Last Transfer In Japan - Princess Four

Well Konnichiha to you Bijin na Hito! You're so gorgeous. Don't you forget it! Shout out at those who have/had finals and who are/will be graduating!! YOU DID IT! I aspire to be like you! 

Before we get to the miracles... 

A good friend of mine a few weeks ago asked me, How does the culture you are in affect the way you understand the atonement? 

I liked the question so much I decided to answer it here! 

People in Japan don't really know Christ. They just know there are lots of churches, and that their family has been Buddhist forever, therefore, they can't be converted because they believe their family can't become Gods if they switch religions/they don't care about religion/They've never thought about the purpose of life. Interesting stuff! Something I've learned on the mission is that Christ really atoned for everyone!

Even if they don't know it, or choose not to use it, Christ still atoned for them. Something I have also learned, is that Christ won't force you to use his atonement. He won't make you clean against your will. Being humble enough, and truly repenting bring that feeling of cleanness and wholeness. Ah. I love Christ, and am grateful for his infinite atoning sacrifice. I love that it is also an enabling atonement. It's not there to only fix broken things, but to prevent things from going wrong in the first place! I really like that.. 

This week!! We had FOUR less actives come to church. Five if you count a member who has been in the hospital. WHAT! We have 0 investigators, but we still keep trying to find them. when we are not finding we have been visiting less actives. I think they are feeling Gods love again!!! Helping people come back to Christ is just as important as helping people learn about Christ for the first time. I am grateful to have been able to do both!! 

Ummm. Oh! We saw a chiropractor this week! Shout out at this congregation having 3 chiropractors! The member was willing to do for free, but we paid a little bit. Shout out to awesome members! 

We were able to do service this week! OH! WE FINALLY WON GRANDMA VOLLEYBALL THIS WEEK!!! Yay! So happy! But a different service is that we helped someone move. I love raking leaves! Dear mom. Thanks for preparing me for that! Be prepared to do all the yard work together when I get home! It's been too long!! 

Also a ton of new people have been coming to eikaiwa just out of the blue from flyers in their mailboxes... so that is super weird, and awesome, and a miracle! 

Oh also transfers were this week! Surprise. For my last transfer I am staying with sister Koba!!!  YAY! STAYING IN OBI!!!! Also, we are getting portable wifi this week. Low key better than a smart phone!!! Yay!!!! 

Also, the cherry blossoms are here, and its the best!!! Hope you have a day that is as beautiful as you!!! Bye bye!!! 

Video and Pictures first, just to make sure they send! 

Eikaiwa. We are learning Popcorn Popping. This is the Japanese Version! 

The district. bye elder Gardner.

The candy we gave to the Bike shop guy!! All is well!!! 

When you meet a member on the street and go to lunch together. shimai.

The elders gave us presents! 

Pokémon cards!

Eikaiwa.

a sweet potato...... oh man I'm in love! 

My beautiful Sister President! She and President are my faves! 

Easiest Way to Make Shredded Meat for Cafe Rio Salads or Pulled Meat Sandwiches

I have a homecoming for Princess Four coming up as she is returning home from Japan soon.

I also had bunko at my house tonight and had 12 women for dinner so I figured I would start making the meal for Princess Fours homecoming dinner as I had to be in the kitchen all day anyway. 

I have found the easiest and least stressful way to make shredded turkey for Café Rio salads is to purchase a pre cooked and seasoned frozen Norbest Turkey breast. They come in all sizes so it is easy to get a larger one and I love it as it is so easy to make. I shared a little about this in a post about making the Café Rio salads but I didn't make a video so I made one today to show you how I make it.

I fill a crock pot with water, turn the crock pot on the slowest cook and put the frozen turkey breast in the pot. I set the timer for 2 hours and walk away. In two hours, I dump out the water, refill the crock pot and rinse it and then drain it again and then put fresh water in and set the timer for two hours. 

You can repeat this as many times as you want depending on how seasoned you like the meat. I personally am taking out the extra sodium and any sulfides in the meat and just keep rinsing it every few hours. 

About an hour or so before we want to eat, I rinse the entire thing and then take a couple forks or a fork and a knife and I start pulling the meat apart. Since is was slow cooked, it is moist and falls apart with minimal effort. I then let it all get nice and juicy in the water for an hour and then serve. 

If you are going to freeze the mixture, let it cool to warm and then put it in freezer containers that won't allow freezer burn. I don't know how long it will last in the freezer but I have left it for a month or so without any issues. 

I take it out the night before we need it, put it in the oven to heat or when it is thawed enough, just heat the amount needed. If you want to freeze it into usable proportions for salads at lunch, I would allow it to cool completely and then put it into freezer bags of the right size and then put all the freezer bags into a Tupperware or another freezer safe container to keep them contained and protect them from freezer burn. This way you just take out the one bag, take it to work, it is thawed by lunch, heat it in the microwave and you can use it to make burritos or the salads etc. 

One of my favorite ways to use the turkey is to make cheese quesadillas using some tabasco sauce on the inside and putting this shredded turkey on top of that and then shredded cheese and toast both sides. Princess Five likes it with a little ranch dressing thrown in there as well. Once the turkey or other meat is stored in this way, it is ready to use in all sorts of things. I broke down lots of this at Princess One's home when I was there when she had her baby and froze it into smaller meal sized containers for them to use. 

Really, there isn't much to do other than rinsing it a few times. I get compliments on it all the time and I enjoy it with the fresh dressing I make. Check out that recipe here.... 

You can do this with any type of meat but if it isn't pre-seasoned, just add your favorite spices and don't rinse and drain it. Make sure it always has enough fluid to cover the meat so it doesn't get dry. Turn it a few times and after about ten hours, it will fall apart and is ready to use.

Have a Blessed Day! 

We Are All Human - Judgment Is A Part Of Life

I used to get lots of critical comments on my youtube videos at the beginning and I used to get SUPER upset at some of the rude comments people would make. I learned that these "haters" are looking for a reaction. They don't really care what you are saying, they just troll around looking for a fight or reaction as they feel powerful that they have manipulated your mood. I wrote a post about diffusing the haters a bit a go and here is a link to that post. 

I learned to just block those haters from my channel and after awhile, the mean comments slowed to a near stop. Every once in awhile, if I feel I should, I will reply to a comment it may be that I feel the person may be open to it or just a "feeling" that I should. It became interesting to me that I learned I don't need to defend myself as other views get defensive and will reply but I found that the haters like any type of contention and so most of the time, I delete the comment and block the viewers. 

For some reason about a year ago, I left this comment up and replied to it by a user named "Aaron" and I replied with something I feel is very true as I have seen Karma work in my life and when you judge, it seems to come back to you. So, I shared that feeling in my reply to Aaron. Here is his original post. 

"Aaron 11 months ago

You seriously need to seek mental health care. Yes, others have the same problem as you, but it is not parasites. And yes you may have had intestinal parasites."

Here is my reply to Aaron at that time.  

"Oh Aaron, You just need to check out my blog and stop judging others. I pray that you never understand what I have been dealing with as I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It seems however, that when we judge others, God gives us a chance to understand what the other person was dealing with. Karma is real. I may be crazy but I understand that universal law. I wish you well and hope you have a BLESSED Day!"

There were a few people that defended me in the middle there but I just let it be. Today, I noticed this post to Aaron and was going to delete the post due to foul language. Frankly, I have settings on my channel which should have filtered that language out so I am not sure how it passed the filter but I thought better of deleting it and here is this mans comment with the one word starred to tone down the swear word.

"16 Hours ago - On behalf of her and all people that have to deal with people like you in denial that we have a f***** people live in a skin bag just like animals do and we are susceptible GROW UP!!! I bet you are a medical doctor!! I bet!"  

Here is my reply to that post - 

"I thought about deleting this post due to the language but will leave it so that others may learn something. Both the original comment and this reply are similar people. One person judging the other for their thoughts and expressing them freely. It is easy to hide behind a user name online and write unfiltered and judgmental or critical comments about others. The first, Aaron, judged me without getting all the facts, looking at my blog and seeing the labs diagnosis, all the tests I had run etc. The second, similarly judged Aaron for his judgement. One judged me, the other judged Aaron. 

In my reply to Aaron, I didn't hate him, I just shared that maybe he should get more information before he writes hurtful comments and let him know that when we judge others, we also are opening ourselves to judgement (which has happened as others are now judging him) and also Karma. I have seen it over and over where someone will judge me or others for something and then have a similar situation happen to them so that they learn exactly what they would do and did do in that situation.


I feel sadness for both commenters that they can feel such anger or hate towards one another or being able to judge someone so quickly without all the facts. I know at times we all feel anger and judgement but I believe that is why we are here... to learn to love and treat others kindly. I hope that someday I can get to the point where I can truly love the unlovable without judgement..... I have been lucky to have wonderful examples in my life of that type of Christ type love.... I pray that we can all take the time to think how our words translate to others and follow the old saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say it at all!"
I hope that we all have a BLESSED Day!"

I do believe that we get what we send out in return. I feel blessed to understand that principle but have to share that I am still critical and judgmental at times and am learning to love all others at a much slower pace than I would like. Hopefully we can all learn these traits sooner than later so the online world will be a better place for all!

Have a Blessed and judgeless Day!

Last Month In Japan For Princess Four - Almost Home

Beautiful people,

NOOOOO TIMMEEEE!! SORRY I'M the WORST! 

This week I learned about forgiving not only others, but also yourself. I accidentally made a cultural and language mistake an offended the bike shop man. I FELT AWFUL!!!! Like I cried for a long time awful. I felt embarrassed, and sad, and a little hurt. I represent Christ, but due to my mistake I was ashamed and sad that the bike shop guy saw missionaries in a bad way.

I know I made a mistake, but I still felt bad. I prayed, sang, and talked positively to myself, and decided to forgive him, and myself, and to make things right with the bike shop guy.

An important part of life is making restitution. We can ask God for forgiveness and help, but it is important to apologize and ask forgiveness of those who wrong us. They might not accept it, but at least you tried your best. This is kind of jumbly due to time... but long story short. Forgiveness is important.

Prayer, positive talking and singing have power. God is there. Through Christ we can be comforted, and forgiven. HAVE SUCH A GOOD WEEK!!!! I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!!! STAY BEAUTIFUL!! I WILL TRY TO BE BETTER NEXT WEEK! 

Funny story. The man who made the weird sculpture. He wanted the picture of my family I keep in my iPad case. In return he gave us pictures of owls one was even framed. So. It was a win. Thanks for being beautiful family! 

Pictures:

I SAW HIGASHI AREAS BISHOP AT OUR CHURCH!!  He said the ward got smaller after you left! Please come back and visit!! Haha

We found a nice old man who built this. 

We taught kids eikaiwa. This is popcorn popping.

Look at these giant fish! Koinobori!! They are huge!!! 

I am a big fan of Anpanman! (top)

-Mom note, I can't believe she is coming home in a month! I am SO EXCITED!!!!

Last Improv Show For Princess Five and Getting Ready to Graduate

I had a fun activity this past week. I still feel like I am behind on what I need to do but I told Princess Five that if she was going to be in any more improve nights, I wanted to go so she had better tell me. 

I missed one performance as she jumped in last minute and I ran into a friend that said she saw a cute performance with her son and my daughter from the improve the night before....

I had no idea what she was talking about as Princess Five hadn't told me she was going to be in a show. 
I texted her and she told me she filled in for someone that was sick and didn't think I would want to come. I let her know that I wanted to see her whenever and wherever I can! I asked her to please let me know when she was going to be in her next show. 

I didn't let her know that I contacted Princess Two and asked her to come down and help me with a project and also so she could go and support Princess Five at her last show. It was hard to keep it from her as Princess Two was at my house for the entire weekend but we were able to surprise her at the show.

I LOVED the look on her face when she came out and saw her sister with me in the audience. It was super fun to surprise her! 

We really enjoyed her in the show and it was such fun to see the smile on her face as she always lights up when she gets on stage. She really just belongs on stage..... It seems to be the one place where she is truly happy! 

As has become tradition after a performance, I picked up some sushi and peeled a few fresh mangos and we enjoyed a wonderful meal after the show..... 

The reason it is her last show,

is that she is graduating early in a year verses the two year as she had so many college credits upon high school so she is graduating this year.

I am going to miss her on stage at the college but I am sure that it isn't the last time I will see her perform!