*sorry this letter is so scrambled and random...:)
WOW. Where do I start?! First of all, SHAY! IT IS SO SURREAL THAT YOU ARE HOME!!! Literally everyone i meet i say in my awful japanese, `my sister went to hong kong on her mission and got home yesterday!` then once my companion translates that for them they throw their arms around me and are sad for me. hahah its cute. literally so many people did that. so tell me everything. so happy for all of you. such a happy time!
Okay.....so let me just say I LOVE JAPAN. Why is America so lame? haha It`s been nothing less than perfect. I have not felt sad or overwhelmed or stressed or scared at all! Such a blessing! All my prayers have been filled only with gratitude. I`m so happy here! I dont know how its possible but i feel right at home. I really do. Heavenly Father is blessing us so much, all of us! Can you feel the crazy amount of blessings??? LOOVEE ITTTT. okay i]ll try to give you deets real fast.
The flight--ew. haha but i sat with Humphreys and Kittaka Shimai so we just slept on each other and it was great. When we arrived in Japan, Yamashita Kaicho and Sister Yamashita were soooo sweet! they spoke english ...hallelujah haha... and the assistants and everyone was soo nice. I probably looked like a troll but..sister missionaries are supposed to look stupid right? The mission home was super nice. We felt bad becuase they fed us and wanted to talk but i felt so sick and dizzy from not sleeping so we went to bed early. The next day we were SOO nervous and excited to meet our comps. but lemme tell you..i got the BEST trainer. We are best friends! Its been so so fun. Her name is Kaitland Walsh, she]s from Draper. She leaves in 6 weeks though...so sad about that. So ill have 2 trainers. Anyway, we are 4 hrs away from the mission home in Toyama. Yep its cold here. i looove it though. Kind of in the city, but i love it. I love riding my bike and looking at all the crazy beautiful things here. The cemeteries are huge..and there are a ton. I love to pray and think about everything while riding my bike. So peaceful. Anyway, its just Walsh Shimai and I in our apt. And there is one set of elders in our ward. The shower is so cool, its like an entire room. The food is weird, its good but super weird. I like cabbage pancakes. EW i ate raw eggs and fermented soy beans on rice and was literally gagging. At the train station one day, we walked into the bathroom and there was no toilet! it was like a hole in the ground and you just squat over it. So i go into the stall and kind of just stare at it for about a minute, walked out and washed my hands. hahah i couldnt do it! The spiders are so big.
Okay mom, dad you werent kidding. I thought japan would for sure be more like america. but let me tell you ....its totally not. After leaving the honbu and traveling 4 hours on a train that is like an airplane, a member lady picked us up and we ate at her house. The cutest old couple! Well we get there and we kneeled...on the floor!!! my legs were NUMB i was in so much pain. and we ate with chopsticks!!! are you kidding me I cant do that!! haha they were all laughing at me. I learned a lot of sarcastic things in japanese in the MTC soooo they thought i was funny. haha We were all just kneeling around this table with us, the old couple, and the elders, laughing our heads off eating fatty meat and weird sushi that is soooo different from american sushi. but i loved that night. haha
as i]m sitting here laughing to myself about everything that has happened, my companion says i do a lot of DAME (not good) things. like i:m just a loud american that waves to everyone instead of bows, i sound sooooo gaijin (foreigner) when i speak its embarrassing.
oh my gosh the WARD . The ward is amazing. truly truly amazing. I spoke on sunday. Yep all in japanese. and he asked me to 20 MINUTES before sacrament meeting. so i got up there and pretty much said i have 6 ppl in my family, my hobbies are running and volleyball, and im from heber. Actually I said this ... haha ...`Zense kara kimashita. ..jodan jodan! America Utah kara kimashita.` (Im from the pre earth life. jokes! i:m from utah). they all laughed, glad it wasn:t one of those awkward try to make a joke but its not funny kind of thing haha.
I can:t believe how amazing the ward is. Its so cute when ppl try to speak english. There is a special spirit here for sure. So on Saturday morning we went and helped set up for the Halloween Party, and there is a young family, they have 2 kids and they both served missions that were helping set up. I needed to buy a bike that day. So they offered to drive us to town like 20 minutes away and help me buy a bike! So them and another member came and it literally took about 4 hours. I felt SO bad but they were SO nice!! AH i love them!! The Halloween party was so fun and a huge success! I finally got to meet all the members and about 4 investigators came. Okay so I have been praying for more confidence in speaking the language and just saying the things i do know how to say. So I went and sat with one of our investigators, her name is Ikemoto san. My comp talking with a member. Anyway we were just talking and she has never been to church before. So i decided to ask her! Be BOLD right? I asked her if she was coming to church tomorrow, it would be fun and I wanted her to come! She said What time?? ....then i had to get my companion. haha So she explained what church was and she said she only needed to stay for an hour. Then Ikemoto san asked `can i stay for all 3 hours??`....uhhhh YES. I was pumped. I was literally hugging on Walsh Shimai and jumping up and down...she probably thought i was a dweeb but i was so excited! After that I asked another one of our investigators! She said it sounded boring...haha. But hey the answer will always be no if i never ask so i:m glad i asked.
My comp is the sister training leader so we:ve had to travel a ton. Iwent on an exchange with a little nihonjin and we visited a cute little old lady who just got baptized. She fed us this kelp tea that literally tasted like boiled sea water, and little chocolates. I played her piano and shared my testimony. Fun. We dont have alot of investigators right now but i am positive we will very soon. We want to get 3 baptisms before Christmas as agift to Christ. Thats our goal as a mission.
This morning i was reading in D&C , i read D&C 20:53. I though of Parkers blessing that he gave to Jaren. That moment I will cherish forever. That was so special parker. I hold that close to my heart. Then I D&C23. Boys--what is your duty?? What do you think Gods will for you is?? Then I read D&C 25 and thought of you mom. Read it, its really good. :).
FAMILY i LOVE YOU. So So so much. Im so happy and so ready to work. I know service brings us so much happiness. Im so grateful for this perfect plan of happiness. Im so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. He is so real to me, I hope you have each found a special relationship with Him and our Savior and Brother Jesus Christ. `Sometimes we should step back and think of the enormity of our potential and the influence and impact we can have in the eyes of others by caring for our own testimonies.`
I love you. God be with you.
Love, Sister Wilcox
WOW. Where do I start?! First of all, SHAY! IT IS SO SURREAL THAT YOU ARE HOME!!! Literally everyone i meet i say in my awful japanese, `my sister went to hong kong on her mission and got home yesterday!` then once my companion translates that for them they throw their arms around me and are sad for me. hahah its cute. literally so many people did that. so tell me everything. so happy for all of you. such a happy time!
Okay.....so let me just say I LOVE JAPAN. Why is America so lame? haha It`s been nothing less than perfect. I have not felt sad or overwhelmed or stressed or scared at all! Such a blessing! All my prayers have been filled only with gratitude. I`m so happy here! I dont know how its possible but i feel right at home. I really do. Heavenly Father is blessing us so much, all of us! Can you feel the crazy amount of blessings??? LOOVEE ITTTT. okay i]ll try to give you deets real fast.
The flight--ew. haha but i sat with Humphreys and Kittaka Shimai so we just slept on each other and it was great. When we arrived in Japan, Yamashita Kaicho and Sister Yamashita were soooo sweet! they spoke english ...hallelujah haha... and the assistants and everyone was soo nice. I probably looked like a troll but..sister missionaries are supposed to look stupid right? The mission home was super nice. We felt bad becuase they fed us and wanted to talk but i felt so sick and dizzy from not sleeping so we went to bed early. The next day we were SOO nervous and excited to meet our comps. but lemme tell you..i got the BEST trainer. We are best friends! Its been so so fun. Her name is Kaitland Walsh, she]s from Draper. She leaves in 6 weeks though...so sad about that. So ill have 2 trainers. Anyway, we are 4 hrs away from the mission home in Toyama. Yep its cold here. i looove it though. Kind of in the city, but i love it. I love riding my bike and looking at all the crazy beautiful things here. The cemeteries are huge..and there are a ton. I love to pray and think about everything while riding my bike. So peaceful. Anyway, its just Walsh Shimai and I in our apt. And there is one set of elders in our ward. The shower is so cool, its like an entire room. The food is weird, its good but super weird. I like cabbage pancakes. EW i ate raw eggs and fermented soy beans on rice and was literally gagging. At the train station one day, we walked into the bathroom and there was no toilet! it was like a hole in the ground and you just squat over it. So i go into the stall and kind of just stare at it for about a minute, walked out and washed my hands. hahah i couldnt do it! The spiders are so big.
Okay mom, dad you werent kidding. I thought japan would for sure be more like america. but let me tell you ....its totally not. After leaving the honbu and traveling 4 hours on a train that is like an airplane, a member lady picked us up and we ate at her house. The cutest old couple! Well we get there and we kneeled...on the floor!!! my legs were NUMB i was in so much pain. and we ate with chopsticks!!! are you kidding me I cant do that!! haha they were all laughing at me. I learned a lot of sarcastic things in japanese in the MTC soooo they thought i was funny. haha We were all just kneeling around this table with us, the old couple, and the elders, laughing our heads off eating fatty meat and weird sushi that is soooo different from american sushi. but i loved that night. haha
as i]m sitting here laughing to myself about everything that has happened, my companion says i do a lot of DAME (not good) things. like i:m just a loud american that waves to everyone instead of bows, i sound sooooo gaijin (foreigner) when i speak its embarrassing.
oh my gosh the WARD . The ward is amazing. truly truly amazing. I spoke on sunday. Yep all in japanese. and he asked me to 20 MINUTES before sacrament meeting. so i got up there and pretty much said i have 6 ppl in my family, my hobbies are running and volleyball, and im from heber. Actually I said this ... haha ...`Zense kara kimashita. ..jodan jodan! America Utah kara kimashita.` (Im from the pre earth life. jokes! i:m from utah). they all laughed, glad it wasn:t one of those awkward try to make a joke but its not funny kind of thing haha.
I can:t believe how amazing the ward is. Its so cute when ppl try to speak english. There is a special spirit here for sure. So on Saturday morning we went and helped set up for the Halloween Party, and there is a young family, they have 2 kids and they both served missions that were helping set up. I needed to buy a bike that day. So they offered to drive us to town like 20 minutes away and help me buy a bike! So them and another member came and it literally took about 4 hours. I felt SO bad but they were SO nice!! AH i love them!! The Halloween party was so fun and a huge success! I finally got to meet all the members and about 4 investigators came. Okay so I have been praying for more confidence in speaking the language and just saying the things i do know how to say. So I went and sat with one of our investigators, her name is Ikemoto san. My comp talking with a member. Anyway we were just talking and she has never been to church before. So i decided to ask her! Be BOLD right? I asked her if she was coming to church tomorrow, it would be fun and I wanted her to come! She said What time?? ....then i had to get my companion. haha So she explained what church was and she said she only needed to stay for an hour. Then Ikemoto san asked `can i stay for all 3 hours??`....uhhhh YES. I was pumped. I was literally hugging on Walsh Shimai and jumping up and down...she probably thought i was a dweeb but i was so excited! After that I asked another one of our investigators! She said it sounded boring...haha. But hey the answer will always be no if i never ask so i:m glad i asked.
My comp is the sister training leader so we:ve had to travel a ton. Iwent on an exchange with a little nihonjin and we visited a cute little old lady who just got baptized. She fed us this kelp tea that literally tasted like boiled sea water, and little chocolates. I played her piano and shared my testimony. Fun. We dont have alot of investigators right now but i am positive we will very soon. We want to get 3 baptisms before Christmas as agift to Christ. Thats our goal as a mission.
This morning i was reading in D&C , i read D&C 20:53. I though of Parkers blessing that he gave to Jaren. That moment I will cherish forever. That was so special parker. I hold that close to my heart. Then I D&C23. Boys--what is your duty?? What do you think Gods will for you is?? Then I read D&C 25 and thought of you mom. Read it, its really good. :).
FAMILY i LOVE YOU. So So so much. Im so happy and so ready to work. I know service brings us so much happiness. Im so grateful for this perfect plan of happiness. Im so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. He is so real to me, I hope you have each found a special relationship with Him and our Savior and Brother Jesus Christ. `Sometimes we should step back and think of the enormity of our potential and the influence and impact we can have in the eyes of others by caring for our own testimonies.`
I love you. God be with you.
Love, Sister Wilcox
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