Missionaries Galore!
I know it's a link on Andy's new blog, but I wanted to make them more accessible.
Look at these cute men that are called to serve! Complete with quotes about them(selves) from Kris!
About himself: "Guess what?! On Wed., we had to switch out our bunks at like 6:30 am, eew! So we took apart our beds the night before...And...while we only had our mattresses, we totally built a fort with them!"
About Andy: "Andy seems like he likes the place and the language." (My, how helpful boys can be! *rolls eyes*)
About Andrew: "Andrew seems to be doing well also. Whenever I run into him he's always so focused that I have to say hello to catch his attention. He's loving here, though, almost as much as I love it here!!!"
Oh, and also, if you give the UPS store your letters, they'll deliver them to the MTC the same day. And this place does the same.
Oh, and here's the latest from Nick and Nathan:
Hello, friends! I'm in a place called Kamiooka, which is part of Yokohama.
> Maybe you've heard about it from people who have written me recently
>(wink). The name means "over the big hill," which is very appropriate, as
>it's probably the hilliest area in the mission. In other words, my legs
>are SO bemuscled that it would cause you to gasp at their terrible majesty.
>Anyways, how is Orem? More specifically, how are people in Orem? Even
>more specifically, how are you kids? I'm doing okay...I don't have a lot
>of time to write a long email, but I just wanted to say hi. I can't email
>you directly, but I'll have my mom forward such things, so maybe for the
>sake of simplicity you could email anything you'd like to tell me to her.
>That DOES mean, however, that if you want to confess your love, you need to
>do it in code. That is, code that my feeble brain can decipher.
>Japanese is a weird, weird language. When my companion and I try to stop
>people on the street, we say something that basically translates to "Is it
>a little good?" (for Savanna, that would be "chotto yoroshii desu ka?")
>Sometimes they say "Yes, it IS a little good," but keep walking. Weird!
>Anyways, my time is up--I'm at a combination grocery store, pachinko
>parlor, 100-yen shop, cafe and internet place...run by people with mafia
>connections, of course. Woohoo!
>Love,
>Elder Clark
Dear mom and family, and all you others who each hold a special
little portion of my heart. If there are any of you who are unsure of
why you are receiving this E-mail, or believe that you are receiving
it in error, I hope that you enjoy it a little bit too. :D
Moving on. This week has been, as of yet... interesting to say the
least. Elder Allan has been doing all of his last-minute (last-week)
preparations to receive his mother and brother, as well as go home in
general. Any time that mandatory "red-tape" takes a large amount of
time away from the work, it is a nuisance. When it continues to
happen, ... well, you have to start doing companionship exchanges.
However, yesterday, I had a wonderful one.
Our first investigator of the night was a man named Sergei, who was
very crazy. The words to describe him would have to be "Hallelujah"
and "AMEN!!!!" There were a couple times during the lesson when I
thought that at least one or two veins were going to burst. However,
he was really excited, and we decided that the other elders might have
a go at helping him (he's really in their area). After that, we spent
about an hour trying to find another of the contacts, following the
directions "Dormitory for men in THAT direction" (of course, in
Russian). We never did find it, but had a good time contacting and
handing out English.
By the way, HAPPY 4th of July to everyone there (though a little
belated, I know). My companion sang a tear-wrenching rendition of the
national anthem (small memory-spaces) and said the Pledge to the flag
hanging on our door. I hope to someday send a copy. In fact, all
this took place at about the same time as the morning flag-raising
ceremony back home (about 4 P.M. here). Just so that you all know, I
love my country. It was raised under the hand of God. I pray that it
will be so for a long time yet.
WOW! !!! I really DO have a lot of E-mails today! YUSSSSSSSSS! I
love my life! However, do to time constraints.... It doesn't look
like the proper replies are going to go out on time here. If I have
the unantisipated necessity to re-enter an Internet-club, I'll try and
finish. However, if not, I'll just have to send week-old love to all
of those who really deserve it right now. But, until then, a little
snack... I love you!
Love,
Elder Nathan Cooper (serving with POWER even better than Duracell, baby!)
P.S. I heard another rumor today: I will actually be a companion
with another missionary (arrived about two months ago) and we will be
working in HIS AND MY areas for the three or more days. Of course, I
don't know that for sure, but it sure sounds fun! Elder Allan will be
with me until he leaves Saturday night.