Busy busy busy busy week

I'm sorry I can't think up better Subject lines for my emails. Maybe I should start doing stuff like numbering them 1, 2, 3, etc.

Let me start chronologically, since so much has happened. On Tuesday Cruz Shimai and I went to the A-bomb stuff in Hiroshima. Holy Cow.  Seriously.

We got off the street car (it looks like the little trolley on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood) and saw this giant thing called the A-bomb Dome, or the genbaku domu if you're in Japan. It has been renovated a few times over the years to keep it looking scary.

In this area, less than a mile from the epicenter of the a-bomb, this was the only building that survived. The only reason it survived was it was basically made out of concrete and such. But the heat wave from the a-bomb just melted most of it. There are metal things sticking out at crazy angles that are melting, and concrete shapes missing.

Jay and John, do you remember the video game Psychonauts?  Sorry, I can't spell anymore (not that I was that good to begin with).  Well, do you remember that level with you swinging up scary stuff to get to the top... of what I think is a dome? I think it's at the end of the game. Anyway, that level was totally based on this crazy dome.

I'll be sure to send pictures.

We worked our way to the paper crane statue, where there were too many school kids on a field trip to see much, but people make art out of a thousand paper cranes. I have a good picture of one that I'll try to send. There was a girl that got sick from leukemia due to the radiation of a bomb. There is a folk story in Japan that if you make a thousand paper cranes then you're wish comes true. This little girl desired to become healthy again, but only made it to about 600 or something before she got too weak and passed away.

Then we went into the actual museum. There was a big replica of what this area looked like before the bomb and after the bomb. You can see the little dome on the replica. Then you go to another one to show you more than you ever want to see. My companion and I didn't really like it because you could feel the propaganda in the voice of the audio tour and the stuff around you. There was stuff like some guy had his hand out the window, and the heat wave melted the fingers on one of his hands. When the fingers healed, the fingernail still grew, but it was black and gross... and had a blood vessel in it, so it bled when he cut his fingernails.

They had the fingernails on display. Super gross. They even had some wax-like statues of flesh melting off the bodies of those who were coming away from the blast. That was too graphic for my companion who literally couldn't sleep that night. It was pretty gross, but I didn't lose sleep over it or anything.

Afterwards, we headed back to the genbaku domu and both agreed that it was the best part of everything. It is almost like art.

Wednesday we prepared for transfers and Thursday morning Cruz Shimai headed back to Tokyo. She was bummed because she is going to end her mission without being a trainer. She was also bummed because she went back to Tokyo-to, which is the down-down-down town part of Tokyo area.  There are millions of people in her area. Tokyo is the biggest city in the world. Second is Mexico City.

Thursday I got my new companion, Sister Furusawa, which means old swamp. If you want to use other translations it could mean aged marshlands, but I like old swamp best. She is fresh from the MTC, and claims she doesn't know how to be a missionary, but then does great the moment she opens her mouth. She is from Miyagi ken, which is where the tsunami was just a few months ago. She has pictures of some of the destruction - pretty bad. Cars were on top of what used to be a house, and stuff like that. Her house was okay from the tsunami because it was high enough on a mountain, but there was still some shaking damage. She doesn't talk about it much, even though the first thing out of people's mouths when they hear her hometown is 'was it okay?!?! Is your family okay? Your house?!'

Friday and Saturday were simply prep for the baptism on Sunday. A baptism service is so stressful. This is someone's salvation!! Well, she had to get dunked twice to get all her hair under the water, but it happened! It was well attended - maybe partly due to the fact that this ward is about a hundred people. Yeah! Then we went to a eating appointment with her to the Tanaka Couple's house. That was fun, as we watched the Bishop and one of the Elders jam out on the guitar.

Maybe I should take up guitar... you know, when I have time. HA HA.

With the random organ in our apartment, I've been trying piano, but I think I've hit my piano wall. I can't get any better unless I invest a thousand hours, which I don't have. So I guess I'm stuck in the simplified hymn book that we also found in the apartment.

Liu Chang also came to church and saw the baptism. The plan was for her to come to the train station by the church, then call us, and we would walk together to church. Well, I forgot the phone. Yep, right on top of my desk. Well, we waited outside by the train station in a tsunami with our cute umbrellas until we had to head to the church. I felt bad. Well, she walked it later with her 1 year old son in her arms. She said that she came a little late because of the rain and took a taxi. Wow. She has a baptism date on the 19th but wants to study with her husband and get baptized with her husband, who we haven't met yet. Well, Liu spoke with our other Chinese member, Haku, so maybe it will work out with a really great eating appointment. Yeah for Chinese food! I've heard all about Haku Shimai's cooking from the Elders. Needless to say I am jealous.

Okay, now I will send some pictures.

レモン姉妹

 

Nishiyama Shimai's baptism.  Kishimoto Kyodai, a convert of about a year, did the ordinance.

The dome.  Zoom in for all the details on melted metal sticking out.

Me at the dome.  Yes, I was really there.  Zoom in on this picture too.

A picture of the dome made out of a thousand paper cranes

last Eikaiwa.  It was fun.  Liu Shimai is the second from the right, with her hand on her nose.

Saijo week 5?

Through a set of miracles this week, we have two baptism dates. One is next week on Sunday. Nishiyama Shimai wants to get baptized.  If she passes her interview, which I'm not worried about, then she can get baptized. Phew. This of course all needs to happen before next Sunday. I'll be busy this week, especially with transfers on Thursday.

Cruz Shimai got her transfer call last night. She is going back to Tokyo on Thursday and will go to the heart of Tokyo. The biggest train station in the world is in her area. There are millions of people in her area. She is transfer trunky, and is focusing on saying her goodbyes to everyone here. Despite the rocky start in the beginning, when we couldn't meet our investigators and the apartment was messy, we have both come to love this little area without a church.

The other baptism date we set was with Liu Chang. She is a new investigator that we found through Eikaiwa. She is Chinese, and is here studying at school. She is 32, married, and has a one year old cute baby boy. Years ago she and her husband searched for truth, and studied with the Jehovah Witnesses for a while. When she went back to China she got a Bible as a present from one of her college professors, but her college professor explained how the Bible has been changed over time, and how various religions have made mistakes in how they interpret what is written. Basically, this friend of hers told her that it was truth, but not pure truth. She and her husband gave up.

But then she met us at Eikaiwa and felt like she had her chance again. :) We taught her the restoration of the gospel - how Jesus Christ perfectly set up God's church but after His death the teachings were changed, and people interpreted it differently. Then we told the story about a young boy who was searching for truth, and wanted to know what church to join. "I have the same question!"  Well, we said that he prayed and met God and Jesus Christ. Of course, he asked his question. Their answer was that all of the religions/churches at that time were only part truth, but not all truth. When we said that, Liu Chang freaked out. "Well then, what should I do?!" She was very frustrated.

Well, we quickly explained that God restored his truth through the prophet Joseph Smith and how through a modern prophet this truth will never be lost. She was genuinely happy. I cannot image someone that has been more prepared to hear this message. Okay, maybe Nishiyama Shimai, who is getting baptized next week. Maybe Saijo is just full of prepared people. Yep.

Mom, I was sorry to hear about your car accident, and now your car that doesn't work. And I especially feel sad since you were looking for an apartment for me. Well, maybe you should stick to Craig's List or BYU Housing website and stay inside for a bit. Plus, those Utah drivers are the worst. You should see  Japanese drivers on roads smaller than the width of a car. Okay, maybe an inch wider than a car.

Dad, where is your email? What did you cook for dinner? How am I supposed to live my week without knowing what is for Sunday dinner?  :) You know you miss my snide remarks. :) (Editor's note, the email was quickly sent -- this letter was about 3 hours earlier than usual.)

Okay, I'll mail pictures now. Enjoy!



レモン姉妹



This is an LA with her two girls (NOTE, editor has absolutely no idea what an LA is, sorry).  We put our helmets on them and took a picture - missionaries can't resist this kind of thing.  Seriously.

Miyajima arch.  This taken from the ferry to get there.  It was low tide, so there are people by the arch and stuff.  Cool, eh?  So pretty!



This is me at the foot of the arch.  You know it's big when you get this close.

a giant piece of petrified wood. Dad, I thought you would like this picture. People throw money at everything in and around shrines.  Kinda gives it a decked-out shiny look. This thing is bigger than I am!

We go to the A-Bomb Peace Park tomorrow.... if it's not raining.

I hoped they'd call me on a mission, when I had a grown a foot or two....

Wow, I got an email from all 4 of you at once (Jay, John, Mom and Dad).  Happiness!  I feel like I have a family or something.  For weird...

Anyway, this week in Saijo... absolutely nothing happened.  Okay, so that's not true.  I have some pretty funny pictures I will mail you here in a bit.  My companion's favorite hobby is taking pictures, so I have some pretty good ones two.

Okay, so today we are heading down to Miyajima, which is the place in Japan with the giant red arch thing.  It's apparently one of the prettiest places in Japan.  I have my camera armed and ready.  You should research Miyajima in Hiroshima and see what you can get.  Next Tuesday my companion and are going to go to the Peace Memorial Park, and the other nuclear bomb stuff in Hiroshima.  Yeah, so I can feel like a tourist for maybe a little bit, or something like that.

Our awesome investigator is Nishiyama Shimai, or Sister West Mountain. Nishiyama is 61, and has been searching for the truth her entire life.  We hope to tell her all her fears about being baptized are all invalid this week.  I think she is ready right now.  She's been to church twice now.  Yesterday she said today seemed shorter than the week before.  She got used to 3 hours of church pretty dang fast.  She doesn't think the Sunday School teacher is so scary, she tried to sing one of the hymns together with the other members.  Way golden, as the phrase goes.  She wanted to study the material before church so that she would feel better about all the people in the class that knew all the answers.  She even bought a skirt to come to church. 

Anyway, her fears about baptism include things like she doesn't know enough, she is too old, etc.  All completely different from the real requirements of baptism like a broken heart and contrite spirit and stuff.  It's funny because she will just talk and talk and talk, and we just nod our heads.  She is super lonely.  We talked on the phone for about 1 hour because she couldn't stop talking.  She told me her life story, which was less than friendly to her.  She had medical problems and had to get her uterus removed and is now on medication and stuff.  Yes, I learned the Japanese word for uterus.  Thank goodness for electronic dictionaries.  Anyway, she is doing great.

So yes, I plan on going to school right after my mission.  Otherwise I'd turn into a bump on a log without any purpose in life.  We work close to the Hiroshima Daigaku, and I just want to go walk the campus or something.  I LOVE college life.  I LOVE the agency to go to class or not to go to class and not have the judgement of God on my shoulders all day if I wake up a little late or something.  Anyway, I'm just glad I have something to go back to. 

Mom, if you find a good apartment, let me know.  Try Craig's list.  Look for something that says they have to sell their contract because they're getting married or going on a mission.  That's usually key that they will give you a deal and pay for part of it.  As for classes, Dad, I trust you know when to register.  I guess I need to figure out what Japanese class to take or something.  Gross.

Anyway, Out of time, but not out of LOVE

レモン姉妹



the dragonfruit before we cut it open.  This is truly the strangest fruit out there.

the dragonfruit after I had eaten the insides.  We found it in the supermarket and had to buy it.  The flavor wasn't very sweet.  It kinda reminded me of a kiwi.  A CRAZY PINK kiwi.

Kinki university is one of the universities in the area.  Ha ha.

Kinky.  Ha ha.  Anyway, apparently it's a nice school.  We have a member that goes there and is studying airplane engineering.



Pictures for Mother's Day

Editor's note:

Sarah was able to actually talk to her parents on Mother's Day (gasp!).  So there is no letter this week, but there are some pictures to share.....  Normal letter will resume next week.

Me walking 2 bikes.  It was part of our microwave adventure.  We had to buy a new microwave, because the Elder's stuff was gross.  When we walked out of the store we realized we had left our bikes over across the street and down the road at the other electronic store.  So, yeah.  I walked both bikes back over.  It was harder than it sounds.

Rain in Saijo.  This is a rice field that was just recently planted.  The rice grows in flooded fields.  We can always hear the frogs when we're riding our bike through the country.

Week 876,529 in Japan

Okay, I have a list of things in my mind that I have to type out before I forget.

Mothers Day Calls

Yes, you can call me on Mothers Day. I will of course get the call Monday morning, but the timing is more important for you, mom, than anything else. So, I would like to receive my call in the morning, but really any time is great. I think 7 or 8 would be good, but whatever time works best for you. I got a letter that says the length of the phone call can be up to 60 minutes. I think that might be longer than Christmas? But I don't really remember that well.

Anyway, the number here is (redacted for security purposes).  You have to put the whole international phone code at the front of that. I trust that you can figure it out this time without any problems since you did it last time without any problems. So, yeah. Talk to you on Sunday.

Where is Saijo? That's a good question. Here is my address to type into Google maps (though please don't put it on the Internet - that's a no-no). (Also redacted for security purposes).   As you can see I'm not on the island south of Hiroshima, that's actually in the Kobe Mission Area, but rather north east of Hiroshima. If I kept going I would make it into the city Mihara or 三原. Yep. In my area is Hiroshima Daigaku, or Hiroshima college. Its HUGE. If you can't find my address on the map, then you can type in Hiroshima Daigaku and probably find it. It's kinda in a valley down here and there are beautiful mountains surrounding us, especially on the trip to church.

But no hills like in Taniyama. I kinda miss that MOUNTAIN OF DOOM.

As you heard, they are slowly putting missionaries back into Tokyo and Sendai. Some of the Tokyo missionaries are leaving to go back today.

But I'm stuck with my companion who really does NOT want to be here.

But there was a promise from the assistants that all the missionaries will go back by the end of this transfers. If this area changes back to Elders I'm going to be sooooo mad. It's finally clean. The final count of the trash bags was 16. The finishing touches aren't done (we want to buy a vase of flowers for the genkan, and mop the floors) but it's still really clean. Anyway, so Sister Cruz feels much better with a clean apartment. But now her mind is in Tokyo and not in the present at all. Can't say I blame her.

This week.... let's see. We met with our investigator, Nishiyama-san.

She is 50 or so, and talks a lot. She lives alone and is really lonely. Of course. She just loved talking to us. She reads the Book of Mormon quite often and really loves those kinds of spiritual books.

She believes it's the word of God. She can't pray out loud because she is too embarrassed. She would come to church if she didn't live an hour away from the church. We have an appointment this week with her and a member, so maybe that will help. She has this image of

Mormonism as Foreigners. Her 4 missionaries have all been from America. She's the most promising one we have.

Oh, thanks for all the world news. My companion and I love to hear about it. I had no idea about tornados in Alabama. And it took me a minute to realize who William and Kate are. Isn't he the prince of England or something that Dad mentioned a few email ago? Anyway, I feel super disjointed. Here it is all about rebuilding from the earthquake. At least we know it's safe up there or they wouldn't put missionaries back.

All in all, not really much to report. Maybe I'll make this one short and send a lot of pictures.

Love you tons

レモン姉妹

Our last name in Chinese Kanji.  Lemon.  Our Eikaiwa Student wrote it for us on the blackboard after Eikaiwa.

Saijo. This is a pretty good description of where I am.  There are only tall buildings in the center of the city. Sorry, this really isn't the best look of the city.



A break-the-fast party at the Tanaka house.  Kishimoto Kyodai, Nishimura Kyodai, Matsuoka Shimai, don't really know the couple with the kid, Kondo Couple with their twins, Haoka Choro, Yo Choro, and then on the bottom line, Kiribayashi bishop, me, Tanaka Shimai, Kiribayashi Shimai, Ryoushou-kun, Cruz Shimai.  Sorry, obviously those names are more for me than for you.  Mom/Dad - the Tanaka couple be emailing that to you.  So sorry if you get an email in all Japanese.