Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Gaijin, running for the train, and my first baptism

Hey everyone! Hope that everyone is doing well.

Well, it has been one weird week in the mission.  I will tell you all about that a little later, though.

It was fun to hear about your trip into Zions and your fun experience at the derby, Madisen and Vic. It really sounds like summer is coming to end over there. To be honest, I feel like summer is just about to begin over here. It has been getting really hot lately, over 100 F most days. With the humidity, it is really a killer. I swear that I have never sweat so much in my entire life.

Dad, it is awesome that you finished your book. Kyoto really is a beautiful place. If you want to read a true classic Japanese literature book then read 'The Tale of Genji'.  That is about as classic Japanese literature as you can get.  It sounds as though a lot of cool stuff is also coming out this year.  I think that it is way cool with the Playstation, Xbox, movies and everything.  Can`t wait to do all that when I get back.

So, this week has been really crazy.  Me and Nelson choro went to our first Zone taikai (Zone conference).  Right after, it was planned that we would go on a exchange (I would go to Joyo and Sakamoto-choro, our district leader, would come to Otsu).  So, I packed all my stuff for an over night stay and we left.  The conference was in Kyoto. I got to go to Kyoto for my first time!  It really is a beautiful city.  The part we were in was really modern and we didn`t get to go into the really old parts of the city, but it was still way cool.  I have never seen so many Gaijin in my entire life though (Gaijin is foreigners).  I found myself thinking, "What on earth are you doing in Japan- go back to America, Gaijin... oh...wait....I`m Gaijin....dang"  The zone conference was pretty cool.  We were told of a few more policies (from now on we have to study at the church Tuesday-Saturday) and we were told how to seek reveleation for our investigators.

After the zone taikai, we went on exchanges.  I went with Elder Sworensen and Elder Nelson went with Sakamoto choro.  It took quite a while to get to where we were headed.  The experience was definitely unique, though.  I feel really thankful for my companionship and how good it actually is.  When I was on the exchange, it just seemed like that companionship is always off track and we were scrambling around.  The real fun didn`t happen until we were trying to make it back to Otsu to end the exchange.  Everything that could of went wrong did.  The train broke down, we had to buy like 10 different tickets, they wouldn`t except bills, we had to run to ekis (train stations), trains got delayed, we got separated for a bit, everything that could have went wrong did.  We were trying to hurry because it was the baptismal date of one of my investigators-  Brother O.  We finally made it though.  Just barely.  It was a miracle to be honest.

Brother O.`s baptism was really cool.  It was amazing to witness the spirit being there!  A really spiritual experience for sure.  1 down 20 to go (if you have a question about this, ask Quinn).

It has also been an adventure to be here at the church this morning too.  Because we have to study at the church from now on, we had to get up at 5 to make sure that we get everything done today.  We are actually heading into Kyoto for some sight seeing today, which will be fun!  We are also taking one of our investigators.  But after everything that we did, we get to the church`s computer (which we don`t use, we usually go to an internet cafe, but because of the schedule we had to write here) and we found out that there is no mouse for the church`s computer and without it we can`t write any emails.  So, after trying to call the Bishop, looking around all the stores nearby, and searching desperately - we found the mouse.  Hurrah!

It's going to be a fun day in Kyoto.  I`m really excited, you all should be able to see some pretty cool pictures next week.

This week, we also were able to see a festival, well, not really see the festival, but see people going to a festival.  We had to work.  It was cool to see everyone in Kimonos, though.  They also had the fireworks like dad was saying last week.  I took a few pictures of that, but because my camera is dead, I can`t send them until next week.

This week, I get to celebrate 3 months being on a mission!  Yeah!  I`ve survived 1/8 of my mission!

Well, it is about time to go.  I love you all so very much.  I can`t wait to hear from you all again!  I love you and Don`t Forget to Be Awesome!

With the Greatest Love,

Klein choro

P.S. sorry that I couldn`t answer your questions this week.  Next week I will...this computer is a little weird and I am short on time.

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