June/July 2013

July 14, 2013

Everything is going here. ha There's not much cause we do the same things everyday. But we have some awesome people and hopefully have a baptism next week! Okay love you!!! Also, family, I prayed a LOT that you wouldn't move, so you can thank me. haha But really, don't move. Okay love youuu! So.yeah. I'll send some pictures.

 

We do sports day every Saturday and we find tons of people who
want to join and lots of investigators and other missionaries come. Its super fun!!

 



 Me and Bishop Uchida. His family is the BEST!
Greg (Olsen) signed that picture to the Urawa ward. We had to take a picture.

 

4th of July. We made burgers!!

 




 

 

July 7, 2013

 

Hello Mom! So... I don't have time to write you today... or tomorrow... so maybe I will on Wednesday.  To answer your questions... I definitely know how to slurp noodles better. Its not only about the slurping. You always have to use the chopsticks to scoop it while you slurp. I watched my companion very intently. That's a bummer about the hot weather but I bet our weather tops yours. Its like 95 degrees but SO HUMID! Really like nothing I've ever felt. Maybe hotter than that day in DC a few summers ago. Way more humid than that. You don't even have to go outside to be sticky. I am alwayyyys sticky and once you go outside you are instantly dripping sweat from every pore. It's really fun haha. Plus we ride bikes in it at mid day. I'm determined not to burn so I've been lathering up in sunscreen. I probably sweat it off quick though.

Okay, so you cannot move. Its my number one cause of anxiety... not coming home to our home. Really. I didn't write about it last week because I forgot so I was so worried all week you would just get up and move without knowing that I need our house. :) really. .... That's fun for Alex though. I almost don't approve because I'm a die hard Timpview fan but I guess if he really wants to go to Orem then I approve.

 

The Watanabes brought me a huge package last week!! So awesome! Tons of food and treats. tell Kiyoshi to thank them if he gets the chance. They are not in my mission anymore so I'll only see them if they come here. Which he did. He came to my church building and gave me the huge package. so nice. Anyways, I am out of time. Hopefully I will be able to email this week... We have training at the honbu (mission home) and I'm so excited to see my doki (people in my MTC district) half of them went to the south mission though... sad. Okay I have to go! Love you!!!

 

Love, your favorite daughter :)

 

July 1, 2013

 

Helllo everyonee! Sorry that I'm a day late. Don't worry I'm fine here! haha  I can only think of one good story this week. We had level checks at English Class this week and one of the students said that she came to the church for eikaiwa (English Lessons) to learn about the bible and was sad we don't do that. So! Obviously I was excited to tell her that we would teach her personal lessons about the bible in English. So we met with her yesterday and she is amazing! She was going off about all the bible stories she loves and how much she trusts God and how money and worldly things don't matter and how she can't do anything without God. It was awesome! So we taught her about the restoration and she was so excited about the Book of Mormon and about Prophets. She said she got baptized when she was little so she didn't want to get baptized again. (bummer) so yeah we're hopefully gonna work with her on that! I'm so excited about her! She's so cute! Her name is L*** and she is Chinese. She's almost fluent in Japanese and English though. So yeah the rest of the week was full of long bike rides, lessons where I had no clue what's going on, Japanese food, and church. haha Just your regular mission in Japan.

 

Thanks for the updates Mom! Will you say "HI" to grandma and grandpa Davis and grandma Biggs? Thanks. I miss you! Have a good 4th of July without me. I'm kinda upset I'm missing it. ha Send me good vibes. Okay I'm sorry that's all, have a good week!! Love you all!

June 23, 2013

Hello everyone! One transfer down! I'm staying here with the same companion. and its official, I'm in the Tokyo Mission(North)! The mission splits today so the Tokyo South mission is officially in business.  We had Temple pday and it was awesomeee!! I got to see all of my MTC district! I love them. This week we got in touch with two old investigators and they both commited to baptism! It was awesome! We have a few strange investigators though.. hah they have some weird beliefs but they're super open to the church and come all the time and stuff so thats good. We just need to set some things straight for them... hah This week we went to an Italian restuarant and it was 99% Japanese. haha All of the pizzas and pastas were like fishy and weird. sea weed, fish eggs, some pizza had Japanese noodles.. I dont even know. There was one Margarita pizza. That's the 1% Italian. haha I was so excited and then it totally let me down. We also went to Denny's this week and that was also a fail. TOTALLY different from our Denny's! Everything on the menu was just your avereage Japanese meals. They had one order of pancakes. and it came with carmel and no syrup. haha It was funny when I opened the menu expecting pancakes and hashbrowns and they only had things like ramen, katsudon, and fish. Yesterday we went to the hospital to visit an investigator who got surgery. Her name is L*** and she is from Nigeria so she speaks English but it turned out to be a 40 minutes bike ride. We had no idea. When we left, it started raining and 2 minutes into our ride home it was absolutely pouring! It was so fun! I was so soaked. I was just laughing and waving at people and they were all laughing it was funny. This morning we watched a broadcast that was from the Marriott Center. You all probably heard about it. All of the MTC got to go! Not fair. But I saw Blayke Piggot in the choir!! I was so excited to see her! hah But yeah thats pretty much the news this week. Language is coming slowly.. but Im understanding more which is good. I love you all!! Have a good week!
 

Tokyo Skytree Pday with our investigator M***. She's my best friend here. She's fluent in English.

 

 

 

Three pictures in June

Mmm...good food

More good food...

Three Letters in June

June 17, 2013

 

Hello! This week has been good! a few key points I want to share. This story is good and if you don't feel like reading this email, you probably should.. haha

Friday: We had a super awesome Zone meeting and we were on our way home and I'm just riding my bike all happy in my rain coat and skirt and helmet with my umbrella hanging from the handlebars of my bike. (I look just look totally stupid. haha) So I make a right turn onto our street when my umbrella swings in between the spokes of my tire..... You can probably guess what happens next.. haha so out of no where my bike comes to a pretty quick halt and i fly forward only to find myself laying on the road yelling "girl down! girl down!" so that my companion stops riding her bike ahead. haha I just laid there and laughed while these two girls who saw the whole thing came over and were all worried. I was like no its fine! I'm fine! haha I was so embarrassed. I'm fine though. I just got a few scratches on my legs. none that bled. It was pretty funny. so yeah. bike crash #1. no one ride with a long umbrella on their bikes!

Other story: on Tuesday we were riding the train and we talked to this girl named M***. I was so hot so I was fanning myself with a pamphlet and she wanted to see it. So then she opened up and started talking about God and she wanted to know all about our church. She told us that she knew God was going to give her something soon and that she thought this was it. So we made an appointment with her and on Friday we taught her a ton and answered her questions. When I say we I mean my companion and my two sentences.. hah But she came to church yesterday and She is coming back next week and we're meeting again this week as well! She loves it and I'm so excited for her! We have a few other awesome investigators that are definitely on their way to baptism!

 

My first transfer ends in a week! I'm kinda scared. There are a few 2nd transfer girls who were training this transfer. Scary. A*** is training an American! How scary! They both don't know Japanese. Except A*** is probably awesome so it doesn't matter. haha Okay that's all.. LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for your love and support!!!

Love, Sister Davis 

June 10, 2013

Hello!! This week was so good! at the first of the week we went to IKEA! I loved it. I layed on a bed for a good 5 minutes pretending my futon was as comfy. We went with our investigator. on the way home she decided she would finally decide a date for her baptism. She has been taught every lesson and every commandment and comes to church everyweek. along with every other church activity. I may or may not have fallen asleep on the car ride because I dont understand anything yet so Im not 100% percent sure what was holding her back from baptism. but i was awake for the rest! haha I also went on splits this week to Kiryu. I went with Sister L*** (my MTC comp) and her companion Sister W*** (Shields cousin). It was super awesome. It was good to be with two Americans. hah but it was cool because I could really tell how much I've learned when I went there. The work is a lot slower out there because its country side. I just wanted to go go go! But we did area book dendo which is looking up old investigators and the first one i picked we called and got an appointment with him! Well I got an appointment for the other sisters... ha But it was cool. As missionaries we really do have power from God even when we dont realize it. Friday we had a zone conference. Elder Ringwood came. Hes in the 70 and over some of the asia missions (IM IN ASIA?!) He was amazing! It was so good. I got to see some of my MTC Doki too! I loved it! He helped set a good picture of the missionary I want to be so that was good. After that we went to this BBQ and it was classic. It was this work BBQ and we went with two elders and just made friends with literally EVERYONE there. We handed out so many eikaiwa (English Class) flyers and taught some lessons. It was awesome. This lady asked us to come because we are american and BBQ's are american. haha it was all work people and us 4 missionaries. It was fun.  Today we went to Tokyo Skytree. (mom and dad we will go when you come) It was fun! Lots of shops and eating crepes (the best part) its fun. I love sight seeing on pday. lastly, we have these fliers for FHE with the E*** family on it. hahah what?! I flipped. Do they know? haha I thought it was so funny. I still laugh every time i see it. Its their christmas card picture that A*** took. classic. okay I have no time today so sorry but thats all! I love you all!!! Have a good week!

Love, デーベス姉妹

 

June 3, 2013

 

Im half way done with my first transfer! Crazy how fast it goes. This week was good! nothing too crazy happened. My birthday was awesome! All day I was like "okay birthdays suck out here but it's fine, I knew it would." Then we had english class that night and my companion called some church members and our investigators and they brought cake and food and we had a little birthday party. it was so nice!! I loved it. The member here are awesome! and I LOVE our investigators! I LIVE IN JAPAN! seriously its so weird. It just hits me sometimes. Sometimes I zone out when my comp is talking to people cause I have no idea whats going on and I just listen to the conversation and think, "how in the world do they know what each other are saying? that is straight jibberish" haha really its so weird. the longer i listen the weirder it sounds. Sometimes I think people are translating to english in their head and then I remember that that language is what they hear and know. ha I dont know my mind thinks too hard about it but it always makes me laugh. A member took me and my companion to this place called Sweets Paradise. It is a dessert buffet. Never. Again. actually i totally could again but i was so full after. haha we went out to eat a lot this week. People love to meet us by going out to lunch and dinner. Food Dendo we call it. Dendo means missionary work. Okay. Everyone LOVES anime. what? like its super normal here. We talk to some of the cutest most normal looking girls and then my comp asks about anime comics and they just go off talking about the ones they love and stuff. it always weirds me out. I dont get it. haha My comp is always telling me I have to read them when I get home. haha no thank you. its funny. Things are good though. Our area is setting some records in our mission the last few weeks! Its awesome! My zone and district are the best!! Its always nice to see American people too.. haha The Elders probably keep me sane. okay thats all. LOVE YOU ALL! have a good week! until next time,

デービス姉妹

 

愛していますよ！

Amy's Birthday

Happy 20th Birthday!

On Amy's birthday I (Amy's Mom) received an email with this picture attached.  The email said:

Spent the day with your beautiful daughter! Hope this finds you doing well.

Sincerely,

Random stranger in Japan
It was definitely a "tender mercy" for me.

May 26, 2013

Hello! I'm on early because we're going to Kamurakura to go sight seeing for pday!

This week was awesome! sooo many miracles! My favorite one was this woman named Y***. Her mom is a member but she always denies any missionaries that try and teach her. We went over and just chatted and made friends with her. We started to teach the plan of salvation and she started talking about how its not fair that everyone cant go to the Celestial Kingdom. We kinda started panicking (she's really sensitive and has depression issues) So then I said, no one is perfect and that's why we need Jesus Christ to get there. She all of a sudden opened up which is supposedly really rare- said by other missionaries- and then she went off about how she just wants to be happy and that she hates being sick and that she only gets one hour of sleep every night. We talked about how the gospel will bring her real happiness. She kinda wasn't having it saying that God should've made her happy already if He wants her to be happy. I gave her challenge. I said if you read your Book of Mormon everyday and pray for help everyday, you will notice a slow change and will become more happy. Then she said she would and we left shortly after. The next morning she called and said she got 2 1/2 hours of sleep. She was happy with that. YES! I was so excited! We meet with her again this week so hopefully it goes well. In other news here are some side notes,

Everyone always asks me, "Isn't Davis a boy name?" everyday! ha they don't get it. But it gives me laugh and then I tell them its my last name. So many people speak a tinsy bit of English and they're always trying to talk to me. Its kinda rough sometimes because I cannot understand half of them.. ha Everyone always tells me I look like someone famous and majority of the time they say Anne Hathaway. Haven't gotten that one in a while. But someone also said Denise Richards. Not sure who that is. But tons of people tell me everyday that I look like an actress. probably because I'm the only white person they've ever seen. ha really though some younger people have never seen a white person until they meet me. kinda weird. Oh also there is this little family that i LOVE! Its a mom- T***, her daughter- C*** who is 8, and son- T*** who is 4. Her husband and older son never come to appointments. But I love them! T*** reminds me of C*** (Amy's nephew) so much! So cute. But they love us! ha they call us like everyday and love to play with us. T*** is super funny and it's the worst cause I can't understand her... ha but I think we have a funny relationship because of it. She's always saying Davischaaan! in her accent. ha chan is what you call kids so its funny. but yeah.. all the other investigators are AWESOME! And I already invited like 80 people to come and stay with us in America so you cant move yet.. :) thanks!  

Okay answers to your questions:

 

ESL? English Class? only Wednesday. We only do house tracting like once or twice a week. Usually we just street contact. We teach a lot of lessons though so some days we don't even tract at all. My companion makes Japanese food a lot. But I only eat it sometimes cause when I threw up, I threw up Japanese food and now its like... ehhh. But only the type I ate that day. Some of it I love! But usually I just make my own food. speaking of food, will you send me some recipes? like no bake cookies and chocolate chip cookies? thank you! We ride the train half of the time and bikes half of the time. Its nice. Yesterday we did a lot of walking and my feet killed. I'm glad we have other means of transportation. ha I'm still not so used to riding my bike in a skirt. it gets caught in the wheel sometimes. Its super frustrating because then I have a big black mark on my skirt.. okay that's all!  

Have a good week! Miss you all! LOVE YOU!

 

May 19, 2013:

Helllllo! I made it through my first week of Transfer one! fewf.. This week was awesome but super long. I'll start with Wednesday. We went to meet with a lady named Homma but it was kinda far so we got on the train and while we were on the train we met this girl, Kurumi, and we taught her all of lesson one! It was super awesome. Then we met up with Homma. She was this cute old lady who we found in the area book. We sat down at this cafe and she pulls out the Buddhist bible and starts trying to convert us. haha It was so awkward and so funny. We talked for like an hour and she wouldn't hear what we had to say about our church so we had to leave it at that. She was seriously BEGGING me to join because I was American. Its funny here because I am one of the only white people in this area so everyone stares me. At least I hope its because I'm white and not because I have to wear a helmet. haha Okay so that was funny and then the rest of the day was awesome. We got like 5 phone numbers and made an appointment. AWESOME! Later that night we taught eikaiwa (English class) it's every Wednesday. So I'm teaching the advanced class and that day I had eaten a LOT of treats... ha also I was getting a really bad migraine...so I'm teaching and half way through I just said "okay talk to each other in English I'll be right back" and I went and threw up. haha It was kinda funny and I got to go to bed at 830 which was great. But the rest of the week has been good! The language barrier is probably the worst because I just want to share everything with these people and I can only say the simplest of lines. Luckily, my companion can translate pretty well for me so I know what's going on. Okay, on Saturday we were fishing with an investigator just on the edge of a little lake and all of a sudden I start swaying and I thought I was imagining it but then I look over and everything is swaying. I like shouted to my companion "is this an earthquake?!?!" I was so excited. It was my first earthquake ever! It was small and so awesome.  I loved it. Okay I think that's about it. I love teaching and talking to randoms on the street. Oh, its awesome because I'm the only foreigner so I can pretty much do what ever I want. Going up and talking to people in Tokyo is not very common so being the only foreigner makes it easier. I just start talking in English and they get excited to try and speak it back. Its fun ha okay. That is it. I LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for the support! Keep up the good work at home! Aishite imasu!!!!
Love Amy

PS my birthday is in a week and a half and that's how long it takes a letter to get here sooo.... Just if you feel like you want me to have a good 20th, go ahead and send a letter this way. 

May 14, 2013: This letter was pretty short because we had already Skyped that morning (Monday night our time) It was a late Mother's Day call but so great.  She gave us a Skype-tour of her cute little apartment (she has a washing machine and a laptop-spoiled!) and we "met" her darling companion.

Hello hello hello! or should I say Konichiwa? Everything is fantastic! I spent the first few days here on splits with some sisters in Shibuya! The heart of Tokyo. Sooo fun! I loved it there! Now I am with my companion Kuwahara Shimai in Urawa! Which I also love! She is Japanese but pretty fluent in English so she helps me a lot. I really love her! Not too much is going on cause things have been crazy from getting to Japan earlier than we were supposed to. I don't know why they sent us early.. But I love it here!! So I'm happy about that. haha I haven't had any crazy food or anything yet. We had P-day and it was super busy and I bought a bike! That was stressful since I don't know anything about bikes.. ha. But after p-day we went and taught two lessons. It made me in such a better mood than I was in! It was awesome. It surprised me how instantly I was happy after starting to talk to Yurina. I don't have like any time though so I will write next week! LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for the emails and sorry I don't have time to separately answer each! 愛しています！！ 

May 8, 2013 Amy got to call from the San Fran Airport during her layover. She arrived in Tokyo late on Thursday, May 9, 2013!!

With President and Sister Budge and her companion Sister K

May 4, 2013:

Today is my last P-day here!! WOOO! 4 days and I cant WAIT!　日本に行きます!!!! I cant wait! It'll be so fun and Dad is so right. Going somewhere awesome really adds to the adventure. Japan here we come!! Yesterday we had "In-field orientation" It was all day but it was good. I actually really enjoyed it. Dad, can we pleeeease go to Italy for a few months after I get home? Every time I hear of someone going to Italy my heart breaks. I want to go sooo bad. Lets see... The language is kinda  coming. I feel like I've learned a lot but at this point I just need to start talking more and listening more. aka send me to Japan!! I just can't stop thinking about wanting to get there already!! Luckily I have Sunday tomorrow which is usually a chill day that always flies. Then we have classes and everything on Monday but Tuesday we have half the day to pack. I'm really nervous about my bags being too heavy. I don't know what I would send home! I'm super over the MTC food that's for sure. I cant wait to eat Japanese food. Oh, yesterday we had to go to the doctor for my companion and it was at JAMESTOWN! We drove right passed the opening for our neighborhood. I was dying. I'm ready to leave here and just get going on the mish...um.... I don't know what else.. things are super awesome. I loved my MTC experience and I'm happy I made it through. I have grown soooo much. So thank you all for your support. I LOVE YOU! 愛しています！！

Hello!!
Everything here at the MTC is going well! This last week was really good! We have this investigator- who is really our teacher, T*** Sensei. Well we went in to teach him on Friday and he was so happy! (he's always happy, ask M***) But he was extra happy and he just made me SO happy! And that's when I realized I am SO excited to get to Japan!! I want to bring them that happiness!! I cant wait! I have no idea when I'm leaving to Japan. My branch president says that 5 of us are leaving early in our district. But we keep hearing all kinds of stuff so who knows. Last Tuesday night Elder Scott came and spoke to us. It was amaaaazing! I loved it. We have devotionals every Tuesday and Sunday. I know exactly why they do it. Every single devotional feels like its just for me. Its always a reminder that what I'm doing is right and I'm totally getting stronger before I get out to the field. I feel like I've learned so much here and I'm so happy I'm here. My testimony is so much stronger!! I love it. Thanks for your support every one! Love you!! Thanks Mary Ann for the peanut butter bars! Also thanks to Lynette's and LeAnn's families for the letters! Keep 'em coming! I need it!
Mom, I liked what you said to the Pres. Hopefully he doesn't think I'm too talented..;) haha  Okay, for the airport- because that is sneaking up on me- you can get a cheap pay as you go phone and then I can talk to you longer or something..? I don't know you should look into that. Ann did that for Ellie so you should ask her about it. Okay I love you! Thanks for the letters!

Love, Your favorite missionary!