April 13, 2014 Letter

1305 hours my favorite place ever!

 

Transfers... (do that sound dad makes when you hit all the coordinates on one of someone's ships in battleship) I am leaving my beloved Misawa... I am headed back to the heart of Sendai but this time I will be as big as it gets right next to the big train station. It's called Kamisugi. My companion will be a few transfers ahead of me and his name is Keshino choro. I know him kinda and he is awesome! Having a Japanese companion is part of the silver the lining to the cloud and I am now a zone leader so I get to go sometimes and do missionary work in Nagamachi!!!!! (my first area) so all is well!

 

Food fact:

Sakura tea! Sakura are the cherry blossoms (still waiting for the fresh ones) but one thing that is done is they take the blossoms and salt them and then you put it in hot water on special occasions and they like bloom in the water and you drink them! (it wasn't a special occasion but kimura san made us some because she is awesome) its like a really salty cherry taste! And you drink the flower! So fun and pretty pretty.

 

Culture fact: 

Tea. There is so much I could talk about with tea culture but one thing I learned recently was about the cups. On the inside of the fancy cups like the inner rim is sometimes painted a flower or leaf or ssomething pretty. And when you fill up the tea and give it to your guest you make sure the flower is on the side of the cup closest to you so that they can see it when you give it to them. and then when you finish the tea you turn the cup to face them and say how wonderful it was and thank you... kinda fun!

 

Spiritual thought:

I really loved conference this weekend! (we watch it the next weekend) and i especially loved the talk by the prophet Thomas S. Monson about having the courage to do what is right. no matter the pressure from friends and family, from politics and popular opinion from our own pride and lusts... just to have the courage to do what is right because we love our god. I think that is simple but it really have given me a little extra umph when the moment comes to choose the best or choose something else... i recommend watching it if you have a few minutes i promise it will impact and have relevance in your life because he is the mouthpiece of the lord to his people today. 

 

Funny story:

so there is so prepping this story but our favorite sister in the world ate lunch with us at a different members house (it was soooo good) and then we all left on the way home. and on the way down the hill she is a little older and has a cane normaly and it was a pretty steep hill so she told elder mantz to help her and they held hands all the way down the hill. like its so natural and a good thing to do that we would do every time but it was just so cute and in the spur of the moment and she just teased him the whole time that is like made me smile for days after! i am getting all not wanting to transfer just thinking about it... ahh! god is good!
 

Love each other for me!

Law CHoro 

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

March 9, 2014 Letter

0816 Hours snowy Japan

I want a better picture of these people. I love them so much. Okumura.

Moral:

Moral took a blow this Saturday night... we were biking home from the base to the apartment and my stomach did not feel so hot all the sudden. It turned into one of those nights: The flu. But on the flip side of that I am very genki now and I am just happy as a clam! "Pop"! My bike tire just popped but God did not make me have the flu right now so life is amazing! It's all about perspective and it gives you mercy and love too. God will guide us.

 

Fun Food Fact:

Mochi is as Japanese traditional as I think you can get (maybe fish is a bit more but barely). What you do is take cooked rice and put it in a stone like basin thing and you beat it with these giant hammers. Then is turns into this paste that you form into little cakes.You can pretty much go anywhere from there. You can toast it and eat it, toast it and drop it in a soup, just eat it, put it in a donut,  wrap it around beans, flavor it a thousand different ways (my favorite is sakura (cherry)). It's way fun, they tell me it is waaay healthy, and the more you eat it the more you appreciate it.

 

Culture Point:

Hinamatsuri. It's girls' day (there is also a boys' day in may so nobody get too offended). It's a holiday where the day is for girls and everyone puts out these two little dolls of an emperor and empress. Then you eat all these delicious little cakes when you are a missionary because everyone gives you them when you come over, ha ha. I actually don't know that much about it besides what I experienced, there isn't really festivals or parades though. That is why I got to try the sakura mocha though, because they eat it

for girls day!

 

Spiritual Thought:

My thought today is on humility.

 

Matthew 22: 36-37

 "36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

 

I totally love this scripture and the scriptures after it which talk about loving others and sometimes I forget about what he said first. There are soooo many wonderful things we can do in this life: we can love others, be a missionary, be a mom or dad, help the needy, write a song the list goes on and on... good things! But I (and I always just assume others make similar mistakes) need to remember God is in control of everything. He is God. He will take care or everything from the "the lilies in the field" to the sick an afflicted. He might and probably will use us to do it, but we need to let Him use us by making Him our priority. To humble our own wisdom, however wise it may seem, and go to the source. He speaks to us through the spirit and scriptures and we can speak to Him through prayer. He knows us perfectly and will guide us perfectly if we can humble ourselves and follow.

 

Funny Story:

    Raw eggs. There is only one type of person in the world that eat them: the toughest of the tough. Rocky and the Japanese. One of my life 5 goals is to become a Japanese and so we set out on a mission to conquer the oval of champions.

    It had been a long day in the misawa district, but the 4 missionaries were cool as cucumbers as they glided in out of the snow. They could conquer the world. "Lets do it tonight!" came the call from the back. Just that one sentence was all anyone needed to understand the challenge. They agreed it would be tonight. 5 minutes later, 4 camera, and 4 of Japanese poultry's finest work later the nights activities were ready to begin. Smooth as ice they looked into each others faces, nodded, and then cracked and dumped...

    I thought it was going to be the texture... I have eaten a ton of raw eggs mixed with stuff and its always good! So I was figuring the texture of just the egg would be nasty. Others thought the egg white taste would be nasty, others just the idea. But it turns out we were all wrong. All three of us (Elder Iida is excluded because he has done this before and it wasn't even funny or interesting - like shoving a whole piece of bread in your mouth) had the same thought as it entered: "this is kinda a lot!" like my mouth is totally full cheeks puffed and all! Then I look over and the other two are having similar experiences. Elder Anderson's eyes are huge and cheeks puffed out and Elder Mantz has egg all down his front and on the floor and still cheeks puffed out and eyes big. It's like dead silent because no one can laugh... and I can't swallow because its this big solid mass so I start swooshing between my teeth to kinda brake is up and trying not to laugh. Then Elder Mantz is able to swallow and then picks up this slime off the ground that fell when he over flowed because he wants to be able able to say he ate a whole raw egg. When he puts that back he starts gagging and ahh.. it was so funny! I have it all on video for posterity!

 

Love each other for me!

Law Choro

March 2, 2014 Letter

0800 Hours the West Pacific

ohisashiburi desu! (its been a while)

So I always have these moments of genius through out the week when I think of something fun to write home about. Then when I sit down I go, "did I actually write that 2 months ago or just think about it in my head"... so if I repeat my self I apologize in advance.

 

Culture Point:

Thank you. There are lots of different ways to say thank you in Japanese all depending on the situation and how polite you want to me:

domo-  thanks (Almost off hand, you can say domo to mean almost anything)

arigato-thanks (A good deal stronger than domo)

arigato gozaimasu-thank you (Most widely used by far. You say it much more than in English, if you are bowing you are probably saying this; I say it probably 100 times a day not even exaggerating)

domo arigato gozaimase- thank you so much (Also widely used; a bit more polite)

And then of course just like English there are 100 other ways to show gratitude but you don't need those. A cool fact about the word thank you in Japanese is that it did not really exist until the Portuguese came! Their thank you "abrigato" or something hard to pronounce got taken and used! We have a connection to our mission languages Dad!

 

Fun Food Fact:

The Japanese elder in our apartment is super awesome! He makes the weirdest breakfasts in the world. It's weird to everyone, Japanese and Americans alike. But I am confessing my sin here because I judged it before I ate it. I now have eaten it and will be eating it once a week probably from now on. It is a piece of toast covered with peanut butter (they do have peanut butter here just super expensive) then you slather honey all over the peanut butter. Then you steam an egg, put tons of salt and pepper on the egg and then put it on the honey. Then you stuff. Kind of messy but pretty good. ;-)

 

Spiritual Thought:

There is a sister in the military ward here that said something that I want to kind of steal and add on to. The thought is about crickets, grasshoppers, locusts... whatever you call them. Two experiences with them:

1. The pioneer settlers in the late 1800's had an experience where their crops were getting eaten by them and they were terrified and prayed to God to have them taken away.

2. The Japanese people in and after world war two were hurting bad for food. That same creature came and they were so thankful and ate them because they were healthy and safe to eat.

Same bug, both hungry people, one taken as a plague one taken as manna.

 

Now I have no idea if the bugs in America were actually poisonous or if you cant preserve them long enough to make up for the crop damage and I don't really think it matters that much. But, do I Elder Law see my crickets as plague or manna. I think its pretty easy for a lot of people to have the faith that there is in fact a God and that He is all powerful and good. It's the next step of humbling ourselves enough to be able to trust Him and His all powerful control. If we can master that we will only be receiving manna, not because its any easier to eat or do, but because there is no fear we will be blessed. 2 Nephi 9:39 (page 76 in the Book of Mormon) "...Remember to be carnally minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life eternal". 

 

Funny Story:

I consider myself 1/4 Mexican because from the age of 4-12 I spent more than half of my time at the home of a wonderful family that's moma was Mexican and they pretty much became my other parents. So I ate the chili pepper many a time, had my fair share of hot salsa, and from that background I went into the world and always choose the hottest sauce when the question was asked. I ate the "hottest" curry at the Indian curry restaurant and it was super hot but I did not cry. I tell you this so you understand I am no ketchup on my taco kinda guy.

 

There is a small country in South East Asia where their babies suck on habaneros for binkies and the 3 year olds can breath fire. Thai. We made this good friend on the street that is from Thailand and works with his sister at their restaurant and he invited us there. We went and I ate the hottest curry I have ever eaten! It doesn't feel like hot after the third bite, it feels like you are chewing on needles...  but we love him so we went back! We got things on the menu with lots or vegetables and no spicy and it was sooo good! Which made us get confident again.. ahh perhaps just the curry is spicy then... so we ordered these noodles. There is 5 levels of spicy, the curry that killed us was a 4, so we went with a 2.

 

The plate is lade below us: shrimp, crap, squid, vegetables, and noodles all tumbled together in a beautiful concoction of Thai gourmet cooking. Then my eyes start to burn... oh no... three bites in I am grabbing for my water. It was at least twice as hot as the curry, easily the hottest dish I have ever eaten, and huge! So we just start on a mission that has no hope... my lips were like swollen and blood red half way through (should have got a picture). Then the sister comes over and starts chatting with us (she is like a 45 year old mom that knows English, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and something I had never heard of) and she sees the tears rolling down our faces. She asks if it is hot, and we kindly explain that her brother must have played another joke on us and given us a 5 this time because it is the hottest thing we have ever eaten. Then she says she made it!! It's not that funny of a story but just be careful if you ever go to a Thai place.

 

Love each other for me!

Law Choro