Gyoza are Scary

Monday, November 18, 2019

こんにちは!

Not all gyoza are scary, just the ones we ate yesterday... Keep reading to find out why!

Spiritual Stuff:

Yesterday as part of what we did (read below for full story), we all came up with a way to connect gyoza to the gospel/teaching it. The analogy that Takatori姉妹 and I came up with is one we actually kind of like. When first looking at the gospel/Book of Mormon, just as when first looking at the scary gyoza, you have no idea what it's going to be like, if it's going to be uplifting and delicious or terrible. But you have to take a bite, take a step forward, and actually do something to find out. And even though there may some weird things inside, you'll find that it's actually not that bad. And maybe you actually like it. But that first step is vital. Without it, you'll never know. You'll miss out on experiences that could add so much color to your life.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

Last Tuesday we went to a member's house for lunch and a message, and they surprised us by handing us a bag and scissors and pointing us in the direction of their みかん tree (mikan= mandarin orange). They told us to take as much as we liked. I definitely would not be able to pick oranges in New York in November lol. We didn't take that many because we've been getting so many from various people over the last couple weeks. We can't eat fast enough to keep up.

Last week we did a 配り会 (kubari kai) at the 駅 (eki= train station), which basically means we stood around trying to hand everyone that passed by flyers, talking about our free 英会話 (eikaiwa=English class). When we met up with the 長老達 (chouroutachi= elders) afterwards, we were surprised when a 16 year old boy came up to us and literally said, "I have interest." We were so surprised. Long story short, he came to 英会話 and is officially our newest and by far the youngest student. He's super nice, too.

The STLs brought chocolate chip banana bread to our district meeting when they came last week, and we brought the vanilla ice cream. I can't believe I've never eaten them together. Cookie, yes. Brownie, yes. Banana bread? It was a first. And absolutely delicious. Highly recommend.

Last week we got permission to use time to take the clarinet to get fixed, so we did! It was a super fast and easy fix that made it so much easier to play and made the sound much better. And, to our surprise, the man who fixed it refused to take our money. It was such a quick fix, and the overall condition is apparently so terrible, that he refused to take any of our money unless we wanted to leave the clarinet for a complete fix. So happy to have the main issue fixed, though.

For the past couple of days, a praying mantis has been hanging out on the door handle of the church. And for some reason, the 長老達 (chouroutachi= elders) cannot bring themselves to even touch the other parts of the handle. To the extent that they'll try kicking the door to get it off. Which didn't work, obviously. We ended up having to let them in several times.

Praying mantis

Yesterday was stake conference, and it was kind of a surreal experience because while Odawara branch is very different from Brockport ward (building and size-wise), Fujisawa stake conference was so similar in so many ways it was kinda weird. But fun. Because it was in 日本語 (nihongo= japanese language). Although it was even weirder when a woman gave a talk in Spanish, trading off with an interpreter, because I got to hear 2 languages I've studied side by side. Made even weirder but the fact that I understood more of the 日本語 than the Español... 

Last night we were invited to a members house for a gyoza party, as were the families that had kids (aka 3 families). It was all fun and games until they let us know that some fo the gyoza had some... Interesting ingredients... I was the first to fall victim, as I bit into a gyoza that had both normal filling and a piece of orange. Very strange flavor. More victims soon popped up as gyoza with Tabasco, mustard, orange/orange peel, and other weird flavors came up. It got to the point where everyone was carefully checking the gyoza before they took it, trying to determine if it was 安全 (anzen= safe) because the worst had yet to appear... いなご (grasshopper). I checked a gyoza and it appeared safe so I bit into it... Only to stop short as my teeth met resistance. I looked at it more carefully and then dug around with my chopsticks... To the horror of everyone around me, the leg popped out. I placed it on Wilcox長老's plate (because I was NOT going to eat that) and he actually ate it. It apparently wasn't too bad. A few minutes later he got the other one too, but he passed it on to his poor companion who managed to eat it. Somehow. 

New Foods:

-soy sauce potato chips

-nabe (Japanese stew)

-manjuu

-anpan (bread filled with sweet red bean paste) 

-chestnut rice

-grapes

-weird gyoza

About the Pictures:

• Some more pics from last pday! 
• Went out for monjayaki. Love places where you can make it yourself. 
• One night after we got back we had some fun with our hair and LINE filters
• The praying mantis (it had moved off the handle by the time I got a picture)

愛してます!

-スナ一姉妹