Halliday shimai visits Kofu...

Dear family,

well, this week was somewhat less bug filled and more exciting than last. we got another new investigator, eriko san who is really sweet and pure. i just worry about how much of her is actually there because she stares blankly past you when you talk to her and just nods her head with a huge smile on her face. but she is cute at any rate.

i actually wasnt there for her lesson cuz i was in kofu where it was raining! I saw mount fuji!!! wooooooooow!

yup. i went on exchanges cuz hardle shimai needed to get out of kofu and really wanted to do an exchange and the kichijoji sisters are the closest to kofu. so monday morning we caught the train and rode out 2 hours to meet the kofu sisters halfway and switch companions. i went to kofu with powell shimai.

the train ride was soooooooo pretty! the city disappeared and there was nothing but trees and rivers and mist everywhere!

kofu is somewhat less populated than kichijoji. people are actually home when you go housing! kofu is famous for peaches and grapes so i ate a lot of peaches in the one day i was there. at one point one of the members saw us at the 7-11 and pulled her car over and came running over to us bearing two very large and delicious peaches.

the exchange was rather uneventful because on both ends most of the appointments cancelled but i met their investigator yuriko chan who is super cute. she designed her house herself and it is huge! it looked like a cabin in america!

that night we went to dinner at a members house because it was the district leaders birthday and they just had a baptism last sunday so they were all celebrating. the member owns a retraunt so there was lots of food and lots of people.

i met a guy from kenya who is going to be running in the olympics! i dont remember his name though...and i dont know what country he is running for either lol. sorry. i am a failure.

anyhow, at the dinner party thing there was a guy at the other end of the table who looked strangely familiar but i couldnt figure out why.

at the end of the night he told me to say hi to niiyama marie shimai from the kichijoji ward because he had served with her in sendai. of course my ears perk up at the mention of the sendai mission so i asked if he knew brittan.

he was brittan`s TRAINER! THAT is why he looked so familiar...cuz i have seen pictures of him!

so yeah, that was exciting.

so anyhow, kofu was pretty. i rode my bike without fear of running into anyone! of course...i ran into a pole instead. hardle shimai needs to get her bike checked out...her brakes dont work nearly as well as they should...and the gears slip and basically i thought i might die the whole time i was riding.

i hate mountain bikes too. they are not designed for skirts =p

the next morning we got up, studied a little, and headed to the train station so we could switch back. but we missed our train so we had to take the express train in order to get back in time cuz the kofu sisters had interviews at noon. the express train was pretty nice but it ate up all my moneys. bah. oh well.

i played the game that me and tara played when we took the shinkansen to kyoto. the one where we take pictures out the window of the train and see who can get the clearest picture. well, with my advanced knowledge of cameras i was able to stop even the closest thing to the train at ISO 1600 hehe. powell shimai listened patiently as i explained why that was. i am such a nerd.

anyhow, i have lots of pretty pictures which i will send home. which reminds me...i bought stuffs for aubrey and brianna...but shipping will be like 50 dollars. i didnt account for that. plus i have to send brittan and natalees birthday gifts...and i need to keep 100 dollars with me for emergency funds... just a heads up on the moneys i will need.

i am hoping i can get darner choro to take my packages with him to fussa and mail them from the base and then it will only be shipping from san francisco....but the odds of me convincing him of that are probably not in my favor.

on tuesday night, after i got home from kofu, we went to the uchimuras house for dinner. we taught the girls about the atonement. there are 3 girls and they are all way fun. they loooove kingdome hearts and naruto. yuuki is the oldest and most talkative, the two younger ones are very shy. ai, the middle girl, is reaaaaaaaally shy.

mcmurtrey shimai says that when i was sharing my experience with the Atonement and social anxiety, Ai was really listening intently. I wouldnt know cuz as if to prove my point, i was fighting the urge to look at the floor when i talked. haha!

anyhow, after dinner, ai chan showed us her drawings. she is really good! but she wont let you tell her that. it embarasses her! she gave me one of the drawings though!

they are such a fun and cute family. I cant wait til i see them again! they are all going to girls camp today. oooooooooooh. japanese girls camp. i hear it sucks cuz its so humid haha.

anyhow, that is about all the exciting news for the week. its not so funny...but its new! its nice not to have to grasp at and expound on random events to make an interesting letter haha!

i am so happy everyone is getting their patriarchal blessings! and that yosemite was good! I talked to how choro about that and he said he has made the half dome hike twice and is jealous of dad being able to do it right now haha.

and the post cards will get here. darner choro saw them in the honbu yesterday when he was there. why he didnt just pick them up for me i dont know...

love,
jessica