こんにちは!
I can't believe this past week marked 100 days I've been in 日本, as well as 100 days in Odawara. Love this place!
Are you really there?
Heavenly Father,
He hears your prayer;
We got invited over to a member's house for lunch one day, and after eating and sharing a spiritual message, the wife took us upstairs where she proceeded to work on Takatori姉妹's shoulder, which has been hurting for a while. And when I say "work on," I mean she used a mixture of massage and something called 恩灸, or moxa cautery. Basically what that means is she burns incense that's stuck in a metal tube and then caps it with more metal, which makes the metal heat up, and then she rubs it all over you. She did some of my hands and arms and it felt nice. She apparently wants to take the time to do a full-body session on both of us at some point, which we would not mind in the slightest.
The weather has actually started to get chilly, and it was cold enough to wear a jacket when we went housing the last two nights. Soon it'll be time to pull out the fleece-lined tights and leggings...
-the best fried rice I've ever eaten, made by the Great Takatori姉妹
Spiritual Stuff:
Yesterday was the primary program, in which all 3 of Odawara's primary kids sang and bore their short but sweet testimonies. It was both absolutely adorable and uplifting as I got to hear the 日本語 (nihongo= japanese language) versions of primary songs I know and love. One of my favorites is the song "A Child's Prayer," which Takatori姉妹 and I actually took a video of us singing. But it was in 日本語, so here's the English:
〜〜〜〜〜
Heavenly Father,
Are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father,
I remember now
Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
"Suffer the children to come to me."
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee.
Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is listening.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.
〜〜〜〜〜
Daily Life/Fun Stories:
This past week we did a LOT of housing (tracting), and met some really... Interesting people. For example, there was the man who owns at least 10 different copies of the Bible, all different editions and translations. And he got very excited showing them to us and explaining their differences. And that is only one example of some people we met in this last week.
We got invited over to a member's house for lunch one day, and after eating and sharing a spiritual message, the wife took us upstairs where she proceeded to work on Takatori姉妹's shoulder, which has been hurting for a while. And when I say "work on," I mean she used a mixture of massage and something called 恩灸, or moxa cautery. Basically what that means is she burns incense that's stuck in a metal tube and then caps it with more metal, which makes the metal heat up, and then she rubs it all over you. She did some of my hands and arms and it felt nice. She apparently wants to take the time to do a full-body session on both of us at some point, which we would not mind in the slightest. 
The weather has actually started to get chilly, and it was cold enough to wear a jacket when we went housing the last two nights. Soon it'll be time to pull out the fleece-lined tights and leggings...
Ok, we had the funniest (to us) and most unexpected experience the other day. We were doing our morning studies when we heard a "ping-pong" that marked that someone as at the door. When we checked the camera, there were two women standing there. When we answered the intercom, they started saying some things that sounded awfully familiar, but a bit different... They turned out to be Jehovah's Witnesses. It was super weird to be on the other end for once, but so funny. We couldn't believe that we'd just gotten housed by Jehovah's Witnesses. In 日本.
Today for P-Day day we hiked 大山 (ooyama= Mt. Oyama) as a zone. President and Sister Esplin came along with 2 of the office 長老たち (chouroutachi= elders). We only hiked up to the shrine because of time and the fact that it started to rain, but it was gorgeous. See below for pictures! Also, the Esplins brought the clarinet with them, so after we take it to get fixed I get to play it for people!
New Foods:
-dried curry-flavored fish snack
-tofu ice cream (literally just tastes like you're eating tofu)
-sesame seed ice cream (same with the tofu, but sesame seed)
-the best fried rice I've ever eaten, made by the Great Takatori姉妹
About the Pictures:
- Out for sushi during splits with the STLs
- The sushi special the STLs ordered and tried (I did not. Maybe some day.). And yes, those are whole tiny squid.
- Love finding cool water spouts you can drink from. We all filled our water bottles.
- This was the most japanese place I've ever been to
愛してます!
-スナ一姉妹
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