First week in nihon!!!

Dear mom and dad, and everyone,

I have loved this past week in Japan, though I will admit to it being
very crazy here. Tons of things have happened, so I don't even really
know where to begin. Had a fun adventure getting to the Osaka
airport... Because I lost my boarding pass from Tokyo to Osaka shortly
after getting it, and didn't realize it until I was at security, at
which point my companion had already gone through, which was a little
awkward... But oh well... So I go back to get a new one, wait in a
very long line, and then I get to practice my Japanese skills, and try
to explain to the lady that I needed a new one.... Luckily I happened
to learn how to say find in the mtc, so just made that negative, and
it all worked out. Turns out someone had turned my boarding pass in,
so that was a relief, but I had to rush to make it through security
and such on time to board my plane... But it all worked out. Never
losing nothing like that again! It is too stressful! But it all worked
out, and I am now safe in my area. I too wished that we could have
talked in Portland, and there was time... We had about an hour, but
they were already boarding, because they board for an hour for
international flights, and my 'companion' was against not boarding
immediately, so that was that. But it all worked out. I say
'companion' because you don't really have a companion while traveling,
you just have to be with someone at all times, and I was with ,y first
mtc companion, cause my second one went to Fukuoka earlier that
morning... Anyway, so that was traveling to Japan.

Family update response.... So, As you are reading the Book of Mormon
together, you should have a question in mind, something you want
answered and then mark everything that you read that applies to that,
or that stands out to you. It is great way to receive personal
revelation from the Book of Mormon. I learned that from Elder Bednar,
and it sire ally very awesome. I'm glad things went well with moving!
And I want pictures! I have my iPad, so if you would send me pictures
that would be awesome, cause then I can just have them right on my
iPad!, which is cool. I am a little jealous of all the fresh veggies,
but that is ok, they have plenty of those in Japan as well, just not
usually homegrown. It is sad to hear that lots of people are getting
sick/having health problems, but hopefully all will be well. I always
loved having family reunions, they are fabulous! I am glad you got to
talk with people!

Anyway, as for Japan... It is hot, very hot here. Everyone carries
around sweat towels, to wipe off the sweat... A little gross, but
necessary. Japan is awesome... And now for the news you have all been
waiting for. I am in the half town, half countryside (which is
awesome) area of Kurashiki! And my trainers name is Mills Shimai. She
is a gem, and so far we get along very well together. Funny thing, one
of the very first things she said to me was that she is weird... It
made me laugh a bit... Because I come from a family of weird.
President and Sister Welch are as fabulous as everyone told me, and
just so loving, and I love them too! I am excited to get to know them
better over the course of my mission. So Kurashiki is a new area for
sisters... So I am opening an area my first transfer. There are four
missionaries now who serve in this area, same ward boundaries (two
elders and two sisters) one of the elders is the district leader, and
the only one of the four of us who knows where he is going, so we are
often all together. The district leader is also training, so two of
the four of us are brand new, and just trying to figure out what is
going on. My trainer is really good at Japanese, and is very helpful,
so that is great! She has been here for a year. We apparently have the
nicest apartment in the mission, and it is actually pretty big, they
could easily house four sisters in the apartment.

There has been a lot of just getting to know members this week, and
such, because we are trying to buildup the area, and we haven't been
able to access our area book, cause it is on the iPad and the iPad is
having problems, so we can't receive the referrals from the elders...
It is hard, but it is so much fun! Went and bought a bike on Friday,
I got a fairly nice bike, but I got one of the cheaper ones. Which
wasn't really that cheap, but comparatively it was. They have bikes
going up to about 1,000 dollars here, and mine was only about 300. So
that's good. It makes it so much easier to get around when you have a
bike. The members here in Kurashiki are amazing! They are so helpful,
and just ready to serve, but just don't seem to know what they need to
do, some are planning on working with members a lot. We had dinner
with the oosugis Saturday night. They are members, but the
grandparents aren't. We only had time to give a short message, due to
time constraints, because they live quite far away from us, and they
were eager to show us the festival that was going on, but we did share
a short message about eternal families, and were able to set up a time
to return... Though it's not dry soon because they are busy, but we
will be prepared for a full lesson this upcoming time. It was a great
experience, just sharing that short message. We knew it was coming, so
we prepared, and my companion had me take the bulk of the message, it
was nerve wracking, but I did it, and everyone keeps telling me that I
a very skilled at Japanese... Which is very nice of them. Hopefully
are area book works soon, because once our area book is accessible, we
will have a couple of investigators from the elders, but we have to
wait for it to work.

I'm very happy to be out of the mtc. Nothing against the mtc, but I
had learned what I could there, and I really just needed to be thrown
out into the middle of the ocean... Literally, though luckily there is
an island on which I reside. I am grateful for the teachers and people
that I met there though, and the experiences that I had, they were
absolutely fantastic! And life changing as well... :)

Basically Japan is awesome, I just wish I could speak their language
better. Especially, because I have to learn the dialect, and the all
use casual Japanese, and I mainly learned formal, so some of the words
are a little different... I just look army trainer though,and she
starts explaining, which is great. The ward mission leader is
fabulous, and really into the work. Every time we have seen/met with
him, he has a family in the branch that he wants us to visit, which
should be helpful in building branch ties, and finding people, because
we need to find a lot of people.

It poured rain today. The rain here is torrential, and there was very
strong gusts of wind. My skirt got drenched, but my companion luckily
had two raincoats, so I wasn't completely drenched... But we are going
to go buy rain gear today, because that is absolutely necessary, and
very helpful to staying dry.

I'm pretty much rambling at this point, but basically I am doing well,
and love it here in Japan, the food is awesome... And I have already
eaten raw fish, and some octopus, and crab, and more some of which I
had no clue what I was eating, but it is all good, so,e stuff is
better than others, but I haven't gagged at eating anything yet. So
yay! But anyway, I love and miss you, and hope all is going well.
Please send pictures and ask questions... So that perhaps I an not
ramble about random things in my next email.

Love Sister Makin