Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Quick Note Hello

Alex had a district p-day this week so he barely had time to write. Hopefully he'll mention what they did next week since they're usually pretty fun. This is all he wrote about the typhoon.

There is a typhoon hitting us tomorrow. We will be in the apartment all day tomorrow. Things have been dry so far though.


Hello everyone!

I don't have to much time, but want to testify to you all that this
church is true. Jesus Christ leads it through a living prophet, and
only wants the best for us. Through praying, reading the scriptures,
going to church, etc. you can feel for yourself the truth of this all
for your self.

Love you all!

Love,

Elder

 長老
Red bean paste with mochi in the middle. It was made by a English class student
or his mom. It's really good.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Nobody's Perfect

Alex didn't send a mass email last week, but did on Sunday. I'm just now getting around to posting it. I had asked him if they got to see the Saporro temple dedication via satellite. This was his answer:

We went to Aomori yesterday to watch it, but for some reason (probably the typhoon coming up, but I really don't know) the footage kept going in and out. We missed basically all of the talks, and the dedicatory prayer. We did get to do the hosanna shout though! It was also really fun to hear an Apostle speak in Japanese (for what I could) again. There was also lots of flooding in Hokkaido yesterday, so that could have affected it too.


Yes, I forgot to email you all last week, and I apologize. I don't
have any excuse for it. But this week was great! So was last week.

Scripture of the week: Isaiah 49:4-5, "Then I said, I have laboured in
vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my
judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now, saith the
Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob
again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious
in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength."

Kanji of the week: 招くpronounced "mah-neh-coo" and means to invite.

Monday was not very eventful because p-day was very relaxing, and the
evening was all traveling to Hirosaki for splits with the other
elders.

Elder H. and a really big cat
I found a booster seat that reminded me of back home while we were housing.

Tuesday was good, although it rained for most of the time we were
outside. We did get to have good lessons with 3 less active members.
Also in the evening, we were walking and met a man who was not
Japanese. We tried talking to him, and he stopped to talk. We asked
him when he feels happy, and he said "I don't ever feel happy, I moved
here recently from India and my family is all alone back home." Elder
L. (my companion for the day) told him how in our church we
believe family can be together forever, and he smiled! He said he
wanted to hear more about that, and so we swapped information. The
best part was, the fact that he smiled, he actually felt happy. After
a seemingly endless night of storms, he found the sun peek through in
the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wednesday was basically all traveling and waiting for traveling, as a
typhoon came and stopped all trains going to Odate when we wanted to
be going back. English class was fun though.

Thursday we went up to Aomori and had interviews. It was fun, and I
love President Smith and his wife so much. I also got a Japanese
temple recommend, because my old one expires this month.

Friday was weekly planning, and a lot of trying to visit people who
weren't home.

Saturday was good, although we didn't get too much done, because Elder
H. had a stomach ache for a bit, and then we went out to eat with
a less active and a member. They are both wonderful people (and not
related in any way). After that we went to get something for an
activity that night, and when we left the store it was raining super
hard. It was sunny when we walked in. So, we stayed inside the
building for five minutes or so until the rain ended, and then had to
walk all the way to the church, because the ground was too wet to ride
in. English class that night was fun, because we had an investigator
come. He says he wants to learn English so that when the New Jerusalem
is built he can go and visit. He also stayed afterwards to watch the
culture night for the new Sapporo Temple.

Sunday was mostly traveling, as we had to go all the way to Aomori for
the temple dedication broadcast. Then we came back home, and were able
to talk to lots of people, and find a really nice couple.

So much happening in the last little while of my mission. It's hard to
keep it all in a short email. I hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder

 長老



Monday, August 8, 2016

Good, Hot Week

Got a few photos this week and just a little longer of a letter. In his letter to me he wrote: 

The weather here is very hot and humid. It got all the way up to 39 degrees yesterday. 

Elder H. and I have a lot in common, and get along well. We both love anime, and he loves singing. He wants to go into music after the mission, just like I do.

My favorite part of this week was the entire week. It has been really good, despite the heat. We worked hard and had fun.

(I tried to get him to tell me something specific from the week by asking what his favorite part of the week was. It didn't work. Nothing ever does. By the way, 39ºC is 102ºF.)
S. Choro, an investigator and me
To Everyone:

This week was really fun, but also really hot. I am so glad that we
stayed safe and healthy.

The scripture of the week is 1 Samuel 8:7, "And the Lord said unto
Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto
thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that
I should not reign over them."

Kanji of the week is: 暑い pronounced "ah-tsu-ee" and means "hot."

Monday was good, but I had to take a bus to Sendai, so there wasn't
time for too much else. We stayed the night in the Elder's apartment
that night.

Tuesday was all traveling.

My new companion

 
Mabonasu the same thing as Mabodofu, but with eggplant.


Wednesday we went and tried to do finding, but no one was home. We did get to see a less active and a member though, and that was good. English class was fun too.

Thursday was all finding, and also weekly planning.

Friday we spent the morning finding, and then went in the afternoon to Hirosaki for district training meeting. Then in the evening we went to a festival called Neputa. We tried to do some finding there, but it wasn't very good for finding, as everyone was paying attention to the floats.

Saturday we did a lot of finding again, and had a good lesson with one of our investigators. The rest of the day was finding.
Sunday was the hottest day of the week, and I am glad that we stayed in for most of the heat. We did a lot of finding that day too, as much as we could, and got to see another less active. He's a really awesome guy, and super fun to talk to.

That's my week! I hope you got something out of it. I love you all!

Love,

Elder

 長老

We got some really big Pocky from an English class student. It was 3 times as big as normal ones.



Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Small Changes

Well, this is definitely the shortest letter Alex has sent yet and he didn't send me a personal letter like he always does. He is busy, busy. The mom of his last companion wasn't on Facebook and I never got to communicate with her. But I found out that his new companion is Elder H. and I have already met his mom at a Sendai missionary mom luncheon! So glad to be in touch with his companion's mom.
Unfortunately, no pics at all.

To everyone:
So we got transfer calls last night. I am going to stay in Odate and
will be getting a new companion. His name is Elder H., and he is a
great guy. I've been in the same zone as him before, and he came to
Japan at the same time as Elder Anderson and Elder Sato. I'm looking
forward to this next transfer, but have no time to email right now. I
will see if I get a chance to write more. Love you all!

Love,

Elder