January 27, 2016 - First Day at Missionary Training Center

This is my family and I on arrival day at the Missionary Training Center.

There was so much work to do to get ready.  As part of the application process I started last summer, I began the slew of dental, medical, and ecclesiastical appointments.   Getting my wisdom teeth out was the worst of those appointments :-(

In November 2015 after I received my assignment, I started the legal process of going on a mission (passport, application for a Visa) and starting to get immunizations (yuck).   There was also much work to do in terms of just figuring the process of preparation out, making sure that things were done in timely fashion.  I had an online profile to set up, training videos to view.  I was part of a missionary pilot program (i.e. not every pre-missionary receives this extra training at this time), wherein several returned missionaries worked with me on morale as well as training me on simple Japanese - such as learning to pray in Japanese.  I took two years of Japanese in high school, but considering that a person of any language needs to know probably around 10,000 words to be completely fluent comparable to a native speaker., and that would be, knowing how to use those words in proper context of grammar and colloquial expression...two years of high school Japanese was just prep-time, not fluency.  I received this extra training  with returned missionaries up to week before I entered the training center.  I also repeated the class, Preach My Gospel/Missionary Preparation over at the local community college this past Fall, to help me get familiar with the gospel concepts which I will be teaching to the people of Japan.

As this training continued into December and January, I also continued with my daily things -- a full-time job at NPS, which I needed to help pay for my missionary wardrobe, and I also increased my physical activity by getting a temporary membership at VASA Fitness.  I continued with my prayer and scripture studies.

Some people do not realize, but when a person makes the decision to go on a mission, life becomes harder.   Most of this is inner difficulty.   The decision to go on a mission takes on a new dimension of realness.  A person begins to further question one's ability to do a good job as a missionary, asking oneself also, am I ready to take this on and be away from family and friends for so many months? Then there are temptations to indulge in negative thinking, or to be distracted by the usual things that young people do, even just wasting time, or blowing the healthy eating plan just after working out.   Relationships with family and friends go through a painful process of saying goodbye.  Unresolved issues come to the forefront the closer departure time comes, unexpected money issues can pop up.  

God is real, but so is the Devil.  No, I don't think the devil runs around 24/7 in some silly red suit with a pitchfork (those are just symbols of his intent to destroy us), but he does afflict us in anyway that he can.  Sometimes family or close friends will have increased problems, things that show than an opposition is in place trying to prevent the missionary from going to preach the message of Christ. This affected me even up to the day I left.  Things require my best efforts to resolve, and the rest has to be left up to faith that God will help resolve the rest that I can't do myself.  I have walked into mission life today, with the faith that God will not just bless and protect me, but bless my loved ones back home, while I am away.

My next blog I will introduce you to life at the Missionary Training Center (hereafter referred to, as the MTC).

Jan. 2016 - Should you feel moved to help

Hello!
Thank you so very much to those who helped out with expenses I got most the wardrobe and other things needed for my almost 1 1/2 year long stay in Japan.  Although I had a full-time job over the holidays working at NPS, it was not enough to cover the expenses, so everything I received was greatly appreciated and made it possible for me to leave home with the basics!!

I will continue to have monthly expenses while I am out, plus I still need to get a bike and Ipad, and some heavy duty rain gear when I arrive in Japan -- yes they have major rain there.   Should you feel moved to continue to help in any amount, feel free to use the donate button on my blog (which utilizes the PayPal method, which accepts major credit or debit cards).  Should you wish to use some other form of payment (thru an LDS account, check, or other credit/debit method), please email:   kirstenparkermission@gmail.com, and in the subject line please type "Donate" and you will get an email with instructions.

Thank you!!

November 7, 2015 - At home

I thought I would share a little bit of information about my mission.

According to Mission.net, the Japan Tokyo mission used to be part of the Tokyo North Mission (1976-2006).  Prior to that it was called...
*the Japan Tokyo Mission (probably with different boundaries)  (1974-76)
*the Japan Mission (1968-74)
*the Northern Far East Mission (1955-68)
*the Japanese Mission (1948-55).

And... prior to that, it was closed between 1924 and 1948.  Since 1948 when the mission was reopened, just under half of the mission Presidents have been Japanese or of Japanese extraction.   The rest look like American-type names.

The current mission president is President Nagano, and his wife, Sister Nagano.  The information sheet says that they formerly lived in the US, although they were both born in Japan.  Sister Nagano was born in Fukushima.  You can bet that the disaster in Fukushima in March 2011 brought quite a bit of personal sorrow to them or to their extended family.

I did not know previously, but Tokyo Japan is the largest city in the world by population number in the city proper (over 13 million), but if you are looking for population density, or total area of the city, or population including the outlying metro areas, there are bigger cities elsewhere.  Nevertheless, it would be easy to get lost in Tokyo.

Here are a few pictures of Tokyo from photographyblogger.net:






Other than that, I don't know a whole lot about the mission itself yet. It does include some islands.  I do know that they are 16 hours ahead time-wise, and they drive on the left side of the road.  I took 2 years of Japanese in high school, but I have no doubts, that in spite of my interest in the Japanese people and their culture, once I get there, I will be encountering a lot of things new to me, for starters, the food and the money.  I am supposed to take my 4-generation pedigree chart with me.  Japanese people are big on family and ancestry.  It will make good conversation.

Well, that's it for now.

November 6, 2015 - At home

I got my mission call on Halloween.  It was a Halloween I will never forget.  I had been waiting for my call close to six weeks from when I completed my final interviews.  I thought it had been submitted in September.  I did not find out until after General Conference (first weekend in October) that it was held up for one question.  So, more waiting and checking the mail box.  For Halloween, I wore a panda costume.  It was afternoon, and my dad approached me, saying, "Sometimes Spoooky things happen on Halloween."  He invited me to check the mail box.   I was so overcome with emotion.  Regular Halloween didn't matter to me anymore.   My dad captured the moment on video and it is on my Facebook page, as well as the video when I opened my call.

I have been called to serve in the Japan Tokyo Mission for 18 months.  I am scheduled to report to the MTC in Provo for training, on January 27, 2016.   

In looking over the booklet that I received with my mission call, I am amazed at how much there is to do to get ready.  The booklet says that they don't want my mission email address on social media, so if you want it before I enter the MTC, please email

kirstenparkermission@gmail.com

or drop me a note on Facebook with your email address.  I will also have other information too, such as if you want to donate to my mission fund.  I have to buy a bicycle, helmet, and lock, and an iPad (one designated by the mission since it will have a mission app or software loaded in it).  I also have to have really good quality weather gear to wear.  There are other expenses too not covered in the usual monthly missionary expenses once I am in the field.