Missed Trains and Knowledge Gained

Hey guys, iss me Miranda--

Ehem, oh, no I mean Sister Brooklyn Brewer, reporting live from Nagano Japan. 

Tuesday, we had to do some major iPad training for the area book app we dont have yet. Wha hoo, so fun. We also taught the Eikaiwa! We teach the junior high students and they are so good. As hard as I sometimes think learning Japanese is, learning English from Japanese is way harder. Seen on T-shirts in Japan:

"Exceptional dispose immensely, its lovely to see you"

"Catharsis Staunch Lovely Eulogy"

"Blowing"

"Wreath"

"Fact the truth is Boat"

On Wednesday we left our rice fields to visit the ones in the far away land of Matsumoto for interviews with President Ishii. It was a wonderfully uplifting time. He is such an energetic, dedicated man. Good news: Despite being an imperfect missionary, I get to stick around for the next six transfers! Hooray! Sister Ishii is also very cool. She made us experimental anko cookies (yum) and even went to the combini when she felt the meeting was getting a bit long and bought us all a tomato. Tomatoes and eggplants are major in season right now! We eat them every day. So then I swapped my Powerfuss Shimai for the Tyler Shimai! We did a koukan and had lots of fun streeting. We pulled our gaijin (foreigner) card approximately many many times, trying to speak comprehensive and spirit-led Japanese. We just...usually cannot understand what the people answer back to us, so we attempt to give the most general but energetic response we can think of together and encourage them strongly to visit Mormon.org where there are videos in actual Japanese. We also visited a long-time-no-see member, who lives about five minutes from the apartment. Thanks to my excellent navigation skills, we arrived there in just under thirty minutes! 

Speaking of which, the next afternoon we rode along to the eki where I put us on the wrong platform for the train back to Suwa. In good old Nagoya this would be no big deal, just hop on the next one. But here where the fresh crops highly outnumber the amount of humans, we needed to wait and hour and a half for the next train. So the other shimai scurried back to Suwa instead to make the appointment, and we got there around 8:00, for Suwa Sleepover party of four, where Tyler shimai so kindly lent me her pajamas. 

The next morning Papenfuss Shimai and I jumped on the 5:30 train (because waking up at 6:30 is for sissy missionaries) to catch our 10:00 appointment back in home base Nagano. We made it! She was a cool new investigator. A yoga teacher, who did yoga while we told her how to teach in English. And then she listened to our spiel on prayer, and said she would try that out kureru. Yay!

Then a most lovely Eikaiwa student had us over for a delicious dinner of rich, creamy cold potato soup and luscious bread. Perfect for the 40 。C weather! Yum! But then she seemed to  have forgotten she had done that and fed us a delicious dinner of rich, beautifully seasoned blue cheese pumpkin pasta. Next was the summer vegetable cheese casserole, for health.Then she was under the impression she was feeding a sumo army, so out came the "American-style" biggest-steak-I've-ever-seen and abundance of vegetables. And don't forget dessert! Two lovingly large scoops of scrumptious ice cream, complete with dressings of french toast, berries, apples and peaches. I had busted into every nook of the second breakfast/fourth dessert stomach I thought I carried with me always, but alas, I exploded completely and the poor woman and my companion had scrape pieces of me off the walls and ceiling.  Oishikatta!

The Saturday involved the famous Japanese festival with an awesome member bringing her friends to introduce to us because she is awesome! What an exciting bit of culture!

Sunday was a wonderful fast Sunday where I recieved an unexpectedly delicious fulfillment of spiritual light. What a wonderful day, to be a missionary in August 2015, in this blessed dispensation. Christ is the light. Looking to Him will bring us the joy we cannot fathom the portion of here in this earthly moment. He will lift you, help you, guide you, bless you. He loves you.

22 The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eyebe single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (3 Nephi 13)

29 Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shallbe opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and untohim that knocketh, it shall be opened. (3 Nephi 27)

I love you. 

Be happy and safe, be missionaries. Let me know what I can do for you.

Sister Brewer