Konichiwa!

Kuzoku (Family)!!!!!!!!!

How are you? I'm alive, and loving the MTC. Nihongo is quite possibly the most musikashii (difficult) thing I have EVER done! We taught our first investigator today! It went... swimmingly. SO hard. 

Our P-day is on Thursdays, so I'll definitely write more next week! :) We were given like go (5) minutes to type REALLY fast! :) And my brain is no longer working, so sorry if this is the most scattered email ever. 

My companion is Eyring Shimai! She is the best. We laugh and laugh at everything, so that's good. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my entire life! Before you ask the obvious question, Hi (yes) she is the grand daughter of President Eyring. :) So that is pretty awesome! :)

Being a missionary is the best, but so musikashii all at the same time. Eyring Shimai and I are attached at the hip, and have to always be within sight and sound of each other. Except when we are going to the bathroom. It's definitely different, but I love it. This afternoon at lunch she was getting tabemono (food) and I turned around and she was gone (which is fine, because we can be separated in the Caf. But we always have to sit next to or across from each other). Anyways, I felt so weird not having her there. And not being able to see her. 

Yesterday we learned how to inori (pray) and akashi (testify). Today we learned how to extend commitments. I am surprisingly less overwhelmed today than I was yesterday, so that is subarashii (great). Haha. To pray, there are a LOT of musikashii words! Like shukufuku shite kudasai (please bless)... Haha! We may or may not laugh every time! 

My distorikuto (district) is awesome. I am the only missionary going to Kobe, everyone else is going to Tokyo South. There are a lot of missionaries in the other distorikuto (part of my zone) that are going to Kobe though. :) 

Well, time to go! Iki masho!!

I love you!!!

Robertson Shimai (Amanda)

PS! Send me LOTS of letters! We love them. Thanks mama for sending me one!

write me

Email me:
amanda.robertson(at)myldsmail(dot)net

Or you can write me a good old fashioned letter (I especially love these!):
MTC Address
(This will be my address until July 29)
Sister Amanda Katherine Robertson
JUL29 JPN-KOB
2007 N 900 E Unit 45
Provo, UT 84602

Japan Address
(This will be my address from July 30-November 2015)
Sister Amanda Katherine Robertson
Japan Kobe Mission
4-6-28 Shinoharahonmachi,
Nada-ku,
Kobe-shi, Hyogo
657-0067 JAPAN

Japan Kobe Mission

one week

One month seems like forever, but like barely anytime at all. I leave for my mission in less than a month. I will be a missionary in less than a month. I will report to the MTC a month from today! Well, yesterday. But you get the point. My how time flies! I feel like I just got my mission call in the mail, and here I am leaving so soon.

I remember thinking that 5 months would never go by fast enough, because 5 months is almost half a year, and that is forever! But here we are, with only a month to go, and I couldn't be happier.

Let me tell you guys something that happens when big changes are about to occur. I am filled with so many emotions that I feel like I might explode at any given moment. I don't know whether to cry, or shout for joy, or scream, or dance, or just have a complete and total meltdown. It's a struggle, but totally normal, right? Good. I'm glad you agree with me. Even if you don't, I am going to pretend you do for my sake. Preparing for my mission has been the most stressful, and wonderful thing in the world. There are so many things that I still have to do and by that I mean pack, pack, and pack some more and so little time to do it all. The nice thing about going on a mission though, is that just thinking about it I get so excited! When I am focusing on my mission and teaching the gospel to those around me, I just get so happy! It is the best feeling. But when I start to think about all that I need to get done, and all the things/people that I am going to miss, I start to get a little bit panicky... It's a problem.


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Speaking of panicky... Now that I am down to less than one week (I will be reporting to the MTC in 6 days!), things are starting to get real. On Sunday one of the guys getting ready for his mission gave his farewell talk. It wasn't until he started talking that I realized I would be in his place in a week. That I would be up there speaking, and getting ready to leave. While sitting there in the pew, I had a moment of panic. I had a complete meltdown, and all I could think was, "What on Earth am I about to do???"

One of the things that I have learned over that past couple of years, is that I hate speaking in public. I love teaching. When I am teaching I feel so comfortable, but put me in front of a podium in Sacrament meeting and I start to freak out. I get super shaky, and my mind goes blank. It's a problem. Especially when you have to talk for a really long time - like when you have to give your farewell talk. Talk about stress. I'm just going to have to keep reminding myself that missionaries are just regular people. They aren't super heros who never get scared or nervous. And if they can do it? Well, then so can I. At least that is what I keep telling myself. And if I'm wrong? Oh well. Don't tell me. I think I'll feel better about this one if I am in denial. And you know what? It's not going to last forever. It will end eventually, and then I will be on my mission dealing with all sorts of challenges and hard things. But that's okay, because it will be the greatest time of my life.

And until then? I'll just try my best to take deep breaths and not stress out too much.

Robertson Shimai


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Random thought

I want to be the best missionary that I can possibly be. From here on out, I am going to put my trust in the Lord (100%, none of this half-way stuff). I can't think of a better way to become closer to my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ, then to take a leap of faith, get out there, and just do it. I am not going to let my insecurities get to me. I am not going to let myself feel uncomfortable, nervous, or scared to share the gospel with those around me, and to follow promptings. I know that as I put my trust in the Lord, he will not let me down.

fifty-one more days

This is what I began writing last week. I never got the chance to finish it, so here is the beginnings of me trying to blog and to share every little thought with you.

Fifty-five more days.

How did that happen? That is just under two months! HOLY COW!!!

I am SO excited! But so extremely anxious all at the same time. I have read a dozen different blogs from girls already serving in my mission, and it has been such a comfort. It is nice to hear different perspectives, and to read about what the Japan Kobe Mission is like.

I think I have been pretty nervous about the MTC. After all, I am going to be there for nine whole weeks! That is a really long time!!! Missionaries serving in their native language are only in the MTC for 11 days. So nine weeks is like forever. It will be so nice to have plenty of time to learn Japanese though. I am looking forward to that. I am also looking forward to meeting all of the people I will be serving with. :) There are two sisters that I have met on Facebook that will be serving in Kobe with me. One of them reports next week! The other sister reports the same day as me. Maybe we will be companions, or maybe roommates (there are generally 4 missionaries in a room at the MTC). We'll see. Either way I am super excited about that.


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Okay. Let's have a moment of honest to goodness truth.

Over the last day and a half I have felt so weepy. All I want to do is throw myself a little pity party and cry my eyes out. Dramatic much? Oh well. That is how I feel. It's a problem.

I think over this weekend it really hit me that I am leaving so soon. Time is flying by way too quickly! I leave in a month and a half (or at least I will be done working in a month and a half, and leaving the week after). I report to the MTC in 51 days. I leave Sweet Home Alabama in 50 days. I will be done nannying my favorite little girl in 39 days. That is just over a month. So much change, and it just makes me feel over-whelmed.

I am SO excited to serve a mission, don't get me wrong, but this whole in between limbo period is NOT my favorite. By any means whatsoever. I mean I feel like there are some days where I go through so many emotions that I just don't even know how to handle myself. Anyone else ever have that problem? No? Just me? Awesome. Okay. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, but even if I am that is okay. At least I know that Christ has felt the same things as me.

"We are not, and never need be alone . . . The Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities, but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and the inequalities we experience, and the emotional distresses that beset us. There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity, or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, "No one knows what it is like. No one understands," but the son of God perfectly knows and understands for he has felt and born our individual burdens, and because of his infinite and eternal sacrifice he has perfect empathy, and can extend to us his arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be, and help us to do that which we could never do relying only on our own power. Indeed, his yoke is easy, and his burden is light." - Elder David A. Bednar

Just re-listening to Elder Bednar's talk from General Conference makes me feel so much better. Sometimes I forget just how much my Heavenly Father knows and loves me. It is reasons like this that I want to serve a mission. Because Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ, have done SO much for me, and there is no better way to thank them, then to bring others to Christ and to his gospel. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to share this gospel with God's children in Japan. I know it will be so hard sometimes, but I know that no matter what, it will be so worth it!

"Your success as a missionary will be directly proportional to how much you love those you serve and those you serve with. Love them. Love God. Love yourself." - Unknown

Okay, now that I have come full circle with happiness, pity party, and back to happiness I think I have accurately displayed how I have been feeling lately. Haha. It's all for a good cause though. :) So I'll take the moments of sadness, because the moments of happiness are always so much better.

Robertson Shimai
Almost! 51 more days.

84 days left

As my mission approaches, and more and more time passes, I have come to realize some of the things I will miss the most.

Sure I will miss movies, and music. I'll miss driving, and sleeping in. Books, and swimming. I could go on and on for days about the things I'll miss. Sure, a lot of the things would have to be more specific - like Tangled, Hercules, Frozen, all the new movies that will come out while I am on my mission, etc. But, honestly, I know I will miss something else way more. People. More specifically, my family and friends. I will miss all the big life events that are sure to happen while I am gone: weddings, babies, homecomings. I will miss all the little things too: birthdays, Christmas, everyone growing up. It's going to be tough. But OH so worth it.

When I think about my mission, I just get so excited to serve the Lord. A lot of the time I feel like I can't even control my enthusiasm! I'M GOING TO JAPAN! I AM GOING TO SERVE A MISSION IN JAPAN! What makes it even better, is that I know that is where I need to be, and I couldn't be happier.

Last week, I had the week off. I was able to spend lots of needed time with my family. One of my favorite things that happened, was on my birthday. It started at midnight when I let H (15 year old sister with a permit) drive me to the store, because I was legally old enough to be the licensed adult passenger. We went to Walmart to pick up some last minute things for dinner the next day (because that is the kindof thing you do with your sister at midnight). Although we were both tired, it was nice to spend some time with her, and help her to feel special (she had been wanting to drive with me for MONTHS but I always said no because it was still against the law, but the second it became legal no matter what time of day it was, I let her drive with me). After we got home, I headed straight to bed and got to sleep in a little bit. That morning I woke up, got ready, and went to a local high school's showing of The Wizard of Oz with my family. It was fantastic! Then we went out to lunch at Zaxbys. At lunch, everyone was being crazy (as per usual), and L (my little brother) kept stroking my face while singing one of the songs (I wish I could remember what it was!). It was so obnoxious at the time, but looking back at it now, it was so sweet that he was devoting all his attention to me, the birthday girl. He even told me that he had to do whatever I wanted because it was my birthday. :) After lunch we headed home and I went to the bookstore with H and M. H got to drive again, and although I had no need in going to the bookstore, I was happy to go with them. :) I was happy to spend some time with my sisters. Once home, I worked on finishing making cupcakes while my mom and dad worked on getting dinner ready. The Elders came over and helped get dinner ready too. S came downstairs and told me that it wasn't okay for me to be decorating my own cupcakes, so she took over and I was instructed to go sit down. It was so nice to feel so loved by everyone. After dinner we all had to go to a ward dessert auction (fundraiser for Girl's Camp), but before we all left, I was told I needed to open up my presents first. :)

The Elders even brought me a present. Which takes me to a little bit of a side story. The day that I received my mission call in the mail, Elder Hunt and Elder Scott came over. They were there when I opened my call and read that I was called to serve in the Japan Kobe Mission. I remember them saying that they had a present for me. I was just thinking that they were going to get me a Japanese copy of the Book of Mormon, which would have been awesome. But instead I got something even more thoughtful (and awesome). When the Elders, now Elder Hunt and Elder Thompson came over for dinner on my birthday, and Elder Hunt was carrying a present, I felt so special! They didn't have to get me anything, but they did. When I opened my present, and saw inside two Japanese drinks, I was so excited. Some of the coolest things we had when we lived in Japan were these drinks that had a narrow skinny neck, with a marble inside (but the marble didn't come out when you had a drink, it stayed in place). Anyways, it was just super thoughtful. :) And something that they had thought about since I opened my call two months ago.

Next I opened cards and a present from my family. :) They were all cute, but L's card was a super hero card with awesome boots. Earlier that week, my mom and I had ordered boots for my mission, and they happened to come when I wasn't around so I had no idea they had already arrived. After I read his card, L told me that he had gotten me boots! Even though I knew who they were really from, it was a really cute thought and gesture. Haha. At the Dessert Auction, everyone sang Happy Birthday, and I felt so loved.

Okay, now here comes one of the things that I will miss most while I am on my mission. Sorry for getting off track. After we got home, I wanted to watch a family movie. I looked and looked and looked, but nothing sparked my interest. I mentioned a couple of things, but then some one else wasn't happy with it. L told me that he wasn't going to watch a movie with us (as he was playing games on the computer). Well, as I was looking and looking for a movie, L all of the sudden came out of his room dressed like a pirate and did a little dance and song for us. It was SO cute and funny! I had the idea to have both he and M act out different scenes from movies while H and I watched and enjoyed. Those were some of the best most hilarious hours of my life. :) Every once in a while we all get along really well, and when we do, it generally ends in tears from laughing so hard.

So, while I will miss all of the little worldly things, what I will miss most is my family, and all of the laughter. :)


Sister Robertson

And because I know you want to see what I mean about my crazy family, here is a video we made a couple of years ago before I went off to school. You're welcome. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4qqFOHx9bI

someone's watching over me

Well, the last 24 hours have been different scary.

This is an email I sent to my best friends today.

"Ready for some crazy scary stories? 

I know, odd way to start out an email. A, baby and I have had two near death (maybe not necessarily death, but scary nonetheless) experiences within the past 24 hours. 

Yesterday while we were driving to Nashville, we almost got taken out by a van with a trailer on the back. There was a police coming up from behind us (we didn't see or hear him yet), and this van in the next lane over started to switch lanes. He didn't really look (I think we were in his blind spot) and began switching lanes nearly hitting us. A somehow slammed on the brakes as we watched this van and then trailer (not just one of the little ones, but a decent sized trailer) almost hit us. It was probably about an inch from our car, if that. We would have been hit on the drivers side, which had both A and baby. The way, and the place that we would have been hit would have sent us spinning into the cars flying past us in the other lanes. It could have been SOOO bad. But it wasn't. We were being watched over. A didn't even think about slamming on her brakes. Neither of us saw the van until it was too late, yet we were safe. 

Then, this morning at about 4, I woke up to the sound of the smoke detector. I remember thinking that it was nothing. A must have just burned something, and that it was fine. No big deal. The next thing I knew was A was screaming my name, and there was smoke everywhere. The second I opened my door I couldn't see anything. I have never seen so much smoke in my life. A had fallen asleep while she was warming up a bottle to feed baby. It had been warming for an hour and a half before we noticed all of the smoke. An hour and a half before the smoke detector went off. A grabbed the pan and ran it outside, while I opened up the doors and windows. A grabbed baby, and the keys and we went and sat in the car, so grateful that nothing nearby had caught fire. We waited and waited for the smoke to clear. After almost an hour we called the fire department. They came to make sure it was safe to go back inside (since both plastic and rubber are toxic when burned). Once again we were watched over. Had something caught on fire, there would have been no way for us to get out, except the window. My window is on the second story of our apartment. A's however, is on the third floor, and jumping out of the window (with a baby) would have been near impossible. Our apartment is connected to at least a dozen other apartments. Can you imagine what would have happen if our one apartment had caught fire? It would have burned like a wild fire. 

A and I have been talking about the church a lot lately. As we were driving yesterday, we talked about how there is a God, and how loving he is. She talked about how she wants to get to know him better. We talked about the importance of reading our scriptures and saying our prayers, and even committed to helping each other be better . . ."

During all of the craziness, I never once felt panicky. I never felt like we were going to die. It was like an out of body experience. I just knew what to do and I did it. A said she felt the same way. We didn't have to think about how to handle a fire, or a smoke filled apartment, we just did it. Neither one of us panicked. We just did what we needed to and got out of there. Almost being hit by a car was scary, but not near as scary as waking up to smoke everywhere. But no matter how scary it was, I felt so calm and at peace.

One of my best friends wrote me back with the most perfect response.

". . . okay. so. WHAT. THAT IS SO CRAZY. Amanda, the Lord is watching you. I pray for you every night. I'm so glad you're okay. i seriously had such bad anxiety reading that. I am so happy you're okay. I love you to pieces. You're so good for recognizing the Lord's hand in everything. You are already a phenomenal missionary. Manda. I can't wait for you to write to me about all you do in the mission. You are going to change the world for so many. I get to talk to a lot of japense people here and I always think of you and ask questions for you. you're going to love it, baby. I'm so proud of you. I'm crying right now.... lol. I miss you and love you to bits. Thank you for being the best best friend ever. There is no one better than you. We will ALWAYS be besties. I just know it. I'm sorry I can't write to you more. When you're out, you'll understand, but manda just know I seriously think of you every day and love you to no end. :) Tell your family hi. Go to the temple and keep writing me! I know that's selfish since I can't really ever write back everything I want to but I miss you so much and hearing from you is the best part of the week. I am so STINKING PROUD OF YOU! You are amazing. amazing amazing amazing. . . . ."

 I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us. As another best friend said, 

". . . It's really neat to think about just how aware God is, and just so into all the tiny details of our lives he is. I have defiently been saved from multiple driving accidents just on my mission alone! . . ."

He is so aware of each and every one of us. He never leaves any of us alone. "Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." (Lilo and Stitch) I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven. I am grateful for his love, and for his protection. I have never been so grateful for his hand in my life, especially in the tiny details that you sometimes might feel are over looked. But he is there. He is always there, and I know it.

And just because I know you want to see a picture of the evidence, here it is.

This is after I doused it with water (once it was outside) to stop all of the smoke.