How's life back in the US? Because Japan is 超やばいよ！hehehe. It's great
to hear all the news dad! I really enjoyed the letter you sent. So
yeah, Japanese is coming along slowly but surely. I think about where
I'm at and how long I really only have sometimes. But then I realize
that I'm just a transfer 3 and if I can keep it up and become twice as
good by transfer 6 or 7, I should be doing alright. Anyways, I've
realized that I can generally keep a pretty decent conversation with a
Japanese person now. When they use words I don't know or something
I've never learned, they can normally explain their way around it to
something I know. But that being said, I still have to guess a lot of
what people are actually saying. As expected, native speakers talk
quickly (it seems) in their own language and that can also really get
to you sometimes. It's still very difficult to jump into a
conversation and figure out what they're talking about, but when I can
somewhat lead the conversation, I can do alright. Also, heck yes those
cards you sent are sweet. They've been working very well recently and
I feel like the more I learn (just like vocab) the quicker I can lean
them. So right now I'm on about 55 and I could for sure give the
meaning of each Kanji and some of the readings. But yeah, there are
thousands of them so it'll be a while before I can actually understand
a full sign. But it always feels good to pick out a word or two that's
in Kanji. Tough stuff. Thank you again for sending those. I'll
probably request the next set in the future but I have another 250 to
memorize and review along with the others first, haha.
Also, the companionship is doing pretty well so far. Up to this
point, Elder Bunker is definitely the easiest one to talk with and
make jokes around. We have differences obviously, but at least we talk
a lot. And dang, this transfer is going by fast. Already starting week
4 and it feels like he got here yesterday. Oh yeah, and I'm pretty
happy to say that I can fear factor it up (to an extent) when it comes
to eating these crazy dang foods. I figure there's no way I'm going to
let horrible taste ruin the rest of my Japan experience, so I just eat
what's there and try to make members happy. Speaking of members, and
in general, people..I love 日本人 (Japanese People)!! They are so awesome
and everything they do is either way cool or way cute. Sounds kind of
weird but dang do I love having a solid conversation with someone. I
feel like I've learned to love strangers more then ever while being
out here. So even though Japanese people are the best, I actually met
a couple of guys from Switzerland a couple days ago! I knew you would
love hearing this too, Dad, because of Federer of course. (And by the
way, that is Awesome that he had another set of twins!! No way! Now
he'll have 2 doubles teams! Haha). But yeah, on the train, I noticed
that they weren't Japanese (pretty easy to tell, hah) and so I asked
them if they spoke English. Then they replied with "yeah, a little"
but they were actually just totally fluent with a sweet German style
accent. And we had a way good talk about why they were in Japan and
where they were heading. And of course I mentioned and talked about
how I was a missionary and stuff and that I had a friend from Hamburg,
Germany (Julien) because they spoke German. Then when I mentioned how
you love Roger Federer they knew him immediately. So I thought that
was pretty cool. And it's just weird because by the end of it, I would
have totally gone with them right there to hang out and be best
friends for life, haha. Everyone you meet you just love. Usually at
least, haha.
Heyyy nice work on the blog too! I hope you continue to save all
of my vids somewhere so that I have them once I'm back. Since this
iPad is only a 16 GB (32 GB がひつよう！) I have to erase vids from time to
time and I feel sad if I don't get to see some ever again. Also, you
should like this week then, because it's just gonna be a big letter.
No videos to fiddle with...I think. I'll check after. Also, ahhh yeah,
I'm glad momma Bates is keepin you on task. I love Bates 長老 so much
man! And speaking of him too, I got to see him 2 days ago! We had a
big mission wide (Tokyo South and North Mission) conference in
Kichijoji (headquarters) and I got to see my MTC district again!! It
was amazing and I could hardly believe it when I saw them again. It
had only been 3 and a half months since I saw them last but man was it
wonderful to see those old friends. Me and Elder Bates are going to be
Kings Among Men when we return, hahah. And the other crazy thing was
that I saw Alec Smith again too! (from forever ago, our kind of
neighbors). He s in the Northern Mission so it was cool too see him
too. I was so happy to see and talk to everyone again and I can hardly
imagine how it will be after the 2 years and seeing you guys again!
And I'll be honest, I can not even wait to see Sean again too. I wanna
hang out with him and everyone else every dang day, hah. So yeah, good
reunion stuff went down. The conference was actually because of Elder
Cook coming to talk and apparently it's been quite a while since a
General Authority has talked to Missionaries in Japan. So yeah, way
cool experience.
Ah yeah, Cristel is way way cool too. I am a proud Brother of
hers. 毎日、私はクリースタルみたいに成りたいです (I want to be like Cristel everyday). And
that's just like her to always be busy with friends and church, haha.
That's also sweet that she's getting pro at photography. That way, she
can take sweet pictures of me when I'm a model. Haha. And dang, I also
can't wait to see Zeus. He sounds like a super cool dog. Everytime I
see a dog on the street I just want to pick it up and play with it all
day. Very nice work on that fence by the way. It looks super classy
and totally small dog proof. I'm also pretty sure I told you this but
I want to play some more tennis when I get back. I'll probably be
pretty bad still, but good enough to beat up on some of my friends
(like Bates 長老) who want to play it up. And I bet that duo with you
and Troy is unbeatable. Totally gonna go to nationals. Hey, you
remember when we went to Colorado for that one tournament together? My
companion is actually from Colorado. So fun fact ね？
Ah yeah, and I definitely have a lot of experiences already.
There's just so much that happens in a day. I'll have a lot of little
stories for small talk and stuff. And just random things about Japan
that you wouldn't think much about. Soooo, I hope you liked the long
letter again. I loved your letterand the pics. Have a great week. Love you all!
Bye Bye!
Carlini 忍者長老
