Dear World

Dear World,

Ramen is an amazing gift from the Lord.

Also... I can make an instant soup out of anything.

I'll teach you right now.

How to make instant(ish) amazing Japanese soup:

1. Prepare to have your minds blown

2. Chop up onions, potatoes, and carrots into thin slices.

3. Boil some water, and drop them in.

4. If you feel like it you could probably add a clove of garlic.

5. You boil those for a while.

6. Pour in some soy sauce.

7. Yep... just pour some soy sauce into the water.... Until it tastes

good. You put a lot, but not too much... (Angry internet guy 7: this

is the worst recipe ever!)

8. I put some basil in, and some garlic salt, and some seven spice,

and some pepper.

9. Then you pour the packages of Udon in. If you don't have udon, you

can put it soba... if you lack that, you can use spaghetti noodles. If

you don't have that. Instant ramen might have to do.

10. Cook it until the noodles are soft.

11. Eat.

The day I figured out that you could just pour soy sauce into

Everything, was an amazing day for me. I'm not sure if Japanese soy

sauce is different, but I'm pretty sure it's the same. In fact the same

company makes it.

Anyways. This week was great!

Okuda Choro had his birthday yesterday, so Ryutaro as well as the

Kimura Couple, gave us cheesecakes. Okuda Choro said after "What's

with the cheese cakes? They're good, but they're not my favorite or

anything."

:) They're my favorite.

So. We taught Nagoya-san on Thursday. I set up everything perfect, and

invited her after some solid testimony to be baptized. She paused for

half a second and then shook her head. Gah.... The Kimura Couple goes

home in May, and she doesn't think that she can do it without them.

But she said she will get baptized, just not yet. She's going to move

to Tokyo in a year, right next to the Kimura's. So I fear she may wait

until then. (My English is going out) She said that she'd write me a

letter when she gets baptized. I still felt oddly a little hurt

inside when she said no. I suppose that's a good thing. It maybe

because my will, in some small sense, is unifying with the Lord.

She knows the doctrine and believes it, she's just afraid to take the

next step. How alike we all are. Wanting to grow but just letting fear

stunt us. President Harold B. Lee said that the most important

commandment for us to keep is the one that we are struggling with right

now. I suppose that's pretty obvious, but I like the way he put it.

I've been digging though the New Testament lately. I finished Jesus

the Christ, and am now working though the shinyakuseisho

chronologically. Excellent. I love the insights that I'm receiving.

We got to teach Yuko-San a lesson the other day. She's Sugiyama-san friend.

Okuda-Choro and I had an intense split that day. We were a little

lost, but my sense of direction told me I needed to go a particular

way... And then... The road ended and there was a rice field. Great.

So... we picked up our bikes and walked through it. We didn't walk over

the crop, but on the side. Rice fields are muddy.

We made it across then we were on a rode that lead right to our

apartment. We start to ride, (It's pitch-black at night) and we hear

someone yelling

"HEEELOO!" We stop. "HEy! YuhOO! GOOd Evening!"

It was Sugiyama-san. Just standing in the middle of the road at night.

She's always so excited when she sees us. (She's our investigator)

And for being in a city of over 100,000 people, she sees us quite a

bit. She told us that it was probably because of God that she keeps

running into us. She's so funny. She's not a traditional Japanese

woman. She's loud, and expressive, and is always laughing.

Kinda random.

We were teaching another lesson to our new investigator, I believe her

name is Nakisawa-san, (Not a common name). She's the mother of an LA

in our branch. Who her daughter brought to church randomly last week.

She's almost ninety or somewhere near there. She has no teeth, and

can't really walk at all, but tries her best anyway.

Her daughter didn't want to go to church so she didn't have a ride. So

she called up the Elder's quorum president herself, and told him to

come and get her.

She's been Buddhist her whole life, and has been prepared by the Lord

to receive the message long before. Last week we taught her how to

pray, and she loves it. She said she'd always believed in thanking God

for things, instead of just asking for things. She says she'd just

pour out her thoughts to God every day but now is so excited that she

has an actual way to pray to God, though the name of Christ.

The lesson we taught this week was perfect. We taught the whole plan

of salvation, and Kimura-Shimai tied in the Gospel perfectly. It was

too perfect. The PMG says to never hesitate to invite someone to be

baptized, but from what I've seen here, missionaries as well as

members are often scared to do it. So... I did.

"After you learn more about the Church, and better understand this

message, will you be baptized?" But in Japanese and more fancy.

Kimura-Shimai looked like she was going to pass out, and Moffat Choro

broke out into a smile.

Nakisawa-San smiled, and said she wasn't sure of what everything was,

but she wanted to keep learning. So, not a hard no, but not a yes. I

think she'll definitely get baptized. She just needs some time.

I love her. She's praying every

night. Her, Murokoshi-San, Yuko-San, and Sugiyama-San.

So Takeya-San was interesting. We're reading a chapter from Genesis

with him every Sunday, because he wants to learn everything.

We had a discussion about the creation, and how the number 7 is

significant, and other such things, and he told us, (and I agree) that

science and religion should be studied in unison. He knows so much

about our church and he's progressed so much that for a moment I was

convinced that he was a member. Then as we finished the lesson, and

got up to leave, I heard him whisper quietly in Japanese "Raisu wa,

watashino dasukina hebi" Which translates "Next week, my favorite

(little) snake." "The snake I love"

I burst out laughing as I realized what he was talking about. I'd

totally forgotten he was Takeya-san. The guy who worshiped Satan

before, and hated God.

He's gotten to the point that he likes God now, but we still have yet

to help him get his thoughts straight about Satan. Mada mada.

Japanese is coming. I've finally learned passives, and in Japaense

they carry so much more power, because you can put intransitive verbs

into a passive form and it makes it mean that someone is affecting you

with their intransitive action.

Example. (I'll do it in English)

Not passive: Jacob came over to Jane's Apartment.

Passive: Jane was came-d (comed?)over to by Jacob at her Apartment.

Of course in English it makes no sense because we can't conjugate the

intransitive verb came into a passive. But you CAN IN JAPANESE! It

blows my mind. But what hurts worse is the fact that some transitive

verbs in English are intransitive in Japanese, and the other way

around, so I'm never quite sure what to conjugate. It makes every

sentence a puzzle.

Tabun Nihongo de, anatagata ga moto yoku rikai dekimasu.

Probably Japanese in, You more well understand be able to (polite ending).

I love you all, Submit your questions, and I will give answers!

Elder Wheelwright

Mission Prep 3

Mental Preparation:

I just made this category to put in random tips that didn't fit into the others.

1.  If you've got your call and you're not speaking your native language, try your best to learn it.  (If it's Spanish or a romance language you've got no excuse.) Use the glorious internet while you've got it, and learn that grammar and vocab.  It doesn't matter if you don't know, or can't find the spiritual/gospel vocab; that's what the MTC is for.  They teach you all of that there.  Every little language thing  I learned previous to entering the MTC, I have used, and have been grateful for.  It puts you so much further ahead.

     Optional rant to motivate you to learn language: "Language is the key in order to fulfill your purpose as a missionary.  Though the Lord, as always (if you're worthy) will make up for your lacking, Elder Holland: As you master your missionary language "You will gain greater access to the hearts of the people." PMG: "As your ability to speak the language grows, people will listen more to what you say than to how you say it."

And for you, English or native language speakers, don't think you don't have to do anything.  From the White handbook pg. 8: "Be conscious of how you speak, and strive for humility, dignity, and simplicity in your language...Avoid slang and inappropriately casual language"  You don't have the benefit of learning only how to speak polite in a language.  You've got to refine your natural speech.  You can't sound like a teenager anymore.  At the MTC they won't let you call each other "guys" but rather "Elders and Sisters".  Even the replacement swearwords are less than good.

2.  I would also suggest studying the common religious beliefs of the area where you'll serve.  You need to gain their perspective in order to teach them.  As it says in the PMG by President Boyd K. Paker: "In order to succeed in missionary work... We must understand what an investigator must feel."

This will give you and understanding of what particular troubles with doctrine, etc. they may have when you are teaching them the Restored Gospel.

For example:  In Japan, everyone has a hard time accepting Christ, so we have to plan and take delicate approaches to teach about Him.  Or we know as Buddhists they believe in God, but have a different image of Him, so we need to focus on our relationship with God, or knowing that they're Shinto, we know they have strong respect for their ancestors, so family history and temple work will be particularly special for them.  The list is endless.  Don't tell yourself you'll learn it when you get there, as I did.... because the way you learn it out here is often by insulting them or making a major teaching mistake.  (Plus, I'm only barely beginning to understand Japanese so use the resource of the internet while you can!) The white handbook also says: "[especially when eating]... Always act in harmony with the highest standards of consideration and courtesy, observing local customs of etiquette and the common practices of the culture."

3.  Develop Your Talents- Any talent, or interest will help.  Any talent or anything you enjoy, you can talk about with people who enjoy it as well.  (or even they don't enjoy it).  This may include but is not limited to: video games, bungee jumping, enjoying history, swimming, etc.

However, far more useful is talents you can actually use on your mission.

Probably the most useful talents are the spiritual talents, such as understanding the scriptures, having faith, exemplifying Christ-like attributes of leadership, humility, etc, teaching well, speaking well, praying with earnestness, sympathizing and understanding others and other things of a spiritual nature.  We'll talk about these later.

Next important are the musical talents.  All of your hours of practice (especially at the piano and singing) will pay off on your mission.  (I personally have played Hymns in sacrament meeting about every other week my whole mission).

Whereas language is the means of communicating through, music is the means which we communicate emotion.  Many of you will become (as I) a missionary in a small branch where only one member (if that) can play the piano.  Every branch you go to, you instantly become an organist/pianist.

Singing is excellent for the many musical numbers you will be called on to give.

Even my companion's guitar skills are paying off.  We play at the train station and sing in English, and pass out fliers for English Class.

Sports, believe it or not, is another excellent talent.  A special connection and friendship is formed as you compete and work as a team with others.  Many Elders will go to the park, ask to enter a game, and all of a sudden, ten or so people who previously would've avoided you, are wanting and willing to hear the Gospel.  We play soccer and ping-pong every week with less-actives, PI's and investigators.

So, here's the stuff.

Alright, (a good word to type to transition yourself into typing. I
usually just type it to make sure the keyboard is working) so this
week (a similar keyboard checking phrase.) things and stuff (Not sure
what that even means) happened, (or wait) occurred (much more classy).
I decided these letters are lacking a lot of spice... flare.... Time
for me to write a sonnet for the week.
So this week we visited our PI
She failed to answer so we gave a gift
It is Saint Patrick's day so a green tie
My watch broke so today we will go thrift
(Alright, I can take this, rhyming couplet)
So this was a bad idea, ya I know.
This awful poem to your friends never show.

Maybe when I have more time.
So, as my ill constructed poem stated, we went to visit Mai-Chan. (Chan
is for girls that are younger than you normally, but you can also use
it for male babies, or your friends) (Which reminds me of a Japanese
mistake (well that's ironic) I made previously in my ignorance.
Lightning and thunder are different words in Japanese. Lightening
isn't kaminari, well it can be, but inazuma is more commonly used.
So, "my bad" to every small child that reads this and gets rebuked by
your native Japanese English teacher when you're trying to state the
one cool fact that you thought you knew about Japanese. Woops)
So we visited her, and again she failed to answer. So, because it was
conveniently another Japanese Holiday, gave her chocolate... In her
mailbox...
JAPANESE HOLIDAYS:
WHITE DAY
So white day occurs exactly a month after Valentine's Day. As I stated
when I talked about Valentine's Day, only the girls give guys
chocolate on Valentine's Day. For White Day, however, it's the
opposite. Only guys give girls chocolate. Hence the chocolate. So yep,
Valentine's Day and White Day (at least from what I've seen) aren't as
lovey-dovey as Valentine's Day in America. (At least I hope not,
otherwise about five or six older women with, at a minimum, of a ten
year age gap, have different intentions than I thought.) So guys just
give it to girls even if they're not romantically involved.
We visited and taught Murokoshi-San. And to be honest, it was probably
the best lesson the Spirit's ever taught through me. Somehow, I could
all of a sudden understand Japanese, and every time she didn't
understand a principal, I knew. She'd explain her concern, and the
answer popped into my head instantly. She now understands the Plan of
Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ more perfectly than most
members in Utah.
The Spirit: 1
Satan: 0
We asked her what her favorite thing about all of the things that
we've taught her so far, and she told us "Prayer... I love praying." I
wanted to hug her, or shake her hand or something because I was so
happy for her. I settled with a high-five. 'Good job' Nerdy Elder
Wheelwright. She said she understands exactly why we do work for our
ancestors, and asked every right question. I think the Spirit (through
us) finally solved her concern with all of the different religions.
She knew what we were teaching about baptism, the Gospel, and the Plan
of Salvation was true, but asked a concerned question on account of
her ancestors whom she loves dearly- "What happens to the people who
you two don't find, or for people who don't have the opportunity to
hear about Christ, or get baptized?"
I smiled, "That's why we have temples." Which the amazing Kimura-Fufu
had sent; two post cards with pictures of different temples on the
back. She loved looking at them, but now she understands. That plus,
she (having decided last lesson to have her start from the first) had
read the entire first chapter of the Book of Mormon, and understood
it. She said:
"I understood all of it because of that card you made me. You're probably
going to have to make me another for the next chapter." She was
talking about the card where I explained all of the characters in the
first part of the Book of Mormon. I told her she wouldn't need a card
because the characters would stay the same. She got excited.
Well, I challenged her again to be baptized.. She paused again....
Then she said "I'm the only one in my family for many generation...
How do I do it?"
She didn't mean how to technically get baptized. I told her "You know.
My whole family are members of this church, so I'm not sure if I can
fully understand, but many people have been in the same situation as
you. They can understand better, and they can help." So we're planning
on getting a sister in our ward who is the only one out of her whole
family too to come and talk to her.
We had one of those moments that money, can't buy and makes every
sacrifice worth it. She paused in thought for a bit, and then finally
said "You know, I've been thinking. What made you stop at my door,
when you first were out here? Why mine?.... What do you think?" She
said.
"Well, I think it was probably the Spirit guiding us to you." I said.
"Exactly! That is exactly what I was thinking. God sent you to me..."
.... Ahhh. Can't buy that. People fight their whole lives to attain
some sort of importance or glory in somebody else's eyes. However, the
result of selfishness is a temporary dulling pleasure, like a thirst
that can't be quenched, a hunger that can't be slaked. But, in a
moment of needed purely selfless service for others and the Lord- that
is what true peace is. That is the joy that evil can't counterfeit.
Maybe I'm reveling too much and inflating my words, but... it was amazing.
Well, everything else is dull in comparison, so I'll just jog though
it quickly in the tune of Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star (oh you thought
the sonnet was lyrical madness).
"So we then played soccer on Saturday.
Moffat Choro is pretty good.
It was fun, we scored a ton of goals,
Then on Sunday we went to Ryutaro's,
They made me a cake,
and gave me some presents.
They're super nice, and I love them,
I ate a ton of food, and it was good.

On Saturday we went to Abe's
I ate the food, and there was no hair.
Which is good, and the Kimura's made me a cake,
It wasn't a cake, but it was a crape.
I invited Grace to take the lessons,
She laughed and avoided the question,
Yuko-san said she wants to come to church,
But she's working, so another time. "
Well it wasn't perfect, but it'll do. yep
Anyways. we've gotta go 'thrift' now. So take care!
Take care of yourselves.
Elder Wheelwright
Happy Anniversary my dear ageing parents.
Don't forget to wear green. (We tried to explain Saint Patrick's day to
our branch mission leader. He was reasonably confused.)
Rejection of the Week: (During housing)
Me: "Our message will strengthen your family." (or something of that nature)
Her: "My family's (or this house has) been Buddhist for over 300 years!!"
Golden.

Transfer Excitement

So......
This week.
I'm a senior companion now. :) And it's pretty much the same as ever.
New companion: Elder Moffat
His name in Japanese is Mo-fat.  Not like how it's really pronounced: M (various-shwa-sounds) it.
So... Good old, good old.  So for transfers I got to take the five hour, to and from Sendai to Tsuruoka, twice!  My companion mad a little mistake.  Though I can't blame him because I didn't even check the schedule.  I just followed him.
We get to Sendai, and the plan was to just meet them there, and just get back on the but 30 minutes later and head back.
Waiting, waiting, waiting, and no one's there.  We give our zone leaders a quick call, because we've got ten minutes til the bus leaves, They don't answer, So I call up the AP's.
Me: "Hey, this is Elder Wheelwright."
Him:  "Alright, transfer schedule, right?"
Me: "Yep."
Him: "Well, you'll head down to Sendai."
"Okay."
"You'll meet your companion at the bus stop, and head back to Tsuruoka."
"Okay.  So when is this all supposed to happen?"
"Tomorrow at 12:45 is when you'll meet, and you'll take the 1:30 back.  You'll meet at the station 40 bus stop.  Do you know where that is?"
I look up at the sign with a big 40 on it.
"I'm there right now."
And then he busts up laughing. "...Whew. I'm so sorry.  Yep.  Just do that, but only tomorrow."
"Thanks. (laugh) We'll do some bus dendo."
So it was a $50 dollar test run.  I'll just have to buy cheaper foods this month.  Whew. :)
My new companion is the first one that's actually been taller than me.  He's from Salt lake, oldest of nine, and just a classy guy.
He's always willing to work hard, and follows all the rules.  I love him.  :)
This Sunday at church I actually understood the talks that people gave.
To understand what it's like hearing a different language, watch a video on the mathematical details of what the Higgs Boson actually is.
So Murokoshi-San's doing excellent.  She's always had a problem with all of the different names, and places, and who's who and what's what, in the Book of Mormon.  So we decided to have her start reading from the first.  I did my best to make a little card in Japanese that explains all about Nephi's family, what Jerusalem and Jews are, and who Laban is.  It seemed to help her. :)  She's been praying everyday this week.
Here's a clip from my letter to the president, because I don't have enough time to type the story again of come up with a transition:
"We were riding our bikes in an awful snow/rain mix, and soaked our shoes, socks, and gloves all the way through.  We stopped at a house that we thought was the one we were looking for, but as we walked up to the door we saw the address was different.
"Let's knock on it anyway. " I said.  Though the place looked deserted and dark.
We knocked, and my companion stretched his face into the biggest smile I think I'd ever seen, following Aoyagi Shimai's council.  I did my best to mimic, and I saw out of the corner of my eyes, someone peeking through the blinds.  Then a light came on and the front door slid open.
I'd gotten in the awful habit of asking if we could share a message or if they had interest sometimes when I used to house.  This time I decided to teach right off the bat.  After quick introductions,
"We're teaching everyone about God.  What is your image of God?"
We started teaching.  The 17 year old girl, told us to wait a second. And ran back into the house, leaving us dripping wet on a door step.
Moffat Choro spoke "This could either be really good, or really bad."
We decided to pray silently that it would take the 'really good' route.
She came back with two cups full of tea, and we went into her genkan.  We explained we couldn't drink it, but we were thankful for how warm it was.  We taught her about God, and our relationship with Him.  And I showed her how to pray.
I prayed for her, and her family.
Her name is Mai-San.  She told us we could come back today at 3:00.  So we've been praying and preparing to teach her."
Yep.  So we're heading back today in two hours.  For some reason I felt like we should teacher her the Plan of Salvation instead of the Restoration.  Hopefully it's the Spirit, and not me just being dumb again.
(Like the other day, before we left to dendo, I felt like I should take Japanese triple with me.  I took it.... Nothing happened. Nothing. But oh well.)
Still just trying to figure that all out.
Anywho.  I love you all.  Thanks for the Birthday wishes.
Read your scriptures
Wheelwright古老

Mission Prep 2

Emotional Preparation:
1. Practice not getting your way.
When you're on your mission, your self-independence can often be a hindrance.  Now, instead of being on person , with one thought and will, you're two:  Your companion and you. (Did you see how I put "Your companion" first? Do the same.) There are many battles not worth fighting, We're not talking about all of WWI, but Rather it's the little things like, who gets to teach which part of the lesson or who gets the last instant ramen, etc.
Contention is of the devil, and it's a weed that always springs from the soil of pride.
2. Practice talking with (random) people.
You, more than anything else, will need this skill.  Preaching of the Gospel, as the creation of the world, occurred by word of mouth.  That is the medium through which you will be working.  This skill is vital as a missionary, it is better to learn it now than later.  Even the weakest thing (Ether 12:27) through the power of the Christ's Grace, can be made strong.  The quietest and most insecure person, through the Lord, can be made into a bold and powerful servant, but only upon the Lord's conditions. (D&C 4; D&C 84:85; D&C 42:14)
Just go up to someone and talk to them, rejection and awkwardness aren't going to kill you.  When it comes down to it "Fake it till you make it."  It's difficult at first, but it gets easier, and you must never stop trying.
3. Learn to laugh
This isn't just a tip for Missionaries, but for life in general. (I talked about this before in detail in one of my previous letters) but we all possess the ability to turn anything awful and embarrassing into something hilarious. A lady runs away from you and slams her door, laugh.  You fall on your face on the way to a teaching appointment, just laugh.  Don't be childish, or uncaring about the Lord's work. just accept and laugh at the situations you can't control.
4. Learn how to relieve stress a different way than you normally would.
On a mission you won't have your normal "stress-relievers".  When you're exhausted and emotionally drained, you can't just walk away and go play basketball, video-games, or piano. You'll have to learn to manage stress in a different way.
This is vital.  I dare say this is the 2nd biggest reasons why certain people can't make it through their mission (the first being worthiness, but we'll talk about that later).  In fact, it's so important to learn how to manage stress that the Church just put out a new booklet that every missionary gets called: "Adjusting to Missionary Life".  They just put it out during my 2nd transfer here; I'm not sure if it's available for non-missionaries, but if at all possible get your hands on that.  It teaches various methods for how to deal with stresses of missionary work.  Just for an example: For me, my stress reliever was playing the piano before my mission, and now I've just learned just to stand still for a moment, block out everything else and just focus on the good.  Prayers of gratitude and rejoicing in the little things have helped me out a ton too.

MISSION PREP (physical prep)

So, you're prepping for a mission.  You've heard countless stories and phrases: Knocking on that last door, baptizing in the muddy river, 'It's the best two years', etc.
But to be honest, despite how much people tell you and how much you hear, you can't ever exactly be sure what it's going to be like.  If you're anything like me, you hear tips from a random Mom for Georgia, or a link to Mission-impossible.
WELL NOT ANYMORE!!!!
Real advice on how to prep for a real mission from a real missionary on a real mission, this is gonna be real.
This is:
HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR (LDS) MISSION!!!

Physical Preparation:
1. Make sure you can walk. (Go ahead, practice.)
2. Make sure you can ride a bike. (Really, make sure, a missionary fresh from Utah just came to our mission who had never ridden a bike before in his life.  After a short five minute lesson, he was shooting down a hill with concrete buildings two feet to his left, and Japanese cars whizzing by two feet on his right.  he made it to the apartment trying his best not to cry....)
3. You might as well learn how to drive a car. (A useful skill, you may or may not need it... They knew the food was so good that in order to keep the image of missionaries from becoming two fat guys in tight suits they didn't give us cars.)
4. (Speaking of fat) Make sure you can eat all kinds of food. (You might think it's a good idea to use the "I'm allergic" excuse, but when you're reading scriptures like 2 Nephi 9:34 every day, you'd rather stab your leg than lie. (Though if you're lucky you'll get a comp that'll help you pull through and secretly eat some of your food for you.)) Depending on the culture you might really offend someone if you fail to finish off your plate.
5. See if you can survive a regular sleeping schedule.
I'm convinced that I'm not alone in this, but many younger people of today engage in an activity called
"Sleep Sluffing" and "Sleep Binging" It's where you go throughout the week surviving on anywhere from 0-6 hours of sleep and then Saturday morning hits and you "Sleep Binge" and it's 12:00 in the afternoon and you're finally crawling out of bed.  It's actually quite different to get the proper amount of sleep every night.  You're not tired when you should be, and you're exhausted when you shouldn't.  My suggestion is to do the missionary 6:30 wake-up 10:30 turn-in, but to just establish a standard schedule of when you're going to wake up and when you're going to go to bed, and keep it constant throughout the week.
6. Clothes
Though you may desire to look stylish, keep in mind efficiency as well as looks.  A suit that fits you perfect when you leave, after working out every day and eating MTC food (which might be against the Word of Wisdom. :)) you're perfect-suit, will now be your plain-suit, or your torn suit. But, you know. Whatever SUITS you...pfft. (I'd give advice to sisters, but I seriously have no idea how to help you. Good luck. :)
       -RANDOM TIP #1: So, the MTC takes a toll even on the skinniest Elder of Sister alive.  To avoid getting fat, remember: Even though it's all you can eat, doesn't mean you have to eat all you can.  If you're really that hungry, then just really don't eat that much. (They do have a salad bar! Also, beware the orange juice...)

So Desune

The most interesting Japanese mistake of the week:
Boden Choro told a lady if she has any questions about Mormon.org,
then to call his dinner. (Bango is number, and Bangohan is dinner.)
Also he told me a golden story:
He was teaching someone and he was teaching about Christ, and he
didn't congigate the verb at the end of the sentence into passive,
which determines who the subject and the object are in the sentence.
(the one who is acting, and the one who is being acted upon.)
Intending to say "Christ was killed by wicked people"
"Christ killed wicked people." He told them.
The person was confused and said "But I thought Christ was nice. I
thought he liked people. Why did he kill them?"
Boden choro thinking he said "Why did they kill Christ?" replied:
"Christ killed them because they didn't like His teachings."
(He meant "Christ was killed by them because they didn't like His teachings.")
It's funnier in Japanese.

So this week!
It's becoming spring! (I'm speaking Japanese style English)
Haru ni nariteimasu
So we can ride our bikes everywhere. :) so wonderful.
On Monday:
We went with Ryutaro to go and see the Meikosan. The Japanese dancer
women. They looked like geisha's.                                                            Wear crazy old kimono's in a crazy old house, and one plays a
crazy old guitar thing with three strings, and they sing Japanese
that Ryutaro didn't even understand. They paint their faces white
and... We got pictures with them. I'll send you one.
The dance they did... So. Just imagine someone doing the robot... but
with flowing, but not flowing motions, and... It's like a poorly made
machine that's supposed to look graceful but in a good way. It's
difficult to describe. It was cool. We checked out the 100's of years
old, house. The little Meikosan said only one thing to me, and I
thought she could old speak in old Japanese, but as I walked past her
down the hall way she said with a smile, "Don't hit your head." The
house is super short.... I only hit my head once. :)
Good stuff.
We headed to Sakata this week and taught Kimura Shimai's sister. I
turned to Kimura
Choro at one point in the lesson, while the Kimura Shimai and
Nagoiya-San (her sister) were talking, and asked "Should we invite her
to be baptized?" He said in the funniest way in English "Sure, why
not?" Boden Choro asked her. She got quiet, and told us she wasn't
ready yet, but she'll get there.... bla. It took the Kimura Couple two
years of meeting with missionaries before they accepted baptism.
Hopefully it will happen sooner with that then Nagoiya-San. But our
purpose is to invite other to come unto Christ, it never says anything
about how long it should take.
We were teaching Murokoshi-San again this week. Again, I was fretting
(but in a good way) about the lesson. We were going to bring it back
to Baptism to she if she could understand it this time, having gained
back her confidence. I asked her to read 2 Nephi 31 about the Gospel of
Christ, and she did. Kimura Choro sent her a postcard with a picture
of the Salt Lake Temple, so we talked about work for our ancestors,
and brought that back into baptism. She wrote in her little journal
that we gave her to keep her spiritual thoughts, and read it out loud
to us, because we can't read Japanese. It was like this (about
2 Nephi):
"I didn't understand all of the words. But I did understand this much,
Baptism is important. We need it to get the Holy Ghost and to be free
from sin. Then we need to endure to the end, so we can return to live
with God."
In the Church, especially in Utah, this sounds like a boring primary
answer, but for this 71 year-old Japanese woman who previously had
never even heard the word baptism, and only heard the name of Christ,
but a no more idea of who is was than you probably know who
ocyaka-sama is. It was amazing.
I testified like I'd never had before, and invited her to be baptized.
She got quiet. Looked down at the temple and the book she held in her
hands. And looked back at me and said "I have one wall.... There's one
wall."
I paused, an odd feeling in my gut, "What's the wall?" I asked gently.
Then using her Japanese super powers, she worked her way around the
question and didn't answer anything definite at all. Maybe it's her
husband? She won't invite us in past her genkan (door step). Maybe
it's the split from Buddhism, or fear that she can no longer pray to
her ancestors. We're going to continue to teach her... Pray for her.
On Sunday something odd occurred.
The Sato family invited us over for dinner the day before, and I'm at
church, in the front row (the place for the those passing the
sacrament) and I hear a girl's voice speaking in English. I whip
around so confused, wondering if the Sato's high school daughter could
suddenly speak English, when I saw a blond-haired blue-eyed american,
with gauges and two other earrings in each ear.
"Hey?..." It was the oddest thing. She's a high school exchange student
from Washington, staying with the Satos. Weird. We translated for her
in young-women's.  

Maybe the Gospel will slowly sink in. Who knows. She's Catholic, and
says she has a stack of Book of Mormons at her house, in
Washington,(that the missionaries helped them build) that she builds
towers out of. I  asked nicely if she'd ever actually
read one before. She hasn't really. Oh well. She's nice enough. ]
The Sato's made us some amazing sushi, and Sato Shimai made us
brownies, American Style. Amazing. We tried not to eat too much. (It
was the most amazing sushi I've ever had!) We biked back quick, so
Ryutaro could pick us up, and we went to Sakata with him and his wife,
and met Ryutaro's mom and dad. They were amazing. His dad would speak
Japanese really slowly and loudly and gesture at things. It was funny.
When he found out we could speak, he started using the most difficult
words. Just random things. We showed them our family pictures [mine
were a little boring] they loved them. We ate dinner which was a big
pot of noodles with squid and vegetables, boiling in front of us, then
you pull some out and drop it in your bowl full of natto (rotten
beans) and raw fish. (It was actually a cross section of a fish, with
skin and everything that we chopped up with our chopsticks and mixed
it with the natto.) It was actually way good. I'd totally forgotten
that I'd told anyone, but out of no-where Ryutato turns off the lights
and Mami brings in a cake with candles on it. Turns out my birthday is
coming up. So, I guess it was mine. It was amazing. I love them both.
We taught them the first lesson, from Prophets on, and everything I
said in Japanese, just came out smooth. It was amazing. When I'm
testifying with the Spirit, I can all of a sudden speak. I testified
with power.
It was amazing.
In the middle of the lesson Boden Choro gets a call. He looked down at
it to see who it is, before he turns it off, and "President Rasmussen"
is flashing across the screen.
He answers "Hello, this is Elder Boden."
"Hey Elder Boden, is your companion there?"
"Yes."
"What about the rest of your district? Are you in the apartment?"
"Um. No, we're actually teaching a lesson right now."
"Well. You give me a call when you get back, okay?"
TRANSFER CALLS!!!
So we called him back later. He didn't answer, and we went to sleep
not knowing what was going to happen to the next six-weeks of our
mission.
This morning the phone started ringing on Boden Choro's desk.
I answer it calmly. "Moshi moshi, Wheelwright Choro desu."
"Hello Elder Wheelwright, is Boden Choro there?"
"Ya, just one second."
He was on the pot. I knock on the door. "It's the President."
"Are you serious?!"
Then he jumped off and was out in less than 5 seconds.
I put the phone on speaker.
"Boden Choro, You're getting transferred up to Aomori, and you're
companion will be Malmrose Choro. Okay, and Elder Wheelwright, you're
going to be senior companion, and your companion will be Elder Moffet.
He's one or two transfers below you. Take good care of him."
Yep... SO that's what's going on.
Now everything is crazy.
BUT!!! I love it here. :) Hopefully my Japanese is good enough to be a
decent leader.
Alright. So.. I'll let you know what my new companion is like next
week, when I finally meet him.
I love you all!
I'm finally sending the elder wheelwright's mission prep. It's four
weeks. This week is physical. Hope you enjoy my little brother. :)
I love you all!