Konnichiwa!
From the new curry stains on one of my go-to white blouses to the crazy typhoon we had on Monday....It's been a pretty normal week.
I still double take when I realize cars are driving on the wrong side of the road, and I still struggle with chopsticks....but I think I'm getting over the brunt of the initial culture shock and adjusting fairly well to senkyoshi no seikatsu....missionary life.
Everyday I grow more fond of President Heber J. Grant's words when he made the remark, "Japanese is an evil language."
President Grant was the one who turned the keys here in Japan, and it is common knowledge among the Japanese that President Grant could never get the language.
This does not encourage me.
I'm committed to making Transfer 2 count though in terms of the language. For a while there I'd sort of hit a plateau....or atleast it felt like I wasn't progressing....but as I redouble my efforts to learn the language...I feel like I'm starting to see progress.
I am giving a talk in Sacrament meeting this Sunday about service...seeing as it IS in Japanese and I can't wing it like I might could have at home...I should probably get started on writing it. Ugh...I don't think I even know the Japanese word for service.
I've looked into buying a translator. Stembridge choro has one, but he says it was $300.00. So yeah...haha guess I won't be getting one of those.
This week was slow...yet fast.
Time on a mission is trippy. In some ways, it is like you are just living your life....in other ways...you can't help but be reminded that this is not in fact normal life. From wearing a tag all the time to being jealous of people playing with their iPhones on the train...sometimes it is tough not to miss my old life. But the fact is. This is real life now...and things will be different at home....I've tried imagining my mission as an extended trip...but that's when you go crazy, realizing the trip will never end. So for now...I just try and get lost in the work here...for the most part I'd say I'm pretty focused. I'm a much more obedient missionary than I ever thought I would be. I know that sounds strange...but I've always hated self righteous people...but I find myself, maybe not becoming self righteous, but just wanting very much to focus on missionary work all the time. I'm sure it drives my companion nuts when I freak out about time...but a mission is kind of a sacrifice, granted, you get so much more from it than you give up....I am here to be a missionary...I find I am most homesick when we aren't doing what we were called to do.
On Thursday....I had this crazy dream that there was an earthquake. Friday morning I woke up and thought..."What a crazy vivid dream!"
Later Friday night during planning session, I told Taneda shimai about the dream. She started to laugh and informed me that there in fact had been a super crazy earthquake that night...and that I had woken up freaking out and yelling "jishin jishin!" or earthquake in Japanese.
Once I realized it had actually happened, it started to make more sense. We sleep on futons...so all I could remember is feeling like a wave on the floor beneath me...and the walls just shaking violently.
So yeah. I survived my first earthquake. Taneda shimai thinks that is funny...she is from Kobe and they have earthquakes off the richter (spelling?) scale...all the time!
Friday we had an appointment at the O-----'s and the Elders had to leave because Diego, the son in the house is only 16....Oh well it meant more food for me.
The O-----'s are a less active Peruvian family that has lived in Japan for a while. The dinner was interesting... It was half spanish/half Japanese... I think I probably understood more of what was going on than Taneda shimai. O----- shimai made the best....I want to call it stirfry...but I don't know what to call it. It was just these amazing noodles and beef and veggies. The Peruvians always make the best food when we come over. L----- shimai made fajitas that were really good last week. The L---- kids are really cute. There names are Diego, Naomi, and Angie. They are so sweet. I helped Naomi with her English homework after dinner.
So BYU Hawaii is sponsoring this speech contest here in Japan. The winner gets a full ride to BYUHawaii. So I've been asked alot this week to correct pronunciation and what not. It's been really fun teaching. I love teaching kids...and Eikaiwa has made teaching adults really fun as well.
Saturday and Sunday were really slow. No appointments. Sometimes I feel like the Elders in the Best Two Years...who just never had appointments. Japan is like Europe. It is a tough place to proselyte. They really discourage us from saying that it is not a "baptizing" mission or from thinking that we can only plant seeds....
which I understand...but make no mistake. Japan....is a hard mission....and the Yachiyo area is very difficult. There has been only 1 shimaitachi baptism in the psat year. Most people I know and have met....especially sisters only have 1 -2 baptisms...maybe. But....I do see miracles. And I believe that they happen. So I'm just gonna keep on keepin on.
After the typhoon Monday, the weather has been gorgeous! Like 60's/70's with a breeze. Just so pretty.
How has fall been in Georgia?
I love getting sports updates.
How bout my Georgia Tech. Haha...hope we beat VT. Being undefeated still must have Atlanta poppin!
Sorry that
I love you guys so much.
I'm working hard.
Ai shite imasu!
- MC
From the new curry stains on one of my go-to white blouses to the crazy typhoon we had on Monday....It's been a pretty normal week.
I still double take when I realize cars are driving on the wrong side of the road, and I still struggle with chopsticks....but I think I'm getting over the brunt of the initial culture shock and adjusting fairly well to senkyoshi no seikatsu....missionary life.
Everyday I grow more fond of President Heber J. Grant's words when he made the remark, "Japanese is an evil language."
President Grant was the one who turned the keys here in Japan, and it is common knowledge among the Japanese that President Grant could never get the language.
This does not encourage me.
I'm committed to making Transfer 2 count though in terms of the language. For a while there I'd sort of hit a plateau....or atleast it felt like I wasn't progressing....but as I redouble my efforts to learn the language...I feel like I'm starting to see progress.
I am giving a talk in Sacrament meeting this Sunday about service...seeing as it IS in Japanese and I can't wing it like I might could have at home...I should probably get started on writing it. Ugh...I don't think I even know the Japanese word for service.
I've looked into buying a translator. Stembridge choro has one, but he says it was $300.00. So yeah...haha guess I won't be getting one of those.
This week was slow...yet fast.
Time on a mission is trippy. In some ways, it is like you are just living your life....in other ways...you can't help but be reminded that this is not in fact normal life. From wearing a tag all the time to being jealous of people playing with their iPhones on the train...sometimes it is tough not to miss my old life. But the fact is. This is real life now...and things will be different at home....I've tried imagining my mission as an extended trip...but that's when you go crazy, realizing the trip will never end. So for now...I just try and get lost in the work here...for the most part I'd say I'm pretty focused. I'm a much more obedient missionary than I ever thought I would be. I know that sounds strange...but I've always hated self righteous people...but I find myself, maybe not becoming self righteous, but just wanting very much to focus on missionary work all the time. I'm sure it drives my companion nuts when I freak out about time...but a mission is kind of a sacrifice, granted, you get so much more from it than you give up....I am here to be a missionary...I find I am most homesick when we aren't doing what we were called to do.
On Thursday....I had this crazy dream that there was an earthquake. Friday morning I woke up and thought..."What a crazy vivid dream!"
Later Friday night during planning session, I told Taneda shimai about the dream. She started to laugh and informed me that there in fact had been a super crazy earthquake that night...and that I had woken up freaking out and yelling "jishin jishin!" or earthquake in Japanese.
Once I realized it had actually happened, it started to make more sense. We sleep on futons...so all I could remember is feeling like a wave on the floor beneath me...and the walls just shaking violently.
So yeah. I survived my first earthquake. Taneda shimai thinks that is funny...she is from Kobe and they have earthquakes off the richter (spelling?) scale...all the time!
Friday we had an appointment at the O-----'s and the Elders had to leave because Diego, the son in the house is only 16....Oh well it meant more food for me.
The O-----'s are a less active Peruvian family that has lived in Japan for a while. The dinner was interesting... It was half spanish/half Japanese... I think I probably understood more of what was going on than Taneda shimai. O----- shimai made the best....I want to call it stirfry...but I don't know what to call it. It was just these amazing noodles and beef and veggies. The Peruvians always make the best food when we come over. L----- shimai made fajitas that were really good last week. The L---- kids are really cute. There names are Diego, Naomi, and Angie. They are so sweet. I helped Naomi with her English homework after dinner.
So BYU Hawaii is sponsoring this speech contest here in Japan. The winner gets a full ride to BYUHawaii. So I've been asked alot this week to correct pronunciation and what not. It's been really fun teaching. I love teaching kids...and Eikaiwa has made teaching adults really fun as well.
Saturday and Sunday were really slow. No appointments. Sometimes I feel like the Elders in the Best Two Years...who just never had appointments. Japan is like Europe. It is a tough place to proselyte. They really discourage us from saying that it is not a "baptizing" mission or from thinking that we can only plant seeds....
which I understand...but make no mistake. Japan....is a hard mission....and the Yachiyo area is very difficult. There has been only 1 shimaitachi baptism in the psat year. Most people I know and have met....especially sisters only have 1 -2 baptisms...maybe. But....I do see miracles. And I believe that they happen. So I'm just gonna keep on keepin on.
After the typhoon Monday, the weather has been gorgeous! Like 60's/70's with a breeze. Just so pretty.
How has fall been in Georgia?
I love getting sports updates.
How bout my Georgia Tech. Haha...hope we beat VT. Being undefeated still must have Atlanta poppin!
Sorry that
I love you guys so much.
I'm working hard.
Ai shite imasu!
- MC