Monday, July 30, 2012

well, it's been another exciting week here in Japan. We're still working with the same people as before, and staying busy teaching them and helping them out. The members in this area are great. They're always trying to find ways to help out the missionaries, and are more than wiling to try to help out when we ask. One of the members in our ward, Brother Seya, actually just returned from his mission just a little while ago, so he's been a great help. I also actually found out that Brother Honda in our ward is brothers with the two Honda Brothers that were at the MTC with me. That means I now know 3 out of the 4 Honda brothers in this particular family. How cool is that? Oh, and to make the world even smaller (as it seems to happen every week), I forgot the mention last week that when I was upacking all my bags when I first got here, I found a picture of Clark Sensei and one of his companions in one of my dresser drawers. I don't know if he left it, or if his companion in the picture left it, but I definitely wasn't expecting to find a picture of Clark Sensei in my apartment. Crazy.

It would seem that I arrived in Japan at quiet the eventful time. Just this last weekend was the Yamato City Summer Matsuri. Saturday Elder Christensen and I had lunch with one of the families in our ward, after which we went and tried to visit one of our investigators. He was busy, so we ended up just visiting for a few minutes instead of teaching the lesson we had planned. Afterwards we did some street contacting, and later in the evening we had the opportunity to go to the Matsuri. It was pretty fun. There were several areas with stages set up and groups doing traditional japanese dances. Of course, there was lots of food for sale too. We ended up meeting with a member and went around the matsuri for a while with them. While we were there we were able to talk with lots of people, which should come as no surprise since there were people everywhere. A few of the people we talked to at the Matsuri may start coming to Englih class, but we'll have to wait and see if they come. All in all though, it was a fun experience.

Sunday was a pretty busy day as well. After church we had a few appointments, and after those were finished we still had a few hours left before dinner with a member family. So we went back to the Matsuri and tried contacting people there. We were able to talk with quite a few people, and hopefully we were able to build a stronger relationship between the church and the community as well. When we finally headed over to the member's house for dinner, we ended up finding a street along the way that was nothing but shops. Nothing too special about that, right? Well, in Japan, it's fairly common to have metal garage style doors at the fronts of shops other small buildings. Every single shop on this street that was already closed and had their shop front closed up, had these full murals painted across their entire door. It was way cool. You never know what you'll find next here in Tokyo.

Well, that's about it for now! More to come next week!

Monday, July 23, 2012

   Hey everyone! I don't know if my sister put anything up last week since I wasn't able to email home, but It's been quite the adventure so far my first week in Japan! I'm currently in the Yamato ward of the Fujisawa stake. We have a military base in our area, so we actually have an english branch that we attend every sunday in addition to our Japanese ward. My trainer is named Elder Christensen. He's already been in the Yamato area for 12 weeks, and is pretty familiar with everything going on here. There are some pretty neat people here that I've met so far. I'm excited. Oh, and an interesting tidbit about our area: the chapel we meet in is the same chapel they have a picture of in the Japanese version of the Word of Wisdom Phamplet. Pretty cool, huh?

   Elder Christensen is a pretty interesting guy. He's from Salt Lake, likes to longboard, snowboard, his family used to travel alot, and he's been out for about 13 transfers. He's pretty mellow, and can be kinda quiet sometimes, but the members really seem to like him alot, so he must know what he's doing. I hope I can learn alot from him.

   The Yamato ward is fairly small geographically compared to some of the other areas in the mission, but there are still plenty of people, and it's still plenty big. Our apartment is about a 10 minute ride away from the Yamato subway station which is pretty central to our area. I was told on sunday that Yamato City has a population of about 300,000. Not too shabby. We have a handful of people we're teaching right now, but we're still doing our fair share of street contacting because they've all been fairly busy lately.

So my first full day was pretty exciting. Wendsday morning we did some training with President Budge, got a crash course on some basics of the mission from the office Couple, met our trainers, had lunch, and then we were off to our areas. Every wednesday night we teach english conversation classes as a community service project, which means that my first day in the field I ended up teaching an english class. That was fun. What's really funny is that all the lessons we've taught so far have been to investigators that aren't Japanese, so they've been in english. I have yet to teach a lesson in Japanese, and I've been here a week. I've done plenty of street contacting in Japanese, but haven't taught a lesson yet. Defintely not what I was expecting.

   My favorite thing about being in japan so far is probably the city itself. It's always really interesting to be riding around and see these really new modern buildings everywhere, and then in the middle of nowhere there's just this stone wall that could be hundreds of years old and you would never even know. The blend of modern and traditional architecture is really different from that back home. The weather has been pretty great lately too. Unfortunately, it's just not meant to last. My first couple of days were in the 90's with pretty close to 100% humidity. It cooled off for a few days when a storm blew in, but now it's starting to warm back up again.

 

I just sent some pictures home to my family, so once those arrive there should be a few getting put up on the blog soon. I hope everyone is doing well! More to come next week!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Well, only one more week at the MTC, and things have been quite exciting lately. Last week for the 4th of july, at the end of the day we had an MTC fireside sort of thing to celebrate the holiday. There was some miscommunication, so everyone began to arrive in the auditorium about half an hour earlier than anticipated, so to kill time they had us sing some songs. We all sang happy birthday to a few people who's birthdays weren't too far away. After that, however, we sang "popcorn popping". That was quite the experience, to see 2,000 missionaries all standing up, singing popcorn popping, handmotions and all, and completely loving it. To top it all off, after we sang popcorn popping, the music director asked for suggestions. Wouldn't you know it, we ended up also singing the snowman song. Win. After the fireside, we were all instructed to go outside, and to "not return to the residency halls until after the final firework has been launched". So we all got to watch the firework show being launched from just a few blocks away at the BYU stadium. That was pretty cool. and to top it all off, after we returned to the residency halls at the end of the show, my room mates and I are in our room talking and getting ready for bed, and someone comes sprinting from around the corner, into our room (he has a hoody on and an improvised mask), jumps halfway across the room, turns a full 180 in the air, throws a fistfull of dryer sheets, sprays some airfreshener the instant he hits the ground, and is gone again all within literally about 3 seconds of us seeing him. I was impressed. And it was hilarious.

Other than that, it's just been a regular week... ok, it's been anything but regular. I'll be honest. We all have our flight plans now, so that's on everybody's mind. It's our last week at the MTC, so we're all trying to buckle down and finish all our last minute preperations before we head out but there's something irregular going on almost every day because of our preperations to fly out to Japan. I'm super excited. We've all been making leaps and bounds in our abilities to teach, and it's been quite amazing to see how much everyone has grown in just 10 weeks. Even though we're the same in alot of ways, we're a completely different group in many ways as well. It's exciting. I hope we can all hit the ground running when we get to Japan.

So, I have some pretty exciting news. Some Japanese broadcasting group is coming to the MTC tomorrow to do a kind of report of sorts on the MTC and the missionaries. It's going to be broadcast to 6 million viewers in England, and pretty much the entire country of Japan. Since it's a Japanese broadcasting group, they're obviously interested specifically in the missionaries going to Japan. Wouldn't you know it, but my district is the one they're going to observing and interviewing tomorrow. How cool is that? They're gonna make sure to send us links to the videos once they're broadcasted, and I'll be sure to get those links to you guys as well. It should be an interesting experience for sure.

That's about it for now. Things are gonna be kinda crazy the next few days, but it'll be fun. I'm not sure how next week is gonna work with getting an update to you all, seeing as how I'll be traveling pretty much all day monday, and because of the dateline I arrive in Japan Tuesday night. So, there may not be a blog post next week. We'll see how it goes. More to come later!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Well, it's been two months and a day since I left home to come to the MTC, and in just under two weeks I'll be flying out to Japan. It's been quite the experience for sure. Sometimes it feels like we've been at the MTC for way longer than two months, and sometimes it still feels like we just barely got here yesterday. Despite all that, it's definitely been a great experience.

I don't know if there's been anything about it in the news or not, but there's a forest fire that's been burning somewhere nearby for a little over a week now. Every few days when the wind blows in the right direction, the entire valley fills up with smoke and we can smell the fires. It's really wierd to be walking around outside and just smell smoke like that. Hopefully they get it under control soon. Wherever it's burning though, it's far enough away that it isn't a concern here at the MTC.

It's been a relatively quiet week here at the MTC this last week. Just more of the usual routine of studying, teaching, and more studying. One interesting thing, however, was when I met a missionary that knows my Uncle Conrad and his family who live in Missouri. His name was either Elder Travis or Elder Tanner. I can't remember which one, but I'm pretty sure it was Elder Travis. We were standing in line together at the cafeteria and started talking, found out he was from that area of Missouri, asked if he would happen to know Uncle Conrad, and it turns out they're in the same stake. Wasn't expecting that one. The only other notable event from this week was when we found out that one of our teachers, Shaner Sensei, was offered an internship out on the east coast, and yesterday was his last day of work here at the MTC. So, we all had to say goodbye just a little earlier than we had been planning on, but we're all happy that he was able to land this internship and (hopefully) get a jumpstart on his career.

Oh! I heard a funny story that I thought would be worth sharing during one of our meetings on Sunday. The wife of one of the MTC president's counsilors shared a story about one time she had a bunch of little children over at the house for daycare, and they were all around the ages of 3-5. They had started playing a game of "I Spy", and one of the times it was this sister's turn to spy something, she saw a little statue figurine of Jesus and two children. After all the kids finally guessed what it was she had spied, she went and took it down off the shelf and asked the children if they knew who it was in this figurine. One of the little girls, Erin, who was 4 years old, answered "I know who that is! That's Jesus! He's from Australia." Kids say the funniest things, don't they? It turns out that Erin's family had moved to the states from australia not to long before this had happened, so in her mind Jesus was associated with her old home in Australia. The sister has used this story to illustrate the point that regardless of where in the world it is that we are living, the gospel of Christ can help anyone and everyone, and we need to share it.

That's about it for this week! More to come later!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Well everyone, it's been another interesting week here at the MTC. More of the usual schedule of class, studying, teaching, and more studying (which of course means sitting down all day). There have been a few highlights here and there though that are worth sharing about. First of all, the world is getting smaller every day. I found out that Brother Wadsworth, one of the branch presidency, is related to Sister Mosley who I know from the Mesa Temple Baptistry. Turns out that they're siblings. One of the new missionaries who came in two weeks ago is also from Gilbert, and she knows alot of the people from ward because she was friends with quite a few of them, so we have alot of mutual friends, but we've never met before. I've also seen three friends from home here at the MTC this last week. I saw Alex Annand last thursday, and I've bumped into him a few times since then. Sunday morning during breakfast I saw Cameron Smith and Ricky Van Neck, who both just arrived last week. That was completely unexpected. I had thought that they were both reporting after I left for Japan. Guess not.

This week all the new mission presidents are at the MTC for training before they all report to their missions Thursday morning. All the missionaries going to missions getting a new mission president got to meet their new mission presidents saturday night, which meant that I got to meet my new mission president, President Budge, saturday night as well. He seems like a really neat guy, and I'm excited to be able to work with him in just a few weeks. He served his mission in Japan, and since then he's lived in japan for 17 years. It's safe to say he's thoroughly familiar with the culture and the language. We all spent some time getting to know each other a little bit, and he shared with us some of his goals and plans for the mission. Our mission theme is going to me "idaina taigini ichi", which means "united in so great a cause". I'm excited. Only a few weeks left.

All the native Japanese missionaries arrived last night, and I got to meet a few of them for a little bit. I was a little sad when I found out that none of the native Japanese missionaries in this group are going to the Tokyo mission though. There are a few going to all the Japanese missions except Tokyo. It'll still be fun to talk with all of them and get to know them anyway. Last night I talked with Elder Honda, who actually came from Tokyo. He seems like a really neat guy, and we talked for almost 40 minutes. He actually has a brother that came with him to the MTC, so I'm looking forward to meeting his brother too. Elder Honda (the one I met) is going to the Kobe Mission, and his younger brother is going to the Nagoya Mission. It would have been really cool if they were going to the same mission, but being at the MTC together at the same time is pretty cool too.

 

That's about it for this week! I'd love to hear from all of you and see how you're doing! I have limited time for emails, but if you send a letter through the mail or dearelder.com I have enough time to respond to all those. More to come next week everyone! Later!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Well, it's happened. There are now less weeks left at the mtc than there are weeks that I've already been here. It's been a great experience, but I'm still super excited to head off to Japan in a few weeks. This last week has been quite an interesting week for sure. Last wednesday all the new missionaries going to Japan arrived, and that's been fun. Alot of them have studied japanese a little bit before they came to the MTC, which makes it really fun to watch them as they try to teach each other different pieces of the language that they know. Watching them has made it really clear to me that just because you know something doesn't mean you can teach it. Some of the explanations I've overheard have been rather entertaining to say the least.

A few nights ago, one of the new missionaries came and told us about a note he found left behind by some of the older missionaries, talking about a box of candy that they put in the ceiling above the bathroom. He said he had found the vent they opened to stash the box, and when we went to take a look at it, sure enough we could see a box up in the ceiling when we looked closely enough. After we found a screwdriver, we were able to open up the vent and get the box down, but it was barely filled enough to cover the bottom of the box, and most of it was all opened or half eaten... So much for finding the hidden treasure, right?

Despite all the craziness and shenanigans that everyone manages to get into, there's still alot to be learned, and alot of work to do. My companion Elder Howell and I get a little better at teaching every day, and his Japanese has now reached the point where he no longer feels the need to take written phrases or sentences with him to the lessons. He still doesn't say alot yet, but it's all out of his head and on the spot when he does talk, which is really impressive to me. It's amazing how fast people are able to learn the language with the Lord's help.

So it would appear that my nephew Spencer is being trained in the devious arts of "The Game" while I'm gone. For those of you unfamiliar with The Game, it's really quite simple. There are only three rules: 1) everyone is always playing the game. 2) if you think about the game, you lose the game 3) when you lose, you have to state out loud that you have lost. So I recieved a package from my family with some things in it that I had asked for, including some pictures from just before I left. Included with those pictures, at the very back, was a picture of my nephew Spencer with a little note that said "I lost the game". Well played Spencer. Well played. My mom, sister, and friend Kelsey also thought it would be hilarious to hide sticky notes about the game inside almost everything included in the package. Unfortunately, I think I emerged victorious from that encounter. I'm fairly certain that I found them all, and I won't be finding any surprises in the next upcoming weeks. My options for retaliaion are limited due to circumstances, but this battle will continue. And of course I'll be sure to keep you all posted about it.

 

That's about it for this week everyone! More to come later!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

    Well, one more week down, and only a few more to go before I'm off to Japan. It's been a rather interesting week just because it's been rather uneventful, but at the same time it's had its fair share of adventure. On Wednesday my companion picked up a nice war wound during gym time. He took a shot to score a goal in soccer, but it was blocked by someone on the other team, and the ball rocketed up into his face, sending his glassess flying a good 20 feet in the air, and splitting his eybrow in the process. It was long enough that they thought he would need stiches, but when we got to the health clinic they decided to just close it up with steri-strips to see how those worked. They took them off yesterday, and Elder Howell still has a pretty nice scab, but it's closed up really well and it shouldn't scar too badly. On Sunday I ended up singing during sacrament meeting with 5 other elders from my district. That probably blew your mind, huh? I don't expect it to happen again anytime soon though. This last sunday was also the first Sunday without the Senpai, so everyone was really nervous about being selected as one of the two missionaries to speak in sacrament meeting (in japanese). I realized as we were waiting for sacrament meeting to start that I had forgotten to prepare a talk, but I wasn't worried about it since I had already spoken the first week we were here and I figured I wouldn't be called on to speak again. I'm sure you can all guess what happened. I was asked to speak. Again. So that was fun.

    Other than that there hasn't really been a whole lot happening out of the ordinary for life at the MTC. Just long days with lots of studying, and the occasional adventure here and there. Oh, and here's a little piece of wisdom that I'd like to share with you all for the week: "You can't grow a garden without a garden". Have fun trying to figure that one out. That was from one of our lessons with Clark Sensei, and it actually has a significant and deep meaning, along with being mildly amusing. Well, I hope you're all doing well! More to come next week!