DD 10.15 ... so many bug bites ...

Is the tiger blanket something you bought? or does it stay with the apt? (It's level of fabulousness is absolutely off the charts)

It was in the apartment ... and so it stays there! Lame!!

Griffiths Choro, Sabat Choro

How is your new companion?

Love him.

Where is your companion from?

Wyoming

How is your new apartment? Still futons? or bunk beds? or hammocks?

No hammocks ... not yet ... Just futons on tatami ...

How is your bike riding? Still hard? Do your legs get tired or are they made of steel?

They'll be steel soon. My companion ran cross country AND half marathons ... and loves to run, so we go every morning ... I know ... Psyched!!!

Is it still raining? Or is monsoon season over?

Mahmah

What floor do you live on now?

Third

Will you send a pic from your back (or front) window? (dad question)

Yes ... challenge extended ... Night shots!!!! See if you can't do it ... I'll send you some day time ones next week ... but I have faith that you can!!  (Note:  I have lightened the pictures he sent ... I needed the assistance)

Do you still go to McDonald's every once in awhile?

Of course!

Do you still email from the church?

Nope, down load and chill in our air conditioned apartment.

How close are you to the church?

Going to the church, like three minutes down a windy little hill ... Way fun! Going from the church ... twenty minutes straight up hill ... Terrible!!!

Worlds Largest Aloe Plant ... after the uphill climb

Is it just you and your companion in your apartment or are there more of you?

There are two others here too, they're way funny, one is Turley Choro from the MTC, and the other is Phillips Choro, pretty legit, Spanish Fork. I'm the oldest in the district and likely the oldest in the Zone.

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide Detector in your apartment? (2 missionaries passed away in their apartment in Taiwan from CO poisoning).

Yes, we have them here actually.

What is the closest station to your apartment, do you need to ride the train to get to church?

It's Abiko Eki, we bike and train.

Have you gotten good enough at climbing the walls that you can now simply walk across the ceilings ... or do you still need to keep your hands on the counter?

Hands on the counter ... for safety of course, can't be wakin' up the neighbors ...

When was the last time you treated your companion to something delicious ... like shaved ice? You need to treat your companion to some form of deliciousness once a month ... do it this week and report on it next week ... make it an awesome deliciousness.

Will, do, maybe ice cream... I love ice cream!

Have you met your Ward Mission leader yet? Should be your first contact ... helps to cure the new missionary blues ... every time.

Already did, and the bishop and the elders quorum president, got them all!!

What is the next big Nihon festival coming up? Ours is Labor Day ... next week ... I think we are excited, but we like Halloween better ... next month, what is the Nihon atmosphere like now ... anything exciting or are they just getting ready to go back to school?

They have matsuri all the time, like four since I got here ... pretty sweet dendo, but can't do anything cuz I'm a missionary, I'll try to snag a video.

How is Eikaiwa in Abiko ... do you meet in the Church?

Yes, we have one on Saturday and one on Wednesday. Should be fun!!

Father. I loved the throw back Mountain Dew ... It's the best! Maybe it's cuz it was the only stuff that we could get in the MTC ... Love it!! Also the bug zapper, I fully approve! Thanks for the update on TeJay and the kid, sounds like you guys had a blast of a week!! Thanks for the update on Ben! I'm so proud of him!!! Sorry that the house is so quite ... tell you what, in nine months, I'll come home and be really loud and annoying for three months until you ship me off to school! How's that sound?

Mom! How are you! Sounds like your lesson was a hit, temple mints sound way good right now ... anyways, thank you for getting up and singing ... thanks for showing your support for the youth, they need the support if they are to become great missionaries ... Tell G-Ma not to worry about writing me back. I'm more worried about her leg and her being okay than getting a letter! Love that woman!

TeJay and Crystal!! Congratulations!!! The baby is so adorable!!! And so big and I love his hat!! I hear he has a lot of hair! Way excited to meet him!!!

Smashed pumpkins. 16 miles!! That's way lame, you can totally do twenty ... go for it!! Good analogy, I like it. Sounds like you've gotten very mature.. But then I see said picture  and it's all over. Haulin' up to Logan is always pretty fun...

Stormmageddon!! Teaching sounds fun!! Glad that you made it through your first half marathon by yourself ... I respect that. You officially have a cooler medal that Sam and I ... Jealous!! And yes, yes, challenge accepted!!! What!!

This week was good, my last days in Kawagoe were spent running around teaching and saying good bye to everyone there, it was sad, but I was too busy to notice. Hardest thing ever was saying good bye to Brother F. He emailed me this week, which I feel good about, but it's all in kanji ... way hard to read, but I got the gist of if all. He's way legit still BTW.

Then I got to Abiko. I was way scared, but it's not as bad as I thought it was,we've been pretty busy, so it's nice, the big news is our church. They're putting in an elevator so it's totally destroyed right now, we have to train for fifteen minutes to get to the one we are using. It's not too bad, but it's way hard to get people to come cuz it's so far. Way lame!! It should be up and running again by December, but who knows. I'm way psyched for it though, they're redoing the whole front, so it's going to be way cool!!

Abiko Chapel

The area's nice, there are hills everywhere, going to the church, it's like three minutes, literally, but coming back, it's straight up a mountain ... so bad. But my legs are going to get way strong really fast!! We go running in the mornings now, so that's way nice! I feel happier already!!

My companion, is way chill. He's from Wyoming, and he's pretty chill. He's super motivated and totally awesome, so that's way nice.

The other elders are way chill, they're funny too.

Spiritual thought!!

We all make mistakes and what not right? And sometimes we forget and do them over and over again. But my thought is that if we could remember what Christ did for us, if we could remember the plan that He has for us, if we could always remember what we know to be true, then we would never sin or do things wrong right? So the thing is remembering. It's really hard sometimes, but if we really try, then we can, and it becomes really great! As a companionship this transfer we set a goal to do what God wants us to do, we want to be the humble instruments in Gods hands. We really want to have three baptisms this transfer, but if that is not God's will, then so be it. We won't get discouraged, and we won't get down if it doesn't happen, because we will remember what we did, we will remember the miracles that we saw and the miracles that we did.

For example. Sunday night we were housing and we ask this guy if he's ever heard of the Book of Mormon, and he asks "mo ru mon?" And we say yeah, mo ru mon, and he's all like "yea yea yea, my friend in Utah right now has talked to me a little bit about it before" I so grateful that we were able to listen to what God had to say to get us to that house at that time, and to be able to meet that man.

Thanks so much for all that you all do for me. Love you all

Elder Griffiths

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

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DD 9.65 ... Sad News ... But I'm Happy ...

Where did you buy your new bag?

A store down the street.

What is the word on transfers? How is it impacting your district?

I'm leaving; Kuroiwa Choro is going to Sakado, Peterson Shimai is going to Kumagaya, and Rezentes Choro and my companion are uniting forces, and Mobley Choro & Broadhead Choro are coming in as zone leaders.

How is teaching your Christians coming along? You could focus on families being together forever/power of the priesthood type of thing.

Meh, it's good. It's still hard. I more deal with people who don't believe in God, and help them, but it's fun.

How is learning the language via the Liahona going for you?

Meh, it's okay. The kanji that it uses aren't really used anywhere else, so it's kinda hard.

Did you ever get the tire on your bike fixed?

Not yet. I've been thinking about it, and it just doesn't seems worth it yet.

What spiritual experience did you have this week? Ok, what was the best one?

Best one ... while sitting in Sacrament Meeting with Brother G, he's an investigator for about three years now ... he never came to church ... well he set a baptismal date two weeks ago and started coming so that he could be baptized!! 14 September

Do you call each other Shimai and Choro all the time or do you slip and call them Elder or Sister?

Normally Sister or Elder, unless I'm speaking Nihongo.

How are the Shiami in your District doing ... can you report on your District?

Everyone is spending a little too much time trying to find, but they're making progress and what not, some new investigators have been found recently, and that's always a good thing.

When you were visiting Shibuya did you find the statue of Hachico the Loyal Dog? I saw where Snow Shimai found it and had her picture taken with him ...

I couldn't find it, sorry, I'll get a picture one of these days.

Here's a picture of me ... in my apartment ... you can climb anywhere ...

Dad really hopes you are being transferred ... he wants a new location to find on his map ... if you don't get transferred, can you take a random photo and give him something to do?

I'm transferring to ... Abiko!!! It's in Matsudo zone, and it's pretty close to Chiba. My companion is Sabat Choro, that's all I know, he's transfer five, but he served in the states for a couple of transfers, so I think he's about a transfer eight knowledge wise. I've heard that Abiko is great, and I'm pretty excited. It's always hard for me to transfer, I just got comfortable and what not, I just got some people progressing and what not, I just got a companion that's awesome and what not, I don't know ... I just don't like it ... maybe I'm just prideful and don't understand what god wants me to do ... I know that I'll come to love Abiko just like I do Kawagoe, Togane, and Chiba, but it's just hard ... Bleh. Well, wish me luck, I'm going to drink something cold. I'm still DL BTW, I really just wanna be a normal missionary again. It would be way nice.

Father. Putting your spiritual thought first this week was a good move, it's just what I needed to hear. It is nice to only be focusing on others and not just myself, I think that that is why transfers are so hard, I come to like the people that I've invested myself into. But charity is very important. I'm pretty sure that that's what life is all about. Learning to do what God wants us to do, which in turns means us helping others as much as we can. Thanks for the thought, sorry that the hot water heater is being a peach. I pray for y'all!!

Mother. Sorry to hear about your typhoon ... I'm a tad bit jealous of all the banana bread though. Sounds like school is going well for you and Abi ... things in the full swing of it all. Glad that I'm, as dad pointed out, 5,500 miles across the deepest ocean in the world ... JK. I really did enjoy staying up late at night cutting out various images for third grade ... especially when it meant ditching out on my own homework!!

TeJay and Crystal!!! Congrats on Spencer!!! I really love the name!! Don't get to busy that you don't enjoy life!!

JanDee and Jaden. The kids are so adorable!! Dad spent me some pics ... I love them so much!!

Smashed panda, teach me how to paddle board and I'll teach you how to kayak. Remember when I took that class with Ben? Well it's way fun and I'd love to go and do it again! Rafting sounds way fun! I'm way psyched for or next year, dibs on front seat.!! After two years of not swimming I'm kinda dying to get back in the water again!! 

Stormmablahblahblahnkalgjjdkskdkeodmdldkkskdjdkdlsldjfso!!!sN, Where are Kaleb and I supposed to go slack lining now? That was the only place where there were trees big enough to do it ... I'm heart broken ... I mean where can I go to karaoke on Friday nights now too! The Lazy Dog will truly be missed in my soul ... it's like a part of me just died ... Sorry that school is so rough ... lemme know how picts go ... I know as a student I was always worried what my teaches would say to mom and dad, and was always relieved to hear that they always praised me ... so maybe praise is the way to go ... unless here doing poorly ... then, well I don't know ...  Love ya!!!

What sane monster would try to eat me with a
man eating tiger lying beside me ...

As much as I don't love BYU or anything about them ... Parker Overy is part of vocal point, and frankly as missionaries there's not much music that we can listen too, so I accidentally heard them do a cover of Nearer My God to Thee ... It was meh. But the point is, I really love the song. The line that stands out to me the most is "nearer my God to thee, even though it be a cross that Raiseth me, still all my song shall be, nearer to thee" I love this line because it always reminds me that even though his life is hard, and it sucks sometimes, and we really don't want to do some of the stuff that we have to do, it's all for the betterment of ourselves. Sometimes we struggle with work, sometimes we struggle with a new calling, new roommates, or the loss of old friends, but we need to realize that God gives us these goings so that we can grow; for example I have a really hard time loving things. Or I did. It was hard for me to get attached to stuff, I'm not sure why, but it was. Now here I am struggling to say goodbye to some people that I've only known for four months, and it's terribly hard. It's icky when I look around and say that is it that God needs me to do and I'm doing his work so I should probably do it his way ... that all makes sense. I loved dad's spiel about charity this week cuz I've been thinking a lot about it. It's me and my selfish desires that want to stay here. Yeah, it's good that I love the people and that I'm sad to leave, but in Abiko there are probably people waiting for me to find and teach them, and if I don't throw my heart into it I may, or may not, ever find them and have the same wonderful time that I've been having the last couple weeks here. I'm not really excited to transfer, but I'm realizing that no matter where I go or what I'm doing it's probably going to be just about the same as where I was before. Just different people, with different problems, and different miracles waiting to happen.. I'm pretty excited, I decided that this transfer I'm just going to do what God wants me to do and work ... well be humble and ask my companion to join me, but let's me honest, he's probably more humble than me already. I hope that it goes well!!

Thanks for all you do for me and what not, hope that you all have a
great week!!! Love, Griffiths Choro!!
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DD 9.56 T-Day ... I Love the Tokyo Temple!! It reminds me kinda of the Jordan River ... but a little cooler.

Do they always do baptisms on Sundays?

Yes ... pretty much, sometimes they are on Saturdays, but mostly on Sunday; before or after church.

How did baptizing Brother F go? Loved the facebook pics!

Way good, before church at eight thirty, and then he was confirmed!!

Back: Reeder Shimai, Peterson Shimai, Griffiths Choro, Brother F, Yoshino Choro,
Rezentes Choro, Kuroiwa Choro  Front:  Mondano Shimai, Jensen Shimai

Do you ever use the bag you took with you, or just the blue one you bought?

I use my original bag to buy groceries with ... and my blue bag broke!! Huge hole right in the bottom of it, bought a new one though.

Do they ever play church sports in Japan?

Ping pong, soccer, basketball, softball.

On P-Day do you have enough time to get all your stuff done?

Yes ... well not enough time to nap, but yeah.

How did writing the letter to grandma go?

It's was good!! Way fun writing to grandma, everyone will now need to help her with her homework! ... I gave her a homework assignment.

We have been discussing this one after visiting Sam's apt: have you washed your sheets recently, or ever??

Last week actually!! I do it every transfer (once every 6 weeks), which is more than I did at college!

Do you still Dendo like a bear?

Of course ...

Is it still monsoon season? How much water do you get at once?

Mah, it just rains for a week straight, but the drains are way good, so it doesn't build up, we almost had the river flood once though, it was crazy!!

Do you miss drinking milk from the carton? Or do you drink milk?

I miss gallons of milk ... but the milk here is weird ... it's not as creamy or milky ... it's good, but not great.

Have you seen any efforts in Japan to follow the prophets and grow a garden? How and where do they do it and what do they grow?

Yes, our investigator, Brother Ak has one, in his yard ... well, around his house area. He's grows tomatoes and cucumbers, and peppers and stuff ... he uses the English name for the plants, which is unexpected, I almost missed it because of his Nihonjin accent ... it's so adorable, almost funny!

What do you want to remember most about your 30+ weeks in Chiba?? Favorite memory of your first area?

Everything I learned while I was training ... that's was way fun, and how to be loving like Asato Choro and Dunbar Choro ... and pretty much chillin' with my trainer, that was pretty sweet ...

Is it temple P-Day today? If so how was the temple? Did you see anyone from a previous area? Any sightseeing? or going out to lunch??

Temple day, yes, saw everyone, we were going to go to the zoo in Ueno, but it's raining, we went to a Hawaiian BBQ for lunch, and it was sooooo good!!

Which of your companions have already gone home?

Asato Choro

What is the most memorable advice from President Budge that you would pass along to a missionary who is just going out? favorite phrase or saying?

This one time he told me that ... not a direct quote, but he told me to imagine the missionary that I would need to be to be great, and then pretty much told me to suck it up and be that missionary ... it helped a lot actually, because I had set the expectation, and so I knew that I could accomplish it if I really wanted to ...

Bonus question: Have you remembered what you did for the talent show??

Yoshino Choro and I made planks, and Kuroiwa Choro walked on our backs to get to the other side of the room ... not at all sketchy though ...

Father ... it took me longer that I would like to admit to understand that picture ... but the other ones were adorable!! I love Waylon's new shoes!! They're so legit!! I'm so glad that someone is still there to help him play with his Legos ... I'd be sad if there wasn't. Sounds like the family reunion was legit, sad I couldn't make it, but I do have a pretty good excuse, 5000 miles away ... Can't believe mom is in the YW presidency, that's crazy!! Thanks for your spiel at the end of your letter ... I always make sure to read it BTW, your last paragraph is always the most spiritual mail I ever get! But I've been thinking about it a lot lately and it's reinforced what I just learned!

Mother ... Young Women's ... It's a good thing that you got out of playing volleyball at work so you can save all your skill for the Beehives ... I'm sure you'll destroy them ... maybe you can get them all into tennis ... that would be fun!! I'm sad to hear that so much root beer went on the floor ... hurts my soul, but I guess I'll just have to drink some when I get back ... good thing that it'll be July!!  Whooooo!! Good luck with everything!!

TeJay and Crystal ... Haven't heard anything in a while ... how's Porter? Can I still tend him when I get back? I just convinced mom to make a lot of homemade root beer so we could drink it together.

Jandee! and Jaden!! Congrats on the medal!! And congrats on having a bingo champion!! Sounds way fun!!! Hope that all is well!!!

Smashed drum sticks...

Sam, how do you feel about the above as a band name? Pretty cool right? I feel good about Waylon's shoes ... also feelin good about you wearing kids shoes ... for sure cheaper though, love it!!! I'm doing good, I'm tired, but thanks for asking! Good luck rafting the river! I wanna know how it goes!! Don't die!! Congrats on first place BTW!

Storm trooper ... I almost wrote pooper but didn't. Good to hear that you have so much charity ... thanks for not destroying Sam ... I really want to when I get home, so just build her up slowly, and we'll take her down together in ten months!!! Mwahahahanahahahahahahajahaha ... plotting ... sorry that teaching is so stressful ... sounds like a lot of work, I'll appreciate my teachers more when I get home for sure!!!

So this week we went to the temple. And the we chilled in Tokyo for a bit ... and I realized that I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I was walking through Shibuya and honestly thought that it would be a nice place to live if I ever got the chance, it's really cool, and frankly I honestly just felt like I was home as I walked the streets today. It made me realize that I'm 20 ... a silly little 20 year old. I really shouldn't be thinking ... well I should, but not too much about the future. It holds so much, but I see so little of it all. I'm excited to go and see where it takes me, but that's the fun part, going and seeing! I honestly have a problem with over thinking things, and I'm resolving now to stop. I'm going to be more in the moment and be where I'm at when I'm there. I mean when the time comes, I'll think about where I should go, what I should do, and decide my life, but for now, I'm content with just teaching about God and Christ..

PS. this week I met two people who were Christian ... and I had no idea how to teach them ... any advice would be great. They already believed in God and Christ and had been baptized, and they go to church and I was just like ... Have you read the Book of Mormon? And it was way hard ... also this week I created an image of God for like fifty people. Yeah I counted, we usually ask if people have an image of God or Christ and like 90 percent of the time ... they're like, nope, never thought about it before ... and I'm always just mind blown, how have you never thought of God before ... it's crazy. I just don't understand how the thought never creeps into your mind? It's kind of a big deal right? But, anyways, please, this week think about God sometime ... maybe even tell a friend!

Love you all and thanks so much!
Griffiths Choro

Oh yeah Brother F's baptism was awesome, first try!! Perfect Japanese and baptism, he was so happy, we hugged ... in the font ... and then he made me get out first so he could dunk my head under the water ... it caught me so off guard ... made me laugh! I guess I'll just have to baptize someone else so that I can have that feeling again!
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DD 9.45 ... Did you ever know ...

... that I'm awesome?

Humble too.

Who made the jam?

Rezentes Choro ...

Freezer jam or bottled jam?

We bottled it.

Where did the raspberries come from?

The store ...

How is Brother F. coming along?

Getting baptized on Tuesday!!

Do the members play the organ or piano for church meetings? Does your ward have a ward choir? Are you a member?

It's an electric piano that plays as the organ ... there are a couple people that play, one is going on a mission ... and the other one soon after ... so the men in the ward have to step up. Sometimes we sing, not often though.

Have you lead the music in priesthood meeting?

Nope, there are some peeps that generally do.

Do you remember what you wrote on the white board on your bedroom door before you left?

Yep, sure do! Remembered it a couple days ago actually ...

Have you dry cleaned your suits?

Not recently.

Do you have WIFI at the church again?

Yes!!

Is there a $ menu at McDonalds?

Yes, so good!

Do you eat there often? Do they have that good fry sauce?

Mah, occasionally.

Do you sit cross legged at investigators? or kneel? How long can you do it for now?

A long time ... like 45 minutes.

Have you heard anything about the Ebola virus?

Just from Sam.

Do you have holes in both shoes of each pair? Or just one shoe in each pair?

Just one shoe in each pair.

Where do you sit to eMail at the 7-11? We are picturing the space in ours here in Riverton and there is no room for missionaries emailing.

We Asians squat outside. Or just download them and write 'em in our apartment.

This week was good.

Father ... loved all the pictures ... thank you for the insights. Looking back I really have learned and grown a lot ... which isn't saying much, because I still don't know anything, but I've come a long way. Thanks for helping me realize that! Good luck at work!!

Mom, love the box hat!! It's so adorable!! The kiddies sound fun!!  I am going to write Grandma a letter today ...     that's why this letter will be so short ...

Smasher ... thanks for telling me about your super lungs, and your super ab work out ... I'll try it tomorrow ... love it!!! Right now, my six pack is in a mini fridge ... and I don't really love it ... also I feel good about the boating trip and the knowledge that we gained from watching television ... useful stuff!!

Stormmageddon!! Remember when you found out that was a baby? Hilarious!! I like The Captain (the name of Abi's new car) ... not as much as I like ...  Mary ... my companions suggestion ... or Naomi, Rezentes Choro's but mine, mine would probably be ... The Bat Mobile ... or the
Awesomator ... depending on how blacked out the windows still are ...

This week was good ... I've officially gone rebel ... For language study all I do is read the Liahona in Japanese so that I can learn more kanji ... and some grammar and vocab from it ... it's just ... when we teach, I do most of the talking ... and my companion is Nihonjin ... which just doesn't sound right ... Right? But, it's way fun ... I recognize some of the stuff on the train ads and street signs now ... It's delightful!!!

This week Brother F decided to quit alcohol and follow Christ ... it was awesome!! He's getting baptized on the tenth because the ward is so nice and all the people there are so charitable ... Brother H, emails Brother F like everyday and converses with him ... they're way good friends ... Love it!!!

This is what the decorated the church with ...
... for a wedding here ... this is solid paper ... of awesomeness!!!

So this week ... Mah, we pretty much focused on Brother F ... oh yeah! Well not exciting news, but Brother A totally didn't come to church yesterday!! We don't know why, but I am sure it's for a good reason!!!

So this week our ward had a talent show ... no, I didn't sing. They wanted some people to not do music, so we ... well I don't know what we did exactly, but it was good. This is Sister K, she is going to Nagoya on her mission ... in like two weeks ... her English is amazing, and I had no idea that it was that

good! I've been talking to her in Nihongo for the past while. Huge bummer ... but other side, a band, Cheek Color, came. They're just getting started, and they're investigators ... and they were so good!!!! Guitar ... played really well BTW, and a saxophone!!! It was way legit!! And I totally understood most of their songs ... pretty cool what only studying gospel vocab can give you ... but anyways! It was way sweet!!

Spiritual through for the week ... journals ... way sweet! When you think about it. All the prophets wrote in their journals ... and bam, scripture!!! It rocks!! I wrote in my journal for the last couple days for the first time in a while ... and it was way great!! Anyways. I don't have very much time this week, but I just wanted to say that I love you all and that I'm so grateful for everything you do!!!

Love, Griffiths Choro!!

Look what I found in the Library ... made me think of home ... sniff

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