Angels in the Outfield: Week 45 in Japan

Ok, some things that have been happening:

We finally met with the family I talked about earlier. They're awesome! The husband has a crazy work/study schedule but he really wants to meet so now we're set up for every Saturday! This weekend was a holiday in Japan and they went with his parents to visit their ancestors’ graves so they couldn't make it out to church, but they're super stoked for next week. It makes me happy to see these people excited for church. It's such a blessing. 

There's a batting cage across the street from the church building and the owner loves missionaries. He doesn't really want to join the church, or stop smoking, but he enjoys reading from the scriptures with us and is just an overall really fun guy so we just drop in every once in a while to share something with him. We do have to limit the trips we go there because he loves giving. He believes in giving everything. Because of that he always buys us a drink and refuses to let us leave unless we bat a few rounds that he, of course, pays for. He used to be a pro player so let me just say that my swing has become absolutely textbook. 

The area Book and phone in this area was an absolute mess so we spent a decent amount of time organizing it. Now things are back in order. Whoooo!

Other than that it's just the regular stuff. Sorry for the boring email this week...

Party on!

Elder Cuff

One year older and wiser too (?): Week 44 in Japan

Oh shoot. It's been a year.

Highlights of the week:

I bought a sweet jacket. As far as souvenirs go there were only 2 things I was really keen on getting and this was one of them. Usually these types of jackets are expensive and don't fit me, but yay for recycle shops!

I'm currently learning how to make a bunch of Japanese food from scratch cause my companion is Japanese, and from Hokkaido. Learned how to make some restaurant style miso soup. It's cheap and delicious and I'm now suffering from addiction to miso soup.

Had a cool moment on the road where we got talking to a guy who just got out of college and started working at a hospital. We asked him if he thought God existed and he said wasn't sure. We asked if he's ever thought about it, he said only during the hard times. We had some more discussion and there was just this atmosphere of peace and the way this guy reacted I knew something was there. I don't know why I'm sharing this, but it just felt right. I know that God is there. I know he loves me and everyone around me and that makes me feel happy. It's influenced me for the better and that belief has pushed me to seek for the positive things in life. I'm kind of bummed that I've only got a year left to share that same positivity with others but I guess I'll just enjoy it while I can!

There's a lot of love in the world. I just hope we can recognize that.

愛を込めて、
Elder Cuff

Currently taking job offers for jacket modeling.

There and Back Again! Week 43 in Japan

Well I'm back in Tokyo area! Kind've... Just the very outskirts in the hills. But hey! I'm back!

So I have the greatest companion on the planet, Elder Muranaka. The guy just loves to laugh and is always down for everything. Also I've been learning some crazy Japanese from him. I'm so stoked for this transfer!

Arriving here in Takao the area didn't really have any investigators so we went ahead and hit the pavement. We had an absolute miracle happen when we were passing out some Eikaiwa flyers at the train station. I got talking with a guy about the English Program we do, just your classic Japanese businessman, and originally we made plans for Sunday night. He was really good at English but he said it was because his wife was Filipino and he lived in the Philippines for a bit. When I called to confirm the appointment Saturday night he asks about church on Sunday morning. This wasn't super typical, especially from businessmen. I told him it wasn't the English Program and that it was church where we teach about God and Christ and sing songs, just to make sure there wasn't any confusion with some of the info on the flyers. He tells me he knows and he just wants to come check it out... with his whole family. It's my first Sunday here in Takao (the ward's amazing by the way) and a family comes. Talk about miracles! We set up some appointments with them, and turns out hey live right by the church. Sadly they'll be out of town next Sunday but they enjoyed it a lot and really want to come the Sunday after that. His wife and the wife's mother don't speak any Japanese so I ended spending a mass majority of church translating. But even after having to endure my sub-par translations they talked about how they really enjoyed the messages there and the feelings they got from the speakers and teachers.

I'm back in an area with giant hills so my thighs are taking some heat, but the weathers cooling down and the work is moving. Being a missionary is literally the coolest thing in the world. I get to meet so many awesome people, talk about peace and positivity, and enjoy all the funny and weird experiences that come in between. Lots of fun things have been happening. My luggage still hasn't arrived though so I've been living on the past 2 sets of clothing since Thursday. But our apartment has a dryer so no worries!

The district & our zone leaders.

Back in my beautiful hills!

We found a setting on one of the electric pianos and Elder Muranaka gets a kick out of it.

Maps & Info from Mom

Elder Cuff's travel for this transfer from Kofu to the Takao ward in Hachioji.

Satellite view of his new area on the outskirts of Tokyo suburbs.

Google maps pic of the meetinghouse in Hachioji.

Being the mom that I am, I had to create a map of Elder Cuff's travels thus far. He will have been out a year the middle of September, so I feel its safe to say this is a representation of his first year of assignments. I also love that Google Maps has pictures of everyplace! Below are the chapels he has frequented.

His first assignment was in Machida. Both the Machida 1st ward and Machida 2nd ward meet in this building.

Next came Fujisawa, his area near the ocean.

Kofu, the area he is just leaving. I've asked if this is really the pic of the entrance or not, but he never did answer. Looks pretty ghetto here, especially compared to the pic of the chapel in his new area.

Hachioji Fun Facts

• Hachioji is a university town with 21 universities and colleges.
• Population is approximately 570,000 people in an area of 72 sq. miles.
• It is located in a basin surrounded on three sides by mountains and opening on the east towards Tokyo.
• It's main tourist destination is Mount Takao which has 2.6 million visitors a year.
• It also has the Takao Trick Art Museum which I really hope Eric gets to visit (and take lots of pics).
• The Ginkgo Festival is coming up in November.