Sorry I was gone last week!

Firstly, last week. Last week was miserable due to a major cold. I got it Sunday evening, was having a hard time breathing and moving and not sniffling on Monday (medicine didn't do a thing!), and by Tuesday I declared I was not getting out of bed and I slept the entire day. I was incredibly achy and I had a fever. It was not a fun day, but I am glad it was a p-day. I wanted to go out and do p-day things but come Tuesday morning I was very glad we stayed in the apartment all day. I guess that means this is my first real p-day of this transfer? I'm still recovering from that blasted cold, but I am now in the endless coughing stage, so I feel fine but sound terrible. I'm glad the worst part is over.

In other news, I have a new companion. She is great. She is a fantastic missionary that is quite reminiscent of my MTC companion. She is a great missionary, full of spiritualness and confidence, and we have already seen miracles.

Two of those miracles happened on Sunday and Monday. Sunday an older investigator who didn't want to take lessons opened up to us and we were able to help resolve some of her concerns. She is now willing to hear the lessons again and will plan on getting baptized. That was very nice to hear! We are meeting with her later today.

Monday was great too. We had a potential investigator and we were finally able to meet with her Monday afternoon. It was her first lesson and it went very well. We explained that we normally teach about the church with intent to baptize the people who take the lessons, and she got very excited and asked to be baptized (we explained the basics of what it was, first). We said why sure, you can get baptized. It normally takes about 2 months to hear all the lessons and prepare, will January be okay?

She replied, can I not get baptized in December? I really want to get baptized mid-December.

...Why yes, we can arrange that.

So we have a new investigator and she already set her own baptismal date. We were very excited to hear that, and I rather feel that it is the START to great things happening for the rest of this transfer! So yes, things are going rather well this transfer. We already hit the point where every day is so busy that we can't fit in all the things we want to do, so we started planning next week as well as this week, and next week is getting pretty full, too!

THAT's always fun, lemme tell ya!

I feel so blessed to be working right now. I am immensely enjoying my time as a missionary. Things don't always go exactly as I'd like them to, but who cares? I'm having too much fun and seeing too many miracles to complain.

Today we go coat shopping and shoe shopping (we will hunt for a sale, I really need shoes that don't feel like boats). Tomorrow I will visit the dentist (we have too many appointments today to do a full p-day) and see if I can't get this pesky tooth sorted out once and for all.

I got permission from the President to study Spanish for the rest of my mission. Kofu really needs Spanish speakers!! I would appreciate any help anyone can provide, even if it's just a vocab list (a phrase list may be better). I need someone to explain how to conjugate verbs into past and future tense; no one seems willing to teach me and getting books that teach Americans how to speak Spanish is surprisingly hard in the middle of Yamanashi Japan for some inexplicable reason. I will start reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I have arranged to teach the lessons with members from the pamphlets with lots of help. We'll see how it goes!

In other news, I apologize to people who have written me -- some even months ago -- and still have not gotten a reply. I have many half-started letters on my desk; they will go out! I am trying to catch up right now, so many will be receiving shorter letters but know that they are overflowing with love.

Also...sigh, this is rather embarrassing, but I figure this is the best way to get this out of the way. Yes, my birthday is coming up. I am very glad for people who have offered to ship me things. The best thing you could send me is a huge long letter full of wonderful news and personal progress and thoughts and things. For those who wish to send packages, I will provide the following, despite my embarrassment:

THINGS I DO NOT WANT
Clothes, books, and souvenirs. Basically things that will have to come back home with me. I'm fine on these fronts. If you give me any of these things, just know that they will not be coming back with me -- I will be leaving them behind for future missionaries.

THINGS I WOULDN'T MIND/WOULD LOVE
American food. Cornbread mix and Gingerbread mix, if those exist, are especially welcome (they are not in Japan! I miss them terribly!).

I am a huge fan of jerky (beef or turkey are my favorites), particularly hickory smoked or peppered.

I also LOVE LOVE dried fruit of all kinds, especially mango and apricot. I have never tried dried pineapple but I am sure I will like it. Something my parents ingrained in me that I love to do is eat beef jerky and dried mango at the same time. Both things I can obtain in Japan with a bit of effort, though, so I guess they are not a high priority?

Hot chocolate mix and/or marshmallows is also very welcome. Hot cider is also great.

Healthy snacks, like fruit snacks that actually fulfill fruit servings, are also welcome.

Fruit Gushers are something I have always loved and thus would also be most welcome.

I just thought of it, but salt water taffy, Rolos, and candy corn are also candies I love, but seeing as my companion and I are both trying to eat healthily most of that will be given to local Elders. They will love you for it, however.

Okay, enough awkwardness, I gotta go. Love you all tons!

I think I am going to spend my inheritance in Japan

I have some new-news-going-old that I think I already mentioned, but just in case I did not I will bring it up again:

I have shrunk.

I have shrunk on my mission. Now, this is WONDERFUL news for me. I'm not slim yet by any means, but I have reduced in size just enough that my clothing is rather loose, and my shoes are now like little boats that would probably save me in the next Big Flood.

The shrinking is great news. The need for new clothing as a direct result of the shrinking is not good news. Why? Because Japanese clothes don't fit me, of course!

...

...Except now they kinda do. I now officially can wear the Large size clothing in Japan. Crazy, huh? I am now officially considered large by Japanese standards.

So I can buy clothes. Expensive crazy awesome amazing clothes.

Shyeah, except I won't be using them for that long and I dunno how many I would still wear after my mission.* I think I will stick with just keeping my eyes out for a new pair of shoes. I saw some shoes I really liked the other day and considered picking them up when I casually looked at the price tag. Yeah, $200 shoes is a little high.

All is well here. Kofu smells wonderfully like Fall and I persuaded the ward to have a Halloween party. Missionaries can't dress up but we are in charge of the games. Werewolf, anyone?

---

*Yes, many many thanks to my dear friends who have all kindly pointed out to me that I have 3 months left. I am also looking forward to seeing you again, but rather than saying I only have three months left, may I remind you that I still have three months left? It's such a little word and yet it makes a very big difference. I will happily make plans to visit and spend time with all of you -- IN three months.

I have now hiked TWO mountains

We went with the ward and a few investigators back up the mountain trail. It was a lot of fun. I took a few pictures that it looks like I may actually be able to show you all next transfer. I am discovering that I actually enjoy hiking. The Y Trail just isn't a very fun hike.

Not much new to report in Kofu. I am trying to write letters back to people, but it is taking time -- sorry. I really do appreciate hearing from you. Every time I get a letter from one of you it makes my day. Thank you.

Not much news this week. Next week I am not sure if I will be able to e-mail; we have a pretty busy p-day. Next Sunday is transfers, by the way, so we'll see what happens.

Talk to you all again later!

I cannot wait to be able to upload pictures again

I am still looking forward to getting personal computers, if for no other reason than I will be able to upload some of the cool pictures I have been taking lately. As it is, I am afraid you simply get a wall of text yet again.

Today before we came to the library we stopped by a store really quickly to buy new pens. As we were going into the store, I noticed an older woman heading for the door to leave. Without thinking about it too much I held the door open for her so that she could pass through. She stopped and waited for me, so I motioned her through. Her face lit up in surprise and delight and she bowed several times, thanking me, as she walked through the door. She then waved before turning the corner to the street.

I am not going to turn that into a sermon or a comparison of cultures, it was just something that made me think "huh" and remember, yet again, that I am not in Kansas anymore.

Things are going rather well this week. I managed to keep my bike tires free of flats, taught a lesson, met someone who might be interested in having us come back around, and climbed a mountain.

Which of those would you like to hear about first?

The bike tire being free of flats makes me incredibly happy, considering I have had 3 flats in the past week or so. I'm just glad I know how to fix a flat tire, or else I would REALLY have been in trouble. I am also careful to avoid riding in the areas where I am pretty sure I got flats last time. This makes for some interesting twists and turns and dancing with traffic, but it's quite fun.

You know what else is fun? Missionary work! Especially when you actually find people, but I've gotten to the point that just talking to people is fun, too. My companion disagrees (and I would have, too, when I was only 6 months old) so I am trying to make it more fun for her by introducing a weird game. The game has no name, but I shall call it the "Kekko" game. Kekko means "No thank you" in Japanese and it's the simplest way to turn someone down. We hear it a lot as missionaries. The game goes something like each companion chooses three different kekkos, and then if someone says one of them you get a point. So my kekkos were "I'm buddhist," "I'm too busy," and plain ol' "kekko," and my companion chose "I am part of another religion," "I don't like Christianity," and "I am hurrying home to my kids." These are all pretty common excuses given as people run the other way, but it's kinda fun to try and get bingo or something similar.

Of course we also focus on having really good conversations, but this is just something to try to make it more fun.

The lesson we taught was to an older person that wasn't really too keen on hearing from missionaries but agreed to listen once out of obligation to a friend. The lesson went decently well, but it wasn't brilliant (which is a shame). Still, it was infinitely better than having no lessons.

The person who may not mind having us come around was someone we met knocking on doors. She was nice and said it might be okay if we came back sometime when she was free, but she wasn't particularly fascinated. We will do our best to have the Spirit teach her better than we ever could.

The mountain was Mount Takao, one of Japan's "Top 100 Mountains" and therefore a neat touristy area. Our whole zone got together to climb it together. It was kinda interesting. Lots of gentle hills with very pretty forests. I had a bizarre experience, though. I had kinda thought we were hiking to the base of the mountain and then a little over an hour later, we were on top of the summit.

Huh.

It was pretty weird to climb a mountain when I didn't realize I was climbing a mountain, but it was fun. Not the easiest hike in the world (there was one point of endless tall stairs that I would not like to climb again in a hurry) but it was vastly different from the Y Trail, which I am gradually coming to realize is actually a pretty rough climb.

After we reached the summit one of the Elders who had climbed Takao before invited us all to get some incredibly famous ice cream. Intrigued by this fascinating prospect we took a different route home. The route home was full of GORGEOUS temples and amazing artifacts, with souvenirs available for purchase at every corner (I actually did pick up some postcards after remembering I collect those). The funniest part was when the Elders stopped and pointed out Lehi's dream was sculpted on one of the temple walls. What do you know, a guy underneath a tree eating a pale fruit as water and hideous dragons rage all around him. You could argue that one of the wooden support beams was the iron rod, but that might be taking it a bit far, seeing as the actual story was something completely different. I took a picture regardless. After the temples we came across a food shack which was indeed selling milk gelato, the famous ice cream in question. It cost $3.50. Yow, thought I, that's some famous ice cream. Still, I figured I wasn't going to be back this way again so I took the bait and bought the ice cream.

It was a $3.50 milk flavored ice cream cone. Whoopee, Elder. As the cone was passed into my hands I stared at him in betrayed disbelief, at which point he pointed out why the ice cream was so great. He took his own cone (4 in all bought this stuff), and marched over to the condiments. He then picked up a salt-pepper shaker, shook it all over his cone, strode to a nearby bench, sat down and ate it.

Intrigued I investigated the condiments myself. What do you know, there's a picture above the table of kids doing exactly what he just did to their ice cream. And what I had thought was salt and pepper was actually white and black sesame seeds. Huh. I sprinkled some on and tasted it.

It tasted like milk ice cream with sesame seeds in it.

Not altogether a bad flavor, but I no longer trust that Elder's tongue and sense of value. Still, perhaps if I were more adventurous I would have tried sprinkling fish flakes, dried tofu, or seaweed, all of which were also available. In the end I just swallowed my loss along with a pretty tasty ice cream cone. You might want to give ice cream and sesame seeds a shot, but I wouldn't say it's worth $3.50 for a cup of ice cream.

It was a pretty fun day, although I am surprisingly sore now. Not from the climb, but the descent! The different path we took was MUCH faster (20 minutes), but also at a very steep decline the entire way down. It was very hard on legs and toes, and I was happy and tired when it was over. My legs are now stiff and a little painful, which is refreshing in a way.

In other news, General Conference is this weekend here in Japan. I hope they have English available at the Kofu building; I am not sure if they will. The only people who speak English are me and the two Elders, and we all speak Japanese very well as well. Still, I am excited for conference.

I am having a beautiful, gently windy, nice and cool fall. It's exhilarating and I am in paradise.

In other news, I am noticing something I should like to rant about a tiiiny bit. It goes something like this:

HYPOTHESIS: Men are jealous of women.

Here's my reasoning:

1. We must first assume that people will attempt to imitate things they respect, admire, or wish to become like.


2. Women wear dresses and make-up.


3. These items are considered "women's clothing" and are thus found with women's clothing in stores.


4. Like purses, there are now male equivalents coming out for the manly counterpart.


5. Nonetheless, these are still considered pretty girly.


6. Make-up is for girls.


7. Mascara is definitely make-up.


8. Men wearing mascara, therefore, are imitating women.


9. Mascara companies WHO USE MALE MODELS IN ADVERTISING emphasize this.


10. If Japanese companies use it in their advertising, it is either considered normal or desired to become the new normal.


11. Japanese make-up companies want men to wear make-up.


12. Japanese men who wear make-up are doing what women have been doing for years, and (I reiterate) are thus imitating women.


13. Japanese men are totally jealous of Japanese women.

So there is my reasoning. It's rather flawed, but I gotta admit the number of make-up companies using male models is rather alarming. Possibly MORE alarming is the number of Japanese companions I have had who see absolutely nothing odd about it.

Okay, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this rather tall wall of text! Farewell until next time!

They would look like children to your eyes

It's true that Asian faces tend to look younger than American faces, and it is difficult to judge age accordingly. This hasn't been a huge problem for me except for occasionally mistaking a middle school student as a high school student (because all high school students look so YOUNG to me). That is, at least, until I saw a TWELVE YEAR OLD driving a car.

She was probably 30-something and that young boy in the car was probably her son, but really? She looked like a preteen! Crazy!

It is true that I have gotten into the habit of adding 5-10 years to everyone's age based on how they look. If they look 12 they are probably 18. If they look 18 then that's probably their kid they are holding and they are married. If they look 40 then they are pretty old.

The only exception to this is smokers, who look their age.

This week has been long and full of rainstorms and flat tires. The best day, I think, was when we went several hours out in a HEAVY rainstorm, got lost and went a further 10 miles out -- up a mountain -- and then on the way back I suddenly got a flat tire. It was already pretty late but we were able to find a garage that was still closing up shop that was able to give me some fresh air. Thank you, garage people!

I always think it's funny that the rainy season is considered June. June of this year did indeed have a fair bit of rain, but it wasn't that bad, really. Coming into Fall I am starting to have some bad flashbacks of my bean area, wherein it rained nearly every day. Fall is the rainy season it seems. At least now the rain is the proper temperature -- cold.

It's finally cooling down! I love Autumn so very much. Summer decided to go out with a bang, giving us one of the hottest summer days possible the day before Fall equinox. The equinox itself was nice and cool, making me regret short sleeves but happy all the same because I LOVE fall weather!

I have finally unearthed my winter clothing. They've been sitting in vacuumed bags inside my suitcase for all summer, but finally they get to start making their debut. It's nice, too, because it feels like I just got a bunch of new clothes since I haven't worn them for so long. I am quite excited to create some new outfits, and once I am sure that summer is gone for good (he keeps trying to sneak in for a few hours) I shall take all of my summer blouses and throw them away. Or burn them. Whichever sounds more fun at the time.

Actually we have marshmallows in the apartment so burning the clothing makes more sense, huh? ;)

Mmm, hot chocolate. I am so excited. I love winter food. The one thing I miss is ginger. Not ginger as in the plant, but ginger as in gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, and gingersnaps. I LOVE gingersnaps but you can't get them here.

That's okay, Japan has some pretty interesting winter food too. It is the season of the hot-pot and the sukiyaki feasts. I am, naturally, enthused, and I have started a small workout program in order to make room on my body for all the meat I am about to eat.

Things are still fun in Kofu. We have actually had some success meeting people while going door-to-door, which is depressingly rare but always nice when it happens. I am looking forward to the rest of this week!

You are all great, and I am still trying to catch up letter-wise. Thanks for being patient! Talk to you again next week!

You can see Fuji from my house

It's true, folks, you can see Fuji outside my study window. It's pretty awesome.

Kofu is nice. It's really pretty, and it's got lots of friendly people. It has a few overly friendly mosquitoes (I am now up to 100 bites between knee and ankle (le sigh) but as the weather cools down hopefully all those blasted creatures will DIE.

The first week after transfers always goes by too fast and we accomplished less than we wanted to. We are fixing that by being a lot more rigid on our plans, but it's still cutting things close for week 2. We plan to visit many more members and investigators this week. People live really far out and far apart, though, so we need to plan and segment carefully. It should be lots of fun.

Last night we were invited to FHE with some great families. They served an amazing meal and their house is my dream Japanese home -- lots of sliding doors and an amazing garden, all framed so that when you open the dining room doors (which are made out of paper, btw) you get this gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji while you eat. It was so cool.

The zone is planning on going mountain climbing next week. I am thrilled but a little concerned as I am not the most fit person at the best of times, and I am not sure how I am now. We shall see, won't we?

Life is beautiful, times are fun, and I still have no way to show you any pictures so you'll still just have to wait. It's getting a bit ridiculous, though. I have now filled up two memory cards. Good thing SD cards are dirt cheap, huh?

Pshyeah, like I have money.

Hope everyone is happy and well! Have a wonderful week, and go stare at some nature and contemplate just how amazing this earth really is. It's a worthwhile endeavor.

I transferred

I have left Chiba for Kofu. I was going to be all prosaic but then I discovered that I don't actually have time.

Kofu is huge. It's an entire prefecture, so my new area is basically twice the size of Rhode Island. Considering all my areas up until now have been one city that's kinda a big deal.

The coolest part about Kofu?

Not the temperature -- Kofu is renowned for it's heat.

Not the produce -- I do love grapes, but that's not the best part.

Not my companion or our huge apartment -- both are really nice though.

Not the fact that it's THREE HOURS away from Tokyo, and we have to travel to Tokyo for all missionary conferences.

No no, Kofu is a VALLEY.

That means there are MOUNTAINS. EVERYWHERE.

I am surrounded by mountains!

I'd feel at home but they are all this weird GREEN color.

Oh, and JTTF! Happy Birthday to ASH! I wasn't able to put a package together in time, but I will get that letter siting on my desk into the mail at least.

To people who have written me but haven't heard from me: I am sorry. I have a bunch of half-written letters on my desk. I am working through them and sending them along. If you want to speed along the process, feel free to write me a note and remind me. ;)