At Least Look at the Photos on This One:)

I know this is sometimes a pain to read for some of you, but I would say check out the many photos for sure!

So last Monday (P day, the day I sent my last email) was the best day I have had since I got here. We got a ton done in our apartment and I caught up on emails (I think I answered all of yours, if not let me know). We went to Costco again (picture). We were planning on visiting Kunitama (the member that gives me dp). On the way there we always have some spiritual experience with people that make us late. We went to the church to pick up a Jenga, sure enough as I am waiting to cross the street this kid rides up next to me. I say hi and ask how he is doing. He says he has hay fever and as he approaches I notice he has tears literally hopping out of his eyes. I have never seen anything like it. Crying so hard because of allergies. We talked a little on the way to the church and I told him I want him to meet my friend Nagano, but Nagano was too far ahead of us and already went to the church. I told this kid to just follow me and that it was our church. I was surprised to see him follow. Strangers will avoid coming to church at all cost usually. 

My comp asked him to come in and he did. We gave him a tour of the church and explain all the pictures then took him in the sacrament room. We sat down and had a full blown lesson out of nowhere with this kid from the street. We taught a ton. Gave him a Book of Mormon, testified a lot and had him try praying for the first time. I just realized how wild it is that I am there for most people's first prayer ever. That's a big deal. He prayed silently and so did we. At the end he told us he prayed to have a normal family. We asked what he meant. Then it got real. At the age of two his father was charged with domestic violence on him and they were separated. From what it sounded like it was a violence issue. He was put in an orphanage and is now living alone at age 18. We told him that we will be his family until he finds one and that in this church everyone is one big family. I envision this kid getting baptized and growing close to a member family who will take him in. It's a stretch, but that would be way cool and so good for him. After about an hour and a half in the church we decided to say goodbye to him then go back and turn off the lights in the church. This is what really gets me, this kid kept asking what we were up to and if he could join us. Afterwords we went to this super dope second hand store that has some way sick and funny stuff. I love my 2nd hand shopping :) We three had a blast in there (pictures). This kid rode home with us too. He couldn't get enough of us. Love him.

We pray every day to meet kids like him. I know it was no accident that I wasn't able to follow Nagano across the street because a car cut in front of me so I just went to the stop light to cross. That's where I met this kid. Wouldn't have happened otherwise.

We had an all day combined zone conference. It was long but very good. I love my mission president and his wife. He tells it how it is but is way chill. She is so loving and sweet. Gosh they are great. They are both converts, President shared his testimony and he had many tears dropping out of his eyes onto the pulpit, it was wild. I went on splits after with Elder Driscle and I finally got a bomb bowl of らめん (Ra-me-n) but could only eat half of it (picture). As we were taking the picture the veggies that were stacked on top of the ramen fell off. He accidentally took a video so we caught it on vid. Haha I will try and send it. 

We played basketball as usual last Saturday. It was such a nice day, first really warm day we have had. Later visited Kunitama cause we had to bail on him Monday. As usual he hooked it up with the candy and soda. I have decided to go on a sweets diet and when I eat out to keep the portions low. It will help me save money and keep me from getting fat. I can already tell I have gained weight haha. First time I have ever had to diet in my life. Ugh... At Kunitama's I brought over a hackie sac and we played. We also took turns trying to run, jump, and roll over the top of his car. He was getting so excited haha. 

Today for P day we went to the temple which was very nice. I was able to experience my first packed train ride where we literally had to push and squeeze people in ahead of us to fit on the train. I was laughing so hard. We went into the heart of Tokyo, places like Shibuya. Though I wasn't able to look out of the train or get any good looks at some of the crazy buildings- kind of frustrating.  

The language and culture walls that stand between me and this people have really started to annoy me. I am now pretty used to this place but as I settle in I get more frustrated with my inability to understand and say exactly what I want to say. It's not like I am struggling abnormally with the language, this is just how it is at the start. I am trying to read and understand the Japanese Book of Mormon, as well as learn the vocab. So hard. I am almost through the first 10 verses of 1 Nephi ch. 1 haha. 

We weren't able to teach either of our investigators this week (Jordan and Iwasawa). Pretty disappointing, they have been distant. The mission isn't easy, though it's not supposed to be. Things always get harder before they get better. I am still finding ways to have fun. I realized this week I have been out for about 3 1/2 months. That's over 1/8th of my mission. Crazy!

I love you all and really appreciate the examples and part of my life all of you have been. Thanks also for all the support and emails! :)

-Spackman 長老

Two words I want you all to know that are my favorite and apply to me perfectly ;)

Suteki (pronounced stekie) - swaggy, cool, or stylish

ikemen (pronounced Eikemen) - lady killer, handsome guy, or stud

It's so funny/weird Japanese girls will approach me and say "ikemen ikemen ikemen" haha I just act like I don't understand and say "hello".

Pics-

1. Every time I go to Costco I feel like I'm back in 'Merica.

2 & 3. Sunsets outside of our apartment, pics never do sunsets justice tho. :/

  

4 &5. A tiny bike (of a Japanese Elder) I was forced to ride on splits.

6. #TMIJ Tall Men In Japan, that's our apartment doorway size as well as most doorways here. No exaggeration in that picture.

7 & 8. Pics in the second hand store with our friend off the street, Subaru. The store's clothes are half and half between suteki and ridiculous.

9. You already know Subaru and I are the best "chick hunters." Favorite pic yet on the mish.

10. A trend I'm starting that only ikemen can pull off... Jogger Dress Pants.

11. A view of the park we play basketball at. It's called Kokukoen (aka Tokorozawa Memorial Park). It's giant and on Saturday there was a ton of people there. The grass isn't green yet but it's still way sick. You can see the skyscrapers of Tokorozawa in the distance above the trees.

12 & 13. Cherry blossoms are starting to pop here. Way pretty. This was at night.

14. My mission posterity all in one place at the temple. Kuniyuki (my great grandfather, who lives in my apartment and leaves in about a week) trained Leftwich (grandpa) who trained Nagano (father) who is training me. S'cute

15. Tokyo temple is dope, Angel Moroni and I kickin it.

continued...A Little More

Not to scare you but it's wild riding my bike here. I would appreciate prayers for when I ride my bike haha. I know you probably already pray for my safety. I swear they don't tell people to look both ways around here haha hence why I hit that lady my first day after getting a bike.

I got some sweet sweats today at Nike outlet. They are a little short in the legs but it actually makes it look pretty cool. I'll send a pic.

We went to Costco again today. It was great. 3 hot dogs, Mountain Dew and an ice cream.

Our Heavenly Father Works in Some Crazy Ways

Hey guys!

I finally have an iPad! I will be going through my previous emails and answering all the ones I didn't have time to before. Slowly but surely. Chances are I may miss a couple emails. So if I miss one of your emails give me crap about it so that I remember!

Yesterday was pretty wild. After dinner we rode our bikes quite a ways to a "soft referral" from a church member. She knows the family's daughter. It took a while to find the house and it was dark, probably around 6:30 pm. We knocked on the door and a stocky man (which is pretty rare here) with a pretty low voice (also rare) came to the door sounding pretty angry. He and a younger man come outside very aggressively. The younger man was holding a wooden sword like he was ready to attack. I was so scared ;) lol. He learned we were missionaries and right away said no and to leave. We asked if he knew the girl that referred us to them or did his daughter know her?  He said no, getting more mad. We left and knocked a few more doors around that area. As we were leaving we passed his house again and cops came around the corner on mopeds (lolz). They stopped us. One went to the home and the other kept talking to us. Said the people had called the cops on us. Right away I realized how bad it was I forget my wallet. I had thought about going back and getting it earlier in the day, but didn't totally see the point considering it was Sunday and I wouldn't be buying anything cause commandments and stuff.

I had heard horror stories of missionaries being held in jail if they don't have their passport or ID on them. I was worried and said a prayer. At this point you should know that this week hit me how hard the culture and language are to understand here and how hard being a missionary really is. I knew this realization was going to happen so
it's ok, I'm alright. Just a hard week. My comp has been getting a little frustrated with things lately and it makes him pretty impatient sometimes especially this last week. So things were kinda hard. Don't get me wrong though, love the kid. The cops were super chill and let us go. On our way back we ran into this kid with perfect timing and complete randomness. He was so cool! He listens to American music like Aviici and Calvin Harris! I was so stoked to hear that from him. We connected really well and it's really rare to stay in touch with people you meet on the street but I have a great feeling about this kid. On our ride back I felt the Spirit really strongly and got kind of emotional cause I know I am going through these trials for a reason and I know that despite all the frustration of yesterday, it led us to that 20 year old kid on the street. I had prayed earlier in the day to become more humble.  I got it today, but finding that kid made me even more humble, cause I realize how much God has His hand in
everything and how I am fulfilling HIS work, not mine.

We had another good lesson with Jordan this week. He is so dope. This week we had a combined mission conference with the Tokyo (north) mission. So good to see Judd Choro and some of the other friends I haven't seen since the MTC. There was a lot of talk about correct use of electronics because it was the introduction of iPads to the mission. Before now everyone has just been using the iPad's as a test for this mission. Elder Nelson was there and shook every missionary's hand. When I looked in to his eyes I kinda went speechless. There was
just something there I have never seen in anyone's eyes! During the conference I was on the fourth row on the side where he was sitting and while another speaker was up there (who everyone was looking at) I glanced at Elder Nelson. He happened to be looking at our area and we caught eye contact. I quickly looked away but looked back and he winked at me so I winked back and we both laughed. So funny. No one else noticed. The big theme of the conference seemed to revolve around the amount of agency they were giving us and how much they trust us.
Made me really happy to be treated like an adult haha. "Own the technology, don't let it own you" how sad is it that many people let social networks or games run and determine the success of their lives. Way sad if you really think about it. Elder Nelson always tells us to, thank our parents for him, the three times I have heard him talk on my mission. So thanks mom and dad :) There was a ton of encouragement at this conference. One thing I really liked is one of the speakers said that we are rarely actually addicted to things. Addiction meaning the inability to choose. We can usually change and choose to better our lives. I think sometimes myself and many others find excuses not to better our selves or to do the wrong thing by saying "I can't wake up on time, just who I am, I can't change" or "I am too addicted to this thing to stop" or "Satan is tempting me too much to resist right now." Ignore these destructive thoughts.

We had Eikaiwa as usual this week. We all share about our week and I encouraged Nagano to try and make it more spiritual. When he shared he ended up sharing a super strong testimony (in English) everyone was paying super close attention and the spirit was strong. He said some crazy things that put even me on my heels like "don't try and tell me He (God) isn't there because I already KNOW He is" and "the way to know He is there is to pray, and if you won't do it then it's your fault you haven't felt Him." It made me a tad uncomfortable but I know he
was following the Spirit and I was super stoked about it. One of the students said she was touched and decided to pray for our closing prayer.

I am praying for you, your safety, health, happiness, and relationship with your Heavenly Father. He loves you and so do I :)

Ugh that was pretty mushy lol

Here are some pics from the basketball game last week. This first one is of us and some cool guys we met there. Ceiling looks way trippy.

愛します

スパクマン 長老

Basketball, Lessons and Elder Nelson

I look back on my weeks and trip about how much has happened in just a week. I will try and keep this a little shorter so I have time to answer some more personal emails. Sorry if I haven't gotten around to it or if I still don't today. Things are busy!

So things are pretty unpredictable here in March. They call it March Madness, I think referring to the weather. Though I just about get depressed when I hear that and think of the brackets, upsets, Cinderella stories and buzzer beaters of college basketball in March :( Earlier in the week we went to this big park here, Kokukoun. Probably the sickest park I have been to behind millennium park in Chicago. It's where we play basketball and meet people sometimes. Earlier in the morning my comp and I had gone running and it was pretty warm. When we went to the park this huge cloud moved in and at one point it was snowing. Everywhere we looked we could see the end of the cloud and blue skies and sunshine but just had this cloud of death over us the whole day.

We visited Kunitama last Monday as we do every Monday, just a member who needs some people to talk to. He hooked me up fat with a black thunder and a doctor pepper. Sooo good. Haven't had a dp in a while. I will send a pic of that. On the way there we met this man outside of his apart. Who we ended up having a mini lesson and having a prayer with him. The Spirit was pretty strong.

One random thing about Nihongiin (Japanese people) here always look way younger than they really are.  Most of the time they look about 20 years younger than what they are.

That crazy old man that can't stop laughing and talking about me showed up to Eikaiwa (English class us missionaries hold for free at the church in order to meet and make new friends, and also give service in teaching them. So much fun. It's probably my favorite part of the week. They shock me with how well their English is!). The man showed up pretty late. Which was ironic because the Japanese people in our class were asking what to say when you are late to something. He sat next to Nagano and just talked about me and could not stop laughing. Which of course makes me laugh cause I don't understand him but I know he is talking about me. I can tell Nagano gets a little annoyed that all this man wants to talk about is me. "Wow he is so tall", "he is so handsome and cool", "he is going to come out in movies", "dang he is tall, how tall do you think he is?" At the end of Eikaiwa this super creepy gay guy that shows up, started to play the piano, like he always does. He is terrible. He plays one note at a time and holds it, sounds like a two year old. But he closes his eyes and rocks his body like he is playing some master piece. Like bro you really feeling that C sharp you have been holding for the last thirty seconds? Lol. The crazy guy that's weirdly obsessed with me looks at Shu the gay guy and says "oh does she play the piano?". I have not laughed that hard yet on my mission. He realized later that it was a guy and was so proud he made us elders laugh. This guy is so crazy but funny. I got a pic with him so I could show you. It makes it even funnier that Shu is so gay and acts and looks a little like a woman. He just stares at me all the time and makes it very obvious. If he gets a chance he will touch you, so you have to keep your distance. He has smacked a couple elders butts which I think is so funny cause they feel so violated.

Here is the crazy guy who is obsessed over me. That's my "this dude is insane" face.

 We taught both of our investigators this week. It sounds like Iwasawa has made up his mind that he wants to be baptized but just isn't sure about what his parents will think. I guess they still want him to wait until after they die? Weird. Though we will see. We will hopefully get him a baptismal date this week and a date for him to have his parents convinced by and maybe if not convinced a date he will do it anyways. Jordan, our investigator from Nigeria) has a baptismal date for May 9th and this last lesson we really re-motivated him with it. Gave him a picture of Jesus being baptized and a picture I drew of the plan of salvation. With a bridge of the atonement over the hole of physical death and the 5 steps of the gospel in order to climb out of the hole of spiritual death. He is really struggling with finding work here in Japan cause he only speaks English. He is having a rough time. I shared with him (and Iwasawa who is having a hard time at work) that before I left on my mission for some reason I was sad and struggling to be myself and happy. Which isn't like me at all. I realize now how bad Satan doesn't not want me to be here talking to them and helping them come closer to God through Jesus Christ. That a lot of times Satan works really hard to bring us down so that we don't follow through and receive the blessings of what's on the other side of that struggle. I told them that they will go through the struggle regardless, but it's up to them on whether or not they will come out of it stronger or worse off. Look at what I would say is the biggest miracle of this dispensation, When Jesus Christ and God appeared to Joseph Smith to restored the true gospel to the earth. Joseph Smith felt the wrath of Satan upon him before he prayed. Imagine if he would have given in and not prayed? Satan was going to make him miserable regardless there for a little, but Joseph prevailed, and so can my investigators and so can all of you. Don't ever give up. Satan's strength is what we make it out to be. He is never too strong to keep us from coming closer to God or whatever is on the other side of our struggles or trials. It's up to us. When I said this to Jordan all of a sudden he just basically bore his testimony to us about his faith in God. That he loves to give his money to others. No matter how foolish people think he is. He knows God knows his heart and will bless him more for it. Which most likely means he will get a job. His words not mine. I was so stoked when I heard that. He is pretty motivated. What a stud. We got a pic with him. He put on that jacket just so he could get his swag up for the pic lol.

After Jordan's lesson we went to that park to play ball. So much fun. I will send a pic of us at the park with all the kids. We taught all those kids a lesson about Jesus after the game. Then my comp and I stayed a little longer and played these two really good kids. Nihongiin are really good at defense. I later figured out they are both like 29 lol. So 'guys' I guess. We ended up teaching them a lesson. Missionaries have tried to teach them many times. I explained the reason why we are in Japan is similar to how they want to share basketball with their friends because it makes them happy. I feel the same way about sharing the gospel. I also asked who the best basketball player is ever. They said MJ even tho I was saying that Bron is about there. We agreed on MJ for now. They agreed that in order to become better you should try and become more like MJ. So I said it is the same with life. Who was the best ever? Jesus Christ. So whose example and teaching should we follow in order to become better people and more happy? Jesus Christ. They were really excited but said they still are too set in their ways to change their minds. It's kinda frustrating but I hope I made a little difference. We figured out that we are all girlfriend-less and they wanted to have a group hug. Then they said it wasn't a good thing we were hugging... Haha

A member gave us tickets to a pro basketball game here. We were kind of obligated to go but we went in hopes to talk to people there. We were late and only saw the second half but it was wild! Japanese people cheer just like fans do in bball video games. Hard to explain without you seeing it, but they clap and cheer in unison, by they, I mean every single person. The cues to get people to clap are super loud. I was so overwhelmed. Half the players are Japanese. Half are black. The black guys look like giants compared to everyone else. Japanese players flop so much and their faces when they get fouled are hilarious. It's like watching anime basketball. During breaks the dancers dance to American songs like Happy - Pharell  and one by Taylor Swift. Everything is so different here but they try to implement American things, it's so entertaining.

Yesterday morning a member named Rei brought some of her old investigators (an older couple) to church for us to give them a tour. We showed them pictures in the church and explained them. As well as the baptismal font. They like music so we had elder Bennion sing for them in the sacrament room. The Spirit was way strong in there. I looked at the man and he was just sobbing. Like the homie Elder Jordan Lee would say "the Spirit had hit him like a brick". Way cool. The couple decided to stay for church and we had a lesson after. They had a great experience. Hopefully I hear how that continues. They live far away.

Later we went to a member conference for Nihongiin that Elder Nelson was speaking at. He explained the importance of members sharing the gospel through their example and simple testimonies about the gospel.

Again sorry. Time is limited. All of your emails will be answered. I have them flagged. I am getting an iPad this week I think, so I should be able to answer more then.

Love you all

Pics
1. Pepe and us at Stamina my fave restaurant. He is a member here from Peru

Make It Rain!

I wrote this email yesterday. Sorry I wasn't able to send it. I didn't have wifi. Sorry also if I haven't answered your personal emails. I really appreciate them! I just literally don't have time to answer them right now. It will be easier when I get my own iPad.

So it is straight pouring here in Tokorozawa right now. Hence the subject line. I still don't have an iPad so Nagano and I have to split the time with the iPad. Kind of frustrating. We went to Costco today. So weird. They are just like American ones. So good to get a hot dog (or three) and some Mountain Dew and pizza.

At the start of this week the less active member that we met with in my last email, Sasamori San (one we got a picture with and got another this time), called us and said he doesn't want to talk about the gospel with us ever again. Pretty sad.. We decided the next day to try and visit and serve him. We went with the intention to clean his very cluttered and small apartment. He said he didn't need it but told us we could talk. I actually was able to understand some of what was talked about this time, mostly because my very patient trainer translated my words to him, and his to me. I was praying the whole time to know what to say to him. We were talking about wars and jealousy as the cause for most of them. I had this strong feeling I should ask if he was being nuked and would die regardless if he would nuke back. He said he would which surprised me. I said I wouldn't because I would rather not have any blood on my hands approaching death and judgment. Nagano explained it in a less condemning way to him. I talked about how important it is to do the right things and insure to the very end so that what comes after life is easier and more enjoyable. It was our in to a gospel discussion and his heart was not hardened towards our words and we got a chance to testify. Don't know if he will accept our challenge to pray about what he is doing and if he should be doing something different in his life (like coming back to church) or not. But what I do know is that we taught with the Spirit and followed the promptings on what to say. He said he is too bad of a person to pray. I shared my experience of being so far from God and asking whether or not I needed to serve a mission and having the craziest experience of my life. That no matter how far we stray He is always there. I am thankful I have a companion that works hard and is patient. It's all I prayed for in terms of my trainer in the MTC. Also that he teaches with the Spirit.

We have two investigators right now. Tokorozawa is tough, but that's no excuse. One is Iwasawa who is 30 and still lives with his parents. We think he has had trouble thinking for himself. He has been meeting with missionaries for 3 years. He is what you call an "eternal investigator" but luckily I have a new perspective on him since I am a new missionary. It was looking like he might stop meeting with us. But we managed to get a lesson this week and I finally met him. During the lesson I already felt God's love for him so strong.  Love Iwasawa. The lesson started and for some reason baptism came up right away. We had a great lesson of testifying and a great church member with us to help translate some of the hard things. Watanabe (member) did some great testifying of his story of being baptized without his parents permission and how much it has done for him and his parents lives. Very applicable because Iwasawa's parents said they "want him to be baptized after they die". It's a little weird. We challenged him to pray about the decision. The next day he texted twice and called twice and didn't say anything about baptism specifically but some positive words. Idk I will let you know when I get the full story.

Our other investigator is Jordan. He is from Nigeria. Way cool kid, and he speaks English! Having a rough time living in Japan not knowing the language and trying to find work. He is 19. Soooo chill. We taught him the 5 steps of Jesus Christ's gospel. He already had a baptismal date for May 9th. We are just helping him get there. Love that kid.

Finding people to teach is really hard here. Especially since I can't really talk. Most people aren't interested in the gospel. Some are the nicest people I have ever met. Some (especially the old men) are the rudest. They will literally ignore you,  act like you aren't even there walking next to them. Sometimes they will just point away from themselves and raise their voice and basically say get out of here, even if all we said is hi... Kinda funny honestly.

Nagano and I went to meet with a member at the train station. When we went inside a group of teenagers were staring and pointing at me. Which isn't super uncommon here and not in a bad way, but it was very obvious. As we went inside we were getting on the elevator and a group of school girls were giggling. I looked over and they were all staring but looked away quickly. I waved and they shyly waved back. We went to another floor and sat down. Not long after Nagano said they had followed us and their group had expanded and they were staring and giggling again. Lol They eventually stopped. Later we hear MORE giggling. But we couldn't see anyone. I eventually look up to see 4 more school girls peeking over the balcony on the floor above us who quickly hid their faces. So funny. Makes me wish I could get that kind of attention from girls at home ;)

Japanese people are funny. They will stare and point and giggle so much with no shame. But the moment I try and talk to anyone, they all of a sudden get scared like they realize I can actually notice them doing it? They are hilarious.

We had a conference Saturday night and I got to see Belnap Choro (my comp from the MTC) miss that kid. Yesterday at church I was asked to give a talk even though I bore my testimony last week. They called me first so I basically winged it. I shared Alma 32:27. My fave scripture so far on the mish. Tough trying to think of what to say on the spot and how to say it...

Japanese missionaries usually give English classes to anyone that wants to come. It's called Ekiwa. We do it Wednesday night and Sunday morning. This last Sunday this man showed up that approached us at the grocery store. Nagano says all he does is talk about me to him. How cool, tall and handsome I am. So funny cause he doesn't know me, I think Nagano gets a little annoyed and weirded out that this man is straight obsessed with me. It's pretty weird but I mostly think it's funny. He came to English class and church after and I don't know why but he literally laughed at everything that was said. Every simple English word I taught or said he would bust up harder than I have really ever heard someone laugh. It got super annoying but was so funny. I swear to you he laughed for an hour straight in English class. He is pretty old, sometimes he would just pass out while he was laughing. We would ask if he is ok and he would wake up and start laughing again. I wish I had a video.

Dang my emails have been pretty long. Thanks to you that are reading. Everyday it gets better here. Some days are harder than others but it's all good. Love these people, this place, this gospel and all of you.

Keep it real!

Pics
1. A better picture of me and my dream forest green Audi

Turnt Up Tokorozawa, Tokyo

Wow.. I am in Nihon! So to start: I got assigned to the Tokorozawa area w/Elder Nagano! He is from Connecticut and went to school at BYU-I. He is of full Japanese decent. I will send a picture of us. This place is pretty sweet, check it on google earth! I have a lot of pictures that I won't be able to send because I am mailing on an iPad and have no method of sending the pictures from my camera. When I get a chance I will.

So last week leaving the MTC was straight crazy. Saying goodbye to my teachers was really sad. What a great job they did in teaching me the language and how to teach with the Spirit and giving our investigators the best experience possible. I am so impressed with their ability to teach so well despite their young age and lack of training. God definitely has His hand in helping them with their ability to teach and the learning process at the MTC. I got up at 2:45 after packing until 1:30 and got on a bus. Usually they just drive us to the airport from there because it is easier and cheaper but they decided to take us to the train station instead? I blew the MTC a big kiss goodbye (what a relief). We got to the train station and had to wait awhile. It was so cold. Then we took the train to the SLC tram which took us to the airport. We soon learned that our flight to Portland was delayed by like an hour and that the flight from there to Tokyo would leave before we could catch it and that we had to wait another day. It was so funny to watch missionaries freak out and stress about the plane situation. I was just chillin' cause it was out of our control. This guy said he would try to figure something out. He convinced the flight in Portland to wait until we get there because we had like 35 missionaries on that flight or something. Missionaries were so excited, a few even hugged that guy it was so funny.

While in SLC we had some time to call our family. I called and talked to the parentals. I had a calling card and every call I made my minutes got cut down a ton. I called my sister Nancy and niece Kennedy. So nice to talk to everyone and later Amber and Pearl. Sorry to the bro in laws I didn't have the time to call you. When I started my call to Nancy this man came up to me and was trying to buy my comp and me, as well as the rest of the district food for the flight. I had just had an Elder from our district take my McDonald's gift card to buy everyone food and told him it was ok. He was determined though. Stood there through the whole convo with Nancy continuing to ask periodically. This lady also came to take my picture to of me calling to send it too my family. Which was great. Just way too much going on. My mom FaceTimed her once she got the picture and the lady
answered. Which was sweet! But I was trying to call my sister Amber while FaceTiming my mom and listening to this guy asking us to buy food. We were running out of time before our flight and my calling card ran out. This guy said I could borrow his phone while he got us food to call my sister. He ended up spending like 35 bucks for everyone. Nice guy! Just stressful!

Anyways we eventually got to Portland! The flight to Tokyo was about 10 hours and we also lost a good amount of time flying over. Flight + time change was about 24 hours. I took a really nice nap and ate some good food on the plane (any food other than the mtc's). The guy I sat next to was a total alcoholic and drank a ton on the flight. He was way fun to sit next to. He said when he saw he was sitting next to a missionary he knew he would hate me but was surprised to find out I was a nice guy. He said Mormonism and him don't mix. I asked why. Of course, we got into a religious discussion. He thinks Joseph Smith is a complete fraud but believes in the bible. I explained some of my experiences and shared my testimony. I was straight chillin but he got pretty upset about it. Mostly cause he was kinda drunk, I think. Hard to explain but he was getting worked up and I just told him I love him and that we shouldn't talked about it anymore. Haha cool guy.

When we got to Japan I had my first experience with a Japanese toilet. They are insane here. There are like ten buttons to control that thing. I don't know what they all do but some of them control the seat heater, and one of them sprays your butt after you go potty. It's actually pretty nice. I like it a lot. At the airport I met my mission president and the assistants. We took about an hour long bus ride through the heart of Tokyo. SOOO sick! I love big cities. The area around Tokyo tower is so dope!! We eventually got to the mission home in Kichijoji which is such a cool place and the mission home was way nice. Sister and President Wada are the best. Sister Wada is the cutest nicest lady ever and they made us some great food. In the mornings we went running and went to the park for "radio taiso" which is where a bunch of old people go and turn on their radios to do this dance/stretch/exercise thing. We did it with them. I was laughing so hard. One of the funniest things ever. I love these people. While I was at the mission home I met a senior couple named the Powells who own Mrs Powell's Cinnamon Rolls. I guess my Grandpa and Grandma knew them and my grandpa used to always tell her she needs more raisins on her rolls. That's grandpa for ya. So funny. On Thursday I met my trainer and we took a crazy amount of train rides to get to Tokorozawa. Insane. I try to talk to everyone I can here. My companion was shocked I am not nervous and quiet. He says I have "dendo Fire" dendo is missionary work or anything related to it.

We went and met with a less active member named Sasamori. I introduced myself. That was it. No joke ~~for over an hour he talked and didn't let my companion say anything and I didn't understand anything! Like literally nothing.. I guess he was telling us that he doesn't need to go to church he knows he will go to heaven regardless. The next day we went to this restaurant here called "Sukiya." Their most popular dish is this bowl of rice with meat on top. Really simple but really good. They have this thing called "king size" which is just an insanely large bowl of their popular dish. I agreed to it but when I saw it I instantly regretted committing to it. I got it with cheese too. I guess it's some sort of challenge here and if you complete it you are a "stage one pounder". I thought there was no way, but half way through I committed to it and after trying hard to hold it down I finished every last little bit. I am seriously so proud of myself. I feel like I gained the respect of my peers and that's what really matters!

After I recovered we went to the park to play basketball. The Japanese kids here are so funny to play ball with. It's so sad how easy it is for me being at least a foot taller than everyone. I feel so bad swatting them. It feels like I am playing little kids. On the way back it was dark and I was trying to keep up with my comp on the bike and this lady just popped out on the other side of the fence. I just slammed into the side of her bike. It was hard. Totally her fault but I was really scared I hurt someone especially since she had a little girl on the back of her bike. My handlebars had turned and slammed into my crotch. Won't get into details. Let's just say it hurt. She was really apologetic.  I had knocked her child of her bike but she was fine. I had to pull my front tire out of her spokes. That was a long day and I accidentally passed out in my dress clothes on the futon for the whole night around 8. I missed dinner and the next day was fast Sunday.

Church here is a blast, the people are the nicest and so patient. I got up and bore my testimony.  I honestly was not nervous at all, the people here are so nice and welcoming. They all tell you your Japanese and testimony are great no matter how bad it was. Haha.

So far I have had sushi, sukiya, curry, roots (ehh), Nato (bleh)

I really like curry and sushi. The food here is sooooo good. I struggle with chopsticks still tho... It sucks. They have these candy bars called black thunder and an ice cream bar version of it. So good (thanks Sheehan). I am already addicted. Black thunder, not ever once!