Giraffe Say Moo

 Hello to everyone! This is Sydney's mom, and I will be updating her blog throughout her mission. For those of you who don't know this kid of mine very well, she is often sarcastic (but never mean or unkind), so if you are reading something she's written and you think she might not be serious, there's a good chance you are right. She is having an amazing time at the MTC learning and stretching, with all the ups and downs that come with growing and improving. In weekly emails, she shares her journal entries with us, and I will be including much of them in the blog. I have shortened all other missionary names to initials out of respect for their privacy - I personally don't care but I know there are others who do, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will correct it.

If you want to drop Sydney an email (please notice that it is a .net address, not .com) or letter (dearelder.com is a super convenient way to do that!!!) then PLEASE do!!! Missionaries LOVE mail. More than that, I firmly believe in the power of prayer, so it would be tremendous if you could keep her in yours! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. And most of all, "remember I love you all!" from Sydney. :)

Sister Sydney Sands

Japan Kobe Mission

Provo MTC

2005 N 900 E

Provo, Utah 84604

USA

sydney.sands@myldsmail.net


My journal

Day two, 10/2

We got books, and according to the chouroutachi sempai, all of them have names--Sumo, ninja, samurai, shiroi, orenji, Miyagi-sama, magikarp, etc.

"The Spirit is here. I had an enormous, almost startling revelation just today--I was sitting in a class and a pic of Pres. Monson popped up on the projector and said that God lives. Immediately, a feeling began to swell within me--a VERY physical feeling that augmented until I literally couldn't breathe. It was bizarre, but so real and so powerful and so filling that my cheekbones began to hurt. I can honestly say I've never had such a visceral reaction to doctrine before, but I was certain of it when it was through.

A lot is expected of us. I like that. Miracles happen. I like that, too."

10/3

We taught a pretend investigator named Taira-san, and I really loved her.

The gift of tongues worked, but mostly on my French, for the first couple days, btw.

"Fun with nihongo--"scriptures" is "seiten." Seiten. Read your seiten. Carry seiten with you at all times.

And the difference b/w shite (to do) ("shtay") and shitte (to know) ("shi-tay"). Here's my mnemonic: 1.) If you want to do, you have to shite. 2.) Know your shitte. I and one of the elders thought it was funny. It IS funny."

10/4

Last night, we all jumped in bed, but I felt a strong desire to pray, since I hadn't been doing well teh past couple days. So, at the end (I'd been praying for some time) I wanted to feel the spirit, and so I was like "I should ask if God loves me." then "No, that's a stupid question" then "No, it's not, unless you don't believe that he'll answer." So I asked, and I felt like a literal river of warm air was flowing into me and over me. So I asked "Do you love all your children?" and the feeling continued until it overflowed. It was really comforting.

(The next morning, Y Shimai (Sister Y.) asked if I was okay b/c she had seen me get out of bed. I told her I'd been praying and she said that I'd been on my knees for half an hour!)

General Conference was fun, too, which was a first. I actually left the first session adn thought "That was fun! I can't wait for the second session!" So dorky. I especially liked Lynn G. Robbins' talk and Elder Oaks' talk.

Also, Y Shimai (Sister Y.) told me that the night before last, she heard me or my doryo (companion) sleeptalking in nihongo. I hope it's me, haha. But really."

10/5

"With GenCon and whatnot, I've found myself lackign time to read my scriptures, which has resulted in a very literal, very physical craving for the Word. I was craving the scriptures like one craves chocolate or water. I was surprised at how immediate this desire was.

"Next, in GC, I dropped my highlighter under the chair of the courou (Elder) in front of me. I explained the situation, and he looked for it under his and his companion's seat. No dice. So he was like "I think it fell under the bleachers." (we were sitting on the bleachers, btw). I was a little upset (not terribly, but it was my favorite highlighter) and the chourou (Elder) and his doryo (companion) stood and walked down the stairs while an apostle was talking, to look for my highlighter. After a little more than 5 minutes, the chouroutachi  (elders) returned highlighterless. I was too stunned by the display to be remotely disappointed, and I thanked them for trying. Then the chourou went "?" and knelt down. My highlighter was underneath is OTHER neighbor's chair. I laughed and thanked them and gave them a thank-you note, after which he handed it back and said "Email?". So I wrote mine down and asked for theirs, and the chourou's doryou gave him a fistbump. It was really funny, and I was really touched by their display of charity.

On another note, I think I want to marry Elder Bednar."

10/7

"I am now positive that I want to marry Elder Bednar. We listened to a talk he gave during a devotional a while back. He talked about how to feel the Spirit. Answer: "Don't worry about it." Most impressions won't feel like impressions, and you probably won't ever know they were impressions. Just do what you're supposed to and it will happen. It was a very good eye-opener.

In other news, our lesson with Taira-san didn't go too well. Hopefully the lesson tomorrow will be better. Ganbatte yo.(Do your best/Good luck)"

10/8

In today's lesson with Taira-san, we taught her about prayer. Unlike with everyone else, though, she refused to pray immediately. Thus ensued a trying time of broken nihongo (the Japanese dialect), but we eventually got her to try out a prayer. It was very cute. However, when I tried to explain to her that God listens to and loves everyone, she said she wasn't quite sure "everyone" applied to her. She iddn't know God loved her, so I said the way to know is through prayer. However, I mixed "shiru" (to know) with "shinu" (to die) She was super confused, adn when I found out what I had done, I laughed so hard that I scared her. But everything else went well.

P-day tomorrow!"

_________

Mom, dad, Abby, Hanna, Slade, I promise you all that you're in my prayers every night and that I love you all a ton. Abby, congrats on the new phone, and I hope you're having fun in Yellowstone and with Jurgis or whatever his name was.

Write me again! Love you love you love you!

Sanzu Shimai (Sister Sands -- at least, as close to it as possible)

There is no Jurgis, there is a Jordan. Sydney always, intentionally, renames Abby's and Hanna's suitors. You would think that after a certain number it would get old, but for some reason, it's still funny to all of us

_________

10/9

"So... Apparently everyone wakes up at 6 AM on p-day. To do laundry. Well.

P-day may even be more stressful than our normal days. I had a nice, long shower, but that nad replying to famiry was the best part of my day. Nemui desu. Nemui desu. 

F Chourou (Elder F.) was hit in the face with a softball by a water polo player. His face has swelled up to the size fo the offending missile.

Wee had literally NO time to prepare--we had two pictures drawn and I drew the rest during the lesson. Phew. But, believe it or not, it was one of our better lessons and she agreed to be baptized. But it was oru last lesson together, so she might have been told to be easy on us."

10/11

"Douryou (companion) and I are getting along great. Nihongo is going well, too, and Fletcher Chourou's swelling has gone down a ton. Nothing much to report.

We have a new investigator and Taira-san is now our assistant teacher.

P.S. I am a little sad I couldn't tell dad happy birthday."

10/12

"In three days, it'll be my 2 week anniversary. I like Sundays; it was busy, but we did have a bit of downtime. Flashcards were made and planned for. A temple walk was made and I took pictures. We had a devotional today and it was all about using tech to help people "bump into " the Gospel. The guy giving the devo was the head of the tech/ads dept., and he was really funny. He also showed us the prototype of the incoming Mormon Message. Everyone went crazy. It was like he had told us that he was going to sow us the preview of the third Hobbit movie. It was very funny. Later, we watched a BoM vid where, at one point, a couple kissed and the crowd erupted into cheers, boos, gasps, and most prominently, "Are we allowed to watch this?!" (said jokingly).

Later: I just had to get up to kill a bug for S and Y Shimai (Sisters S and Y). Haha---got my good deed done for the day."

10/13

"Things went well today. We did a really cool mogi, where we could only teach by asking questions and sharing scriptures. I was paired iwth Y Shimai, which was a BLESSING that I had been asking for for a while. As I was talking to her, I tried to search her book (I forgot my own seiten) for scriptures that I couldn't find. Then I KNEW that I had to share the story of the woman who touched Christ's robe and I thought "Mark 5." I Then I was like, "Okay, let's look though the topical guid." Then, "Mark 5." I gave in and flipped to it and there it was. It was really inspiring, and Y Shimai said it was what she needed to hear."

10/14

"Right after that experience, I faltered and I'm a little ashamed of myself. We did another mogi today (roleplay), I shared the story of Moses talking to God. A scripture came into my mind and I didn't share it b/c I only had the chapter and I was worried it would take too long to find the verse. Later, I turned to Moses 1, and not only was it on the first page, I had HIGHLIGHTED it. Yeah. Well, I'll apologize to Ten no Otousama (Father in Heaven) tonight and do better next time.

On a more spiritual note, my prayers have been working! Y Shimai is sleeping better than she has been, and my douryou was able to feel the spirit in a way she understoo; which is something that I had been praying for."

10/15

"More mogis (role plays) and not much else to report. When douryou (companion) and I finished with our mornign workout, the sky was beautiful--blue with orange and pink clouds. I wish I'd had my camera on me, but I'll try to make it a priority from now on.

Tomorrow I get to email family! Yaaay!!!

___________

~Oyasuminasai"

I love you, family! So many miracles have happened in the MTC, so I know that miracles (kiseki) are happening at home, whether you notice them or not. I love you and I'm excited to hear from you. Have a good week!

Kazoku, aishitemasu!

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