Probably Made In Japan

Hey peeps! Hope you've been doing awesome!

This week's gone by terrifyingly fast, somehow. My companion claims that it's gonna be even faster from here on out. Am I going to time travel?! はやい！

SO! Since I have the privilege of being the District Leader's companion (Carlile chourou is the Kurashiki district's District Leader). It means I get to go on more こうかん!! I got switched twice this week. Both 日本人. The struggle is real. We even did a lesson in Japanese sign language! It was CRAZY!! Sakamoto chourou (a Zone Leader whom I had a こうかん with) is a boss.

We also had a baptism this week! And by "we", I mean the other Kurashiki elders (there are 2 どうりょうぐみ here in Kurashiki). He was baptized yesterday. It was a happy day! The sad thing is: he left today. He is going to Sendai (further up north in Japan). I hope the church gives him a warm welcome, over there.

I've learned a lot, this week. Taking notes is important. Some of you have a journal, right? It's good to have a spiritual journal as well, to record any thought and impressions that come to mind during the week. I hadn't really done this as thoroughly as this week. Studying my notes really helped me to focus on my goals and gave me a good list of stuff to do in order to improve! I invite you all to keep improving actively. God will be able to strengthen you better!

Running out of time. Have to roll. Take care, everybody!

-サントス長老

Also made in Japan

Hey there! Good to see you! Long time no see!

Kurashiki 's been great, last week! I've had tons of fun! Here's why:

First! We had seminary with some members! We went so that one of the members wouldn't be alone. I learned something very important about the power of prayer, too. Through prayer, we can connect with God. We can gain strength for our trials, guidance for our everyday life and we can witness His love for us. This may not be new to you, but just in case you need some extra power: PRAY. Exhausted? Pray! Japanese is hard? Pray! No one listens? PRAY! You can do this! As long as you trust the Lord and believe that He will give you the strength you need to go on!

We also had a ward BBQ!! It involved meat, yakisoba, marshmallows and watermelon smashing! It was AWESOME!! (And also tasty, mmmmm)

We did some service for a member of ours! He had tons of wood to be lugged around! Hooray for lugging heavy chunks of wood in the searing heat, being roasted by the hot, humid air! I was boiled! But it was satisfying. Feels good to do good!

AND! We went to the Matsuyama Odori Festival! WE WORE YUKATA'S! WE DANCED SOME AWESOME FUNKY OLD CEREMONIAL DANCE! It was an amazing experience! I'm so lucky to be in such an awesome country with such an amazing culture!

(Plus! They filmed us because we we're gaijin, to hear our opinions about the festival. Just a short clip, though, haha!)

I have to go now! Hope you've all had a great week!

See you next time!

~サントス長老

Japan Kobe Mission

4-6-28 Shinohara Honmachi

Nada-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken

Japan 657-0067

(Voor het geval dat jullie mijn mail niet hebben.

Rijstvelden, Ward bbq (met een watermeloen pinata), en de Matsuyama Odori Festival!

(Starring: Carlile chourou! Ik heb teveel foto's van hem. Moet meer foto's van mezelf nemen!)

Made in Japan too.

Hey there beautiful people!

My first full week has passed here in 日本. よかった　です　よ！

First off! Tuesday was my first time teaching 日本人 some 英語! I got to teach the advanced group, so it was easy as cake! For some reason I was really nervous. But it went great! (They said I'm a good teacher. SUCH FLATTERY.)

Then! We moved to our new apartment! The other one was 13 years old! すごく　ふるかった！

We got a brand new, modern apartment! Even though it is smaller, it's super tidy and clean! すき　です！

After that! We had our first Zone Training meeting on Friday! I got to meet tons of wonderful missionaries and our zone leaders! They're just superb! After a wonderful message about "Working with the Spirit", we went home with our spiritual batteries charged up!

And then! We had a wonderful "Music Afternoon" on Saturday. It was a concert (kind of like a talent show) organized by church members and it was held in the church building here in 倉敷! Eikaiwa students and other nonmembers were invited to perform as well! It was AMAZING! They even played Frozen's "Let it go!" 日本語　で！！ And a ton of Studio Gibly sound tracks! AWESOMESAUCE!

(Oh, and us elders sang too. Can't say it was as awesomesauce as the rest)

Oh, and there was a typhoon here as well. Tons of rain and wind. No damage, fortunately. Well, my bike fell over, I guess.

It's been a pretty eventful week!

Oh! Also, the food's been awesome! Here's a list of おいし　たべもの I ate so far:

ぎょうざ

やきそば

そうめん

カツ丼　（カツどん）

牛丼　（ぎゅどん）

たこ焼き　（たこやき） <<== See picture!

And I have another monstrosity to show you! It's a せみ! It's huge, it's loud, and It's out to kill us all! (They're harmless). They are everywhere! Especially during Summer!

Whelp, that's all for this week. Thanks so much for reading! I will see you all next week!

Love you all!

~サントス長老

Made in Japan

~Week 1~

Tuesday... Woke up. 2:00 AM... Time to go!!

After a ton of heartfelt さよなら-s (sayonara) and two arduous plane flights, we finally arrived in 日本! As soon as I stepped out of the plane, I found out that I was swimming in a pool of my own sweat. It's a little hot here. すこし　だけ。(Google Translate this if you cant read it!)

First, we went to the mission home in Kobe and met with our Mission President and his Assistants. We stayed there for two days. HAD SOME REAL FOOD FOR ONCE! IT WAS DELICIOUS. We did some exercise, did some RADIO TAISOU. I think I speak for all of the senkyoushitachi when I say it's the MOST AMAZING MORNING-WORKOUT-STRETCHY EXPERIENCE EVER!! (It's basically just a fun morning workout radio program. They broadcast it every morning at 6:30-ish.) We also explored a little around the area. We went up a mountain and took pictures of the view. It was amazing.

After some training and orientation, we got assigned to our trainers and areas. I'm in Kurashiki! Look it up! It's a really big area! Really nice, too! Didn't have too much time to take pictures. Except for this crazy huge moth thing. みて　ください。 By the way, that hand in the picture is my trainer's. A courageous lad, he is. He is also extremely すてき and likes to draw cartoons. He is really funny. I really like him! He is a great example and I can learn tons from him, heheh!

So far it's been really tiring. And fun! A lot of doors have been slammed shut in front of my face, haha. I truly believe that there's someone in Kurashiki looking for the light, though. A little rejection ain't gonna stop me. I have to give it my all.

I'm running out of mail time. Love you all! See ya next week!

~サントス　長老