10/18/2015
Another Great Week!
Sounds like everyone is doing well back at home. I hope school is also
going well for everyone. Japan just keeps getting better! I love that
I have been gifted with this special opportunity to come out and serve
these people for 2 years. I have already grown to love them all so
much, and I feel like I just got here. As I have mentioned before the
mission time just flies by like nobody's business. I know that all of
you are busy with things, but I just wanted to say thank you so much
for taking some time to read my emails. I truly do appreciate it.
So last week I forgot to send a few pictures, but we had another
festival on Monday. It was really big because it was for the whole
stake. A lot of other missionaries came and we had a blast. We ate a
lot of crazy good food (including octopus). We played a bunch of games
and talked to a lot of people. I love how unique the Japanese culture
is. Even though many of the things we did there are similar to what we
would do in America, a lot of things are different. After the festival
we went to some Japanese hot springs. Before trying out the water
people were all saying how hot it was. I looked at it and thought
there is no way it can be that hot. As soon as I got in my feet turned
red and I jumped out of the water haha. It was boiling hot. In the
video that I send it may not look that hot, but trust me it was
extremely hot.
As most of you already know every Wednesday here in Japan we teach an
English class. I love helping the Japanese people learn our language.
It is a lot of fun to play games and talk to all of them in English.
Last week during our English class a guy named Big Island came. He is
a little bit older and really funny. He brought us some nice Japanese
cake things that were pretty good. Anyways in the middle of our class
he asked me a question about how Mormon's learn languages around the
world so fast. I laughed and said there is a reason for it.
Immediately after that he looked at me and said, "you have a machine."
I laughed soooo hard. He kept saying you have a machine over and over
laughing with me. I told him about the gift of tongues, but sadly he
doesn't believe me. He is a really funny guy though. Maybe we will be
able to meet with him sometime when he is not so busy.
On Friday we had our last district meeting of the transfer. We talked
about these new pamphlets that we will be using when contacting people
on the street. My companion and I were able to try it the day before,
and it actually works pretty well. After our district meeting because
it was our district leader's last district meeting in Japan he made us
some fried ice cream. He said he used to make it back at home all the
time. It was really good. We also had some pizza from the Dominos in
Japan. It is not as good as in America but still not bad. After eating
together I got to go on an exchange with his companion. His companion
is Japanese, so it was really cool to see what it would be like to
have a Japanese companion. His companion's name is hasegawa choro. He
is super funny and always happy. We talked a lot, and at the end of
the day I taught him how to play hearts. It was a little difficult to
try to explain everything in Japanese, but it helped me push my
language ability. In the end he was so good that he ended up beating
me. I learned a lot from him, and I honestly hope that I could have a
Japanese companion just so that I can learn the language faster. The
language is coming still, but very very slowly. I feel like I still
can't talk to anyone; however, I don't let it get me down. I try
talking to people anyways even when I know that they have no idea what
I am saying. It is also really hard to understand people when they are
talking to me. I know that eventually it will come with time.
Last week I challenged everyone to remember the savior throughout the
week. I hope that you were all able to try to remember him more. I
tried to think about the savior more as I went throughout the days,
thinking of what he would do in my situation. This week I am going to
start the "Ponderizing a scripture challenge" given to us in
conference. I know that if we can think and ponder about a good
scripture throughout the week, that we can fill uplifted. As we think
and read from the scriptures, it will help us remain in a happier more
cheerful mood. I would invite all of you to join me. I know that as we
follow the council of our prophets, apostles, and other general
authorities, that we will be able to come closer to Christ.
Thank you all for your emails. I love hearing from all of you. Sadly I
have not been able to play any more basketball with Boettcher choro
no. He transferred to a different area in the mission. I have not been
able to play since then. I still get to do a lot of fun stuff though.
I really enjoy just talking to people and trying my best to push my
language ability.
Questions:
1. The Happy Birthday video song was awesome! I loved it and it was right. Surprisingly
people in Japan usually just sing it in English though.
2. Summer is actually in the middle of the school year for them. They
get about one month off. I don't think they get many other breaks.
Maybe just a few. Peach season just ended here in Japan. I don't
really know what the seasons for the foods are here though.
3. I am doing great. Thank you so much for everything. I
appreciate all of you who emailed/sent packages for my birthday also.
That was great, thank you so much.
4. An average week here in Japan: We start out with preparation day on
Monday. Usually the busiest day of the week. We have shorter morning
study, clean the apartment, and then go grocery shopping. We do our
laundry and then usually email in the morning. We also have a Japanese
class in Okayama Nishi, which is kind of cool. Tuesday we have service
and usually do some Streeting. Wednesday is our English class. We will
usually have appointments throughout the week, but more in the morning
on Wednesday, so that we can start our English class later at night.
Thursday is weekly planning. For a large portion of the day we plan
for our investigators and less active members. Friday we have zone
training meeting and district meetings. Saturdays are pretty free. We
usually have a lot of appointments on Saturday and if not we will go
streeting or housing. Going to the park is a good place that we do our
streeting because the park is so big and full of people. Sunday is the
best day of the week because we get to go to church. I love being able
to take the sacrament and think about the savior. It is probably a
little more relaxing, but we also usually have appointments later on
that day.
5. I haven't seen any nintendo stuff yet really. I am on the look out
though. I really wanna get something for Slade while I am here.
6. I have not had the time to work on hymns on the piano. I wish we
had more time to do things on P-day, but there is too many things to
do and not enough time.
7. I like to cook mabodofu. It is tofu with a sauce and rice in it.
It is really simple, but I have learned that I really love tofu.
8. Sadly no. We don't really have time to take any naps or play games.
Sometimes we can take naps during lunch if we finish eating early. It
is more fun to go out and talk to people anyways.
9. I did get a postcard from Lynn. I am truly grateful for
all the packages, but I wouldn't worry about it too much haha. I am
doing very well.
10. The weather has been great. It is just starting to cool down, but
not enough to the point where it is cold.
Thank you again everyone for all of your help, support, and prayers. I
will try to get out as many emails as I can. Lets work on our
ponderizing this week. I love you all.
Hirschi 長老
Nov 1![]() | ||
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