FIRST I APOLOGIZE FOR HOW OBNOXIOUS THE ALL-CAPS EMAIL IS ABOUT TO BE. IT TRULY IS UNINTENTIONAL BUT THIS KEYBOARD IS 1. REALLY, REALLY WEIRD BECAUSE IT IS JAPANESE AND 2. KINDA JUNKY AND DIFFICULT TO TYPE ON. ALSO, THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON IS STUCK.　BUT IN ALL HONESTY, EVEN IF IT WASN:T STUCK IT:D STILL BE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I:M FINALLY IN JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!! 

WE WOKE UP AT 1:30 AM ON MONDAY AND DROVE UP TO SALT　LAKE ON A BUS. MY TRAVEL GROUP- 6 OF 32- WAS CHOSEN TO MAKE AN EXTRA FLIGHT TO LOS ANGELES AND THEN TO SAN FRANCISCO　AND THEN OSAKA. (RATHER THAN STRAIGHT TO SLC TO SAN FRANCISCO). I GOT TO TALK TO A COUPLE OF REALLY AWESOME PEOPLE ON THE FLIGHTS, PASSED OUT SOME MORMON.ORG CARDS, AND HAD A WAY AWESOME GOSPEL CONVERSATION/TESTIMONY/ALMOST LESSON WITH A GUY ON MY FIRST FLIGHT. (AN ELDER IN MY GROUP SAID IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAPER THIS WAY, BUT I THINK THIS WAS REALLY THE REASON WHY WE HAD THAT EXTRA FLIGHT.)　でも、IT WAS SAD BECAUSE I WAS ONLY ABLE TO TALK TO MY FAMILY FOR A COUPLE MINUTES ON THE PHONE. WE LANDED IN JAPAN ON TUESDAY NIGHT (FOR OUR BODIES IT WAS SOMEWHERE AROUND 2 AM?) AND WERE WELCOMED BY OUR MISSION PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE WHO ARE SOME OF THE MOST WONDERFUL PEOPLE I:VE EVER MET. IT:S SO HUMID HERE!!! BUT IT FEELS LIKE HOME (:　THEY TOOK US BACK TO THE HOMEBU (MISSION HOME)  AND I PASSED OUT PRETTY QUICKLY ON THE BUS. I THINK THEY BORROWED THAT BUS FROM THE MUPPET MOVIE. 

WE STAYED AT THE MISSION HOME FOR A LOT OF TRAINING, GOT A REALLY GREAT COLD THAT CAUSED ME TO SOUND LIKE A PACK-SMOKER, HIKED A REALLY STEEP MOUNTAIN, ATE SUBTLE AMERICAN-JAPANESE FOOD, AND WERE FINALLY ASSIGNED OUR NEW AREAS AND TRAINERS I THINK THURSDAY? MAYBE FRIDAY? I AM SERVING IN THE KYOTO ZONE!!! IN THE FUSHIMI AREA AND BRANCH. OUR CITY IS THE OLD CAPITOL OF JAPAN AND INCLUDES TONS OF HISTORY. ALSO, MY COMPANION IS ALLRED 姉妹 AND SHE IS AN ANGEL SENT FROM HEAVEN. SHE WAS JUST CALLED AS THE SISTER TRAINING LEADER、AND I AM THE THIRD SISTER SHE:S TRAINED. SHE:S ONLY BEEN IN JAPAN FOR 5 MONTHS AND IS ONE OF THE HARDEST WORKING AND MOST OBEDIENT PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET. SHE IS WAY CUTE AND DIRECTIONALLY BLESSED (WHICH IS WONDERFUL BECAUSE I:D DEFINITELY BE LOST IN A HEARTBEAT)　I:M SO EXCITED TO WORK WITH HER. WE ARE WHITE-WASHING THE AREA SO WE:RE JUST TRYING TO FIND REFERRALS FROM MEMBERS AND WE:VE GONE STREETING A COUPLE OF TIMES. HAHA JAPAN IS SO FUN I LOVE IT. OF THE THREE ALPHABETS JAPAN HAS, WE LEARNED 2 OF THEM IN THE MTC. THE ONE WE DIDN:T LEARN IS ON 99.9}% OF THE SIGNS; ALTHOUGH SOME OF THEM HAVE ENGLISH WORDS BUT THEY:RE NOT ALWAYS SUPER ACCURATE. IT:S PRETTY FUNNY (:　WE TRAVEL EVERYWHERE BY BIKE WHICH HASN:T BEEN A PROBLEM AT ALL EXCEPT THAT KYOTO HAS A MOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR BOUNDARIES AND IT:S NOT MY FAVORITE THING TO TRAVEL THAT WAY。WE HAVE A WOMAN THAT WANTED TO MEET WITH THE MISSIONARIES ABOUT A MONTH AGO THAT LIVES ON THE TOP OF A HIGHER MOUNTAIN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BIKING MOUNTAIN WHICH IS ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY ON BIKE AND MY LEGS ARE BROKEN BUT IT:S OKAY BECAUSE HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES HER AND WANTS HER TO RETURN TO LIVE WITH HIM　SO WE:VE GOTTA GO TEACH HER. UNFORTUNATELY SHE WASN:T HOME WHEN WE VISITED SO WE:LL BE MAKING ANOTHER TRIP PROBABLY SOMETIME THIS WEEK UNLESS SHE CALLS AND CHOOSES TO MEET WITH US SOMEWHERE ELSE. ALSO, THE OVERLOOK FROM HER HOME WAS THE BEST LANDSCAPE IVE EVER SEEN IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE BUT I FORGOT MY CAMERA SO NEXT TIME I:LL TAKE A PICTURE. JAPAN IS SO BEAUTIFUL.

YESTERDAY WE WENT TO CHURCH AND MET A LOT MORE OF THE MEMBERS. WE JUST MOVED APARTMENTS SO WE MET A FEW WHEN THEY HELPED US MOVE OUR DESKS AND TABLE AND FRIDGE. AMONG THE 50 MEMBERS, WE HAVE ONE WHITE GUY AND A PERUVIAN. I THINK THEY BOTH SERVED MISSIONS IN JAPAN AND CAME BACK TO GET MARRIED. (THIS FOLLOWING PART WOULD BE IN ALL CAPS) THE WHITE GUY WAS BORN IN MICHIGAN!!!!!!!! IN MOUNT PLEASANT! I GUESS THAT:LL HAPPEN WHEN YOU FLY TO THE OTHER END OF THE WORLD. ALSO, ALLRED SHIMAI AND HAD TO STAND IN FRONT OF THE CONGREGATION AND　INTRODUCE OURSELVES WHICH WASN:T AS BAD AS I EXPECTED. AFTER THE SACRAMENT, THEY HAD A PRIMARY PROGRAM AND I ALMOST UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE LITTLE KIDS SAID! THERE ARE ONLY 7 KIDS BUT AN 11 YEAR-OLD PLAYED THE ORGAN AND A 9 YEAR-OLD CONDUCTED THE MUSIC. AND THEY CAN SPEAK THIS RIDICULOUS LANGUAGE. WELL DONE, CHILDREN. ONE LITTLE BOY HAS THE CUTEST RICE CHEEKS I:VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. I WANT TO KEEP HIM。A LOT OF THE MEMBERS THINK I:VE BEEN HERE FOREVER AND START MUMBLING TO ME IN JAPANESE. IT WAS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING TO ME AT FIRST HOW LITTLE I REALLY KNEW, BUT I KNOW A FEW THINGS!！BUT OUR MISSION PRESIDENT HAS A BOSS LANGUAGE PROGRAM AND WE:VE GOT THE LORD ON OUR SIDE SO I:M FEELING COMFORTED. WE WENT OVER TO A LESS-ACTIVE MEMBER:S HOUSE FOR A DINNER APPOINTMENT WITH BASICALLY HALF THE WARD LAST NIGHT AND ATE TONS OF FOOD. IT WAS SPRINKLED WITH DRIED FISH FLAKES AND TASTED A LITTLE FUNKY BUT I ATE IT. JAPANESE FOOD HAS BEEN SUPER DELICIOUS THOUGH! I WENT TO MY FIRST RAMENHOUSE THE OTHER DAY AND THE MAN NEXT TO ME DID THIS REALLY COOL THING WHERE HE CHOPSTICKED SOME BURNING HOT NOODLES INTO HIS MOUTH, AND AS HE SHOVELED MORE IN HE INHALED GUSTS OF COOLER AIR TO MEDIATE THE TEMPERATURE. I WAS IMPRESSED. AND SO WAS MY BELLY. IT WAS WAY GOOD. 

I HOPE YOU:RE ALL DOING WELL!!! I:M PRAYING FOR ALL OF YOU AND I HOPE YOU:RE ALL　元気 (HAPPY/HEALTHY). I:LL SEND SOME PICTURES (: I WISH YOU COULD ALL BE HERE. ONLY A FEW PEOPLE HAVE STROKED MY HAIR WHICH WASN:T TOO WEIRD. WHAT WAS WEIRD WAS WHEN A LADY IN RELIEF SOCIETY SAID MY EYELASHES WERE LONG AND THEN TOUCHED THEM. THERE:S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING. 

MATA NE! AISHITE IMASU YO! NIHON WA HONTO NI KIREI TO YASASHII DESU NE. THERE ISN:T A PLACE THAT I:D RATHER BE.

だにえるず　姉妹

I can send you a quick email and tell you that I made it to Kobe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOly macaroni I'm in love with this place. We woke up at 1:30 a.m., made it to the bus by 2:30, flew from Salt Lake to Los Angeles around 5? the rest of the times are way confusing because of the many time changes and crossing the date line, but we flew from L.A. to San Francisco to Osaka with super tiny layovers in between. Apparently everyone thought we weren't going to make the flight to Japan. The plane was HUGE!!!!!! i think it was 9 seats and 2 aisles across and like 13598135 rows. we landed in Osaka around "5 pm" (in Provo it'd be around midnight) and then we met up with the Zinkes and drove over to Kobe in a bus similar to the muppet's bus. it was probably an hour drive and once we got to the mission home they fed us some delicious food. Today we've had a ton of training and I just finished my interview with President Zinke. HE IS SUCH AN AWESOME GUY I LOVE HIM AND HIS WIFE SO MUCh　

愛していますよ！！私和元気ですよ

ダニエルズ姉妹

woooooooho! ONE MORE FULL DAY LEFT IN AMERICA! i don't have a ton of time so i really want to stress a couple of things: 

1. i'm excited to call you on monday and skype you in 6 weeeks!! (: also, i would like to send a shout-out to santa claus for the camera: it works super well and i love it and i won't even drop it ever

2. ari, violette shimai and i were released as sister training leaders last sunday and we sang a trio in sacrament meeting. The song was called the "Olive Tree" and was super gorgeous, not necessarily because of our singing, but because an elder from our district who has more talent than anyone i've ever seen, accompanied us. ALSO, last night, we went into a piano room and he went super crazy and composed a medley of Christmas songs and video game themes and millions of other things. i also discovered my 3rd favorite thing in the entire world: laying underneath a baby grand piano and absorbing the vibrations of a master pianist-- it was the one of the coolest feelings of my lifE

3. also, we had our last lessons with our investigators: all 5 of them. I basically cry every day now because it makes me super sad knowing that this will be the last time I'll be with some of these incredible people-- i've grown SO close to so many angels here and it'll be really hard to say goodbye. I probably should just carry tissues around with me everywhere. Classic. 

ahhhhhhh sorry, i stink at this. until next week!! happy thanksgiving!!!!!!! (:

meg

WE'VE GOTTEN DOWN TO SINGLE DIGITS! i leave the MTC in 9 days!!!! we finally got our travel plans! monday the 18th we report to the travel office at a ripe old 2:30 a.m. because our flight is at 6:00 from salt lake to san francisco. we have a 4 hour layover and then we leave straight for osaka!!!!!!!!! and we'll get there at 4:30 on the 19th hahaha. our travel group is HUGE. 32 of us are flying together and all going to kobe!!! AH THIS IS SO REAL! (: 

other items of business:

- we hosted again this week and a TON of nihonjin came!!!!! I got to practice my japanese on some real-life japanese people which was super exciting and they basically just laughed at me a lot but i don't even care because they are the cutest things i've ever seen in my entire life. and i could understand most of what they said so that was really reassuring that they're teaching me a real language here. hahah sometimes i wonder

- also, we had this AMAZING opportunity to help out the new missionaries this week! The very first day, all of the newbies are split up and sent to different rooms where they are joined by a volunteer. This volunteer is at his/her "house" and it's a simulation kinda thing where some missionaries come over to their house and give an example of how to begin teaching. Meaning they just get to know the person, figure out their needs so that they see how they can help them, and then evaluate how they can help this person come closer to Christ. Which is just a regular lesson. In this case, however, the group takes over after approximately 10 minutes of us teaching. But since this group is new, they sit in on what a lesson is like. Violette shimai, Grundvig shimai and I were chosen to be these missionaries that groups of new missionaries got to watch which was super exciting and also a little intimidating. But we just focused on the individual and beforehand we just prayed to be able to feel God's love for them and oh my word it was incredible. I felt overwhelmed with love for this person that I had never met and it's soo incredible to feel just a tiny portion of what my Father in Heaven DOES feel for me, and feels for every one of us. If you haven't felt it in a while, pray to feel it and then give Him a chance to shower us with His love. He loves us so much and wants us to feel it and I promise you He will. 

sorry this is so short. I love you all and am always praying for you! 

love

meg

That's it: we're officially dai senpai! a.k.a. we are officially the "oldest" group on MTC campus. I think this marks week 7?? All I know is that I leave for JAPAN in 16 days and that although my language level is far below ready, MY SOUL IS. I'm sososoos excited, especially after that email that Dad sent about the Japanese festivals and the nihongo men carting around delicious treats while they sing. I am ready. But mostly I'm excited to just go find real people to talk to and real people to invite to come unto Christ. The MTC has been such an amazing time for spiritual growth and I just want to go share with as many people as I can the joy and peace that I've found in Christ and help them to do the same. More about that later, though. Here are some wonderful things that happened this past week:

1. I SAW MITCHELL WORKING AT THE MTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he got a ground crew job on campus and after gym on monday (?) I saw a familiar ohio state sweatshirt blowing leaves. hahahhahahah Ari yelled, "IT'S HER BROTHER!" as I ran up and hugged him since the rules here are really firm about opposite gender physical contact--  Even with our branch presidency. So i hug them super tight in my mind. But, since Mitch is family, I gave him 3 hugs and talked to him for awhile about life and missionary work and I bore him my testimony in japanese. Tender mercies!!!!! hahah but sometimes i catch myself looking for him whenever we're outside. but i PROMISE that i'm staying focused! like 99.3%.

2. On Wednesday we got the new shipment of missionaries here at the MTC, and we received SIX new sisters in our branch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are two new districts in our branch and it's the best thing ever. i love them so dearly. We gave them a tour of campus on Wednesday night and apparently there is a second door to the laundry room that i never knew existed??? hahah i think i lost some credibility when they realized i've been here 7 weeks and i still don't know these things. i've decided it's my calling in life to be embarrassing to help people feel better about themselves. I ain't even mad.

3. Also, with the new shipment of missionaries, I got to host!!! I, along with a hundred other missionaries, stood at the curb side, took pictures for mom, assured mom that we have food and showers and laundry and email, lugged suitcases around, and showed the missionaries to their dorms and classrooms. It was way fun and I loooooove seeing the families dropping off their missionaries. It was wicked cold outside so we also got hot chocolate <3. hahahhaha AND THE BEST PART WAS THAT ONE FAMILY WAS WATCHING NACHO LIBRE SO I WAS ABLE TO KIND OF LISTEN TO IT WHEN I WAS WALKING BY A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahha we quote that a lot here. I didn't actually see anything, but it was the scene when Nacho gets lots of confidence and decides to go fight for the orphanage. <3 so inspiring.

4. On Halloween my doryos (companions) and i decided to dress up like star wars characters. our options were suuuuuper limited so i basically looked like i just wanted to wear all brown and put my hair half-up. Ah you all guessed it! I was Qui-gon ginn!! (forgive me for spelling that wrong.) Ari was anakin, and Violette shimai was princess leia. hahahah she had side buns and ari had a rat tail but other than that we just looked like brown and white crayons. BUT an elder in our district has- i am not making this up- JEDI CHOPSTICKS. AND THE BEST PART IS THAT THEY'RE BOTH RED AND THE ENDS ARE MAGNETIC SO IT LOOKS LIKE DARTH MAUL'S LIGHTSABER. It is clear we're all supposed to go to japan. i can't even say i'm embarrassed that i freaked out so much when i saw them. I tucked one in my belt (; but a couple people caught on! hhaha we changed around dinner to orange and black clothes. please send me pictures of the kids' costumes!!!!!

5. I am blessed to know some of the sweetest people in the world! Mom and Ferderber family: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGES!! (: it definitely made my LIFE. Ferderbers: you have a thank-you note on the way. Also, the Fegels sent me a super sweet letter and I also got my gloves in the mail! DAD THANKS SO MUCH THOSE ARE PERFECT AND I LOVE THEM. 

6. There was a super cool guy from the quorum of 70 who came and spoke to us (: he had the BEST portuguese accent and he was just the cutest thing I've ever seen. Also, i'm running out of time so i'll talk more about what he said next week because it was awesome. 

I'm sorry spencer that I stole back my OSU shorts. Also, i'm super proud of osu crushing purdue 56-0. I shed a tear. 

I hope everything is going well! I pray for you all a million times every day. Kono fukuin wa kanzen to shinjitsu kokoro kara da to akashi shimasu. Kamisama wa watashitachi no Ten no Otosama to Iesu Kirisuto wa mina san no Sukuinushi to Aganainushi da to shite imasu. Iesu Kirisuto ni shinjinasai. kare wa hoho o ten ni modoru to shite imasu. Iesu Kirisuto no mina ni yotte to akashi shimasu amen. 

have a great week!!!! (: