Week 2 in Japan

KONNICHIWA NERDS,

    Gracious time flies as a missionary. Anyways, this week has been absolutely sweet and I've got a whole lot more time to talk about it.  First off, Japanese makes no sense, but at the same time, it makes sense. I honestly can't find any other way to explain it.    We went to a Chinese restaurant as a zone for Thanksgiving, it was super good, and it was on the 8th floor of a building by the train station. Which train stations out here are like little downtown areas with a ton of fun shops and a big nightlife scene. It was sweet. We also checked out a couple shrines which are super nice because they’re pretty, and they're a nice little escape from constantly being surrounded by city and not having mountains right by you. (Still getting used to that one.) We did have some crazy happening though.  First, Elder Sakae and I have been doing a lot of streeting around parks and there are a solid amount of monster hills through here (my calves look great by the way, thank you Japan) which gives us some good bonding time with our bikes. While biking I took a chunk of the curb with my pedal and lost control as a truck was coming by. Luckily I’ve got some hardcore guardian angels and I was only a few inches from getting cleaned out. I just received a graze of the shoulder. It's the little miracles that count out here.  

     Speaking of fun on bikes, myself and Elder Hawkins (He's my trainer’s trainer, from England, funny guy) decided to bike to Sagamihara in order to join a Quorum of 70 members in a big soccer game. Except Sagamihara is an hour bike ride away. And the game started at 6:00 AM.  As I was once counseled by my older sister, "Sleep is for the weak."  So it was totally worth it. Except we had to bike back after the game, it was rough, but the sunrise was sweet. And the soccer was top notch.  Also we had dinner with the Honda family, Brother Honda was very excited to show off his Honda motorcycle, it was so funny. Also they gave us a ride in they're new Prius and I sat in the passenger seat, which was weird because the steering wheel is on the other side. They made an amazing dinner and Brother and Sister Honda are this hilarious old couple who can both speak a little bit of English since he used to work at BYU-Hawaii. It was so nice since we've been trying to reach out to the members more. They gave us homemade bread and a GIANT bag of rice, it was so sweet. Machida is the Promised Land, I’m telling you.  

     Also I know some people have been curious about my companion/trainer Elder Sakae. He's from a small town outside of Kyoto, he knows a tiny bit of English, so in order to communicate I talk in broken Japanese, and he talks to me in broken Japenglish (Mix between Japanese and English). We can still somewhat communicate; it's just slow going.  He's only been out here for 24 weeks (4 transfers) and it's his first time being a trainer. He's very quiet, so I do a lot of the talking, but I can't understand a lot so he jumps in every once in a while. Not all the time, but hey, he's there and that's all good. I'm still trying to figure out his humor, but we'll get there, he's a humble guy and a super good cook. 

     We have no investigators, but that's absolutely perfect, and I'm not saying that sarcastically. There was a huge lesson learned from that. We had a former elder from this mission who visited the ward on Sunday, he's now living in Japan as an intern for a car company. But in talking with him, I found out most of this mission is going to be finding and flat out talking to everyone. But when you find someone who's ready for this gospel, you'll know. Just remember to never stop believing in miracles. The big thing we forget as missionaries is its not about the numbers. Or yourself. What matters is you're doing your best and going hard 110% of the time.  Open your mouth, teach the message, lay the foundation, and be a friend to everyone. You're here to serve and put in a full effort.  Bring it unto their hearts, but remember that it's their choice to let it in. You can only do so much, and don't get discouraged if it doesn’t go the way you want it to, people have their agency. Press forward with faith, and know that this work is bigger than you'll ever be. And don't forget to have fun while you're at it. :)    
Sorry for this being so long.   
 愛しています、  カフ長老 

Week 1 in Japan

The mystery of the missing email has been solved! In a brief message received early Sunday morning Eric had mentioned that he was sending out a mass email for all of his friends, former MTC companions, and, of course, us with more details. In doing so, he sent our 'copy' of the email to James' icloud account. James discovered it them just as we were heading out to Jonathan's house for Thanksgiving dinner! Now we're home and I finally have time to read them, crop the pics, and get things posted. 

みなさんこんにちわ,

Well, I'm here. And it's super weird and crazy, but hey, it was expected. My first area is called Machida, which is sweet because I'm serving in the same ward that Yoshizawa長老 (friend from the MTC) came from. A LOT of small world connections were happening through that.
My English is getting progressively worse, but the Japanese is slowly building. My companion 
 榮長老 (Elder Sakae) is native Japanese. Communication is really difficult, but we're slowly moving along. We don't really have any investigators, so it's been a lot of finding.
We mainly have to feed ourselves. We had dinner with the Suziki family once, which was awesome. P day we went to a squirrel park. People don't like to talk a lot here. Japanese people don't ever say "no, thank you", thy just kind of lower their head and ignore you.
Sakae Choro is telling me we've got to get going, so sorry this is a short email. 
Here are some pictures...

NEVERMIND! Slight Miscommunication. We don't need to go yet. Elder Sakae just needed to use the restroom. The church is the only place with wifi so our time is pretty limited with everything we've got to do. But, Machida is pretty wild. The cool thing about Japan is that the crime rates are pretty low so everything is super open all the time. 
I live in an apartment with another set of elders, Elder Chao and Elder Casper. It's nice having them around to help me with the language.
I went ahead and got a bike. Buying a bike in Japanese is possibly the hardest thing I've ever done.  They take their bikes super serious, like insurance and everything! It's like buying a car.
the best part of the mission is probably streeting. You get to smile and talk with everyone. In Japan people rarely stop to talk, and when they do they're always surprised that a white kid can (kind of) speak their language. We have yet to find anyone who's interested, but I've learned many different ways people say "no, thank you" or "I'm busy". Or, they just don't say anything at all. 
In all honesty, there's a ton of diversity in Machida; a lot of Indian people which is super nice since Indian curry is super delicious! 
The previous picture with dinner at the Suzuki home was sweet. Sister Suzuki made a KILLER apple pie! Also, we landed a promising referral through the Suzuki family, which is nice because we have no investigators. 
We've had one lesson, so far, with a guy from Ghana who spoke English, so I taught. But, he was dropped. The only reason he wanted to meet was to tell us the church is wrong and he refused to listen to us. So, that was a warm introduction to Japan.
Elder Sakae (my companion) is from the Kobe, Japan area and understands a little English, but it still takes a while to communicate. We just kind of speak to each other in really broken Japanese and really broken English. We're trying to teach each other, but it still takes forever! Our personalities are pretty opposite, but we still get along. He does tend to be a bit quiet when we go streeting so I end up talking a lot. 
Oh well, more adventures to come from the streets of Tokyo, hopefully it'll pick up from here. 
愛しています、

カフ長老

Earthquake!

The letter below was received Monday, November 21, 2016. Eric had sent a brief email to the family account the day before, promising a longer, more detailed email later in the day. That email never appeared. The next day we heard of the earthquake, but were not really concerned due to the distance between the epicenter and Eric's field of service. However, it was comforting to receive this note anyway.

Dear Parents,

This is a brief note to let you know that your missionaries are all safe and accounted for following this morning's earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan. The quake, occurring at 5:59am local time, measured 7.4 on the Richter scale; but was still felt here in the mission some 250 miles away. Although the resultant tsunami warnings for 10 ft. waves along the northeastern coast of Japan prompted evacuation from low-lying areas there, the impact for us here in the mission was simply a gentle rocking in our beds as we woke up this morning--there was no damage or injuries here.

We love your missionaries and will continue to do everything in our power to keep them safe. We appreciate the constant love and support you show your missionaries.

Sincerely,

President J. Paul Warnick

Japan Tokyo South Mission

1st Area Assignment

Dear Brother and Sister Cuff,

Your son arrived in the Japan Tokyo South Mission in good spirits and ready to commence his proselyting assignment. We had a wonderful time with him.

Elder Cuff has been assigned to work with Elder Sakae and they are serving in an area called Machida. Your son can receive his mail at the following address (Mission Home address):

Elder Eric Kelly Cuff

Japan Tokyo South Mission

1-7-7 Kichijoji, Higashi-cho

Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0002

Japan

Attached are pictures of your son with Sister Warnick and me, of himself, his companion, and group pictures of the new missionaries and trainers. We have also included a map showing the locations of the various areas in the mission. You can use it as a personal record of his assignments.

Elder Cuff is now adjusting to his new proselyting area. The positive sustaining support he gets from you at home will be a great blessing to him. May the Lord bless you and your family as you share in your son’s mission experience.

Sincerely,

President J Paul Warnick

New missionaries with President and Sister Warnick

Elder Cuff and his first companion/trainer, Elder Sakae.

All of the new missionaries with their trainers!