Monday, August 25, 2014

Transfer 8.5 Pictures

Not many pictures this week. People being force fed noodles. Especially Ellingson Shimai. Don't tell her I uploaded that picture. Also me and DELICIOUS TAIYAKI!








Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.5: Sign Language and Sickness

I can hardly believe that it is this time of the week again! Let me see what I can thrill you with this week. What adventures were had within the past 7 days...?

Last  Tuesday, we had the opportunity to visit a cute little old lady. Who happens to be deaf. Luckily, in the 3 wards that I have served in, there have been deaf people and people who translated the meetings for them into Shuwa, or Japanese sign language. I have been able to learn just a little bit, and I absolutely love it!! I am still not very good, but I can communicate well enough and I love what I learn. Sister Hasegawa was really sweet in working with us. We shared a picture with her and she bore such a sweet testimony about Christ and his love. I was really amazed! I look forward to getting to meet with her again. 

Later that evening, Sister Wright was having a really hard time breathing and we couldn't find her inhaler. We called Sister Wada and she suggested that we go to Tokyo to get her a new inhaler. Sudden Tokyo adventure! It was definitely an interesting ride. We ran into a man who walked up to us specifically and said "you are Mormon, right? That means your are nice and will give me 500 yen, right?" I was a bit confused, out of money, and in a hurry, so we weren't able to help him out. It was an odd situation. 

Right as we walked out of the station in Tokyo, we ran into some other Sister missionaries- super coincidence! Then we got a TAXI (my first taxi ride ever... Also, I apparently have a super secret talent for waving down and stopping the first taxi I see) and heading over and getting her a new inhaler. Yay for being able to breathe! 

The next few days involved meetings, reorganizing kids Eikaiwa, more meetings, and getting sick for the first time on my mission. Yaaaaay. Moral of the story, don't eat the ginger off of Sister Feist's plate when you know she is sick. Just don't do it. I had a sore throat, which turned into a dribble nose, which turned into a cough. Cough cough, it really isn't bad, I promise. Just a little bit of the sniffles, that's all. And I sound WAAAY nasally whenever I talk. 

I had the opportunity to go to a special meeting on Saturday. It was for district leaders and "influential sisters" aka sisters who are getting up in years. I am an old missionary, I know. OKAY I KNOW *cries forever* I still feel like a baby missionary but I guess that doesn't matter at this point. It was a great experience, and I got to see my friends like Elder Coggins and Elder adultery! .... Autocorrect. I'm not changing that one. I meant Elder Suiter. Which makes that funnier. Anyways. It was a good learning experience and I think I am growing more and more each day! I hope each of you can say that same. 

I think I'm going to go sleep for three years now, thank.

Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Monday, August 18, 2014

Transfer 8.4 Pictures

Isn't this all just so amazing?! I am loving every minute, even with the struggles! :)








Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures

Becky is the selfie queen. She knows how to get erebody in.







Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures

Isn't Japan beautiful? 







Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures


I think we are all pretty clever.






Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures


More group photos than you could ever imagine. Ever. 







Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures

Candid and not so candid.






Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures


Sister Wright and me, being super cute.





Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures


There were so...many....Buddhas....

SO MANY





Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures


Big Buddha! I went inside of that!






Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures

YELLOW WATERMELON

Yes, did you know this was a thing? I didn't til I came to Japan. Pretty tasty! 

Including Yamato missionaries (Clark, Wright, Fernilius, Donelli, Talintino, Otsuka, I can't spell any if these names....) and practically all of Yamato primary 😄







Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures


SHABUSHABU 🍴🍴







Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4 Pictures

Miracle day pictures!






Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.4: The Struggle is Real

This has been a week with incredible highs and incredible lows. 

Last Monday night, we had a really big miracle. The story starts a couple of weeks ago, when Sister Wright asked for a ladies number randomly when we had just started talking to her. I thought she was crazy, but the lady happily agreed and we exchanged numbers. I called her and she told me to call back on Monday when time was better. So I called her back. And the unexpected happened. I began by simply getting to know her and letting that conversation meld naturally into the gospel, I asked her about her spiritual life. As I did this, I found out amazing things. She wants to go to church, I asked her how much she knew about  Christ and she said not much. So I taught her so things and asked her if she wanted to learn more. She said yes. I asked her if it would be okay if we gave her number to missionaries who live closer, and with no reserve she said absolutely. I was amazed and extremely glad to be a part of that exchange.

Tuesday was much harder. We had a lesson with an investigators that the other sisters had given us and she let us know that she was no longer interested in learning about the gospel. She dropped us. So we went on, with resolve to do better, to give the world a Book of Mormon, and to teach all that we meet the gospel of  Christ! That didn't really end up happening. But I did catch a frog! It was cute! Later that night, we called some of the other people on our list, and ended up getting dropped.... Again. 

2 drops in one day. Pretty harsh. But we discovered that we certainly have a talent for having investigators drop us whole still being their friend! That was equally unexpected.

The next day, we had a zone blitz where the entire goal was to give away as many book of Mormons as you could. It lasted 3 hours. I gave out a big fat zero. Of that isn't a slap to the ego, than I dunno what is! And that wasn't it. We had another lesson that day, in which that investigator, one of whom we had had particular hope in, dropped us. On a good note. I don't like using that talent. Both Wright Shimai and I were crying during the closing prayer. 

I have been seriously struggling this week.

Thursday was painfully normal.

And then, Friday happened. And amazing things happened. It was like all of the sudden, the world wants to listen to us. We were looking for an Indian Curry restaurant and so we decided to ask someone waiting at the train station if she knew where it was. She said she did and that she was planning on going their with her friends if we wanted to go with. We did. We ended up giving them 2 copies of the Book of Mormon and answering the questions that they had, which were many. Never a dull moment. 

We then headed to a hospital to visit an investigator who just had a baby. On the train ride back, we started talking to one lady and the lady turned into her whole family which turned into all the people around them, intently listening to our simple explanations before accidentally getting off on the wrong stop. 

At the hospital, we arrived around the same time as her boyfriend did... And he ended up being incredibly interested in our message. He has wanted to come to church in the past and miraculously we had one Book of Mormon to give him before we left with a prayer. 

It was insane. We were having so many miracles that we were late in stopping by another investigators home. On our way their, we ran into ANOTHER person, a potential investigator, who was very happy to see us. What are the chances!

We were amazed that day. I am still amazed by that day. I can still hardly believe that all those things could happen in one day. 

Saturday was filled with trying to find people to give a blessing and eating shabushabu. Sunday was an interesting visit to a less-actives home with some members who were less than willing. 

Monday was today! And today we went to KAMAKURA! You might recognize some of the names who came with us. I will be posting a lot of pictures, haha :) here is all who came: Becky (our member tour guide), Sister Wright, Sister Ellingson, Sister Yoshida, Sister Handy, Sister Feist, Sister Jones, and Sister Bryson.

I hope you likes hearing the stories! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU PLEASE WRITE/EMAIL ME :D


Love you so very much!


Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Psalms 31:23-24

Monday, August 11, 2014

Transfer 8.3 Pictures

Sister Yoshida, Wright, and me! Getting packages and cooking meat!

Also, Sister Ellingson's testimony of super delicious cookies.





Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.3: Somersaults and a Late Night Snack

Looks like we are almost half way into the transfer. Isn't it incredibly how quickly these things go? Time is incredibly. I really like the way Hindus think. Yes, I know that was random, but Hinduism is pretty darn cool. 

I have had a few hilarious moments this past week that I'd like to share with you. Ohkay, maybe not thaaaat funny, but I guess we'll see what you think. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with an investigator that I reeeeally like and so I reeeeally hope things go well with her. I want to see her happy and baptized. I think she'd be a great member. She sees ghosts and stuff, so that is pretty cool. I want to tell her some of my moms ghost stories. 

On Friday, we had two things planned. The first one was a lesson with a less-active member who turned out not to be home and didn't answer the phone when we called. So that didn't happen. But we didn't even surrender! We went right on to what we had planned next, which was visiting an investigator that neither of us had met yet. We were just planning in dropping off a note from the sister who left, so we hadn't even considered planning a lesson. We were also a little apprehensive, because we were told that this lady's daughter, who were suppose to be teaching, is incredibly shy and refused to speak with anyone. 

We went to the house and met the mother and asked her when would be best for us to come back and teach. Unexpectedly, the mother said "well, we can't really plan anything, but we have 30 minutes right now, can you teach now?" What missionary would say no to that! So we pulled off a rather impromptu lesson (note: improv is harder in Japanese than in English) and taught a simple, but heartfelt lesson about charity. It was much better than expected! The daughter ended up not being shy whatsoever. She was very nice and asked lots of questions and listened very politely. They are taking care of their 98 year old grandfather and cannot set lesson appointments at the moment, but they said we were welcome to return. Lesson learned: always plan a lesson, just in case. 

On Saturday morning, wonderful Sister Ellingson discovered that I am unable to do somersaults or cartwheels, but have a desire to learn. She used to be a gymnastics teacher, so she was very excited to take on the task. I tried to warn her of my extreme inability, but she was really excited to see me accomplish it. So I tried. And with a little push, I tried to go over and then aborted, falling right onto my neck and heard some odd cracking sounds. Yeah.... That hurt. But I feel much better now! Sister Ellingson felt really bad. But don't worry, I got her back... In a completely accidentally way. 

OH BUT THAT DAY WE MADE THE MOST DELICIOUS COOKIES IN HISTORY THEY WERE WAAAAY GOOD Pictures to come.

So last night, I got up to use the restroom at about 2:30 am. I noted that someone else was in the restroom (the light was on) and I knew that if I waited right outside the door, I would scare the dickens out of whoever was in the bathroom, so I decided to go to a corner in the kitchen and wait for them to go back to bed before using the restroom myself. Little did I know, that Sister Ellingson always get a drink of water when she gets up in the middle of the night. So she walks into the kitchen and at this point, there is nothing I can do to stop her absolute terror. So I start screaming "GOMEN GOMEN GOMEN" (not saying or yelling, SCREAMING) just as she spots a weird figure looming in the corner and screams near bloody murder whilst flinging open the refrigerator. (GOMEN means sorry in Japanese)  I felt so. Very. Bad. I still feel bad. But we all laugh when we talk about it. I really didn't want to scare her, guys. I feel so bad! 

Today we had the opportunity to buy some clothes for a good price and send some mail. Another exciting week is ahead!

Please try not to terrify your roommates in the middle of the night, thanks. 

Love!!

Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Transfer 8.2 Pictures


Also, Sister Wright is a professional photographer. Fun fact.





Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2 Pictures


Still adorable.




Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2 Pictures

Way cute, でしょう!






Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2 Pictures


I may have the clumsiest companion in the history of ever, but we sure are cute together!!




Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2 Pictures

Sister Maloy bought me the FLUFFIEST PILLOW IN THE HISTORY OF EVER and Chiuhua painted this BEAUTIFUL watercolor of me. Soooo impressed!!





Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2 Pictures

I am cool because my name was on the board thing.
Also, I made a caterpillar friend. 






Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2 Pictures

Sushi with some of my favorite people and Maloy Shimai getting so much tuna. 








Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹

Transfer 8.2: There's a Wright Way to Live

Hello!

I think some of you already know this, but this last week has been absolutely crazy! On Monday, I found out that I would be moving from Fuchu to Yamto. And this I discovered that transferring is one of the hardest things.

After the announcement, we went bowling with a couple of our friends. We were all really sad. But we had a great time! I totally got second once. Chiuhua beat us all. Both rounds. And then we took SO MUCH POOTYCOODA. I can't even explain. 

I spent a lot of time packing and crying and packing and crying. I really spent a lot of effort in Fuchu. I had a lot of friends. They told me a made a difference. How nice of them. I don't know if I really have felt like I made a difference. But so many people wrote so many nice notes and letters, thanking me a wishing me luck. I cried with them, and hugged them and really prayed for them. I love the people in Fuchu. I love them so much. Ridiculous amount of love. 

But it was hard. It was so hard to leave. I knew it was going to be hard and it was. Cried on the train as it left Fuchu. Lots of Japanese people staring at the weird crying girl by herself on the train. It was pretty dramatic. My life is basically a movie.

But now I am here with Sister Wright in Yamato, and she is absolutely darling. She is transfer 2 and superbly adorable. She is such a hard worker. 

I think adjusting has been the hardest. Getting used to new names and new people. I live with Sister  Yoshida from Mexico and Sister Ellingson from Alaska. The church is HUGE and beautiful. 

We went to the temple today and it has been really hot and sweaty. Pictures to come, I promise! Not much else to say that I can think of. We walked for 3 hours, haha, by accident. Whoops. I can't judge time by map. That is one thing I learned this week. 

Love you all! I bet next weeks update will be better! I'm feeling a bit scatter brained right now. Keep loving everyone and being wonderful! :)

Sister Teagan Clark
クラーク姉妹