FAMILY!
I’m in Japan. The keyboard here is really weird so sorry about errors. We are at the church right now.
So...
AAAAHHH! I am so sorry. I have been diligently documenting and taking pictures but i just realized I forgot my camera cord...sad. Ok, well, I am in my area (Kanagawa) and with my trainer: Saiki Shimai. We live in an apartment with just the two of us. Address: 21-0075 (I think that this number is a sort of zip code), Yokohamashi Kanagawa-ku, Shirahatakami-cho 15-31. It’s pretty close to the heart of Tokyo. At night I can see the cityscape and the lights from the buildings. Our area goes to the coast I think, but we haven’t gone that direction yet.
So we got here on a Wednesday, were picked up at the airport by Pres. Albrecht, brother Hobbs, and the AP’s and got on a bus. We drove about 1 1/2 hours to the mission home and had dinner there. Sister Hobbs greeted me and said she was sorry she wasn’t the pope (inside joke with Mom), and then gave me an envelope with a letter in it from Mom. Thanks mom! The next day we had training and then at about lunch time a lot of other missionaries started arriving - missionaries who haven’t been in Tokyo since the earthquake. We had a big huge party and dinner and everyone was bouncing off the walls to be back and see each other, except all of us who just got to Japan were almost asleep because of the jetlag. Everyone stayed at the mission home that night (the elders slept in the church on futons) and the next day we got our assignments and transferred to our new assignments. Saiki Shimai and I took my carry-on and walked from the mission home to the train station/subway and rode to our new area. I don’t even remember how long it was - I was super tired. Then we walked from the station to our apartment. That night we proselyted and went to meet the bishop of one of our wards. We have 2 wards we are working with; Kanagawa and Kohoku. Saiki Shimai says it’s because we have so many sins that we need to take the sacrament twice. That’s probably about right. The next day we proselyted and that night we taught part of lesson 1 to Ko (she’s about 50 I would say) and her son Nie who is about 11 and LOVES food. Then I taught Nie an English lesson. Here, English lessons are a really big way to find people to teach. We offer English lessons and we also teach a spiritual message. Anyway, Ko and Nie: Ko is from China and her family still lives there. I guess it’s a tough situation because she can only go there every couple of years. Ko and Nie (pronounce nie: knee) both came to FHE last night. Next time we teach we are going to ask them to be baptized. I think Ko is really interested in the gospel. Pray for them if you can.
The members here are fantastic. They certainly seem like the missed having missionaries since the earthquake and they are really lighting a fire to get the missionary work rolling. We are really lucky that they are all so willing. I can’t believe how supportive they are. They will literally bend over backwards for us- it’s amazing.
On Sunday I bore my testimony and the members all made sure to tell me how great my Japanese is, which of course means it’s terrible : ) A lot of them speak English pretty well. And surprisingly, a lot of them know where Idaho is. When I tell them I am from there they ask “where in Idaho?” I usually tell them I live south of Pocatello, and quite a few of them know about the area... a couple of them mentioned Blackfoot. Weird.
Big news; this Thursday night, all the Tokyo missionaries will board a bus (actually 4 buses) and ride all night to Sendai and do service all day on Friday. It’s going to be an amazing opportunity to get to see the aftermath of the earthquake. We will probably be shoveling mud out of houses and stuff like that. Crazy that our whole mission gets to go. I’m really excited to be able to go see what things are like. We will ride home and probably get back late so we will most likely be sleeping at a church and then go back to our apartments on Saturday.
Oh- my apartment: coming in the door you walk into a kitchen area with a table and fridge and sink. Straight ahead there is a room where we sleep. Friday night was my first night sleeping on a futon. There is an office sort of room adjacent to the kitchen and sleeping room, and off the kitchen is a sort of hallway that is about 4 feet long with a sink and washer in it. Off of that is a TEENY room with a toilet in it (My knees hit the wall every time I sit down), and there is a little shower-room at the end of the hall. Wow. I am SO SO sorry that I don’t have my camera cord with me.
Saiki Shimai is good. I can’t tell you a lot about her because I don’t know much. She speaks a little bit of English, but definitely not enough to clear up miscommunication. Communication between us is pretty sketchy, but I like her. She’s from somewhere south of Tokyo. I take it she is shocked with how much I don’t know about Japan, and probably missionary work too. She couldn’t believe I had never slept on a futon until Friday. The funniest thing about her is that she LOVES pancakes. The members all give her pancake batter and every morning she mixes some up and cooks it all at once in a pan. It ends up being a big huge pancake that is about 2 inches thick in the middle. She cuts it in half and that’s breakfast.
Sunday after church we had a potluck dinner with some of the members. I was pretty excited to try some real Japanese food. But when I went to get some food they wanted me to try some of their potato salad since I was from Idaho. I knew I would probably have to eat a lot of things here that I really don’t like, but potato salad wasn’:t what I was anticipating. Sort of funny.
Investigator to pray for; Lilly - she and her husband moved here from China and she is pretty strong, but can’t come to church because of work.
For my bike- one of the elders here is on his last transfer so I am going to ride a bike that one of the members offered for the next 6 weeks and then I will buy the elders: bike from him.
Ok, I need to go. LOTS of LOVE from Japan!
Aishiteimasu!
P.S. I AM DOING GREAT!
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