A sweet email from Sydney's 1st companion in Japan

[From Sydney's 1st companion (Dec 8th). She sweetly forwarded to us a copy of her weekly email to her family. She thought we'd like to hear from her about Sydney - a very loving act of kindness, especially since our separation from Sydney still felt so fresh and raw.] She titled it:

                                                                  Sands of Faith

WOOW what a week! 

My Sister, Sands shimai 

Her name is Sydney Sands and shes from Draper Utah. She studied for a year at BYU (Chipman Hall and everything!), reminds me of an SNL actress, 5 10inches with long european blonde hair, and LOVES Japan. She learns SO fast and already knows hiragana, katakana, and the most interesting gathering of vocabulary words. She carries them on a keychain on her skirt and writes them down in mid-lesson or when Im praying. She loves classical literature and used to work at barnes and nobles. she makes all kinds of pop culture jokes that i dont get and loves japanese anime and manga. She is FULL of energy and light and we have already laughed so much together. 

Training

Training is teaching me a lot about how Heavenly Father parents us. I LOVE it. It makes me want to be more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ every day. Sands shimai surprised me right off the bat. We taught a lesson the first day she arrived in Okayama! I wasnt even planning on teaching [name removed], I just wanted to introduce the two of them, chat a little, and set up an appt for the next day. But Sands shimais faith is bigger than mine - we sat down in her apartment and after the two of them talked about manga for a while Sands shimai asks [name removed], if shes been reading the Book of Mormon, because *that manga character is just like Nephi!* I was blown away. Sure enough, we walked out of there with a lesson from 1 nephi chapters 1 and 2, an appointment for tomorrow, and one really really happy Sands shimai. I made sure to tell her how incredible that was and how good her Japanese is for her first week in Japan over and over again. She kept saying Arigatou. :) She:ll get the Japanese *no no no Im still bad* phrase down soon enough. But really though she is SO good!! 

We had a crazy Sunday with tons of friends at church. I gave her one assignment - dont lose me! Stay within sight and sound of me and try to remember a few names of ward members. She said ok, and then made a goal for herself - open her mouth and talk to the people around her even if its hard. Sure enough - she stayed on my tail all Sunday and had SEVERAL practically one on one conversations with our investigators while I was managing something else. I was thrilled. She was thrilled. The ward was thrilled. 

Its so great to see her discover Japan for the first time. Im re-realizing it too. Thinks that used to dazzle me away are so normal now. Sands shimai loves Japanese microwaves (and the power of the atatame *heat it up* one-push button). SHe loves aloe juice, goma dressing, onigiri, the fact that I cannot eat spaghetti with a fork anymore, and our kitchen rice measurer. She is always leaving her helmet after she gets off her bike. SHe made it all the way into the church once.^.^ We went to a baptism yesterday and when she prayed with me afterwards she congratulated Heavenly Father on the baptism, not just the missionaries or the person actually getting baptized. Her faith is so big and her smile is so contagious. Im so excited to learn from her this last transfer!  

********Ok people, this is Sydney's mom, and I have a confession. I don't like to update Sydney's blog because it makes me sad -- because it is something that she should be doing but she can't because she's not here. I am NOT sad that she is there. I'm just sad she's not here :D Buuuuut, she is having an absolutely amazing, wonderful time on her mission and writes, repeatedly, that she can't believe she was so lucky to get sent to the mission she's on. I am so grateful that she is so happy serving in Japan, and I have decided to do a much better job at updating. We've got quite some catching up to do, so buckle up, lots of posts are coming soon.********