Konnichiwa Minasan!
I'm in Japan! We landed last Tuesday at about 8 pm in Fukuoka, which I
think is 7 am on the east coast back home. For the first two nights,
we stayed in the mission home with president and sister Egan, and the
home is literally right underneath the Fukuoka temple. It was really
cool. While we were in Fukuoka, we got to learn more about the
mission, and meet all of the missionaries who serve in Honbu (the
mission home) right now. We also got our first real Japanese meal,
which was... Pork! I wish I remembered the Japanese name for it, but
it was some type of pork, fried in panko, served with rice, miso, and
a cabbage salad. It was all really good. Since then, which was
Wednesday night, I think I have had rice at least once a day, but it's
a pretty solid staple food, so things are going great. As a whole, I
think the diet here is going to be fun to get used to, but thus far I
haven't seen anything that I don't think I could eat.
Moving on from food, we got to meet our trainers Wednesday night, and
everyone left to their area Thursday morning. Elder Nukaya, my MTC
companion, was jumping right on another plane, and flying south to
start his mission on Okinawa! However, I went the other way, and am
now living in a city called Yamaguchi, which translates to mouth of
the mountain. It's tucked in a green valley, but the "mountains" would
probably be a bit more like hills back home. I'm not complaining,
because it's beautiful. I forgot to get a picture from the back of the
apartment, but you can look out and just see green mountains in the
distance while eating breakfast, and it's really peaceful.
My trainer for the next two transfers is named Elder Welch, and he's
from West Point, UT. President Egan has asked that people don't share
transfer numbers, to keep people from counting down, but Elder Welch
has been in Japan for over a year, and seems to me at least to be
fairly fluent in the language. In contrast to the MTC, wheee everyone
was learning together, it's clear now that there is a skill
differential. But language is besides the point, and it's really just
a tool that he can use to help spread the word. We've only been
together for a few days, but he feels really devoted to this gospel,
and willing to go out of his comfort zone to share it. The other
Elders in my apartment both seem pretty cool as well. Elder West is
from Tokyo, and speaks both English and Japanese, even though Japanese
is his first language. It makes group study interesting, because he
reads from the scriptures in Japanese, and I get to try and follow.
Elder West and Welch are also zone leaders for the Yamaguchi Zone, so
they work together a lot, leaving me on splits with the last elder,
Elder Gatherum. He has also been in Japan for a while, though not
quite a year. As with the others, I feel like I can really get along
with him, especially because I'll be on splits with him fairly often.
For next week I will try to send a picture of us all together.
In other news, due to the time difference, I got to watch conference
again this week, in English thankfully. I thought all the talks were
great, but I really like Elder Stevensons, about he power of reading
the Book of Mormon everyday. I know that as I have been doing this on
my mission, it's helped me, and I think that Garrett and Brad would
love his challenge to read for even 10-15 minutes a day, because it
really isn't that long.
This weeks pictures are from the front of my apartment, and of me and
Elder Welch. In the top one you can just barely see the church, the
white building in the background with a spire. It's a blessing to have
the church so close, because we can walk to it fairly quickly, whether
for English class, lessons, or church. As I said about Elder Welch,
he's a great guy, and actually gave me a tie like the one he's
wearing. They were the mission wide Christmas present last year, but
somehow he got an extra, so I'll look like I've been here longer than
I have whenever I wear it. We also have almost identical suits, so of
all people I might end up twining with my companion if I'm not
careful.
That's all for this week, thanks for all the emails and love! I love
you all, but can't wait to continue the work in Japan.
With Love,
Elder Mitchell Woodhouse
P.S. Happy birthday Dad! Sorry I won't be able to email you closer to
it. I'll get a picture of our dinner for you on Sunday
I'm in Japan! We landed last Tuesday at about 8 pm in Fukuoka, which I
think is 7 am on the east coast back home. For the first two nights,
we stayed in the mission home with president and sister Egan, and the
home is literally right underneath the Fukuoka temple. It was really
cool. While we were in Fukuoka, we got to learn more about the
mission, and meet all of the missionaries who serve in Honbu (the
mission home) right now. We also got our first real Japanese meal,
which was... Pork! I wish I remembered the Japanese name for it, but
it was some type of pork, fried in panko, served with rice, miso, and
a cabbage salad. It was all really good. Since then, which was
Wednesday night, I think I have had rice at least once a day, but it's
a pretty solid staple food, so things are going great. As a whole, I
think the diet here is going to be fun to get used to, but thus far I
haven't seen anything that I don't think I could eat.
Moving on from food, we got to meet our trainers Wednesday night, and
everyone left to their area Thursday morning. Elder Nukaya, my MTC
companion, was jumping right on another plane, and flying south to
start his mission on Okinawa! However, I went the other way, and am
now living in a city called Yamaguchi, which translates to mouth of
the mountain. It's tucked in a green valley, but the "mountains" would
probably be a bit more like hills back home. I'm not complaining,
because it's beautiful. I forgot to get a picture from the back of the
apartment, but you can look out and just see green mountains in the
distance while eating breakfast, and it's really peaceful.
My trainer for the next two transfers is named Elder Welch, and he's
from West Point, UT. President Egan has asked that people don't share
transfer numbers, to keep people from counting down, but Elder Welch
has been in Japan for over a year, and seems to me at least to be
fairly fluent in the language. In contrast to the MTC, wheee everyone
was learning together, it's clear now that there is a skill
differential. But language is besides the point, and it's really just
a tool that he can use to help spread the word. We've only been
together for a few days, but he feels really devoted to this gospel,
and willing to go out of his comfort zone to share it. The other
Elders in my apartment both seem pretty cool as well. Elder West is
from Tokyo, and speaks both English and Japanese, even though Japanese
is his first language. It makes group study interesting, because he
reads from the scriptures in Japanese, and I get to try and follow.
Elder West and Welch are also zone leaders for the Yamaguchi Zone, so
they work together a lot, leaving me on splits with the last elder,
Elder Gatherum. He has also been in Japan for a while, though not
quite a year. As with the others, I feel like I can really get along
with him, especially because I'll be on splits with him fairly often.
For next week I will try to send a picture of us all together.
In other news, due to the time difference, I got to watch conference
again this week, in English thankfully. I thought all the talks were
great, but I really like Elder Stevensons, about he power of reading
the Book of Mormon everyday. I know that as I have been doing this on
my mission, it's helped me, and I think that Garrett and Brad would
love his challenge to read for even 10-15 minutes a day, because it
really isn't that long.
This weeks pictures are from the front of my apartment, and of me and
Elder Welch. In the top one you can just barely see the church, the
white building in the background with a spire. It's a blessing to have
the church so close, because we can walk to it fairly quickly, whether
for English class, lessons, or church. As I said about Elder Welch,
he's a great guy, and actually gave me a tie like the one he's
wearing. They were the mission wide Christmas present last year, but
somehow he got an extra, so I'll look like I've been here longer than
I have whenever I wear it. We also have almost identical suits, so of
all people I might end up twining with my companion if I'm not
careful.
That's all for this week, thanks for all the emails and love! I love
you all, but can't wait to continue the work in Japan.
With Love,
Elder Mitchell Woodhouse
P.S. Happy birthday Dad! Sorry I won't be able to email you closer to
it. I'll get a picture of our dinner for you on Sunday
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