A Guest at His Feast, a privilege to proclaim His birth!

Dear Fam,

Thank you SO MUCH for all of the birthday wishes! I can't believe it's this week! ha ha. Things come so quick these days! You are all so sweet to think of me and send all those THOUGHTFUL greetings - you made my day and my birthday week!  You are the greatest!!! Thanks for all the updates on the happenings in your lives...from "Back to Bethlehem" breakfasts to ball games...and even a new driver's licence (what...Mook? ahhhhhhh!) to church service and travels, parenting and grand-parenting, school stuff, birthday celebrations, competitions and concerts, cute things the little ones say...and everything in between! I LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from my loved ones!  Happy birthday to all of you who celebrate your birthdays with me in December! And...Merry Christmas month!

What a week! Time is flying, I can't believe it's preparation day again. I feel like I turn around and here we are again, planning for another week, or here we are again at the computers. Life is so wonderful. The weather in Japan hasn't been too cold, only sometimes (like this picture that my comp took of me this morning... when we were pretty much out of everything but salad and ramen and the weather was a little... chilly... ha ha) I love Japan!

Yes, we are gearing up for winter around here!

On top of that, today I polished my shoes, (do you think they needed some attention?)

and now they look like they've only been out three months. I was so happy!!

My time, as the mission has gone on, has become more and more devoted to how I can help my investigators understand a certain principle, how I can teach, how I can organize my visuals, etc. Love it! It is so wonderful. I love this work with all my heart. 

This week Yamashita Chorro will come to our mission! (And I turn 22, which means in 3 years I will be 25... which sounds so old for me to be! Ha ha. I can't believe how quickly time goes. My life has become all of those feelings I felt at Christmas each year, the constant, warm soft joy—it is the Holy Ghost who takes care of us, and I love Him! It has been so fun throughout my mission to feel even closer to Heavenly Father, to learn how we can access that power depending simply on what we choose, especially to do with our time. Isn't the Gospel plan amazing?) I love you dear fam. I just want to give a shout out to all of you who have put up with me so long. It has been so delightful. The cache of my memory bank is so full of wonderful YOU, and I love this earthly experience. I am just so grateful that I get to spend it with you...and eternity, too!!! :)

I had an experience feeling the JOY of missionary work all over again this week. It is so amazing to feel like you need to go house in an area, to house for so long, and find who you are looking for. We found this young grandma who said, “I want to hear your message! I want to hear your message! That's what you came here to share, right? I believe we are all children of God and God loves us. I am not really Buddhist or Christian, but I think that Japan is God's country too...” and on it goes. I was so touched and humbled after our short interchange that as I rode my bike back to our apartment, the joy swelled up inside of me and I just laughed the whole way home, rejoicing in the glory of the work with Heavenly Father. Even now, tears fill my eyes. We truly have the most precious message in all the world. 

Today we get to start teaching Yuki San's boys, we are so excited. The Lord has helped me so much over my whole mission to find fun ways and simple ways “wakariyasui” (easy to understand) ways to teach. I am so grateful for every investigator, every day that has added to the preparation for today. And just imagine what the future will be like if "what a past" led to the here and now! I love it and I love you.

There are so many little miracles every day, answers to prayers, being led by the Spirit, having the chance to be obedient, laughing with your zone and learning so much. I love swimming in this, an Elder in my district calls it “spirit juice”... so we say that a lot now. I love Spirit juice!!
Our district didn't change with transfers (I don't know if I told you!) and I just love it because our district is so close, they are like our brothers. It is so fun. The work is just FUN right now. 

President is encouraging another type of dendo style where you just tell people you are a missionary for Jesus Christ's Church and that we'd like to share a message with them next week for 20 minutes about God. It has been pretty incredible. I realized again this week, thinking back, that I know this work is not about me. I rejoice in these opportunities, just to be a part of it. I love investing myself, I love hard work and dedication! I can't imagine how joyous Heavenly Father must be, how perfect the Savior must be, what examples they are to us in ALL of these areas—perfect! With the beautiful promise that as we trust them, they will sculpt us into magnificent castles. What a blessed life this is. I can't express my love for Jesus Christ, my Savior, for my loving Heavenly Father. I just want to testify wherever I can. I can't believe how blessed I am to be in this work. Today I am working on organizing my teaching materials, and I am so excited! Heavenly Father helps us so much, and is always helping me change and hone to help these people with whatever individual gifts we have. Isn't that amazing! The Lord loves us enough to let us, our beautiful individual selves, help others and interact with them—but that will never be enough. It is us coupled with HIS power, with complete dependence on the Lord. I am so grateful that I have knowledge of Him. I am so happy and joyous that I get to be part of His work.

You are beautiful, all of you! We had a miracle this week where one of our sweet investigators (Ushiroda Shimai) who has been doing a lot of thinking, called us and said, "I will be baptized!" Our days are filled with such wonder, because it is His work. I testify it's true.

I love you now and forever, because Jesus Christ came to die for us so we could live in Him. What a privilege. What a life.

I love you!

Love,
Sister Anderson who is eating beans in bread... they love that in Japan, and it definitely has grown on me.  haha! Beans!

breath-taking sunset in my beloved Japan!

Note from Sister Jen's mom:
She is so excited to have Elder Yamashita come to her mission and there is no question why!

Click here to read ELDER KAZUHIKO YAMASHITA's conference address from October 2011 (Ensign November 2011)


Treasure of the Church

Quote from his talk:
"I would now like to say a few words to the missionaries currently serving missions around the world. Your attitudes and the love that you show toward others are very significant messages. Even though I didn’t immediately grasp all the doctrines that the missionaries taught me, I felt of their great love, and their many acts of kindness taught me important lessons. Your message is a message of love, a message of hope, and a message of faith. Your attitude and your actions invite the Spirit, and the Spirit enables us to understand the things that are important. What I want to convey to you is that through your love, you are imparting the love of God. You are a treasure of this Church. I am so very thankful to all of you for your sacrifice and your dedication."

Menu for dogs...and other stories

Dear Fam,


Hello from the other side of the world! Is it weird to think that I
live over here, and you live on the other side? It's so amazing to me
that we, all people, live in their own manners and cultures but we are
all children of God. It is so amazing that His love is that big. I
feel His love here and I feel it from you! Thanks for your sweet
examples and love, and updates. It is so fun to hear from you!


This week we went to Nara, see attached pics. We bought hachimaki...
headbands... mine says "KATSU" in Japanese, wich means WIN! This is
Cheney Shimai... we were the two Gaijin sisters there (foreign). 

 Mom and Dad and Mook...Remember when we fed the deer when we were in Nara?  Ahhhhh...here I am again!  Who knew?

My doryo bought deer antlers!

This is not allowed to happen on a mission!

All the sisters who came for Nara...

The transfer is almost over!! I can't believe it. Time is so slow and
so fast, I can't figure out WHAT time is anymore, it's so great. Kana
Chan didn't come on Sunday (she needs to come to Church one more
time), so the baptism will be moved to next Sunday.


We met a few new investigators this week, they are really funny. One
of them is a 14 year old who is so great. He always says: "ii desu
yo!" which is a really emphatic way of saying... good! He played some
video games that kind of taught something about Christianity I
think... The other was a referral, actually from his mom, that we met
with this week. He doesn't really leave his house and is practicing
another religion, but has some really good questions... that we or the
Elders will answer. :)


In other news... yesterday when I was studying I was LOVING learning
about accountability (did you know PMG says that accountabilty affects
how you endure??)... and just looking in all of these wonderful books,
and I looked down, and my desk looked like this! The life of a
missionary. :)  I love accountability! And... books. ha ha.

Ok, so this is so funny. You know how I wrote you and told you that
everyone has a dog here in Japan? In Nara, I walked by a stand up
billboard with come pictures of food, and said... oh that looks
good... and my Japanese friend pointed out to me... IT WAS A MENU FOR
DOGS! Ha ha ha. A restaurant for pets. So great. 

I know that God is aware of us, individually and with so much love. I
know that He knows our investigators. I testify He loves us! Every day
He helps me. I love prayer. I love this life. I love work! I love
Heavenly Father. I love Jesus Christ. I know that this is His work. I
testify with assurity that we are His instruments, and that He knows
and numbers His flock. It is His work, it is just how much we are
willing to be involved in it. It is such a privilege. I feel my
Savior's love. I've never known the steady, daily help that comes from
the Atonement so steadily as this time I have been on a mission. We
are accountable to God, and through Jesus Christ we are clean. Through
His redemption, we can become whole. We can be clean, we can be happy,
even in imperfection. What a joyous work it is.


I love you fam! You are so great. You are always in my thoughts and
prayers. Thanks so much for your love! See you around the corner.


Sister Anderson :)



P.S. I taught Eikaiwa (English class) this week and it was SO HARD! It seriously was rough. I know that the Lord is sustaining me so much.


Also! My doryo fell off of her bike... luckily it was in front of a
byoiin (hospital). It's not super super bad but she has some cuts and
it hurts... so our dendo has been a little weird while she has been
recovering.


Other news? The Gospel is true! Katei no Yube (FHE) is this week... pray
that I will learn how to explain games in Japanese... ha ha! It is His
work and a privilege. I love you!

In my dreams!!!

Transfers and tender mercies...

Hey my beautiful fam!!! 


How are you doing? :)
Wow the Lord attends this work! We got transfer calls this morning... but before that, we got a call on Saturday night with a surprising announcement. They are closing Tokushima for Sisters and only Elders will be here from here on out!  There is a new "sisters" area opened that my companion is going to. Knowing we were leaving made yesterday a pretty emotional day! So, having that said, we both knew we were leaving but we didn't know where. This morning, I found out that I will be going to... AKASHI for the summer!!! Isn't that crazy? It's so fun because it's the place I got to kokan (exchange), and with the same companion! I loved that kokan so much, and I already love and look up to my new companion a ton. Her name is Ishiyama Shimai and she is Japanese! It was funny because the kokan was so short (1 day) and I learned so much. Akashi is a great place, and I feel really excited to get to work there. 


It really is such a tender mercy. I know that it is where the Lord wants me. It's a little hard because we are handing off our investigators, I've started praying for the Elders a lot more ha ha. I bore my testimony in Church on Sunday and just cried! At the end of the meeting, Asuka San asked what we'd said last and I explained again we were leaving, and she started to cry a little bit which made me cry again, and I quickly beckoned the Elder that is staying here to come to talk with her. She finished the Book of Mormon and fasted with us yesterday. She is doing SO WELL. I am so excited for her. I know when she recognizes all that she is feeling and the growth she's had step by step, she will be even more prepared for this next step in her life. Take care of our friends Elders! ha ha. They will and the investigators will do great, because the Lord will take care of his Children--all of us.

So! We taught Asuka San a few times this week. It's crazy with all the things changing. Missions are amazing. I have felt the Lord in my life so much this week, especially when I was having hard times. He is so great and so close to us. We got to testify to a less active and I just cried as I bore my testimony about the Savior. It is amazing because He knows what His children need, and we get to be a part of it.

 Asuka is in the blue dress...

I'm not going to lie... I'm a little nervous (and excited) for this new adventure in Akashi! Yesterday the Bishop called a totsuden (sudden?) meeting with the missionaries. When we walked out of his office, the ward was standing there and broke into singing "Called to Serve." One of the Elders is headed home... and we are being transferred - it was so incredible. The ward is so sweet and made us cards - they must have done it so fast because I'm pretty sure they found out at Church that we were leaving. I'll include the ward pic--this is our Tokushima ward!

 Ah, life. What else do you want to hear? I'll include some pics we took with people in Tokushima! How we love them. Oh my goodness. The people are amazing. Last night we got a call from this wonderful lady in the ward... oh wait, let's go back to Friday morning. Friday morning, we get this mail... 
...and we go out to find MacDonald's on our porch!! 

This same awesome lady calls us last night to bring us these beautiful little cakes. (Yamamoto Shimai). We love her so much!! Her son just left on a mission. I love my ward so much.

I have another pretty amazing experience to tell you about. The cutest Matsumura Fufu invited us over on P-day... to wear kimonos. This could be a once on a mission experience. :)
It was so fun. I had no idea the detail it took to get them just right. She is SO CUTE. You would love her Mom! They are the funniest, sweetest little couple. They make these gourmet meals for katei no yube (family home evening) and the missionaries switch off going. They are so sweet. I'll send some pictures of her getting my kimono right and the final product! So sweet. We made a fun card for them and took them Matsumura Kyodai's favorite dessert. They are so sweet.


I love this life. Up and down but the Lord knows us, and I know that. He is so good to us. How I love you sweet people!

The Church is true. I will mail you from Akashi. The Lord is in this work and we are always on the brim of miracles. I know it is true.

With love!
Sister Anderson

mo hitotsu shasshin

PS.  Also, since we are moving out of our apartment, I was doing some cleaning today. Sometimes you find all sorts of fun things cleaning out a sister missionary apartment... maybe I got carried away...

I found an old cookbook of Famous Mormon Recipes by Winnifred Jardine. I love this cook book!!! I got a little carried away thinking about the name and dressed up to be Winnifred Jardine with my cookbook.. oh P-day. :) love you!

Interesting info about our daughter's new city:

Akashi  明石 —  Special city  —明石市
is a city located in southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on the Seto Inland Sea west of Kobe.
As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 290,776, with 117,392 households, and a population density of 5,907.68 persons per km². The total area is 49.22 km².

City symbols
- Tree Sweet Osmanthus
- Flower Chrysanthemums


Akashi was an important city during Japan's pre-modern period due to the presence of Akashi Castle, headquarters of the Akashi Domain. The city, in its current form, was founded on November 1, 1919.


Akashi is well known for Akashiyaki, a kind of takoyaki particular to the region. Small pieces of octopus (tako) are placed inside a ball-shaped mold containing a mixture of flour and eggs and this is then fried. Akashiyaki is often eaten by dipping in a thin soup. 



Hiroshi Watanabe: This photograph titled "Flying Octopus, Akashi, Japan" was taken in a city named Akashi in the western part of Japan, west of Kobe. In its fishing port, octopuses are caught in the summer, and stretched and dried under the sun. When it is dried and hardened, the shape is retained and it looks like a kite. People shred it and bite into it for taste and flavor. It is a Japanese version of beef jerky in the US. It is interesting to know that octopus in Japanese is "tako" and the word also means "kite," although Kanji (Chinese character writing that Japanese use) for each are different. I doubt dried octopus was used as a kite, but they probably used the word as they look very similar.

Uonotana (Uo-no-Tana, 魚の棚, lit."fish-shelf") is a 350-meter shopping arcade brimming with fish dealers comprising the majority of more than 100 retailers. Fresh seafood landed at the Akashi Port and auctioned off around noontime can be purchased at the stores shortly past noon. 


Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, also called “Pearl Bridge”, is located in Japan and considered as Japan’s finest engineering feat. Akashi Kaiko Bridge is the world’s longest suspension bridge in the world with a length of 3911 meters (12,831 ft). The Akashi Kaiko Bridge acts as a link between the city of Kobe and Iwaya by crossing the Akashi strait. The construction was finished in a span of 12 years which actually begin in the year 1986 and completed in the year 1998. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge plays an important role in providing three routes across the Inland sea.
Architecture
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge uses one of the finest architecture and technology which consists of three spans. The Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bridge is designed in such a manner where the earthquakes and harsh sea currents doesn’t damage the bridge. The Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995 is the best example for this bridge’s efficiency.
History
Before the construction of the bridge, boats and ships (ferries) were used to carry passengers and vehicles across the Akashi strait. Akashi strait is an international waterway which is approximately 1500 meter wide shipping lane. Akashi strait waterway is also one of the dangerous waterways before the construction of Akashi Kaiko Bridge due to some severe storms. During the year 1955, a severe storm was experienced in which two ferries were sank resulting in the death of 168 people. As a result, the Japanese government planned to develop a suspension bridge to cross the strait. Originally, the plan was to construct a railway bridge along with a road bridge. But the construction was restricted to a road bridge only consisting of 6 lanes.
Tourism
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was constructed in such an extent which also attracts tourism in Japan. Two amazing parks were built in the surroundings of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge for tourists. The two parks were named Maiko and Asagiri. The view from the park is a wonderful experience to the visitors as the view from there is absolutely magnificent. Both the parks can be reached by traveling through the coastal train line.

And they thought everything was smaller here!

Dearest Family in America!

Wow! That's weird. I'm sitting in Japan right now and you are sitting in America, on a Sunday night I've already lived on my hemisphere. Ha ha! How I loved talking with you all on Mother's Day!! What a treat! All my nieces and nephews sound so grown-up. :)
Happy Mother's day to all you moms...thanks for your example to me and to so many others.  I am so grateful that you love being mothers. Thanks again to everyone for all your support and love!


My beautiful Japan...

We have some great miracles to tell you about. This week, I just felt at the beginning of the week that this would be a week of miracles. Last week, before we called, three of our investigators came to Church on Sunday. Three! We were so stoked. I love seeing Heavenly Father's children progressing.

The first person I want to tell you about is Noguchi Asuka San. Probably two or three weeks ago, I started talking to a girl on a bridge (she was the one that said "I'm interested in Christian churches!"). This past week she came to church, and we gave her a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet, and scheduled a meeting for Tuesday. On Tuesday when she came, she apologetically pulled out the Book of Mormon and said she hadn't finished it. I said was that was fine, of course. When my companion asked her where she'd read to, neither of us quite understood what she said, and we would have missed it if a member hadn't stopped and said, 300 pages?? Ha ha. It turns out, she'd read 300 PAGES! She came again to Church this week. She really is incredible. We had a lesson and it was a lot for her to take in (mostly just answering some questions she had). We are actually teaching her today, soon after I write! It was so neat though. At one point, she asked us what it would be like if people chose not to follow Christianity (or something like that?). I just cried as I got to testify of Jesus Christ to this sweet girl who is coming to know Him. He is everything. He is the reason we can go home, the reason we have peace and can overcome. He is "the light and the life of the world." It's so amazing to be a missionary. The Lord is helping us so much. Even today in front of the Hyaku Yen shop, a girl just started talking to me and in the midst of our conversation, we told her why we were in Japan. It's so incredible to wear Jesus Christ's name, where people can see us and ask us about Him  so that we can invite people to come closer to Him. So! Noguchi San is super great. We are also teaching a girl named Sarah that we met, who is a member of a Baptist church. She is so great!! I love these two girls. She is 24 and has wonderful faith in Jesus Christ. We talked a little bit about baptism this week, but our next lesson (tomorrow) will be on the Priesthood and proper authority. Both of them are "ii kanji," like... good feelings?  ha ha, they both are doing so well and we have a great feeling about them. It was so exciting when we were talking about the Plan of Salvation with Sarah. We have a few other investigators we are working with, but these are the ones we were able to meet with this week. I love Japan! Sometimes, I think like Nephi in 2 Nephi 4... and my soul feels all the stress of life. Things can be hard. But I do know that "Nephi's lament" turned around with the words, "I know in whom I have trusted." I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. You are so great fam!

This week, I guess another miracle is... I ate raw squid and raw eel! (This can be a follow up question for Ellie and Hyrum who asked about the food!) I had my first sushi shop experience. It is so fun, there is a conveyer belt and you just grab whichever plate looks appealing and pay at the end... they are about 100 yen a plate. I lived! They are actually not that bad... I also realized I like beans more than I like cake, and that was a weird experience. Ha ha!

I love you sweet fam. It's such a weird place to be in, sometimes I look around and I am surprised at what kind of life I'm living. Every once in a while something will catch me off guard, but I'm amazed at how at home I feel. Thank you for your prayers, they help so much. I know that Heavenly Father answers the prayers of little girls (President Monson's story from conference), and of everyone else. I know He hears us. I know that He is just waiting. This week in one of our lessons, I realized anew that this work is ONLY possible through Jesus Christ. This work HAS to be done with the Spirit. When you step back and look at someone changing their life, in ways we can't understand or comprehend, it is amazing that it happens at all. And yet it is happening everywhere. I know that Heavenly Father knows His children. Oh, the work is so good. I studied patience on Sunday and realized I was a little afraid to pray for patience from the many stories I've heard of seemingly bad experiences that come from asking for a virtue! ha ha. I realized in Church yesterday that Heavenly Father can tutor us with good things. I realized anew my dependence on Him this week. Without the Spirit, we cannot do this work.

Our investigators have some big decisions to make this week. Tomorrow, Sarah will have a big decision to make about baptism. Would you pray for her and for our other investigators? Both of the investigators I've mentioned are making big steps. I'm so excited. I can only imagine what Heavenly Father feels for us, even as we begin to progress. How He loves us!

Well my sweet Fam, I wish I had 3 hours to plop you in Japan and walk you around, to put you on my bike over the red cobbled streets, to have you nod and say "konichiwa" to the sweet old ladies bicycling and walking by, to stop by Hozawa's shoe stop on the corner of two lights, and say hi to the shopkeeper who must be in her fifties or sixties but dances and feeds the birds as she sells shoes. I wish you could come with me to visit the members, how you would love them and how you would cry over their humility and love. Someday we will be eating Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and talking about these stories that are happening now. (but don't worry! I'm not thinking about it!  ha ha)... but for now these letters will have to do. :) Oh how I love you sweet people. How the Lord loves us. How He loves His children.

Ice cream tag line... and they thought everything was smaller in Japan!  hahahahahah!

This week I got asked if bike helmets are part of our religion. (For how often we wear them... they might as well be ha ha.) I got asked if we were ok doing blood transfusions and the other day I got asked if I was Amish, or if I eat meat. I am livin the dream! wooo!

Things are so great. I can't believe my first twelve weeks are almost over in the field! Transfers are in two weeks, how crazy is that?
      
So... everyone has a dog in Japan, but we aren't allowed to have pets... but I think we finally found one President could approve of! ha ha. 

Another pic of us...how I loved seeing my brother!!!

Who would have thought???

 Eating at the member's homes:

 Treats i made the other day (pie looking with raspberries) - yum!

  This is to show Ryan the green hills! 

 Today is supposed to be a solar eclipse! This is the beginnings. It's pretty cloudy but the pic is still cool. Can you see it? 

 I love you Fam! The work is true.  Thank you for your prayers and faith. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are so great, plus 50 bonus points.

Love,
Sister Anderson in Japan