5/9 5/10
Due to a miscommunication over the time difference, we missed Sydney's Mother's Day call (when it was Mother's Day there), which was devastating, but all was made up for when we got to skype on the computer the next day (Mother's Day, here). It was absolutely wonderful to see her and hear her voice. We couldn't let her go, so she finally had to hang up on us. :D Not really, but pretty close. :D
She is doing an amazing job, spreading the gospel and loving the people she comes in contact with. I am so proud of the beautiful young woman she is, and her willingness to serve and sacrifice, to "pay back" a little, in gratitude for all she's been blessed with. Love that kid, and couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day present! Can't wait til the time I can hug her tight, again! Syd's mom
Monday, December 14, 2015
They have a Cafe Du Monde in the iinaka of Japan
5/4
This week has been pretty fun. Right after I sent off the email about the amazing Sunday we had, the phone rang. We picked it up and it was a woman who had met a couple of senior missionaries a while back. A friend of hers had recently died and so she wanted to know what happened after death. So I got to listen to the amazing F. shimai give a twenty-minute life-after-death lesson to this woman, and an appointment was arranged for Sunday, for her to learn more.
God works in mysterious ways.
My companion, FShimai, may I mention, is a boss. Like, world-renowned CEO, final-level boss. She's so cool. It's really a blessing to hear her teach. If it was socially acceptable to pull out my camera and film her during a lesson... well, I can still plant one somewhere. Probably. But anyways, she's been with this branch since December, and really, really loves them. I'm really happy that she's starting to see the fruits of her efforts.
The next day, we went to this thing called SGG, which is basically a bunch of fluent nihonjin speaking English together. It's really fun, because I get to talk about English literature and American culture for an hour and a half, then share a gospel message for fifteen minutes. The missionaries have been going there for a while, so everyone knows that we don't do tea or coffee during teatime. So these wonderful people get juice especially for the missionaries instead. (Although I did have the opportunity of eating a coffee-chocolate ball.
Me: ... *still smiling* glance at F. shimai.
FS: *silently* Dame? (DAH-may, Bad)
Me: *makes an X with hands under the table*
FS and I: *silently set the rest of the chocolate aside*
But anywho, to show my gratitude, I broke one of the plates. *high fives self* (A note from Sydney’s mom – yes, this is Sydney’s dry humor. She did not really break the plate on purpose.)
Me: ... I... am a horrible person.
FS: Ieie, daijoubu desu.
Head of SGG: ... *takes pieces of plate away*
Wednesday, we visited our branch president. We texted them that morning and asked if we could drop by at around noon, and KK texts back: "Won't you have lunch with us?" Then: "Does Sands shimai eat yakiniku?" (literally "fried meat.") Basically, you sit at a table with a miniature grill in the center. Then you receive an array of meat and vegetables. Then you fry the meat according to your liking, then you eat the meat. It's delicious. It's also relatively expensive. (Meat's rather expensive in Japan) But there are two things that you do not do in Japanese society, and one is turn down a gift. But anyways, "Does Sands shimai eat yakiniku?") Me: DID ELIJAH SLAY THE PRIESTS OF BAAL?! (Yes. The answer is yes. I love yakiniku.)
We were very blessed to partake of yakiniku with the K’s. (By the way, mom, we ate at the Fuji Grande Mall here in Imabari, and I saw a familiar face(?). Cafe Du Monde. They have a Cafe Du Monde in the iinaka of Japan. I have yet to eat there, but it is on the list.) We shared a message with them (which was the original goal. I hadn't actually planned to take more than five minutes of their time.) It was a little rocky, but fun. I think. I hope.
Later that day, we had the opportunity to teach eikaiwa! One of my favorite parts of the day (unfortunately, last week and this week are without the kodomo eikaiwa. :'( ), and the theme was "body parts". So to illustrate, I drew Superman on the board beforehand and labeled the body parts. It went over pretty well. I think the Japanese have a bit of a hard time understanding my humor. (When I say a joke in Japanese, they don't want to laugh in case it was just a mistake. When I say it in English, they don't want to laugh in case they made a mistake in understanding it. If I elaborate and tell them it was a joke, then they laugh a good 70% of the time.)
Saturday, we had a shokujikai (literally a meal-meeting) to welcome a new family, a new convert, and a newly-returned missionary. I was charged with the game, which turned out decently. A couple new friends were made among the ward members, which was the goal and great cause for great thanks. (However, someone took my lemon square when we were cleaning up. That... may have been the saddest moment of my mission so far.)
Today we just spent a fun couple hours with the local Area Authority doing pottery. The area was beautiful, and A. Chourou and his wife were super nice. We'll try going to a less-active's concert tonight.
But anywho, I think that's it for the evening. Love you all.
Also, could you tell Becca's mom that I love and adore her and am very
very grateful for the mail she sends? Thank you :D
Love your favorite missionary,
Sydney
She shouts her Japanese really slowly when I don't understand her. It's really helpful. I kind of wish everyone did it.
4/27
Imaimaimabaaaari!
It's really a good feeling to still be called "saiko" (which means #1,
basically. Not to be confused with the English "psycho"). This week,
we are slowly and steadily (as in, fast enough to get whiplash) easing
(diving) into electronic records! What this means is that we have to take
all of our paper records, type them by hand, and edit them for privacy.
This means that we cannot include any--ANY--direct references to ethic,
religious, financial, sexual, or health background. I understand and appreciate
the reason for this. Once the records are electronic, everyone in the bishopric
will be able to see the dirty details of the lives of our investigators (not that
any of them have any dirty details—thank heavens). Some things are just
for the missionaries and the missionaries only. Each record takes about an
hour to do. Sooo... between our records (which are many), cleaning the very
dirty apartment, and allergy season, things have been very exciting in Imabari.
F. Shimai's been a little stressed (as the nihonjin companion,
she's had to bear the brunt of everything--contract signing, apartment
closing, updating the records of the Before Sands Shimai era), but
she's handling it really well.
By the way, I'm very sad to say that F. Shimai
has a, like, 99.9% probability of transferring next transfer. TT_TT
She's been here for four transfers. As I've been looking through the
records, I noticed that not a single sister for the past year or so,
has managed to stay in Imabari for more than two transfers. Few have
stayed in Imabari for more than one. That should tell you what kind of
an amazing missionary F. Shimai is.
We've been eating out a lot to get out of the apartment (and now I can
recognize a lot more menu kanji ;D) but we've slowly started to ease
our way back in. (Eating a lot of rice, bread and miso soup. Me:
*about to get in the shower* ... *steps on scale* ...-_-||| (Not
really mom, I've done a really good job of maintaining my pre-mission
weight. Don't worry.) But we really have been eating a lot of rice,
bread, and miso soup.) And we haven't had much time to dendo (Not
having the apartment clean makes my douryou/companion stressed. Not
dendoing/sharing the gospel makes me stressed.), but we've had a very
exciting Sunday to make up for the week.
It began in our English Old Testament class (that I and Sister W.
teach :D).Then I got to play with K-C, who is the most ADORABLE Asian
baby that I have ever seen. I've seen a good deal of adorable babies during
my stay in Japan. This one takes the cake. I have a picture, but the picture
does not do her justice. She was being held by H-C, and decided she
wanted to be held by the blond onee-san who was making faces at her
(yours truly). But missionaries cannot hold children, which is probably
the most resented rule in any Asian mission, so H-C put her on
the floor. Then she stands up on her little pudgy legs and fists my
skirt at my knees and just stares at me. (She's a very well-tempered
child because she knows that if she stares at someone long enough,
she'll get literally anything she wants. It's a little like Kaa the
snake from the Jungle Book.)
Me: I want to. I REALLY want to, but I can't.
Her: *staaaare*
Heart: *shrivelling*
Her: *staaaaaaaare*
Me: *voice of pain* Here. Take my keys. *hands keys*
Her: *takes keys* *placated* *sits down and begins shaking the keys*
So that was really fun. And we had a whole day outside the apartment
scheduled with a lot of biking. We have to bike a lot more in Imabari
than Okayama, but it feels shorter in Imabari. Anyways, we hopped on
our bikes and began our trip to the first destination. Once or twice
we chatted with people when we were stopped at intersections, be it in
the city or on the dirt roads, and that was fun. Then, as we got more
toward the city area, "Konnichiwa"ing (“Hello-ing”) every passerby
Us: biking along, “Konnichiwa!”
*to the flowers, the cars, the obaasan, the corporate buildings, the flowers,
some guy on a bike*
The guy on a bike: *has just dismounted and looks at us as we're riding
away* Kirisutokkyo? (Christians?)
Us: *SCREEEEEEECH* *turn to look at him*
Him: *walks over to us* “Are you Christians? Where's your church?”
FS: “Our church is a little far. It's about twenty minutes—“
Him: “I'm a little busy right now, so I can't talk but,” looks at the
map on the back of the chirashi, “I'll be there next time.” *walks off*
Us: still not entirely sure what's going on, but very normally, “Okay,
bye”. *push off* ... ... *whirrs and clicks as the "Rationality" sector
of our brains tries to process what happened*
Later, we were waiting for a light, and I saw a pair of elderly people.
Me: Konnichiwa!
FS: Konnichiwa :)
Them: *keep walking*
Me: “Ii tenki, desu ne.” :D
Woman: *stops* *rushes over to me* *practically seizes upon me* *in
Japanese* “Oh my gosh, you're so good at Japanese! That's incredible! I
took English in highschool and a little in college--
Me: *lost*
FS: *smiling and nodding* "We teach a free eikaiwa." (English class)
Me: *smiles and nods*
Her:" Oh, no, I live in *insert place here*"
FS: "We have one there, too." *hands chirashi*
Her: "What? No way!" *looks us square in the face* “Ikou.” (I'll
go--pretty strong decisional word.) *walks off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off* ... *more whirrs and clicks*
Later, we were coming back from somewhere, and we were stopped at a light.
Guy on the motorcycle behind me: "Mormon?"
Me: "!Hai, Morumon desu. Have you heard of us before?"
Him:" Yeah, I have." *light turns* "Good luck/Work hard/See you later." *goes off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off*
Me: ... ... ... WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
And I was bestowed a gift by a legitimate tsundere. It's used to describe someone who's really cold on the outside and acts like they hate the world and the people in it, but on the inside they really just want friends and a warm hug. I seriously just thought they were in manga.
They are not just in manga. She's really funny--shouts her Japanese really slowly when I don't understand her. It's really helpful. I kind of wish everyone did it.
So, Sunday was very exciting. I'm still trying to understand what
happened. Well, please pray for these people, and that we'll keep
having exciting days.
Earlier in the week, we got a sales guy at our apartment, which was
hilarious, because he was trying to sell a tv? Cable service?
Something like that, and F. Shimai, who really sympathizes with
those people, had a nice conversation with him.
Him: *gives his pitch*
FS: I'm sorry, I don't think we need it. We don't have a tv.
Him: Oh, you just moved in/Do you have space for a tv/something like that.
FS: We don't watch tv.
Him: ... *a little confused and surprised* *says something like "Oh,
it works with a computer."
FS: We don't have WiFi.
Him: (something about installation services?)
FS: I'm sorry, we don't use the internet. We don't have a computer.
Him: ... *visibly torn between surprise, shock, and disbelief* *says
goodbye* *leaves*
Me: *busts up laughing*
FS: ?! Nani? Nani?
Oh, and I cut my hair. Actually, N. Shimai did it for me. I
really, really like it. I feel liberated. The only downside is that
there is this singular lock of hair that keeps flipping the opposite
way. The rest of my hair stays put when I go to sleep, but that one
piece...
But not to worry, the Fantastic F.-shimai's got my back ;D She's
really the best thing since sliced bread.
She's really amazing. I really, REALLY love her.
Wow, two weeks, then I get to speak with the fam (for Mother’s Day) again.
Crazy.
She's been here for four transfers. As I've been looking through the
records, I noticed that not a single sister for the past year or so,
has managed to stay in Imabari for more than two transfers. Few have
stayed in Imabari for more than one. That should tell you what kind of
an amazing missionary F. Shimai is.
We've been eating out a lot to get out of the apartment (and now I can
recognize a lot more menu kanji ;D) but we've slowly started to ease
our way back in. (Eating a lot of rice, bread and miso soup. Me:
*about to get in the shower* ... *steps on scale* ...-_-||| (Not
really mom, I've done a really good job of maintaining my pre-mission
weight. Don't worry.) But we really have been eating a lot of rice,
bread, and miso soup.) And we haven't had much time to dendo (Not
having the apartment clean makes my douryou/companion stressed. Not
dendoing/sharing the gospel makes me stressed.), but we've had a very
exciting Sunday to make up for the week.
It began in our English Old Testament class (that I and Sister W.
teach :D).Then I got to play with K-C, who is the most ADORABLE Asian
baby that I have ever seen. I've seen a good deal of adorable babies during
my stay in Japan. This one takes the cake. I have a picture, but the picture
does not do her justice. She was being held by H-C, and decided she
wanted to be held by the blond onee-san who was making faces at her
(yours truly). But missionaries cannot hold children, which is probably
the most resented rule in any Asian mission, so H-C put her on
the floor. Then she stands up on her little pudgy legs and fists my
skirt at my knees and just stares at me. (She's a very well-tempered
child because she knows that if she stares at someone long enough,
she'll get literally anything she wants. It's a little like Kaa the
snake from the Jungle Book.)
Me: I want to. I REALLY want to, but I can't.
Her: *staaaare*
Heart: *shrivelling*
Her: *staaaaaaaare*
Me: *voice of pain* Here. Take my keys. *hands keys*
Her: *takes keys* *placated* *sits down and begins shaking the keys*
So that was really fun. And we had a whole day outside the apartment
scheduled with a lot of biking. We have to bike a lot more in Imabari
than Okayama, but it feels shorter in Imabari. Anyways, we hopped on
our bikes and began our trip to the first destination. Once or twice
we chatted with people when we were stopped at intersections, be it in
the city or on the dirt roads, and that was fun. Then, as we got more
toward the city area, "Konnichiwa"ing (“Hello-ing”) every passerby
Us: biking along, “Konnichiwa!”
*to the flowers, the cars, the obaasan, the corporate buildings, the flowers,
some guy on a bike*
The guy on a bike: *has just dismounted and looks at us as we're riding
away* Kirisutokkyo? (Christians?)
Us: *SCREEEEEEECH* *turn to look at him*
Him: *walks over to us* “Are you Christians? Where's your church?”
FS: “Our church is a little far. It's about twenty minutes—“
Him: “I'm a little busy right now, so I can't talk but,” looks at the
map on the back of the chirashi, “I'll be there next time.” *walks off*
Us: still not entirely sure what's going on, but very normally, “Okay,
bye”. *push off* ... ... *whirrs and clicks as the "Rationality" sector
of our brains tries to process what happened*
Later, we were waiting for a light, and I saw a pair of elderly people.
Me: Konnichiwa!
FS: Konnichiwa :)
Them: *keep walking*
Me: “Ii tenki, desu ne.” :D
Woman: *stops* *rushes over to me* *practically seizes upon me* *in
Japanese* “Oh my gosh, you're so good at Japanese! That's incredible! I
took English in highschool and a little in college--
Me: *lost*
FS: *smiling and nodding* "We teach a free eikaiwa." (English class)
Me: *smiles and nods*
Her:" Oh, no, I live in *insert place here*"
FS: "We have one there, too." *hands chirashi*
Her: "What? No way!" *looks us square in the face* “Ikou.” (I'll
go--pretty strong decisional word.) *walks off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off* ... *more whirrs and clicks*
Later, we were coming back from somewhere, and we were stopped at a light.
Guy on the motorcycle behind me: "Mormon?"
Me: "!Hai, Morumon desu. Have you heard of us before?"
Him:" Yeah, I have." *light turns* "Good luck/Work hard/See you later." *goes off*
Us: "Okay, bye." *push off*
Me: ... ... ... WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
And I was bestowed a gift by a legitimate tsundere. It's used to describe someone who's really cold on the outside and acts like they hate the world and the people in it, but on the inside they really just want friends and a warm hug. I seriously just thought they were in manga.
They are not just in manga. She's really funny--shouts her Japanese really slowly when I don't understand her. It's really helpful. I kind of wish everyone did it.
So, Sunday was very exciting. I'm still trying to understand what
happened. Well, please pray for these people, and that we'll keep
having exciting days.
Earlier in the week, we got a sales guy at our apartment, which was
hilarious, because he was trying to sell a tv? Cable service?
Something like that, and F. Shimai, who really sympathizes with
those people, had a nice conversation with him.
Him: *gives his pitch*
FS: I'm sorry, I don't think we need it. We don't have a tv.
Him: Oh, you just moved in/Do you have space for a tv/something like that.
FS: We don't watch tv.
Him: ... *a little confused and surprised* *says something like "Oh,
it works with a computer."
FS: We don't have WiFi.
Him: (something about installation services?)
FS: I'm sorry, we don't use the internet. We don't have a computer.
Him: ... *visibly torn between surprise, shock, and disbelief* *says
goodbye* *leaves*
Me: *busts up laughing*
FS: ?! Nani? Nani?
Oh, and I cut my hair. Actually, N. Shimai did it for me. I
really, really like it. I feel liberated. The only downside is that
there is this singular lock of hair that keeps flipping the opposite
way. The rest of my hair stays put when I go to sleep, but that one
piece...
But not to worry, the Fantastic F.-shimai's got my back ;D She's
really the best thing since sliced bread.
She's really amazing. I really, REALLY love her.
Wow, two weeks, then I get to speak with the fam (for Mother’s Day) again.
Crazy.
Can't wait ;D
Shidonii Sanzu Shimai
Shidonii Sanzu Shimai
Syd's address!
Sister Sydney Sands
Japan Kobe Mission
4-6-28 Shinohara Honmachi
Nada-Ku, Kobe-Shi, Hyogo-Ken
Japan 657-0067
Please note that USPS (the regular US postal mail) is the only method of reliably getting your mail to her. It goes to the main mission address in Kobe, and then from there is forwarded to whatever location she is currently assigned. UPS and Fed Ex does not offer forwarding services there, so if you send something via either of those shipping services, it will get stuck (and possibly lost) at the main mission address, and will not be forwarded to her.
Japan Kobe Mission
4-6-28 Shinohara Honmachi
Nada-Ku, Kobe-Shi, Hyogo-Ken
Japan 657-0067
Please note that USPS (the regular US postal mail) is the only method of reliably getting your mail to her. It goes to the main mission address in Kobe, and then from there is forwarded to whatever location she is currently assigned. UPS and Fed Ex does not offer forwarding services there, so if you send something via either of those shipping services, it will get stuck (and possibly lost) at the main mission address, and will not be forwarded to her.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Shower mold comes in two varieties. (Subtitled: Where has my lost bread gone?)
4/19
apartment was a leettle dirty. F. Shimai said "Sorry. We just
moved." At least, that's what I thought she said. In reality, she
said, "Sorry, we're moving." So, four days after I saw my new
apartment, we got another new apartment. Which is really good, because our
travel time to the church went from 30 minutes by bike to 4.
The new apaato (apartment)! (Bah, this keyboard only has one shift key, and it's
on the left side.) The new apaato is really fun. The layout is
fantastic but a little crowded for two huge senkyoushi desks. I found
a hole punch while we were pulling stuff from the chouroutachi's (male missionaries) old
apartment (we don't have chouroutachi anymore *distant look*), and an
Arabic Book of Mormon. So that was fun.
...We lost our bread in the chaos. I'm a little hesitant to say this
over email, but did you know rice mold is blue? Banana mold is white.
Shower mold comes in two varieties: bacteria burgundy, and a
well-cultured nori green. Kiwis can actually reach a foaming point.
I've learned so many things on my mission, but I already know the
color of bread mold. ...I'm so sad. Where has my lost bread gone?
On that note, Japan has excellent cleaning supplies.
Anywho. my kappa (rain outfit) is three times my size. I look like the Michelin man
every time I pull it on. But it's a pretty good feeling to lose 150
pounds every time you step out of the rain.
My three-gear Mamachatti's rocking the Imabari terrain.
My incredible companion still seems to think I'm amazing, which I must
say is an incredible feeling. Let's see how long I can keep fooling
her...
The water pressure in our new apartment is exemplary. The plumber I'm
fairly sure must have been a retired fireman. Three times in the ofuro
(the bathtub/room), our movable shower head (it's not actually
shower-head-style, but it's about the size of the head of an American
kitchen sink with a rather long, unretractable hose that I really
like. Anywho, the shower head) actually achieved liftoff when I placed
it in its holder. Did you know that if you hose down the ceiling of an
ofuro, the effect is very similar, if not identical, to a heavy
rainfall? If not properly squeegeed, it can continue for, say, the
entire duration of your shower.
My hair... there was no time to cut it, but an appointment has been
made for today. Goodbye, hair. I'll miss you, but only as a mosquito
shield. No bug bites though, in the past few weeks. No complaints
there.
Humidity? everything seems pretty futsu (normal) here. Not nearly as
bad as Louisiana. That will probably change, though, with the seasons.
The Easter Egg Hunt went really well, although they only used like,
seventy eggs for the fourteen children that came. Me and Y. chourou
were like: :| But it was really fun, and the kids had a blast. We
played a bunch of games at the beginning and the mom I found with
S. Shimai showed up. She's so cool.
We've also met this positively adorable little obaachan (grandma) with the cutest
voice and no teeth. Every time we've come, she's given us orange juice
and a banana. She's so cute.
Cute to ieba (speaking of cute), this area has a thriving kodomo (child)
eikaiwa (English class). I... ... There are actually no words to
describe my euphoria. Imagine standing in a room filled with adorable
Asian children who are singing the alphabet. Any creature with a pulse
would be reduced to a quivering puddle of goo.
I don't know what color goo mold is. But futon mold--
Anywho. This email probably seems a little scattered. That's pretty
much how I feel. Oh, I can look at emails any time of the week. Desu.
Yeah. I'mma send this one off and check to make sure all the questions
were answered.
Oh, conference was fantastic, by the way. It was a really fun
experience. The branch president bought me a pair of earphones (like,
airplane earphones), and I plugged them into the iPad and listened to
and read the English as I watched the Japanese. It was really really
good. Although there was once or twice when I couldn't get the timing
right. That was distracting. But all the talks were really, really
good. Definitely a good use of a Saturday and Sunday morning and
afternoon.
Imabari's great. Pray for me that F. Shimai and I'll be able to
make it even better.
Love,
Sanzu Shimai
A bike, flowers and the superior species...
4/13
(Syd's 1st email from her new area, with her new companion.)
She's also a little harder to get moving in the mornings. Before, in
Okayama, I felt like I always had to work my hardest, but here, once
we get moving, I feel like I don't have to put in as much effort.
While it's nice, I don't feel like I'm growing too much. I hope that
I'll have enough patience to really figure out how she works, because
once I do, I know we'll really start going places.
But that's enough about my bicycle.
My new Japanese companion, F. shimai's is truly amazing. I'm not entirely sure how, but she
is definitely a member of the superior species known as female
nihonjin. She's pretty fantastic and I really feel like I'm her
partner in the work. She's really good at making me feel good about
myself and at the same time making me want to be better. She hasn't
criticized me once--it's her example that makes me want to be a better
missionary.
Imaaaabari! The inaka (countryside) is quite a bit more populated than I thought
it would be. …And, flowers. There are flowers everywhere, and they just pop up and say
howdy wherever you are--in the street, the dirt, the massive,
uncovered gutters, cement walls, between fences... Forget-me-nots and
pansies abound. Little white star-shaped flowers and watery scarlet
blossoms are everywhere. Sakura season is pretty much over, but there
are a few tenacious hangers-on. Bug season's coming, too. Better
buckle up for that one.
But that's about all I have time for today. Best of luck and best of love.
-サンズ姉妹
P.s. Imma see if I can't get a keyboard for next time.
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