Dante Choro in Japan: Breaking the Law of Chastity and saying Tabereru is like the same thing.

S othi swee kwa sinterestin. Gw edi dlot so fstuf. Fan di twen tb yreall yfas. T

Anyway, we did do a lot of stuff and it did go by really fast, but I don't know if you will find it that interesting. We shall see.

         Well to start off the week, we had Monday. Usual order of events thus far, but once we get in the middle you might be interested as to how things turned out. On said Monday, we were both sick. I was feeling kind of ok (C) but Elder Whited was out of it. So we called and got permission for him to rest. I ganbarued really hard and studied and did all sorts of things, but still ended up falling asleep at my desk as well. I didn't really want to, but you know how tiresome texting the same 3 people and reading the scriptures can get for extended periods of time. And so we slept and then we woke up and ate and then in no time at all, it was bed time. That was fun.

         Then on Tuesday, Elder Whited was feeling well enough to go out and so we did! And it was just a normal day. But then at night we had a lesson with a kid who goes by Kevin. Unfortunately, he does not look like a Kevin. Poor guy. (^^) He has really good English though, and he almost got "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"! It was really funny. He is really a good kid, but then he doesn't really want to know if God is really there, he just thinks that it is cool what we think about God. Interesting.

         Then next was Wednesday, the day that our schedule is always rather full. We have set service appointment in the morning and then we have kids eikaiwa and regular eikaiwa for essentially the rest of the day. Always a good time though.

         After that Wednesday, we had our Friday. We got to go down to Fukutoku and we had a zone conference. It was awesome. I got to see lots of new people and a few that I knew. At the end there was a portion that members were invited to and of all the members that came, 68.75% were from Ichinomiya. This ward is super awesome. (And yes we counted and did the math). Then we went back to our respective areas and had weekly planning. So essentially we had a few hours of Friday and then a few hours of Thursday with some train times in between.

         Then the next day was much like unto Tuesday. We went around and it felt like Saturday, but everyone was still in School so it was a lot more like Tuesday. At night we were a little busy because our member asked us if he could change our appointment from 6 to 7 and we had to negotiate with him and settled on 6:30. Well ping pong night starts at 7:30 and we created it, so we kind of have to b there. So we had the other Elders set up and they were there at the beginning, we came a little late and got to clean up. Also it worked because we have different Schedules. We have a schedule choice where everything starts half an hour later and end half an hour later. And because almost everything that we have done in Ichinomiya (and really Japan for that matter) has ended at nine. So this just gives us some extra time to stay to the end of a thing and then go home. So that night was a little rushed anyway.

         Then we finally had Saturday and things were back to normal. And our Ward Mission Leader called and asked if he could come and dendo with us. It was awesome. And we have this rule in Japan where elders can only OYM males and so we don't talk to girls really, but he was like, "I'm a member, not a missionary; I can do what I want." So he just OYMed the girls and we OYMed the boys. It was great and we met some really cool people. We met this old man who is 91 and he was still just out in his garden tilling away. Crazy. He said that the secret to life is to talk to people and to make sure to talk about what they like and what you like. Then you will be happy and stay healthy
longer. And it has worked for him, so probably good advice. Also we met this man who was just out having a smoke on his porch and he had a pretty cool car, so we talked about that and, it turns out, Japanese people don't give their cars nicknames. It was a good way to enter the conversation and lighten up the mood though. Pretty fun. He said that he works in Toyota and goes there everyday and comes home every night.   He was really cool. And he had interest in English and a motive to
come! He said that sometime, he wants to go work in Mississippi, why Mississippi, I don't know, but that is where he wants to go. And he asked to make sure if that was in America. (^^) Well it came up that I used to work in a Mexican Restaurant and so Yuichi Kyodai volunteered that we would make them Mexican style food. (Taco Rice) He said that it would be ok if we came back and we found out that he has every Saturday and Sunday off. Crazy. After Yuichi had to go home. (So he lives really far and he said that he couldn't use his car that day; and when he said "I've gotta run" he literally ran down the street in a suit and then still stopped to dendo a kid nad give him an eikaiwa chirashi. Crazy man). Then that night we went and visited Brother Patrick. He is from Nigeria and sometimes talks really fast and it is hard to understand, but he is super chill. When we went he was reading
his scriptures and listening to hymns. And we didn't have an appointment. We just kind of went. #突然 Well, we talked with him about a lot of things and really got to know him. He is really funny. And he studies the scriptures way hard. He said that next time we should make an appointment so he can make us Nigerian food. *Victory Arm Pump* I don't think that I have ever had goat meat before and he said that we will have it. Cool.

         Then on Sunday, we had our usual hectic day after church of trying to set up appointments with all the members and also trying to have lessons with the ones that we set up last week. Also various members wanted up to do other things like help them remember people that used to be missionaries here so they could invite them to the Facebook group that they newly made for the ward. Also to type in our parents names so they can join the group as well. (Sorry for all the Japanese on the page Mom(*^-^*)) and yeah it was a regular Sunday. We got out of church around 4:30. It ends at 1:00. Good times, good times. Then we had an appointment with Kevin and he forgotten it, so we ended up watching the Face to Face event with Elder Holland and President Eyering. It was good.

         Well thats about all we did this week. All in all, it was good. I learned a lot this week. I especially learned at Zone Conference that you don't fail from falling down. You fail from just lying there afterward. Heavenly Father still loves us when we mess up and He wants to help us get better. In the words of Elder Porter, "All throughout the Scriptures, it talks about bringing to pass the joy of man, so it is nowhere in God's plan to bring ourselves down. There's no room for it." The Lord wants us to succeed. In Gospel Doctrine, President Joseph F. Smith wrote, "Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition. That is his mission. We will not finish our work until we have saved ourselves, and then not until we shall have saved all depending upon us; for we are to become saviors upon Mount Zion, as well as Christ. We are called to this mission."  What an awesome thing! The Savior surely isn't resting and neither can we! Not for our own soul's salvation nor for that of others' souls! We can always work to get better! We have the resources! (The scriptures: ancient, old, and new). I am so grateful that we can improve all day everyday! It is so great!

         You know what? Have a great week! You deserve it...probably.

                         Elder Richardson

Fotos!