Monday, October 7, 2019
こんにちは!
Spiritual Stuff:
On Wednesday the 姉妹たち (shimaitachi= sisters) were in charge of the 英会話 (eikaiwa= our weekly free English class) spiritual message, so we introduced the Book of Mormon and showed the first half of the second Book of Mormon video. As in, we showed Nephi and his brothers trying to get the plates from Laban and failing. We didn't have time to watch the whole thing, but we also wanted to catch their interest. And it worked! We were able to hand out 2 Book of Mormons and had several students say they wanted to watch the rest later to see what happens. Can't wait to follow up on that, lol. We also had the chance to bear testimony on the impact the Book of Mormon has had in our lives, and I think they could feel our sincerity and true desire for them to read it.
On Saturday we had a district blitz! The STLs and zone leaders joined us, as well. I was paired up with another 姉妹 (shimai= sister) and did a mini companion exchange for our one hour blitz in Chigasaki. It was definitely a different experience to be with someone else who's first language was not 日本語 (nihongo= Japanese language), though thankfully she's better than me. We decided to go around with a whiteboard asking the question, "if tomorrow was your last day of life, what would you do?" We got a few of the expected "spend time with loved ones" answers, but suprisingly those were in the minority. Instead, we had a lot of people say they'd eat their favorite foods and one said she'd eat her favorite foods and then go to bed early. On her last day of life 
. Funny, but didn't lead to many good conversations.
We stopped a highschool girl with headphones in, and were actually surprised when she stopped, took her ear buds out, and listened to us. Her answer was surprising as well. She apparently plays the saxophone and would spend all day playing. We connected when I said I played the clarinet, because anyone who plays knows you can pretty easily switch between the two, which we both do. From there the conversation naturally made its way from school to history to the Bible and then to the Book of Mormon. She was super interested in what we had to say, and totally willing to take a Book of Mormon. When we gave it to her my companion for the evening unexpectedly asked me to share a favorite scripture with her and I chose Ether 12:27. She loved it. Unfortunately, she wasn't willing to give us her phone number because her parents would never forgive her, but we gave her the area's phone number and told her to call with any questions. We both have complete faith that she'll read the Book because she seemed genuinely interested in learning more about it.
What I love about the Book of Mormon, and what I think that girl would like, is that you can learn about history, culture, and gospel principles at the same time. Learning about the history and the culture gives you insight into the gospel principles that further deepen your understanding and build your testimony. Please don't ignore the history and culture aspects as you study the Book of Mormon!
Daily Life/Fun Stories:
Last Wednesday we went to Kichijōji for our once-every-transfer interviews with President Esplin. Not only was there caramel popcorn balls, but I got a clarinet! I'll probably be performing later this month, so I'll keep you all updated on how that goes. So nice to be playing again, though building up my embouchure and thumb callus again is going to be a pain (literally).
On Friday when we went to the 老人ホーム (roujin houmu= literally old people home) as usual, I brought along the clarinet and was able to play a bit for them. Ogata姉妹 joined in on the piano for a few, but it was a bit difficult seeing as we only had piano music. Meaning, I transposed as I played. Anything for the sweet old people who think we're the best at whatever we do!
Fast Sundays are a great day for the missionaries in Odawara. The "fruits" basket always overflows and one of the ward members always makes inarizushi. I've never had any other inarizushi, but if it all tastes like hers, I could probably live off of it.
Remember that time (both of them) when we harvested rice? Well, this week they gave us 4 kilos of their harvest and it's the best rice I've ever eaten. It probably won't last that long, unfortunately, since we eat rice literally every day, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts!
We went to Kamakura for P-Day today! Visited various shrines, a bamboo forest (報国寺, houkokuji), and the giant Buddha (大仏, daibutsu). Visiting the giant Buddha included going inside, which surprisingly only cost ¥20 (about $.20). Also spent way too much money on random food we passed, saw, and wanted to eat (and did eat). See pics below! And the ones in the other email I'll surely have to send because I take too many pictures when I travel... 
New Foods:
-youkan (2 different types, both given to us by old people)
-japanese pancakes (they're dessert here)
-possibly the best burger I've ever eaten. No idea what was in the sauce, but it was delicious.
-warabi mochi ice cream
-strawberry custard it's-called-taiyaki-but-it's-
-kaisendon (raw fish on top of rice, in a bowl)
-it's not new, but I had a lemon sugar crepe for the first time since Paris
-yuzu ice cream
-pumpkin pudding (didn't actually mean or want to try it, but it was handed to me as I tried to order a normal one)
About the Pictures:
- Our district's sisters + the STLs eating dinner before the blitz! Don't worry, I only ate half of that mound of deliciousness. Split it with Ogata姉妹 who shared her burger (the one that's possibly the best I've ever eaten)
- Here's my hand for comparison. This was after it had sunk a bit, too.
- Sorry for the poor quality, but here's our blitz crew! District + the zone leadership.
- Just arrived in Kamakura!
- For washing your hands, NOT for drinking
- No idea what these are/were, but they're pretty cool.
- Kaisendon! Absolute deliciousness in a bowl. Yes, those are tiny fish. And yes, you eat them whole.
- The giant Buddha truly is giant.
- I'm not salty at all that my best picture of the bamboo forest has people in it... Not at all...
愛してます!
-スナ一姉妹
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