Somewhere in the Far East 0108 hours
Holidays:
So I was spoiled rotten like the little bad apple I am and got to eat an amazing dinner for thanksgiving at the Harrisons home this Thursday! They gave us soooo much delicious food and then sent us home with more thanksgiving leftovers then I have ever seen. What a blessing and it was and waaay fun! Life is awesome. The day before we ate a meal of equal size and theme at the Martindale's family house! Both families have children serving in different missions in Japan and I think they missed their children and took out our their love on us. It was seriously insane! At the Martindale's we had a huge turkey, potatoes, yams, salad, Chinese pasta, lasagna, pineapple, rolls, ice cream pie, pie, a huge ham, a cheese tray, cinnamon rolls, two different other salads, and more... all on one table and all were sooo good! Then the next day at the Harrison's it was more the normal types but they sent us home with whole pans of sweat potatoes and whole pies and pounds and pounds of meat and other goodies. I check every day in the mirror and scale and bike extra hard... I am so far safe...
Culture Point:
Holidays. So this is my little bit of knowledge on the subject: they really like holidays in Japan but they tend to kind of be a summer thing for the most part because they really like parades and food vendors and that kind of fun stuff. The biggest holiday is by far new years but I will talk about that when we get closer. There is no real celebration of thanksgiving in Japan but normally if you ask someone on the street they know what you are talking about. Seeing a giant cooked turkey was sooooo crazy for the Japanese elder in our district so that was way fun to watch him take it all in!
Fun Food Fact:
Endo kure - that is Indian kure. It is very common to have endo kure restaurants in Japan. It's kind of like having a Mexican food place in the states. Normally smaller family owned types but an occasional chain. You eat it with naan which is this huge piece of bread that is so good! The kure itself has a totally different flavor then Japanese kure. Normally its more spicy and you get a like half cup maybe 3/4 cup little bowl of it and you dip your giant naan in it. Where as Japanese kure it eaten on rice and you get probably twice as much. It's kind of like the difference between gravy and stew maybe.... that is far from an ideal comparison but you can kind of catch my meaning. Also, something that is always a over used joke when you eat endo kure with a new missionary is that in Japanese the word for what is "nan" and nan and naan sound exactly the same. So when you say "do you want nan? and the they ask what is nan? it sounds like "what is what?" and you say "what is what." haha that is probably only half funny for people who know Japanese but I wanted to though it in.
Spiritual Thought:
There is a fine line between pushing someone harder so they will stop stressing about the unimportant things and slowing down enough for someone to just work things out. I never know what is right and I have found how you tell is how much the person can feel from God. It doesn't matter how much they love or hate you it matters if they are coming closer to Christ. I learned that this week. It's kind of like President Uchdorfs talk about turbulence from a few years back: where airplanes go slower when there is a lot of turbulence because it is safer. But I think turbulence can come from just sitting and soaking in the filth that is negative thoughts. Anyway, its like a new little wwjd question for my self, but instead its "does this decision make that person feels gods love more?" it helps me become a better person. :-)
Funny Story:
So this one has been cooking for a while now and there isn't really any climax but I have been soooo funny. Despite popular belief most missionaries before the mission were just normal people with normal lives. So on occasion we will talk about these lives with the people we teach, the members of our local congregations, and even with each other. Where did you grow up, did you go to college, did you have a girlfriend, what sports did you like, did you have crazy long hair, ect... and then we bust out our awesome family picture book that our amazing Aunt made us (shout out to Aunt Wendy) and they bust out there slightly less amazing, humble little family photo album. We bond, and then I see a picture of a car or motorcycle or bike or cat if I am desperate... and I say " oh did you drive?" there is saddled cat racing in japan so the connection for the last one isn't so odd for Japanese people. And they say "oh no I rode the train mostly.." or "yes I had a sweet preis" (I will talk about how different and probably more wise Japanese "cool cars" are another day) and I say "oh was there was no trains in my home town so I drove" or "oh me too!" and then follow with "I even still have my drivers licence, want to see it?" and that is kind of a fun little bit of culture and because Japanese people are the most kind people in the world they say they would love to see it! and so I reach in my wallet and I pull out a card. Not my real drivers license, but the 2012 best school picture award winning i.d. card from my senior year.
Then I totally act all calm as their eyes slowing digest the kapibera (largest rodent in the world) that is my upper lip. I say "American drivers licences are different right?" and then they look real close at me and ask how often I shave. I say "every third day".They say "how long did that take to grow?!" and I go "oh my stache? oh.. about two years... its really cool in America so the time sacrifice is worth it." "wow..." they say. And then I move on to talking about theirs! I even got one Australian elder to believe me!
I am having the time of life and the Lord's hand is in my life everyday. I know He is in yours. Look for it and love each other!
Law Choro
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