This week was pretty much the same...teaching and finding and testifying and blessing and too much bread! :) My mother and sister sent me questions to answer this week and I loved that! Much easier to write and hopefully things you acutally want to hear about. Feel free to add your own questions in the comments below! I will be happy to answer them! Otherwise just keep going on with your life...because I am not center of it...Jesus Christ is whoo hoo!
What is your daily routine?
We wake up at 6:30 and exercise! We walk up and down our stairs and do sit ups and yes more "in-apartment" exercise ideas would be greatly appreciated. We shower and get ready then do personal study at 8:00. I have really become grateful for personal study! The scriptures are absolutely delicious for my soul. At 9:00 we have Companionship Study where we plan lessons and role play them. At 10:00 we do Language Study which I need so badly ha ha ha hooray! It's actually very enjoyable. Japanese is the coolest language. At 11:00 we have to do Training because I am a wee little beanchan which is mostly studying Preach My Gospel together and practicing teaching lessons. Sister Kartchner and Sister Takaku are great trainers! Then we make lunch and finally go out and dendo! Hooray. If we are blessed with appointments that day we go teach those wonderful people! Otherwise we do finding through housing (knocking on doors), streeting (standing on the sidewalk and doing something interesting enough to stop people), or OYMing (opening your mouth to everyone you see walking down various roads). We also try to visit less active members and share messages with them. On Wednesday nights have Eikaiwa (English class) which I love to teach and on Saturday mornings we have Kodomo Eikaiwa (children's English class) which I love love LOVE to teach! On Fridays we have District Training Meetings and on Sundays we (shocker) have Church! Yay. And at 9:00 we plan for tomorrow and try really hard to do everything there is to do before 10:30 so we can SLEEP (who needs it? not missionaries...). There you go. A day in the life.
What do you eat & where?
We eat rice! We usually eat at the apartment. We made rice and put something over it like curry, or some other creative sauce and vegetables; meat, lettuce, tomato, and avocado for "taco rice," the like. We also eat at an Udon place a lot! Udon are really thick delicious noodles. Sometimes we eat at Hamazushi where the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt, you pick what you want and pay a dollar for each plate at the end! WARNING: everything in Japan is delicious.
Do you eat at member's homes often?
No. But when we do they are so sweet and delicious and fun! I love our members so much. They have become my dear friends.
You ride the subway & your bike most of the time, right?
Yes! We ride our bicycles everywhere but if somewhere is more than an hour bike ride away we take the train. I love the train. It is very tranquil and if I were not a missionary (who is to be anxiously engaged in a good cause) I could totally ride the train all day to think and watch beautiful Nihon go by.
Why are the choices we make important?
The choices we make, especially those in our youth, matter greatly because the effect the health of our spirit. When we make a choice, it adds experience to our mind, body and/or spirit. Your choices affect how well you are able to respond to assignments for the Lord. For example, if you choose to attend seminary regularly and familiarize yourself with the Book of Mormon and maintain purity, if and when you go on a mission you will be able to deepen your knowledge of the principles of the gospel and effectively teach the people you are called to bless. You will be able to focus on improving your weaknesses such as speaking a new language and developing attributes required of a servant of the Lord.
Similarly, if you decide to follow Jesus Christ but disregard some of the minor guidelines given lovingly by the prophets in the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet because you feel like you are "safe enough" and "righteous enough" and it's "not that big of a deal," then when you go on a mission you will be able to remember those small papercuts that damaged your spirit. Big choices affect your spirit in a big, immediate, eternal way and small choices effect your spirit in a small, gradual, eternal way. President Thomas S. Monson testified, "Obedience brings blessings." As a missionary I can also testify that that is true.
FoRtUnAtElY, we have an miraculous, never-ending source of Neosporin called the Atonement. The sooner and the deeper you learn to apply the Atonement daily, the more it will bless your life and the more effective you will be as a child of God. I promise. Repentance is a joyful promise, because the Atonement is a joyful miracle. When we repent, Heavenly Father really does forgive us. We may remember our mistakes, but what a blessing to have that little motivation not to do it again. As an imperfect, mistake-making missionary, I am infinitely grateful for the Atonement. I know I don't understand the whole thing yet, but I am working on it. And I am so blessed, so grateful for my life to be able to learn through experiences and choices. God's plan is perfect and full of obtainable joy! His prophets are truly called of Him to give inspired, applicable direction. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. Jesus Christ lives as (y)our loving Savior and Brother.
