Week 21 in Japan: Drunk Chicks and Eagles!

Japan? More like Ja-TheBest-pan, am I right?   

Translating went super well! I thought I would make a fool of myself in front of the entire zone but it ended up going just fine. Japanese to English wasn't too bad, but English to Japanese started to make me sweat.   

So this week had quite a series of fortunate events and hilarious moments. To begin, there's a thing we do out here called kubari, which is basically going to train stations and passing out flyers about our Free English Class. While doing so, I was approached by a very intoxicated woman who was pretty much being carried by her boyfriend.  They were originally just walking past but she tore away from her boyfriend and came running towards me. Instead of trying to stop her, HE JUST WALKED AROUND THE CORNER. This lady continued to hit on me and kept trying to offer her beer to me. Let's not forget the fact that she kept screaming, "Sexy Boy" at me, and started drawing attention from passerby's. Luckily her man came back after a solid 10 minutes of disappearing to pull her away from the frightened white man. But Elder Poff got a good laugh out of it.

Luckily karma struck back on him because the very next day while eating ice cream at a park down by the beach, this big ole eagle came down and took his ice cream clean out of his hands. He's still upset about that.   

We were able to set a baptismal date with a guy who's been an investigator in Fujisawa for a good year or so now. We've still got a good amount of barriers for him to overcome with him before he’s ready, but we're so excited to finally help him progress.    Finally I've got one last thought.

We've been working with a less  active who is honestly the nicest man in the world and loves  missionaries. In initially meeting with him, we found that he works Mon-Sat, but he said he uses Sun. to catch up on rest. Being that we hear all sorts of excuses all day everyday, we knew that wasn't the case. Turns out his real struggle with coming to church was he was feeling too unworthy to be there. This makes absolutely no sense.  Nowhere in the thousands of pages of doctrine that exists says that church is only for the sinless. If that were the case churches would consist of empty hallways and moldy baseboards. My Mother sent me an article where the writer spoke of a companion he had who's favorite smell at church is tobacco and alcohol, because it's the smell of change.

Amongst the tons of verses that speak of God's anger towards sinners, I think we tend to forget the many more verses that recognize him as a God of Love. One who knows every detail about us, he knows how much we suck, and still loves us anyway. I took away a lot from this past conference but the two main points that hit were how much emphasis was put on love, and what repentance really is. In John we read of a woman who was caught committing adulatory in the TEMPLE. She is literally brought before Christ after being caught red handed.  Could you imagine screwing up like that and then being put right in front of the very person that determines the rest of eternity for you in the after life? You are asked if you've been condemned, wondering if you're going to be thrust into fire and brimstone right then and there. Christ is sitting right in front of you, drawing on the ground, and says...    Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.   

Sin is not the end. When we screw up it doesn't disqualify us from feeling loved. We are not condemned to sit in a continuous cycle of self-pity after one bad pitch. It's simply an opportunity to change, to put away the past, and continuously seek improvement. To be a little bit better than we were yesterday.  

頑張れ、 

Elder Stitching at the end of your sleeve

Our main man Hashimoto 兄弟、He leaves for 

his mission in Fukuoka on Tuesday. For the

guys in Fukuoka, you got a powerhouse 

coming your way. 

Week 20 in Japan: Sun Land

Mom note: How did we get to week 20 already? That's on top of all the weeks in the MTC!

Well, I woke up this morning, pulled apart the curtains, looked off the balcony of our apartment and realized something. I live in Japan.  I then proceeded to eat a packet of nato, drank some mugicha, and thought to myself, "how did I not realize this earlier?" But seriously, these past few months have been an absolute blast. It just crushes me how fast time is going.    

This week has stayed productive. Nothing is huge, life changing, or super interesting, but productive. Next week starts the legendary cherry blossom season here in Fujisawa. We live right by a river that has Sakura trees lining it, expect photos soon.   

We have Zone Meeting this week, which is always exciting, except we got hit with a total curveball last night. Ok, quick run down of how our mission works. Zone Leaders go to a big training with the Mission President once a month, and it's like a 6-hour thing. Then they go back to their assigned areas and convey a summarized 2-hour version of that training to the missionaries in their zone known as Zone Meeting. Usually the meetings are in Japanese, because we want to get better at the language and using it helps, a lot. But we have some brand new missionaries who don't really understand Japanese that well. Also we have native Japanese missionaries who could use some help on the spurts of English that happen. They all need to receive the training still so Elder Poff and I are translating... Sorry new guys.   

One thing that kills me about missions is how tired I am, all the time. I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, and most of the people we talk to don’t really want to learn about what we're teaching. There are long hours, I’ve gotta wear a button up and tie, the closest In N Out is about 5,200 miles away, and I've never been happier in my life. I've seen miracles, I've seen hope in its truest form, I've seen lives change, and I've come to understand what love is. Love is real, it is beautiful, it starts with a thought, becomes an action, and ends as a blessing. 

There comes a time in everyone's life when you've hit rock bottom in one way or another. Where you you've been kicked while you’re down and all you've got for nourishment is the gum on the bottom on your shoe. But one thing will always remain. He loves you.  It is never ending, and it is everlasting. Never forget Him, and He will never forget you.   

Mosiah 4:9  

愛を込めて、 

Elder Cuff

Week 19 in Japan: Surf's Up!

Hey sorry not a lot of time, temple P-day.

We got to spend last weeks P-Day running around Enoshima Island (see pics below) where we ate some delicious flattened octopus, and watched people do magic. While waiting in line we met a man from Singapore who knew Japanese. He was hilarious and taught us some Chinese. I think I'll stick to Japanese for now... 

Transfers went smooth, but Elder Dowdle has left for Takao and was replaced by Elder Elsmore. As much as I miss Elder Dowdle being in the apartment, Elder Elsmore is an awesome guy who's going to teach me how to cut hair. 

Weather is warming up and feels SO good. I'm ready for my beloved heat, but at the same time I'm not to stoked about the bugs and humidity. 

Okay, miracle. I met a man who, after an awesome conversation about food, let us know that his Mother had passed away just a week ago. I couldn't help but feel so much love for this man. We testified of the Plan of Happiness that our loving Heavenly Father set out for us and watched this man brighten up. There are plenty of things I'm unsure about in this life, but one thing I know is that this Gospel heals people. I know that this life on Earth is not the only life we have. You're telling me that we work for a bunch of years, raise a family, then just die and wisp away into nothing? There has to be more. 

I love all of you, remember to serve one another, love one another, and smile! Especially when you feel frustrated, sad, or angry. Literally, just smile. Promise you'll feel better every time. 

愛を込めて、

Elder Cuff

Week 18 in Japan:昇竜兼

The Nemoto Family. They love feeding the missionaries!

Zone P-Day

Okay, due to Zone P-day and a trip to Costco for the ever rare and delicious pizza, last week's email was cut a bit short. 

Japanese Costco Pizza; Literally exactly the same as in the states, even the box!

But this week, it'll also be relatively short... we're going to Enoshima Island and having fish eat the dead skin off our feet.

This past week was fantastic, but hey, when isn't it. We received transfer calls, Elder Poff and taking on Fujisawa for another 6 weeks.

Which works out, he's been teaching me how to play the ukulele. I'm stoked to work with him again.

Nothing too crazy exciting happened this week except for one thing. We had a conference with Elder Choi of the area 70. He was absolutely

hilarious and we learned a ton from him. His big thing was having fun with everything. Missionary work, studying, etc... It was a huge

breath of fresh air. My favorite quote was, "If you don't like it, like it." It's pretty simple really. Literally everything is based off

your attitude. Learning to like something is like a domino effect, once you start to like one little thing about something you may have

disliked in the past, the rest seems to slowly fall into place. It's so easy to get upset, angry, and just plain out annoyed with a lot of things. Such as the way people act, school, and work. Before coming out to Japan I absolutely despised a lot of things and took a very

"bite the bullet" approach to basically anything somewhat productive. I would do it, I'd try hard to not show I was upset about doing it,

and just kind've persevered. But in the end I was just making everything harder on myself because I was too lazy to put in the extra

effort to change my attitude around. I can't express how much happier I've personally become because I decided to simply change my mindset, and quit making things all about me. It's a total paradox, but when the purpose behind whatever you're doing is based on the welfare of others, rather than yourself, you begin to find joy. On my own I am completely weak. No amount of push-ups, miles, or peanut butter can make me stronger than when I rely on my Savior Jesus Christ, and his teachings to love one another. 

Another quote from conference that hit me was, "Today I obey. Tomorrow I understand." I get it. Obedience is for squares. Be a rebel. You do you. Don't be a conformist, it's unoriginal. It's so easy to look at obedience as a burden, like it limits you. But in all honesty, you don't know if you don't try. There's an obvious difference in my day, and in how I work with others when I completely follow the teachings of Christ. No cutting corners, because there's a difference between obedience, and exact obedience. It's seems weird, dependent, and it's hard. But the blessings are real, and they will come. Maybe not in the way we expect, or when we want them, but nonetheless they come. No matter what. And no matter

what, they are for the best.

One last thing for the missionaries who actually read this. In a group

discussion during Elder's quorum we had a member tell us, " I don't think you realize how much ward members rely on you. You carry a light about you that people recognize. In times of trouble, and stress, a lot of members anchor onto that light that you provide." It honestly hit

me like a brick. I've always felt that I was some punk teenager that threw on a suit and started speaking gibberish. As missionaries, I don't think we always realize how special of a calling we're involved in. Just remember to always be worthy of that calling, and be a representative of the light you are called to carry.

頑張ろう

愛を込めて、

カフ長老