Turning experience into hope

So, my ponderize scripture about a month or so ago was Romans 8:3-5. I
chose it because I wanted to learn how to turn experience into hope.
Because, if experience is supposed to equal hope, I figured that I was
doing it wrong.

I've come to the conclusion that hope, like faith, needs to be centered in 

something. It needs something to be attached to to actually mean anything. 

As we hope in something constant, we will see the rewards of that hope. 

As we hope in something changeable, our hope grows weak.

Hope in investigators is weak. Hope in yourself is weak. Not because
you shouldn't hope in yourself, but you will have bad days, and you
will feel down, and your investigators won't keep all their commitments.

That's fine. That's a part of life. But as we place our hope in something 

higher, it cannot be dragged down by the tempest of the adversary. As 

we hope in Christ and his light and his unchanging love, we will, like 

Peter, be buffeted by the waves and the wind, but, so long as we keep 

our eyes on Him, we will not--cannot--fall. And thus, experience turns 

into hope.

I invite you all to fix your hope in Christ this week.

Love, Sanzu

the day of miracles

1/18 日

The sabbath. Tsumari, the day of miracles.

So, my companion and I got up at 5:30 to make the trek to E-chan's house, but on the way, we called B-shimai. And she was awake! And she was going to meet P-shimai at the eki (station) and come with her to church so that she could make it on time.

They actually came to church. Both of them. Holy cow.

Thanks to S. chourou speaking five languages, he was able to translate for B-shimai at church. It was really incredible to just see her change and brighten in the three hours of church. I think she may have genuinely left a different person.

Afterwards, we had a mochi party, but before that, we got to see one of our investigators K-shimai, come to Sunday school and get hardcore fellowshipped by T-shimai. That's always a pleasure. After church, they were joined by I-shimai, another investigator. And they and all the other cute little old people had a cute little old people party in the back of the church.

As we rejoiced, we also took a minute to talk with our leaders to see what we can do to help the youth in the ward. At the moment, it's a little shaky, but there is something special about Abeno. It's just a little dormant at the moment. Today, I felt like Abeno's breathing staggered just a bit. Maybe it rolled over in bed. But it stirred, even if just a little bit.

So, the mochi party. Now, there is the good, old-fashioned, smash-it-with-a-hammer mochi party, but there's also a machine that makes it. So we did that with the chouroutachi's investigator and his daughter. (The chouroutachi themselves couldn't make it, unfortunately.)

At the end, we shared a message and said, "M-shimai, you've met a lot of missionaries, but would you like to begin actually taking the lessons?"

And...well, long story short, she agreed.

One of my favorite missionary visits so far

Today, during morning scripture study, a Tenryokyou guy knocked on our door (If you translated Mormonism into Japanese, let it sit in a Buddhist temple with some umeboshi for 10 years, then you would have Tenryokyou). We exchanged pamphlets and talked for a bit. He really listened to what we had to say, and I learned a lot, too. It was really fun. One of my favorite missionary visits so far. (I've had maybe 4 or 5 in my missionary experience.)

Then we joined the youth for a New Years Resolution activity, and we
got a free fude pen! :D Score!

Then I got to sit down and write a newsletter for the leaders. We want to collapse the wall between senkyoushitachi and leaders, and since the council is only once a month, we wanted to do something to let them know what we're up to. Wow. Huge wave of natsukashii. It was really fun.

At the end of the night, we got a call from E-chan.

E-chan: I can't come to church tomorrow.
Us: Why? What happened?
E-chan: I'm going to Miya-ken.
Us: ...Can we talk to your mother?

So we had a talk with B-shimai, and for the first time in... I don't know how long B-shimai hasn't been to church, but she has agreed to come.

We'll see.

My sick week journal. I felt your love - thank you.

This week we saw a lot of miracles.

Lessons. The first time I hit 20 lessons was twice with W. shimai on the Rock (missionary term for Shikoku). With G. shimai, we hit 18 twice, then jumped above it and taught 20+ for every week that I'd been her companion. We've kept up that trend, here in Abeno with M. shimai. Now, it certainly doesn't mean every lesson is a 5-star lesson--it certainly isn't. But we're doing our best to bring our beloved brethren home, and that means talking to everyone.

Whenever we have something that sets us back from mission standards, I try to think (remember the stoplight?) that God knows I'm sick. He also knows mission standards. So as long as I remember who I am, and by whom I am called, God will provide a way for us to accomplish them.

And this week, he has. I'm very grateful to have a wonderful compassionate companion like M. shimai. She's the bomb, and every time I'm sad she mourns with me and not just beside me. There's a big difference, and she does an amazing job of halving my stress. (The cup, my throat, our darling E-chan's baptism being shot down AGAIN, I want to lay on the floor instead of eat lunch. I do that last one no matter what mood I'm in. But I still eat lunch. Missionaries can't mission without lunch.) It's taught me a lot about commiseration. (By the way, everyone, I felt your love, too. Thank you all for being sad with me.)

And she does the dishes. All the time. I love her.

1/11 月

Today we began our preparation day by teaching T-shimai, I-shimai, and K-shimai at S-shimai's cooking class. It was cold on the ride over and pretty much killed my voice, but when we began the lesson, I coughed once or twice, and my voice was back to normal for the remainder of the lesson. It was incredible.

We weren't hungry, but we picked up a meatbun, emailed, etc. On the way home, we stopped at the nearby shotengai's crepe shop, and talked with our friend for a bit on life in general. Afterwards, we went home, napped, then shoved off to the M family.

The wonderful gofuufu (senior couple) gave us tonkatsu, curry, and a bunch of things to take home, then discussed the Abeno seminary, what we can do for the ward, and things like that. (M-kyoudai was a previous bishop of the ward, so we asked him what we could do to help the current bishop.)

Then I retired to bed early.

1/12 火

Well, shoot. I'm sick. I took measures yesterday to keep it from worsening, but I am definitely sick.

But I slept. We did study, ate lunch, then I went back to bed while my incredible companion texted 45 people. What a champ.

(Here, I'd like to include a note to any sister missionaries reading my letter. When you're sick, you have two options: Man up and dendo, or rest up and sleep. Please, be wise about which one your body can handle. Better a day of 0% dendo than two weeks of operating at 50%.)

After I woke up, we had cereal for dinner, sat in a daze for a few minutes, then went to and taught English class.

1/13 水

So, today I improved the quality of my life today by leaps and bounds. That's right, I bought an iPad stand! We also got pens, tape, and cards while we were out at Seria buying paper for the referral box.

But, other than that, we were vastly unproductive.

I'm still sick.

But, on a brighter note, we got to have a good lesson with T-shimai, and that was really good. She seems to have finally realized her role in fellowshipping her brother.

We also did interviews. It was really nice seeing mission president W and his wife.  He filled me in on Okayama (which apparently is on fire! :DDD) and Imabari (the senior couple is leaving a transfer before I do, and there's not another senior couple coming in...).

I thought for sure that I was transferring, but after that interview... I'm not sure what is real and what isn't. There's apparently a possibility that I may die in Abeno. Not a bad thing.

Today, we met K-kyoudai (the elders’ investigator) again, and I think I freaked him out with how fast I jumped out of my seat. He came into our room while we were evaluating our Seria boon and shut the door. I was like "MISSION RULES!" (In my broken voice) and flung the door back open.

Him: “Oh..” *offers bread*

Me: “I'm good!”

Him: “Okay...” *ducks out of the room*

That's it, I think.

1/14 木

Today I felt so loved :D

I started out feeling GREAT. I actually felt so good that I stayed awake all of study time, and actually got a little ADHD during companion scripture study. My nose was still stuffy and my head was still a little achy, but other than that, I felt fantastic.

We walked to the church today, because we needed more lessons (and I had energy to burn), and we got a couple! God really does look out for his missionaries :D We teach with the intent of bringing others closer to Christ. I hope that they really do come closer to Christ.

After taking, like, an hour or so getting there, we finally reached the church. We began SKK and E. chourou and his koukan buddy come in.

E. chourou, "Hey, are you doin' okay?"

Me: 8B Yes.

Later, S. chouroutachi came in and were like, "Hey, how are you?"

Me: 8B (the 8 is my glasses, btw.) I feel so loved 8D

There were like, four missionaries there who were concerned about my wellbeing all in the hall at once.

On that note, we got some C.C. Lemon because it's supposed to be super high in vitamin C (its claim is "THE VITAMIN C OF 50 LEMONS") so I got it, looked at the Vitamin C dosage, and it said 200 mg. So the lemons they use must have about 4 mg each of vitamin C, (about 90% less than most.)

Disappoint.

But. The best part of the day was when N-shimai came with us and drove us to E-chan's house to visit. It was so perfect. N-shimai was the bomb. She is still unsure how to share the gospel, but she had a whole lot of love and the fact that she was there meant a lot. And she promised to give E-chan her alarm clock, since she uses her phone now to wake up.

I was so happy. N-shimai really wants to help the missionaries, and more than that, really wants to help E-chan.

But. Ureshii.

Sad, sick, cupless Sydney [Seems like a good title - Sydney's mom] ;)

So... my cup broke today. I was so sad. It's just a silly little thing, but I was really sad. Like, really sad.

I really love that cup. It made me so sad. As we went to the church, I could only think, "Dear God, you know that was my favorite cup. Why would you break my favorite cup? What lesson am I supposed to learn? Did I like that cup more than you? Was it holding me back from being a good missionary? Would I have been arrested from taking it on the plane? Was it really so bad to love a cup? I have, like, one favorite possession on this mission. And that's that cup. I'm so sad. I won't blame you or get angry. It's just a cup and that's silly and I love you, but why did my cup have to break? Was I being prideful? Is M. shimai, my companion, supposed to learn something from this?"

I'm still really sad.

But anyways, my voice was bad enough today that I dendoed with a flipchart and wore a hygeine mask. Everyone thought it was hilarious, and I did a pretty good job. M. shimai also had a good time--finally got to talk.

On each page of my flipchart (in Japanese) was one of the following:
Good morning!
Thank you for worrying about me.
I'm doing well, but I can't really speak at the moment.
How are you?
Thank you!
I love you!
I don't think I have a cold--it's just my throat that's painful.
Yeah, for sure.
Sounds rough.
Excuse me!

And that worked for just about every conversation.

Me: Good morning!
Kyoukaiin (church member): Oh, hello. How are you?
Me: *flip* I'm fine, but I can't really speak at the moment.
Kyoukaiin: What? Is it a cold?
Me: *flip* I don't think it's a cold--it's just my throat that hurts at the moment.
Kyoukaiin: *laughs at the flipchart*
Me: *flip* Thank you for worrying about me.
Kyoukaiin: No, that's fine.
Me: *flip* I love you!

Or,
Kyoukaiin: That's too bad. I remember one time I was super stressed, caught a cold and couldn't speak for days.
Me: *flip* Sounds rough.
Kyoukaiin: It was. Be sure to drink a lot of water, okay?
Me: *flip* Yeah, for sure. *flip* Thank you :D I love you!

There was one with whom I had a special conversation over the flipchart--I actually had to write to him because my responses weren't enough.

M-kyoudai (my Japanese twin. He's like, 70 or something, but we really like each other because we're practically the same person. Except I have all my fingers.): Did you catch a cold?
Me: I'm fine, but I can't really speak at the moment.
Him: Oh, I see.
Me: I speak too much--
Him: Yeah, you do.
Me: *puffs and coughs of me laughing* --so God silenced me.
Him: I believe it. *cracks up*

I communicated with the other senkyoushi via iPad because I type faster than I write. The chouroutachi translated for me at DCS.

At the end of the day, we got a blessing for the cup--I mean, my voice--and it was really powerful.

God cares for me and my broken cup.

Goodnight.

*****

This week, I learned a little about creative dendo! I've been working on doing different approaches, and I feel like this week was a little odd, but in a good way. I've learned a lot, and I've had a lot of fun with my trainee.

New Year's Resolutions! Every new year, people have an image of who they are verses who they want to be (usually with weight), I would like to invite everyone to step on the scale and take a look at the situation before them. How do you want to stretch yourself this year? Where are you weak? Where do you want to be strong?

Be sure to pray about it and let me know!

Also, shoutouts to my recently married friend, the woman previously known as Tucker; Brenna Donnelly for her cute notes; Caleigh for her love and hard work; Hanna my little sister; and to anyone else who wrote me but doesn't usually! Thank you for taking the time.

And to everyone who writes to me on a regular basis, I love and pray for you and your happiness every night, even if I don't always give you individual replies.

Love,
Sanzu shimai, *gets out walker and shuffles away*

I can't speak my "off the chart" Japanese because my throat is sore

1/8 金

Today we had a zone meeting, shout out to R chourou, B shimai, and F shimai. That was really fun. Somehow, we managed to teach three lessons today, and during one, after we prayed, Y-shimai was just like, "Ah," at the end, and her eyes lit up a bit as she looked at the picture behind us (Christ appearing to Mary at the sepulcre). And she was like, "It's true." ...Sweet.

Das is all. Except my throat is really sore. Drank a lot of tea to soothe the raw feeling, and hopefully it'll wear off with sleep.

Night.

1/10 土

In case you were wondering, throat is still raw. And we pretty much didn't do anything today, except plan and talk, so... well, right now, I'm on a talking strike.

But on the bright side, I got to ask the chouroutachi how my Japanese was. They said that I use quite a few fillers in my Japanese, which seems to be the trap that every missionary falls into. So, that is something that I will definitely change, but toriaezu, they said other than that, my Japanese is "off the charts." Now I just have to find out the chart he's using.

But anyways, he said that if I dropped my billion "anou"s, then I would sound like a nihonjin, so that makes me really happy.

Also got delicious maple-ribboned bread from H-shimai. Then we finished off the night with instant potatoes. Not talking is... good for me, I suppose, but not being able to talk for even one hour is taking its toll on me... Ganbare, Sanzu shimai...

Today we had a flat-out war

1/7 木 [Just a reminder to all readers who might not know Sydney well, she has a very sarcastic, though never mean, dry sense of humor. So if you read something and think she might be joking, she probably is. :) ]

Today we had a flat-out war with T-shimai, a beloved member, (she joined us in another person’s lesson) over whether or not she wanted to be resurrected. She was like "Mou...Just dying is enough for me. Life is tiring."

Oi.

So we had this war with her in front of our investigator over whether or not it would be better to go to the Celestial Kingdom with a body (for those of you who aren’t familiar with this wording, translate to “Heaven”,) or stay as a spirit in Paradise (translate to “purgatory”ish). At the end, I was like, "ANYWAYS
(after we had finally managed to get T-shimai to be like, "Fine! I'll go to the celestial kingdom!"), resurrection is a present from God
and--"

T-shimai: Puresento no nara, kaeshite mo ii no?
Me: NO YOU CAN'T RETURN IT. (Not really. But in my heart, sou iimashita. (that is what I said.))

Then we ate the MOST DELICIOUS sweet and sour pork. After we were like, "Hey, we need to get going at four to get to another appointment," the four cute little old ladies cranked into high gear. It was really impressive.

We also ended up getting lost and missing the appointment, but we met an English guy instead and went with the chouroutachi to visit a girl we wanted to share a message with.
After we got the number,

Me: *putting it in* “So... S-chan, right?”
Her: “H.”

Turns out there were 2 girls. Awkward.

Me: “Oh, okay, thanks” :D *to my companion* “She's not the droid we are
looking for.”

But that's about it. Hopefully we'll hear from her.

Also taught a really good lesson to Y-shimai. She might be baptized before June after all. Goodnight.

I DO HAVE CAKE POWERS

This week, we got a call from our cute little Christmas Eve girlies. They weren’t interested in the gospel, but they know we love them and wanted to share it with them because it is the best gift we can give. So they listened to our lesson, and it went really well. No return appointment, but it had a very ii kanji (good feel), and opened some doors for us to invite them to activities from here on out. I was so glad that they were willing, and knew that we did it out of love. Had we not made that clear, the door would be shut.

Also, we were booking it to our appointment, and I had a feeling to take a route that I had never taken before. I was really worried, but I steeled myself and went for it, praying where to go next at the stoplight. And we got there very quickly, having only hit one stoplight and avoiding like, ten. It was really a lifesaver. That was a huge miracle.

At the end of our appointment, the girls gave my companion and me a present. We sat down afterwards and I saw "Castella" written on the front.

M. shimai (my companion): What is it?
Me: Oh, it's just cake.
Both of us: ... ...

I DO HAVE CAKE POWERS. Just kidding, but seriously.

God is so kind...

And the chouroutachi (elders) bought Hawaiian Rolls.
S chourou: Yeah, it was really weird. They didn't have anything. I was like, "Do you have this?" "No." "Oh, okay. Do you have this?" "No." "Oh...okay. Do you have this?" "No." "Oh... Well, what do you have?" "Hawaiian rolls." "..." "They're two dollars."

So they bought them.

3 hour indocurry

1/10

To my dear, trunky family, [This is Syd's mom - we've been a little obvious that we can't wait for her to get home! She's teasing and reprimanding in this greeting. :) ]

Worry not, dear loved ones. I will be home in fifteen emails.

... [This is Syd's mom. I am inserting this into Syd's letter so you understand what she's referring to, next - I had sent her several pictures from before her mission - I'll include some of my favorites below. In them, her hair was longer and blonder, and her eyes were more open in the pictures because I would always harp on her to not squint. She was comparing those to how she looks now in the pictures she's sending from Japan :) ]
...
...

Great Scott.

I was finally turning Japanese, too. My eyes were getting slimmer and I was losing fat (well, haha, not since shougatsu (New Year's)), and my hair was getting darker and everything. Give me another year and I would have lost two inches. I would have been Buddhist.

On that note, I have learned so darn much about Buddho-shintoism that--

Anyways. Family, worry not. I have 2 transfers left. I'm practically home already.

So, we had a crazy day, but long story short, we spent 3 HOURS in the Ganges indocurry restaurant. Took forever.

Hour one: Us, upset that the chouroutachi (elders) have ignored our texts asking when they would be down with the person they were bringing for us to meet, and with another lesson postponed until three, decided to eat food on our own.

Hour two: Chouroutachi and the person we were meeting and her dad appear! EL GASP. We have to sit and eat at different tables because the male/female ratio is even. Time passes. Our 3:00 appointment texts, so we go to get her.

Hour two-point-five: We drink lassi (yogurt drink) while everyone else eats. The girl the chouroutachi brought finishes and leaves, so we don’t have an opportunity to share a message with her and making the male/female ratio even again. The chouroutachi get up to "go to the bathroom" while we share a quick message with the rest of the table.

Hour three: Everyone but S-shimai leaves and we have a deep lesson with her. That part actually worked out very well.

BUT THREE HOURS AT INDOCURRY. Thank heavens it was preparation/personal/free day. On a normal day, despite two lessons... just. No.

Also on the way home, met a nice old man who liked gaijin (foreingers) and set another appointment with us. :D

So, altogether... today was not bad. I really hope the owners don't hate us now. Gomen ne...

New Years

1/4
The most important thing that happened this year was... my mission. I arrived just before Jan, so most of my mission has occurred since the year mark. It's been good (better than anything in my life), it's been hard (harder than anything in my life), and as I was trying to think of a single lesson learned by Sands shimai it's... probably... that Sands shimai can do hard things. And clean darn futons.

selfie in a glass bathroom at the top of the Harukasu.

she felt them rally under her to lift her up

12/27 日

Today we found out that T-shimai loves us :D She got us scarves—they were delivered by S-shimai, so I first thought they were from her. But anyways, T-shimai has such good taste--it perfectly matches my Bohemian style. :D

We had a great day at church today. N-shimai’s been an eternigator for I don't know how long--at least 2 years, from what I've heard, and she was there today in Relief Society. We were discussing what we learned from the Aoyagi talk this Conference, and she hadn't read the talk, so she was left in the cold. I explained her situation to our group, and all of a sudden, everyone was on top of it. We got to talking about a bunch of other gospel related things that she could discuss. too. It was really cool. Everyone was on N-shimai's side, and I think she felt them rally under her to lift her up. She really liked it and said she would do her best to be on time next week. Something just changed when A-shimai (the ward’s missionary) returned. Everyone is suddenly in Dendo mode. I hope it never ends-- :D

Oh, one last thing. Tonight, we ate toast and Nutella and strawberries that were as red on the inside as they were on the out. Beautiful :D

Today was a good day.

Altogether, this week was a good one. 

"Do you have any grandchildren?"

12/26 土

Family called! There were slight difficulties, but it worked out okay, and afterwards, we ate with a group of members and had a trivia contest and lunch. It's always fun when someone asks you, in Japanese, the number of the pitcher who <insert baseball talk here>. But there were some gospel-related questions, and that was fun.

Afterwards, we went to finish up that week’s SKK when the chouroutachi knocked on our door.

Chouroutachi: Guess what?
Us: What?
Chouroutachi: K-kyoudai is here.
Us: ?
C: And he brought food. He's going to make us food.
Us: :) ...

It was delicious. There was a moment, though, in the last couple bites, where I was seriously afraid that I wasn't going to make it. But I focused, aligned my chakras (or something), and became one with the food. SUCCESS!

M. shimai and I team-worked today! That was super. As we were standing in the eki (station), waiting for our subway, I was like, "M. shimai, do you have an eikaiwa chirashi (English class flyer)?"

MS: Yes. *gets it out*

A couple steps down, she gave it to a grandpa standing across from us. He gave her a polite smile, looked at the flyer, and was like,

"I'm Buddhist and I have no interest in English." *hands the flyer back to her*
Me: I felt a prompting to ask, “Do you have any grandchildren?”
Him: “Yeah, four. The eldest is actually a pro at English. Even his teachers are surprised at how good he is.”
Me: “Wow. That's super. Would you give him this for us?”
MS: *hands him the flyer*
Him: “Okay.” *takes it* “My youngest is really bad at English, even though her brother's awesome at it.”
Me: “I heard the hardest part about learning English is speaking it, since there are so few opportunities to speak with gaijin.”
Him: “Yeah, you don't bump into people like you too often.”
Me: “Sou desu ne. Would you invite her to come to eikaiwa too, then?”
Him: “Yeah, sure.”

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: INSPIRED QUESTION!!!

And then we got our bikes but came home late TT^TT

Santa's 65? I had no idea...

12/23 水

Today was the Christmas taikai, which was so super fun :D Other than P. shimai and W. shimai, I got to see everyone I was companions with, who were still on the mission:  F. shimai and my three daughters, W.  shimai, G. shimai, and my current companion M. shimai--one of whom  is a mother (trainer) already! I'm a grandma! ;)

We had a really fun talent show and afterwards, we dropped by I-shimai's house for cooking class. Everyone had finished up and left, but I-shimai had saved us food, and so we got a fantastic after-lunch. (We had already eaten tacos at the taikai) We did a practice-lesson, which my dear douryou (companion) said was wonderful and very helpful, so we'll be sure to do it again.

12/24 木

Today we had the privilege of bringing Santa to a bunch of adorable children! We don't normally go to places like day cares, etc., but we had been specially asked by the bishop to do so, as there is a LA there--R-shimai, who we've become really good friends with over the last week or so.

Anyways, Santa (E. chourou) was answering a bunch of questions, most of which he had known of and prepared beforehand, but someone asked "How old are you?"

E. chourou: *without missing a beat* “65.”
All the missionaries in the back: “PFFFT.”

Then the kids performed a bunch of musical numbers, and they were REALLY good.

Afterwards, we introduced M. shimai to indocurry. :D On the way back, we contacted a couple of kokosei and got their contact info, so hopefully that will lead to something. All around, a good day.

Ah, except for one thing. The I-k was going to treat us to dinner, but we thought we were supposed to meet at their house when they wanted to meet at the church. It's a 45 minute ride to their house. We had to leave our bikes because they picked us up by car, and they thought we were at our house, not theirs, so in the end, we were like, an hour late for dinner. It was a lot of fun and made a good story, but certainly wasn't our most shining moment as senkyoushitachi. But all around, a good dinner, a good day.


12/25 金

Merry Christmas everyone! We had District Meeting today, which was super. Afterwards, to make it feel like Christmas, we wore Santa hats and distributed Books of Mormon. We got in a bunch of lessons, and it was soooo fun! The Santa hat was magical. I think it was the perfect touch :D To cap off the adventure, the district gathered and had ramen at a cute little shop right off the eki (station). It was very good.

On the way home, I handed M. shimai a Christmas pass-along card and told her to give it to someone. It was so cute--she sucked up her courage after about five minutes and handed it to the person across from us. AND HE LOOKED UP THE SITE RIGHT THEN. He was so super. He didn't seem to have any further interest, but we gave him a chirashi (flyer) and told him to call the Hirakata elders if he had any questions.

At around dinner time, A-shimai called and took us out for dinner at the same place the I-family took us to. That was kind of funny. I guess it's the place to go. I'm honored to have gone there so many times.

Excited to talk to the family tomorrow! 

Today I learned how to be a missionary from a Buddhist

Anyways, we started out the day by going down to Momogaiken, a park. God and a passerby helped us find it, and we sat there as a group of little kids ran around and played tag. K-shimai, a Buddhist friend, came and we gave the kids high-fives and were about to leave when K-shimai was like, "Hey, you guys have meishi (business cards) and stuff, right? You should give them to the moms." and we were like, "...o ya, rite." 8B So we did and she was like "Yeah, these guys are missionaries and I'm totally kankei nai (unrelated), but I went to their church and it was a good. Don't knock it 'til you try it. I think it's something everyone should do at least once. Very kikiyasui (easy to listen to)."

Then she showed us and the hijiki (I had given it to her earlier as a thank-you present for all the stuff she'd given us) off to the shopkeeper of the cafe (he gave me a discount :D.) By the way, he was like, "You're LDS? I'm JW." And we were like, "Really?" Him: Yeah, my daughter's Catholic, the waitress is Protestant." As we left, this other guy came in and the shopkeeper was like, "This guy is a Shinto god." I busted up laughing pretty hard on that one. And everyone called my nihongo (Japanese) "kirei" (beautiful, clean, pure, perfect). It's certainly not perfect, but I'm flattered that they say it's kirei—but the H. gofuufu said the same thing, so I might be starting to believe it. :) ) Afterwards, we began to head out and our dear friend K-shimai was like, "So, when are you transferring?"

Me: Dunno.

Her: Huh. Well. Before you go, tell me your address.

Me: Like, for Japan?

Her: Like, for Utah. Me: :))))

Her: *quieter* I probably won't be able to go or anything... but...

Me: Zehi!!! Itsudemo kiite kudasai!

We're going to be best friends forever :D

But anyways, on the way back, we high-fived a group of high schoolers, and K-shimai stopped and was like, "Oi, turn around. They're probably interested in English."

...You're right.

So we turned around and dendo'd them. And, thanks to K. shimai, all of them were like, "Ikitaaaaaai." (Want to go)

So, today... I learned how to be a missionary from a Buddhist. She wins. And she bought us like, 20 dollars worth of candy. In case you're wondering, we ate about 10 dollars worth of it in the first 20 minutes after we got back to the church.

She was super. I love her guts and I just want to hug the heck out of her.

Today was super exciting--we done did stuff

12/21 月

Today was super exciting--we done did stuff. Specifically, we cleaned our disgusting futons with the invaluable help of M-kyoudai, one of my favorite members in the world. Unfortunately, that took the better part of the day, and we had all of 10 minutes to email our family. We really had an hour, but in the middle of it, R-shimai, a LA, came by and we watched a video together and shared a message. That was a lot of fun, especially since we had no clue she would drop by. It was a miracle for all of us that we were there at that time.

Ah, mata, it was also S. chourou's birthday, so my new trainee, M. shimai, and I blew up a bunch of balloons (shout out to his dad!) and wrote a big "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" on the board. Then E. chourou was a super awesome co-conspirator and actually managed to get S. chourou in the room to see our masterpiece :D

And then we did SKK (weekly planning). Because we hadn't finished it.

I really have a lot to learn from my trainee. I've never been questioned about my obedience--only complimented on it. But she actually has questions on what is and what should be--the same questions that I had, like hour-long meals with members and not spending more than 45 minutes with any one person, etc. And while it hurts my pride a little, it's a good review.

But other than that bit of growing, I love love love M. shimai. She's pretty much me, personality-wise, but likes things like exercise and green and purple Skittles. I love that. Her favorite book is Jane Eyre, she has a lot of fun stories and quirks, and she has a lot of great ideas :) I think she's super.

Oh, the best thing happened this week! We had SEVEN investigators come to church. I couldn't believe it until we were counting names, but seven different visitors came to church. Not only that, but everyone who came was hard-core fellowshipped by the ward. Even people who the ward had never seen had a friend by the end of the hour. Not to mention, A-shimai, the ward's missionary, had just come home from her mission in Hawaii. She bore powerful testimony, and the speakers who came after her were not a whit behind in their oratorical ability. All seven people had a very good experience. That means that we missionaries had an AMAZING experience.

Love you and love my mission! Hope you all have a great week and get some dendo fire going in your own heart. Make friends with someone you don't recognize at church this week--it will make your, theirs, and the missionaries' day.
愛しています！
サンズ姉妹

G-shimai has grown wings

12/14

No time to write, but found out that my beloved companion G-shimai has grown wings and soon will be leaving the nest, and I’ll be training a new companion. I’m excited to meet M-shimai, but I am very sad to lose G-shimai.

Hello most awesomest famiry. Here are this week's highlights.

11/30 月

We went to Namba today! It was so loud, I couldn't think. If I ever come back to Japan, I need a good pair of sound-cancelling headphones. We went to the Disney store, and found a bunch of absurdly adorable things, but nothing that was useful enough to convince myself to buy. Finally I came across a pair of reasonably priced Frixon pens. I've actually been looking for something like that for a good long while, and never got around to buying any, so that was nice. Now I have Ariel and Rapunzel pens. :D

12/1 火

So, today, had a really good lesson with T-shimai on keeping the commandments. We watched the awesome seatbelt talk from Conference, and she really liked it. Moreover, she understood that she needed to keep the commandments and when she ended with a prayer, she asked God to help her keep the commandments. It worked out really well.

On the road to M-shimai's, a member, we ran into this guy at the stoplight. He took one look at us and went, "Your clothes are old fashioned. Like the Amish."

First of all, our clothes are certainly not old-fashioned—especially not 200 years old-fashioned, which is what he was referring to. [Secondly, I gave him a much needed explanation of the] differences between the Amish, FLDS, and LDS religions and their origins. It was a fun discussion.

At the end of the day, we taught English to our beloved H-shimai, who seriously wants the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but doesn't want to acknowledge it. :D

12/2 水

Today, we got to [split up with another missionary pair from Hashimoto]. (I remembered my dear previous companion, F. shimai, saying that she loved Hashimoto to the ends of the earth. So it was fun learning about it.) I was partnered with N. shimai, a Japanese sister who was a beast. It was so cool to see her in action--she just straight-up rocked it. She would go up to people and be like, "Hi, we're missionaries from the LDS church." And people would listen. I learned so much from her today. Then, before we prepared for bed, N. shimai was like, "Oh, I'm going to call (your previous companion) F. shimai tonight for follow-ups. Do you want to talk with her?"

YES. Highlight of my day. Very happy :D We had a great time, and it was so good to talk with her again.

Just about it. Love y'all. Night.

12/3 木

Today we finished splits and I got to reunite with my beloved current companion, G-shimai. Then we got lost on the train, for like, an hour because we had to go back to Hashimoto because G. shimai needed to return the bike key to N. shimai. We talked to people on the train and that was fun.

12/4 金

ZTM (zone meeting) was really good today--it was about working with the youth and the Doctrine of Christ. I really liked it. And of course I got to see Rb. chourou, which is always a good, happy thing. Afterwards, Rk. chourou gave us some of the cake he made. Also, the AP's dropped in on us, so I was able to see D. S. chourou, my beloved Zone Leader from Matsuyama Zone. He's an AP, now.

We also visited and had a really good lesson with T-shimai, and her dog, was all over S chourou. We ate ramen, and he pet the dog until the end of the lesson. It was very cute. As we were playing with the dog, my mind drifted over to a cute little gunky-eyed dog that we had met a little while back. It lived on the way and was a well-tempered little thing. But its eye was gunky. I hope its owners took it to the vet.

On the way back to the apartment, we actually saw the gunky-eyed dog. We kept going, but I was like, "...You know what? We need to go back." So we went back and said hello. It remembered us/smelled the other dog on our legs, so it was all over us (its eye was better. I'm very grateful for that.) The owner (or the owners mother?) was impressed that the dog liked us so much, and she stopped to talk with us for a bit. Apparently, I have the same birthday as her grandkid, and so that was pretty much a free pass to "Come and play whenever you want". That was exciting. But almost more exciting than that was when a guy came out of their garage in work clothes and was like, "Eh?"

Obaa-chan: “They're Kirisutokkyo.” (Christians)

Him: “Morumonkyou?” (Mormons)

Her and us: “You know them/us?”
Him: “Yeah, I live in the same apartment as two of them.”

Us: “The one down there?” point in the direction of our apartment

Him: “No,” Points in the direction of the chouroutachi's (elders’) apartment. “ I've seen the guys
around.”

So we gave him a Christmas pass-along card and a smile. He'll probably be baptized. XD

Time's up. Love y'all!

The best Christmas present

12/7

GIFTS:

I'm excited for Christmas! ARE YOU EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS?! Yosh. So, I love you all so much, and truly want you to have a fantastic Christmas as a present to me. For those hoping for a more material list... Other than instant potatoes, I can't think of anything I want for Christmas. But, there is an request that I have for all of you:

Please do not send clothes, more than six ounces of candy/sugar (unless they are box cake/cookie mixes), large, bulky items that cannot fit into one of my three suitcases with the rest of my possessions, pets, electronic devices, books or other entertainment that goes far beyond that of the Chinese finger trap or Rubik’s cube, etc.

Truly the best present that I can receive from you is an email telling me about how wonderful your Christmas was and the presents that you received and the Light of Christ that you shared :)

If you really want to go out of your way, read the Book of Mormon. Whether it's your first or fifteenth time. If you've already been around the Book of Mormon block, try reading a new copy and highlight

1.) God's, Christ's, or the Holy Ghost's name.
2.) Shows or references of Christlike love.

And decide how you will apply them in your own life. I'd love to talk about it with y'all when I get back!

Also, found a new FANTA flavor!!! Fruit punch! I don't normally like fruit punch, but it looks really good.

I'll send you a weekly update later. Love you!