Saturday, August 29, 2015
A Matsuri, splits with Elder Leach, and more projects than solutions!
Howdy Family and Friends!
This week has been busy, but not lacking in the slightest!
Temperatures have taken a dip, and it feels like fall here in Tokyo
now!
土曜日
We began our P-day off by having a great run, followed by a great
study. After studies, we cleaned then went to the store and bought
groceries for the week. Afterwards we came back home ate lunch,
emailed, and Elder Bates and I looked at a few things for BYU. Then I
crashed and fell asleep for an hour before the Matsuri (祭り) or summer
festival. The ward holds a big one every year, it is basically a ward
party that celebrates summer. We held it in the parking lot. As Elder
Moua and I were greeting people, Sister Yamaguchi came in! She is a
member from my first area! In fact she dropped of bentos the first
night in my new area! She was so surprised that I was able to
communicate with her so well! When I first talked to her I had no idea
what she was saying. I enjoyed talking with members, it was a great
way to get to know all of them. There are so many missionaries in the
ward that it can be kind of scared to get to know a bunch of
missionaries. I got to help make cotton candy for a little bit, I'll
tell you what there is a whole lot more of technique then meets the
eye! After the festival we ended our day by planning.
日曜日
We awoke. Ate. Got ready. Then went to DCS, it was a good meeting,
they seem a lot longer since I have been in the office, but that's
okay. Then the normal 3 hour block, which was great, for Sunday school
we decided to go to the youth class, and as soon as we sat down the
sisters came in having the same idea. Then the teacher got up and
announced the lesson eternal marriage. Out of all the lessons we could
have gone to with the youth this was it. It was a great lesson, and
pretty funny realizing I was in their shoes a year ago. Dang...time
flies way to fast. After church and choir we had a soba party from
some of the leftover food from the night before. Followed by a power
nap with the rest of my lunch hour. After that Elder Ford, Elder Moua
and I biked to a park to go and find people. We met an old woman who
we were able to refer over to the sisters. I had the feeling we needed
to go to this giant apartment complex so we spent the next 45 minutes
taking the round about way to get there. It was a 11 story apartment
complex on a hill. So where better to start knocking on doors than on
the 11th floor. So we took the elevator and boom. Tokyo. We could see
all of downtown Tokyo right there, Skytree, Tokyo Tower, all there. It
began raining so we weren't able to get super amazing pictures but
that's okay. We talked to a few people, but all of them were
uninterested sadly. Then we biked home in the rain and got soaked,
because we forgot/didn't think to bring our jackets. For dinner we had
a ham! It was great. Then we finished our night with weekly planning.
Weekly planning with 5 people can be a bit of a pain, but it is very
thorough though.
月曜日
We awoke and went for a glorious run. Had studies. Then began office
work. I was busy working on figuring out the landscaping needed to the
Odawara house. That was fun, we may get sent down there to do it, but
we will see what happens. Then I worked on finding toolkit a for the
mission. That is a fun little chore right there. Evaluating the tools
needed for all the missionaries. After those time inducing jobs we
worked on the apartment app. Trying to work with pop ups can be
exhausting sometimes! After we had dinner then went out as a five man
team to go kubari. While we were handing out flyers a woman came up to
me and started talking a mile a minute. She was so excited about
meeting us she invited herself to church! Then asked if she needed a
pen and paper for note taking! Whoa! Amazing! Then another woman came
and said her boss is a member and she had heard a lot of good things
about us! After the hour kubarikai we went housing with the goal to
sing to people. However no one would listen, and I kid you not the
last door of the night didn't answer...but! The man from the door
previous answered a little late! We talked to him, he is such a great
man! He is a former investigator from about 20 years ago! He has a
Book of Mormon, and wants to learn a little more now! Talk about a
great miracle of the day!
火曜日
Elder Bates and I awoke early and did some push ups before having to
get dressed hurriedly in order to catch the train for zone conference.
Zone conference was great, the topic was repentance. They are such big
spiritual feasts. Elder Bennion, one of the missionaries from my first
apartment gave his final testimony at the conference, it was so weird
because he never seemed as old as he really is to me. After conference
Elder Leach and I went on splits. Elder Leach is a Texas rancher so
naturally we had a ball. On the train home I met a man from Nigeria!
He was way kind and told me that he had met the "latter-day Saints" in
Africa! I was blown away he knew our actual name! It was a great
conversation. After getting back Elder Leach and I went to Ippudo to
eat some ramen. It was delicious, and was a fun way to get to know
Elder Leach. Before his mission he worked at a hedge fund in Texas,
and was telling me about different majors available at BYU. After we
went back to the Honbu to grab bikes the grab his clothes for the next
day. When we came back we found his companion on the phone with the
mission doctor because of a really bad headache. Thankfully he was
okay enough to go back to his apartment. We then planned for the day
and I cut Elder Leach's hair.
水曜日
We woke up to pouring down rain, but that doesn't stop Elder Bates and
I. So we went trucking in the park, we only saw 35 people in the park
(compared with the normal 300ish) it was a big difference. Then we
came back, had personal study, then staff meeting. At staff meeting I
gave the spiritual though, so I related it to the farm back at home. I
love staff meeting, we got a lot covered and we can see what we were
able to do throughout the past week. Afterwards Elder Leach had a
meeting with President Wada about mission statistics. After Elder
Bates, Elder Driscoll, Elder Ford, Elder Leach and I all went to
Shakeys for some pizza. It was a good time being able to leave the
stress of the office for a little bit. Then we came back, Elder Leach
began his project from President. And Elder Moua and I began working
on our many different tasks. We are currently reorganizing the mission
portal but we figured before we do that we should probably make sure
it is all backed up so we began the process of backing up the portal.
Around 4 Elder Leach and I began dendoing. We planned to go and visit
a Chinese less active member in the area. So we streeted there. We
talked to one person. We thought they were a teenage boy however upon
further conversation they were in fact a girl..so that was awkward
because we aren't supposed to stop women. So he hurried and invited
her to church and left. When we got to the house it al looked newer
than the Google maps image we were looking at so we knocked a few of
the doors and an old man came out. We asked him how long he had lived
there and he told us since May...which means the Google image hasn't
been updated since then at the very least since where the member was
supposed to live was in a apartment complex which is no longer there.
With that we went back home for dinner and to plan for Eakaiwa. It was
fun we taught riddles to our class. That got pretty intense. Our class
is all pretty dang smart so they got a lot of them pretty quick. After
we split back and we planned for the next day.
木曜日
Elder Moua and I got up early for a great run, it was a little slower
than usual, but it still felt great! After we had our studies, and
then I slept for all of lunch. That was followed by our weekly
planning, were we discussed dropping one of our investigators that
night. After planning we went into the office to begin the work. We
reorganized the portal to make it more intuition ally based. It makes
more sense to find things now. Then I worked on the case of the
website but got stuck trying to add knobs to a page, which drove me up
a wall. For dinner I made yakusoba (meat noodles) and then we had a
lesson with Itsuki-San. We bore testimony a lot, however he just has
no desire, and just wants to mess with us. So we dropped him, he was
more worried about ping pong anyways. I'll tell you what on my mission
I have become a lot better at ping pong. It is a fun way to get out of
the office. President Wada came at the end too, he is a lot of fun to
play with. After ping pong night we went to a meeting with President
Wada, Elder Leach, and Tech. Elder Leach ran a few mission statistics
and showed a lot of cool things about how the key indicators really
work and which are tied closest to baptism. It is pretty amazing
actually. Then we planned and I cleaned the kitchen. It is kind of my
wind down activity at night.
金曜日
We awoke to a great soaking run, after we had studies. After studies I
took a nap, and when I awoke Elder Mukai surprised me with lunch,
curry and bread...it was really interesting, but I was so thankful,
because I planned on skipping out on lunch. Afterwards I began working
on the portal. Working busily I was able to update a few forms and
translate a few pages as well. Then we had district meeting, it was
good, we had some great trainings on the Book of Mormon. After we went
back to the computers to work on fixing various things. Then went out
to "Man Ramen" (I kid you not that is the name translated). Then
housing. It was a fun time, we found an apartment complex full of
Subarus, we then found out that it is a housing complex for employees.
After housing we came home to finish our day.
Well that was my fast week. Who knows what will happen this next week.
At my current rate I might become 19 or something crazy like that.
Well love you all!
Elder Dunn
This week has been busy, but not lacking in the slightest!
Temperatures have taken a dip, and it feels like fall here in Tokyo
now!
土曜日
We began our P-day off by having a great run, followed by a great
study. After studies, we cleaned then went to the store and bought
groceries for the week. Afterwards we came back home ate lunch,
emailed, and Elder Bates and I looked at a few things for BYU. Then I
crashed and fell asleep for an hour before the Matsuri (祭り) or summer
festival. The ward holds a big one every year, it is basically a ward
party that celebrates summer. We held it in the parking lot. As Elder
Moua and I were greeting people, Sister Yamaguchi came in! She is a
member from my first area! In fact she dropped of bentos the first
night in my new area! She was so surprised that I was able to
communicate with her so well! When I first talked to her I had no idea
what she was saying. I enjoyed talking with members, it was a great
way to get to know all of them. There are so many missionaries in the
ward that it can be kind of scared to get to know a bunch of
missionaries. I got to help make cotton candy for a little bit, I'll
tell you what there is a whole lot more of technique then meets the
eye! After the festival we ended our day by planning.
日曜日
We awoke. Ate. Got ready. Then went to DCS, it was a good meeting,
they seem a lot longer since I have been in the office, but that's
okay. Then the normal 3 hour block, which was great, for Sunday school
we decided to go to the youth class, and as soon as we sat down the
sisters came in having the same idea. Then the teacher got up and
announced the lesson eternal marriage. Out of all the lessons we could
have gone to with the youth this was it. It was a great lesson, and
pretty funny realizing I was in their shoes a year ago. Dang...time
flies way to fast. After church and choir we had a soba party from
some of the leftover food from the night before. Followed by a power
nap with the rest of my lunch hour. After that Elder Ford, Elder Moua
and I biked to a park to go and find people. We met an old woman who
we were able to refer over to the sisters. I had the feeling we needed
to go to this giant apartment complex so we spent the next 45 minutes
taking the round about way to get there. It was a 11 story apartment
complex on a hill. So where better to start knocking on doors than on
the 11th floor. So we took the elevator and boom. Tokyo. We could see
all of downtown Tokyo right there, Skytree, Tokyo Tower, all there. It
began raining so we weren't able to get super amazing pictures but
that's okay. We talked to a few people, but all of them were
uninterested sadly. Then we biked home in the rain and got soaked,
because we forgot/didn't think to bring our jackets. For dinner we had
a ham! It was great. Then we finished our night with weekly planning.
Weekly planning with 5 people can be a bit of a pain, but it is very
thorough though.
月曜日
We awoke and went for a glorious run. Had studies. Then began office
work. I was busy working on figuring out the landscaping needed to the
Odawara house. That was fun, we may get sent down there to do it, but
we will see what happens. Then I worked on finding toolkit a for the
mission. That is a fun little chore right there. Evaluating the tools
needed for all the missionaries. After those time inducing jobs we
worked on the apartment app. Trying to work with pop ups can be
exhausting sometimes! After we had dinner then went out as a five man
team to go kubari. While we were handing out flyers a woman came up to
me and started talking a mile a minute. She was so excited about
meeting us she invited herself to church! Then asked if she needed a
pen and paper for note taking! Whoa! Amazing! Then another woman came
and said her boss is a member and she had heard a lot of good things
about us! After the hour kubarikai we went housing with the goal to
sing to people. However no one would listen, and I kid you not the
last door of the night didn't answer...but! The man from the door
previous answered a little late! We talked to him, he is such a great
man! He is a former investigator from about 20 years ago! He has a
Book of Mormon, and wants to learn a little more now! Talk about a
great miracle of the day!
火曜日
Elder Bates and I awoke early and did some push ups before having to
get dressed hurriedly in order to catch the train for zone conference.
Zone conference was great, the topic was repentance. They are such big
spiritual feasts. Elder Bennion, one of the missionaries from my first
apartment gave his final testimony at the conference, it was so weird
because he never seemed as old as he really is to me. After conference
Elder Leach and I went on splits. Elder Leach is a Texas rancher so
naturally we had a ball. On the train home I met a man from Nigeria!
He was way kind and told me that he had met the "latter-day Saints" in
Africa! I was blown away he knew our actual name! It was a great
conversation. After getting back Elder Leach and I went to Ippudo to
eat some ramen. It was delicious, and was a fun way to get to know
Elder Leach. Before his mission he worked at a hedge fund in Texas,
and was telling me about different majors available at BYU. After we
went back to the Honbu to grab bikes the grab his clothes for the next
day. When we came back we found his companion on the phone with the
mission doctor because of a really bad headache. Thankfully he was
okay enough to go back to his apartment. We then planned for the day
and I cut Elder Leach's hair.
水曜日
We woke up to pouring down rain, but that doesn't stop Elder Bates and
I. So we went trucking in the park, we only saw 35 people in the park
(compared with the normal 300ish) it was a big difference. Then we
came back, had personal study, then staff meeting. At staff meeting I
gave the spiritual though, so I related it to the farm back at home. I
love staff meeting, we got a lot covered and we can see what we were
able to do throughout the past week. Afterwards Elder Leach had a
meeting with President Wada about mission statistics. After Elder
Bates, Elder Driscoll, Elder Ford, Elder Leach and I all went to
Shakeys for some pizza. It was a good time being able to leave the
stress of the office for a little bit. Then we came back, Elder Leach
began his project from President. And Elder Moua and I began working
on our many different tasks. We are currently reorganizing the mission
portal but we figured before we do that we should probably make sure
it is all backed up so we began the process of backing up the portal.
Around 4 Elder Leach and I began dendoing. We planned to go and visit
a Chinese less active member in the area. So we streeted there. We
talked to one person. We thought they were a teenage boy however upon
further conversation they were in fact a girl..so that was awkward
because we aren't supposed to stop women. So he hurried and invited
her to church and left. When we got to the house it al looked newer
than the Google maps image we were looking at so we knocked a few of
the doors and an old man came out. We asked him how long he had lived
there and he told us since May...which means the Google image hasn't
been updated since then at the very least since where the member was
supposed to live was in a apartment complex which is no longer there.
With that we went back home for dinner and to plan for Eakaiwa. It was
fun we taught riddles to our class. That got pretty intense. Our class
is all pretty dang smart so they got a lot of them pretty quick. After
we split back and we planned for the next day.
木曜日
Elder Moua and I got up early for a great run, it was a little slower
than usual, but it still felt great! After we had our studies, and
then I slept for all of lunch. That was followed by our weekly
planning, were we discussed dropping one of our investigators that
night. After planning we went into the office to begin the work. We
reorganized the portal to make it more intuition ally based. It makes
more sense to find things now. Then I worked on the case of the
website but got stuck trying to add knobs to a page, which drove me up
a wall. For dinner I made yakusoba (meat noodles) and then we had a
lesson with Itsuki-San. We bore testimony a lot, however he just has
no desire, and just wants to mess with us. So we dropped him, he was
more worried about ping pong anyways. I'll tell you what on my mission
I have become a lot better at ping pong. It is a fun way to get out of
the office. President Wada came at the end too, he is a lot of fun to
play with. After ping pong night we went to a meeting with President
Wada, Elder Leach, and Tech. Elder Leach ran a few mission statistics
and showed a lot of cool things about how the key indicators really
work and which are tied closest to baptism. It is pretty amazing
actually. Then we planned and I cleaned the kitchen. It is kind of my
wind down activity at night.
金曜日
We awoke to a great soaking run, after we had studies. After studies I
took a nap, and when I awoke Elder Mukai surprised me with lunch,
curry and bread...it was really interesting, but I was so thankful,
because I planned on skipping out on lunch. Afterwards I began working
on the portal. Working busily I was able to update a few forms and
translate a few pages as well. Then we had district meeting, it was
good, we had some great trainings on the Book of Mormon. After we went
back to the computers to work on fixing various things. Then went out
to "Man Ramen" (I kid you not that is the name translated). Then
housing. It was a fun time, we found an apartment complex full of
Subarus, we then found out that it is a housing complex for employees.
After housing we came home to finish our day.
Well that was my fast week. Who knows what will happen this next week.
At my current rate I might become 19 or something crazy like that.
Well love you all!
Elder Dunn
Friday, August 21, 2015
The Office Staff! From left to right; Elder Ford (Recorder), Elder Bates (Assistant), Elder Moua (Tech Staff), Me (Tech Staff), Elder Balnchard (Leaving Assistant), Elder Murakami (Assistant), Elder Naganuma (Commissarian), Elder Mukai (Commisarian), Sister & Elder Adamson (Office Secretary and Financial Officer).
Saying goodbye to the more missionaries, late dinners with President, and building an app.
こんにちは皆さん！
お元気ですか？
私はそごい元気です。毎朝の走るから十キーロおや競りました！
Saturday
We awoke to a wonderful run, then had a good study. After personal
study the office exploded a little so we were getting things figured
out. Then a large African American man walked in wearing rose colored
shades, and had his black hair slicked back. He introduced himself as
Jett Edwards, and he asked if President Wada was in. Sadly he wasn't
so we talked a little bit, he does a gospel choir every other weekend
at the church. He left to go to the church then came back after a
little bit, sadly none of the people came the other week because he
was was in America or something. Well come to find out this man is no
small star, he was Michael Jacksons Producer and Manager! Yeah...I met
the king of pop's producer and manager! Not only that but he is
friends with the Wadas! Sister Wada came down and they talked about
their kids and jazz, he left and Sister Wada invited the Office and
Assistants to dinner upstairs! We then went shopping! We went to Loft
and looked around, I love that store so much, I don't know if they are
in America or not, but they should be. Then to Seiyu for groceries.
They had corn on sale 97 cents an ear. So we bought some to grill.
Then after our shopping we came home and emailed. I caught mom and
Katie awake so we emailed back and forth for a little bit, so that was
nice. I helped Elder Bates with his college application. Then I took a
much needed nap. After we went upstairs and cooked steak with the
Wadas, president was pretty excited about the corn. It was a fun
dinner. The Wadas son was home so we ate and talked with him. He is
way wicked smart, and just got back from BYU from a summer semester.
After dinner Elder Ford and I went out to go meet some of the
Brazilians we had met last week, however they wear my home so we
knocked a few doors. I love some people's responses. Such as, "I can't
some to the door I am cooking with oil." Or "I don't want to talk to
you because you bring war" or "well Japanese people believe this..."
That is great but what do you believe? We then biked home and went
upstairs to have watermelon, then gather some spices for tomorrow's
dinner.
Sunday
We woke up early and began preparing the roast, that is a nice change
up from running every morning! We then got ready, had a little bit of
study time then went next door to the church for DCS. It was a good
meeting, after we had our normal 3 hour block. It is nice to finally
feel comfortable listening and reading Japanese, I am by no means
perfect, but it is starting to grow a little more exponentially. After
church we had choir practice, we have sung the same hymn since I have
been here! Talk about ridiculous! After we came back to the office and
had to fix a few problems throughout the mission. It took a good
church of time sadly trying to get everything fixed but after we fixed
it we dove right into the roast! It was so delicious! We even made
homemade mashed potatoes! I think we all enjoyed a good Sunday home
cooked dinner. We then had our weekly planning, it is in this weird
form of Japanese and English. Since most of us can speak at least a
decent amount of either language we switch back and forth a lot. After
our planning we had to help the assistants fix a key indicator report
that a previous tech staff made, but broke. So that was a fun time.
Monday
We awoke and worked out at the apartment because the rain was coming
down pretty hard! Yay exercise! Then we had staff meeting! It is one
of my favorite parts of the week! We discussed different assignments.
Well it turns out last week I volunteered for 3 big assignments and
completely forgot about them! I was so excited about making bread I
forgot! President thought that was pretty funny so it turned into a
running joke for the rest of the meeting. But now I have a project to
redesign an app, supply all the apartments with tool kits, and
landscape a garden for one of the missionary houses in the mission.
After studies Elder Ford and I went out to a famous Ramen shop called
Ippudo! They have a few in America as well. It was delicious. Then we
came back to the office and worked hard on various projects. Right
now, Elder Moua and I are building an App for the iPads. Only the
church wants all apps written in HTML (simply put it is what is
written to make websites). So that is a fun little task for us. It's
not hard it is just causing me to learn another language. At this rate
I'll come home fluent in all kinds of languages haha! The previous app
was built in such a way that it just wasn't as pretty as we wanted it
and wouldn't save data values. That project took most the day and we
aren't anywhere close to finishing. To relax my brain I looked at
plants and had some good ideas as to how to design a flower bed.
Sister Wada and I figured out some good designs. I was amazed at how
much I remembered, and how things worked with different plants! It
caused for a busy but fulfilling day!
Tuesday
We decided to risk it and go running in the rain. After that we came
back and studied. After personal study Elder Mukai and I went to
Kunitachi for a RPLA session with president Wada. It was really good.
President did a great job, and really helped me understand the Book of
Mormon. It caused for a lot of pondering. Afterwards one of the
sisters who was there came up to me and showed me a picture. It was
the Shilligs, a family from my ward back at home! She said they were
so cute that she cried...twice! It is crazy to think they are only a
30 minute train ride away! After the meeting we came back and began
work tearing apart code from different apps made by the mission in
order to get a grasp on what needs to be done for this next app. Elder
Moua and I took a break and went shopping for tools. I'll tell you
what, they do not have great tools here in japan. With that being
said, I did almost buy a power drill for 20 dollars. But then realized
the purposes for it were a little bit lacking. We then came back to
the honbu and planned to go out and dendo, however the two nehongen
left so we needed to be with Elder Ford, and just as we were about to
leave President stopped us and asked if he would get a bike situation
worked out...agh. But we redesigned the icon for the app. We made a
very simplistic but elegant icon. That is exactly what we wanted.
Wednesday
We awoke and went running! I know I sound like a broken record but
it's true! Then we went upstairs to help Sister Wada cook! President
has stopped pulling me out of the kitchen to help set up, or talk to
everyone because he knows how much I love it in there (or he has
forgotten about me, but the first one sounds a little better). My
buddy and former companion Elder Crandall was going home along with a
group of other missionaries. I'll tell you what he has to be one of my
favorite people from my mission. We got along way well. After a giant
breakfast, we took pictures and sent the missionaries on their way.
Crazy, it seemed like yesterday we were talking about going home and
then boom, off to BYU! That is the hardest part of the Honbu is saying
goodbye to people. After we went to workmans to look at buying tools,
however all they sell is work clothing. They have a million different
types of steel toed shoes, like skater shoes, to running shoes, the
whole nine yards and then some! Sadly no tools though, so we came back
to the office to find that one of the sisters who helps in the kitchen
brought us Oreos from America! President Wada saw them when he came in
and asked where out milk was, so we went and grabbed some and ate
Oreos for lunch! After we continued with the coding and making
everything else work in the office, some weeks I feel like everything
just falls apart. After some time we went out to dinner to Ippudo
again, it was delicious! When we got back we sent the Adamsons out to
eat there. After we came back got ready for Eakaiwa and had a great
class we did debates again. There is one woman who is really funny and
gets really animated in the class. We are steadily growing our class
which is awesome! After Class the YSA were having an activity and had
a left over uncooked pizza so they gave it to us! We took it in the
office and President saw it so we asked if we could cook it in his
oven. He said sure, then we asked if we could plan in his kitchen he
said no, but recommended the living room instead, so we planned then
ate pizza with President. It. Was. Hilarious! President was practicing
his Japanese English accent which was so funny (he normally has no
accent). Sister Wada did. It find it as funny but he had the whole
office in tears over it. It made for a fantastic ending to our night.
Thursday
We awoke to an invigorating run. Then had our studies. After studies I
took a nap then ate a small sand which then went out to work in the
office. We are getting about together. We worked on the app more but I
got stuck so I put it down for a while. Then we had a lesson with
Itsuki-San who is our eternal investigator. He isn't progressing at
all, and has some really frustrating things he does, but we are giving
him a lot of foreigner love and it'll break his hard shell. After we
had ping pong night!mi am not great at ping pong, but it is still
pretty fun. President came over and played too, it was a blast to have
him join in.
Friday
We awoke and went running again. It was a great run! I'm getting
faster each day. Then we studied, after studies we went out to the
office and worked. We are getting really close with the app. I got
stuck on a certain part the day before but had a dream about how to
fix it and it worked! Elder Moua and I took a break so he could buy
more tabs he is building a forwarding book of all the apartments. When
we came back we continued work. Then Sister Magleby and Sister
Murakami came because Sister Murakamis iPad broke, so Elder Moua spent
some time getting it back into working order and getting her a new
iPad. Sister Magleby turns out worked at BYU under the tech division.
So she helped make the app icon more crisp..but in the end we changed
the outline by just a shade. It helped a lot. During dinner we cleaned
and ate, then after dinner I uploaded the app to the portal to see how
it worked...well it downloads just fine, however it is missing the
file that runs the app. So that is a little frustrating so I gave up
on it and went to bed.
I figured I would give everyone a break from all the kanji written for
the days.
きよ付けてね！
Elder Dunn
お元気ですか？
私はそごい元気です。毎朝の走るから十キーロおや競りました！
Saturday
We awoke to a wonderful run, then had a good study. After personal
study the office exploded a little so we were getting things figured
out. Then a large African American man walked in wearing rose colored
shades, and had his black hair slicked back. He introduced himself as
Jett Edwards, and he asked if President Wada was in. Sadly he wasn't
so we talked a little bit, he does a gospel choir every other weekend
at the church. He left to go to the church then came back after a
little bit, sadly none of the people came the other week because he
was was in America or something. Well come to find out this man is no
small star, he was Michael Jacksons Producer and Manager! Yeah...I met
the king of pop's producer and manager! Not only that but he is
friends with the Wadas! Sister Wada came down and they talked about
their kids and jazz, he left and Sister Wada invited the Office and
Assistants to dinner upstairs! We then went shopping! We went to Loft
and looked around, I love that store so much, I don't know if they are
in America or not, but they should be. Then to Seiyu for groceries.
They had corn on sale 97 cents an ear. So we bought some to grill.
Then after our shopping we came home and emailed. I caught mom and
Katie awake so we emailed back and forth for a little bit, so that was
nice. I helped Elder Bates with his college application. Then I took a
much needed nap. After we went upstairs and cooked steak with the
Wadas, president was pretty excited about the corn. It was a fun
dinner. The Wadas son was home so we ate and talked with him. He is
way wicked smart, and just got back from BYU from a summer semester.
After dinner Elder Ford and I went out to go meet some of the
Brazilians we had met last week, however they wear my home so we
knocked a few doors. I love some people's responses. Such as, "I can't
some to the door I am cooking with oil." Or "I don't want to talk to
you because you bring war" or "well Japanese people believe this..."
That is great but what do you believe? We then biked home and went
upstairs to have watermelon, then gather some spices for tomorrow's
dinner.
Sunday
We woke up early and began preparing the roast, that is a nice change
up from running every morning! We then got ready, had a little bit of
study time then went next door to the church for DCS. It was a good
meeting, after we had our normal 3 hour block. It is nice to finally
feel comfortable listening and reading Japanese, I am by no means
perfect, but it is starting to grow a little more exponentially. After
church we had choir practice, we have sung the same hymn since I have
been here! Talk about ridiculous! After we came back to the office and
had to fix a few problems throughout the mission. It took a good
church of time sadly trying to get everything fixed but after we fixed
it we dove right into the roast! It was so delicious! We even made
homemade mashed potatoes! I think we all enjoyed a good Sunday home
cooked dinner. We then had our weekly planning, it is in this weird
form of Japanese and English. Since most of us can speak at least a
decent amount of either language we switch back and forth a lot. After
our planning we had to help the assistants fix a key indicator report
that a previous tech staff made, but broke. So that was a fun time.
Monday
We awoke and worked out at the apartment because the rain was coming
down pretty hard! Yay exercise! Then we had staff meeting! It is one
of my favorite parts of the week! We discussed different assignments.
Well it turns out last week I volunteered for 3 big assignments and
completely forgot about them! I was so excited about making bread I
forgot! President thought that was pretty funny so it turned into a
running joke for the rest of the meeting. But now I have a project to
redesign an app, supply all the apartments with tool kits, and
landscape a garden for one of the missionary houses in the mission.
After studies Elder Ford and I went out to a famous Ramen shop called
Ippudo! They have a few in America as well. It was delicious. Then we
came back to the office and worked hard on various projects. Right
now, Elder Moua and I are building an App for the iPads. Only the
church wants all apps written in HTML (simply put it is what is
written to make websites). So that is a fun little task for us. It's
not hard it is just causing me to learn another language. At this rate
I'll come home fluent in all kinds of languages haha! The previous app
was built in such a way that it just wasn't as pretty as we wanted it
and wouldn't save data values. That project took most the day and we
aren't anywhere close to finishing. To relax my brain I looked at
plants and had some good ideas as to how to design a flower bed.
Sister Wada and I figured out some good designs. I was amazed at how
much I remembered, and how things worked with different plants! It
caused for a busy but fulfilling day!
Tuesday
We decided to risk it and go running in the rain. After that we came
back and studied. After personal study Elder Mukai and I went to
Kunitachi for a RPLA session with president Wada. It was really good.
President did a great job, and really helped me understand the Book of
Mormon. It caused for a lot of pondering. Afterwards one of the
sisters who was there came up to me and showed me a picture. It was
the Shilligs, a family from my ward back at home! She said they were
so cute that she cried...twice! It is crazy to think they are only a
30 minute train ride away! After the meeting we came back and began
work tearing apart code from different apps made by the mission in
order to get a grasp on what needs to be done for this next app. Elder
Moua and I took a break and went shopping for tools. I'll tell you
what, they do not have great tools here in japan. With that being
said, I did almost buy a power drill for 20 dollars. But then realized
the purposes for it were a little bit lacking. We then came back to
the honbu and planned to go out and dendo, however the two nehongen
left so we needed to be with Elder Ford, and just as we were about to
leave President stopped us and asked if he would get a bike situation
worked out...agh. But we redesigned the icon for the app. We made a
very simplistic but elegant icon. That is exactly what we wanted.
Wednesday
We awoke and went running! I know I sound like a broken record but
it's true! Then we went upstairs to help Sister Wada cook! President
has stopped pulling me out of the kitchen to help set up, or talk to
everyone because he knows how much I love it in there (or he has
forgotten about me, but the first one sounds a little better). My
buddy and former companion Elder Crandall was going home along with a
group of other missionaries. I'll tell you what he has to be one of my
favorite people from my mission. We got along way well. After a giant
breakfast, we took pictures and sent the missionaries on their way.
Crazy, it seemed like yesterday we were talking about going home and
then boom, off to BYU! That is the hardest part of the Honbu is saying
goodbye to people. After we went to workmans to look at buying tools,
however all they sell is work clothing. They have a million different
types of steel toed shoes, like skater shoes, to running shoes, the
whole nine yards and then some! Sadly no tools though, so we came back
to the office to find that one of the sisters who helps in the kitchen
brought us Oreos from America! President Wada saw them when he came in
and asked where out milk was, so we went and grabbed some and ate
Oreos for lunch! After we continued with the coding and making
everything else work in the office, some weeks I feel like everything
just falls apart. After some time we went out to dinner to Ippudo
again, it was delicious! When we got back we sent the Adamsons out to
eat there. After we came back got ready for Eakaiwa and had a great
class we did debates again. There is one woman who is really funny and
gets really animated in the class. We are steadily growing our class
which is awesome! After Class the YSA were having an activity and had
a left over uncooked pizza so they gave it to us! We took it in the
office and President saw it so we asked if we could cook it in his
oven. He said sure, then we asked if we could plan in his kitchen he
said no, but recommended the living room instead, so we planned then
ate pizza with President. It. Was. Hilarious! President was practicing
his Japanese English accent which was so funny (he normally has no
accent). Sister Wada did. It find it as funny but he had the whole
office in tears over it. It made for a fantastic ending to our night.
Thursday
We awoke to an invigorating run. Then had our studies. After studies I
took a nap then ate a small sand which then went out to work in the
office. We are getting about together. We worked on the app more but I
got stuck so I put it down for a while. Then we had a lesson with
Itsuki-San who is our eternal investigator. He isn't progressing at
all, and has some really frustrating things he does, but we are giving
him a lot of foreigner love and it'll break his hard shell. After we
had ping pong night!mi am not great at ping pong, but it is still
pretty fun. President came over and played too, it was a blast to have
him join in.
Friday
We awoke and went running again. It was a great run! I'm getting
faster each day. Then we studied, after studies we went out to the
office and worked. We are getting really close with the app. I got
stuck on a certain part the day before but had a dream about how to
fix it and it worked! Elder Moua and I took a break so he could buy
more tabs he is building a forwarding book of all the apartments. When
we came back we continued work. Then Sister Magleby and Sister
Murakami came because Sister Murakamis iPad broke, so Elder Moua spent
some time getting it back into working order and getting her a new
iPad. Sister Magleby turns out worked at BYU under the tech division.
So she helped make the app icon more crisp..but in the end we changed
the outline by just a shade. It helped a lot. During dinner we cleaned
and ate, then after dinner I uploaded the app to the portal to see how
it worked...well it downloads just fine, however it is missing the
file that runs the app. So that is a little frustrating so I gave up
on it and went to bed.
I figured I would give everyone a break from all the kanji written for
the days.
きよ付けてね！
Elder Dunn
Friday, August 14, 2015
A crock pot, baking bread at the Wadas, and training new missionaries!
Hello my wonderful Family and Friends who live across the seaへ
I'll be straight with everyone, I didn't have time to write in my
journal until Thursday night, it shows you how busy we have been.
土曜日
We awoke worked out, then began working out transfer emails! We pull a
program that has all of the transfers with areas, new companions,
nearest train stations, ect. Then we have a draft email, and send it
out to everyone. It took us all morning organizing all the data. Then
at 11 we began sending, but we ran into a big old problem. Google only
allows 100 emails to be send from your email address in one day...and
we had almost 200 to send! Talk about a problem, so we began
scrabbling around before everyone starts calling asking why one
companion received and they didn't. So we switched emails in the
program and were able to send everything out! After that stressed
induced moment we decided to go on a day trip! To Yokota Air base.
Elder Ford has an ID card so that allows us be signed on as well. On
our way there we met a man from Aulstralia who is a fantastic person.
We talked for quite a while. Then we got to the base and walked to the
BX, well first we went to the food court and had Taco Bell! The drink
cups are so big! I completely forgot about that! Then we went to the
BX, it was so crazy! All the American goods! We bought various goods
then we came across the cooking supplies. We ran across a crockpot!
Then Elder Ford turned to me and asked if we could use it. Uh...of
course! We tried to call sister Wada to see if it was reimbursable
however, we had no cell phone service. So we decided to buy it anyways
and ask her later. So after finishing our shopping we went outside and
called her. She sounded pretty surprised that we were able to get
ahold of one, and was surprised that we bought it too! She said we
could reimburse it which was good news. Around that time a man came up
to us and asked us how we were doing, people on base seemed a lot more
friendly and willing to say hello than if we were off base. We went to
the commissary and bought tons of groceries, then packed them in our
bags and hauled them home. Upon returning we scrambled to put them
away and get out the door to dendo. Elder Ford and I went to go visit
a less active/ recent convert however he didn't want to see us when we
knocked on his door. So we decided to house the surrounding area. We
knocked an entire apartment complex and not a single person came to
the door. So we went to another area, which we just kind of walked
into. We both had the feeling to go in a certain direction but we
weary really sure which way that was. We knocked on one door finding
the same results as before. Then we decided to go to a specific door,
so we went and found a woman from Brazil! My Portuguese is more than a
little rusty...it is more like non existent! Her Japanese was fine so
we talked to her about our message and she asked if we had anything
for her! Sadly we didn't but we set up a return appointment. She also
told us where a few more brazilians live! So running a little low on
time we prayed to see what we should do and had to feeling we should
continue on. So we were able to find a really prepared Japanese man!
It was amazing!
日曜日
We awoke and Elder Ford and I figured out the crockpot and put some
ribs in that we bought. We then all went to church. It was great, I
really have a hard time when instead of teaching they plan
events...that isn't really the purpose of the class. We had a meeting
with the bishop afterwards about dendo and a big festival we are
having soon. It was exciting for sure. Then we came back to the office
and got ready for the testimony meeting for the leaving missionaries
that night. We then ate our feast of ribs with vegetables. It was very
American and delicious! Then we had song practice for a song that one
of the Elders in the mission wrote. The testimony meeting was good, it
was a little strange hearing missionaries that I have known for what
seems like a long time bear their final testimonies. After we worked
on fixing the roster for everyone. Then president came in and sat and
talked with us for a while. While we got ready for tomorrow's leaving
missionaries.
月曜日
We awoke and began scrambling to get everything together before
parents and missionaries started showing up. It was a little hectic
getting everything together. Then we figured out the method we needed
to use. Collecting iPads, bike bags, and emergency kits. We then had
breakfast, which was delicious because sister Wada made it. Then took
pictures, collected the rest of the iPads. Then we sent the
missionaries on their way to the airport. I think it takes a lot out
of President and Sister Wada seeing them leave. We worked on clearing
iPads and getting everything in order, then the portal started
breaking because a former missionary was on "fixing" things but didn't
really help us a whole lot. So we had to go back in and fix things.
After that we found out that the roster was wrong and that some things
needed to be changed so we spent more time working on the roster.
Ending an exhaustive day.
火曜日
We awoke, ran, and began our studies, during language study sister
Wada had Elder Ford and I go to the kitchen so she could teach us how
to use the oven. Then for lunch we went to stamina as a district with
President Wada. It was fun, but yakiniku is not one of my favorites to
be honest. We then came back and began preparing for the new
missionaries coming. We had to set up futons in the church and in the
Wadas house. Then around 4 things got exciting. Sister Wada taught us
how to use the oven because she said I could bake bread for all the
new missionaries for dinner! So Elder Ford and I made bread, then kept
setting up. At around 7 we walked to the bus stop under the train
station to wait for the new missionaries. The sisters were going to
join us however they got hung up so we had to run after them so they
wouldn't go the wrong way. When the new missionaries got here they
were so tired! I am sure none of them had ever felt humidity before
because that is the first thing they all said. What is really funny is
that none of them had filters, they all just said what was on their
mind be used they were so tired. We then went back to the honbu and
ate dinner, then had a training with Sister Wada and Tech Staff. The
videos on the portal were hard to run of the iPad so it lagged a
little but it all worked out...that and none of them will remember
much anyways. After they all crashed we cleaned and set up for the
next day.
水曜日
Elder Blanchard and I awoke at 4 to go to the airport to pick up Elder
Kaesler ( remember the missionary who wrecked on his bike a while back
and had to go home?) he flew in from Aulstralia so we had to drive
through Tokyo to go and get him. It was a fantastic view! We drove on
rainbow bridge, drove next to a Shinkansen (bullet train), say sky
tree, and Tokyo tower, and saw the emperors palace! Talk about an
amazing adventure! However we got home pretty tired, we helped sister
Wada cook breakfast then had some trainings with new missionaries. I
stayed awake until after lunch but to be honest, I don't remember a
whole lot at all. President recommended that we go and take naps, so
we did! It helped a lot. After waking up we went to go eat dinner as a
big group, we ate at an udon restaurant which isn't really my favorite
to be honest. The sisters that came in are very...interesting...to say
the least. There were 5 sisters and 1 elder that came in. It was weird
realizing that I end my mission before they do...I don't feel like
that is even possible. We then came home answered missed calls then
went to eakaiwa. We did tongue twisters! It was a blast! We had a
great time. Then after president called us upstairs to talk to us. He
asked us to redo the training for the iPads for tomorrow....which was
the next afternoon! Talk about hectic, so we began the process ripping
apart everything we needed to for the new training.
木曜日
Elder Ford and I awoke at 5 so he could finish a PowerPoint for the
new missionaries and so I could start working on the new training. We
then went running with the new missionaries! It was a blast...well not
really, they all hated the humidity so much they didn't want to sweat.
After returning home we got ready and went upstairs to help with
breakfast! Sister Wada was excited to see me and asked if I would
start helping! Of course, so I grabbed a towel, threw it over my
shoulder, and began making French toast! She said she wasn't following
a recipe, so I had some creative liberties making it. That was
enjoyable. From my run I was pretty tired so I just drank misou soup.
After we went downstairs and worked on the training, by running
through it with some missionaries. Then we continued pulling it apart
for the next few hours. Then we had lunch, after lunch was our
training. For two hours we talked about iPads. It was pretty
exhaustive for everyone. Then we passed out gear to everyone and sent
them on their way. After we finished up various projects and rested
from the exhaustion.
金曜日
We woke up and began our day with a run. Then we studied. After
studies I took a nap because I was exhausted. Then I put uploaded a
project I have been working on for a while on the portal. It is nice
to finally be finished with that. Elder Adamson was wondering how I
changed his desktop background so I worked on showing him the
different options. We then went to district meeting. Elder Naganuma is
the new district leader, and if you remember anything from him it is
probably that his English isn't the best. It is hilarious though. He
google translated the agenda which was hilarious, I can tell this
transfer will be a lot of fun as a district. After district meeting
Sister Fuggle gave me her iPad to switch because her internet wasn't
working. Her new companion, Sister Hart, asked if I had lived in Ohio
my whole life. I was like yeah I have! Then she told me that she use
to live in the Xenia ward! Granted her family left about ten years
ago, but it was crazy seeing how many mutual friends we have! I worked
on the iPad pulling things off then went to district dinner at the
church. That was fun, then we went back to the office to continue
setting up the new iPad, and fixing a few problems across the mission
regarding the cell phones. We got a call from president Wada around 8
asking us to set up the conference room for a conference call tomorrow
morning.
To be honest this week has flown by way to quickly. It is weird being
able to pay more attention to all the new training when the new
missionaries come in. I didn't remember half of it!
Keep trying to beat the heat 皆さん！
Elder Dunn
I'll be straight with everyone, I didn't have time to write in my
journal until Thursday night, it shows you how busy we have been.
土曜日
We awoke worked out, then began working out transfer emails! We pull a
program that has all of the transfers with areas, new companions,
nearest train stations, ect. Then we have a draft email, and send it
out to everyone. It took us all morning organizing all the data. Then
at 11 we began sending, but we ran into a big old problem. Google only
allows 100 emails to be send from your email address in one day...and
we had almost 200 to send! Talk about a problem, so we began
scrabbling around before everyone starts calling asking why one
companion received and they didn't. So we switched emails in the
program and were able to send everything out! After that stressed
induced moment we decided to go on a day trip! To Yokota Air base.
Elder Ford has an ID card so that allows us be signed on as well. On
our way there we met a man from Aulstralia who is a fantastic person.
We talked for quite a while. Then we got to the base and walked to the
BX, well first we went to the food court and had Taco Bell! The drink
cups are so big! I completely forgot about that! Then we went to the
BX, it was so crazy! All the American goods! We bought various goods
then we came across the cooking supplies. We ran across a crockpot!
Then Elder Ford turned to me and asked if we could use it. Uh...of
course! We tried to call sister Wada to see if it was reimbursable
however, we had no cell phone service. So we decided to buy it anyways
and ask her later. So after finishing our shopping we went outside and
called her. She sounded pretty surprised that we were able to get
ahold of one, and was surprised that we bought it too! She said we
could reimburse it which was good news. Around that time a man came up
to us and asked us how we were doing, people on base seemed a lot more
friendly and willing to say hello than if we were off base. We went to
the commissary and bought tons of groceries, then packed them in our
bags and hauled them home. Upon returning we scrambled to put them
away and get out the door to dendo. Elder Ford and I went to go visit
a less active/ recent convert however he didn't want to see us when we
knocked on his door. So we decided to house the surrounding area. We
knocked an entire apartment complex and not a single person came to
the door. So we went to another area, which we just kind of walked
into. We both had the feeling to go in a certain direction but we
weary really sure which way that was. We knocked on one door finding
the same results as before. Then we decided to go to a specific door,
so we went and found a woman from Brazil! My Portuguese is more than a
little rusty...it is more like non existent! Her Japanese was fine so
we talked to her about our message and she asked if we had anything
for her! Sadly we didn't but we set up a return appointment. She also
told us where a few more brazilians live! So running a little low on
time we prayed to see what we should do and had to feeling we should
continue on. So we were able to find a really prepared Japanese man!
It was amazing!
日曜日
We awoke and Elder Ford and I figured out the crockpot and put some
ribs in that we bought. We then all went to church. It was great, I
really have a hard time when instead of teaching they plan
events...that isn't really the purpose of the class. We had a meeting
with the bishop afterwards about dendo and a big festival we are
having soon. It was exciting for sure. Then we came back to the office
and got ready for the testimony meeting for the leaving missionaries
that night. We then ate our feast of ribs with vegetables. It was very
American and delicious! Then we had song practice for a song that one
of the Elders in the mission wrote. The testimony meeting was good, it
was a little strange hearing missionaries that I have known for what
seems like a long time bear their final testimonies. After we worked
on fixing the roster for everyone. Then president came in and sat and
talked with us for a while. While we got ready for tomorrow's leaving
missionaries.
月曜日
We awoke and began scrambling to get everything together before
parents and missionaries started showing up. It was a little hectic
getting everything together. Then we figured out the method we needed
to use. Collecting iPads, bike bags, and emergency kits. We then had
breakfast, which was delicious because sister Wada made it. Then took
pictures, collected the rest of the iPads. Then we sent the
missionaries on their way to the airport. I think it takes a lot out
of President and Sister Wada seeing them leave. We worked on clearing
iPads and getting everything in order, then the portal started
breaking because a former missionary was on "fixing" things but didn't
really help us a whole lot. So we had to go back in and fix things.
After that we found out that the roster was wrong and that some things
needed to be changed so we spent more time working on the roster.
Ending an exhaustive day.
火曜日
We awoke, ran, and began our studies, during language study sister
Wada had Elder Ford and I go to the kitchen so she could teach us how
to use the oven. Then for lunch we went to stamina as a district with
President Wada. It was fun, but yakiniku is not one of my favorites to
be honest. We then came back and began preparing for the new
missionaries coming. We had to set up futons in the church and in the
Wadas house. Then around 4 things got exciting. Sister Wada taught us
how to use the oven because she said I could bake bread for all the
new missionaries for dinner! So Elder Ford and I made bread, then kept
setting up. At around 7 we walked to the bus stop under the train
station to wait for the new missionaries. The sisters were going to
join us however they got hung up so we had to run after them so they
wouldn't go the wrong way. When the new missionaries got here they
were so tired! I am sure none of them had ever felt humidity before
because that is the first thing they all said. What is really funny is
that none of them had filters, they all just said what was on their
mind be used they were so tired. We then went back to the honbu and
ate dinner, then had a training with Sister Wada and Tech Staff. The
videos on the portal were hard to run of the iPad so it lagged a
little but it all worked out...that and none of them will remember
much anyways. After they all crashed we cleaned and set up for the
next day.
水曜日
Elder Blanchard and I awoke at 4 to go to the airport to pick up Elder
Kaesler ( remember the missionary who wrecked on his bike a while back
and had to go home?) he flew in from Aulstralia so we had to drive
through Tokyo to go and get him. It was a fantastic view! We drove on
rainbow bridge, drove next to a Shinkansen (bullet train), say sky
tree, and Tokyo tower, and saw the emperors palace! Talk about an
amazing adventure! However we got home pretty tired, we helped sister
Wada cook breakfast then had some trainings with new missionaries. I
stayed awake until after lunch but to be honest, I don't remember a
whole lot at all. President recommended that we go and take naps, so
we did! It helped a lot. After waking up we went to go eat dinner as a
big group, we ate at an udon restaurant which isn't really my favorite
to be honest. The sisters that came in are very...interesting...to say
the least. There were 5 sisters and 1 elder that came in. It was weird
realizing that I end my mission before they do...I don't feel like
that is even possible. We then came home answered missed calls then
went to eakaiwa. We did tongue twisters! It was a blast! We had a
great time. Then after president called us upstairs to talk to us. He
asked us to redo the training for the iPads for tomorrow....which was
the next afternoon! Talk about hectic, so we began the process ripping
apart everything we needed to for the new training.
木曜日
Elder Ford and I awoke at 5 so he could finish a PowerPoint for the
new missionaries and so I could start working on the new training. We
then went running with the new missionaries! It was a blast...well not
really, they all hated the humidity so much they didn't want to sweat.
After returning home we got ready and went upstairs to help with
breakfast! Sister Wada was excited to see me and asked if I would
start helping! Of course, so I grabbed a towel, threw it over my
shoulder, and began making French toast! She said she wasn't following
a recipe, so I had some creative liberties making it. That was
enjoyable. From my run I was pretty tired so I just drank misou soup.
After we went downstairs and worked on the training, by running
through it with some missionaries. Then we continued pulling it apart
for the next few hours. Then we had lunch, after lunch was our
training. For two hours we talked about iPads. It was pretty
exhaustive for everyone. Then we passed out gear to everyone and sent
them on their way. After we finished up various projects and rested
from the exhaustion.
金曜日
We woke up and began our day with a run. Then we studied. After
studies I took a nap because I was exhausted. Then I put uploaded a
project I have been working on for a while on the portal. It is nice
to finally be finished with that. Elder Adamson was wondering how I
changed his desktop background so I worked on showing him the
different options. We then went to district meeting. Elder Naganuma is
the new district leader, and if you remember anything from him it is
probably that his English isn't the best. It is hilarious though. He
google translated the agenda which was hilarious, I can tell this
transfer will be a lot of fun as a district. After district meeting
Sister Fuggle gave me her iPad to switch because her internet wasn't
working. Her new companion, Sister Hart, asked if I had lived in Ohio
my whole life. I was like yeah I have! Then she told me that she use
to live in the Xenia ward! Granted her family left about ten years
ago, but it was crazy seeing how many mutual friends we have! I worked
on the iPad pulling things off then went to district dinner at the
church. That was fun, then we went back to the office to continue
setting up the new iPad, and fixing a few problems across the mission
regarding the cell phones. We got a call from president Wada around 8
asking us to set up the conference room for a conference call tomorrow
morning.
To be honest this week has flown by way to quickly. It is weird being
able to pay more attention to all the new training when the new
missionaries come in. I didn't remember half of it!
Keep trying to beat the heat 皆さん！
Elder Dunn
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Fwd: A Temple Trip, a black man in the Park, and MLC
> こんにちは皆さん！
>
> Hey look everyone I wrote more this week! Enjoy!
>
> 土曜日
> We awoke and went on a great run! Then studied, then we went out into
> the humidity and went to Seiyu to buy groceries. We planned to take
> the office couple to Yokohama but we had lessons and other people so
> we couldn't take them. We were going to teach them how to use the
> trains. After the store we came home and ate lunch, I made some
> delicious Mac and cheese. Time to cook has been rare since coming here
> so I take advantage of it when I can. Then we began emailing...well I
> didn't...since Elder Adamson and Sister Adamson were staying for
> Questions of the Soul later that day they were in the office. So I
> asked him about ROTC and National Guard, and which path is better for
> someone interested in medicine. He pointed me in a pretty good
> direction, and gave me a lot to think about. Then I began emailing.
> After emailing Elder Moua and I walked around Kichijoji for a little
> bit then came back and Elder Nishidome and I went to Questions of the
> Soul. President Wada takes a movie and relates it to the gospel. We
> went with one of our investigators. The movie was the Departure, which
> I am guessing all you Americans have never heard of. And that would be
> because it is a Japanese movie about a mortician. It was really good
> and I liked how president was able to relate it to the gospel.
> Afterwards we talked with everyone and had lemon bars! Then we cleaned
> up and I called some people back.
>
> 日曜日
> We woke up and I made a Facebook post (I realized that Tech has to
> lead by example, which for someone who has never been super active
> with social networking before it a little weird). We then went to DCS.
> It was good, I wonder what the Ward mission leader thinks of the
> office staff because are stats are always really low. I think we
> should just start reporting on how many problems we fix in a week.
> Because that has to be an impressive number. Church was great,
> spiritually filling. Then we came home, split up the good from the
> food basket, and then went out into the humid, hot world. Elder Moua
> and I talked to a few people, we found out a lot about the park where
> Elder Bates and I usually run, it has a track, a museum, a zoo, a
> lake, and a bunch of trails! It is huge, it's probably the equivalent
> of center all park in New York (granted I have never been there
> soo...there is that). We then came home ate some mobadofu (it's hard
> to describe) then had our weekly planning. It was exhaustive! But we
> got it finished. The Nehongen and I ganged up on Elder Moua and all
> said the same thing for his good point in companionship inventory. We
> all agreed he looks like one of the small bears from Star Wars an
> Ewok. Elder Naganuma thought it was particularly funny.
>
> 月曜日
> We awoke, went running, and studied. For language study I read for an
> hour straight which hurt my brain so much. So I decided to lay down
> for a second. Then Elder Bates came in and said we were going to sushi
> for lunch... Ugh. But it was fun, I had a great miso soup (probably my
> favorite soup in Japan). Then back to the office, I worked on the same
> project non-stop, it was exhausting, but, we got pretty close! We were
> just missing a few things. Then Elder Moua and I worked on finding
> pictures for president Wada. And that was effectively our day.
>
> 火曜日
> We awoke and went for a great run, I am getting faster slowly but
> surely. Then we got ready and went to the temple! It was so great to
> go! If you go with the mindset of a student your attitude changes a
> lot. So that was a neat experience. Then we ate in the cafeteria, with
> the Adamsons. The Adamson couple is the Mission Office Couple. We have
> gotten really close to them since being here. We were waiting outside
> and could smell the curry inside. Deciding to play a little prank on
> Elder Adamson we told him that the painting smelled like curry, it
> went a little something like this. "Hey Elder Adamson this paining
> smells like curry" "what? There is no way" "I'm pretty sure it does
> come, look" [Elder Adamson puts his nose to the painting and smells]
> "you are right Elders this does smell like something, I wonder what it
> is" "oh, it's the cafeteria they are serving curry for lunch!" We then
> took the trains back to Kichijoji, I worked on my Australian accent
> with one of the sisters from Australia, she said I am starting to
> sound pretty good. I like to try out different accents when calling
> people around the mission (we make so many calls in a day). We then
> were in the office for the rest of the day catching up on work and
> missed calls. We found out that we will be adding a new person to the
> office....drum roll please...Elder Ford! Really quick about Elder
> Ford, I met him at the last church dance I went to the day after I
> received my mission call. He came in at about 11:30 so we helped him
> get settled in. Elder Ford will be the new Recorder, and Elder
> Murakami will become the new assistant with Elder Bates.
>
> 水曜日
> Since Elder Bates was on splits with some missionaries Elder Ford and
> I went running. When we got to the park we saw a police car with the
> lights on. Elder Ford turned to me and asked if that was normal.
> Uh..no. So we continued the run and found 5 police officers
> surrounding a black man. And this man was irate. He was screaming at
> the police officers in English about listening to his music and
> singing in the park. The expression on the police officers faces was
> priceless. We ran over to see if we could translate for him, and he
> just kept yelling and there was a Japanese man who spoke English there
> so we left. After our run, we had studies then had our big office
> meeting for the upcoming transfer. I guess I can spill the beans about
> me this upcoming transfer. I'm staying...yay, well kind of...I'd
> rather be in the field life is so much simpler out there. When we were
> discussing if I could make bread President was all for it but sister
> Wada was hesitant, then President Wada leaned over to me and said,
> "make it" so I get to use to mission wife's kitchen wahoo! After we
> ate udon then went to yodabashi camera for a flash drive, so try and
> download some software to reset Sister Adamson's computer. We ended up
> having to call salt lake to see if we could buy a program, thankfully
> they already owned a better one and walked Sister Adamson through the
> steps needed. She must have thought we had been the ones to fix it
> because she came to our eakaiwa class! We did improv! It was
> hilarious! We have one student who loves Led Zeppelin, so when there
> was a skit about a dead dog, he said "oh yes, your dog is on the
> stairway to heaven!" It was hilarious and really creative!
>
> 木曜日
> Elder Bates, Elder Ford and I went running then we began getting
> ready, halfway through Elder Bates needed to go to the church to
> practice singing for MLC (mission leadership conference), so I went
> with him and took a laptop to do some office work. Then back to the
> office to fix a few things President needed, then upstairs to go and
> clean. Then I hid for a half hour so I could read my scriptures. After
> I prepared a training to give at MLC, regarding Facebook. Elder Moua
> went to the dentist with one of the Nehongen so I was with Elder
> Naganuma. When lunch time came around I began making a sandwich but
> Elder Naganuma insisted on going to McDonalds, when I asked him why he
> said it was so he could gain 7 kilos so he can beat me in arm
> wrestling....haha good luck. On our way there we saw a big camera crew
> filming two people, when in asked him what it was he said it was a
> really famous actor in japan. So I saw a really famous actor who I
> literally have no idea who they are. We came back, ate, then I went up
> do do my training. We discussed Facebook and how we can use it better
> as a mission. Then I stayed for the next section of discussion items,
> after we went back to the office to find that an App was completely
> broken..the best part is the app was built by a missionary in the
> mission so we spent an hour working on that then after MLC everything
> broke loose and we had a million things coming in for us. Lost iPads,
> scratched screens, and various other problems. When that died down we
> had district meeting, the sports night. At sports night we played ping
> pong, and socialized with investigators. And that summed up out day.
>
> 金曜日
> We woke up and didn't go running! I did push ups! Then we had studies,
> after we ate, I made a wonderful sand which. Then I worked on fixing a
> dumb app...which was frustrating. But then the creator of the app
> came! Sadly... He want much help at all...I guess the former tech
> staffs all have some sort of love hate relationship...then there is me
> who is running around plugging holes in a giant bucket... But that is
> life and it keeps things interesting. It was a busy time after working
> in the office we went to sushi. I fell asleep, I was so tired. I only
> had three plates which isn't a whole lot at all. After we went out and
> did missionary work (I forget the word in English)! We met a really
> great man and set up a return appointment for the following week! We
> then ran into a few couples and invited them. We met a Russian! He was
> really cool and had an awesome Russian name! We then found a boxing
> gym! That was fun to watch. After we met a few teenagers and then came
> back home to finish out the day!
>
> Sorry this letter may seem abrupt... My week has been really busy!
>
> Love you all!
>
> Elder Dunn
>
> Hey look everyone I wrote more this week! Enjoy!
>
> 土曜日
> We awoke and went on a great run! Then studied, then we went out into
> the humidity and went to Seiyu to buy groceries. We planned to take
> the office couple to Yokohama but we had lessons and other people so
> we couldn't take them. We were going to teach them how to use the
> trains. After the store we came home and ate lunch, I made some
> delicious Mac and cheese. Time to cook has been rare since coming here
> so I take advantage of it when I can. Then we began emailing...well I
> didn't...since Elder Adamson and Sister Adamson were staying for
> Questions of the Soul later that day they were in the office. So I
> asked him about ROTC and National Guard, and which path is better for
> someone interested in medicine. He pointed me in a pretty good
> direction, and gave me a lot to think about. Then I began emailing.
> After emailing Elder Moua and I walked around Kichijoji for a little
> bit then came back and Elder Nishidome and I went to Questions of the
> Soul. President Wada takes a movie and relates it to the gospel. We
> went with one of our investigators. The movie was the Departure, which
> I am guessing all you Americans have never heard of. And that would be
> because it is a Japanese movie about a mortician. It was really good
> and I liked how president was able to relate it to the gospel.
> Afterwards we talked with everyone and had lemon bars! Then we cleaned
> up and I called some people back.
>
> 日曜日
> We woke up and I made a Facebook post (I realized that Tech has to
> lead by example, which for someone who has never been super active
> with social networking before it a little weird). We then went to DCS.
> It was good, I wonder what the Ward mission leader thinks of the
> office staff because are stats are always really low. I think we
> should just start reporting on how many problems we fix in a week.
> Because that has to be an impressive number. Church was great,
> spiritually filling. Then we came home, split up the good from the
> food basket, and then went out into the humid, hot world. Elder Moua
> and I talked to a few people, we found out a lot about the park where
> Elder Bates and I usually run, it has a track, a museum, a zoo, a
> lake, and a bunch of trails! It is huge, it's probably the equivalent
> of center all park in New York (granted I have never been there
> soo...there is that). We then came home ate some mobadofu (it's hard
> to describe) then had our weekly planning. It was exhaustive! But we
> got it finished. The Nehongen and I ganged up on Elder Moua and all
> said the same thing for his good point in companionship inventory. We
> all agreed he looks like one of the small bears from Star Wars an
> Ewok. Elder Naganuma thought it was particularly funny.
>
> 月曜日
> We awoke, went running, and studied. For language study I read for an
> hour straight which hurt my brain so much. So I decided to lay down
> for a second. Then Elder Bates came in and said we were going to sushi
> for lunch... Ugh. But it was fun, I had a great miso soup (probably my
> favorite soup in Japan). Then back to the office, I worked on the same
> project non-stop, it was exhausting, but, we got pretty close! We were
> just missing a few things. Then Elder Moua and I worked on finding
> pictures for president Wada. And that was effectively our day.
>
> 火曜日
> We awoke and went for a great run, I am getting faster slowly but
> surely. Then we got ready and went to the temple! It was so great to
> go! If you go with the mindset of a student your attitude changes a
> lot. So that was a neat experience. Then we ate in the cafeteria, with
> the Adamsons. The Adamson couple is the Mission Office Couple. We have
> gotten really close to them since being here. We were waiting outside
> and could smell the curry inside. Deciding to play a little prank on
> Elder Adamson we told him that the painting smelled like curry, it
> went a little something like this. "Hey Elder Adamson this paining
> smells like curry" "what? There is no way" "I'm pretty sure it does
> come, look" [Elder Adamson puts his nose to the painting and smells]
> "you are right Elders this does smell like something, I wonder what it
> is" "oh, it's the cafeteria they are serving curry for lunch!" We then
> took the trains back to Kichijoji, I worked on my Australian accent
> with one of the sisters from Australia, she said I am starting to
> sound pretty good. I like to try out different accents when calling
> people around the mission (we make so many calls in a day). We then
> were in the office for the rest of the day catching up on work and
> missed calls. We found out that we will be adding a new person to the
> office....drum roll please...Elder Ford! Really quick about Elder
> Ford, I met him at the last church dance I went to the day after I
> received my mission call. He came in at about 11:30 so we helped him
> get settled in. Elder Ford will be the new Recorder, and Elder
> Murakami will become the new assistant with Elder Bates.
>
> 水曜日
> Since Elder Bates was on splits with some missionaries Elder Ford and
> I went running. When we got to the park we saw a police car with the
> lights on. Elder Ford turned to me and asked if that was normal.
> Uh..no. So we continued the run and found 5 police officers
> surrounding a black man. And this man was irate. He was screaming at
> the police officers in English about listening to his music and
> singing in the park. The expression on the police officers faces was
> priceless. We ran over to see if we could translate for him, and he
> just kept yelling and there was a Japanese man who spoke English there
> so we left. After our run, we had studies then had our big office
> meeting for the upcoming transfer. I guess I can spill the beans about
> me this upcoming transfer. I'm staying...yay, well kind of...I'd
> rather be in the field life is so much simpler out there. When we were
> discussing if I could make bread President was all for it but sister
> Wada was hesitant, then President Wada leaned over to me and said,
> "make it" so I get to use to mission wife's kitchen wahoo! After we
> ate udon then went to yodabashi camera for a flash drive, so try and
> download some software to reset Sister Adamson's computer. We ended up
> having to call salt lake to see if we could buy a program, thankfully
> they already owned a better one and walked Sister Adamson through the
> steps needed. She must have thought we had been the ones to fix it
> because she came to our eakaiwa class! We did improv! It was
> hilarious! We have one student who loves Led Zeppelin, so when there
> was a skit about a dead dog, he said "oh yes, your dog is on the
> stairway to heaven!" It was hilarious and really creative!
>
> 木曜日
> Elder Bates, Elder Ford and I went running then we began getting
> ready, halfway through Elder Bates needed to go to the church to
> practice singing for MLC (mission leadership conference), so I went
> with him and took a laptop to do some office work. Then back to the
> office to fix a few things President needed, then upstairs to go and
> clean. Then I hid for a half hour so I could read my scriptures. After
> I prepared a training to give at MLC, regarding Facebook. Elder Moua
> went to the dentist with one of the Nehongen so I was with Elder
> Naganuma. When lunch time came around I began making a sandwich but
> Elder Naganuma insisted on going to McDonalds, when I asked him why he
> said it was so he could gain 7 kilos so he can beat me in arm
> wrestling....haha good luck. On our way there we saw a big camera crew
> filming two people, when in asked him what it was he said it was a
> really famous actor in japan. So I saw a really famous actor who I
> literally have no idea who they are. We came back, ate, then I went up
> do do my training. We discussed Facebook and how we can use it better
> as a mission. Then I stayed for the next section of discussion items,
> after we went back to the office to find that an App was completely
> broken..the best part is the app was built by a missionary in the
> mission so we spent an hour working on that then after MLC everything
> broke loose and we had a million things coming in for us. Lost iPads,
> scratched screens, and various other problems. When that died down we
> had district meeting, the sports night. At sports night we played ping
> pong, and socialized with investigators. And that summed up out day.
>
> 金曜日
> We woke up and didn't go running! I did push ups! Then we had studies,
> after we ate, I made a wonderful sand which. Then I worked on fixing a
> dumb app...which was frustrating. But then the creator of the app
> came! Sadly... He want much help at all...I guess the former tech
> staffs all have some sort of love hate relationship...then there is me
> who is running around plugging holes in a giant bucket... But that is
> life and it keeps things interesting. It was a busy time after working
> in the office we went to sushi. I fell asleep, I was so tired. I only
> had three plates which isn't a whole lot at all. After we went out and
> did missionary work (I forget the word in English)! We met a really
> great man and set up a return appointment for the following week! We
> then ran into a few couples and invited them. We met a Russian! He was
> really cool and had an awesome Russian name! We then found a boxing
> gym! That was fun to watch. After we met a few teenagers and then came
> back home to finish out the day!
>
> Sorry this letter may seem abrupt... My week has been really busy!
>
> Love you all!
>
> Elder Dunn
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