Week 14 - Hai sai (Hello in Okinawan)

Hi everyone!

So this email is a day late because P-day got moved to today so we could all go to the Tokyo temple.  YAYYYY!  We got up at the crack of dawn, guzzled down some miso soup, put on our coordinating outfits (and no, we did not spend the hour before bed picking our clothes out--because that would be weird), and smashed ourselves onto some crazy packed trains to get to the temple on time.  I'm just grateful every day for Sister Nagamine who reads kanji and train schedules to get us anywhere efficiently.  I taught Sister Nagamine lame American slang in exchange for Okinawan (because learning Japanese isn't enough).  It was so good to see so all the other missionaries in one of the best places in the world.  After the temple we were all craving some good ol' American fare so I got a big juicy hamburger with cherries and feta cheese.  And then Baskin Robbins.  It was a lot of food.  #YOLO

Also, one of our investigators took me and Sister Bagley to Costco today.  I liked it.  It smelled like America.  They had peanut butter.

One of the most memorable events of the week.  Sister Bagley and I were sorting through the area book and found the address of an Indian lady who missionaries had previously taught, so we hopped on our bikes in a mild drizzle and ended up cycling 1 1/2 hours in a monsoon.  When we finally found the place, we looked like a couple of drowned rats (so much for professionalism).  I was relieved to find the aroma of Indian curry wafting out the front door and even more relieved to find her at home.  We shared one of our favorite scriptures (Alma 37:36-37), got a brief lesson on Hindusim and arranged marriages and were out the door with another appointment to teach her a lesson this week. 

Last Saturday, Ramo-chan joined us for a day of dendo and we were off to visit a couple of less active members.  No one was home, but that night we taught Yoko and Taka, the couple I mentioned last week that we found while doing a kubari at the eki.  We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and discussed the miracles during Christ's ministry, and I gave my first-ever baptismal challenge.  I think I sort of freaked them out.  Actually I know I did.  But things are looking so good and they so love the principle of prayer.  Me too. 

Now for my little preachy moment of the week.  As a missionary I've become so much more (extremely) aware of my shortcomings, especially things that make me really grumpy.  In trying to be a little nicer, I've been reading up on applying grace and the Atonement.  I love the following quote:  "While many Christians view Christ's suffering as only a huge favor He did for us, Latter-day Saints also recognize it as a huge investment He made in us"("His Grace is Sufficient," Brad Wilcox, 2011).  Meaning, I'm not a lost cause.  "The great Mediator asks for our repentance not because we must 'repay' him in exchange for his paying our debt to justice, but because repentance initiates a developmental process that, with the Savior's help, leads us along the path to a saintly character." (Bruce C. Hafen).  I don't think I'll ever be a saint but it sure is worth trying.

Next week is transfers.  13 new areas are being opened to sisters.  I'm crossing my fingers.  I like being in Chiba.

Love, Magi-chan

Pic 1:  some favorite people, a favorite place

(Tuesday, September 10, 2013)

Week 13

Hi minasan,

Hope you all had a swell week.  I thought it was finally cooling off today and then I stepped outside with my glasses and they fogged up from the heat.  But if that's the most I have to complain about then life is pretty good. 

This week Sister Bagley and I taught a Russian girl that Sister Christensen and I found while streeting in downtown Chiba last week.  It was interesting, since there was sort of a language barrier.  She's going home to Russia this week after a summer of studying Japanese in Chiba, so we talked through this combo of broken English, Japanese, and stabbing at a Russian copy of "True to the Faith" that we randomly and fortuitously had in our apartment.  We communicated well enough to go with her to this "American restaurant" where I ordered this interesting piece of chicken that didn't exactly remind me of home, but that's okay.  Sister Bagley was pretty pumped about her chicken wings.  There were cowboy hats and skulls everywhere.  It was weird.

Sister Bagley and I also started teaching the sweetest couple in the whole wide world.  We met the wife while handing out chirashis at the eki the other day.  She walked right up to us (unusual for the typical Japanese person--they usually walk completely around us and I feel as though I'm parting the red sea) and told us she would shorten her dentist appointment because she wanted to be at eikaiwa (English class).  Yeahhhh.  Miracle of miracles, she came! We were able to give her and her husband a church tour, which they seemed super intrigued by since their only background on Christianity was having their wedding in a Christian Church in Guam.  Random, right?  We took them into the chapel, and I got to play some church hymns for them (somebody did a good job picking out that piano--a nice shiny black Kawaii grand).  We asked the husband to pray, and he was so pumped!  Another reaction we weren't exactly expecting.  I decided that one of my favorite things about being a missionary is getting to hear people say their first-ever prayer.  So humbling, and it really makes you think about all the things you take for granted.  Like having the knowledge that you CAN pray, anytime, anywhere, about anything.

On Saturday I got to teach kids' eikaiwa since Sister Nagamine had a lesson.  I mostly just teach them weird American clapping songs.  There's nothing like having a bunch of 8-year olds point and laugh at you when you write things wrong on the board in Japanese.  I'm trying to let go of my pride. 

In thinking about how busy we all are (aka the Japanese population who always say "I'm sorry, I'm so ISOGASHIIIII!"), I revisited one of my favorite talks by Elder Uchtdorf, "Of Regrets and Resolutions."  One of my friends once recommend that I read it when I was bogged down during a semester at BYU (I'm not sure what that says about me, but I appreciated it haha).  Here's one of my favorite excerpts:

"Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.Is it?
I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.
I can’t see it.
Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time."

So there it is.  Read the whole thing if you have time.  I love it. 

Have a lovely week, y'all.

Love, Magi-chan

Pic 1:  This is America.

Pic 2:  Bedhead + expired cake mix = good time

Pic 3:  Last week's adventure to Asakusa with Ramo-chan



(Monday, September 2, 2013)

Week 12

Hado.

 

Thanks for all your emails!  I will say lots of prayers this week.  I definitely pray more than I ever have in my entire life as a missionary, but that's because IT WORKS.

 

Let's see.  This week. 

 

So I live with another set of sisters, but we were told this week that we are now basically a foursome since three of us are so new to the mission field.  It's a good time. We've just been going on lots of exchanges so that we can all learn from each other.  Because believe me, I need a lot of help.  Sister Nagamine is such a gem and takes care of all of us poor lost souls who feel like we don't know exactly how to do this thing / speak Japanese. 

 

We're still super struggling to find people to teach.  But we had a meeting with the Bishop yesterday and determined that our area has 10x the population of Salt Lake, so it's definitely not for lack of people.  Our new favorite and most effective approach to streeting is to yell at people in English.  After a bit of trial-and-error, we decided that most people are more responsive if you say it with an Asian accent, otherwise most people don't understand you (hadoooo, howww areee youuuu?).  Or pretend not to, haha.  But it makes people smile, so at least we can do that.  I'm really trying to work on my enthusiasm. 

 

We're teaching this super incredible family that was a referral from the bishop's wife, who became friends with the mother when she was out walking the dog.  The mother texted us with her favorite scripture the other day (Alma 32!), and I about cried I was so happy.  They're just so faithful.  And they have the cutest little girls.  They come to our kids English class that we teach every Saturday morning, and they always come in their ukatas (spring kimono?).  Having the opportunity to meet incredible families like theirs makes those long days of feeling like no one wants to listen gives you so much hope. 

 

This week was very enjoyable in terms of food.  Last Monday, Sister Bagley and I were in a pinch before an appointment, so we ran into Denny's before we had to be to the next place.  It was almost like being back in Provo, except I wasn't wearing a hoodie and leggings at 1am eating syrupy pancakes and was instead sitting in a blouse eating an avocado meat patty thing with veggies trying to figure out how to invite the businessman next to us to church.  It was also kind of expensive.  Who would have thought?  Also, my baking addiction came back since finding out that the microwave turns into an oven.  Some good soul left us a box of expired cake mix so I mixed it up with some yogurt and threw it in a sketchy looking pan, and voila.  Happiness. 

 

Today we went to Asakusa with our friend Ramo-chan, who just got baptized a month or so ago.  We visited the Buddhist temple there and ate lots of ice cream.  Ramo-chan never ceases to amaze me.  We made specific plans to dendo (proselyte) on the train the entire way to Asakusa, and Ramo-chan is so pumped about missionary work.  Her mother just got baptized last week, and it's so strengthening to see how entire families are blessed by the faith of a single person.  Sister Bagley and I probably weren't as effective as Ramo-chan, as we sat down and said hello to some people, and they immediately started signing frantically to each other.  Of course we would sit by three deaf people.  I didn't really get to invite them to church. 

 

That's all for today.  We'll just keep pressing forward, and it'll all be okay.  When I first left on my mission, I started making a list of the tender mercies that I see every day.  It helps keep things in perspective.  Some days are hard, but the gospel brings us so much hope! 

 

Love, Magi-chan

 

P.S.  I'll send more pictures next week.  The computer is freaking out on me and I have three minutes before I become a disobedient missionary, haha.  Loves!

 

P.P.S.  While on the subject of computers, rumor has it that this mission is getting iPad's next year as part of a pilot program.  Awwww yeah.

 

Pic 1:  Sister Bagley and I went grocery shopping.  Sister Christensen didn't really like it.

(Monday, August 25, 2013)

 

 

 

Week 11 - This place is really hot, and apparently the Americans stink

Hi everyone!

This week flew by.  The best part of this week, by far, was the baptism of Eva, our lovely Filipino investigator who treats us just swell.  We four sister missionaries sang at her baptism, and it was just the best feeling.  Even though it was a million degrees in the room and ten million little Japanese munchkins running around in circles and climbing all over the furniture. 

Here is the tale of the pitiful mustard yellow skirt:  We were biking back from a member's house the other day, and my skirt blew into the gear and suddenly I was stranded on the side of the road like one helpless hot mess.  After I yanked it out of the gears, it was looking rather holey.  #nopunintended I decided it was still okay to wear, so I was wearing it a few days ago while biking with a carton of eggs in the basket.  I felt like it was raining or something, and realized that the eggs had gotten smashed and were splashing all down my front.  So now I have an eggy, holey mustard skirt.  The end.  

But I guess if that's the worse thing that's happened this week, life is pretty good.  Good thing Sister Bagley and I are going shopping today.  And good thing I'm into the whole distressed clothing aka Hollister look (NOT). 

Most of the week was spent streeting, housing, and visiting less active members.  This area has only been open to sisters for one transfer, so we're basically whitewashing (aka starting from scratch with no one to teach).  Which is a little terrifying when neither you or your companion is entirely sure what people are saying to you, but we do our best!  I'm learning to avoid that question of "is this awkward for me to chase after that person and start talking about church" and just embrace the uncomfortable-ness of it all.  Most people will greet you back politely, but then just start waving their hand in front of their face like we stink to tell us no thank you.  I promise I wear deodorant, I tell them.  Also, with the obon holiday, basically nobody is home or available.  Everyone tells us that they can't meet us till September.  So if y'all know someone in Chiba who's looking for the gospel, hit up my email.  Please and thank you.  Expectations can be sort of dangerous, statistically August has been a slow month for missionary work and we're sort of feeling it. 

We had a miracle this week!  Sister Nagamine taught me how to area book dendo, so I picked up the phone and started calling random contacts from the past.  You know I am really desperate when I'm willing to work on my aversion to the telephone.  One lady answers and tells me that she had been waiting for months to talk to the missionaries and was super shocked that I just randomly calling her.  I was super shocked--shocked that she understood me, and shocked that she wanted to meet with us.  But who wouldn't want to meet with us, right?  So we met her yesterday and taught her about the Book of Mormon in McDonalds. 

This week I thought a lot about adversity.  Not because I feel like I'm experiencing a lot of adversity or something, but talked to this lady on a street corner in downtown Chiba and she was telling me that she couldn't justify the existence of a God when one of her three sons passed away and another is severely disabled.  I decided that adversity is not necessarily so that the Lord can measure us (because He knows what we are capable of), but I think it's important that we take note of our own personal growth in order to better understand ourselves.  It's hard to remember that when life feels unfair, but I'm trying to learn to appreciate struggles because they allow us to mold ourselves into what the Savior sees in all of us.  No one ever got any stronger without lifting so much as an ounce of faith.

"Adversity is the trial of principle.  Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not." -Henry Fielding

So there it is.  I'm allowed to email friends and family, so all are welcome.  Love you all!  Mata ne!

Love from your most favorite sister missionary in the whole wide world,

Magi-chan

Pic 2:  Streeting in the park--where on earth are all the people?

Pic 3:  Making Tako-yaki (balls of dough with octopus in it) at the Church

(Monday, August 19, 2013)

Week 10 - Transfer 1/Chiba Ward

Hi minasan,

First day in Chiba

Finally in Nihon, and I got sent to Chiba where I was born--woooooooo!  My trainer is Sister Bagley from Michigan, who is a third transfer missionary.  We mostly don't know what we're doing so we take advantage of looking American to get people to talk to us.  Which doesn't always work for me, haha.  They mostly just squint at my nametag and try to figure out why I sort of look Asian but can't speak fluently.  But we try.  We like to compliment on their clothing that has weird American sayings or cartoon cats and strawberries and then they get really excited that Americans are talking to them. 

We live with another companionship of sisters who is also training.  One of the sisters, Nagamine Shimai, is the older sister of my MTC companion.  Small world.  As the only resident Nihonjin she does a lot a translating for us and tolerates all my Japanese-related questions.  Our apartment, Fuse Heights (so urban-sounding, right?) is at the end of a long dead-end road.  Every night feels like a sleepover since every square inch of the floor is used for our futons.  It's a good time. 

Super posey sister mish pic

I also bought a bike the other day.  It's black and it's name is Ernest.  I just pray every day that it doesn't get stolen because there seems to be a thief around here who likes to target missionaries.  Nagamine Shimai's bike disappeared last week.  I quickly discovered that I am not much of a cyclist.  I guess that will be changing very soon as it's way too hot to run here. 

It is way hotter than I ever remembered it being.  It's a good thing I like being sweaty.  One of our investigators invited us over for dinner since it was her daughter, Nagamine Shimai, and Bagley Shimai's birthdays, and we walked for a while from the eki (train station).  Let's just say it looked like we took a shower in our clothes when we showed up on their doorstep.  We were trying to figure out the temperature conversion from Celsius and we all about died when we realized that it was 104.  The weather report on the trains literally read, TODAY'S WEATHER:  DANGER.  Haha.

Our ward now has 2 elders and 4 sisters, so the Chiba area is hopping with missionaries.  The ward seems pretty pumped about it so we're going to do all we can to work with the members to find people to teach.  Our ward has a lot of gaijin people (from Australia and the States).  Also, the people here are very on top of things.  As in one of the members came up to me and said he needed help planning the Halloween party and that it needs to be figured out by next week.  No procrastination here. 

We have a baptism next week!  Bagley and Nagamine Shimai have been working with a family from the Philippines.  The daughter got baptized a few weeks ago and invited her mom to take the lessons.  I got to teach my first lesson to the mother, and they're so incredible!  Full of so much faith.  The mother is getting baptized next week and I think the younger sister is going to start taking lessons. We're super excited.

Sorry this email is sort of a jumble (just like I feel, but I try to mean that in a good way).  I love the Church.  I love being a missionary.  That's all.

Write me!  Love you!

Magi-chan

Last Sunday at the MTC - everyone from our branch going to Tokyo

(Monday, August 12, 2013)

Week 9 - Finally Arrived in the Mission Field!

August 13, 2013

Dear Brother and Sister Willden:

Your daughter arrived in the Japan Tokyo Mission on August 6th, 2013 in good spirits and ready to commence her proselyting assignment. We had a wonderful time with her.

Sister Willden has been assigned to work with Sister Bagley, and they will serve in an area called Chiba. Your daughter can receive her mail at the following address:

Sister Margaret Mizuki Willden
Japan Tokyo Mission
4-25-12 Nishi Ochiai
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo-to 161-0031, Japan

Enclosed is a picture of your daughter with Sister Budge and me, along with a picture of her with her companion. We have also included a map showing the locations of the various areas in the mission. You can use it as a personal record of her assignments.

By the time you receive this letter, Sister Willden should be adjusted to her new proselyting area. The positive sustaining support she gets from you at home will be a great blessing to her. May the Lord bless you and your family as you share in your daughter’s mission experience.

Sincerely,

L. Todd Budge

Week 8

Hi Okasan and fam fam and anyone else who reads this,

LESS THAN A WEEK! We got travel plans the other day and we're leaving around 1 on Monday.  I'll try to call Otosan's cell from SLC (our plane departs around 4:30pm so I'm not sure what time that will be in Alaska ... ).  I think we get one more P-Day on Saturday so you might get another email from me before I leave.  Thank you for the letters and packages.  I got the cookies yesterday and the district ate them in a heartbeat.  I also got a package from Meme and Jeff this week.  It had 9 bars of dark chocolate (90% Lindt -- they know me too well).  I opened the package and the elder sitting next to me says, "Wow.  Your family must really love you."  Haha.  Yes, I definitely feel the love.  Good thing most people don't like that dark of chocolate because it just means more for me to eat. 

I loved Okasan's last letter.  Zoachie has a Moleskine? And he writes detective stories?  I want to read it when it's done.  Also, you will be a very good seminary teacher.  Just as I'm sure you were a super duper Stake RS President.  And it sounds like you had fun in Nihon.  Thanks for sending all the pictures.  I'm not trying to get my hopes up, but it looks like Sado got moved into the Tokyo Mission.  I won't know for sure until I get there but our boundaries now include Niigata so it's entirely possible.  So maybe I'll end up running into Mamako and Papako at some point.  I'm just ready to go, but I'm trying to stay focused in spite of it.  I'm sure it will quickly set in how much Japanese I have to learn once I get there. 

Exciting things of the week: 6 new missionaries came from Japan on Tuesday--5 elders, 1 sister.  The Japanese sister, Nagamine Shimai, joined Cheney Shimai and I so we are officially a trio.  Nagamine Shimai is from Okinawa and is headed to the Sapporo Mission.  I feel like this week alone has improved my Japanese so much, especially with everyday vocabulary (the MTC doesn't teach me how to say Hepatitis A, haha).  She's such a gem and has tolerated my torrent of questions all week.  We introduced her to weighlifting and the joys of American cafeterias.  I can't say that I was proud to show her either one of those things (especially Chicken Cordon Bleu), but we have a good time.  One of the elders is fluent in Japanese (which he has studied for 4 years), and English (which he learned in 8 months by watching House on TV), and Portugese as his native language.  So that made us all feel kind of lame.  Or maybe just motivated to work harder.  The nihonjin elders are a hoot.  They teach us Japanese puns and we teach them really pointless things.  Like Pig Latin.  The one thing that they always say is that American food is way to heavy and way too sweet.  #amentothat I laughed when I saw one of the elders dumping salt on his brownie to cancel out the sugariness of it.  They're also into mixing every single beverage from the drink dispenser.  It usually turns out to be a scary shade of brown. 

I also got to play in devotional on Sunday night.  I was a little worried because of my gimpy hand, but I just decided to bite the bullet and play anyway.  It sort of really made me miss practicing / performing.  Both Sister Maynes and I were a little concerned when we realized that 3,500 missionaries would be sitting there listening, but we loved it in that "I'm a snobby music major" sort of way, haha.  The MTC president's wife was a violin and piano major at BYU so we had a good little chat.  On a side note, my hand is sort of healing okay.  I stopped wearing the splint but then it would get it crushed when shaking people's hands, so I'm just going to be obedient and wear it for a little while longer.  Better safe than sorry.

Katherine sent me a letter this week and included a talk from her Book of Mormon class in it (probably the smallest, fattest envelope I have ever received.  It looked like she mailed me a small rodent or something).  It references Elder Maxwell's talk, "Notwithstanding My Weakness."  Sometimes we get all caught up in this "striving for perfection" that it becomes far too overwhelming, and we're overly self-critical.  The best line from the talk:

"Now may I speak, not to the slackers in the Kingdom, but to those who carry their own load and more; not to those lulled into false security, but to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short ... There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance ... This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us. Discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage, and our personal progress should be yet another way we witness to the wonder of it all!"

We can always do better, but we also are often doing better than we think.  So I just try to remember that every time I get bugged that I can't remember how to say "haircut" or "porcupine" in Japanese.  There's just so much to be grateful for.  Like my free 5-minute haircut that I got today.  (I decided it was better to be risky and go to an unknown MTC hairdresser than be sporting a mullet in Tokyo).  Life is good.  Love you all, and I'll talk to you soon.

Love, Magi-chan

 

Pic 1:  Weirdest loot from the free bin: bar of soap in a crocheted, plastic baby head case?

Pic 2:  Testing out our rain coats for the rainy season.

Pic 3:  Trio!

Pic 4:  Rehearsal in the MTC lobby, with Sister Cheney creeping in the backgound.

(Tuesday, July 30th, 2013)