soooo....traveling was kind of stressful!! but we made it safe and sound. our plane from seattle to tokyo was delayed for an hour which made us miss the original flight from tokyo to fukuoka, but luckily when we arrived in tokyo, they had already rescheduled our flight to fukuoka and there was a nice japanese lady to guide us to customs on the other side of the airport. when we got there, there was a man frantically spewing japanese words trying to direct us but it was so confusing and a lot more stressful in japanese!! he stopped yelling after a while and we were able to figure out what we needed to do. we received residence cards so now i am officially a resident in japan!! after that we picked up our luggage and passed through customs which was easy enough. then we made our way to a bus to take us to our right terminal. at this point our group of 25 ish was split up and we weren't really sure if they knew where they needed to go, i was kind of worried they wouldn't find the gate. we got to the gate 7 minutes before we boarded the plane, and luckily the second group got to the gate right as we started boarding (i think that was a miracle!). All together we were traveling for just over 24 hours!
so
fast forward, we spent some time at the mission home, just wednesday,
then thursday we had breakfast and all went our separate ways to our
different areas. i had a 3 hour bus ride to....drum roll please....
Nagasaki!! my area is the southern most part of the nagasaki zone!! It
is so beautiful here!! It's the areas with all of the hills which hasn't
been too bad so far! so my trainer and some members picked me up from
the bus station drove us to the apartment with all of my suitcases. And
yeah, now I am officially a missionary in Japan!
My
Trainer is Klein Shimai, She's from California. She is super nice, and
has been really supportive and helpful.
We went to go order my bike, we
walked about 4 miles there hoping that we would be able to just have
them assemble it and give it to us right then. Unfortunately though,
they said the bike wont be ready until the 18th. So a member is going to
pick it up for me next saturday. Until then I've been using the Sisters
bike that was here before me. Thankfully everything has been working
out!
These past few days have been amazing!
There is one lady who has a baptismal date but she calls it a goal
instead of like it's actually going to happen. So we've taught her 2
lessons since I've been here and both have gone so well! We taught her
about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and about the Plan of Salvation. She
was so excited to learn that she can be with her family forever! Klein
Shimai says that this lady has changed so much since she first started
meeting with the missionaries. She has become more confident, less shy
and definitely happier! It's amazing how the gospel of Jesus Christ
really does change people's lives! Most of our extra time we use talking
to people on the street and knocking on apartment doors. Before my
mission, I thought that this was kind of odd, and I was nervous about
talking to random people about Jesus Christ. But after being out here
and really starting to share his gospel with everyone we see, I realized
that I shouldn't feel nervous about it. That is exactly why I am here! I
have been set apart by someone who holds the priesthood to teach people
about Jesus Christ. Because of that, it is so important for me to talk
to everyone so that I don't pass by the person who is ready and willing
to accept His gospel. Even if I talk to hundreds of people who aren't
interested, it will be worth it to find the one that is. It's worth it
because I know that Jesus Christ lives, and is our savior and loves us
no matter who we are or what we've done. And this knowledge has blessed
me immensely in my life and I want to share those blessings with
everyone!
I love it here, its absolutely wonderful, I love my cute little
apartment, my trainer, and my calling to be the lords servant right now! I am so excited to see the miracles of these next 16 months in Japan!!
Mail and packages go to the Mission home and then they send it to me. Here is my mailing address!
Mail and packages go to the Mission home and then they send it to me. Here is my mailing address!
Sister Sarah Anne Lowe
Japan Fukuoka Mission
9-16 Hirao-josuimachi,
Chuo-ku
Fukuoka-Shi, Fukuoka
810-0029 Japan
*Phone is only needed if sending packages: 81 92-525-8264
Love,
Lowe Shimai
On the train on the way to the Salt Lake City Airport we met a gentleman who served his mission in Japan almost 30 years ago! He took this picture and emailed it to my mom!
First meal in Japan!
Here are some pictures of my apartment and Trainer, Klein Shimai!! I
took them real quick this morning, I'll take some better ones of the
view when it's sunny.
There's not really a 'bathroom' so to speak, everything is separate. We don't use the tub, just the shower part, its like a shower room! Our 'bathroom sink' is just outside of the shower room.
This is where I sleep, the bedroom, followed by the view from the bedroom! This is my Futon, all folded up so that mold doesn't grow!
Very interesting living quarters. I have heard that space is really a premium in Japan; this is actually bigger than I thought it would be. The shower room is interesting, I would like to see how that works.
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