Sunday, September 29, 2013

Japan week #8

FAMILY!!!
      I'm flipping out about about the weight loss! My body seems to be stabilizing at about 88.5 kilos, which is like 190ish pounds, so that's not too bad I suppose. Hopefully I don't lose anymore! I like being the big guy!! We haven't had a chance to make cookies yet, we're going to this week though I think. And we're very excited to try pizza and dough making, should be great. ;) We have a ton of fun cooking. They also make a burger here, that's like mashed potatoes and gravy, on a patty in between too buns!! I'm very excited to eat it, we're gonna try and make it today. ;) Haha! They have such crazy stuff over here, I love it. And they're 'american food' is rice and a hamburger patty, makes me laugh. :) The Japanese people are just absolutely the greatest. They're SO stinking nice, and they are very hard workers. 
   Wish I could see the play!! Sounds like it's a ton of fun. :) Megan has Walter's Scarecrow shoes to fill, so some pretty big ones. ;) Just kidding!! She's gonna be epic at it. 
  How's Rick doing? Happy being a married man again? Tell him I said congratz, and that I'm very happy for him. :) How are Jake's new siblings? I'm excited to meet them. In a few years. ;) 
     Oh, I guess I should update you about the health. I am doing MUCH better, We're working a normal schedule again which is getting rid of Elder Harper's stir crazy. ;) So yeah, and think we're all good on that front! No more fever, no more diarrhea, we're doing good. And YES! I did get a priesthood blessing! I got one the day before the first time I went to the hospital. And it was a great blessing. Really set my mind at ease. 
  By the way, I'm working on a list of things I want / need for the future. Christmas type stuff. I'm doing good for now stuff wise, I love music though. ;) So I might keep bumming stuff from you guys on that front. ;) I'll let you know as stuff comes up. The biggest thing I miss probably at the moment, CHEESE! They don't have cheese here! They do, but not like we do back at home. And the little cheese they do have, is CRAZY expensive. Like ten bucks for a thing of cheese I could eat in one bite. It's rough. But nothing you guys can do about that. :P 
   So, my week was great. We were finally back to a mostly normal schedule. Which feels great. At the beginning of this week we visited a man named Takuro, who is a former investigator of like six months. He stopped investigating because he wants to be responsible for his own sins and what not, and doesn't want to use the Atonement. WHAT the heck, right! Who has a problem with the atonement! He still likes the church, and the missionaries, so that's good. We're keeping up relationships with him in case he expresses interest in investigating again, as well as just being his friends, because having friends is ALWAYS nice. We also sanded our table, that was covered with an old gross bed sheet because the table was gross, so we can use it again now! Makes the fuinki of our apartment much better, plus the wood likes nice. :) 
  I've also been experimenting with some food stuffs I've found in the apartment, found some weird mac and cheese stuff that I decided to have at. Turned into mac and soup. :P But it tasted great so, it was ok!! 
  Wednesday was super crazy. We biked to Hakuchorai, which is an hour bike ride away. O.O We rode there in the pouring rain, along a road with no really safe sides, through construction, it was nuts. We made it there, and it is a GORGEOUS place. Small town, trees everywhere, and the rain made it all very pretty. We did lots of dendo, got a ton of contacts, and had a great time. I had a flippin scary contact though. A lady opened the door, and I got blasted in the face with smoke, like, a TON of smoke, it was bad. But that's not the worst. She was part nude. O.O She looked like she was mid breast feeding, she was holding a child, and her shirt was not where it was supposed to be. I was like. O.O Froze, and then went on and contacted her, it was the flipping most AWKWARD THING I've ever done in my life. Hanging out in the onsen with a ton of guys was WAY more comfortable than that. I can't believe she answered the door!! What the heck right!
    The day doesn't end there though. Our ride home was just as crazy. It's starting to get very cold here at night and in the mornings, and it gets dark fast. And so by the time we were riding home, it was pitch black. We decided to take a back road to cut off some travel time, and that was the scariest downhill road I've ever ridden. We were in the rain, in the dark, on a completely overgrown road more grass than road, getting smacked in the face by tree branches every few feet! We made it down and stopped,  because it dropped us right into the middle of the free way, which makes no sense. So we had to ride down the free way with cars whipping past us, and after all that we finally had a more normal ride home. We're not going to go back there without some better prep on our part. :P 
  We have a ton of crazy biking here in Muroran. Friday we road our favorite mountain road all the way down the hook of Muroran. And it was amazing. It's the most beautiful mountain road, and it's just as fast for us as the main road, so we take it all the time now. On the return trip from that day, Elder Harper and I got separated! :O He rounded a corner and took another turn real fast before I could see, so I stopped and just was like, what do I do. So for twenty minutes I just patrolled the area where I had last seen him, and in the middle of my prayer, I look up and see him. He was freaking out thinking I had gotten hit by a car or something, we had a joyous reunion and then continued on our way. We road down the mountain, and I thought I could feel something wonky with my front tire, but I was riding fine so I didn't think much of it. Once we got down this lightning fast road, we stopped to grab some ice cream, and when I parked my bike, the tire came off. O.O It had come unattached somehow on the ride home, and if it had come off on that downhill road, I would have been VERY badly injured. I had a long prayer that night thanking Heavenly Father for his divine protection. Miracles are incredibly real out here, I really know that now. 
    All of our bike riding isn't like this, we're pretty safe. I just like to share the crazy stories because they're fun. We are safe, and we have MANY MANY MANY uneventful bike riding days. So don't worry about it, these are rare situations, usually. :) 
     We also had a great service opportunity with an NA in our ward. We lifted her mattress to her second floor, with ropes and her roof. Japanese homes are pretty small, and they can't really fit a mattress up a flight of stairs, at all. So Elder Harper and I got on the roof after getting some ropes around the mattress, and we lifted it right up and through a window! We had a blast. :) 
     So that's what's been happening in my life. Japanese is coming, I'm getting better everyday. I just wish my hearing comprehension was way better! I can say tons of stuff, but I'm still working on the understanding what's said to him. I HATE having to have Harper translate for me occasionally. Oh well. Time and effort.
        LOVE YOU ALL!!! 
          Love, 

             Mike, The 会話長老 Kaiwa Choro, Dialogue Choro, literally. Kaiwa means Dialogue or converstaion. Lol! ;) 

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