DD 13.75 ... Glasses ... glasses, glasses ...

How did transfers turn out? Tell us all about it!!
Abiko became a four man, and guess who's district leader ... me - again. It's Dicastri Choro and me, and Adair Shimai and Minson Shimai.  Mayama Shimai is going to Chosei and Yoshino Choro is going to Joetsu!!! I'm here for five transfers baby!!! WHOOO!

How is your health?
Fine!

One of the missionaries we fed today eats gluten free, are you being careful about nuts??
Fine!! No incidents (recently).

How are your investigators doing? anyone come to church today?
Three people!! See below?

Probably asked this before, can't remember, do the young men participate in Boy Scouts in Japan?
Yes, a little different than BSA, but they have it! Like once a week at the church!

How is the weather there? cold? any snow? it is almost 50 degrees here, there is talk of trying to get some sun!
Warm ... too warm, I miss the snow.

Is the Ramon there like Top Ramon or is it sooooo much better?
It makes Top Ramen look like eating a big bowl of hair. It's like Donald Trump and the neighborhood lemonade stand ... ones just so much better than the other!

When did you last get a hair cut?
Three weeks ago.

Have you been running?
Yep! We go 3 times a week and it's glorious! 

Dad wants to know if you are doing the D&C countdown with him? Dad started it, he needs more scripture reading in his day!!
I'm working, but I'm a little behind ... too much to study for my people!

Do they have Nutella in Japan? It is made of hazelnuts, but don't eat it just in case!
I have eaten it here ... like whole jars already ... oops?

Is the next transfer only five weeks?
Six I think!

Father!
Personally, I like getting emails from you on pDay, I feel as though I never write back to letters, so let's keep the emails happening, as for the poems ... I need some real mail or I would have no reason to check the mailbox everyday ... and then I would be crazy, checking it without reason. ABSURD. (Ahem. Not so subtle guilt trip for everyone else in the family not sending me letters) I'm impressed, you know that many people in the ward! That's crazy impressive!! I'm realizing how hard that is by how tough it is to learn everyone's names here! It's rough!

Mother!
Thank you for cleaning the couch! Remember when I attacked it with bug spray? Sorry about that ... not really sure what I was thinking then ... thanks for the update on the young women's lesson. Grateful in any circumstance, I think that's exactly what I need right now. Things are great; our older group of investigators are giving us opportunities now.

Smashed to pieces ...
Way to go running! Fifteen miles! Your marathon will be fine! Try to avoid murder creeps though ... that's kinda sketch. I'm sorry work is without food! Maybe you could just line your purse with tinfoil, and fill it up with food before you go in? And then again before you leave? Name that episode! And I have no idea what show your quote was from ... I wanna say friends though. (Note from Sam: Correct!) 

Abdominal pain ...
Sorry about the challenges on your job, that's way rough, congrats on the meditation thing, what do you mean you have to redo your make up though? I'm confused. But it seems like it's a good thing ... ps. Sam feels like she's not strong enough to run by herself, and needs a running buddy. I would do it, but I'm asleep, and on the other side of the world when she goes. Can y'all help a brother out?

This week! Tuesday, I crashed my bike in the rain, and sprained my wrist ... I tightened my brakes the day before, and apparently I did a little too good of a job, clenched them too tight, and slid around a corner in the rain ... I'm totally fine now though!! Really, no holes in my pants or anything! 100% fine ... except my pride ... That's down a little bit.

Wednesday, a member brought her nephew named Julius from Pennsylvania to eikaiwa ... to meet some Nihongo friends ... she's wanting him to take over her multi-million dollar company when she's too old to run it ... But first he needs to learn Japanese, and go to college and get his life in order it seems ... he's way chill though ... keeps trying to get us to buy palm aid ... he has way nice suits though!!

Thursday we had some finding time, and found a ton of people, I literally mean like a ton, so many new people!! It's crazy!!

Friday, we went to hear Aoyagi Choro speak, and that was way good, way spiritual and we all got a lot good stuff from it!!! Then that night we went to ping pong and met with J-San, H-San, O-San, and U-San; we threw down with them and what not!!

Mission Tour with Aoyagi ... January 30 in Chiba

Then on Saturday, we met with Julius and his Aunt to go get yaku niku, pretty much all you can eat raw meat that you grill yourself ... I ate so much!!

Sunday Julius same to church as well as O-San and A-San, and Sunday's chill with these two Japanese people was awesome!! It rocked! The spirit was so strong, and in the words of Yoshino Choro, "a plethora of testimony was born" ... I don't know why study Japanese. Then we visited W-San, and he's doing fine still ... but I worry about him sometimes.

On Monday morning we got transfer calls, I'm glad that I get to stay one more transfer, I thought for sure that I would be gone, but now I get to see all sorts of cool miracles. I think that the Lord kept me here for this transfer, we've done so much, and this transfer hopefully we're going to see all the fruits of our labors. I'm really sad to see Yoshino Choro and Mayama Shimai go. I really hate transfers, because no matter who is leaving, it's always crazy sad.  Abiko is just a four man now, the smallest ward I've ever been in, but I think that it'll be okay.  Should be a wild adventure to go out on!!

This weeks spiritual insight from Griffiths Choro:
Gratitude. It was actually during the Aoyagi conference where I thought I needed to be more grateful. There are so many things that are happening right now that I can't explain or find a reason why, but I have to assume that they're for my good. I néed to face things with an attitude of gratitude! That makes it  much easier to deal with in the end. I would invite you all to be grateful for all the little things that happen this week: your car starting on the first try, being able to drive to work. Having a convenient location to buy peanut butter at for under 10 dollars to dip Oreos into.. It's so great! I think all in all, life is good for each and everyone of us. And how awesome is that!!! Thank you all for being such an amazing family, I really do love each and everyone of you!! You rock!!

Love, Griffiths Choro
11329 10188

DD 13.65 ... Do you have time ... Do you have time to meet ... Do you have a time to meet ... Do you have the time ...

What is the transfer news? Who in your district is going where?
Nope, that's next week. Koichi Aoyagi Choro is coming this week ... so it's a seven week transfer!!

How are you feeling? Still tired? Maybe you need some vitamin C?
I feel great, I started getting up at six to read the Book of Mormon in Japanese everyday, and feel awesome!

How is your bike doing since you fixed it? Tires holding up?
Fixed the tires, wore out the brakes, and then  fixed them so well, then I almost killed myself, because I'm not used to them yet ... almost flew right over the handle bars ... thrice!

How is Dicastri Choro doing? Has he been sick again?
He's great!

Do you eat a lot of bread in Japan? Any? What kind? Sandwiches? PB and J? Subway?
Jam on bread, cinnamon and sugar on bread, butter on bread, plain bread, spam on bread, sauce of lunch on bread, everything but peanut butter cuz we don't have any.

Did you have more investigators come to church now that the Abiko building is open again?
At least one every week!! We should have more, but we're pretty sure they are all are sleeping at ten now.

When was the last time you saw snow?
On Wednesday, it snowed just a little bit before it turned in to rain.

Do you have any holes in your pants yet?
Nope!!

When was the last time you used the priesthood to bless some one?
On Monday, when Dicastri Choro was sick!

How was your Skype call with Turley Choro to help with your lesson? Did he mention how he was doing?
The meeting with J-San was canceled. Turley Choro is doing well though, he might come back at the end of February!

Let us know what you need? And we will unite in prayer in your behalf.
Please pray for me to be able to have a good enough attitude to show an example to those around me!

Father!!! That puzzle is legit!!! I'm kinda jealous! As for the fireside, I have one thing to say ... Perk of America, understanding things that people are saying ... I never understand the firesides here! It's kinda lame! Thanks for the insights though! I need to list my strengths ... and figure out how to apply them to my investigators! Thanks for the advice! Love you!!! Tons!!!

Mother!!! Twelve loaves of bread sounds so good!! Think of all the jam and peanut butter and honey and butter, and honey butter that you could put on all of it! I look at bread as a vehicle for the thing that's driving it to my mouth ... that's really all it is to me! I like your plans for it though!!!

Porter and family!,! Happy birthday!!! You're so big and grown up now right? Driving tractors and I even heard you stole some from a dragon and ate it yourself!?! That's so cool!!! I can't wait to come home and have so many adventures with you and your big back yard!!!

Sam ... I showed amasofpoo to my companion, and he thought it was ridiculous ... Cali sounds fun, but by the sound of your voice, I think that you've gained a little weight ... maybe a lot, better go running again! I mean if you eat any bread that mom and dad have, it might go straight to your arms ... and that wouldn't be good!! How's that for motivation? Also, I'm dying to see you try to cut some wood with a saw!

Abs of steel!! What's the Kritch's real name? I've totally forgotten, oops! It sounds as though things are back to normal, but I'm not there to be the chill person ... you sound stressed! And all you have to say is go buy some ice-cream! Sam will cave and go buy some with you, maybe even a root beer freeze! Maybe even some famous stars from like when we were at school!! Kelton! That's his name, we went to go get tacos that one time! I remember now!

This week was sweet! I mailed you all on Tuesday so I don't really feel as though that much time has passed. On Wednesday, it snowed, but didn't stick, it quickly turned to an ice rain, but I hear the more rain that gets on your name tag, the more celestial glory you get, so the four minute bike ride home without rain pants was totally worth it. I thought that because it was snowing, I wouldn't need them ... I was wrong.  :(

Thursday!
... We did weekly planning!

Friday!!! We had district meeting, and then ping pong!!! Crazy night!! So many people came and I got schooled so hard, apparently living in Japan for ten years, and being married to a Nihongo wife for thirty years makes you good at ping pong ... yeah, I got destroyed. Brother and Sister C were crazy good, and then J-San, is also amazing, and beat everyone there! Then we went and had a good talk about the Bible for an hour'ish! Good night! It was crazy!!!

Saturday we had eikaiwa, and that was fun! They're Engn Their english is better than mine, I teach advanced. They wanted to know the difference between:
Do you have time?
Do you have time to meet?
Do you have a time to meet?
Do you have the time to to meet?
And, do you have the time?
It was rough!!!

Saturday night we met with OK-San! And with Brother S! It s awesome! Brother S used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day, and he quite in less than twelve hours! So he's a pretty good doeseki! Then OK_San said that he should probably read and pray and come to church! AND ... he did on Sunday!!!

Also on Saturday we met with P-San, and had ramen, and then taught the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity in a pub ... it wasn't actually too sketchy more like a restaurant that has a really large alcohol selection ... but still, not the greatest move on our part.

Whilst waiting for P-San, we met with W-San on accident, well God's errand. He's an old investigator that was going to get baptized, but dropped off the face of the earth one day. So it was good, he wants to come to church, but then the next day, his medicine had a bad side effect, and he couldn't come. P-San and J-San had to spend time with theirs wives and kids, so they didn't come to church! Ridiculous! I know, I don't understand it either. But yeah, one person at church, but it was so cool! I found out that N Shimai, a girl that I found like, four months ago, is still reading the Book of Mormon, and really wants to come to church, but has to work, so she's looking for a new job so that she can come ... without even meeting with the sister missionaries!!! Soo cool right!?! I thought so too!!! Also it was Mayama Shimai birthday on Sunday ... so we got the ward to sign her a card and what not.

I was reading an article in the New Era today, good stuff BTW, and it said that if you have things above God in your life, such as TV or games or random lame stuff like that, than you should organize your priorities. I think that we could all use this advice in some aspect of our lives, for me, I really wanna see another baptism before I leave Abiko in a week ... so I need to reevaluate my life, and accept God's timing. I don't know what it is for everyone, but I feel as though we all have something. This week, think about it, and commit to being better by next week!!!

Love you all, Griffiths Choro!!!
11274 10097

DD 13.56 ... Woke up too early today, soo tired ...

Are you more hungry this week than last? Have you been sick?
I feel fine. I think I'm getting better.

How is the weather there? fifty degrees here, and lots of smog.
Warm. Wind that cuts to the bone, but other than that, warm.

Would you like us to check on registration for USU for you??
Yes, please register for me!!

Do you need deodorant soon? toothpaste?
Maybe deodorant, but I can last till June.

Have you figured out how to use the gyro ball yet? Does it relieve any of your stress?
Yes, hand started it and everything yesterday morning ... I love it!

When you play church videos during discussions do you play it on your iPad or on their TV's?
Our iPads.

In the church news we read that Budge Kaichou is being replaced; do you know when he is being released? 
I don't know ... he's pretty hard core.

Do you ever have discussions at zone meetings or mission conferences on hygiene and how to prevent illness?  Or do they tell you what things not to eat in Japan? Abi's friend returned from her mission, she was a mission nurse, and did those things. Just curious.
Like every single presentation from Budge Shimai is all about how we need to be clean. But more so that our apartments don't get trashed ... I mean they're our revelation stations.

How was services in the new Abiko building yesterday? Did you really give free elevator rides at the open house?
It's awesome!!!! And yeah, so many people came to get free rides!!

What has been a treasured tender mercy that you have experienced in the last couple of months?
Getting letters from my beloved family all the time!

How is Bro. P from Jersey? Is that New Jersey in the good ole USA?
Yes!, what other Jersey is there?

Father,  honestly, don't worry about making me trunky, the more I think about home, the more I think how much more I want to do while I'm here and as much as I love you all, I really don't want to go home ...

Mom!! People really do sleep on the trains ... never seen a helmet like that one though! Sad day! As for K night funanza, sounds like it was a success ... mainly because ice cream and brownies were left over ... I'd call it a win! Let me know how the dinner goes!

Sam, sounds like your trip was fun, always good to hear that you went to church even though you didn't have any supervision. Thanks for always being a good example to me! You rock!! Let's ride the roller coaster when I get back too!!!

Strong!! Congrats on being a legit teacher!! That is so cool!! But all I can think  about now is pie ... peanut butter pie, could you ship me some? Or would it be too much for UPS? I think it might be.  It's cool about K and P! Silent movies seem pretty legit!

So this week!!! Last Tuesday! We visited Sister K.  and had dinner with the M-San, an adorable older couple in our ward. They're so hard core, former Mission President, Senior Missionary couple, and Temple President ... they were converted a few years after they got married!

Wednesday we had eikaiwa and taught our peeps about Christ!! It was sweet!

Ten hour days, weekly planning and teaching some other people.

Friday, played ping pong with K, got schooled, sad day, but I bet I can beat Sam for sure. He really likes church history, but not so much religion, we're working with him, but it's hard sometimes. He really just wants to learn cool facts ... but has trouble accepting the idea that God helped Joseph Smith and Brigham Young do all the cool stuff that they did!

Saturday! We had an open house and made mochi with the ward! Brother P-San came, and we taught him, he's reading the Book of Mormon, and thinks it's a good book! His kids are adorable. He also talked to the Elder's Quorum President for like an hour about videos games, both are in their thirties.

N-San came and L-San talked about video games as well, made some mochi, and talked about more than I can say actually; I didn't even get to touch the hammer to beat the rice while making mochi; but its alright, he's good.

Left to Right:  Yoshino Choro, Brother Hirata-San, Brother Naoto-San, Griffiths Choro,
Dicastri Choro, Brother Hiroto-San

Then T-San came from nowhere with a triple, and said, I want to learn more about the Mormons! So Brother C-San threw down about baptism and apparently he's a millionaire. So he's loaded and has four houses ... so happy I can help bring him closer to Christ, good eternal friend! And he's so prepared!! He wants to help his daughter join as well someday!! He loves the Book of Mormon too!!!

Then Saturday night we got a referral from Tsukuba, Stevens Choro and one of Yoshino Choro's old companions, and they gave us Brother A-San, who's so cool!! We talked about smoking with the other Choros and since he started his new job, he doesn't have time to smoke, so he's dropping quick! He wants to get baptized at the end of the month!!

Then Sunday came and he came to church as well! Abiko building is so cool! It's a little tight, but Brother A-San sang all the songs, and he loved them all, and Sunday School was sweet! He loves church!!

We also had Y and A come, but they'd were as excited. But Y is a long time peep that used to come to church all the time, but didn't come to the Matsudo building, so he just showed up randomly! It was so sweet!!!

Also this week was Luna Shiami last week here before she goes back to China, so we had a little going away party for her, which was sad, but she's going to dendo way hard in China, so it's all good!!

That's the week.
Oh wait, Monday, Heavenly Father  didn't want me or Dicastri Choro to teach kondo, so he made Dicastri Choro deathly ill, and destroyed my bike tires ... and so while Yoshino Choro and Brother S went to teach, I fixed my bike and the Shimai brought us lots of drugs to help fix my beloved companion ... and today we're all totally fine, so we think that it was God!! Good miracle!!!

Spiritual stuff before I go to sleep, I'm so tired! Nielson Choro, the first Choro I trained came to spend the night last night because his area was too far from the temple; it was so cool to see how much he's grown. He's like a legit powerful missionary! It's so cool!!! So what I realize, is no matter how small our progress may seem, in the end, we grow a lot; that's the most important thing right? So some way, keep track of the little growth, and over time you will see how big it gets!!

Love you all, Griffiths Choro
11239 10000

DD 13.45 ... I've made so many cranes, this is twenty-five of the 200+ I've made ...

Hey look, I made the questions purple this week.

I've made so many cranes ...

Did the McDonalds gift cards work in Japan?
We've been to busy to go and do it yet,

Did you get a package?

Yes!! The shirt is crazy white! I'm going to try to wear it to the temple, and baptisms ... which hopefully we have lot of ...

What are three things you want to see in Japan?

The top of Mount Fuji, the dog statue in Tokyo, and a giant pile of melon pan...

How are your new investigators doing? Any commitments?

Good, everyone's reading the Book of Mormon and we're trying to get everyone to come to church! Next week it will be back in Abiko!!! Whoooo!!!

Do you think you will be in a threesome the rest of the transfer?

Most likely.

Have you heard from Elder Turley? Any news on his knee? 

He's doing good, were using him to help out with a lesson tonight through Skype, he had surgery, but no word yet.

Which has steeper hills, Abiko or Togane?

The hill in Togane was one massive mountain ... the hills in Abiko are just everywhere and crazy steep.

How are the english classes going? How many people come now?

Like twenty on Wednesday and fifteen-ish on Saturday.

How I learn Japanese

How is your health? Any illnesses? or injuries? or healthier than ever?

Fine, I'm tired, and haven't had much of an appetite recently ... and I know that you think I'm probably not eating anything, but I mean compared to what I was consuming before, I still have like two cups of rice a day with tons of stuff on top with bananas and oranges for breakfast and snacks, but I haven't been eating as much as like two weeks ago.

How are your running shoes holding up?

Just fine... I actually ran a 10k on Saturday!

Are your Japanese language skills improving with a native companion?

... yeah ... I am learning a lot of slang.

Dad ... I have an iron and know how to use it ... the white shirt is not too wrinkled. I think you should put up lights for when I come home ... we should light up the whole house! ... maybe even the whole neighborhood!! I like the new theme for Sacrament Meeting ... sounds way cool!!

Mother ... I would take Waylon up on a sleepover any day of the week. That sounds awesome! As for Saturday night? I'm just sorry that I can't be there, that sounds fantastic! The three of us came up with movie or dinner together ... maybe even gun polishing. That could be interesting, let me know how it goes.

Sam! When I get back, you have to help me find clothes that say I'm awesome. I'm up for your Teton marathon though. Do I get a Teton Dam runner shirt if I run it? That would be ideal. If not, we should definitely go help out, I mean all those runners, they need water of sorts right?

Storming the court ... church ball? Fun fun. I figured out sports with balls, btw. My advice is to just run around and that way everyone assumes that you're way good ... even if you're not ... which in my case, is a hundred percent true. Sounds fun though! We play every Saturday here, and it's crazy!

This week! On Wednesday! ... I don't remember Wednesday at all actually ... 
neither do my companions ... it was probably awesome!

Thursday, weekly planning and ...

Friday, we had ping pong night! I got destroyed in the first round by Mayama and Setsuko Shimai ... apparently Asians really are good at ping pong, it's not just a stereotype ... speaking of which, do we have a ping pong table?

Dicastri Chori and myself w/various animals

The scarf is Setsuko's, the Shimai investigator ...

Saturday, we went running with Brother J. in he morning, ten kilometers, and it was totally fine, good to know I can just bust one of those out when need be, we taught along the way, way great! Then we met with SK and Sister L. Sister L apparently is going back to China next week! We're all way sad!  Then we had dinner with K, who's moving back to Sendai this week, and TJ who is going to visit his wife in Nagano next week ... all my friends here are leaving, and it's way lame. But it was way good to hear Kh bear his testimony before he left! Kh is such a boss!! He's in the Japanese navy and rocks!

Also on Saturday we was walking around Kashiwa, and it just didn't feel right, so we tried to cross to the other side of the station, and we ran into Bro. K.! For the first time in like two months we finally met with him again. He's still reading the Book of Mormon, and praying, but it seems that meeting with us no longer a really high priority on his list. It's way sad, we were good friends, and now he doesn't even have time to meet with us for ramen anymore ... hurts my soul, that, and he was so close! And he wants it so bad, and as an outsider looking into his life, he needs it so bad! But he just won't open the door to let Christ in and it's so frustrating. And so sad at the same time. I just wish that there was something more we could do, but there isn't. That picture of Christ at the door is all too true, He's standing there knocking and just waiting for us to let Him in. But it's our choice, and it's up to us to let Him in. It's so sad when we don't let Him in, or even believe that He's there, because He really does help with all of our problems! It's so nice!!

 Also on Saturday we met with P, and his Chinese wife, he's from Jersey, and he's awesome! He's not really searching per say, but when he finds something new and interesting, he can't put it down, like the Book of Mormon; we found him last week, and he's way sweet! His family might come to church this coming week now that it's back in Abiko, they're coming to the Omochi party thing on Saturday as well, that should be crazy fun!! And he wants to come to church it seems!!

Dicastri Choro and myself;
Come to the open house on Saturday ... free elevator rides

Then on Sunday we had our last week in Matsudo church! I'm so excited!! And afterwards we went and visited Brother A, we met him a couple weeks ago, apparently he went to the Mormon church when he was younger, and knows about the Book of Mormon and believes Joseph Smith is a prophet and everything, but he wasn't baptized, because he was six when he went! He's coming to church and reading, and it's awesome!!! Huge miracle!! He's so cool!!!

Also this week we found Brother K who's a  old guy who loves himself some English and the Bible! We're meeting him again today to talk more about Christ and how our church is different, and he's way awesome! He wants to come to church, but it's a little far for an eighty year old man on a bike!! But we're going to get him a ride and it should be good!! He's so amazing!!! But yeah, I'm way excited.

This week I was reminded that the relationships formed through the gospel are the best ones ever! I've met so many people here that I absolutely love and it's hurts so bad when I see them hurt or mislead. It hurts to see them struggle and fail and to give up when they at so close to the best thing ever. It makes me feel so sad for them when they do things that will hurt them ... and it also brings so much joy into my life when one person who you care about so much finally decides to open that door, and let Christ into their lives.  Nothing is better than seeing someone progress toward Christ! I love it so much!!! It's the best!!!

I love you all, and am so grateful for everything you have done for me! I'll send some pics as well.

Elder Griffiths,

Ps, Dicastri Choro's wonderful sister just sent us instructions for an origami dragon and ninja star.

11144 9785

DD 13.35 ... Oh look, a Bear!!!

Is Yoshino Choro part of your companionship now? Or did they assign someone else to be with him? What is the long term plan?
I don't know what the long term plan is for Abiko, right now it's Yoshino Choro, Dicastri Choro and I, and we're crazy busy.

How are your investigators coming along?
Great, doubled them all in like a week. Brother J is doing good, he's the Canadian who likes to go running and talk about the Bible; he's the closest to baptism; his dad is hantai, so it hard for him to move in a different direction.

Did you get your first package of the new year?
Not yet.

How was New Years? Eve? day? Did you get to stay up late? or normal bedtime?
New Year's Eve, we cleaned all day. All New Year's Day we read the Book of Mormon. I tried to wake up at midnight and watch the new year, but couldn't get myself up.

Since this is Japan's biggest holiday, what did they do? Party? Anything cool? Lights? Festivals?
Everything ... there's a reason we don't dendo. It's too crazy.

Are you back in the Abiko Building?
As of the eighteenth ...

How is the weather ... any snow yet? It's been almost 3 months since Japan has had a volcano, a Typhoon,  an earthquake ... you tell us, anything happening in Tokyo?
Nothing recently.

Oh, here's a question, its an oldie but a goodie, have you fixed your flat tire yet ... oh, let me guess, its too cold to fix it now ... do you want us to send you a new tube?
Of course!!!! ... ... Not

Tell us about Dicastro Choro's progress ... he's new to Japan, but how is his progress, picking things up fast, how are his language skills?
He's doing really good! Especially now that Yoshino Choro is with us. He's learning actual Nihongo, instead of my slightly American Japanese.

What have you done lately for pDay?
Help Turley Choro pack, shop at recycle shops, fun stuff as usual.

What type of service have you rendered to the citizens of Abiko this week?
Pick up garbage and Eikaiwa.

Had any melon-pan lately? Any new favorite flavors? Any new favorite foods?
Of course, I found cream filled melon pan.

Any subway adventures to report on ... life in Tokyo without a subway story isn't really a trip to Tokyo unless you were going the wrong way at some point in time.
... I'm a train master, and we never get lost ... and we don't go into Tokyo that often.

Any cycling adventures, I take it the roads aren't snow packed and iced over ... any close calls lately? Any other incidents like Kuroiwa Choro's intersection incident?
Nope, nice and safe,

Any New Years goals, other than "missionary like a bear for the next five months" ??
I want to baptize six more people by the time I go home ... and I want to read the Book of Mormon everyday!!  At least a chapter!

I found the guy in this picture (the one that's not a missionary), referred him,
and now he's getting baptized real soon! Yeah for gaijin!!!

Father! I really liked your spiel on being humble and trying to accept our weaknesses ... today another missionary told me one of his goals for when he goes home, he wants to lock himself in his house for a month and a half ... he is going to try to get really good at everything he's bad at now ... I simply chuckled to myself ... thanks for the advice, a nice reminder ... it was indeed!

Mother! Best goal ever!! Always having a temple recommend is the best, I probably need to talk to Budge Kaichou about renewing mine soon. I feel really good about the four temple sessions in a month thing ... more than that though, I love the idea of pie ... I really like that idea!!!

Smashed!! Go and hang out with the missionaries more!!! I'm a hundred percent sure that they could use a young single adult who has lots of time and wants to help out! And there are major perks! One of which being that sisters Rock at showing love, and when they make banana bread for their investigators, their favorite person, me, even might also get some ... believe I would know.  Also, God blesses the heck out of those who help out! It's way sweet!!

Six pack abs ... if you want some ... maybe go running! If you don't and you want to feel less stress ... make some no bake cookies, and eat them out of the pan ... I hear there are some new shows on NetFlix now ... I can't think of a better way to spend a day and/or night!!? I'm glad you went ice skating, because it is sooo fun ... it sounds pretty crazy!!!

So this week was interesting. Turley Choro went home ... right before we had to clean the whole apartment. And cleaning was fun!! Turns out that being a maid in college was the best idea ever!!!! Cleaning rocks when you rock at cleaning! Our apartment is way nice now! And then the next day we read the Book of Mormon all day, it was way sweet,!! I finished it a little bit ago, and was taking a break and reading the Bible for a bit, but after reading it all day, I realized the power that was missing from my life. I need to read the Book of Mormon every day or there is something missing. Something that I didn't realize I didn't have when I wasn't reading it. Everything just seems to go better when you read the best book ever, every day!! It really did rock!!

Then we had the all mission party, where we watched meet the Mormons. It was good. We want to show all it to all of our investigators, but they don't have a Nihongo version yet! Ridiculous! Nothing ever gets translated fast enough! #ForeignLanguageProblem.

Almost on the back row on the Left

Then we came back from teaching Brother J ... happens ever Saturday morning now ... First we run ... I have the best lung capacity ever btw.

Ooooo, and on the morning of the first we went with J and S and the Shimai to go watch the sunrise over the lake ... I didn't take any pictures... We ran there with J, but Mayama Shimai has one ... On her camera ... Not her ipad, so I don't know if I'll ever get it... I still need to get some pictures of the baptisms from her as well ... Hmmmm, maybe I'll just ask her for that as well ... Hmmm, deep in thought.

Teganuma Lake Sunrise

Today was zone pday, and I crushed everyone at quidditch ... I'm not going to say I'm a master ... but I'm a master?!? Whoooo!!!

So yeah, not much time. But I just want to end with this:
We all make goals and everything for the new year. But when we make any goal New Years or not, we need to pray and makes sure that it's a goal that God wants us to make. God wants us to grow more than we want to grow, He knows what we need to do in order to succeed and fulfill our potential in life. Sometimes it doesn't matter whether we get married within a certain amount of time, or if we are the best at something, or even if we're second or third. But as long as we're working for what God wants us to be working for, it will all work out!!!

I know that this letter is short, and that you all deserve more. I'll try to send some pictures and some stuff as well!! We're trying to get hold of a member to try and coordinate a dinner with J ... but no one picks up the phone!!!

Well, I've got  to jet, but I love you all!!
Griffiths Choro!!
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DD 9.65 ... Sad News ... But I'm Happy ...

Where did you buy your new bag?

A store down the street.

What is the word on transfers? How is it impacting your district?

I'm leaving; Kuroiwa Choro is going to Sakado, Peterson Shimai is going to Kumagaya, and Rezentes Choro and my companion are uniting forces, and Mobley Choro & Broadhead Choro are coming in as zone leaders.

How is teaching your Christians coming along? You could focus on families being together forever/power of the priesthood type of thing.

Meh, it's good. It's still hard. I more deal with people who don't believe in God, and help them, but it's fun.

How is learning the language via the Liahona going for you?

Meh, it's okay. The kanji that it uses aren't really used anywhere else, so it's kinda hard.

Did you ever get the tire on your bike fixed?

Not yet. I've been thinking about it, and it just doesn't seems worth it yet.

What spiritual experience did you have this week? Ok, what was the best one?

Best one ... while sitting in Sacrament Meeting with Brother G, he's an investigator for about three years now ... he never came to church ... well he set a baptismal date two weeks ago and started coming so that he could be baptized!! 14 September

Do you call each other Shimai and Choro all the time or do you slip and call them Elder or Sister?

Normally Sister or Elder, unless I'm speaking Nihongo.

How are the Shiami in your District doing ... can you report on your District?

Everyone is spending a little too much time trying to find, but they're making progress and what not, some new investigators have been found recently, and that's always a good thing.

When you were visiting Shibuya did you find the statue of Hachico the Loyal Dog? I saw where Snow Shimai found it and had her picture taken with him ...

I couldn't find it, sorry, I'll get a picture one of these days.

Here's a picture of me ... in my apartment ... you can climb anywhere ...

Dad really hopes you are being transferred ... he wants a new location to find on his map ... if you don't get transferred, can you take a random photo and give him something to do?

I'm transferring to ... Abiko!!! It's in Matsudo zone, and it's pretty close to Chiba. My companion is Sabat Choro, that's all I know, he's transfer five, but he served in the states for a couple of transfers, so I think he's about a transfer eight knowledge wise. I've heard that Abiko is great, and I'm pretty excited. It's always hard for me to transfer, I just got comfortable and what not, I just got some people progressing and what not, I just got a companion that's awesome and what not, I don't know ... I just don't like it ... maybe I'm just prideful and don't understand what god wants me to do ... I know that I'll come to love Abiko just like I do Kawagoe, Togane, and Chiba, but it's just hard ... Bleh. Well, wish me luck, I'm going to drink something cold. I'm still DL BTW, I really just wanna be a normal missionary again. It would be way nice.

Father. Putting your spiritual thought first this week was a good move, it's just what I needed to hear. It is nice to only be focusing on others and not just myself, I think that that is why transfers are so hard, I come to like the people that I've invested myself into. But charity is very important. I'm pretty sure that that's what life is all about. Learning to do what God wants us to do, which in turns means us helping others as much as we can. Thanks for the thought, sorry that the hot water heater is being a peach. I pray for y'all!!

Mother. Sorry to hear about your typhoon ... I'm a tad bit jealous of all the banana bread though. Sounds like school is going well for you and Abi ... things in the full swing of it all. Glad that I'm, as dad pointed out, 5,500 miles across the deepest ocean in the world ... JK. I really did enjoy staying up late at night cutting out various images for third grade ... especially when it meant ditching out on my own homework!!

TeJay and Crystal!!! Congrats on Spencer!!! I really love the name!! Don't get to busy that you don't enjoy life!!

JanDee and Jaden. The kids are so adorable!! Dad spent me some pics ... I love them so much!!

Smashed panda, teach me how to paddle board and I'll teach you how to kayak. Remember when I took that class with Ben? Well it's way fun and I'd love to go and do it again! Rafting sounds way fun! I'm way psyched for or next year, dibs on front seat.!! After two years of not swimming I'm kinda dying to get back in the water again!! 

Stormmablahblahblahnkalgjjdkskdkeodmdldkkskdjdkdlsldjfso!!!sN, Where are Kaleb and I supposed to go slack lining now? That was the only place where there were trees big enough to do it ... I'm heart broken ... I mean where can I go to karaoke on Friday nights now too! The Lazy Dog will truly be missed in my soul ... it's like a part of me just died ... Sorry that school is so rough ... lemme know how picts go ... I know as a student I was always worried what my teaches would say to mom and dad, and was always relieved to hear that they always praised me ... so maybe praise is the way to go ... unless here doing poorly ... then, well I don't know ...  Love ya!!!

What sane monster would try to eat me with a
man eating tiger lying beside me ...

As much as I don't love BYU or anything about them ... Parker Overy is part of vocal point, and frankly as missionaries there's not much music that we can listen too, so I accidentally heard them do a cover of Nearer My God to Thee ... It was meh. But the point is, I really love the song. The line that stands out to me the most is "nearer my God to thee, even though it be a cross that Raiseth me, still all my song shall be, nearer to thee" I love this line because it always reminds me that even though his life is hard, and it sucks sometimes, and we really don't want to do some of the stuff that we have to do, it's all for the betterment of ourselves. Sometimes we struggle with work, sometimes we struggle with a new calling, new roommates, or the loss of old friends, but we need to realize that God gives us these goings so that we can grow; for example I have a really hard time loving things. Or I did. It was hard for me to get attached to stuff, I'm not sure why, but it was. Now here I am struggling to say goodbye to some people that I've only known for four months, and it's terribly hard. It's icky when I look around and say that is it that God needs me to do and I'm doing his work so I should probably do it his way ... that all makes sense. I loved dad's spiel about charity this week cuz I've been thinking a lot about it. It's me and my selfish desires that want to stay here. Yeah, it's good that I love the people and that I'm sad to leave, but in Abiko there are probably people waiting for me to find and teach them, and if I don't throw my heart into it I may, or may not, ever find them and have the same wonderful time that I've been having the last couple weeks here. I'm not really excited to transfer, but I'm realizing that no matter where I go or what I'm doing it's probably going to be just about the same as where I was before. Just different people, with different problems, and different miracles waiting to happen.. I'm pretty excited, I decided that this transfer I'm just going to do what God wants me to do and work ... well be humble and ask my companion to join me, but let's me honest, he's probably more humble than me already. I hope that it goes well!!

Thanks for all you do for me and what not, hope that you all have a
great week!!! Love, Griffiths Choro!!
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DD 9.56 T-Day ... I Love the Tokyo Temple!! It reminds me kinda of the Jordan River ... but a little cooler.

Do they always do baptisms on Sundays?

Yes ... pretty much, sometimes they are on Saturdays, but mostly on Sunday; before or after church.

How did baptizing Brother F go? Loved the facebook pics!

Way good, before church at eight thirty, and then he was confirmed!!

Back: Reeder Shimai, Peterson Shimai, Griffiths Choro, Brother F, Yoshino Choro,
Rezentes Choro, Kuroiwa Choro  Front:  Mondano Shimai, Jensen Shimai

Do you ever use the bag you took with you, or just the blue one you bought?

I use my original bag to buy groceries with ... and my blue bag broke!! Huge hole right in the bottom of it, bought a new one though.

Do they ever play church sports in Japan?

Ping pong, soccer, basketball, softball.

On P-Day do you have enough time to get all your stuff done?

Yes ... well not enough time to nap, but yeah.

How did writing the letter to grandma go?

It's was good!! Way fun writing to grandma, everyone will now need to help her with her homework! ... I gave her a homework assignment.

We have been discussing this one after visiting Sam's apt: have you washed your sheets recently, or ever??

Last week actually!! I do it every transfer (once every 6 weeks), which is more than I did at college!

Do you still Dendo like a bear?

Of course ...

Is it still monsoon season? How much water do you get at once?

Mah, it just rains for a week straight, but the drains are way good, so it doesn't build up, we almost had the river flood once though, it was crazy!!

Do you miss drinking milk from the carton? Or do you drink milk?

I miss gallons of milk ... but the milk here is weird ... it's not as creamy or milky ... it's good, but not great.

Have you seen any efforts in Japan to follow the prophets and grow a garden? How and where do they do it and what do they grow?

Yes, our investigator, Brother Ak has one, in his yard ... well, around his house area. He's grows tomatoes and cucumbers, and peppers and stuff ... he uses the English name for the plants, which is unexpected, I almost missed it because of his Nihonjin accent ... it's so adorable, almost funny!

What do you want to remember most about your 30+ weeks in Chiba?? Favorite memory of your first area?

Everything I learned while I was training ... that's was way fun, and how to be loving like Asato Choro and Dunbar Choro ... and pretty much chillin' with my trainer, that was pretty sweet ...

Is it temple P-Day today? If so how was the temple? Did you see anyone from a previous area? Any sightseeing? or going out to lunch??

Temple day, yes, saw everyone, we were going to go to the zoo in Ueno, but it's raining, we went to a Hawaiian BBQ for lunch, and it was sooooo good!!

Which of your companions have already gone home?

Asato Choro

What is the most memorable advice from President Budge that you would pass along to a missionary who is just going out? favorite phrase or saying?

This one time he told me that ... not a direct quote, but he told me to imagine the missionary that I would need to be to be great, and then pretty much told me to suck it up and be that missionary ... it helped a lot actually, because I had set the expectation, and so I knew that I could accomplish it if I really wanted to ...

Bonus question: Have you remembered what you did for the talent show??

Yoshino Choro and I made planks, and Kuroiwa Choro walked on our backs to get to the other side of the room ... not at all sketchy though ...

Father ... it took me longer that I would like to admit to understand that picture ... but the other ones were adorable!! I love Waylon's new shoes!! They're so legit!! I'm so glad that someone is still there to help him play with his Legos ... I'd be sad if there wasn't. Sounds like the family reunion was legit, sad I couldn't make it, but I do have a pretty good excuse, 5000 miles away ... Can't believe mom is in the YW presidency, that's crazy!! Thanks for your spiel at the end of your letter ... I always make sure to read it BTW, your last paragraph is always the most spiritual mail I ever get! But I've been thinking about it a lot lately and it's reinforced what I just learned!

Mother ... Young Women's ... It's a good thing that you got out of playing volleyball at work so you can save all your skill for the Beehives ... I'm sure you'll destroy them ... maybe you can get them all into tennis ... that would be fun!! I'm sad to hear that so much root beer went on the floor ... hurts my soul, but I guess I'll just have to drink some when I get back ... good thing that it'll be July!!  Whooooo!! Good luck with everything!!

TeJay and Crystal ... Haven't heard anything in a while ... how's Porter? Can I still tend him when I get back? I just convinced mom to make a lot of homemade root beer so we could drink it together.

Jandee! and Jaden!! Congrats on the medal!! And congrats on having a bingo champion!! Sounds way fun!!! Hope that all is well!!!

Smashed drum sticks...

Sam, how do you feel about the above as a band name? Pretty cool right? I feel good about Waylon's shoes ... also feelin good about you wearing kids shoes ... for sure cheaper though, love it!!! I'm doing good, I'm tired, but thanks for asking! Good luck rafting the river! I wanna know how it goes!! Don't die!! Congrats on first place BTW!

Storm trooper ... I almost wrote pooper but didn't. Good to hear that you have so much charity ... thanks for not destroying Sam ... I really want to when I get home, so just build her up slowly, and we'll take her down together in ten months!!! Mwahahahanahahahahahahajahaha ... plotting ... sorry that teaching is so stressful ... sounds like a lot of work, I'll appreciate my teachers more when I get home for sure!!!

So this week we went to the temple. And the we chilled in Tokyo for a bit ... and I realized that I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I was walking through Shibuya and honestly thought that it would be a nice place to live if I ever got the chance, it's really cool, and frankly I honestly just felt like I was home as I walked the streets today. It made me realize that I'm 20 ... a silly little 20 year old. I really shouldn't be thinking ... well I should, but not too much about the future. It holds so much, but I see so little of it all. I'm excited to go and see where it takes me, but that's the fun part, going and seeing! I honestly have a problem with over thinking things, and I'm resolving now to stop. I'm going to be more in the moment and be where I'm at when I'm there. I mean when the time comes, I'll think about where I should go, what I should do, and decide my life, but for now, I'm content with just teaching about God and Christ..

PS. this week I met two people who were Christian ... and I had no idea how to teach them ... any advice would be great. They already believed in God and Christ and had been baptized, and they go to church and I was just like ... Have you read the Book of Mormon? And it was way hard ... also this week I created an image of God for like fifty people. Yeah I counted, we usually ask if people have an image of God or Christ and like 90 percent of the time ... they're like, nope, never thought about it before ... and I'm always just mind blown, how have you never thought of God before ... it's crazy. I just don't understand how the thought never creeps into your mind? It's kind of a big deal right? But, anyways, please, this week think about God sometime ... maybe even tell a friend!

Love you all and thanks so much!
Griffiths Choro

Oh yeah Brother F's baptism was awesome, first try!! Perfect Japanese and baptism, he was so happy, we hugged ... in the font ... and then he made me get out first so he could dunk my head under the water ... it caught me so off guard ... made me laugh! I guess I'll just have to baptize someone else so that I can have that feeling again!
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