Week 68

皆さんこんにちは！

 

That one picture of Ben made me chuckle.  Yeah duct tape will work.  It's always the answer!  I love duct tape and I can find a small roll of it here for like a 100円.  Which is the pretty much the equivalent of a dollar.  And they have ALL different colours!!  I'm in heaven haha.  That's a bummer when they make a mistake like that.  Thankfully they didn't make too many mistakes like that when I was in high school.  But there again, way back we had a couple 'danger days'  haha.  Gotta love that snow.  Or miss it like crazy in my case.

Hahahahahahahaha.  I don't know William, but that sounds absolutely hilarious!  I laughed out loud.  Yeah you don't encounter too much accent in the mission unless you talk to one of the 3 brazilians, the mexican, or one of the soon to be 2 Canadians.  Or I guess if you wanna talk to a Japanese missionary in English then that might boost the number up a little bit.

Key Largo sounds like it was way fun and a wicked, (I mean righteous) awesome idea. 

Thomas taller than Daddy and Adam huh... ( o_o ') oh boy... yeah I'm definitely done growing upwards.  I just gotta make sure I take care of my rice cheeks every now and then.  Yeah I can see how tabe-hodai's would get, not boring but maybe like sickening haha.  Tabe-hodai means all you can eat by the way haha.

And that story about getting stuck in the gully made me laugh because I can vividly picture it happening and everyone's reactions and everything. 

And the boys killing cockroaches haha.  Dish soap really does  wonders killing them.  You just spray them with it, and presto!  Haha they can survive a nuclear winter but not dish soap.  Figure that one out!

I appreciate you letting me know about Grandma.  I'll make sure to especially remember her in my prayers.  Acutally if anything does happen, would you either call or email President Albrecht?  He will then get the information to me, basically as soon as he can and advise me on how I should continue on in my work.  I think that's what they want you to do in any emergency situation like that.  If it were to happen I would rather find out sooner rather then when I come home you know? 

That being said though, if something does happen to grandma, please tell President right away.  And don't worry about me.  I'll be ok.  =)

Besides that, yes I am wonderful!  I'm still having the time of life.  It just feels so right.  I love being a missionary.  It's one of the awesomest things in the world.  Yeah, people are starting to finish their missions really fast.  Like a lot of my mission friends are going home.  The sisters that were with us in the MTC are going home near the beginning of March.  -PHEW-  Time goes by wicked fast.

Companionship is going awesome.  Although we're coming up on the end of our 2nd transfer together so the odds that I'll be transferring are very great.  Not only that too, but last transfer, 4 missionaries from my doki (mtc group) went zone leader, and another one went AP.  And in my last interview President told me that I was ready to become a zone leader so...  I think I may have some responsiblity next transfer... haha.

But yeah things are going fine and dandy for me.  It's really hard to dampen my spirits and even harder to keep them damp.  Haha.  Typical me ne? (ne pronounced 'nay' and means basically 'eh')

Thanks for all your letters and support.  It really means a lot to me.  And just wait til you see me as I've become.  Or as I will become, I've still got a bit of time left yet haha.  But that also means another Japanese summer... -_-'  oh boy.  Haha.

Love  you so much.

本当に愛していますよ

 

Elder Keith

キース長老

Week 67

Did I have a nice New Years?  Yes. What did I do for New Years?  Well to be honest it didn't feel like we did that much.  Last year about this time we had 8 dinner appointments in 5 days.  This year we were 3 in 3. ... -_-'  

So like it was still good because the members houses who we did go to were way awesome, and we had a fun time, but it almost literally becomes impossible to do missionary work over New Years here, because everyone's focused on the holiday and people become very unconcerned with religion and stuff.  Not to mention everyone (including our investigator) all went back to their hometowns, which left us with very little to do.  But we did make the most of it.  Christmas was much the same.  Except that on Christmas Eve, we stayed home (sad isn't it).  Then on Christmas Day we had no appointments going into church.  When the 1 hour session ended, we still had none.  :(  But we had to wait around to talk with the Bishop about something and then a member invited us to their house =D  Then while we were dropping stuff off at our apartment we got a call and an invitation to another shokuji (meal appointment).  So we ended up getting 2 last minute meals.  Back to back.  I realized that I can eat A LOT!  Like I ate my fill at the first one and then went over to the second one. (My companion told me before we went in the second house 'I'm not gonna make it. I need to go to the bathroom so bad.')  Then went and in the second one I ate my fill and had seconds and thirds of some stuff.  By the end, let me tell you I was FULL.  I had been snacking a LOT the couple weeks prior to that so I think I may have just been training myself but maybe it's just the missionary part of me haha.  And then after the 2 shokujis we had to ride our bikes what is normally a 20 minute bike ride home.  But my companion REALLY had to go.  So we biked basically as fast as we could back.  There were a couple times during the all-out bikage that I was just praying 'Please let me hold it (my cookie tossing) til we get to the apartment so my companion can go.' Thankfully I didn't end up throwing up but man was I ever full.   Yeah it ended up well.

Nope.  No snow yet!

So yeah my goals for the year are as follows:

-Read BoM cover to cover in Japanese

-Re-read Jesus the Christ

-Focus on consecration in dendo

-learn +500 kanji

-Keep all study areas neat

-Save up another 25000￥in coins

-Work up to 3 sets of 50 push-ups  (I'm up to 3 sets of 30)

-Not get trunky

-Read 'The Miracle of Forgiveness'

-Baptize people (plural- 'people' not person.  more than 1)

I guess those are just my goals more for towards the end of my mission, but they still work.

Our investigators are doing well.  From what I can tell at least.  We just recently had one of our investigators drop us though.  That's never fun.  Didn't come as too much of a shock, but we were able to preserve the friendship, and she's still coming to eikaiwa (english class) so it's all good.  And then besides that we have 2 that we feel are getting close to baptism!  But transfers are just 3 weeks away, and since Elder Hosier and I have been together for 2, the odds that one of us gets transferred is very high. 

But yeah I'm kinda glad the Holidays are over so that we can get back to a normal life again.  Haha.

Love you so much!  Take care!  I'm glad that you made it home safely!

Elder Keith

キース長老

Week 64

Hey Mom,

Waaaaooww.  Davin's being set apart as a missionary!!  That's like...  whaaa... I'm so not ready for that.  That's so soon! 

Yeah I remember that day for me.  -phew-  It seems like it was so long ago.  And I feel like I've grown so much since then.  You got to see all the Lybberts then huh?  That's way cool!  And this coming Thursday (well Wednesday for you) you'll get to see me!!  Yeah I saw pictures of Stage and Marty.  And I turned green with jealous rage haha.  I'm totally doing something rad with my facial hair when I get back too!  Maybe not right away but... And then if I go to BYU... the no beard policy... hmmm...  Well we'll see where life goes when that time frame hits.  Wait Thomas is the youngest at 14!!!  =O  whoaaaaaaa!!! My generation of Keiths is all growing up.  Ariana in Utah, Collin at Algonquin...  Yikes!  

Heh heh yeah we did a gift switch kinda thing too mission wide.  I wound up with a hat that kindergartens/1st/2nd year students will wear.  So I traded my companion for a sound maker and keychain thing.  xD  Bahaha.  And someone else wound up with a brain teaser that I bought.  Haha.  Much fun indeed it was. 

And no worries at all.  My package was perfect!  I loved it an it was awesome.  It made quite a gag at the dinner appointment last night too.  Our name in Japanese キース (kiisu) sounds very much like the Japanese キス (kisu) which means to kiss. heh heh heh.  and then there's the whole, missionaries don't kiss thing.  xD

The work is coming along well.  We've been finding a lot of investigators recently.  Hopefully they all continue to progress.  Our accommodations?  Uhhh well, we have a 4 room apartment... a bathroom, a washing machine... a fridge...a couple desks.  Enough futons to be comfortable.  Yeah the accommodations are pretty good I would say.  xD 

A green Christmas?!  Whoa!!  So it means that I'm not missing my white Christmas after all.  Cool beans!

Well this will be my last email before Christmas... Wooo time flies.  Take care til we talk in like 3-4 days!!! 

Love you to bits. 

Elder Keith

キース長老

Week 63

こんにちはfrom the land of the rising sun

So I guess to start out.  Life is going very awesome for me.  But it's also one of those heart-tugging times for missionaries.  We start to think about family just a little more.  But it's also weird to think that this is more than likely going to be my last Christmas in Japan... :'(  But that being said, I really miss you guys.  Like it's not something I think about very often.  Not very often at all to be honest, but that's because we're so busy that we don't have time.  Like this week for example.  Didn't have time to take Pday until today.  But you know?  it's just kinda there.  I love hearing about everything and how everyone's doing.  Living vicariously through letters.  But it's good that Christmas only happens once a year.  xD heh heh heh.  It's funny too because I can like vividly picture what 's happening and how it's happening and where it's happening.  The tone of voice used to make jokes I hear about.  I can picture/hear an email being read. It's way cool. 

So my new missionary is doing awesome as well.  His confidence and his Japanese are getting better at an incredible rate.  Sometimes we have differences of opinion on certain matters.  Like he's just outta high school this year so there's still some subtle things that I pick up on that haven't quite matured just yet.  So I'm trying to figure out how best to deal with them, whether they be things that I'm not particular on or things that I need to correct.  (o^-^o) I never did like stepping on people's toes.  But being 'the resource' is way cool actually.  I don't really mind it.  It's kinda like a  "Here's how you're doing and how far you've come Elder Keith" check.  All the questions he asks, the problems with the language, just everything, is the same!  That and we have a LOT in common he has 3 younger siblings (all sisters mind you xD) his hometown is 750 people. His life was sports.  He knew the same amount of Japanese as me going in to the MTC.  He sleep talks (ALOT.  actually a lot more than me if you can believe it.  but I currently sleep talk in Japanese... and English... in the same sentence... xD)  But it's like every time we talk we find something else that we have in common.  He's an awesome guy.

 

Aw man that comment from Thomas too.  ehh.  =D  if that doesn't make me trunky... haha.  But yeah things are doing way awesome.  And I'm so glad that I'm still able to be a part of Adam's life too.  Because like before my mission we got really close.  We stayed up late one night in my room just talking.  It doesn't really hit you how much you miss and love everyone until you're away from them for this long.  But don't worry.  I'm not like homesick or anything.  But just having come to learn a lot more about love on my mission has been a tremendous blessing for me.  If I had to come home now I would already be a changed person.  And I have more changing to do yet!  xD 

Wow can Adam ever sleep too!  At least things are overall progressing right? 

Yeah President Albrecht is a pretty awesome guy.  And even if he wasn't the members here in Japan just love the missionaries.  Or at least they love me by the end of my first 6 weeks there.  xD  Like recently our bishop said to us, "During the winter, be careful.  Like take breaks and go warm yourselves.  Be careful not to catch a cold.  Don't dendo (proselyte) too hard."  ... Sometimes the Japanese people are a little bit oversensitive/careful with health-related things but still.  I can feel their love.  And I also have a family from Tama, my first area, that told me to call them if I ever get a companion that bullies me.  And I saw them like 2 weeks ago and they said the same thing.

But anyways, at the risk of this becoming a chapter book, I will end here.  Just know that I'm happy.  I think I'm healthy (I'll have to double check that haha).  And I'm worthy.  Yeah Japan and missionary life is soooo awesome!  Love you guys.

Take care.

Elder Keith

キース長老

Week 62

Ai suru ryoushin,

 

This letter does find me well.  It's actually not very often that I'm not well.  I am definitely doing better than Ben Glowa what with his Giardia and all.  Bummer!!!   The sporadic rash/eczema patches are mostly going away.  I've started thinking that some of them may be coming from the laundry detergent that I've been using so I've been cutting back on the amount that I use.  But go see a doctor?  In Japan?  ... only if I absolutely have to... xD  =P

 

You had Christmas dinner ah yes, the reminiscence of it.  I look forward to when we'll have one of them big dinners when I'm home.  Yeah those are always fun!  How are the missionaries there by the way?  Are they fun or boring?  Well they better be having fun those lucky bums get to eat at my house. 

 

You guys are losing your snow?  That's a bummer.  It can't decide whether or not to get cold or stay hot here.  It fluctuates so much. 

And don't worry about the Christmas package being imaginative or not.  I'll be happy to get anything you want to send me. 

These past few weeks have been really good and really fun for me. The only thing is that recently, (maybe it's because it's the Christmas season, maybe things got busier,  maybe a lot of things) but sometimes, even though I'm with a companion 24/7, I feel like I'm alone. I feel like there's a million things to do and that I'm the one that's gotta do them all.  Maybe that's a feeling that all trainers get at some point.  But sometimes I feel that I've been spending all my time helping other people, my companions, my investigators, the members, but when the time comes, I don't feel like there's anyone to help me. To be honest it's kinda discouraging sometimes. But the thing that keeps me going is talking about it to people I know I can trust. One of them being my mission president. The other one (besides you guys) is God. Before my mission when I would go to say my personal prayers, I would look at the clock before and after (and I'm not saying do this) and see how long my prayer was. Before my mission it was often hard for me to pray. If I said a prayer that lasted 10 minutes that was huge. But then since coming on my mission I've really learned to rely on the Lord. I've recognized the importance of prayer and the peace and help that it can bring into our lives. There was one time when I was feeling a little discouraged, a couple months ago, and I went and prayed. I just literally prayed about everything I was worried about all the things that I was thankful for. I just, for one of the first times in my life, poured out my heart to Him. Now I didn't time it or anything but based on the things that were happening in the apartment at the time I realized that I had been praying for at least 40 minutes. It felt so good too. I just wanted to share that experience that I had with you. 

 

It's amazing to see the growth in myself that I can recognize.  That was a very spiritual moment for me.  But there's too many to name.  Most of the time it's realizing that something that I did had a far bigger impact then I originally thought it did.  I'll think about the funniest moment and get back to you.  Remind me ok?

 

The investigators are...coming.  Sometimes I think a little slowly but we're doing our best and working with them to help them see the truth of our message. 

 

Thanks for the love and support that you have for me.  It's really awesome for me to feel this!  I love you so much.  Words don't adequately express it you know?  And the thing that I feel I've come to understand a lot more is what love is and how to love someone.  Ask me about it sometime because I"m kinda outta time now.  Heh heh.  Love you.

 

Elder Keith

キース長老

 

PS:  How's Ben doing?  Is his new job going well for him?

Week 61

Konnichiwa!!

 

Yes I did enjoy my American thanksgiving.  It was much fun and very filling.  And I forgot how much leftovers Americans/Canadians are used to making and having.  They probably didn't mention that they gave us just about all their leftovers huh?  Well they did.  And let me say there is a LOT!  Yeah they were awesome people to be able to eat with.  The one daughter, the brunette, said something, by accident, that made it look like she had an anti-Canadian opinion, which in turn was the source of much laughter from myself and everyone else.  Heh heh, my companion just finished emailing and he said that Brother Madsen was telling his family that there was much giggling from the two girls that were there. Bahahaha.  It was kinda weird to be around English people to be a little honest.  Like I could understand everything they were saying and they understood me perfectly, and just the mannerisms and whatnot. Not something I'm used to at all.  It's been a very long time since I've had an American meal like that.  Nothing but good to say about me?  Aww great!  xD  Heh heh yeah my companion does have that look that every new missionary has.  I totally remember having that exact same air about me when I was that young too.  It's weird because it's like the magicalness of everything has kinda died off now.  But nowadays as we enter winter season, I catch a smell or an atmosphere that totally brings me back to when I was a new missionary too. 

The missionary work is going good.  We're really working to do the best that we can.  Sometimes it feels kinda slow and sometimes people not replying to us is a little bit frustrating but it's all good.  Yeah right now we've got about 6 investigators.  But we have 4 lessons set up with people who are not investigators over the next 2 days.  So maybe that number will go up!  Definitely in a ward right now.  I think the noisy child/baby population is higher here than anywhere else I've been so far.  There's about 80-90 people in total I think.  No I am no longer a district leader.  Doesn't mean I won't be one ever again but right now President needs me to be just a trainer.  Yeah I live in a... city?  It's call Fuchu-shi the 'shi' meaning city I think.  But there's a lotta people and it's not very countryside so yeah, I live in a city.

Yeah, we've got interviews on the 7th so, I will ask President then about calling the weekend before.  Shouldn't be a problem. And so, do you guys have a Skype account too?  Because you might just need that xD...  If for whatever reason we aren't able to do it before then almost certainly we would do it after.  But I don't think that there would be a reason not to do it before.

 

YOU HAD SNOW!!!!  I WANT SNOW!!!!  haha that is one of the things that Japan is severely lacking is some good solid snowfall.  Like It's starting to get a little bit chilly out nowadays but like nothing compared to what you guys are seeing.

And yeah I remember Sam Richards.  Quite well actually.  That was actually really shocking to hear.  I was never like close with her or anything but I remember her from gr 8 and then I sat next to her in Math in gr 9.  Does anyone know how or why?  Like I know that she didn't exactly have an easy life but it never seemed to me that she was like suicidal or anything like that.  That's so sad.  That's one of the reasons I'm so glad to have this gospel as an anchor.  Gives me hope for things to come and hope in our Saviour.  This gospel's really terrific you know?

 

Well give everyone my yoroshiku (pronounced yo-ro-sh-koo) which means my greeting/say hi for me, when you go to the gatherings and such.  Hope you guys have a wonderful, awesome, subarashii, fantastic Christmas season.  Lots of love to you from me your son,

 

Elder Keith

キース長老

Week 60

Dearest Parentals xD,

Actually mom you did spell konnichiwa right.  Yes I am doing terrifically well.  Me and my *ahem* new missionary xD.  We're not really supposed to use the word 'bean.'  But that's ok, I never told you that.  But yeah our district leader also asked us to make a special effort not to say it because there are like 4 missionaries (out of 10) in our district who are brand spankin new. 

Yeah I'll tuck that question away and get back to you.  And I'll try and get that next memory card off to you before too long.  It's got a lot of good stuff in it.  xD 

Heh heh.  Giving long talks heh heh.  I remember way back when I used to go with Dad to give talks.  I remember that back in those days my talks were a collection of quotes and passages and excerpts.  I remember one in particular where I was sharing something about parables... and I went on and on... Tim Lahache came and told me after "I didn't know if you were gonna stop (then he chuckled).  But yeah.  Good times good times.  But in any case, you're not alone on the long-winded part mom. xD 

Haha, I think Thomas has discovered what going to other wards is like.  It's way fun haha.  I must say about my current ward too!  There are many young kids... and the chapel isn't as big as usual.  But I love the people here.  It's just that sometimes sacrament meetings are a little bit more noisy than normal. 

Maybe before planning for Florida, plan and save to come pick me up?  kana? (that means like 'i wonder' kinda thing.  like maybe?)  I don't know all the ins and outs of picking up and stuff like that like if everyone can come or stuff.  Because I definitely want to come back with everyone and if you two are the only ones who can come to pick me up from my mission then I want to go back with the boys.  Or everyone doesn't matter to me ^_^  I just want you all to see Japan with me.  Because for sure I'm coming back to Japan.  Not sure for what reason yet. (work?kana?) but yeah Japan's kinda become a part of me. 

 

Do I get many letters.  In a one word answer, No.  Haha.  I get like 1 every 3-6 weeks from Dawson, but usually I get a couple a transfer.  So yeah, no.  Not alot.

But yeah I'm genki and awesome.  Thanks for everything.  I love you.

Hope your week goes awesome!!

Elder Keith

キース長老

ps: We've really started a big 'last push' in our mission recently.  Which is why we are so busy.  We set the goal to get 60 baptisms in our companionship this transfer to help towards the mission goal of 300 by the years end.  We are currently sitting at around ~130 I think.  So yeah that's kinda what kinda environment we've got right now.  Everyone's supercharged, and working hard.  And we are no exception.  Love you guys!