Fwd: TRANSFER 4 FIRST WEEK

From: Lindsay Sanders <lindsay.sanders@myldsmail.net>

Date: March 1, 2015 9:33:19 PM MST

Subject: TRANSFER 4 FIRST WEEK

Woah, I am officially not a baby missionary anymore!! How crazy! First off, I will talk about last PDAY where we went to the Tenmangu Shrine in Dazaifu. It was soooooooo beautiful and I had lots of fun with Ogawa Shimai, ELder Glover, and Elder Kikuchi, and Sayuri chan who is a YSA from our ward. My camera ran out of battery right before I got to the SAMURAI SHOP and I was so sad!! We had a blast and ate umegaemochi- a special kind of mochi with onko inside (onko is the bean paste).

Later that day, we got our transfer calls. Surprise, I was transferred to IWAKUNI. I was shocked- I just barely came to Chikushino last transfer!!!!!! It was so hard to say goodbye to the members and to Ogawa Shimai. I love her soooooo much. I definitely cried lots.

Iwakuni  is in Yamaguchi zone, but techinically is a city in Hiroshima... but is part of the Tokyo south stake. Super complicated deshou? Iwakuni is the BEST area because there are 2 main areas... the Iwakuni Marine Base... and the rest of Japan, haha! We are not allowed to proselyte on Base, or wear our name tags.... but we can visit members! It is so weird to be with Americans and eat American food again. I have a feeling I might get fat in this area. Dang it. I just came from a suuuuuuuper Japanese area, so I kind of forgot english? I have to remind myself what language I am speaking sometimes. The rest of our area is normal Japan. Lots of old people who are VERY Buddhist. Very different from Chikushino, where there were tons of college kids and young families. We have solid investigators, and one with a baptismal date for the end of March! We switch off going to the English branch and the Japanese branch in Yanai. The day I came, we got at least 10 calls from various members wanting to meet me and offering to feed us dinner. The members here are SO COOL! I am so excited to be here in this new area. 

The BEST part of being in Iwakuni is being companions with SISTER CAMPBELL! She is from Surprise, AZ, is a singing beast, loves to write missionary songs (don't worry, I will record all of them!) we have been rewriting all the lyrics to all the songs I can remember. It's a thing. I love it! SIster Campbell is super sciency and smart and I really love her. She likes to do personality typing... I have been learning a lot about that. For you psychology nerds, I am an ISTP type :) She is super chill and loves to do missionary work. She is also going home after this transfer.... which means I will have another new comp next transfer. Maybe I will train??? No idea. SIster Campbell is an STL right now, and they will need a replacement.... Anyways I am way excited to be working with a fellow Arizonian who understands my sense of humor! I love her so much!

Funny story, last night we were housing, and we knock on this door and an old man comes and is talking to us from behind the door. We are trying to talk to him, but he couldn't hear or something, so he opens the door, and sees us and starts freaking out. (SIDE NOTE, I can understand most Japanese, except for old man Japanese... they use to much slang... and they usually don't have teeth....) and he is pointing to me and keeps saying things with lots of emotion. My companion says goodbye and we walk away, and I ask "WHAT THE HECK?!" She says "He thinks you're beautiful and wanted to know if you had a boyfriend... and then you didn't answer, so he thought that was a no, so I just said goodbye for you" I laughed so hard. That's the first time THAT's happened!!

I am doing great. Missionary life is crazy, but I am doing great and I finally feel like a missionary!

My testimony has grown this week. I had to have a lot of faith in order to leave Chikushino. I loved it there. There are pieces of my heart there. I have no regrets though- everyone knew I loved them. It is better to be sad leaving because you're going to miss them so much than being glad to leave because you don"t know anyone. No regrets. It was hard though. I sang "I'll go where you want me to go" besically the whole 4 hour trip to Iwakuni.... but as soon as I got here, I felt confirmation that this was where I need to be. 

I know that the Lord loves us and wants us all to be happy. I am so sure of this. I feel it when I talk to people on the streets and in their homes. 

Missions are hard. But it is making me stronger. I am such a different person from 6 months ago... even from last month, or last week. Trials help us to come closer to God, if that is what we choose.

Thanks for all the love! Please send me pictures!!!!!!!! Share your testimony with someone and then tell me about it!

Love you,

Sister Sanders

-- 

Sanders Shimai

Entrance to Shrine in Tenmangu