April 6, 2014 Letter

1344 Hours Windville

Almost all of the snow is gone except the giant piles tractors made and i think those will be gone soon. This week everytime is snowed it didnt even stick so I think spring in on the way! I am like dancing with anticipation for the cherry blossoms!

Fun food fact:

Goma is sesame. There are lots of goma salad dressing here, and I fell in love. I purposefully make salads at lunches now just so I can drink the stuff! If you come here get kingoma dressing. It will change your mindset on salad.

Culture Fact:

So something that isn't very specific but that you just feel when you are here is presentation. I don't know if it is from honor, from being on an island, from there love for mastering things but Japanese food, roads, houses, yards, businesses, clothes... it is all perfect. Like you go into the grocery store in the states and you see a couple chicken breasts thrown on a Styrofoam tray with some clear wrap on it. Looks great, raw meat at its best. You come to Japan and there is a pack of fish heads in the same white Styrofoam and plastic but they are so perfectly laid and have such beautiful flowers and greens orchestrated between the heads that you pick it up and start to second guess yourself... maybe these are actully normal? Did my mom used to make these? They look so great? That's kind of a funnier time but when you see the houses and the businesses and most importantly the plants at people's houses you really appreciate how much of an impact on the way you feel it has!

Spiritual Thought:

I don't really want to talk that much today but I want to give you a challenge. Twice a day after you get up-shower-change, and before you go to bed at night I want you to pray. Here are the rules,

0. Prepare yourself emotionally and with enough time to not feel outside influences

1. Kneel if you can

2. Do it in a quite place by yourself, a little haven you make for yourself

3. Speak outloud in your prayer

Do it for a week and I can promise that if you speak from your heart you will develope more strength to do God's will and a better more personal relationship with God. Prayer is a gift.

Funny Story:

So we live in an apartment with 4 missionaries and when people transfer the apartment is always the same. So what they do is have a member living in the area take care of all the billing and the longterm information (if the table breaks we call him). So he comes and inspects the place every once in a while and makes sure we have kerosene to burn and the appliances are all doing good (and i always get the vibe he is also checking we didn't punch any holes in the wall which makes me just think he is smart). Anyway, because he comes all the time he just rings the bell then comes in (he does it when we are home and not home it just makes sense). 

So we had the weirdest p-day ever the other week and we ended getting really sweaty then teaching a lesson then coming back to the apartment to change and shower and it was about 1. We were completely nasty and needed to get our laundry done because the other elders were going to do it that night so we just through everything in the washer we were wearing except our underwear I jumped in the shower and he started cleaning the dishes (please dont judge we were in a tight spot here). While I am showering I hear the doorbell ring. PACKAGE! We love mail... so I assume Elder Mantz told them through the intercom (we are rich) to just put it in the mail slot and then they left and all was well. So I just come wandering out in a towel with a toothbrush in my mouth to see Elder Mantz in a trenchcoat and towl talking to the member that helps us with the apartment and oh boy did we both get rosy cheecks so quick. He apologized and we explained why things were so weird that day... but it was pretty funny. My favorite part was how Elder Mantz was acting like it was no big deal what he wearing.

Love each other for me!

Law Choro

March 31, 2014 Letter

1547 hours Misawa

It was getting a lot warmer this week until it snowed 4 inches last night.. but I think it will melt quickly and continue toward cherry blossoms (If I can remember I will hook you guys up with some sweet pictures!).

Fun Food Fact:

Vegetables. It might be interesting to know what you eat a lot of and what you never see.

Lots: carrots, onions, daifugo, cabbage, tomato, egg plant, mushrooms, green onions, sweet potatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, lettuce, spinach, been sprouts, and bell peppers.

Rare: broccoli, celery, radish, asparagus, and lots more I cant think of!

Culture Point:

Running. I am not talking about the sport or the exercise really, more the spur of the moment need for speed in our travel through life. In America it is kind of considered childish or desperate I feel. If you see a lady in heels with a skirt and briefcase going down the side walk you are thinking "I will hit him with my car and save her!" but it is not so in Japan. Everyone runs. If you are crossing the street, late for work, on the sidewalk, in the train station, out of your house and it is totally acceptable. I am no sociologist but my guess it is because of trains subways and buses. If you miss the train you could be waiting around another 30 minutes and lose your job so it makes way more sense to run... no shame. :-)

Spiritual Thought:

Salvation is personal but growing in done with others. I think that the best place to grow is in the home. I think God thinks this way too. But a strong home is not easy; it takes work and correct principles as a foundations. Helaman 5:12 says "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the ^arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your ^bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." If we can make our foundation Christ in the home, we will grow and we will not fall.

Funny Story:

So this is so short but I was laughing so hard after it happened I want to tell it to you so I don't forget. It was a super pretty day in Misawa! It was a Saturday morning and we had got a ride home after a late appointment the day before and we needed to be at the church so all 4 of us were walking down to the church. It was so sunny and all the snow was soft and so we were picking up snow balls and hitting trees in the distance as we walked (it's kind of in the middle of no where). Elder Mantz is in the front and this blob of 50 percent water 50 percent slush the size of a soft ball just drops off a tree branch and just nails him right on the top of his head. He turned around looking like he had jumped in a pool and he was sooooo mad!! He thought one of us had just nailed him from above. I died it was so funny... eventually he was laughing too!

Love each other for me!

Law Choro

March 24, 2014 Letter

1629 hours Northern Japan!

I could lie and say that I am so busy buying groceries today and doing my laundry but its going to be a short one because I bought a new Ping-Pong paddle and am DIEING to test it out. Know I love you though.

 

Culture point:

Ping-Pong. The sport of the Gods. Every church in Japan has a table and people are insanely good. I was dominated by a 60 year old grandma in my first transfer. But I am now pretty much a master. Ping-Pong is everywhere and it is called takyu. When you go to the gym there will be a basketball hoop, volleyball court, bad mitten court, and a whole bunch of Ping-Pong tables. The strongest teams in Japan are from aomori prefecture (where I am stationed now) but unfortunately they tell my the Olympic champions are normally from china. But we are catching up. Not all Japanese people are good at it but almost everyone likes it (its maybe like volleyball in the states)!

 

Fun Food Fact:

First to add to my list; put down that I ate soba and cassis flavored ice cream this week. They were funny times but I am sick of those as funny stories. Soba is a noodle, they use it in a lot of different ways but the most common is probably yakisoba which it like what Americans think of as stir-fry noodles maybe? It has all sorts of things in it depending on who makes it but normally cabbage and meat and carrots for sure and then other vegetables after. If I can find it in the stores I will make you some good yakisoba when I get home!

 

Spiritual Thought:

I love this place and this people. Like love them love them love them. It's not that I am all soft hearted and a lover, you can talk to any of the Americans on the base and they will tell you they feel the same way. There are 110 reasons why its easy to love the Japanese. But as I was pondering why I think it is I came up with one big foundation that gives them all their honor, respect, honesty, dependability, patience, hard work, ect. I think it might be because they are thankful. No one is perfect and they aren't either but 99% of the time they have thankful hearts. They are thankful for not only what they have, where they are, food.. but also deeper things like who they are, what they can do, the opportunities they have, the beauty of a job well done. It made me think of how maybe I could be a bit more grateful maybe... to God, to my family, to my country, my friends and not so much show it with words but with actions. It might seem like a bit of a pain in the butt to snip your hedges that perfect, and maybe it is, but maybe that degree of gratitude for your neighborhood would be worth it. That might be extreme and moderation in all things, but when we see the extra mile and think "why should I even go?" maybe it's to show that bit more of gratitude. It has been helping me be happier and find more opportunities to serve!

 

Funny Story:

I feel like sometimes this is just the "Law Choro sin confession box" but know that all ridiculous behavior I share here I at least tried to repent of.

 

We were  in church in the Japanese branch. I was sitting next to Mantz Choro and our favorite grandma (we sit by them because the kangi are super hard to read if you have older eyes so we can help them find scriptures talked about). For whatever reason (I have a solid list of about 4 excuses if you really want to hear them) I was a bit tired that meeting. I just couldn't focus that well and my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.... zzzzzzzzz.... and then the thigh squeeze came hard and not from the side of my loving companion. I about jumped 50 feet in the air... and instead of the scolding about me going to hell for sleeping in church she just gave me the evilest smile and cocked eyebrow... uhhh... I was no longer sleepy and elder mantz about died trying to be quite so all wasn't lost.

 

God does love us. Look for His love and show it to others for me!

Law Choro

March 17, 2014 Letter

1500 Hours Thinking about spring place

Weather:

We can ride fast!!! The roads are officially clear right now and safe to ride fast! The rest of the area still has about 2 feet but we don't care about anything but the roads and its been awesome today!

Fun Food Fact: 

"Ringosu" ringo means apple and su is vinegar. It's a drink! The way we drink it is it comes in a big container and is super concentrated. You pour about (depending on preference) a centimeter or two in the bottom of a glass and then put in ice cubes and cold water (that is the way I like it) or it is also drank hot a lot too. It kind of tastes like apple juice but has a lot of zip at the end. I've have never really liked vinegar all that much but I pound the stuff and slowly I am getting the acquired to the taste (not quite there but I want it bad). It's a fun drink!

Culture Point:

"Karasu" it means crow. I can't believe it has taken me this long to talk about this. Anyone that has ever lived in Japan can back up my testimony of this. They are huge. Twice the size of the ones in Washington and there are tons of them too! They will like rip open cages and pull out full garbage bags and shred them up, and I think they might take small children from their cradles. Anyway... if you ever come to Japan be careful!

Spiritual Thought:

Purity. Christ taught that the pure in heart will see God (Matt 5) I am sure this has a lot of meanings but I recently learned something that makes me think of a new meaning to this as well. People have different things that guide them, different goals. For some it's fame, others its carnal pleasure, others its justice or guilt. For me its happiness. I tend to be lead first by whether or not something makes me truly happy in the end, then the spirit will guide or I can logic the rest out, but my first buzzer is always happiness (I don't know if this is good or bad it just is). When I was in a little rut (not even really down in the dumps just not as happy as I am most of the time) I did a little self check to see what was wrong. I knew that obeying the commandments should bring me happiness because its written in the scriptures.

Mosiah 2:22

And behold, all that he ^arequires of you is to ^bkeep his commandments; and he has ^cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth ^dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ^ekeep his ^fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

Moroni 10:22 

22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in ^adespair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.

So I did a self check and found myself lacking in purity. Purity in speech, thought, intent. So I went about my same life trying to change that and I didn't really improve. Purity is so much a habit I think. I ended up doing more diving into the scriptures. I read them everyday before but I am talking I had them with me all the time and if there was a second to spare I read them instead of my Japanese books and I was able to change. The scriptures are a tool God has given us, lets use them! I became purer, I truly was able to find the strength to conquer my bad habits and as a result I saw God. I saw God in others' actions, I saw him in nature, I saw him in my life. God is good so I very much became more happy. All of us can improve in purity I think. I recommend the word of God!

Funny Story:

This one took place in church. We were in the Japanese ward and we had a great turnout that day because some members that hadn't been coming in a long time showed up and so we were on top of the world. About 30 minutes into church a sister from the branch is up talking and all is going well when I hear this really loud wheezy rattle from behind me. I didn't know if someone was dragging a squeaky bench closer or had some weird sneeze so I didn't turn around (not wanting to embarrass someone) but then is comes again 4 seconds later, and again 4 seconds later! This is so loud, but the speaker is just talking away like nothing too exciting is going on. But by the tenth time I couldn't resist so I peak around all casually. It's coming from the area by Elder Anderson and it's the person next to him. I have heard snores before, but this was on a whole other level. I have no idea how he didn't wake himself up. He is the most awesome man ever, very helpful, smart, a great guy, this is the 3rd time he has come to church though in 6 months so we are hoping he can have a good experience. We wanted him to feel the missionaries' love so Elder Anderson is not going to wake him up out of his love and respect for him. But oh man it's loud. Finally the hammer falls on Elder Anderson and he is stuck between iron and fire: sitting two rows in front of them is my favorite little old lady in all of Japan (refer to the Breinholt Choro chapters) and she loves hearing what the person is saying up front much more then this snoring. So she turns to yell at him but he isn't waking up to that (he is sleeping through a fog horn he can sleep through anything) and so she turns to Elder Anderson and is like "you hit him right now so he stops!" (command form). Oh man, he looked like a worm on a hot plate "squirm squirm squirm" this argument went on with the sister drilling him and him just squirming trying to think of something to do until the brothers head kind of fell forward and he woke up. I was like dying in my seat. Life is good! 

Love each other for me!

Law Choro