Halliday shimai can speak Japanese... but apparently can't speak English...

hello everyone!

i am actually emailing on p-day/ fancy that.

i hate golden week cuz its just a week of festivals and everything is closed and that means no mail. waaaaaaah. i am melting in despair.

anyhow, this week was a good week because we had zone conference!!!so i got to see allen and brown choro! its only been 2 weeks but i miss them tons!!!

harris choro is in another zone so i didnt see him. bummer.

i saw hardle shimai and adams shimai though. they were my mtc senpai. hardle shimai and her comp slept over at our apt cuz the conference was here in kichijoji and their area is 2 and a half hours away. it was so much fun! i didnt know you had sleep overs on missions! hee hee

next tuesday is interviews too. what fun! i love interviews...dunno why. but brittan told me to always look forward to interviews so i am. i would have anyhow though. i always got mad in the mtc when i got cheated out of an interview cuz larose choro had 45 minute interviews.

anyhow, things are going pretty well here in kichijoji. yesterday was a bad day for finding...and i learned how horrible my conversational skills are in english...least i have an excuse for them to suck in japanese. but we were at the park and i saw a girl who looked not japanese so i just walked up and abruptly said `where are you from`. i didnt manage to salvage the conversation later on either cuz she was a missionary and then suddenly i really didnt know what to say. oh well. we had a good laugh about it later.

we had amazing lessons this week. no baptismal dates...but still good lessons. i wanted to set a date with tanii san but soon after the lesson started it became apparent that her faith isnt steady enough. so we committed her to read alma 7 and ponder what the saviors atonement means for her personally. if all goes well we will set a date with her next time we meet...which i think is tonight if she comes to eikaiwa...

we taught the law of chastity to rie chan on tuesday. that was really hard! but shes been keeping the word of wisdom faithfully for a while now and reading and praying and we spent time getting her to recognize how shes been blessed through that even though she didn:t know why she was doing it when she started. the law of chastity was still a big shock to her...she lives with her boyfriend so we knew it was going to be a hard lesson. but she accepted the challenge and is now working on the situation. phew!

motoi chans lesson was interesting. we got quite a big shock in that one. motoi chan is sweet and she keeps her commitments but she keeps them hesitantly. we studied ether 2 and 3 last night and talked about stretching our faith and we taught her how to pray more meaningfully. (praying with an answer in mind and then asking if its right). the concept made sense to her and so she accepted our challenge to try to make her prayers more meaningful. then we brought up baptism and she told us her mom told her she was already a member of this church. we were all three very surprised and couldnt figure out how motoi chan could have forgotten being baptized...but it is possible i guess as her mom is currently classified as a former investigator. she could be a lost less active...we have to look into it more.

but at any rate...motoi chan still doesnt see the importance of baptism so we are working on that whether shes a member or not. heh.

so that is pretty much it. and my time is up again. sorry its so short. but thats pretty much my week anyhow. lesson. i like lessons. they are quite enjoyable...much more so than housing. wah.

hope you are all doing well!!!

Love,
Sister Jessica Biscuit

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

First letter from JAPAN! Halliday shimai is in Kichijoji

I'm alive. I'm OK. I know that you haven't heard from me for a while. There's only 1 place here to do email and it's closed like for the next MONTH! If I'd known that was going to happen I would have waited last P day for a computer. (There are only 4 computers and it's the only approved place in the zone -_-)
So, I think that you heard from President Hill...I am here and I am safe (if you don't count the fact that riding a bike here is like driving in LA) and I have got my new trainer.
My trainer is Yasutani shimai. She is from Sapporo and speaks English very well because she spent 3 years at BYU Hawaii. Yasutani shimai is also only four and a half feet tall. :P
Unfortunately she is "dying" this transfer so I will never see my trainer again. :(
[DYING IS MISSIONARY SPEAK FOR ENDING YOUR MISSION, NOT ENDING YOUR LIFE]
I will also get the fun job of orienting my next senior companion with this area (which will be interesting because I only know 4 places here) and I will get to familiarize my comp with the investigators, PLUS, I will get to do all of the phone calls until said new companion has met all of the investigators or they will wonder who the heck is calling them! WAH!
So, my first area is Kichijoji. There are tons of people here so it is one of the smallest areas in the Mission by radius. We have two progressing investigators. We had four but one is having parental approval issues and the other one just got "lost"...she just answers the phone every now and then and we suspect that she is more interested in converting us.
So, our first investigator is Motoi chan. She is really shy but really sweet. When we first met her she did not believe in God at all but gas now progressed to the point where she says that she "half believes". Personally, I think that she believes just fine because she keeps all of the commitments that we give her...we just have to get her to recognize that she believes. We have gotten to the point where we have her thinking about baptism and she has been to church once, twice and this Sunday makes thrice.
Our second investigator is Tanii san. She has been a long progressing investigator, has been to two baptisms and recognizes how pure a person is after baptism. Tanii san wants to be like that but doesn't think she can be baptized yet. -_-
Tanii san doesn't always read the Book of Mormon, so we are still working on that issue. Right now we are focusing on developing her testimony of the Atonement. Unfortunately, as with any investigator who makes any progress at all...something has come up and she has been too busy to see us for like a week. She still answers the phone when we call though.
The investigator wit the parental issues is Erica. She is 19 but she has developmental issues. Even though she will be an adult in November, she will probably always live with her parents. Her mind is fully developed however and she understands everything. She loves everyone (especially her missionaries) and always wants to meet with us. We have taught her everything but now that baptism is part of the picture, her Mom is not happy and we have not seen her for a week now.
We have 4 new investigators, two of which show a lot of promise. We teach one of them lesson 1 today, so we will see...
Our favorite place to go finding is Inokashira Park. It's a huge park with all kinds of people (and dogs). People there aren't as busy as people on the streets, so they listen more. I have taught about 12 lessons and have talked to probably at least 100 new people so far. Two of the lessons I did on my own. In the Tokyo Mission we have to teach every principle to a member by the end of our missions. When we do it we get recognized at the next Zone Conference. It helps us and it builds relationships with the members. We have all of our mission to do it, but Yasutani shimai and I are working hard to finish before the next transfer. (Well...for me to finish..she has done it twice already)
Let's see... what else? I miss my choro tachi :(
Zone Conference is next week so maybe I will see someone. My District now is fun though. Our District Leader is Elder Doying and our Zone Leaders are Elder Holt (he was in Brittan's MTC Zone...I know this cuz I got a letter from Brittan and for some odd reason, it ended up at the Elder's Apartment, so I was heavily interrogated before I got my letter -_-) and Elder Darner who is from Mesa. (Darner Chrysler/Jeep...that Darner) I have actually met more people from Mesa here in Japan, than in the MTC. Random.
Oh! My first day here we had English class. The Elders were late so I had to teach the advanced class until they got there. Basically, I killed time with self introductions. :P
On P- Day we went to the Ghibli museum!! Wheeee!! It was so fun!! I got to see all of the pretty concept art and animation cels and animation reels. I have seen DVD extras about the extensive process of animation but seeing it first hand was insane. 30 seconds of film is like 25 feet long! They also had a room that exhibited how to make stationary objects seem like they were moving...it reminded me of my stupid high school physics project...and then I heard Brittan saying "physics is everywhere" and then I remembered he needed to die.
That's pretty much it.
Mom, we do a cooking class every other Saturday and we need yummy recipes.(fairly simple but not too much) If you could email those and send hard copies, it would be much appreciated. Plus...I have to cook for myself now. That's it! And I have to speak in Sacrament this Sunday and I have to speak in Primary on Mother's Day.

Love, Halliday shimai

Halliday Shimai is in Japan!!

Well, this is a post from Mom. Jessica flew out of Salt lake on the morning of April 15, 2008 via Los Angeles to Tokyo, Japan. We probably won't hear from her for a couple of weeks until she settles in to her new area and gets accustomed to all of those things that an active missionary needs to do. We have been warned by the Mission Home that safe places to send email in Tokyo are becoming harder to find and so Halliday shimai's emails may become intermittent. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, HALLIDAY SHIMAI IS IN JAPAN!

Only ONE WEEK to go and counting!!

Ok gotta make this fast..my goodness...I'll be glad to have an hour for email when I get to the field. But sometimes Brittan gets only half an hour so I dunno. I'll just be optimistic.

First off, in answer to earlier questions. Ward choro is just as concerned about Smith choro as Brown is about Allen...but he's not as cute about it. He's offered to give him like 5 blessings in the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately people from Utah (like my companion) are stubborn, doctor fearing people. So long story short...he never got a blessing and he never went to the doctor.

Well, yesterday I was sick of it so, being the shimai that I am...I went down to the health center and MADE an appointment for Smith choro and Ward choro MADE him keep it.

So he leaves at 2 and at 3 he's not back. At 4 he's not back. We take Beaufort shimai to the health center at 4:20 cuz she sprained her foot and lo and behold there is Ward choro. about an hour later we find smith and ward choro in the bookstore and Smith choro...drum roll please...

Has Pneumonia and is being delayed a week.

Serves the dork right for not listening to everyone 2 weeks ago....but I still feel bad for him. I'm not gonna lie. That REALLY sucks.

Actually at the current moment I'm fasting...is it legal to fast for like 3 different purposes cuz I am. One of them is me...I figure I'll have more time to pack if I don't eat =P

So let's see...what else? GAH! I always forget my letters so in the half hour I have with the little red clock ticking in the corner I can never remember what's going on!

That is sad that a missionary got beat up in Mesa. Gosh some people are stupid. *shakes head*

I wrote you all a letter conference weekend and have a package to mail you all. You'll probably get several packages but only one is really for you. the rest is my stuff. I have to send it in several packages because the bookstore is retarded and doesn't carry boxes...so I have to work off of what gets left laying around the Residence Hall. -_-

Seriously...

Oh, I can't believe you all slept through conference! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!?! That was probably the most amazing conference ever! And the entire first session was directed at YOU. Seriously...There were red letters over all the speakers heads that said "Halliday family, pay attention" ( Family says: WE DIDN'T SLEEP THROUGH THE WHOLE THING!! HONEST!!)

For me the most amazing part of conference was the sustaining of President Monson of course. When they had everyone stand in their individual capacities and they had the Elders Quorum members stand up, everyone around me stood up excitedly.

I looked around at the faces of all my elders and in that moment if I ever had a doubt the church was true it would have been gone. There was literally a light shining in the faces of each one of them and a look in their eyes that told me that they knew they were sustaining a Prophet of God and that they knew exactly why they were there on a mission. They all excitedly, but reverently raised their hands and I was soooooooo proud of them. Those were MY elders! They were adorable!

I think I know how mommies feel now =P

Then I got to stand up and I felt that same light within me and it felt like I was gonna explode! Then I got to stand WITH them and I've never been so proud in my life. I love all my elders and I've never met better young men.

Speaking of, Elder Harris wants to know why you haven't written him...he's kinda bummed =P

We got real flight plans on Friday. I leave at 5am. My flight from SLC leaves at 8:30 and I have only a 2 hour layover in LA. I have no idea how calling home works...honestly. They haven't addressed the issue yet. I know that Brittan called from San Francisco...and Natalee called from SLC...(probably cuz SF was her last stop =P) So I don't know. Is it possible to camp out by the phone? My flight from LA leaves at 11:30 (your time of course cuz daylight savings....) so I guess the earliest I'll call is 4am =P and the latest I'll call is 11:30) I'll try to get info to you as soon as I can but I don't know what's going on! Grrrr.

Speaking of flight plans, the April fool's joke went off AMAZINGLY and all the choro tachi want us dead. I'm sending the memory cards with the package. I used 2 2 gig cards cuz its all video =P Enjoy. Oh, and remember what I told you about the Canon software on the computer and the lagging video. So try to use the canon software somehow.

Wow, I'm going to Japan in exactly a week. Crazy. We have so much to do. We're doing laundry right now and then haircuts and packing. (oh boy) I'm not taking my coat...mail it to me in the field. I'm pretty tough now. It snowed yesterday and I was walking around in short sleeves. (I love the new shirts by the way! but I need white undershirts for some of them cuz they're a little see through. just white cap sleeve shirts from down east basics are fine)

Oh man, I'm so excited...but I'm really gonna miss my choro. I can't write Allen, brown, Howe, or Harris choro in the field cuz they're in my mission. I'll write everyone else though.

I was really surprised. Ward choro is really concerned about never seeing any of us again. I told him he couldn't get rid of me that easily...just ask Brittan. His face brightened up after that. It's true too...no one gets rid of me. =P

Ward choro is a really sweet kid. He just doesn't show it much...but I think of all the choro, he's the most loyal. He's awesome. Ok well...they're all awesome. I LOVE THEM ALL!!!

Well, I gotta go. time's up!

Miss you, can't wait to talk to you!!!

Love,
Biscuit shimai

FLIGHT PLANS!

I GOT MY FLIGHT PLANS!
'Bout time. Seriously. I knew I'd leave the MTC but until you have flight plans there is no way out. I am sitting here listening to EFY music, wishing I could sing along...but I can't because I have laryngitis! Of all the cruel twists of fate! -_-
I got some freak chest cold or something on Tuesday night. My sinuses weren't packed up or anything but my throat was killing me and it hurt from my neck to the middle of my chest. They did a strep test but it was negative. The doctor was concerned though that it was already in my chest (my chest was kinda tight and my cough came from my chest). So he gave me some mega antibiotics and told me no gym for a week -_- and no talking for three days. Today is the first day that I am allowed to talk but I can't sing cuz my voice sucks. The sad thing? It's conference today! That means hymns and prelude hymns all day! WAH! :(
So, let's see. Obviously I got your package. Thanks for the shirts! I lub them :) And those were REALLY good gummy bears! Oh yes, and April Fool's went wonderfully. I am sending the memory cards so that you can see. Enjoy. Some of the videos are better than others.
Oh yes. I'll call the home phone but as of now, I don't know when I'll get to call home. I think they will tell us more later... but it might be the Sunday before I leave... *shrug*
We report to the travel office at 5am, our plane leaves SLC at 8:25am and we only have a 2 hour layover in LA...
Everyone going to Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Sendai or Sapporo is flying out the day before us and they are going through San Francisco on JAL. What do we get? DELTA! 'Scuse me while I go pout in a corner. -_-
So what else is there to talk about? Flight plans are pretty much the hot topic now. I am excited to be a solo sister for a while! My companions will be Brown and Allen choro and Harris choro by default because his comp is already gone. So, my travel companions will be those three and me. WOOT! I get to hang out with the Elders and they can't tell me to go away! Actually, they never do anyhow. Have I mentioned that I love my Elders?
Today was the coolest experience of my life. We just got back from the first session of conference and when they called the Elders Quorums to stand and sustain President Monson as the prophet, they all (literally) jumped out of their seats with smiles on their faces and their hands shot excitedly in to the air. I have never known a better group of young men in my life. I am so, so, sooooo proud of them. Conference was AMAZING of course. Fastest two hours of my life. Quite obviously the theme was family in this session, but it was so easily applied to missionary work. I learned tons. I'd tell you about it but there is honestly too much to tell.
Ok, that's really all you are going to get out of me! I need to study before the sisters meeting. (so much for partying during Priesthood session)

Halliday shimai is burning up the phone lines and getting revenge on the choro tachi

WAAAAAAAAAAH! CLARISSA IS A MOMMY!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

I am sad sugar is going to die soon...but really, I thought it had happened long ago... poor doggie. v.v

Ok so there is much to tell and much to respond to so let's see how far I get.

First off...I have like no time to write letters! All my letters to friends are short. And if her letters to Tim are really longer than mine to him then that girl won't live to come off her mission now that I think about it because she only writes me like half a page every month. GRRRR. I write like 9 every p-day and I still have to study and stuff.

So biggest news of all. Last night in the RC I made 33 calls and of those 33 at least 9 people picked up. The first one did NOT help my case at all as they kept laughing at me and thinking I was their daughter playing an april fool's joke. They were old people from Florida...now I think I see why there was such a problem with the votes in Florida back in 2000...

But oh well. Smith choro...being the bossy district leader that he is told me that I had to talk to at least 3 people or he wouldn't let me log off. Logically, I don't know how he really could have prevented me from doing so but I like him so I listen to him. *shrug*

Speaking of smith choro...the elders all found out yesterday that I'm the oldest one in the district (only by a week mind you but they never give Webb Shimai crap -_-) So they keep telling me how old I am and when they contact me during practices they ask me about Adam and Eve. Jerks -_-

They are all lucky I love them. =P

Let's see...what else. Oh yeah. Our classroom moved on Friday. We're now on the 5th floor of 18M as if that means anything to anyone. It means 5 flights of stairs 5 times a day for us...plus the 4 to our residence hall. We can actually see our residence from our classroom building.

The biggest bummer about the new classroom is that there are no windows. However, there are very large windows in the hallway and on Sunday we all gathered there for personal study to watch the snow fall. =P

Yes...it snowed on Sunday. It was quite the surprise but it was also quite enjoyable. We walked to the temple anyhow with Harris, Ward, and Sugihara choro.

Did I mention I love my elders? =P

Oh yes...Smith and Allen choro were quite sick this week. We shimai tried to get Smith choro to go to the doctor but HE WON'T LISTEN. Stupid stubborn district leader!

I think he's got bronchitis...

But he's feeling better he says and I must admit he sounds a little better. *shrug*

Allen choro got lots of sleep and sounds tons better. He's got a wonderful companion who doesn't want him to die. Apparently Brown choro kept telling him not to die all night and Brown choro is pretty adamant about telling Allen choro to go home and sleep. Allen choro is not as stubborn as Smith choro...who is right behind me now actually. Where did he come from!?

Anyhow moving on what else is going on here? Ah yes. Today is april fools day and we shimai have a trick we're going to play. We borrowed flight plans from someone in our residence hall and we're photocopying them today and we're going to put them in the mailbox. Since flight plans are supposed to come anytime this week I'm sure everyone will get excited...over the whole lot of nothing. =P

Yes...shimai are evil. ^_^

We don't do nearly as much as the elders do in their residence hall. Last night they built a fort (which I suppose is well within the rules and we could do too...but most of what the elders do usually isn't so within the rules as you can probably guess) But we shimai can have fun too!

Oh! Brittan has a baptism coming up on Saturday! They met this guy, Sato-san, Last monday, and the lessons went SO well they had him committed the following Sunday! I know this isn't Brittan's email but seeing as how I'm going to Japan in like 2 weeks its VERY exciting!

Speaking of leaving. No I haven't thought about packing. Do you think I HAVE that kind of time? There's a reason we get next p-day set aside for packing...which by the way means I won't be writing letters. But hey, in 2 weeks I'll get to call you! How cool will that be?! Are you excited? you better be. I think I'll probably call mom's phone and it could potentially be early in the morning so make sure you answer. I'll let you know more details when I can...I don't know exactly how calling home works yet.

I think that's all. All I can think of for now anyways. I'll look through my journal today and write anything I may have forgotten. I'm on page 100 in my journal already! whee!

Oh yes...and if anyone sees Dallin, tell him I say happy birthday. I know its late but what can you do when you can only write on P-day. I don't have his address anyhow and HE hasn't sent me a letter... (which is probably why I dont' have his address)

Well, that's that! I gotta go write to Clarissa now! WHEE!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!! *dances*

Oh wait...dancing isn't allowed in the MTC.

Love,
Halliday shimai