Finally Here!

Monday, August 5, 2019

I'm finally in 日本! Specifically, Odawara, 日本. I'll be here for at least 3 months for my bean-chan days (what they call missionaries in-training here), but after that who knows where I'll be. My companion's name is Ogata姉妹, from Fukuoka, 日本!

Notice: if you know of someone who would like to receive these emails, or would like to stop receiving these emails, please let me know!

Spiritual Stuff:

During one of our lessons, I was in charge of sharing a scripture I'd memorized at the MTC, Moroni 10:4-5. A classic. The lesson was a video call over line because the husband/dad doesn't really like the missionaries, but despite the fact that it wasn't in person, when I shared that scripture the spirit filled the room. The investigators (a mom and son), both started nodding along. We hadn't known where the lesson was going to go after the mom said she had looked up Joseph Smith and started asking about polygamy, but it ended up being an excellent lesson. This Friday we're going to their house with a member couple because if we go with them, the dad sees us more as friends and is ok with it. We can't wait!

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

So, it's funny, at the MTC, Olson姉妹 and I kept joking about someone getting sent to Kofu, someone getting a 日本人 (Japanese) companion... Well, Olson姉妹 got sent to Kofu and I got a 日本人 for a first companion and trainer! She's amazing, and thank goodness she speaks a little English.

Right after we got off the plane, I could feel myself getting sick (Tuesday). Yeah. I woke up the next morning and it was worse, but not terrible (Wednesday). By the time I realized that I wasn't going to sleep much on Wednesday night, I knew it was going to be rough. Thursday we had service picking up trash around the 駅 (eki= station), and while I got to talk to some people about why in the world I was in Japan, I started feeling dizzy towards the end. During district council, I was basically dead. We went home for lunch, and Ogata姉妹 told me to lie down. She ended up calling our mission presiden't wife, Sister Esplin, and got permission to stay in the rest of the day and rest, unpack, etc. I slept for 4 hours and woke up still feeling sick but no longer dizzy. The combination of a cold, jet lag, and weather that is in the 80s or 90s but feels in the 100s because of humidity, UV, etc led to some not fun times. I was still not at 100% up until yesterday, but now I've adjusted and the cold is gone and everything's great.

We're less than a mile from the ocean! I was stupid and didn't bring anything to take pictures when we walked there for exercise, but I'll try to get some soon.

Last Thursday night, an elderly member couple took us out for udon (see picture below). Wilcox長老, who was in my MTC district and is now in the same branch, used chopsticks for the first time. With udon. Yeah. The wife was basically his mom the whole night, dishing things out for him. He did try to use them and got better, but it was funny enough that his companion literally took a video.

Today for P-Day, our district went to Costco. Yes, that's right, My first P-Day in 日本 (Nihon= Japan) and I went to Costco. To be fair, I'd never been, but apparently missionaries here all have this weird obsession with it. It was surprisingly fun, but it took about 2 hours to get there by train and some walking. (See pics)

The members in Odawara bring food to the church for the missionaries, and we split it up between us all. It ended up being very random, but there's a lot of good stuff too.

We finally bought my bike on Saturday. The reason it took so long is because we had to find the time. It takes an hour to walk to the bike shop. But we did it. In very hot, humid, weather, but we did it. (See other email for picture of after we returned)

The members invited us to a fireworks festival on Saturday, so we went! (See pic). There were, of course, lots of people wearing yukatas, it was like something out of an anime in that regard. There were also lots of yummy food stands that we couldn't do anything with because in 日本, fast Sunday starts after dinner on Saturday. On the bright side, that fireworks show was the best I've ever seen, by far. Absolutely amazing.

New Foods:

-inarizushi, a ward member's own recipe.

-udon

-tenpura

-homemade Japanese curry, with vegetables she grew herself

-pocari sweat

-mitsuya cider

About the Pictures:

• Me at the mission home with President Esplin (my mission president) and his wife.
• Our 同期! (douki= coworker but used in more contexts, in this situation talking about people you entered the field with)

• Right after I found out Ogata姉妹 was going to be my companion!
• The shinkansen (bullet train) and some mountains.
• The coolest part of the fireworks.
• Yes, that's their real size. And yes, that's Costco.
• American pizza, Japanese ice cream. Mango and Hokkaido.
• I LOVE UDON AND TENPURA
• Love the views
• You can see the ocean in this one!
• (see other email for more)

愛してます!

-スナ一姉妹