Week Eight.

Hello my dear friends and family!

First off, Mom ha ha... all I can do is laugh about your story. That sounds exactly like me at the MTC. I have gained so much weight and you can totally tell. Good bye flat stomach and hello big hips. I am really hoping I lose some weight in Japan. Yesterday I was feeling all discouraged because it was a hard day AND I noticed that I was getting fat and I honestly wanted to cry more over the fact that I am getting fat rather than I can't speak Japanese ha ha. It's bad. My dietitian dreams are going out the window! No!

Anyways, good luck with Weight Watchers! When I get home, I expect to see a SUPER fit mom and dad. So work hard!

I liked the pictures you sent. I printed them off and I'm going to keep them in my journal so I can look at dad and miles whenever I want! I really like receiving pictures. Speaking of pictures, I have a LOT to send home this week. I don't have a little card reader right now because I always borrow one from one of the girls in my district and I'm not with her. But I'll send lots of pictures later today sometime.

My week was pretty good I guess! It all kinda runs together and by the time P day comes around I always forget what I did for that last week. I did make some bullet points in my planner though to remind me of what happened this week. So I'll just talk about those in a sec. Yes, I did get the cookies! It was the nicest surprise ever! Whenever I receive a package slip I all of a sudden turn into the really annoying girl on campus because I always scream and jump up and down. Then I make my companion run with me to the mail room. It is always a huge moment for me :)

This week I learned more Japanese! I learned how to say ____ is ____ than _____. So for example, Sendai is better than Sapporo! And I learned how to... uh... I can't even remember. I learned how to count some things! They have so many counters in Japanese. You use a different counter for EVERYTHING. Counting days is different than counting heads of cattle which is different than counting apples. So that's going to be fun to learn I guess... it seems to me like everyone in our district caught on to how to do it pretty quick but I really struggled. So that's kind of frustrating.

We don't really learn cultural things. We only learn them if we ask about them. We learned that on Christmas in Japan, EVERYONE goes to KFC and eats chicken and eats cake. And that's Christmas! I think that is so funny! I want to get my senseis KFC giftcards as a going away present but I'm at the MTC. So that's kind of impossible. 

Everyone in the MTC that is going to Sendai on the 16th will fly together. I am not sure how many other zones there are, but I know of at least one other zone that has some Sendai people. I think we figured out that for Sendai we will have 27 people arriving on the 17th. That is a RECORD! The most missionaries Sendai has EVER received at one time! So that's pretty cool.

I have a lot of business I need to take care of like my phone call at the airport and other things, but I'll write about that later. 

Let me update you on my week according to my planner!

So first off, I am not the sister training leader anymore! I got released on Sunday. It is so weird to have time in the evenings! I forgot what that was like! So to all those people out there that are waiting for replies, I'm getting on it I promise! I am trying to write a letter every night. Expect letters this week sometime! Also, since I am leaving the MTC next Monday... please be aware that if you send mail to the MTC too late, I might not ever get that letter! It would be best if you either sent the letters NOW ish or sent me Dear Elders for my last week. If you want that is!

While I was still a STL though, Orr Shimai and I needed to interview the Nihonjin shimaitachi which was quite the experience for me. Orr Shimai did fine, but the only things I knew how to say were, "How are you?" "How was your day?" "Are you happy?" and "What do you like about the MTC?" The sisters would reply to my questions, but of course I couldn't understand them so I would just say, "Ah, so desu ne." Which means "Ohhh, I hear ya." Those poor sisters are probably having the worst time ever and I just kinda sat there smiling! They were very short interviews and when I ran out of things to say, I would just say, "Ja... ikimasho!" Which means, "well.... let's go!" And then the interview was over. It was so awkward ha ha. JAPAN HERE I COME.

Also I got to have the experience of telling one sister in my zone to stop flirting :) That was also awkward! Every once in awhile flirting becomes a problem so I got to be the lucky one to handle that one. She was really nice about it though and received my counsel with love so that's good.

I have had the opportunity for the past like 3 or 4 weeks to host in new missionaries as they arrive on Wednesdays! It is fun, but I also hate it because I'd rather be studying instead of helping them.. ha ha I am a bad missionary! But I am obedient, so I just help anyways and miss out on my language study time.. grr. If I could, I would study Japanese all day. Most missionaries here would say that they would have personal study all day where they can study the scriptures and Jesus the Christ and PMG all day, but I always lose focus and fall asleep during personal study. I really AM a bad missionary! I am trying to do better and repent but sometimes I get so bored and am always watching the clocik. Any ideas on how to fix that?

This week we got another lecture from Kosaka Sensei! Whoopie! Our Nihongo still sucks! He said, "I am going to feel sorry for you when you get to Japan. You are going to suffer." Ha ha that is almost a direct quote. I don't get offended or anything. If he didn't think we could improve and change within this last week I don't think he would have said that. So it's good to know he still has hope. I have been working hard to ONLY speak Japanese all day for this last week. Our whole district has improved a lot within just a few days. I don't know if we really are just not doing good or what, but it does kind of freak me out a little!

Okay that is all the news really of what happened this last week... next P day letter you receive will be from JAPAN! Yay! I'm so excited! 

Now for all of the business...

My travel plans are as follows:

16 SEP 2013 leave SLC 7:30 am

16 SEP 2013 arrive Detroit Metro, MI 1:01 PM

16 SEP 2013 leave Detroit Metro, MI 3:40 PM

17 SEP 2013 arrive Nagoya, JPN 6:05 PM

17 SEP 2013 leave Nagoya, JPN 7:50 PM

17 SEP 2013 arrive Sendai, JPN 9:00 PM

So I can call whenever. I figured out the what time it will be in Texas when I am at all these different airports. I will write what times I could call and I will be using Central Time.

Before my flight leaves SLC so sometime before 8:30 am on 9/16

1-3:40pm on 9/16

4:05-5:50am 9/17

I would prefer to call on 9/17 between 4:05 and 5:50 am so that way dad could be there before he goes to work. And I will be in Japan by then so I could tell you that I arrived safely. How does that sound? Send me a DearElder to confirm that, please. If a different time works better, send me a dear elder and tell me and I will just do that. Thanks!

I will be getting my second Hep A shot this week as well, just so you know mom.

Make sure I have lots of money in my checking account. I need $100 dollars I can withdrawal in Japanese money for emergency situations. And I also need money for a bike and for winter clothes and for maybe luggage fees. I'm not sure yet. Just make sure I have lots of money! I will forward the email I received today about things I need to know before I arrive in Japan. In that email it says how much money I'll need for a bike. 

Okay well I think that's all the business I have! 

Here is a little something from my own personal small plates for your enjoyment!

"Yes, a mission is hard. Yes, you're going to have some really horrible times. But you know what? None of that matters. Stop thinking about yourself! Just quit it! It's not helping yourself and it's not helping others. If you start to feel sorry for yourself, snap out of it and SERVE someone else. Serve the closest person to you! Serve someone far away by writing them a nice note! Just stop thinking about YOU and start thinking about OTHERS. There are souls to save! There are people waiting for you, Miranda Robertson! FORGET YOURSELF AND GO TO WORK."

I love you all! I'll talk to you in a week, Mom and dad!!!

Love, Sister Miranda Robertson

PICTURES!!!!

orr shimai, me, and all the nihonjin sisters

 class with willard sensei

this morning we went to the temple with kosaka sensei. we are missing bickel and dawson choro in the picture.

SAND VOLLEYBALL WITH MY DISTRICT!! 

 me and sister mack. sister mack is the wife of our branch president. she is like my mom at the mtc. i love her!

 this is happening at the mtc! JAPANESE ONLY!

 WE RECEIVED OUR TRAVEL PLANS LAST WEEK

 all missionaries leaving september 16th to japan!!!!!!!!!

 we had a crazy storm this last week. trees got ripped out of the ground! there was a waterfall of water going down some steps at the mtc.

 my district

 just for fun. this is king shimai on the left and mataoa shimai on the right. we were eating sack breakfast and so i took a picture of them to show what normal missionary life is like at the mtc!

 our district with the nihonjin district

district 27 F with some of the nijonjin sisters but not all