I don:t have very much time to email because my companion and i have to run some more errands but i:ll include some fun highlights (:

actually, first things first:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahha i sent you a birthday card last week and if the rumor is true you should get it exactly on your birthday. apparently it takes 10 days for letters to get to america, and for letters to come from america to japan (: 

it:s probably the best card i:ve ever sent in my life: Japan has the best stationary in the world!!!

hahah so yesterday we had some really interesting japanese food. we had FHE at a less active member`s house and we got to share a message (: we broke down the purpose of our life on earth. our goal is to return to live with Heavenly Father, the thing that is stopping us is sin. The solution is Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The way we utilize the sacrifice of Christ is through faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We then focused a little bit on enduring to the end and had a little discussion. It went really well and the Spirit was really strong. However; we had the most interesting meal ever. (and by ever i mean so far hahah). haha we cracked raw eggs into our bowls, and then put some beef, clam, huge chunks of tofu, vegetables, really interesting looking mushrooms, and some other japanesey foods into our bowl to soak in the raw egg and then you just kinda eat it. straight from the bowl. hahahha i love these people way too much so i ate it but i felt suuper sick. maybe it was a psychological thing? they do it a lot in Japan. hahah straight after our appointment we biked up a mountain to get to an investigator:s house, which was a struggle and my comp and i had to stop a few times because the goopy egg was slightly unsettling. hahah thank goodness we ate tons of rice! hahah 

also, another investigator gave us the most adorable hello kitty-in-a-kimono keychain and i have accepted the fact that i:m obsessed. also, since we:re white lots of people will just give us christmas presents on the street. a little old lady came up to us and handed us clementines- called mikans- and said ~gambatte yo-- good luck~ hahah 

i have to go but i love you all and i:m so grateful for all of you! you:re all always in my prayers. i:ll try to attach some pictures on here, but sometimes it:s a struggle. 

ALSO about christmas!! we don:t skype in this mission. we don:t actually have computers with cameras, which you:d think we would? also, you (family) need to call me because i can:t call you. those are the only details i know but i:m sure i:ll figure out more this week. (: i:m excited to talk to all of you!!!!!!!!!!

ai shite imasu yo! 

daniels 姉妹

one picture is of scheffler shimai and i when people gave us/bought us gifts. we were on kokans- exchanges. she rocks. also, i now want to do a study abroad in africa after my mission

and this is a picture of your typical vending machines on the street corners. one is for cigarettes, and the other has cold AND warm drinks. the hot cocoa is SO GOOD

we also went to shimogamo for zone training meeting and i took a picture of the housetops. as you can tell, there isnt much grass here