Email #11   Monday, January 5, 2015

My Dearest Family,

It's been another great week here in Japan! We had a pretty eventful week. After emailing on monday, we went bowling. I played terribly, but it was super fun! On Tuesday, I went on my first exchange! It was really fun and I learned a lot. I went to Nagaoka with Elder Wheatley. He's one of the zone leaders. He taught me a lot about streeting and the importance of talking to everyone we see. He got quite a few phone numbers just by stopping to talk to people. It was impressive. One of the Elders in Nagaoka is named Elder Henderson. He's from Utah, and is a legit cowboy. He has some pretty crazy stories. I hope I end up as his companion sometime, it would be super fun and he's a really hard worker. New Year's is a big holiday here in Japan, probably the biggest, way bigger than Christmas. We aren't allowed to go out because it's so crazy. Instead, we stay inside and clean and read the Book of Mormon. Tuesday was deep cleaning day, and Wednesday was Book of Mormon reading day. We cleaned the apartment really thoroughly, and for a day or two it looked really good, and now it just looks the same as before! Things get so crazy so quickly. Along with tons of other things, I think I'm really learning the importance of helping around the house in college and in marriage. I kind of feel like I'm back in elementary school, when I would just write, "I'm thankful for my mom because ... she cleans," but I really do appreciate you so much more Mom. You're the best! Along with your amazing mom skills, I really appreciate your amazing example of spirituality, kindness, hard work, and cheerfulness.  I have learned so much from you and wish I had been better at expressing it! The next day was Book of Mormon reading day. I didn't read nearly as much of the Book of Mormon as I should have. Our apartment discovered the "Church History in the Fullness of Times" book on Gospel Library, and it has been consuming my life. It is so enlightening and I am learning a crazy amount from it, and it also feels good to read while I eat. I miss reading! I am consuming it at a fearful rate. Friday was a normal day. We havebeen trying to get more people to come to our activities, but because we had three not-normal days, we weren't able to broadcast it as much as we were hoping. No one came, but we're working on it! All the churches have ping pong tables and have Chinese paddles, so I'm learning to play holding it Chinese style. It's way easier to slam, and forehands are easier, but backhands are super hard. Hopefully I'll play enough that I'll be able to beat Dad when I get home. On Saturday, I went on exchanges with Elder Walker, one of the Elders in our apartment. I learned a lot about housing and preparing for lessons from him. He's awesome. Sunday was normal, and today has been awesome! We went to this big mountain in our area and the town at the base, Yahiko. We went and visited a big, famous Shinto shrine that was really beautiful. We then took a cable car up to the top of the mountain. You could see for miles and miles, and on one side you could see Japan, and on the other, the Sea of Japan! It was beautiful. We went hiking through three foot snow up to this monument. It was really steep and super fun. We decided to build a huge snowman! It ended up being taller than me and really heavy. The base took forever to roll. We were pretty happy the result, you can see the ocean in the background! 

I typed that earlier today, so I'll reply to your last email here. I'm SOOOOO happy for Liza! Baptism is so important, and I'm incredibly happy she was so excited for it! You rock Liza! THE BUCKEYES WON!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! I yelled out and stood up and fist pumped and Elder Mobley had no idea why I was so excited. That makes me so happy! Although, I'm pretty proud of myself, I haven't thought about sports at all since arriving to Japan! I'll keep that up, because it helps with missionary work and it seems to be helping the Buckeyes win! Mom, would you mind sending that crepe recipe and the onion and carrot and potato recipes thisweek? And I really need you guys to send me your ideas for smarter and more creative missionary work, and about the speed stack cups! Thanks a ton! I love you all so much, thanks a ton for all your support and love! I have the best family in the whole wide world!

Much love,

カラフ-ン長老

 Kamo--Town where one of our investigators lives

 Overlooking the Sea of Japan

 My first visit to a Shinto shrine

P-day snowman masterpiece sporting my glasses

Email # 10                     December 28, 2014

Dearest Family,

I had another great week! Missionary work is the best. This past week was kind of a wake up call in quite a few ways though. We host three activities throughout the week: family home evening, english class, and ping pong night. This past week, we had hardly anyone come to english class and no one came to ping pong night. These are really good dendo (missionary work) opportunities because people have a fun reason to come to church and see that we're normal people and have an opportunity to hear the gospel in a calm and spiritual atmosphere. These next few weeks, we're really going to push these activities and try to find as many people as we can to come to them. To do this, Elder Mobley and I are really trying to come up with creative ideas to attract people's attention at train stations or other busy areas so they'll be more likely to come. Some of our ideas are: mini snowman making, paper airplane racing, fastest origami crane making, and nerf hoop horse. I was wondering if you guys could do me a couple of huge favors. Could you ask everyone and anyone for creative ideas? You all served missions and are very smart and could be a huge help. Second big favor. Could you please send me some speed stacker cups? Those ones that Cam got me that have the mat for timing? I'm willing to pay you back, and I think those could be really effective to get people's attention by racing them or just doing it to attract attention. Plus they're portable, so I could bring them with me the rest of my mission. The second wake up call was from Takashi, our primary investigator. People here are super forward about your weight. He called me fat in the middle of a lesson, and came over and started feeling and squeezing my stomach. It was pretty crazy. I know I'm not fat, but it's good motivation to get in better shape! Mom, can you please do me another favor? We eat the same foods over and over again, I was wondering if you could send me some good recipes? Basically, we have chicken, onions, carrots, garlic, and potato. Do you have any good, healthy recipes with those ingredients? Also, can you please send me your crepe recipe? Thanks a ton! I think I might have inherited dad's crazy story gene. The other elders tell me that I've had the craziest first couple of weeks they've heard of. My first area is in Niigata, I've taken a 10 hour bus ride, slept in because we arrived at 2 in the morning and the zone leaders told us to, had two investigators take off their shirts during lessons, been called fat, rode a bullet train, and attended a Japanese funeral. It's been pretty crazy. Elder Mobley is amazing, Elder Farnworth is crazy, and Elder Walker is super chill. We're all in the same apartment and it's super fun. Some of my favorite quotes from Elder Farnworth: "Some say I'm a remarkable man. I agree." "I put original in the word original." "Housing is the lifeblood of this civilization." He's crazy and super funny. My Christmas was super good. It was great talking to you guys! I can't believe Liza gets baptized this week, that's so awesome! You guys are awesome! That's about it from me this week. I'm reading in 2 Nephi right now. I forgot my scriptures in the apartment, next week I'll bring them so I can share a better thought. I really like how appreciative Jacob is. He starts so many verses with something like, "Oh the greatness of our God!" He is really good about appreciating the atonement and being grateful for it. I also really like how he almost always says, "Oh my beloved brethren." He is chastising them and telling them to be more righteous, but he is doing it with love. I am loving 2 Nephi so much. I think 2 Nephi 4:16 and 4:27-29 are some of my new favorite scriptures. They are amazing! I love you guys, you rock! Talk to you next week!

Sent from my iPad

Here's me with Takashi and Elder Mobley. I have no idea why he posed like this.