So I am way genki lately. We got a few meetings out of the way and have a bit to focus on the fun stuff like missionary work! ;-) I set some solid goals for the first time in months and am excited to progress from here. In transfers last week we received Elder Willey and lost Elder McClennan. Instead of food and culture I am going to give you an apartment update.
McClellan is from Southern California. He served in Misawa for a long time at the beginning of his mission and so we spend many a conversation talking about the people we both knew from there. He loves spicy Asian food. In my opinion he has the best Japanese in the mission... and his ability to write kanji is way insane. I learned a ton from him both of faith in planning, patience, and Japanese!
Simonsen choro. He played basketball at snow college for two year, is 6'4", 200 pounds, dunks like a beast, plays any sport like a stud, is always trying to get beat up by me, and doesn't like nato at all. He is 21 and has been in the mission for about 8 months. I teach him everything he knows. Hahah! He is just super chill and can make a friend instantly with any male between the ages of 17-30. His Japanese is really good and he has an interesting perspective on life. I really appreciate his sense of priorities and his laugh. When I need something done and don't want to explain very much I ask him.
Willey choro is our new district leader! The funny thing with him is I have kind of watched him grow up; I was the first person that gave him Japanese money on his first day in Japan and told him where to get food. Then I was in his zone when he started becoming a senior companion. He is from Utah and does competitive ski races, long distance running, bike racing, rock climbing and yoga. He wants to go into environmental sciences. He is a little younger then me but has built a solar powered small house. He also bought a 600 dollar Japanese shamisan, which is like a little guitar thing please YouTube some of that music, it makes me smile so big every time I see it in the apartment. He has no idea how he is going to learn it. I appreciate his strength of character and his knowledge of a lot of cool stuff.
Keshino choro. As missionaries we hear a lot of scripture in the opposite language of ours so we learn a lot of funny words... so he calls me his beloved companion. He is the most touchy Japanese person I have ever seen. He loves basketball and rubics cube. He asks the most soul searching questions I have ever heard and He does it with more love then anyone you have ever seen. His favorite foods are takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes) but when you ask him and he gives you those answers he explains that while his does enjoy the taste of both the reason he likes them is because both are super fun to make. He is the only missionary I have seen that breaks more rules than me when it comes to playing with kids... he loves kids! bd3543@myldsmail.net is his e-mail if you want to ask him anything (you totally should because he can read English like a beast).
Spiritual Thought:
Something I have been studying a lot is how to find desire. I feel my whole life I have been able to get fire just from the fact that I think it out and the best way is to follow God, no matter how hard it may sometimes be. But lately I have seen people see the path perfectly clear and still not be able to find the drive to walk it, sometimes even the desire to walk it. They desire the happiness at the end, but the walk doesn't feel worth it. Speaking frankly I for the first time in life felt the fire start to wink out a bit. I didn't get way down or anything, but for the first time when I started to kind of get lazy I said wait lets fix this! Then when I searched for what I wanted to do to improve I found no answer. I don't really want to do anything... and I had no idea what to do from there. All the natural things that give you desire require work and if you don't want to work you are stuck in a escapeless pit. But luckily I was curious about why I felt that way so I studied it a bit. I found that the way others overcame this problem was to build a relationship with God. While I think prayer is the best way... the thing that truly found my relationship was beauty in the world from God. It gave me hope and something to fight for. Little kids, rain, sun, music, innocent laughs, really bad food, really good food... color and beauty. It made me feel Him there again, and I can fight for what He stands for. It's just we have to feel that appreciation for what He stands for.
Funny story:
It was a hot spring afternoon on the cost of Northern Japan. I was on a stroll through some famous temples in a place called Matsushima. The sun was shining, the trees were green, and the breeze was light. Many a folk were out for a walk that day. Because I was in such a good mood (the fact that i was in a good mood actually changes nothing I always do this anyway) I found the little ice cream shop that was there. As I scanned the long list of flavors I saw some winners... but as I thought of my posterity and how I want to brag about how brave I was in the far east, i chose the most wild. Jelly................
fish. Jellyfish ice cream. And because this is Japan I knew that is wasn't going to be flavoring of jelly fish it was jellyfish in ice cream. All the people in line kind of gasp and whisper as I boldly declare this to the waiter ``kurage!``. You have to understand normal Japanese people don't get the weird flavors either and everyone was way surprised that there was even such a flavor. So I get the cone, it looks kind of like the put a jellyfish in a blender then dumped that into a kitchen aid with vanilla ice cream and mixed for a bit. I draw all the ears of the Japanese moms as I explain how brave and cool I am to my companion and he takes a few pictures. There is like 10 moms watching me. Then Elder Keshino tells me to take a bite and see if the 400 yen was worth it. I take a little nibble and just give out this little bark of pain and all those moms jump about 10 feet in the air and start freaking out like the jellyfish stingers were still hot... but i was just teasing! It tasted exactly like the description I gave in the top: mostly like vanilla ice cream but with chewy chunks... but I made some friends from them laughing and telling me I am a jerk.
Love each other for me!
Law Choro
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