Sister Missionaries serving in the Japan Tokyo Mission

Here is a photo of the sister missionaries currently serving in the Japan Tokyo Mission. Emily is 2nd from the left on the back row. Her current companion, Nagase Shimai, is 3rd from the left on the front row.

Note from Elan: I've decided not to edit Em's emails for spelling/punctuation. You'll notice her English is starting to break down a bit...pretty funny!

Email from McMahan (Maku) Shimai dated 11 March 2009:
phew. i am sooo glad you got the packages! and yes i ate the fishes and they weren't half bad. i just wanna say that right now the jazz song "in the mood" is playing (note: Em is in an internet cafe) and it is driving me much. i miss jazz! i wish i could listen to it on the mish. it makes my brain work better. i kinda slow down when i don't listen to classical or jazz. oh man, the saxophone is really rocking right now!

my gosh i laughed when i read about when you received the packages. it felt so good to laugh! thanks! the bean stuff is from, well the bean... and the bean it a desserty type of bean. have you tried the fruche? that stuff is so good. (ps right now there is a jazz cello solo) and we all know how i adore yogurt. i was super duper happy when i discovered fruche!

we went to a real supermarket last pday. they sell seafood like crazy here. there's just tons and its normal to eat. its not like america where you buy burger stuff and chicken stuff only. man, they have the whole squid for you to buy. its pretty cool. and i love trying new foods so i think its fascinating.

What happened with Emi, the lady on the train that was gonna come to Eikaiwa? well, she called us but couldnt catch us so she called the church. we happened to be there for a dendo fireside meeting thing for the SAs during the day. thing is she introduced herself as watanabe shimai and we didnt know it was her. so she showed up at the church that day at 3 and we saw....emi! we were surprised. she wanted help correcting her resume. it was in english. but lemme back up. the fireside started at 10 and went until 12. then the missionary companionships went proselyting with a ward member. we went with miyazaki shimai. she has incredible english and has been to america. shes tons of fun and her fav food is biscuits and gravy. anyways. we were supposed to return at 4 like everyone else but we came back at 3 for emi. we gave her a church tour and lesson 1. i dont think she has interest in the church, just interest in english. that happens sometimes. but perhaps she will get some interest in the church. today before eikaiwa we are meeting with her and teaching, again, lesson one except on the the part about God is our loving heavenly father and Families. i am gonna share 4 nephi 1:14-15 and then apply it to families. i found that scripture the other day and i really like it.
Do the Japanese really like those nasty flavored KitKats? well im not really sure. i bet they wouldnt be as popular as strawberry through.
And do they really eat those fish snacks? Kinda like potato chips?? yes :)
What do you typically eat for breakfast?
yesterday i learned what a typical japanese breakfast is. spinachy stuff, eggs cooked like a roll up (kinda), rice, soup (with eggplant and miso and maybe potato, very simple) and fish. there is a special way you put the food, like the way we lay out our forks and spoons. i took a picture. but as for me i usually have cereal. nagase shimai always has rice. spekaing of which, do you know how many calories are in a cup of cooked rice? im just curious. sometimes it feels like im just packin on the calories when i eat it. Lunch?nagase shimai always cooks. sometimes we do stuff with curry. always rice. sometimes we eat spaghetti. Dinner? soup. the soup has lettuce, potatos, eggplant, carrots, miso. nagase shimai usually prepares it in the morning and it sits on the stovetop waiting during the day. theres lot of packets of flavorings and stuff you mix with rice. sometimes the packages (like the curry ones) are liquidy. you put the bag in a pot of boiling water to warm it up. then with some packages of stuff you add some fish to it or add your own veggies or add eggs. i think people eat eggs here more than they do at home.

there was another earthquake last week. i wasnt sure what it was at first. we were crossing a bridge over a busy road and my legs felt funny and i didnt know what was happening and then i realized it was an earthquake. so not big just weird. it was such a weird sensation.

on the 6th it rained all day. literally. i cant believe how long it can rain. where does all the rain come from! on that same day we stopped a lady on the street. i dont really understand japanese but she said something like we were being rude but she didnt yell when she said it or anything. it was the first time any one had reacted that way. so we went on our way and stopped the next person, a young lady. then the lady from beofre was walking the same way as us so we walked between us and the person we were talking to and said "abunai, yo" as she nodded her head at the girl we were talking to. abunai means danger. the girl was kinda confused because we looked nice and had barely said anything yet but shed heard the laday so she just kinda turned her body away and nodded her head as nagase shimai said it was a"kantan na chirashi dake" or simple pamphlet only. yeah. so that was a weird experience.

i just want to say the scripture mastery is very important. i didnt every do it in seminary cause it was kinda lazy and memorizing is hard for me. but knowing the scriptures comes in handy on your mission no matter what language. i notice as i read the sciptures more that a scripture will come to mind when i am talking to someone. so i would say do scripture mastery and read a lot every day in addition to studying. i think i can read the book of mormon maybe three times on my mission!

the itakura family took us out for sushi. it was a real sushi place. id been to one last transfer, where it rotates and you grab a plate, but all the plates were the same price. this one they were different prices. i have no idea how much it cost but i am sure a fortune. we got mostly 300yen (3 dollars) and under plates. each plate has two things of sushi. but they bought me a plate that was 680 yen. it was the best kind of salmon. so anyways i felt to guilty having people buy stuff for me. and thennnn they bought 3 bowls of clam chowder but this was no saucy slam chowder. it was the clam inside the shell. it was a big bowl of water and flavoring and a bunch of clams in there with the shells opened. so you just put it to your mouth and at teh middle. it was so good! i took a picture. it tasted just like clam chowder at home except it was real and better and the clam had way more emphasis than the chowder. haha.

you know the saying kill 2 birds with one stone? well they have that in japanese. it is isekinichou. i (one) seki (stone) ni (two) chou (birds). cool huh?

i got my alma o taylor pin! you get it when you finish all your mogis. i am pretty sure i told you what those are. if i didnt tell me in an email and i will tell you next week. i should go soon because nagase shimai finished a while ago and we have a tight schedule.

i learned at our zone conference that it it better to testify of the book of mormon and not to have it testify of what you say. neat thing to think about, no?

thanks for your letters so much. i feel so spoiled. i love hearing about home and how you are doing. things here for me are good and bad. i am constantly being humbled in one way or another. i cant imagine what i would be like if i didnt serve a mission. i am so thankful for all the ways i grown and learn each day!

i looove you!
mcmahan shimai