Wednesday brought a new month, and a new, fresh atmosphere to the
whole area! I love spring, especially here in Japan! It's so
beautiful! I love seeing the huuuuge variety of flowers and trees and
hearing the birds you can only hear in the land of the rising sun!
It's sooooo gorgeous! I'm really gonna miss it!
Anyway, we biked all the way to keep part of our area called Kiyose,
the second farthest in the area or something like that. Phew! We egged
the a couple's door, and left our bikes there to go do some
park dendo and some housing after that. We took some pictures of the
gorgeous Sakura blossoms that are out now! It's soooooo pretty!

When we came back to where our bikes were, we discovered someone had
put treats into our bike helmets. They must have come home
shortly after we egged them, and found out bikes. It was really cute!

 

 

I want to mention one funny moment, after the game. We were

discussing handshakes and stuff, and high fives, and demonstrating them. After inventing a few to use in the future among smith Shimai, Horrocks Shimai, me, and any elders who want to join, smith and Horrocks Shimai were talking about all the old ones they knew, and showing each other. Smith Shimai had a flashback of one that our MTC teacher, brother Clark, had showed us one day. They went back for a high five, and as they came in, instead of doing a five, smith Shimai grabbed Horrocks Shimai's wrist and spoke into it like a microphone, saying "I'd like to bear my testimony..." And she got no further than that before Horrocks Shimai collapsed onto the ground in laughter and surprise. I'd forgotten it up until that moment, and then I couldn't stop laughing for about ten minutes. It was the best memory ever!

Saturday:

Wow, I'm so tired! But today was so fun! We got a spot by the river

for the ward hanami, which was basically a barbecue! An investigator

from Eikaiwa came with her kids, and she made everyone hotdogs using a fire pit and milk cartons! It was so cool! And they were delicious! Nothing like American hot dogs, but still pretty good. I gave some of the kids my Swedish fish from the package I got from mom yesterday, and they loved it! They probably never had eaten something so sweet in their life. They said "Are?! Mecha oishii, kore!" (Whoa! This is super delicious!)

Anyway, we had to hurry home to district meeting, and everyone smelled
like sweat and smoke. It was nasty, but also kind of natsukashii, (the
closest equivalent to this word in English is nostalgic, but it's kind
of different. I personally like it better) because it reminded me of

girls camp and family reunions and such. But we had a pretty good time. Horrocks Shimai gave a great final training about the motto our mission has, and why each point is important. Our mission motto is "Obedience is the price. Faith is the power. Love is the motive. The spirit is the key. Christ is the reason." And I've always loved it and tried to model it for my whole life, rather than just my mission, and it was great to hear her insights on it as well. Later in the evening, all of the sisters went and had a great time at a member's house, and Horrocks Shimai shared a very spiritual message. I can't believe she's going to be done in just five days! Crazy! And then it's my turn, in less than twelve weeks. No! Anyway, gotta think of happier things. So, basically, I hope I never transfer. I love this area. It may not be my best, but it's definitely the one where I've experience, learned, and grown the most on my mission. And I love the ward and their desire to help, all their cute babies, etc. I really don't want to transfer! But I will find out on Monday what my fate is to be. I'm nervous, but praying really hard that I get to stay!...

Sunday:
HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!
HAPPY NINETEENTH BIRTHDAY, CORBEN!!!!!!!!
Today was pretty good so far! I just finished studying my patriarchal
blessing, and breaking my fast. I loved church, even though it's been
raining pretty much all day. But hey, as long as it didn't rain on the
hanami, I'm happy!
Fast and testimony meeting was great, and then we had a really good
lesson in Sunday school about the atonement and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and it went really well! We have a great teacher!
After the three hour block was over, we did another two hours of
sitting, because we got to see the general women's broadcast, in our
own church building rather than the stake center for some reason. But
it was just as well. I would have hated biking all the way to
Kichijoji in the rain! And even though it was in Japanese, I did get
some good things out of it! I loved the emphasis on families!

  The "My Neighbor Totoro" store near Kamakura!

Tomorrow, we have a really

fun plan, to go all the way to Kamakura! I'm really excited!
There's lots of shrines and stuff in Kamakura! Woohoo! I'll be sure
to take a lot of pictures, and send you the news of transfer calls.

 

Kamakura!

 



Maryandra was in too much shock to write much about her transfer call.  She will be

transferring to Machida and become senior companion to Sister Foutz, another one

from her MTC times, and though she is excited to be back closer to her bean

area, she is disappointed.  She said in an e-mail the next day:

 

I actually really wanted to finish in Hibarigaoka, because one of my mission bucket list items was to spend half of my mission in one area. Sigh. I guess it's not meant to be. 

Transfer days are Thursday's, so I'll arrive there just before we watch general conference. Poo, I wanted to watch it in Hibarigaoka! 

 

(Well, we know Maryandra will survive!  In case you are confused, because of the time difference, they watch General Conference, and everything like it one week later in Japan!)