January 3rd i went to Disney Sea (it's like Disneyland, but Sea...so it's better) with 3 of my friends from Paddy- Ayumu, Masa and Saori. we spent 13 hours at Disney Sea, going on rides, watching shows, taking pictures, and eating chocolate popcorn and cranberry popcorn and other strange types. at the end of the day, they surprised me with a Disney Sea 10th anniversary glass cup with my name engraved in it! it was so sweet, and they were really sneaky because i still have no idea when they had it made. i felt so loved though.
Thursday i had lunch with my friend Beth, a girl who visited Odori Samurai one time but is actually in the other yosakoi dance group at Waseda University. she's Japanese but lived in the States for a few years so she speaks perfect English. it was fun getting to know her and i'm hoping we can continue the relationship even though i'm not in Japan. that evening Student Impact had a Sports Night where we played basketball and volleyball- it was really fun and awesome to get to see a lot of the students one last time before i left. 
Friday i went to the Ghibli Museum (http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/) one last time with 3 of my friends from Paddy- ironically, they had never been to the museum before, and it was like my 4th time. but i love the Ghibli Museum. i was able to share with them why i believe God has a plan for me in Hawaii, which was cool. 
that night i had dinner with my roommate Christina and a Japanese girl from USC who's now living in Tokyo. it was really fun to all hang out as USC grads and connect Mari (the Japanese girl) to Christina. Saturday, January 7th, was my last time to go to homeless ministry in Yoyogi Park. i gave little presents to the homeless women who always come to my small group (i rarely know what we're talking about but they are super sweet).
that day there was also a team from YWAM Kona who were visiting Tokyo for a few weeks- it was so cool to meet Christians who live on my island in Hawaii even before i'd gone to Hawaii. such a blessing from God. after homeless church i met up with my friend Iphie one last time. it was so great meeting with her- she's come such a long way. last year we would meet up and talk about Christianity but she was never fully interested, now she's become a Christian and just got baptized, is in a small group and plugged in to her church. so cool to see. i spent the rest of the afternoon getting souvenirs for people back home, then that night i went to Odori Samurai's New Year's party. it was fun seeing everyone again for the first time in 2012, and having one last opportunity for some good long conversations with Samurai. i even got to share some of the Gospel with a couple of the girls. the next day was my last day at New Hope Tokyo Fellowship Church. i really love that church, so it was really sad that it was my last time. some of the Student Impact students who attend the church took me out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant before the service. it was really fun hanging out with them. 2 of the pastors prayed for me after the service, and some of my team that went with me to Tohoku to volunteer took me out to coffee. also, speaking of Tohoku, while we were there, we went to a church and met the Japanese pastor. he lost everything, but still had a radiating, infectious joy, and guess what? he happened to be at New Hope Tokyo on my last day! 
it was so cool to see him again. that evening i went to my last Student Impact dance practice. we didn't actually dance- we just went out to dinner at a restaurant that has kind of become tradition for our group. it was fun hanging out with everyone one last time, and they gave me presents- a handmade picture frame and a huge heart-shaped card that everyone signed. it was sad to say goodbye to them- they've been such a huge part of my time in Japan. 
read about my last week in Japan in Saying Sayonara, Part III...
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