No Regrets: Hastening the Work in Tokyo: We've not a moment to lose!

Heyo! (:

First order of business: It has oft been said of me, "This man fears only 3 things: Space, losing his front tooth, and EARTHQUAKES."

Remember how when I learned about earthquakes in Mr. Marrott's class I broke down and started crying in our kitchen as a tiny kid? Also, that one time that we watched Lord of the Rings at the Ogden's and the speakers were so loud they shook the house and I couldn't sleep for days? So, this one time, a few days ago, I woke up and the entire world was shaking and I was sleeping on the floor with a mere layer of sheet rock between me and 3 stories of residential building. I handled it really well though. And by really well, I mean I froze up and couldn't really move until it stopped. In retrospect, it was kinda fun! But still, realizing childhood nightmares is terrifying stuff.

Sadly, we're too far away from damages, so we don't have any new service opportunities. But the typhoon did send a TON of humidity our way, so we've been drenched quite a few days now! d:

Yes, I got my bike!! It's fluorescent yellow, so that's always nice. Haha, it was the only one that fit me and was a decent price, but it rides super well! We've ridden SO MUCH. Every single day it's an adventure. My legs are gonna be as ripped as Jared's by the end of this transfer! (Kiddin, nobody's legs can be as ripped as Jared's.)

So, my room is me, Elder Hibino, a Canadian named Elder Nabroski (you should hear the Japanese try to say that. XD ) and a Taiwanesian named Cho Chourou who speaks Chinese and is trying to learn Japanese and English simultaneously. Our room is filled with miscommunication, but sadly, I'm the one who doesn't understand nearly anything being said by any parties. It's a hoot living with them, though. Especially at times like when a cockroach came out of a crevice in the wall and I overheard Hibino Chourou and Cho Chourou shrieking like little girls, "Gokiburi! Coackroach! Is big! Is BIG! Is HaYUUGE! Is..... KING SIZED!!!"

I think in the mind of the non English speaker, king sized is the biggest measurement imaginable. (;

This is how we do practice lessons!

So, they have various CDs that we listen to during meals and such. One is a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD, which I recognized immediately after they started playing it. Songs like, "I'll go where you want me to go," "I am a child of God" and "This is the Christ." It's the same CD Grandma Stout used to listen to all the time to when we visited. It was super nostalgic. When I first heard it, and it actually made me really sad. I miss grandma so much. I loved going to her house and listening to her stories and just talking. There was such a sweet spirit there. It made me really sad to think about. But now, that's my favorite CD to listen to. Her and grandpa were awesome missionaries, I want to be like them.

Church is hard. It's 3 hours of stuff that I don't understand at all. Maybe this is what new investigators all feel like (; Kiddin. But it is really hard. I was having a particularly hard day and was super frustrated, so I prayed really hard and came to a conclusion that I want to become more consecrated. I want to be the missionary The Lord wants me to be. I want to be the very best he can make me into. And so, I'm trying not to think about movies or music from home, but to always focus on the gospel and missionary work. Getting songs from home out of my head has been by far the hardest thing I've ever done. I overheard a march at the super market and it made me so nostalgic for band, but I just need to focus on now I think. But I'm already feeling so blessed by The Lord. The spirit is so much stronger when you're doing everything you can be to be what God wants you to be.

Dada! Remember that time that you bought me Calpis? Well, I've gotten addicted to that stuff. I drink it in honor of you ALL the time. It's so good! I remember the first time I had it, it was super weird... That's kind of all Japanese food, but it's amazing once you get used to the weird stuff (:

So, my current favorite quote is, and say this in a British accent, "We've not a moment to lose!"

With every prompting the spirit gives us, we need to heed it immediately or else we could miss an amazing experience, and even lose some of the trust of the spirit. It's funny, as we act on the smaller promptings, the lord trusts us more with bigger ones. I testify this to be true.

A real quick story: I went on splits with Elder Cho. It was a super rainy day and even though I bought a rain suit I got completely soaked. Everyone rejected us. It was a pretty bad day and I was feeling really discouraged. When Elder Cho said, "We're teaching ____ San about Laws. I chose this topic because it's easy and you can do it yourself." The bad day got a lot worse. He wanted me to teach a lesson all by myself to a Japanese man. I prayed my hardest and when the man came in, I did my best. We had prepared a couple scriptures, but other than that, I didn't know what I was going to do. But man. As I just opened my mouth, like the scriptures say, it was filled. Luckily he understood quite a bit of English, while he spoke hardly any. I was able to teach him for a full hour in Jingrish, and it was amazing. The two lessons I learned were: when you rely on the spirit, the Lord will speak through you. I say this because I didn't teach any of the lesson we were planning to, both of us got emotional, and he shook my hand soberly at the end saying, "thank you." However, the second lesson I learned was that preparation is vital. I didn't teach anything about the law, I taught only about receiving revelation (the last step required for him to accept baptism.) Yet we used every single one of the scriptures we prepared. The Lord will speak through you, but you have to do your part. Faith without works is dead. In fact, I think I'd just say "Without works, it isn't faith."

It was a miracle.

Anyway, I love you so much! (: Talk to you again next week!

Elder Stout

Ps, yes, I can read emails every day of the week, so feel free to send as many as you want (;