Herrrrro!

Tokyo Temple with my fav Nihonjin✌🏻️

Fun fact: that's really how they pronounce "hello" here and it's my favorite thing to say "hello" to people on the street just to hear them say it back. It's also a good time when you act like you know zero Nihongo. They usually just giggle and use what little English they've learned in school and then giggle some more. It's adorable. Seriously. Our interactions normally go something like this: 

Me:"hello!" 

Nihonjin: *giggle*"Hello!" 

Me: "How are you?"

Nihonjin: "I'm fine, shank you!" *giggle*

Me: "Oh, eigo jouzu desu ne!"

Nihonjin: *giggle*

And then my Nihonjin (Kawamitsu Shimai) steps in and takes it from here.

Yup. That's my life as a missionary in Japan.

Oh, today was temple p-day so please accept my sincerest apologizes for not emailing yesterday. If I had known today was temple p-day, I would have told you but they decided to tell us on Wednesday last week so I was unable to inform y'all. Gomen.

Happy things!

This week was crazy. It's nonstop here Kichijoji which is absolutely wonderful but boy am I tired all the time hahaha I love it! I can't even remember specifics all I know is I don't really remember what it's like to have free time and the people here in Kichijoji are so prepared for this gospel and they're all amazing.

MICHIKO SAN!! She's a miracle💕

Speaking of prepared people: Michiko San. I mentioned her in last weeks email and I must mention her again! She had her baptismal interview last week and... she's getting baptized on Saturday!! AHHHH YAY!!! She's seriously so cute, y'all. So cute. She like can't talk to anyone about anything without somehow testifying about something. It's the best. And she only met the missionaries about a month ago. It's basically unheard of for someone in Japan to get baptized that fast. She is the definition of a kinjin. She also always brings us food so that's a bonus but really, I love her so much and I'm so happy she is getting baptized on Saturday!! AHHHHH YAAAAAS

Another miracle from this week: so it's no secret I've been struggling hard core with my Japanese. Many tears have been shed and many tissues have been used (fun fact #2: "runny nose" in Nihongo is "hana mizu" which literally translates to "nose water"). But the gift of tongues is real. Let me tell ya how I know that. Don't get me wrong, I just most definitely do not know Japanese and struggle all day every day but the Lord helps His missionaries when they are doing what they have been called to do. On Friday I went on splits in Hibarigaoka with Casteñeda Shimai, my new sister training leader, and when went and volunteered at this retirement home. On the way there and they way back, I was able to have like real conversations with two people on the bus! Yes, there were moments where I had know idea what they said but I was able to figure it out and really communicate with them by myself. It was a good feeling to finally be able what I have been trying to do for 5 months now.

That reminds me, I've been a missionary for 5 months now. What the??

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the mission home and it was kind of weird but so yummy. I'm sure y'all can only imagine how sad I was during those days when I thought I wouldn't get a Thanksgiving dinner because I LOVE Thanksgiving. But do not fear, President and Sister Warnick pulled through and made my stomach and soul quite happy. We also had two other "Thanksgiving" dinners throughout the week with some members. The members here are so great! There's 10 missionaries here in Kichijoji because of the office elders and the APs and the members fed all of us. SO MUCH FOOD. 

  

So. Every morning we get up at 6:00am here in Kichijoji. Why? Well, since we basically live at the church we go and play basketball with the elders every morning. Yes, you read that right. Basketball. And yes, I'm still just as bad as I was in 6th grade when I played Junior Dart but good news is the elders are all much nicer about it than dad was and I'm slowly getting better

So many things happened this week, I don't even know what else to tell you! It was just a week full of miracles! Oh, Kawamitsu Shimai is the bomb. Really. She is SO funny hahaha I'm constantly laughing at her and then she tells me "stop laughing! I don't want to be a funny person! I want to be a boring person!" Because in Japan it isn't a good thing to be funny but I tell her she'd be so loved in America because we love funny people. Seriously, she's the best.

Fun fact #3: in less than a month, I get to skype y'all and see your cute faces and actually talk to y'all! WHAAAAAT!? Is Christmas really that close already? I swear I just left Hachiōji. This last transfer flew by and now this transfer is too. When I talk to you, I'll be a transfer 4. Out of 12. CRAZY! But yeah, I'm just a little excited to talk to y'all on Christmas

Scriptures: Ether 1:38-43, Ether 6:9, Moroni 7:33-34, Luke 7:47-48&50, Luke 9:57.

Fun fact #4: according to my calculations, Ether 12 says "faith" 33 times.

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

愛していますよ！

--フィッシュバーン姉妹

Kichijoji area missionaries. Told you there was a trillion of us
(okay, 10 but still, that's a lot).

She was so happy to decorate this tree😂

Our Christmas tree from mama fish🎄

Possibly one of the worst pictures I've ever taken but we had
FHE last night at the Warnicks and it was stellar.

All is Well

Dear Parents,

This is a brief note to let you know that your missionaries are all safe and accounted for following this morning's earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan. The quake, occurring at 5:59am local time, measured 7.4 on the Richter scale; but was still felt here in the mission some 250 miles away. Although the resultant tsunami warnings for 10 ft. waves along the northeastern coast of Japan prompted evacuation from low-lying areas there, the impact for us here in the mission was simply a gentle rocking in our beds as we woke up this morning--there was no damage or injuries here.

We love your missionaries and will continue to do everything in our power to keep them safe. We appreciate the constant love and support you show your missionaries.

Sincerely,

President J. Paul Warnick

Japan Tokyo South Mission

Life in the Kich✌🏻️

Coming at ya live from Kichijoji! 

First of all, leaving Kamiooka was much harder than I expected it to be and I'm really sad about it all but I'm slowly getting over it. 

Second, being in Kichijoji is weird. Like if I need something from the APs or tech staff or something, they are literally across the street from me. Super convenient but also weird haha. Another convenient fact: the Kichijoji sisters apartment is approximately a 30 second walk from the church and the honbu. IT IS AMAZING. I love it! 

So last week we had stake conference for the Yokohama stake and this week we had stake conference for the Musashino stake. I will be the first to say that sitting through stake conference is 10329174810193 times harder when you're trying to understand even a slightest part of what is being said. It was rough. Especially having it two weeks in a row. But I survived so all is well.

PLEASE BE PROUD: I got to Kichijoji BY MYSELF on Thursday and only had to ask one person for help with my broken Japanese. Basically, I have reached my peak and there's nothing else I need to learn so they should just send me home now. Jk. I have lots to learn and as much as I miss y'all, I'm not coming home any time soon. ごめんなさい。

So there's this lady here in Kichijoji. Her name is Michiko San. She is adorable. She is 65 years old and just so cute. She's kinjin (literally translates to golden person). She had a baptismal date for Christmas but then the day I came here they had a lesson with her (before I got here) and she was like "I want to get baptized now". Sooo they moved her baptismal date up to December 3rd!! SO SOON. But she's seriously the best. We're meeting with her pretty much every day until her interview to make sure she's ready and we're just so excited for her! After stake conference we had a lesson with her and she asked me to speak at her baptism so I'm a wee bit nervous about that but I will do my best and hopefully someone will be able to understand my Nihongo haha but yes, so exciting!

My new companion is the best. Seriously. She is Nihonjin and is probably one of the funniest people I've ever met. Her name is Kawamitsu Shimai. She's basically fluent in English, too. Which is super nice because I feel like I can actually ask her questions and stuff about Nihongo and both of us can understand. We have certain Nihongo only days and certain Eigo only days here in the Tokyo South mission and I've been struggling real bad with that but Kawamitsu Shimai is so great and makes it waaaay easier somehow haha. But yes, I love her dearly. So cute.

Scriptures! 3 Nephi 12:16, 3 Nephi 16:19, 3 Nephi 18:31, 3 Nephi 25:6&11, 4 Nephi 1:17, Luke 5:10

This is my new life here in Kichijoji. I wish y'all could be experiencing it with me! I love you all SO DARN MUCH!! 

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

愛していますよ！！！

--フィッシュバーン姉妹

The temple cave we went to! The entire time everyone kept joking about
what I would do if they caught my hair on fire. It wasn't funny.

Basically Indian Curry is the nectar of the Gods and I was real happy in this moment. REAL happy😊

Last district meeting in Kamiooka.

Transfer 2 is coming to an end!

Put in your final guesses as to where you think I'll be for my third transfer because transfer emails came on Saturday! Yes, I am basically done with my second transfer WHAT IS THAT!? So crazy. I AM SO CLOSE TO NO LONGER BEING A BEAN CHAN

But yes.

Transfer calls!! So. 

Are you ready..? 

Drum roll, please (there's no drum emoji sooo..)

*drums rolling in the distance*

I am leaving Kamiooka and I am going to...

Kichijoji!! I will be serving in the mission home area and I'm super excited but also terrified that's just kind of a lot of pressure.. but. I am excited! My new companion is actually the sister who was here in Kamiooka before me with Tanimoto Shimai. Her name is Kawamitsu Shimai. Yes, another Nihonjin for me! I've heard great things about her and about Kichijoji so much excitement is being felt at this moment!

Quick little tender mercy from Heavenly Father: after we opened our transfer calls on Saturday we had a lesson with Yudaiくん, the little boy who reminds me of Macrae. We taught him about following the prophet and gave him two talks from President Monson to read. As we were getting ready to leave, Tanimoto Shimai told him I was transferring and so we all got kinda sad and I told him I would miss him. He like immediately ran away and I just sat there like "well, bye🏻"  BUT WAIT. He comes back and just keeps saying "chotto matte!!" Meaning "just wait a minute!" So we wait. And then he goes and get scissors.. I'm just like "what is happening right now..?" And he cuts something off of his backpack and brings it over to me. It was a little Pokémon key chain he made and has had on his backpack for the past three years! He's only 9. He's had this since he was six. And he gave it to me! He said "when you miss me, look at this and it will all be okay". MY HEARTYudaiくん is seriously the sweetest child ever. I cried when I left that lesson. I'm going to miss him and Kamiooka way more than I thought I would..

We had stake conference this weekend and the Kamiooka recent converts rocked it! One said the opening prayer on Saturday night and then one gave a talk as well. Basically they're all straight fire and their testimonies are insane and they make me want to be better. Converts are the bomb.com!

This transfer has gone by ridiculously fast when I look back on it. I honestly don't know where the past 6 weeks have gone.. And next week is my five month mark which just makes it all so weird. AHHH. Like really, what even is time on the mission? So weird. So weird. I always say it's a time warp because it really is. But this transfer was a good one. Yes, I had my rough days but I'm on a mission so that's to be expected haha but it made me rely on my Savior and my Heavenly Father so much more than I have ever in my life. I know they care about me. I know Christ knows how I felt in those low moments. I know my Father in Heaven didn't give me those hard days just for His own entertainment. I don't know the exact reason why He gave me them but I know there is a reason. 

Scriptures!! Helaman 16:14, 2 Kings 6:16-17, 3 Nephi 4:32, 3 Nephi 6:13, 3 Nephi 7:18

I love you all SOOO much. Seriously. So much. Never forget that.

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

--フィッシュバーン姉妹

This is Yudaiくん💕

We straight up RAN up this mountain just to take this picture.
'Twas a swell time.

Zone P-Day. We did a scavenger hunt at this Buddhist/Shinto park.
Much fun was had.

You can bet your butt the shimaitachi dominated.

When we drop our mixtape, this is going to be our album cover.

Yokohama South Zone✌🏻️

I went on splits with Watson Shimai and
crashed Yamate's district meeting *fist pump*

I done messed up..

Yes.

First mess up: I forgot to mention in last weeks email that this week was temple p-day.. 本当にごめんなさい。

Second mess up: I tried to make brownies and they were so awful. So awful. I'm ashamed to even say I tried. Apparently I can only bake things when I'm in America. So. Bad.

Third mess up: I went on splits last week with the always rocking Crawford姉妹 (she's super cool and from New Zealand) and when I packed for the splits, the weather said it would be like 74 degrees so I packed according to that. Nope. It was not 74 degrees. It was probably like 53 degrees and POURING rain and all I brought with me was a cardigan I had bought for ¥1000. So. Cold. We walked back to the eki (station) to end splits and I thought I was going to freeze. I also now have a cold and I'm so upset about this and also leads into the fourth mess up.

Fourth mess up: I did not bring sufficient resources for how often I get sick. I have a total of 10 pills left and so I refuse to take them until I get worse or someone shoves them down my throat. You have to go to a real doctor here in order to get the stuff I brought with me so I am basically coveting it.

Okay, that's all the failures of the week that you get to hear from me for now.

Monday we had a dinner appointment with the cutest family. So cute! The parents are both fluent in English and graduated from BYU-Hawaii and they have two little boys who are just adorable. It was a good time, for sure. And since they're fluent in English, I was able to practice my Japanese but still know that if I said something wrong, they could tell me and help me clearly say it. Waaaay less stressful than our usual lessons haha.

So. In a couple weeks we have stake conference for the Yokohama stake and the Kamiooka Ward choir is singing at it. And apparently just because you're a missionary means you can sing. No. That is a lie, everyone. I cannot sing. But I have been roped into being in the choir and since I'm a giant here, I get to stand in the very middle of the back row. It's giving me awful flashback to elementary school. But it's still fun! I love to sing, I'm just probably tone deaf so that's always a fun time haha and then you add that it's in Japanese and everything sounds weird in Japanese so it's just an interesting experience for all involved.

Splits. Yes, I got to go to Yamate for splits last week which was fun! Crawford Shimai was sick and since my knee is dumb, we just had a pretty chill day of contacting and visiting an investigator who lives pretty close to the Yamate apartment.

Speaking of my knees, I am good! Of course it hurts sometimes but that's just something I'm going to have to deal with my whole life. But after taking it easy for a few days and not riding my bike at all since last week, I have been doing way better! I also got myself a nice ice pack which is my new best friend hahaha

Cool little miracle: we had a kind of investigator randomly show up to church on Sunday and she stayed for ALL of it🎉🎉🎉🎉 and she said she's coming next week!! Yaaaaay!!! She's kind of an eternal investigator but I know one day she'll realize why she likes coming to our church and that what we're telling her is true.

Normally this would be the part of the email where I put in some nice scriptures for y'all but I'm a loser and forgot to write them done in my iPad and I don't have my journal.. I'm slightly upset about this. Buuuuut if I could suggest anything, it would be to pick a chapter in President Hinckley's "Teachings of the Presidents" and read it. I'm working my way through it right now and it's great. Also, currently studying the story of Esther and basically, I am weak and have no strength or anything like that. I need to be more like Esther. Lift my chin up and do what I have been asked to do and do it with conviction, that's what I need to do.

I hope Halloween was good for everyone!! I spent it doing a zone blitz which was way fun! But it definitely wasn't the same as Halloween at home.. I also hope everyone was safe! There are some crazy people in the world!

I love you all and your Heavenly Father loves you all and Jesus loves you all.

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.
愛しています！！！
--フィッシュバーン姉妹

This man is the husband of a member we stopped by to visit.
He is making a map of Japan out of cement in his yard, it is amazing!

Fuji San up close🗻

There is this place in Japan called "Sweets Paradise". It's literally a cake and ice cream buffet. You can bet your bum we went there for lunch last P-Day.

The picture doesn't do it justice but once you get to the top of
some of the hills here in Kamiooka, it seems worth the hike.

Yesterday we got 31% off at Baskin Robins🍦

District lunch at a steak house. Those who know my feeling about
steak are probably wondering why I was there. Well, it wasn't my
choice but I will be the first to tell you that that steak was the best
I've ever had in my life. Sorry, dad..

We went to the temple🎉