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

Do you have an abundance of flies in Japan?? We are willing to ship some over if you don't.

One, it's a thousand times more humid here than there; two, we have more than you I promise ...

How about mosquitoes?

Like I just said, more humid ...

Are you allowed to put pictures on Facebook of people in their baptismal clothes? We thought you could not, maybe we are wrong!

Well every missionary I know has been doing it for a while now, so I would guess it's okay ...

Do you have wifi now?

We're at the seven eleven ... again

Do the new missionaries coming in now have to buy their own iPads?

Pretty much I have no idea what they do ...

How are you and the bike doing? Any problems?

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

How did Chinese night 3.0 go??

Our Chinese friend couldn't make it :-(

How was the baptism? Enough water in the font and everything?

It was good, his legs floated up twice, but the third time was perfect!

How is the weather there? rain?

It's hot. 37C (98.6F) yesterday!

How is your district doing? How is being a district leader going?

It's good, it's fun, it's hard, it's stressful. But I'm growing as a person. Yeah!

Are there any special YSA branches or activities in Japan?

Activities, yes. But no branches ...

Have you eaten at any members houses lately?

Not recently.

Any problems with nuts?

Nope, don't have pecans in Nihon.

Does the humidity make your hair curly? Januari said the humidity in California was crazy on her hair!

Just a little bit ...

Any requests for the package?

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

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

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

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

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

Six pack ... I typed in abs, but my iPad corrected it to that. So you let a bird poop in my car!?!?!?!?! I disapprove of this ... other than that, it sounds like you had a crazy week!!!! Hiking and driving and getting pooped on ... busy, busy, busy.

Yoshini Choro, Griffiths Choro, Brother A, Watanabe Choro, Hawkes Choro

So this week Brother A got baptized ... have I mentioned that he's from the Philippines ... and they speak Tagalog ... I don't know why I tried to learn Japanese ... it was really great!! The pictures are on Facebook, but pretty much he's a punk, I love him to death, and he wants to come and dendo with us this week sometime ... should be fun!! Him and his leopard print backpack ... love it!! Yeah, that was pretty much all we did all week. We taught some other peeps, but mostly this week we focused on Brother A!! Pretty fun week! Now we just gotta hand him off to the ward!

This is the Tagalog baptismal prayer

... totally did it in Tagalog btw ...

Like a boss!!!

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

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

Well, don't have, much time, and I got some other peeps to write this week. I know, it's weird, a lot of people emailed me this week ... Random!

Griffiths Choro loves you all!!! (I know ... third person!)

We just made Raspberry Jam from Scratch, put the hot stuff that wouldn't fit in the jar onto ice-cream and ate it all ... Love ... my ... life ... #FatKid
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DD 9.25 ... We Can Do Hard Things, With His Help ...

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

Is that your voice on the pig video?? Chores are riding on your answer! (we have been debating all week. Abi swears it is not you)

Can't even tell the difference between your own son and a Hawaiian ... that makes me sad ...

Isn't that Naan Flat Bread, which looks a lot like Indian fry bread, that you are eating in the picture you sent?

(delicious!) Yes, that is naan ... so good!!

How is your foot doing? Healing?

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

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

How are your baptismal dates coming along?

Great!! More on that later.

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. And mom won't turn the AC down ... any suggestions on how to get mom to obey?

I'm out side all day wearing a white shirt and tie ... with pants ... in Nihongo humidity ... mom, if you bake cookies for hours with the AC off I'm sure that the fam will love you forever!!

How many times were you told that Abi's got a new car? Hey, Abi got a new car, what should she name it?

I saw it ... I dislike Belvadear whatever it was ...

Will you send us a picture of you and your companion?

Yoshino Choro & Griffiths Choro

How is monsoon season going? are you wearing your rain jacket you bought super often?

Meh, sometimes ... not as often as it rains ...

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

Love em.

Are you still learning to cook or is the Choro who was teaching you get transferred? (Sam is writing the questions and I can't keep track. Dad probably knows but he isn't here)

No, he's still here and the lessons continue!

Would you like more Kool-Aid or is it too much work to make?

Meh, I still got some, but it was the highlight of that package.

How is your Japanese coming? Any better now you have a Nihonjin comp?

I speak a lot more Japanese now ... it's pretty good, but as soon as I think that, I struggle to introduce myself.

How well does your companion speak English?

He's really good. Better than my Japanese.

Have you gotten your hair cut recently? Who cut it?

Like three weeks ago. The shop by the Eki does it for cheap.

Did those funny white bumps on your feet ever go away? the fungus?

Pretty much annihilated it ...

Are you still sleeping on futons or are you on a bunk bed?

Futons ... I took the two hardest ones ... and frankly, they're quite nice!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gotta jet, love ya!! Griffiths Choro

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

How was Typhoon Neoguri that hovered over/or hit Tokyo? Did you get any interesting weather from it? Dad said it brought a heat wave, like a 100 degrees some places, how hot did it get where you are?

It rained for a couple days, pretty hard, but not too bad, then it was crazy hot!!!

Path of Typhoon Neoguri 

Photo of Typhoon Neoguri's 'Eye'

Did you feel the earthquake that occurred?

Yep, way early in the morning and woke us all up ... pretty fun.

How sick were you? Bad cold? Fever? Cough?

I may have just had a cold ... for a couple days.

Do they have cake mixes in Japan? Why did you put tofu in yours?  Are Japanese ovens different from ours? It looked great!

They don't have mixes ... yes, tofu was mixed in ... and yeah, they have microwaves with oven settings.

Yoshino Choro, how many transfers old is he?

Transfer four.

What areas has Yoshino Choro been in?

Urayasu

What city in Japn is Yoshino Choro from?

He is from Fussa Musashino Stake ... it's in the south mission.

Did you make the entire packet of blue raspberry lemonade in a pitcher or did you just make some of it?

Yeah, one normal one ... and then instead of using water, I used sprite for one!!! Sooooo good!!!!

Do you still have a baptism date for the end of August?

For the end of July ... might be the beginning of August ...

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

Can't do it ... so sad.

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

Deodorant ... would be nice.

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

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

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

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

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

I swear it's not infected ...

In other news. I bashed my foot into a wall this week ... I slipped in the water that comes out of the air conditioner and smashed my foot into the wall of our balcony ... it's pretty messed up ... I'll send a picture. The lady at the drug store told me to put some stuff and some gauze on it ... and that the worst thing for me to do was to shower it ... I slightly disagree ... so I've been showering it and washing it ... I've been using the stuff. It seems to be getting better ... slowly.

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

So that's all for this week, I'm send some pics too!!!

Love you all, and see ya next week!!!
Griffiths Choro

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

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

Was the Filipino food like the stuff Aunt Ossie makes? or different? 

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

Where do you play Bingo?

The stake center in Nakaurawa.

Do you have family history classes during church?

Nope.

Did you get your front tire fixed? Any more problems with your trusty steed?

Meh ... not quite yet, I think that I might fix it today ... then again, maybe not.

How is the weather? Typhoon season still going on? getting better or worse?

Typhoon season is coming!!!!! We're supposed to get one on Thursday; a big one!!

My shoes ... nice and dendo worn!!

How are your shoes? still holey? haven't seen any pictures of them!

I thought I did, but I'll send some more.

In the picture of you reaching your arms to the ceiling, - what is the round thing hanging from the ceiling? clothes drying rack? closet? A piece of medieval exercise equipment that you hang your clothes on?

That is a clothes rack ... highly convenient ... and wind proof thanks to it being Made in Japan ...

Do you do your ab workout every day? any running going on?

Not everyday ... only sometimes ... I'm really really fat right now.

Do you miss mowing the lawn?  Because there will be lawn for you to mow when you return! Do you pick up cherries (apples) for service in Japan?

Not yet ... I'd probably eat all the cherries.

Have you ever heard of an Sansing Choro? ...Abi briefly knew him from high school and he is currently serving in Tokyo.

He is in Narita right now!! WHOOO, small world!!

What foods made up your breakfast you sent us a picture of?? Specifically the runny looking stuff in the cup?

Calpis, egg, bread, and NATO ... (misspelled correctly natto) ... fermented soybeans ...

Murcia!!!

Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade

Cake, or mush; Still delicious!!

Did you do anything to celebrate the Fourth of July?

We had an America themed music night with Sloppy-Joes and cake ... Well I made the cake, and it turned into ... I'm not really sure, it was way good though!! I followed the recipe ... it called for tofu, and no eggs ... mix that with a Japanese oven, that talks BTW, and I had no idea what I was doing.

Have you worn your new tie yet? The one that we sent you in your package?

Of course ... I wore it the next day, do you not know me?

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

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

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

Quintuple stuffed Oreo!!!Mmmm!!!!!!

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

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

Sam ... Happy Italy!!! I hope your trip is doing well!! Have fun ... take lots of pictures!!

... pretty much my whole life ...

Gale Storm ... sorry about the fish ... I do enjoy some good sushi, but I have no idea how to make it ... sooo I'm all for not buying it when I get home ... plus I'll really miss American food by the time that I get home ... so we'll go for that.

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

Ima send some pictures now, so I'll let you guys go!!

Love, Elder Griffiths.

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