Be thankful for our watermelons.... Japanese watermelons are $30.00.

The plan today is taking p day until 3:30 and then we have district meeting until 5 and then dinner and then we will take some more p day time. Then we will work on iPads the rest of the day. The office is still good. We had our first staff meeting this last Wednesday. We just talked about how the mission is doing and how we are doing as a mission staff and how we can improve. It was really fun! But in the middle of the meeting I dropped my pencil and I quickly threw my hand down to try to grab it, the pencil stopped on my leg and my hand kept going. The pencil stabbed me in the hand and I'm still not sure if there is led in there or not. It's black but ya I'm not sure.  I tried to get it out but it didn't work. It bled a little. But it's really not that bad.

We had a BBQ with the Wada family! It was so nice! We had big steaks and burgers and corn. Elder ya,ashigaderu, the senior couple elder that works in the office, grilled the stakes and burgers and
hotdogs. It was so fun. I actually rarely see president Wada!  But I see sister Wada much more than
president. He likes me though because I get work done. If you don't get work done then he gets mad at you. But it's been good!

Yesterday we went to Yokosuka to give a Facebook training to a pen elder who can't really ride trains because he gets really bad motion sickness. It was an hour and half train ride and we got to walk
through shinjuku station and shibuya station and slightly got lost in there. We figured it out quickly but those two ekis are SO MASSIVE. We even got to ride on a train with forward facing seats like an
airplane. That was a first! They usually are all lined up on the sides of the train and facing inward. Anyways that was fun. We met a man named Steven from Oklahoma! We took a very awkward picture with him haha. We also met a scary 外人(foreigner) haha I saw him in the train. There is an American navy base in Yokosuka so I said “hey how is it going” and I asked him if he was in the navy. He just looked at me and said in a very navy stern voice "what? How old are you!?" We had a ten second conversation and then he left. It was very weird.

 The apples here are very very expensive. A watermelon is 30 dollars for one smaller than at home! I talked to the senior couple sister who works in the office a lot about what dad and I did together. About making long boards, forging, camping, cows, driving around. It was really fun. I tried showing her pictures of the hole from google maps but I see the tree in the back has grown over it in the picture!

I miss the icecream truck!

Sounds so fun at home. Never treat lightly the blessings we have in our life. Every blessing we receive is so precious in the sight of God.

This week I have really found the power of prayer. In doctrine and covenants we find that we must pray always lets we fall into temptation. I know that without God we would fall so fast I to
temptation. God is our Heavenly Father and wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings on us. Prayer is the link between us and heaven. We can receive strength to withstand Sagan and his traps, we can find courage to valiantly live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can be who God wants us to be, who he needs us to be, and he knows that we can be. I love my savior so much and I'm so grateful for the mercy he has had on my and my family and over everyone in the world.

We truly can become freed from all of our natural tendencies through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and the atonement of Christ. Please take advantage of the blessings God has for us.

I love you all so so very much.

Love,
Elder Draper

This picture will be in the Ensign. President Wada is in the background!