudo! We are going to Tim Tam Slam tonight, whoo! We found a few other stores that look really promising for some supplies we've been lacking, so we shall investigate today.

All is well in Tokyo! Let's get back to work!

By the way, transfers were yesterday

2010-02-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

With all the excitement about TY on Sunday I completely forgot to even hint that transfers were the day after. It was my follow-up trainer's last transfer, so it was pretty much set in stone that a) I would not be leaving Matsudo and b) I would be getting a new companion. While I don't really play favorites there are two Sisters in this mission that I was really hoping to be companions with before the end. One was gonna be totally impossible this transfer, but the other was not only possible, it happened! I am now with Sister K, the cutest most hilarious Japanese person ever. She loves art and comic books, she is really easy going, and she is an AMAZING missionary. She also doesn't speak a lick of English, so let's see if my grammar deteriorates, shall we?

Last transfer positively flew by. Time is speeding up, but the work keeps getting busier! Augh, we'll never catch up! All well, we have some big appointments today with some great investigators. We also have no food. We are going to go shopping for the physical basics (milk, veggies, etc.) and then dash off to share the spiritual basics. Love you all, but I gotta fly!

Congratulations!

2010-02-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

T.Y. was baptized and confirmed a member on Valentine's day! Congratulations, and I hope and pray everything works out well for you! Her testimony is so strong, and she is such a wonderful example to those around her. It was such a wonderful day!

I wrote my parents, so instead of an update have a poem.

2010-02-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
-Alexander Pope

I like that poem a lot.

Tokyo has finally given up being cold. That's good, snow didn't suit it anyway. It now feels like a luvverly spring day, and I fully intend to go out and enjoy it fully. There are probably a lot of people on the streets today, and they could all use what I have to say. Off to work!

Thought of the Week

2010-02-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

A day is lost if one has not laughed.
French Saying

I am the tallest creature in Japan

2010-02-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

It certainly feels that way when you realize for the ump-teenth time that you are a head and shoulders taller than everyone else in the room. I noticed it when we were enjoying a pizza party at an investigator's house, and when we were all sitting in seiza (kneeling), I could see well above the heads of everyone else in the room. There is one member who often joins us that comes about to my ribcage. It's crazy sometimes.

Oh, yes, we had a pizza party. I made pizza for the second time in my life and discovered a few really handy tricks, like partially baking the dough before adding sauce and toppings. My companion has great trust in my cooking skills and since that party we have excitedly produced a number of new and interesting dishes in our kitchen. I have now added Om-Rice, Niku-Jaga, Richimonjyuu, Sakura Mochi, Takoyaki, and Japanese Jam Squares to my cooking repertoire. I will endeavor to write down the recipes we created before I forget them. Some of them are VERY good, and many foods I thought were gross before (Anko and Nori) actually taste pretty good now, so long as they are hot.

I would like to offer some pictures, so here you go!This is me, my companion, her former companion (and my former roommate from Shibuya) and the former companion's new companion. We are standing in front of Tokyo Temple!Look! Oh Henry! It is from Canada. One of the members who likes missionaries gave us American candy. I saw the Oh Henry and laughed so she gave it to me. I am actually happy about it, despite that photo!Elders can be so weird. Babies are so cute. We had a sukiyaki party to say farewell to my companion and the Elder in the black vest.It snowed! IT ACTUALLY SNOWED! My companion was elated beyond description. I think she can actually count the number of times that she has seen snow in her life. She asked me if we could go play in the snow before morning study, so we did. It was fun, but I confess I do not share the same love of snow. I did enjoy it, though. It was very pretty. I am glad we did not have to do any biking in the storm; we got sunshine all day instead.Huzzah for missionary work!I like that photo. The kanji says 'Tokyo.'

Well, I have given you pictures. I apologize for the lack of real meat in these blog posts. Matsudo is a lot of fun right now, and we are teaching many people very often. We also have some curious streeting experiences. Yesterday we met a man who was learning about the church for 6 months, but came to the conclusion that God created all churches to be roads back to him, and that we can choose whichever religion we want as long as we return to the God of Abraham. It was a nice idea, but it lacked the concept of authority.

Anyway, I am having fun. Love ya all!

Thought of the Week

2010-01-30T01:23:00.000-08:00

A clear conscience is more valuable than wealth.
Tagalog Saying

I was hoping to go into more detail, but it'll have to wait

2010-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

I set aside a bunch of time to write a long, juicy, gorgeous blog post. I have pictures and everything. Then LIFE happened and here I am. Rather than details, I'm afraid you will just have to get the Twitter version:

1. Matsudo is really cold. But lately we've had a hot streak, where you barely need a coat. The wind still blows bikes over with alarming accuracy.

2. I cannot believe people are moving and having babies and such. Quit proceeding without me! All well. I am more disturbed by the correctness of my predictions made thus far.

3. I love being a missionary! It's so cool.

4. We have a baptismal date set! I would love to have more details, but I shall simply have to give them after the actual baptism, which is Valentine's Day.

5. Biking is fun, climbing up 8 flights of stairs is less fun. I am grateful for elevators, and I am sad when we do not use them.

6. I have learned how to make some really yummy Japanese food! Yay! I have now added OmRice, NikuJaga, Japanese Curry, and Miso Soup to my slowly expanding repertoire.

7. One of the Elders had a birthday this week and a member wanted to bake a cake to slam into his face (it's just how she is). By the time she finished making the cake, it was just so darn pretty that she didn't have the heart so we gave it to him normally.

Sorry, citizens, but that's all for now. There is trouble in Gotham.

Thought of the Week

2010-01-23T00:39:00.000-08:00

A big tree attracts the gale.
Chinese Proverb

Long Time, No Time!

2010-01-19T21:57:00.000-08:00

My apologies for a lack of communication last week. The door to the family history center was inadvertently locked, and since that is the only access to e-mail we have, we do not get to e-mail our families if it is locked on Tuesdays. I sent out a letter instead, I hope that will suffice.

I actually only have about 4 minutes, so I am afraid there will be a significant lack of details today. I will endeavor to answer most of the questions I got.

First, Matsudo is a lot of fun, but it is very different from Shibuya. In Shibuya there is no point in housing (going door to door and knocking to talk to people inside) because there are so many people on the streets, and not a lot of houses. In Matsudo there are very few people on the streets, but the area is so much bigger that we spend most of our time biking from place to place anyway! We spend a large chunk of our time working with Less Actives. We teach them the gospel, much in the way we teach the current investigators.

We have a lot of investigators, by the way. We are averaging 2 1/2 appointments every day. The rest of the time we spend visiting people, handing out fliers, performing service, or getting caught up in something unexpected.

This area is a lot of fun, and I am getting used to Japanese food again. I STILL hate raw seaweed, but everything else is pretty much okay. Except raw seafood. Raw fish, fine. Raw squid, not fine.

You can see Mount Fuji from the church. I would show you a picture but I unfortunately didn't bring the connector cable.

Oh, and it is rather cold. Not Provo cold, but cold enough. My poor lil' toes are not happy, but I have taken up wearing very warm socks constantly. There was one day where my camera lens got jammed. I nearly cried, I thought I had lost my camera! When we took it inside it fixed itself. I guess it had been too cold for too long...

Anyway, life is still good. I apologize sincerely that I could not respond to all the friends and family who wrote to me individually this week. I shall do my best to make it up to you in following weeks.

In regards to questions, I am forwarding e-mails to my own gmail account, I am happy, this area is considered countryside only by Tokyo standards (that really is what they call it though, even in English), and I refuse to believe that any time spent in any snow can be considered boring.

That's all the time I have, folks! Love ya!

Thought of the Week

2010-01-17T05:32:00.000-08:00

Big problems can be avoided by settling small matters.

Thought of the Week

2010-01-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high.
Japanese Proverb

Thought of the Week

2010-01-08T04:11:00.000-08:00

If you believe everything you read, better not read.
Japanese Proverb

Number of bikes I successfully disassembled: 3

2010-01-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

Number of bikes I successfully managed to put back together: 1

Now, mind you, that statistic is not as bad as it looks. The only bike I even attempted to put back together was mine. And why, you might ask?

BECAUSE I WAS TRANSFERRED!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am no longer in the busiest part of Tokyo. GASP, I know, right? I have left Shibuya, and I am now in the inaka (countryside) known as Matsudo. The missionaries refer to Matsudo as inaka. Now, I want you to close your eyes and imagine some countryside for me, will you?

Clearly your eyes are not closed, as you are reading this sentence, but that's okay. You pictured some countryside, right? There was probably some greenery, a few animals, and blue sky, or something similar.

Tell me, did anyone imagine this?I mean, there is green hidden in there, and you can see the sky, but does that scream 'countryside' to you?

To be honest, it kinda did for me. I was in Shibuya before, after all. Shibuya may or may not have sky, I do not know, they do their best to draw the eye away from it by building huge skyscrapers and adding flashing lights to the bottom floors. Just in case you forgot, Shibuya looks more like this:Matsudo doesn't.

Shibuya will be missed. Especially since I finally found the equivalent of an anime convention. It was out in the park on New Year's day. There were about 50 people gathered together in costume dancing to anime songs. They were doing the Haruhi Suzumiya closing song when I snapped this:And yes I do think it is sad that a) I know what song they were doing, b) I recognized the dance (although anyone who read what I was up to this summer would know why) and c) EVERYONE IN THAT PICTURE IS A MAN.

Go take a closer look.

THOSE WERE ALL MEN.

Okay, moving on.

I prefer Matsudo. I really like the slower pace. I also really love the apartment and my companion, both of which are very Japanese. I wish the apartment had heating, but we improvise.

That's all the time I have right now so I hope I covered just about everything. Just in case, here's two more images for you to consider:

Matsudo:Matsudo church:Yes that is indeed a 5 story tall church. It's all church, too. It's the largest in Japan, I think.

There are 200 active members. All investigators are referrals.

Yes, I do indeed like Matsudo.

Love y'all, bye for now!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a real blast. I was able to spend Christmas Eve over at the Mission Home and eat Christmas breakfast with the Mission President and his wife, which was a real treat. I was also able to talk to my family, and they are the same as usual, which was nice to know.

Time does some crazy stuff when you are on a mission. Hours last for an eternity but weeks fly by. Days drag on and suddenly months have passed. You feel like you've been out here for an eternity but you haven't even been gone 3 months. It's pretty bizarre. Turns out the rest of the world continues at a regular pace, and your family has not gone crazy without you.

Reassuring.

We taught some great lessons this week! We met someone who has been very difficult to get ahold of, but we were actually able to teach her today. She is wonderful! She's been taking the lessons for a while and told us rather frankly that she wants to get baptized and is just working towards that goal as best she can.

It was very refreshing, honestly. I know she'll get baptized, even if I'm not around for it.

Speaking of which, transfers are in 3 days. Any predictions as to whether I will stay or go? I've been in Shibuya for 2 transfers thus far, with my trainer who will die* after next transfer.

*She will go home from her mission.

I don't have a lot of time (what's new) so I just wanted to tell you a little of what we've experienced for New Year's thus far.

1. They start an "Official Non-stop party" from the 28th of December until the 3rd of January. I do not know many details about that.
2. New Years is considered a holiday from the 1st until the 3rd. Most people celebrate from the 31st to the 4th.
3. Spring Cleaning is done for New Years. EVERYONE will do it, and when they say deep they mean DEEP. The church is doing it too, and it's down to refinishing the lining around the carpets. It's INSANE, and it is pretty much impossible to schedule meetings with housewives for 2 weeks.
4. It is suggested not to do any housing during this holiday. We are still allowed to meet with investigators and members, and we can still street, but housing would be insanely rude.
5. New Years is a family holiday. Extended families will gather in their hometown and have a 3-day celebration.

So, yeah. Christmas was like another working day, but New Years is a real celebration. Happy year of the tiger!

Merry Christmas to all!

2009-12-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy this season when everyone tries to be a little better. The feelings sometimes wear off by January 15th or so, but I pray the intents and the memories will stay for much longer!

For those who might be wondering, missionaries don't celebrate Christmas as a holiday. We get to call our families and speak with them for an hour, and the mission will usually get together and throw a small party on a non-Christmas day. Besides the phone call Christmas is just like every other day for a missionary. Which is okay because Christmas is just like every other day in Japan, save a few more light displays and KFC being flooded with customers buying their KFC Christmas Dinner, which is a bizarre misunderstanding. Japan made it a tradition because they thought Americans did it, and KFC isn't owning up because they couldn't be happier. Anyway.

This week has been curiously fascinating. My electronic dictionary has been a source of immense fascination and curiosity. It contains many textbooks used in junior high and high school, and the Japanese sister staying in our apartment is just as fascinated as I am. Whenever I am trying to cipher menus she is invaluable, and I am having fun with this puzzle game where you have to match haiku together. If you need a hint the dictionary will sing the haiku at you, which is EASILY the most hilarious part.

Thanks to the Christmas season, we are able to do some pretty creative dendou (missionary work). It's a great excuse to visit all the less-actives and former investigators. My companion recorded a CD of Japanese hymns and some Christmas songs, so we deliver some candy, a CD, and a Book of Mormon as their Christmas gift and visit them. There is also a lot of other musical talent in the area, so an impromptu brass band meets a few times a week and plays by Shibuya station. We are able to talk to people who come listen, and we've met some awesome people doing that!

We're going caroling on Christmas Eve, and our mission home is throwing a Christmas party for us. I am very excited!

I have to go soon, but I have a quick story before I take off. We are teaching a family (I think I mentioned them, they are the family that walked into church and said they wanted to become a stronger family so they wanted to learn about us) right now, and we were able to teach them with some AMAZING members. They had a hard time following some of the stuff we were saying. After a while, the wife finally told us,

'All this Christianity stuff is new to us. We like what you are saying, but we are going to have to study some more.I think if we read the Book of Mormon and pray we'll be able to understand better.'

Best. Conclusion. Ever.

They are going to read as much as they can and pray two times a day and meet with us again next Sunday.

Smiles all around! I really need to go, but have Happy Holidays!

Thought of the Week

2009-12-19T05:20:00.000-08:00

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.
-Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

A quick note

2009-12-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me!The electronic dictionaries finally went on sale, so I bought one. In fact, they were on a super sale. That model I'm holding usually sells for $270.

I spent 17,500 yen. It is a pretty sweet dictionary. I am pleased.

I wish I had more time but we have had an insane week and I need to go out and talk to some people. The stories will have to wait, I'm afraid.

To tide you over I'll give you a picture. Our mission decided to give us lightsabers for Christmas:For the record? I didn't edit this picture in any way. That's really the photo. It's not the best positioned so you should be able to work out how we did it. Go do it and have fun!

We have a cool family that we are working with. We have trouble meeting with them for lessons because the members keep inviting them over to dinner. It's an amusing problem.*

*I'm being vague from lack of time. Rest assured we are going to be at some of those dinners. Not all of them tho'. I still think it's a funny problem.

Just in case I don't get a chance before next week, Merry Christmas!

Peace out,

C

P.S. Final Fantasy XIII was released today. Every train showed the opening video as an ad. It looks pretty sweet, and I look forward to playing it in 18 months or so.

Thought of the Week

2009-12-12T04:10:00.000-08:00

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
Japanese Proverb

A story that needs telling

2009-12-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

Editor's note: You can click on each photograph to enlarge it to its original size.

Greetings from Shibuya! I wanted to show you some pictures before getting into my awesome story of the week.(That's my companion and me. She's doing the peace sign, I'm holding the camera.)

Japan celebrates Christmas season, that's for sure. We get to see a lot of "Holiday Light Displays."Man, I have a lot of photos on here. What else do we have? This is my district right before transfers. The two elders in the middle (the one in the chair and the one standing behind him) got transferred, but everyone else stayed.(Right before the picture I shouted, "That's my camera! Do something weird!" but I didn't give much notice, so this is what you get. The Elder in the chair smiling brightly IS doing his weird face, he normally doesn't smile like that.)

Also? Just in case you didn't know, Japan is kinda strange.That is a fish hat.

In Shibuya we try to do some different types of missionary work. When I say missionary work, I am referring to our efforts towards finding new people to teach. The Elders decided on using sports pretty early in the game, so we go play basketball occasionally:This is surprisingly effective. I also have about 100 action shots of them playing (some of them are rather good, surprisingly), but I don't want to sort through them all for the best ones.
Members in Japan can be...interesting. These two fellows are AWESOME. (speaking of awesome...)Also, we played football on our day off with some members to celebrate Thanksgiving. There is an American School in Japan (ASIJ) here so they let us use a real football field. I think I look terrible in this picture, but it's a good shot overall.By the way, I wasn't kidding when I said Japan looks like fall weather right now. This was taken near the Emperor's Palace (across the street, in fact) two weeks ago (two days before December, I think):I also have some really gross pictures of dead fish but since my sister Shana is uploading this blog and I think the pictures would make her cry (they make me want to cry, too) I will skip them. You can have these instead.I suggest looking at my face closely. That Japanese sister isn't my companion, but she is one of the other two Shibuya Sisters and she rocks.

Japan celebrates Christmas with some rather different traditions. Christmas Eve is the big celebration, first of all. Christmas is kinda the Valentines of Japan...kinda. Christmas Eve is for dates. The main traditions for families are Christmas cake, which is usually bought and brought home by the dad Christmas Eve, and KFC is successfully introducing a bucket of fried chicken as the Christmas dinner. The real family gathering is the New Year celebration. Christmas really isn't made for families. They don't even get the day off work (and neither do we!).

We went caroling at Shibuya station. It was ridiculous. We passed out something like 10 Book of Mormons (we usually get 2-3 per week), got many new investigators, and those crazy awesome Young Men and Women passed out somewhere in the realm of 600 fliers/pass along cards in the span of 45 minutes. We normally average 10 a day. That was so COOL.

I think that will suffice for now, don't you? Life is good.

Speaking of life being good, I have a story for you. No pictures, but I really like this.

Last week we called one of the members to ask about an appointment the next day and she excitedly exclaimed that there was a referral for us. A less-active member had been inactive for MANY years (about as long as I've been alive), but upon meeting an old friend (who is also a member) she indicated that her life was not so hot and she requested that the missionaries come teach her. This old friend's friend works for the member in our ward, so we were told about her. We got her information from this member, and discovered she lived about an hour away by train. We called this less-active woman and she sounded very excited to meet with us, and asked us to come as soon as possible. We were able to come on Saturday, her only day off.

Well, we prepared a lesson about Christ, with a few fallback plans depending on her needs (ironically we didn't use any of them, keep reading). We set off to her apartment, and found it relatively quickly. We rang the doorbell and heard her call for us to come up over a dog barking (yay, dogs!). From what we could gather, she lived alone, apparently with a dog.

Well, when we got to the apartment a man opened the door, much to our surprise. This man turned out to be her 21 year old son. When we made our way to the kitchen to greet this woman, she enthusiastically hugged us and ushered us into the living room. There sat her son and his two friends. She whipped out her phone and called her sister. "Sister! The missionaries are here. Grab your daughter and come over." She then told us that her sister would be here in 20 minutes. If we didn't mind, could we talk to everyone?

Yeah, sure. Of course! We smiled, and greeted everyone in the room. I guess when they mentioned the inactive they forgot to mention her whole family was inactive, or something. The woman dashed back into the kitchen to prepare snacks, so we chatted with her son and his friends. After a while we asked them how they felt church, and what they could remember about the last time they'd been to church.

"We go to church every week," the three youth responded, a little confused.

"Really?" we responded enthusiastically (albeit rather surprised), "That's wonderful! Doesn't church feel wonderful?"

"Yeah, I guess." The two boys and one girl were still looking at us a little funny.

"Do you read your scriptures and pray, too?"

"Yeah. We read and pray every night." One of the youth crossed himself while saying this. I grinned enthusiastically and was about to praise them when--

...Wait a second. He just crossed himself, didn't he?

The mother walked back in, "Everyone, I have an announcement! I'm not actually Catholic like you, I'm Mormon!"

EVERYONE in the room stared at her. Some mouths dropped. One of them was mine.

"These are the Mormon missionaries! They are going to teach you what I believe, and we are going to go to the Mormon church together from now on!"

My companion and I looked at each other. The three youth stared at this now-deemed-insane woman. They looked a little angry.

This inactive woman had raised her son and never told him she wasn't Catholic. They had been going to a Catholic church all their lives.

Everyone stared at us now. We looked at each other again. After our initial shock and shared look of 'we are about to get martyred by angry Christians' we determined what to do.

"Lesson 1?"

"Lesson 1."

So we taught them about our beliefs, and how/why the church was founded. At first we were given cold stares as we discussed the nature of God (Heavenly Father), how He speaks with us (Prophets), and Jesus Christ's Ministry on earth. We pointed out that our beliefs regarding this are generally the same as the Catholics, and they begrudgingly agreed. Then we discussed Jesus Christ's resurrection--

The doorbell rang. The dog barked. One of the three kids (I say kids, but they were our age) needed the bathroom. They all three dashed off. Eventually it got quiet again and they came back, to my initial surprise. I thought they'd be hidden away elsewhere, from how they were acting before. Huh.

We discussed the resurrection, and the Great Apostasy. We pointed out the need of an Apostasy and the predictions of the Great Apostasy, and how Christ's church would become slightly distorted and bara bara, or split into many different churches, and that's why there were so many today. Then we talked about Joseph Smith. We began the First Vision--

A cell phone rang. Not just a beep beep ring either, but the full nine yards dirty-dancing-rap song. It was...awkward, to say the least. I had never had this many interruptions before. The dog went crazy again several times, whenever we talked about living prophets or Christ. People kept coming and going through the house. The long-awaited sister arrived, noisily.

But what was amazing is after each interruption they all came right back. They were leaning forward over the table, like this was the most fascinating thing in the history of the world EVER. Which it is, y'know, but it's nice to have it appreciated. We were able to complete the First Vision, explain the Book of Mormon, and we read from it. The dog barked some more but was now ignored. We gave them a Book of Mormon and more information about what we had discussed. After the lesson they exclaimed that it was amazing, and started reading the Book of Mormon before we could even get up to leave. We arranged to meet them again, and left--much later than planned and much happier than ever expected.

That was, by FAR, the coolest lesson I have ever taught. I had heard that Satan does his best to interrupt our message, but I had never seen it in such shocking abundance. I also could never have imagined how unsuccessful he was.

And that's my story, in essence. The inactive woman who never told her family her religion, the coolest first discussion ever, and the curious phenomenon of getting interrupted when discussing spiritual things---particularly the First Vision. I think that fits rather neatly as a missionary story, wouldn't you say? It's not the first and definitely not the last, but I must admit, it's a favorite.

I still laugh whenever I think about how she made that announcement. "Guess what, I'm a Mormon!" Heh.

I better trundle off to do other things. I was planning on finally picking up that Birthday present today. I will treat myself to some much needed clothing, including a hoodie, a t-shirt, some socks, and a new skirt/blouse combo if I can get one. We found the Japanese equivalent of Wal-Mart (no, seriously, it's owned by Wal-Mart) and we're going to go give it a shot today. Go, Seiyu!

Love you, miss you, can't imagine anything else I'd rather be doing,

Me.

P.S. I cannot believe how many members in the Tokyo Foreigner Wards are CEOs/CIOs/CFOs of companies around here. It is INSANE. We just met the President of Nuskin. We know the CFO of Shell and the one of Seiyu. We have gotten Tupperware from the Tupperware president. We have met the former and current President of a very prominent Japanese bank. He gave us cookies. Who knew they were regular people? Who knew they were Members? I love Shibuya. I love our church, and I LOVE the gospel.

Thought of the Week

2009-12-05T04:08:00.000-08:00

Even a sheet of paper has two sides.
Japanese Proverb

Happy super late Thanksgiving, everyone!

2009-12-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

Once again, I have come to tell you about my week and I am without a camera cord. Which is a shame because I have some gorgeous pictures this time. I will simply have to have a very picture oriented post in future. Sorry, Shana. I also have a flash drive full, so I need to send it home. This scares me, as I am worried it will break. I will break down and ship it eventually---I really need space.

I had a wonderful birthday, thank you everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It was awesome. I woke up to find that my roommates had heart attacked my desk. They also hid little presents all over the apartment. I have a pencil that writes in 5 colors at once, a bubble-blower that blows bubbles that don't pop (really!), and I learned a few new magic tricks. I love magic tricks, so if anyone has any other ones, I would love to hear it! I know how to do the Royal Flush, the 3 piles of 3/ 3 piles of 7, Aces on top, Travelling Aces (also known as the invisible ace), and guess the card on top. I love it when people send me their ideas and tricks, especially with instructions, so thank you!! I used to be able to do This That and the Other but I can't remember some of the bits of it now...I am working on it, though.

Thanksgiving was so cool. Some people found out about the mission comic I have been doing and asked me to do a comic for the mormon.jp website [Editor's note: Remember that you can use Google Translate to translate web pages.] No one has officially requested it, but it was a thought. I think it's a cute idea, we'll see what happens.

I love hearing from all of you, and I wish I had a lot to say in return! We are still teaching and still meeting with members. We had one sweet woman come into our ward accidentally thinking it was a Catholic church. She's interested in being "healed" and wanted to hear more about our church, so she became an investigator. I don't want to give too many more details, but it was pretty cool.

Oh, yeah, so. I don't normally talk about lessons I gave or people we've met in any sort of detail. If you would like me to do so I can, but I figure this is a public blog so I could happily talk about the more mundane and random but it might be a little bimyo to talk about people I'm teaching or very spiritual experiences I have had. I recorded those in my journal, so they aren't lost, I just haven't opened them up here. Thoughts?

OH. So, some of you asked about Christmas. Uhm. This is awkward, but I am just going to tell you what I would like for Christmas here, okay?

Letters.

I LOVE getting paper letters from you all. I love coming home to a thick envelope with lots of information and occasionally photos. BEST GIFT EVER.

Just print out your blog and send it, that is so great. Send me some favorite poems and tell me why you like them, an update about the mundane, tell me about your NaNoWriMo, whatever. I just love hearing from you!

Okay, I am done.

Today I am super exhausted. Why? Because the Sisters heard about the fish market down in Tsukiji. They auction off tuna at 5 in the morning. Visitors are allowed to watch. "Let's do it!" they cried. So we woke up at 3 and left at 4 this morning so that we could get to Tsukiji.

There are no trains at 3AM, so we rode our bikes for nearly an hour in order to get there in time. Huzzah! The fish market. The fish were huge! I had no idea that tuna could get that big. They were probably around 4 feet long and supremely fat. It was so crazy.

It was actually sorta creepy. Those of you who do not eat meat or want to hear about fish selling please skip this paragraph to the next one. They had cut out huge holes where the gills usually are, so you could see the spine of the fish. All the fish were frozen and had numbers on them. The tails were hacked off and the belly, tail area, and neck area were wedged open so that people could inspect the meat. They then were sold. I didn't really enjoy looking at the fish. I can eat beef and chicken because it doesn't look a thing like a cow or a bird, so I can happily chomp away without thinking too hard about the animal itself. Fish actually look like fish when they are eaten and sold, and it was really sad to see rows upon rows of dead creatures waiting to be hacked into with ice picks and crow bars so that people could buy them wholesale.

I felt kinda ill after a while so I asked one of the other sisters to leave with me. I cannot eat fish today. I want to be a vegetarian, and if I didn't love beef so much I would be one right now. I seriously don't think I can eat fish without feeling super sick after today.

Oh, speaking of which, my Japanese Food Fast is over! I was able to eat Japanese food at a Japanese member's house on Sunday. Woohoo! I normally love Japanese food, especially ordered in restaurants in America. We were told we were having "curry pot." Sweet, curry!

We get there and there is a big post of boiling food in the middle of the table. You use chopsticks to grab food and put it into your bowl and eat it.

You'll never guess what I ate on Sunday.

Seriously, I have never eaten this 'authentically' before.

I have now eaten the following, right outta that pot:

-Cabbage

-Carrots

-Potato

-Chicken

-Onion

-Mushrooms

-Tofu

-Mochi

-Noodles

-Seaweed

-Shredded fish scales

-Fish Meatballs (<--WHY DO THESE EXIST)

-Squid

-Shrimp heads

-Octopus tentacles

I can now say with confidence that I have eaten Japanese food.

Thought of the Week

2009-11-28T03:59:00.000-08:00

Beginning is easy - continuing is hard.
Japanese Proverb

It doesn't snow in Tokyo

2009-11-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

At least, it hasn't snowed yet. It rains instead, which is far more annoying. Snow at least has the courtesy to stay outside of your clothing for the most part. Rain is very inconsiderate.

Sorry about my lack of an update last week. Internet has been difficult to obtain for P-Day for a while. I've been incredibly busy working on a few projects and with appointments, so that's good, right? I don't have a lot of time this week either, due to the same Internet problems.

First let me say THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has wished me a Happy Birthday! You are all so awesome. I really appreciate it. We found a Yakiniku restaurant (grill-your-own-food, mostly meat) that gives you all you can eat/drink for 1,200 yen (roughly $14) so we'll probably check that out either this week or the next.

Japan doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but ex-patriots in Japan do! My companion and I are over an ex-patriot ("Foreigner") ward here in Shibuya, so we actually got invited to a genuine Thanksgiving dinner! Huzzah! The Elders that got transferred were very sad.

Oh yes, transfers. I wanted to mention that. Transfers happen every 6 weeks. They are a rather big deal to missionaries, and in fact we measure time by transfers more than months when talking to other missionaries. Every transfer you find out if your whole world is getting flipped inside out: you could be moving across the country, you could be living with all new people, and that person you just commited to baptism may never see you again. It's pretty stressful.

It doesn't help that the mission handles transfers in possibly the worst fashion possible. Sometime on a Friday night we get a call. This call lets us know if there is a transfer. It doesn't say if both companions are leaving or just one, it just says "there is going to be a change in your companionship." A third person may come in, one may leave, or you may be getting whitewashed (both leave). You don't know.

Saturday you find out details. Who is going where, sorta thing. Saturday you have a deep cleaning and packing day. Sunday you say goodbye to the Ward, and Monday you transfer. It's crazy.

This was my first transfer in the field, so I was nervous. I really like Shibuya, and we had appointments well into the Christmas season and investigators we really liked, so my companion and I really wanted to stay. Then our district leader calls our apartment, where we and another companionship stay. The call goes kinda like this:

"Hey Sisters, how are ya?"

"Forget the small talk. Give us the news, Elder."

"Okay. *pause* Three of you are transferring and one of you is staying."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT."

"Ha ha! Nah, I'm just kidding. You're all staying."

That was not funny. Actually, that was pretty hilarious, but it freaked us out for a second. Two Elders got transferred, sadly. We wanted our district to remain unchanged, but alas.

Oh, a quick note, have any of my letters arrived yet? If anyone has recieved a letter from me while I was in Japan please let me know. I've been sending out letters every week but I'm never quite sure if they get there. I believe Adam got one, but I have no clue if my friends know how much I love them.

Which I do, so I guess I could just point it out here. You are loved!

Okay, I'm outta time. We have a lesson that we need to plan. Wish me luck!

Thought of the Week

2009-11-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

One who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.
Japanese Proverb

C's letter to A

2009-11-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our big brother, A, received a letter from C this week and sent me some of the news to post on this blog:

"My companion is a thespian. Enough said."

C is finding it funny that, while wandering around Tokyo, she can identify most of the music and film stars on the posters. This is a side effect from living with Japanese families for such a long time before her mission.

In particular, there's a huge role-playing game coming out in Japan soon (it's called Final Fantasy 13), and there are posters EVERYWHERE. Billboards, convenience stores, shopping centers, whatever. This is, unsurprisingly, distracting because C *loves* the Final Fantasy games. She hopes that someday she'll be transferred to the countryside because this will be less distracting, though I think she'll find that they stick posters in the convenience stores out there, too ;).

C's letter to S

2009-11-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

I ran out of time because I have too many appointments today (even though it's P-Day! Nooo!), so no blog post. You can either put this, or if you want to put up a blog post or something you can. Life is great, Shibuya is huge, rain is terrible.

Thought of the Week

2009-11-14T04:12:00.000-08:00

A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.
Japanese Proverb

Food

2009-11-09T20:20:00.001-08:00

'So, I bet you are sick of Japanese food.'

'Here's some American food, I bet it's been a while!'

'You poor missionaries eat strange stuff all the time, huh?'

Thanks to wonderful members and a companion sick of local cuisine, I HAVE NOT YET EATEN JAPANESE FOOD.

Thought of the Week

2009-11-07T04:18:00.000-08:00

Laughter cannot bring back what anger has driven away.
Japanese Proverb

Short but Sweet

2009-11-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a national holiday in Japan so the place we normally come to do e-mails (The LDS Family History Center in Tokyo, in fact) was closed. We dendou'ed instead and decided to come and do e-mails today. Today is cut a little short, we had a bit of an upset this morning and we have to hurry to get to our meetings on time. Rather than the usual wall of text I thought I'd try to spruce up the blog a bit. I won't do this quite so often in future because I love my sister and I want her to not hate doing this for me. This week is going great, and I'm really enjoying my time here. I was able to stop by a dollar store so I picked up a few essential supplies. I also sent out letters to a great number of you this week; if you do not get them by next Monday please let me know because you should have.

Okay, so here is mission life thus far.

Sometimes you have a hard time getting along with your companions.But most of the time it's just awesome.Especially when you can relax and have fun. (the person in the middle was my MTC companion, although due to my crazy swapping around all the sisters you've seen thus far were companions at one point. There is another sister, too)Missionaries will use any means to seek out people and teach.Those were my MTC days. Here in Shibuya it does get pretty hectic, but we've adapted rather well. Do you recognize this place? I guess there's a video of this crossing on my blog, so I hope this looks familiar. It was actually a pretty slow day when we took this.This is the Shibuya district. Bring it on! Ironically two of the sisters couldn't be in the picture because they were actually teaching. We just got out of a Halloween party.Yep. Missionaries will teach anyone who will listen!I really am having a great time, and while these are my favorite pictures, there is very little goofing around during the day. During the night, though, MAN. I just found an old deck of cards in our apartment. I've been doing magic tricks the past few nights. It's been awesome. If anyone wants to send me some magic trick instructions that can be done with a standard deck of cards, send them over! I have forgotten many of the ones I could do, I'm stuck at about 5 tricks.

I love you all, and thanks for reading! I hope to have more stories next week.

Thought of the Week

2009-10-31T04:26:00.000-07:00

The only thing to fear is fear itself. And this guy. Happy Halloween, everyone!

I AM NOT DEAD.

2009-10-27T07:33:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post myself. I think the last time I wrote one was before I got into quarantine, and before I knew what my travel plans were, is that correct? Quite a few things have happened since then, so let me see if I can catch you up. I believe my parents/lovely and wonderful sister kept you updated without me, but I have no idea how...perhaps just a note saying I'm in quarantine?

I would have LOVED to provide pictures at this point (I now have the ability to access my camera on this computer) but unfortunately I didn't bring the cable to hook my camera up. You shall have to deal with yet another wall of text, sorry! Hopefully my rather random 'Thoughts of the Week' are still updating and providing the occasional image.

Before I offer the massive 3 week update, I have a few quick notes. I tried to set up forwarding so that all my other e-mail accounts would forward to this one, and I found myself utterly unsuccessful. Gmail will allow you to forward to other Gmail accounts, but does not automatically forward to an account outside of Gmail. If you would like to contact me, you'll have to either send a letter or e-mail directly to this myldsmail.net account. It's my first initial and my last name @ myldsmail.net.

Now then, who wants to find out what missionary life is like?

---

It's hard. But not hard in the ways that I thought, and I'm certain (REALLY certain) that I'm only scratching the surface right now. I had thought that it would be physically taxing in that our throats would be sore from all the teaching and we'd be catching pneumonia from being in the baptismal water all the time (Holland's joke, bwa ha ha). Missions are more taxing in that you have to deal with mounds of rejection. AND a ton of walking, but we fixed that by biking. We do a lot of biking, but I enjoy it currently and I'll enjoy it more when I have my own bike.

But let's start from the beginning, shall we? It's a very good place to start.

Firstly, I was quarantined. This was very relaxing in some ways but mostly the dullest thing I have ever done. Good grief, I have never been so bored, and I became rather homesick for my little electronic devices that I usually use to get through the day. But I got over it, and I even got to meet two other roommates (sick people don't make the best conversationalists, but we made do), one the first day I was there and one the day before I left. It was good times. I was very grateful to get out of there, though.

I believe I discussed the food with my parents, but I'll make a note here. I don't mind putting up with cafeteria food, but it does get a little old. It's frustrating to not be able to choose what you put into your body. I become thoroughly sick of meat within 2 weeks, although I'm by no means vegetarian. I did survive on a diet of fruit and veggies so far as possible, though. I would still eat meat on the days when they had Teriyaki Stix or the BYU equivalent of Winger's Sticky Fingers (SO GOOD). The main issue I have with cafeteria food is the dishes. The dishes were frequently dirty. As in, globs of food stuck to the plate or fork. This is gross. What made it worse is you couldn't trust the dishes that look clean after a while--what if they weren't sanitary? The stress builds up and you find yourself hating the food. Sorry that I talk about food a lot, but it was something I noticed. Should you have any other friends or family in the MTC, send them some Cup of Ramen, or something! They will love you.

I certainly LOVED all the packages and letters I received. I fully expect that to wind down and stop now that I'm in another country, but let me tell you how much I appreciated your support. I've kept every letter and I read them more than once (to answer your question, Mom). I also LOVED those letters that included photos. I would love to have a picture of every single friend and family member, and we have little photo books that we show investigators. I feel rather naked without one.

Well, anyway, I get distracted easily. So, I got out of quarantine. The first piece of news I receive was that my VISA was cleared and I was free to leave Monday. Sweet! I spend most of that day (Friday) doing laundry as I was quarantined on Monday and we do laundry on Tuesdays, so my stuff was pretty dang gross. I don't think I have ever been so grateful for clean clothes, and I had a lot more sympathy for people that don't always have clean clothes with them...

Nothing else super amazing happened until Monday. Our zone (the missionaries going to Japan) had shrunk tremendously, and there were only 8 of us on Sunday. Weeeeeird.

Monday morning I woke up at 4:22 and got ready to get on to 5:00 am bus. What a blast that was! I had awesome suitcases so I was perfectly at 50 lbs on both and didn't have to repack at all. I just got my travel plans, got on the bus, and was off to the airport! A sister I met in the shower (Weston?) sat next to me. Her Uncle makes rich and amazing Canadian chocolate. I tried to set up a candy trade but couldn't get it underway fast enough, so she'll just get to enjoy all that sweet awesome chocolate while she's in Canada.

I made a lot of friends at the MTC ('The Pre-Existence'), and I suspect that I will maintain contact with 4 of them. They were all awesome peeps.

Well, I got to the airport and was a little jostled to find that people can be curt. Ah, right, I'd been spending 6 weeks in the MTC. Okay. I checked in without a hitch, got through security (he x-rayed my bag 7 times but never actually spoke to me. Bizarre) and was 3 hours early for my flight. I got to call Mumandad and had a lovely conversation while I hacked out my lungs. I was feeling great, but I STILL have a cough. I sat next to an older couple while I was waiting for my flight (I feel very uncomfortable sitting alone...I had no companion while traveling and it was rather odd feeling) and soon the time came and I clambered aboard. I always needed help with my carry-on; it had all my many books and was ridiculously heavy for its size. People are so nice when you are traveling!

The flight to LA took longer than I wanted it to, but soon I arrived. I had another couple hours to kill before my next flight, so I chatted with some older Japanese people returning home to Osaka, and met a gentleman who was headed to Manila (sp?) for the umpteenth time to chase the gal he fancied. He taught me a lot about airplanes--he makes airplane parts. I got super excited for the new airplanes coming out; smaller and more fuel efficient. That should be nice.

And finally, the flight to Tokyo! For those of you who aren't aware, we weren't allowed any music or movies in the MTC. Well, duh on the movies, but the music thing was sad. (Future missionaries: MTC rules do NOT equal mission rules. You may still be able to bring a music player. Tokyo allows music that is 'Sunday appropriate and by an LDS artist') Since I had not arrived at my mission yet, these rules still applied. This meant no movies on the plane. Well, if we each had our own screen this would not have been an issue, but unfortunately the plane only had one screen, and it was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I watched scenes of movies (my neck is still stiff so I couldn't really look down) whenever I wasn't writing, reading, or sleeping.

That flight was long and miserable, but totally worth it. I was so excited when we touched down. I said quick farewells to the wonderfully cheerful Vietnamese couple sitting next to me, waved goodbye to the two Utahns that recognized my badge and wished them luck in China for the arts festival, grabbed my sickeningly heavy bag and dashed off the plane.

The first thing I did in the airport was adjust my face and brush my teeth. First impressions, you know? I grabbed my bags and headed out to meet my cheerful mission president.

I went through customs and headed out to meet my cheerful mission president.

I arrived at the arrival lounge and looked for my cheerful mission president.

There was no cheerful mission president.

I would have settled for a mission president, but I got no one at all. I wandered around the airport for a bit, idly wondering if the MTC even told them I was coming. Well, there was no point in sitting around, so I headed for the payphones. On the way there a Japanese woman stopped me and asked, 'Are you coming or going?' I didn't understand her at first, but then replied that I had just arrived. I asked if she needed help or anything (honestly I thought she was about to sell me something) when she responded that she was a member, and she was wondering why there was a missionary all alone.

A member! I explained my situation to her and she took me over to two other members, who were actually Americans, and her family. I explained my situation again. They gave me a cell phone and I called the Honbu (Mission Office/HQ). I think it went something like this:

'Moshi moshi Tokyo Honbu desu.' -Hello, this is the Tokyo HQ.

'Moshi moshi. Ano, Watashi wa C desu kedo.' -Hello, this is -my name-.

'Oh, Sister C! How are you?'

'I'm doing great. I'm actually at the Tokyo airport, and--'

'You are WHERE?!'

So, one heart attack, two transfers and a mission president later, some Elders were sent to pick me up. ...yeah, so, the MTC forgot to tell my mission I was coming.

I thought it was pretty funny, but they certainly didn't. It did mean a few problems, but by the time I got to the HQ I had a companion and a proselytizing area and everything. Good times.

My first day was mostly training, but the local sisters took me with them for some fun times. I thought I'd go housing, but they actually had 3 teaching appointments that day, so I got to invite someone to baptism, teach the first lesson, and teach the second lesson in Japanese. Good times, good times. It was such a blast!

My second day I met my companion: Sister Campos. She is from Las Vegas, and she sings Opera. She is AWESOME. I was a little scared that she'd be wanpaku (I don't think there's a translation for this, but it basically means bad missionary, disobedient, trunkie, etc.), or that she'd be super strict, but she turned out to be a little like me and Shana mixed up and turned into an awesome trainer. She was really nervous about being a trainer, but after our second day she told me that I acted just like all her other companions, and she didn't feel like I was a bean-chan ('Green Bean,' new missionary) at all. Best compliment ever.

My bike is on its way, and I've taught two lessons with Sister Campos thus far. It's a little less teaching than I'd hoped for, but we're working hard and doing our best here.

Oh! Isshi-kun is probably gonna freak out at this, but I want to rub it in. Guess where my first area is?

Shibuya.

The busiest area in Tokyo, arguably. This is where Scramble Crossing is. In fact, we go through Scramble Crossing on the way to our apartment--which is HUGE. Please look up Scramble Crossing, or just believe me when I say that I think it's the biggest/busiest intersection in the world, or something. Editor's note: Click here to watch a YouTube clip of Scramble Crossing in Shibuya.

I am loving my mission, and I love the members here. They are unbelievable nice to missionaries.

Go invite the missionaries over to your house! Give them food! They need food, both in their bellies and in canned/packaged form. But most importantly, invite any friends you might have that aren't members, and make sure they know that missionaries will be there. I crave opportunities to teach, and I bet they do too!

This post has become obscenely long, so I am gonna close it here, for now. I haven't given too many details about my apartment (it's big), the other two Sisters I'm living with (they are interesting), Sister Disney (she plays Disney Princesses in the parades and sings a lot, I could write a whole post about her but I want pictures for it) or my daily routine, but there are other weeks and other times.

I'm loving my mission and learning why Japanese people hate the rain. Try riding a bike in the rain in a skirt and you'll understand too.

I love you all, and I hope you won't totally forget about me! Letters make joy!

Thought of the Week

2009-10-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

Excerpts from C's letter to Mom

2009-10-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Mom,

I have no e-mail because I have no computer. I have no computer because I can't leave this motel-like room. I can't leave because I've been quarantined. I've been quarantined because I have somehow contracted swine flu.

Sigh.

Basically, I have the only legitimate excuse to skip class and sleep all day. As this will most likely not come up for another 18 months, I am making the most of it. I am free and welcome to do whatever I like so long as I do not leave the room. As this is the MTC, that means I can either watch church videos, read the scriptures or write to my dear parents.

We get four visitors daily. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and the Doctor. Security brings the meals. If we need anything we ask; otherwise we wait until the next visitor.

What follows is a rant about the MTC food. The meal plans are clearly aimed at getting 19 year-old boys to clean their plates. With rare exceptions, I've been eating a vegetarian diet since coming here. Since every single choice has meat in it, this can be tricky, but is well worth it. Fruit, salads, water and milk have gotten me through. However, in quarantine you don't have choices. They bring you your meal. It is always something hot, a drink, and a dessert, with the occasional side. Now remember I said these meals are aimed at 19-year-old boys? We get fruit, bacon, sausage, and donuts (five! (5!) Who eats that many!) for breakfast, with soda and chocolate milk.

Lunch was cheese steak, nacho cheese chips, and feta cheese salad. Dinner looks good tonight, actually. Stir-fry, rice, egg-rolls. Again, soda to drink. And juice.

If I wasn't careful. this is what I'd eat every day. Can you imagine? Yuck.

This room is nice though. It's like a very cheap but clean motel room.

Mom's Note: Breaking news - C. is out of quarantine. She was allowed to call her family last night. She will be leaving for Japan on Monday morning at some ridiculously early hour.

Thought of the Week

2009-10-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

To know all is to understand all. To understand all is to love everybody.

Thought of the Week

2009-10-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
Terry Pratchett

I'm ALIVE!

2009-10-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

Wasn't General Conference simply awesome? I can't believe how much I was missing out before. Seriously, that was possibly the single coolest spiritual experience I've had thus far. I took 26 pages of notes for all 5 sessions (we watched Relief Society at the same time the Elders watched Priesthood). It was so fascinating, spiritual, and almost totally worth sitting in hard plastic seats without being allowed to stand up.

And one of the coolest parts was when they announced the Sapporo, Japan Temple. I'm pretty sure our entire district (District: The group of missionaries who entered the MTC at the same time who are going to the same place or speaking the same language) shouted more than a little irreverently, although we tried to be quiet. The entire Zone (Zone: A group of districts all headed to the same country/mission. Often made up of missionaries who came in within 3 weeks of each other, but some districts in the zone can be 6 weeks behind the others) was jumping for joy afterward. It was just so great! We'd been talking and in a meeting the day before where we talked about prophecies that have been made about Japan, and one of the ones emphasized was that there would be many temples. Then a temple was announced. We all whispered after shouting loudly, "The Gospel is MAJI DE true!"

I have to keep a little more time to write e-mails than I did last week, so the rest of this post may seem a little rushed. I was actually going to say that it would be better next week because next week I'm in Japan and there isn't a stupid little timer in the upper right corner that shuts down the computer after my 30 minutes of provided e-mail time, but that's part of the news I have:

I'm not going to Japan next Monday.

I thought I was. The zone thought I was, but apparently we forgot to tell the MTC that some of the missionaries were skipping a grade. I have no VISA, no flight plans, nothing. They are now trying to remedy the situation, but they have told us that there is no way we'll be ready in time for Monday. If our Mission Presidents will take us late, we can go a few days later, otherwise we'll be in the MTC for another 6 weeks.

I have now begun to experience Cabin Fever. I'm still hoping that they are wrong and things get fixed so that I will go on Monday, but I think it would seriously kill my mood to be here for another 6 weeks. I want to go out and TEACH, dangit! Send me to California! Send me to Texas! Send me AWAY, and let me get to work!

All well. The good news is this means you may still hear from me one last time while I'm on American soil. This also gives you another chance to send me any packages you may feel prompted to provide.

Nah, I'm kidding.

I really appreciate everyone who has been writing me, though. Days go by much faster when there is a letter waiting to be read that evening. It may sound depressing, but I do actually read your letters multiple times. I love them!

Oh, the other news was going to be a health update. My neck is fine. I went to the Physical Therapist again on Monday (I hate going, it feels so selfishly wonderfully wasteful) and I got a clean bill of health, as long as I don't jerk my neck, look down, or do anything else that might lock it up.

Oh, by the way, to those of you who do not have my mission address, hopefully someone who does know will leave it as a comment or something, because I don't have it with me. To those of you who don't want to pay for the postage, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. I can READ your e-mails, I just can't REPLY in an e-mail, so if you do e-mail me be sure to give me your mailing address if you want a reply.

YES EVEN IF YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND GIVE ME YOUR ADDRESS. Just because I know where you live doesn't mean I can write it down.

Ugh...the news that I may be here another 6 weeks has kinda got me down. Bleah.

That's okay. Life here in the MTC is awesome. We have two really great teachers. One, Brother Porter, is a super nice, HUGE guy. He tells great stories and he's really good at getting along with the class. The other, Brother Lee, looks Japanese but was raised in California, I think. He's really fluent, though...maybe I'm wrong? He's very intimidating, but it's because he expects a lot from us and isn't happy when we don't live up to our potential. He's a great teacher. I learn a lot from both of them.

Both teachers don't really include me in the class discussions because they've worked out I already know the answers. This suits me just as well, while the other missionaries review bunpou (grammar patterns) I study kanji. It works rather well.

The MTC food is delicious, and it is ironically hard to eat healthy food, but it's certainly possible. I've been a little more lax lately, which is a shame, since I actually slimmed down right after coming in here. Back to the old grinding wheel, I guess.

A few other disctricts have continued to meet with us each Gym period. We usually play softball or soccer, but with the cold front here in Provo we've taken up Capture the Flag. As this is my favorite field game (short of Ultimate Frisbee, which we can't play) I won't complain.

But augh, I want to go to Japan! Nooooo! Stupid whoever didn't tell the MTC we moved up!

I better go write those other e-mails. Love you all, and despite what I may say, I love my mission! (Just not the MTC so much)

Thought of the Week

2009-10-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)

Happy Birthday Kimber!

2009-09-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday!

May your days be long, bright, and awesome!

"What's the different between a Physical Therapist and a Terrorist?" He asked.

2009-09-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

"I don't know, what?" I replied through gritted teeth.

"You can negotiate with terrorists," he responded.

"Ha ha ha-AYUGH!" I laughed as he twisted my neck farther and to the right.

"Relax," he reminded me.

Yeah, right. I was seeing huge black spots and could barely keep my entire body from seizing. I actually have super sore muscles in my core and leg, I had been keeping them so tight.

So, I shall never secretly hope in my heart for something interesting to post in this blog. Heavenly Father hears our prayers, and this is a testament to that.

The other day I went to early morning gym and did some exercising. While in the midst of Electronic-Parade-Version Hymns, Waaaay too happy teachers, and jumping sisters, my neck popped. It felt just like any other popping joint, where something just slips with an audible noise. Normally you feel pretty good right after it happens.

I, regrettably, did not feel good. After the pop, I was no longer able to look up or to the right without enduring severe pain. I actually couldn't keep my head straight without any pain, so I found myself leaning my head to the left.

Not wanting to leave the class during such pathetic exercises, I continued with the gym period, just adjusting each time I had to look over the right shoulder. I assumed I had rubbed a muscle the wrong way, and it would feel better if I stretched it out. After gym, I rubbed my neck gently and returned to the room for personal study.

The pain did not abate. When we set out for breakfast, I asked my companion to come back to the gym with me. She agreed quickly. The pain had gotten much worse, and it was difficult not to change my breathing or cry out. I spoke with the physical therapist at the gym, and he took one look at my neck, heard what I was doing, and said, "You probably just strained it. Tilt your head far to the left and gently return it to center position. Stretch that muscle. You'll be fine."

I thanked him for his time and left once again for breakfast. I tried that exercise, and it didn't seem to help. In fact, after 3 times the pain suddenly increased to the point where I was having difficulty thinking straight at all. I could no longer find any position where my neck was not hurting.

I was worried, and did not hesitate when my companion suggested we skip our service activity to go to the health clinic. By the time we arrived, I asked her to explain the problem while I started to cry. I was getting so frustrated---I had been injured and I couldn't figure out why or how. I couldn't understand what was wrong with my neck, and by this point it was a constant and unavoidable 7 on the pain scale.

We waited for an incredibly long time at the clinic. I was put in as an emergency appointment. The doctor still took 20 minutes to see me (this is probably really fast but I was super frustrated). He grabbed my neck roughly and jerked it around, then checked my reflexes. "Your neck muscles have torn. I'll schedule physical therapy." he responded.

We went through some paperwork, my parents were called for insurance information, and I was put on a shuttle and taken to a physical therapist. He finally gave me a full examinationg WITHOUT yanking my head around in any way.

He announced that my spine had locked up in the neck, in 5 different joints. Normally joints slide on top of each other just fine, but mine became locked side by side and wouldn't move. This was causing the pain and the lack of movability.

He then went through a series of INCREDIBLY PAINFUL twists and turns of my neck. I knew this was necessary and put up with it, but it was not pleasant by any meaning of the word. He did this 5 times, one for each locked up joint, and then apologized---some of the joints were so badly locked up that he had to do them again. This was easily a 12 on the pain scale (of 10). It was difficult, but I dealt with it. This lasted for 2 hours.

I was now able to move my neck, but not without severe pain. This all happened Friday. On Monday, I went back to see him and he was able to make it so I have full movement on my neck, but I have to go back the rest of this week in order to fix the problem and prevent it from happening again. I am happy for him to help prevent this from happening again, but I still wish it had never happened in the first place. It's embarrassing to visit doctors and be sick.

And now, you might be wondering what I was doing when this horrible spinal injury occurred. I would love to entertain you with dramtic tales of me leaping up walls to grab the basketball and make the game saving throw only to fall badly, or jumping down stairs and side-kicking to the face only to have the return catch me at a bad angle. I would to regale such impressive stories of how this all came to be, but I am striving to be Honest this week, and so I am left only with the truth:

A jumping jack broke my neck.

Thought of the Week

2009-09-26T05:21:00.000-07:00

Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth. And set down as gain each day that Fortune grants.
Horace (65 BC - 8 BC), Odes

Letter 9/22/09

2009-09-22T12:58:00.001-07:00

Well, one more week down here at the MTC. Things have been really awesome.

For the record, my mailbox number has changed. Please send future letters to Mailbox #227, not 228. You can still send stuff to the old address (technically it's been 227 all along but I still get my letters just fine), it's just that if you send stuff to mailbox 227 I'll get my letters about a day faster and technically correctly. Many thanks to EVERYONE who has been writing me! Your letters completely light up my day, and I love getting news from all of you!

Unfortunately we were running a little late today so I don't have much time for a blog post. I'll try to remember stuff that's happened since last I wrote. Since I have no way of viewing my blog or previous post, it'll be tough to remember where I left off.

Did I mention that Elder Holland spoke last week? His talk was AMAZING. It was a total power house. We get great speakers every Sunday and Tuesday. We also get to watch church videos every Sunday night, if we don't have other meetings.

I'm not sure if I described much of my schedule last time...did I? It's awful busy, but a lot of fun. Things that you normally can put off until you have time in the evening can't be put off here. Seriously. You either have 5 minutes to go to the store, or you can go to the bathroom before class, but not both. That's how finely cut our day is.

Monday we had a Large Group Meeting (these happen every week) where a former missionary speaks to us about a certain topic related to better missionary experiences. He went to Japan, and he had some awesome stories, but I don't actually have time anymore to type them. Suffice to say that Japanese old men chasing missionaries through a forest is HILARIOUS. He also told us some really key things about finding people to teach, and how you need to talk to EVERYONE, all the time.

We also got together with a ton of sisters and arranged to play with each other every Gym period, which we have each weekday. Yesterday we played soccer, and tomorrow we're gonna play kick ball. It should be a ton of fun.

This Sunday I was able to interpret. It was difficult, but very fun. It's interesting to listen to Japanese, then speak English, then have to catch the next Japanese sentence in order to translate that, too. It was great, I hope to do it again.

One of the sisters in my triad companionship is getting a new companion tomorrow. She is teaching me how to read Korean before she goes. We will miss her.

I'm a Host tomorrow, so I'll be greeting new missionaries. I'm very excited!

Uh, was there anything else? I'd love to type more but---

SISTER MISSIONARY LOGGED OFF
REASON: TIME EXPIRED

Thought of the Week

2009-09-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

We cannot fail to win unless we fail to try.
Tom Clancy (1947 - )

Letter 9/15/09

2009-09-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Shana. I'll try to post C's blog entries within 24 hours of her sending them to me so that you can all keep updated. Please feel free to contact me anytime through my blog at www.shanalyris.blogspot.com or through my e-mail if you have it. And now, here is C:

Hey everyone! I was originally hoping to have these posts appear on Sundays, but I can only write e-mails on Tuesdays at the MTC. I believe the P-Day (the day we can write e-mails) in Tokyo is Thursday, but I'm not sure, so that will vary a little bit too.

I'm here at the MTC, sitting with my companion, writing some rocking awesome e-mails! This is great. I better tell you a little bit about what happened before my timer runs out, huh?

Just because I'm a glutton for letters, let me point out that you can write me (it'll be like sending an -email for you, but I'll get it as a letter) through Dear Elder, though I'm not totally sure about that link. My mail box number is 228, my mission code is JPN TOK, and I leave October 13th.

I arrived at the MTC bright and early after a refreshing walk with my parents. We figured we were close enough and walking would be hilarious, so we walked. Upon arrival I was carted from one building to another and told to stand in this line or that line, handed several packages and some books. No one really explained anything to me, they just dropped me off at a classroom and said g'bye. There I got to meet the rest of my district; other new missionaries that were called to Japan. We all greeted, met our teacher, and discovered that the missionary day is divided into 5-10 minute increments that span from 6:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night. It's totally bizarre. I've never been so worked in my life. I met two companions that first day, and we were all bewildered together.

Thursday was also pretty neat. A general day is wake up, go to the classroom and study, go to breakfast, return to the classroom and work with your first teacher, go to lunch, return to the classroom and work with your second teacher, go to gym, go to dinner, return to the classroom to either work with a teacher or get self-maintained mandatory study time, then have a companion planning session (to plan the next day) and return to your room to write in your journal, pray, shower, and sleep. It's awesome, but it's super busy and pretty stressful. I love it.

The coolest part about Thursday is that I got moved into the advanced class. Rather than stay here 12 weeks I'll be staying here 6. I got a new companion, too. She had been a solo sister before, but now there are other sisters so she gets a companion! She's super happy about it, and I like her a lot, so it's pretty mutual fun.

Everyday we can eat lunch fast, or use our personal study time to go to practice teaching appointments. These are when we go and teach to a teacher who is pretending to be an investigator. Since I missed 6 weeks of practice, I'm way behind. The rest of my new district is already teaching entirely in Japanese, and they've had a lot of practice at being smooth, relaxed, confident teachers. My Japanese can take care of itself for the most part (I had to learn a TON of new gospel words), but my teaching skills are still lacking.

The food here is so delicious, I can see why people gain weight. Also, they in no way try to make you eat a balanced meal. You actually have to plan pretty carefully in order to eat right. As it is, I really need to get some more fiber and vitamins in my diet. There's way too much temptation to eat unhealthy food. Curse you, delicious cafeteria food!

$10 says I'll be sick of it by next week, though. Any takers?

Anyway, the coolest part here is how much you feel the Spirit. You really do. I was worried the first day (I wasn't feeling too spiritual) but I've just had so many experiences since then. It's really been amazing. I probably will sound like one of "those" missionaries for a while, but please put up with me. It totally rocks here.

People have been going pretty easy on me, even though I'm in the advanced district. I still haven't been in the MTC for a week (It's only been a week?!) so people don't expect me to have the same hymns and scriptures memorized in Japanese like they do. They also don't expect me to have a well thought out talk on Sunday.

Oh! That's something neat about the MTC. Every Sunday you have to prepare a 5-minute talk before Sacrament meeting. There's a catch: you only find out what the meeting "theme" is Sunday morning. So Sunday afternoon everyone writes a talk. The Senpai (advanced districts) assured the kouhai (new districts with new missionaries) that the kouhai wouldn't have to speak on Sunday. No one expected them to know Japanese yet. Since I'm still a new missionary, they assured me I wouldn't speak either. There were still senpai who haven't spoken, and NO ONE speaks their first Sunday.

Well, I guess I broke that record. Guess who got called to speak this last Sunday?

Me, in case you couldn't guess. There was a pretty big gasp and a lot of whispered, "Aw, no WAY..."'s in the crowd when they asked me to come up and give a talk. The theme was baptism. I'm so glad I prepared!

The Branch President thanked me for speaking afterward. I thought it was pretty awesome, but I was super surprised. I guess they're going with the Trial by Fire method sometimes.

Well, that's about all the time I have. If you want to contact me, I suggest using Dear Elder, please. If you want to e-mail me, contact a member of my family. Hopefully they'll have my e-mail address.

See you next week!

Thought of the Week

2009-09-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

Good taste is the enemy of comedy.
Mel Brooks (1926 - )

What is this blog? The inevitable introduction

2009-09-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended for people to read while I am on my mission. It's a public blog so I would not post any seriously private information, such as addresses, phone numbers, first + last names, or anything of the like. If you need to send any of that information to me, either send it to my usual e-mail address, or send it to my sister Shana, who is moderating this blog. A link to her blog can be found at balgram.blogspot.com. Ideally though, and seriously, just send it to me via e-mail or letter. Anyway.

Many of the posts on this blog have been written in advance, and the blog will update a few times, at least once a week, while I am gone. The current plan is to have a thought/random message or joke once a week (Saturday) and a real post from me on my mission once a week (Sunday).

I wanted to have a comic here too, but that's just not likely, seeing as I never actually uploaded all those pictures I drew.

Thoughts

These thoughts will just be random thoughts, quotes, and other posts that I want to record. Most of the time it will be neat quotes or poems that I like. Some of the thoughts will be totally random, of course. I strongly suspect that this day will be the least cool, which is why it will update on Saturdays, when you all have better things to do anyway. These posts will invariably be short.

Sunday Posts

These posts will depend on my mission situation. If I can use e-mail, I will be sending an e-mail to my family with a section "For the blog" that they can then copy and paste here, updating for me. I've spoken with my sister and she has indicated willingness to update my blog on my behalf. This post will be my current mission life.