We asked for more photos of Maryandra, and she sent this one, with a lovely shadow over her face!  But look at the stunning view of Sagamihara behind her as well!  Maryandra had a week of ups and downs. 

Here is some of it:

Wednesday:

It took us an hour or so to bike all the way to sagamihara park,

because we got lost once. It's much bigger and prettier than the one

we'd always gone to before!!! I hope we get to go again in the near

future. We met and talked to so many people there, and in particular

with this one twelve year old boy, and his seven hear old

brother. This was the most enjoyable contact I've ever had

before, no joke, no exaggeration. We were old friends by the end of

our forty minute conversation! And then, we made the biggest mistake I

think I've ever made as a missionary. I don't know why, but somehow

this turned into the biggest guilt trip I've ever had in my entire

life. That also is no joke. We had a golden opportunity, but we just

left them with a flier. No pamphlet, no Book of Mormon, no Facebook

address exchanges, not even learning their last name, which would have

made a world of difference. I don't know what we were thinking, but

I've not been able to stop thinking about it, and I've cried so many

times since then, just filled with guilt and regret about it. Have you

and dad ever had experiences on your mission where all you could think

was " what was I thinking? I could have done more! I SHOULD have!

Thursday:

Wuh-oh, guess what day it is?! GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS?!?!?!?! Come on,

come on come on! Somebody, give me a guess! No? It's my 1 year

anniversary for opening my call letter!!!!! Aaaaaaaaahhhnh!!!!! I

can't believe it's been that long! I've known where I'll serve my

mission for a year now! Whaaaaaaat? Can you remember all the surprises

we had on that day? Oh my gosh, I can't believe how much has changed

since then. For one thing, I actually came on a mission. I think that,

at this time a year ago, I was wondering if that thing would actually

turn into a reality. Well, it has. And it's almost halfway over.

Saturday:
I took a sweaty selfie this morning after jogging, just to show you
all how hot and gross and muggy it gets outside, before it's even
7:00am. But even the photo of my slippery, shiny face doesn't do it
justice. I've never sweated so much so many consecutive days in a row,
not in my entire life! The closest thing that can compare to this is
the pioneer trek, all those years ago! Yuck! It gets to the point
where, even when I'm not hot, I'm still sweating. Gross! If I ever
rest my arm on the table or something, whenever I move it, it'll
either stick to the table, peel off of it, or else leave a shiny wet

spot where it used to be. 

Sunday:

Hey, by the way, do you remember if you knew a Munakata Shimai? Or
the Shimai who was her mtc companion? They both served at the
same time as you in the Fukuoka mission. Please let me know, because
that would be so exciting if you knew her!. . . 

Oh my goodness, that was the most fun dinner appointment I've ever

had! And guess what? The Shimai who had us over for dinner, (she was 

Munakata Shimai)! And she has a

picture of you, that I think I've seen a copy of before in one of your

mission scrapbooks! She served at the same time as you in the

Kagoshima prefecture. This world is just getting smaller and smaller,

isn't it? I'm finding more and more reasons why I got called to the

Japan Tokyo South mission! It's crazy, because a year ago, I would

neeeeever have seen this like his coming, meeting people from your

mission that know you and still remember you, and I won't be surprised

if before long, I find someone who knows dad too! Wouldn't that just

be the best?

Here, I took a quick snapshot of the photo she had. She's the one

who's sitting in front of you, on your very left, with the really long

bangs.

Oh, goodness. So, we just got transfer calls. Guess what? Sister
Evans is transferring to fuchu, and becoming sister training leader
there. I will be STAYING, and I will be with sister tachibana. I have
met her once before. It seems I've met all my companions already.
She's nice, I'm sure, but I never really got to talk with her. So, I'm
actually really depressed. I'm gonna really miss Evans Shimai! But I'm
trying to be genki about it. It's way hard, though. This is the first
time I'm going to be area sempai. Yikes! But I've heard that sister
tachibana is way sweet, so that's good. But no one could replace Evans
Shimai.

Here is an earlier photo of  Maryandra and her companion that is transferring away.
She is learning a lot from her experiences, and her daddy gave her some great advice to help her deal with how she was feeling about the boys in the park.  The hot, muggy weeks in her mission are winding down, and we think it is fun that she ran into one of her mom's old mission acquaintances! We have loved this month while she has served with Sister Evans, and hope the new companionship will be great too!