Week 3?

We woke up and came straight here so that we could e-mail because later in the day we plan on going bowling. 

Mon

Our mission is changing from one bank card to another, so we were told that we had to spend all of the money on our cards. Between the two of us, we had about $150 to spend in one day. So we ate out, bought expensive groceries, and bought a bathroom scale. I think we still had about $20 between us by the end of the day, but it all worked itself out.

Tue

2 appointments canceled. At one appointment, a sister gave us cake that reminded me suspiciously of fresh apple cake. One of the Zone Leaders was on exchanges in Yokkaichi for one day, so we had lunch together. I learned how to make omurice (omlette rice) and Japanese fried chicken at a less active's house. She used to be a nurse and when Sister Rogers told her that she was having the same dietary problem (namely when we over eat or eat certain foods we feel sick) she knew exactly what it was and how to help it. Apparently, when your body feels stressed, your digestive system starts slowing down as if it had been working out really hard. When you eat just a little, it says "Oh I can do this," but when you eat a lot it's like "Ugh, no more, can't handle it." So basically you've got to eat like you have the stomach flu for about a week and your body will have time to reboot itself. First off, you eat 5 small meals through the day, not 3 big ones. Meat, dairy, oily foods, raw vegetables, citrus fruits, and cold drinks are bad. Grains, eggs, boiled veggies, apples, bananas, and warm drinks are ok. She was the first person to ever be like "Yes, I know what's going on and I know how to help you." At her dinner, she gave us fried fish. I thought mmm, yum, fried fish, but when I bit into it I realized that it was a whole fish, not a fillet. It tasted good and the texture wasn't bad, so I just said don't look in the middle and you'll be fine.

Wed

A sister gave us hot lemonade. It was actually very good. I made homemade fajitas. We couldn't find any tortillas, so I tried to make some. They turned out more like crepes, but they still tasted good. We are teaching a children's english class and the oldest is about three. What do you teach 3 year olds? Colors? Shapes? Time? Also, what action/dance/educational songs do you teach them? We've taught them Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, the Hokey Pokey, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider, but I'm not sure where to go next.

Thu

One family in the ward said that they would rent me a cello so that I can play in the ward talent show. I think we also got volunteered to go play at member's FHE. We drove with a member and our recent convert to the city of Nagoya to listen to Elder Callister of the Seventy speak. His wife talked about how a Patriarchal Blessing is like a blue print for your spiritual mansion. He talked about worldly math and spiritual math. He said the world thinks 1plus1 is 2, but spiritual math says God plus any number, no matter how small, is greater than the opposition. I ate real ramen from a ramen shop. We stayed at the sister's apt in Nagoya with 4 other sisters. I got your package at the meeting (since it was right next to HQ, they just handed it to me rather than mail it).

Fri

We had an all mission conference with Elder Callister. He taught us the Plan of Salvation using scriptures from the Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants. It was interesting to hear it from the Bible perspective. I saw my friends from the MTC. We got off the train at home, had lunch, and then went off to an appointment in the rain. When we got home, I could wring my coat out like a rag. The Bishopbric called us and said "come to the church building" so we went out into the rain again. The bishopbric and the Elders were there with a strawberry birthday cake and other food. We sat and talked for a while. Sis Rogers made me a chocolate cake. Thanks for the presents! I almost cried when I saw Claire's corsage. I'll make sure to wear it.

Sat

We went to the house of the old lady we helped in her garden that we met last week. She became an investigator! WHOOOOOHOOOO! We rode over 40 km which is about 20 miles total. We were both exhausted by the end of the day. I had the best BLT that I have had in a long while. One investigator got a spiritual answer that the Book of Mormon is true. We're hoping that her experience will influence her husband to start reading as well. We had tea with real dried roses in it. It actually tasted pretty good. It was raining and snowing off and on the whole day, so we would get wet, but be warm because we were biking, then take off our coats at a member's house and then put them on again, and get cold because all the sweat and rain had cooled off. We rode up another mountain. A truck blew it's tire. There was a big bang and I thought someone had been shot.

Sun

One of our investigators came to church again. He said that the Book of Mormon was easy to understand. Praise the Lord for investigators who get what it's getting at. We went to a eulogy service for a member of the ward who passed away. Rogers Shimai played the violin. There was such an outpouring of love for this family. We had ginger tea and it was SOOOO delicious. I sat on my legs for so long that I literally couldn't feel my fingers touching my foot.

Gotta go! Love you,

Leah