Yucky Taco and Japanese Living

To answer your question, yes, I am in the city and there is no such thing as personal space. I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life. We took the train to district meeting and I was squished inside the train, luckily I am tall enough that I have about a foot of breathing room. Oh yeah, I am huge here. I had no idea I would be so tall. My companion is a little shorter than Josh and it`s so fun to follow him up the stairs to people`s door because you will see the person`s eyes get all big and they will always say, "Wow, honto ne se ga takai" which means he is really tall. I always appreciate that.

 

Here are a few pictures. The one of the toilet is the toilet in our apartment. It has a sink at the top that you can wash your hands in as it fills up the tank. So every time you flush the toilet there is water coming out. But that`s not even the weirdest of the toilets, there are some that have at least 30 buttons that you can push and these are usually found in gas stations. I always have fun with them because they have a button that makes a flushing noise so nobody outside can hear what’s going on in the bathroom they just hear the flushing. There are also seat warmers and yes, these toilets do have the little squirt gun that will spray clean your backside. I haven`t used it yet but one day I will try. 

That picture of the 8 balls, is a plate of octopus, called tacoyaki, for "yucky taco".  That`s not what it actually means, but I can't help but think about it that way. I was only able to get through 3 before I started to gag. The nasty part was that the suction cups were still on them and so were the veins. They just cover it up with a bread coating so you can`t see the nastiness. Nevertheless, I did try and I am glad I did. 

Futons are extremely comfortable and we have a special floor that is really soft so sleeping is very easy, not only because I am tired but also because it is very comfortable. 

Today is p-day and we are going to go to Fushimi Inari, it is a famous place that has many of those cool Japanese arches and I will take a tons of pictures for everyone. It`s raining really hard so we are wearing our rain suits,  but because of the humidity we are still wet, because we sweat so much. Here is a picture of me by my bike in front of the church sign. Speaking of church, church here is awesome but it is a little different. First is priesthood, then sunday school, and finally sacrament meeting. I don`t understand very much of what is being said because they talk so fast and write everything in Kanji but I am trying really hard and do my best and can always feel the Spirit. I love the members, they take care of the missionaries and I feel like they are my family, I feel like I am growing up here in Japan. They always leave us with food, and that is such a blessing, I can`t get my hands on enough food here, I am eating so much, but we are also working so hard. As a mission we have a goal for every area to have a baptism by August 31st and as a zone we fasted yesterday, and I can honestly say that I have never had a more humbling and spiritual experience fasting. I was fasting for the welfare of people`s souls not for the goal, but for these people to be able to understand that they will be able to live forever through Jesus Christ. I have been so blessed with such a sacred calling and sometimes it`s hard when there is an entire day where nobody wants to hear our message but we know that Heavenly Father has prepared a few people out there that are ready at this time for us to come to their door and introduce them to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well I need to start closing my letter now. Oh, my favorite parts of my day are when the shinkanzen (bullet train) drives by. It's so fast and quiet all you hear is it cutting through the air and it's a quiet peaceful sound.