Crowd of people? Carrying your bike? Just lift it over all of their heads #MuricaPerk #ImHuge ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I don't always ask for directions on the train, but when I do, I end that conversation talking about God #Missionaried ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Biking for twenty minutes to buy chicken and beef for dirt cheap? Worth it!! #NoRoomInOurFreezerAnyMore ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... We just made Raspberry Jam from Scratch, put the hot stuff that wouldn't fit in the jar onto ice-cream and ate it all ... Love ... my ... life ... #FatKid ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I don't always lead us around Tokyo but when I do ... we're early #LikeABoss ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Alright iPad, you think you can fix my spelling? #ChalngeAcceptprw #noSuggestions ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... We just ate $100 worth of sushi; you then took us to an Italian Restaurant and made us keep eating till we all want to die ... Of course we'll go to round 3 with you! ... #GoingToPukeAllOverYou ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... #NoImNot28 ... it's alright, you're like the 12th person to make that mistake ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... All we bought was potatoes and meat #GriffithsChoroWentShopping ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Curry for Lunch, Curry for Dinner; #HappyPDay ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Typhoon, worst one in 10 years? Please, my bike has missionary steroids, #DidNotEvenFallOver ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Oh, you sell Melonpan? yeah, I’ll buy them all, right now #TheRecipeTooPlease ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... #YouMightBeAMissionaryIf you don't hear about the giant wall of water which will hit the city where you live until next Monday; because you only get eMail on P-Days ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... New favorite conversation starter "I don’t speak Japanese and if I don’t learn I can’t go back to America, please help me" #ForeignerPower ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Whatever I just ate, exploded with little eggs all over my mouth #WhatDidIJustEat ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Is it wrong that I want to ask the local tattoo artist if he can run the face painting booth at our Halloween party, I think he would be pretty good ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Being a foot taller than everyone else in the whole country #GaijinNoMondai (Foregner problem) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Hitting your head on every door way cuz it’s made for people a foot shorter than you #GaijinNoMondai ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Having a hole in the ground for a toilet? #FirstWorldCountry more like #FirstWorldProblem ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Typhoon season #ComeAtMeMotherNature #Murica ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Cow Piss? Oh you mean Calpis #YesIllTakeAllOfThem

Monday, July 28, 2014

DD 9.35 ... ang pangalan ko po ay si Griffiths ... #tagalog ...

Do you have an abundance of flies in Japan?? We are willing to ship some over if you don't.
One, it's a thousand times more humid here than there; two, we have more than you I promise ...

How about mosquitoes?
Like I just said, more humid ...

Are you allowed to put pictures on Facebook of people in their baptismal clothes? We thought you could not, maybe we are wrong!
Well every missionary I know has been doing it for a while now, so I would guess it's okay ...

Do you have wifi now?
We're at the seven eleven ... again

Do the new missionaries coming in now have to buy their own iPads?
Pretty much I have no idea what they do ...

How are you and the bike doing? Any problems?
I still have a hole in my tire, but it's really small, like it'll last for three days before I need to put more air in, so I don't want to patch it, cuz it'll be hard ... or I could buy a new tube ... Ghetto life.

How did Chinese night 3.0 go??
Our Chinese friend couldn't make it :-(

How was the baptism? Enough water in the font and everything?
It was good, his legs floated up twice, but the third time was perfect!

How is the weather there? rain?
It's hot. 37C (98.6F) yesterday!

How is your district doing? How is being a district leader going?
It's good, it's fun, it's hard, it's stressful. But I'm growing as a person. Yeah!

Are there any special YSA branches or activities in Japan?
Activities, yes. But no branches ...

Have you eaten at any members houses lately?
Not recently.

Any problems with nuts?
Nope, don't have pecans in Nihon.

Does the humidity make your hair curly? Januari said the humidity in California was crazy on her hair!
Just a little bit ...

Any requests for the package?
Deodorant ... if at all possible ... and no ring pops, it took me way too long to finish last time ... I started at eight, and threw some away at ten thirty when I had to go to bed.

Father ... every time you talk of Clyde ... you make him sound so old ... it's scary. But I'm sure that he's doing well!  Thanks for helping TeJay out with his yard! I'm sure that he really appreciated it!! I would have gone ... but I'm all the way around the world ... almost died when I saw that picture though. Thanks for making my day! :)

Mother ... thanks for the comment on my hair, it cost ten bucks!! I'm glad that you all enjoyed the twenty fourth, it was Peterson Shimai's birthday, so we attacked their mail box with some stuff and the other Shimai pied her in the face ... that's all we did. Last week was crazy with Brother A's baptism, so it was a little rough ...

Jandee!! Loved the pictures of he kids! They're so adorable!!! Thanks for the pictures!! Happy Happy Birthday BTW!

Smasher ... your email crushed me. Mitsu's English is poor in writing, I missed
pirate summer, and all you can eat doughnuts!! I'm crying on the inside!! It sounds like you are having a good time ... and the sign in Italy makes me wonder about that whole country!! I have no idea ... 

Six pack ... I typed in abs, but my iPad corrected it to that. So you let a bird poop in my car!?!?!?!?! I disapprove of this ... other than that, it sounds like you had a crazy week!!!! Hiking and driving and getting pooped on ... busy, busy, busy.
Yoshini Choro, Griffiths Choro, Brother A, Watanabe Choro, Hawkes Choro
So this week Brother A got baptized ... have I mentioned that he's from the Philippines ... and they speak Tagalog ... I don't know why I tried to learn Japanese ... it was really great!! The pictures are on Facebook, but pretty much he's a punk, I love him to death, and he wants to come and dendo with us this week sometime ... should be fun!! Him and his leopard print backpack ... love it!! Yeah, that was pretty much all we did all week. We taught some other peeps, but mostly this week we focused on Brother A!! Pretty fun week! Now we just gotta hand him off to the ward!

This is the Tagalog baptismal prayer
... totally did it in Tagalog btw ...
Like a boss!!!
We also met with Brother F. He's 63 and has terminal cancer ... but is still way genki! He's awesome! He wants to get baptized, but has a ...  well two problems ... The alcohol thing, and keeping the sabbath day holy ... his favorite thing in the whole world is his softball league, that plays on Sunday ... right during church ... biggest pain ever, but still he's working with it and comes for as much as he can ... but still, it's hard to baptize someone who might pass up the sacrament for softball ... Rough life.

This week I don't know, not much really happened, but I did learn this. No matter how many times we mess up, God is willing to forgive us. But not only that, as our perfect example, we need to be willing to forgive others as many times as they mess up. It may be really hard sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things, does someone cutting us off in traffic, or not sending an email in time, or even someone we love doing something dumb that hurts us. Does it really matter in the end? We talked about the atonement this week in Sacrament Meeting, and it was all about how it doesn't just cover the sins and death, but everything and everyone. Christ knew everyone perfectly, so he could help us perfectly, he knows all that we've gone through, and all that we will from here on out, and knows what we need to do in order to over come it ... it brings me a sense of peace knowing that my friend can always help me out of the hole I've dug myself into because he's been there before ... it's nice to never be alone. It's nice to have the spirit there as my best friend. And in turn, having God there as well.. Alma 7:11 was the theme scripture this week!!

Well, don't have, much time, and I got some other peeps to write this week. I know, it's weird, a lot of people emailed me this week ... Random!
Griffiths Choro loves you all!!! (I know ... third person!)

We just made Raspberry Jam from Scratch, put the hot stuff that wouldn't fit in the jar onto ice-cream and ate it all ... Love ... my ... life ... #FatKid
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Monday, July 21, 2014

DD 9.25 ... We Can Do Hard Things, With His Help ...

Well ... this is the biggest first world problem I've ever had ... this week the wifi at out church went out, so to use our iPads we have to go to a 7-11 to use their free wifi ... did I mention that they're everywhere, but it's slightly farther than the church ... it's like an eight minute bike ride instead of five ....

Is that your voice on the pig video?? Chores are riding on your answer! (we have been debating all week. Abi swears it is not you)
Can't even tell the difference between your own son and a Hawaiian ... that makes me sad ...

Isn't that Naan Flat Bread, which looks a lot like Indian fry bread, that you are eating in the picture you sent?
(delicious!) Yes, that is naan ... so good!!

How is your foot doing? Healing?
Well, it seems to have gotten worse ... it's oozing and there is a puss pocket on the side of my toe ... the skin around it has gotten kind of green and if I rub it too hard in the shower ... well stuff starts to come off ...

Totally kidding ... it's pretty much perfect by now.

How are your baptismal dates coming along?
Great!! More on that later.

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. And mom won't turn the AC down ... any suggestions on how to get mom to obey?
I'm out side all day wearing a white shirt and tie ... with pants ... in Nihongo humidity ... mom, if you bake cookies for hours with the AC off I'm sure that the fam will love you forever!!

How many times were you told that Abi's got a new car? Hey, Abi got a new car, what should she name it?
I saw it ... I dislike Belvadear whatever it was ...

Will you send us a picture of you and your companion?
Yoshino Choro & Griffiths Choro

How is monsoon season going? are you wearing your rain jacket you bought super often?
Meh, sometimes ... not as often as it rains ...

How do you like the other 2 Choros who live in your apartment?
Love em.

Are you still learning to cook or is the Choro who was teaching you get transferred? (Sam is writing the questions and I can't keep track. Dad probably knows but he isn't here)
No, he's still here and the lessons continue!

Would you like more Kool-Aid or is it too much work to make?
Meh, I still got some, but it was the highlight of that package.


How is your Japanese coming? Any better now you have a Nihonjin comp?
I speak a lot more Japanese now ... it's pretty good, but as soon as I think that, I struggle to introduce myself.

How well does your companion speak English?
He's really good. Better than my Japanese.

Have you gotten your hair cut recently? Who cut it?
Like three weeks ago. The shop by the Eki does it for cheap.

Did those funny white bumps on your feet ever go away? the fungus?
Pretty much annihilated it ...

Are you still sleeping on futons or are you on a bunk bed?
Futons ... I took the two hardest ones ... and frankly, they're quite nice!!

Father, the grass looks nice! Sorry that helping TeJay with his yard is crazy hard ... I really wanna help ... it's sounds like you get to use the post holer a lot ... which I love using!!!! Jealous!! I really did enjoy the scout camps ... except the part where I almost drowned under the sail of our boat at Bear Lake ... because of that, I hate life jackets ... but still love sailing! Thank you for being such a caring father and putting time and love into my life! You rock!!

Mother ... I feel good about making thirty'ish dollars from the fridge! I'm not gonna lie, I was a little worried that you emailed me first, that never happens; I thought that someone had died or something! But I feel good about everything! Thanks for the updates.

Sam ... sorry that work outs aren't going to well ... just remember Abi ... she could probably beat you in a race right now ... I would go running ... like now ... I loved the picture of the lawn, it was way great!!

Stormmageddon ... don't you dare let the parents retire my baby!!!! I mean Clydesdale ... Boots, a total score!!! And I really do love the car, I feel good about it!! BTW, chat debate, hilarious!!!!

So this week. Well, Brother A is scheduled to be baptized; so is the other Choro's investigator. We had a guy named Brother F meet with us after reading 2 Nephi 31 and say, so what is this baptism thing, and how do I get it ... he's now looking forward to the tenth ... by the way; pretty boss week!!!

Don't have much time this week, we gotta go meet with some less actives, and help em back to church, but I just wanted to say that this week I learned about miracles ... they take a lot of faith to happen, but even more than that, they the take a lot of faith to see, this whole week I was kinda doubting, but when we showed our faith and expected them to happen, they did! It was really cool to see!!! I still can't really believe that this is all happening, and that we have to do it right now. It all just started happening so suddenly to. I'm so glad that God has prepared these people at this time for this miracle ... It's really awesome!!! I'm a firm believer in things to come, and in miracles that are waiting to be seen! It's way great when they so happen, and sometimes the wait is the best part ...

Dad mentioned in his letter about me not having to do anything but missionary work, and yeah, I don't have a job or anything. But is is probably the most stressful thing that I have ever had to do in my whole life before.. I'm so tired, and I feel as though I never really get a break ... but when I do, I just find myself thinking, what am I doing ... I could be doing so much more and it would be so much fun!! So pretty much this is crazy hard ... but I love it! Because, just like it says on our wall: "We can do hard things, with His help!!" And let's be honest, He's the reason we can do anything at all. And it's so great!! I love having the chance to tell the world about this message
and all the joy that it has brought me in my life!!! I love being a missionary!!! Kinda sucks that I only have ten months left though ...


Gotta jet, love ya!! Griffiths Choro
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Monday, July 14, 2014

DD 9.15 ... I swear it's not infected ... others disagree ... but I'm a Lifeguard ...

How was Typhoon Neoguri that hovered over/or hit Tokyo? Did you get any interesting weather from it? Dad said it brought a heat wave, like a 100 degrees some places, how hot did it get where you are?
It rained for a couple days, pretty hard, but not too bad, then it was crazy hot!!!
Path of Typhoon Neoguri 
Photo of Typhoon Neoguri's 'Eye'
Did you feel the earthquake that occurred?
Yep, way early in the morning and woke us all up ... pretty fun.

How sick were you? Bad cold? Fever? Cough?
I may have just had a cold ... for a couple days.

Do they have cake mixes in Japan? Why did you put tofu in yours?  Are Japanese ovens different from ours? It looked great!
They don't have mixes ... yes, tofu was mixed in ... and yeah, they have microwaves with oven settings.

Yoshino Choro, how many transfers old is he?
Transfer four.

What areas has Yoshino Choro been in?
Urayasu

What city in Japn is Yoshino Choro from?
He is from Fussa Musashino Stake ... it's in the south mission.

Did you make the entire packet of blue raspberry lemonade in a pitcher or did you just make some of it?
Yeah, one normal one ... and then instead of using water, I used sprite for one!!! Sooooo good!!!!

Do you still have a baptism date for the end of August?
For the end of July ... might be the beginning of August ...

While Sam was in Rome she went to church with the Mission President and she ended up on the Italy Rome Mission Blog. Do you have permission to go to other mission blogs? If not, don't worry, Sam has tons of pictures, she will send you more than you can handle!
Can't do it ... so sad.

Are you running out of anything that we can send you? Anything you would just like us to send?
Deodorant ... would be nice.


Father ... Pictures of the typhoon ... saw one for a little bit. Then when I downloaded the whole message, it didn't let me see any of them.  Thanks for the letters!! And the Young Women's lesson was quite nice ... I think that I might use it!! It sounds like the lawn is going great!! I'm psyched to see it when I get back ... or whenever y'all send me a picture of it!!

Mother of mine ... I'm glad to hear that you are glad that Sam is back home ... Sorry for the bed bug scare ... it sounds like it got crazy up there ... I'm not sure that I'll need the four hundred dollars to purchase my iPad, but I'll let you know by the end of my mission .... the policy may change by then.

Smasher pants ... it sounds like your trip to Italy was crazy fun!! Sorry that you got bitten and got bigger from gelato ... sounds like a huge problem ... tell me you went running when you got home ... I know that when I'm all jet lagged and what not, I plan on running to help me stay wake ... I'm glad that you liked my birthday letter ... it sounds like you really liked it.

Stormerbormer sorry that you are soon starting the job that you've been preparing for, for the last couple years. I wish you luck, but, duh ... you when to school for this exact reason. Have fun though!! Enjoy the kiddies!!

So this week was interesting. Transfers were on Thursday! And since then Yoshino Choro and I have been running around doing all sorts of exciting stuff!! It's way fun!! We've taught a couple lessons, and contacted some less actives that the ward is looking to bring back. It looks like they might ... pretty much it was way sweet! My companion is like the most loving person I know.

I swear it's not infected ...
In other news. I bashed my foot into a wall this week ... I slipped in the water that comes out of the air conditioner and smashed my foot into the wall of our balcony ... it's pretty messed up ... I'll send a picture. The lady at the drug store told me to put some stuff and some gauze on it ... and that the worst thing for me to do was to shower it ... I slightly disagree ... so I've been showering it and washing it ... I've been using the stuff. It seems to be getting better ... slowly.

This week I learned that God has a sense of humor. Sometimes just when we think that we're on top of things, God decides something else, and it all changes. This week was full of stuff like that. God knows what is best for us, but sometimes we don't ... it always interesting to find out when a plan doesn't go as well as you hoped it would, and then you get to see why, when God shows you something, and you're like "oooooh, I totally understand now" it's just a nice feeling. Like this week. I was all like, why did all of our lessons fall through and what not, but now I know that we weren't prepared for them at the time. And now that we are, it is amazing to be able to teach them the way that God wants them to be taught.

So that's all for this week, I'm send some pics too!!!
Love you all, and see ya next week!!!
Griffiths Choro

What is this thing as big as my face?  I dunno but it sure does taste good!!! Naan Bread
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Monday, July 7, 2014

DD 8.55 ... When do we want to start?? ... On Monday!!! ...

Was the Filipino food like the stuff Aunt Ossie makes? or different? 
It was a little different, but a lot of the same style ... it was way good just like Aunt Ossie's ... where is she from again? What part of the Philippines?

Where do you play Bingo?
The stake center in Nakaurawa.

Do you have family history classes during church?
Nope.

Did you get your front tire fixed? Any more problems with your trusty steed?
Meh ... not quite yet, I think that I might fix it today ... then again, maybe not.

How is the weather? Typhoon season still going on? getting better or worse?
Typhoon season is coming!!!!! We're supposed to get one on Thursday; a big one!!

My shoes ... nice and dendo worn!!
How are your shoes? still holey? haven't seen any pictures of them!
I thought I did, but I'll send some more.

In the picture of you reaching your arms to the ceiling, - what is the round thing hanging from the ceiling? clothes drying rack? closet? A piece of medieval exercise equipment that you hang your clothes on?
That is a clothes rack ... highly convenient ... and wind proof thanks to it being Made in Japan ...

Do you do your ab workout every day? any running going on?
Not everyday ... only sometimes ... I'm really really fat right now.

Do you miss mowing the lawn?  Because there will be lawn for you to mow when you return! Do you pick up cherries (apples) for service in Japan?
Not yet ... I'd probably eat all the cherries.

Have you ever heard of an Sansing Choro? ...Abi briefly knew him from high school and he is currently serving in Tokyo.
He is in Narita right now!! WHOOO, small world!!

What foods made up your breakfast you sent us a picture of?? Specifically the runny looking stuff in the cup?
Calpis, egg, bread, and NATO ... (misspelled correctly natto) ... fermented soybeans ...

Murcia!!!
Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade
Cake, or mush; Still delicious!!
Did you do anything to celebrate the Fourth of July?
We had an America themed music night with Sloppy-Joes and cake ... Well I made the cake, and it turned into ... I'm not really sure, it was way good though!! I followed the recipe ... it called for tofu, and no eggs ... mix that with a Japanese oven, that talks BTW, and I had no idea what I was doing.

Have you worn your new tie yet? The one that we sent you in your package?
Of course ... I wore it the next day, do you not know me?

This week was pretty good. We got transfer calls this morning!!!  I'm staying here and my new companion is Yoshino Choro ... he's Nagano ... Watanabe Choro is going to Adachi, and Nelson Shimai is going to Joetsu. Everything else will remain the same here!! Its going to be a lot of fun!!

This week we just saw a couple miracles. A man that we met a couple weeks ago came to church this week unexpectedly ... he said that the missionaries invited him to come to church and so he came? ... turns out it us who invited him; we were way psyched!!

So that happened ... not much else happened this week ... it's hard to write, so I'm gonna send some pictures too!!

Quintuple stuffed Oreo!!!Mmmm!!!!!!
Father,  I'm glad to hear that the sprinkling system is behaving now!! Love the home teachers for sure. Sorry that the girls are picking on you guys ... if it helps, I don't really post that much on FB. I don't really have any investigator friends right now, so it's hard to be productive ...

Mother ... my letter last week was more for humorous reading rather than a plea for more letters. I hope that you are doing well. It's good to hear that you are playing Mario cart with the grandkids ... that is always fun to hear! Thanks for the news about grandma.

Sam ... Happy Italy!!! I hope your trip is doing well!! Have fun ... take lots of pictures!!
... pretty much my whole life ...
Gale Storm ... sorry about the fish ... I do enjoy some good sushi, but I have no idea how to make it ... sooo I'm all for not buying it when I get home ... plus I'll really miss American food by the time that I get home ... so we'll go for that.

So pretty much the only thing that I can think of happening this week is that I got a little sick ... and, well, I may have gotten a blessing form Rezentes Choro ... and pretty much it was just what I needed to hear, it was pretty awesome ... it was full of metaphors and analogies ... it was probably the coolest blessing that I've ever gotten ... well, I'm doing great now!!! This transfer is going to be way fun!!!!

Ima send some pictures now, so I'll let you guys go!!
Love, Elder Griffiths.

PS.  So I'd been putting off said blessing for a while now, and in it, God called me out on it and told me that I really did need it ... needless to say it was pretty great!
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