If Alicia were a Pokemon.....

My son, Nate, made this for Alicia.

July 15

o mom and dad:

 

haha, thank you so much for getting a new email. I hope this one works out. If you need anything else just ask me. Turns out Email time is shorter here in the field; so if it's very important, email my branch president. He is such a wonderful man. This email is separate from the others. This week has been good i'll give you the details to those later. Since you are my mother and i know you worry, I'll give you some heads up~ I'm doing great! I haven't gotten sick yet, i love the food, my companions are nice to me. Gets hard to understand what i'm doing and why i'm going some places, but it's ok. I got a letter from sarah's family through dear elder. I didnt know they send it across seas. that's cool. I want to send a lot of pictures to you, but i dont have time ever... or know how to figure it out on this japanese computer. It's ok, you'll get lots of pictures soon! i might just print them out and send them via mail. Thank you again so much for all your weekly emails, it gives me something to read. Im having a great time. During the lessons I am able to bare my testimony and give simple truths. again. Its so important. Love you mom!

 

I love you Dad!

This one is for you. Today I took a lot of pictures of the sea and small islands for pday. It reminded me of you and how you love taking pictures. I have 3 investigators who are over 80 years old. one who is 94. It's interesting to think what kind of time eras she has lived, and i wish i could ask her all about it. Tell the grandparents that I love them, and hope them all the best. I have my trials, we all do, but they only make us stronger! Love you!

 

To everyone!:

Phew! (*climbs up a giant hills via bike, only to realize that we went the wrong way and have to climb another hill) sometimes directions can be tough here in japan... This week I finally learned how to read a Japanese map! it is SOoooo different than in the states. Just being able to find cities is difficult for me... cuz everything is in Kanji. I still cant read Kanji yet. just the basics... like... Eternal life, The Savior, Family History, and doctorine and covenants, everyday use right? This week was a lot of planning! I got to research about a lot of Less actives, investigators, and overall EVERYONE the missionaries ever talked to. Most of it was written in english so i tried to translate some to my japanese companions. My bike wounds finally healed, except it appears to have a lot of bruises... my legs are looking a lot like Janelle's feet... I mean that with all the love in the world :D Lets see, I can remember today well because it was pday. we got to ride a ferry to a matsuri (festival) and it was amazing! it rained a lot! but my gaijin friend law choro convinced his trainer to let us go anyway. It cleared up fast. during the ferry ride we got to feed seaguls. yep. best part. I have a video of me putting a cracker in my mouth and seaguls snatching it from me. No, seaguls are not disgusting, they are beautiful! 

Anyway: 

 

This week I've been learning alot about humility. Not just because Im learning a new langauge and can't say all that I want to, or that Im not the greatest missionary, it's because of how much I need the God's help. Through trials we can go through it will strength, but if we deny that we need help, it just shows pride in us. Accepting God's love for us, and that he can help us is a great blessing for me. I will try my best to Pray more specifically. God knows what I need, and it means a lot for us to tell him that. Thank you for all your love! I'll give you a better update soon. Remember not to read and eat at the same time... that's rude. And replying with a "huh" to a question is scary. eehee.. 

 

I love everyone, I love this country, and it's kind and loving people. I love the rain! and I love seaguls! 

 

I especially love octopus! 

Love 

Sister Money 

Rain, rain, and more rain!

Hey Family and friends and whoever reads this!

 

Thank you for your Emails and Letters... and by that I mostly mean Emails, because I don`t really get letters. No prob. Anywho, I'm again, rushed for time today as there is only 1 computer for ALL the missionaries in the Nagamachi ward. <--- yes, that is where I'm serving. This week has gone by pretty fast, but the days were long.; like the MTC. Turns out that changes. Even though Im a missionary, I haven`t done a single minute of tracting... aha. our ward`s missionary goal has a lot to do with working with members and less actives. Hopefully we can see some miracles happening in Japan as Elder Erying promised. I`ll do my best.

    It rained this week for the first time. Yes, It was pouring, yes I was on my bike. Pretty much the happiest day of my life. Its fun to ride in the rain... not so fun when you get wet and its impossible to dry it. Thankfully we have a dryer here in our apartment, which is quite rare. Its not often that we see dryers in Japan. Also: fun cultural fact. There are no garbage cans... anywhere. You pretty much have to carry all your garbage around with you til you might maybe find one someday.

 

I still have no idea how to speak Japanese, which is really tough when both of your companions are japanese... no big, I`ll just do my best and try not to get discouraged. I`m so glad we pray at least 100 times a day.

 

How was the 4th of July? we kind of celebrated it here... pretty much I wrote happy 4th of July in my journal and called it even. Let`s see, We had a stake BBQ, and I got to see some of my district, and lots of ward members. We really had no idea what was going on with the food, but it was way fun! I got super sunburned, which is odd because I didn`t see any sun.

 

We talked to a less active recently. She wants to go to church but is too sick, and gets dizzy around alot of people. (and in a japanese ward there arent many memebers, but the building is tiny I sometimes get dizzy.) People make sacrifices for obedience however. Her faith is strong, and she told us a story that I had to figure out from my companion after the lesson. I dont have time to really explain it, but it taught me a lot about Faith. Faith is such a huge thing to have. Without faith, there is no way I would be able to be a missionary, let alone a member of this church. The language is hard, but as it states in D&C, the gospel will be taught in the language of the land. Japanese. For me to fulfil my calling I must learn Japanese, and God did not send me here to fail. He will provide the means if I do my part.

 

He didn`t send us here to fail. He will provide us with  the means, if we do our part. Never forget that our Father in Heaven is a loving Father who wants to see all his children come back to his presence. I love this gospel, and the light it`s bringing to the people of Japan. I love everyone, and Can`t wait to hear from you all.

 

Ai shite imasu

I think I'm turning Japanese

haha.... not really. How can i turn japanese... If i can`t even speak the language? eeehee...

 

So even in the mission field I really don`t have anytime and its very hard to type apostrophies on the computer so guess what? im not going to put any of them here. OH ya... guess what? im in japan now! who would have thought. Frankly, everything happened so fast I woke up in the morning throughly confused out of my mind. Then realized... oh ya, Im on a mission in Japan. The airplane ride was very long. TOO long. I want to say, about 30 hours until I got to sleep. eehee. We said goodbye to an Elder in our district. Brown Choro, then left for the plane. Coincidently, we found that Choro in the Tokyo airport :D. We got to stay at the Rassumensen`s home the first night and have orentation at the church. Futons... are confortable. As quickly as I came, I left to meet my trainer, and apartment. I have 2 companions. Sister Shuto, (trainer) and sister Matsumoto (she was on the airplane with me) Can they speak English... AHA.... not really. Can I speak Japanese? We already went through that. I hope to pick up the language even faster now that I have this opportunity.

 

I don`t have much time, but i will tell you a few great experiences. The first lesson we taught was to an old ba chan. She is about 84, and lives alone in a great house. She has her own garden with coi fish and everything! really beautiful. She is accepting the gospel, and loves the idea that she can return to her father in heaven, We taught her the word of wisdom, and she said she will obey it. The only problem is we already taugher her this lesson, but she just keeps forgetting. She comes to church every week though, and loves everyone. After that we rode our bikes far far across nagamachi to some apartments. We talked to another woman. We talked for about 1 hour, while standing up. When we opened the door to say hello she jumped back because there was a random american standing outside from her door. hee hee. apparently im scary. I tried to explain to her what the book of mormon was, and bore my simple testimony, then my companions took over. So grateful they were there. During both of the lessons, we asked who they wanted to say the prayer... they both said me. :D ... good opportunity I suppose.

 

On sunday we went to church, Its quite small, but everyone there is so friendly. I gave a 3 minute talk in church which pretty much consisted of me saying who I was and my testimony, frankly that`s all I could do. Thats fine though. I think I was in the church for about 6 hours. lots of meetings and gatherings. while coming back, my companion forgot her bag, and we had to go back to the church. On my bike I hit a curb and kind of scraped my knees up pretty badly XD but its ok, my bike is fine, and i can still kneel.

 

Just know, that even though its going to be hard for me to speak the langauge, Im not scared. In situations like this, it:s important to choose faith over fear. Even though past experiences said that you can:t do it, just know that with Heavenly Father, anything is possible. What I`m doing is for the lord, and for God`s kingdom, if he needs to me do it, I will. Wish me luck! things are about to get crazy. I`ll try to send everyone letters soon! I love you all!