Monkeys

So this week we went on an adventure. Well, we were over in Jonan-ku which in Japanese is ³ÇÄÏÇø, (you might want to pull up your google maps of Fukuoka Japan for this story). We were visiting an old investigator. She was dropped as an investigator when I first came to Japan because she's, well, CRAZY. But then a few weeks ago she called us and said that she wanted to meet us again. So we trudged over to her house in Japan were it is about 700 degrees. Okay, so I don't know how hot it is here because I don't check it on Google every morning, and because I don't quite have a feeling for Celsius yet.


So, we visit her and she is still crazy. She was saying that she read this book about aliens that came to the earth, and how she thinks they're gods, and how one of them was named Jehovah, so she thinks this alien was a resurrected Christ or something. So, yeah, she's crazy. We were over for about 3 hours, trying to get away, but she pretty much doesn't let us leave. Right when we were about to leave, she said we couldn't leave yet because she made us dinner. Despite her weirdness, she is a really good cook, so we quickly inhaled the Japanese curry, rice, pickled garlic (it was slightly questionable) and some wheat tea (which is one of the only teas that we can drink here). Then we finally escaped, but that wasn't the end of our journey.

We needed to go visit a member that was in the hospital. She hurt her back and has to be in rehab for about a month. But the rehab center was on the far side of Nishi-ku, which in Japanese in Î÷Çø. So, we start going. The problem is the roads in Japan are not straight. We thought the roads in Kentucky were bad, but that's nothing compared to Japan. It's pretty bad. So because none of the roads go straight, we had to go a little out of our way to get there. On the way we follow the Japanese highway. It's not a freeway because you have to pay for it, and it's definitely a highway because it's above the normal road.

So we're following this construction when I look over at the orange construction cones, and see monkeys. Please see the attached picture.

The monkeys are holding up the construction barriers! I hear that in Okinawa they are cute little rabbits that hold up the pole with their ears. So naturally, as missionaries, we took a picture. The best part is after going for about 20 minutes the cones changed to ugly green triangles with zero design to them. My companion told me that we passed the monkey level and we were on to level two! Then we must have failed level 2 because the monkeys came back.

So, about an hour later, in the heat, drinking our weight in water a few times, we make it to the rehab center and visit this member. Then we find out that she has found a less active in the rehab center.

They were all siting around for dinner or something (there are probably about 300 people in this rehab center) and the member noticed this woman wasn't drinking tea. So, she asked about it and this less active said that she is a Christian and so doesn't drink tea. The member says she's morumon-kyo, and the less active is like, oh yeah, that's what it's called. So we visit the member and the less active in the rehab center. When we went to ward council we watched the ward try to remember this girl who was baptized 35 years ago, who claims in was in that ward. Yeah, they can't find her record. This less active might have forgotten the name or her religion, but she was still following the word of wisdom, which is usually the first thing to go when someone goes inactive (or the cause of someone going inactive).

So when this less-active gets out of the rehab center in 2 months, she'll be coming to church with the best member missionary who found her in the rehab center. The member is really cool too. She comes to church every Sunday in a kimono. When she gets out, she's going to dress us all up. Yeah! But she's also a good member because the fact that she is willing to talk about her religion to someone at a rehab center is pretty cool. Most people in Japan are really strong in the church, but wouldn't dare talk to their friends or strangers about the gospel. That is like breaking some Japanese taboo.

So, there's my story for the week. It's way better than Dad's Vegas story, and it's real. Okay, so I combined a few things, here and there, to make the story have a better flow, but everything in those paragraphs actually happened. I figured you two need a good story.

To answer some of your questions:

I don't wear pantyhose. I have to between October and April in Kyushu, and December to February in Okinawa. The view from my apartment is pretty lame.

I look at other apartments. Fukuoka is kinda a big city, even though I kinda live in the suburban area instead of the downtown part. When we leave our apartment, I do get a good look at Fukuoka tower, which is the big skyscraper in Fukuoka. We gauge how humid it is by how much of the tower we can see. Two days ago it was so hot that we could only see the top half of the tower. Maybe it was pollution, but pollution isn't really a big deal here. The cars are all super clean, and most people ride on their bikes anyway.

I have finally gotten used to sleeping on the floor. The futons aren't really much padding, so we sleep on two lower futons and have one over us as a blanket. And don't worry, I wash my sheets regularly. However, we also sleep on tatami floors, which have a little bit of a spring to them, so it's not like sleeping on hardwood floors. Either way, poor J-man! I'm glad he finally got a bed.

Thanks again for the skirts. I think I'm good on skirts for... well, the rest of my life. All the skirts work because they have elastic in the waist. I have no idea what size I am right now, but I hope I continue to loose weight. The big black one is too heavy for the summer, but will come in handy in the winter. I knew the wrapping paper came from Grandpa's basement the moment I saw it. They just don't quite make wrapping paper like that anymore. Ha ha. And I've been enjoying the trail mix. The Werthers are all gone (yummy), but I have been snacking on the peanut butter from time to time.

I would like to make a request for sunscreen. Japanese sunscreen is made for Japanese people, not white people. But I'm a little particular on my sunscreen. I like the stuff that comes in the blue bottle, Coppertone maybe, and it says 'faces' on it because it's not as oily. Could you send me some. Oh, and I know your tendency might be to send me the biggest one you can find, but that doesn't fit in my bags for junkai (missionary splits), so how about a big one and a small one? You know, the nice travel sized one? Thank you! I have enough for a few more weeks, so don't stress about it too much. Thanks!