Kofu, Japan and the Japanese Alps

We received a letter from Emily. She's been transferred to Kofu. It's a city of 200k people, nestled in the Southern Japanese Alps (Aikashi Mountain Range), almost a two hour train ride from downtown Tokyo:
7-22-09

Right now I'm on a train to Kofu, my next area, w/Sis. Perkins, my new companion. I usually copy stuff from my joural to write, but my journal is packed away. Today will be Eikaiwa (English teaching) in Kofu. There are about 15 people who come, I hear. I also heard from Sis. Perkins about the area. The area is famous for peaches and grapes. Grapes are expensive in Japan but they have lots in the apartment! There are 4 elders and 2 sisters for the one ward in Kofu! WOW. Kofu is a huge area so that many missionaries are needed. Right now the train is going through hills and mountains...everything is green. Totally green. Sis. Perkins says that we can see Mt Fuji (they call is Fuji-san) from our apartment.

Last Thursday we went to the temple. On the train, we met a man who asked what ward we were from, in English. His job is to sell Greg Olsen art. He gave me 2 packs of a 16-card set of art cards. After the temple, we housed (went tracting). One lady said "obama-san" and looked at me. I was confused and looked at my companion who said, "President" and then it clicked. Duh! President Obama! In Japan they put "san" at the end of people's names. It was a funny experience! We ran into a couple while housing. She'd met the elders before . From what I understood, she had a member friend or two. She and her husband said that we could and should visit again.

I played the organ for sacrament meeting on my last Sunday in Maebashi. We also went out to Joyfull ( like Denny's) with Sis. Uchida Akiko. She brought her 9-yr-old son. She's wonderful. She served a mission when she was 30. While we were at Joyfull, I found out that Sakamoto Shimai had never heard of Elvis Presley!

Thanks for the b-day pckage. I brought the cake mix and frosting with me here to Kofu. I haven't used the decorations. I thought we could use them for other people's birthdays.

Well, I'm gonna go look through the new area book. Oh...guess what? Sis. Perkins says we go to Seminary once a week. We get up at 5:30 for that. Sweet.

I love, love, love you!

Love,
Sister McMahan