Strange Holiday's and Crazy Cars!

Hello there my beloved mother! 今日は私の愛する母！

Well this week has been quick and long both at the same time! In just a couple more days I will have entered into my 8th month!

My mission is changing my life. I have learned so much in these past 7 months and I just think I still have 17 months left! I think the biggest thing that I have learned up until now is the necessity and the power in trusting in the Lord and our Heavenly Father. I know that if we do as we know is right then the Lord will bless us to be able to do His will, and his will is always what is right! 

So just to answer the questions about Easter and other holidays. So imagine all the holidays they have in American. Ok did you do that? Now get rid of them. Welcome to Japan!  That's not entirely true, they do kind of have Christmas but they just eat cake and KFC. Easter just straight up doesn't exist here. They have Mother's Day and Valentine's Day but along with Valentine's Day they also have white day. Valentine's Day is where the girls give stuff to the guys; white day is when the guys give stuff to the girls. But with all of the holidays they don't have, they also have like a billion random holidays. They have kids day, like old people day, girls day, boys day. Etc.  They also have to take a test to get into junior high school and high school. If they don't pass then they don't go to high school or Jr high. It's also not illegal to have movies playing on the front screen of the car, they have those neon lights on like so many cars, which is also illegal in America. Even the minivans have them! Actually most minivans have the neon lights on the rims and underneath the car. Just while I'm on the topic of cars, there is a motorcycle street race every night right in front of my apartment. On Friday I saw one Lamborghini and 2 Ferraris! 

But yes I did get the package! Thank you so much! So there is this thing called Tim Tams. It is I a delicious chocolate bar that comes in a big pack and they are Australian but they are everywhere here. So if you take hot chocolate and the Tim tam and bit off both ends and use it as a straw, it is delicious! It's called a tim tam slam. But I found out that you can do it with thin mints too! You should try it. Anyways I love the candy and everything that was in it! Just a heads up... In my next package whenever that is, can you send me q tips and more Cadbury eggs? Thanks! But I loved the stuff you all put in there! 

So last week on Monday, we did emails in the morning and then we were all going to a place called Round 1 Stadium where we could play bubble soccer. So we biked over there for about half an hour and then got a call telling us that was a Holliday, don't ask me which holiday because I don't know haha, but it was really busy and we would have had to wait an hour and a half. So we just rode back to the church and the Yokoto Elders met us there and we played piano, takyuu (ping pong), basketball outside, and made a birthday video for Elder Molen's mom! After that we had a 配り会 (Kubarikai where we pass out Eikaiwa chirashi) for a while. We passed out probably a hundred or so. I decided to take my language to a higher standard. I have found that almost no one; at least that I have met so far, likes to speak Japanese with other Americans. They seem to only speak it when speaking to natives. But PMG and the white handbook clearly say that we should speak our assigned mission languages as much as possible. So I decided to commit myself to it. It is hard and there are still times when I find myself speaking English, but I am really trying to change that. I have also been trying to think everything in Japanese. English just feels so natural when thinking, so I would say thinking in Japanese is even harder than speaking Japanese. 

On Tuesday we did a blitz (where all the missionaries in the district go to one area and just dendo it up for a couple hours and try to do our best to spread the gospel in one concentrated area) in Higashimurayama.  It was good, we did a Kubarikai for like 2 hours and passed out hundreds of chirashi! Then it turned out that the area we were doing it in said that it was illegal to Kubarikai there. We didn't know it until after that fact though. Also this morning I didn't know what to study in language study so me and Elder Molen decided to learn all about space. I can tell you almost everything I know how to say in Japanese about space and aliens as I can in English. The ocean too. That was fun. Elder Holland said to stretch yourself in the language you are learning. He told missionaries "Don't be satisfied with what we call a missionary vocabulary only. Stretch yourself to in the language, and you will gain greater access to the hearts of the people" so I have been doing my regular study of words I hear through out the day, grammar, kanji, and now random topics every couple days. It's way fun! 

On Wednesday I made Chahan (or fried rice) and it was way good! Except for the fact that I am a chaotic cook! It was good don't get me wrong, but there was rice and meat and egg and stuff everywhere! In Japan it's totally ok to eat raw eggs. We do it all the time. You can cook meat and then dip it in raw egg and it is way good! But also just a nice bowl of hot white rice with a raw egg on it is good. So we put a raw egg on our Chahan because I forgot to cook it. Then we went and ate ramen for dinner with Kyou San, the other elder's investigator getting baptized on the 2nd of April. Just as a side note, it is very rude to not finish every single grain of rice. Another side note, my chopstick skills are incredible now. I will most likely just use chopsticks for ever meal when I get home. 

On Thursday we went to Hibarigaoka for splits with the Zone leaders. At first me and Elder Rose went to teach a man they have been teaching. We first cleaned his apartment with him for about 30 minutes (he's a bit of a hoarder) and then we talked about the Book of Mormon for the next 30 minutes and invited him to be baptized!  Then I split with elder Matsumoto who's is actually from the north mission area. He is about an hour away from home right now it's so crazy! But we visited some potential investigators he had found while housing. None were home. We spoke Japanese the whole time and it was way fun! Hard work and prayer makes all the difference. The gift of tongues is so reall! The Holy Ghost and God's power is so real! Never underestimate it.

On Friday we had district meeting. We taught Yamamoto San about the atonement. We don't know how to help him. He loves the Book of Mormon but he just doesn't see the spiritual necessity of it. So if you could pray that he can do that, that would be great! 

On Saturday we met with Azuma in the morning and he just thinks us meeting with him is English class. We told him that we weren't English teachers, we were missionaries. And even though we do teach English as a service, that isn't our purpose. He didn't pay attention though. We also went to a small Sakura festival. They had some live music. There were 3 girls. A piano, a box drum and a big xylophone thing. I thought to myself "I bet you Audrey could play all 3 at the same time." Because I'm pretty sure it's true haha. Then that night there was a wedding reception going on at the church and we were there just reporting some stuff. Then a lady asked us why we weren't in there. We said that we weren't invite da Kara. She then made us go in and then she proceeded to fill 2 huge bowls of food for us even thought we just barely had dinner. It was really hard to eat it all. But the wedding was so unorganized!  Elder Kaesler leaned over to me and said "Elder, please if you do anything, make sure your wedding is more organized than this." Haha it was funny. 

Today is Sunday. We went to church at 8 am and did personal study there. Then we had English conversation class from 9 until 10:45. We talked about the differences between fake, phony, false, forgery, and counterfeit. Then right at the last minute, literally at 10:44 a guy, who usually only shows up to activities with food, came in and sat down. We said "welcome! We literally just ran out of time but do you have any questions?" He seriously just looked at the board and picked the first word he saw and asked "What does forgery mean?"  we were like you just barely came in and you already have a questions about forgery? haha he's an interesting guy. Then we had church and President Stevens, The second counselor to president Wada, he spoke and it was great! It's so amazing that I actually understand sacrament meeting. It is such a blessing! After church, Elder Kaesler did the baptism interview for Kyou San. The whole time I just learned Japanese kid games from a kid named Arai Haruki. We also arm wrestled a lot. He is 10. He kept wanting to punch my abs too. He was crazy but it was really fun just to get to know him and all of the like 5 versions, each a different difficulty, of Rock Paper Scissors.  Of course they call it Janken Po here but ya. Then we went home teaching with a member. The road system here barely exists. The roads are crazy and small! Elder Kaesler gets car sick way easy so after the chaotic lesson with a young family with 5 kids, we drove home and he was really sick so we just came to the apartment and let him rest. So that was my week! It was a good one! 

How is the weather in Idaho? It's funny because whenever I tell people that I am from Idaho they always say "OOH big potato!" Haha for some reason they ALL know that Idaho has potatoes! In an English class I told them all the ways you can eat a potato, hash brown, fries, raw, mashed, salad, baked, etc. haha and it totally surprised them that there were so many ways to eat them

This Monday morning we went and dropped off my dry cleaning, that I needed to do in the MTC but haven't since then, and I had NO clue what the lady was saying. But we got it done! It should be done on shigatsunotsuitachi. The first of April. Fun fact, in Japanese they don't use spaces. So the words are actually shigatsu no tsuitachi. We did all the shopping already this morning and now we just got to the church! ALso the Sakura have been blooming but very slowly so I don't really have any pictures of them yet. But I will by next p day for sure! 

I love you so much!

ドレーパー長老

(I asked where the other missionaries in his apartment are from) Elder Molen is from alpine Utah and Elder Uemura is from Kansai Japan. Funny thing, the dialect they speak in Kansai is literally banned by president Wada. Isn’t that weird? But in Japan there are so many dialects but they all can stop speaking it pretty easy I guess. Especially us gaijin really aren't supposed to use Kansai. For the phrase  "I don't know" it is "Wakaranai" But in kansaiben they say "Wakarahen" so just weird things like that haha. In Tokyo is  "pure" Japanese. So I like that I am learning the pure Japanese! 

Samurai swords and cat like reflexes

Hey mom!

Next week is the Sakura season! We are going to koku koen for it. Look koku koen Tokorozawa Japan up on Google. It is going to rock!!!

I LOVE Tokorozawa!!! I love the apartment, which I power organized and cleaned yesterday during lunch. I found I am much happier and I can feel the spirit more when the place and my desk and everything is organized. I love Elder Kaesler and Elder Molen and Elder Uemura and the ward is amazing and the youth are amazing! Just yesterday we went to visit a referral but he wasn't home so we housed for an hour and then we found one kid who had interest. Then we decided to visit a member close by. They are Peruvian but the kids mostly speak Japanese. The mom reminds me SO much of Carmen. By the way how is she? Tell her I said hi and Te quieres. But we went to share a 5 minute message and it turned out to be a 1 hour long meal! IT was fantastic! He said right before we showed up he had the impression to cook extra ribs and then we knocked on the door about 10 minutes later! It was like the best meal I have had in a while. As a missionary in Japan almost every meal consists of rice, potatoes, peppers, onions, and maybe an egg. Always some mixture of that.

I saw Krue at the dentist! He is so cute and brave!

We pass temples and Buddha’s all the time. ( we have requested some temple and Buddha pictures) They have kind of gotten old. Especially since everybody worships them and it is so wrong and they are cool but they just have a bad feeling around them. But I will take some pictures! I don't even notice them actually when I walk past them anymore. But ya I will definitely send home a box this transfer! I'll try to find some souvenirs too! I'm not in a huge touristy spot so it may be a bit difficult but I will try!

This week it got way warm! It is officially spring in Japan I think. The Sakura will bloom, actually they are already starting to open a little, and so we decided to go to Koku Koen. It is a MASSIVE park and it is gorgeous! We were able to talk to a lot of people. I love just talking to people and sharing the gospel with them. Even though most of them say they have no interest or belief in God, I know that we are making a difference. Every good thing is of God and everything little good thing will bring someone a little bit closer to God that they were before.

Actually just this week I got told, for the first time, To go back to America! He was a nice old man. I said Konnichiwa! And he said back to me"Konnichiwa ja nai yo! Kaette Kure omae wa!" Which literally means
basically, "don't say Konnichiwa to me! Go home!" Omae is the absolute rudest way to address someone as "you." There is gojibun which is "honorific self" it can be said for yourself or others if you don't know their name, but if you use it for yourself, that's way rude. You can use "Anata" Which is ok if you talking to someone but if you know their name you should use their name even if the situation would be appropriate to use "you" and then there is "kiki" which is just a very intimate "you" and missionaries aren't allowed to use it. Then there is "omae" which literally means the person honorificly in my presence.
It used to be way honorable but it was turned into a super mean way to  call someone.

Also this week my English has plummeted and my reflexes have sky rocketed! I couldn't remember so many words in English  this week haha. But also something I have noticed is that I have really good reflexes for whatever reason . I drop so many things and they never reach the ground, I just somehow catch them just in time. Completely unrelated I'm sure.

But ya I love you so much!!!

Elder Draper

Oh ya I play the piano a lot! I'm actually getting pretty good at hearing music and then being able to play it! I'm making an arrangement of If you Could Hie to Kolob right now! But I have about an hour and a half tonight to practice stuff I want too. We have a kids Eikaiwa and I am the piano player for that! I play primary songs! It rocks!  

ドレーパー長老

(Some fun facts that he wrote to Allie and Nate) I'm just sitting in the bishops office emailing and eating melon pan! In Japanese there is a section of the language which is called katakana which is where they take words from other languages and just make it their own. It's literally like 20 percent of the entire Japanese language. The word for door is doa and bread is pan, like in Spanish. But ya melon pan rocks! There is a place where you get ice cream in it too!  

(Nate requested a Samurai sword) Samurai swords are SO expensive! And to be honest I don't know if I'm allowed to buy one. But if I have the opportunity I will try it! But guns are illegal here so literally everybody has a samurai sword. IT wasn't until after the war that they stopped carrying them around everywhere. We talked to a guy the other day and he told us how he found his father’s samurai sword and how there was evidence of blood and stuff on it. Pretty crazy right! I have also learned that a really sharp samurai sword can cut through like 3 people before it gets too dull and then they use it as a beating stick basically. But that puts it into perspective with Ammon!

1st transfer was an adventure!

Hello from Tokorozawa!

I was transferred to Tokorozawa and it is much smaller than like Tachikawa where I lived. Well relatively small. It's small for a Tokyo city but it's still probably like twice as big as Boise haha. But I transferred at 11:30 in the morning leaving from Nishikunitachi to Musashi Kosugi. It's about a 45 minute train ride. In Japan, in order to take a bike on a train, you need to put it in a bike bag. And carry it. So I had my backpack, my carry on, my side bag, my emergency bag, and my bike on my right shoulder. I go into the front car of the train because there is a section where there are no chairs so it's easy to put all of the stuff down. SO I did that. Then I get off at Musashi Kosugi. I know I need to get on the train at platform 4. So I start following the signs that lead me to Platform 4. I can read all the kanji, and they don't say what they should have said. But I couldn't see a different platform 4 so I kept walking. It took me like 10 minutes to get to 4 and then when I get there I really had a feeling that it wasn't the right train. I had before hand knew that I had 11 minutes to get to my next train. I asked a guy for directions and he pointed me in the right direction. Then I finally got back to the right platform but I had far missed my train. So I put all of my stuff leaning against a sign and asked a guy if I could borrow his phone to call the assistants to the presidents. I saw him using his phone, and then when I asked him he said that it was dead. I was like "I just saw you using it!"But I said that in my head. So then I finally found some pay phones and I walked over to them and started calling the assistants. They didn't answer. I called Sister Wada. She didn't answer. I called her again and some of the office staff answered, but then I ran out of minutes. So I called back and they didn't answer. And then I finally got ahold of Elder Richardson on the same number! I told him that I think I could figure my way around, but that I needed him to call Elder Kaesler and tell him I would be late. I prayed. And then I headed for the head of the platform to catch the first car for easy bike access. The train that I was planning on getting on wasn't a full train and stopped about 100 yards in front of me. I started walking as fast as I could to the train but I missed that one too. Then I asked a train conductor and he told me to get on the next next train and to get off at takemukaihara. So I did that. I'm like way out of the mission by now haha. That train took me like way past shibuya and then I got off there and asked another train conductor and he told me to get on the next next train because that was a rapid. Which means it is faster. Then I rode that train for a good 40 minutes and finally got to Kotesashi Station which was where I met elder Kaesler, Elder Uemura and Elder Molen. So my transfer time was supposed to be 2 hours, which was already long, and it turned out to be 4 hours. They waited at the station for 2 hours for me! haha it was a crazy 4 hours. My Shoulder hurt like crazy because I've had a bike, and like 4 bags on. So ya that was transferring! It was almost completely out of faith. I would pray before every train just about that it would be the right train. Even though the conductors told me it would be, I wasn't sure, but I eventually got to my destination and I was calm the whole time even though I was just wandering all around Tokyo not really knowing where I was going. But I was calm, because of prayer.

Elder Kaesler is really nice and Elder Molen and Elder Uemura are both really awesome too. It's nice to be in an apartment with 4 people instead of just 2. My apartment is much bigger here. It has one tatami room, a nice kitchen, a nice dinner table, a dryer, a nice fridge and toaster and microwave, and 2 study rooms, and a nice shower. I live on the 4th floor and apparently on a clear day I can see Fuji really clearly from our balcony!

I'm glad you ate sushi with Audrey and Sheila! I haven't eaten sushi in a couple weeks, I should do that soon. Did you get any crazy stuff? No joke, IOU is very similar to actual Japanese sushi. 

This week was very long. I guess it probably has something to do with just getting lost and adjusting to the new apartment and city and everything.

We have already met with 2 investigators they have here. One reads the Book of Mormon like more than any MEMBER I have ever seen and he is just an investigator! But he is mainly studying it for intellectual reasons. We could totally feel the spirit in the room as we testified and taught the doctrine from the Book of Mormon but he would just set it aside and go onto his next question. He is a really nice guy though.

I haven't seen the Facebook post. I'll go check it after this probably. But Where is Tanner getting transferred to? Does he take a boat or a plane? We just ride trains.  Didn't Cole already get his call?

To answer your questions about the trains, yes I rode alone, yes I carried my bike the whole time with my side back, carry on, backpack, emergency bag, and and extra bag. My big luggage gets shipped and meets me at my area. 

hahahahahahahahaha oh Tripp. Where did he even come up with that? How is his bike riding going? How is Krue? (I told Tripp he was such a good batter at baseball, his response was “I’m a good batter, but I’m a much better mitter”!!)

When I left Eikaiwa for the last time, everybody was so nice to me. They were all really sad I was leaving. Tsubasa and Hikaru's mom shinobu gave me a Daruma tie! IT's way cool! Daruma is this weird statue thing they have and they paint an eye on it one year and then another eye the next, and the third year, they burn it. But my tie is covered with little Daruma! 

I have been in Tokorozawa for 3 days but it feels like a couple weeks already. But I am so excited to work here. The youth are really cool and active and just fun fun kids. There are like 4 returned missionaries. 

(This was to Mark) Hey I finished my first mission journal! There are so many people on their missions who don't write in their journals. It's actually rare to find people who write every day. So far I haven't missed a single day in Japan.  In President Woodruff's Teachings of the Presidents book he talks about Journals and how they are of far more worth than gold. I'm glad you taught me to write in my journal. I'm going to be able to treasure these memories forever.  Yesterday I taught an advanced English conversation class and they were all asking me questions about Idaho haha. They have no idea what a moose or an elk is. Wolves are extinct over here too! I told them that an elk is a big deer and a moose is a big elk hahaha. That’s the easiest way I could explain it. Also I told them all the ways you can cook a potato. They thought that was pretty cool too. 

We are still continuing our search for the prepared out there. It's hard because at a first glance, none of them seem prepared, but we have the promise that everybody is being prepared to some degree. We just need to talk to everyone and be an example in everything we do so that we can seek out those who are prepared to receive the gospel.  Missionary work is an act of faith. Anybody can walk around and wear a name badge, but it takes faith and authority to preach the gospel to the world. Take advantage of the missionaries. They need work. Invite them over, get to know them, find people for them, do all you can to help in bringing people unto Christ, I know that as you do so, you will find more joy in the simple things in life. You will be more satisfied with what you have because you won't be thinking about yourself as much, you will be thinking about how you can help others around you. 

I love you all so much!

Elder Draper

ドレーパー長老

1st transfer! Tokorozawa... Here he comes!

ドレーパー長老

Hello mom!

Well I haven't transferred yet. I transfer on touka. I transfer on the 10th. But I am transferring to Tokorozawa! It is actually touching my area so it is pretty close. But it is just more north I think. My train line is crazy though! It is really close and would normally be like a 30 minute train ride but there is no train that goes straight from tachikawa to kotesashi station. So I have to take the nambu line, which is the line from nishikunitachi down to Kawasaki, and then I transfer at musashi kousugi, and then from there I ride the train all the way up to kotesashi station. It will be about a 2 hour train ride, while holding my bike in a bike bag. They don't allow you to just wheel you bike onto the train; you have to hold it in a bag. But instead of going in a straight line, I am basically going to the heart of Tokyo, which isn't even in our mission and then going all the way back out to the outskirts of Tokyo! My new companion will be Elder Kaesler. I've met him before. He is Austrailian and gives great shoulder massages. But I have never been to Tokorozawa so I have no idea what to think! But I heard they have AWESOME Sakura trees! Also I am excited to be able to walk out of the apartment and just start dendo! Usually I need to bike or take a train for at least 20 minutes to get where I can dendo (tracting and housing). (Fussa’s population is 59,000   Tokorozawa population is 342,939)

(I told him no one will eat sushi with me!) Don't worry; when I get home I will make sushi. I know how to now and it's pretty easy! I just need to buy a rice cooker when I get home. I don't think I could live without one now that I've been here.  And I need a really really sharp sushi knife. 

This week was good! Last P-Day I went to Yokohama China town after the temple! It was good! It is just like China! Well so I've heard. Elder Allred has been to China and he said it's just like it. Then while coming back we got lost in liek the biggest train stations I've ever seen! We ended up just going to the end of the Nanbu train line which is Kawasaki and then riding the train for like an hour all the way home. 

On Wednesday we got to go on splits with elder Fenton. IT was pretty good. We didn't do much but walk down to kunitachi station and talk to people there. We found this one guy who was way fluent in English. IT was way cool! 

On Thursday we went to nakagami station and met the Adamson couple to take them to Ishikawa Sans house. We toured his pottery and he the Adamson's received like several hundreds of dollars worth of artwork from him! He was being way nice and just giving them so much stuff! We are planning on going back to his house towards the end of the month to help him trim his trees. Then that night Elder Lunt slept because he was sick. Elder Allred and Elder Fenton came over and we gave him a blessing. I got a lot done though while he slept! I sewed up my aggie's shirt and cleaned the apartment!

On Friday we visited a Takahashi San and she let me try on her husbands old Yukata (basically a thin summer kimono) and she is going to give it to me! I have pictures! I'm way excited. While we were sitting with her husband he said to Elder Lunt, "when I die, if I see you on the others die, will you make sure I make it to heaven?" I thought that was like the sweetest old man comment I had ever heard.  Elder Lunt taught him about the after life a little bit. He showed us his photos of his life experiences and then gave Elder Lunt the camera he used all his life. It was sweet.

On Saturday we got Transfer calls! But I already wrote about that. We visited Okabe Kyōdai because he got hit by a car a couple days ago. He has a big bruise down his leg. We ended up giving him a lesson with his mom there. They gave us clam chowder, oranges, and monster. Neither of us drink monster but oh well it was a nice gift!  He has improved so so much since he joined the church! Gospel principles understood and applied changes lives. I have seen it and I know it does. 

On Sunday I had a lot of mixed feelings because it was my last Sunday in Fussa! I bore my testimony in sacrament. And then after that Harazoe Kyōdai always make s a picture of Christ and gives it to transferring missionaries. So I got mine and the members all write on it little notes. It’s nice. I got a picture with Matsuzawa bishop.  

Today we did some language study surveys for the mission and then we all split up the food we got from the ward. We don't get a ton of meals so they make up for it by giving us food every fast Sunday. We didn't even need to shop this week because we received so much! It is so nice! Then we got Indo Curry and got a picture with the manager. All the business in Japan are so strict and structured so it's fun to find the Japanese people who aren't like that. 

The other day we met this American who said to me on the platform "Hey can I smoke here??" I was like "I don't know, I don't smoke! where are you from?" Then we talked a lot. He had been there for one month and then he was headed home. He said "Man I see how much my wife spends on iTunes, so I said to myself  I can have me some drinks. So I did, and what do you know, right after that I find a couple of Mormon missionaries!" Haha it was a great talk. He was Baptist and knew the bible well. Just yesterday we had a lesson with a man I had met last transfer but never thought I would find him again. He is from Peru and his wife isn't a member. We got a random referral from someone and it turned out to be him! We got Elder Gutierres to translate. I can't speak Spanish but I understood every single thing they talked about. I got really down because I really wanted to learn Spanish. Japanese is so hard and messed up that when I hear Spanish, it totally makes sense! 

Well that is it this week! I just got an email from you asking if I am going to send this I think. So here you go! 

I love you mom so so much!

Elder Draper

Haydon has hit his 6 month mark today!!!

I hope you got my email that said my P-Day will be on Tuesday and not Monday. We are going to the temple! Right now it is Friday and I just had sometime while waiting for the rice to cook. But figuring I probably won't have a ton of time to email on Tuesday, I wanted to write some now!

So this week has been pretty good. It has been a blur not that that is anything new, these past 6 months have been one huge blur. It literally feels like I just left you and dad at the curb at the MTC. Just think, I only have 3 more of these fast 6 months left! IT's so crazy!

So from Last P-Day. I had worn the same shirt for 3 days because we ran out of detergent and we couldn't find any in any shops nearby. But we eventually found some! Haha. That day we also had things we needed to do every day for 4 days before and we hadn't had language study in 4 days because that's always the first to go if needed. But on P-day I was having a hard time understanding people and I was just kidding of accepting that I wouldn't understand anybody that day. But then the spirit whispered to me clear as day "Just ask." So I said a small prayer asking to be able to understand people today, and I understood almost everybody! It was great! The Lord is waiting to open up the windows of heaven to us, we just need to ask, and do.

We had Zone Conference on Tuesday in Kichijoji.  Of course the trains were packed. At zone conference, president Wada gave us a training on silence. We practiced using the Japanese Culture and Silence together to uncover concerns about not wanting to get baptized and other concerns. Concerns are like Icebergs. You can only see a little bit on the surface but the majority of the concern or problem is under the water and you need to dive a bit deeper to realize the whole of it. Japanese people don't like to be rushed when asked questions (side note* Japanese students aren't allowed to ask questions in school unless asked by the teacher to ask a question). So when we ask them a question, if they don't answer immediately we are supposed to just sit there and kind of let them stew I guess haha. But we practiced just listening and being quiet. We did role play and we just had to use listening techniques and try to find out there concern. It was pretty hard. We can't solve people's problems for them, but we can help them find out what they need to do for themselves. We practiced being "mirrors". We would let them talk for a while and then kind of summarize what we heard and ask them back if that is what they meant, if it wasn't they would clear it up; if it was, they felt they that you understood them. It was very interesting.

Wednesday! Wednesday was a really good day.  We went off to visit a friend. We went in and he was drinking Sake. I was kind of nervous about what kind of drunk he would be because I had never seen him drunk before. He wasn't mean so that's good. But Japanese houses don't have insulation and they don't have central air. They just have the Air Con. It's kind of like an air conditioner but a bit different. But they  have these little tables with a blanket under the top of the table and there is a heater built in to the underside of the table. So we kneel down and put the blanket over ourselves and get warm that way. I learned the word "chibirichibiri" It means "a little at a time". He was telling me how you have to drink sake chibirichibiri and how you can drink beer fast. I asked him why. His response was this, "しなかったら、死んじゃう！” "If you don't you will die!" hahaha we all laughed pretty hard at that. Then he showed us his pottery again and gave Elder Lunt a tiny little vase with an inlay design of a dragon fly! It was way cool! Then we headed back to the church and we had a district dinner. Last district meeting they were talking about having curry and I thought they said "crepes" and I was all like "YEAH! I love crepes!" They all laughed at me because no one said crepes. But then I asked if I could make crepes anyway. So Wednesday night we had crepes and curry at the church! IT was awesome! I made about 21 crepes.  Then we had Eikaiwa, and it was good.

Lately I have been taking time after I right in my journal just to write of all of the times I could remember about when I was young, on the bus stories, or just any little story I could remember. It's so fun! 

On Thursday nothing really happened besides a lot of walking and posting. We have been writing our number on hundreds of Free Framily English Probram pamphlets and like posting them all over Tokyo. We just haven't found anybody in a long time and wanted to switch it up a bit. (I left the misspellings in this sentence on purpose; he’s starting to sound Japanese. I’m sure they were just misprints, but still funny!)

On Friday we walked for about 5 hours straight. We walked through a park by the Tamagawa river and there was man in the park playing his guitar. We stopped and listened and talked to him. He play us his original song called "誰も知らない所へ” "Daremo shiranai tokoro he" it means " to the place where no one knows." IT was really good. Then we went and visited sister and elder Adamson while we waited for dinner to be made 2 stories up at the Yokota elders apartment. I love the Adamson. They have been to Mountain Home! I love finding people who know of where I live! 

Then on Saturday I realized... I get transfer calls on Saturday! I'm way pumped for that. Thank you for the Jesus the Christ book and the Gloves by the way!! I am in chapter 17 on Jesus the Christ and I use the gloves every day when I bike! They are a life saver! But on Saturday we went to a park and tried to talk to people there. Nothing was biting. But there was a way yabai (sketch) zoo right in the park in the corner. It's like some guy just bought some chicken coops and but deer in it and bunnies in others and 1 monkey in one. That day we walked around down to the Tama river and back. We got lost coming back. Then at night we had an After Baptism lesson (AB lesson. Okabe kyōdai calls them ABC lessons haha). But that was good. 

On Sunday Okabe Kyōdai received the priesthood!!! That was exciting! His mother also came along with him. She is a sweet old lady. I have no idea what she says, or he, but I love them. It just goes to show that you can the power of God and the Love of God can work through you even if you have no idea what the person says. 

Monday we cut language study a bit early and headed to Kichijoji for Zone meeting. We got there early to go eat some Tomato soup ramen. It was way good. Then we went to the church and I played the piano for a while until the meeting started. After the meeting we all did some wicked calligraphy on big pieces of paper with calligraphy brushes and everything. Just like Mulan had to do in the movie. I wrote "福生” and " 神を信頼する” "Fussa" and "trust in God". That was really fun. Then tonight we went to visit a less active family but they weren't home. Then we visited the bishop’s family. That was a nice visit. We forgot it was FHE because we usually don't visit on Monday nights. But we kind of turned our lesson into a FHE for them. He wants us to share what we shared with them about the Asia North Area plan, with the ward. I don't know if that means a talk or what. 

So tomorrow we are going to The temple and then after that going to China town in Yokohama. I won't have any time to write back and forth in email. Sorry. I really wanted too but we couldn't fit it in. But that's why I'm writing right now and that's why I'll write on the train tomorrow too. But Then after Yokohama, we will come home and shop and then have district meeting and then I will go on splits with Elder Fenton! 

The temple is in Japanese, but they have translation into English. The blossoms will bloom in April for me! There was a random warm from a while back though so there is a rumor that it may have shocked the trees and may killed them. I'm not sure though. I'm for sure no Sakura expert. 

 I know I'm not spending any money. I really have all I need. If I went and bought souvenirs every transfer I would have like a whole suitcase full! It’s really hard to pack all of the things you buy around with you when you transfer. So if I see something I really want I'll get it, but for the most part, I don't need much. I already have a ton it feels like. But this next Friday we have a dinner appointment with this one lady named Takahashi San and she is going to give me her husband’s Kimono because he doesn't wear them at all anymore! So I'm pretty pumped for that. But really I'm going to have to send something home soon, I have so much stuff! Especially if I get that Kimono, I have no idea where I'll put it!

 Haha yes the Japanese have holidays. No they don't celebrate Easter, I don't think. They probably don't celebrate Chinese New Years for a couple reasons. The New Years here called "Shougatsu" or 正月 is already huge, and 2 they are kind of racist towards Chinese people.

The other day I was reading Alma 17 over again and it struck me, in verse 20, that the lamanites so readily identified Ammon as a Nephite. He goes into this city and almost immediately he was captured and bound because he was a Nephite. How did they know he was a Nephite? He probably looked different. I guarantee he acted different; he probably didn't speak the same as they did, and I'm sure it is probably really easy to find him out when he is preaching the word of God to a wild and ferocious people! My point is that he was different, and they noticed it. If he hadn't been different than the people around him, then he wouldn't have been captured, King Lamoni wouldn't have been converted and so forth. We need to be different in this world if we are to be disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ. We are to set our candle before men that they may see our good works and glorify the father, not to set our candle under a bushel for men to NOT see. We must have courage to be different in a world that really needs that example. If we are different, in other words, if we live our religion the way we ought to, I promise that someone will notice and they will wonder why we are so strange, why we are so different, and then is a perfect opportunity to share something about this glorious gospel, which makes men and women everywhere happy forever. This gospel is true and I know that we need not fear to share it. We only need to fear not sharing it. The work that we endeavor in, that is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, is a great work and is one of the most rewarding works we can find ourselves caught up in. I know this. I love you all, I love the work of God, and I know that Christ lives and he is our Savior, the only way through which we may return to our God. 

I love you all!!!

Elder Draper 

The following was a letter sent to Brei, but it was so funny I had to include it. So I'm standing in the train and this jerk is sitting in front of me. There is a lady who just sat down next to him. She was fixing her hair and accidently bumped him and he shoved her arm. She did it again and he said some not very nice things in Japanese. When she got off the train she said something smart back to him and he kicked her. In the process he kicked me also. So then she kicked him. The lady was in the right. Sure she shouldn't have said anything, but he was a huge jerk! My head was pounding because I just wanted to slam his head back up against the window and tell him to say sorry. But instead I wrote you about it. But oh man if I wasn't a missionary I would have done that. I have come to the point where I really hate when people are rude to others. Really hate it. (I laugh because Haydon is not violent! Nor do I believe he would have slammed anyone up against anything!)