I feel so sorry for the both of you, you both seem so bored! At least Grandpa has DSL. That would keep me occupied at least. Maybe Mommy can find some new scrapbooking ideas online or something. And at least Grandpa has new sprinklers that break. I would feel bad but if I remember correctly the old sprinklers were breaking too. Yep. That's grandpa's life for you. Poor grandpa.
Let me get a few things out of the way first. Dad, you should try the elephant stew. It sounds おいしい (delicious). I figure I should throw in the Japanese words so you have something to do - like looking them up.
As far as a skirt, I don't have anything to measure it with. But I think I'm a size 18 on the bottom ish. Elastic in the waist is probably best because if the stories I hear from missionaries are true, then I will loose about 5 kilos in the summer from sweat, then gain it all back in winter. The length needs to be long. I wish I could explain that better, but I can't. The real important thing is that they are straight down from the waist. If they flare out then they get at least dirty from my black tire or, at most, caught in the brakes. Oh, and the fabric should be really breathable, like cotton, not polyster, if at all possible.
See, it's hot in Utah but that is nothing compared to Japan. The つゆ (sauce that you dip tempura in (?))is over, so now it's just hot. Yet it's still as humid as it was when it was raining. Crazy! We sleep with the AC on, of course, but this morning when we put our futons outside to air out (we hang them from the back of our patio area. It's one of the characteristics of a Japanese apartment complex) we were suddenly hit by the most disgusting humid wind. I think I'm going to die. So yes, please get me breathable fabrics. In the winter, I'll probably ask you to send me thick skirts.
The skirt can have a pattern on it as long as it's not gaudy. Anyway, anything you send me will probably be just fine. Other things I want- peanut butter? But don't go all crazy and send me a huge amount of it. I have to carry it around in my suitcase you know. But I would love some crunchy peanut butter.
I'm so glad I made it into the ISYS Program! w00t! I was meaning to ask you about it a few emails ago, but I would forget. Yay! I have something to come back to! Thanks for accepting with the delay and all that. But actually I don't know if that's what I want to do....
haha, just kidding! I figure I can't really change my mind anymore or the university will kick me out. My only fear now is counquering Accounting 201. Accounting 200 was probably the hardest thing I had ever done.
This week we took a quick adventure over to Nagasaki. We did splits with the sisters there. I was so happy to get out of this crazy city.
I realize now that the people in Fukuoka are kinda mean. It's the biggest city on this island, so I guess that's to be expected. People in Nagasaki would say hello to me on the street. Maybe that's because I was a gaijin on a bike with a helmet. No one in Nagasaki rides a bike because it's known as the most hilly of all the mission areas.
Seriously. I thought I was going to die. We came to a place that my companion for the day told me was a short cut. I had to carry the bike up 13 steps. It was crazy!
I'm sorry this email is so short! Today is district P-day, which means that we don't have time! All the missionaries from the district are coming to our area to go bowling. It will be good to have fun. I promise a longer e-mail next week. がんばって (good luck).
Sarah
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
I`m glad you`re cold in the basement...
...because it`s not cold in Japan. We thought the つゆwas over, but it started raining again. My companion came from the つゆlast transfer, so I guess it`s following her. Great. For the record, she is not Hispanic. I told her that my dad thought she was and she rolled her eyes. She is full bred American, as far as she knows. She just has some darker skin. Perhaps she has Native American blood, who knows.
She`s ぺたぺた as the phrase goes. That means she`s good at Japanese. So people play the 何人 game with her. That means they spend an hour guessing what ethnicity she is from instead of just asking her. The most popular answer is Okinawan. Nope. But she does look pretty cool in a kimono, doesn`t she? I hope to go to a different dollar store soon to get a converter for my SD Card. At the end of this email I`ll see if I can borrow my companion`s converter - if she remembered to bring it. I`m not 日本人 enough to take pictures at every moment of the day, but I do have a few cute ones I think. I know you`ll appreciate it.
Is the Japanese appearing on your screen in Gmail? It`s really fun to type in Japanese, because you type in in romanji, then it figures out the hiragana, then you push the space bar and it tells you the possible kanji you could be trying to use. Yep. It`s pretty smart.
I`m also training my pinky to go next to the P key to get the ` symbol. Is that all working on your end? Good luck with translating the random 日本語の言葉 I`m throwing into the middle of this.
I have a mission for the two of you. Go to DI and find me another skirt or two. The favorite skirt that I brought is randomly from DI.
It`s hard to ride a bike in a skirt. Well, it`s hard to ride a mountain bike in a skirt. I have different categories my skirts fall into. The skirts I can`t really ride a bike in, the skirts I can`t wear in the wind, and the skirts that are okay. The skirts in the last category are from DI. They are the most boring knit fabric you can think of. They don`t poof out so they don`t get stuck in my brakes. Remember the skirts need to be long enough to hit my mid calf. Oh, and dark conservative colors are the best. I don`t think I can find a skirt my size in Japan. The people here just run in different sizes, you know? I asked my mission president`s wife about finding a skirt, and she`s not a small size. She said she ended up asking someone in America to mail it to her. So, that`s your mission.
Find me at least one new skirt. In the mean time, I`ve just been re-wearing skirts. I mean, the rain is just like washing it, right?
About my bike, I learned this week that your bike seat is supposed to be low enough that you can have the whole ball of your foot on the ground. Well, I`ve had it a little higher than that - the reason is that it`s easier to pedal when you don`t have to bend your legs as much. So I lowered my bike seat to be a proper biker, but my thighs started burning. A lot. But then my back stopped getting so sore every night. Now I think I`ll trade off and do the bike seat low until I can`t stand it any more. Yep. Me and my bike. I think I`m going to miss my bike like I`ve missed my car.
It`s funny to me to hear about Jim and Julie`s house changing. That house will forever be the same in my mind. It`s burned in my memory.
This week I had a gaijin moment. We were waiting at a red light and a gaijin turned the corner. He walked right on by, but he caught our eye and did the smile head nod thing. My companion right after was like, "you just had a gaijin moment, didn`t you?" Yep. It`s hard to explain. In that split second, we both understood that we`re weirdos in this weird Japanese world. It`s hard to explain. So to answer mom`s question, no, I don`t think I`m Japanese. I never will be.
Sometimes I think Japanese people are walking contradictions. For example, they are super health conscious. They eat the most disgusting foods, "because it`s good for you". When they are sick, they wear really funny looking face masks to keep them from spreading germs.
Yet, they don`t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. And when they do wash their hands, it`s really only with water. The toilets have water that comes down to fill the water tank behind the toilet, and they stick their hands under there for a minute to get them wet and then call them clean. Weird. Another example, is Japanese people are really quiet. I mean, the bus, subway, and who knows what else is completely silent. This Internet cafe, is silent.
My previous companion told me to be careful not to slam the door when we come home for the day. Yet, there are these vans that drive around with a microphone on top. I asked my companion, and she said election day is coming up soon. So they drive these really annoying vans around to promote whoever they`re supporting. I was like, what? Aren`t Japanese people quiet?
I`ll write more contradictions as I figure them out. Besides everything I wrote above, I can`t think of anything else. Dad, I think I will expect a scriptural metaphor in every email now. がんばって.
Love you,
Sarah
She`s ぺたぺた as the phrase goes. That means she`s good at Japanese. So people play the 何人 game with her. That means they spend an hour guessing what ethnicity she is from instead of just asking her. The most popular answer is Okinawan. Nope. But she does look pretty cool in a kimono, doesn`t she? I hope to go to a different dollar store soon to get a converter for my SD Card. At the end of this email I`ll see if I can borrow my companion`s converter - if she remembered to bring it. I`m not 日本人 enough to take pictures at every moment of the day, but I do have a few cute ones I think. I know you`ll appreciate it.
Is the Japanese appearing on your screen in Gmail? It`s really fun to type in Japanese, because you type in in romanji, then it figures out the hiragana, then you push the space bar and it tells you the possible kanji you could be trying to use. Yep. It`s pretty smart.
I`m also training my pinky to go next to the P key to get the ` symbol. Is that all working on your end? Good luck with translating the random 日本語の言葉 I`m throwing into the middle of this.
I have a mission for the two of you. Go to DI and find me another skirt or two. The favorite skirt that I brought is randomly from DI.
It`s hard to ride a bike in a skirt. Well, it`s hard to ride a mountain bike in a skirt. I have different categories my skirts fall into. The skirts I can`t really ride a bike in, the skirts I can`t wear in the wind, and the skirts that are okay. The skirts in the last category are from DI. They are the most boring knit fabric you can think of. They don`t poof out so they don`t get stuck in my brakes. Remember the skirts need to be long enough to hit my mid calf. Oh, and dark conservative colors are the best. I don`t think I can find a skirt my size in Japan. The people here just run in different sizes, you know? I asked my mission president`s wife about finding a skirt, and she`s not a small size. She said she ended up asking someone in America to mail it to her. So, that`s your mission.
Find me at least one new skirt. In the mean time, I`ve just been re-wearing skirts. I mean, the rain is just like washing it, right?
About my bike, I learned this week that your bike seat is supposed to be low enough that you can have the whole ball of your foot on the ground. Well, I`ve had it a little higher than that - the reason is that it`s easier to pedal when you don`t have to bend your legs as much. So I lowered my bike seat to be a proper biker, but my thighs started burning. A lot. But then my back stopped getting so sore every night. Now I think I`ll trade off and do the bike seat low until I can`t stand it any more. Yep. Me and my bike. I think I`m going to miss my bike like I`ve missed my car.
It`s funny to me to hear about Jim and Julie`s house changing. That house will forever be the same in my mind. It`s burned in my memory.
This week I had a gaijin moment. We were waiting at a red light and a gaijin turned the corner. He walked right on by, but he caught our eye and did the smile head nod thing. My companion right after was like, "you just had a gaijin moment, didn`t you?" Yep. It`s hard to explain. In that split second, we both understood that we`re weirdos in this weird Japanese world. It`s hard to explain. So to answer mom`s question, no, I don`t think I`m Japanese. I never will be.
Sometimes I think Japanese people are walking contradictions. For example, they are super health conscious. They eat the most disgusting foods, "because it`s good for you". When they are sick, they wear really funny looking face masks to keep them from spreading germs.
Yet, they don`t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. And when they do wash their hands, it`s really only with water. The toilets have water that comes down to fill the water tank behind the toilet, and they stick their hands under there for a minute to get them wet and then call them clean. Weird. Another example, is Japanese people are really quiet. I mean, the bus, subway, and who knows what else is completely silent. This Internet cafe, is silent.
My previous companion told me to be careful not to slam the door when we come home for the day. Yet, there are these vans that drive around with a microphone on top. I asked my companion, and she said election day is coming up soon. So they drive these really annoying vans around to promote whoever they`re supporting. I was like, what? Aren`t Japanese people quiet?
I`ll write more contradictions as I figure them out. Besides everything I wrote above, I can`t think of anything else. Dad, I think I will expect a scriptural metaphor in every email now. がんばって.
Love you,
Sarah
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The rainy season continues
I'm glad to hear that you are both settled in Grandpa's basement. I know moving (again) was really hard on you, but I'm really glad I wasn't there. Ugh, I love packing things in little boxes and playing life-sized tetris with them, but I don't like not having a bed/futon to sleep on, and having a zillion things to do.
Yep. No fears on the job - you have about a year to get settled somewhere before I come home. This is thinking a little bit ahead, but when I get released from my mission I won't have a lot of time before school starts. I probably start school with jet lag. Anyway, we'll worry about that when the time comes. My companion got her *death call* as they call it, last transfers. She knows exactly when she will leave, and then she had to figure stuff out, like who is going to come visit her, and for how long, etc. So we'll deal with that much later. The death call doesn't come until about 6 months before the end of your mission. So we'll cross that road then.
I was happy to get an email from Grandpa. I was actually kinda shocked. With his automatic sprinkler, and also with the DSL.
Oh, and for the record, I really don't have that much stuff. I mean, sure it took me 2 trips to get it all to Denver, but that was my little Kia, which I hope is still alive. You had two cars. I think the real question is how much stuff you have! Did it weigh 2 tons again?
We have a new family in the ward - from America. The dad has been here starting work, while the mom was packing with her 3 kids under 11. She sold or gave everything away. The rest is coming over by boat. I wonder when it will come.... haha. So at least you didn't have to ship your stuff by boat. That could be interesting.
I have more than enough dendo money. It's like it's expensive to live in Japan. But it's not really, if you just ride your bike everywhere. My bike and I are real close. There's a joke that you always need to have three things. The spirit, your companion, and your bike. Yep. I think I'm doing okay right now.
This week we have had a couple of adventures. On Thursday morning we traveled again to Noko Island. There is a part-member family there who has a non-member friend. She is a 60 year old widow who has a giant bamboo field. So some ward missionaries, my companion and I, and the zone leaders from the next area over came to do this service.
So imagine me, in Japan, with a sickle thing, cutting down bamboo. So bamboo grows really well in Japan. Too well, so we had to cut down the little small bamboo trees that were growing so that the crop as a whole is stronger. Some of these trees are HUGE. And then we have some that went bad, and we had to tear them down and make piles. It was hot, muggy, and surprisingly fun. Bamboo is such an interesting tree. It has little chambers all the way up that hold... water? But some started decomposing so if we cracked it dirty water came out. In some it was more pasty. It was kinda brown, so we called it peanut butter. Yummy. It got all over one of the Elder's face when he cracked a fallen tree above him. It was like we were in the jungle...of bamboo trees.
The other adventure we had this week involved finding this one member's house. There was a warning on the member page in our missionary binder that said it was 40 mins by bike away. It was written in red pen. Lindsay Shimai wanted to see the full extent of our area, and we hadn't been there yet, and we had time, so we went for it.
It took us 2 hours. Seriously. There was a slight incline the whole way.
Especially at the end. This family:s house was on top of a mountain.
So we got to this one place on the map and saw stairs in real life.
Oh, so that:s what the dotted line on the map meant. We could have gotten to the top by doing a switchback on our bikes, but we joked about just taking our bikes up the stairs. Haha. Good one, right?
But then my companion started up the stairs by pushing/pulling her bike up. I told her I thought she was kidding. Nope. I'll send those pictures next. I have one with my companion pulling her bike up. I think the subtitle of those pictures will be, and I thought my companion was kidding. On the way back it only took us 1 hour. When we got home that night we wrote a *special precaution* on the member sheet. 40 minutes if you are an Elder. 2 hours if you are a Sister. I can't believe I could do that. I truly have thunder thighs.
So that's pretty much what we've been doing. Today, the sisters from Nakatsu are coming over for P-day. Tomorrow is zone conference and they need somewhere to sleep. But they're coming early so we can go bowling. I'm excited. Tomorrow's zone conference is all the missionaries on the island of Kyushu, and all the missionaries that we just got from the Hiroshima Mission.
Did I tell you that the Hiroshima MIssion, just north of us, split, and we get half and the Kobe mission gets half? So we want to welcome them. The mission president wanted to get the missionaries from Okinawa also to come up for the conference, but it wasn't approved by the area presidency. Oh well. But that means that tomorrow I will get to see my MTC Companion. I'm so excited! I wonder who is going to feed this army of Helaman?
Random thing about Japan #52; the vegetables here are absolutely perfect. In America, when you buy strawberries, you buy it knowing you are going to throw a few of them away, but use the rest. Here, the fruit and veggies are the most perfect things you have ever seen in your life. I don't know if I've ever seen a perfect giant eggplant before in my life. Did you know eggplant really has a lot of flavor? You should try it in your cooking. I'm serious. Just fry it with your other veggies. It's magic.
Okay, until next week, cya 頑張って！
檸檬 姉妹
Remon Shimai
Isn't *lemon* in Japanese a crazy Kanji? It:s something like 20 strokes for each character. Most Nihonjin just say レモン.
P.S. Let me know if you can see that Kanji. I think it's pretty cool.
Yep. No fears on the job - you have about a year to get settled somewhere before I come home. This is thinking a little bit ahead, but when I get released from my mission I won't have a lot of time before school starts. I probably start school with jet lag. Anyway, we'll worry about that when the time comes. My companion got her *death call* as they call it, last transfers. She knows exactly when she will leave, and then she had to figure stuff out, like who is going to come visit her, and for how long, etc. So we'll deal with that much later. The death call doesn't come until about 6 months before the end of your mission. So we'll cross that road then.
I was happy to get an email from Grandpa. I was actually kinda shocked. With his automatic sprinkler, and also with the DSL.
Oh, and for the record, I really don't have that much stuff. I mean, sure it took me 2 trips to get it all to Denver, but that was my little Kia, which I hope is still alive. You had two cars. I think the real question is how much stuff you have! Did it weigh 2 tons again?
We have a new family in the ward - from America. The dad has been here starting work, while the mom was packing with her 3 kids under 11. She sold or gave everything away. The rest is coming over by boat. I wonder when it will come.... haha. So at least you didn't have to ship your stuff by boat. That could be interesting.
I have more than enough dendo money. It's like it's expensive to live in Japan. But it's not really, if you just ride your bike everywhere. My bike and I are real close. There's a joke that you always need to have three things. The spirit, your companion, and your bike. Yep. I think I'm doing okay right now.
This week we have had a couple of adventures. On Thursday morning we traveled again to Noko Island. There is a part-member family there who has a non-member friend. She is a 60 year old widow who has a giant bamboo field. So some ward missionaries, my companion and I, and the zone leaders from the next area over came to do this service.
So imagine me, in Japan, with a sickle thing, cutting down bamboo. So bamboo grows really well in Japan. Too well, so we had to cut down the little small bamboo trees that were growing so that the crop as a whole is stronger. Some of these trees are HUGE. And then we have some that went bad, and we had to tear them down and make piles. It was hot, muggy, and surprisingly fun. Bamboo is such an interesting tree. It has little chambers all the way up that hold... water? But some started decomposing so if we cracked it dirty water came out. In some it was more pasty. It was kinda brown, so we called it peanut butter. Yummy. It got all over one of the Elder's face when he cracked a fallen tree above him. It was like we were in the jungle...of bamboo trees.
The other adventure we had this week involved finding this one member's house. There was a warning on the member page in our missionary binder that said it was 40 mins by bike away. It was written in red pen. Lindsay Shimai wanted to see the full extent of our area, and we hadn't been there yet, and we had time, so we went for it.
It took us 2 hours. Seriously. There was a slight incline the whole way.
Especially at the end. This family:s house was on top of a mountain.
So we got to this one place on the map and saw stairs in real life.
Oh, so that:s what the dotted line on the map meant. We could have gotten to the top by doing a switchback on our bikes, but we joked about just taking our bikes up the stairs. Haha. Good one, right?
But then my companion started up the stairs by pushing/pulling her bike up. I told her I thought she was kidding. Nope. I'll send those pictures next. I have one with my companion pulling her bike up. I think the subtitle of those pictures will be, and I thought my companion was kidding. On the way back it only took us 1 hour. When we got home that night we wrote a *special precaution* on the member sheet. 40 minutes if you are an Elder. 2 hours if you are a Sister. I can't believe I could do that. I truly have thunder thighs.
So that's pretty much what we've been doing. Today, the sisters from Nakatsu are coming over for P-day. Tomorrow is zone conference and they need somewhere to sleep. But they're coming early so we can go bowling. I'm excited. Tomorrow's zone conference is all the missionaries on the island of Kyushu, and all the missionaries that we just got from the Hiroshima Mission.
Did I tell you that the Hiroshima MIssion, just north of us, split, and we get half and the Kobe mission gets half? So we want to welcome them. The mission president wanted to get the missionaries from Okinawa also to come up for the conference, but it wasn't approved by the area presidency. Oh well. But that means that tomorrow I will get to see my MTC Companion. I'm so excited! I wonder who is going to feed this army of Helaman?
Random thing about Japan #52; the vegetables here are absolutely perfect. In America, when you buy strawberries, you buy it knowing you are going to throw a few of them away, but use the rest. Here, the fruit and veggies are the most perfect things you have ever seen in your life. I don't know if I've ever seen a perfect giant eggplant before in my life. Did you know eggplant really has a lot of flavor? You should try it in your cooking. I'm serious. Just fry it with your other veggies. It's magic.
Okay, until next week, cya 頑張って！
檸檬 姉妹
Remon Shimai
Isn't *lemon* in Japanese a crazy Kanji? It:s something like 20 strokes for each character. Most Nihonjin just say レモン.
P.S. Let me know if you can see that Kanji. I think it's pretty cool.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Still in Fujisaki!!
So I finished reading Daddy's letter and read the part where the computer is packed so she didn't send a letter. Oh well, I guess I'll get over it. Luckily I did get a letter from Jay, who managed a whole two sentences in his email. Haha. That's Jay. So he:s still alive, as of last week. John must be busy with Stacey, because I still haven't heard from him. My guess is you don't hear from him much either. They'll change later... maybe?
So I'm still in Fukuoka. The transfer call came and my companion handed me the phone. I was like, oh no, I'm being transfered! How is that possible? I just barely got here, you know? But the call was just to say that my new companion is Sister Lindsay. She is a gaijin, do you remember that means foreigner?, from Texas. She is what I imagined my trainer would be like. You know? When I left the MTC, I believed that my trainer would be 100% obedient, love to do missionary work, and would show me how to do everything. Now I realize that I didn't get any of that. But now I get that with Lindsay Shimai. She likes to obey the rules. And I think we all know how bad I feel if I break a rule. So this is going to work.
My trainer would do things like stay up on the phone talking to her investigator/friend until 11 pm. Bed is at 10.30, and I couldn't go to sleep without praying with her first. It was the most frusterating thing. My trainer would do things like plan *activities* with investigators, that would last 3 or 5 hours, then share one scripture at the very end that was loosely related to what we were doing. That frusterated me too, but I guess I just kinda thought that was how missionary life was.
Now I have Lindsay Shimai who is all about teaching the doctrine, not the warm and fuzzies. We don't teach warm fuzzies - that's what the Spirit is for. Also, I felt like my trainer put the investigators first in her life. Lindsay Shimai puts our companionship first so that we can work together to teach the lessons. Basically what I'm saying is Lindsay Shimai is what I pictured my trainer to be, but wasn't. Motegi Shimai was great and had her strengths, but wasn't what I needed right off when I got to Japan. I'm so much happier now without even knowing that I was sad before.
Lindsay Shimai is teaching me how to cook in Japan. See, I can cook in America, where I know what the cans say, and I know what vegetables look like, but in the Japanese grocery store even the cucumbers look different. So I'm learning. When I return I think I will be able to cook anything. Japanese people are funny when they cook. Most Japanese people don't understand the difference between Baking Powder and Baking Soda. They really just use Baking Powder for their breads and such. So when I asked about Baking Soda, they directed me to Baking Powder. How do you explain that it's totally different? So Lindsay Shimai promised we can find some today. She has been in Japan for almost a year now. Her first 4 companions were Japanese, so she understands how I really don't know anything. Do you know you need to wash the preservative off the rice before you cook it? Yeah, I kinda knew that, but not really.
So Lindsay Shimai came by bus, and she had all 3 of her suitcases.
And they were definitely really really heavy. I guess that's what happens when you've been in Japan forever. Which reminded me that my big suitcase is broken. The wheel bolt broke, so the wheel won:t stay attached to the suitcase. When I (eventually) get transfered that:s going to be a real pain. I'm going to look into getting it fixed -- one way or another -- before I get transfered. If I can't I might need to buy a new suitcase. Suitcases are one thing that are not sold at the dollar stores.
I guess I should also mention that one of our investigators got baptized this past weekend. Yep. I'll send you a picture some time.
Her name is Kamishima san. Kami is God, and Shima is island -- not to be confused with Shimai which means sister. She is about 50 years old, and has lived alone her whole life. She doesn't have a husband, boyfriend, or children. She's way lonely. But now she has the ward family. She's the one I think I mentioned that really needed to quit smoking. 2 boxes a day is just too much for anyone. Once she stopped smoking she was baptized a week after. It was crazy, because that was just during transfers. So I had to watch Motegi Shimai pack, get my new companion at the bus station, watch my new companion unpack, call a dozen people to announce the new missionary. Then we sat down on Friday and pretty much called the whole ward to come to her baptism. We just went right down the line and told everyone.
Now that she is a member, she wants to actually understand what she believes. Haha. We taught her all the lessons before, and she knew it was true, but she didn:t really understand it. So now she wants to understand and has all sorts of questions. It doesn't help that she:s not really literate. The Kanji in the normal study brochures are hard for her, nonetheless the Book of Mormon with old Japanese words. But that's the first baptism I've seen.
Notice my wording - the first baptism that I've seen. I realize now that a missionary can't really count how many baptisms they've had. I feel like a lot of the time, there is someone that did the finding and the teaching, but they aren't there for the baptizing, you know? So who knows how many people I will touch that will get baptized. Who knows how many baptisms I will see. It's hard to measure.
In other news, there is a package in the mail for father:s day. I mailed it to Grandpa:s house, just to be safe. I don't know how long it will take to get there. The gifts are small - literally - because they had to fit in an envelope. I wish it was mother's day because there's so much more stuff for mother's day in the dollar store that are high quality. What am I going to do when I return and the dollar stores are no good? Go to Walmart? It's just not the same!
Also, I really didn't leave that much stuff in the basement. I don't know what you're talking about. Dad has 30 book boxes, and Mom has 30 basket boxes. So what if I have about 10 boxes. You had 2 tons of stuff last time, remember? Don't forget to weigh it this time - I want to know the number. Thanks for the updates on the jobs. Maybe you could work for a company in Europe. I think that would be pretty cool.
Sarah
So I'm still in Fukuoka. The transfer call came and my companion handed me the phone. I was like, oh no, I'm being transfered! How is that possible? I just barely got here, you know? But the call was just to say that my new companion is Sister Lindsay. She is a gaijin, do you remember that means foreigner?, from Texas. She is what I imagined my trainer would be like. You know? When I left the MTC, I believed that my trainer would be 100% obedient, love to do missionary work, and would show me how to do everything. Now I realize that I didn't get any of that. But now I get that with Lindsay Shimai. She likes to obey the rules. And I think we all know how bad I feel if I break a rule. So this is going to work.
My trainer would do things like stay up on the phone talking to her investigator/friend until 11 pm. Bed is at 10.30, and I couldn't go to sleep without praying with her first. It was the most frusterating thing. My trainer would do things like plan *activities* with investigators, that would last 3 or 5 hours, then share one scripture at the very end that was loosely related to what we were doing. That frusterated me too, but I guess I just kinda thought that was how missionary life was.
Now I have Lindsay Shimai who is all about teaching the doctrine, not the warm and fuzzies. We don't teach warm fuzzies - that's what the Spirit is for. Also, I felt like my trainer put the investigators first in her life. Lindsay Shimai puts our companionship first so that we can work together to teach the lessons. Basically what I'm saying is Lindsay Shimai is what I pictured my trainer to be, but wasn't. Motegi Shimai was great and had her strengths, but wasn't what I needed right off when I got to Japan. I'm so much happier now without even knowing that I was sad before.
Lindsay Shimai is teaching me how to cook in Japan. See, I can cook in America, where I know what the cans say, and I know what vegetables look like, but in the Japanese grocery store even the cucumbers look different. So I'm learning. When I return I think I will be able to cook anything. Japanese people are funny when they cook. Most Japanese people don't understand the difference between Baking Powder and Baking Soda. They really just use Baking Powder for their breads and such. So when I asked about Baking Soda, they directed me to Baking Powder. How do you explain that it's totally different? So Lindsay Shimai promised we can find some today. She has been in Japan for almost a year now. Her first 4 companions were Japanese, so she understands how I really don't know anything. Do you know you need to wash the preservative off the rice before you cook it? Yeah, I kinda knew that, but not really.
So Lindsay Shimai came by bus, and she had all 3 of her suitcases.
And they were definitely really really heavy. I guess that's what happens when you've been in Japan forever. Which reminded me that my big suitcase is broken. The wheel bolt broke, so the wheel won:t stay attached to the suitcase. When I (eventually) get transfered that:s going to be a real pain. I'm going to look into getting it fixed -- one way or another -- before I get transfered. If I can't I might need to buy a new suitcase. Suitcases are one thing that are not sold at the dollar stores.
I guess I should also mention that one of our investigators got baptized this past weekend. Yep. I'll send you a picture some time.
Her name is Kamishima san. Kami is God, and Shima is island -- not to be confused with Shimai which means sister. She is about 50 years old, and has lived alone her whole life. She doesn't have a husband, boyfriend, or children. She's way lonely. But now she has the ward family. She's the one I think I mentioned that really needed to quit smoking. 2 boxes a day is just too much for anyone. Once she stopped smoking she was baptized a week after. It was crazy, because that was just during transfers. So I had to watch Motegi Shimai pack, get my new companion at the bus station, watch my new companion unpack, call a dozen people to announce the new missionary. Then we sat down on Friday and pretty much called the whole ward to come to her baptism. We just went right down the line and told everyone.
Now that she is a member, she wants to actually understand what she believes. Haha. We taught her all the lessons before, and she knew it was true, but she didn:t really understand it. So now she wants to understand and has all sorts of questions. It doesn't help that she:s not really literate. The Kanji in the normal study brochures are hard for her, nonetheless the Book of Mormon with old Japanese words. But that's the first baptism I've seen.
Notice my wording - the first baptism that I've seen. I realize now that a missionary can't really count how many baptisms they've had. I feel like a lot of the time, there is someone that did the finding and the teaching, but they aren't there for the baptizing, you know? So who knows how many people I will touch that will get baptized. Who knows how many baptisms I will see. It's hard to measure.
In other news, there is a package in the mail for father:s day. I mailed it to Grandpa:s house, just to be safe. I don't know how long it will take to get there. The gifts are small - literally - because they had to fit in an envelope. I wish it was mother's day because there's so much more stuff for mother's day in the dollar store that are high quality. What am I going to do when I return and the dollar stores are no good? Go to Walmart? It's just not the same!
Also, I really didn't leave that much stuff in the basement. I don't know what you're talking about. Dad has 30 book boxes, and Mom has 30 basket boxes. So what if I have about 10 boxes. You had 2 tons of stuff last time, remember? Don't forget to weigh it this time - I want to know the number. Thanks for the updates on the jobs. Maybe you could work for a company in Europe. I think that would be pretty cool.
Sarah
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