I am in Kofu and it's wonderful!

dear family,

i am glad you got the box...that was a load off my mind when it was finally in
the mail.

kofu is amazing and i think my japanese is ok....or at least enough to fool
andre kyodai into thinking that i can actually speak decently so he can report
to brittan that i am doing well.

apparently brittan now has ways of spying on me...i am not sure how i like that.
though i am sure andre kyodai has better things to do than actually report on my
japanese and besides which he keeps telling me how amazing brittan was at
japanese his first transfer so i am sure if he did report, it wouldnt be a bad
report.

i am jealous of your thunderstorm. the doughnut hole followed me here. all my
companions like it but i dont. i want it to rain. it always rains at night when
i am inside and cant go outside cuz it is after curfew. grrrr.

in other news i really like the ward here. hosaka shimai is my favorite! She is
a cute little obaachan who loves to help the missionaries. My first impression
of her was at eikaiwa when we were playing `do you love your neighbor` and
every time leitaua choro went over to her she would throw her hands up in the
air and scream `noooooo` cuz she didnt want to be picked.

Pretty much everyone in kofu loves the missionaries and loves helping us out.
The Miyazakis are amazing too...though i have only actually met andre and his
brother... powell shimai talks about them so much i feel like i have met them
all! haha. apparently they always have referrals for us and if they dont they
assure us they are working on it.

we are not wanting for fruits and vegetables in kofu...everyone has a farm and
gives us food all the time. right now we have more peaches than we know what
to do with and more vegetables as well. the peaches we will make into
jam...maybe...if i dont screw it up. the vegetables...i think i will fashion
into a godzilla model cuz i am NOT eating them.

we have a goya and some okra and frankly...they terrify me. the goya looks like
a godzilla anyhow.

cooking in kofu is fun cuz i have tons of room. I made chinese chicken salad and
some other stuff from the package mom sent. my companion seems to think i am
an amazing cook. she doesnt realize that mom basically handed me everything
cuz she knows i cant cook. i did learn how to make curry pan though. yay! it will
have to wait til i come home though cuz i dont have time to wait for bread to
rise.

speaking of packages...my birthday is coming as you well know and my district
would like kingsize twix, mars bars, and snickers as well as some poptarts. if i
was still in kichijoji i am sure darner choro would have wanted tons of stuff
but my district is all...i dont know... they werent going to ask for anything
but i told them it was fine cuz you totally spoiled me in the MTC and so now i
think i can make myself popular by sharing my packages. your fault. haha.

speaking of leitaua (i totally spelled that wrong) he tried to translate my
middle name and walked around trying to figure out what i was the chief of for
like an hour before he would finally let me tell him...haha

as for me...i just like cooking. simple recipes or things with recipes on the
labels are appreciated. i am collecting them now haha. i keep them all in a
book. =p

so we have a few investigators in kofu but i havent met them cuz they are still
out of town cuz of obon. yay..... so we just ride our bikes everywhere looking
for people. there are a lot of portuguese speakers from brazil and such here...i
discovered yesterday that that makes housing kind of hard. yesterday i had to
throw what little spanish i knew together in a sentence that was mostly japanese
and a lot of sign language. i think i threw italian in there too...maybe.
anyhow, i directed her to the homepage and that was the end of that. haha.

last saturaday we went to a members house for a goodbye party thing. it was a
good opportunity to meet members before church the next day. the house was
on a farm pretty much on the border of the nagoya mission...i could have
probably waved to smith and ward choro and they would have seen.

anyhow,  the house was really pretty. it was like a cabin and there was a stream
on the property and we could sit on the roof and watch the sunset. it was way
cool! and there was lots of good food and fresh veggies cuz it was a farm.

i eat more veggies these days... i can stomach corn but i still dont like it and
usually try to swallow it whole. tomatoes are actually downright good now.... i
will not eat the okra.

lets see...what else. we found an onsen (they are ippai here cuz of fuji) while
we were tracting and it was just for soaking your feet. we are still trying to
figure out if that is within mission rules cuz we need it! haha! I discovered a
crack in the sole of my shoe the other day...but they should last and i still
have 2 other pairs of shoes. i should be good til the end of my mission.

sad news. i lost my white handbook during transfers. so not only am i walking
around a lawless heathen...i lost my ministerial certificate. I can get that
replaced but...it had PRESIDEN HINCKLEY`S SIGNATURE ON IT!

not that i dont love president monson...but i want my certificate to have
president hinckleys signature...

sad day. i also managed to lose my scriptures. my japanese set...not my english
set. i think they are hiding in a cupboard back in the kichijoji building but i
will be there next week so i will check.

speaking of next week, i will be emailing early cuz we have a huge conference on
thursday so wednesday is p-day. be aware!

ok well, i am starving and we still have to go to the temple... we had to come
to roppongi to go to the stupid OBGYN again which was pointless cuz they told me
i was fine and i was like `no i am not...if i was i wouldnt be here` so they put
me on birth control and told me to come back in a month. i dont wanna come back!
grrrrrr. least there is a cold stone creamery next door.... i can drown my
sorrows in that.

oh yes...and if you could send peanut butter and jelly...i had to leave it in
kichijoji before... thank you!

I am glad everyone is doing well and that brianna can walk like a normal person
again. that is always good. Have fun with courtney and tell her i said hi back.

Love,
Sister Halliday

ps. i got another haircut. its short...but all the damage is gone for good which
is good. it was unexpected. we went to visit a less active who owns a beauty
parlor and she wanted to play with my hair cuz well...people tend to want to do
that.

its not that much different but it is shorter. i am still getting used to it.
back to shoulder length...wowww. k a little longer than that. shampoo... i am on
my last bottle but i can get that stuff in japan. i think i am doing pretty good
on everything. thanks!