No Ordinary Man

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I Know That My Redeemer Lives

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Week 8

今日、私は日本語だけつかいたいとおもいます。だいじょうぶですか？たのしいかもしれません。でも、むずかしいです。(I think today, I want to use only Japanese. Are you okay? Might be fun. But it is difficult)

Well, I give up. Plus I'm not sure if that's even right. :P

So, nothing really has happened this last week. Well, that's a lie, but it feels that way. I enjoyed those comics you sent me. Unfortunately, yeah, I've gained a little weight here. Not too much though. :( But I've started biking now so that I'll be in shape for all the biking in Japan. That comic about little kids learning Japanese reminded me of a story that Elder Evans (A member of the 70, and also Evans Shimai's father in law.) shared with us in a devotional. He went to Japan too, and while he was there, a dog ran out and started barking at him. He kept trying to shoo the dog away, and then an angry owner came out and yelled something at the dog. The dog stopped barking and returned to the owner. Elder Evans' companion then said "Well, if that dog can learn Japanese, there's hope for you." :D maybe theres hope for me too.

Thanks for all the mission call updates! That's way exciting. Want to hear something else awesome? In my classroom building, the bottom floor has korean and manderin learners, the second floor has Japanese and German, and the third floor has tagalog. Maybe thats where the manderin is at. Anyway, I guess right now there are only 27 people in the German branch, but on the 6th, somewhere around 104 new german missionaries are coming in, including Nathan and Andrew. The german districts that are here already are going to move to the bottom floor, and all the new german speakers will be on the second floor. Which means that, for like five days, I'll be able to see Andrew and Nathan, because they'll be on the same floor as me! And then after that, Bean might be in the same building as Andrew! How awesome is that?!

Want to hear a funny thing about Japanese? in Japanese, "Scriptures" is 聖典(seiten). That's pronounced "Say-ten". Which is kind of an awkward thing to say.... :P When I'm praying and I want to say I'm thankful for the scriptures, it's kind of funny. we were talking to someone at a devotional, and Elder Webber has a case for his scriptures he made with those characters on it, and I was like "Don't those kanji mean Seiten?" and the person we were talking to was like "Why would you put Satan on your scripture case?" おもしろいですね。(Funny, is not it?)

AHHHH I just want to be in Japan already, but I really don't know enough Japanese  :P  I'm kind of freaking out because it's coming up so soon. Like I wrote in the letter I wrote to Arynn, sometimes, when I feel stressed out or anything, it helps me to remember that Dad has been in the same situation as me. I'm like "Dad's been here before. I can do it too." I think it's awesome. One day, we're going to go to Japan together.

Remember how I keep telling dad to volunteer at the TRC? Well, with all the new missionaries that are coming in, they're trying to find ways to save space. So they've been trying out teaching TRC over skype! We've done it the past two weeks. It's really weird just talking to a computer. Their goal is to have us talk to 日本人 (Japanese person) over skype! こわい (it’s scary)！ They talk so fast! There's no way that I would be able to understand them.

So, I've been using some Japanese in this letter, but now I realize that you probably won't understand it. let me help you with that. translate.google.com   <--- I hope that works. I can never remember the URL. oh well.

OH!! Remember how I said that we have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday? Right after I sent you your letter last week, guess who we hear in the devotional? Oh, just someone named ELDER HOLLAND. It was way awesome! His talks are the best. Every Sunday night, we get to watch a film of some old talk or something, and there is always a talk by him on it. On Sunday, we watched the Joseph Smith movie in Japanese. I barely understood it, but it was fun anyway.

Ah, I can never think of what to say when it comes time to write these emails. Any specific questions for next time? Do my friends have any questions they want answered on the blog? I suppose you can just ask Facebook or whatever. If that even exists anymore. I have no contact with the outside world, so for all I know, when I get back, the world will have moved past Facebook and be on something else. Oh well.

So yeah, I don't really need anything here in the MTC. I'm kind of worried about getting all my stuff to fit in suitcases and make sure they weigh under 50 pounds and stuff. Oh well, I'll tackle that some other time.

Oh one last thing. So Mikkola 長老 and Lazaro 長老 have still been having visa problems, so they're going to leave with us on the 11th. Lazaro 長老 pulled me aside today in the residence hall. He handed me a Book of Mormon and two pieces of stone. He told me that this Book of Mormon has been here since 2011 or something in the Japanese Branch, just passed down from senpai to kohai. It has tons of testimonies written in it. He said that the rules are that you pass it to your favorite kohai and write your testimony and a note in it. One of the stones is from the Salt Lake temple, and the other is from the Tokyo temple. It's a really cool tradition that I'm glad to be a part of.

Anyway, 30 minutes are up. I was too busy reading those puns from Michael. He's read them to me before, but they get me every time. :D maybe if friends on Facebook have anything to say about/to me, you could copy and paste them into emails for me.

Well, I love you all! 愛しています！(I love you) Only like 3 more weeks until these are from Japan, I have more than 30 minutes to work with, and they'll actually have important stuff in them. When I get my travel plans, I'll tell you about them and when you can expect a phone call from me. Also, My Japanese name tag should be coming soon. I'm excited for that! :D

Love, キャスパー長老 (Elder Casper)

SMILEY FACE ATTACK! :D:D:D:):):):):D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:D:D:D:D:D:D:D ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

O________________________________________________________________________________________o   <--- What even is this?

WEEK 7 UPDATE

So, I'm going to start off by saying that the computer I'm currently using is acting up, so today's letter might have problems. Hopefully not though.

Ok, well, what do I say? This week, I studied. And taught. and ate food. And played four square. or wait... was that last week? I don't know anymore. The weeks all kind of feel the same here. Bleh. I kinda just want to be in Japan right now, but I know that there is no way that I'd be able to speak to anyway with any hope that they'd understand me.

But hey, actually, I did do something fun. On Friday of last week, my roommates Wood長老, Malcolm長老, and Webber長老 and I had an えいご だんじき! That means English Fast. We went a whole day without speaking English. It was really fun actually. But super hard too. I learned a lot though. One of the main things that I learned was that I can actually speak Japanese. Mikkola長老 is always saying that to me. He says "You can speak Japanese. I know it." Even when I feel really bad about my Japanese skills. But it’s really coming. We had 32 kohai come in last Wednesday, and I've really been able to help them, and I've realized how much Japanese I've already learned. I memorized the first vision in Japanese, and that was awesome.

So I guess that yesterday, National Geographic was doing some sort of thing on the MTC, and they stopped by the Japanese branch. They went into Egbert長老's classroom, so we didn't see them, but look for that. I wonder what it was about...

Oh! I remember one of dad's questions. It was about like, how can the young men best prepare for a mission or something. I have to say, mission prep really helped me. I learned so much there. Getting used to teaching in English has really helped me start teaching in Japanese. So I would definitely suggest that. Also, get scripture study habits and prayer habits now, because that's a good 95% of what you do in the MTC. Study and pray. I've been trying to say all my prayers in Japanese, and I've really been improving I think. Anyway, I would definitely suggest those things, because if they have that head start, they'll be able to effectively use their time here in the MTC. also, memorize the first vision and some scripture mastery, or at least know where they are, because they've really helped Webber長老 and I while we teach. If they end up getting called to a foreign language mission, my biggest advice would be to stay calm and relaxed. The biggest shock was when I got to my classroom the first day and Evans Shimai spoke nothing but Japanese. It's still pretty much like that, but there is some English sometimes. I guess that just goes for everyone. Don't freak out. You might not be good enough. I definitely am not good enough. But it's important that this is the Lord's work, and if you bring all that you have, and give it the best you can, the Lord will do miracles through you.

AHHH I miss my friends so much. I'll have like a weeks opportunity to see Andrew, but then I'm off to Japan. I wish that I could just hang out with them all again, but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be.

bleh, I really don't remember anything that I wanted to tell you. Izak's dad sent me some of Izak's blog in a dear elder. That was nice. And then Mom put some on a dear elder too! So I got a double dose. What is his address in Mexico? It didn't show up right in that dear elder. Lots of question marks because it didn't support the characters.

Anyway, short one today. want some Japanese? here you go.　わたし わ かぞく と ともだち を 愛 して ます！(I love my family and friends)

Anyway, sorry for the relatively short one today. Tell everyone I love them and tell my friends to write me, haha. Hmm. I think I wrote a whole letter without really saying anything funny or sarcastic or anything. Weird. Oh well, I'm too lazy to add anymore into it. So this is good enough. Except for this....

SMILEY FACE ATTACK GOOOOOOO!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:DD:D:D:D:DD:D :):):):):):):):):) O____o o____O ^____^ >___< :3 :3 :] :] :S :S :S c: c: :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) X_____X <---- me after making all these smileys. This attack was for you, Long a u rong e nong.

Week 6

 

I try to find interesting things to say in these letters, but it's getting hard here in the MTC! It's just so repetitive. But I'll try.

We're getting some kohai (class below us) tomorrow. Then we'll be senpai (higher class). It's weird to think that my time in the MTC is already half over. But I'm ready to be in Japan. Well, not really ready, but I'm at least ready to be out of the MTC. It'll be interesting having new missionaries that look up to me. I really looked up to my senpai, and they set a great example for me. Actually, one of my senpai is still here. His name is Elder Lazaro. He's from Brazil, and because of a mishap here at the MTC, he's having some visa problems. He had a visa, but the MTC lost his passport, so he had to get a new one and that voided the visas on his old one. So he's in my district right now, along with Mikkola Choro, an Elder from Finland that entered the MTC the day I did, but had already studied Japanese for six years, so he was put into the advanced language course or something. He's just waiting for his visa too. They're both headed to Nagoya. So far, there are only three people here headed to Kobe. In the new group that comes tomorrow, there are going to be some more, but it kind of shows me that I need to be the best I can be, because there aren't very many headed there. A lot of people are going to Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Tokyo though. Hardly anyone headed to Sendai, and absolutely no one is going to Sapporo. No Frozen Chosen here.

One cool thing that happened this week happened when I was back at the residence. A new group of missionaries had moved into our floor, and one of them was from Japan going to Brazil. He gave me his non-member grandparents address for if I happen to be in that area on my mission. It could just be a crazy random happenstance, but maybe it happened on purpose... hmm. :D

So Lauren broke her ipod? :( :( :( sad day! don't do it again! When are my sisters going to write me actual letters again? Arynn is doing lacrosse? Wasn't she doing the golf team? hahaha.

So don't worry about me. I didn't get sick, and there were no zombies. That doesn't mean that I didn't shoot people with my dart gun though... :P

Let me clarify this for you Mom. In that letter on Christmas, I wrote that I saw Bean and my friend Elder Knudsen. But what I meant by that is that "I saw Bean's friend, Elder Knudsen, who is also my friend." But I guess my wording made everyone think that Bean had seen me. So I was correcting that and making a false rumor about seeing Michael. :P

Hey, wanna see something cool? わたしはにほんごでかくことができます！キャスパー長老 ("I can write in Japanese...Elder Casper") My name!

I would write more in Japanese, but I couldn't think of anything to write. From what I hear though, Lauren is pro. Meg, you said that my friends keep texting you to pretend to be me? Write me a letter of things that they say, and I'll tell you how to respond to them. :)

I hope that Grandma Gordon and Grandma Hundley get feeling better. They're definitely in my prayers. Which is hard because I've been trying to pray in Japanese! とてもむずかしいです。("it's very difficult")

Dad really should come volunteer at the TRC after I'm gone. That would be so cool! OH! Before I forget, I have definitely met Egbert長老 (Choro=Elder), the Elder that Camie and Andy said I have to meet. He's way cool. We play four square all the time. He's actually one of our zone leaders. We only have one zone in our small branch. But I'm pretty great friends with all of the missionaries in our branch. Just in time to make 32 more friends tomorrow. :P

By the way, I'm not district leader anymore. It's only for like, 3 weeks. Now Wood長老 (Choro=Elder) is the leader. I keep forgetting to send an sd card home. Next time I send letters home, I'll throw it in there.

Well, my times running short. Is there anything specific you want me to talk about in next weeks letter? Thanks to everyone who sent me letters this week! and thanks for the donuts!! It was way too much, so I shared with a bunch of people. Do you want to send me updates on how Izak is doing? Maybe just some cool points? Or do what Dad did and send some cool points from President Zinke's blog. Watch for the day that I'll be one there. Actually, I hear that I'm allowed to call home from the airport. So that could be cool. Anyways, 愛しています！まったね！("I love you...see you later")

（＾＿＾） O______________o シ　ツ　☺☻

Elder Malcolm sang this in Sacrament Meeting - One of Jordan's favorites

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Week 5

This past week has felt like forever. There are a couple of reasons for that. First off, Mattson Choro and I are no longer companions. :( He went home. He needed to work some stuff out before he's ready to serve again. I was really sad, and honestly it is a sad thing, but I also have nothing but respect for him. He did one of the bravest things I've seen anyone do. I'm so proud of him, and I know that he'll be back out here soon enough with a blazing testimony. I hope that he reads this blog.

So in relation to Mattson Choro leaving, I got a new companion and a new room. Now my companion is Webber Choro. It's interesting, because he's super pro at Japanese, so sometimes during lessons, he can just take off by himself and leave me in the dust, but we've talked to each other about that. But he's a great missionary with a love for the work. I think that this companionship has very good potential. My roommates are Wood Choro and Malcolm Choro, just so you know.

Also, my senpai (The class above us) left on Monday. Next week, 32 new missionaries enter our branch, and we'll be the senpai. I'm not sure if I'll be able to set a great example for them like my Senpai set for us Kohai (Lower class). I really need to like, dedicate all of my focus, attention, and power to becoming the best missionary that I can be.

I'm glad you got my letters, sisters. Meghan wrote me a dear elder and told me what you all got for Christmas. She said that everyone was learning Japanese? Send me some stuff so that I can see your awesome skills! These computers in the laundry room don't let me turn the keyboard into Japanese. I could type it out in Romaji, but it just doesn't look as cool. Maybe next week I'll try and send stuff in Japanese.

Apparently I caused some confusion among my friends last week. They thought that by the wording of one of my sentences that I had seen Bean. Well, that's not true, but now that I know the power that I have through this blog, maybe I'll mess with them some more. At least, that's what I told Michael when I saw him the other day.

Speaking of seeing friends randomly again, guess who I saw? Izak! He left to Denver before Christmas, but now he's back! It was quite the surprise. But now he's actually headed out to Mexico, so I wish him all the best.

So, Mike, Camille, Josh, Lilly, and Lucas keep writing me letters. But I keep not having enough time to write them back!!! D: I feel bad! I'll try to do that tonight. Also, I need to send Riley her letter. Its hard to find time sometimes though.

Man, the days in the MTC just feel so repetitive sometimes. I just want to be in Japan already. But at the same time, I'm scared to death because I can barely speak Japanese. I'm working hard though. I know that after I do my best, the Lord will help me get the rest of the way.

One thing that's been going on today is that there is some sort of flu epidemic here. I guess like 25% of the missionaries here are sick? At least, that's what I heard. The devotional tonight (We have one every tuesday) is just going to be broadcast into our classrooms so that we don't all have to be exposed to anyone. Sick missionaries are allowed to stay by themselves in their rooms. They say it’s the flu, but my theory is that the Zombie Apocalypse has happened on the outside world, and they just don't want to spread it here. They don't want to tell us because it would cause mass panic. So what do you think? If it's not true, it’s just funny. But if it is true, stay strong, find good shelter, and don't forget: double tap.

So, if it really is the zombie apocalypse, you probably don't have much time to read this. And even if it's not, I don't have much more time to write it. I'm still partying here in the MTC. One idea I just had. If more people just want to straight up get these emails, I could send them to more people at once than just one. Let me know.

So anyway, that's whats going on here in the MTC. Nihongo o manande, Seiten o yonde, takusan inotte... pretty much just normal missionary stuff. There's some Japanese for you. Anyway, probably time to wrap this up. Have a good week, stay safe, and don't forget to write me!

Oh, and don't worry about me. If there is a zombie attack, I've got a new dart gun to test out. :D :D :D :D :) :) :) :) <(O_o)> (Weird smiley with arms) /(^_^)/ \(^o^)\ (High five) (Smiley face attack for Lauren. Do these make their way onto the blog?)