November 30th, 2015

Hello family,

It sounds like you all had a wonderful thanksgiving which I am very thankful for haha. I committed a heinous sin and actually forgot it was thanksgiving until Koyama Choro told me that we just had our thanksgiving meal as we left a "pizza" place. I just slapped my face and laughed.

Dad, Hotta Kyodai sent me a package of kaki, mikan, spaghetti and sauce, apples, and a hand written letter in English. I was beyond shocked. You worked for one of the best, dad, that is for sure. Over the past week I have been working on a response in Kanji and managed to scrawl out a half page of something.  I'll send it off to him this week.  I also have pictures which I will send. Still no package from you at home, but we had transfers the day it arrived so it's is probably on its way from the honbu. I was glad to hear about the win for BYU and I am angry at EVERYONE for not skiing.  Being in a place without mountains has made me go a little crazy hahaha.

So this week has actually been tough. I know you probably all want to hear about miracles and ministering of angels but the fact is a mission is more often than not NOT like that. I'll skip the details but my companion is really struggling with some personal and testimony related issues. We have been calling the mission president regularly and the missionary schedule this week has had to be changed somewhat to help him get his feet underneath him. I love this elder to death I don't want to let him go home while he is with me, but please pray for him. He really is a great man, and has such strong faith for what he is facing right now. 

We met with Yuuta one time this week and still were not sure exactly what needed to be done for him. He still hadn't repented for his "big mistake", because he feels fear and anxiety inside each time he attempts to pray about it, but he shared with us what it is that has really caused him so much worry. Just some cool stuff about Yuuta; he loves to walk and has walked six hundred kilometers before over the course of two weeks.  He walks to different cities, finds jobs, and lives there for certain time periods then leaves for another one. He is a really unusual Nihonjin and has a lot of really great qualities. Anyway, some years ago he walked clear to Kyoto and met and married a woman there. They had a child but things went south and they got a divorce. I didn't understand the details, but he has never seen his three year old daughter's face because he fears causing pain by re-assimilating into their lives. It was a sad story, but we reassured him as best we could.  He has tried calling before, and has also been faithful with child support so he is doing all he can to make restitution, but it is difficult for him to see that. Anyway, after that he expressed interest in wanting to really know the life of Christ, so maybe we can help him progress more with that. On a really good note he asked his boss to change his work schedule so he can attend the year end priesthood holder party, and the Christmas party.  He loves the ward activities but still won't come to church because of his job. He needs more prayer and faith! Please pray for him.

This week we had a zone blitz in Matsudo which was so fun. The companionships all split up into three areas in the mission, and our Kamagaya area was selected as one of them.  We spent the previous day planning where everyone would go and what we would do to prepare for it.  Yuuta had said he wanted to meet the same day so Koyama Choro planned on meeting everyone else later on after the lesson.  This past week a young missionary named Adachi Choro came home from his two week trial run mission in the Tokyo south mission for one week before heading off to the MTC.  He had some health concerns which I guess qualified him to work for two transfers there before "officially" going out. Anyway, we called and asked him if he wanted to attend the lesson since he can't do much as a set-apart elder, and he said sure!  However, Yuuta had to cancel so we tried to call Adachi Choro and let him know, but couldn't get ahold of him.  From there we broke into our splits for the day, I was with an Elder Judd from Salt Lake which was super fun. We walked out of the church right in time to see sister Adachi pull up with Adachi Choro in the car.  Shoot. They got out and I just said, "Surprise, we're gonna go do dendou!"  (proselyting)  Hahaha. He was more than willing, but his mom was a little apprehensive letting him go work with two gaijins.  (foreigners)  I don't know why because Adachi Choro turned out to be one of the boldest missionaries I have ever worked with.  Whatever his concerns were before, he should have no problem serving a mission now.  Anyway it was a good day of work with those two and lots of fun.

The next day Inoue Kyodai invited us to go visit the Adachi's with him as their home teachers.  It was a great opportunity because the father is inactive and we haven't been able to meet him yet.  The visit went very well and we were able to send off Adachi Choro with a good talk about missions. Funny story--he knows Brett Spackman very well. He was a year younger than me in high school and is currently serving in the Tokyo South mission. 

Sunday was good. After church we had a big meal to celebrate the marriage of two YSA's in the ward. They seemed very happy and ready to start their life together. That night we went out with Inoue Kyodai again to visit less actives. None were home but I know that no effort is wasted!  I am just happy there is a member willing to help us out once or twice a month haha. He really is a great example though and loves missionary work. The only downside is his driving is absolutely horrid.  He has nearly wrecked several times haha, but I think the Lord takes special care of us when we are with him so no worries!

I love you all and am very thankful for your letters and support. Happy thanksgiving.

Viehweg Choro

Box of treats from John's Mission President Hotta

Wadachi Choro

November 23rd, 2015

Hey family and friends,

Dad! Hotta Kyodai (Dad's mission president from 1980-82!!) sent me a letter talking about you. That was quite an experience and I now know you have been pretty modest in talking about your mission. The man had really great things to say about you and your service.  (Dad is SURE he was way too generous...)  Granted, the whole thing was in kanji so I understood about half of it, but Koyama Choro read it to me and I got the details down as well. He sounds like a great man and I hope you get to meet him someday again as well. My English is struggling...

So I also was wondering if it would be possible to get me a pair of gloves I can use with an iPad screen. That would be super helpful during the cold months here. It has been getting progressively colder here, but still a joke compared to what I have lived in, haha. The downside is that most people just want to get to where they are going and do not really feel a need to talk to you or anyone else for that matter. We'll find a way to corner them somehow. 

Danielle your week sounded like one from jigoku.  (It means "hell," Danielle...)  Dad can tell you what that is. I get that bad flu at least once a year and it literally destroys me. My fingers are crossed for this year. Having that sickness as a missionary would make me want to burn down our appartment building.

So this week was kind of slow. We had one lesson with Yuuta, but we have been teaching him so much in volume we decided to simply read together from the Book of Mormon. After our usual Tuesday night ping pong, we all sat down with some members and read together.  I was going to suggest that we all read our favorite scripture, but Yuuta beat me to it!!  The guy finds small ways to really surprise and impress me. All of us missionaries and members, about seven of us, took turns reading, explaining, and bearing testimony of our favorite passages. It was perfect. After that Yuuta just looked down at his own copy of the Book of Mormon and said quietly, "The Book of Mormon is amazing."  It was a good lesson. We tried to help him recognize the spirit he is feeling, but he still is unsure about things. He says right now he halfway believes, and halfway does not. Either way he is still reading and praying daily so his faith will pay off soon I am confident.  After that lesson we committed him to live the word of Wisdom for just three days.  He agreed and handed over his two packs of cigarettes.  (See photo)  It was not ideal, but it was a step and that's what we are inviting people to do. Make steps. Anyway, he did as requested and fasted from tobacco for three days. He said it was very difficult and that he felt a lot of anxiety. We found out that he still didn't pray for forgiveness for whatever he did in the past. Each time he prays he ends up getting scared and doesn't want to say whatever it is that he did. The good thing is that he said he wants to confess to us during the next lesson, tomorrow. So he trusts us, which is great. He's such a good person and really wants to know the truth. Please this week pray that he can have courage to do what he knows is right.  Repent, and live the word of wisdom.

After that it was kind of a grind week for us. We didn't have much in the way of appointments, and several member practice lessons fell through so we were out on our bikes and on foot a lot. It's so funny working with a young Japanese companion because everything a missionary does and is goes against what they have been taught in culture from the time hey we're born. I really respect Japanese missionaries. People look the other way at how I act as a foreigner, but nihonjin missionaries normally take a tongue lashing or two from people who say they should "know better."  Whatever. The people have no idea what they are missing.

Friday we had a district meeting which was really good. Our district leader, Lee Choro, remains to this day the most loving and tender person I know. We found out today that I am staying another transfer in Kamagaya, that's five now, and he is staying in Matsudou so we will be in the same district again. Koyama Choro is staying here as well so we were happy to hear that. Anyway the trainings were all great, and I talked about obedience. Hopefully not too many people slept through it. Obedience is such an important thing and it goes far beyond simply following the rules. Most people, missionaries included, don't really understand that. 

Saturday and Sunday were fairly regular days. We didn't really do a whole lot differently than normal. I'm so sorry this letter is really lame, but I simply cannot remember all that really happened this week. Oh! We did visit a few inactives. One is a really great guy named Yamagata. The week after he was baptized last year his boss scheduled him to work every Sunday of the year. It's been really hard for him because he still has a testimony to this day, but because he is not being fed enough spiritually he is now failing to keep some commandments. His family are not members but they love the missionaries and when we came they gave us candy and food, then tried to give us movies and other things as well, haha. We visit him when we can, but he really needs faith and courage to quit and find another job. Not an easy thing to do asking a Japanese person to quit and find a different job. Gosh, English is so hard...

We have also been reading the Book of Mormon with a recent convert named Yoshida. I may have mentioned him before. Anyway he needs a lot of spiritual nourishment and love. His family has all died or slowly abandoned him throughout life and he lives alone with no job or friends. The amazing thing is that he comes to church every Sunday and always attends the missionary activites. He doesn't understand much of the gospel but his faith is very strong. Anyway trying to read from the Book of Mormon in Japanese has been interesting for me, haha. For the most part I can kind of sort of get most of what is happening,  but it is Japanese that hasn't been colloquial since about two hundred years ago so it's always an adventure for me, hahaha. Still true though! 

I think that is about it for this week. I love all of you and think about you a lot, but I'm sorry to say I do not miss you!  There is no place on earth or in heaven I would rather be. 

Love,

Viehweg Choro

Eating weird fruit

Egg sized spider

Word of Wisdom Books

November 17th, 2015

Happy thanksgiving and happy birthday Macsen! 

Sorry I forgot to mention it in last week's email. From what dad said it sounds like you had a really great time with lots of delicious food I cannot eat here, haha.

We had a pretty good week this past week. It didn't feel as busy, but that is partly because I can NEVER remember what happened. I get to Pday and my mind just says "stop" and that's the end of the story. Then you have days like temple Pday where you wake up early and take three hours of trains to and from Tokyo which gives you lots of time to do missionary work! Needless to say my brain is struggling to type these words in English. We also have a lesson tonight so Pday is gone, but we will find time to get food and stuff sometime...I hope.

Dad I'm sorry about the two heartbreakers this past week. It sounds like BSU has really had a kind of a bummer year which is a little disheartening, but this too shall pass right? Hahaha. It sounds like you had a nice busy week with everything. Ma, thank you so much for the package I can't wait for it to get here!  It has started to cool off here in Tokyo, but it's a joke really compared to what we have in Idaho. It scares a lot of the people here, and when they see me wearing a long sleeve shirt they sort of freak out and tell me I'm a big strong American.  Which is even more funny, because I am actually small and skinny for an American man. 

So last Monday we had a lesson with Yuuta again. He is still progressing although very slowly. The good thing is nothing he has learned has discouraged him or scared him away.  As slow as his progress is he ALWAYS wants to learn more which is so great. We taught him about prophets and committed him to reading the first vision pamphlet which he gladly accepted. He thought it was really great that people believed in a prophet that was currently living and liked the Mormon message we shared about President Monson.

Tuesday was a pretty fun day. We had been asked by an eikaiwa student the other day to come with her and her friend to a special English society that she belonged to in a comer of our area. They picked us up at a store near our apartment and drove us over to the community center where they met two times per week. We walked in to find fourteen older people sitting around some tables waiting for us to arrive. It was so funny how official these people acted. They had a chairman and rules and all kinds of procedures for their 'society,' it was hard not to giggle. They had us stand and introduce our home towns and families in English as well as what kinds of things we do for fun. They asked to know what the culture was like in Idaho and I told them that everyone owned guns!  Hahahaha!!!!  Their eyes got soooo big, but once I started talking about what we do, and the hunter safety courses, they relaxed and came around to the idea of guns being a good thing. After that they all stood up and gave their English presentations on being healthy. It was adorable really. These people all thought about ways they could stay fit mentally, physically, and emotionally and presented them to Koyama Choro and me. They asked us to prepare a few thoughts on that topic as well, so I of course talked about you, Mom and Dad, as well as Grandpa Viehweg. I also told them that if they really wanted to be healthy they would stop drinking and smoking.  They all looked shocked at that one too.  Then the room erupted with laughs, finger pointing, and jokes about who drinks too much and what they do at those times.  It was pretty funny, but we also got to talk more seriously about the word of wisdom.  After that they took us all to a really fancy Japanese style restaurant. I have pictures that I will send.  We didn't get any referrals from that experience, but everyone was very happy and appreciative and they all know who we represent as volunteers.

Wednesday we taught Yuuta again before eikaiwa. We decided to review repentance and the atonement which turned out to be a good idea. He has made some really bad decisions in the past and won't give us details, but it involves being previously married.  Anyway he admitted he had not asked God for forgiveness for those things yet, so it was good to explain more what the atonement does for us, and how we can use it.  He left the lesson with courage to confess to God and ask for forgiveness again when he prayed this time for specific reasons.  He is still reading but has slowed wayyyy down because he got to the chapters on Isaiah in second Nephi that no one really understands.  I didn't really get them until this last time I read the Book of Mormon when I would flip back and forth between the Book of Mormon and Bible trying to decipher what they heck Isaiah was saying.  Anyway, he still reads daily but is struggling to understand.  We help him as much as we can and also text him easy powerful scriptures daily which he really likes.  After that he attended eikaiwa and had a lot of fun.

On Friday we had a zone meeting in Matsudou which was great as always.  The Matsudou zone has some of the best missionaries in the Tokyo mission and I feel very lucky to be working with them all. One of my MTC kohai, somone who was one transfer below me, is now serving as a transfer three district leader and trainer.  He took two years of Japanese before his mission so he is wayyyyy good at it, but it was good to talk to him and help him relax about what he is doing.  He gave a really great training on using time effectively.  His name is Munroe Choro and he is from Gold Coast Australia. After the zone meeting we had splits with Lee Choro, our district leader, and his companion Chour Choro.  Lee Choro is from Hong Kong, and Chou Choro is from Taiwan. Anyway, I was able to spend the day walking in Matsudou. Since I came to Kamagaya I have only left to work in another area one time and hat was my second week here. No one really realized that until last week and they insisted that I get out and try working somewhere else.  I had a good day with Chou Choro and we had a really good lesson with one of those struggling investigators. He left the lesson ready to try again to apply what he had learned and was excited to keep studying the gospel.  It felt good to be a part of that.  The next day we returned to Kamagaya.

Saturday was suuuper busy. We had to teach two English classes because sister sergeant is deathly ill and they cannot get out of the apartment, then we had to help some members with several things, study, and then attend the ward talent show. It was pretty funny. One of the acts was a magic show and no one seemed to really think it was ironic that the man was doing magic tricks in a Christian chapel haha. It was good though and the best part is Yuuta came!  He really loved what he saw and liked how friendly all of the members were with him. After the talent show we ate some food and a got to know some people better before going back to the chapel to have another lesson. Lee Choro advised us to teach about faith, so we planned a lesson around Alma 32 and comparing a bunch of scriptures to him and his situation right now. It was so good. He really loved all the scriptures talking about faith not being a PERFECT knowledge, but a hope for something great. The scriptures we read were all so relatable to what he is doing right now, experimenting, recognizing, and believing. He also said before the lesson that he has really felt better about himself lately.  Before he met us he felt like he had become lazy and a little depressed, but he now feels purpose and drive to learn and work. At the end, we connected faith with actions and brought up the word of wisdom again. He has completely quit drinking tea and is very hesitant about cigarettes. He admitted to being addicted and really likes smoking, but he knows how bad it is for his health. We reassured him time and again and testified about how the Lord is waiting for him to just take one step more to reach the point where he can help him. At the end of the lesson he agreed to try to quit for three days from tonight, Tuesday night, and see how it goes. It's not ideal, but it's a start. He is already reading and praying fervently so maybe this time is all he needs to receive that confirmation he is looking for. Pleeaaase pray for him. Please. Hahaha, this may sound selfish but we have worked SO HARD to find someone like him. He needs all the support he can get. 

Sunday was a pretty regular day. The primary did a program for all of sacrament which was beyond adorable. I can't handle being around all these nihonjin kids. They are sooooo cute and funny. One tiny kid got up to the mike and said ,"boku wa, iesu sama ga daisuki desu!!." It translates into something like ''Jesus Christ is my favorite." So cute. After church we went out and tried to find some new investigators which we ALWAYS desperately need, and then meet up with the newly released temple president Inoue kyodai to visit some less actives. That was terrifying. Japanese people are terrible drivers and we were almost killed several times, hahaha. It was fun though and he is such a great example. He served with his wife for two years as missionaries, then as mission presidents, then as area representatives or something, THEN as temple president for six years. He got released last week and the first thing he wanted to do was go out and work with us. So great. He also knows Hotta Kyodai dad. 

Monday was a day of work. We visited several less actives and a few members and did a lot of finding. We had some good contacts but nothing else besides that really. And today was temple Pday! We had to split the mission in half for temple Pday because of the numbers so I didn't get to see my son, Horne choro, or any of my doki. It was pretty much me and Koyama Choro, he is my doki, and a bunch of older missionaries. Still fun though. Tonight we have a lesson with Yuuta again so please pray for him. We didn't get a real Pday today with all the training and missionary work but that's ok. I am more than happy being tired for so great a cause. 

Shannon your mission stories are pretty funny and it sounds like you are having a blast ,haha. Keep up your good work and thank you for being such a good example to me.  I love you all more than you know. Thanks for all of your prayers.

Oh I forgot one more thing. I got hit by a car the other day, hahaha. First of many I am sure since everyone runs red lights here and speeds like maniacs. I am okay, just a few bruises on my legs where I got hit. It rolled me up onto his hood a little but he slammed on his brakes so he wasn't going too fast. It was really funny actually, hahaha. 

Love you,

Viehweg Choro

American Meal

Sushi

November 9th, 2015

Good day, beloved family and friends,

It was another week flown by and I don't even know what happened.

So working with a Nihonjin companion again has proved absolutely wonderful and VERY humbling. I had been praying for opportunities to become more humble while working with Horne Choro and I suppose this past emergency transfer goes to show that God answers prayers. I have remembered that I have the comprehension and ability to speak of a ten year old kid. It's been a little bit of an adjustment, but Koyama Choro has been great about it all. His attitude is very relaxed and easy going and it makes for a good combo with my high stress and "get er done" mentality.  We work well together so far and I am learning a lot from him each day.

His week we have done a lot of member visits and tried to help them get to know Koyama Choro more. I think that has been really great for us and the area. The simple fact is that in Japan missionaries are not finding investigators on their own. We NEED the members and the baptism rate for member referrals is about seventy five percent, whereas while finding by ourselves the numbers are horribly dismal. Maybe one in a thousand listen to you and accept baptism. So recently Nagano Kaicho has emphasized working with the youth and becoming their older brothers and sisters in hopes that they will follow our example and help the work move forward. This past week on Tuesday we had president interviews in Matsudou. He talked a lot about this vision for the youth and talked the whole time. It was more of a seminar than an interview hahaha, but it was great! It really helped me get excited to work here more and strengthen the youth. He also told me that I would most likely be in Kamagaya for a VERY long time, haha. So I'm prepped to be here for the long hall. He also gave me some great  advice about improvement and focusing my efforts. I have a very logical mind and look at all things in life as a series of checklists. Of course this checklist mentality does not work with missionary work, and he counseled me to change a few thing s to better help with that. It was a really great interview. I sure do love Nagano Kaicho.

We didn't meet with Yuuta till Saturday so I'll wait to talk about that. Over the next few days we visited less actives and members sharing brief messages in the genkan--or little porch area where they take off and leave their shoes. There is one inactive member who is very interesting. He was baptized about thirty years ago because he liked playing volleyball with the missionaries, and never came back to church. He comes to some activities we have here, but never comes to sacrament meeting. We invited him to an upcoming talent show and he seemed really excited about that. I hope we can dig down into his heart. He has met with many different missionaries but they never have been able to help him. He is very lonely and always acts like we are inconveniencing him when we visit, but within five minutes he is smiling, laughing and chatting up a storm and thanks us profusely for coming to see him. Nihonjin men are so funny. Nothing is ever wrong and they never have any weaknesses or need any help hahaha. We will see what works with softening his heart. We also visited a less active who was baptized a year ago, but right after baptism had been scheduled to work every Sunday by his boss. He has come to church maybe three times in a year. He used to come to eikaiwa and we would teach him after class, but he got transferred for work and couldn't come anymore so we decided this past week to visit him more. He was very happy to see us and still has a very strong testimony, he simply has no courage to do what he knows is right. We'll keep working on him.

On Saturday we met win Yuuta San. We taught him about the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. Our member who attended was awesome. His name is Hirano Kyodai and he is so great. He doesn't act like a Nihonjin at all which is perfect. He tells you what he thinks and what he knows is right with no fluff or cream. It's what the people here need. There are too many rules of conduct and too many customs that make it so people, specifically members, are afraid to do missionary work. Not Hirano Kyodai. He testified so powerfully and Yuuta was hanging on every word. He is still praying and reading and said this week he felt a few small impressions, so he is beginning to feel the spirit. Please pray that he will feel it more strongly and receive the confirmation he is waiting for. 

Sunday was awesome. One of the members we visited and got to know was the Kannari couple. They are the older parents of some younger families in the ward. They asked us to come over and teach their grandkids the plan of salvation. Beforehand they fed us spare ribs and potatoes for dinner. At was about as close to America I have come since being here haha. Anyway as we ate and talked I found out that they knew president Hotta very well, dad. (Dad's mission president from Sapporo)  They took many pictures and wrote down my name, since they couldn't pronounce or remember it, and said they would email him soon. I thought that was cool. There are several older couples who know the Hotta's very well.  The lesson was so fun. The kids were adorable and loved the puzzles and figures we used to teach the he plan of salvation. At the end we committed the kids to showing more love and had the grandparents stand in the middle of the room, while the kids and parents gathered around and had a huge group hug. It was perfect because that kind of thing is unheard of here so everyone was awkward and weird, but they all laughed and eventually embraced it. All the parents and the Kannaris were very appreciative of what we taught and how we taught it. It was a really fun evening and the members are really coming to trust us.

Thiss letter is not as full of events, but this week was simply a lot of work. We didn't have many appointments, but we did things each day to stay busy and work as well as we could. I can feel the power of your prayers and the influence all of your collective faith is having here. Please keep it coming and PLEASE go help the missionaries as often as you can. Even if it is ten minutes go help them. I love you all and LOVE reading all your letters. I won't take time this time to say it all specifically, but know that I truly am thankful for the support and love of you all. I miss you!!

Elder Viehweg 

District Meeting

Natto Yuck

Koyama Choro

November 2nd, 2015

Whew what a week. 

First off I have some news. Horne Choro and I were asked to help with a companion concern in another zone and so we had an emergency transfer. The assistant called us Wednesday night this week and said that the next day Horne Choro would be transferring to the mountain slopes of Kiryu. We were both pretty shocked of course. I suppose it's good because the mission president trusts both of us to be able to handle whatever the problem was. I was happy to find out that I would be working with an elder from my doki (someone who entered the mission at the same time as me). His name his Koyama Choro. "Elder Little Mountain."  He is from Sapporo and is obviously Japanese. Anyway I'll get back to that later.

This week we had an opportunity to help the bishop's wife out at her cram school every day from four thirty to six thirty. She has a very successful business going and asked that we come each day and play English games with the kids. It was a Halloween sort of celebration so all the kids came with their costumes and candy bags. Japanese kids are so darn cute I can't handle it. I wish the rules were different so we could interact with them more than we do, but we aren't really allowed to touch them even. High fives are about all the contact we get and sometimes I just want to ditch the rules and pick them all up!  So each day we would make a forty minute ride out to her school, work, and then make the ride all the way back to Kamagaya. It made for a little bit more of a tiring week on top of all our other dendou and not having pday last Monday, but that's okay. It was more than worth it.

We met with Yuuta twice this week. The first time we taught about faith and repentance and he seemed to understand really well and agreed to start repenting in his daily prayers. The next time we met with him was Saturday night. We were so surprised to find out that he had read all of the book of first Nephi and was now into the second book. Keep in mind this guy never heard of the Book of Mormon two weeks ago. He is eating it up and really likes what he is reading. Saturday's lesson was with Koyama Choro so it was a little different, but we had a member present which really helped. Members are so key to mission work. They make teaching so much easier and natural so all of you call the missionaries and tell them what days you are available to work with them. We taught him about two big things. The first was baptism and why it is important, and the second was the Word of Wisdom. He smokes and drinks lots of tea. He understood baptism and the word of Wisdom very well and the purpose behind both, but when we asked him to live the word of wisdom he was hesitant. He says he feels good while praying and reading and thinks all that he is learning is good for his life, but he still is waiting for a confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true. We tried to explain the effect of keeping commandments and how it helps us feel the spirit's confirmations more, but he wants to keep learning before he commits. That was a little disappointing but he said he would come to church right after, and we could talk again after that so we aren't too worried about it. Pray for him please!

On Tuesday we had splits with the district leader and his companion. Horne Choro went to Matsudou and I worked here with our district leader Lee Choro. Lee Choro is from Hong Kong and is the sweetest person I have ever met. I can't tell you how much I look up to him. He knows four different languages and speaks Japanese soooo well. There is never a time of day where he is not smiling, telling you he loves you, or thanking you for something. I was so excited to work with him and learn from his example. We had a really good day and taught Yuuta about church and simply got to know him more. Sorry I forgot to mention we actually met with him three times this week. Anyway Lee Choro is so good at building relationships so it was great to get to know Yuuta more. We both had a great exchange and learned a lot from each other. I think we became really good friends from it too. Always nice to meet guys like that on a mission.

I'm sorry I can't remember what happens in my life.  THURSDAY we got the transfer call and spent the day planning, packing, and serving the bishop's wife. That night we had a lesson with a man named Horii. I have mentioned him before, but it's been a while since we have seen him. Anyway he said he wanted to learn about the pre Earth life last time we met because they do not have such a beleif in his sect of Buddhism. We went to his house and he served us horrible spaghetti and coleslaw. I mean it was just terrible. We're talking noodles, ketchup, and a few random things, and then onions, cabbage, and some kind of sour mayonnaise. Japanese people, please, just make us YOUR food. It was so bad hahaha. But after that we ate some really good soup and passion fruit. We taught him about the pre earth life and how it played into God's plan of love for us. He liked it but said the whole time that he was Buddhist and cannot change. I'm not sure if we will use our time to see him again or not. Nice man though.

Friday we transferred and I met up with Koyama Choro. It was so weird. We met at some Podunk nowhere Eki and just stood there looking at each other awkwardly for a minute. We all kind of said something like,"This is so weird." and then said our goodbyes.  I'll miss Horne Choro for sure.  He was so much fun to work with and soooo hilarious. So American it's almost painful. Koyama Choro is wonderful. He is a very quiet, polite and patient--a typical Japanese missionary. I had completely forgotten what it was like to work with them. It literally couldn't be any more different from the last ten weeks with Horne Choro. We are talking about a night and day difference in missionary work hahaha. The good thing is there are never times we don't know what is going on, and I get to work on my Japanese a lot more. Having two Nihonjin companions is very rare in Tokyo so I feel like I have a great opportunity.  Koyama Choro is reaaaallly good at teaching too so he is going to help me get caught up from my two and a half transfers of no lessons haha. It's going to be great.

On Sunday Yuuta slept through all of church and texted us after profusely apologizing. He felt pretty badly, but we assured him it was okay and that we will help him remember next Sunday. During church one of the older sisters who always practiced lessons with Horne Choro and I got up to bear her testimony. She talked about how sad she was that Horne Choro left and how grateful she was that we taught her and her husband lessons from time to time. We had no idea what kind of an impact our poor Japanese was having on her, but she was so appreciative of our efforts and told the whole ward that SHE knew we were working as hard as we could. It was a very tender testimony and she was sobbing the whole time. I guess I am grateful that the spirit was able to work through us and speak to her heart, because I certainly had no clue what was happening!

Sunday night we visited members and one of them fed us a suuuuuper good dinner. It was all a bunch of fried fish, pork, potato, and shrimp. The wife also made us homemade apple pie which, I am sad to say completely blew American apple pie out of the water. Sorry America. Your apples stink. 

It's been a busy week and I am dead tired, but things are good. Yuuta can't be baptized on the date specified because he won't have attended church on enough Sundays, but he still really wants to learn and find the truth so we aren't too worried. I love you all and thank you for the letters!

Viehweg Choro

Party

Halloween

Halloween Party

Weird Fruit

October 25th- Thankful

My dear family,

I'm writing with a very thankful heart right now. We had a few lessons throughout his week that went so well I was blown away. I can't remember what happened on Monday, but on Tuesday we set up a practice lesson with a member named Nagahama kyodai. He was very helpful and is about twenty nine so he can still remember being a missionary in Tokyo where he served. Anyway, we met with him and practiced and took feedback to see how we could improve. I think it would have been more productive to simply tell us what we DIDN'T need to improve, but that's life as a missionary who has only been here four months. On that note I do not like the sound of being a quarter done with my mission. Not one bit. Anyway, that was very helpful.

The next day we taught Yuuta San the first lesson. He seemed to understand things so well, and we found out that he had read three chapters in the few days since we last met. That was pretty mind blowing for us. Anyway as we went through the restoration he seemed to see how it logically made sense to have a need for a restoration of truth. At the end of the lesson Horne Choro asked if he would be baptized if he felt that what we taught is true, to which he said yes. We were pretty pumped but kept it on the lowdown to continue teaching. We committed him to read and pray each night and to pray about the things we teach. He closed again by praying in the name of Christ about our lesson, it was unreal. He finished and then looked at us and said, "Was that okay?"  Of course it was okay!! Such great faith for not even knowing what faith is...it was a.really good experience though.

Wednesday and Thursday were fairly regular days. We continued to meet with members and have them critique our lessons for us which was so helpful for our teaching skill and unity. Each day we found plenty of people willing to talk with us, but none who wanted to meet again. The favorite and most used word in the Japanese language is "isogashii." It means "I'm busy." They use it in place of a lie I believe hahaha. We will talk to people who say they are walking to the park or have a day off, then when we ask to talk again they just bow and say they are "isogashii."  Ridiculous. It's like they don't think we remembered they told us they have no plans. The second most used word is "difficult" or "muzikashii."  They use this one in the same kind of context. We ask if we can walk with them and talk after they tell us that they know it's great we are teaching about family, but then just say it is "muzikashii" to talk anymore. Japanese people are so funny. The culture is to not be loud, put yourself out there, draw attention, or create any kind of difficulty for anyone around you. So if someone says they are busy or something is difficult, most people just leave them alone. Not missionaries. We pester and badger them until they realize they have no reason NOT to talk to us, or get mad. Shoganai. Can't be helped hahaha.

Friday we met with Yuuta San again. He had read all the way to chapter twelve in the Book of Mormon! We were so happy when he said that. He still struggles to pray daily, but he likes what he is learning. We taught him the Plan of Salvation with aforementioned Nagahama Kyodai as a member present. It was really great. Yuuta really liked how God had given Adam and Eve their agency to bring about the fall and loved that it was all part of the Lords plan, yet he preserved our right to choose at the same time. He really thinks and ponders while we teach and asks such good questions it's only a matter of time before he makes a breakthrough. At the end of this lesson we told him that November 22 we had a baptismal meeting and that we would like him to prepare and learn so he can be baptized on that date. He was a little nervous, but when he asked who's baptism it was and we told him it was the sister's investigator who had been taking e lessons for about two months, he was really surprised. After thinking and us reassuring him that he needs to receive an answer first he agreed to begin to prepare! I couldn't believe it when he agreed. All of this seems to be such a dream. We have fought so hard to find even this one investigator prepared and ready to hear what we have to offer, it seems strange to actually be doing what you have only heard about all your life. Anyway, from here on out we need to get him on track to keep the commandments and learn more about Christ's Gospel. Please pray for him. He has such great potential and faith.

Saturday we met with a particularly difficult Buddhist man. He seems to think that Buddhism and Christianity are the same which anyone who has half a brain knows they are NOT. But we are being patient. He has been taught by missionaries for almost nine months and has not really progressed beyond reading the Book of Mormon. We asked him what he would do if he knew all the things that he had been taught were true and he said he didn't know how Mormonism, Protestantism, and Catholicism were different...SO we have our work cut out for us. Hopefully we can help him remember all the things he has been taught so we can help him make a good decision on whether or not he will accept the truth. He's a funny old man.

Sunday we did a new thing that Nagano Kaicho suggested. The elders and sisters split for the Sunday schools and were asked to create strong relationships with the youth. Seminary and institute attendance in Japan are in crisis mode so we need to work to change that. There is a HUGE correlation between seminary and institute attendance and church activity so the stake president has asked that we make this a focus. From here on out we are supposed to set up times to go visit the Youth at night when proselytizing is finished and help them with homework. From there we commit them to bring their friends as well as come to seminary, which we attend. I like the idea so we will see where it leads. 

I cannot think of too much more to speak on this week. Horne Choro made a weekly goal last week to be safer on his bike which he has upheld fantastically. This is the first week we had without an accident or a collision. So that was good. 

Thank you Krisitin, Lisa, and mom for the emails. It's always great to hear from you all.

Dad the sports updates are awesome, makes me feel human. 

Love you all

Viehweg Choro

October 19th, 2015

Greetings from the land of the rising sun.

I love Japan. It's such an interesting place, and couldn't be any more different from America in culture. Japanese people are so funny I have to just stand back sometimes and laugh at the way they act and interact. It is the most awkward culture in the world and that's how they like it.

This week has been another good one. I was released from leadership as district leader, and they combined our area with the neighboring Matsudo area to form one huge district. I'm not sure what the purpose is but I'm sure there is a reason for why they are combining us. So now all I need to focus on is not breaking Elder Horne. It's been kind of nice having time to write legibly in my journal and maybe study a little more right before shutting the lights off this past week. I didn't realize how much time was taken up and I was only a district leader. I can't imagine being a zone leader or assistant. No thank you. I do actually miss being the one to talk to the missionaries about their days and what kind of things they are seeing and doing. I feel that that was a really great blessing for me. I could see how each individual missionary was working and how their contribution was adding to the success of our area. I also was learning sooooo much about what NOT to do which was hard, but also really helpful at the same time. It was a good experience.

Tuesday morning was a doozy. I'll get to that. Last week I wrote about how Horne Choro sometimes likes to do things his own way with pretty funny consequences and forgot to talk about it specifically. Anyway, when we went to help with the disaster cleanup again, there was a house that had all the flooring torn up. Half of the floor was only long struts and supports where the water had damaged the foundation. Horne Choro thought it would be fun to walk around and balance on the struts. I warned him that they were rotten and weak and he would fall and potentially hurt himself, because he is a male, and that maybe we could go do something else. He said okay and then continued on with what he was doing. I turn around and the next thing I hear is a loud SNAP. I knew exactly what had happened. I turned around to see him scrambling out of the mud covered foundation next to a broken support. I just shook my head and laughed. I could tell he was in a little pain, because he is a male, but I just let him think through it on his own. From there we walked out and I told him to watch his head. He just laughed at me and then proceeded to walk strait into the low Japanese doorframe and bang his head pretty hard. I laughed at him again and told him to watch his head one more time. Once again, while walking through a doorframe he banged his head on it. Hahahaha!! I just throw up my hands sometimes and shake my head. The elder is so hilariously clumsy I can't handle it. So that was then. This past Tuesday morning we woke up around five, exercised, and headed off to early morning seminary. We have started doing that to help build relationships with the youth. Anyway, I came around a corner and saw an older man coming down the hill the opposite way and said hello. He looked at me funny because I am a gaijin, and then rode past. The next few moments brought a tremendous CRASH. Once again, I knew exactly what happened. I turned around to see the old man and elder Horne on the ground. They hit each other HARD. Horne Choro's helmet was knocked off and the old man had a nice cut on his face. He was sooooo mad. We tried to make sure he was okay, but he just told us to get out of there. Horne Choro's lip was pretty cut up so we just went back to the apartment and got cleaned up. I felt so bad for him. Anyway we chill here for a minute and eat breakfast when we get called by this old man saying he was going to the hospital and he wanted to report what happened to the police. From there we called our zone leaders, commissarian, mission president, and a bunch of other people for a few hours. Horne Choro thought he was gonna be put in prison. I tried to comfort him, but he felt pretty badly about everything happening. Eventually we had to go to the police station and report everything to them. Luckily the commissarian talked to them and explained what happened in understandable Japanese. It actually turned out to be the old man's fault so we were good, but we then had to go to the site of the accident to inspect it. Japanese pay incredible attention to detail, and the police were so excited to have something to do. There is no crime here. They tested it like a murder scene. They had us walk through what happened, say which direction they fell, drew chalk marks on the ground like there was a murder or something, took pictures, and then roped it off. Seriously? Anyway after that we were free to go. For the rest of the week Horne Choro has had a huge fat lip and a really sore jaw. It's been tough for him to talk and people often stop and stare at his huge lips hahaha. Poor guy. I'm glad he is okay though. I have found out he is simply very accident prone. Broke his arm five times. I have noticed it even more this week. He trips going up escalators and always knocks stuff over. Hahaha. I have permission to say all of this. All that aside, he is doing great and I am learning much from his attitude and his example. He is training me.

On Wednesday we had a first lesson with a man who is Catholic that comes to eikaiwa. He had horrible expectations and wouldn't let us talk the whole time. We struggled a little through that lesson and he didn't really understand what we expected of him. He still comes though so we will try to get another one set up soon.

Thursday we had a first set expectations kind of lesson with a man named Yuuta. He is incredible. He likes walking and has walked more than six hundred miles in one trip before. He went from some Podunk town to Kyoto I guess. Anyway he is the man I had met before who claimed he wasn't interested, then after stumbling upon him in the street again gave us his number and agreed to learn. He is golden. We met and gave him a church tour. He asked US if he could come to church, and asked US if he could have a Book of Mormon. He understood perfectly that we expect him to do things to help him learn and that if he comes to know what we know we would like him to be baptized. He said he had very strong interest in church and religion and wants to meet two to three times a week. We explained some brief things and answered a few questions, taught about prayer, committed him to read and pray every day, and he agreed. He then agreed to pray to end the lesson. Apparently he had never done it before but he said a wonderful prayer, to Heavanly Father, in the name of Christ. I was blown away. It certainly wasn't anything we did. We stumbled, tripped, and fell through the whole thing, but he saw past all that I guess. We will meet him again on Wednesday. He is very prepared.

Unfortunately the other Filipino kid we committed to be baptized has not contacted us since that meeting. That's a little disheartening, but we have given him a really good opportunity to choose. All we are asked to do is invite in faith and that's what we did. Of course we will continue to try to contact him, but I know he still has his agency...even if he chooses to use it stupidly:). Maybe a little harsh, but it's how I feel some times.

We had a zone meeting this week which was awesome. An elder from Canada named Faganello Choro gave an awesome training on finding. He said something I won't forget. He said," I don't want someone to walk up to me in the next life and say 'why didn't you try harder? I was so close and you gave up when talking to me.'" That all hit us pretty hard, there was a very strong spirit in the room and not many dry eyes. That is something I will always carry with me as I work to find and teach these people. Our nihonjin zone leader, Maki Choro, then stood up and thanked us all for coming to serve his people. He was so grateful that we all were willing to put off things to come over here and work to help these people come to Christ, it was touching. It really was such a good meeting.

I think that is about it for really specific stuff this week. The sisters set a specific date with their investigator for baptism so that was awesome. We will work to get our new investigators ready for that day as well. There are small minute things that are changing here. Please continue to pray for these people. We need the faith of everyone to help the greatest cause in the history of time and life. I love you all, and I miss you all terribly. Especially during these next few months, you know why. That being said here is no other way I would rather spend my time. 

Nats and Lisa and Kristin thanks for your letters. I love you all so much. Macsen thank for sending the pic. Tell Collin how much I love and miss him.

Love,

Viehweg Choro

English Class

Tokyo Sunrise

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October 6th, 2015

Hello mina San,

To be honest, I cannot remember what I talked about with you all, so if I repeat forgive me please. Where to begin...this week has been crazy and I am worn physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Kind of like a tire that has been on the bike for a few too many weeks. It's good though. I'm tired in a really good way. We have stepped up over the course of the end of this transfer and really worked to show the Lord that we are here to change the world. This week we had temple p-day today so that's why my mail is a little late.

So last week we managed to find four people who were willing to give us contact info and meet again, and several more that became Facebook friends and are in contact with us right now.  On Monday we met a Phillipino named Jason who was on his way back from the store with a can of beer to keep his one man party going, he was drunk, when we yelled out to him as he rode by on his bike. He was really happy to talk to us and knew some basic English. We talked about meeting again and became Facebook friends since he didn't have his phone on him. He's young and right in the sweet spot. Later this week we got his phone number and expect to see him on Saturday to talk more. 

The next day we had zone conference. It was so great. The theme was extending the baptism commitment in the first lesson. We would break out into groups and practice extending the commitments after different lessons. We focused on how we can relate the commitment to the lesson we just hypothetically taught, and how we can continue to teach and calm fears or worries when rejected. It was so helpful because as of yet I really have only taught one lesson since getting here where we sat down and really taught principals and extended invitations. That will change though. That night when we returned to Kamagaya we were on our way to ping pong night and we ran into a high school student who expressed a desire to meet again. We got his contact info as well.

The next day we went to eikaiwa (English class) and after while talking to the students Horne Choro approached a man who talked about how he had been baptized Catholic thirty years ago because of how much the missionaries helped him, and how he wanted us to come and visit him. Of course Horne Choro was all over it and, beings how he is blind, we bought an audio set for him at the temple book store. We will talk to him again tonight and see if we can meet him earlier than what he wanted, so that was awesome.

The next day, Thursday we had new missionary training...wait...okay so we had new missionary training on Tuesday and then last Thursday was Zone Comference. Sorry. This transfer has seriously blown by so fast I can't remember what happened. That reminds me of a funny story. Of course we got lost on the trains again on the way to Nakano for new missionary training hahaha. I gave us a huge grace period so we ended up being okay. I think at one point we walked out of an Eki and saw Tokyo Sky Tree right there and said, "Yupp..lost again." I felt so bad I lost us again after the disaster at the Elder Whiting conference. We eventually made it though hahaha. Anyway, the new missionary training was great. I discovered all the things I was doing wrong for Horne Choro and found how I can better serve and help him. The list is endless really. It was a good day though and we had fun in Nakano with the other trainers. As far as trainers go I am the youngest so I didn't see any of the people I went to the MTC with, but Horne Choro met up with his companions from there and really enjoyed that.

Last Wednesday night I got called by one of the assistants, Hughes Choro, saying that his companion, the other assistant Elder Chugg, was going on splits with our zone leaders, and he had nowhere to go. He told us that after zone conference he would be on splits with us! Pretty rare to have an assistant come to good old Kamagaya and work with us. It seriously is a speck on the map compared to the other areas. Anyway, after the conference on Thursday we all went back to Kamagaya. That night we had weekly planning, or rather we tried to have weekly planning. Horne Choro wanted to keep hearing stories about Huges Choro, who really did have some great stories, but we got nothing done. I was really stressed because the week before Horne Choro had been so sick and we didn't get to plan, and I felt such a difference from that I really wanted this week to go better. But, it didn't happen. Anyway the next day was pretty fun. Hughes Choro took us out to eat and then we went out and worked together. He really has locked in some really great attributes that Horne Choro and I both were able to learn from. That day we ran into the nicest Nihonjin (Japanese native) I have met thus far on my mission. He is a high school student and you may have seen the photo of him with me, Horne Choro, and Hughes Choro on Facebook. Such strong potential and wants to meet again if he has time. The poor guy is worked to death by school and sports. Anyway, working with Hughes Choro was what we really needed. He talked about how they (assistants and president Nagano) had just dumped us here and let us go at it on our own. After a while they realized they might need to come help us out a little, and the split with our zone leaders offered the perfect opportunity. Anyway, I really took a lot away from his example. There are so many amazing missionaries here. I swear everyone has rejected Harvard to go on a mission to Tokyo. I have met about five elders who have done that as well as several military academy cadets who also gave up their postings to serve. Crazy. I'm so lucky to work with such amazing people.

Saturday was good I guess, I couldn't tell you what happened because I forgot haha. Monday we had splits with the zone leaders so we met up Sunday night and Horne Choro went to Matsudou to work with Maki Choro, while I stayed here in Kamagaya with Morishita Choro. I'm really glad Horne Choro got to work with Maki Choro. He really is the all around best missionary I have worked with as of yet and Horne Choro really needs to actually LEARN for a change rather than deal with me hahaha. Working with Morishita Choro was awesome. He doesn't act like a Nihonjin, which I love of course. We had a good Monday of finding because we still don't have any regulars yet, but it was really good. We talked to a ton of people and invited as many as we could, but everyone chose not to partake of perfect happiness, eternal salvation, forgiveness of sin etc. What else can you do? Anyway, of course I learned a ton from him, and working with a Nihonjin meant we spoke a ton of Japanese which is always good for learning. 

Yesterday Horne Choro and I went to go see the recent convert from May who comes to all of our activities. He is a sweet man named Yoshida Kyodai. Anyway we got to his house with a few snacks because he is poorer than poor, and the first thing he does when he opens the door is ask us for one yen. People who have served in Japan or been there understand how worthless one yen is. I think it is worth maybe one hundredth of a cent. It was a pretty funny question. Apparently his bike had been booted by a bored cop and he needed one more yen to get it out. We could tell he was pretty stressed so we just gave it to him hahaha. He said he was super busy and had to go so we said good bye and walked back down to our bikes. We were chatting when he yelled from the top of his apartment building, ran down, and gave us chocolate milk. Right after that he took off down the road. Probably to retrieve his bicycle hahaha. From there we did some bike dendou and ran into a guy who had met us before. He is about twenty two and I didn't know who he was at all, but of course when he said we had met before I acted like we were premortal brothers. Anyway, he rejected our message the time before, but we asked about whether or not he remembered what we did. He said no and we talked a little bit. He was far more open to us this time, but was on his way to work so we didn't have much time. When we asked if we could contact him and talk more, to our surprise he gladly gave us his phone number. So we got him to contact as well now. So great to be able to do that. We talked to a bunch of other people that day and then tried to visit a member. That's a pretty funny story.

They live right on the edge of our area and we had no idea how to get there. The streets that show up on google maps are dirt paths and dead ends in real life, and before we knew it we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere. It looked like the jungle really haha, but we just kept on pushing forward. Eventually we got out to a more open area and saw the Tokyo Sky Tree all lit up again far off in the distance. It was night so we could make out the lights all the way around it. However that also told us how lost we really were. You are not supposed to see Sky Tree from Kamagaya hahaha. Anyway we called the zone leaders and explained we would be late getting back and then pushed on to find the member's apartment building. Eventually after about thirty more minutes we found that place. On the way back we discovered that all we really had to do was make three left turns and bike a huge distance to get there from our apartment. Whoops. Of course I was guiding us...stupid. Anyway it made for a fun adventure.

Today we had temple pday. Of course it was wonderful and I love the temple so much, but getting to Nakano just doesn't agree with me. We got lost on the way there. This time we only got lost for ten minutes in Tokyo station, and we only took one wrong train haha. I feel like such a scrub. We barely made it in time to make our session, but we made it and that's all I care about. After that we went to the gorgeous park they have right next to the temple and took some pictures. It was so pretty and there were several groups of preschool kids walking around with leashes attached to their teachers. So darn cute. We then ate some awesome ramen, and started the challenge of getting home. Once again, Tokyo station proved the bane of my existence and we got lost there, but no wrong trains! 

We really were so busy this week, and I am feeling it now. We had to wake up around five or earlier seven or eight days in the last week for training, conference, zone meeting, temple pday, seminary with the youth and other things. Of course you all know we don't stop till we get back to the apartment and then it's calls, and reports, maybe a little study, and then bed. Poor Horne Choro, he puts up with me all day and then just crashes when we get to the apartment. The guy goes out like a light every day. I feel like I may push a little too hard, but I just crave the feeling of leaning back in my chair after a day of work, study, calls, rejections, invitations, and visits, and feeling tired to my bones. I LOVE that feeling. That is when I feel closest to my Savior, only after I know I have done all that I can do. I think things are slowly changing in Kamagaya. When I first got here, and even now, every older missionary has talked about how 'special' Kamagaya is and how difficult it can be. Whatever. They just weren't up to the task of changing the culture here. Hopefully next week I won't get transferred. I really want to keep working here and seeing it change. It's so slow, but I really think it is happening. 

From here on out we have more disaster cleanup and then conference. Nothing else too great to report. What a week. So much more has gone on and I can't even think about what I did.

Danielle congrats on the med school. I sure am happy for you guys! You are a wonderful, mother, cut yourself some slack. I know I gotta eat my own words too. 

Krisitin thanks for the update on paradise. Sounds like a good time! I'm glad John got out to do some gunnery.

Lisa the update was hilarious hahaha. Thanks for all the stories

Brittany thanks for the story about the anniversary. Sounds like you had a BLAST. Come to Japan next time...

Sorry if I leave you out of shout outs. My brain is slowly quitting on my. I love you all so very much and miss you all so much this time of year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, the tenth, Christmas. I don't think this time will ever be the same again for the rest of my life. You are all in my prayers.

Love,

Viehweg 長老

Garden near the Tokyo Temple

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