Snarr-shimai: February 2020

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Throwing Beans at the Devil

Monday, February 3, 2020

こんにちは!

This week we passed six months since we came to 日本! We celebrated by eating 2 ice creams each, bought before we even realized what day it was.

Spiritual Stuff:

This past week we had zone conference, and it was themed around the Restoration. One of the things we did as preparation for it was listen to the Joseph Smith Papers podcasts, which I highly recommend you all listen to. Every time I think I know everything I ended to know about the first vision, there's something new, and I love it. Please take the time to check it out!

One cool mini miracle we had this week was on Wednesday before 英会話 (eikaiwa= English class) as we were walking to meet someone we'd met on the street a few days earlier and invited to 英会話. We were planning on going to a bakery and getting dinner together. As we were walking, we passed a member of our ward, who recently moved in and is totally fire. She wanted to come to 英会話 and actually thought she was late because for some reason she had written 6pm in her calendar instead of 7pm. When we explained what we were doing, she asked if she could come along. It turned into a fun meal and eventual gospel discussion, which our new friend listened to with open ears and an open heart. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she wants to meet with us and that member again sometime. We can't wait to get to know her more and help her learn more about the gospel!

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

For P-Day last week we went with the 長老たち (chouroutachi= elders) to an aquarium in our area. It was actually pretty cool and we very much enjoyed the touch tank, which had 2 types of sharks and stingrays. See below for some pictures!

Last Monday night we went to the 本部 (honbu= mission office/home) for our mission's monthly FHE with a young woman from our ward. You're only allowed to go if you're with someone, and both Olson姉妹 and I were way excited because Odawara and Kofu are way too far to be able to go. It was a lot of fun and we got to see Ikeda姉妹! MTC companion's reunited. We love being in the same zone.

On Monday night we got back a bit late, but we still had to stop by the church to pick up our groceries (that we hadn't had time to bring home) and bikes. It was at this point, as we're standing in the rain after 9pm curfew, that we realized that at some piunt during the day, the keys had disappeared. The keys to both the church and the apartment. Long story short, our theory is that they fell out when my bag was open and we were changing trains. At Tokyo Station. Aka one of the biggest and busiest stations in 日本. Again, long story short, we ended up staying the night with 2 sisters (literal) from our ward because nobody was answering the phone, though we did eventually get through to our leaders. Everything's fine now, we got extra keys the next day, but the lost keys are probably never going to be found.

During zone conference we did a もぎ (mogi= role play) where we practiced stopping people on the street. Another missionary/one of the leaders was given a role to play, and we were to stop them and lead into our purpose as missionaries. In front of everybody. Needless to say, there was a lot of awkwardness and a whole lot of laughing. Especially when two of the 長老たち were given the role of playing a highschool couple very much in love. And when all the 日本人長老たち (nihonjin= japanese) and President Esplin were asigned the role of a grouo of highschool boys, and President Esplin took the lead by taking off his jacket, untucking his shirt, and rolling up his sleeves, and then oroceeding to throw his suit jacet over his shoulder and drop into a gangster crouch. The 日本人長老たち followed with completely straight faces and we were all dead.

We went out for dinner with a ward member and were shocked when she told us that around the time she was baptized in Nakano ward (in Tokyo zone) years ago, Napoleon Dynamite was serving there as a missionsry. Or rather, the actor was. Apparently he was pretty quiet and his companion seemed like someone who would become an actor and be famous, so when the member saw the movie she was pretty surprised to say the least.

Yesterday was a holiday called Setsubun, onehich in 日本 someone in the family, usually the dad, puts on a demon mask and the kids throw beans at the "demon" to get him to go away. It's supposed to symbolize chasing the bad out of the hiuse, but because it involves throwing beans at the devil, of course we had to do it. See the pic and video below!

Today we went to an island in our area called Odaiba, which has all sorts of things, among them the Olympic Rings, a digital art museum, at least 3 giant malls, and delicious food. Look forward to more pictures next week!

New Foods:

-Korean lettuce wraps

-japanese strawberry shortcake

About the Pictures:

Aquarium! Sorry, the pictures are big so there's more than one email
Setsubun!
Tokyo Zone Conference
Me with very small, very delicious, very expensive strawberry shortcake

愛しています!

-スナ一姉妹

Sickness and Pastries (Unrelated)

Monday, January 27, 2020

こんにちは!

Don't worry, the sickness an pastries are unrelated, though both were a part of this past week

Spiritual Stuff:

Last night there was a big dinner at a member's apartment, which he holds monthly, and we were in charge of the message this month. We did an activity that involved drawing different parts of people and passing it, which ended with a LOT of laughing. But then we shared this scripture:

"... Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image."

Ether 3:15

We then asked what everyone thought being "created in God's image meant." In particular, something we focused on was the potential to become like our father in heaven, and the fact that it's one of the biggest ways our Heavenly Father shows His love to us. "men are that they might have joy," and that joy is someday becoming like our Heavenly Father and living together with him as a family. And that's something to keep in mind, especially as Valentine's Day is coming up, because everyone needs a bit of love on the toughest days of life.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

Last week we tried making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from a Betty crocker mix left by Augustus姉妹 (ごめん) and... Yeah... There are no ovens in almost every Japanese apartment/house... Meaning we used a toaster oven... The picture below speaks for itself. At least it tasted fine. And we did eventually manage to get some that didn't look too bad, which we delivered to a less active member of our ward. Hopefully she appreciated the love and effort lol.

We love gardening with the おばあちゃんs (obaachan= grandma) for our service every week. Even if they have no trouble squatting down and we're there on our tiptoes or kneeling in the dirt lol. Also freezing, but every day I'm grateful I didn't called to serve farther north... After service we all go in and eat Japanese snacks and drink 麦茶 (mugicha= barley tea, yes we can drink it), which when I drank it for the first time at BYU literally tasted like cigarettes and/or dirt but I'm pretty sure I've gotten used to it because everyone drinks it here, especially if they don't drink normal tea/coffee.

This past week we've literally gone to various Japanese パン屋s (panya= bakery) three separate times on three separate days... I promise, normally we eat healthy with lots of fruits and vegetables... It was just too tempting. And way too delicious. I love the 日本's パン屋さんs (nihon= Japan, panyasan= baker).

So our AC, which acts as our heater as well, has literally been growing snow... And it doesn't get below freezing... We have no idea what's going on, but we'll see. We're going to try cleaning it for what may be the first time in a long time, but look forward to an update next week.

On Saturday I was sick with what was probably a 24 hour stomach bug, and I'll spare you the details but I may have ended up running into the kitchen with 10 minutes, left of exercise class... Yeah... The one we do with a bunch of members... Needless to say we went home and didn't leave for the rest of the day. Olson姉妹 cleaned while I slept, and I'll spare you the details on that as well. But she may have moved the bathtub and cleaned what was under it... So glad I have a companion who likes deep cleaning. Anyways, Saturday was spent mostly sleeping, eating saltiness, and drinking aquarius/ginger ale. And fixing nf up my knee a bit because the night before I'd kind of tumbles off my bike due to some rough pavement and caught myself except for my left knee. But we're all good now. See below for the requisite sick picture.

New Foods:

-curry nabe

-curry udon

-mochi pizza (pizza but mochi is the crust)

About the Pictures:

The cookie attempt... Number 3...
Pikachu face masks
We love Urayasu!
A bakery near our 駅 (eki= train station), and yes those are chocolate croissants

Eating the "fruits" of another bakery visit
This little canal is always so pretty
I'd say I love this bridge, but the bike up it makes if a love hate relationship... I do love the view, though lol
Snow on the aircon
Saturday with my "supplies"

愛しています!

-スナ一姉妹

Mochi and snow

Monday, January 20, 2020

こんにちは!

Transfers happened! Olson姉妹 and I are back at it, this time in 日本! It's really fun and interesting realizing we've both grown and improved in a lot of ways.

Spiritual Stuff:

Over the past week or two, we've really started realizing that our main 3 people we teach, who we meet every week, are SO CLOSE to baptism. They just each have things holding them back that we're working on helping them get rid of. For all of them, it's coming to church and/or the opposition of family members. One thing we'll be focusing on with them is Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and the significance of the sacrament. If they can understand the sacrifice that Christ made and what a blessing it is to take the sacrament, it will take them one big step closer to baptism and entering the gate to the path that will lead them to eternal happiness.

During the announcements on Sunday, a member who helps seat people tapped us on the shoulder because a girl had walked in who nobody had ever seen before. She sat between me and Sister Esplin (see below) and when we asked what her name was, she replied that she didn't speak Japanese because she's from China. She got a headset, and even though when asked said she'd been to church before, it was obviously other Christian churches because she asked why we drank water, not wine with the sacrament. Sister Esplin explained it by sharing a scripture from D&C using her personal scriptures, which led the girl to be curious about this book that wasn't the Bible. We left for a bit to try and find a chinese Book of Mormon, but there unfortunately weren't any in the church. So, I pulled it up on my tablet and opened to the introduction, which she read. And then kept reading. She read through at least 1 Nephi 2.

In talking to her, she told us that her family is all Christian. And she had a friend from Utah who told her about "Mormon." Apparently she'd heard we have a lot of rules, like always keeping a straight face. We were like "???! No, that's not a rule." So funny. We got her LINE, but unfortunately she's moving this week. We messaged her after church, and she said "i didnt understand much what they said, but i felt good." We sent her information about the gospel library app, and she said she will try to learn about Mormons later and stay Christian because of her family and because she's dyslexic. She hasn't read the Bible all the way through and seemed to think that was something to be ashamed of. For now we'll keep reassuring her that God loves her, send her some scriptures now and then, and hopefully help her get more interest.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

On Wednesday, transfer day, in order to make some switches between companions, we had to take the 電車 (densha) all the way to Takao, which is 1.5-2 hours away on a good day without delays. And of course there were delays. But everything worked out and the exchange was kinda crazy because almost everybody had former companions in the group, and all but 1 of my companions were there. And Olson姉妹 and I made it back to 浦安 safely!

Saturday was our ward's 新年大掃除 (shinnen oosouji= new year's big cleaning) and もちつき (mochitsuki= mochi making). The 新年大掃除 was just getting rid of stuff nobody uses and wiping down all the chairs, but the もちつき was an experience every missionary in 日本 looks forward to. So fun. And the results were delicious.

We came downstairs from cleaning, looked outside at the もちつき set-up, and discovered that it was snowing. And not just tiny, pathetic, snowflakes. There were full on flurries falling from the sky. I was shocked and amazed and all sorts of emotions because I completely had not expected to be able to see snow during my mission. Maybe I could have guessed that morning by how cold it was walking to the church in freezing rain, but I hadn't expected it to turn into snow. During our もちつき. An experience I'll never forget.

This Sunday we had several surprise visitors. Some were here for grandkids, some as YSA reps. Also President and Sister Esplin. President Esplin asked if one of us could translate for Sister Esplin and we were like, well we've never translated before and this ward has professionals so let's get her a headset.

Today for P-Day our district went out for yakiniku (japanese barbecue) with the Koiwa missionaries and 2 Koiwa members. It was my first time at yakiniku, which is unbelievable considering I've been in 日本 for 6 months. All you can eat for 90 minutes, cook your own yakiniku. There may have occasionally been nn too much fire involved, but it was a good time.

New Foods:

-Daikon soy sauce mochi

-yakiniku

About the Pictures:

Found my favorite character (last week's P-Day)
Augustus姉妹 as your neighborhood hero
Making mochi!
Back at it
We love 浦安
Little kids pounding mochi is so cute!
Kinako and anko mochi. So tasty.
Some of the best oyakodon I've ever had
Snow!
Love this little river
First yakiniku experience!

愛しています!

-スナ一姉妹

Transfer 4 Complete!

Monday, January 13, 2020

こんにちは!

Today we got transfer calls. I can't believe transfer 4 is already over... I also can't believe that Augustus姉妹 is leaving and my new companion will be Olson姉妹, my MTC companion! 同期伝道, here we come! (douki dendou= when you are companion's with someome you came to the field with)

Spiritual Stuff:

This past week we've been able to help 2 less active members with their questions and doubts, and both of them left our meetings looking much lighter and freer. Some people don't realize that missionaries can help members too, but they can! And it's one of the greatest feelings helping them realize what they already knew all along.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

Last week we had splits with the STLs in Shibuya. Not only did we get lost on our way, trying to find their apartment, but I hadn't realized, nor had my dear companion realized, that my thankfully long skirt had been tucked into my thankfully black and fleece lined tights. The entire time. From Urayasu to Shibuya to their apartment...

Once a month, Urayasu has a game night. The primary game of choice is 人狼 (jinrou= werewolf). A very familiar game and a lot of fun, especially when you don't understand everything going on lol.

We've eaten so much with members in the past week. A pizza party, gyoza party, mochi, and more. We've gotten so fat lol.

Today for pday was the gyoza party, and then Augustus姉妹 and I went to Tokyo Tower. Took pictures and then checked out the One Piece gift shop and Cafe on the first floor. Yes, that's right. I got to nerd out like never before. There is actually a one piece theme park in Tokyo Tower that missionaries have gone to before, but we decided that would be too much lol. Definitely somewhere I'll come back to after my mission though!

New Foods:

-traditional new year's mochi soup

-tangerine creme brulee pancakes

-pizza with corn (typical for 日本)

-anko whip mochi

About the Pictures:

Tokyo Tower
I'm such a nerd
Shrine
Mochi!
Got some clothes from a member
Shibuya
Gotta live a city skyline. Even if the quality is terrible lol

(more pics to come next week)

愛しています!
-スナ一姉妹

Dead Tired, but Satisfied

Monday, January 6, 2020

Notice for those serving in Kobe:

A 日本人 missionary serving in Kobe recently returned home to Urayasu, Yoshihashi長老. Scroll down to ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for the (short) story.

こんにちは!

It's only been a few days since our last P-Day so it feels kind of weird to be writing again so soon, but it's a good feeling.

Spiritual Stuff:

Over the past week or so, as we've met with members, we've shared the same message with almost all of them. We start by singing a Christmas song, which usually makes them laugh because Christmas was almost 2 weeks ago. Then we talk about how Christmas is a very easy time to remember Christ. There are lots of reminders everywhere, for example, the Light the World program set up by the church. However, we should be remembering Christ throughout the year, not just between Thanksgiving and December 25. We then ask them, and I ask you, to make a New Year's resolution to better remember Christ through one way of their choice. Whether it involve service, Come Follow Me, or other actions, we would like everyone we meet with to think of one way they can better remember Christ this year. And I ask you to do the same.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

Thursday morning, around 3:30am, Augustus姉妹 and I were suddenly awakened by our phone screaming out:

--blaring alarm--

JISHIN DESU

--blaring alarm--

JISHIN DESU

--blaring alarm--

Jishin= earthquake. No sooner had the alarm stopped than there was, in fact, an earthquake. It was one of the longer ones I felt, and obvious, but it wasn't what I'd say merits an emergency alarm sent out through everyone's cell phones. Funny thing is, we didn't even say anything to each other. When I woke up I may have been like "what the..." but besides that, nothing. We didn't comment on it at all lol.

Thursday was 大掃除 (oosouji= major cleanup), as ordered by our mission president. Let me just say, it is very obvious that a 日本人 (nihonjin= Japanese person) has not lived here in a very long time because us 外人 (gaijin= foreigners) clearly have no idea how to clean things here in 日本. As evidenced by the mold. Lots of mold. Lots and lots of mold. It was nasty.

On Saturday we went to an exercise class led by a ward member. To give you some idea of what we went through, he's a professional dancer. Also a trainer at Gold's Gym... I'm still sore in places I didn't know I could be sore. It didn't help that we did a lot of biking yesterday, visiting several people even though it was also Fast Sunday... Hence the subject line lol.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

On Saturday as we were starting 英会話 (eikaiwa= English class), a person we'd never seen before walked in. We were like "ooh, a new student!" No sooner had our district leader started talking to him, though, that we heard a loud "おかえり!!!" (okaeri= welcome home). We were very confused until he said the name Yoshihashi, at which point we realized that he was the very recently returned elder who'd been in Kobe. It was fun to talk about and see pictures of mutual acquaintances, and also doscover some random differences between the missions. For example, in Kobe you buy your own nametags, so you can get one with English? In Tokyo South the 本部 (honbu= main office) pays for it, and getting English is more expensive so just katakana (script used for foreign words) names for us.

New Foods:

-New Year's soup (not as it is traditionally, though, missing the mochi)

-A bunch of really delicious food made by a nutritionist member that I have no idea what it's called

-okonomiyaki Osaka style

-chocolate chip oreo cookies (evil. But delicious)

About the Pictures:

Everyone's telling Augustus姉妹 that she looks like Mary from the nativity video
She put her sweater on backwards and didn't feel like fixing it lol

愛しています!

-スナ一姉妹

More pics from last week

More Shrine trip
Tokyo is so interesting. The shrine is in the middle of a forest, but you leave and it's the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Happy New Year's! 明けましておめでとう！

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

こんにちは!

Today is New Year's Day, and also our All Day P-Day in Tokyo South Mission. It's only been in this past week that I've realized how big New Year's really is in 日本, way bigger than Christmas.

Spiritual Stuff:

This week we learned a lot about trusting God's timing. For example, one day we were getting ready to visit a member and deliver an origami ornament plus chocolate, and we just could. Not. Get. Going. It was one thing after the other. First was messaging several people and setting up appointments. Next was forgetting the ornament. Then was getting downstairs to our bikes and then realizing it was raining. Then debating whether or not we should go back up and put on rain gear. Then going back up and putting on the rain gear. It took a while to get on the road, and we were kind of frustrated because we were "wasting time," and Augustus姉妹 was like, "it's Satan." I responded by saying, "maybe it's God," but she was like "nah its Satan."

We got to the members apartment and rang the doorbell. That was when we remembered the fact that almost everyone goes back to their hometowns and we had no idea of they were planning on doing so. We waited, and then decided to hang the bag on the door handle. As we began to do so, we heard a "Hello!" The member had been out shopping for お正月 (oshougatsu= New Year's) and had just come home to drop some stuff off before going out again. The timing was perfect. She loved the gift, and we were able to show our appreciation for all she's done for us. As we were biking back, we turned to each other, realizing, "it really was God's timing!"

That experience is helping us be patient with our friend Natsuki, who knows that "the principles are good for other people and for me" and wants a family like the ones she sees at church, but is not yet ready for commitment. We know that her desire is there, though, so we simply need to be there for her as she is being prepared.

Daily Life/Fun Stories:

As it got closer and closer to お正月 (oshougatsu= new year's), we started seeing the signs of a big holiday that I previously associated with Christmas. For example, when we did an hour of allotted grocery shopping yesterday, the place was way more packed than we'd ever seen before. The reason being partly because of last minute food preparation and also today almost nothing is open. And by that I mean barely anything. We even saw gas stations roped off and closed. Convenience stores and a few restaurants are open, but that's it. Almost everyone travels back to their home towns and so 伝道 (dendou= missionary work) is kinda hard but we make it work.

Starting yesterday at 4:30pm, we're not allowed to 伝道 until the night of the 2nd, and we can't house until at least the 3rd. Last night 5-9 we had "pondering time," today is our All Day P-Day, and tomorrow is cleaning until 6pm. Definitely a unique experience.

It is a Japanese tradition to watch the first sunrise of the New Year, and because our 伝道部会長 (dendoubu kaichou= mission president) loves it when we experience 日本's culture, he strongly encouraged us all to do it too. Which means we got up at 5am and headed to where we could get a good view... We were kinda dead, but not as dead as the 宣教師 (senkyoushi= missionaries) who got up at 3am to get there! It was far too cold and kinda disappointing at first, but so fun and it turned out to be so worth staying beyond the first few seconds!

Our 伝道部会長 also told us that we all had to visit a shrine on New Year's Day, so we did just that! We ended up going to 明治神宮 (meiji jinguu), a very famous and large shrine in Harajuku, which is one of the bigger parts of Tokyo. It was crazy how many people were there and we had to wait for at least 30, 40 minutes, but it was pretty cool.