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, March 30, 2015

DD 15.25 ... my balcony view ...

So, any thoughts on where you want to live next fall?? 
Old farm sounds good. Just promise me you'll say a prayer before you pick for me! I trust yall!

Is the reason you don't have facebook because they are restarting Japan with the US?? Or did we get that wrong?
All of Japan is getting iPads this time, not just Tokyo.

Did you bear your testimony in fast and testimony meeting yesterday? Did you have fast and testimony meeting yesterday? Or is it the regular week because you have general conference at a different time?
I didn't have fast sunday yesterday, so no, I didn't.

How is the work going? How are your investigators? Any new ones?
A Filipino named M-San

Was dad correct in his sleuthing? Did he find your apt?? A lot is riding on your answer!
Close ...
Dad guessed Trent lived in the apartment circled in Red?
Have you starting using the video "Because He Lives"? Has it been translated into Japanese? Can you still use the internet? just not facebook?
We just can't use FaceBook ... still everything else is okay.

How is your trusty steed holding up? Brakes working ok? did you ever tape up the hole in the seat?
She's just fine ... still easier and safer than going by foot.

Do you know what Sega World in Narita is? Dad thought it was Sea World and got all excited.
I don't know what that is ... I'll keep an eye out for it though!!

Do you go as far north as the Naritasan Shinsoh-ji temple? There are a LOT of photos of it on line.
We're gonna go next week I think.

Any tender mercies this week?
Last week we taught two lessons, and this week we taught six ... three times as much!!! Tender mercy indeed!!

What was the high point of your week?
Family home evening. I got Clark Choro to do push-ups for everyone that came, and related it to the atonement ... everybody cried, everybody got candy, and Clark Choro is really sore ... all in all, a good lesson.

In Narita do the members invite you over for dinner? (watch out for nuts!)
If we have investigators, then yes!!

Did you save some Easter candy for Easter?
Hahaha, that's funny.

Father!!! Your so close ... we're the apartment in the bottom floor, closest to the street ... but again, thoroughly impressed. Slightly worried about how much time you spent, but impressed none the less. Sounds like you had a very productive week ... biking around Antelope Island ... did you chase any buffalo? I really wanna go chase some buffalo on my bike when I get back ... I'm pretty sure I can outrun them ... On my bike at least.
More Pictures from my balcony ... Looking SouthWest

Looking SouthEast

Mother!!! I knew that you would be proud of me for fixing my brakes ... at first I was like, maybe I just won't fix em, and then an image of you popped into my head, and I thought I should ... it's cuz I'm the best child ever ... right! It sounds like you had a pretty good week with the kiddies and what not coming over! I'm so excited to come home and play with them all!! It's gonna be so much fun!! Whoo!! We're gonna do so much stuff!!!

TeJay! I will gladly dig your hole for your trampoline! I need to get in shape and tan when I get back ... therefore I will dig from eleven to six when the sun goes down ... sounds like a deal!!! Good to hear that you two are both still active in choir. Hope Crystal's leg gets feeling better by now. I'm not excited to go home, but I feel as though when that day comes, it will be an exciting day.

Sam. You ran nineteen miles? Remember when you tried to convince me that you could never run more than three or you would die? I do ... and the former you was very, very wrong. Hahaha. I love it when I'm right. Your friend cleaned the temple until two in the morning? That's crazy! What do they do all night in there? I wanna go and do it now!! PS, I almost bought some red pants today ... they were like five bucks, and I realized I have no idea what's cool anymore ... please, save me.

Storm trooper ... I could have told you that carrots weren't going to be very satisfying ... I'm saddened that you're falling into that trap. When I get back, I'll come over to your apartment, and we'll make no bake cookies!! One batch for you to take to school, and one to eat, just to make sure they taste good ... good luck at conference! Just remember it's the prophet speaking, and we should listen to his words and seek revelation about what we should do with our lives ... it's like super church. I promised all of my investigators that if they come with questions ... about anything ... they will be answered if they listen ... for the whole ten hours ... Good Luck!!

So this week.
Monday, we went and tried to find some of the less actives ... but a lot of the addresses were wrong ... unless they live in vacant fields ...

Tuesday. We went finding, and visited some less actives in the middle of nowhere and it turned out they were just going to a different ward!!  One of them was so nice ... she gave us doughnuts for coming all the way out!!!

Wednesday, we just had eikaiwa and talked to some people about God afterwards.

Thursday, weekly planning, and a lesson with K-San, we threw down on the restoration, and committed him to read and pray about the pamphlet, Joseph Smith. He said that he would, but he is really struggling, so we're going to follow up with him.

Friday, we had FHE and ping pong at the church. I wreck in ping pong, and blew everyone's mind with the the lesson. It was such a good night!!!

Saturday, we found an elderly gentleman after eikaiwa and talked about the plan of salvation, he's coming again next week to learn more too!!!

Sunday, the ward had a big meal after church. And it was so good!!!! Then we met with Brother M-San and got him on track to prep for the temple. He's way excited to go, and he's going to study so that he can mission-a-tize his friends.

Then we have today, so far so good ... yeah.

This week we're pretty busy with a lot of stuff, we have zone conference, and splits and all sorts of good things going down. Hopefully in the rush we can find some new people to teach. The area is not dead, but it's not as alive as we would like it to be right now.

This week I've been thinking a lot about change. I read through some of my journal from the beginning of my mission, and I'm a totally different person now. It's crazy. I didn't change in the ways that I thought I would though, looking back, I see so many things that I really am glad that I was able to fix about myself, and it reminds me that in two years, I'll look back and be really glad that I've changed so much again. I have like two months left now, and I want to change some more. I want to become the disciple of Christ that the Lord wants me to be ... I'm just not sure how to do it quite yet. But I think that's the reason we have fasting and prayer and scripture study. So, yeah, sorry this letter is kinda short, not much happened this week. I'll work on it more for next week so that you'll have a little more something to read. LOL, I'll try to send pictures this week and next week as well!!!

Love you all, Elder Griffiths
12114 11389

Monday, March 23, 2015

DD 15.15 ... かくかくしかじか ... and yeah, I know how to say blah blah blah in Japanese ...

What is your companion's full name?
Spindler Choro
Spindler Choro, Griffiths Choro
Where is your new companion from?
Las Vegas!

What transfer is your companion and has he served in other areas, which ones?
He was in Urayasu for two transfers, and this is his fifth in Narita; so he's transfer seven!

How long has he been in Narita? How do you say Narita?
Five now.
Na as in naught
Ri as in ritz
Ta as in tall


How many missionaries are in your district and what are their names?
Six!! .., there used to be eight in the good ol days ...
Clark Choro, Morishita Choro, Murata Shimai, and Muraro Shimai from Brazil.

What is the nearest train station to your apartment?
Keiseinarita, but the Narita Eki on the JR line is right by that one. So it's close to a lot!

Is the Kozunomori Station the closest station to your church?
Yes!

Are you serving in the Narita Ward?
Yes!
Narita Chapel
Is the Narita Ward/Area more like the Chiba Ward/Area or the Togane Ward/Area? How so?
Around the Eki there are a lot of people, like China; but if you go farther away, is very countryside, like Togane.

Have you met Bishop Sugimoto yet? Is he the Bishop in your area?
Met him at church! Yeah, he's brand new too!

You know dad ... he wants some pictures from your balcony ... can you send him a few?
Of course! Challenge extended!! This time I'm gonna win!!!
Good luck pops ... Mwahahahahahahahahahah
What floor is your apt on? Do you have a washer and dryer?? futons? or bunkbeds??
Futons and a washer. Dad will tell you what floor I'm in after I send him more pictures next week cuz I'm gonna stump him so hard right now.

How did the transfer go? What was it 6 or 7 stations down the Narita line?
Like eight or nine stations, but we met up in Kichijoji for an Elder Nelson conference at like eight.

How did your suitcases with the broken wheel and your bike make the journey?
Yes ... All good!!

Food ... Eatin places ... which is your newest favorite place to chou down?
The apartment, cheap! and fast! and it turns out that I'm a boss cook ... who knew!

Is your companion the cook now; or do you do the cookin?
Me ... when he cooks we get less (a lot less) meat ... so I cook now.

Why didn't you just run to your new area? Sam would have been proud ...
I thought about it ...

Has the Easter Package arrived yet? Have you mastered the enclosed instructions? Were they helpful?
I did! I have now mastered them!! I'm now ready for anything!

Have you found a place that serves Lasagna or other Italian food?
Not that I have found in Narita.

How far are you from the airport ... is the noise from landings and takeoffs even noticeable?
Not really. We're not exactly close.

How do you distinguish between the two large bodies of water, both called Lake Inba-numa? Is there a bike path or a running path?
I haven't heard of them yet.

Does your new companion run?
Not really.

How far are you from the Church? Do you ride your bike to and from ... or take the train?
We bike, it's like fifteen minutes!

Why can't you use facebook for 12 weeks??
Well, it's an interesting story.

Do you ever take pictures with your camera or just use your Ipad for everything?
Mostly just my iPad, but sometimes my camera as well.

Father! It was pretty foggy this week. Narita is kinda by ... I actually have no idea, so I don't know why it wasn't to bad, but it wasn't too bad. It was still crazy cool though! We thought it was going to rain for like three days, but it never did! I still have my slightly light weight pair of shoes that I wear in good weather days, but thanks for the new pair! I'm excited to break them in and thoroughly destroy them as I have my old ones! Thanks for the candy and instructions btw, just what I needed this week!!

Mother! You'll be so proud of me, back in Abiko, my brake line snapped on my back brakes, and I thought about just using the front ones for a while since I go home soon, but then I was like, what would mom do? She would probably fix them ... so I spent the thirteen bucks to get the new line, but on the bright side, I have brakes that work really quite well, now.!!! That's so cool that the young women are excited to go serve at the Bishop's Storehouse; that's fantastic!

Sam!! This is an interesting development in your life ... I'll give you a dollar to fit three hamburgers in your mouth at one time! Ready go!!! Sounds like your week is going good. Underwater scooter ride sounds pretty legit, and the water slide through shark infested waters is always a win! Just hope the tubes don't break or you have an earthquake while you're in it ... that could be sketch!!

Abi!!!  Sounds like school is going good ... I'm dying to know what Sam's newest abs workout is like, I'm very confused by the picture ... and I didn't think that could possibly have been Porter! That's crazy!!! That's good to hear that Jaycee is still alive, I haven't heard anything about her in a while, and was beginning to worry. Missionary work is a lot of knockin on doors, tonight we're going to go visit two less actives! We're trying to get them back to church!!!

So the week!!!  Monday night, we met with P-San, and he's doing good. He promised me that he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon before we met up sometime, he's going to New Jersey in August, maybe June, whenever his poor wife gets her visa.
Cream Filled Mellon Pan with Cookie Dough

Tuesday! We met with O-San, I put on Facebook that I was moving on Wednesday and he called us Tuesday morning and was like, yo guys, let's meet up before you leave! And we were ... like of course!!! Whoo!!!!! He's back on track, and he is going to meet with Shumway Choro and Dicastri Choro and their kouhai, so he should be getting baptized pretty soon, and I'm so excited for it!!! I hope that I will be able to go back for it.
S-San gave Dicastri Choro and me some Ramen Bowls
because we ate it so much!!  Its so cool!!!!

Sashimi
We also met J-San, K-San, and A-San too, and he gave us so much food, it was crazy!!! So much fish and sashimi! Then we visited Brother M, and he's trying to make a poster out of a picture he took of me, and trying to get it to me, so hopefully that works out! It would be ideal!!

Wednesday!!! We went to hear Elder Nelson speak in the morning, and it was all about technology! Apparently the real reason we're getting iPads isn't to hasten the work of salvation or be better Missionaries, it's to help us master technology now, so that when we go back, it won't take over our lives ... Cool shift, so they're starting the U.S. with the rest of Japan to make sure that we're good to go! Then we met with our new companions, and went back to our new areas, I may have been hit on a little bit at eikaiwa by this girl, so I gave her a Book of Mormon, and she's said that she was going to read it ... inadvertently flirt to convert! Please note ... I didn't flirt.

Thursday! We did some finding, Narita is a cool area, lots of hills, and stuff to see and what not. I'll probably explore a lot here on pDay.

Friday we had FHE and ping pong at the church!! I still rock BTW, but it was good. We're struggling to teach people here, in Abiko we taught like fifteenish lessons each week, and here we taught three last week, all since I got here ... but it feels like it will be picking up soon.

Saturday we had a double dose of eikaiwa! And then we taught this kid named K-San who wants to come to church and to learn more, but has work, and it's crazy hard for him, but he wants to learn more, so we're gonna keep teaching him, a sister named A Shimai helped out, and that was awesome! She's a recent convert, hasn't even finished the Book of Mormon all the way yet, but told him that the church was true, and that he should get baptized ... and the spirit was awesome!!! It was crazy!!!

Sunday!!!' Only eightyish people are in the ward ... crazy right, it's so small!!! Church was good, afterward, we taught this guy named K-San with Brother S K-San, and it rocked.  He threw down way hard on everything!!! I hoped I was a pretty good teacher, I mean everyone of my companions has always said that I blow their minds, but he blew mine ... and then the little bits that were everywhere, he rocked them too ... It was crazy! He's soo good!!
Picture of me the Narita Ward has.
And now we are here on Monday! It's been an interesting week!
This week I've been thinking a lot about change. There are so many people here who have so much potential, but they don't want to change, and they're so content with their lives the way they are, it's so sad. It got me thinking about what motivates people to change, what makes people want to believe. And I decided that for a lot of people, it's hope. They need something to live for, they need something to hope for. It's like Alma said, a hope, a desire to believe is the first step of uncrushable faith. And for me personally, that's what God does, He gives me hope, He gives me hope that I can change, that I can do the things that I want to, that I can do the things that He wants me to do, that we can all become the type of people that we all know we need to be. God provides a way, many pathways give us hope. And if there wasn't hope, well, it would be a pretty dark world. An RM just back from her mission talked on Sunday, she asked us to think for a minute about what life would be like if there wasn't the atonement. And then she said that it would be pointless, and we probably wouldn't make it very far. It made me think about how important the atonement really is in all of our lives, everything we do relates back to it! Without it, there would be no hope, and we would have no purpose.

Thank you all for the hope and the light that you bring in to my life, you're all the best!!!
Love, Elder Griffiths!!
11993 11286

Monday, March 16, 2015

DD 14.65 ... Hymn #9 is my new favorite ever! ...

Adair Shimai, Minson Shimai, Dicastri Choro, Griffiths Choro

Are you getting the opportunity to teach the Japanese people in a different area?
Yes, I'm going to Narita! Right by the airport ... it's like Budge Kaichou is telling me not to get trunky or something.

Did A-San get baptized? How did it go?
Yes! It was great!

How is the weather there? Winter like? or Spring like?
It's hot.

How is the guy from Matsudo, who you met on splits, and read to Alma in one day?? Still reading? getting taught?
Yes, he's gonna get baptized in April!

How is Pete and his family doing?
Freta!!

What was your favorite food at the All You Can Eat place? What did you eat the most of? Besides ice cream?
Probably the chocolate cake ... or the meat.

Any news about Brother S and the rest of the S-San family?
They're mostly at the interest level.

What ah-ha moment have you had in your gospel study this last week?
This morning, I figured out how to relate Gospel Dispensations to the sun ... and it blew my mind.

What new Japanese vocabulary word have you learned this week??
I learned チクる which is to tattle.

Is Japanese ice-cream the same as ours? or different? Do they use toppings? Any Beaver Tracks there?
It's mostly the same, just different flavors ... like tea, and anko and stuff!

Since spring is early, are the cherry blossoms out yet? Apricot blossoms are out here!
Not yet!

How long do the cherry blossoms stay out? a week? two weeks? or 3 days?
Like a week or two.

What did you do for pi day? Did you make pie or just go somewhere and eat pie?
We ate bottom-less naan, and fasted ...

Is one companion assigned the cell phone or do you switch off a lot? Like in driving missions usually senior companions drive and junior companions do everything on the cell phone?? How does it work for you?
Usually who ever has it answers it. Usually me since I'm eleven transfers older and speak Japanese ... but really whoever.

Do you ever play games after your studying is done at night? Apparently some missionaries play Settlers or other games before going to bed. I would think that is not allowed??
No ... in the white handbook it's straight up says no board games ...

Do you have tons of room in your suitcase when you move or is it a packing challenge to make everything fit?
Lots of room still.

Are any of your ties ruined? Do you think you will throw some of them away before coming home?
Maybe, maybe not ... I haven't decided yet. They all seem fine to me.

How is your hair doing? It looks really good in the pictures.  Are you still worried about it?
Probably fine, I think it's okay. It'll be fine by the time I go back to school ... I think.

Any more walnut/nut occurrences?
Nope.

What is your bathroom like? tiny? Pictures of your apt maybe??
I'll try to send some ... of Narita since I leave Wednesday morning!

Is Elder Turley back?
Yep, in Nakano

What is the weirdest food you ate this week?
Cookie dough between two cream filled melon pan.
    

This is pure joy ... also the reason I may die before I'm 35

Father!  D & C has tons of crazy stuff in it. I'm convinced it was written so that we could convert other Christians ... I love sharing it with people who already believe in Christ ... it clarifies the differences in our beliefs. Don't worry about family vacations ... I'll always remember the times we raced carrying the bricks from the front of the house to the back yard, and I beat my sisters every time!

Mother!  Sorry to hear about 5:00 am. It happens to me too. They don't have Day Light Savings Time here, but the sun comes up at like 4:30, and I sleep right by the window ... it's rough. That's hilarious about Jandee, but I'll have to go and watch some of Waylon's games, it sounds way fun!! Lots of food I feel as well. That's good to hear about grandma, I'm sad I missed all the destruction of the carpet!

Sam!  Stop running in sketchy places ... just pick a temple, and run there and back ... or maybe a little farther and then back ... but if you're dead, how am supposed to beat you in your next marathon? I can't ... that pie sounds so good though! Peanut butter, chocolate, brownie ... I know what we're doing when I get back!!!

Abi!  Hot tub?!? I miss swimming ... and hot tubs! I might never leave your apartment ... but I still have like three months till that problem comes up. Sounds like school is good. Always nice to have help around ... sounds like the broadcast was good. We just heard from Elder Nelson last night, he spoke to the saints of Japan, and it rocked!!!

This week! In brief, I have to send a lot of pictures!!
We found a shimai in Moriya! We got lost looking for a member, and then decided to house, and found her, she's around thirty we think, and her husband died three years ago, and she believes in some sort of God. She randomly had a day off, and so we were able to find her, and she is already texting the sisters like everyday. It's so cool!!!

Then we took Brother S to go help us teach L-San, our Chinese friend ... and they hit it off great, they started talking about nuclear physics and what not, and I'm all like, I don't know the Nihongo for that, what's happening ... but now I understand a little bit more. It was crazy, he might come to church this week cuz it's spring break, but he doesn't know if he can ... might have to work.
Brother K-San, Griffiths Choro, Brother A-San, Dicastri Choro
Then A-San got baptized!!! It rocked! ... and it only took me one time.  Afterwards, he got up and testified, "like a little water got in my nose, and it was warm, but the warmth in my heart is going to last a lot longer ... and I know that this is an endure to the end type of thing."  So yeah, yoroshiku ongaishimasu!!  It was so good!! I'm kinda sad that we have to go our separate ways, but I think it'll be for the best.  Shumway Choro is replacing me, and he's awesome, so it should be good.

We're all getting new iPads, so we have to send everything that we want to keep ... to ourselves ... and then down load it later.  I have a lot of pictures that I teach with, so I'll be sending them all to you ... to me ... then a lot of other pictures as well ... hope it makes up for the shortness of this letter, it's like a thousand words per picture ... right ... so it really should be a lot longer!!!
There is a priest in our ward named Brother N-San, he's going on a
mission soon; he and his friends wrote this for us!!!
It means, Happiness!!
The Abiko Chapel
This week I learned how bold we can be. Elder Nelson came and called the doctrine of the trinity erroneous ... and unscriptural.  He then explained what we believe.  We had some Catholic investigators there ... and now they have baptismal dates!! It made me realize that this truth that we all know, we sometimes take for granted, we know everything we know about God, because of Joseph Smith and the restoration. We can know about that because of the Book of Mormon, dad was right when he said that the D&C holds all the cool stuff, it's crazy! Gospel principles teaches it all crazy simple like, but in all honesty, I'm so excited for the second coming! We are gonna see some crazy stuff! And I'm so excited! I would invite you all to study the restoration this week, and ready yourself to be an example of the believers, and then answer the questions that come through the restoration! It'll blow their minds!!!!
Love, Elder Griffiths !!

11879 10994

Monday, March 9, 2015

DD 14.55 ... bippity ... boppity ... boo ...

Did you have any specific goals for your 1st 100 days in the mission field? What were they and did you achieve them?
I did not. Not really no.

So what are your goals for the last 100 days ...  what are they and how can we help you accomplish them?
I wanna be crazy hard working! And always super motivated.  And be in the best of moods, a faithful mood.

My Favorite Quote
Weston Ford just left for Finland ... what advice would you give to him as he approaches a country where little English will be spoken?
Learn the language fast, and don't focus on being able to read and write first, just talking is the most important.

Has mom and dad sent you an Easter Package yet?
Yes, got it yesterday, thanks btw!!! Mom rocks!!!

Now that it is March, are the parks in Japan filled with kite flyers or is that just propaganda?
Soon, right now it's just rainy,

Does Abiko have a large enough Chinese population to celebrate the festival of Lanterns (the last week of the Chinese New Year)?
It was not too big here, in Chiba it was huge though.


Do you need any clothes pins? If you had any extra, you could use them to put cards on the spokes of your bike and make it sound like a motor bike ... you know, really cool!!! Do you want us to send you any clothes pins or cards?
... what's a clothes pin?

Do they have any duck tape in Abiko, or can you only get that in Tokyo? You could use duck tape to cover the holes on your bike seat ... or ... would the adhesive get on your suit pants ... scratch that, not a good idea ... how about packing tape? Should we send you some packing tape?
I should be okay. I only have 100 days left, thanks father

Have you ever thought of buying a florescent vest to wear while riding your bike ... that way you wouldn't get hit by cars or trucks?
I have a  little stripped thing, and my helmet is white, and I have a back light.

Have you ever put on your bike helmet while riding with no hands? Can you ride your bike while facing the back of your bike? How about riding your bike on one wheel ... how far can you go on just the back wheel? How about only the front wheel? Have you ever crashed while trying to do these things? What is the craziest thing you have heard a missionary do while riding a bike? Was it carrying a case of Vodka back to their apartment from the Quicky Mart? WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY MANEUVERS MENTIONED IN THIS E MAIL!!!!!!
... I'll get back to, you next week.

How deep is the lake Tega? Is it a clean lake or has it been polluted?
Polluted, I don't know the depth though.

Do transfer calls come next Monday?
Yes!

Are you a master at criss cross crapple sauce now?
Not yet!

Daylight savings time is here! Do they have it in Japan?
We don't have it here.

How are your investigators doing??
Great!!

Is your temple recommend good for two years like ours? Or different for missionaries?
It's good for three months after I get home.

Any special instructions for registering at USU? or housing?
Make it nice and bed bug free please!!

Did you decide to buy a suit while you are in Japan?
Maybe ... if I have time on a pDay.

Are your clothes still holding up? need another white shirt?
They are all good!!

Father!! That's very interesting about all of our relatives. I like that I'm related to Thomas Edison, I just feel really smart all the sudden!!! Thanks for the motivational pep talk to get more consecrated this last hundred days ... it is going by way to fast BTW.

Mom!! Hope that you had a very happy birthday! Next year I'll come all the way here for it! It'll be great!!! It sounds like your week was fun, cinnamon rolls from dad are the best! When I get home, we'll have to make them again, and eat them all! It sounds delicious!! Math tests and presidency meeting also sound like a blast! Don't get too crazy!

Jandee!! That's crazy that Waylon read so many books!! I can't believe it!!! The picture of the kids  is adorable! I can't believe how big they all are! I feel like it was yesterday that you came over to give mom and dad the books to announce that you were pregnant with Waylon... but it was so long ago! It's good to know that they're all excited to have me back! I'm super excited to play with them all again! It's gonna be awesome!!

Sam!!!  I'm so excited for Pi day (3.1415)! I've literally been in a group that's counting down to it in FACEBOOK for like four years now!! You bet I'm eating some pie! And it's gonna be delicious!!! That's hilarious about the taco date fiasco! I can't believe that you spilled tacos in his car! But your right they are really delicious ... we need to go get some when I get back. I really miss Mexican food, they don't have it here.

Storm ... ten hours ... That's crazy! That's a lot of reading ... a little too much if you ask me.  That makes me laugh so hard that you were part of a dance off. I'm so glad my chosen profession is serious and not going to make me do those kind of things ... Thank you engineering!!

My week!!
Monday, we went to FHE with Brother J, and he has no interest ... he flat out told us, that he doesn't need God, he can do it by himself ... Summon the humbler, right? But we're still trying to help him see that life with the gospel is better than without it, but he's so blind to it all.

Tuesday!! I went on splits with the zone leaders, Crockett Choro, and we saw so many miracles! We committed one kid in Matsudo to read the Book of Mormon, and the next day he'd read to Alma ... and he's still going!!

Wednesday!! We had eikaiwa, and it was sweet! We also met with a less active named K K-San, and he's just to busy to come to our church but he goes to church in other areas a lot of the time. He's pretty solid, just has a night shift that ends at nine in Urawa, so he goes there for church!

Thursday, we met with A-San and taught a lot of stuff, he's totally set for baptism, he's so ready for it. Then we did some planning, and did some finding, found a way cool kid named T-San. He's awesome!

Friday we went to A-San's baptismal interview, and he passed with flying colors. He's going to get baptized on the 15th of this month, and we're way excited!! Then we went to ping pong,and the S-San family came, the daughter has a lot of interest, the son has a little bit, and the mom, we aren't really sure, but they're coming to FHE tonight as well. It was way good!!
a bowl of not so Top of Ramen ramen
Saturday we went to lunch with H-San and Brother J, all you can eat anything you want. I ate so much ice cream, it was so bad!!  I ate so much food ... really bad. Then we went and played basketball with the S-San family in Matsudo, and taught S-San about the gospel of Christ, he's going to read and pray to find out if God's church is true! We're so excited!!!
Decastri Choro, Griffiths Choro, H-San, Brother J
Sunday, church was good, A-San and Y-San came, we taught Y-San afterwards, and he's going to pray and read to find out if this is true or not as well!!! Then we went and taught Brother P, and he's hilarious, he's from New Jersey, and his wife is Chinese, and their kids speak all the languages ... but at the same time, not any of them. We talked about the restoration, and he's going to read some more, and then pray to know if this is God's true church or not!! And it's going to be awesome!!!

This week I learned a little bit about enduring with hope. We're all imperfect, and not nearly as Christ-like as we would all like, and really, it's just an addiction ... so I read the twelve step program that the church has about it. And in the hope section, I found something about how Christ understands us perfectly, so where others would judge us or  condemn us for not being good enough. Christ is able to look past it, and see who we truly are, he's able to help us accomplish our true potential. He's there to help us do the things that we need to do so that we're able to help others. With out Christ there is no plan of salvation, no church, no hope for anything, Christ is the center of our hope. And ideally the center of our homes. When we make him such, were able to use his power to over come challenges and problems, including guilt and death. Through Christ, we can do all things because he strengthens us. And oh how great that is, to know that Christ strengthens me personally. It's amazing!!

Sorry this letter is short, we had some p-Day today, so I don't have a lot of time, I'll send some pictures though!!
Love, Elder Griffiths
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Monday, March 2, 2015

DD 14.45 ... 暇の時に掃除したり洗濯したりしなくちゃ ...

Do you still dry your laundry outside?
Yes ... it's sunny and like sixty degrees now ... it feels warmer though ...

Have you done any running lately?
Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Have you used your debit card recently?
Not really ... and by that I mean not at all..

Do you teach grammar or sentence structure in your Eikaiwa class??
Well, I teach advanced, so I teach idioms and work on pronunciation ... and sometimes vocabulary too.

How is the weather there? Any snow?
Sunny!!! Yesterday it rained like crazy though!

What song did you sing?
Hope of Israel 

Is next week temple P-Day?No, we had the Elder Ballard conference, so we won't have a temple day this transfer.

Did you get the valentines from the ward YW and YM?
Yes!!! So great!!

Was the Elder Ballard conference a mission wide conference? or a zone conference?
Mission wide ... with the Tokyo South mission too!!

What did they talk about? Did you get to shake hands with any of the general authorities?
The restoration, and how we need to testify of it better!! And yeah, we shook their hands!

How far is it around the lake?
I think its like ten Milesish.

Is there a bike trail? Like the bike trail in the river bottoms?
Yes ... around most of it ...

Why were there only ten missionaries in the choir?
At first we sang it as a zone, but then Budge Shimai liked it so much that she asked us to do it for the Elder Ballard Conference ... we needed some more people because of transfers, so we called in Stevens Choro and some peeps.

Why was the conference on a Monday night? Or was it during the day?
Monday morning.

Did members go? and take investigators?
The members had their own fireside on Sunday.

Any fun food for this week?
We got a rotisserie chicken, and so we cut it up and put it in stew and curry and ate for a week.

Are you healthy and well? Any problems?
My knees kind of hurt, and my legs are always tired, I feel a little like like my body's falling apart. But it's all good.

How is your bike? 
Good ... except I have two holes in the cover of my seat, so when it rains, it fills up with water ... which is fine because of my rain pants, but then the next day I always have a wet behind!

Father!  I simply haven't had the time to go see the Hachiko Statue. I really want to though. People always put pics on FACEBOOK about it, every Temple P-Day for some reason or another we always have people calling us and wanting to meet so we have to hurry back ... and it's to early to go before ... as for the Japanese classes, my counselor worked it into my schedule, so I hope to. I might have to come back and do an internship in Japan for it though, BYU accepts missions, but USU might not. And I sign Elder Griffiths when I write in English and グリフィス長老 when I write In Japanese. We usually say, and I quote "Elder Griffiths 長老"

Mother.  I think the nanny cam would be a good idea ... but then you would also find out all the stupid stuff we do as missionaries ... like how much we eat ... we haven't stopped cooking for four people yet. We just eat more food. It's good to hear that the grandkids come over all the time, I'm so excited to play with them!!! I bet they're so fun!!! Anyways, just wanted to say happy birthday! I was going to say something last week, but ran out of time, I hope that it was a merry one, and that you were able to have a great day!! You're the best mom anyone could have ever asked for!!!!

Smash.  Good to know that sky lanterns are a huge fire hazard ... I've always really wanted to make one! They look so cool ... so it would probably be okay to make one in the winter in Logan. I mean ice doesn't freeze right? Worst case scenario, it would just thaw out then erode a little right? Seems solid. Your life is like that episode of Friends ... Good luck!!

Storm.  Good move not drinking the chunky chocolate milk ... sad day that you had to waste chocolate milk though ... I think I would cry. That's the worst. Good call though. That's cool that you get to keep learning how to be a better teacher forever, that's something I hope I get to do as an engineer ... don't know how though. Let me know how ballet goes!!! Should be an experience.

So this week was kinda short. But crazy busy. Yes, dad, we are blessed indeed.
Tuesday night we went and blessed W-San, and then went to the Bishop's house with Y-San, he's a rock star so that was fun, the Bishop has three daughters ... all of which, I'm convinced, speak perfect English, the bishop and his wife do as well; but they're also way shy, so they said like three words the whole time. A little awkward, but the lesson was good and Y-San committed to reading the Book of Mormon!!!

Wednesday.  We were supposed to meet with W-San and J-San before eikaiwa, but they went and had sushi instead, so we taught them afterwards ... W-San had several questions, and we told him about God, it was good ...

Thursday  we went down to T-San Shimai home to teach W-San and crew, and we got into way deep stuff about the resurrection and when people come back to life, and what not, during the millennium ... it was rough ... namely because we don't really know ... do we?

Friday  was interesting, I got my temple recommend renewed at interviews with Budge Kaichou. Then we met up with W-San, who had gotten kicked out of T-San Shimai house for smoking ... so we talked ... and we taught him everything ... like all the lessons in an hour ... yeah that was good. He really wants to turn his life around, and he said that if this is what it takes, then he'll do it. He needed a place to stay and the only person he knew to turn to was Brother H-San in the first ward, so we got him a ticket to Ueno and shipped him off. Later we heard that he's meeting with the Elders, and he really liked church on Sunday.

Saturday  we comforted J-San after his friend left, then taught all the people that called us asking for lessons, it was pretty sweet actually ... K-San and some other peeps ... they just called us and said meet us at twelve at the Kashiwa station, we need to learn about God.  After that we went and visited Brother I-San whose aunt is in the hospital. He's having a rough time so it was good, then we had Stake Conference.

Sunday  A-San came with us to go to Stake Conference, we're meeting him on Tuesday to finish up teaching him, then we biked to Moriya in the rain and met withthe M-San family, they are way hard core, the father had a stroke, and they still come every week ... even when they didn't have an elevator at the church to take him up the stairs ... hardcore family ... way boss!!!

Then we just met with S-San who brought a friend to lunch who is now going to be reading the Book of Mormon ...

This week was good. I feel like I've learned so much on my mission, but at the same time, I feel like I've learned so little. It's funny to think that when I understand something I think I've learned so much. But I soon realize that compared to what God knows, I have no idea about anything. It's nice to know that we aren't perfect and that through this life with its trials and tests, we'll never be perfect. But we can step a little closer to it, and with every step it comes a little closer to our grasp. This gospel really is about trying to improve daily, no one can change overnight, it took Alma the Younger a couple days before he changed, so we need to work at it too. We need to work little by little at the things we do each and every day until we are closer to perfection. God works by small and simple things, rarely does He help us make huge changes over night, we need to practice daily so we get better and better, little by little ... thank you for all the little things that you inspire me to do!!

Love, Elder Griffiths 長老
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