18 Months in the Land of the Rising Sun: Just Another Week in The BEST Mission in the World!

So this was another great week in the best mission in the entire world! :)

Transfers were good. We were sad to see Correa go. He was the first to leave of the Fantastic Four (me, Kuchar, Otani, and Correa). We all came and white washed in. But now we're down to three. But he's going to do great in Oroku! We went to Hikari to be comps with Nigh Shimai until her new companion (Lane Shimai) came. We were also there to help the ZL's get everyone on buses and pick other people up and stuff for transfers. It was a long, kind of crazy day, but it was fun. We got to see Walton and Rees, Kuroki, and Correa before they left. It was pretty fun. We saw a ton of people.

Correa and Jameson both left, so we have two new elders in our area now. Nakabe and Alger Choro. Nakabe is the new DL and Alger is the new ZL. They are both cool. I think we're gonna like them. Nakabe is from Tokyo and Alger is from Oregon. They seem pretty chill and fun, so it should be good!

It was also the Schroeder's last Cooking Eikaiwa this week, so the Branch made nabe for them. It was pretty fun. I'm going to miss them!!! They are super great! Sister Schroeder is so nice! She brought us a HUGE Costco sized Peanut Butter!!! And chocolate. Bless her heart!

We got to go do Helping Hands again for the first time in a couple of weeks. There was a problem with insurance and stuff, so the missionaries weren't allowed to go. But the Stake got everyone covered by the volunteer insurance or something, I don't really know. But it means that we can go help again! It's looking way better up there! There have been tons and tons of people going up to volunteer. People from all over the place. It was great to be back helping though! My arms are kind of sore though :)

Then yesterday we had dinner at the Nishiyama's. It was so much fun! There were a bunch of people there. I wish I could send videos over email. Ayumi chan was singing and playing the guitar, and then the Ai Girls (Ayumi, Chie, Yuri, and Airi) did a little performance. They are so good!!! Ayumi played the guitar, Airi was playing this little piano, Chie played the flute, and Yuri had the tambourine and they were singing songs and stuff. SO cool! They are so talented! They are a great bunch of girls! We ate delicious food, and it was just a super fun night.

But they live up in A-City, so sometimes getting home is an adventure. We left a little late, but we had to get on the 8:29 monorail or we wouldn't get home on time. We left their house at like 8:12, but the station is at the bottom of the hill, so we had to run...again. Haha it was flashbacks of me and Kuchar running home a few transfers ago. But this time we had to run even further! So Otani starts running, so we start running after him so we can make the train. But we're in skirts and dumb shoes, so it was hard. It's easier and faster to take our shoes off, so we did. But it HURT!!! But we literally made it just in time for the train, so we made it home on time. We were all dying. Not to brag, but I'm going to...I out ran 3 of the elders in no shoes and my skirt. :) Us and the ZL's made it, but the other elders didn't make it on time. I have a HUGE blister on my heel though. And Kuchar had a blood blister. But we were on time! We'll be blessed for our obedience! :) It was a fun adventure though!

This week we are helping do the training at the Hiroshima 1 and 2 ZTMs, so we're going to be busy, but it's going to be fun!

Have a great week! Love you all!

Babcock Shimai