Something to avoid

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. They are really nice boys. Maybe a little too nice. They were explaining to me what it means to go on a 24 hour exchange, which is when missionaries switch companions or something...but anyway, my brother-in-law Justin said to me, "you can go do that with them, right?" We all started cracking up because it sounded like he meant with the Elders, and my sister started cracking jokes about what a 24 hour exchange would be like in that case.

Then, right after that little mix up, Justin was trying to say the word "section" and he accidentally said "sex" before correcting himself. One of the Elders turned completely bright red and couldn't stop laughing for about five minutes! It was pretty hilarious.

Now people, this is all fun and games....until it happens to me.

I hope I never get so flustered over hearing that word. We'll see what a year and half does to me...

Anyone reading?

I've come to accept the fact that nobody is reading this blog right now (and why would they? I'm not even on a mission yet!), but hopefully when I am in the faraway lands of Japan in a short while people will stop by here to read about my adventures, cause that's the only way you're gonna hear about what I'm up to!

Fukuoka is down there at the very bottom :)

However, my real reason for posting right now is that I just wanted to say I'm getting really freaking excited to study Japanese hardcore. I even busted out my old grammar book and kanji cards from Japanese 300 (which I sadly got a C+ in) and have been testing my memory skillz. I surprisingly remember almost all of the kanji I have reviewed so far, so that's a good sign!

Anyway, my attempt to read Jesus the Christ isn't going too well. I feel like i'm not intellectual enough to even understand that book. Maybe i'll wait a little on that one. My headway with the BOM is going really well, though. I'm highlighting all of the mentions of Christ, his words, doctrines and principles, and attributes. Its really fun sitting there with my little colored pencils, and really surprising how much i am really highlighting! I love it.

Nice little things

A lot of really nice things have been happening to me lately. Tender mercies, if you will. Or maybe it's that they are always happening but I never take the time to notice them.


For instance, you know those little things about yourself that you can't stand? I have a few habits that I simply loath....like chewing on my lips, constantly moving my legs, and other more significant things that I have to work reallllly hard on everyday to be better. One of these things is patience. I think growing up in the age of instant gratification has really gotten to me, because in my mind I am seriously the most impatient person on the planet. But get this:

A woman was couch surfing at our place last week and after spending a few days with me and my sister's crazy busy family, we were alone together for a night. One of the things she said to me really blew my mind and took me off guard. She said, "You know, I have never seen two people with more patience in my entire life than you and your sister."

Yeah! I was like...."WHAT!" Of course, I didn't say that out loud, but I couldn't even believe those words came out of her mouth. It was SUCH a blessing because I had been praying about that so much lately and trying to improve, because babysitting three kids (one being a new born) on my own for 7 hour stints has really put me at my wits edge at times, and here came this lady complimenting me on what I had been working soooo hard on improving!

Prayer works, guys. The end.

I hope they call me on a mission...

Well, they did! I'm going to Fukuoka, Japan and I report to the MTC on January 26th! Wahooo. I'm so dang excited. I really want people to be able to read my emails that I send to my family each week, which is why I'm starting this blog. I have recruited my crazy blogger sister to be in charge of posting my emails every week as a blog post so everyone can see. I'm so excited! I still have a few months before I leave, but I have lots of time right now so I thought I would start working on this.

I'm currently living in Pittsburgh with my sister and her family until the fateful day I enter the MTC. Until then, here's what I'll be doing....

-Reading through the entire BOM before I leave

-Strengthening my testimony of Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, and Joseph Smith (because I figure most of my investigators will be Buddhist, and won't have ever heard of any of these people. I am going to need to be completely confident and bold in baring my testimony of these three, and also just the basics of the gospel).

-Reading Jesus the Christ with my sister

-Spending time with my nieces, Beatrice and Clementine, my nephew Henry, my sister Amelia and her husband Justin. Since my sister is 10 years my senior we have never been able to spend much time together in my entire life until now.

-Maybe getting a job or internship at NBC here in Pittsburgh. The stake president here is the president of the TV station. Major hookups.

-Brushing up on my Japanese. I can't even express how happy I am that all of my years of hard labor trying and trying to learn Japanese will finally pay off!

-Finishing 2 scrap books I've been working on.

-Training for a triathlon with my sister.

Well, that's about it. I am so excited to serve a mission in a few months. With luck, I'll test out of the normal Japanese classes in the MTC and be able to get to the mission field ASAP. This whole decision has been kind of a whirlwind. It feels weird not to be in Provo in school, hanging out with my friends, going to Halloween parties and seeing Eric everyday, but I know without a doubt that this is what I'm supposed to be doing, and I can't wait to get to Fukuoka!