WOW.
This week has been absolutely crazy. I feel like my entire life has
changed, and nobody knows anything about it except me! So, here's the
rundown:
Elder
Li
I
love this Elder! He is an amazingly hard
worker, he's completely fearless in approaches and wants to be his best because
he loves The Lord. He is so kind and
humble and cares so much for others. He
has a lot to teach me! He is half
Taiwanese and half Japanese and 100% American!
He actually was born in Hawaii and spent most of his life in Washington,
so he didn't speak much Japanese until he started studying it like crazy last
year, and now he's all but fluent in my eyes.
Honestly, I think his Japanese is about where mine will be at the end of
my mission, or maybe a little after that.
He's super good at the work!
SHIBUYA. We're at the very heart of Tokyo and this
city is CRAZY busy, big, and... well, just crazy.
I wanted so badly to come to a big part of the city for even
just a brief time when I got my call to Tokyo, so I'm really grateful to be
here (: Some things I'm getting used to though are the prices, which are crazy
high, and the biking, which is insanely dangerous. There are so many people in Tokyo that it's
actually illegal to ride on the side-walk at parts, so I'm riding in the car
lanes for about half the trip anywhere we go.
I've almost been hit by 3 different trucks and more motorcycles and
taxis than that. Wow it's wild! But I'm loving it and starting to get used to
it. Luckily our apartment is tucked into
a little ally-way so the street sounds are all drowned out when we're
studying/sleeping.
I love Tokyo so much.
If you've seen the movie Big Hero 6 (or "Baymax" as all the
Japanese call it!) that's exactly what this city is like. It's absolutely gorgeous. One minute you'll see an old building from
200 years ago covered in moss, then next a massive busy road and skyscrapers.
As you can imagine, I'm basically in heaven. (ISN'T IT
SWEET!? And this is one of the worst
angles of this graveyard, I'll have to get a better pic later!)
So, fun story! A
little less magical than your old companion Sister Sugimoto, but a little bit
more entertaining perhaps (; Yesterday at a ward lunch after church I met a man
named Brother Saito (I think...) we chatted for a bit, and when he told me he
had served in the Sapporo mission I told him about you. At first he didn't recognize you, but I
showed him a picture of statue dendou. His response: "Austin Shimai... WAIT! Austin Shimai! Oh yeah, I remember now!! The day before she left, I saw her at the
temple and asked to get a picture with her because I wanted to marry her."
my response, "WAIT, WHAT-!?" and then his response, "Uh... not
really. But I will send you the picture
later. Can you receive pictures?"
Mama, you were the cutest sister missionary!! I love collecting pictures of you as I travel
through Japan! Like I said, you made a
big impact here! If my mission were a
video game, then "Photo of Sister Austin" would probably be the
collectable items, like stars or fire flowers in Mario Brothers. (;
So, rundown on the people I'm working with:
I wish I had pictures of them, but because I don't, I'll
just tell you what I can (I'm running out of time, but I'm sure I'll talk lots
more about them soon :)
Tanaka was recently baptized. He still has super long hair and a goatee and
a pierced lip and ear (he needs it to grow in before he removes it or
something,) but despite his moderately scary appearance, he is THE KINDEST
person I've ever met. As he listens to me
teach he never gets frustrated with my Japanese, and even though I stumble he
still nods and contributes to the lesson.
The spirit is so strong there.
Shingo is also super kind and super golden. He came to church yesterday and Elder Li met
him for the first time after doing phone lessons for 2 transfers. He speaks English to a degree, and already
has strong faith even though he's not a member of any church. As we walked into the ward luncheon, he said
loudly in English, "WOW! We MUST
thank God for this GRACIOUS meal."
(Don't worry, I got to say the prayer.)
Daichi is also super golden!
My first lesson with him was super rough because we weren't as prepared
as we should have been for it, but he listened intently and did his best to
follow along, then played ping pong with us.
He's so awesome!
There are countless other unforgettable people I've met, but
that's all the time I've got.
LOVES!
スタウト長老! ^o^
Elder Stout! :D
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