Greetings from Japan!
So, have I got some stories for you. On the night before leaving, I only slept for about 2 and a half hours... yeah. And that was good compared to the other sisters who stayed up the entire night, helping a certain sister to pack all of her stuff. This is the same sister who got 34 packages from her mother during the entire stay at the MTC. A lot of it ended up in the free box or in the 20 packages she was sending back home with the help of the Kohi (A big thank you to Jane Bradford's niece-lol) who didn't know what they were offering when they said, "if you need to mail anything, we'll do it for you"... So, what scares me is that she really did have a hoarders mentality. Just watch the show "Hoarders" if you don't know what I'm talking about.
So, Japan. On the flight over to Japan, I got to sit next to a man, we'll say his name is Miyagi. Now, Miyagi san put a cat underneath the seat in front of him which started the conversation. Then he noticed my name tag and, of course, I was stoked to talk to anyone about the gospel. The poor man... he didn't know what he was getting into. Well, the conversation turned to the Restoration, which turned into a discussion about the Book of Mormon, which turned into a discussion about the Plan of Salvation. I shared a few scriptures and asked him to look up Mormon. org when he returned home. He seemed really interested and was even concerned as to how I could possibly convert anyone in Japan, because of it's cultural influences of Buddhism and Shintoism.
By the time I looked at my watch, about an hour and a half had gone by and we were talking about the gospel the entire time. I was pretty stoked. Just sayin... by the end he asked questions about any Mormon "taboos" such as the word of wisdom and not having sex before marriage. I discussed them with him and, I testified of the blessings I had received from following the commandments of God. By the time we arrived in Japan, we were good friends. I hope to see him again. I really do.
We arrive in Japan, we left on Monday and arrived Tuesday afternoon . The first couple of days we stayed at the Mission President's home and received training while getting over jet lag :(. On Thursday, we were assigned our new companions and our first areas. President Zinke had a ton of envelopes to open. Each one contained the information as to where we would be serving. It was so bittersweet to see everyone be reassigned. I had become so close to everyone, now we were all off our separate ways to do the Lord's work. The real work that we have been training the last 8 weeks for. President Zinke calls my name, I walk to the front of the chapel. He says that I am to serve in the Kobe area, district, and zone. My trainer's name is Sister Fish.
She is the best trainer I think I could have gotten. She's the best. She's from Las Vegas, Nevada. She studied at BYU and began her mission back in January. So this is her fourth transfer. She is so patient and willing to help. She has been doing most of the talking since I can't say much.
So, she and I walk to the apartment with all of my luggage. I am also supposed to purchase a bike, which I did today. I'll send pictures next week.
The apartment's sweet. I'll write more next week. I have to go. I'm late. Sorry
Sarah
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| Kobe, Japan looking toward Osaka Bay |
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? - can't see her tag , Sister Mizuguchi (she started her mission in April and is the only native speaker) in front, Sarah and her companion, Sister Fish (from Las Vegas, NV who arrived in March). I believe the four of them are sharing an apartment in Kobe. |
