六

That ⬆️kanji looks like a little stick figure man but it really means
"six", as in I AM A TRANSFER SIX. Wait, what? That's not crazy at all.

Anyone know how that happened?

When did that happen?

I do not know.

Anywho.

Well. My last days in Kichijoji were real bittersweet. I was absolutely PUMPED to come back to Hachiōji but I didn't really want to leave Kichijoji.. so here we are. I only kind of sort of almost cried. But here we go, I'll tell ya about my week now.

For starters, on Monday we went with the always lovely Michiko Shimai to get some good Indo curry and when we walked in the restaurant the host man person guy looked at me and smiled and then said (in Nihongo) "hey, long time no see!" And in that moment I knew that I had hit the peak of my life because the man at the Indo curry restaurant recognizes me and realized that I hadn't been back to his restaurant in over 6 weeks.

Sad thing about leaving Kichijoji: I no longer get to meet the new beans when they come before anyone else in the mission😔 but I did get to go dendō with them and whatnot and it 'twas a lovely time. I got to go with my home girl, Papenfuss Shimai (sorry, mom, I forgot to take a picture with her for ya..) and we did some nice housing but not a single person listened to us and one even told me that he couldn't understand me and all I could think was "I AM SPEAKING JAPANESE. LISTEN TO MY WORDS." And then I thought "my Japanese can't be that bad..right..?" My self-confidence kind of dropped in that moment but whatever.

Wednesday was my 9 month mark and that's just kind of mind blowing and I don't know how that happened and I don't know how I feel about it. Yeah.. I just don't know. I'm getting old, y'all👵🏻

My eikaiwa class in Kichijoji is the best and they were all so sad I
was leaving and I am also real sad I don't get to teach them anymore.
I love them.

Speaking of people I love and am sad I can't teach English to anymore; Li San. My home girl, Li San. I messaged her on Facebook when I found out I was transferring and she hasn't come to actual eikaiwa since before Kawamitsu Shimai left but she said she would come to say goodbye to me! And she did! Yay!! She's the cutest! Seriously. And she gave me a cute little purse thingy to keep my rings in because she noticed I wear them every day. MY HEART😭❤️ I'm going to miss Li San so darn much😭😭😭😭

Thursday I returned home to my beloved Hachiōji AND I got to say goodbye to my mom, Porter Shimai, before she left. It was a crazy day. Seriously. Seeing the members again on Sunday was so crazy. I feel like I'm a bean again but I can understand most things that people say to me now so it's a weird feeling right now. Real weird. Also, people only remember me as "yakizakana shimai". Look it up. The kanji is 焼魚姉妹. This is my life.

Oh, lucky me. My new companion, Hernández Shimai, is the Sister Training Leader in our zone and STLs and zone leaders "get" to teach family home evening at President and Sister Warnick's once a month and this month my new lovely companion (she really is lovely and I quite like her) is the lucky one that gets to teach this week. So that means that I get to teach this week too. Yaaaaay.  It super excited for that but I'm trying to have a good attitude. Plus it means I get to go back to Kichijoji for the night and see some of my peeps🐣

Scriptures for the week are: 3 Nephi 21:22, 3 Nephi 27:9, Mormon 5:21, Ether 3:5, and Ether 4:19. I hope y'all enjoy them. Also, please read the talk "The War Goes On" in the April 2017 by Elder Larry R. Lawrence. It kinda scared me but it woah. It was powerful and I want everyone to read it because we're all fighting this battle together!
ぜひ読んで下さい。

Well, I've probably rambled on long enough so I'll stop now.

But I love you all sooo much! Have a great week and know that you are loved by a missionary in Japan!

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

LOVE YOU💕
愛しています！！！💕

--フィッシュバーン姉妹

Look how cute Michiko Shimai is😊

Our investigator lives on the 38th floor of the Hachiōji Sky Tower
so when we left I had to take a picture of the city for y'all🌃

My home girl Li San when she came
to say goodbye to me😔

How the heck is it possible that Porter Shimai
went home? That wasn't supposed to happen😕

My two moms. Porter Shimai and Mama Fish at
Porter Shimai's homecoming.

"There can be miracles..

WHEN YOU BELIEVE!" --Whitney Houston

I testify of the truthfulness of Whitney's words.

This week was just full of miracles.

For starters we received a golden investigator "referral" from the Sendai Mission because their investigator is moving to Kichijoji so that's exciting and made our missionary hearts happy:) we also received another golden referral from the Tokyo Mission so we are just rolling in the kinjin right now. It's amazing.

Next miracle: we're starting to have some progress with an investigator. She said herself that her heart is changing and she's opening up more and more to the gospel. YAAAAAAS, OPEN YOUR HEART, GIRL. Also, Michiko Shimai was great and talked to her after our "Meet the Mormons" movie night and basically just said everything straight up like "well if you want answers to prayers you have to actually pray. Not just on Wednesdays when you meet with the missionaries. Every day." I think I fell even more in love with Michiko Shimai in that moment (if that's actually possible). She's the best💕

Third miracle: Elder and Sister Choi from the Asia North Area Presidency came to Kichijoji for a Mission conference and it was waaaay good. One big thing I took away from it is how important it is to be diligent and to truly be a "full time missionary". Our time to be a servant of the Lord is so short so why wouldn't we want to give all that we can during that time?

Next miracle: we got to meet with another investigator last week and this week and I just straight up adore her so much. She's the best. This was a miracle because we hadn't been able to meet with her for about a month before last week. So yeah, miracle.

Last miracle: transfer emails were received on Saturday evening. Let's get one thing straight: I did NOT want to leave Kichijoji for any reason other than to go back to Hachiōji. That was the only way I was ever going to leave. I was determined to stay in Kichijoji for another transfer and make it a full 6 months here. Weeeell.. apparently the Lord and President Warnick had other plans for me. I'm leaving Kichijoji😭😭😭😭 buuuuut through the grace of God I am going back to my own true love, Hachiōji! Wait, what!? Yes. You did read that right. I'm going back to my bean area to the people that I love (I love all the people of Japan but let's just be honest here and admit my love for the people of Hachiōji is slightly stronger) and the places that I love and oh boy. I. Am. PUMPED. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, Y'ALL🎉 yea. Really excited about that but I'm also super sad to leave Kichijoji and the people here. I feel like I'm not done here yet but who knows, maybe in a few transfers I'll come back😏 my new companion is Hernández Shimai. She's from Mexico and this will be her last transfer so I'm killing her..😱 but I'm excited to be with her! Funny thing:  Porter Shimai has been in Hachiōji since I left and now I'm taking her place. I'm replacing my (mission) mother! That's weird to think about haha  

Okay so um.. when did 20 years happen? Like what? There's no way I'm not a teenager anymore, I refuse to believe it. But apparently it's a thing whether I believe it or not sooo here we are. I am 20 years old. Crazy. But thank you so much to everyone who sent emails and cards and packages! You are all so wonderful💕

The always adorable Matsunaga San

Yesterday we didn't have any plans so we decided to go visit this investigator named Matsunaga San. She's pretty old.. and can't remember anything we teach her.. but she is so stinkin cute and loves the missionaries so we like to visit her every once in awhile. Yes. She's because I'm leaving she gave me this super pretty tea cup(?) and because it was my birthday she gave me this adorable little teddy bear to put on my bag. She told me "I don't need it and you need to remember me!" So of course I took it and will always think of my beloved Matsunaga San when I see it.

Scriptures. Ahhh yiiiiis. I can tell y'all are excited😊

3 Nephi 6:13, 3 Nephi 9:14, 3 Nephi 10:6, 3 Nephi 12:5, 3 Nephi 15:24

Well. I hope you all have a wonderful week and see your own little miracles in your lives!

Love you all so gosh darn much😘

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

愛しています！！！💕

--フィッシュバーン姉妹🐟🔥

Harmon Shimai decorated for me😊

My Heart Birthday Cake!!!

Dendō selfie

We were matching and actually got ready so of course we
had to take a selfie even though the lighting isn't the greatest..

While housing we found Bruno Mars' house. Or his
umbrella depending on what language you speak.. 

We gave the elders a nice present😊

Harmon Shimai and Castle Odawara Photos

Harmon Shimai having a little fun

Some photos from our field trip to Odawara Castle

Photo credit: Elder Loftus

 

Elder and Sister Loftus - The Office Couple

A real life samurai, (with a pink phone to go with the sword)

 

Hey, longtime no see..

You probs didn't even notice it's been forever.. it's okay. I forgive y'all.

Honesty hour: I don't want to write this email. At all.. but because I love y'all, I'm writing it!

This week was long and crazy and I say that and I know y'all are gonna be like "she says that every week!" But I mean it this week. It's true.

And now I've lost all motivation again. Gosh dang it.

Okay. Here's the gist of it all.

Making cookies for the ward members and
Elder Yang decided to creep in and take a picture

We made a heck of a lot of cookies for the members to say thank you for all the food they always give us each fast Sunday in our "fruit basket". Had some good lessons this week with some rockin peeps. Had some crazy lessons with some peeps that I'm a little worried about but I'm sure it will all be good. We did some nice housing, (see video below). Had three days worth of meetings for the new English class program we're going to be using. Realized I turn 20 on Sunday and that's gross. Realized I got my Mission call a year ago and don't know where the time went. Had dinner on Sunday with the Eiguchi family and their adorable baby boy, Mitsukiくん. I ate escargot for the first time (yes, French food in Japan. Some one tell Dave Miller. He'd be proud of me. And it was yummy). Went to the temple. That's always a good time. Always. Annnnnd kind of sort of just taught the most random lesson of my entire life. But it's all good, y'all!

On the train back from the temple these two gaijin got on and looked at us and said "hey, white people" which caught all of us off guard. All of us. But they were very nice men from LA and we had a great time talking to them. And by "we" I mean me and my sister training leader, Dowell Shimai, while everyone else was seriously weirded out by them but we enjoyed the conversation so that's good haha

One thing: this week I've really noticed how the because of this gospel people are truly able to change. Whether they realize it or not, because of this gospel and the teachings of Christ every person is able to grow and become more like our Savior. And I mean, who doesn't want to be like a man who walked on water?

I'm sorry, this weeks email is super short but I did the best I could. Please forgive me. I'll try to do better next week. But don't fret because this week I remembered the...

SCRIPTURES📖 *crowd cheers*

Helaman 5:11, Helaman 8:15, Helaman 12:7-8, Helaman 15:3, D&C 11:21, 1 Colossians 1:23, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Timothy 4:7

I hope y'all have a wonderful week and know you are loved by a random girl in Tokyo!

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

Love you!
愛しています！！！💕

--フィッシュバーン姉妹🐟🔥

The Sakura (cherry blossoms) are starting to come and  I'm reaaaal happy about it😊😊

Zone meeting

District meeting

When you're housing and find a random empty roof top
in Tokyo, you are obligated to take jumping pictures
and selfies. It's a requirement.

All of the houses hear have little ping pong doorbell boxes

and most of them have cameras. And the ones with cameras

most of the time film you so when people get home hey

can see who the missed so we decided to try a

new housing approach.

"Guys, I want a castle"🏯

Enjoy this awfully lit picture of me and the
giant doll staircase thingy for Girl's Day💃🏻

Hiiii.

Yeah..

It's me..

And it's only Saturday (or Friday for those of you still in America). Yup.

The Elders decided they wanted to go to Odawara Castle🏯 (google it. It's cool) today so we got permission to change our P-Day to today so we could go with them so here I am! I don't have a ton of time but I wanted to send off a few emails to let y'all know I was thinking about you and I'm still alive even though I won't get to email y'all on Monday😔 but it's okay because I get to go to a castle!

So yes. This week. What did I do this week.

Nothing super amazing, actually.. this week was kind of really boring.. so I don't have a lot to talk about..

Actually, other than going on splits with the beautiful Matsumoto Shimai, I don't have anything.. but yes, splits. So Harmon Shimai went to Hibarigaoka yesterday and Matsumoto Shimai came here to Kichijoji! She's adorable. Seriously. She is my same transfer so we were doing some nice doki dendō! But it was fun! We went housing at this one place that honestly has probably been housed a ton before because it's semi close to the church but I was like "I feel like it could be good!" Well.. we received a lot of rejection.. BUT we met this one lady and at first she scared us real bad. We rang her doorbell and then as we're standing there silently waiting, someone from inside the house sneezes sooo loud and Matsumoto Shimai and I about died of a heart attack. Then we hear a voice from we don't even know where so we look behind us and what not and then we both look at each other and look up. This lady is just sticking her head out the window talking to us! So we did our using housing approach and the nice lady came out to talk to us! She has met missionaries before and likes Mormons because "they're always so nice!" And we were like "heck yes, we're nice! Let's hang out sometime and teach you about God!" Not really in those words but she said she wants to come to church activities and would like to try and listen to our message. BOO-YEAH! This like never happens hahaha so we were pretty happy.

Oh. Also, March 3rd in Japan is Girl's Day (Hinamatsuri) so this absolutely adorable couple from the ward, Sato Kyoudai and Shimai, invited us and the office couple, Elder and Sister Loftus, over for lunch to celebrate it. The tradition is to set up a big doll staircase thingy and there's a song that goes along with it and everything! I can't really explain it that well.. google it. But yes, super cool. I'll send pictures of the doll thing! And then they gave us little coin purses that were made from old kimonos and by golly, I just love those two. They are also probably the cutest couple I've ever met.
They are goals. It was way fun and just a good time!

Yup. That's about it for my week. It really isn't very exciting at all.. I'm sorry I'm lame this week.. but I'll have some good pictures to send ya next week!

This weeks scriptures areeeeee: D&C 88:86, Alma 56:47, Alma 62:51, and a nice quote I found in my notes from the Elder Bednar conference we had back in October. I don't know if he said it or if my genius mind came up with it but either way, I like it. It was "Heavenly Father loves us and that is why we have agency. So we can choose to love Him back."

I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you all on March 14th (for me) because I have temple pday that week!

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

愛しています！💕
--フィッシュバーン姉妹

Our adorable kids English class students came to sacrament meeting to hear Kawamitsu Shimai speak before she left

We heart attacked the office couple because they're the best

Oh how the tables have turned. Look who
wants to hang out with us now😏