Six weeks have passed by since coming to Japan! It really has flown by in some aspects, in other aspects, it feels as though it has been an eternity. So, next week I will officially be in my 2nd transfer! It is crazy to think about that, but I think that is how everyone thinks.
So, first, I guess I will answer some of your questions about missionary/Japanese life:
-The weather here is some of the weirdest weather I have ever seen in my entire life. The day is bright and sunny for the first half of the day, then, without notice, it starts raining harder than you have ever seen in your entire life. The days are so hot! With full humidity, 105 F weather, riding bikes, and staying in the sun all day long, you tend to be pretty sweaty and salty by the end of the day. When it rains - it rains! It comes down hard and fast. The sky can be lit up at all times while raining because of the constant lightning. It is just so different from Utah weather.
-For Hello Kitty stuff, Madisen - I don`t know who created Hello Kitty but I would love to know. You see Hello Kitty stuff everywhere. It isn`t that it is blasted in your face, but if you have a watchful eye you see Hello Kitty everywhere! I would love to know the history and copyright policy of Hello Kitty. Everyone uses Hello Kitty and I don`t know if it is protected by copyright. Just know that she is everywhere if you know where to look.
-Do I sleep on a futon? Ummm....yeah.... I sleep on a futon. It is actually a lot more comfortable than you think it would be. When I get back stateside, I don`t think that I will be able to sleep on my bed for a while. I might just have to switch over to futons permanently. They are so convenient. You can just fold them up and put them out of the way, plus making the bed (futon) is so easy now! I got sheets at the mission home. We carry them around with us for all of our mission.
-The cockroach situation is getting progressively worse. We are cleaning the apartment better each week, but, because of the heat and weather, it is prime cockroach season. We see one about every 2-3 days now. Pretty bad... One of the ancient legends of the mission is that some missionaries came across a DVD called "Cockroach Slayer". Me and Nelson choro are thinking that we need to make a "Cockroach Slayer 2 : Unleashed" movie. We are not sure what the exact script would be, but we have decided that a flamethrower would have to be involved.
-For things that have made me laugh this week is probably breaking our mailbox by accident. Usually our mailbox lock is rusty and broken - it won`t twist or turn anymore, so we have to pop open our mailbox. But, when I went to open the mailbox I pulled on the handle and the entire door popped off! Whoops! I scared my poor Japanese district leader who I was on exchange with, though.
-Some of the stuff that surprises me about Japan is how often I actually talk in English with Japanese people. I can`t speak English, usually, to anyone over 30. I can speak English a little when they are Teenagers or Twenties. If they are 10 or younger, they know a decent amount of English for their age. No where near fluent, but surprising for how old they are. It just shows how much the education system is trying to value having people learn English in schools now.
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Well, it was great hearing about your week! It sounds as though you had a great birthday, Mom, that is so amazing. Golfing and the Aquarium sounded like it was really fun. It is always great to do stuff with Madisen and Vic.
Elizabeth sounds as though she is a little sad to see summer over. Don`t worry Elizabeth, I was always sad, too. You just have to get back into it and you will be glad that school is starting again, I know it sucks right now. Please just give Mom and Dad a little slack on what they think about what you are wearing to school. If they say that you look great, then believe them, you really do. I am glad that you got to switch to honors orchestra, you sound a lot happier about it in your email. I hope that your wrist gets better soon though. It sounds like it is hurting still, take it a little easy, okay?
Madisen and Vic you two sound great! I laughed at Madisen's tin man comment and it is always great to hear from you Vic!
Dad, I hope that this bankruptcy thing gets resolved soon. It makes me laugh that every time I read in the Book of Mormon about how people wouldn`t accept the gospel, it always mentions lawyers at some point. So, there you go.... {bahahaha....sorry, Mike and Greg but.....bahahaha}
I saw Andrews letter this week from Pat. It is just like Andrew to be all clever and try to send a picture of where he is going and the picture being to pixelated! I'm sure Pat is about to kill him. We will see how it goes. Too funny! But, he sounds like he is doing okay. Wherever he is going, I hope that he gets his Visa soon.
I hope that you didn`t share anything too personal in your talk, Mom, about my experiences in the mission, but I know that you wouldn`t do that. I`m glad that you like my `captain of the boat` letter. I don`t know if it is pure poetry, I do mention taking a leak in the middle of it, but I am glad that it helped you. I love that I can really be so open to you in my emails and not worry about being judged. That is one of the things that I love about our family. I don`t have to worry about holding anything back, since I know that you want to hear what I think and that you will edit it if it gets too personal. I know that at some points I have written some pretty heartbreaking things in my emails, but I am really glad I can always be open to you. My family and Father in Heaven are the only ones right now that I feel like I can really open up ALL my heart and soul to.
Well, this week has been okay. Last Preparation Day, we tried to head to a famous temple by Otsu but it turned out that it was closing in 15 minutes and we didn`t want to spend 500 Yen ($5) each for 15 minutes worth of touring. Oh well.... I also had the opportunity to go on a exchange with the District Leader. It is so hard to speak only in Japanese! I'm a quiet enough person to begin with, but with the language barrier it was pretty hard to talk to him. He gave me some training, all of which was basically about me not being good enough at being humble, having enough faith, repenting, using the gift of the Holy Ghost, seeking revelation etc. He is my District Leader and I respect him but I didn`t hear a single thing that I was doing right the entire time I was with him. Oh well... it was great seeing the look on his face when I broke the mailbox open, though.
We also met with quite a few other people this week - including Brother N. He is a new investigator that the F. Family (Calvary Family) referred us to. He is elect if there ever was one. It will be great to teach him.
The biggest news of this week, though, is that it is transfer week and we have all received our assignments. Elder Nelson is transferring to a new area and I am staying here in Otsu. I will have a Japanese companion next transfer named Yamamoto-choro. Elder Nelson doesn`t know to much about him, he says that he might be half Japanese half American. It doesn`t matter, I am going to learn Japanese next transfer if I kills me! I hope he is a cool guy and I can get along with him though. If not, it will be a realllyyyyy long transfer.
I love you all so very much! I love getting your letters each week! If you can though, if you don`t mind sending one really long letter a month by post that would be great! I love your emails, but I can`t actually print them off here and read them later. I love you all so very much! Don`t Forget to be Awesome!
With All the Love,
Klein-choro
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