August 16th, 2015

Hey everyone,

I sympathize with you dad. I have no idea where the time goes. We only have two weeks left in this transfer--it's nuts. First off a little business, so my birthday is like two days after transfer calls, and I may leave...or I may stay. You know how it is, they make it a surprise. So please send anything you want early or wait for me to get back to you on whether or not I am still in Kamagaya. Kinda tai hen (terrible) so sorry about that. Dad, the nihongo word is jisho. I won't name names, but messaging me via Facebook to ask what I want for my birthday prooobably isn't in line with the rules haha. I had to un-follow everyone in the family for my mission. So please keep that in mind.

I have come to learn that in a country as humid as Japan "wrinkle free" means diddly squat. Needless to say my ironing skills have drastically improved as a result. Basically have to do it every night to stay ahead of things.

Also, I think that convenience store bathrooms in Japan could be considered for the eighth wonder of the world. They have music, air fresheners, heated seats, background noise, are immaculately clean, and very private. If every convenience store in the world had a bathroom like the ones in Japan, world peace would be attainable.

So this week...dad I do keep a detailed journal, but we write at the church and it doesn't fit in my bag so I can't use it to refer to as I write. I'll try to remember everything that has happened so far.

Early this week we tried several different methods for finding, but unfortunately they haven't really panned out. The whole mission is struggling right now to find people willing to be taught, so every district, area, and zone is focusing on creative finding. Also this past week was Obone season. It's when everyone goes to the temple the one time out of the year to throw money to monks who sit all day and chant Buddha's name. It's a pretty big family holiday, and people return to their hometowns for it. Because we live next to so many universities, there is now only old people left here in Kamagaya. So finding was difficult. Old people never want to talk with us hahaha. Anyway, we did manage to find a few people by calling about a hundred names from the area book. One lives in another area so we referred him to the elders there, and the other we set up to meet him on Tuesday so that was cool. We had district meeting on Thursday, and the leaders all focused on a topic that was perfect for what we are going through right now. A huge chunk of it was centered on companionship unity and love. Everyone knows that when life gets crazy, it becomes more difficult to have a smooth relationship, and if anything is going to help us get through this slump, it is unity with our companions. They talked about showing love, and patience, and all the other Christlike attributes associated with being a disciple of him, and tied them to the companionship. I thought it was really cool. I was surprised at one point when our companionship got singled out. Every night while Tsuchida does his call in report I iron a shirt for him and for me. Didn't really think much of it at the time but he told the zone leaders about it the other day, and they brought it up in zone meeting as an example. It was pretty humbling and a little embarrassing.  I'm just happy to be able to help in some small way. He helps me so much in so many ways, ironing a shirt is just a tiny way to show my thanks.

The next day we returned to Matsudou again for mission president interviews. President and sister Nagano are so kind and loving. The Budges were more powerful and commanding, still nice, but different. The Naganos are so different but they are exactly what we need right now. Unfortunately president Nagano was running late for our interviews, so they were only about fifteen minutes long. There was so much more we wanted to talk about, but it's all good. There are plenty of other missionaries who need his help and council more I think. Talking with Nagano Shimai was wonderful. She is such a gentle, nurturing woman. You really feel the love she has as you talk to her. And of course the chocolate brownies with cream cheese frosting were deleicious. I think elder Tsuchida really was able to hear things he needed to. He puts so much pressure on himself and they both helped him to relax and be confident in what we are doing. They both had things to say about us that put a lot of fears to rest. Feelings of inadequacy, feeling like we aren't working hard enough, wondering why we aren't seeing 'success' like past elders. All that stuff was pretty much put to rest. So that was good.

One really cool thing that happened was the sisters got a baptismal date this past week. Tsuchida choro and I were sitting in priesthood one day when we got a phone call from some young Filipino woman who said she wanted to come to church and asked all kinds of questions about when and where. She lives in Chiba, which is an hour away, but insists that she needs to come to Kamagaya. Somehow at a far away Eki (train station) she was handed a Kamagaya area pamphlet. How, we do not know. But we referred her to the sisters. She came to church that next week, and met with them and agreed to be baptized in the next two weeks. She is basically a kinjin, golden investigator, and went to church with friends in the Philippines. She lives out of our area, but the sisters have permission to teach her because she requested it. Kind of funky, but apparently she is way solid. So that was really cool to see.

We met with our skype man again. He really is the only investigator who is regular. We taught him the plan of salvation, which he learned already, which he had forgotten, which he loved. He loved it because it is exactly like Buddhism....only it is absolutely NOTHING like Buddhism. These people love the gospel. They love the idea of a LOVING God, and a plan for happiness, but they are so darn rigid and traditional, they trick themselves into believing that the religions are the same and they don't need to change. So far this man has accepted everything he has been taught over the last seven months except prayer and baptism. He knows if he prays he will feel the spirit so he refuses to and says he is not worthy. He refuses to meet with us in person because he knows he will feel the spirit. He refuses to agree to baptism because he knows he will have to act and to feel the spirit. Soooooo we have no idea what to do with him. Nice guy though. Talks in circles and shows off his English a lot, but a nice man. 

Other than thaaaaat I don't remember much of this week.sorry about that. Had another earthquake, that was fun. It's cooled off some this past week which has been nice. Still very hot and humid though. 

Sounds like everyone is having a blast back at home. Keep doin the things you love!

I love you all,

Kiwotsukete ne (be careful)

Viehweg Choro

August 10th, 2015

So this week, the song that kept popping in my head while dodging traffic and small Asians on my jitensha, was the theme music for Indianna Jones. I sure love those movies. He's always been a hero of mine hahaha.

First off I am so thankful for Shannon's experience. What a wonderful thing. To be honest dad I don't remember a whole lot about that time. (Around Mom's funeral)  I think my mind has kind of repressed and blacked out a lot of what happened at that time.   Sometimes I wish I could remember it, but I can't.  So hearing about that was really good for me. What a wonderful thing for her.  Love you Shannon.

So we were able to meet with a few more investigators from the other elder's area book this week. Of course, as soon as they heard what our purpose was, they insisted they were not interested.  Unfortunately this has become the pattern for all of those investigators. I think that the other elders were a little vague on their purpose, and people don't really understand what we are doing, so when Tsuchida Choro and I meet with them, they don't want anything to do with what we are doing. Needless to say we have continued to clean up the area book.  We are both thinking that cleaning up Kamagaya may be our purpose this transfer.  We haven't been able to connect with our own investigators, except one, and none of the people we find want to continue to meet.  So, we are just doing what we can when we can. It's hard to feel like you are doing anything to help the area, but there is a reason I'm here in Kamagaya, and who am I to say what that purpose should be? 

On Tuesday, we had been invited to come to a festival with some of our eikaiwa students.  We are allowed to do such things if we make sure they understand that we will take the time to discuss the gospel some, and we have men for us elders, and women for the sisters to accompany.  The festival was Tuesday night, and by that time, we still hadn't found someone who wanted to go with us. It was only women so far. The women students had told us of all the foods they were going to make for us and things they were going to buy us, so we felt really bad.  We were going to call them to say we couldn't go, when the other elder's recent convert, Yoshida Kyodai, asked if we could help him get to the Eki. So we had to go to the Eki, see the women, and then tell them we couldn't go. It was so awkward.  As we were walking up, they were jumping up and down and waving and before we could get a word out, they gave us packages with traditional clothing for the festival to wear AND keep. After that we told them "Uh, so actually we can't go...sorry.."  They were devastated for an instant, and then they got over it and set down their bags and cases in the middle of the crowded Eki, and proceeded to unpack food they had made for us, and give it to us to take with us back to our apartment.  Elder Tsuchida and I felt sooooo guilty just watching them all on their knees unpacking onagiri, yakisoba, bread, fruit...it was awful....but soooo funny hahaha. They are sweet old ladies, so they still love us.  I honestly don't know what Japan would do without women. The men are so gruff, closed off, and proud, but the women are so kind and gentle and patient. It's crazy how different the genders are here. I don't know how they get along, or get married.  Anyway..dinner that night was good.

We have been teaching a convert who was baptized last November, but has only come to church three times since. He works all day on Sunday and his boss won't let him change his schedule. It's really sad, when we meet with him, we can feel his spirit and testimony, and his desire to obey is strong, but his boss won't let him. He still comes to eikaiwa every week, so we just feed him spiritually. I think we might try to have him start looking for a new job.  People here in Japan work so hard for not very much.  It is such an expensive country, and there are so many people, it is hard for them to be able to be flexible with their work and schedules.  I always tell Tsuchida one thing I am grateful for in being an American, is that we know how to work hard, but we also know how to play hard.  I don't think people really enjoy thier lives, they just work and then go to other obligations. It's pretty sad, but the church members give you hope. They manage to find time for what really matters. How, I don't know, but they do it and it shows.

I gave my first talk this past Sunday. It was on the sacred calling of parents. Luckily I have such great examples to draw from. I talked about the scripture in 1 Corinthians about man and women being created together, and about the sons of Hellman and thier mothers. I breifly referenced how you took such good care of us dad during a very difficult time, and everyone was blown away by your example. They thought it was nuts that we would wake up at five thirty to read scriptures together, and do FHE, and family dinner. They loved it though. Needless to say dad, you are now a hero in the Kamagaya ward.  I think talking about your example actually made a lot of them desire to review thier priorities and such.  So thank you for always being such a great example, and taking your calling as a parent so seriously.  Of course all the members were very complementary of my Japanese. I still think it is just out of politeness. Oh well, I don't think I spoke any false doctrine, so that's a plus.

Dad I keep forgetting to talk about the Skype appointments. Our skype man lives in Shiroi which is like forty minutes away by bike, but he insists on meeting over Skype. It started six months ago as an English class, and since then he has really gained an appreciation for missionaries and the Book of Mormon.  But he refuses to meet in person because he knows our message is true, and feels the spirit, and knows that if we meet in person he will only feel it that much stronger. Guess how old he is?  75. The ogichans (older folks) always have such horrible outlandish excuses for not doing things, it would be funny if we didn't know how close he is.  Anyway we skype for an hour and teach a lesson from the church. I don't like it, but at least we got to do something with an investigator.  Such a drought right now we are grateful any opportunity to teach. Maybe he is one of those people who after six years will finally get over his fear of change, like the stories you always hear about.

I can never remember what happens throughout the week.  Pday arrives and my mind is so ful of gospel, and Japanese, and random things that I can't think straight. So sorry if I forget things.

Kristin I hope you and John can make a decision soon on what you want to do. That's a tough one for sure. It kinda makes me sad hearing about how bad the army is...it's all I have ever really wanted to do... Oh well. You could have a kid?  I hear that solves all your problems...

Macsen thanks for the pro tip!  With all the humidity the collar stains are hard to get rid of.  The Japanese have some special formula cleaner made especially for it, but it's expensive so I'll try the shampoo. Miss you and love you so much!

I sure love you all. I hope all is well there in murica.

Viehweg choro

The breakfast Elder Viehweg made for his companion's birthday

Celebration cupcake

Close up on the American breakfast

Tokyo entertainment

August 3rd, Toyko

Another crazy week full of blood sweat and tears here in Kamagaya.  Lately more sweat I would say.
It's good to have pday.  I am still cleaning up my Facebook and I have to un-follow a lot of people and end friendships, and in doing so, seeing my friend's engagement photos has been really weird hahaha. That seems so far away and I do NOT want to think about it. I sure am happy for Brig and Phillip though. They are two of the best for sure.
So this week started off incredibly well. We had a threesome exchange where our new zone leader, Maki choro, came to Kamagaya to work with us for twenty four hours. Let me tell you he is the best missionary I have met since the start of this crazy thing. I have never worked with someone who has more zeal, passion, love, and commitment to the work. As a nihonjin you expect them to be quiet reserved and polite, but not Maki choro. The guy is running down the streets after people who rejected us four times to give them a pamphlet before they lose us, he is telling jokes, and relating the people's lives and interests to the gospel with such excitement that you see the fire catch in their eyes. It was almost to the point where they were taking the Book of Mormon from us. We talked to so many people that day, and gave out eight books of Mormon all together I think. As a sannin (threesome) it is sometimes hard to work together, but me, Tsuchida choro, and Maki choro really hit our stride that day. We all contributed and I had never spoken Japanese that well before. It was an awesome day. We finished off with splits review and Maki choro really had some humbling things to say. He really had no advice for us. He said everything we are doing is what we should be doing, that we should simply be more confident out there when we proselyte was his only advice. I personally pretty much always think I am not doing enough in anything I do, so hearing that was really great. He also said that I had the best japanese of any second transfer missionary he had met. After that, he talked about how president Nagano had been hearing so much about us specifically and that he wanted us to take on this area ourselves because of it. Coming from such an incredible missionary, this stuff was more valuable than gold to me. All I can think about now is how I can do more, how I can better improve and serve. All these complements really took me off guard, almost like we didn't deserve them. So as a result Tsuchida choro and I are really committing to getting to the next level of work and commitment in any way that we can. Really such a humbling thing to hear.
The next day and days following we found out why we had been paid so many compliments. From Tuesday to Friday it was basically a desert for proselyting. All week we were rejected like we never have been before. Our schedule kept having wrenches thrown in it, and we simply could not connect with people. I don't think we gave any Books of Mormon out and maybe one or two pamphlets. So on Monday, God was prepping us to be humbled yet again, and to remember that HE is behind this work. It was very difficult for me not to let myself get down, but my trainer is the best. Tsuchida choro's faith was always sky high and he never let anything get him down. I simply tried to follow his example as best I could. Midway through the week we discovered where we were needed at this time. The transfer before I arrived, the other elders baptized one Yoshida Kyodai. He is a simple minded, really sweet man. He is committed and bikes very far to church every week and to eikaiwa (English class) as well. Since our area was consolidated, he is now our responsibility. So we visited him. We found out that his neighbors are insane, and have harassed and even stolen from him recently. He cannot move because he is very poor, so we talked about dedicating his home. Later we contacted the bishop and he gave us the go ahead. So we returned on Friday and dedicated his home. Tsuchida used some pretty solemn and respectful Japanese, so I didn't understand the honorifics, but I felt the peace settle on his home. I am so grateful I could experience that. From there, we went down to the apartment complex common for a small festival and ate dinner with Yoshida Kyodai. During the festival they had this awesom taikou group perform on stage. Let me tell you taikou is THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. These tiny but jacked Japanese men go nuts on these huge drums with bamboo drumsticks in such intricate rhythms. There is so much power and reverberation in those drums. They mixed in chants and yells too. Really the only thing I can think of is power. But you should all go look it up, the choreography they mix in while playing the drums is soooo cool. They stretch their arms out and move with the rhythm at certain times that really enhances the experience. I definitely hope to see that again.
The next day we pretty much got rejected everywhere we went. A couple people even had the police come talk to us because apparently we were forcing people to accept our message. Whatever, it was frustrating, but also funny haha. We were about to do some service for a member, and got all changed, but right as we were getting on our bikes I had the most powerful and intense uneasy feeling come over me. I just sat there saying over rand over something is wrong. Tsuchida choro was really understanding and patient and just said okay let's go do some streeting at the train station. So we changed again and headed in the complete opposite direction. I was feeling a little down because the day had not gone well and I felt bad for making us switch gears and throw off the groove again. While on our bikes we were contacted by the sister in the ward who teaches seminary. Apparently one of the students named Takun had told her he didn't want to go home after class, so she left him at the church. She said that she was actually worried about all the children from that home, and that she knew proselyting was our first priority, but if we had time she asked that we think about swinging by the church to check on Takun. Of course we immediately went there. It turns out that there has been some fighting in the home. We didn't press, but we just talked with him about life and joked with him, let him know we loved him and gave a sort of impromptu lesson on family, love and forgiveness. I knew then that was why I had felt so uneasy. It was great to know that God trusted us to lead us to someone in need. Takun comes to eikaiwa all the time, and he is always willing to do member present lessons, so it was great to be able to help him.
Other than that we taught a few member families some lessons and things like that before the week ended. Fast Sundaywas a real treat. Takun got up and expressed how thankful he was for us and our service, and several of the other members did the same. They all felt that we loved them and wanted to help strengthen their testimony, which is our purpose. So that was really good to hear. Again very humbling, being blessed with these experiences only reinforces the fact that I need to work harder and try to do more.
All in all this week was about the members I think. Sunday night at the Eki while I was being ignored by nihonjins hahaha, a Mongolian who moved here to work just walked up and asked where church was, what I did here, what the book was that I was holding, and questions about the gospel. We communicated through my very broken Japanese for a while, then with Tsuchida's help got his phone number. He was in a hurry to catch a train, but he took the book and a flyer. So we hope we can meet him again soon. The week was such a roller coaster--holy cow. I can remember so often feeling like my faith was a little weak, or that I was beginning to doubt, but I think that as long as we work to maintain the faith we have, and keep ourselves obedient and dilligent, God will make up for the rest of our weakness. The keys are obedience and diligence I suppose. At least they were this week.
Today we had zone pday because of the new zone being formed which was very fun. We did a picture scavenger hunt, and suikardi. Suikardi is like Japanese piñata. Except it's a watermelon on the ground and you smash it with a pole. Then everyone eats the watermelon haha. Very funny because when people miss, the ground jars them pretty good.
Man...not sure what else has happened. I don't even know anymore. Things are just blurry and run together. It makes me nervous because if I am ever called to be a trainer or something, I feel like I won't even know what's going on half the time. Seriously, I never want to be in a leadership position here hahah.
Thanks for the letters everyone! Brit the camper looks awesome! Use it well. Macsen thanks for the collar stain advice! Shannon I am sorry I haven't had time to write you!
I love you all and I love this work,
Viehweg Choro

When I don't get email

P-day antics

Act like a duck

Shake hands with a stranger

Doing Service

July 27th, 2015

Stop emailing about camping!!!!!! Hahaha there is NO open space here and your letters are killing me..Really though I'm fine haha. Jokes. But seriously hearing about Redfish and then about Kristin's Smoky Mountain trip really made me miss camping, and I think we are living in the same climate so I feel your pain hahaha! Anyway, I'm glad you all are having a blast in America. Japan is pretty fun too:)
So,
This week while riding our bikes to and from places I keep getting the opening theme music from MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER stuck in my head Hahahaha. Sometimes it's so bad I almost run into the back of Tsuchida Choro. Whoops. Since then I have been working on staying focused on the purpose even while riding my jitensha (bicycle). Still, pretty funny that something so random popped into my head this week. Sure did love those movies.
Danielle congratulations on the beautiful little Avery. Love the small tribute to mom in her name too:) Warms my heart.
This week was of course, as you can imagine, nuts. We have taken in the whole area between us two and the north and south Matsudou zones combined so now everyone's area is bigger. We got soooo many people from the other elder's area book and have been trying to contact them all while taking care of our own mikomi kyudoshas (investigators). On Thursday, we had a SIX HOUR WEEKLY PLANNING SESSION. We sat down and went through all of the names in the other elder's area book, and talked about each one, dropped some, called some, and made plans to contact and get to know them. By the end of it poor Tsuchida Choro was pooped out. He works so hard, and he is taking his responsibility as trainer/district leader seriously, which is great. He is always genki (cheerful) though and ready to take on the days.
Our apartment seems so enormous now with only two elders living in it, no more studying in the genkan hahaha. It's so quiet too. Tsuchida Choro is the classical, incredibly polite, show no emotion kind of Japanese person. Since his mission started, he has really come out of his shell so it's good now, but we both aren't super loud people haha. It's been nice to breathe a little in the apartment and not have six lines of laundry hanging all across the kitchen and tatami room as well.
Last Friday we had a lesson with one person, who talked for an hour straight, about what, I have nooooo idea. It was super windy from the OTHER typhoon coming through and I was sitting on the other side of Tsuchida Choro on a bench, so I basically looked at nature and prayed for an hour straight. A little frustrating, but nothing could be done about it.
On Saturday we taught eikaiwa (English class) which is always fun. I love hearing nihonjin try to pronounce English r l and v sounds hahaha. So awesome. It is exactly how you would expect it to be. They are great and work hard and participate which is nice. A lot of the time I can't really explain things in Japanese so I just say it in English and hope for the best, luckily for me they are so patient and appreciative that it is free.  That night we had a dinner appointment with the Matsumoto family who took us out my first night here in Kamagaya. They ALWAYS are finding referrals and most of the time they don't pan out, but they understand how it is and just keep feeding us people. It's great. So we biked forty minutes to their house and ate with an older man. While talking we found out that he chain smokes and loves osake so he may be a tough one. He was friendly though and loved our message about service. He said next time he gets out to work in his garden he will invite us. So it was a success, his Japanese is so hard though, even Tsuchida Choro had a tough time understanding him. We will see how that one pans out.
Sunday was great. My brain exploded as usual, but I am more used to it now and just try to soak it all in hoping that I am really learning. At church we met this kid from New Mexico who is studying here for a year through Dartmouth, he is a genius. He has a full ride and they pay for his travel and housing and food while out here. Anyway his schedule is not so bad so he may start coming to help us with eikaiwa which will be good because we are short handed now. Nice kid, and active in the church as far as I can tell.
This past week we had a Skype lesson with the same man, Tomita San, we always do. We talked about prayer and helped him understand the people and civilizations in the Book of Mormon. He was gracious as ever and tried to praise us the whole time. I am so nervous about him loving us and not the gospel that we ALWAYS are so careful to just give all credit for who we are to the gospel and what we have learned. At the end we invited him to pray and of course because he is Buddhist he refused kindly. I then felt impressed to tell him that he is too good a person for God to let go, and God will not give up on him, so we won't either. I said it may take a long time, but that I truly believed he will come to know these things are true. To that he said if I keep that attitude we may just help him change, whatever that means. Anyway he knows it's true, and feels the spirit, he just doesn't want to change. We will keep working on him for sure. After the lesson he said today was the best lesson he has ever had, which was awesome because he has been meeting with missionaries since Christmas. Pray for him.
Tsuchida Choro and I seem to be getting better at working together. There are times where I can't understand or speak much, but those times seem to be much less frequent. Still a long way to go yet of course, patience is the bane of my existence hahaha.
Sorry these are so random, but Sunday night we had another dinner appointment with the Saito family. They had a super adorable super hyperactive five year old girl and the ward mission leader came as well. It was really great. Dad I don't know if this was your experience but dinner appointments in Japan take way too long. In the white handbook it says no more an an hour, and we are often there for two and a half. Simply put THEY DONT LET YOU LEAVE. There are times I want to lean over to Tsuchida Choro and say we should be out working, but it's just different here. Instead I try to wait patiently and pick out words I know in the conversation. Mostly unsuccessfully Hahahaha. Anyway when we finally were allowed to share our lesson, we talked about the restoration, the Book of Mormon, and how it has blessed our families. As soon as I introduced the lesson the room became so peaceful. Their tiny apartment was filled with the presence of the spirit. Even the little girl sat there staring at us with her huge brown eyes. We had each person explain their conversion story and how they knew the Book of Mormon was true. It was so awesome. Tsuchida Choro does such a good job of channelling the spirit and love of Christ into what he says.
I can't say enough how wonderful it is to have this be my purpose all day every day. What a wonderful calling to study share and teach about the word of God. When I see and hear people talk from their soul, honestly, about things that too often go unsaid it fills me with so much hope and joy for their future and mine. In this country in particular, no one speaks with very much honesty, out of politeness or to hide any "weaknesses" they feel they may show. It truly is heartbreaking, but there are special times when those cultural barriers are broken down, and you get glimpse of their spirit and soul. It is such a precious and sacred thing to me.
This past week I talked to one man at an eki who listened well to what I said. When I offered him a Book of Mormon, he refused. Looking at him I knew there was something wrong, something he wanted to talk about but was refusing to. I prodded and tried to find out what was wrong asking him if he was okay, and he seemed to be having a mental battle as to whether or not to talk to me about what was in his heart. I saw and felt his struggle, not sure how, but I did. And I felt so much empathy for him. All I wanted was to hear what he was thinking about, and help him with whatever that was. Unfortunately he only buried it all deeper. I continued to think about him all night. I'm not sure what I am trying to say, I suppose it is that I am grateful to be doing what I do with the help of the spirit.
What else..I'm not quite sure.
Tell Rachel I am so happy for her an Shaun. And tell Todd congratulations for his mission call, that's such great news. Jessica your story about the Dutch oven was awesome Hahahaha. Natalie sounds like you had quite an adventure for girls camp, those things turn into really great memories I promise haha.
Things are difficult of course, but I do love it. Sunday it was one hundred degrees with ninety eight percent humidity, so I was soaked through with sweat hahah, but I could care less. We had a great day finding yesterday with the little time we had and that's all that matters. I'm excited to continue to learn and grow and change, I only hope I CAN change, and not remain so stubborn and weak all the time.
Dad I hope you find a home for the trailer and thank you for the words of encouragement! You better be brushing up on nihongo, I'm gonna run tracks around you come Christmas time.
Love everyone so much.
Viehweg Choro

At Matsumoto

Ramen

Garden plot form apartment 

Sunset scene

Sunset from church

July 20th- Toyko

Konichiwaaaaaa,

Hey family! Another week down. And with this one the first transfer ended. How the heck did that happen? I feel like thirty seconds ago I was walking off the train to Kamagaya for the first time with my doryo. So strange, but I guess that means we were busy, and busy is good.

So we cannot teach women because of a few bad eggs here in Tokyo. It really is a shame, because I would say of the few people we actually do talk to, women make up ninety percent of them. But all we can do is a small intro, give them material, and refer them to the sisters. Kinda frustrating, but we feel good that we can help the sisters find people to teach. The rest of Japan can teach women as long as they abide by the rules in the white handbook. 

So today we had zone pday in Matsudou, where we found out they are combining our zone with another.  With that change me and Tsuchida Choro will take over ALL of Kamagaya and its investigators. It's a huge load of work, but I sort of knew the Lord was gonna lay one on us when he allowed me and Tsuchida Choro to stay together. I am so happy I get him for another two weeks. I really do have the greatest trainer in the entire Tokyo mission. I feel so blessed to be here with him. Also not having to sleep on the kitchen hardwood floor and study in the genkan (entry) will be nice too. The genkan is the area near the door where every one puts their shoes, and my desk has been on the edge the whole transfer haha. We have one of the smallest apartments in the zone so it's been a tight fit for six weeks. At zone pday we played ultimate free for all dodge ball. It was so fun. You restrict the game to half court and have one ball. If you pick up the ball you can take two steps before you have to throw it. The only way the game can end, is if one person gets everyone out, each time someone is out, all the people THEY got out go back in. It's really fast paced and chaotic, and lasts for a long time, so that was fun. Other than that we had transfer calls. Our District Leader Kuwana Choro, from Sapporo, dad, will transfer out so that was kind of a bummer, he is always happy and positive and suuuuper funny. Good missionary. But we are excited for the opportunity to work more.

What else happened this week...it's so hard to remember it all. So this past week we had a typhoon nearby, so we had super high winds that were HOT. It felt like a car heater blowing in your face, while it was already one hundred degrees with ninety percent humidity haha. I would compare it to driving the Acura the last three years of her life in the summer. Danielle, Shannon, dad, you know. The week before that it got suuuuper hot and humid, and the week before it was freezing sideways rain. So the weather has been crazy. It's consistently hot and humid now. I thought I would hate it, and I suppose I do to an extent, but I am so tired I just don't even care that I am always sticky and sweaty hahaha. I'll need to find some mega bleach for my shirt collars...

I forgot to talk about this but I did have my first earthquake! It was pretty fun. I woke up in the middle of the night to the ground shaking back and forth, it felt kinda like someone was shaking me awake and once they got me up, they gently rocked me back to sleep hahaha. Was just a tiny one. 

This past week we had one lesson with an investigator over Skype. He is kinda crazy and treats our lessons like free English lessons. He won't commit to anything but loves the Book of Mormon and the missionaries. That's the problem here, people love the missionaries, because we patiently teach them, and they love the stories and principles of the Book of Mormon, but they never commit to anything hah. Pretty tough, but everyone tells me stories of how people met with the missionaries for years before finally committing, so we patiently try to get to his heart. This last time though, we had a member present and things went a little crazy haha. The member got really passionate when talking about temples and got a little preachy, we knew he meant well so we let him have his time, but our investigator got mad and felt he was being preached at. Called him arrogant and such. The spirit ditched at that point so we just ended the lesson. Fortunately he will still see us, but not that member haha. We tried to explain through email that he really is a wonderful person and such, I guess we will see what he thinks now.

Other than that it was finding, housing, streeting, pamphlets and over and over again. This week we finally made the goal and the mission standard for placing Books of Mormon given, which was Ten. We managed to do well and get twelve so that felt good, but you are always hungry to find people who are gonna stick around. Not just those interested in a record of people from America and learning about what God is. The only thing we can do is continue to work and invite.

On a funny note I am becoming Japanese. I am really awkward now for an American, vey soft spoken and such, but it's normal here so I don't notice it till the end of the day when I look back, look at Tsuchida Choro, and say, "I'm such an awkward person now!!" He just laughs and says that is the life of a senkyoshi. One awkward encounter after another hahaha. It's so funny because you won't be rejected outright or rudely, most of the time, but people will pretty much ignore the fact you exist. At the park the other day, we were talking to some college kids who were NOT interested, but would not flat out tell us to get lost, so I refused to get lost! After ten minutes of the quietest most awkward conversation ever, we finally gave them a Book of Mormon and left. Hard to put into words, but I'll be a weirdo when I come home, if I come home? Haha just kidding, but it's hard to imagine doing something else, I mostly delude myself into thinking this is my life now.

What else happened this week...oh the once fearful Jehovah's Witness missionaries have found all the ekis (train stations) that we work at and have decided to set up shop at all of them, throughout the week. That's been tough. They just sit there with their arms folded not looking at anyone while their fancy podium poster board thing plays some kind of recording about their church. It's so strange how they do missionary work. It is all passive, they don't try to seek or find at all. That's been a little frustrating though. People often ask if we are Jehovah's witnesses and we have to explain and assure them we are not, I don't know what their message is, but people seem to be pretty wary of it here. 

Oh I remember I wanted to tell you one story about a member we visited this week. His name is Hirukawa Kyodai. He has some serious health problems, he can hardly walk and can only say a few words at a time before he clenches his eyes and sucks his breath. I think it is some kind of pain. I have no idea what his problems are, but my heart breaks for him. I wish I could help him, ease his pain somehow, care for him. I hardly know that man, but when I think about him my eyes fill with tears because I feel so much love for him. Every single week he calls a cab to come take him to church, rain or shine or snow and slowly hobbles into the church, when we could easily take him the sacrament. His conversion is one of the most solid I have ever seen. We visited him last Friday. When we rode up to his house, we saw that the big earthquake several years ago liquified some of  his foundation, and his front porch sunk a little into the ground. Because of that you can only open the door enough to squeeze inside. And the brick and stone on his house is in pretty bad disrepair. When he called for us to go in, my heart broke into a million pieces. He can hardly care for himself, so his house is a pretty big mess. There are a lot of broken things, a lot of trash and garbage all around. We stood in his genkan and read the Book of Mormon with him and talked about how our desires and actions help us become better people, and how that secures our conversion in life. Continuing to feed our righteous desires. He then told us that he was going to the temple to do some family names. He can't afford a new air conditioner, new glasses, or repairs for his house, but he budgets so that he can go to the temple for his family. As he sat on his floor talking with us I could see his pain and suffering. In my mind I think about his body being draped in chains and weights, but despite all the heavy adversity he continues to slowly put on foot in front of the other and keep his eyes toward Christ. It really is inspiring. We thanked him for his example and promised to return. Tsuchida Choro and I both have decided we will return and begin to clean his house for him. It's such a funny thing that I can feel so much love for him, and really not know a thing about him. I read again about Christ healing all the Nephites when he visited them after his resurrection, and thought about how wonderful it would be if I could ease his pain, even just a little. But I know that his faith is strong enough to ensure that he will receive that gift of eternal life in due time. Such a wonderful man.

There are so many examples, and experiences in a mission that simply testify of the love and influence of Christ all around us. It's hard to explain in words..especially in very poor English. But once again I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here. 

Kristin thanks for the letter. I'm sorry the army is such a joke and can't tell which way to put those pants on in the morning. I really hope that when I choose something oriented in that area, it isn't such a horrible experience, it literally is the only thing I have ever wanted to do. Oh and stop saying kids ruin everything, we need more nieces and nephews haha. Seriously sounds like you are having tons of fun, so thanks for the update.

I haven't heard from a lot of you today, but if you wrote and I forgot I am so sorry!

Preston that's sweet that you served in Singapore. Nihonjins loooove Singapore and go there all the time it seems like. I am pretty much wet all day every day and sometimes at night too haha. We definitely bike EVERYWHERE, it's nuts. But I like being out and active so even in the heat I am grateful for it. Thanks so much for the emails man. Keep working hard with Lance, is he still doing  foreclosed homes? That job got pretty nasty at times hahaha.

I sure do love you all very much and miss you. 

Viehweg Choro

July 6th 2015

Hey family and friends,

I haven't heard from any of you yet, so I am sure that you ware celebrating America the way you should. With all your heart! Living away has made me very grateful for the country and culture I come from.

What a week. Each week has its own unique challenges and difficulties, accompanied with its own unique miracles and tender moments.

We finally found someone to teach early in the week. He was a twenty five year old who worked at a business next to the eki (train station) where we were street contacting. He was really kind and was interested enough to have us meet him at the same spot in the park the next day. So we arrived there and he was nowhere to be found, we were about to head out when he came walking around the corner. We sat down and talked about his life and set up our expectations and what our purpose is. After that we taught the first lesson. It was really good. He was engaged, and participated the whole time. At the end we testified and he thanked us for the lesson. He talked about the calm he felt and how he had been looking for some religion. We then started to set up a future appointment, and he just looked at us and said,"daijobu desu" which means I'm good or no thank you in some situations, and he walked off. We never saw him again. We were both pretty heartbroken and couldn't understand why that had happened. We just talked about how we cannot change his heart, and at least he has the Book of Mormon and its message in his heart now. Still, he was basically a kinjin right up to the end (golden investigator). It was good to teach the lesson though so I am grateful for that.

Later this week we were doing some jitensha dendo (proselyting) on our bikes when Tsuchida Choro, who was ahead of me, was stopped by this adorable little Asian girl in her school uniform. She said something to him, and then hurried over to me and said,"ame ga furu yo!", hahaha she was warning us that,"it was going to rain!"  As people grow up here in such crowded conditions they value their space and quiet, which is why they ignore you all the time and never say hi, but I could see that this small child was not yet influenced by her culture. She saw us in our white shirts without raincoats, and wanted to help. When I looked in her eyes I could see Christ's light shining through them. I am a firm believer that when  you look into the eyes of a child, you catch a glimpse of the face of God. They are so pure, and innocent, and loving. It was a small miracle wrapped in pig tails, smiles, and kindness. I was so thankful for that one small gesture that helped carry me through this week.

We visited some members and taught the restoration which was good to do. I got fed by them again which is always good :). We also did companion exchanges this week. I went with Kuwana Choro who is awesome. He played football at his high school and also did gymnastics, so he is athletic and resembles a rubber band at times. Anyway he has so much energy and happiness when he works it is really cool. Different from Tsuchida Choro, but great all the same. Unfortunately that day I had a difficult time speaking. Some days you just can't do Nihongo, or English, and it was one of those haha. I learned some good stuff about attitude and happiness while you find people, which was good. We also got taken to a ramen shop by a member which was awesome of course. Food here is so great.

The other day we found a bunch of referrals for the sisters. In the Tokyo mission we cannot teach women, but they are always the ones who are receptive to the gospel. So, we always introduce the gospel and they ask us to return, but we never see them again hahaha. Kinda tough. But that day going house to house we ran into three separate women who wanted to know more, which was great. The last door of the night, we met the most well prepared person I had ever talked to. She loved God, and really liked talking to us. We were just about to give her the Book of Mormon, when her son and his girlfriend came home. He took one look at his and angrily said I don't need this and started to close the door after he went inside. The woman was intimidated and scared by him, I could see it, and my heart ached for her. She had a desire, but her fear overpowered that desire. She looked at us and said, "ah isogashii ni natte imasu!"  Like, "oh we are now busy" or something, dad my Japanese is probably very wrong so sorry about that, and she closed the door on us. We were frustrated. That would have fulfilled our goal for books of Mormon and contacts on the day. But we always try to tell ourselves that our purpose, is to invite, teach, and provide the spirit. We did all of that. The rest is up to them. But when you start to love these people for the small, strong faith they show, it makes it so hard to see things get in the way of their salvation.

This Sunday was crazy hard! It was a good experience though. It was fast Sunday and Tsuchida Choro bore his testimony. I didn't understand much, but I felt God's love so powerfully while he spoke. He has such a special, tender, sincere, kind spirit. I am so lucky to have him as a companion and I love him so much. 

After church, as usual, from all the Japanese I couldn't even think of how to speak English haha, and we had a lesson with a crazy old super nice Buddhist man who has a very vocal and happy forty year old handicapped son. I tried so hard to listen and understand him, and participate, but he went off on tangents in politics, and space and I was lost. That, combined with the background one man choir, was about all I could handle. We left the lesson and my brain felt like it was going to implode hahaha. For those who don't know, there is normal Japanese, and there is old person Japanese. And they are TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES I SWEAR. Hahaha. Good practice though, the only way to improve is to tear down what you have and build it up stronger. Still, I wish I could improve faster.

So the church that I sent the picture of is all one church. Every floor. I call it the castle, or the battle station hahaha. It has a full size gym, chapel, classrooms, and such all packed into six stories.

"When they are older, they will remember the hymns they sang with you. Even more than recalling music, they will remember the words of scripture and testimony. The Holy Ghost can bring all things to their remembrance, but the words of scriptures and hymns will last the longest. Those memories will exert a pull that may bring them back when they wander for a time, possibly for years, from the pathway home to eternal life."

Read the talk "A Priceless Heritage of Hope" by Henry B. Eyring - reminded me of how often I think about reading scriptures early, singing hymns, doing family night, always making conference a priority, etc. Thank you.  That's a random thought, but I read this talk and was so grateful for the influence this had in my life growing up. Thank you parents for always doing this by example.

Not sure what else to say. Oh! We had one more awesome miracle. So this college student named Shouta who is such a great person finally was able to meet with us. He supports himself, lives alone, and goes to school so he is always isogashii (busy), but we read third Nephi seventeen about Christ's love for the Nephites. I love that chapter, how Christ weeps when he looks at the people, and blesses the children. Anyway we talked about how that love is available to us today. And through our obedience we can feel that same love. It was good. I struggled to teach, but made it through with Tsuchida Choro's help. We also had a member present which was great. He answered so many questions. We decided to call him each night and read the Book of Mormon together, and he agreed to start looking at baptismal dates next time we meet. He keeps all of the commandments except going to church, because he has to work. Please please please pray for Shouta San. He would be such a great member, please pray for him to be able to come to church.

Okay I think that's all. Sorry for my bad English and random thoughts. I love you all and feel the prayers and love.

Your humble servant,

Viehweg Choro

Brother and Sister Okamoto

June 28th- Toyko

Hey family!

Man what a week. Not gonna lie it's been a toughy. We have biked all over, talked to tons of people. Studied for hours on end, planned, prepared, taught, all that jazz. In essence we did what missionaries do week to week.

We had exchanges this week. In keeping with tradition in my mission things have been very unusual for me. We had a super long zone conference last week to say goodbye to the Budges, then this week I had my first exchange, which is very unusual to do with a zone leader this early on. But I was grateful for it. Our zone leaders are Higby and Lofgren Choro. I got paired with Higby Choro. He is a twenty year old from a tiny town in Nevada, and an incredible missionary. He is on transfer sixteen and I am on transfer one, so we are at exactly opposite ends of the spectrum for missions. But what a great senkyoshi (missionary). I learned so much in such a short time period.

We taught a lesson to an old man with only one tooth, I taught a little about the creation and restoration, and with his help I was able to get through fairly mediocrely. Hah. He was a great man, and I think he will be a member soon. Oh by the way I went to Matsudou for the exchange so it was all new turf for me. More epeople and more buildings. After that we did a bunch of finding. We worked together to introduce the Book of Mormon, and I was not saying much, because I was not able to say much hahah. He then turned to me and said it doesn't matter what you say. Japanese doesn't matter, and then he threw me right under the bus missionary style and left it to me to begin the Morumon sho shokai, intro. NO my tongue was not loosed, and no, I did not speak words I cannot now remember, and no, it was not a miracle, BUT, I learned. And I know that that is what I needed. I stumbled and struggled through several finding situations on the street next to the eki, train station, and slowly improved. With Higby Choro's help by the end of the night I was way more confident In finding. It was a great experience.

Later we had an exchange review, where we just talk about what we learned, what went well. And set goals we would follow up on with each other. He had some really good things to say to me. Things I needed to hear that really let me know that my heart and desires were in the right place, and that I was working consecrated. As a missionary you always worry about whether or not you are doing enough, so it was a blessing from the Lord that he said what he said. He told me that I reminded him of himself in a lot of ways. We had a really good talk and set some goals that we were pumped about. I was so grateful for the exchange because this week has been really tough and the pick me up came at a good time. No worries though, my attitude is good, and I work to always have faith and trust.

Returning to Kamagaya was good and I was pumped to start applying what I learned with Tsuchida Choro and try to contribute more as a senkyoshi. We then had a district meeting about courage and finding to add to what I had learned, which was good.

From there it was day to day stuff until Sunday. Sunday's are so hard hahaha. My eyes were LITERALLY closing on their own from how tired I was mentally and physically. THAT NEVER HAPPENS TO ME. Before my mission I had trouble getting four hours of sleep at night, even in the MTC I didn't sleep much, but yesterday it was all I could do to stay awake and force myself to translate everything I could hahahaha. I'm sure plenty of church members were entertained. I did feel like I was able to decipher a little more this week which was good. Anyway, Sunday's are rough hahah, no longer a day of rest.

We had dinner with some members this last Friday. Apparently eating with members is actually cool which, prior to the mission, I was told was not okay here and never done. Either way I am glad we can, because Japanese food is so awesome. I love fish, and rice, and edamame. So good. The family was the Ooshi family and it was a good visit. I shared a scripture and even read what I could in Japanese! Sounded like a four year old, but I tried, and the members felt that. Oh dad we actually do study kanji now, we are expected to be able to read the Book of Mormon by a year, so I am learning kanji VERY VERY slowly haha. But I talked about prayer and Tsuchida Choro and I shared about how important it is as senkyoshi. The man and his wife looked at the pictures of our family I carry and said we all look like movie stars, they love how big it is and shake their heads at all the sisters I have. Good visit, and it was my first visit to a member's home.

Let's see what else...next week we travel up to Matsudou to meet our new mission president and his wife so that will be cool, and the week after that I think we have a trip to the temple for some interviews and then temple p-day the week after, then zone p-day and transfers. Crazy how time flies. That's random though.

Clifton family. Thank you so much aunt Joyce and Shayla for those awesome cookies in the MTC. So sorry it took so long to answer, I am a bad person.

Thank you Emily and Laura for your letters.  I love hearing about all the great activities and miracles from God that you share. They lift me so much.

Macsen way to go on the half iron man ma dude!!! That's great especially since you do NOT TRAIN AT ALL. hahahah made me laugh. You have some mental strength that I wish I had or sure. Thank you for your letter and I will be patient.

Danielle, don't you dare worry about another kid. You are a natural mother, you always have been. While we were growing up I used to complain about how you were not the mom and shouldn't control me, but I think it is a gift you have. You helped raise me I feel like, and you do such a wonderful job with Mazer, don't even worry about it. You will be awesome.

Lisa your little akachan is beautiful. What a sweet angel congrats on another girl. Sure wish I could see her. Love the name too.

Shannon good work in being up front with the stubborn kyudosha(investigator), sometimes they need tough love, but try finding out why they meet with you, get to the root of the problem, peel those onions. The gospel will apply, always, to the center of those onions. Love you and I am proud to serve with you as a missionary.

If there is anyone else and I missed you I am sorry.

Ah Kristin! Thanks for the letters dude! Hope the World Cup was all you wanted and more. Love you

Love you all so much. The mission is wonderfully difficult and hard, but it is still wonderful to me.

God be with you all until we meet again.

Viehweg Choro

Elder Viehweg and his Mission President and his wife

Apartment Study Area

Apartment Kitchen

Bathroom

Bathroom

At the grocery store

Outside church

Ready to Roll!