It's that time of the transfer again! This is the run down of all the missionaries I'm serving with.
Before I get too into it, let me describe the area! Oizumi is INFAMOUS in the Tokyo Mission. Anyone could tell who the missionaries serving in Oizumi were because A. They are the most confident missionaries walking around B. They would slip in and out of meetings because they were always busy, always full of appointments C. Most of the time, they spoke in nothing but Portuguese. This last reason came to be because 99.99% of the time, there are only Brazilians serving there. At least until I got here.
So yes I am using Portuguese every day. Everyone I talk to on the street is not Japanese. They might look 100% Japanese but when you talk to them you come to find our they speak no Japanese, but we're born and raised in Brazil.
We sleep in every day! Yes Oizumi is one of those special areas where we stay out until 10:00 every night and wake up at 7:00 every morning. This took a lot of getting used to. There were some mornings where I woke up in a panic because it was 6:35 AM. It is a group here in Oizumi and it is the smallest Ward I have ever served in. We don't have a bishop, we don't have a family history consultant, or a Relief Society President or anything. Before I got to Oizumi, there wasn't even anyone who could play piano. Now I play every week. Now let me tell you about the missionaries of God serving here so you can truly feel what Oizumi is like.
Sister M: She is actually Portuguese. Her Portuguese is slightly different than Brazilian Portuguese but it's only a small difference. It's almost as if someone spoke to you in fluent English, just with a Southern accent. Some words would be different, right? But you could understand brilliantly. What's awesome about Sister M. is that from the age of thirteen she's been living in England. Yes she has a beautiful accent. People ask her to speak English to them all the time. She's tall too, taller than me. She's super competitive which can be fun. I think competitive is the wrong word Sister M. is passionate. She tears up with every testimony she shares. She takes things seriously and feels every emotion in the book but when she feels it, brother, you know she's feeling it deeply. As soon as I got here she told me: "I just want to work hard." We actually first met at the MTC, she's only one transfer behind me. When she received her call of course it read: Japan Tokyo Mission but she was called to preach in he Portuguese language. Have you ever heard of that? So before she came here to Oizumi she was serving in another area with a blossoming Spanish Branch, where there are a ton of Brazilians. Nobody beats her hugs, but no one loves her more than I do.
Elder C: He is Brazilian. He has served in Oizumi for a LONG TIME. Everyone loves him, they call him "little C." The most interesting thing about him(well now that I think about it there are a few but one of them) is that he learned English by playing Call of Duty. He studied it in school a little bit but he credits his English to video games. I know what you're thinking "Well if he 'learned English' from a video game that must mean he doesn't speak English" but family he's fluent! His patriarchal blessing is in English to give you a hint on how fluent his English is. Most interesting thing about Elder C. number two is that his full name is Luke Skywalker C. I could not make this up if I tried folks. Luckily this kid grew up to really like Star Wars and he's oh so proud of his name. In the works right now is a name tag that reads Elder Skywalker. He can be really mean but only to make someone laugh but really he's actually sweet. I knew him a little before I came to Oizumi, and judged him too quickly and I feel bad about it. This has led to a habit of licking up any advice he has for me when it comes to learned to speak Portuguese like a Brazilian.
Elder M: He's from Peru. He's been speaking English since he was ten years old. Then he moved to Japan where he would learn two additional languages and improve his English beyond belief. He strengthens anyone's faith of the gift of tongues. I've watched him translate a Portuguese meeting into Japanese. You'd think, an elder with such a knack with languages, with his level of intelligence would be mature, wise, and poised. Well you'd be wrong again because Elder M. is the biggest goof I've ever met and Brian L. Goldsberry is my father so that tells you something.
I love you! See you soon,
Sister Goldsberry
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