No Time

This past week we got to Skype with Alex on Christmas Eve. He isn't really much of a talker and even though I asked him to come up with some stories ahead of time, he had NONE. 

We still had a good talk and took a few photos that didn't turn out well. It was very difficult to hear since his companion was in the same room talking to his family at the same time and Alex had to ask, "What was that?" sometimes three times before he heard us as we yelled our answers back to the computer. 

We could hear his companion singing in Japanese to his family. Alex said he'd try to get a video of the two of them singing something for us, but he didn't have time this week. I look forward to any kind of video from him.

His letter to everyone was very brief this week:

I don't have too much time to say anything, but this week was great. I
love being here every second! We had district p-day today, so not too
much time for writing.
 
The kanji of the week is: 机 pronounced "tsku-eh" and means desk.
 
We had many miracles this week. Sorry I don't have time for anything
else! Love you all and have a great week!
 
Love,
 
Elder ______
長老

In the middle of October, Alex had a bike accident that left him with a very bloody knee. He showed us how it's healing, now more than 2 months later and it's still not healed completely. Ouch!

He's showing us his boot socks that we sent in his Christmas package and  he says that "everyone thinks they are awesome". haha

District Christmas activity

This is the video that is from the whole Sendai mission. It's 24 minutes long and I only spotted Alex in a few photos. I thought the photos of the painting on the rice fields were cool.

Reach For the Sky!

From Alex's letter to me:
I did get new boots, and I had to get a size 28 (the go by centimeters here) for my boots. That is a rare thing in Japan, but luckily they had them in the boots I wanted. My clothes fit well still, and although I gained 10 pounds in the MTC, I haven't gained or lost any since then. It isn't fat either, but my muscle doesn't look that much bigger either, so I'm not sure. I do think I'm closer to 6 ft tall now, but I haven't been able to measure myself at all. I'm pretty sure I've grown a bit more since leaving on a mission though.

Elder A. and Alex

To Everyone:

All Disney quotes aside, things just seem to always be getting better. 

My scripture of the week is Helaman 10:12 "And behold, now it came to
pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop
and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes
who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to
declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him,
concerning their destruction if they did not repent." I chose this
because Nephi sacrificed comfort and safety to preach the word of God. 

The kanji of the week is: 苺 pronounced "ichigo" and means Strawberry. 

Monday was pretty uneventful in the day, but at night we had family
home evening with the branch president and his wife, and another
member. 

Tuesday was a lot of finding, visiting, and traveling. We didn't get
to see all the people we wanted to, but we did get to see a less
active, and also got to have fun talking with people. 

Christmas fun

Wednesday we went to a service for mentally handicapped people, and it
was fun. No matter where you go in the world, they're always so nice!
I had lots of memories come back of elementary school field trips to
schools for the exact same reason. Fun times! We also had a good time
in English class, but only four people again. 

Thursday we had splits, and I worked in Izumi for the day. We visited
less actives for most of the day, and had a great time with all of
them. One of them apparently was very open when we went to talk this
time than from previous visits. He was very nice, and a great person. 

Another missionary

Friday was district meeting, and we also tried to get some finding in.
Not remembering too much about that day. 

Saturday we went to lunch with a friend of the missionaries, and he
was great. He also helped us set up a Christmas tree for the Christmas
party we had later on that day. The rest of the day was prep and the
party. It was super fun, and we had lots of people come, members,
non-members, and less actives alike.

Sunday we visited the Sato family, and also talked with Sister Aizawa
for a little while. She is a wonderful person, and she loves the
missionaries and the gospel. 

This week has been pretty short, but so much has happened this week
that I don't know where what happened where, and can't cram it all
into this email! I hope you all have a great week, and I love you all
from the bottom of my heart! 

Love, 

Elder ________ 

長老

Alex said this is an old pic with Elder U. and a nice guy who likes to practice English with them, but isn't interested in hearing about the church. Alex just got this pic from him this past week when they met up again with Elder A. this time.