1300 hours. A setting sun in a land made for rising ones....
My friends.... I am so sad. I am leaving here.... It stings more than
I ever thought it would... Haha plus my beloved doryo is playing the most
forlorn music in English and doesn't even know what it means. If
you ever want to make a book more intense I recommend playing music
that matches the scene you are reading.
Food conclusion:
It's a wonderful mix of very fresh light dishes full of vegetables and
greens to deep fried fatty things that taste waaaay too good to be
healthy. If you want to know how to make something you are a lot better
off asking the closest mother to you; because I know she knows how to
make it and she will love to help you because they are so loving.
Everyone's favorite food seems to be their mothers kare.... Which
makes me happy. I tell them my favorite is my moma's pies just to one
them up.. ;-) haha I think the beauty of Japanese food is the
diversity of it. From very spicy to very sweet to very sour to very
mild and safe.
Culture conclusion:
With the worlds second lowest murder rate everyone already knows it's
safe here. I had an English student tell me the other day about some
horrible things that happened in Japan in the past few months. She
said she wanted to tell me because she was afraid that everyone only
tells me the best good bits and that I should know that there are bad
things in Japan just like everywhere else in the world. And I know she
is right. So I hope you don't get that image. People are people. Japan
has lots of things to improve on just like everywhere in the world.
But some of the things I think they excel at are: anything to do with
respecting others, patience, sacrifice, hospitality, reverence, hard
work, professionalism, finishing, punctuality, and honesty. I don't
know- being here just makes me want to do my part. Maybe virtue is the
right word. I feel a huge trust for these people to do the right
thing when no one else is looking.
Spiritual conclusion:
What does one say for this? I think a confusion that is out there for
some is a clear cut for missions. Like you begin and something changes
where you can get more spiritual maturity and that you go home and
have learned something secret. I feel like a lil tree. I have been
growing from birth and growing and am excited to keep growing! But I
feel the biggest thing I learned since coming here is how to pray. I
kneel down and now expect to come out having learned something every
time. The confidence that comes when you do something because God told
your heart to do it is unquenchable. I now walk around with a prayer
in my heart. I used to think that was just like hope. But now I
know it's an action. I hope to keep getting better.. :-)
Physical exercise note:
I can do about all the same body weight exercises as I could two
years ago... But now I weigh 158 which is 17 pounds lighter then I
used to be. I haven't weighed this much since freshman year of high
school. But I am still confident I can beat up Sheldon.. Haha! I took
pictures of my arms and legs and body so you can watch me shrink bit
by agonizing bit.. I look about the same just smaller.
Funny story conclusion:
What's he going to do here? Hmmm...
Yeah I got this super dark story that happened this morning about
finishing and death... And if you want to twist it it can be a very
funny and an ending... But my moma always hated doing animal stories
so I will not include it here. You can ask me Personally if you want
it. Perhaps this is the one that like the tree will just keep
going... To be continued maybe.... Let's go with that.
When the hours were darkest and I still had the silliest grin on my
face when others were so down I used to think, "why/how can I be so
happy right now?". I would feel this clear thought that "there are
people praying for you right now". And so I thank you - Your efforts kept me
floating.
Love each other for me!
ラー 長老
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
April 19, 2015 Letter
1100 hours Hirosaki
So I am north in Aomori prefecture in a city called Hirosaki - which
apparently has the best cherry blossoms in the world and it's pretty easy to
believe. The grounds to the famous castle are HUGE and covered with
beautiful trees! We went early in the morning to beat the crowds and
it was super fun.
Culture point:
Sometimes the buses are crowded but I feel that in a big cities it
would be worse. The most insane buses are the ones to or from train
stations at rush hour. Train stations are the central hub of all
transportation in Japan. And typically the center of every city.
So I am north in Aomori prefecture in a city called Hirosaki - which
apparently has the best cherry blossoms in the world and it's pretty easy to
believe. The grounds to the famous castle are HUGE and covered with
beautiful trees! We went early in the morning to beat the crowds and
it was super fun.
Culture point:
Sometimes the buses are crowded but I feel that in a big cities it
would be worse. The most insane buses are the ones to or from train
stations at rush hour. Train stations are the central hub of all
transportation in Japan. And typically the center of every city.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
April 12, 2015 Letter
1300 hours Nihonkai (Japanese sea)
The weather continues to get warmer and next week we are planning a
trip to see the cherry blossoms!
Culture point:
One of our friends has done a home stay in Southern California and
I was asking about what surprised her when she went to California and
she said just how huge everything was. I asked her for an example
and she said the laundry detergent came in a bucket!! Hahaha I never
really thought about it, but the detergent here is in pretty small little
boxes. It's just funny what we see as being very different.
Fun food fact:
You can eat horse here. They don't eat dog like Korea, but horse is
pretty normal if a little expensive. One of the most common ways to
eat it is called basashi which is eating it in thin raw strips with
soy sauce on it. It's a very lean meat and eaten most at like parties
or holidays.
Spiritual thought:
Every six months the Saviors living prophet speaks to us in a
meeting called general conference. I had a chance to listen to it
this weekend. I listened to 4 sessions in English and one session in
Japanese. (It was full of some hard Japanese) One of my favorite
talks was a talk called, the music of the gospel, I would recommend it
to anyone. I won't try and give a summary of It but one thing it made
me think about was the beauty of the hope, faith, action, fruits pattern.
We never are asked by God to do anything outside our ability to
understand. We can hope from God, a better world. Have enough faith
or hope that it might be true to test it with action. Then we can see
the consequences of that action as an answer to whether it is truth or
not. And then we need to keep following the good consequences. It's
just natural and very loving. This is what I thought this weekend...
Funny story:
So this is this totally awesome member in the branch here that is sooo
faithful and comes to every activity. He comes early to prepare the
sacrament, helps us in missionary work twice a week every week, super
nice super cute, we love him. One thing that always makes me worry
about him though is he always seems to be feeling like the world is
going to come crashing down tomorrow. He stresses a ton about money
and weather and temperature and it even gets me sweating sometimes. So
we thought we would try and lift his spirits pull him up and let him
take a breath from all the scary thoughts.. So after much foundation
laying and loving we asked him this week...
“What are you looking forward to?”
“When? This week? This year? Ever?”
“Uhh... Anytime but maybe this month if you can.”
“Hmm....”
A solid 5 minutes go by...
Koide Choro tried to help him out with, “anything you think is fun or
beautiful or relaxing or exciting or entertaining that is coming up in
the next month or so?”
“Hmm.. Cherry blossoms are beautiful.”
“Yes they are!! That is totally true and they are coming up!!”
Just as we look at each other with big smiles or joy for bringing
light to his day. Then he says in a soft forlorn voice....
“...but after they bloom they always fall and die....”
He reminds me or Eeyore from Whinny the Pooh.
Love each other for me!
Law choro
The weather continues to get warmer and next week we are planning a
trip to see the cherry blossoms!
Culture point:
One of our friends has done a home stay in Southern California and
I was asking about what surprised her when she went to California and
she said just how huge everything was. I asked her for an example
and she said the laundry detergent came in a bucket!! Hahaha I never
really thought about it, but the detergent here is in pretty small little
boxes. It's just funny what we see as being very different.
Fun food fact:
You can eat horse here. They don't eat dog like Korea, but horse is
pretty normal if a little expensive. One of the most common ways to
eat it is called basashi which is eating it in thin raw strips with
soy sauce on it. It's a very lean meat and eaten most at like parties
or holidays.
Spiritual thought:
Every six months the Saviors living prophet speaks to us in a
meeting called general conference. I had a chance to listen to it
this weekend. I listened to 4 sessions in English and one session in
Japanese. (It was full of some hard Japanese) One of my favorite
talks was a talk called, the music of the gospel, I would recommend it
to anyone. I won't try and give a summary of It but one thing it made
me think about was the beauty of the hope, faith, action, fruits pattern.
We never are asked by God to do anything outside our ability to
understand. We can hope from God, a better world. Have enough faith
or hope that it might be true to test it with action. Then we can see
the consequences of that action as an answer to whether it is truth or
not. And then we need to keep following the good consequences. It's
just natural and very loving. This is what I thought this weekend...
Funny story:
So this is this totally awesome member in the branch here that is sooo
faithful and comes to every activity. He comes early to prepare the
sacrament, helps us in missionary work twice a week every week, super
nice super cute, we love him. One thing that always makes me worry
about him though is he always seems to be feeling like the world is
going to come crashing down tomorrow. He stresses a ton about money
and weather and temperature and it even gets me sweating sometimes. So
we thought we would try and lift his spirits pull him up and let him
take a breath from all the scary thoughts.. So after much foundation
laying and loving we asked him this week...
“What are you looking forward to?”
“When? This week? This year? Ever?”
“Uhh... Anytime but maybe this month if you can.”
“Hmm....”
A solid 5 minutes go by...
Koide Choro tried to help him out with, “anything you think is fun or
beautiful or relaxing or exciting or entertaining that is coming up in
the next month or so?”
“Hmm.. Cherry blossoms are beautiful.”
“Yes they are!! That is totally true and they are coming up!!”
Just as we look at each other with big smiles or joy for bringing
light to his day. Then he says in a soft forlorn voice....
“...but after they bloom they always fall and die....”
He reminds me or Eeyore from Whinny the Pooh.
Love each other for me!
Law choro
April 4, 2015 Letter
1200 hours rising
temperatures land
Hahah lots of rain and wind this week and a super warm day on Friday!
It's slowly becoming spring! We are all excited.
Fun food fact:
This was a week full of firsts for me. And it all started when I
ate whale for the first time. I don't remember what people think of
that in the states. I know it's illegal, but rest assured it is ok
here. I ate it at a fish market and it was a tiny slice for $2ish A
lot of the people under 30 have never eaten it in Japan, but if they
are over 45 they almost have for sure eaten it. Especially in school
lunches. I ate it at a sashimi place so it was raw. Very dark red
meat. It's a lot closer to cow than it is to salmon, I will tell you
that. Honestly it was very good... Haha I don't plan on eating it
everyday though, it's too expensive. But it was really fun for me to
experience!
Culture point:
It's voting time in Japan! I have no idea who is running or what most
of the issues are bu,t as far as culture there are lots of
posters everywhere with the persons face name and party on it. There
are lots of vans that's drive through the streets with huge speakers
on the roof telling what all the issues are and referencing certain
candidates. They are very loud. And in general it seems to me most
people are not concerned about the voting. Is what I feel and
experience but, I know nothing for sure please remember that! Hahah
Spiritual thought:
We just had a cool experience that on Saturday night (the night
before Easter) we had a lunar eclipse. You call it gesshoku in
Japanese which means the eating of the moon. And so we slowly watched
the world go completely black... And then we waited for the dawn of
light that came with Easter morning. It reminds me of the experience
of the people all over the world when Christ was actually killed and
rose again. It talks about it In Jerusalem in
Luke 23:44-45 and what happened at the same time in the Americas in
the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 8: 20-23
And I thought about how when I have no hope I feel kind of dark, but when I
remember the two blessing of the atonement that allow us to be
resurrected and the overcome our separation from God, I receive more
peace. Because of Christ “we have no real cause to worry" as
president Benson said.
Funny story:
I have never seen this till coming here to date, but there are
police on bicycles. That might seem kind of funny but, people are so nice
here and there is so little crime a police man’s biggest job is
probably help lost people and help enforce traffic laws. Like it’s sooo
safe here for the most part, so it's totally normal for them to be on
little bikes with baskets and lights. But I was a little bit surprised
when I first saw it and even might have got a smile for just how cute
it was in my mind.
So, we were riding our bikes to someone's house that lived kind of far
and on our way home, we starting following a police man (he just
happened to be biking the same way as us) He is
just going normal speed, maybe a little slow, just patrolling,
sometimes talking on his radio, but, we were afraid to pass because
just like in a car passing a police officer just seems risky.. Maybe
there is speed limits or maybe I am doing something wrong. I don't
know it just makes me nervous! But then all the sudden he starts
going quit bit faster. And at about the same time I hear sirens and a
fire truck goes zooming by... Then give it 2 more minutes and an
ambulance goes zooming by. I start thinking man the truck was so
much faster. And I start thinking and like I wonder which of all the
emergency response teams is the fastest. I wonder if they race. Then my eyes take in the officer on the bike pumping away in the same direction...
No.... And I just start the biggest giggle fit... And Koide Choro had
no idea what I was laughing about.
But, the officer turned a different way and all my suspicions were put
at ease. I love this place!
I love you! Smile for me!
Love each other for me!
Law Choro
Hahah lots of rain and wind this week and a super warm day on Friday!
It's slowly becoming spring! We are all excited.
Fun food fact:
This was a week full of firsts for me. And it all started when I
ate whale for the first time. I don't remember what people think of
that in the states. I know it's illegal, but rest assured it is ok
here. I ate it at a fish market and it was a tiny slice for $2ish A
lot of the people under 30 have never eaten it in Japan, but if they
are over 45 they almost have for sure eaten it. Especially in school
lunches. I ate it at a sashimi place so it was raw. Very dark red
meat. It's a lot closer to cow than it is to salmon, I will tell you
that. Honestly it was very good... Haha I don't plan on eating it
everyday though, it's too expensive. But it was really fun for me to
experience!
Culture point:
It's voting time in Japan! I have no idea who is running or what most
of the issues are bu,t as far as culture there are lots of
posters everywhere with the persons face name and party on it. There
are lots of vans that's drive through the streets with huge speakers
on the roof telling what all the issues are and referencing certain
candidates. They are very loud. And in general it seems to me most
people are not concerned about the voting. Is what I feel and
experience but, I know nothing for sure please remember that! Hahah
Spiritual thought:
We just had a cool experience that on Saturday night (the night
before Easter) we had a lunar eclipse. You call it gesshoku in
Japanese which means the eating of the moon. And so we slowly watched
the world go completely black... And then we waited for the dawn of
light that came with Easter morning. It reminds me of the experience
of the people all over the world when Christ was actually killed and
rose again. It talks about it In Jerusalem in
Luke 23:44-45 and what happened at the same time in the Americas in
the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 8: 20-23
And I thought about how when I have no hope I feel kind of dark, but when I
remember the two blessing of the atonement that allow us to be
resurrected and the overcome our separation from God, I receive more
peace. Because of Christ “we have no real cause to worry" as
president Benson said.
Funny story:
I have never seen this till coming here to date, but there are
police on bicycles. That might seem kind of funny but, people are so nice
here and there is so little crime a police man’s biggest job is
probably help lost people and help enforce traffic laws. Like it’s sooo
safe here for the most part, so it's totally normal for them to be on
little bikes with baskets and lights. But I was a little bit surprised
when I first saw it and even might have got a smile for just how cute
it was in my mind.
So, we were riding our bikes to someone's house that lived kind of far
and on our way home, we starting following a police man (he just
happened to be biking the same way as us) He is
just going normal speed, maybe a little slow, just patrolling,
sometimes talking on his radio, but, we were afraid to pass because
just like in a car passing a police officer just seems risky.. Maybe
there is speed limits or maybe I am doing something wrong. I don't
know it just makes me nervous! But then all the sudden he starts
going quit bit faster. And at about the same time I hear sirens and a
fire truck goes zooming by... Then give it 2 more minutes and an
ambulance goes zooming by. I start thinking man the truck was so
much faster. And I start thinking and like I wonder which of all the
emergency response teams is the fastest. I wonder if they race. Then my eyes take in the officer on the bike pumping away in the same direction...
No.... And I just start the biggest giggle fit... And Koide Choro had
no idea what I was laughing about.
But, the officer turned a different way and all my suspicions were put
at ease. I love this place!
I love you! Smile for me!
Love each other for me!
Law Choro
March 29, 2015 Letter
1400 hours Fallfield Prefecture (Akita)
It’s been a fun week and we got
iPads which made it full of newness and excitement. Pretty much we are the
same. I kind of feel like not a young person, because, of how old all the
things I knew about electronics feel... but it’s all good. The reports are in
(I talked to a bunch of old people that have lived here forever and know what’s
up) and it sounds like cherry blossoms will be here by the end of April hopefully,
so that is also exciting!
Fun food facts:
I was asked what people drink with
dinner. I don’t know anything about alcohol, but sake seems to be drunk at
fancy restaurants in the evening. Excluding that, when I go to someone’s home
and they have beverages to drink normally its mugicha which is a wheat tea, I
talked about a long time ago, or its calpis (which I talked about a long time
ago) or some type of fruit juice (Japanese apple juice is the best) or soda
with the most common flavors being mitsuya cider (kind of like sprite) or like
a fruit flavor. Sometimes cola. If you have a hot food and especially if that
hot food is spicy mugicha is soooo good! I don’t even know why but it just
quenches that thirst. hahah
Culture point:
This isn’t so much about Japan as
it is about language I think but it’s just funny how well we know our own
native language and then at the same time how we don’t know it. I was talking
with Wheelwright Choro about kanji this morning and we turned over and asked
Koide Choro how many kanji he knew and he was like " I have no idea maybe
300 or more" and in order to read a newspaper you need over 2000 kanji.
(He easily knows 3000) but if you asked me how many words I knew how to spell,
I don’t really know. So it’s fun to learn from natives because you just copy
them and its makes all the painful parts of language go away. Also, there are
no custodians at the schools only the kids clean. (I asked my Doryo how it
isn’t just a super lazy mess and he said the teachers make sure they get it
down right... gulp. hahahah)
Spiritual thought:
With this next weekend being Easter
(huge shout out to My Wonderful Older Sister and her family for the package
they sent me) and so I recommend watching this video http://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_FR_3-27-2015_dMIS_fMRMN_xLIDyL1-A_ and I will just add my testimony that I know that when I
pray about those that have died I feel peace in my heart very strongly and
clearly that they are not gone forever. And I know anyone that has worries or
pain about that can receive the same witness and peace I have if they
"seek".
Funny story:
I was complaining to Koide Choro
that he needed to do more funny things, so I could have better e-mails home,
and so, he was kind enough this morning to put on a show at the grocery
store.
I needed sweetened condensed milk
for a dish I wanted to make. I had seen it in japan before so I knew it existed,
just not where it was in the store. (turns out it’s by the flour and I have no
idea why) so we were searching and searching and I finally give up and pull the
gaijin card and ask the worker (I have never seen a Japanese person ask the
worker) and like they always do (since it’s like literally the best service in
the world) she just starts walking at 100 kph in the opposite direction. So I kind
of panic and just start following her. (You must also understand that as
missionaries we have a rule to always stay in sight and sound of each other.) I just bolt off and Koide Choro like panics and starts
following us.... while dragging the already 50 kg cart and they pick up speed... if there would have been only 10 cartons of milk in the stand
it would have been just like bowling but instead it was a giant stand with
about 100, so it was more like the last march of the Flemings...
Love each other for me!
Law Choro
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)