Thursday, September 29, 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Hello again!
28 September 2016
Hello again.
I wish I had better memory because even writing the tons of stuff I
write in my journal I forget most of it by the time I get here.
First of all I want to talk about our teachers because they are
probably the coolest teachers in the world. The teacher we've had most
and that greeted us on the first day (which we found out was his first
time getting to do and he was CRAZY excited to do), is Strauss-Kyodai.
His dad is from Hawaii and his mom is Japanese. He recently returned
from the Nagoya mission. He is super funny and loves to joke and laugh
and have fun during class. He has an incredibly distinct way of
talking and moving that we love to try and imitate after classes. He
is the teacher that teaches us grammar most because even though he
grew up speaking Japanese, he understands the rules of it very very
well.
Chau-Shimai was the second teacher we've had and we haven't had her
very often since that first week or so. I think she was just filling
in. She is super nice, but also kind of intimidating. She was born and
raised in Japan I believe so her Japanese is perfect but she can't
teach grammar very well because she was born speaking it. She is a
great teacher and I think she has been teaching for quite a while
here. She served her mission in temple square.
Now, we have Waddell-Shimai.... Who was Ohira-San... Who was our
investigator. Yup, we got played. I guess we kind of expected she
wasn't an actual investigator a lot, but it was hard to think that
obviously because that would make it more confusing. Teaching her was
really hard. Not knowing Japanese but having to teach someone in
Japanese was incredibly stressful and difficult. (Which by the way,
Strauss-Kyodai is being our next investigator) She is also Japanese
but was born in Hawaii, but moved to Japan at three years old. Her
Japanese is hard to follow because she doesn't make it easier like
Strauss and Chau. She was a pretty thick accent when she speaks
English. She is also super nice and patient with us though. And she is
a fun teacher to joke around with. She served her mission in Hawaii
and is recently married.
Things are really blurring together here and it's difficult to keep
track of everything. We're getting absolutely SWAMPED by assignments.
Today we're going to have to teach TRC (which I have no idea what that
stands for) but it is supposed to be a 20 minute lesson IN JAPANESE.
... Do they know that we don't speak Japanese? I hope they aren't
expecting something super amazing. Because that's just not going to
happen. We'll do our best though. We have an idea of what we'll be
teaching tonight, just have to try to put it together. We also have to
start teaching Ōta-San tomorrow and we have to prepare a summary of
the plan of salvation lesson in English and Japanese. It's a lot of
stuff, and there is hardly enough time to do it all.
Over all, I don't think I necessarily enjoy the MTC. If we just sat in
a class all day and learned I'd probably love it. But all the teaching
is overwhelming and time consuming. It's difficult to focus on
anything.
So Sunday, I cried a lot.. Our Daisempai are leaving on Tuesday. They
have been the coolest, most fun people to hang out with and fantastic
examples. We are all really going to miss them. We also found out that
the next transfer consists of only 3 Japanese sisters.. It's worth
mentioning that we are losing 23 missionaries. It's crazy. It's going
to feel SO empty in our branch. I hope at least one of the Japanese
sisters is good enough to translate as well because even without that
it's going to be a pretty different experience for them. This also
means at we are only going to be sempai to them and there will be a
whole transfer missing of people pretty much. It's going to feel a lot
different to what we are used to.
Last night at the devotional, the sister who's name I forgot shared
this when talking about Christ, "I used to know about him, but now, I
know him." It was a powerful message about learning to become more
Christlike and I would like to be able to say that like her.
Thanks for the emails throughout the week! I read them all as I get
them so they help a lot! I will talk to you next week!
Hello again.
I wish I had better memory because even writing the tons of stuff I
write in my journal I forget most of it by the time I get here.
First of all I want to talk about our teachers because they are
probably the coolest teachers in the world. The teacher we've had most
and that greeted us on the first day (which we found out was his first
time getting to do and he was CRAZY excited to do), is Strauss-Kyodai.
His dad is from Hawaii and his mom is Japanese. He recently returned
from the Nagoya mission. He is super funny and loves to joke and laugh
and have fun during class. He has an incredibly distinct way of
talking and moving that we love to try and imitate after classes. He
is the teacher that teaches us grammar most because even though he
grew up speaking Japanese, he understands the rules of it very very
well.
Chau-Shimai was the second teacher we've had and we haven't had her
very often since that first week or so. I think she was just filling
in. She is super nice, but also kind of intimidating. She was born and
raised in Japan I believe so her Japanese is perfect but she can't
teach grammar very well because she was born speaking it. She is a
great teacher and I think she has been teaching for quite a while
here. She served her mission in temple square.
Now, we have Waddell-Shimai.... Who was Ohira-San... Who was our
investigator. Yup, we got played. I guess we kind of expected she
wasn't an actual investigator a lot, but it was hard to think that
obviously because that would make it more confusing. Teaching her was
really hard. Not knowing Japanese but having to teach someone in
Japanese was incredibly stressful and difficult. (Which by the way,
Strauss-Kyodai is being our next investigator) She is also Japanese
but was born in Hawaii, but moved to Japan at three years old. Her
Japanese is hard to follow because she doesn't make it easier like
Strauss and Chau. She was a pretty thick accent when she speaks
English. She is also super nice and patient with us though. And she is
a fun teacher to joke around with. She served her mission in Hawaii
and is recently married.
Things are really blurring together here and it's difficult to keep
track of everything. We're getting absolutely SWAMPED by assignments.
Today we're going to have to teach TRC (which I have no idea what that
stands for) but it is supposed to be a 20 minute lesson IN JAPANESE.
... Do they know that we don't speak Japanese? I hope they aren't
expecting something super amazing. Because that's just not going to
happen. We'll do our best though. We have an idea of what we'll be
teaching tonight, just have to try to put it together. We also have to
start teaching Ōta-San tomorrow and we have to prepare a summary of
the plan of salvation lesson in English and Japanese. It's a lot of
stuff, and there is hardly enough time to do it all.
Over all, I don't think I necessarily enjoy the MTC. If we just sat in
a class all day and learned I'd probably love it. But all the teaching
is overwhelming and time consuming. It's difficult to focus on
anything.
So Sunday, I cried a lot.. Our Daisempai are leaving on Tuesday. They
have been the coolest, most fun people to hang out with and fantastic
examples. We are all really going to miss them. We also found out that
the next transfer consists of only 3 Japanese sisters.. It's worth
mentioning that we are losing 23 missionaries. It's crazy. It's going
to feel SO empty in our branch. I hope at least one of the Japanese
sisters is good enough to translate as well because even without that
it's going to be a pretty different experience for them. This also
means at we are only going to be sempai to them and there will be a
whole transfer missing of people pretty much. It's going to feel a lot
different to what we are used to.
Last night at the devotional, the sister who's name I forgot shared
this when talking about Christ, "I used to know about him, but now, I
know him." It was a powerful message about learning to become more
Christlike and I would like to be able to say that like her.
Thanks for the emails throughout the week! I read them all as I get
them so they help a lot! I will talk to you next week!
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
1 Timothy 4 vegans are evil
 |
| Elder Chab |
 |
| Elder Sadler |
 |
| Chab and Davis Chōrō |
 |
| Me looking directly into the sun... |
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
21 September 2016
21 September 2016
Hello mom.
Yeah, its been crazy. My perception of time is just absolutely
destroyed. Every day feels like a week and every week feels like a day
is what people say. And I totally believe it. It started out super
hectic, just going where they tell me, doing what they say, with no
time to even comprehend whats going on. It wasn't long before someone
is talking to me only in Japanese. Although, lucky for me, it wasn't
the first time I've had that happen, haha. There is sooo much packed
into each day it's insane.
I'm going to have to find out the best way to do this email thing.
Because right now it's just difficult to sit down long enough to do
this.
My companion is Sadler Choro (elder). He is from Alabama. He had the
least knowledge of Japanese out of our district, so I've been trying
to help him start from square one basically.
Our teachers are Chau shimai (sister) and Strauss kyodai (brother).
They are super awesome and amazing teachers. Chau shimai is a native
speaker she is a little more on the serious side of things. But she is
very nice and helpful. Strauss kyodai is a little more laid back. He
always looks and sounds really happy. He is pretty funny as well. He
is from hawaii, but I believe he is half Japanese and has been raised
speaking Japanese. They are both great teachers and I'm happy to have
them.
Especially since starting friday, we already had an investigator. Who
only speaks Japanese. Ohira san (our investigator) has been a
challenge for us. We do our best to prepare, but we can't really
answer questions, because either we don't understand them, don't know
how to answer or both. She is really patient with us though and it's
been a great experience. We've taught her four times now. Thursday is
the last day she'll be here though. It's too bad.
Our zone is amazing. Our branch president is president Daniels. He
served in Sapporo (Where many are called but few are frozen) and lived
in--- computer is free now [I was using my ipad sitting on the floor but then a computer was free to use.]
Anyways, he lived in Japan for 15 years I think working for some company. He is some sort of business man, I don't know what he does though. The other two members of the Branch Presidency also served in Sapporo. Presidents Daniels has excellent Japanese which is important because our Branch is the only Branch that has the native Japanese missionaries. That's also pretty cool. They have their own branch with some of them speaking both English and Japanese and a couple of them only being as good as our exchange students. So there is usually always translators at our meetings. They are a great resource for making sure stuff is correct haha. They're are all really cool.
Hello mom.
Yeah, its been crazy. My perception of time is just absolutely
destroyed. Every day feels like a week and every week feels like a day
is what people say. And I totally believe it. It started out super
hectic, just going where they tell me, doing what they say, with no
time to even comprehend whats going on. It wasn't long before someone
is talking to me only in Japanese. Although, lucky for me, it wasn't
the first time I've had that happen, haha. There is sooo much packed
into each day it's insane.
I'm going to have to find out the best way to do this email thing.
Because right now it's just difficult to sit down long enough to do
this.
My companion is Sadler Choro (elder). He is from Alabama. He had the
least knowledge of Japanese out of our district, so I've been trying
to help him start from square one basically.
Our teachers are Chau shimai (sister) and Strauss kyodai (brother).
They are super awesome and amazing teachers. Chau shimai is a native
speaker she is a little more on the serious side of things. But she is
very nice and helpful. Strauss kyodai is a little more laid back. He
always looks and sounds really happy. He is pretty funny as well. He
is from hawaii, but I believe he is half Japanese and has been raised
speaking Japanese. They are both great teachers and I'm happy to have
them.
Especially since starting friday, we already had an investigator. Who
only speaks Japanese. Ohira san (our investigator) has been a
challenge for us. We do our best to prepare, but we can't really
answer questions, because either we don't understand them, don't know
how to answer or both. She is really patient with us though and it's
been a great experience. We've taught her four times now. Thursday is
the last day she'll be here though. It's too bad.
Our zone is amazing. Our branch president is president Daniels. He
served in Sapporo (Where many are called but few are frozen) and lived
in--- computer is free now [I was using my ipad sitting on the floor but then a computer was free to use.]
Anyways, he lived in Japan for 15 years I think working for some company. He is some sort of business man, I don't know what he does though. The other two members of the Branch Presidency also served in Sapporo. Presidents Daniels has excellent Japanese which is important because our Branch is the only Branch that has the native Japanese missionaries. That's also pretty cool. They have their own branch with some of them speaking both English and Japanese and a couple of them only being as good as our exchange students. So there is usually always translators at our meetings. They are a great resource for making sure stuff is correct haha. They're are all really cool.
I really like our Branch and our District. Our District consists of ten of us. Chab Choro (California) is our district leader, then there is Cuff Choro (Las Vegas), Epling Shimai and Lockett Shimai, Davis Choro and Crippen Choro (Both from Utah), and Bills Shimai and Snow Shimai. They are all really fun to be in class with.
My laundry is finally almost done. It took a lot longer than I thought it'd take. I should probably go now. I need to take care of all my clothes and see if I can still go to the gym... probably not. We're supposed to go to the temple later today as well.
Bye, I love you.
 |
| Sadler, Chab, Davis, Cuff |
Thursday, September 15, 2016
First day done
15 September 2016
I love you and hope you had a really busy and exciting first day in the MTC. I hope you were so busy you didn't even think about us being sad. I hope you have a great companion that you will be able to get along well with. Enjoy your time of learning there before you are thrown to the wolves in Japan. :) When is your P day going to be?
I love you and hope you had a really busy and exciting first day in the MTC. I hope you were so busy you didn't even think about us being sad. I hope you have a great companion that you will be able to get along well with. Enjoy your time of learning there before you are thrown to the wolves in Japan. :) When is your P day going to be?
<3
Mom
Hello mom, I love you. It was really really intense and crazy. I
survived though. It's not bad, there's just A LOT of everything and it
comes REALLY REALLY fast. I'm doing good. I can't wait to be in Japan
though instead of here haha. My p day is Wednesday unfortunately. I'm
supposed to read emails as I get them throughout the week just so you
know. I can just only respond on p day.
Anyways, I love you guys. Hope you guys are doing great. See ya!
Peter
survived though. It's not bad, there's just A LOT of everything and it
comes REALLY REALLY fast. I'm doing good. I can't wait to be in Japan
though instead of here haha. My p day is Wednesday unfortunately. I'm
supposed to read emails as I get them throughout the week just so you
know. I can just only respond on p day.
Anyways, I love you guys. Hope you guys are doing great. See ya!
Peter
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Sayonara
14 September 2016
I really don't enjoy these days. When we dropped Markee off she was just excited to go and didn't cry at all. That made it a LOT easier on this mama, who didn't utterly collapse into sobs until after Markee was safely delivered to the MTC. Peter, however, is a lot more emotional and had us in tears the entire morning. I finally told him that he should be excited, that this was going to be a great adventure. He assured me that he WAS very excited, he just couldn't stop crying. Poor guy! That did set my heart at rest though. It was a tough goodbye, but far easier after he was safely delivered.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
It's go time!
It's real. Set apart as a missionary of the Lord for two years, serving the people of Tokyo South, and ready to go. What a great missionary he will be! The tears flowed, as per normal, and the blessing he was given by the Stake President, President Richards, was strong and full of council and blessings.
 |
| Tara Flora gave him a Poke ball balloon as a going away present. She is so thoughtful! |
On a related note, Peter's farewell was August 28th and he gave a wonderful talk about family councils. He was able to deliver it well, in spite of the emotions that run rampant in the Randall family. I was so proud of him! We had a salsa/soda bar at the park later that afternoon in conjunction with Emily Hanks' mission homecoming. Fun was had by all!
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