Hiya! :D I
got the package and it is SO awesome!! Thank you so much, the 12 Days of
Christmas thing is perfect. I've only opened two so far, but getting
letters from Brother Buhler and Maxy seriously made my days. Thank you so
much, it's the best!! Elder Furniss got a lil Christmas tree carpet we
hung on the wall from his family, and it has lights to brighten that end of the
apartment! I love mine though, it's so festive with all the
presents!
It's right
next to my old Christmas tree from the ward which still, can I say, was so
sweet of Brother and Sister Newel. It's been the best to read lil letters
from everyone when I have some time. Haha, grandma's package came first,
which was super entertaining because my decorations used to be that yellow
American Post package underneath the paper tree and that was it (; By the way
THANKS GRANDMA!! I'm excited to see what's inside (:
Along the
lines of Christmas, it's been fun and interesting celebrating here. Elder
Kitagaki's family never celebrated Christmas, so he's not even getting a
package. But he doesn't need one, because... Well, I'll get to that
later. Anyway, as a mission we're giving one thing to the savior to
become more consecrated. Because these
pictures are going in a secret video to the Nagano's, "Punctuality"
is just a less embarrassing way of saying I'm always behind in my journal and
brushing my teeth/getting ready for bed because I like to take showers at
nights and eat apples with peanut butter which is my new favorite snack of all
time, but I've realized that I should be better about journaling, so...
We also took
a Christmas picture as a District! Left to right is Ortega Shimai, Reyes
Shimai, Elder Jacob's, Elder Furniss, and me, and Elder Kitagaki!
This was the only picture I looked decent in, so... It's the one I'm sharing.
Our ward
sings Christmas Carols every Sunday and it's awesome! My favorite is
singing "Guroria inu ekusuche rushisu deyo" in a Japanese accent with
the whole ward (read that out loud).
So, I was
assigned to make a poster for the ward Christmas party, and remembering another
Elder Stout of Japan something close to 50 years ago, I had to at least vaguely
base the poster on "The Mormon 5." I was rushed though.
Anyway, I also met a cat! I held it for an hour and it fell asleep in my arm. I love cats.
I
forgot to mention this before, but I've known since our first week together,
Elder Kitagaki's sister's wedding was to be in this transfer 3 weeks before his
return at the Tokyo temple. It was so close to him being able to come,
and he and his sister were so close before his mission, that after receiving
special permission from president Nagano we were allowed to go. My first
temple wedding!
My companion
was super stressed the whole ride there. He was so nervous to see his
family after two years! It was super funny though, Japanese reunitings
are much less dramatic than the average American one: when his brother walked
into the waiting room and saw us, he just said, "Oh. Hey!" And
gave him a fist bump. However, I knew his mom when I saw her because the
sea of relatives parted like the Red Sea to Moses as she dashed over covering
her mouth with her hands. With everyone watching, my companion stuck out
his hand in a formal missionary manner with a dumb look on his face, and they
shook hands . . .
And then she
hugged him. I totally laughed and cried, and everyone else kinda just
went back to eating lunch.
His mom was
the sweetest Lady ever!! She was so nice to me and expressed a lot of kindness
without using any words. His sister was ecstatic to see him and they were
so fun all day.
I've had not
only more contact with last transfer missionaries than most greenies, but also
one of the rarest experiences of watching a companion's reuniting with his
family. I really feel like The Lord wants to show me personally what
blessings await me if I but serve diligently. It really reminds me of how
similar this life is in comparison to a mission when you consider what happens
when it's over. I have an amazing experience ahead of me full of growth
and cool places and amazing people, and that's how our whole earthly life
is. It comes with a full serving of heartache and trials too, but I've
come to realize that amidst the incomprehensible joy of our eternal lives with
family, a very distinct attribute of our Heavenly Father is that he weeps when
we do. Loving sadness is a godly attribute, and it's a very important
part of our experience as children of God. In fact, we couldn't even know
happiness without sadness: it's a blessing.
Tangent
aside, at the end of my mission I have my family waiting for me whom I can
never appreciate enough, and at the end of this life we have our whole family
tree waiting for us to reunite, and talk about experiences we went through only
to learn they aided us all the way. We are so blessed. So blessed.
Recently
I've really felt the power in the fact of the atonement that no matter how many
times you mess up, you will never disappoint The Lord if you keep trying.
We're here to become better, and honestly, the only way to learn where you need
growth is to notice where you make the most mistakes, right?
The gospel
is true.
Still
haven't met with Takahisa kun because we had to cancel due to inflexible
scheduling and the wedding. But I'll update you soon! In other
news, our investigator Okada San (he has a 3 foot long silver pony tail) has
begun taking the lessons from us again and is actually progressing for the
first time in a year!! Pray for him please. Frank, is half American
half nihonjin (most people call him Furânk, so that's pretty funny to hear ;)
he's an awesome person. His story is one I'll have to tell you next week,
but please pray for him to make it to church and be baptized on the 27th!
I love
Japan!!! I love my mission and the people I serve!! I miss you so much! But I'm way excited to talk on
Christmas! Or sometime around then, I'll let you know when I know the schedule
(:
Bye bye!
-スタウト長老
Elder Stout
 |
| Me and my zone leader Elder Higashi, who is WAY too photogenic for his own good |
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| Elder Hugo, "my first greenie" |
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