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🎉

4 Whole Months😱

Four months.

Four months.

My oh my. Four whole months.

My mind is slightly blown right now.

It's been a long four months. But it's also been a fast four months. The mission has this funny way of time warping everything. And I mean everything. I also can't stop singing "let's do the time warp again!" Now and I don't think that's necessarily a missionary appropriate
thing to be singing in my head because of what it's from😂 oops.. That reminds me. I accidentally deleted my favorite song off of my iPad and I'm SO upset about this. How am I supposed to start my days off right if I can't do my brows while listening to Whitney Houston sing about miracles and picturing Moses and the Jews leaving Egypt!? I am so upset with myself for making such a dumb mistake. I almost cried when I realized what I had done. It was bad.

Here's a few selfies so you don't forget what I look like👍🏻

In other news.

This week wasn't very exciting.. I cried some more because of darn Nihongo but that is nothing new. Crying is just part of the missionary life😂 don't fret about me, though, I'm fine! I have my down moments but I am pushing on! Just gotta stay positive!

So. Tuesday. Tuesday I got to go into the Tokyo mission and have a devotional with Elder Bednar. So cool! It was less of a "talk" and more of a discussion which was so cool! It's always a good time when you get to ask questions and talk about missionary work with an
apostle. So many wonderful things were said and learned and I would include them all but you'd all probably be slightly annoyed.. But please just know that latter day prophets, seers, and revelatory are on the earth today and they are amazing! One thing that I challenge all of you to do is super simple: on gospel library, search a word or a simple phrase and then go to the general conference results. Pick a random year and month and then read one of the talks. This has helped me find some of my favorite talks. It's so cool to see how by just simply looking and trying, the Lord will give you what you need. But the key is action! You have to act! The Lord is happy to bless you and help you but He isn't going to do anything if you just ask and expect it to just happen. So yes. 医女でございます。

On Friday we got to go into Yamate for zone conference. Yamate's church is at the top of one the largest hills I have ever seen in my life. Not even joking. It was killer getting there. I thought I was going to die. Seriously. I'm not being dramatic, I promise. But yes, it 'twas a lovely time and it's a great time to be a missionary in the Tokyo South mission👍🏻

Moment of honesty for the week: my knees and the hills of Kamiooka are not friends. Not even close. They haven't hurt me for a good year and a half and then I transfer to Kamiooka and they decide they don't like me again. It's partly my fault.. I fell while riding my bike and of course I landed RIGHT on my bad(der) knee. Just my luck. But do not fret. I have been commanded to start wearing my brace as much as I can by President and Sister Warnick. So yes, I am a transformer again👍🏻 but it's not too bad! I just have to take care of myself so I can keep going and stay in Japan and share this happy message.

Scriiiiiiiptures📖 Alma 36:3, Alma 41:10, Alma 44:3, Mark 6:50
"You can be all alone but you're not alone." -Elder Bednar

I hope all is well in Utah and my mountains are still beautiful. I love you all soooo much and please always remember that Jesus loves you too!! Also, please know that I wish I had a car so I could put a "I love Jesus" bumper sticker on it because I feel like that's just something you should do as a missionary. But alas, I have a bike.. Not a car.. And you can't really put bumper stickers on a bike.. But anywho, Jesus loves you! I love you! Your Father in Heaven loves you!

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

She writes in her planner in English sometimes and then just
stares at it and then at me wondering if she's right😂 

Her guess on devotional is my favorite thing ever.

She eats chips with chopsticks.. I told her that was one of the most
Asian things I've ever see and she told me I was racist..

"yakizakana" in kanji. This literally means "burn fish" so
Tanimoto Shimai wrote it for me haha

This Is Bean Paste...

This is bean paste. BEAN PASTE. In my defense, I had tried it before
and it was disgusting so I wasn't excited to try it again.. But
Tanimoto Shimai, being the mean stepmom, made me try it again👎🏻

I bought a bike! 

In other news:  we have this investigator that we teach that is basically Macrae in Asian form. He's 9 years old and LOVES video games.  His name is Yudai and is thee sweetest little boy ever. He read the Book of Mormon picture book and loved it so he asked if he could read the real book. He's already read half of it! And he knew what pages and scriptures he likes the best! What the!? This kid is golden! We asked him to keep reading and mark the scriptures he likes and write in his Book of Mormon to which he adorably replied "I can do that!?" I love him. We teach him English for 30 minutes and then gospel stuff for 30 minutes and it's the best. He also calls me "Fishburn Sensei" which is the cutest thing ever. This week his friend was there with us so we asked him to explain the Book of Mormon to him. While he was explaining the spirit was so strong. The simple words of a 9 year old boy in Japan explaining the Book of Mormon are much more powerful than one would think. It's moments like that that keep me going.

Right now, Elder Bednar is in Japan!🎉 and tomorrow he is doing a conference for the missionaries of the Tokyo and Tokyo South mission! So I'll get to go listen to him speak in Nakano, Tokyo tomorrow! Super excited for that! He did a devotional last for members that we got to go to with some members and it was so cool. Gotta love getting to hear from and apostle!!! And this time, it was in English!!!!!!! The one line that keeps playing over and over again in my head is "This is the greatest season in the history of the restored church". Just ponder that for a second.

I'm pretty sure there's a saying that goes something like "the scriptures are good for your soul". Or maybe that was about chicken noodle soup.. Either way, both are good for your soul so I hope you get the chance to eat some chicken noodle soup soon and here are some scriptures to read while you eat!
Alma 24:19, Alma 26:2-3, Alma 29:1-10, Alma 30:34, Alma 31:5, Alma 34:38, Matthew 24:30-31

I love you all SOOOOO MUCH. Really. Always remember that!

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

愛しています！！！
--フィッシュバーン姉妹

We heart attached a families door that took us 25 minutes by
bike and up the worlds largest hill to get to.
But it was worth it!! Fun fact: the kanji for Kamiooka ( $B>eBg2, (B)
means "up big hill". And it's not lying.

Apparently my bun and glasses are a big hit for my
companions so they always take pictures of me✌🏻️

We were housing and found her favorite animal, a lion!!

Kamiooka is beautiful!

I gave up going to Costco for this email

The subject line isn't as sad as it sounds.

I like y'all better than I like Costco so I'm okay😊

How are y'all? I hope all is well. In the words of a wise woman "Is you good? Is you okay? Good. Cause I wanted to know!" --Glozell

Transfer weeks are crazy. So crazy. You spend basically all day on Tuesday cleaning and packing and then have a normal Wednesday and then Thursday comes and THEY KICK YOU OUT OF YOUR HOME AND MAKE YOU LEAVE EVERYTHING YOU LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN. As you can tell, I'm handling it very well.

My first day in Kamiooka we taught a half English lesson half gospel lesson. Since both the sisters who used to be here were Nihonjin they've been having an American member help so it was at her house. Her name is Joy姉妹 and she is so nice. That lesson was one of the most confusing things I think I have ever done. The English part was fine but the gospel part in Japanese went right over my head. Tanimoto 姉妹 would look at me to say something or testify and I would just freeze. But I did manage to fumble through a brief testimony of the sacrament and Christ's Atonement. So yokatta ne!

Tanimoto 姉妹 is so cute. Seriously. I love her. Everything she does makes me laugh. Everything. She's from a small town that's on the west side of Japan in the Kobe mission. She's just the best. We were both scared for our companionship because let's be real, I don't actually speak Japanese. And she doesn't feel confident in her English buuuuut we're making it work!

Kamiooka, as many of you know, is in Yokohama. Yokohama is known for having lots of hills. I must be honest, many hills but not that bad. I was expecting to die. Then again, I've only been here for like 4 days sooo.. And dad, Kamiooka is pronounced "ka me ohh ka". I really do like it here so far! It's waaaay cooler than Hachiōji temperature wise and for those of you who know me, know that that is a good thing👍🏻 I hate being hot. So much. So I am a happy camper at the moment! Our apartment is so big and nice. Well, compared to Hachiōji it is anyway hahaha you could probably fit the Hachiōji apartment in mom and dads bedroom. And it's super old. But I liked it! It was just funny walking into the Kamiooka apartment on Thursday and having a little bit of a shock hahaha. It's also above a karaoke place so expect great things from me when I get home. (jk. I don't think I'm allowed to go to
karaoke places😔)

General conference definitely isn't the same in Japanese but it was still good to sit and read the talks and be able to look up and see the faces of those who were talking. This conference was soo good! Elder Yamashita is basically the cutest human being and I loved his talk! I had a few other favorites as well but his was 👍🏻👍🏻

Scripture time!!
Matthew 17:20, Matthew 20:28, Matthew 23:11-12,
Alma 12:9, Alma 15:10, Alma 16:20, Alma 17:10, Alma 21:9&16
Please enjoy😊

Honesty hour. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I wonder why I am here. Living in Japan. With a Japanese girl. Trying and failing to speak Japanese. It's so hard. But it's so worth it. Every day during our morning study I think about how wonderful it is that I get to study the scriptures every day and then go out and try and teach people about it. What a marvelous work! It's a hard work but it's a good work. People look at me like I'm crazy when I try to talk to them but it's okay!

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.

--フィッシュバーン姉妹

This is Ichikawa Shimai. She wanted to meet with us before I left and
she is so cute and so nice! She even brought us treats! Her daughter is
also the bomb diggity and just got back from the Kobe mission!

Saying goodbye to my mother, ポーター 姉妹😭 

Transfer daaaaaaay

Tanimoto 姉妹 made me dinner😂😂😂😂😂

Grape juice gives me hope

We had grape juice at a members house last night and I'm currently sipping on the bottle I just bought while grocery shopping. It's reminding me that I may be in Japan working hard but I can still enjoy the little things. Like grape juice.

Anywho.

This week was kind of a blur. Really. I'm trying to remember specifics and it's real hard. So this might be a shorter email.

We always teach eikaiwa on Wednesdays and this week was no different except Sister Porter went to Takao and taught there while I stayed in Hachiōji. We went on member splits and I had the privilege of going with Yamauchi Shimai. I love me some Yamauch. She is so funny. She acts like a sophomore girl talking to senior boys and I find it hilarious. She's also easily like 60. She's the bomb😂

Thursday/Friday we went on splits again with the sisters in Kofu. But this time I got to stay in Hachiōji and be with Sister James. She's so cute. I love her! She's only a transfer two so we did some wonderful bean chan dendō hahaha but really.. On Friday we had an appointment with a less active and we were freaking out. Hard core. But we tried our best and ended up talking to her for two hours. She's had some pretty rough things happen this past year and just really needed someone to listen to her. So we talked to her about prayer and how God is always listening and He hears HER prayers and HER prayers are just as powerful as ours are. She was shocked to hear that and that made me kind of sad to realize she didn't know that. She didn't know that she could talk to her Heavenly Father and that He really does listen and care. I'm so glad we decided to teach her that. It was a huuuugeeeeeee miracle that Sister James and I were able to understand most of what was going on. The gift of tongues is real!!!

Long story short: Thursday before splits a random girl walked into the church, knocked on the door of the room we were in with a member, said she went to church in Utah when she was on a home stay, wanted to learn more, and had read up to 1 Nephi 8. WHAT THE!? The Lord puts prepared people in your path (or I guess literally brings them to you)! Her name is Hikari chan, which means light. She is theeee best. Oh yes. I very much like her.

Okay. Now the bad news... We got transfer calls on Saturday (isn't that crazy? I have like 4 more days of my first transfer and then I'm a transfer two!). I'm leaving Hachiōji😭😭😭😭 I'm going to Kamiooka! I'm super excited but so sad to be leaving Hachiōji and Sister Porter. My new companion will be.... TANIMOTO SHIMAI. YES. My new companion is Nihonjin. Yes, I'm terrified. I've heard she's SO nice but Nihongo is her first language and it isn't even one of my languages at this
moment so... Little worried for that.. But it'll be good! So on Thursday I will say goodbye to Hachiōji and hello to Kamiooka. All the members keep telling me they're going to write President Warnick and tell him to transfer me back😂😂 I seriously love them with all my heart💕

We had a killer shokuji last night. I won't bore you with the details but we played a game where you had to draw and with my limited drawing abilities, I think it's safe to assume I did not win. BUT everyone loved my interpretation of Mario so I think I'm the real winner🏅

We got to watch the women's session of conference buuuut it was all in Japanese.. So I read all of those talks and am just hoping when we get to watch it next week it'll be in English hahaha a girl can only dream! But I hope you all enjoyed conference and had some good experiences! From what I've heard so far it was a good weekend!

SCRIPTURES!!!🎉
Mosiah 24:21-22, Mosiah 27:29, Alma 2:28, Matthew 8:10&17, Matthew 12:30, Matthew 13:9, Matthew 14:27

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

Nakazawa Family shokuji✌🏻️ 

Walking around Tama

Classic selfie from Sister Porter and I. You're welcome.

Yamauchi Shimai!!!! She is seriously SO funny😂

What really happens during Sunday
night conference calls