DD 2.65 ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU DADD!!!!

What day of the week do transfers occur on?

They happen on Thursday.

Did you get a picture of the temple on T-Day?

I got some with me and my MTC companion, but I forgot my cord today, maybe next week. My bad!

How is your 40 days of fasting going? When do you fast? How many days have you fasted already?

I fast on December 10th.

We received a message from the Mission President on the 14th of October, in it they told us of the 40 Day fast, we assumed that all missionaries would schedule 40 days of fasting throughout October, November, and December.  It seemed challenging, but doable.  This makes more sense now, throughout the mission there will be 40 days of fasting ... there are 40 areas, each area will fast one day, thus the mission will have fasted 40 days.

Did you feel the earthquake early Friday morning?

I did not.

Any power outages or damage due to the earthquake?

Nope, no problems here

Where do you buy the melonpan rolls? Or get them at a member’s home?

Any convenience store or the melonpon shop down the street.

Trenton apparently is going to spell it "melonpon." Google shows both, with a trend towards "melonpan."

Did you find the Pinocchio picture?

Not yet

When we found Trent's apartment last week, we saw a small sign with Pinocchio on it and challenged Trent to see if he could find it.

How did your appointment with "have I got a book for you" guy go?

We are meeting him on this Thursday, but I called him and he was way excited to meet with us.

Are you wearing your jacket or coat yet?

Today I’m rocking the short sleeves.

Any frost yet? Leaves falling? Changing color?

Nope. But there are not many trees here in Chiba

Tender Mercy for the month of October?

See transfer info below

How is the Chiba Ward being impacted by transfers?

Later

How's your bike holding up?

It’s pretty good. We go to the bike shop pretty regularly so he keeps ours in check.

Tell us about a bicycling adventure. Lights failing, riding home in dark? Run into any signs? Dad said his bike always broke and he learned to fix it with channel locks and a screwdriver. Any repairs? 10 flats in a day?

My bike has missionary steroids, so it’s indestructible. Williams has actually had three accidents so far, but thanks to his holy calling as a missionary, he is fine; his front brake no longer works, but we are going to the shop today to see if our guy can fix it.

In our Priesthood Quorums we are talking about missions and things you can do on P-Day. What is your most memorable P-Day experience so far?

My second P-Day we went shopping and found a new investigator, usually though we just study in the apartment and such, I haven’t really had a lot of fun experiences on P-Day yet. We had a zone P-Day once, and that was really fun!

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for.

Watnabe Choro is transferring to Joetsu

Williams Choro is leaving me and going to Togane

and I’m staying in Chiba Ward ... with … wait

fooooooooooooooooooooooooooorr it …

…

… The Zone LEADERS.

I’m not entirely sure what I did to deserve this, but for some reason I’m now working with the Zone Leaders ... apparently I was a terrible missionary and now the ZL’s are here to keep me in check. This should be fun. Yeah ... I’m not sure what is going to happen, one of them is Nihongo and the other is like transfer eight, so yeah. They are coming from different areas/zones, and will be coming to Chiba for the first time; so I will be showing them around, talk about pressure. Pray we don't get lost.

So this week, I heard that priesthood line of authorities is now available from the church? What’s up with that?

"Columbia Airlines Flight 409" has a midair collision

on approach to Salt Lake International

Also I heard there is a movie called Airport ‘75, which was filmed in Utah … about a thousand years ago, let me know if y’all have heard of it, and if you have why haven’t you shared that little piece of movie trivia with me.

The package you sent was excellent, the fudge was delicious! And the Reese and Twix bars always brighten my day.

I seriously love melonpon BTW; this week I found chocolate chip melonpon ... let’s just say that I almost died from excitement; and yes, I have a picture.

Every week since I've been here we have been volunteering at a mental disability home called Desmadago, and it’s always way great, but last week we got to help build little treasure chests and I got to use a little miniature band saw to cut the wood, it was so great!!!!! Well, it was an exciting part of my week; that’s all.

What are the hardest parts of missionary life?

Shaving every day; I hate it. I have no plans to attend BYU, I’m USU through and through.

And the metric system ... I have no idea what it’s all about, and it still makes no sense to me; clearly I should have paid attention in 3rd grade. I really miss that about America, our stubbornness about not ever changing our beliefs about how we measure stuff!

Charles T. Whipple
pen name ... Chuck Tyrell

Picture of the Resolution
docked in New Zealand
shortly before the crash in 2008

Oh so this week I found out that one of our ward member’s is famous! His name is Charlie Whipple and his pen name is Chuck Tyrell, apparently all of his books and yes, plural, are all really good. He also built a boat and tried to sail around the world, but crashed near New Zealand. He’s such a stud, he built the boat himself and, like everything in it … by himself!!! It is great!!! So he’s in the hospital because he fell off his boat and into the Tokyo Bay and got a leg infection ... hopefully he doesn't loose his leg to the waters too, he lost his left index finger making his boat, but if he does lose his leg, we decided we are going to get him a wooden one so he can be a Pirate.

This week we found a really good PI housing and right afterwards Watanabe Choro said “That’s why housing is so sweet!” I just wanted you all to know that I taught him some really good English …

So yeah, this week was pretty good transfers happen on Thursday and should be all sorts of fun.

Sam, how was your first, “second-hand high,” at the concert … and yes you can get them, so please be careful ... that was kinda funny though. I can’t believe that the lens from your glasses fell out and you didn't even notice ... sorry to hear that, I bet you looked funny for the rest of the day with only one lens in.

Abi, sorry that you made too much rice today. I actually made too much, well not to the scale that you did, just a little too much, it was a little under cooked, and a little crunchy ... whoops! but we live and learn!!!

I hope that all is going well this week, I’ll let you know how working with the ZL’s is going next week, should be a fun experience that’s for sure!!!

Love you all and thank you for all the love and support!!!
1995 2640

DD 2.56 ... "Yes, you will do just fine." ... then yeah ... this happened ...

T-Day this week. The week before Transfers, our P-Day moves to Tuesday, then all who are close enough, go to the Temple ... so ... sorry there was no letter on Monday; here it is on Tuesday:  T-Day.

What do Japanese toothbrushes look like? Why are they not as good as American ones?

They are all right, they are just small and expensive ... and they wear out really easily, also I got the package today, thank you so much!!! I haven’t really looked through it yet!

It sounds like you are stopping more people on the street to talk to them, are you feeling more comfortable w/ the language? Do you understand what they are saying more?

YES, I do all my phone calls in Japanese, and I talked to some people on the train today.

Is your neck still hurting? Shoulders? Stomach?

Nope, I feel completely fine!

What kind of book bag/back pack did you buy? Was it the blue plaid bag in your picture last week?

Yes ... right! Its way sweet.

Does the new bag make your shoulders/neck hurt?

Nope, again, I must be cured!!

How was the typhoon on Tues/Wed? Did you go out while it was storming?

We slept through most of it that night, but like five minutes after it ended we went housing, and met a Jehovah’s Witness.

Did your power go out during/before mentioned typhoon?

Nope, the biggest typhoon in fifty years and Japan kept on running smooth. They are pretty prepared.

How bad was the wind? Rain?

Not too bad, just like a rainstorm in Utah, but without the lightning and we had to pull our laundry inside.

Did the package get there? If so, what was in it? (It might have been delayed due to the storm).

It arrived here on Tuesday! Along with Abi’s letter!

Does your ward do a primary program for sacrament meeting?

Yes, it was a couple weeks ago, it was adorable!!

Are you currently in transfer 2 or 3? What week will the next transfer occur in?

I am currently in Transfer number 2; and this will be week six; transfers will be next week.

Do they celebrate Halloween in Japan? Are you guys having a Halloween party?

Our ward had a Halloween party. See pictures and details below.

Did the Sister Missionary, who taught English with you (Christensen Shimai) get transferred or does she still teach with you guys?

Both of the sisters which are here now are from America, Willden Shimai has some Japanese family background, they are both still here, for now, and both help teach.

Did Dad find your apartment building?

      

Yes ... kinda creepy, but really cool, I definitely want to catch the replay of that in heaven, he even got the right room too, Go Dad!!

Dad said last weeks subject read, "This one's for father. You must really like Japanese. Please Enjoy." How close did he get?  He says he could not find a the translation for "tmasu."
Dad, the last part of the Japanese was to shittemasu it means that “I know” what ever comes before it tatoeba “my dad loves Japanese shittemasu,” or with English grammar, “I know my dad loves Japanese.”

Do you still write people regularly? If so, who? (Ben? Rachel? Lizzie? Paige? Jon?) I'm nosy and am wondering. =)

I write to Ben, Lizzy, and Rachel every week or so, and some random people every once in a while.

So yeah, this week was a typhoon, a Halloween party, and temple day!!! The typhoon was pretty intense, but afterwards we went housing and found a Jehovah’s Witness, having never met one before I wasn't sure what they believed, but now I know a little more, namely they are not allowed to study other religions! Right? But yea freedom to choose, we pretty much left with a box full of pamphlets about how Halloween is Satan’s holiday and how bad we are for teaching people about other religions ... Oh, the things that we see.

Skyline view of Chiba; from the deck of our Jehovah's Witness investigator

... this happened ...

Next up, the Halloween party, I walk in and Brother K. just looked at me and said, “Yes, you will do just fine;” and then yeah, this happened:

Brother O. has a better picture of me doing seiza and looking all dignified, but I don’t have it, it may be on the Chiba Ward Website / Facebook page, maybe dad can find it; it might be on Brother O’s page. This is the game that we made for the Halloween party, we throw cotton balls at the web and they stick to it ... it’s made of tape.

Halloween Party Game

Temple today was very great!!! I love it so much!!! Transfers are coming up and so last Friday I went on splits with Williams Choro, my bean, but it was just the two of us, and we actually found two new people, one of them fell through, but the other said that he loves soccer and after that he loves to read ... so yeah me being the outgoing American that I am said; well then brother, have we got a book for you; and yeah, we’re meeting with him next Friday, introduce him to the gospel more fully, and then set a baptismal date. Should be good, right?

Who knew … the same rule for meeting girls applies to getting investigators, you always wait three days to call ... except in Japan, you call them that night to say that it was nice to meet them and make sure they got home safely; and then you wait three days, call them back, and then make an appointment with them ... who knew? Right?

Thank you for all the eMail and the letter, more eMail, I love them all, today I don’t have very much time and I want to send some emails to Sam’s eMail really fast so that she can send them to y’all!!!!!

Melonpan

Love you all, don’t worry about you letters distracting me too much … Ahhhh … Should I get a flu shot? So really fast, they have this bread called Melonpan, and it is so good!!!!! It’s pretty cheap to. Try and find it in America, if you can’t find it, I’ll probably never come home ... it is so good!!! I highly recommend it. JK; I will still come home.  I really do love doing missionary work!!!! WHOO!!!!

Today I started doing train dendo, we sit next to random people and talk to them, extra points if you can get to the gospel in six sentences or less ... it took me like twelve, but I was playing with some other zone leaders ...　so you could say that they are pretty good, they only have like two and four transfers left...

Yeah, that’s almost all I have this week, love you all and thank you for the stories, sorry about Jayli’s throat/mouth, and when i get back I want/would like to take Porter rock climbing ... think about it and let me know if that would be okay ... I promise we will be safe.

PS … Abi … only four ... bummer, challenge extended To ... fourTEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!!!!!!! bum bum bum ...
1876 2578

DD 2.45 ... Kore wa chichi no tame ni. Kare ga nihongo ga hontōni sukida to shi tmasu. Tanoshimu kudasai ...

How often do you write in your journal?

     Every Night

Did you get any mail this week? Did you get the letter w/ the call and the birthday list?

     Yes!!! Thank you so much!!

Did you get Sam's letter yet? (the one w/the bear tweets)

     Yes ... I’m with mom, I didn't think that they were that funny ... but it might be because I’m on a mission, not reading them at two in the morning ... keep following them and I'll review them when I return.

How was conference? Where did you watch it at? How many sessions did you get to watch?

     We got to watch all the sessions at the church!

Do you get the Ensign? Would you like us to send you the conference issue when it comes out so you have the talks? (if so, Japanese or English?)

     We get the Liahona in English, so I’m all good!

Is it still just the 3 of you in your apartment?

     Yep

Any word on the internet in your apartment yet?

     Nope

If you don’t have the internet, how do you turn in your numbers to ... honbu?

     We call our District Leader or the Zone Leaders and they do it for us.

Part A: How was the weather last week? We heard it was supposed to be rainy, maybe storm a lot? The remnants of typhoon Denas passed over Tokyo - did it have any impact on you? Lots of rain we bet.

     There was no rain last week, there was a lot of wind ... but it was actually way gorgeous!

Part B: Typhoon Wipha (Yes these questions are being dictated to me by dad, that's why they are so specific) is on its way .It'll roll through Tokyo on the 15th (Wednesday) Do you hear about the typhoons ahead of time? Do you refer to them by their name? Does the Kaichou warn you????

     No, we usually just check the weather, or our Ward warns us ... we'll be alright though! Thanks for the concern!

Did you buy a thumb drive?

     Yes, I found one that was 8GB for ¥600 ... so yeah, bought that!

Do you feel like you have gained or lost weight since you've been there?

     I am still 75 kgs ... whatever that means. (it means he is 165 Lbs)

Dad is seriously not satisfied w/ the information we have about your companion – Williams Choro. I feel ok, but dad only remembers that he went to BYU Idaho. Do you know what city he is from? What is his first name? Do you know what his major is? Pretty much any info would please mom and dad. (Definitely his Name and City).

     His name is Williams Choro (Full Name edited to maintain his privacy), he is from Lapeer, Michigan (about 60 Miles, or 1 hour, north of Detroit), and he was studying mechanical engineering ... his favorite food is pizza and he really likes monkeys ...

How are your rain pants?

     MARVELOUS!!!

Dad wants to know a bit about your missionary work - how many discussions did you teach last week?

     Last week was really rough ... we didn't teach many, we taught like three maybe four; on the bright side, I found a new investigator this week, here is Sister S's story ... she said that she can’t meet with us until the first Wednesday of November, which is kinda sketchy, but she took a Book of Mormon anyway because she really wanted to read it ... she then went and bought us a drink ... I wasn't sure what it was until I went back over to my companion ... I was about to drink it but he was all like, "where did you get that?" of course, I was all like, "My home girl, Sister S., done bought it for me cuz I done changed her life!" (yes it was a girl, it seems like all the people that talk to me are women, right? its way sketchy, but more referrals for the Shimais) then he said that it was iced coffee and I should probably teach the word of wisdom next time first ... yeah, a little bit of a downer.

Do you guys split the discussions evenly or does Elder Japan do the most and Elder Idaho the least?

     We try to split it up so that we all teach evenly, but Elder Japan usually answers the questions.

How is Elder Idaho coming w/ his language skills? Do the two of you drop into English when you are talking to each other?

     We really try not to, but sometimes we do, he’s really good! Better than me probably!

Is it cooling off there? If so, how are you staying warm? Are you wearing your sweater yet?

     I busted out my sweater from the suitcases today!!! But, I haven't worn it yet, it is way cool here now, I love it!!!!

Did you dry clean your suit? Was it expensive? Did you do both suits? How did it go?

     The first one was only ¥700 because we are now new members, but I don't know how much the next one will be, probably around ¥2000.

What was your favorite talk/quote from general conference?

     The doubt one by President Uchtdorf (First doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith.) or the challenge by Elder M. Russell Ballard for Ward Member to find a new investigator by Christmas ... challenge extended ... I’ll try to find a couple more, but I would love it if you all did too!

This week was pretty good, I got Sam and Dad’s letters, they were really good!! Thank you for the list of stuff and the Japanese words from dad, I would try to add more in my letters, but they are really hard to spell out in romaji and then when you try to add them in hiragana they switch to kanji... and since there are like three or four kanji for every pronunciation, I don't know which one is right ... yet.

So last week I bought a new bag for ¥1000 and a new tie for ¥100 ... it pretty sweet too. Dad’s letter got here on the tenth, and Sam’s got here on the eleventh ... I don't know why they got here so fast, but I'm not complaining.

This week I had to go to a second transfer training … I think I understood all of it pretty much and took like two pages of notes ... the whole thing was in Japanese ... All right, go me!

Sorry I’m a week late, but I really liked President Monson’s talk in priesthood, it was all about the good shepherd and how we need to lead from the front and be good examples, not the bad shepherd whole tells us where to go and then lazily follows us ... I took this pretty hard, as a missionary we are to be examples in the church leading people to Christ and to his gospel ... now the hard part, as a family we need to help the missionaries more often! By inviting non-members over when they come to dinner and being willing to be joints for their lessons. But most of all, we need to be a good example of a Mormon to all those around us. I know that when the members help us out, it makes all the difference in the world! Referrals are the greatest people and they already have a friend in the church. So like Elder M. Russell Ballard said, I would invite all of you to try to reach out and extend an invitation, that’s all just an invitation, to someone who you know that is not a member; maybe even a less active member to remember the truth that they once knew; whether they knew the truth before we met them or the truth they knew before they came to this earth ... mainly I’m talking to Sam and Abi here, specifically your roommates, what a great missionary opportunity!

Anyways, enough about that, I am excited to get the package that you all sent! The tooth brushes ... oh the glory! I’m way pumped! So yeah, this week and conference was pretty good, I really did miss going to priesthood with dad, I remember last year when we were not able to get into the conference center, we went over to the tabernacle, that was way great! Hearing all the stories about when dad was young and went to conference with his dad ... also this week my companions and I started talking to each other a lot more, we tried to get to know each other and I realized I have no idea how our wonderful parents met ... I mean I know the lasagna story where dad complained and mom stopped him from eating it ... but like how did you guys meet and stuff ... I'm really curious! 

So yeah, this week was pretty good, we had to move our baptismal dates back and drop an investigator, he is part of the Setsurio Church ... he just refuses to let go of the attention that they are giving him and he can't come to our church because they are at the same time ... even though, and here’s the kicker, he swears that the Book of Mormon is the true word of god! Right? How can you fjdsklaghjdsghjk I just don't know any more about him ... we are meeting him for ramen on Tuesday and then likely won’t see him again … probably … I hope he comes to know the truth sooner rather than later.

Well, I am going to try to send some pictures now, so until next week. Oh wait, there is an Elder in my zone who knows Greg, this is for Abi ... Also there has been no news of a tsunami or anything this week. Sorry to hear that mom got lost on way to the Relief Society outing, … Sam had to use the free hair straightener ... #FirstWorldProblem if I ever did hear one.

Abi, what is an ethnic book club, I still do not understand ... and how is the Portuguese club going? I hope that it is fun; I plan to join the rocket team, concrete canoe club, and the Japan club … assuming they have them when I get back; I’ll also join all the engineering teams that compete against BYU so I can crush them, or rather, put them in a box and the box in a bigger box, and then mail it to myself, and when it arrives I’ll SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA (name the movie!)

Next up, pictures! Hopefully! (Some pictures were placed in earlier Blog Entries when appropriate)

The View from our apartment balcony

Teaching Aid

Teaching Aid

This is some of the stuff that
we make to put on rice.

and pasta for food sometimes

1415 2400

DD 2.35 ... but still, I fog him to stop ...

How is Williams Choro as a companion? Can you give us some details?

     He’s pretty chill, just the usual new missionary stuff, he went to BYU Idaho ... that pretty much sums it up.

Has it snowed yet? Let us know when it does!!

     It has not snowed yet.

Do you carry your Kangaroo Pouch with you everywhere you go?

     No, I do need to get a copy of my passport from honbu though. They have my passport.

If so, what do you have in it? And where is your passport?

     At the mission home still, they knew we would lose them.

The parentals think it would be nice if you wrote a letter to Watanabe Choro’s parents after you get transferred. Do they read English? Do you have an email address for them?

     I am not sure if they read English or not ... I should probably ask him. His brother just got an award that only three others have ever gotten, he is going to an awards ceremony in San Diego, he has also been accepted into Harvard ... so I’m sure he speaks English.

Do the church computers have USB ports? Can't you use them to upload pictures?

     We are still working on it.

Do you have an English to Japanese electronic dictionary yet? Jeff Mack mentioned it when you went there for dinner, apparently they are super cool.

     No, I just use the dictionary we received at the MTC, its way good and has everything I need.

Have you had any incompatible power problems with electronic stuff USA vs. Japan? (I think the only electronic thing you took was your camera. can you charge it OK?)

     Everything I brought with me is fine, It looks like they use the same power here (USA=120V –vs- Japan=100V), the same two prong outlet, one side slightly larger than the other. Most power supplies can handle 100-240V.

How is the 12 week language training going? Still learning? Did you start the 12 weeks over when you got a new comp?

     We continued with the training with me, and whoever is here next transfer will start over and do the first six weeks with Williams Choro. By the way, it is not language training; it’s how to be a missionary training.

Do you have access to a printer? Do the church computers have printers?

     We use the copy machines at the convenience stores and the church if black and white is good enough.

Why did you ask about the death/funeral thing? Did someone have a family member die?

     Chase’s little sister died and his brother didn't come home for the funeral; I don’t know, I just felt like I should ask under the circumstances ... kind of scary right?

Health: hair, teeth, stomach, neck, any really bad issues this week? How are they all?

     They are all good ... I think. My neck has gotten better; I think that the stretches are helping.

Did you wash your white pants w/ the green shampoo? How did it go?

     It went really great! They are almost perfectly white! Again!

How are your 3 possible baptisms going?

     Interesting ... they are not all progressing as fast as they can ... I think that they just don’t have a lot of time to meet with us.

Did you ever decide what to do about a rain jacket? Just making do for right now?

     Right now I’m just making do. I haven’t decided what to do yet.

Did you buy a different shoulder bag for your stuff?

     NOPE! I’m going strong!! Just going to work through it.

What do you carry your Japanese scriptures in? Did you ever find a case for them or should we send something?

     I carry them in a plastic bag to protect them from the rain ... I bought a new smaller pair though, I will buy a case for them while I am here.

So when you say that the government shut down, what does that mean?

Chuck Keeton (USU)

Thank-you for all of the emails this week! They are way great! I look forward to conference. I heard about USU and Chuckie yesterday in church ... I almost cried, but I figure he has two years to get better and destroy everyone again before I get back, here’s to hoping that he knocks the pride right out of BYU next year, I’m just glad that I’m not in the country to listen to all the crap that’s probably going down.. Sorry about that Storm, you will survive, just give it a few weeks.  We must accept it, BYU won and USU lost ... that is always a bummer.

Sam, what are you going to do in your new apartment for internet access ... are you going to take Joan (Sam's 7 year old Computer)? I’m dying to know. Things here remind me of you guys too, unlike watching TV or driving my car or running;  it's more like wow, Sam and Abi would think I'm way dumb right now ... I should probably stop doing what I'm doing... and then I realize that what I'm doing right then is awesome and that its way effective missionary work.  So long story short, being my self and doing things that would probably embarrass you guys is what helps bring souls to Christ ... so this week I had a conversation with a man that started with are you a successful business man? Then we talked about what I should do with my life ... and then why I am in Japan, and then why he should come to church ... yea, apparently he doesn't have a lot of time ... ever!!! So I asked him if he had time to eat food? He said yes, and then I said, well so do we!!! Lets meet for lunch ... then it got all awkward and he said he had to catch the train but he would call us if he had time! He never called ... but still, I fog him to stop! I am excited to watch the new season of HIMYM, let me know if it is good or not, and like funny good not morally good; because  know that when I get back it won't be morally good at all ...

So about this test package, I found a flash drive here for 1200 yen and it is four gig, will I need a bigger one, probably because we are doing this thing called the playbook for the mission now, it’s where we get all of our visual aids and record what we taught and when we did to, so I don’t know what I should do, how much does one cost in the states? If it is cheaper than that maybe send me one, maybe let me know right now as you read this if you have an idea or a guess.

I was asked this week if there was another Elder Griffiths that served in Japan, I don’t think that there has been, but I’m not sure, so maybe let me know.

This week I was going on splits with two missionaries that were younger than me... it was actually way great, we found a referral for the sisters, and then received one, we also all had conversations in Japanese.... yeah. and then the next day we had to ride the trains back down to Oyumino by ourselves... me being the senior had to do it because no one else had the knowledge of how to work the cell phone... that’s right, I led three missionaries around Japan on the trains just fine ... well I accidentally stayed connected to the internet on the phone the whole time, but we were safe and didn't get lost at all! Wahoo go me!!!!!

Also this week I just want to thank all of you for raising me to be a good church member, it amazes me that there are times when some people just don’t go to church continuously; all their lives; especially at college. Or that their idea of fasting is to "not eat during church" yeah major respect level down there, but I just realized that the only reason I actually do those things is because I was raised and taught of the blessings that come from them. it hurts my heart when people treat the gospel lightly or with frivolity, and I wanted to thank you all for helping me realize that ... this is salvation. it’s a pretty big deal ... so yeah, there’s my spiel; thank you for all being good church member that converts and the missionaries can look up to. And speaking of missionaries, try not to kill any of them, even if they want to major in girls ... I mean he did say that he wants to go to USU, which is a plus! That’s hilarious though!!!! I can believe that mom and dad didn't see it ... oh well, lesson learned!

Not much happened this week, things are going good, we lost one of our baptismal dates because he has work all the time, he goes in at like 7 in the morning, gets home at like 8 at night ... apparently the company where he works is a Japanese and Chinese company that makes games, and right now the countries aren't on that good of terms, and so their workers who speak Japanese and Chinese are doing a lot of overtime ... and the worst part is they are not getting paid for it!!!! RIGHT??!!?!?!?!?!?! Ridiculous! So we haven’t met with him in a while, but hopefully soon we will be able to!!!

Not much else to say this week, thank you guys for emailing me all the time! you all rock and I love you guys so much!!!  I'm really dying to know what is on my blog, but I am not able to look at it at all ... once a week could you send me some of the posts that are added to it, I would like to know what actually gets put on the internet after it has been though your and moms editing and and then dads un-editing ... yeah, I would be interested. Let me know what you think ... just an idea though!

Things here are pretty good, I'm not really homesick ... as a matter of fact I'm not sure that I'm ever going to come home ... its pretty great here!
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DD 2.25 ... he wanted to meet with the missionaries ...

Our cell phone

One day we pulled it out & showed it to a policeman

as we walked by, they pulled out their'

and we became phone buddies.

I don't recognize the brand of phone we use, it is made by Sharp ... imagine a Nokia brick on steroids ... only the police and the missionaries use this type of phone ... you could say that its pretty durable. We use an application called EZNaviWalk, it is a GPS type application to identify where we are, what trains and stations to use and how to get from here to there using the least expensive route.

I only wear my rain pants when a tropical storm comes through … (like tropical cyclone 22, which is passing along the eastern coast of Japan) ... which, it turns out is quite often here actually; we have lots of tropical cyclones, less than half become typhoons; along the Asian coast we get twice as many typhoons as the Caribbean has hurricanes.

The commissarian’s wife fixed the hem on my slacks, I have yet to wash my white pants, and it still has a blue stain. I now have three futons to sleep on … I used to only have two … they are all right, more comfortable than I would expect, but I really miss my bed back home … actually I really miss my bed @ school too, that one was pretty nice too! Not as nice as MINE at home is though!!! It is still my bed.  I have noticed I am starting to develop a gap between my two front teeth. Can you floss or brush too much? Maybe its from the toothpaste, or from my retainer. Any research on this would put my mind at ease.

Williams Choro, Watanabe Choro, Griffiths Choro at Makuhari Station

Bike Lot at Makuhari Station

Experience has its benefits ... Williams Choro was able to get his bike the 1st week here; we were able to get his cash with no problems, much easier than when I tried it … turns out the District Leader’s companion called when his card didn't work, I got his problem resolved too … go me!!! When I said the other missionaries took our Internet, I meant to say they took the Router with them when they moved to a new apartment in Oyumino. There are five computers at the church, so we can all get online at the same time, and we all use the 90 minutes that we get. They say that we are all getting tablets and new internet soon, but they have been saying that since before I arrived in Japan; so it looks like we will be going to the church to use the computers for a while. I was able to modify the camera so it now takes smaller pictures, thus it won’t take as long to upload pictures into emails … butttttt, we can’t get any of the cameras onto the church’s computers … I know frustrating, right … sorry about no pictures!!! Speaking of church, we give a lot of church tours, it’s pretty great actually, we do tours to introduce the people to the church and what it stands for and what we do.

The photo book is just fine the way it is; I am going to start taking it to family dinners and stuff, we don’t really use it that often, mostly we use it to introduce ourselves to the ward members.

I would like you to send me a copy of my missionary call … apparently its really inspirational and stuff ... I haven’t read it in a while and apparently we are encouraged to read it every once in a while. If you could just send a copy in your next letter to Japan, it would be nice to have.

I’m pretty sure that Williams Choro was between Watanabe and me in the big group picture … maybe!!! His name tag should say Williams Choro on it … ohwaititisinJapanese and only I can read it!!!!!! MWAWA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parentals, sorry that it snowed, I know how much you all like winter! I hope that things are going good and that you are able to deal with Sam moving out all right. I would really like a email or letter of peoples birthdays, so I don’t miss any more...like Axton’s. Sam, sorry that I can’t do the Ragnar with you this year... 2015 for sure!!!!! By the way, I am now inhaler free for 4 months now ... and we ride our bikes pretty hard every day … :-P I also loved the picture you sent at the bottom of the questions. I propose you go home each week and attach one picture every week along with the questions ... that talk that you sent in the letter with the boys stuff was way good!! I loved it!!! And I read it all to. Abi, squid and octopus are actually quite good … and they are pretty healthy. Just throw on some wasabi, don’t touch it with you tongue, and its really good actually, I am glad to hear that you are doing missionary work in the confines of you apartment!!! I almost forgot to comment on my nephew's letters included with Sam’s talk on the 28th. It was so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it so much!!!! I plan on keeping it my whole life!!! I really want to show them to Waylon when he is preparing to go on a mission ... and turning in his papers … and preparing, because I know he’s already preparing like none other ... he is seriously such a boss! Axton too!

AXTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY From ALL OF US TO YOU!!! WE WISH IT WAS OUR BIRTHDAY SO THAT WE COULD PARTY TOO!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for me, I am doing well. Mom, I don’t have a stain-stick for my white pants, I do have bleach and shampoo though, what should I use? Please help me .... Dad’s dear elder that he sent on the 13th, I received it on the 24th, so it took about eleven days ... a normal letter takes about twelve, so I say do whatever is cheaper ... also in that letter... I really wish that we had mattresses that I could swap ...

I realize I don’t speak the language … like at all ... but that’s alright. Last week I was talking to a guy, it was just me, we were passing out fliers, and such. But I have no idea what he is saying I just kept saying that the Book of Mormon is awesome and that he should come to church … I know, (read with sarcasm) this is really effective dendo work; actually it was a little better than that, he has a friend from Canada and he is from Japan, so he wants to come to our English class; he hopes that he can communicate better with her … yeah. So after a while of this, me trying not to laugh, cuz I have no idea what’s going on, we go over to Watanabe and talk to him … to see what's up; turns out he’s not in our area and we have to refer him to the Tokyo area Choros; but he was pretty interested ... so a couple days later we get a call from the Tokyo Choros, they just wanted to say thank-you for sending them such a prepared person, he said that he wanted to meet with the missionaries because I was trying so hard and had, “pure eyes and a great attitude.” Right! Who knew that my not being able to talk would be such a blessing in finding people ... well that’s my Divine Rendezvous for the week, you only have to try, the Lord will take care of the rest. I hope that all is well in the good ole state of Utah. Oh, I almost forgot, we have three baptism dates right now, one on the 20th of October and two on the 27th of October ... two of them are pretty soft dates, but one on dad's birthday is pretty solid ... so that will be a nice gift, right? A new member of the church!

Watanabe Choro, Kondo Choro (DL), Bischoff Choro

Griffiths Choro, Williams Choro

My companions are doing well, they are both, way great; I will try to send a picture if I ever get to use a computer that will let me again … maybe I can figure something out ... I don’t know! It will be interesting!!  We found a sushi restaurant where it is only like fifty yen a roll … yeah, I’m now poor and fat cuz sushi is so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, I feel wrong saying that … it goes against everything that I stand for as an American from Utah … of all places … let alone that I hated fish before I came here ... but its actually way good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! except that texture of tentacles ... the little rubbery pads don't really feel that great on your tongue …… but it tastes all right! Here are some pictures, Watanabe, Kondo, and Biscoff at the sushi shop, don't worry I promise I will never bring this to Thanksgiving,  unless my wife does, and then I'll be with Sam and the Peanut Butter Fingers.  Kondo Choro is our district leader, he is transfer four, while Watanabe is transfer five, he is the oldest in our district.

As you guys know, I didn't really date much before I left on my mission -- I guess Griffiths Choro is way cooler than regular Trenton. We do this thing called mitsutaikai, where we pass out fliers for our English class. Normally we are not allowed to talk to any one of the opposite gender, but during mitsu its alright because it is obvious that we are not hitting on them.  Anyway, these two girls, 16 or 17 in age, are walking across the station a good 20 meters away (I know, right, the metric system got me) but they are totally checking me out, so I nod my head; that was all I did, I swear!  Then they go talk to Williams Choro ... and then to Watanabe Choro ... by now I have realized my mistake and now I am freaking out ... when they leave, I go talk to Watanabe Choro to see what's up. He just starts laughing and says, "They just think that you are so FLY Griffiths Choro," by the way, they are coming back in half an hour to take some pictures with us ... way sketchy right? Well yeah, they come back and Watanabe Choro takes their picture with me and Williams Choro; then they just start taking pictures of me with their phones ... anyway ... I just thought I would clear up any awkward pictures that you may find, of me and my companion, on the internet. I would like it if y'all could give me some advice on how to control my "flyness."  I think this story is pretty funny/awkward/terrifying.

Thank you for all that you do!!! I hope that the girls will go home and visit the parentals sometimes, mom seems a little sad about everyone moving out ... hey, enjoy the food she makes for you! You never know when you're not going to be able to eat it anymore!!!

Love, your Little Brother who is just too Fly for his own good!

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DD 2.15 ... fan the flame of your faith ...

Last week’s typhoon turned out to be pretty mild; lame actually; we stayed inside, no riding in the rain for us. I have considered getting saddle bags for the bike, it's tough to say...can't tell for sure yet.  My neck pain is getting a little worse, I have started to do the neck exercises, we’ll see if this helps ... I will look into the saddle bags, and maybe a different bag, I don’t know ... I’m thinking about it, I’ll let you guys know what's going on!  I am still debating about buying a rain jacket, it is only my sleeves which don’t repel rain so I’m still not sure if I need one or not.

I like the idea of a package coming my way, yes on the toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant and the thumb-drives. I don’t really need anything else.  Let’s keep it simple and we'll see if I actually get everything. Can you put a copy of my call letter in the package? Or in the next letter you send?  And in our next communication, can I get a list of everyone's birthdays?

My talk on Sunday was actually pretty great; I told a whole story in Japanese!!! I didn't know I knew that much Japanese--and it was quite moving too! Or at least I like to think it was...

Sister Montana Law serves in the Japan Sapporo Mission. She went into the MTC the same day I went in but I never had the chance to meet her while I was in the MTC; now that we are in Japan, she will always be way north of me, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Circled:  Watanabe Choro, Williams Choro, Griffiths Choro
There are now 161 missionaries in the Japan Tokyo Mission
114 of whom have been here less than six months.

Watanabe Choro and I got a new companion, and we mean brand new from the MTC; he is from the Detroit area, his name is Williams Choro; he’s pretty chill, I hope that I get to know him better this week.  Training a new missionary is pretty cool, I think Williams Choro was expecting to find new people every day and to be fluent when he got here (sounds like me); and we are not finding every day, and he barely understands anything; sounds like normal to me … but he’s a little frustrated ... I try to help him, but its hard.

General Conference April 2013
(after the Priesthood Session, pre-mission)

We do get to watch General Conference, it will be one week later than normal, and I think that it will be in English. Let me know what your favorite talk is, who its by, and when it is so I can make sure to get all the good ones.

We have an app on our phone which tells us which trains to take, when to change, which station to change at, even where to go; kind of like an electronic Holy Ghost. It changes frequently based on which route is the cheapest. Dad’s guess is mostly right about where and how we get to places (The Inage Station on the JR Sobu Line is the closest station to Trent's apartment … the Keiseiinage Station on the Keisei Chiba Line is the closest station to the Stake Center … the Hiroo Station on the Hibiya Line is the closest station to the temple ... and ... We can't decide ... which of the following Trent uses ... the Shinekoda Station on the Oedo Line for the Mission Home ... or ... the Higashinagasaki Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line for the Mission Home). We usually get on at Inage, but then we switch lines and stuff ... we follow the phone; since I have only been here for a little bit I don’t really know what the station names are when we get off for the temple or the Mission Home. I’ll try an pay more attention to some of those details and pass them along.

I ate most of the Life-Savers when I was in the MTC, I didn't bring them with me to Japan … I didn't have the weight, so they were left in the goody box for the next set of Elders arriving in the MTC to take our place.  I have not had any other walnut, or other allergy events; which is always great!!!

I did receive the family letter in the mail, it arrived on the 17th of September … oops, I forgot to write when it was sent, I hope you have it somewhere. Dad’s monthly letter has not arrived yet, however, I did get one from the Stake Presidency.  I am currently 75 kilograms or 165 pounds; yeah I did all the math.  The commissarian is Harrison Choro, he does all the finances for the mission; his wife, Harrison Shimai, is the one who has offered to help fix my pants!!

Parents! I loved the traditions!!! I love hearing the news about home, I hope the fence will be way nice!!! I hope that all is going well in school!! I really do treasure all your letters and emails!!! Hey, thanks for the camera settings letter, it helped me out a lot!

Glad to hear about Waylon’s part in the Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting, that’s a hard scripture, I’m jealous I did not get to see him! Hope all is going well and Axton gets to be a doctor and football player when he grows up. They do have a league here in Japan, he could play here if you are concerned he would get hurt playing ... he is probably already bigger than some of the players here; I’m not that tall and I still stand above the crowd, literally.  Sam I love the engineering pictures!!! Sooooo funny!!!! I hope that you made a decision about the apartment! I loved the quote by Holland Choro in the letter. I am sorry that dad bought chunky peanut better, I have actually grown to like it quite a bit ... but that might be because it is my only option right now.  Storm ... sorry you had to go on Timp ... that must have been rough. I hope that school is going well and that things are going better with your roommate!! I hope that Tiff has been reliable!!  Paige knows you are in her ward now ... she asked me if it was you; so she recognized you!!!! It sounds like she might be interested in going to church together if you need a friend.

Sorry about today's short email, we have a lesson at 2:00 that we have to get to; we no longer have internet in our apartment; so now we come to the church to do our email.  The Choros in Oyumino moved out and took the internet equipment with them, hence, the visit to the church.  Watanabe Choro thinks 45 min is enough email time because we have so many other things to do today.

Wasabi - Watch Out!!

This week was way sick!!! We set two baptism dates; one of our investigators, took us out to Sushi! It was way crazy! It cost him like ¥8,000, and he paid for all of us!! He must really like us, right? It was way good too! I actually ate shell fish and octopus, I chickened out on the tentacles, I think i'll try them next time. I did try everything else, and it was all way good! Wasabi is way weird though; it burned my tongue and almost made me cry ... it was way bad!

The first week I was here, we baptized Brother C, he speaks Japanese and Chinese; he is from China. Today we taught a lesson, us speaking in Japanese with him translating it to Chinese; this brother that we just taught is the closest to baptism out of all the investigators we have ... it is a miracle that we have Brother C; we are now teaching three people from China; Brother C joins us for all of the lessons. What are the odds of us finding Brother C when the Lord needed to bring the gospel to three others; a tender mercy of the Lord. If only I could be as good a missionary as Brother C ... if I can, I know that the Lord will have made good use of me ... seriously though he is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love him to death!!!!!  I just thought that I would share this experience with you guys!!! I love being here and I am excited to be helping the church open up in China!!! I love the gospel!!!!

In closing I wanted to say that I found this way sweet quote by Elder Holland! “First and forever, fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe!” This has helped me out so much this last week! I really do love Holland Choro!!!

Sorry this letter is short, the keyboards here are terrible, and they are made for Nihongo so half the buttons switch me to kanji ... its muzukashii!!!

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