Nice try at the Japanese Dad... it was cute! And I love hearing about your bees! There definitely has to be a gospel/life message somewhere in there... I`ll think about it! Oh, and I`m glad you are healthy too.
Congrats on the new calling mom! I know nursery is tough, but you can do it. I`ve learned lots from the children and babies here in Japan so maybe those little kids have something to teach you. Maybe its the only way God can get to you! Hmm... something to think about.
Tell Aunt Karen and Logan hello! And I`m glad you asked about the bathrooms... they have their own little bathroom culture here. So there are two kinds of toilets, western style and squatty potty. Homes pretty much always have western style (which is just a normal toilet that you are used to) and public places have both squatties and westerns. So the western style kinda varies. Youve got your regular toilet, if you want to level up you can get the version with the seat warmer (which all my apartments have had, YES.), then there are the more fancy ones that have options to spray your tush and such with water if youd like ;) those toilets also usually come with another button that makes a flushing noise without actually flushing. I dont know why that button is there... Ive never used it. The filling tank looks like a sink on the back of the toilet. I think some ghetto places use it as an actual sink to wash your hands.. kinda gross in my opinion. In homes, the toilet is always in its own separate room and the sink and shower are in a different room.
Now for the squatters. We call them squatty potties! I dont really enjoy using these ones unless all the westerns are taken... but I have used them before. They are these toilets in the ground that you, you know, squat over and go! Just be careful not to get it on your clothes! He he he. There isnt anything fancy about these ones. You squat and flush. Simple.
This week was so busy. We were hardly in Akita. We had our last Zone Conference with Pres and Sis Rasmussen in Morioka. We learned about effective planning, marriage, the sin of pride, and unity in our companion-ships. It was way good! We also had a testimony meeting and we watched a video that the missionaries made for Pres and Sis Rasmussen for a going away present. Oh also, I FINISHED READING THE WHOLE BOOK OF MORMON IN JAPANESE! At zone conference Pres Rasmussen gave me and the other missionaries that finished a little pin to congratulate us. It was pretty awesome.
The day after Zone Conference in Akita I had a split with Sister Butler who is the sister training leader. She is a way super amazing missionary. It made me realize how not super amazing I am... she literally talks to EVERYONE and we even gave out a plan of salvation pamphlet to someone. She is so focused on missionary work. She is a very good example... but it made me feel quite low for the next few days. I know I could do better. But with seeing all the improvements I need to make in myself and my own dendo, and then taking all the commitments I got from Zone Conference and my split I got really overwhelmed and kinda shut down for a couple days. I didnt even know where to begin so I just pushed it all away. And my companion has been having a stomach ache every day and she is always really really sleepy so we didnt really get out of the apartment too much. I feel bad for those few days. This morning I whipped out my stress book again just like the good(?) ol days when I was a bean in Aizu.. ha and I was able to study it and look up some scriptures it suggested. I was particularly comforted by D&C 6. Basically that whole section has been my entire mission and all my exact same issues and questions. I could really relate to it. Also, this morning me and Sister Luk were able to evaluate our work and we set some goals on how we want to improve. We talked about how she is always falling asleep during study and maybe if we were quicker to leave the apartment and not make excuses to stay in longer then we could get work done and maybe she wouldnt be so tired if she was working and moving instead of sitting and lounging. And she made a suggestion that if we set more specific goals and said more specific prayers that our dendo would be more focused and we could see better results. We are going to try to be better missionaries.
On Sat and Sun we had Stake Conference in Morioka. The sister missionaries rode up with Bro. Checketts (the crazy American in our branch). It was quite fun! He loves the missionaries, but he is so crazy and has some pretty wild ideas... some of the things he says about the gospel are borderline blasphemy ha but I know he loves the church. We stopped at a lake and while we dangled our feet in the water, he decided he wanted to go for a swim so he jumped in! It was pretty funny! Stake Conference was really good though. We watched a special broadcast especially for Japan. Some general authorities spoke and some of them spoke in Japanese! I dont remember their names, but they served missions in Japan. D. Todd Christofferson also spoke. The theme was member missionary work.
Oh, last night I decided randomly I wanted to cut my hair. So I did using $1.00 scissors. Not the prettiest ha ha but oh well. All I did was cut bangs. Sister Morgan helped me! I will send a picture!
The language gets better and better everyday. Now that we are done reading the book of Mormon in Japanese we have time to focus on other parts of the language like grammar and vocab and conversation. Still not fluent.. probably never will be! But at least I can sorta communicate.
Love ya lots!
Love Miranda
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