Sorry This is Late‏.

Dearest Kazoku, 

This week has been a crazy one. So much and so little has happened at the same time. 

On Tuesday night we got our transfer calls. We weren't sure what to expect, and it turned out that Cox Shimai was transferring up to Hiroshima, Saijo area, and I was staying here in Nakagawa. I was immediately nervous and excited all at once. I was going to be getting a new companion, I wasn't going to have my trainer any more, everything would be different and it is. 

So, on Wednesday we basically cleaned the apartment and Cox Shimai had to get all of her things rounded up so she could pack. I never realized how comfortable we started to get in our little apartment until I realized we both had stuff in various places. So that was fun. Also, while she packed I tackled the closet. 

Now, Nakagawa was opened as an area around 1-1/2 years ago. So it's a fairly new missionary apartment, it has gone through a few sets of missionaries, it's done it's duty, but the closet was of another worldly misfortune that it was my unfortunate pleasure to clean. Step one. I pulled it all out. Step two. I organized it. Step three, I put it all back in. We literally have like a life supply of weird towels and hand towels and odd ends of this and that that missionaries have left behind. Clothing galore, that no one really wants and that is why it is still in the closet. Emergency supplies, water bottles, "packages, boxes or bags!" Yeah so basically I just organized it all and made it look nicer, we didn't know what to actually do with the stuff, so now it's just a little easier on the eye. Yeah. 

Well, Cox Shimai packed up, we sent some of her things through the mail, we got things finished up, did our normal finding route and then went to bed. We got up early the next morning and headed out. We took the Shinkansen from Nakagawa, loaded with her stuff, and headed to Hakata Eki where we always meet for transfers. Hakata Eki is in Fukuoka. She was the first one to head out. We said our good byes, and we parted ways and she was gone. I was there for the rest of the day with the other missionaries who were transferring in and out, and with the zone leaders and Stevenson Shimai. Stevenson Shimai and I both were waiting for our new companions so it was fun to be together. We had a fun time helping other missionaries carry all their stuff to their connecting train or the subway or their Shinkansen or their bus or wherever. It was quite fun. We also got to say bye to all the missionaries that were "transferring home" and that was fun to see how tired they all looked. Haha they put in their time! 

We waited and waited and waited, "my poor nerves!" And finally Stevenson Shimai's companion arrived. They stayed with me for a little longer, and then they left, and then I waited and waited and waited and finally, at 1:30pm, Layton Shimai came!

Layton Shimai is nothing like Cox Shimai, so it's been kind of an interesting transition. She is half Japanese, she lived in Japan until she was eight and then they have lived in Layton, Utah, (baha) ever since. She is really easy going, fluent in Japanese and English and is pretty awesome. She is also really tall. I feel like we have been together for forever already, but still feel like we have so much to figure out still and so much to do together. This transfer is 7 weeks, so, for her sake, I hope this is the best transfer I have had yet! 

Changing companions is like changing the prescription on your glasses. At first it's a little bit of something you have to get used to. You have your days where it kind of makes you anxious, and you hope you didn't just spend a bunch of money on something that won't work, but all at the same time you start to see differently than you did previously. This is my third pair of glasses. I hope I learn a lot from, the last and look forward with new eyes to new ideas and new possibilities, new opportunities to grow. I hope that even after my mission I try to do the same, always look for ways that you can improve in any aspect of your life. 

Today is Monday. And today we went to Elsie Shimai's house. She taught us how to make a Philippine "delicacy." It was banana and brown sugar, wrapped in a really thin rice wrap, and then fried. It was delicious and really bad for my Dendo baby. It was really fun and she is my favorite! 

Well I hope you are all 元気！We are going to work hard this week to see miracles!

I am typing this on my iPad and it has a keyboard for Japanese. 

私わレインズ姉妹です。私の家族は本当に素敵ですよ！

愛しています️

Love, Raines 姉妹

Ps I'll send pics next week