Father's Day; 2015

Dear Dad,

A Final Blog Post ... Happy Father's Day

The last two years have been the most fun I have had in my life thus far. There have been the best of times and the worst of times but through it all I've learned so much. I feel like the thing that I’ve learned the most is that God really is our loving Heavenly Father. He is not some vague entity or a thousand different spirits that try to manipulate our lives. But He is our father, and He loves us. He knows who we are and He cares about all that we do. 

Through the good times, it as though I was rejoicing with the Lord every step of the way. I don’t think that I will ever forget the joy that we felt, miracles that we witnessed, and the light that seemed to spark in the eyes of others. Through the hard times when desire was low, when there wasn’t much cause for rejoicing I will always remember how much my faith was strengthened, how much I learned to rely on prayer, and how much the Lord provided for us.

I am so grateful to all the people that helped me out, the constant flow of letters encouragement, the endless prayers, the never ceasing love that I have felt from all my friends and family. I will never forget how much everyone else has done for me, because I know that I never could have done it myself.

Embracing the lawn after two years of no grass.

Mom retired my name tag the night I was released ... with it I retire my title of Elder & Choro ...  I realize that I’m no longer a missionary and there is no point in living in the past, no sense of not moving on. From here on, I’m going to focus on the future. I know what I want: Eternal Life in the Celestial Kingdom and I know what I have to do to get it.

Thanks for all you do dad. Thanks for always correcting my spelling and writing the blog post. Thanks for the great example that you are to all of us, thanks for all that you have taught over the years. I remember the scout camps and over-nighters, the merit badges and all the “lectures” that you have given us over the years. Thanks for being the world’s best dad, thanks for always taking care of us and making sure that we were doing great! You’re the best … and frankly because of that you have the best kids. We’re all so great because you’re so great! Thanks for all you do dad! I love you!!!!

Love, Trent

Flight Home ... I arrived 2 hours before I left ... #JapanTokyoMissionBenefits

26 Missionaries leave Tokyo on the 12th of June ...

... leaving a big hole in the Mission

... but they can't leave without having some fun with the President ...

 

Delta Air Lines DL 166

Departure  12 June 04:35 PM  Tokyo Narita Intl

Arrival  12 June 09:31 AM  Seattle Tacoma Intl

Duration  08:56 (Non stop)
Class  Economy (T)  Baggage allowance  2PC

Equipment  BOEING 777-200/300

Meal  Dinner

Track my flight:  https://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL166

Delta Air Lines DL 346

Departure  12 June 11:30 AM  Seattle Tacoma Intl

Arrival  12 June 02:30 PM  Salt Lake City Intl

Duration  02:00 (Non stop)

Class  Economy (T)  Baggage allowance  2PC

Equipment  BOEING 737-800 (WINGLETS)

Meeting with Stake President
Friday 12 June 2015 @ 4:30 PM

Speaking in Sacrament Meeting
When:
Sunday 14 June 2015 @ 11:00 AM
Address:
1454 West 13200 South
Riverton, Utah 84065
(East of the Cemetery)

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

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

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

Griffiths Choro, Sabat Choro

How is your new companion?

Love him.

Where is your companion from?

Wyoming

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

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

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

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

Is it still raining? Or is monsoon season over?

Mahmah

What floor do you live on now?

Third

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

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

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

Of course!

Do you still email from the church?

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

How close are you to the church?

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

Worlds Largest Aloe Plant ... after the uphill climb

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

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

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

Yes, we have them here actually.

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

It's Abiko Eki, we bike and train.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abiko Chapel

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

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

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

Spiritual thought!!

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

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

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

Elder Griffiths

Crowd of people? Carrying your bike? Just lift it over all of their heads #MuricaPerk #ImHuge

I don't always ask for directions on the train, but when I do, I end that conversation talking about God #Missionaried

Biking for twenty minutes to buy chicken and beef for dirt cheap? Worth it!! #NoRoomInOurFreezerAnyMore

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DD 7.15 ... five days ... Kawagoe ...

Brother C, Griffiths Choro, Brother T (in Togane)

Eikaiwa in Toke
In March only 4 were attending, he knew attendance could improve

So yeah, I totally transferred ... got the call on Wednesday, packed up and left on Thursday ... I'm in Saitama east zone, in the Kawagoe Ward ... it's good, my comp is Watanabe Choro, from South Jordan, Utah, he went to Bingham, petty cool, good Japanese, nice kid, transfer six ... just one transfer less than me.

Are you still in a threesome?
Nope, I’m in a different zone, Stevens Choro is staying in Togane though, and he's the new DL.

How did you spend your Easter?
The usual, talked to some people about Christ, showed them the awesome ‘Because of Him’ video ... stuff like that, dendoed way hard.

Do you know how to play Cribbage? Sam is obsessed with teaching everyone, feel sad for us!!
Nope ... thank goodness I'm in Japan

What is your new companion's full name?
Watanabe Choro

Griffiths Choro and Watanabe Choro

Where is he from? What part of Japan?
America ... Utah ...

Do you ever wish you had a head lamp? Are you allowed to wear them?
I have one, I use it every night when I pray ... and I look like a boss if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Can you understand what the children are singing when they sing in Japanese?
…Yes I Can!!!!!!!!! Whoooo! Understanding a four year old!!

Dad, I just thought that you should know that I have no idea about being a father ... but, having trained someone, I realized having others succeed is so much cooler than doing it myself ... thank you for the insight that you wrote me about! I've always like that scripture, but I liked your perspective, thanks so much! (Matthew 13:3-8 - Parable of the Sower; Dad's Commentary: the last line of the parable, as we sow our seeds, remember that we are our own source for our seeds.)

Mom, it is really nice to see the world form a child's eyes. I wish that I could go back and see people for the best that they are, and not understand cruelty or why people are so mean. It brings new meaning to the scripture that says we need to become like little children, not naïve, but innocent ... cool story, glad the kids are good. (Note from Mom's Letter: We had our Easter lesson in Primary today. Some of the children were shocked when we showed them the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross. One little boy just blurted out "but why would they do that?" Throughout the rest of the lesson, they just kept asking the same question, why did they do that? We kept explaining but they never really understood. They just couldn't comprehend that anyone would be that mean. Ahhh, to be so innocent that you don't understand that people can be cruel, or treat others badly. It is an eye opening experience to see things through the eyes of a four year old. I really do love teaching my class, four is the perfect age. They say everything that they think, and they think the world is a wonderful place.)

TeJay, I’m totally down with you not writing me every week, I wouldn't expect anyone to! Thank you for the thought and the letter though, always good to hear that you want to name B2 Stark or Sherlock ... how did you get Crystal to marry you again? Oh wait, you’re BOTH going to Comic Con, I remember :-). Sorry to hear that your kid likes to play in his own fecal matter ... thanks for the mental image by the way! Quite he word picture. Hope all is well!!

Space Potatos ... Pic sent by Sam

Sam ... Why didn't you just run the marathon? Problems solved! I heard about the ferry accident in Korea; terrible right? We did some English practice with some people, and read that story with them. About the mission in Taiwan ... way jealous!! Sounds awesome! I love it! I do remember the guy who was running ... he was way old ... like really old, maybe I'm thinking of the dad that was there too, but he was really old, like dad's age wasn't he? Hmmmmm interesting ... Terrible picture, by the way! Almost puked, and dropped my iPad ... You're evil.

Stormaggeddddonn, the dark lord of all ... still, remember when you thought Stormageddon was a monster, then found out it was a baby? Good times. Sorry that you didn't get the job, but who wants to work at a charter school anyways, you’re probably just too good for them, couldn't pay you enough, that's all. Sorry to hear about the lack of friends ... there's always a large bucket of ice cream, or Taco Tuesday ... my personal choice though would be Reese’s Stuffed Oreos ... you know it!! Get well soon, maybe read your patriarchal blessing. (Totally spelled that right!!)

So this week was interesting, got a call on Wednesday saying that I'm leaving Togane, to go to Kawagoe, get here and I’m companion with a Choro I've been of splits with beforehand. I’m pretty much the oldest missionary in the area except a Shimai who is a transfer nine, and White Choro, my doki, same transfer.

I miss being in the Chiba Stake like crazy, I didn't realize how valuable the Transfer Calls on Monday are, by waiting until Wednesday to get the call, I feel as though I was ripped out, right in the middle of doing something, and ended up in a strange land … totally out of my comfort zone. No chance to say goodbye, no final Sunday at church, no closure … but five days, all I have to do is make it five days and I'll be all right, I will love this place and I won’t want to leave … five days! That's what I've heard ... That's what worked before when I was transferred to Togane ... ok … I'm hoping that it works again. It's a good area ... I'll send some pictures too, but sometimes I really miss my old home ... I mean apartment. It’s been rough, but it's all good.

Does God ever give us way more than we can handle. Sometime I feel as though I'm just about to break and the only thing holding me together is the small voice that says, this is what missionaries do. They move, they go on, and when things get hard, they go hard, and do the work of The Lord. Sometimes it seems impossible that God, our Father in Heaven would do things to us that would seem to break us mentally or emotionally, or physically, but then we remember that this life is a test, and when are tests ever easy, we may have studied really hard before we came, and aced all the home work, but life isn't always like that, it's a changing test, full of problems and situations that we couldn't have studied for because we knew we would forget everything AND need to rely on faith ... Sometimes I really hate faith, it's supposed to solve all of our problems, but rarely can we see the results, or even the end, when we are in the middle of said problem ... life can be hard, and often times, life is extremely unfair. Sometime I ask myself if this is all worth it, if I can go another day, or even go another hour ... but then, we do, we hold one for one more moment, we go the extra hour, we do the things that we thought were impossible, and frankly should be, all because we have faith ...

Faith is what motivates us, faith is what gives us the strength to go on, because even if we have the desire to believe as Alma says, then that desire accesses the vast stores of energy or patience or whatever we need, that God is so willing to give to us in our time of need. It's ironic that the very word that drives me crazy sometimes, is the thing that keeps me going, I know that it will get better, I know that it will not be this hard forever. I know that no matter what happens, God IS my loving Father in Heaven, and is doing so much for all of us! Sometimes I wish we could see the chariots of fire and the angels round about us ... sometimes they are hard to see and feel. I know that they are there doing all that they can to help us out.

I love that knowledge. It brings such peace to mind, such comfort to my soul, and such joy to heart. Sometimes life is hard, but we just have to remember that life isn't all of it, there is so much to it than that, we just have to have a little bit of faith, and trust in God and in Christ, because of him, because of them; we, and all things that are wrong in this life, can be made right.

That's my spiel for the week, I wanna go back and make if all poetic and awesome, but I can barely read what I wrote, sorry about that. Good Luck Dad, thanks in advance.
Love you all!!
Elder Griffiths

I always had a good nose ... and it led me to pure joy!!

Pure Joy

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DD 6.15 ... living in Oami, companion is Stevens Choro ...

My new apartment is in Oami ... I'm right outside the eki ... (See map below …)

How is your new companion? Tell us about him.
His name is Stevens Choro, he's one transfer behind me ... He's from Ohio. He's pretty cool ...  he's a pretty good missionary.

How is your new area? Closer to the shoreline? More rural?
It's the second most rural area in the Tokyo mission ... And it's cold all the time, the wind chill makes it like -5 ... all the time ... Inside our apartment, the church, on our bikes is way bad, but it's nice actually ... the summer will be nice and cool ... Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!

Did you ride the train to your new area? Alone? From Chiba? or from the Mission Home?
Pretty much alone, but I met a ward member of the Togane Ward at Chiba Eki ... along with one of our investigators ... that was cool. So I rode with the member all the way to Oami, and then we both got off together. He's way chill, the SA Coordinator.

Do you still have a laptop in your apartment?
No one has a laptop anymore.

What kind of adapter do you have for your I-pad? Is it lightning or a 30 pin adapter?
Lightning.

Did you take your bike with you? How?
I took it apart and put it in a bike bag ... I'll take a picture the next time I get transferred.

Were you able to turn off the Auto Correct on your iPad ... were Dad's instructions good enough?
They were good enough ... but I like the auto-correct feature though, it fixes almost everything that I do wrong. (it’s not apparent to me …)

Did you find the All Drafts mail box in your eMail App? Did you find our lost letter ... we still have hope?
It's not there ... I know, major bummer.

Are you going to buy your own camera adapter, or would it be easier for dad to buy one for you from Amazon.co.jp?
I don't know yet ... I'll think/look for one and let ya know.

Did you figure out how to change your bike gears yet or are they still stuck in super workout mode?
The guy at the bike shop in Chiba fixed it for me ... And yeah, he taught me how to fix it myself next time ... I don't really change now through ...

Is your former companion Williams Choro, still in Togane? In your District?
No, he's long gone, he's only been in any area for one transfer.

Is it warming up there? or does it still feel like winter?
Like winter without the snow ... Imagine a hardcore canyon wind from Logan canyon ... all the time.

Do you have swype on your iPad? It's a way of typing where you slide your finger across all of the letters without lifting it up. (pretty cool! I use it on my kindle)
I don’t know ... I'll have to look.

This the day that Asato Choro left. He was one of my follow up trainers and then my Zone Leader ... He's a champion from Okinawa ... which I want to go to one day.

Tuttle Choro, Asato Choro, Nielson Choro, and me.inside the Inage Eki

Parentals ...  I hope that all is going well back home, sorry that I'm not here to cheer everyone up/be awesome with y'all. I liked the Harry potter quotes at the end, it was inspiring (quote from Mom’s letter ‘we all must face the choice of what is right and what is easy’). Is something going on with Harry Potter this week, it's like the second reference I've seen so far? Mom is right, it'll all work out for the better. I'll pray, and y'all will pray and it'll all be good ... and yeah auto-correct has y'all. In it.


TeJay ... Whenever I get a letter form you it makes me rethink a lot of my life ... it's always deep and profound ... I also have a question. How was your mission-ing in China? Was it just awesome? Every Chinese person that I meet here is ridiculous! They are always humble and way accepting of the gospel ... It's crazy! Or is it just because they are living in a different country? Any-who, I'm glad that Porter is not lactose intolerant ... that would have been way bad, but now we can for sure go and eat ice cream and ice cream and even more ice cream! I'm way pumped to tend your child ... I hope that all goes well with Billings! Interesting life you've got there. Film of table and exile ... I mean full of travel and adventure ... sorry about that. Side note: My eMails have gotten a lot more interesting since I got this whole auto-correct thing ... Not just spelling mistakes, now … all sorts of mistakes ...

Januari and Jaden ... How did you blow out your knee? That's no good man, that's no good! Take care and rest up ... well you have three young children ... So maybe rest as much as you can ... Which probably isn't that much ... Sorry about that. JanDee! How was your relay? Did you wreck everyone? I heard that you did! Congrats on finishing! That's way sweet!

Sam ... Thanks for that talk ... Couldn't find it though ... Congrats on finding the Holland Choro one ... I didn't think that you would be able to ... I'm impressed ... Talks for the MTC are way hard core ... All my teachers here searched for it for years without finding it ... good job! Thanks for the update on world events and the Russian occupation of Crimea in the Ukraine ... So why are you going to Italy? For fun? For service? Or for ... What exactly? I hope that it goes well! Also I'm glad that you started destructing things too ... Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!! My reign of breakage lives on through others!!!

Abi of gale storm! Caught in an ale storm! Was drunk in the night!! How is being a real adult? I hope that is goes well for you! I just realized that I've said that like four times in this email ... Sorry that you were in the top ten in your competition .... Did you ever think about going into Business? Cuz you seem to be pretty good at it! Well I hope that all is well with the peeps down in Riverton as well as in Logan ... I was talking to someone and they brought up Logan... I forgot who though. If I remember I'll let you know ...

So transfers were interesting ... My companions old companion (Cannon Choro) is now one of the zone leaders here in the apartment. The Zone Leaders are: Cannon Choro and Young Choro. Young Choro is Australian and is about to go home, but he’s way chill. Except apparently in Australia they don't have kangaroos as pets ... he compared it to having a moose as a pet in America ... crushed my dreams there ... and Stevens Choro, my companion, is way cool and is a hard worker. There was a baptism that they had last week. Brother T, a Chinese guy, and there is another one coming up in two weeks named Brother K; also Chinese ... they are both fluent in English and they're Japanese is spotty, so that's nice ... actually I really like teaching in Japanese, so it's kind of a bummer, but it's whatever's, these are Gods children! They were both found last transfer too, so Togane is really an amazing place! I think that I'm going to like it here; the church is a thirty minute bike ride away from our apartment ... I’ll try to cut that down though ... I think we can do it in 20, one day we did it in 24, so I have hope ... but safety first, I know, you go through all these rice patties and stuff; with like sharp 90 degree turns every so often ... So yeah, at night, in the pitch black, it might be a little shady, but I think we can do it ... I led us home from the church on our second day, yeah, I'm a champion ... I know. We haven't really had any time to find people yet, today is the first day where we have some time to do it. We've just been teaching Brother K and Brother T all the time lately, which is way nice.

Leaving my last area was hard ... We got a lot of lessons the last three days though. We had to teach everyone one last time before I left, so that went well, I think.

Well, I have to go, not much else happened this week, transferring was easy, I was by myself for like ten minutes and I'm still in the same stake and I’m in the South Version of the Chiba zone, which used to be the same zone, so I know where all the major stuff is anyway ... It was an easy transfer. I still miss my old area, but I'm starting to like this one more and more everyday ... Still have not found a bottomless Nan Indo Curry Restaurant ... But I will succeed ...

This brings met my spiritual thought for the week. It's actually comes from Young Choro, and some from Yoda. Do or do not, there is no try. This life has a time for everything (TeJay) so we Need to take advantage of that. Do everything you can to the best of your ability. But there really is no try. I've decided that giving something your all is the only way to succeed at it. Like being a missionary. I can try to do missionary work all day long. Or I can actually do missionary work. It's all in the mind set. Do it or don't, but don't lie to yourself and say that you are trying to.

That's all that I have for this week! Sorry if it’s kinda lame,

Thank you all for everything. And know that I love all of you so much! Good luck for the next week!

This is Stevens Choro and I in the Togane Church ...

... Looking way classy right? I look really really fat though ... we haven't eaten rice in like three days though, so I’m trimming down. I don't really know the rules for pictures on the iPads, but we have to give them back at the end of our missions so I would like to still have all the pictures. So I want I take most of them on my camera instead. I'll look for the adapter cord, but if I can't find one I'll let you guys know!

Thanks for all that you do, gotta run!
5916 5281

DD 1.15 ... I'm totally in Japan ... Watanabe Choro

I don't know if y’all realize this, but I’m totally in Japan!!!!!!!!!!

Its way great here, but first things first, the scripture case was too small, I will be fine though, I was able to get my scriptures here all right, and hopefully I will be able to buy a case at the hundred yen store, rather than getting an 80 dollar package with a case which might not work.

Second, the flight was alright. I sat between two sisters from my zone, one from my district, so that was good. It was weird not having a companion for 11 hours, but it was alright! I was in the very center of the plane so no window, but I did have a glass panel under my feet to see beneath me. Tell you what, Japan airlines are way SWEET!!!!!! Suteki desu yo ne!!!! As we would say here ...

We got in around eleven thirty, but by the time we got to the church, where the elders slept, it was like one in the morning. We slept on futons that night; they are way comfy turns out!

We spent a day in training, and then the next day we met out trainers and left to go to our new areas. Saying goodbye to my district wasn't that hard, because we didn't really get to say good bye, it all went so fast!

It is way hot here; my trainer is a Nihonjin ... that means that he is Japanese ... his English is pretty good, for being in Japan his whole life. It’s rough sometimes, but I feel as though it will help me out in the long run. I already understand a lot more than I did before.

I didn't get a bike yet, because my debit card does NOT work in Japan, any advice? Thanks, there are two other elders in my apartment, another Nihonjin, and another one from Australia, but he has been here 18 months, so he’s way good at the Japan speak. It’s been rough, but I love it here!!!

The first day with my trainer, we just went to a ghetto little convenience store for lunch, we had to hurry, because we had a lesson that night right when we got back. It was interesting, it was like bread with chocolate on it ... I know right, but it was way good!!! That lesson went well, I helped teach a little bit, but it still went well, we actually met with that same guy again today. The next day we taught six lessons ... unheard of right! My companion is way good!!!! He is amazing!!!! He is so hard working, his name is Watanabe Choro, he’s so little and adorable and ASIAN!!!!!

Griffiths Choro & Watanabe Choro

The food here is way good, although it is doing funny things to my insides, mostly its ramen and curry, but not hot curry, its more sweet though. It makes my pooh orange ... I know, I’m a little concerned. I hope that I will get more used to it as I eat more of it, but I really don’t know yet.

My toilet is normal, in my apartment and at the church, but today actually I really had to go, like way bad, so we stopped at the Inage train station, and I used the toilet there ... now imagine how flexible I am, or am not; and remember that my friend has been telling me for weeks that japan is a first world country ... so in I go, and lo and behold ... I see a hole in the ground ... not just any hole tough, this thing is high tech, I’m talking automatic flush with like a jet tube that shoots your pooh down when you done, but still, it’s a hole in the ground ... so yeah ... this is gonna be interesting! I survived though, and more importantly, so did my pants ... wahoo!!!! Never again! I will hold it till we get to the church or back home! Is this what you mean by, think of it as an adventure; it was fun though. I need to get a picture to send to you ... it’s pretty cool actually, new life goal - be able to use those things effectively.

This week the weather hasn't been too bad, its bloody hot, but my native companion sweats more than I do, so I think that I’m doing alright. Its soooooooooo humid here, we got off the plane and it was like "this tunnel is really hot," and then we realized that it was the whole country!!! It’s pretty nice tough, shaving is nice! I like that heat, it feels good. We sleep on futons at night, they are way comfy and the sheets you sent me are great!! I love them!!! In the mornings, we just work out in the room, I have not been running yet, but maybe I will go someday.

I love Budge Kaichou (President Budge, the Mission President), he so chill, and so great! They are way nice people!!!! I am currently serving in Chiba area inside of Chiba zone! Its great here! My companion and his old companion had a baptism yesterday (for me) so I got to have one on my first week, here! It was great, and because the elder that baptized him is my old companions trainer I got to see my MTC doryo too! It was great!

I hear that if you want to ship anything here, you should use amazon! I am good for now though, I can get everything at the shopping center here, its massive!!

Natto

Bad story time: so walnuts are way expensive, so I figured I was pretty safe, I mean who spends 600 Yen for a couple ounces, no one! That is ridiculous, but apparently this sister really loves the missionaries, so I took a bite of a delicious cookie, it was small and my reaction wasn't that bad at all, but still, I was humbled by the Lord!

I think that I might get to eat Natto this week sometime; that will be fun. Natto is the fermented beans ... thing, it looks like snot in a can with giant boogers in it ... yeah ... oshie des ne?

Onto my family, I am sorry that y’all are starting school this week; that is hard always. I am jealous of the hot air balloon festival, and the running, that sounds way sweet;

I am also excited to check out said blog, I think that I will look just once (he can’t get to it, blogger.com is blocked). Can you tell how many people have looked at it? I think that that would be cool, have dad work on applying a counting program to see how many hits my life gets. Also feel free to put anything from my letters in it, anything you guys hear from around the world can also go in it. I hope that all is going well.

I love it here though; everyone is great and loves the missionaries! I think that coming home will be harder than coming out though; but I have two years until that happens.