Mom!!!I
I thought that i did tell you taht i got those pictures from you! I quess i didnt. Yes i got them and i have already printed some out. I would like some more though. my print outs are really bad. i love my mission president too. I really feel like me and him have a father son relationship. I really look at him like dad out here in Japan. I am so proud that i have him. I am really going to miss him when he goes home in June.
Its good to hear that Kamas is happy and taht they are doing well. I am a bit jealous of the left overs though. I thought i would never say taht. I want some good ole american leftovers. All i have here is 3 basic foods: Curry, Gyoza, and Yakisoba. I miss the steak, mexican food, and all the other good stuff but i am still alive and maintaing a good weight so i must be doing something rite. Ya, i weigh 82 kilos now. that is about 180lbs. I am as solid as a rock too. Its awesome. I think i am gaining alot of muscle. There is no way i could be getting fat. I run 25 minutes everyday at a high tempo. I know it is muscle. But leftovers sound really good. Escepesially VDG leftovers.
Its good to hear that thanksgiving went really good for you guys at home. Sounds like you got alot accomplished in the 2 days of shopping that you did. Its funny because on Friday here too everything was on sale. Its too bad taht i wasnt on my Pday. Stuff was super cheap. Oh well though. That is crazy that bug is so close to putting his papers in. I cant believe taht. May 4th. That is so close and it will come so fast. Oh my gosh. I got chills when i read taht. I cant wait for him. I am so excited. I hope that he comes to Japan and that i get to train him. How cool would taht be? It has happend here too. SO it is way possible. Nick Keels is getting close to putting his papers in too. I really hope that he gets called here to Japan. I really want to train him. It would be so much fun. I think he is putting them in this Month or next month. You guys need to call him and see how he is doin. I know that he wants to go through the temple with you guys. You are his family. I love him so much. He will be coming to Tokyo Japan for sure. All this news is so exciting.
Man your week sounds like you guys had just so much fun. I really want to do some of that stuff. Oh well though. I am having fun too. Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. I am trying my best to be the best i can. My week went by way fast as well but it wasnt the week i was expecting but oh well. I hope this week goes by as fast or even faster. I cant wait til christams to talk to you all. I am so excited about that. I will tell you about my week though.
Monday: We had a lesson with a member planned out with our investigator but he got the flu and couldnt make it. We went to the members house anyways for dinner. It was fun. We played card games liek Texas hold'em and poker while we were waiting for the food. We then had a spiritual meassage and then food time. We had like noodles with fish eggs on them. I thought that i would never eat fish eggs. I am not a fan. The thought grosses me out. They are hard and when you pop them with your teeth, juice comes out. But we then had home made Spaghetti. It was way good but i have to admit not as good as Dads home made spaghtti. But it was a change and it was good.
Tuesday: We had lunch with a less-active and i had such a hard time following what he was saying in his Japanese. It was super difficult for me for some reason. Maybe becasue we didnt study Japanese yet. Later taht night we went to another less-actives daughters birthday party. It was super funny. The kids here were all over eachother. It was kind of disturbing to see how close 10 year olds got. THe games here they play are very painful to watch becasue they threaten future posterity. I am glad i didnt grow up here. The kids spoke really rude japanese and it was fun to speak impolite japanese for once. haha.
Wednesday: We played basketball in the moring with a member becasue it was Japan Labor Thanksgiving. While we were playing another person brought a Football. OH MY GOSH!!!! I havent thrown a football in so long. It was so much fun. It was my Turkey Bowl. It was fun to justl throuw the old pig skin around. GOod times. Good times.We were on our bikes all day. We went to give a birthday card to another less-active. On our way we saw this family of 4 and we stopped them. The dad said that he wasnt intrested and the kids were all depressed. The kids reallly wanted to go to church. SO the dad then gave it some more thought while the kids were pleading with him. He said tht he couldnt the next 2 weeks but maybe on the 10. I was so glad for little kids. I love them. They changed the guys thoughts completley and they might come to church. It was awesome. Kids here are so pure and just up for anything. I think tahts how they are anywehre though.
Thursday: So since it was Thanksgiving i decided to write down some things that i was and still am thankful for. One of the most cherished things on my list was The trials i have had since becoming a missionary. I never thought i would say that but it is 100% true. If it were for those trials, i wouldnt be the missonary i am now and maybe not a missionary at all. This mission has been changing me. I am so grateful for that. Maybe the best day of my mission is the day i decided to put my everything into it and not hold out on anyone but be a Japan Tokyo Missionary. I am so grateful for that. The Scriptures, Apostles, and Prophets are so right when they say taht we should be grateful for those things. I am. We went out for dinner for Thanksgiving. We tried to find a All you Can Eat but we had no success in finding one. So we resorted to just buying Sushi. So for my first Thanksgiving in Japan i had 14 plates of Sushi. It was good but it cost me like 15 bucks. I would of rather had free food from home but oh well. We thne topped off the night by getting doughnuts for dessert. Let me say that American Doughnuts are so much better than Japanese doughnuts.
Friday: We ahd a very intresting Lesson with a guy from Okinawa, Japan. He spoke really hard japanese and way broked english. It was hard to understand him in any language he spoke. He believes in a religion called Happy Science. They believe in everything all churches believe in. It was kind of a hard lesson. We would talk about the Plan of Salvation and he would listen and then talk about the feud going on between China and the USA. What is exactly going on over there? I hear taht American is in like a cold war with China? Is that true? Anyways it was a difficutl lesson but he told us he can meet next week and he took our pamphlet to read it.
Saturday: We went to our Bishops house to do a Practice lesson with him. We taught about the Restoration. I felt the spirit very much so and thought i did a good job. It made me really made though when he tried to correct my testimony. I cant stand people taht do that. Its my testimony and i can say it in anyway i want. You cant tell someone that there testimony is wrong. I saw past taht and told myself taht he was just trying to help so nonmembers can have a better understanding. When i thought it about it taht way, for the progression fo those without the gospel, i felt much better about it and forgave him in my heart. We then had our real Thanksgiving Feast. It was amazing. There was so much food too. But none when we left. We ahd Taco's, Huge Hamburgers, and Costco Pizza. I had 7 Taco's, 2 Hamburgers, and 3 slices of Pizza. It was so good. Even though it wasnt Turkey and Potatoes, it was American and it was alot of food. It was so greasy and the burgers had onions mixed in the middle of them. so good. We then had Chocolate Cake and Hot Chocolate for dessert. So good. I got crowned the Elder who eats the most. No one thought that i could eat taht much because i had never done it before because i dont like to becasue of my weight. But i went all out to show everyone i can eat alot when i wnat to. I felt so sick. But like 2 hours later i was super hungry agian. It was amazing day.
Sunday: It was a tyipcal sunday here. It was harder because i was super tired adn i didnt really understand anything anyone was saying. It was super hard to stay awake durein church. I kept dozing off all 3 hours. I crashed at like 9:50 that night.
That was my week. I dont have any solid investigators so i spend alot of my time planting way good seeds and finding people taht are intrested. I have gotten the most phone numbers in my life in the pst 3 weeks tahn ever. I am going to be a pro at getting girls phone numbers when i go home. I am sending a letter home today to you guys. It has my camera card in it. You need to send the other one back as soon as possible. We have to keep this cycle going good. I cant wait til christmas. I am so excited to talk to all of you again. It has been 8 months since i have last taked with you. I might also get to talk over SKYPE and actually see you.HOw cool would that be? You guys need to let Nick Keels know so he can be ther. I really want him there.
I love you with all my heart mom! I am so grateful for everything taht you do for me! You are the best mom taht anyone could ask for. I hope and pray for your safety everyday. I love you so much. Thank you. i hope that you have a great week this week. You know that i will be praying for you. Get the rest taht you need ok? I cant wait til next week to hear from ya. I hope that this week goes by super fast. THe weeks seem to be going by fster and faster and easier and easier too. I am loving it. I just wish taht i had a solid investigator adn teaching more lesons than all the finding i ahve to do. But oh well, like you said, it is my lot to have this. I am grateful for it too. I am learning everyday from my expireences. Have a great week for me ok? I love you!!!
愛を込めて、Ai O Komoete,
Called to serve in the Tokyo-Japan Mission
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
21 November 2011
Thank you so much for these emails. I am so grateful that Kamas is finally married. I have been prying so hard for him. i really have and to hear that he is finally married is so good and makes me super happy. I am so grateful for them. They look really good. you could of told me the gold was more yellow like. oh well though. I am glad that he had a really good weekend. Everybody looks super happy. i am way pumped about it.
Well my week was full of ups and little downs. It was a bit hard at times too. But for the majority of the week, it was super good and i am proud of the work that i have accomplished. Monday after P-day, we went streeting and ended up talkin to this one dude who looked like Ab Lincoln. well, we taught him pretty much every lesson and the spirit was with us big time because both of us understood most of the dudes japanese and we were able to answer him. Unfortuntaly the guy didnt give us any info and didnt want to meet us again. It was super depressing seeing that. People do it all the time. THey like what we preach but they dont want to ever meet again. Thats how the work goes here.
Tuesday we streeted all day long. I was super suprised at it because i hated streeting. Do you remember when i 1st got to japan i told you how much i hated it? well i am starting to like it more and more. Our conversations are gettting more intresting. we streeted pretty much for 7 hours and had no new investigators. It sucked but the day was fun and i enjoied it so much. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same. On Wednesday though we got to watch a bit of College soccer. (Japanese people are really good at soccer), Thursday we had weekly planning and i called people from the area book and got a new investigator. That night we went to an eki and we talked to this way old dude. It was so funny. He wanted to know what amen meant so we told him. He was way drunk by the way. He called me a way polite thing. Like a heavenly messenger. It was pretty cool. On Friday we had District meeting. While streeting we talked to a dude who told us our eyes were diffent than everyone elses eyes. He said not because of the color but that we had something differnt that other people didnt have. It was way cool. He pretty much told us that he could tell that we had the Spirit. and that as a missionary is a good thing to know.
Saturday was raining all day long. It was super cold too. Like said, our apartment gets way cold and i dont have any like indoor warm clothing. I have the huge outside rain coats and winter jackets, but no sweaters or long sleeves. I really want my mexican sweater that i packed away. It is red, blak and white. It would be awesome. We had a meeting with the bishop and new ward mission leader. After that we played indoor soccer. Let me remind you that they are really good at soccer. I scored a goal with my head. It was the best goal of the night. I was so happy. Everyone went nuts. I couldnt believe that i did that against japanese peopel in thier best sport. I felt way good. It was so much fun.
Sunday was AWESOME!!! We had a investigator who had never been to church come. It was great becasue he wants to be a elementary teacher and on sunday was the primary program. He told me that he had a very warm feeling in his heart and that he was coming next week. SO AWESOME!!! The bad thing is that he doesnt live in my area. We have a dinner appt. with him tonight and we weill be trading him off. So sad.
The week was difficult because kamas' wedding was in the back of my head the whole week. Friday and Saturday were hard because i knew the wedding stuff was happening. I tried not to focus on it though. I am relieved that it is over now though. I am way happy. I am planning on having another aWESOME week this week. It has been filling up. Hopefully we will find the elected people so i dont have to street so much. I much rather teach people than go finding.
I love you so much and really appreciate everything you do for me. I am glad that you all had an amazing week. I hope that this week is a good one too with Thanksgiving coming up. We are planning on going to a All you can eat restraunt on Thanksgiving. Its going to be differnt for sure. I love you and cant wait to hear from you again!
Well my week was full of ups and little downs. It was a bit hard at times too. But for the majority of the week, it was super good and i am proud of the work that i have accomplished. Monday after P-day, we went streeting and ended up talkin to this one dude who looked like Ab Lincoln. well, we taught him pretty much every lesson and the spirit was with us big time because both of us understood most of the dudes japanese and we were able to answer him. Unfortuntaly the guy didnt give us any info and didnt want to meet us again. It was super depressing seeing that. People do it all the time. THey like what we preach but they dont want to ever meet again. Thats how the work goes here.
Tuesday we streeted all day long. I was super suprised at it because i hated streeting. Do you remember when i 1st got to japan i told you how much i hated it? well i am starting to like it more and more. Our conversations are gettting more intresting. we streeted pretty much for 7 hours and had no new investigators. It sucked but the day was fun and i enjoied it so much. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same. On Wednesday though we got to watch a bit of College soccer. (Japanese people are really good at soccer), Thursday we had weekly planning and i called people from the area book and got a new investigator. That night we went to an eki and we talked to this way old dude. It was so funny. He wanted to know what amen meant so we told him. He was way drunk by the way. He called me a way polite thing. Like a heavenly messenger. It was pretty cool. On Friday we had District meeting. While streeting we talked to a dude who told us our eyes were diffent than everyone elses eyes. He said not because of the color but that we had something differnt that other people didnt have. It was way cool. He pretty much told us that he could tell that we had the Spirit. and that as a missionary is a good thing to know.
Saturday was raining all day long. It was super cold too. Like said, our apartment gets way cold and i dont have any like indoor warm clothing. I have the huge outside rain coats and winter jackets, but no sweaters or long sleeves. I really want my mexican sweater that i packed away. It is red, blak and white. It would be awesome. We had a meeting with the bishop and new ward mission leader. After that we played indoor soccer. Let me remind you that they are really good at soccer. I scored a goal with my head. It was the best goal of the night. I was so happy. Everyone went nuts. I couldnt believe that i did that against japanese peopel in thier best sport. I felt way good. It was so much fun.
Sunday was AWESOME!!! We had a investigator who had never been to church come. It was great becasue he wants to be a elementary teacher and on sunday was the primary program. He told me that he had a very warm feeling in his heart and that he was coming next week. SO AWESOME!!! The bad thing is that he doesnt live in my area. We have a dinner appt. with him tonight and we weill be trading him off. So sad.
The week was difficult because kamas' wedding was in the back of my head the whole week. Friday and Saturday were hard because i knew the wedding stuff was happening. I tried not to focus on it though. I am relieved that it is over now though. I am way happy. I am planning on having another aWESOME week this week. It has been filling up. Hopefully we will find the elected people so i dont have to street so much. I much rather teach people than go finding.
I love you so much and really appreciate everything you do for me. I am glad that you all had an amazing week. I hope that this week is a good one too with Thanksgiving coming up. We are planning on going to a All you can eat restraunt on Thanksgiving. Its going to be differnt for sure. I love you and cant wait to hear from you again!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
14 November 2011
So i am glad taht you sent me an email. I love you alot. So i have had a really good week this week. Just to let you know, i have been praying for you, Kamas, and grandam and it is super good to hear that everything is going better. It realy makes me happy. Well i will get on to my week.
So last monday i had a dinner with some members. We shared a message about the Holy Ghost. It was good. Afterwards we had dinner. It was a dish called Nabe. It is like little meatballs mixed in with fish and you boil it with vegetables and noodles. It was super good. I had never had it before.
Tuesday we had another dinner appointment but this time with the bishop. Before we ate though, we did a lesson with bishop. We taught him about obedience and following the prophet. It was super hard because he was stopping us every 20 seconds and telling us things we need to fix. It was really hard not to get frustrated but it was some good advice that he was giving us. He has been the stake president in an England stake before. He was really nice after though. For dinner we had something called Sukiyaki. It is beef boiled in water with vegetables and other japanese foods. You then mix it in a bowl with a raw egg and other sauces. It was good after you got over the fact that a raw egg was in it. You cant really taste the raw egg either. But they fed us so much. It was so good. Apparently we go over to their house like twice a week do to a lesson and thenn eat. SO i am good with that.
Wednesday i was on splits with someone that is younger tahn me. I was on splits because my comp had a district leader meeting. I went streeting in front of the church. I was really suprised at my skills. My japanese was really good and i was suprised on how much i knew. We stopped this one guy running, he said that he would like to do a church tour. That was about the only success i saw that day. But i was way suprised at my japanese. I then went and bought my new bike. Since i had a warranty on my bike, i was able to get one for super cheap. I bout a bike that is usually 33700 yen for about 7000yen and i then had to buy a warranty for the new one. The total came out ot 12000yen which is about $120 in american dollars. Is was pretty good.
Thursday while doing a kubarikai i walked up to this japanese man and told him he had a cool tie and he responded in English. He told me that he had lived in Australia and that he wanted to go to a christian church. WOW!!! what the right people to run into right? I was so happy i stopped him. I told him thats all we do everyday is invite people to come to church. He was happy and said that next sunday he would come. Throughout the whole day i was stopping poeple and talking to them in japanese and i have just been super suprised at how much i know. I quess i have never really noticed because i have always been with a comp taht is like 10 or more transfers ahead of me. But man my japanese has really taken off.
Friday was a super cold day. Wanna know why? Because it was raining all day long. It was super cold. I hated riding my bike in it. Luckily for me, i only had to do it for 3 hours because we had to go to a zone meeting at the stake center which was about 1 hour away. After the meeting we had to book it to another area to do a baptismal interview. It was fun. But man was it cold.
Saturday wasnt raining and it was a super clear day. I got up in the morning to go running like i always do. I was running down the canal goin a west direction and i looked up. Quess what i saw? Yup. There it was. MT. FUJI! It was so cool and so pretty. I have never seen that moutain since i have come to Japan. Since it was a clear day thanks to the rain the day before Mt. Fuji was visible. It was really pretty. I havent seen it since. The smog from the city covers it up. Just thinking about that miracle and the rain i related it to Christ and us. Christ gives us hard times or trials. But after the trials are over or after it stops raining and clears up. The trails really do bring good things .In my case since it rained, it cleared up the smog and made Mt. Fuji visible. Trials will do the same. They will bring down our pride and make us humble to the Lord and then we will have a good relationship with our father in heaven. Way cool uh? This gospel is great. i love it so much. SO saturday night we had FHE at a members house with more food. One of the foods was a cake. It was made from a fruit called Kaki. It tasted just like pumpkin pie and i enjoied it so much. I miss thanksgiving. But i met a member who lived in AZ for 2 1/2 years after he was baptized and i talked and reminised about AZ with him. It was fun.
Sunday before church started, some members were singing christmas songs. They asked us to come over and sing with them so we did. They were all suprised with my sining and told me i had to do it everyweek. I have been drafted. i like it but it is super hard singing in Japanese. The words are all the symbols they use too. Really hard but i am doing it. I gave a talk/testimony in Sacrament too. I thought it was horrible but the bishop came up to me and said it was great. I read the scripture Alma 26:12. I am so excited to be in this ward. I swear that i have seen some of this people before. I am so excited. THis ward is going to be great. I mean. I have already been fed 3 times this week. Way cool. In Preisthood meeting i was called on the spot to tell peole how we can prepare for the 2nd coming. I was scared adn super suprised. I have never learned how to teach this. As missionaries, we shouldnt teach this subject. But i went up and started teaching. I taught the basic principles of the Gospel. You know: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Recieving the gift of the HOly Ghost., and Enduring to the End. I dont know if taht was the answer they were looking for but it is true. If we do those steps and stay firm inthe belief, we will be saved and have no worries. I love how in this gospel we can relate everything back to the five principles taht we believe in. Once again i was suprised that i did it all in japanese. I dont know where all this started coming from but i am loving it and so grateful for it. Later sunday night while my comp was on the phone, i was streeting. After talking to a man, an old lady came up to me and asked me who i was and what i was doing. I told her adn then she told me that she was a christian and intrested in learning about this gospel. Yet another miracle. For one, i was talking to her all in japanese by myself. I havent even been in japan for 6 months and i am holding converstatinos by myself. another miracle is that the Lord really does bless us when we are doing waht we are supposed to be doing. I am so grateful that i was out talking to people instead of in my apartment. I can honestly say ever since i have commited myself to this mission, things have been moving in a way more positive way. I love it.
So here i am today. Writing this wonderful email. My apartment is so cool. It has 4 people in it. SO fun. NO one is from Utah either. Really rare here. Elder Lewis is a zone leader and from Georgia. He is way cool and i am so happy to be in his apartment. I have known him since i got to japan. He really reminds me of our family. Elder Kaizaki is the other zone leader. He is from Kyoto, Japan. He doesnt speak good english so it is good practise for me. ANd my comp. He is from Oregon. He is the zone leader and we are going to be great friends. He really is cool. And since we both are young missionaries, we both learn alot and use our japanese alot. Way good. I have been thinking alot about my week and how good it has been. Kamas wedding has been on my mind too. But not to much. I will get over it. I have been thinking about a christmas list. I am sure taht i ahve already told you stuff taht i wanted. I really do want that stuff but i really want money in my account too. But if you send a package, even a small one, i need denture cleaners They clean my retainers. I need some really bad. i would really like some pictures too. But ya. I would like all that stuff i told you, but ireally wnat money for when i get back too. I aam so confused. Anyways. I love you all so much. I am so grateful for everything you do for me. I hope that everything will go good this week. I am sure it will. I will continue to pray for you and Kamas.
So ya.. . . I love you so much. Christmas is coming soon and i think i get to call on skype. But i dont know how well that will work out. But i am excited. Let Nick KEels know when i get all the info to you guys. Ireally want him there when i call. Is there anything anyone wants for christmas from japan. Packages are super expensive but there is a base close to my area and i think i can get it for cheap. Just let me know. I dont know what else to say. I love you guys and appreciate you all so much. I hope this week is a great one and i cant wait to hear about the wedding. Let me know.
Lots of Love,
So last monday i had a dinner with some members. We shared a message about the Holy Ghost. It was good. Afterwards we had dinner. It was a dish called Nabe. It is like little meatballs mixed in with fish and you boil it with vegetables and noodles. It was super good. I had never had it before.
Tuesday we had another dinner appointment but this time with the bishop. Before we ate though, we did a lesson with bishop. We taught him about obedience and following the prophet. It was super hard because he was stopping us every 20 seconds and telling us things we need to fix. It was really hard not to get frustrated but it was some good advice that he was giving us. He has been the stake president in an England stake before. He was really nice after though. For dinner we had something called Sukiyaki. It is beef boiled in water with vegetables and other japanese foods. You then mix it in a bowl with a raw egg and other sauces. It was good after you got over the fact that a raw egg was in it. You cant really taste the raw egg either. But they fed us so much. It was so good. Apparently we go over to their house like twice a week do to a lesson and thenn eat. SO i am good with that.
Wednesday i was on splits with someone that is younger tahn me. I was on splits because my comp had a district leader meeting. I went streeting in front of the church. I was really suprised at my skills. My japanese was really good and i was suprised on how much i knew. We stopped this one guy running, he said that he would like to do a church tour. That was about the only success i saw that day. But i was way suprised at my japanese. I then went and bought my new bike. Since i had a warranty on my bike, i was able to get one for super cheap. I bout a bike that is usually 33700 yen for about 7000yen and i then had to buy a warranty for the new one. The total came out ot 12000yen which is about $120 in american dollars. Is was pretty good.
Thursday while doing a kubarikai i walked up to this japanese man and told him he had a cool tie and he responded in English. He told me that he had lived in Australia and that he wanted to go to a christian church. WOW!!! what the right people to run into right? I was so happy i stopped him. I told him thats all we do everyday is invite people to come to church. He was happy and said that next sunday he would come. Throughout the whole day i was stopping poeple and talking to them in japanese and i have just been super suprised at how much i know. I quess i have never really noticed because i have always been with a comp taht is like 10 or more transfers ahead of me. But man my japanese has really taken off.
Friday was a super cold day. Wanna know why? Because it was raining all day long. It was super cold. I hated riding my bike in it. Luckily for me, i only had to do it for 3 hours because we had to go to a zone meeting at the stake center which was about 1 hour away. After the meeting we had to book it to another area to do a baptismal interview. It was fun. But man was it cold.
Saturday wasnt raining and it was a super clear day. I got up in the morning to go running like i always do. I was running down the canal goin a west direction and i looked up. Quess what i saw? Yup. There it was. MT. FUJI! It was so cool and so pretty. I have never seen that moutain since i have come to Japan. Since it was a clear day thanks to the rain the day before Mt. Fuji was visible. It was really pretty. I havent seen it since. The smog from the city covers it up. Just thinking about that miracle and the rain i related it to Christ and us. Christ gives us hard times or trials. But after the trials are over or after it stops raining and clears up. The trails really do bring good things .In my case since it rained, it cleared up the smog and made Mt. Fuji visible. Trials will do the same. They will bring down our pride and make us humble to the Lord and then we will have a good relationship with our father in heaven. Way cool uh? This gospel is great. i love it so much. SO saturday night we had FHE at a members house with more food. One of the foods was a cake. It was made from a fruit called Kaki. It tasted just like pumpkin pie and i enjoied it so much. I miss thanksgiving. But i met a member who lived in AZ for 2 1/2 years after he was baptized and i talked and reminised about AZ with him. It was fun.
Sunday before church started, some members were singing christmas songs. They asked us to come over and sing with them so we did. They were all suprised with my sining and told me i had to do it everyweek. I have been drafted. i like it but it is super hard singing in Japanese. The words are all the symbols they use too. Really hard but i am doing it. I gave a talk/testimony in Sacrament too. I thought it was horrible but the bishop came up to me and said it was great. I read the scripture Alma 26:12. I am so excited to be in this ward. I swear that i have seen some of this people before. I am so excited. THis ward is going to be great. I mean. I have already been fed 3 times this week. Way cool. In Preisthood meeting i was called on the spot to tell peole how we can prepare for the 2nd coming. I was scared adn super suprised. I have never learned how to teach this. As missionaries, we shouldnt teach this subject. But i went up and started teaching. I taught the basic principles of the Gospel. You know: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Recieving the gift of the HOly Ghost., and Enduring to the End. I dont know if taht was the answer they were looking for but it is true. If we do those steps and stay firm inthe belief, we will be saved and have no worries. I love how in this gospel we can relate everything back to the five principles taht we believe in. Once again i was suprised that i did it all in japanese. I dont know where all this started coming from but i am loving it and so grateful for it. Later sunday night while my comp was on the phone, i was streeting. After talking to a man, an old lady came up to me and asked me who i was and what i was doing. I told her adn then she told me that she was a christian and intrested in learning about this gospel. Yet another miracle. For one, i was talking to her all in japanese by myself. I havent even been in japan for 6 months and i am holding converstatinos by myself. another miracle is that the Lord really does bless us when we are doing waht we are supposed to be doing. I am so grateful that i was out talking to people instead of in my apartment. I can honestly say ever since i have commited myself to this mission, things have been moving in a way more positive way. I love it.
So here i am today. Writing this wonderful email. My apartment is so cool. It has 4 people in it. SO fun. NO one is from Utah either. Really rare here. Elder Lewis is a zone leader and from Georgia. He is way cool and i am so happy to be in his apartment. I have known him since i got to japan. He really reminds me of our family. Elder Kaizaki is the other zone leader. He is from Kyoto, Japan. He doesnt speak good english so it is good practise for me. ANd my comp. He is from Oregon. He is the zone leader and we are going to be great friends. He really is cool. And since we both are young missionaries, we both learn alot and use our japanese alot. Way good. I have been thinking alot about my week and how good it has been. Kamas wedding has been on my mind too. But not to much. I will get over it. I have been thinking about a christmas list. I am sure taht i ahve already told you stuff taht i wanted. I really do want that stuff but i really want money in my account too. But if you send a package, even a small one, i need denture cleaners They clean my retainers. I need some really bad. i would really like some pictures too. But ya. I would like all that stuff i told you, but ireally wnat money for when i get back too. I aam so confused. Anyways. I love you all so much. I am so grateful for everything you do for me. I hope that everything will go good this week. I am sure it will. I will continue to pray for you and Kamas.
So ya.. . . I love you so much. Christmas is coming soon and i think i get to call on skype. But i dont know how well that will work out. But i am excited. Let Nick KEels know when i get all the info to you guys. Ireally want him there when i call. Is there anything anyone wants for christmas from japan. Packages are super expensive but there is a base close to my area and i think i can get it for cheap. Just let me know. I dont know what else to say. I love you guys and appreciate you all so much. I hope this week is a great one and i cant wait to hear about the wedding. Let me know.
Lots of Love,
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
08 november 2011
JUST A REMINDER BLOG READERS:::
My brother is a terrible typer. And I do not personally re-edit his emails. :)
If you have a hard time reading his email because his spelling and grammar are off, please feel free to email or write him your concerns. I am sure he will greatly appreciate it. Letters are always refreshing for a missionary, no matter what the topic of the letter is :)
" Man it sure sounds like you had a fun, and yet very chilly week. I am so jealous about the cabin demolition. Not so much of the snow and the cold. I don't know, ever since i went to the MTC i don't like snow. Maybe that is just as a missionary. It makes things very taihen and no fun at all. I do like the snow but not as a missionary. I prefer the heat. SO summers here don't bother me. Just to let you know i only have one summer in Japan left. I hope that you guys don't get all of the cabin finished. i want to help build things too. I want to say that i put some sweat and blood into the cabin. I am glad that all my sisters and sister in laws are getting along well. That is a good thing. i am so excited for Kamas. I have been bragging about him to everyone. even the members in Japanese. they think it is so cool. i love him so much and am excited for him. Thanks for telling me about grandma. i will pray for her and hope that everything will be ok. you will have to send me some pictures of me at the wedding. I think it will be so funny. i will be at the wedding but i wont remember it. don't worry mom. i am sure that you will be inspired sometime this week with that video. i will pray for you too. Thank you so much for fasting for me this past Sunday. I really am scared for this next transfer and i will tell you why after i tell you about my week.
Tuesday a missionaries dad came and took us out to a lunch/dinner. It was so nice of him to do that. We had fried pork and rice. Typical Japanese food. rice with everything. it was good. when we took him back so he could catch his bus ot his hotel, quess what happend? We saw our friend who had chased us. Yup he was coming up the escalators and we were going down the stairs. It was funny because he saw me and started yelling my name. Me and my comp started to run really quick. It was funny because the dad and his son had no clue what was going on. They just saw us start running and they started running. It was funny. But it was fun to see the missionary and his dad mingle. I thought to myself what i would do if dad came to Tokyo and took me out to dinner. i don't know what i would do or say. it was fun to watch them though.
Wednesday was so much fun. We got to go to a international elementary school because they were having international day and they needed people from different nations. IT was so cool seeing the little kids. I realized how innocent little kids really are. The first kids we met were 4th graders. They had to speak English to us and we had to speak English to them. MOst of the kids were Japanese too. with the 4th graders we had a Halloween themed event. They danced to thriller for us and we played some games. It was really cute and fun. Next were the 6th graders. Their theme was culture. THey had different stations set up that had different Japanese cultural things such as sumo, karate, food, etc. It was fun but super wierd because at 3 stations we had to wrestle, sumo, and sword fight with the kids. I thought it was strangfe but the little ones loved it. Tehy alos played a super cool jhapanese song for us on their instruments. It sounded so cool. I sent it home on the card. Next and last was the 5th graders. THeir theme was English. THey had to ask us english questions and had to rock, paper, scissor us at the end of the question. it was really fun. THey then sang "we are the people" by michael jackson. It was cook becasue the last verses was in japanese but i didnt get it on film. i was so mad. but it was a way fun day. Not very often do you get to do that.
THursday we had district meeting and lunch. I payed for my companions lunch becasue it was his birthday. We had the all you can eat meat thing called yakiniku again; i had been carving this all transfer. i was so happy and ate so much beef. It was so good. We all had a really good time. That night we saw our crazy friend again. but this time he didnt see us. so we did a little mission impossible. ever since he chased us it had been our goal to get a picture of him to show people. well thursday night we accomplished our goal and got the best picture that describes him perfectly. It was awesome but also very risky. Later that night i had planned a suprise birthday party for my comp. I had a nonmember investigator make him a chocolate cake. She also went above and beyond and made us a peruvian dinner. I LOVE PERUVIAN FOOD. It was so good. we had steak marinated in some sauce. it tasted like the mexican pork. but she made a awesome chocolate cake that is ot die for. so good. i also gave my comp a tie that he wanted. It was a good day and a great oppurtunity to show my love for him. (even though he drove me nuts)
Saturday morning my bike got stolen. Yup i am without a bike. It really sucked. It got stolen between 6:45 and 11 am in the morning. I was so mad and it was a downer day. I tried really hard not to get to down. SO it sucks really bad because i had a back tire on my bike that didnt belong to me. DO you remember 2 weeks ago when i had to go to the shop and find a new tire? Ya well i borrowed a piece of crap tire from this bike shop and my bike got stolen. So i went to the bike shop to tell him and see how much it would cost. well the guy is a fag and he thought he would screw the white people. HE priced one bike tire at $126. Isnt that ridiculous? 126 bucks. i could believe that. i was so mad because i still have to buy a new bike .I dont have any money for this stuff. I dont know what i am going to do. My new bike is going to cost about 150 bucks becuase i bought a warranty with it. so glad i did that. But hte total comes out to liek 280 bucks for everythign. I AM A MISSIONARY! I dont have that money. But ya that is the situation i am in right now.
Sunday i had dinner at a members house and i learned some way cool htings. I want a book called Exploring the lands of the Book of Mormon. It is such a cool book. That is my favorite thing to study about. THe book of mormon and native american indians. i love it so much and that book talks about it so much. iwant it. before we left the brother gave a closing prayer. he blessed me that i would continue to be aawesome missionary and that the lord woudl bless me with the japaense language. it was a way good blessing. i really appreciated it alot. HE told me taht i was differnet and special. He said that since i can adopt to the japanese culture and the way they do things, i will learn the language faster and be better at it. That made me really happy. It really strengthend my faith and gave me a push that i needed. I love him so much. I wish you could of been there for the blessing though. It was incredible.
I did get transfered. That makes my bike problem a little harder too. But i am in a area called Kawagoe. It has 4 people in the apartemnt which i am so excited about. But i am in a co-senior comapnionhsip and that scares me. ALOT. I am on a transfer 5 and my comp is transfer 7. This means taht they are planning something special for me. I am a bit nervous but it is in the future and i have no idea what will happen. My comp is half mexican and from oregon. His name is Elder Albrethsen. He is also like a head shorter than me and problably 50 lbs heavier tahn me. i like him alot. He remindes me alot of boo and looks like him too. He also reminds me of an ompa loompa. He is cool though. HIs japanese is better than mine but not that good i dont think. So i dont know. He is still older and i will have to rely on himn still. My apartment has no weights in it. THat scares me a lot. I have run everday i can. I have maintained a good weight of like 178lbs. BUt i need to workout and this apartment has no weights and i dont know how i will be able to work out. i dont want ot loose my muscle or gain fat. i think i am just stressin my self out though. Tonight we have dinner with the bishop and the other elders were telling me that he feeds you tons of food. i like that buyt hate it at the same time. I am trying so hard to maintain my weight. I dont want to gain fat. only muscle. I hate this. i wish the human body could just eat whatever and as much and never gain anyweight. i would love that. I have such a slow metabolism though. i want a fast one.
ANyway, ya. i finally saw mountains for the 1st time since leaving the MTC. I was so happy. i cna see mountains from apartment. that makes me super happy too. my apartment is also on a river. super cool. I think i am going to like it here alot besides the fact of no weights.
I love you with all my heart mom. I cant wait to talk to you on Christmas. Nick Keels wants to talk too. Can you email him and fill him in on details on what will happen. I really want him to be there when i call. Its coming quick. I love you and cant wait to look at the pictures you sent me. i hope that you have a great week. I know that i will except not having a bike or money. I hope that you stay safe. Iknow that God will be looking out for you always and our family too. I will pray for you and the family. Well i gotta run. "
I LOVE YOU!!!
My brother is a terrible typer. And I do not personally re-edit his emails. :)
If you have a hard time reading his email because his spelling and grammar are off, please feel free to email or write him your concerns. I am sure he will greatly appreciate it. Letters are always refreshing for a missionary, no matter what the topic of the letter is :)
" Man it sure sounds like you had a fun, and yet very chilly week. I am so jealous about the cabin demolition. Not so much of the snow and the cold. I don't know, ever since i went to the MTC i don't like snow. Maybe that is just as a missionary. It makes things very taihen and no fun at all. I do like the snow but not as a missionary. I prefer the heat. SO summers here don't bother me. Just to let you know i only have one summer in Japan left. I hope that you guys don't get all of the cabin finished. i want to help build things too. I want to say that i put some sweat and blood into the cabin. I am glad that all my sisters and sister in laws are getting along well. That is a good thing. i am so excited for Kamas. I have been bragging about him to everyone. even the members in Japanese. they think it is so cool. i love him so much and am excited for him. Thanks for telling me about grandma. i will pray for her and hope that everything will be ok. you will have to send me some pictures of me at the wedding. I think it will be so funny. i will be at the wedding but i wont remember it. don't worry mom. i am sure that you will be inspired sometime this week with that video. i will pray for you too. Thank you so much for fasting for me this past Sunday. I really am scared for this next transfer and i will tell you why after i tell you about my week.
Tuesday a missionaries dad came and took us out to a lunch/dinner. It was so nice of him to do that. We had fried pork and rice. Typical Japanese food. rice with everything. it was good. when we took him back so he could catch his bus ot his hotel, quess what happend? We saw our friend who had chased us. Yup he was coming up the escalators and we were going down the stairs. It was funny because he saw me and started yelling my name. Me and my comp started to run really quick. It was funny because the dad and his son had no clue what was going on. They just saw us start running and they started running. It was funny. But it was fun to see the missionary and his dad mingle. I thought to myself what i would do if dad came to Tokyo and took me out to dinner. i don't know what i would do or say. it was fun to watch them though.
Wednesday was so much fun. We got to go to a international elementary school because they were having international day and they needed people from different nations. IT was so cool seeing the little kids. I realized how innocent little kids really are. The first kids we met were 4th graders. They had to speak English to us and we had to speak English to them. MOst of the kids were Japanese too. with the 4th graders we had a Halloween themed event. They danced to thriller for us and we played some games. It was really cute and fun. Next were the 6th graders. Their theme was culture. THey had different stations set up that had different Japanese cultural things such as sumo, karate, food, etc. It was fun but super wierd because at 3 stations we had to wrestle, sumo, and sword fight with the kids. I thought it was strangfe but the little ones loved it. Tehy alos played a super cool jhapanese song for us on their instruments. It sounded so cool. I sent it home on the card. Next and last was the 5th graders. THeir theme was English. THey had to ask us english questions and had to rock, paper, scissor us at the end of the question. it was really fun. THey then sang "we are the people" by michael jackson. It was cook becasue the last verses was in japanese but i didnt get it on film. i was so mad. but it was a way fun day. Not very often do you get to do that.
THursday we had district meeting and lunch. I payed for my companions lunch becasue it was his birthday. We had the all you can eat meat thing called yakiniku again; i had been carving this all transfer. i was so happy and ate so much beef. It was so good. We all had a really good time. That night we saw our crazy friend again. but this time he didnt see us. so we did a little mission impossible. ever since he chased us it had been our goal to get a picture of him to show people. well thursday night we accomplished our goal and got the best picture that describes him perfectly. It was awesome but also very risky. Later that night i had planned a suprise birthday party for my comp. I had a nonmember investigator make him a chocolate cake. She also went above and beyond and made us a peruvian dinner. I LOVE PERUVIAN FOOD. It was so good. we had steak marinated in some sauce. it tasted like the mexican pork. but she made a awesome chocolate cake that is ot die for. so good. i also gave my comp a tie that he wanted. It was a good day and a great oppurtunity to show my love for him. (even though he drove me nuts)
Saturday morning my bike got stolen. Yup i am without a bike. It really sucked. It got stolen between 6:45 and 11 am in the morning. I was so mad and it was a downer day. I tried really hard not to get to down. SO it sucks really bad because i had a back tire on my bike that didnt belong to me. DO you remember 2 weeks ago when i had to go to the shop and find a new tire? Ya well i borrowed a piece of crap tire from this bike shop and my bike got stolen. So i went to the bike shop to tell him and see how much it would cost. well the guy is a fag and he thought he would screw the white people. HE priced one bike tire at $126. Isnt that ridiculous? 126 bucks. i could believe that. i was so mad because i still have to buy a new bike .I dont have any money for this stuff. I dont know what i am going to do. My new bike is going to cost about 150 bucks becuase i bought a warranty with it. so glad i did that. But hte total comes out to liek 280 bucks for everythign. I AM A MISSIONARY! I dont have that money. But ya that is the situation i am in right now.
Sunday i had dinner at a members house and i learned some way cool htings. I want a book called Exploring the lands of the Book of Mormon. It is such a cool book. That is my favorite thing to study about. THe book of mormon and native american indians. i love it so much and that book talks about it so much. iwant it. before we left the brother gave a closing prayer. he blessed me that i would continue to be aawesome missionary and that the lord woudl bless me with the japaense language. it was a way good blessing. i really appreciated it alot. HE told me taht i was differnet and special. He said that since i can adopt to the japanese culture and the way they do things, i will learn the language faster and be better at it. That made me really happy. It really strengthend my faith and gave me a push that i needed. I love him so much. I wish you could of been there for the blessing though. It was incredible.
I did get transfered. That makes my bike problem a little harder too. But i am in a area called Kawagoe. It has 4 people in the apartemnt which i am so excited about. But i am in a co-senior comapnionhsip and that scares me. ALOT. I am on a transfer 5 and my comp is transfer 7. This means taht they are planning something special for me. I am a bit nervous but it is in the future and i have no idea what will happen. My comp is half mexican and from oregon. His name is Elder Albrethsen. He is also like a head shorter than me and problably 50 lbs heavier tahn me. i like him alot. He remindes me alot of boo and looks like him too. He also reminds me of an ompa loompa. He is cool though. HIs japanese is better than mine but not that good i dont think. So i dont know. He is still older and i will have to rely on himn still. My apartment has no weights in it. THat scares me a lot. I have run everday i can. I have maintained a good weight of like 178lbs. BUt i need to workout and this apartment has no weights and i dont know how i will be able to work out. i dont want ot loose my muscle or gain fat. i think i am just stressin my self out though. Tonight we have dinner with the bishop and the other elders were telling me that he feeds you tons of food. i like that buyt hate it at the same time. I am trying so hard to maintain my weight. I dont want to gain fat. only muscle. I hate this. i wish the human body could just eat whatever and as much and never gain anyweight. i would love that. I have such a slow metabolism though. i want a fast one.
ANyway, ya. i finally saw mountains for the 1st time since leaving the MTC. I was so happy. i cna see mountains from apartment. that makes me super happy too. my apartment is also on a river. super cool. I think i am going to like it here alot besides the fact of no weights.
I love you with all my heart mom. I cant wait to talk to you on Christmas. Nick Keels wants to talk too. Can you email him and fill him in on details on what will happen. I really want him to be there when i call. Its coming quick. I love you and cant wait to look at the pictures you sent me. i hope that you have a great week. I know that i will except not having a bike or money. I hope that you stay safe. Iknow that God will be looking out for you always and our family too. I will pray for you and the family. Well i gotta run. "
I LOVE YOU!!!
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