"LIFE" in Japan- Week #9

"Life" in Japan continues for McMahan Shimai. Here's the latest from her email dated 18 Feb 2009; the first section is Q&A:
Did you receive our Valentine Card?
YES! bikuri shita! i was surprised. what a cool card! thanks for being so thoughtful.
Did you ever see Yumi-San again?
yeah. we did lesson one. she is thinking through stuff right now but i think she will turn around eventually.
Are you playing in church this Sunday?
yea! in the kohoku ward. since my japanese is limited i am so excited to bear my testimony through music.
Who are you teaching right now?
we don't have any progressing investigators right now. we were supposed to meet with aya, the kinjin(golden)investigator but she canceled her appointment. she is a sales woman and has to go places.
What's the weather like?
really odd. some days no clouds and other days clouds. days are warm and nights are bitter cold. you can feel spring trying really hard to come.
Do you ride your bikes to church on Sunday, too?
yup. the church is perhaps an 8 minute bike ride. we start church at 830 in the morning and finish at 430. if we have a lesson after we stay later. it is so long haha!
Do you ride the trains every day?
nope. not every day. mostly bikes. the trains can get pricey.
What's it like to buy groceries?
i feel like a superhero. did you see the picture of the bike filled up? most japanese people buy food for the day, or a couple of days. we buy for the week. i am sure we look funny buying so much.
Do you find you're eating more native foods w/ Nagase Shimai around?
yeah she is using all the stuff in our apartment that miku shimai didn't. she eats raw egg over rice with goma salt. the japanese really like raw egg. so of course i tried it. ain't so bad. i have found that the egg/rice/salt combo makes an excellent breakfast. it fills you up for a long time! the japanese don't really do cereal for breakfast.
What's it like teaching the English classes, now that your companion
is a native? yeah, just me! she helped a little last week by explaining in japanese. her english i think is pretty good. last week our class got into a discussion about....connotations. so guess what i am teaching today? connotations! so hard. last week our eiwaika choir performed "for the beauty of the earth." today we choose a new song. i am super excited!
Do you guys attend the regular Sunday School and RS classes on Sunday?
RS is first, then sunday school. we go to a special sunday school class with just missionaries, investigator (1 usually) and church leaders. last is sacrament meeting. last week we went to yw in place of the sunday school though. it was sooo cool. they did the theme in japanese. then they sang "walk tall your a daughter of god." i loved singing that. it reminded me of home and of how the gospel is the same everywhere. i want to work in the young women's program some day. i love it there!

i am so jealous that i can't come see sweeney todd!!!

friday the 13th we went to nakao for a new missionary meeting. our trainers went off together and dendoed. sis shaha's companion said to me that i'd changed so much from the first night and i was glowing like i was getting married or something. i thought that was a cute and odd comment!

evans choro came. he's the president of the asia north mission, i think. 1/2 the mission came one day and 1/2 the other. it was an awesome conference. i loved this story his wife told:
10 years ago or so she was a mission president's wife in japan. her two little boys wanted to go to a japanese school instead of the international one. she didn't know the language so she knew it would be hard 'cause her husband was always busy and couldn't be there to translate. but she said yes. one day was a day for the 4th graders and parents to play games. she didn't understand what was going on. after the meeting the kids left and the parents dispersed and she was left standing there. she was really sad. but then a little japanese girl put a hand in hers and led her to the games and showed her how to play by actions only cause they couldn't speak to each other. isn't that cute!?

they served a bowl of rice with stuff on top and....raw egg. u crack it on top. in the missionary health book it says no raw egg or raw fish but, uh....
they talked about "celestial exhaustion" at the conference: that's at the end of the day when you are tired from working as a missionary so hard!
oh yeah. the day started out with an earthquake. it was about 2 minutes after i got up. i got up at 5-ish because we needed to leave early to travel to the conference. the quake was small but our walls shook. so it was bigger than the ones in california where we live, but it was still pretty small. it seemed long. it kinda reminded me of home actually. not that we've ever been in a big earthquake at home, but just the fact that there was one.

soooo my other news.....

5/16 the byu wind symphony is coming to our area! i hope i don't transfer! it is the 150th anniversary of the church in the area (i think) so they are doing special stuff.

in the morning i read from the japanese book of mormon and nagase reads from the english. we both have to read the entire book of moromon in our non- native language.

i made rice for the first time yesterday. nagase shimai showed me. it was in the cooker but i still had no idea. haha!

gavin, keep working on your music thing! and as for my pictures i am glad i look comfortable. sometimes i don't understand the language and it is hard to even pretend to be involved when that happens. try having mom and dad speak german to you and then be really interested in what they say. then have them ask you a question in german. see? you have been nodding your head to look involved but now they asked you a question and you're doomed. ha ha ha. it is not always that bad. i am learning to pick things up and people are patient. for one thing nagase shimai will say what someone just said more simply if i need it. so yeah, missions are the bomb. i can't wait to find out where you are going to go! i bet spanish speaking. then you can write some sweet songs that have the chorus in spanish. or you could make a a new version of la bamba. you can have your friends shake some mean maracas in the background. ha ha.

okay,that's all folks! thanks for everything and.... expect something in the mail soon. wink wink! i loooooooooove you!!!!!!!!!

sister mac