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!
Called to serve in the Tokyo-Japan Mission
Monday, November 21, 2011
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!!!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
30 October 2011
So I cant wait to tell you about my week but i must put in my thoughts of the week that you expireneced. So you will just have to wait a little bit.
Sounds like you had a way busy week or monday i should say. I hope all of your pictures are doing good and have not been lost. Nohting will happen from dad writing that letter. Highland sucks. They have crudy peopel working there besides you. Everyone loves you. I am glad that bug got his jersey. I remember that is like one fo the only things i wanted when i played. I too am glad taht football is over for him. I hope your card tournament is going swell. Did bug go on splits with the missionaries? I think he needs to do that more. I wish i would of. It really prepares people. I am glad taht he enjoied it though. I did hear that Bries shower was a hit. I love Cafe Rio but i like Chipotle better ( hahahah). I am glad taht bug got his name called out over the speakers. It always makes me feel good to hear taht. I am happy he played hard and did what he could. Good for him. I am so happy football is over. How was garage seling? I have a few things i would like for christams to add to my list. I will tell you later though. I loved the ward party much more than trunk or treating too. Oh well.
Ok now i will tell you about my week and how great it was. IT was so much fun and i really loved being here.
Monday: After Pday we went and played indoor soccer. IT was so much fun. I havent played soccer in along time but ithought that i did pretty good against people who love soccer. The japanese were afraid of me though becasue i could run fast and i was bigger than them. It was funny. I met a really cool dude who lived in Australia too. He was awesome and thought i was cool too. I was so sore for liek 2 days after playeing soccer becasue i havent done any of that since the MTC!!! IT felt so good tho!!!
Tuesday: I was able to read emails from DAd, Justin, and Kamas. I was really touched about what they said and i pondered on it and prayed about it alot. The letter i just sent to you taht was for my President was written on Last tuesday in response to what i felt and My answers to my Prayers. It really was a good day. I loved my letters and I can firmly say that I AM NOT COMING HOME!!! I have made up my mind and i am going to stick with those guns! They are the most powerful.
Wednesday: I was able to teach my favorite investigator Michael. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation. I really connect with him super well. I love him so much. After the lesson we asked if he had any concerns and he told us about his grandma. He moved to Japan like 2 years ago. He loves his grandma. She passed away while he has been here in Japan and he was wondering if he will ever see her again. I was so happy to testify and promise him that he would see her again. I love bearing testimony about how families can be together forever. I read Christiaans email. HIs advice was to me was to fall on my testimony. I do everytime. I learned that one along time ago. But thinking about it now, testifying about how families can be together forever really makes me happy. i was super happy that i was able to share with him about Kess. I saw the look in his eyes. He realy has concern and when i promised him that , a new light entered his eyes. I loved it so much. I am worried for him though. He doesnt comprehend any language very well. He is on the slow side. He speaks really good english but cant understand when he reads it. That is a problem becasue he NEEDS to read the Book of Mormon. Thank heavens for the LDS website and its simpel BOM videos. We can have him read a certain part and then send a video along with it. SO when he is done and doesnt understand, he can watch the video (which is like a cartoon) and understand it. I did that with him and he said he loved it. So grateful for this wonderful tool. Also i have you and the family now. HE was so happy taht you added him. Please help him. I will be transfered and i dont want to loose him.
Thursday: We went to a less-actives daughters birthday party. IT was funny becasue they had tons of food. so who do they call. . . the missionaries. It was philippino food because it was a philippino family. I loved it so much. such good food. Anyways, we thought the party was dead but we were wrond. It was very much alive and people kept coming. We ended up having 7 contacted referrals and talked to everyone of the philippinas about church and our activites. It was super fun. THe little kids loved us too. THey reminded me alot of my nephews. It was hard not to reak rules but oh well. I had a ball. We talked to the less-actve about her family and found out that the birthday girl had not been baptized yet. So we talked and she wants to be baptized. So we set a date there. IT was suepr good. Talk about a philippino week in Japan.
Friday: We went to a older sisters house. She invited all her friends to hear about the Plan of Salvation. Maybe becasue they all are worried because they are gonna die soon. Yup they are way old. Maybe in their 80s. Anywho, They lesson went super good. We taught really simpley and they loved it so much. They couldnt get enough. THey wanted more. It was super fun to see thme get all excited about this. We read from the book of mormon and they said that it was super simple. Maybe because the book is as old as they are. hahaha. It was super good. We committed all 3 of them to baptism too. I think my area is now the number 1 area with the most dates. we have 6. It was super good lesson and the member is awesome. She is a beast of a missionary. SHe called us this morning and tomorrow we are going to her house again to teach a seperate group of old ladies the same lesson. These old people are so popular. It should be reaally fun and more dates.
Saturday: Our ward Halloween party. It was super god. We had a ton of investigators come and nonmembers and less-actives. It really was a fun night. but very different. Some of the boothes were super funny.
So that was pretty much my week. It was full of Philippino's, Plan of Salvation, and Parties. I had so much fun. It really was so enjoiable. I can definatley see the difference after just 6 days of sayin "I am a committed Japan Tokyo Missionary". It is so much easeir. This week was just so good.
Tell justin Happy Birthday for me. I love him so much and am so grateful for him. I hope that he got my letter and enjoied it.
So as far as my Christmas list goes:electric shaver, i need deoderant (stuff that DOESNT have antipersperiant-kamas knows), Dog tags, a hand made scarf, and a Purple sport cord from Dicks sporting store. It is a stretchy cord for workouts. I had one before i left. Bug and Kamas should know about this. YOu can get them at Dicks sporting goods by san tan mall. I really need a new one. IT needs to be purple. so that is my list so far. I cant think of anything else. BUt if i do, i will let you know.
I love you so much mom. I am so grateful that i have a mom like you back at home. I cant wait to hear your voice on Christmas. I am so grateful that i had a good week this week adn i am looking forward to another great one this week. We have already planned so many fun things. It is going to be great. I love this gospel. I really do. I know i dont say it very much in my emails , but i appreciate it more than you know. Trust me. I love you. Next week i will be transfering. Presidnt has already told me that. SO my pday is going to be on my tuesday adn your monday. Just letting you know. I also might be a District Leader. Who knows. They are making the young missionaries leaders, and old missionaries trainers. I am excited for this week. It is going to be so fun. Take care and stay classy. God be with you always. . .
Love your son, the American Samurai,
Elder Kurt Van De Graaff
P.S. Here are some cool qoutes that i found.
ALl that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Edmund Burke
Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans.
Afflictions, trials, and temptaions are mandatory. Misery is optional. ( I like this the most)
Everything will be alright in the end; if it is not alright, it is not the end.
Sounds like you had a way busy week or monday i should say. I hope all of your pictures are doing good and have not been lost. Nohting will happen from dad writing that letter. Highland sucks. They have crudy peopel working there besides you. Everyone loves you. I am glad that bug got his jersey. I remember that is like one fo the only things i wanted when i played. I too am glad taht football is over for him. I hope your card tournament is going swell. Did bug go on splits with the missionaries? I think he needs to do that more. I wish i would of. It really prepares people. I am glad taht he enjoied it though. I did hear that Bries shower was a hit. I love Cafe Rio but i like Chipotle better ( hahahah). I am glad taht bug got his name called out over the speakers. It always makes me feel good to hear taht. I am happy he played hard and did what he could. Good for him. I am so happy football is over. How was garage seling? I have a few things i would like for christams to add to my list. I will tell you later though. I loved the ward party much more than trunk or treating too. Oh well.
Ok now i will tell you about my week and how great it was. IT was so much fun and i really loved being here.
Monday: After Pday we went and played indoor soccer. IT was so much fun. I havent played soccer in along time but ithought that i did pretty good against people who love soccer. The japanese were afraid of me though becasue i could run fast and i was bigger than them. It was funny. I met a really cool dude who lived in Australia too. He was awesome and thought i was cool too. I was so sore for liek 2 days after playeing soccer becasue i havent done any of that since the MTC!!! IT felt so good tho!!!
Tuesday: I was able to read emails from DAd, Justin, and Kamas. I was really touched about what they said and i pondered on it and prayed about it alot. The letter i just sent to you taht was for my President was written on Last tuesday in response to what i felt and My answers to my Prayers. It really was a good day. I loved my letters and I can firmly say that I AM NOT COMING HOME!!! I have made up my mind and i am going to stick with those guns! They are the most powerful.
Wednesday: I was able to teach my favorite investigator Michael. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation. I really connect with him super well. I love him so much. After the lesson we asked if he had any concerns and he told us about his grandma. He moved to Japan like 2 years ago. He loves his grandma. She passed away while he has been here in Japan and he was wondering if he will ever see her again. I was so happy to testify and promise him that he would see her again. I love bearing testimony about how families can be together forever. I read Christiaans email. HIs advice was to me was to fall on my testimony. I do everytime. I learned that one along time ago. But thinking about it now, testifying about how families can be together forever really makes me happy. i was super happy that i was able to share with him about Kess. I saw the look in his eyes. He realy has concern and when i promised him that , a new light entered his eyes. I loved it so much. I am worried for him though. He doesnt comprehend any language very well. He is on the slow side. He speaks really good english but cant understand when he reads it. That is a problem becasue he NEEDS to read the Book of Mormon. Thank heavens for the LDS website and its simpel BOM videos. We can have him read a certain part and then send a video along with it. SO when he is done and doesnt understand, he can watch the video (which is like a cartoon) and understand it. I did that with him and he said he loved it. So grateful for this wonderful tool. Also i have you and the family now. HE was so happy taht you added him. Please help him. I will be transfered and i dont want to loose him.
Thursday: We went to a less-actives daughters birthday party. IT was funny becasue they had tons of food. so who do they call. . . the missionaries. It was philippino food because it was a philippino family. I loved it so much. such good food. Anyways, we thought the party was dead but we were wrond. It was very much alive and people kept coming. We ended up having 7 contacted referrals and talked to everyone of the philippinas about church and our activites. It was super fun. THe little kids loved us too. THey reminded me alot of my nephews. It was hard not to reak rules but oh well. I had a ball. We talked to the less-actve about her family and found out that the birthday girl had not been baptized yet. So we talked and she wants to be baptized. So we set a date there. IT was suepr good. Talk about a philippino week in Japan.
Friday: We went to a older sisters house. She invited all her friends to hear about the Plan of Salvation. Maybe becasue they all are worried because they are gonna die soon. Yup they are way old. Maybe in their 80s. Anywho, They lesson went super good. We taught really simpley and they loved it so much. They couldnt get enough. THey wanted more. It was super fun to see thme get all excited about this. We read from the book of mormon and they said that it was super simple. Maybe because the book is as old as they are. hahaha. It was super good. We committed all 3 of them to baptism too. I think my area is now the number 1 area with the most dates. we have 6. It was super good lesson and the member is awesome. She is a beast of a missionary. SHe called us this morning and tomorrow we are going to her house again to teach a seperate group of old ladies the same lesson. These old people are so popular. It should be reaally fun and more dates.
Saturday: Our ward Halloween party. It was super god. We had a ton of investigators come and nonmembers and less-actives. It really was a fun night. but very different. Some of the boothes were super funny.
So that was pretty much my week. It was full of Philippino's, Plan of Salvation, and Parties. I had so much fun. It really was so enjoiable. I can definatley see the difference after just 6 days of sayin "I am a committed Japan Tokyo Missionary". It is so much easeir. This week was just so good.
Tell justin Happy Birthday for me. I love him so much and am so grateful for him. I hope that he got my letter and enjoied it.
So as far as my Christmas list goes:electric shaver, i need deoderant (stuff that DOESNT have antipersperiant-kamas knows), Dog tags, a hand made scarf, and a Purple sport cord from Dicks sporting store. It is a stretchy cord for workouts. I had one before i left. Bug and Kamas should know about this. YOu can get them at Dicks sporting goods by san tan mall. I really need a new one. IT needs to be purple. so that is my list so far. I cant think of anything else. BUt if i do, i will let you know.
I love you so much mom. I am so grateful that i have a mom like you back at home. I cant wait to hear your voice on Christmas. I am so grateful that i had a good week this week adn i am looking forward to another great one this week. We have already planned so many fun things. It is going to be great. I love this gospel. I really do. I know i dont say it very much in my emails , but i appreciate it more than you know. Trust me. I love you. Next week i will be transfering. Presidnt has already told me that. SO my pday is going to be on my tuesday adn your monday. Just letting you know. I also might be a District Leader. Who knows. They are making the young missionaries leaders, and old missionaries trainers. I am excited for this week. It is going to be so fun. Take care and stay classy. God be with you always. . .
Love your son, the American Samurai,
Elder Kurt Van De Graaff
P.S. Here are some cool qoutes that i found.
ALl that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Edmund Burke
Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans.
Afflictions, trials, and temptaions are mandatory. Misery is optional. ( I like this the most)
Everything will be alright in the end; if it is not alright, it is not the end.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
24 October 2011
Oh how i needed your email today. My week has been a peice of crap and it does have quite the story in it. But needless to say, i dont think my week was a wonderful one or any of that. Just adventure i quess you could say. I will get to that later though.
I want to go to the Gilbert Temple so bad. When will it be done in 2013? Do you know? I hope that i will be home to go through when they dedicate it. THat would be an awesome expierence. But i think i will keep the family tradition going and be married in the Mesa Temple. I do wish i had in n out though. Oh well. . . .
Whats up with just me and you being the injured ones in our family? Why doesnt anyone else get injured? Sounds like you have quite the problems hahaha. I am glad that your surgery went so well. I would want the cast off as soons as possible too. I hate them. I really like driving too. It is super good to hear that Cannon is out of the hospital. What a relief. I have been praying so hard for him and their family. I am so grateful that he is alive and will be a healthy boy when i get home. I know he will gain weight fast because he is a VDG and has the VDG curse of gaining weight. I hate that curse. I wish i could eat whatever and not gain any weight but that aint the case.
I am now excited to get the wedding invitation. I know that it will probably make me homesick though. I better start preparing for it. I took pictures yesterday and i will be emailing them to you today. I hope they are good. I will also be sending my camera card home with them on it. I will need that back as soon as possible. As for Christmas. . . I have thought about it. If you were to send a small package i quess i would want a electric shaver, dog tags with my name on it, deoderant that has NO Anti-persperiant in it Kamas knows what i am talking about(japanese people dont wear deoderant so they dont sell any), money, maybe you could sew me a scarf that would be cool. I will let you know over the next coulpel of weeks. But i do like the idea of money in my bank account for when i get home. Christmas is going to suck this year. It really is going to be different. But i am excited to talk with you guys.
I am so glad that you finally talked to coaches about Bug. They needed to knwo how messed up they are. Thank you so much. I really laughed at your story. I am proud of you mom. I love you so much. I hope that those coaches get fired. They suck so much. I am glad that Bug is handling it well and is on your side and is going to finish it out. Good for him. But like you said, it is in the past now and we can only move forward.
Sounds like you all had a pretty good solid week. I am glad Kamas and Brie are doing good. I hope that your hand gets better quicker. I will pray for you as i always do. Please let everyone know that i love them. Now, Let me tell you about my week.
So on Monday we had a lesson with one of out investigators who had a baptismal date. HIs name is Adachi. We meet him at the train station and he was trying to talk to me. I couldnt understand anything he was saying so i would just smile and say "Hai" or yes. When my companion came we went to go find a spot to sit and teach him. Adachi was acting really weird. He was saying stuff like "Ban Di choro said i cant touch him." and "What bike is mine?" Just really random things. I could have said that he couldnt touch me or that we could go to our apartment but i didnt understand him. Finally we made it to a Hotel lobby and started teaching him. He told us that he didnt need to be baptized because he was already in our church. He said that he had worked at a Christian Hospital and had been baptized into our church. We told him no. The conversation went along like that for like 30 min. Finally we told him that we were through meeting with him because he wasnt taking us seriously. (There was someother topics talked about but it was all the same). Me and my comp got up and left. We were outside the Hotle doors walking to the escalator to go to our bikes. we were talking about how weird this adachi was. Then we heard " BAN DI!!!". Adachi was running out of the Hotel and running after us. We started making haste towards the escalator. We started running up the escalators and adachi is behind us yelling my name BAN DI, BAN DI!!! We almost got caught by him because on the escaltor was another man and we had to push him out of the way to get away. It was an awesome expirenece and i had a blast. Adachi is crazy. Over the week he would send us some really weird texts and stuff threatening us. so we blocked him from our phone and havent heard anything from him since thursday. It was such a Fun expirence. One i will never forget. It was just funning to think back on him yelling my name while running after us. So funny. So that started the week off really well. Tuesday and Wednesday were good.
Thursday i got a bit homesick and down on myself. I really got frustrated at the fact that no one wanted to listen to us the whole day. It really frustrates me.
Friday it was raining and agian i got down on myself. No one wanted to listne to us and i was now really mad. I felt like i was just wasting time and not being successful. Thankfully i had study though. WE went out and worked in the moring. THis is were it gets really intresting. SO friday night we had planned on going seeing a member that lives probably 30 min bike ride away. It was in the rain too. So we left. My bike was having some problems and then my chain jsut fell off and wouldnt go back on. We had probably been riding for 15 minutes when this happened. I tried fixing my bike for at least 20 min. I was Pissed now. I lost my temper and i was on the verge of just killing somebody. I didnt swear though. I really wanted to though. Now i had to walk my bike home 30 to 45 minutes in the rain. I was so mad. On the walk home i had time to think about everything. It was so hard. It went deeper than just what happend with my bike. Some thoughts were i should just go home, ill never learn japanese, you arent successful, etc. It was a super hard night. I honestly considered coming home. I honestly felt that i havent done any good here and that i should just carry on with my life back at home. I had a lot of hard thoughts. I cant even describe what some of those thoughts were becasue there were so many and i just want to forget them. I tried my hardest to battle them. But then the thought came up of how can i be a good missionary, a missionary who thinks about his investigators and doesnt think about other things, if i am always battling the adversary in my head. Its a constant battle. i always have it. I hate it so much. When we got back to the apartement i sat in a chair and just thought. I thought about how boo, justin, kamas, and kess all conqured their missions and how they made them fun. I really wish kess was alive to give me advise. He is the closest one that i can to relate to becasue he too had to learn a hard language in another country. I thought about if i would actually make a 2 year mission. If i keep feeling like i did then and keep having those kind of thoughts, there is no way that i would want to do that for 2 years. I would just rather go home and serve the Lord in other ways. As you can see, it was a super hard time on me. REally hard. I need your prayers now more than ever.
Saturday i had to go and get my bike fixed. Its going to cost $100 to get it fixed. I couldnt belive that. I think the person was just trying to ripoff the white person who doesnt speak japanese. But that is what happend on saturday.
Sunday i was looking forward to all weeek becasue we had a less active baptism. The girl was 9 years old or so i thought. She turned out to be only 8. I thought that i was finally going to get my 1 baptism in the mission. God has a funny sense of humor i think. It really was the cherry on top of the whip cream. Finding out that you arent getting a baptism when you have been planning for this for a couple of months. It hurt me inside but not that much. I never taught this girl and i didnt feel like the missionaries should get the credit for her baptism, but i was still excited to say that someone came to Christ while i was there. But that didnt happen. I did however get to stand in the Confirmation Circle and that was AMAZING. I Felt the Spirit so much. I really want a to do that again so i can feel that spirit again. It was such a good feeling. I only understood one thing out of the blessing too. And that was when the bishop told her to recieve the Holy Ghost. It was good. Sunday night however i got super pissed at my comp again. we were talking about americans and japanese. He said that he loved japanese more than americans. I told him that i loved americans more. THen he continued to say "When you really love the poeple, your opinion will change aobut that." AARRGG!! I wanted to punch him in the face so hard. That is twice that he has offened me and made me feel like a unsuccessful missionary. I just brushed it off my shoulders and forgave him though. IT really hurts though and really makes some question their mission when others sya that they arent doing good enough. If you remember he told me that i wasnt giving a good enough sacrifce and now that i dont really love the poeple i serve. NO wonder i am having a hard time with thoughts and stuff. I just want a companion that is like me just wants to have fun and bring people to christ. I dont wnat compainons who make me fell like crap. But i continue to look for ways to serve and love him. TOday i folded his laundery. Oh and i alwyas cook the food. He has never made one meal this transfer.
So here i am today writing you this email. As you can tell, i have had quit the week with ups and downs. I really hope that i have learned what the Lord wants me to learn. I dont recall ever having this hard of week in my life. I really just want to speak japanese, get poeple who want to listen, having a fun companion, and do work. Dont worry. I dont want to come home. Well i do, but i will stay out on my mission until my time is up or i get sent home for some reason. But i want to stay and show the Lord that i love him and that i will do his will. I cant wait til i have more fun things to say and less hard things. I want to let you know how my week went and what is up in my life right now. This is what i am battling. I really need your prayers and everyones at home. If you could have my older brothers and father send me some advice in a good way, i would really appreciate it. Also, could you find something from kess mission. i really could use some help from him. I love you with all my heart mom. I really want to be at home enjoing everything that is going on and avoiding my hard times but hten i wouldnt learn what the Lord wants me to learn. I hope that you have a fantastic week. I will hope for the same. Give everybody my love. I Love you so much. I find joy listening to the birds in the moring. They are pretty and remind me of the simpleness of things. I also love reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese. I cant wait to read it at the cabin and you guys will have no idea what i am saying. I cnat wait til i understand more fully. Until then, God bless you and keep you safe.
I want to go to the Gilbert Temple so bad. When will it be done in 2013? Do you know? I hope that i will be home to go through when they dedicate it. THat would be an awesome expierence. But i think i will keep the family tradition going and be married in the Mesa Temple. I do wish i had in n out though. Oh well. . . .
Whats up with just me and you being the injured ones in our family? Why doesnt anyone else get injured? Sounds like you have quite the problems hahaha. I am glad that your surgery went so well. I would want the cast off as soons as possible too. I hate them. I really like driving too. It is super good to hear that Cannon is out of the hospital. What a relief. I have been praying so hard for him and their family. I am so grateful that he is alive and will be a healthy boy when i get home. I know he will gain weight fast because he is a VDG and has the VDG curse of gaining weight. I hate that curse. I wish i could eat whatever and not gain any weight but that aint the case.
I am now excited to get the wedding invitation. I know that it will probably make me homesick though. I better start preparing for it. I took pictures yesterday and i will be emailing them to you today. I hope they are good. I will also be sending my camera card home with them on it. I will need that back as soon as possible. As for Christmas. . . I have thought about it. If you were to send a small package i quess i would want a electric shaver, dog tags with my name on it, deoderant that has NO Anti-persperiant in it Kamas knows what i am talking about(japanese people dont wear deoderant so they dont sell any), money, maybe you could sew me a scarf that would be cool. I will let you know over the next coulpel of weeks. But i do like the idea of money in my bank account for when i get home. Christmas is going to suck this year. It really is going to be different. But i am excited to talk with you guys.
I am so glad that you finally talked to coaches about Bug. They needed to knwo how messed up they are. Thank you so much. I really laughed at your story. I am proud of you mom. I love you so much. I hope that those coaches get fired. They suck so much. I am glad that Bug is handling it well and is on your side and is going to finish it out. Good for him. But like you said, it is in the past now and we can only move forward.
Sounds like you all had a pretty good solid week. I am glad Kamas and Brie are doing good. I hope that your hand gets better quicker. I will pray for you as i always do. Please let everyone know that i love them. Now, Let me tell you about my week.
So on Monday we had a lesson with one of out investigators who had a baptismal date. HIs name is Adachi. We meet him at the train station and he was trying to talk to me. I couldnt understand anything he was saying so i would just smile and say "Hai" or yes. When my companion came we went to go find a spot to sit and teach him. Adachi was acting really weird. He was saying stuff like "Ban Di choro said i cant touch him." and "What bike is mine?" Just really random things. I could have said that he couldnt touch me or that we could go to our apartment but i didnt understand him. Finally we made it to a Hotel lobby and started teaching him. He told us that he didnt need to be baptized because he was already in our church. He said that he had worked at a Christian Hospital and had been baptized into our church. We told him no. The conversation went along like that for like 30 min. Finally we told him that we were through meeting with him because he wasnt taking us seriously. (There was someother topics talked about but it was all the same). Me and my comp got up and left. We were outside the Hotle doors walking to the escalator to go to our bikes. we were talking about how weird this adachi was. Then we heard " BAN DI!!!". Adachi was running out of the Hotel and running after us. We started making haste towards the escalator. We started running up the escalators and adachi is behind us yelling my name BAN DI, BAN DI!!! We almost got caught by him because on the escaltor was another man and we had to push him out of the way to get away. It was an awesome expirenece and i had a blast. Adachi is crazy. Over the week he would send us some really weird texts and stuff threatening us. so we blocked him from our phone and havent heard anything from him since thursday. It was such a Fun expirence. One i will never forget. It was just funning to think back on him yelling my name while running after us. So funny. So that started the week off really well. Tuesday and Wednesday were good.
Thursday i got a bit homesick and down on myself. I really got frustrated at the fact that no one wanted to listen to us the whole day. It really frustrates me.
Friday it was raining and agian i got down on myself. No one wanted to listne to us and i was now really mad. I felt like i was just wasting time and not being successful. Thankfully i had study though. WE went out and worked in the moring. THis is were it gets really intresting. SO friday night we had planned on going seeing a member that lives probably 30 min bike ride away. It was in the rain too. So we left. My bike was having some problems and then my chain jsut fell off and wouldnt go back on. We had probably been riding for 15 minutes when this happened. I tried fixing my bike for at least 20 min. I was Pissed now. I lost my temper and i was on the verge of just killing somebody. I didnt swear though. I really wanted to though. Now i had to walk my bike home 30 to 45 minutes in the rain. I was so mad. On the walk home i had time to think about everything. It was so hard. It went deeper than just what happend with my bike. Some thoughts were i should just go home, ill never learn japanese, you arent successful, etc. It was a super hard night. I honestly considered coming home. I honestly felt that i havent done any good here and that i should just carry on with my life back at home. I had a lot of hard thoughts. I cant even describe what some of those thoughts were becasue there were so many and i just want to forget them. I tried my hardest to battle them. But then the thought came up of how can i be a good missionary, a missionary who thinks about his investigators and doesnt think about other things, if i am always battling the adversary in my head. Its a constant battle. i always have it. I hate it so much. When we got back to the apartement i sat in a chair and just thought. I thought about how boo, justin, kamas, and kess all conqured their missions and how they made them fun. I really wish kess was alive to give me advise. He is the closest one that i can to relate to becasue he too had to learn a hard language in another country. I thought about if i would actually make a 2 year mission. If i keep feeling like i did then and keep having those kind of thoughts, there is no way that i would want to do that for 2 years. I would just rather go home and serve the Lord in other ways. As you can see, it was a super hard time on me. REally hard. I need your prayers now more than ever.
Saturday i had to go and get my bike fixed. Its going to cost $100 to get it fixed. I couldnt belive that. I think the person was just trying to ripoff the white person who doesnt speak japanese. But that is what happend on saturday.
Sunday i was looking forward to all weeek becasue we had a less active baptism. The girl was 9 years old or so i thought. She turned out to be only 8. I thought that i was finally going to get my 1 baptism in the mission. God has a funny sense of humor i think. It really was the cherry on top of the whip cream. Finding out that you arent getting a baptism when you have been planning for this for a couple of months. It hurt me inside but not that much. I never taught this girl and i didnt feel like the missionaries should get the credit for her baptism, but i was still excited to say that someone came to Christ while i was there. But that didnt happen. I did however get to stand in the Confirmation Circle and that was AMAZING. I Felt the Spirit so much. I really want a to do that again so i can feel that spirit again. It was such a good feeling. I only understood one thing out of the blessing too. And that was when the bishop told her to recieve the Holy Ghost. It was good. Sunday night however i got super pissed at my comp again. we were talking about americans and japanese. He said that he loved japanese more than americans. I told him that i loved americans more. THen he continued to say "When you really love the poeple, your opinion will change aobut that." AARRGG!! I wanted to punch him in the face so hard. That is twice that he has offened me and made me feel like a unsuccessful missionary. I just brushed it off my shoulders and forgave him though. IT really hurts though and really makes some question their mission when others sya that they arent doing good enough. If you remember he told me that i wasnt giving a good enough sacrifce and now that i dont really love the poeple i serve. NO wonder i am having a hard time with thoughts and stuff. I just want a companion that is like me just wants to have fun and bring people to christ. I dont wnat compainons who make me fell like crap. But i continue to look for ways to serve and love him. TOday i folded his laundery. Oh and i alwyas cook the food. He has never made one meal this transfer.
So here i am today writing you this email. As you can tell, i have had quit the week with ups and downs. I really hope that i have learned what the Lord wants me to learn. I dont recall ever having this hard of week in my life. I really just want to speak japanese, get poeple who want to listen, having a fun companion, and do work. Dont worry. I dont want to come home. Well i do, but i will stay out on my mission until my time is up or i get sent home for some reason. But i want to stay and show the Lord that i love him and that i will do his will. I cant wait til i have more fun things to say and less hard things. I want to let you know how my week went and what is up in my life right now. This is what i am battling. I really need your prayers and everyones at home. If you could have my older brothers and father send me some advice in a good way, i would really appreciate it. Also, could you find something from kess mission. i really could use some help from him. I love you with all my heart mom. I really want to be at home enjoing everything that is going on and avoiding my hard times but hten i wouldnt learn what the Lord wants me to learn. I hope that you have a fantastic week. I will hope for the same. Give everybody my love. I Love you so much. I find joy listening to the birds in the moring. They are pretty and remind me of the simpleness of things. I also love reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese. I cant wait to read it at the cabin and you guys will have no idea what i am saying. I cnat wait til i understand more fully. Until then, God bless you and keep you safe.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
17 October 2011
I am sorry that i didnt mention that i had recieved your letter. But i did and i really appreciate it. Thank you so much. I also just got done writing bug and justin some letters. I will be sending them either tomorrow or the next day. I also found a member that has a super nice camera. I will ask them to take my picture. Its really wierd asking that question to members when you are supposed to do missionary work.
Sounds like you have had a way busy day and weekend. Just by the time i got this email, you are up pretty dang late. I am sorry i didnt tell you my pday was today. They are usually on monday. if not i will let you know. Next week my pday is on my MOnday your sunday. I will be on the computer at 10 am my time and 6 pm your time.
THank you for telling me about the sons of Mosiah. That really made me happy. I was writing a girl a letter today.i realized how happy i was to be serving them and trying to get them back into the gospel. I also told myself that christiaan is in a high baptizing mission becasue he saved up for his whole mission and is in an area where he is probably using 50 to 100 bucks a month. THat means the rest of his money is coming to help me and other missionaries in expensive areas. It was a good little revelation. But thank you so much for writing and telling me about the sons of mosiah. I had totally forgotten about them. thank you.
I hope that your surgery goes well. You have my prayers. I hope kamas does super good on his scoring. That is so cool to know that i have a brother who is getting married and doing super well in the Military. He better remember Heavenly Father during this time of prosperity. Today i was reading in Helaman 12. It pretty much talks about how men are stupid and forget the Lord in their time of prosperity and what the Lord does to them to get them to remember them. I would hate for Kamas to forget and then have all these bad things happen to him. You should let him know and read this chapter together.
I am so glad that you became friends with the Kawamitzu's. I totally remember them. I used to be really good friends with the boy that was my age. I have been thinking about htem when i remembered that they lived here in Japan. Pleace find out where they live adn let me know. Give them my address and have them write me a letter. I want to get back in touch with taht kid so bad. I really liked him alot. Are they members? I thought that they were. If not i will find them and baptize them. Maybe this is why i got called to Japan. To rescue them if they need it. I am so glad that you got in touch with them. I always thought about them and that boy that is my age. He was a really good friend of mine. Please let me know.
I love you lots mom. I am grateful that i got an email from you and that it was a really good one. Thank you so much. You already read whats been going down in my life. I have an investigator named Jay Michael Rider. Look him up on facebook. He is so awesome. He really reminds me of me and my life. I love him so much. He has a baptismal date. I told him that some family members would be asking to be his friend and he got super excited. IN my letter to bug i asked him to do the same thing. Please look him up and befreind him. He doesnt speak any japanese so people really cant fellowship or talk to him about the gospel like you guys can. Please do this. Be a mom like you are to nick and chris. I love you so much mom and really am thankful for everything. I am glad that i got on to check my emails again. I love you and hope that you have a good week. God be with you always. I know He is. Cant wait for next week.
Much Love,
Kurtiepie
Sounds like you have had a way busy day and weekend. Just by the time i got this email, you are up pretty dang late. I am sorry i didnt tell you my pday was today. They are usually on monday. if not i will let you know. Next week my pday is on my MOnday your sunday. I will be on the computer at 10 am my time and 6 pm your time.
THank you for telling me about the sons of Mosiah. That really made me happy. I was writing a girl a letter today.i realized how happy i was to be serving them and trying to get them back into the gospel. I also told myself that christiaan is in a high baptizing mission becasue he saved up for his whole mission and is in an area where he is probably using 50 to 100 bucks a month. THat means the rest of his money is coming to help me and other missionaries in expensive areas. It was a good little revelation. But thank you so much for writing and telling me about the sons of mosiah. I had totally forgotten about them. thank you.
I hope that your surgery goes well. You have my prayers. I hope kamas does super good on his scoring. That is so cool to know that i have a brother who is getting married and doing super well in the Military. He better remember Heavenly Father during this time of prosperity. Today i was reading in Helaman 12. It pretty much talks about how men are stupid and forget the Lord in their time of prosperity and what the Lord does to them to get them to remember them. I would hate for Kamas to forget and then have all these bad things happen to him. You should let him know and read this chapter together.
I am so glad that you became friends with the Kawamitzu's. I totally remember them. I used to be really good friends with the boy that was my age. I have been thinking about htem when i remembered that they lived here in Japan. Pleace find out where they live adn let me know. Give them my address and have them write me a letter. I want to get back in touch with taht kid so bad. I really liked him alot. Are they members? I thought that they were. If not i will find them and baptize them. Maybe this is why i got called to Japan. To rescue them if they need it. I am so glad that you got in touch with them. I always thought about them and that boy that is my age. He was a really good friend of mine. Please let me know.
I love you lots mom. I am grateful that i got an email from you and that it was a really good one. Thank you so much. You already read whats been going down in my life. I have an investigator named Jay Michael Rider. Look him up on facebook. He is so awesome. He really reminds me of me and my life. I love him so much. He has a baptismal date. I told him that some family members would be asking to be his friend and he got super excited. IN my letter to bug i asked him to do the same thing. Please look him up and befreind him. He doesnt speak any japanese so people really cant fellowship or talk to him about the gospel like you guys can. Please do this. Be a mom like you are to nick and chris. I love you so much mom and really am thankful for everything. I am glad that i got on to check my emails again. I love you and hope that you have a good week. God be with you always. I know He is. Cant wait for next week.
Much Love,
Kurtiepie
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
03 october 2011
Thanks so much for the email. It really breaks my heart to hear about Justin and Janalyn!!! I really do feel for them. I wish I could be at home right now to comfort them. Can you please do that for me? Show them my love for them. I feel horrible that out of all people, they are the ones who have to go through this trial. I hope that they are rewarded big time for this one. I really hope that little Cannon will be ok. I really want to meet him. He looks super cute in those pictures you sent me. I hope things turn out for the better. I read today in the scriptures Alma 57:16-17. These verses really stood out to me. This chapter is Helaman telling Moroni all the things that have happend to his army and the stripling warriors. He talks about how they had so much success over the Lamanites that they didn't have any room for them. So they selected men to take the prisoners to Zarahemla. Verse 17 then says that those who had left for Zarahemla returned the next day without the prisoners. Helaman said that he didn't inquire because the Lamanites were upon them and those who had left and returned, returned just in time to save them. That really stood out to me a lot. I thought to myself, all things, whether good or bad, happen for a reason. In the end result though (whether short or long), the thing that happens will be for our benefit. I know that this is a super hard time for everone. This will help us, though. The Lord will benefit us if we keep faithful and turn to him. You can share that with Justin and Janalyn if you want. I am glad to hear that you and everyone else had a good week. I am glad that Bug only has 4 games left. I can't wait for him to be out of football. I hope that Kamas is doing good and Kendi also. It is crazy stuff happening in Gilbert, AZ whille I'm gone.
So I am having problems with my new companion. He is a transfer 15. We have gotten in so many arguments in the past week. I have been in more arguments with him than I have since I got to Japan. You know how at the beginning of my mission I struggled with missionary work and finding happiness in it. Well, over the past couple months I have been doing really good and finding the joy in my mission. So on Saturday night we got into an argument over a Japanese class. The class was offered every day. He wanted to go on P-day(today) and I didn't. I told him that there were classes on everyday and why did we need to go on our P-day. He then told me how he wanted to help these people and the area (which I do, too). He then continued to tell me that when I start serving these people, it is then that I will be happy. I said that I was happy because I thought I was serving them. He then told me that I wasn't happy and that he wished that I could see myself. I was P.O.ed at this point and ready to pound in his freaking face. I couldn't believe that he said that. I have given up everything I had to come on this mission. I know that I have problems with finding joy in the work, but I felt like I have really made progress. In just 5 minutes, though, he tore all that down. I really started to ask myself then if my mission has been worth it. Becasue if I haven't been serving people, then the Lord wouldn't be accepting my misison. As you can see, it really did some damage. I really thought that I have been serving these poeple the last 5 months. Good thing Fast Sunday was the next day. After the argument, I went to the floor and poured out my heart to the Lord on the issue. I then fasted for getting along with my companion and being united with him. I think it went very well. On Monday I got to talk to that one phycologist dude. I told him what had happend and he told me that my companion had no right to do what he did. I quess there is a technique to degrade someones character and that is what my companion did.
I know that I still have a lot to learn. I also know that the Lord put me with this comp for a reason. Maybe for him to learn something from me? I am sure I have something to learn, though. I really am trying to be more united with him but it is so hard. Some missionaries are just super wierd and aren't themselves. They always talk about being consecrated and doing everyting they can to have the spirit. You know what I think? If you aren't having fun, you aren't consecrated. God has given us rules to follow so we can have fun. If we aren't having fun we don't have the spirit. If we are preoccupied with other things, we miss what is in front of us. I can keep going on. My comp told me that if I did follow the rules that the Lord wouldn't give me his spirit> That is B.S. When I was baptized, I was given the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord has promised me his spirit. Ya, I know that I have to do my best, but I am going to goof up sometimes. It is by the spirit that I recognize I goofed up and need to change. Some missionaries just have really wierd thinking.
I am trying my best, mom, I really am. I don't want to sound prideful about anything. I am trying to be humble and willing to learn. All these things I just said have been things I've thought about since I fasted. I think they really will help. I will continue to try and love my comp. I am looking all the time for oppurtunites to serve him. It is super hard. He doesnt like jokes and talking about things, so it's super hard to connect. Good thing I only have 5 weeks left! I think I can handle that. Well, the rest of my week was ok. Just lots of problems inside of the apt. I really am looking for ways to strengthen that situation. I am super excited for conference. I hope that I will get some answers to my questions. I am sure I will.
The weather is getting cold and I need clothing. I am from AZ and I love the heat and hate the cold. Well, winter time cold. It is getting winter time cold here. Just letting you know. I don't have any winter clothing. Our apt. has no heating systems in it and I don't have a coat or sweater. I want both! I am ok now, but in like 4 or 5 weeks I will not be. I need whatever you think is appropiate for winter clothing. I would really love a hoody, though. It's like a shrt with a hood and pockets on the front.
The language is coming along ok. I wish it would come faster, though, but it is coming and I can see a difference. Just letting you know.
I am super sad about Justin and Janalyn. Please let them know how much I love them and care about them. Let them know that I will be praying for them all the time. I love you mom. I can't wait to hear form you again. God be with you always. I know that he is. I love and pray for you always!!!
So I am having problems with my new companion. He is a transfer 15. We have gotten in so many arguments in the past week. I have been in more arguments with him than I have since I got to Japan. You know how at the beginning of my mission I struggled with missionary work and finding happiness in it. Well, over the past couple months I have been doing really good and finding the joy in my mission. So on Saturday night we got into an argument over a Japanese class. The class was offered every day. He wanted to go on P-day(today) and I didn't. I told him that there were classes on everyday and why did we need to go on our P-day. He then told me how he wanted to help these people and the area (which I do, too). He then continued to tell me that when I start serving these people, it is then that I will be happy. I said that I was happy because I thought I was serving them. He then told me that I wasn't happy and that he wished that I could see myself. I was P.O.ed at this point and ready to pound in his freaking face. I couldn't believe that he said that. I have given up everything I had to come on this mission. I know that I have problems with finding joy in the work, but I felt like I have really made progress. In just 5 minutes, though, he tore all that down. I really started to ask myself then if my mission has been worth it. Becasue if I haven't been serving people, then the Lord wouldn't be accepting my misison. As you can see, it really did some damage. I really thought that I have been serving these poeple the last 5 months. Good thing Fast Sunday was the next day. After the argument, I went to the floor and poured out my heart to the Lord on the issue. I then fasted for getting along with my companion and being united with him. I think it went very well. On Monday I got to talk to that one phycologist dude. I told him what had happend and he told me that my companion had no right to do what he did. I quess there is a technique to degrade someones character and that is what my companion did.
I know that I still have a lot to learn. I also know that the Lord put me with this comp for a reason. Maybe for him to learn something from me? I am sure I have something to learn, though. I really am trying to be more united with him but it is so hard. Some missionaries are just super wierd and aren't themselves. They always talk about being consecrated and doing everyting they can to have the spirit. You know what I think? If you aren't having fun, you aren't consecrated. God has given us rules to follow so we can have fun. If we aren't having fun we don't have the spirit. If we are preoccupied with other things, we miss what is in front of us. I can keep going on. My comp told me that if I did follow the rules that the Lord wouldn't give me his spirit> That is B.S. When I was baptized, I was given the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord has promised me his spirit. Ya, I know that I have to do my best, but I am going to goof up sometimes. It is by the spirit that I recognize I goofed up and need to change. Some missionaries just have really wierd thinking.
I am trying my best, mom, I really am. I don't want to sound prideful about anything. I am trying to be humble and willing to learn. All these things I just said have been things I've thought about since I fasted. I think they really will help. I will continue to try and love my comp. I am looking all the time for oppurtunites to serve him. It is super hard. He doesnt like jokes and talking about things, so it's super hard to connect. Good thing I only have 5 weeks left! I think I can handle that. Well, the rest of my week was ok. Just lots of problems inside of the apt. I really am looking for ways to strengthen that situation. I am super excited for conference. I hope that I will get some answers to my questions. I am sure I will.
The weather is getting cold and I need clothing. I am from AZ and I love the heat and hate the cold. Well, winter time cold. It is getting winter time cold here. Just letting you know. I don't have any winter clothing. Our apt. has no heating systems in it and I don't have a coat or sweater. I want both! I am ok now, but in like 4 or 5 weeks I will not be. I need whatever you think is appropiate for winter clothing. I would really love a hoody, though. It's like a shrt with a hood and pockets on the front.
The language is coming along ok. I wish it would come faster, though, but it is coming and I can see a difference. Just letting you know.
I am super sad about Justin and Janalyn. Please let them know how much I love them and care about them. Let them know that I will be praying for them all the time. I love you mom. I can't wait to hear form you again. God be with you always. I know that he is. I love and pray for you always!!!
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