Week 55 Our Birthday!!

Mon

The elders have an old version of Settlers of Catan that they found in their apartment. So we bought chips and soda and played from 2-5. Sister Oda won one round and Elder Chiba won the next. Then we had to go out to visit some investigators and PI's. We went housing near a PI and everyone we talked to wasn't Japanese. We met a Brazilian, Filipino, and a Peruvian. Pretty strange.

Tue

We visited one member who invited us in and then told us that she wanted to hear everything about how to be a missionary. So we started with the missionary purpose and went into prepared people. I always love it when members ask us for advice on how to do missionary work. Then we visited one member who wasn't able to make it to church the previous Sunday. Her daughter makes church related key chains for some cash. She showed us how she makes them. She sculpts the parts out of a special kind of clay and then she paints the pieces individually and then attaches them to the chain. I was impressed at how minutely detailed they were. She gave us both one. It looks good enough to eat! We tried to visit an investigator. Even though her lights were on, she didn't answer the door. We rang the door bell twice but no answer. So we started to walk away. I thought I heard the door open so I ran back up the stairs, but no such luck. 

Wed

Companion exchange with the Shizuoka sisters. Their apartment is on the first floor, which is nice. It is an older apartment, so there is a lot of stuff there left by other missionaries, including a Lion King soundtrack and the movie the Other Side of Heaven. Sister Obayashi and I went to find a PI. As we were riding our bikes around, we stopped a lady and asked her if she knew a Emi Goto. She said I'm Emi Goto. Come with me to my house. She let us in her house and the first thing I see is a spiral staircase in the middle of the room. Then lots of giant paintings. She took us into one room where she had a baby grand piano. She asked me my name and then she sang me a song in a really gravelly voice. She asked me if I wanted a Japanese name and I said yes so she then gave me the name of Yomiko, which means child of reading. She gave us a CD of hers and told us that she is home Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. We said that we would gladly come back. I walked out a little dazed at the experience. Then a member called and said I have time right now so come to the church and teach me. So we hustled over to the church and taught lesson 3. She said that it was very easy to understand and so she wanted to introduce two friends to us. We said yes we'd like very much to meet them why don't we come to your house for lunch with them. Then we visited a less active from South Africa. It was interesting hearing her accent. Then we went to a lesson with an investigator. Her grandmother gave us shiitake mushroom tea. Surprisingly good. It tasted like chicken soup broth with a mushroom overtone. We challenged her to come to church. Hopefully she does. 

Thu

RAIN. Unfortunately, because I was on a companion exchange, I didn't have a different set of shoes so my brown leather boots got soaked. Sister Oda and I rode the train home, had lunch, and then had our weekly planning session. Then we went to Fukuroi's eikaiwa for the first time. We talked about scary experiences. I thought that that people might say things like my car stalled in the middle of the intersection or a mean dog came really close. Most people talked about being in earthquakes and typhoons, but one person had an encounter with evil it seems like. Gave me the creeps. After Eikaiwa we went home and listened to hymns and talked about spiritual experiences. That made me feel better. 

Fri

DTM in Hamamatsu. Sister Oda accidentally left her scriptures on the bus. We thought that she wouldn't get them back again, but Elder Chiba called the bus station and they searched the bus and found them. YAY! Unfortunately, I left my Preach My Gospel somewhere. That's not as valuable as scriptures though. We ran from DTM to the bus stop to catch a bus to catch a train to ride our bikes home so that we could meet up with a PI to go to the nursing home and do aerobics with them. We made it on time. Afterwards, she took us to a local shrine. The toilets there were men and women toilets with open urinals. See picture. Akward. We were the only ones there except for the monks. We accidentally walked into places that were forbidden because we couldn't tell where the public spot ended and the off limits bit started. Outside the shrine building was a giant sandal and a giant shovel. See picture. Then we got ice cream. I got peony flavor, black sesame flavor, and roasted sesame flavor. All pretty good, but I think that I would get something different the next time. An appointment stood us up, so we went to the local volleyball club in hopes of meeting with a PI. No such luck. So we went home and worked on the area map. It covers half the wall in our living room. 

Sat

Sister Oda made me breakfast for my birthday, an omelette with rice. After kid's eikaiwa, we went to a cake shop and I bought myself a slice of cake. Then Elder Chiba bought me pudding and Elder Naylor bought me a banana crepe so I had a lot of food. Then we went to the church to meet a member so that we could go visit some less actives together. Unfortunately the member misheard the time, so we waited a fair bit of time before we got a hold of her and she came on her way. On the way home, she bought us strawberry daifuku, which is pounded rice over white sweet beans with a giant strawberry in the middle. Yummy. Then we went with the elders to a REALLY far mall and got sushi. My present to myself was expensive sushi. I was so full from eating sushi that I could still feel it the next morning. 

Sun

Two less actives and the elder's investigators came to church. YAY! I got chocolate from the branch president for my birthday. Then one member gave us a potted plant for my birthday. It's a marimba? morimba? Anyway, a pink daisy-like flower. Then after church we went with some members to visit more less actives. Not home, but we checked with the neighbors to see if they still lived there and the neighbors said yes. Then we went to visit PI's and investigators again. One person had an appointment with us, but they weren't there. When we tried to stop in at one PI's apartment, there was a man and a woman who seemed very much like missionaries of another church visiting with our PI. We didn't want to cause a scene so we backed out quietly. We were able to get the phone number of one PI, which is good. Then we went home and broke our fast. Curry. We thought that one Less Active was expecting us to come over, only to find out that she didn't and was actually at work. So we changed our plans and went to a PI's house. Her husband answered the door. We asked if she was home. He said wait a moment, turned around, glanced around the room, turned back and said no. Didn't even leave the door step. Pretty funny. 

Today I am expecting a package (they said they would deliver it between 12 and 2). I wonder what's in it? :)

Love you lots

Leah