May 21, 2012

We had district meeting as a zone and the zone leaders gave specialized-training. We do that every transfer. I don`t think I`ve ever seen a picture taken with a timer turn-out well on the first try and I find the misses oddly entertaining.

 

 

Congratulations on the job! Sounds like that will be a very interesting place to teach. I`ve always thought it would be fun to teach in that kind of an environment. There`s a few people on mormon.org that have similar jobs that seem very happy. I don`t know where this train of thought is going. Anyway, sounds very exciting!

 

I got the package. Man, that`s really fast. Thank you for the toiletries.

 

There isn`t a ton to report on this end. We went to Tatsuno this week. It`s the far east end of our area and too far to go by bike. Out of the three cities in the area (Ako-50,000, Aioi-30,000) Tatsuno is the most populated with 80,000, but most of it is up in the mountains, so it basically feels exactly the same as Ako. I think we`ll stay in Aioi and Ako for now. The church moved to Ako from Aioi 7 years ago and most of the members live there. We will probably begin to spend more time there since we`ve explored every last corner of Ako.

 

The Relief Society asked us to come to a picnic at an archaelogical site on Saturday. These are old Yayoi dwellings. They built these on the location where some artifacts were found.

The little boy running around is probably the best behaved 5 year old on earth. I think I sent a picture of him playing ping pong earlier. He is the branch president`s grandson.

 

 

There`s a park behind Ako castle that has a swan pool and a rabbit cage and a bunch of sports facilities. It`s really nice. We go there every now and then and there`s this guy who`s always feeding the rabbits and talks to us. He`s also walked into the church right before Eikaiwa just to say hello to us. I think he`s got some mental disablities, but he`s pretty hilarious. We walked over to the pond the other day. There was nobody to talk to so we decided to take a break and sit down on some benches. We had the feeling that someone would show up while we were sitting there and sure enough the rabbit-feeding guy showed up on his bike, calling out to the swans at the top of his lungs. He speaks to them like they`re human and it`s hilarious. He talked to us about 20 minutes about how they just do "warui koto bakkkkkkkkkashi" (lot's of bad things). He`s impossible to understand him, 80% of it is mumbling under his breath with a few "honnnma ni" `s ("really") thrown in. Of course we invited him to church, and it sounds like he`s got the invite many times.

 

I had an exchange in Kakogawa with Elder Wong from Hawaii. The Wong is very, very, very distantly Chinese...he`s 99.9% Hawaiian and hysterical. He`s on his 2nd transfer. He`s just so...Hawaiian. His trainer and him get along really well. He has all the potential in the world with his personality. I couldn`t stop laughing the whole time.

 

I feel like this is really brief. I`m not sure what else to report. I`m doing well.

 

As far as the travel deal, I like the idea. It feels like the more correct and practical way to do it. At the same time, it also breaks my heart not being able to go back to Kagawa ken with one of you two. If you don`t come, please promise that we will go back some day. The look in the Suezawa`s eyes alone will be worth it. Stay in touch with them, please.

 

Where is the Clegg`s cabin? That sounds like a lot of fun. I haven`t seen them for a long, long time.

 

Oh, I got a letter from Daniel Gemperline this week. Can you get me their address so I can send off my reply?

 

I think that`s about it. Sounds like great things are happening over there. Have a great week!

May 14,2012

I guess we talked on the phone today so there`s not too much to say.

 

I feel like as the weather gets warmer, my body very volatily changes shape. My pants are all really loose. I bought a new pair of slacks and a new suit not too long ago. They were very Japanese and tight and stylish so I worried that they`d be too tight and possibly rip but now they`re loose. It`s really weird. My eating habits don`t change at all, but my weight does dramatically.

 

We had zone conference this week in Kobe. There are now sister missionaries bearing their final testimonies who came to the mission AFTER me. It`s very strange. This month`s training plan is all about focusing on our "One Message" (the Atonement) and how it applies to everything we teach. It`s a good focus and I feel like it`s been a good thing to study and learn and focus on this far in the month.

 

I think I sent a picture of this earlier. It`s a giant sunken ship playground that is at the always abandoned Seaside Park. It`s pretty big and impressive.

 

 

I think I wrote last week or two weeks ago or so about how we randomly ran into R 兄弟. We accidentally knocked on his door while we were housing this week too. He`s a great guy. It sounds like he`s been worked on a lot by the missionaries. He still has a very strong testimony, still reads his scriptures, still does all the right stuff except come to church. I`m not sure how much we`ll do with him, but it does seem like we`re just running into him again and again. He said he was playing some video game called Sky Rim when we came and said it`s really popular. I assume Randy and Jacob might know about it. He asked us to come back some time and read scriptures with him.

 

President Naganuma, the first counselor in the Kobe stake presidency visited the branch yesterday. He was in charge of the Outreach Program that we were put in charge of way back when I was in Kobe. We did it three times a week as an almost desperate reach to strengthen the young adults in the area and as a tool to make investigators comfortable in the church. It is completely canceled now, but I remember all of the huge sacrifices he made to keep that program running. He lives up in the Kita Rokko ward, on the other side of the mountain from Kobe, but he`d drive in almost every night we had it and bring some fresh pineapple or really expensive omiyage from somewhere in the country. He was the hardest person for me to understand in Japanese back then, I never said a word to him, just looked at him with probably a really puzzled face. It was really good to see him again, I could understand him and he said ロウ長老、久しぶり. I was shocked that he`s remembered me even though I was just a silent brand new missionary.

 

It was really fun to talk on the phone right now. I need to get more comfortable speaking Japanese in front of the both of you, it should be natural, but I was nervous for some reason. I know if I don`t speak it when I get home I will forget it and I`m not going to let that happen. The younger brothers also really, really, really need to learn. I know my pestering and nagging is probably obnoxious and you just shrug everytime I say it, but I am dead serious; you MUST learn this language. You will only know half of your potential as a human being until you do. You were born to speak this language. Please, please do it. Do everything in your power to learn it. You have a really good opportunity this summer and I will come home in Japanese-mode. If you want to talk to me, learn my language. :

 

The pictures in the email this week nearly threw me out of my chair from laughing. You would think those would get picked up by some popular website or something. How long does it take to draw those? Are people really not able to guess or are they just letting you draw to see what you come up with?

 

Hope everything is well at home. I`ll write next week!

May 7, 2012

Only in Japan can you see an old man riding a bike with his oxygen tank and groceries in the front basket.

 

Plus, here's one of  the most exciting things in Ako: a soba-eating muppet.

(Note, if you're reading this in email, click here to go to the website and watch this movie clip.)

 

 

It`s May now. I`ve now gone through two Golden Weeks in Japan. My last one was in Shingu, I think it`s really funny that my second was here in Ako. They were no very busy, small towns, even during Golden Week.

 

We 具善に (randomly) ran into one of the less-active members in the branch that just so happens to be from Italy. He has been kept busy by work and has spent the last month in Italy on vacation. He served his mission in England and speaks beautiful English with a British accent and also is about to take the infamously difficult Japanese proficiency test. I am just amazed at how many talented and fascinating people I`ve met on my mission. He, of course, talked to me in Japanese for a minute or so before asking where I was from and switching to English. I`m thought to be Japanese on first encounter about 90% of the time now. It`s a good and a bad thing at the same time. Anyway, he was really a great guy, I wish he could come to church. There`s only four priesthood holders attending.

 

I think I talked last week about how we talked about member-missionary work at church last week. Well, we visited one member who was nodding her head approvingly; U姉妹.  Anyway, she herself is going through chemotherapy. We walked into her restaurant and she was laying down in her with no bandana on her bald head. Her husband was laying down watching TV. She woke up and immediately started throwing food on the table. She didn`t realize that we were missionaries at first. It was pretty hilarious. Anyway, she committed to make an appointment for one of her friends with interest to meet with us. She`s awesome.

 

I had to go to Akashi this week to attend District Leader Council where the Zone Leaders give us the monthly training plan that we have to give to the district the next day. It`s such an elaborate system. Plus, after about my third day being district leader, they changed the nightly follow-up routine. Now one zone leader is responsible for following up on investigators, the other is responsible for the training plan and the missionaries well-being. This makes it so that they can go much more in-depth with both, but now it`s like I`m on the phone right until 10:30. I have to brush my teeth and change while I`m on the phone.

 

Anyway, the zone leaders after that then came back to Ako with us and 交換`d (exchanged) for the day. I was with Elder Nicholes for the day. He is hilarious. He`s pretty animated, the sisters think he`s a living Mickey Mouse. He`s also the first missionary I`ve met that knows the SNL Surprise Party skit really well, and that is a plus.

 

The next morning we had district meeting and introduced the training plan. It`s called "One Message" and is about the Restoration, the Atonement, and The Book of Mormon.  Anyway, it works, I like it.

 

I think I wrote that a guy came and wanted to be friends with us when we went to see the Sakura in Misaki a few weeks ago. Well, he invited us to his BBQ and we ended up going. It was a fun experience, but I'm not sure we'll gain any investigators from it. The guy we originally met is named Kazuto and he`s the one towards the middle with a baseball cap on.

 

 

 

I was really not sure whether we should go or not. We hadn`t really been able to talk to him much about the gospel when we first met him. We just told him why we are here and he was in love and wanted to play with us because we`re gaijin. Well, we decided to go since there would be quite a few people there....more than we could find walking around on the streets anyway. They had bought a ton of meat for us since they had already eaten (and we told them over and over again that we had just eaten lunch), and we went up to Misaki, the place where we originally met Kazuto. There was a group of about 12 people. They were all really friendly. Of course, all of the questions just naturally led to gospel discussions. It started with "why are you wearing shirts and ties and nametags?" and moved to "you`re not going to drink?" "you`ve never had alcohol?!" and so forth. They also wanted to know a lot about the places we are from. The questions eventually turned into "you don`t see movies?" "you don`t have a girlfriend?"

 

Of course, all of this was a good chance to testify and build relationships, but in the end, none of them were really interested at all, mostly just laughed at everything we said and kept feeding us meat. If I weren`t a missionary, I`d be jumping to hang out with them again, it was a blast, but they`re obviously not who we`re searching for. Maybe I`ll skype some of them when I get home...

 

The recent convert here M姉妹 bore her testimony yesterday and it was beautiful. Nobody prompted her, she just stood up on her own free will and she said that prayer changed her life. She`s able to wake up every day happy to be alive whereas she only thought about death before coming to church. It was very sweet, innocent, simple, and touching.

 

I figure things like this on the bulletein board might be fascinating. I really liked the picture of the board at our home ward that you sent me. I wish I had pictures like this for all of my areas now.

 

 

Well, I`ve written a ton. I don`t know what else to report on. Have a good week. I`ll talk to you on Sunday.

April 30, 2012

All of the days have blended together this week. We`ve been knocking on lots of doors and the air is has turned into a greenhouse. I was in love with the apartment here when I first got here, but now we`ve realized that it only has one air conditioner in the tiny little tatami room.

 

 

It`s flat-out hot now, and this is the golden week holiday...and this giant park is still abandoned.

 

 

We had an 音楽祭 (Music Fireside) at the church on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. I took a lot of video but all of the files are too big to send. Music really brings out the very, very best of everyone. It was a blast. It was the perfect way to spend a warm summer evening. The branch tried to load as many assignments on us as possible. They told me the night before that I had to 司会 (Master of Ceremony). They chided me for not being enthusiastic enough and wouldn`t let me speak unless I held the mic. Sheesh. They made Elder Singleton play the guitar and the two of us sing something in English. All of this with the promise that they`d bring about 20 non-member friends. Well, they didn't bring any nonmember friends, but it was fun to be with them nonetheless.

 

Priesthood and Relief Society was a combined meeting the next day and I was asked to give a ten minute presentation because the entire meeting was about missionary work. The Elder`s quorum president asked me to show a clip from one of the Preach My Gospel DVD`s about working with members. I showed a clip where the missionaries help prepare a member to invite one of her friends to a gospel discussion. I then discussed how members have the responsibility to share the gospel and their testimonies with their friends. Another older member (she reminds me a lot of Grandma Rhodes) said that she has plenty of opportunities to share the gospel in natural opportunities and that she looks for them.

 

These are children of God....this is instruction from a living prophet. The elect are here, the elect hear His voice. It doesn`t matter where they live, they`ll listen. God is no respecter of persons. I`ve seen members refer their friends and family that get baptized here.

 

While I`ve faced my share of disappointments and have at times felt insufficient through my mission, when I really evaluate my mission as a whole, I`ve never felt once like the Lord was upset with me. I need to have a more positive attitude and work everyday just as excited as I was the day I entered the MTC. That`s the challenge. The work, will move forward. I`m not worried about that. God already knows what I`m going to do, all I can give is my best...the only thing that will change is how much I participate in the work so I`ll just do what I know how to. :)

 

 

I find it really fascinating that I was interested about hearing about what kind of vegetables you are growing in the garden. Doing all of your own shopping and cooking makes you appreciate food so much more. I mean, I`ve never been picky, I`ll eat anything; now I get excited at the idea of free vegetables growing out of the ground. 

 

It was really funny hearing from mom that a fish died in her little pond each day. I`ve always wanted to have some kind of water feature in our yard. Did you put the fish in a flower pot? That`s really Japanese. I`ve seen big Koi in tupperware outside of people`s apartments.

 

Well I don`t know what else to write. Please, ask questions if you have them. I hope you have a great week.

April 23, 2012

Transfer calls were this morning. I`m here with Elder Singleton for another 6 weeks.

 

We went to Himeji last week. It`s still a castle in a box but the Sakura were really pretty. They`re all completely gone now.

 

 

We taught K-san at the beginning of the week and he said before the lesson that he wanted to go to Okayama, hear the rest of the lessons from the missionaries there and be baptized there. He actually lives closer to Okayama than Ako. He didn`t want to have to go all the way to Himeji (the nearest font for our branch, and a member told him it was a bad idea to get baptized in the ocean) to get baptized. He's met with the missionaries twice over there.

We`ve spent some time in parks trying to get noticed now that the weather has gotten really nice. So far, it hasn`t worked yet. We found badminton rackets in our apartment and decided to go use them as a new method of finding. The sun was shining, so we ran out to the park, hit the birdie about twice and the birdie started going straight through one of the rackets because the strings were loose...then it started raining. It was like a bad movie.

 

We had a new investigator lined up to come to church, but he didn`t show up.

 

More pictures from Himeji:

 

They (the blossoms) were already dying and falling off the trees the day we went, but I love the pink snow effect.

 

So I got a letter from home. So apparently dad says that Japanese suits are "flanpy"? Um? I guess you mean frumpy...but if that`s what you`re saying, I think you`ve got it backwards. Japanese suits are much more sleek and slim fit. Not quite as fit for missionary work, but they look better. Japanese missionaries always smack American missionaries baggy pants and say ださい！

 

I also love these Disney resort adds. They just punch me in the heart.

Did I ever send the picture of the Takoyaki guys stand with these stickers on it? I`m wondering if maybe he puts them out trying to be nice to us... (click to enlarge)

 

 

Congratulations again on the graduation. It looks like a lot of fun. I was thinking "heck, you got the diploma, just take it easy and sub from now on" but I guess you need a job, huh? How long do you need it? Is there a deadline in how quickly you have to find it? I hope you can find one quickly.

I guess that`ll be all. Have a good week!

April 16, 2012

Click on this fantastic photo of Elder Low to enlarge.

 

 

 

We are planning on going to Himeji  today so I am short on time. The Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are starting to die so this is our last chance, plus my companion wants to go see the castle in a box.

 

We`ve been interacting a lot with a guy that runs a takoyaki (barbequed octopus) stand on the main street here. We pass him everyday and apparently the missionaries before helped him clean his shop. We picked all of the weeds surrounding his stand (he has a small dining area behind the stand) and he was appreciative. It feels good to serve. We have to use methods like this to spread our influence out here. Basically every door has been knocked on already.

 

We had another student come to Eikaiwa (English Class) after finding it on the internet. As I`ve gotten farther and farther into the mission, more and more of those people have come out. The new goeigo.org website has been a huge help. I think it's time for the church to launch a serious campaign in Japanese on the internet. It would change everything.

 

We taught K san once more during the week. He`s still convinced that the church is true and wants to be baptized on the 5th. We need to really plan our lessons carefully and provide him opportunities to really feel the influence of the Holy Ghost.

 

We had district meeting as a zone this week. It was very good training. It`s always a spiritual experience when missionaries discuss the Atonement, especially when a convert is in the room.

 

I came back to Ako with Meyer 長老, our district leader who also happens to have two weeks left on his mission. He`s a good missionary.

 

 

This is a cool flower clock in front of Banshu-Ako train station.

 

 

 

This week we went up to Misaki to look at the Sakura (blossoms). It was so unbelievably gorgeous. I was worried that I wouldn`t be able to see Sakura like I was able to see them last year (Kiyomizudera), but Misaki had lots of them right up against the ocean. There were tons of people doing 花見 (Picnic under the blossoms). I haven`t seen that many people in one place since I`ve been here. We had a drunk guy come and take our picture and we got his information. He was in love with me and my ハ-フ (half) self.

 

Click on any of these photos to enlarge:

 

Elder Low and Elder Singleton

Here's a video of folks picnicing under the blossoms. (Note: if you're reading this in email, click here to go to the blog and see the clip.)

 

 

Sounds like Randy had a really scary experience with deer. After being in Nara, I can`t imagine a deer doing such a thing.

 

Well, I`m out of time. Talk to you next week!

April 9, 2012

So this week was my conference weekend. It was really great.

 

 

Here are some pictures of me doing what missionaries do every day.

Here's another picture of our branch service activity from last week. It's like I have my own personal photographer.

Here's a video of what it's like to walk into the church.

(Note: If you're reading this in email, click here to go to the blog and see the movie clip.)

Note the sign advertising free English lessons and the mini Visitor Information Center in the entrance.

 

 

There was killer wind on Tuesday. Apparently all of the major railways had hour long delays because they had to clear debris on the tracks and then some lines shut down for a little while because the wind could potentially derail some of the trains. We just happened to be riding through the mountains, exploring a new place we hadn`t been yet in our area. It took way longer than we anticipated because we kept falling off of our bikes and getting dust and who knows what else in our eyes. It was a fun adventure though.

 

 

The wind was insane. This shed is up against a power line that is keeping it from blowing into the road. We were literally blown off of our bikes and had to walk...even chase some of our stuff that flew out of my basket and into the street.

 

 

There was some crazy rain this week too. I don`t know if this video captures it.

(Note: If you're reading this in email, click here to go to the blog and see the movie clip.)

 

 

 

I don`t know if I wrote about him yet, but a man called the church two weeks ago saying that he wanted to be taught and that he had heard "the lessons" ten years ago. We finally met with him on Thursday this week. He`s a gardener. A really, really nice, normal man with a normal job. I can`t tell you how refreshing that is. Apparently he had read a book by a member of the church that has him convinced that the church is true. This book, however, doesn`t flatly proclaim doctrine or anything...it`s all between the lines clues.  I guess the premise of the book is how Christianity relates to ancient Japanese religion and the assumption that it`s all just a break-off from Israel that came across the silk road. I have to admit, the more I hear about it, the more fascinating it is. I`m sure there`s some sort of connection back there somewhere. Anyway, he said himself that he has already planned to be baptized on May 5. He already knows most of what we`ll teach him and seems pretty good. I`m still shocked by this one. In either case, he already has a testimony of Christ and the Book of Mormon. I`m excited to work with him. I`m always so surprised when these situations just come to me. I do NOTHING. Sometimes I even wonder if I should just stop running around looking for people to teach and instead just sit and wait for them to show up.

 

 

A view of Ako City.

 

 

 

We had our monthly service activity. This was our first time, of course. Apparently they go pick up garbage with 障害者(the disabled). This month was their 楽しみ会 (Celebration) to celebrate the year's end (I guess in companies and service organizations, etc. their year end is March). They had us sing a hymn with the branch president and teach them some English and then we watched them do karaoke. It was cute.

 

We planned on watching General Conference here in Ako since apparently they`ve done it before with headsets. Well, the branch president couldn`t figure out how to set up the headsets. We were given permission to go watch it in Kobe (the only other place that shows it in the stake) earlier in the week if we needed to so we ran home, grabbed a change of clothes and headed for Kobe, spur of the moment. The conference started at ten in Ako, but at 12 in Kobe so we rushed in at 12:15, just as President Packer started speaking so we were able to see all of conference. It was great. It was a lot of fun being with all of the other missionaries too. Basically all of the missionaries serving in the Kobe stake were there and spent the night. Elder Osaka, who is from Sagamihara and took a music class from Kathy Bell at LDSBC, was there. I lived with him in Kobe when he was there as an office elder and now he is back as an AP. He`s a blast. He`ll be in Utah in August so I`ll be seeing him a lot when I get home.

 

Conference was great. I loved Elder Hallstrom`s talk about the difference between the church and the gospel and the importance of being active in both. I think SO many members here need to hear that. I also loved how Elder Holland said we need to stop being "hung up on some note we hit in a childhood piano recital". I have that problem.

 

The whole room was whispering "David Archuleta" throughout the Saturday afternoon session. Everyone cheered when he appeared right at the end. There were a couple new missionaries in the room and they said the MTC announced that there was a celebrity coming to the MTC and to not become a distraction to anyone`s MTC study by asking for pictures and autographs. I can`t imagine what life is like for him.

 

I also really, really, really like Elder Andersen`s talk at the end on Sunday. The story he shared was...well...riveting. I think everyone was in tears. Just the mental image of that Haitian dad pacing around a flatened home praying for his children`s lives gives me chills.

 

Sounds like things are going well at home. The weather is getting good here too. The sakura are out but they`re still a little white. I feel like it`s a little bit colder this year than last year so perhaps they won`t be as spectacular. Either way, we`ll probably go to Himeji-jo (I really didn`t think I`d go back there on my mission) next week to go take pictures.

 

 

 

We had to walk along the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) track to visit a former investigator.

(Note: If you're reading this in email, click here to go to the blog and see the movie clip.)

(Editor's note: These trains are over 1/4 mile in length and move at speeds over 200mph.)

A nice picture of the moon from the shinkansen track we were walking next to

This was really long, but please, keep asking questions, I`m usually clueless as to what to write. Have a good week!

April 2, 2012

I got a new suit. There is a Haruyama here, but they had nothing under 2 man and the lady told me that I was かなり大きい ("quite large") so I didn`t buy anything. I went next door to Aeon and they had a one-pants suit for 7 sen (about $80) so I bought it. It`s a nice suit. It`s Japanese style, so it`s pretty tight so I will try not to ride it while I ride my bike. I will just use it on Sundays in the summer and send home my other two.

My new suit

 

 

 

I`m not really sure what to write about.

 

We rode our bikes, literally up and down a mountain again to Aioi.

 

My companion loves to take pictures so he`s taken a lot of me from behind while we`ve been traveling from place to place.

 

 

 

It`s a strange little city. It only has a population of 30,000, but the Shinkansen (bullet train) stops there for some reason. Most of the active members in the branch live there. One family owns a restaurant and refers lots of their friends and the missionaries have taught many, many lessons in their restaurant according to the area book, so we went to go see them. I`m really amazed by so many of the member families I`ve met on my mission. This family's only day off is Sunday, then they run their restaurant from 8 to 8, 6 days a week. It`s a tiny little place with regular customers. It feels more like a living room than a restaurant. It`s a cool hang out. A 12 year old from the branch came over while we were there and started playing video games with the other son. Oh, and the food was really good teshoku too.

 

The Primary had an onigiri (riceball) party this week and invited us because the kids all invite their friends and their moms come. It ended up being a mom gathering; we had nothing to talk about and were a little out of place. Awkward.

 

 

We went to the sea shore this week and it was really pretty.

There`s some more Sakura (cherry blossoms) slowly starting to come out.

 

We had a lesson with M-san. She was baptized in January and her mom has been listening to the lessons ever since December when she was first found.

 

We drove out to a tiny fishing village I call the "Ueda neighborhood." That's because the family nameplate on the front of every single house is "Ueda."  I guess it's a big, extended family. Yeah, they`re all a bunch of super Bukkyo (Buddhist) Japanese people that have been living on that narrow piece of land between the mountains and oceans since the beginning of time.

 

The Ueda Neighborhood.

 

 

 

No success, but it was a fun little experience. We`ve been scouting out apartment complexes (they`re very few here, but young people and young families are much more likely to live in them) but tried to do something different. One lady in the neighborhood had the Splash Mountain poster from Tokyo Disneyland we have in our computer room hanging in her genkan (entry hall). I freaked out. She called out and asked us to open the door. I opened my mouth to say who I was, but noticed the poster and immediately started talking about it. She laughed. She was also very Buddhist.

 

 

This probably isn`t as funny as it was in person, but it was hysterical. Daigo is 17 and we play ping-pong with him and his dad (Elder`s quorum president and dendo shunin -mission leader) once a week. These two (the branch president`s grandkids) came and joined us.(Click here to go to the website and watch the video)

 

Your questions, my answers:

 

Q:How’s the weather? Still cold?

A: It`s probably similar to what you`re reporting. It`s jumping all over the place. It`s very inconvenient to not hear the weather forecast. It`s very warm one day and cold the next. I never know whether to put a sweater on or not.

 

Q: Does Ako have some decent places to eat? What about a McDonalds or MisDo (Mister Donut)?

A: It has a Jusco. As far as decent restaurants, I haven`t really been to a good one yet. There is one McDonalds and a MisDo inside the Jusco. I went to MisDo today actually.

 

Q: Is your bike holding together? Any flat tires?

A: It`s going to be girigiri (hanging on for dear life) finishing the mission. I get flat tires all the time and it`s a pain.

 

Q: How’s your reading ability? Can read Japanese OK?

A: I need to work on that. My companion is only on his 5th transfer (same as my bin-chan, Nukaya Choro) and can read twice as many Kanji as me. He spends every spare moment he can looking at flash cards. I`ve just never been good at getting myself to really nesshin ni (seriously) study the characters. I just listen and mimic.

 

This is a rock course at a park near us. You're supposed to walk on it barefoot. It is supposed to be really good for your circulation. Certain rocks are supposed to be like a massage if you have good health, hurt if you have bad health. The whole thing felt like torture to me, so I should probably go see a doctor I suppose...

 

Oww.

 

 

 

It sounds like it was a good week at home. This will be my 4th General Conference as a missionary and possibly my last. I may be seeing the October Conference here as well since I`ll still be here. I will go nearly 25 months as a missionary.

 

For some reason, your anniversary reminds me of a question I am asked a lot and now really find fushigi myself since learning Japanese. Do you two EVER speak to each other in Japanese?! Did you ever before? Isn`t that bizarre? Whenever I talk to someone in detail about the fact that both of my parents speak Japanese, I am always told もったいない ("What a waste").

 

I just saw on lds.org that President Stevenson was made the Presiding Bishop. He`ll be missed. I never got to meet him, but it seems like he`s done a really, really good job as the Area President, especially during the earthquake. I hope the next area president is also a Japanese speaker...I guess that`s a little inconsiderate of the Koreans...

 

I guess that`ll be all. See you next week!