September 29, 2014 Letter

1700 hours the Eastern Coast

 

I wish you could understand better then this picture, but you see those ancient Japnese paintings with the mountains and the little clouds.. that is exactly what everything looks like once you leave the coast (and in a lot of places the coast too).

 

 

It's transfer week and my beloved Kawamura choro is gone with the wind to the most remote isolated place in the mission to keep him isolated. ;-) hahah But my new companion is Elder Ito who was born in a place kind of close to Tokyo called Aichi. He is too pure for me.. I will corrupt him.. He is 21 years old (the guy that got the pie in the face) and he got baptized when he was 18, is the only Christian in his family which shows you the level at which he is committed to Christ. He also loves Basketball and meat. When he smiles his eyes disappear and he kind of has chubby cheeks with dimples. He also was my first day split in my mission when both of our trainers were at a district leader meeting. But that was over a year ago.. :-P

 

elder ito far left middle is elder Low (way confusing for people in the ward) and the far right is Kawamura

Culture point:

Drivers test. So I have heard it said from someone that has done both that as a foreigner getting a drivers license in Japan on the test is actually more difficult then getting a P.H.d But who knows.I gave it a try this last week... and crashed and burned... hahahah. It actually hurt my little heart more then I was expecting. The bit of sunshine was that the other 6 people with me also crashed and burned :-D so my pride was helped a bit! It is not so much the rules of the road they are strict on but on little things. I failed because I was in the middle of my lane when I made turns instead of hugging the left side of my lane for left turns and the right side of my lane for right turns. But they explained it to me and I hope to not make that mistake again for my next and final attempt on Friday this week. Wish me luck!

 

Fun food fact:

So I have talked about a lot of Japanese food, and I have yet to find a Japanese food I don't like! Of course there are some I wouldn't say I would kill for (they are just normal) but I enjoy every single food I have eaten so far except.... Pumpkin. I never really ate it in America but that doesn't seem to matter for me. I love vegetables, love squash, but normally when I get pumpkin I always had my eyebrows kinda come to together and my lips go to the left (my left not your left) and I would eat it. It's not like its gross, it's too mild to be gross, it just always was odd. But this last week I have been served it three times and the first time was a salad with raisins and brown sugar. I think and it was way good! Then I had a pumpkin pie (I have never seen one made outside of the air force base and I praised that good sister for days for her love) and then I had it just the normal way again, and I liked it!!! So my point is... I think that I am becoming a man.

 

Random Pics (They made me stand in the girl one):

 

Even if nothing else comes out of these two years... teaching a 3 year old how to do this was worth it.

 

 

 

Spiritual thought:

I had a chance to read a talk by an apostle of the Lord named Dieter Uchtdorf called Grateful in any Circumstance. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng I recommend reading or listening to it! But I had a favorite part. He says,

"How blessed we are if we recognize God’s handiwork in the marvelous tapestry of life. Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our perception and clears our vision. It inspires humility and fosters empathy toward our fellowmen and all of God’s creation. Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes! A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues.¹⁶ "  That kind of clicked a few things for me. If I am lost, depressed, sick and tired, confused, and stuck, I think the practice of a deep breath then taking in the eternal perspective, the ability I have to be redeemed form death and mistake. The knowledge that I know there is a bigger picture. And just kinda breath that true air, then I can have the vision to choose to love, be patient, become humble or full of hope. Its a catalyst to all Christlike attributes.

 

Funny story:

So I got to see Elder Takeshita again!!!!! He came back to the mission home and nagamachi!! He hasn't changed in the slightest, spent way too much money on me (delicious ingredients for the food I like), made the same jokes and helped the same people. It was way fun. But while he was here for the day he came to church with us! In church there is this 2 year old that is scary cute, like she is cute physically of course but she just runs all around and falls hard all the time and then just laughs and laughs. But she was in third block with her dad standing by his legs just playing around distracting us and then it became a competition on who could get her to just smile at them between Kawamura Choro and Takeshita Choro. They were trying sooo hard for like 5... 10 minutes going way over the top. (they repented for not paying attention in church I am sure) the following pictures is some of their weaker faces...

and this was her reaction for those 10 minutes...

 

I was dying.

 

Love you all! Love each other for me!

Law Choro

 

 

 

September 19, 2014 Letter

2022 Hours Honbu

Hey everyone!! It’s been a really long, busy, fun week, so I am sorry this took so long... I am going to make it good though!

So maybe I will mix up the flavor a little I am kind of sick of Neapolitan.

My Doryo(the person I am with 24/7):

He is from Shizuoka which a bit to the south of Tokyo and he can actually see mount Fuji from his parents’ house. He is 27 years old and feels like he is way older. He graduated with a degree in teaching physical education but actually worked at a newspaper, where he became an editor. He really loves that job and hopes to return to it when he is finished serving as a missionary. He is famous for how much of a smooth talker he is, he can talk to anyone about anything, he loves Ginger ale and mints and also any chocolate based drink. He has a really dramatic back story like a super hero but I am not sure he wants me to tell everyone. He says the reason he originally came on a mission was, that he wanted to have his older brother come back to God. When his younger brother went on a mission it brought him back so he wants to repay the same favor. He has 5 kids in his family and says he wants to get married soon when he gets home and have 5 kids, too. He is also waaay too into basketball and takes this cheesy little fake jump shot about 4 times a day at the most random times. (I have started to do a fake volleyball bump to say I am practicing too) He loves people easy... and I have learned from him, from the first time I meant him about a year ago to now, probably more than any other missionary. He also is blood type A. (that’s a big deal here)

Our mission President and His Wonderful wife:

So, they came here for the first time a few months ago and since I live right next door to them I have got to see them quite a bit. They met at college many years ago, and then he went on a mission to Japan. They kept in touch until he got back. They dated and fell in love all over again.  He went to Israel for 6 months and studied and they kept in contact by letters. He came back and they got married and since have had 6 kids. (If you want a way better much more colorful version I recommend asking Sister Smith.) He was a surgeon that specialized in knee and hip replacements. (Pretty much he is insanely smart, too.) But, they are the most humble people you will ever meet. She kind of in a scary way reminds me of Mom a lot. She like says the things about church everyone kind of feels but doesn’t say because it’s awkward, She knows how to follow the promptings of the spirit better than anyone else. She has a really good example and story for any talk; she is always giving us and buying us way to much stuff. Pretty much I feel like I am at home having mom sneak me fun money behind dads back. hahaha! She is just a ball of sunshine! You know if Sister Smith is in the meeting everyone will leave with a big grin on their face. President Smith is a man who relies on the Lord, and loves God sooo much. He wants to follow him step for step doing his will with as much exactness as he can. But speaking frankly if I had to speak of something to describe what he’s like I would think of this one time when I kind of did something stupid, and kind of lead others into doing something stupid... and I got a phone call from him about it to correct my behavior. Now we are not a business. We are a church, so I wasn’t expecting to get like screamed at or anything, but I was a bit nervous and expecting to leave the phone call with a bit of a sweat. But what happened was I had a very clear explanation given to me of why the phone call was made, where we want to go from here on to resolve the problem in the way with the least pain, and then I had some of the most kindest things I have ever had said to me said. He showed me so much love I felt dizzy. Then the phone call ended. There is a quote by Abraham Lincoln that goes something like “If you would win a man to your cause, you must first convince in him that you are his true friend." And he is a true friend to everyone he meets. Both of them are way too nice, I feel like I am going to corrupt them.

Funny story:

So we had a long road trip the other day and we ended up at McDonalds for lunch (yes they have them here too, but you call it Makudonarudo which is a great tongue twister for English natives) and we were sitting next to this young li’l family with a mom and dad and 1 year old. The one year old had ripped up chicken nugget on his plate and some bread, but all he would eat is French fries so they would give him a couple and then he would eat it and then grunt for some more and then eat. Grunt eat grunt eat... but then his mom was like "No. (go into that slightly too high and the words are slightly too long, in Japanese, but mother language is universal guys) you have to eat your chicken" he gives a few more grunts but once he sees its hopeless, he takes the initiative and starts unsheathing himself from his high chair and making his way for the apple pie box (he knew it was red cardboard) but he quickly learned his mistake and went for the fries and then nestled back into his throne to eat. His parents were both way surprised... (He wasn’t so agile a few weeks ago, but you give a kid calorie packed food like Mickey D’s and they are bound to grow quick) So at this point I kind of think I am all cool going to join this episode (honestly I was just looking for a chance to show off my two nieces) and so I am like "he sure does like French fries doesn’t he" and the parents kind of smile, but the little guy just stops and stairs strait at me... and his eyes go all narrower (I look inside and find my love for Asian levels high enough to make that comment without being racist) and he just mad dawgs me for about 10 solid seconds with his dad chuckling nervously. Then I do the big "hey there li’l buddy" and he just freaks. Fries went flying and he was into his dads lap and up around his neck so fast and just starts crying... not my best moves, but he was funny.

Love you all tons!

Love each other for me!

Law Choro

September 7, 2014 Letter

1800 hours Long City (Nagamachi in English)

The worst thing to have a as a volunteer missionary is a slow week... but this week has been way busy! :-)
 

Culture point:

So I would like to use this picture of my super cute niece to talk about this point! So Japanese people are very clean and stylish. I feel that there is a more formal level (like us riding around on bikes in ties is not weird at all). And also just clean; like your clothes and cars and shoes are just always clean. For better or worse that's just kind of the culture. So while inside sitting on the floor is much more normal in Japan, sitting on the ground outside is a little more odd. Like of course at a park its normal to sit on the grass, but on a curb is pretty odd. So instead when people want to take a break you keep your heels on the ground and sit your bum on your ankles. That is super hard to understand unless you see the picture. But you sit in this position to rest and most foreigners find it really painful and hard to do. I am pretty much a Japanese so I can do it.. ;-)
 

Fun food fact:

I have talked about how people peel their grapes before. Another side note on that is that the best, most expensive grapes you can buy (and the ones most common) are grapes that are like a juicing grape in my mind.(I grew up juicing concords). They sometimes have a grapes that I swear are concords but others called a masukato. It basically can be shot into you mouth by squeezing the skin and are very sweet and have seeds. I pretty much ate a ton of them at this farmers house in aizuwakamatsu yesterday.. they were sooo good.
 

Spiritual thought:

From when I was a pup I always heard that there are three things that will help you solve any problem. At least the foundation are these three: church, scriptures, and prayer. That is pretty much right and so everyone kinda jokes those are the "primary child answers". But I heard from a friend that he likes to think of those fundamentals as being 4. He said that along with those 3 is a fourth way to build a relationship with God that is just as important and I agree with him. Fasting. Fasting is a tool that God gave us so we can focus more on spiritual matters, a way to put more into our prayer than we could otherwise, a way to show we need or want something more. It's a huge blessing! The Savior himself did it before he opened his ministry. I really can testify of the blessings or perspective, peace, and power that comes through our fasting. It is done by saying a prayer and explaining the specific reason why you are fasting and dedicating yourself for that time. You can then fast for as long or as short as is healthy for you and not eat or drink whatever is healthy for you, but normally a fast is 24 hours of not drinking or eating. Then you end with a prayer as well. I really recommend it especially if you have a question or a prayer that you really want to ask. I testify God will answer through our diligence so we can learn and that a way to learn even more is fasting.
 

Funny story:

So I guess that there is some type of weird culture in the church in Japan that you smash a plate of whip cream in someone's face on their birthday (it's a dark evil tradition that I do not yet understand). But the sisters in our district really wanted to do it to Elder Ito - the most kind man on the planet (our district leader)- and I was not especially for it. But we tricked and lied him to come to an area at the right time that they planned on doing it. Then they wanted us to grab him and hold him but no one wanted to (because it is evil) so it got really awkward and slow and he got really confused and then realized what was happening and then ran away a little bit. Then he felt bad for the sisters that prepared so my companion fake held him as they could smash pies in his face. Pretty much he is an angel and women are evil and heartless is what I learned... we all did laugh though..
 

Love you!

Love each other for me!

Law Choro