10 February 2014 Chiba, Japan
Hello from freezing-cold-covered-in-snow Chiba!
Saturday morning we wake up to a pretty hard snow fall! It just keeps snowing and snowing...and snowing. By Sunday I think we had gotten around 8 inches!!! Church was canceled and the trains weren't running so after studying all morning we went around and shoveled driveways and got people unstranded. I really hate snow but As much as I don't like it I am so, so grateful for the dendÅ (ed note: service) opportunities it has presented.
I wish I could've gone around and videoed what people were using to shovel snow. Chiba doesn't get snow so they were totally unprepared! As we walked around we saw dust pans, garden trowels, hoes and dirt shovels being used. We used dirt shovels too. Sister Halverson and I had a rough time using them. Little people have little things. Their shovels came to our hips! There was a lot of extra bending being done. But it was totally worth it! The Nihonjin couldn't believe we just wanted to help!
This morning we got another opportunity to help. As we were eating breakfast we heard a car lose control. He was going backwards instead of forwards and we could hear the tires being run bare as he tried to move. We decided to go help him. Well sister Halverson and I did. Our companions followed later. So we go out and push him out of the road. It was soooo hard! The road was completely covered in ice! We had no traction and our feet would slip every time we tried to push. I said a little prayer in my head that we needed help and immediately the car began to move! We got the guy safely turned around and he headed back home. I think he decided wherever he was going wasn't worth going to today. He was also wearing sandals and socks. Not really dressed for the weather...
This week we taught a mini lesson on someone's door step. A San had three kids and still looked like she could be in high school! Nihonjin women do not age. They can have 5 kids and still look like they are in their 20's. And then...I think they wake up one day and are old. But not until they hit 60 or 70. Anyways, A San had the cutest kids! I played with them and tried to keep them from distracting their mother while sister Orton taught. We invited her to church and asked if we could meet again. She said she was really busy and sister Orton was just gonna take that as the answer when I said " tell her we can meet her in the park one day!" I had no idea what was going on in the conversation ( they don't teach you " no thank you" nihongo in the MTC) but the thought popped into my head to say that so I did! Turns out it was the perfect thing to say.
We also got to teach a lesson in English to a less active member over in Goi. That was great. It was sooo nice to finally be teaching again. The spirit was really strong in the lesson and Roselly asked when we could come back! We were going to go Sunday night but because of the snow we couldn't. We rescheduled for Thursday. I cannot wait!
So every week we teach Eikaiwa (ed note: English class) on Thursday. And every other Friday we teach a second class in Goi. So this last Friday it was our turn to go. The theme of the day was friends. Two of the words were girl friend and boyfriend. Well later on during class we split into groups and one of my group members was an old man. The other an old woman- or as they like to refer to themselves: obasans or grandmas! So we were practicing sentences "it seems like..." And it " looks like..." They made sentences for me. My two favorites were " it sounds like your voice is like an angel" and "you look like a movie star." Of course I loved it.
So, after we were all sentenced out the old man starts asking me about the lesson earlier and what a girl friend and boy friend were considered in America. Boy was that an exciting conversation! I couldn't believe some of the things he said! My eyes were huge! All I could do was laugh. My favorite question of his had to be "when is you a lover?" Hahaha it was a great conversation.
Well, that is all for this week. Keep your fingers crossed for all the poor Nihonjin who have never driven in snow before...they need all the help they can get! They don't understand the concept of driving slowly in snow and on icy roads...we keep watching them go sliding off the road. We have a prime spot to watch from the apartment!
I love you all!
Sister Molinari
