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, November 24, 2014

DD 12.35 ...Bible bashing Christians ... the Matsuoka's ...

How goes the debate on the soup kitchen? Was it for the homeless?
Yes, for the homeless. The Bishop thought it wasn't a good idea as well ... so there was talk of doing a neighborhood watch, but another Brother suggested that we pick up garbage once every two weeks at one or two, so that is the plan.

Do you guys play chair soccer on P days? It is popular here with the missionaries. (sit on a chair, you can run after the ball holding your chair but must put the 4 legs on the floor before you kick the ball). Just curious!
That sounds incredibly dangerous ... no, we don't play such games.

I know you don't want to think about this, but do you have your return date? Just wondering.
Not yet!!! I kinda want to come home at the beginning of the summer to work, .... but I want to stay as long as I can too!

Any plans for Thanksgiving?
Not yet!

Did you ever get back with the non-member who said he would come to church and then didn't come?
Hasn't called yet.

Any illnesses or injuries this week? Hope not!
Not yet!?

Did you feel the earthquake in Nagano? Or was it too far away?
Felt it a little bit. Just a little tremor here and there, nothing too bad!

How is your bike doing? Still holding strong?
Like a boss.

How is the weather there?
A bit nippy.

Have you had any good meals lately?
Yes, Dicastri Choro likes to cook.

Are you wearing your new shoes?
Yeah!!, I Love them!

Do you ever find bugs in your apartment?
All sorts of spiders and flying things, but no scary ones!

Do you ever cook? Who cooks in your apt now?
Dicastri Choro and I usually do!
Dicastri Choro, Griffiths Choro
Have you had to sew anything? buttons? etc?
Nope, no need to yet!

Did you decide that you wanted your other pair of new shoes?
I only wear my new ones on rain days and to church or special meetings right now, hold off for now, and I'll get back to you!

Dad sorry to hear about the primary program ... watching the kids really is the best part, too bad you were behind them. We had our primary program a couple weeks ago ... they were all sooo adorable!!! It's the best!!! As for the earthquake, when we felt it, it was way small ... like barely noticeable small. But  we still felt it. That's cool to hear about the Shimai in Riverton!! Way sweet that they would trust you to do such an act of service for them. Cool!!! Also good plan with work.

Mother ... we read the story about young women's ... we already bought the tape!?  We're way excited to try, how hard is it to do? Like really hard or just a little bit of force and you're good? I'm dying to find out!

Jandee!! Happy birthday to Jayli!! Tell her Uncle Awesome said happy birthday and when she turns three I'll buy a whole gallon of ice cream and eat it with her!! She's so adorable!!!

Smashed Windows ...  midnight premieres and a new iPhone! Six or Five? I'm dying to know, which one! Everyone I know still has the five's ... . unless you got the six, then I'll know somebody with a six ... but that's it.

Storm the Castle. Mmmm, ... people trained in that area can't figure out the problem, ... I'd say that you did pretty well for the circumstance that you were put into!! Thats way sweet!!! I'll pray for the no bed bug thing to go well. If you do get them ... I'll probably just move straight back up too Logan so I don't have to deal with the whole freak out and chance getting them myself ... Fun fact, Japan is bed bug free since forever!! Whooooooo!!! What up the rest of the world!

So this week was fun. We found a the M family ... they don't speak Japanese, only English ... they love the Bible, and are hard core Christian, they want their kids to grow up in a Christian environment ... so I think that they'll fit in well here. We gave them a Book of Mormon and asked them to read and ponder and pray about it, and they said that they would!!! It was all Dicastri Choro too, I was all like, wait you believe in Christ,  and then he was all like ... wait, this book is not just another Bible, it'll change your life! We're visiting again next Friday, and I'm way excited to see what's happened!!!

This week K talked to Nanjo Shimai, who referred him ... he talked to her a lot, and she's a way good missionary!! Like, way boss. She explained everything about the gospel way sweet, he's not quite ready to set a date yet, but he's so close!!! We're way excited about it!!!

This week we ... made s'mores!!!! And after I cooked the marshmallows and took it off of the wok, there as still some goop on the fork, so naturally I put it in my mouth and tried to lick it off ... but my fork was still like a thousand degrees! It burned my lips, tongue and everything, I couldn't taste for like three days ... but its all better now.

Spiritual upliftment!!
This week I've been thinking about self control and what if really means ... I think that it means that our spirit has total control over our body and minds, so not only will our body do whatever our mind wants it to do, but we will be able to control our body and make it do things that it doesn't want to do, like wake up, or run. And not only that, but things that it does want to do, but we know are bad for us, we will be able to control our appetites that way as well ... it sounds way nice. But I think that in order to get that way, we have to fight, like a lion against all of our natural desires. I think that it's way hard to get to that point, but I think that that's what God has sent us here to do!! That's why we need to get a body, and then learn how to use and control it, so it doesn't control us!! Hence, commandments. Like, the word of wisdom and stuff, it helps us avoid addictions!! It's way cool how it all works out!

So my invitation to you all this week is to find something that your body doesn't want to do or really wants to do, but your mind and spirit know better, and then make sure that you control yourself!! It's really hard at first, but I promise that its always worth it!!
Dicastro Choro, Griffiths Choro
Thanks for all the love and support, I love you all and am so grateful for all you do for me!!

Love, Griffiths Choro!
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Saturday, November 22, 2014

6.8 Earthquake Hits Central Japan

(Reuters) - An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted central Japan on Saturday evening, temporarily trapping 21 people when their homes collapsed and leaving 13 people injured, police and public broadcaster NHK said.

A National Police Agency official said the quake destroyed five houses in Hakuba village, host to ski jumping and other events during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games, but that the 21 villagers trapped were successfully rescued.
Aerial Photo of collapsed houses in Hakuba
At least two of them were injured, although the degree of their injuries was not immediately clear, he said.

NHK reported 13 people were injured in the quake, including five who were seriously hurt.
Firefighters and Rescuers examine collapsed buildings
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters an advanced party of Japan's military had been sent to the area, and others were on standby.

High-speed trains were halted but later resumed service, Kyodo news agency reported.

There were no signs of irregularities at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant, a spokesman for the utility said. The plant, where all seven reactors are currently off-line, is the world's largest power station.
Residents look at damaged buildings
NHK quoted an official in the village of Ogawa near the epicenter as saying there was a long tremor and documents fell off shelves.

"On the second floor of our house, the tremor was too strong to stand," said Sakiko Hagiwara, an NHK employee in the area.

"Pictures fell off the wall," she said, adding there were no cracks in the walls.
A local community center stands damaged following the earthquake
NHK also said there was a report of a landslide blocking roads near Hakuba.

Japan, situated on the "Ring of Fire" arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Basin, accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

Sources:

Monday, November 17, 2014

DD 12.25 ... just wandered through a cemetery today, no big deal ...

Did you get the shoes? Did they come by scooter? or did you pick them up?
Yes, they all came by scooter ... and the fudge was promptly devoured ... it doesn't travel well, by the way, but it still tastes soooo good!?

Do you have any baptism dates? You were close last week, just wondering if they worked out . . . .
Not yet, we're hoping for two this week.

What exactly do furikake dried fish babies taste like? salty? fishy? sweet?
salty and fishy all wrapped up in more fishy.

Furikake
Any pictures of you and Elder Dicastri yet? You know that Dad is chomping at the bit to get one of the two of you . . . .
Some on Facebook... Some more today

Any word on the Christmas phone call yet? it is probably early, so we will be patient!
Not yet

Do you know that you should never use anything but the longest clipper attachment on your hair?  Maybe keep getting a professional to cut your hair. Just saying . . . . .
I like the pros cutting my hair.

How is your leg doing? Any pain lately??
Fine ... way tired, but good.

How is your "no sugar" challenge coming??
Pretty good actually. I've just stopped buying candy from stores.... I don't think that I could cut it all out ...

Are you able to stay warm at night? Do you have sufficient blankets to keep you warm? Dad is huddled up under blankets right now trying to stay warm and the furnace has been coming on regularly!
Yes ... I learned how to stay warm from all the scout camps I went on as a young'un.

Is transfer 12 a five, six, or seven week transfer??
This is a six week, next transfer is a seven week.

Have you had your first snow of the year yet?? We have, on Saturday, it is so cold!!
Not yet ...

What is your favorite thing about the Japanese culture??
All the cool religious stuff that people use every day, ... See pictures.
What is the one thing you wish Brother B or Brother M would have told you about the Japanese culture before you left?
More about Buddhism and Japanese culture, I realize now that I don't know very much about it at ...


Father ... Six weeks, and then seven weeks next time ... I'm sorry that you have blistery fingers ... that's no good ... on a different note, I read the same scripture this morning!!! It was really cool to think about how all the chapters flow together, like Alma 31-36 starting out with the first chapter, it talks about how the tree and seed thing go in Alma thirty two ... it blew my mind, that's a really bad explanation, I'll show you when I get back home.

Mother ... cupcake wars sounds amazing!!! I'm totally doing it all when I get home ... but not so much for the competition as for the eating part!! I also read my Patriarchal Blessing this morning. It motivates me so much.  


Sam!!! 8:16!!!!! Remember when you told me that you could never run five miles in under 50 minutes ... I hate to say that I told you so ... actually, no I don't, I love saying it ... I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?!!?!!?!!? Congrats on first place, that's nice!! 

Storm!! Food poisoning sounds rough ... I get those feelings all the time, and then I usually find out the food that I was going eat is filled with my favorite ... walnuts and pecans, and so I'm so glad that I didn't eat it when I had the chance! Your race sounds so good!! Congrats on the sweet dog tags! I'm a little jealous ... but when I get back, I'll will win some medals!!! And I'll wear them all the time!!!

So this week we met with some people, one named Brother M, he suffers from depression, and we told him that with faith it was possible that he could be healed, and then he was all excited about coming to church ... but he didn't show. The worst part is that that was our next appointment with him, and we have no way to contact him now; so we can't really set up another time to meet with him ...

Elder Dicastri is doing amazing! He's so good at everything! And he's built like a tank ... like seriously jacked ... but yeah, we do some finding, and some teaching, and he's just good at everything he does! Like he was a ward missionary before he came out so he's way prepared for missionary work, and is really excited to be here so he doesn't want to waste any time!! He's so great!!

Spiritual note for this week. Recently I've been pondering about church, I find I'm inconsistent; some weeks I feel really good at church and other weeks it is hard to feel the peace, the good feelings, and the spiritual charge from going to church.  I know we teach about how you can find peace and strength from going to church, but there are some weeks when I don't really get that.  So this week, I decided to go to church with the purpose of getting that! ... and nothing happened.

At first I was a little bummed, it was a rough day, I got told we should drop Brother K as an investigator because he has depression ... then Brother M and K didn't come to church ... after saying that they for sure would; needless to say I was a little low ... so this morning in personal study, I busted out Jesus the Christ ... learned some stuff about the apostles, and decided to relate it to myself. My favorite thing was that Peter didn't start out as a great leader, but by the end of his life, he was in charge of the church and the work of God was moving forward on the earth ... it gave me a lot of hope ... I may not get an overwhelming sense of peace when I do go to church every week ... but I know what happens when I don't go ... I lose access to the spirit ... it's just not there. So for now ... that's good enough for me. I want to keep what I already have. It really is like a seed, you don't need to have one of those wow, over the top, storied testimonies ... I think it will usually come through little, tiny experiences that are, hard worked for, and treasured carefully. Meaning that I can never get casual about the gospel ... or I'm hosed.

Challenge for this week, make everything has meaning when it comes to God. Even if it's one verse before you go to bed, or blessing the food you eat for lunch, make it sincere, and see how close you can get to God!!
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Monday, November 10, 2014

DD 12.15 ... Moosen, Maple, and Curling! ...

Did you get the package with the shoes?? Could the man who drives the scooter fit it into the basket? Or did you have to pick it up?
Not yet, it should be getting here any day now.

Who is your new companion? Where is he from? How is it going? Did he get his bike? Any problems getting the money to buy his bike? Where is he from?
He is Elder Nicholas Dicastri, from Victoria Canada... I know, no more Canada jokes ... he's doing really well, he's a better missionary than I am, so it's really cool to learn a lot from him right now!! It's way sweet!! His bike was just fine ... no problems ...

Have you taken a picture together yet? Dad wants one you know ...
Will do so today, Budge Kiachou didn't give that picture to us btw.  He said that he would send it to all the parents!

How is it going in your apartment with you new roomies?
Great, we all get along amazingly well!!

How are your investigators doing? Anyone with a baptism date?
Not yet, we are hoping for two by the end of next week!

Are they still on schedule to finish the Abiko building the 1st week of December?
The middle of December ... I think they might be done earlier though.

How many wards meet in the Stake Center in Mabashi?
Six ...

This is a weird one! Have you ever been to an animal cafe where you can play with pets?? yea, I don't know where Sam got that from.
No ... I have not.

Vote on this for us. Should dad turn on the Christmas lights now and every day before Thanksgiving, or should he turn them off until after Thanksgiving??? Be honest!
Hmmmmm. How long should we show that we are cognizant of the fact  that this is the season of the birth of our Savior and Lord Jesus the Christ? Should we still our Christian pride by putting our lights under a bushel, or should we let it shine forth from the top of a hill, so that all man may see? You know what to do! The question is, will you be brave enough to stand alone? Brave enough to fight off the temptations of the world around you?  Your choice, but I know where I stand, with the lights on!!!

What have other missionaries got for Christmas that you would like? Any requests?
Meh, fudge ... lots of fudge ... it sounds so good right now!

Does anyone in the ward write you? How often do you hear from the stake president?
Once a month-ish

Any new and interesting food in your diet??
Not really, just furikake dried fish babies that you put on top of rice!! Way good!!

We can't remember, do you have an American Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving in Japan? Or is it just another day?
Just another day unless the ward does something! But we'll probably buy a pie at least!

Is it cold there yet? Are you wearing gloves? Coat? raincoat?
Short sleeves!

Don't worry about the suitcase missing its wheel. It is getting old. Will it make it through the rest of your mission? Can you buy a new one there??
It's totally fine.

How is your bike holding up? Need any new parts? Just curious, does it have a padded seat??
My tire is still going strong!! Padded seat, and I should replace my brakes, they just squeak, but they're not to bad yet.

So proud of you for cleaning. What do you have in the way of cleaning appliances that you can use??
Vacuum, kabi killer ... which cleans everything!!

Father! My request for my home coming is that kind of sacrament meeting ... maybe I'll give a little longer testimony, but, everyone loves sing a song Sunday?!!!!,!,!,!,!,!,!,!,!,,!!,!,!,!,!,! It's always been my favorite!!!!!!,!,!,!,! It sounds like it was awesome!! I can't believe that Brayden is already going on mission!! That's crazy!! I haven't heard anything from Ben yet, but that's really rough that his companion was released just a few weeks into his mission! That's a huge bummer!! I'll pray for him!

Mother! I heard that you made fudge for dad? Let's hang out alone sometime when I get home! Mom, also the sisters probably love meeting with you guys!! I'm glad to hear that you keep meeting with them! If you can't get anyone that wants to hear them that's not a member, maybe any of the young women that are looking to go on missions in the future, or any of the young men in the ward! We set up a bunch of stuff this week with all the people here in the ward! It's way great!!

Smashed down ... bowling and pizza, that sounds like a lot fun actually ... mainly cuz I rock at bowling, and I love pizza!! Sounds like a win win for everything involved!! I love it! And no, I don't see ANYTHING ON FACEBOOK. Not one thing from people who aren't living in Japan ... kind of sad, but this is life ... on the other hand, I see all sorts of spiritual uplifting stuffs all the time!! It rocks way hard!!!

Storm ... best picture ever!! I want that bear so bad!! I can't get over how big the bear actually is ... maybe you should get one for your classroom, and use it on people who misbehave in class!! You could have it be the ultimate punishment ... if you're bad in class you just might be eaten by a bear!?!?! How scary would that be? No one would ever be bad again I don't think!! It's fool proof!! I think my comp and I are doing alright! Things seem to be going really good. He's here to work, and he's really easy to get along with, I just hope that I'm easy to get along with as well ... that would be bad if I'm not!

This week was pretty sweet!! Sabat Choro and I met with some people, namely one named Brother H, who told us that he's been wanting to learn about Christ all the time, but didn't know that we spoke Japanese ... so when he found that out, he started asking all of these really great questions, and wants to learn more about Christ and all the things that he can do for all of us!  He's so great, he even ended up testifying to Sabat Choro that he knew there would be people searching for salvation in his next area! It was so cool!!! He's like the nicest guy I've ever met!!

Brother K is still at about the same place. My new comp, Brother Z, and I are going to try to do a bunch of member presentations with him, and get him to see that the ward is really great and that he should be a part of it ... hopefully it goes really well.

Dicastri Choro is from Canada, he's way great!!! He used to do ... like Glee Club in high school ... as well as play varsity basketball all three years ... he's pretty chill all the time. He's a way hard worker too!  I feel like we get so much stuff done because we're just out doing stuff all the time!, he's way good! He worked with the missionaries in his home ward.  Since he has gotten here he has put in a good effort.  He's super prepared to serve a mission!!! It's awesome!!
Back row:  Dicastro Choro and Griffiths Choro
As for things with me, I'm pretty good. I'm realizing now that God humbles us in the strangest ways. Just when you think you're doing good, maybe even great, one of your old companions comes back, and you get a trainee who kicks your behind at everything, and bam, you realize that you haven't been relying on God as much as you should have been and you've gotten lazy about ... well everything!! It's crazy what can happen when you don't have Abi or Sam or anyone pushing you on, you lose so much ground ... I guess that's one of my many, many weak points.  I'm competitive, which is good, I like it when others motivate me to work, but when no one is there to push me, I slow down to my own pace instead of setting other goals to make me work ever harder ... I really need to work on that.

I guess the spiritual moment for this week is probably what I studied this morning. I've been wondering about kneeling prayer for a couple days now, why it's needed, how it's differed from standing and sitting prayer, and yeah, this is what I think about all day. So I studied it today for a while. It changed my whole perspective on prayer. I feel that often times, especially in Japanese, our prayers are just things that we say, it's like oh it's lunch, lets bless this food. Or oh it's study time, and I'll ask God to help me have the spirit, or other good things like that.  Unless we're really pleading with God to help us do what he would have us do, then we're just saying token presentations.  We need to be one hundred percent engaged in our prayers, and expect a reply, just like we would when we talk to any other living thing. I feel that all too often we just send off a prayer to God, like an email.  Are there times when we don't expect anything to come back?  So ... when it does comes back, all still and small, like the Spirit tends to do, we miss it.  We lose all sorts of revelation from a loving God who wants to help us in all of our doings!!

That's my spiel, I hope that you all pray more sincerely from here on out. I know I really want to!

Well, I gotta jet, I'll try to send some pictures later as well!!
Love you all!!!  Griffiths Choro

Whoops!
Real quick funny story that just happened! Turley Choro, one of the guys I live with bought clippers to cut his hair ... he thought that seven was a little long, so he bumped it down to five and went straight down the middle of his head ... It's a little shorter than he thought it was going to be ... we got the whole thing in video as well. Here's a picture of what his head looks like mid process ... he's a little ... bummed you could say.
10362 8891

Monday, November 3, 2014

DD 11.55 ... I've made so many of these ...

How are your suitcases for transfers? Do they go on the train with ease or are they awkward?
... We're allowed to ship two bags ... so I just carry my bike and a small bag ... I think the wheel actually broke on one of them ... like not bad, but it's like a shell over a smaller wheel, and the shell cracked and broke to pieces ... I feel really bad about it, but I don't know what I can do about it. The pieces are all over Tokyo.

How was your Halloween? Did anyone invite you in and let you share your message?We weren't in our apartment all day ... it was pretty fun day of dendo though.

Did you make the box maze? It looks like something you would engineer. And did, when you were a boy.
A member from Matsudo ward did it.

Are you being transferred? Where to? Oops, forgot, that should be next week's question.
Nope, this week, see below.

How are your futon mats? Still sleeping OK?
I'm fine...

Did you throw away the shoulder bag you took or is it just stored in your luggage?
I use it to go shopping for groceries... It's nice and big!

Do you ever wish you had more ties or do yo have enough?
I have sufficient. They also sell dollar ties here which are pretty nice as well.

Do any of your companions cut their own hair or do you guys all go somewhere to get it cut?
Not yet, we all go to hair cutting places.

Do you ever play rugby with your investigators?
Nope... Too dangerous.

Do you have FHE every week with people from your ward?
We might be starting one with Brother I, but we aren't sure, so far it's been every week for the last two weeks

Do you ever have zone P-Day activities? or is there not enough time? Is you do, what is your favorite activity? or activities?
Once a transfer. My favorite game is quidditch.... I wreck everyone with my snitch game, and I never lose... 

Have you been to any member's houses for dinner (other than the Tongan who plays rugby)??
Miyashita kyoudais house for lunch today. We went and weeded his house, and then had lunch and discussed the ward.

What are your interviews like with President Budge? What kind of questions do you ask him?
Well I go in, and he asked me what I wanna talk about, and then I read some questions that I've thought of before hand and prayed over, for example, why am I with the certain companion? What about this investigator? What is it I should be teaching others?

Do you have an interview with Sister Budge? Or like a training? about food, or hygiene or shopping??
Yeah, she's mainly just asks us about our spiritual progression, deep questions like what does faith mean to you? How have you acted on your faith more as a missionary? She asks a lot about our families too.

How are your investigators? Brother K? Brother Y?
Good. K is hesitant still, but he thinks he will get baptized, just doesn't know when yet. He wants to live life a little more without the viewpoint of  God in his life ... Y is good, we've have to refer him over to the elders in Narita soon.

Father. Thanks for all the updates on everything. I love it when we win! As for the Halloween party, I would say that that's the norm for the whole country of Japan ... year round. As for your Halloween getting busier than you expected, I see it, sorry that it wasn't as decorated as you would have hoped, next year, I'll come join, and help you deck out the house, I've been wanting to since I was way little ... we'll have the scariest house on the whole block ... I mean like the Dean's house! Way scary!

Mom, I too have heard that I'm here to find specific people and to be with this Mission President ... pretty crazy stuff I know right? I think it's really cool though, Budge Kaichou is a legit genius, and every three months we get to spend twenty minutes with him ... it's just so cool!! Thanks for sending me my shoes, I haven't quite had time to use my new card, yet, but I was going to use it to buy some new shoes ... but now I won't! What should I buy?

JanDee! Your kids are so adorable! I love Axton's costume! They're so adorable!! I'm so proud of Axton's choice in costumes ... pure genius (Axton dressed up as a dead Elk), did he really get dragged around in a wagon the whole night? Cuz that would be fantastic!!!

Smash, I couldn't resist sugar cookies either ... they're my weakness ... oh, so good!! Yes, I have heard of tinder ... a surprising amount of people I know use tinder ... like surprisingly all of my friends use tinder ... okay, well not all, but I hear some stories over email each week. To be honest, it sounds like a chat room  ... or a dating service ... or Russian roulette ... I'm all for not signing up for it, but then again I'm on the other side of the planet. I feel good about writing other people's profiles for them in an iambic pentameter verse or maybe even iambic tetrameter to mix things up a bit ... sounds fun!

Storm of darkness ... I'm glad that Halloween went well for you and your kiddies. It was never a productive day for me in school either. Your witch costumes sounds pretty legit, sad I didn't get any pictures from anyone this week ... except JanDee, thanks btw! But it sounds like the rest of your week was good, thanks for not watching said movie, I feel good about standing up for what's right! It's like that mormon message about President Monson in the navy, and how he had to stand alone and be a Mormon!

So this week is transfers. Sabat Choro is leaving. So is Phillips Choro. My old companion, Yoshino Choro is coming to be with Turley Choro. I'm not transferring, I'm staying in Abiko, and I'm training again. I don't know who my new companion is, I'll meet him on Thursday, and let you know next week, but I'm pretty terrified. I think that it should be okay. I don't know, I've learned a lot from the last time I was a trainer, but I'm still scared to train, I hope that he thinks I'm a decent human being and doesn't hate me ... that's my greatest fear.

Other than that, this week was pretty good. Right now our apartment is not so clean, so we gotta go clean it before transfers happen, hence the reason this is so short, but nothing to big happened this week. I went on splits with Chun Choro, and he blew my mind all day long, he's amazing, he's half Korean, and he's way hard core in everything he does. He taught me so much about goals and how to teach and about the gospel in general, it was so amazing. I haven't been with a companion whose as old as me in the mission, he made me stretch so much. It was so nice to be able to go and learn and grow. I really miss those opportunities.

This brings me to my spiritual thought for the week. Learning is a part of life. Ideally we're always learning how to become more Christ like. But we're all in different spots along the way. It's like a sphere around Christ, and although I may be on one side, others might be on the opposite side, but closer to Christ in some ways than I'm not, so although we should look at others and try to be motivated by them, we shouldn't be motivated to become them, we should take that motivation and try to become more like Christ. We should try to motivate those around us, and be motivated by those around us as well. Sometimes it's hard, and we lose sight of our real goal because we think so and so is so great, and we want to be like them, or we want to do the things that they can do, but in reality, the traits that we admire are all traits that Christ possesses, we just have to see Him in them, and then were able to be motivated by them and not to become them!

Well I gotta go, got's to clean ... not gonna be super fun, but it must be done!

Love you all, and thanks for so much that you all do for me!
Griffiths Choro!

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