Japanese keyboards...Grrrrrr!!!

Dear people at home,

I forgot how much i hate Japanese keyboards. i`m not going to capitalize anything cuz i keep turning the kanji on. grrrrrrrrrrr.

k i have 30 minutes still...double grr. and its really hard to type with this keyboard cover on. germiphobes...

anyhow, so things are going well here in japan. there are a lot of people in my area which is kichijoji. i sent my mission map home so you can find it.

this is the first time i have had to do email since i got here but i sent a letter today so it'll explain.

i hope you sent pictures of emily amelia beckstead in the mail cuz i told you i cannot open attachments from my email.

gah. what to say? too much to say for not having emailed for so long.

my trainer is yasutani shimai. she's small and cute. this is her last transfer so she is leaving me soon. sad day!!!

i love kichijoji. but its so busy that riding my bike is always scary. bikes here follow no kinds of laws, they can go anywhere in any direction they please. its scary cuz i try to follow american traffic laws like riding with traffic (on the proper side of the road of course) but no one else follows those laws.

there is a very pretty park here that is our favorite place to go streeting. [missionary speak for street contacting] housing is less effective here cuz no one is home from like 9am til about 10 at night. [housing is missionary speak for door knocking]

we have 3 progressing investigators. Motoi chan is the first. she is really sweet and really shy but shes a good person. she keeps her commitments and has progressed from atheism to what she calls "half believing". I call it believing but not knowing it. so we are working on that. we are going to have her make a decision about baptism and then pray about that decision instead of just baptism in general.

Our next investigator is tanii san. she is 40 and has a friend who is mormon who lives in utah. i don't think she was a referral though, they just found her through streeting. anyhow, she wants to be pure and has seen 2 baptisms now and recognizes that the people are pure when they are baptized...but still wont get baptized. what the heck!?

We are working on developing her testimony of the atonement now.

Then there is rie chan. shes super cute and sweet too and is keeping her commitments as well. we are moving towards baptism quickly with her. next is the law of chastity...which could throw a wrench in things cuz she lives with her boyfriend.

i think that's basically it. this last p day we went to the Ghibli museum! WHEE!!! I LOVE GHIBLI!!!!!!!!! and conveniently enough the musem is 10 minutes from our apt.

I love my bike. I got a mamachari which the elders make fun of me for but its WAY better than a mountain bike. If its still alive in a year i wanna ship it home. can i? pweeeeeeeaase?!?

yeah...time flies indeed. I am coming up fast on 6 months. (my official release date is july 21 in case anyone cares) and yeah...brittan has 2 transfers left and i think kiana is coming home this transfer...or the same transfer as brittan. and natalee is trainer already! wah!

I don't wanna be trainer. i don't even wanna be senior. i can barely keep track of my bike helmet! (which i faithfully wear)

tomorrow is zone conference! I hope some of my choro tachi are in my zone! I miss them! My senpai, sister hardle is coming to sleep over at our house tonight so they don:t have to get up at 3 to make it to zone conference. (its here in kichijoji conveniently so we don:t have to get up early)

yay! sleepover! and in bed at 10:30! =p

Ok! I have to go! We have to go pick hardle shimai and her comp up at the eki. [train station]

sorry its short but such is life. I didn't think we would get in to email til next p day cuz this place is always crazy busy or closed. but here we are!

PS. mom, i need recipes cuz we have cooking class on saturdays. send them asap please! thanks!

Love,
halliday shimai