Mina san Konnichiwa
Seeing as the first emails I read this morning were about college football...I feel the need to address something.
(The following opinion on football is not endorsed by the person posting this letter for Mary Carson. It is common knowledge that the SEC remains the "ichiban" conference.)
Giving my boys a hard time because they lost to Virginia Tech...sparks a little fire in me.
From what it sounds like....Georgia and Florida, both traditional SEC powerhouses, LOST to ACC teams in the opening of the season. That being said....the fact that Georgia barely beat LSU is of little consequence. It sounds to me as though the ACC is now the best conference in the land. Now that we are the ichiban conference....it would appear that in-conference losses are to be expected. So go Tech. Give em hell! We probably still have the same number of losses as Georgia this year.
I just can't wait for Tech to beat up on BYU. It would make my life.
Anyways. On to mission stuff.
This week went by really fast. I can't believe that today is PDay.
At the end of this week...marks halfway through the transfer. That is kind of crazy.
October is tomorrow so that is exciting. The weather here has been beautiful in Japan. I wonder if the coolness is here to stay or if it's just crazy weather like Atlanta....that changes all the time.
This week had to be one of the funnier weeks in my mission. I've started to realize what a truly bizarre life I'm living as a missionary. I truly would never have had some of the crazy experiences I've had...were it not for this mission.
So on Monday night...Taneda shimai and I were feeling pretty lethargic so we decided to go through the area book and find random people from past transfers to contact...well we made plans to visit 15 people this week. Of course some people were not home, some were no longer interested, some were false addresses...but some were very interesting.
So we visited this one lady named S-------san. She is the cutest oba-chang (grandma) and while I'm not sure if she's interested in our message, she invited us in her very traditional Japanese Buddhist home and gave us nashi (the best Japanese pears. Ichiban!) and then fed us these "remon-sweet potatoes" (lemon sweet potatoes). Not the biggest fan of sweet potatoes, or of stranger's experimental cooking...I was a little nervous...but it was as Taneda says "A perfect baransu (a perfect balance)." It really was good hahaha. She THEN made us these danish pancakes. Like. It was the strangest experience but so cool and funny.
My life is just really random these days...
On Friday we got a call from A-------...this investigator that has been taking discussions for forever...but no one has got to meet in the recent transfers because she is apparently very busy. Well she called and when I answered she started going off in English and said she wanted to meet us. So we met her at this grocery store, thinking we were going to go back to her apartment and teach her...but instead she takes us to this undokai or sports festival that all the schools have this time of year. All the different schools in the region compete and perform a Japanese style dance...I don't know...it was really cool to watch...but while we were there, we were just sitting on the grass and talking to her about church and stuff. She is legit crazy. So her story is that she lived in America during highschool as a foreign exchange student. She lived with a Mormon family. So she's always been interested in the church. Well...we were trying to talk to her about the nature of God and she tells us she believes all the "mormon stuff" but that she thinks Jesus Christ and Buddha are basically the same person. After doing our best to explain that that in fact is NOT the case...she just keeps smiling and takes out this gold thing from her purse. She starts telling us how she's been praying recently....that would be great except she's been praying at a Buddhist temple. But so this gold thing....its like something that they pray to in the temple...and she just stole it. She says God gave it to her. I don't know. There are a lot of issues. I don't know what we are going to do with this one.
It would be one thing if this lady's only issues were with religion...but she also is paranoid about the Japanese government and doesn't trust the water or the Yachiyo food. Apparently she buys special food from Tokyo because she believes that since the War....yes WWII....all the food is radioactive or something. I don't know.
It was an interesting experience.
It's these times that I wonder...do only crazy people want to hear our message. It seems to usually be the case. But I figure....if our message can make a difference in someones life...even a crazy person's....it is worth our time.
There were other experiences. I think we are making progress with H----- shimai...she is very interested in family history and wants to come to church this Sunday.
As for S------- san...well we were doing split lessons...The chorotachi were teaching her brothers...but I think the family will be more receptive to the message as a group. Since Taneda speaks more Japanese than all of us here in Yachiyo.,..we are now teaching R---- and L-----...her brothers. They are on lesson 3 so...if we can get over commandments....we are going to ask them to commit to baptism probably next lesson. Their Mom might sit in on our next lesson too so that should be fun.
As for the language. Some days. I just don't know. Yesterday I gave my talk in sacrament. kincho shimashta! I was nervous! But it went alright. I am glad it is over with now.
We had our first district meeting on Wednesday with our new district. Haha....it was interesting.
After Lefever choro...our new DL, asked the shimaitachi to sing during the meeting....and it was a pitiful performance...I asked him if we could "please not do that again."
Our new district has both the zone leaders and former AP sama in it...along with the sister training leader, Nagamine shimai. There are two beancheng's (greenies) in our district...Williams shimai and Higbee choro. They both seem very nice. Our district is kind of intense....but I think that is a good thing.
Tomorrow we have zone conference. My first one! I'm excited for it. We shall see how it goes.
Next week I have a 2nd transfer missionary conference I have to go to. I think it is for all of us because we will probably be training soon.
Instead of Temple Pday this transfer we are going to have a regular MondayPday...because on Tuesday after our temple session, all the shimaitachi have a sister's training that we will be attending afterwards...so no worries about not hearing from me every Monday.
Other than that. Life is good. Moving along.
I love hearing updates on everyone's lives.
I love you.
Ai shite imasu.
Goose
Seeing as the first emails I read this morning were about college football...I feel the need to address something.
(The following opinion on football is not endorsed by the person posting this letter for Mary Carson. It is common knowledge that the SEC remains the "ichiban" conference.)
Giving my boys a hard time because they lost to Virginia Tech...sparks a little fire in me.
From what it sounds like....Georgia and Florida, both traditional SEC powerhouses, LOST to ACC teams in the opening of the season. That being said....the fact that Georgia barely beat LSU is of little consequence. It sounds to me as though the ACC is now the best conference in the land. Now that we are the ichiban conference....it would appear that in-conference losses are to be expected. So go Tech. Give em hell! We probably still have the same number of losses as Georgia this year.
I just can't wait for Tech to beat up on BYU. It would make my life.
Anyways. On to mission stuff.
This week went by really fast. I can't believe that today is PDay.
At the end of this week...marks halfway through the transfer. That is kind of crazy.
October is tomorrow so that is exciting. The weather here has been beautiful in Japan. I wonder if the coolness is here to stay or if it's just crazy weather like Atlanta....that changes all the time.
This week had to be one of the funnier weeks in my mission. I've started to realize what a truly bizarre life I'm living as a missionary. I truly would never have had some of the crazy experiences I've had...were it not for this mission.
So on Monday night...Taneda shimai and I were feeling pretty lethargic so we decided to go through the area book and find random people from past transfers to contact...well we made plans to visit 15 people this week. Of course some people were not home, some were no longer interested, some were false addresses...but some were very interesting.
So we visited this one lady named S-------san. She is the cutest oba-chang (grandma) and while I'm not sure if she's interested in our message, she invited us in her very traditional Japanese Buddhist home and gave us nashi (the best Japanese pears. Ichiban!) and then fed us these "remon-sweet potatoes" (lemon sweet potatoes). Not the biggest fan of sweet potatoes, or of stranger's experimental cooking...I was a little nervous...but it was as Taneda says "A perfect baransu (a perfect balance)." It really was good hahaha. She THEN made us these danish pancakes. Like. It was the strangest experience but so cool and funny.
My life is just really random these days...
On Friday we got a call from A-------...this investigator that has been taking discussions for forever...but no one has got to meet in the recent transfers because she is apparently very busy. Well she called and when I answered she started going off in English and said she wanted to meet us. So we met her at this grocery store, thinking we were going to go back to her apartment and teach her...but instead she takes us to this undokai or sports festival that all the schools have this time of year. All the different schools in the region compete and perform a Japanese style dance...I don't know...it was really cool to watch...but while we were there, we were just sitting on the grass and talking to her about church and stuff. She is legit crazy. So her story is that she lived in America during highschool as a foreign exchange student. She lived with a Mormon family. So she's always been interested in the church. Well...we were trying to talk to her about the nature of God and she tells us she believes all the "mormon stuff" but that she thinks Jesus Christ and Buddha are basically the same person. After doing our best to explain that that in fact is NOT the case...she just keeps smiling and takes out this gold thing from her purse. She starts telling us how she's been praying recently....that would be great except she's been praying at a Buddhist temple. But so this gold thing....its like something that they pray to in the temple...and she just stole it. She says God gave it to her. I don't know. There are a lot of issues. I don't know what we are going to do with this one.
It would be one thing if this lady's only issues were with religion...but she also is paranoid about the Japanese government and doesn't trust the water or the Yachiyo food. Apparently she buys special food from Tokyo because she believes that since the War....yes WWII....all the food is radioactive or something. I don't know.
It was an interesting experience.
It's these times that I wonder...do only crazy people want to hear our message. It seems to usually be the case. But I figure....if our message can make a difference in someones life...even a crazy person's....it is worth our time.
There were other experiences. I think we are making progress with H----- shimai...she is very interested in family history and wants to come to church this Sunday.
As for S------- san...well we were doing split lessons...The chorotachi were teaching her brothers...but I think the family will be more receptive to the message as a group. Since Taneda speaks more Japanese than all of us here in Yachiyo.,..we are now teaching R---- and L-----...her brothers. They are on lesson 3 so...if we can get over commandments....we are going to ask them to commit to baptism probably next lesson. Their Mom might sit in on our next lesson too so that should be fun.
As for the language. Some days. I just don't know. Yesterday I gave my talk in sacrament. kincho shimashta! I was nervous! But it went alright. I am glad it is over with now.
We had our first district meeting on Wednesday with our new district. Haha....it was interesting.
After Lefever choro...our new DL, asked the shimaitachi to sing during the meeting....and it was a pitiful performance...I asked him if we could "please not do that again."
Our new district has both the zone leaders and former AP sama in it...along with the sister training leader, Nagamine shimai. There are two beancheng's (greenies) in our district...Williams shimai and Higbee choro. They both seem very nice. Our district is kind of intense....but I think that is a good thing.
Tomorrow we have zone conference. My first one! I'm excited for it. We shall see how it goes.
Next week I have a 2nd transfer missionary conference I have to go to. I think it is for all of us because we will probably be training soon.
Instead of Temple Pday this transfer we are going to have a regular MondayPday...because on Tuesday after our temple session, all the shimaitachi have a sister's training that we will be attending afterwards...so no worries about not hearing from me every Monday.
Other than that. Life is good. Moving along.
I love hearing updates on everyone's lives.
I love you.
Ai shite imasu.
Goose