More Details! 2nd week in Japan

Thanks for your letters!  It was fun to read what everyone is up to!  To answer your questions mom...

I'm adjusting fine.  I had no jet lag or time zone tiredness which is a huge blessing since I was expected to hit the ground running.  I haven't missed a beat!

I email at the church building in Okinawa.  There are two computers so we bike our way over here sometime Monday to email you :).

Sister Watanabe and I serve in all three wards (congregations) in the city.  We go to two Sunday ward meetings every week.  Sunday is the day I'm most exhausted.  I'm HORRIBLE with names so having to learn triple the amount is exhausting.  But there are two other sister missionaries and four elders who help us out because our area is so big.  

Nope, I haven't been using the bug spray, just the anti itch cream.  Maybe I should prevent instead of just treating.  I'll take that into consideration :)

The grocery store... wow what an experience!  It's like Costco, but tiny and packed with a lot more people.  They have food samples and workers stand over the food with fans to wave the smell around.  I've had more interesting food than I care to list off.  Basically I have no idea what I'm buying.  Surprising, a lot of the foods are American brands.  So I usually can guess.  Plus I have a saint as a companion so I'm not starving.

Holy moly!  I'm at the church and we just heard a burst of thunder and pouring rain.  My first rain storm :)  I'm going to be soaked.  Time to test out my rain gear.

So this week has been FANTASTIC!

- Bikes are hard and I'm not graceful.  I've got skirts caught in my tires more times than I care to share, but I've figured out a unique strategy.  You see someone across the street, you bike over to them, greet them, try to get off your bike, fall, they help you, they have sympathy, BAM!!... share the gospel.  I'm very consistent.  My poor skirts and legs take a beating, but we've been able to share a lot of lessons that way :)  I'm just taking one for the team.

-  I experienced my first "splits" (term that missionaries use when two companionships "split" with their usual companion and spend a day with one of the missionaries from another companionship).  The first person Sister Black and I contacted is now an investigator!  She is a great lady with three kids.  We were able to meet with her again the next morning.  She seemed very interested in the Book of Mormon and eternal families.  I'm excited to meet with her again.

-  Our Eikiwa (English class) is great!  We meet once a week on Thursday and we teach English.  I love the responses we get!  English is so hard!  Nothing makes a whole lot of sense.  But I love talking with people!

-  My basketball skills haven't completely gone to waste.  We play basketball on P-days (preparation day) with our Eikiwa (English) students and it's a lot of fun!  It's nice being the tallest for once! 

-Watanabe Shimai (Sister Watanabe) is hilarious.  I love her.  I found out that whenever she wants candy she opens up our pantry and pulls out some cough drops.  She's had almost all Japanese companions and none of them knew it was medicine and not candy.  I love her!  She's only got one more transfer left :(

-  We taught Hedico San.  She has a baptism date for Aug 23rd.   She's a 70 year old lady and super nice.  She's got spunk, but her hearing is really bad.  We taught her the first lesson and I shared the Joseph Smith experience with her.  Well I was so nervous that I kept forgetting the words.  Watanabe Shimai was so nice that she whispered the words I would forget to me and the best part was our investigator couldn't hear her whisper.  :)

-  By the way...The bats here are bigger than birds at home.

-  I'm learning the in's and out's of contacting.  If there is someone within eyesight I'm pedaling my way over there.  We meet A LOT of people everyday.  It's a great experience.  There are so many good people here and I love hearing their experiences with religion and helping them learn more. 

-  We were exhausted last night!  It was so hot, but we had 10 minutes so we decided to go "housing".  That is term that we use for "knocking on doors" of houses or apartments to see if we can explain the beliefs of the church to people who may be interested in learning about our Heavenly Fathers Plan for us on this earth.  We went to the fourth floor of an aparto and found... a golden investigator!  We had such a good experience with him.  He was very interested in Christianity and the church and how the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together to answer life's questions.  And he asked if he could talk more with us!  That was a first :)  Miracles happen everyday here!  I love being a missionary!  It is such a great experience.  I am so blessed!  Sorry this weeks letter was so short!  I love you family! Have a great week!

Sister Hawkins!