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

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