The dirty

Hello family,

Hope that everything is doing well this week.  It sounds like everything is going on as normal in Utah.  I'm glad that the Utes beat BYU, that was really good to hear.  So Parker ready to leave for the MTC, wow! I guess that time flies.  Jade Gillman was sent to Los Angeles?  I love Los Angeles, but I don't know how much he will love it, I think he might really miss his past mission (Mexico, right?).  It sounds like Elizabeth is starting to get in the full swing of things.  School, classes, violin, dancing, watching movies, etc.  It sounds like fun, but I hope that you are feeling better, Mom told me that you are feeling a little sick.  It is also really great that you are becoming good friends with Kate.  I know that you have had a little bit of rough spots with your friends the last couple of months, so it is great for an older brother to hear that you are making good friends.

So, you had the sister missionaries over, Elizabeth tells me.  So how are they?  What did they teach you? Were they both native English speakers or was one or both of them learning English?

Thank you for sending an email to Zinke kaicho.  It really helps me a lot to know that you did that for me.  You also told me that he is willing to meet with me for as long as necessary.  So, I am glad that I won't have to feel any pressure about eating up his time.

Thank you for also sending the package.  It will be great if it will be waiting for me in Kobe when I go there tomorrow.  I hope that it and the things that I ordered through the mission office 9 weeks ago will also be there.  I am so sick of waiting for my small PMG, Japanese hymn book, and small Japanese Triple Combination.  But, they are swamped with new missionary stuff, so I guess that I can understand.

One of the Zone leaders and an AP came this week.  It was alright to talk to them, but the AP was really concerned about me.  He might have received an assignment from Zinke kaicho to see how I am doing.  He even pulled me aside to ask if I am doing alright.  I told him, `No, I am not alright.`  I guess he told Zinke kaicho about that, because right after that happened he went into the hall and spoke in English to someone over the phone.

After District meeting, it was time for us to go out to eat.  The Omihachiman missionaries felt like they needed to go home, so it was me, Elder Yamamoto, Juyo missionaries, and the AP and Zone leaders.  We decided to go eat at the Dirty.  I guess that I haven`t talked about The Dirty yet in my emails.  So, there is a restaurant that is famous throughout Japan that is in our area.  I don`t know what it is called in Japanese, but among missionaries it is called The Dirty.  It is really cheap, really good food, especially for missionaries, like 700 Yen, which is dirt cheap for eating out in Japan.  More food than you can handle, which is also really rare in Japan.  I got Katsudon, you might look that up on Google, but it was really good.  There are two requirements if you eat at The Dirty though.  1) You have to have had your Tetanus shots. 2) You MUST NOT look into the kitchen.  It is one of those places that it is better if you don`t know how your food is being prepared.  They love missionaries so much there that they give us 2 snowcones that are 2 feet high.

the dirty

So last P-Day, I took the lead in finding somewhere cool to visit.  I decided to go to a really famous temple in Japan called Ishiyamadera.  It costs 500 Yen to get in, though.  I don't think that Elder Yamamoto was to happy about that, but I was persistent in going.  We got in and found that half of the temple grounds were in really bad condition because of the typhoon.  Nevertheless, it was really cool.  I have pictures.  The one thing that Ishiyamadera temple is really famous for is that it was the spot where The Tale of Genji was written over 1000 years ago.  Really cool to see that along with the everything else that was there.  It consisted of a bunch of different shrines and temples scattered along the grounds.

Speaking of the typhoon, yes, we had to ride in the rain.  It was crazy!  But, we needed to get back to our apartment as soon as possible and we couldn`t wait it out because the typhoon had just begun.  Luckily, I had my rain gear on me, so I didn`t get soaked beyond measure.

As far as eating goes...I have been eating more this week and I have already eaten your package.  I want to say that I paced myself, but at the taste of Resses to my lips, I couldn`t resist myself.  I haven`t been eating much because I can`t really buy the ingredients to make the things I do know how to make and I don`t know how to make Japanese food.  I have been eating, but it isn`t fun.  I don`t enjoy eating anymore.  I have to force myself to eat things.

As far as how things went this week, it was pretty bad again.  It seems to get worse each week.  I have had moments in my life in which I was feeling really stressed and down, but this is the first time that it has been going on for so long.  I run through my day with it feeling like an eternity and having moments of the day where I feel like I can`t take it anymore.  I really don`t feel like I can talk to anyone about this other than Zinke kaicho.   I can`t wait to finally let everything out.  I have just bottled everything up since I got here.  I have felt like there was nobody who wanted to listen to me. I look forward to laying everything out on the table tomorrow.  I will see what happens.

I love you all and for your emails.  I love you all beyond words and I thank you for being so loving and supporting of me.  I know that you all have supported me so much and that you have prayed for me, and thought of me so much.  Thank you.  I know that I haven`t been the funniest person to write to lately.  I really am sorry for that.  Please forgive me.

With all the Love,

Elder Klein

Typhoon in Japan

 Typhoon in Japan


The year’s 18th typhoon shot through central and northeast Honshu on Monday, unleashing torrential rain and strong winds on much of the main island, including Fukushima Prefecture, where radioactive water was discharged to prevent the troubled complex from flooding.

According to local police tallies, Typhoon Man-yi had left at least three people dead and four missing before churning its way toward Hokkaido.

After making landfall shortly before 8 a.m. near Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, the typhoon raised havoc in five prefectures spanning the Chubu and Kinki regions, triggering evacuation orders for around 498,000 residents due to the risk of mudslides and flooding.

Warning of “unprecedented heavy rain,” the Meteorological Agency issued “special warnings” to Fukui, Kyoto and Shiga, using a new warning system launched last month for the first time.

In Kyoto alone, some 268,000 residents were ordered to leave, including about 81,000 in Fukuchiyama.

While the agency had lifted all of its special warnings by noon, the evacuation order in the city of Kyoto wasn’t lifted until late afternoon due to the scale of the floods.

Local police said they found the body of a 71-year-old woman after her house collapsed in a mudslide early Monday in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture. Another woman, 77, died after a mudslide wrecked her home in the town of Mihama, Fukui Prefecture.

Two men remained missing after being swept away in rivers in Aichi and Fukushima, while the whereabouts of a 41-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter was unknown after their car was found abandoned on a road along a river in Tsu, Mie Prefecture.

According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, 70 people sustained light or serious injuries from the bad weather and nearly 1,500 houses were flooded.

In the area around the Katsura River, which overran its banks, the flooding was so bad that Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada asked the Self-Defense Forces for help. At one point, the famed Togetsukyo (moon crossing) Bridge in the Arashiyama district was nearly submerged as the water damaged shops and homes in the area.

In addition, Kyoto residents reported damage along the banks near the Sanjo Ohashi bridge, the terminus of the famed Tokaido road between Kyoto and Tokyo that crosses the Kamo River downtown.

“A popular meeting area for performances and civic demonstrations just south of the bridge on the western banks was damaged,” said British resident Michael Lambe, author of the Deep Kyoto blog, a guide to the city.

Other businesses, including cafes and restaurants by the Kamo River, reported flooding as well. Kyoto’s bus and subway services, already strained with passengers from the three-day weekend, were disrupted.

According to the Meteorological Agency, precipitation in the 48 hours through Monday morning reached about 300 mm in parts of the cities of Kyoto and Otsu — more than they usually get for the entire month.

Precipitation topped 500 mm in parts of Mie and Nara, the agency said.

In Osaka, about 290,000 residents in the city’s harbor area were forced to flee early Monday. Although the evacuation order was lifted that afternoon, officials warned that the raging river currents were still dangerous.

“Water levels along the bands of the Yodo and Yamato rivers are still high, so people should not venture too close,” Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Monday afternoon.

Gusts in Saitama and Gunma, meanwhile, broke windows and caused other damage to property as the typhoon sped northeast.

As of 9 p.m., Typhoon Man-yi had weakened to an extratropical cyclone off Hokkaido, where up to 150 mm of rain was projected to have fallen by late Tuesday afternoon, the agency said.

Transportation was snarled nationwide. Train services were suspended in parts of the Tokaido, Joetsu and Nagano bullet train lines, while expressways were closed in some areas and airline flights scrubbed.

The central government formed an information liaison office within the crisis management center at the prime minister’s official residence on Monday morning.

courtesy of www.japantimes.co.jp

Typhoon

Hi Family,

Well, it has been one week, it has seemed like it has been an eternity to be honest.  I've written to you before how I couldn`t believe how it has been one week- that it had only seemed like a couple of hours.  I hate to tell you that this week has seemed like it has been an eternity.  I had to use all my will power to get through this week.

  Last week on Preparation Day, Yamamoto choro just wanted to go back to the apartment and not do anything.  I was sick and tired of staying in the apartment.  I was pretty mad at him.  We couldn`t go anywhere special, because I had no money, so I started biking to different shrines that I have seen while in Otsu.  We, then, rode from place to place. I decided to go into a recycle shop and to the beach.   I peddled as hard as I could and tried to relieve some of the stress that I was feeling, but it was only a temporary relief. 

 Klein choro and Yamamoto choro

 

Shrine in Otsu

I have still been feeling terrible.  This week continued to be hard for me to eat.  I went days in a row without eating anything.  It wasn't that I was really fasting, I just couldn't bring myself to eat anything.  Nothing sounded that good.  Even drinking some water sounded terrible, so I didn't even drink that much water, a very stupid idea when your biking all day and your apartment is 45 minutes away from where you need to study (the church).  I just felt so restless during the night and so sleepy during the day.  Instead of eating lunch, I would just have an hour sleep because I was so tired.  My headaches were turning into migraines, a very bad thing in Japan since there is ALWAYS something loud playing.  My body just started becoming like trash.  It escalated until Friday.

Friday was the day for a companion exchange with the district leader and his companion.  I would go with the district leader`s companion while Yamamoto choro would stay with the district leader in my area.  On the way to district meeting at the church (a 45 minute bike ride), my body just had enough.  I had to stop.  My body felt so ill that I couldn`t believe it.  All the stress that was put on by the past week just came all at once. Yamamoto choro waited  for 10 minutes.  We called Sister Zinke to tell her that I was ill and, unfortunately, we had to ride our bikes somewhere, whether to the church or back the apartment.  Knowing that the rest of my district was waiting at the church, to which we only had the keys to, I rested for 20 more minutes and then we started biking to the church.

I couldn`t participate in district meeting, so I asked if it was alright if I just laid down in a room.  They said that I could.  I tried to sleep, but I really couldn`t.  After all of that, after the district meeting was over, the district leader said that the companion exchange would now begin. I  looked at the three people in front of me (the district leader, his companion, and Yamamoto choro)   and said, `I can`t do a companion exchange, I am way to sick, I need to rest!` After everything was discussed in Japanese, they said that the companionship exchange was going to continue and that when I arrived in the other area, that I should just rest.  I set out with my new Japanese companion, who can`t speak any English, to the train station.  After riding for the train for 1 hour, we finally arrived at the area, and, after a 15 minute bike ride, was at the apartment.  I just collapsed onto the futon and slept for 2 and half hours.  After resting for a bit during the exchange, I felt a little bit better.

I think that a talk with President Zinke might help, I have just sent him an email about how I would like to schedule an appointment with him.

The week continued by way of a typhoon that is going across Japan right now.  It has been raining like crazy. Talk about craziness when you bike 30 minutes to your apartment during a raging typhoon.  All my stuff got completely soaked.  Luckily, my translator made it out dry, though.

Courtesy of National Geographic
Yeah...try biking through that!

 Dad, I am really happy that you read the Fault in Our Stars, it really is my favorite book.  I could talk forever about that book and how it made me feel.  I really hope that you cried at the part where Hazel was talking to Augustus while he was stuck in his car and felt like he was useless because he couldn`t do anything by himself.  At that part of the book, I cried for 2 hours straight.  

I love you all so very much.

With all the Love,

Elder Klein

p.s.  I am doing better than how I was feeling on Friday though, I have started to force myself to eat something, it has helped a little bit and at least I am not feeling so very ill anymore.

 p.p.s Madisen, THANK YOU SO MUCH for that picture that you sent me.  It really brought a tear to my eye, I didnt know that you had a picture like that

Jillyn's note:
As you can tell, Kolton is struggling.  He has been really sick for the last couple of weeks.  He has been unable to eat and has been getting migraines.  Something I didn't realize is how LOUD Japan is.  I have heard this from quite a few missionary blogs.  Apparently, going to the grocery store is an overwhelming sensory experience.  In addition to his illness, for some reason, he only received 1200 Yen to spend for the whole month of September - which is $12...for the whole month. (This is a country where an apple costs $20)  Kolton is still not sure the reason behind that.  But, I know Kolton and he would be totally reluctant to spend any of his emergency money - even though we told him to.  So, if you could, please pray for him.  Thanks for all of your support of our cute boy.

Rain, rain and more rain

Hi family,

 This week was really tough.  Last P-Day we didn`t do anything, whatsoever.  All that happened was staying in the apartment while it rained and rained and rained.   We didn`t get to go anywhere cool, like a shrine, temple, or art museum.  Just stayed inside, it was pretty terrible.

 We weren`t able to meet with anyone this whole week.  No one.  Everyone is too busy to talk with us or they are out of town.

 We would wake up at 6:00, bike in pouring rain at 7:00 for an hour, study in the church at 8:00 for 4 hours, have a way awkward mogi at 12:00, bike home at 1:00 in pouring rain for 1 hour, eat like two bites of a sandwich for lunch at 2:00, then go out and not be able to talk to anyone for the rest of the day.  That was my week.

I  had my first zone training last week on Friday.   I got to see Elder Nelson and a couple of my MTC buddies.  It took the entire day to get there, have training, and then ride home.  The Zone leader took some heat though.  He was talking about how we should be doing street contacting and let it slip that he contacted two junior high (like 15-16) girls!  Whoops. As a missionary in Japan you should NEVER contact someone of the opposite sex especially if they are young, unless you get a VERY big spiritual prompting.  Once that was let loose, it took him at least 30 minutes to get a control of the situation.  Pretty funny, though.

We got to meet with 3 people the last two days, though.  One Peruvian, one Japanese, one Chinese. We did a "setting the table" lesson with them (a memorized lesson that you have to use as your first lesson).  One was at the church with Sister J. (The Chinese) which was pretty good, that was yesterday.  Except for her going on a tangent about Panasonic televisions for like 30 minutes, she was pretty focused during the lesson.  I had no idea what was going on, with her talking in Japanese with her Chinese accent.  Still a lot better than Kansai-ben (the local dialect around here that everyone speaks).  Kansai-ben is so hard to understand, as they say in Tokyo it is `dirty` Japanese.  The other was with the Peruvian and Japanese people, Brothers F. and M.  That lesson was in AlPlaza.  AlPlaza is like a mega center shopping center.  Very loud.  So loud that I got a migraine for the rest of the day.  We couldn`t even finish the lesson.  We are going to try and meet with them next week.

Yesterday was church.  We got to eat lunch with one of the ward members named Brother S.  He is so funny!  It's funny because he doesn`t act like a Japanese person at all.  Japanese people love to beat around the bush, so much so - you don`t even know what they were trying to tell you in the end.  But, Brother S. is so forward.  When we were eating and I finished my bowl (of granola/cereal), he would fill my bowl again and kept saying `Don`t hold back` He did it like 20 times, so funny!  He just doesn`t care about being to blunt with Americans and I like that about him.  So, very nice too.
 
They also talked about in our coordination meeting about getting the missionaries an oven.  This is so that we can do cookie dendo (cookie prosyleting), as they call it.  We make cookies and take them to every investigator or less-active member.  They really are funny that way.

So, I finally got your package today.  It was one heck of a journey to get it, though.  We tried to get it at the nearest post office, but it wasn`t at that post office.  It was in the one in Kusatsu, half an hour away.  We couldn`t get to Kusatsu because it was pouring rain.  We asked if we could have them bring it to the post office nearest us.  We needed a proof of residence, of which we don`t have.  To get the package, we would need to send a redelievery slip in the mail.  We struggled trying to figure out what we needed to write on the slip (all in Kanji, both of us can`t read Kanji, so we didn`t know where we needed to put stuff).  We fianlly figured out that they wouldn`t be able to deliever it until today, so I had to wait for another week.  Man!  It was a workout!

It also has been raining a lot lately!  I swear we get drenched each time we step out of our apartment! We head somewhere when it is nice and shining, then BAM! pouring rain.  It sucks because we can`t stay indoors to dendo, so we have to head out and dendo in the rain (Dendo-prosyleting).  I hope that it stops raining so much soon though, that would be nice.

With all the love,

Elder Klein

New companion...Same old stomping grounds.

Hi Everyone!

Well, it is officially my second transfer!  It is kinda weird to think about it, actually.  On one hand, I feel as though I have been in Otsu for my entire life and other times, it seems as though I arrived here yesterday.  It especially feels like I arrived here yesterday when trying to take Yamamoto choro to everywhere we need to go.  It kinda feels ridiculous.  I will tell you more about those exciting experiences later in the email.

Nelson choro & Klein choro

 -The English classes are going pretty well, I think.  We have grown by a couple of people since my first time teaching English class.  It is pretty fun.  Hard, because we aren`t allowed to speak any Japanese during English class to help the students out (I got chewed out on that) but, never the less, it is fun to see how interested the Japanese people are to learn English.  I taught beginners English class last transfer, so I am moving to teach the Intermediate English class this transfer.  I think it will be a lot easier to teach and for them to understand me now, though.  There are usually about 7 people showing up total.

-We have to study at the church most mornings.  Except for Sunday and Monday, we always study at the church.  We don`t study at the church on Monday because it is preperation day and we don`t study Sunday because the church is really loud on Sunday.  No kidding, the Japanese think that church attendence is an all day festival - they stay there for several hours after all their meetings are over with!  We can`t study with all the noise that is going on on Sunday, so we study in the apartment.

-We do have an actual church meeting house.  I think that it is quite nice.  Some areas in the mission definitely have the sketchy shed for a church though, others have the 'church over the dentists office' kind of deal.

-We don`t usually run into our neighbors, we miss each other heading out for church study, and, for them, work.  I don`t think that they really care about us being there though, as long as we don`t force them to convert.

-The ward is awesome.  I love it!  They are absolutely amazing!  Especially Bishop H.

- I have had to speak at church.  It was my second week in Japan, actually.  Did I not tell you that?  I had to give a 10 minute talk on why I came on a mission.  Needless to say, I was stressed about it.

-For other Americans in the ward, it is just the Boettcher (I actually have no idea how they spell their name) family.  As for Americans in Otsu, there are none, I have only seen a couple of American tourists walking around in my 7 weeks here.  You see more and more the closer you get to Kyoto, though.

-The American food that I miss the most is steak.  Meat is EXTREMELY expensive there in Japan.  No kidding.  When you buy enough meat for one person for one meal it costs $25!  For one person!  I realize how cheap American food is and how much you get!

 Dinner with the Boettcher family

Well, it was great hearing about how your weeks have gone.

Madisen and Vic seem pretty good (considering Madisen lost all of her wisdom, don`t it suck?).  I wish that Madisen would have said funnier things though, besides "I can`t see"  At least that is better than me, I don`t think that I said anything weird at all.  So, it is lots of ice cream for you, Madisen!  I'm sure that will be fun after your stomach can handle it.  I'm sure that Vic had a great time taking pictures of you will you were to drugged up.  I remember when I got my wisdom teeth out...it was terrible, so I feel ya.  Your work schedule never fails to confuse me, though, Madisen.  I swear nothing in that office ever stays the same, there are always moving pieces.

I'm glad that Dad is happy about the Utes winning...I`m not though...I wish that USU would have won again this year.  I'm sorry to hear that the lawn mower is offically gone though.  KSL ads are really something.  I have been telling you for years to get rid of that thing.  Now you can finally buy a new one!  Yea!  I also heared that you might, seceretly, have liked Swiss Days.  You even bought something for the trailer!  That's so funny, everyone is putting so much time and energy into that thing.

Elizabeth that sounds terrible about your wrists though.  I can`t believe that you hurt them that bad.  Even having to get physical therapy?!  Thats insane.  I hope that you have a quick recovery from it from now on though.  Dr. Haderlie knows what he is doing.  I also hear that you are really excited for the One Direction movie.  I hope that you have a great time at it.  While I don`t understand all the excitment over it, I am excited that you are excitied.  It also sounds like you are taking Dance again?  Wow, well good luck, Hip Hop will probably really fun.  I was about your age when I stopped taking art too.  I hope that you have fun during dance though!  Don`t worry about your letter length, It is all about the heart of it.

Mom, I`m glad that you finally got a raise at work!  Finally!  I can`t believe that it has taken this many years for it though.  I think one Saturday a month is totally worth it.  Swiss Days also sounds like it has taken quite a hit this year.  I think Mom might be onto something when saying that Pinterest has had an impact on it.  While I don`t think Pinterest is the sole reason, I think that the Internet and having instructions on how to do cool things by yourself has definitely had an impact on the arts and crafts at Swiss Days.  I also am really grateful that you sent me some news from the outside world.  It is great to keep up a little bit on things like that.

 Well, this week sure has been interesting though.  First, the last couple of days with Nelson choro were pretty fun riding our bikes everywhere.  When he heard he was leaving Otsu, he wanted to give his meshis (name\business cards) to all of our investigators.  Problem is that our investigators don`t live anywhere near close to each other.  So we biked, a lot.  Its ok, I think I can say that I am pretty pro at riding a bike now.

The day came for us to finally start our transfer.  On Friday, we had to head down to Sannomia station in Kobe to meet up with our new companions.  After talking with some of my MTC friends, I finally found Yamamoto choro.  I tried to talk to him in Japanese, then quickly realized he spoke perfect English.  I, then, asked him where he was from and he said Provo, Utah.  I felt kinda stupid though, but with a name like Yamamoto choro, who wouldn`t have thought he was Nihonjin?!  His parents are both Japanese, but he only spoke Japanese for a little bit when he lived in Japan when he was smaller.  He and his parents moved to America and Yamamoto choro lived there until coming on his mission.  Nevertheless, you can see a few Japanese qualities in him.  He speaks really good Japanese (doesn`t know Kanji, though, so it might be hard to get places) and says `Hai!`  a lot.

We came back and I briefed him on our Area in Weekly Planning.  Ever since then, I have been taking the lead in planning and everything since he doesn`t know all of our investigators and doesn`t know the area.  It has been pretty tough. For right now, I kinda feel like the senior companion.

I got the postal slip and will go pick up my package from you today!

I love you all so much.  Thank you for everything that you do for me.  I can`t thank you enough.  Truly.

With Love,

Klein choro

Cockroach Slayer: Unleashed

Hi Everyone!

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

Answers to your questions...

Hello Everyone!

Hope that you all are doing alright!  It was so great getting your letters this week.  It was great hearing about 7 peaks and how summer is winding down.  Elizabeth, I hope that you are feeling a little better about your classes now.  It really wasn`t fair for them to exclude you even though you are a perfect student... typical Wasatch.  Madisen and Vic look like they had a great time miniture golfing...I miss a lot of things about leading a normal life, especially eating giant ice cream bowls at Leatherby's.  It sounds like Mom is getting a little exhausted over school prep and Dad is starting to go a little crazy because I'm not there....(talking to cars etc..)  Haha just kidding, love you, Dad!

Mom, I hope that you didn`t feel to bad about missing the email last week.  You didn`t know that I was going to be emailing a little earlier than normal.  I didn`t get to read it last week, but I was really happy to see that I had one extra email to be reading this week!!

Andy seems like he is just about to head out huh... That is really weird to think about.  I think that he will probably be reassigned for a little bit until the visa arrives.  Its funny that he talks in his sleep while at the MTC.  So funny!  I talk in my sleep in the mission all the time!  Oh well...when your companion tells you that you have been sleep talking in Japanese, it makes you feel a little bit better about it for some reason.

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Well, I guess that I will answer some of your questions before I launch into my past week:

Being an American can be really fun and really frustrating in Japan.  Fun in that you have something called Gaijin power, it enables you to basically get away with doing anything because you are Gaijin (Foreigner).  You can break cultural norms and it doesn`t feel weird for Japanese people.  But, the downside is that no one wants to talk to you if they aren`t comfortable with English.  They get this look of sheer terror when you are talking to them.  They think "I can`t speak English, I can`t talk to you, I can`t, I can`t" meanwhile, you are talking to them in Japanese!  When we went housing around the local college, we introduced ourselves in the Kekko Box (intercom basically).  We tell him who we were and then he hung up on us.  While we were walking past, we hear his wife asking what we wanted and he said that he didn`t know because he didn`t want to talk to us because he can`t speak English.

As for the young adults and older people treating us, I like talking to young people a lot more than talking to older people.  Younger people are very easy to talk to, while older people seem to not like to talk to us as much.  I love them all, it's just while talking about the gospel, it is much easier to talk to the younger people.  I think that it is the hierarchy effect in place.  The older people feel as though they can treat us bad if they want to, while the younger people treat us good all the time because we are on the same level.

We never see other missionaries except on companion exchanges and district meetings.

There aren`t a lot of flowers here in Otsu.  You see beautiful gardens though.  Some of the prettiest gardens that I have ever seen in my life.  The mountains are so pretty here.  It isn`t like the Rockies,  but beautiful green mountains that spike into the sky.

Besides rice and toast, we eat a lot of chahan.  It is a Chinese recipe that both me and Elder Nelson love. Other than that, what ever we can scrounge together.  Sorry about that mom, I know you want more information. {I looked up Chahan - it is stir fry with eggs, meat and vegetables.}

Yes, I am taking my vitamins and everything... (sigh)

My clothes are doing alright, they are definitely being worked hard now.  The first week was terrible with my pant legs getting caught in the chain of the bike, though.  Don`t worry, they are fine.  Shoes are great too.

I haven`t been able to eat too much Japanese food yet, {I asked him if he has been eating sushi} because it is too expensive.  The only thing that I don`t like so far is Mugichan, the tea that tastes like cigarettes and dirt.  I hate it so much... sooooo much.  I don`t see how people can like it.

I have bought a little translator.  I have also just bought a new backpack, since we can`t use backpacks that have two shoulder straps, only one.  They don`t want us to look like we are college students.  I get that but....you know.  I also bought a fan here, I like it a lot, very handy...I see why everyone uses them.

Kids, yes.  A lot, no.  There are not a lot of kids here in Japan.  When you do see them, they are so funny.  I swear, I get a laugh out of every little kid that I see here in Japan.

I have ridden many trains since coming here to Japan.  For fast transportation, trains are the way to go.  Riding a bike was way sketchy for the first week, but I think that I can say that I am pretty good at it now.  The first week, though....I`m lucky I didn`t die.

You see cats and dogs here in Japan.  A lot of small dogs, though.  They don`t have a lot of space  for big dogs here in Japan with their tiny apartments. No real pokemon, (they have a animal named a pika that is like a squirrel) I have seen a lot of posters for a new Pokemon movie that is going to be coming out soon, though.  To be honest, I want to see it so bad... after my mission - I`ll watch it in Japanese.

A hair salon will probably cut my hair.  I don`t trust my companion with my hair.  Hair salons are crazy expensive here in Japan, though.  Like 4000 Yen {about $40) for a haircut!  I think that is only for women though, I think that men maybe a little different.

I think that is all I have time to answer this week.  Ask me more and I will try to tell you about it next week!

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So, this past week has been a okay week.

First, off we got to go to Kyoto last Preparation Day!  Kyoto is so beautiful, you can`t even believe it!  It just makes my jaw drop because of how cool it is.  Being focused on both the past and the present.  Having top of the line modern technology next to shrines that are over 1000 years old.  It really is amazing!

We went to Kyoto Eki (Station) and waited for our investigator.  He finally showed up and then we took a quick look around the Eki.  Stations here in Japan are a lot different than in the States.  The Eki is a paradise.  They have shops, movie theaters, hotels, restaurants all inside of it.  Beautiful architecture, for sure.  We got to see a grand view of Kyoto from something called the Sky Walk.  Very beautiful.

At the train station

After that, we decided to ride the train over to the Heavenly Dragon Temple.  It was one, if not the first, Zen temple in Japan!  I have pictures of it - don`t worry.  The garden in the back was breathtaking.

At the Heavenly Dragon Temple

 After looking around for a little bit, we decided to go to some of the more famous shrines in Kyoto.  I forgot the name of the site, but we got to walk through millions of Shinto gates and see beautiful shrines everywhere.  I think that was one of the most amazing places that I have ever been in my entire life.  It reminded me of the Sistine Chapel and how that took my breath away.  I can`t believe that I got to experience it.

At the Kyoto Shrines

 After that, we went a little souvenir shopping for Nelson choro.  He doesn`t know if he will be able to visit Kyoto again and he wanted to buy some stuff.  So, we headed to a shopping mall which was really cool.

Kyoto was so amazing and beautiful.  You would be walking along the most modern buildings you have ever seen then, and then right in between two buildings would be a pathway leading to a beautiful, small, old shrine.  Perfect mix of old and new.

I also got to go to Bishop H.`s place for dinner yesterday.  He is literally the coolest church member that I have ever met here in Japan.  So cool and so nice.  His family is so nice, as well, and so encouraging to me.  I have to say that I was nervous going into the dinner appointment after the experience at Calvary, but it was really great!  They fed us so much.  I tried not to eat too much, but they kept on giving me more and more food!  We shared a spiritual message on temples and then we left.  I am so glad that dinner appointments can be a really fun thing.

Now, today is Mom`s birthday.  Well, over here it is, at least.  Happy Birthday Mom!  I really wish that I could be with you right now, or at least send you a present, but I guess that this will have to do.  I love you so much.  I have learned so much from you that you don`t even know.  Let me list a couple of things that you have taught me in my life.

1.  Pure love  -  You don`t care who it is or where they have come from, you exhibit pure love to everyone.  The way that you talk to others, how you act, what you do, and how you think is always about the needs of others.  You are so full of love.  That is why I loved to be home, because whenever I stepped inside of that house, I felt the love of a mother and family who loves each other so unconditionally.

2. Thrifty  -  The F word in our family is "full price".  It is true that we are a thrifty family.  That has been such a blessing our lives.  Why buy something when you can make it better and have a story along with it?  Why buy something that you don`t need now when you can save for later?  Why buy a huge boat when you can see the wonders of Rome.?  I have seen how much of a blessing it is to be thrifity.  To always be willing to focus on what is needed and not what is the so called `best`.

3.  Happiness and Humor  -  You and me Mom - we are a lot alike.  We have the same type of humor.  I think that is very apparent.  We just think about Dwight from the Office and we start laughing.  I think that is wonderful.  You are so very happy all the time.  I have said it time and time again that I think that when it comes right down to it,  you are the only one in the entire universe I can`t help smiling at.  When I was a kid that is true, and right now it still holds true.  Whenever I see you happy and smiling, I want to be happy and smiling along with you.

I miss you so much, Mom along with everyone else, but today I am really thinking about you.  I love you so much you don`t even know.  I can`t wait for that day when you can smile at me and I can`t help but smile back.

As for the language, I am really frustrated.  I hate and love learning this language.  Whenever I learn something new, it seems I take one step forward and then two steps back.  Its hard to start the journey with the first step when you get dragged back to the start whenever you think you making progress.  I know I have to keep going, but it is just a little frustrating.

Well, I think that is about it for this week.  I love you all so very much.  I can`t wait for your emails and pictures next week.  I love you all and, as always, Don`t Forget to be Awesome.

With all the Love,

Klein choro (Elder Klein)