Week 28 in Japan: My Pet Hawk

Okay, not too much really happened due to the fact that my beloved companion Elder Harrison rolled his ankle. It all swollen and purple so we couldn't really go out and look for people. On the upside it gave us a lot of time to study and call people! He can walk on it just fine now but it did put him out of commission for a while. 

We had a big combined Eikaiwa activity with a bunch of the Eikaiwa classes around the stake. It wasn't just teaching English but also cultural stuff. Elder Harrison worked at Dominos for 4 years and was a general manager before he left on the mission so the guy knows how to make a pizza. Needless to say our class was amazed when he was tossing pizza dough in the air. Overall a really good time.

Last thing, we just got done with our P-day stuff where I introduced Elder Harrison to Enoshima Island. We decided to check out some areas I haven't been to, including the rocks out on the ocean. The rocks are covered during high tide but it's where everyone hangs out during low tide. But because of the high tide, you can find little fish that have been washed up every once in a while. We found out that if you toss them up in the air, the hawks that live around the area will catch them. 

We also checked out this place on the island called Dr. Fish.  It's where you put your feet in this water filled with tiny fish and they come and eat all the dead skin off of them. It was super ticklish, but now my feet are incredibly smooth.   

Dr. Fish

Other than that we've just been foolin' around Tokyo. Not much has changed, but everyday is a good time so I'm okay with that.  

愛しています、 

Elder Cuff

酒の言い伝え: Week 27 in Japan

ごめん   

Sorry for the late email, it was temple P-Day!   

Okay first a funny story. In Japan, they love their alcohol and their tobacco, a lot. We have a lot of run-ins with really funny drunk people who are excited to meet Americans. One man in particular showed us his ancestors burial sight and told us all about samurais. We asked him if his ancestors were samurais and he was like, "No, but that would be really cool." So we got a good laugh out of that. Then he showed us his rose garden and kept telling us which roses smelled the best, which ended up being all of them, ha-ha. He just wanted to take the time to point at every rose and say that it smells the best. Elder Harrison and I still get a kick out it. We visited him a couple more times hoping to find him sober and willing to hear our message. But every time we come back he's still drunk and wants to tell us about his ancestors and have us smell his roses, so we'll see where things go.   

Lastly, We've spent the first few weeks of this transfer finding people, so this past week has just been a lot of teaching and sometimes sadness because people not showing up and suddenly disappearing. Everyday I learn something new and everyday I get pushed a little bit more so I can't complain. We recently reactivated a less active member so that was an awesome feeling. We've been focusing more attention on pumping up the ward to help us out, and we're excited for the progress we'll be making in the work.   

Thanks for all the love and support; just want to let everyone know for the millionth time that I am probably the happiest person in the world right now. I'm just living the dream; everyday is a good day as a missionary. Love one another, work hard, and smile while doing it.  Love you all!  

 Stay Sweet, 

カフ長老

Japanese Jeff Spicoli (Week 26 in Japan)

Happy Mother's Day! Today I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to my parents for a bit. As usual, my parents are cooler than yours.   

So this past week Elder Harrison and I have been having an absolute blast. He's a real fun guy to be around and loves working hard. One of the people we found this week is the reason for he title. While knocking on doors we came across an apartment stacked with college students. This one really cool dude answered the door, and before me stood a Japanese version of Jeff Spicoli. (I'll give a 100-yen to whoever knows who Jeff Spicoli is.) But for those who don't get the reference, it was a Japanese version of your classic beach bum California surfer dude with long hair and no shirt on. He was stoked to see missionaries, went to a Christian high school, believes in Christ, gladly took a Book of Mormon, and will be meeting us again next Sunday. For sure; Party on dude.   

I got to translate again at Zone Meeting, it's fun, but gracious it’s tiring. I'm pretty sure my brain is sore. Or I just have a headache, one of the 2.   

Last thing I want to talk about is love. Love is the driving force behind everything good. Although it can sometimes be hard to express, love makes the difference between truly serving, and just getting your hands dirty. Doing good deeds is important, but more important is the motive behind the good deed. When doing something for someone else, practice doing it out of love. Plus it makes service that much more fun!  

愛しています、 

Elder Cuff

 Japanese Firefighter Training Center

Pic from previous transfer

Da' Zone

Week 25 in Japan: Harrison & Cuff, Texas Rangers

So, last P-day, as a zone, we climbed Mt. Ooyama which is translated as, Big Mountain. I love Japanese! It was hot and humid. We got rained on. There was lightening, and I had the time of my life. 11/10 would recommend it.

Elder Harrison is an awesome guy. He's about 6'6" and proud to be from Texas. When he arrived I grabbed the biggest and heaviest looking bag he had. It was surprisingly light. Confused, I asked him what was inside. When I opened it up I learned he had taken the time to pack the entire thing with American cereal. It's going to be a fun transfer!

While playing our usual Saturday afternoon basketball game at the rec center, Elder Harrison threw down some mean dunks and swatted some shots across the court. Our basketball buddies just about worshipped him. Props to the kid guarding him. Although there was an obvious height difference, he never gave up!

This morning, Elder Harrison and I got up early, had a big breakfast, then biked to the beach. We just enjoyed the scenery, tossed a football, and enjoyed the sounds of the waves.

I found this chill frog while helping pull weeds.

My thoughts this past week are more of a continuation from the previous week on the importance of attitude. I received an email from my older brother, Jonathan, who said something I really like, "We can't get joy out of things. We put joy into things." I think if you get too busy blaming everything on your circumstances, you'll spend a lot of time being unhappy.

I'm here to tell ya' that everyday is a good day; especially the rainy ones. Count your blessings!

愛を込めて、 
カフ長老