Final Call From Matsumoto

December 30, 2012

Well, my letter is going to be short today too. Sorry it's late, you know how transfers are. I'm being ripped away from my love Matsumoto to go to Takaoka.  Takaoka is up next to Kanazawa. I was literally so surprised. I've been in and out of crying all day to be honest. I don't know what to think. I've been here so long and have loved it so much. I really wanted at least one more transfer. My new companion is de Oliveria. He is a young Brazilian in the mission. This should be an interesting area, half the ward is Brazilian and I speak none of that devil language.

So this week went by a lot faster than I wanted. As you know, we went to the Monkey park and had a crazy Christmas day taking cakes all over. The rest of the week kind of blended in together. We froze our knuckles off every night, and it snowed way bad on Friday. We had a huge snowball fight after ping pong night and we spent three hours the next day shoveling snow there.

I gave a talk yesterday in church because they thought it would be my last, which it was. It was fun, Chiaki came and there was a returned missionary there who works with a bunch of people from Bountiful High (Nate Pope, Jordan Hansen).  His name is Matt Palmer. He was a way nice and funny guy.

I wish I weren't leaving, really. I love this place so much, at least I'm not going to a city area. I don't know what's gonna happen, I might have to ride a train by myself tomorrow to Takaoka. And it's the wettest area in Japan. Great, give me cancer now God. I'm excited and sad, I guess you'll know more how it is next week in the email!

Love you all so much,
my final call from Matsumoto,
Elder Parry

Almost Christmas

December 23, 2012

Merry Christmas Eve!

Yes, it is super cold here, but it just started snowing today. It has been super windy (and I HATE the wind), and rainy. It's kind of warm in the day from the sun, then just drops at like 3:00 or 4:00 every day. It makes it super troublesome when we are out all day. But this was a good week! We went to Zenko-ji last Monday with the district. It's a huge temple up in Nagano. It was way fun. I then went on a kokan with Elder Wilcox after in Matsumoto. It was pretty fun. We got our haircut as well. Everyone says I look like an army guy.

We had our appointment cancelled on Tuesday so we visited one of my favorite Filipina members. She told us that she can't feel the spirit of Christmas because she has to work, has no money, and their condition isn't very good. I shared a scripture with her and told her that Christ wasn't born in the best condition and had no money. It was a very special moment. We both had a realization of what Christmas is really about. Of course people talk about the "Spirit of Christmas" when all we need is the "Spirit of Christ". It was a special moment for me.

Eikaiwa (English class) was fun. We had to do it in a way small room and we were all scrunched together. Chiaki came too and everyone seemed to wanna give me a hard time haha it was pretty fun. On Thursday, we went over to Roberto's house and had a big Brazilian dinner then we watched "17 Miracles". It was way fun.

On Friday, we went to Suwa and did a Christmas conference with the zone and the missionaries in the Honbu (mission home). It was a lot of fun. We watched the mission DVD, shared some testimonies, and just had a nice time with everyone. Then on Saturday in all the rain, we biked over an hour to visit the Komatsus. She was doing her calligraphy class and we got to do it with everyone. I was way bad, but she gave me the brush after and we had a really nice lesson with her and her daughter after. That night, we had the big Christmas concert. Over 200 people came for it. And most of them were non-members. Just two hours of our choir singing and special guests playing the flute or doing opera. It was way good, and a member of the Seventy came too and he stayed and came to church.

Ended off the week with a fun dinner at Hiromi's house. It was a good week. I'm excited for Christmas! We are going to a monkey park today for P-day and I'm pretty excited :) All is well here in the Land of the Rising Sun. I'm glad to be spending Christmas here in Matsumoto! I love you all so much! I will Skype from here at about 10:00 in the morning. I don't know what time that is in Utah....

Elder Parry

Pretty Lights/Quiet Week

December 12, 2012

Herro!

I think that if I Skyped you on your Christmas day it would be best. On my Wednesday. I just think that would be easiest and we can get more detailed next week at emails. Sounds like an interesting week. This week was better than the last. It was an interesting week to be honest. I can't really explain too many specific events that happened. This email might not be very long today.

I did an exchange with Elder Ellsworth. It turned out to be one of the best exchanges I have been on. We had a long talk about a lot of things. Something he said that stood out to me was, "the way we end our missions is the way we begin the rest of our lives".  It really stuck to me and I was able to recommit for the last fourth of my mission. To be honest, things are hard considering missionary work lately. I don't understand as much as I feel like I should and just things happening.

I went on an exchange in Suwa with Elder Kobayashi. It was way fun. We ended up coming back to Matsumoto and seeing the illuminations with three of their members. While we were there, I heard a big "Elder Pewee!" and I turned around and saw Chiaki, Karen, Nancy, and their older brother, haha it was a strange coincidence. We all had fun and went out to eat afterwards.

We went to sky park the next day and played basketball with the youth and had some fun. We then had a big Christmas BBQ at a less-active's house. It was pretty fun. A lot of people from all over the place and a lot of really nice people.

Well, I told you not too much happened this week. Things are going fine. I am thankful to be here right now at this Christmas season here in Matsumoto. I'm excited to see all of your beautiful faces and tell you how much I love you!

Love, me

Drama Is Never Good

December 9, 2012

Herro,

Sounds like you had a nice week. I think my week picked up for your boringness. This was one crazy week. It started on Monday when we went down to Nagoya to stay the night before Zone Leader Council. I got to eat at Burger King! I'm not a big fan, but it was a big sloppy burger and there are only two places in all of Japan.

Zone Leader Council went pretty well. It was a big discussion and question time for all of us. I had been getting kind of tired of them, but this one was one of the better ones in a long time.

So we went down to Ina on Wednesday because Elder Hiruta had to go to the hospital with one of the elders and translate for him. I went down in the morning with him and just worked with two other elders, then we got on a train and came back up and went straight to Eikaiwa.

Well, I've spent six months telling you guys about drama that goes down in this branch. It has finally got back around to me. I found out about two stories that someone had spread around about me. It was a hard and stressful end of the week. I really had no motivation to meet with anyone and especially talk to that person. But on Friday, we had a really good training meeting and I had an exchange that really helped. It was tough though, some of the things I found out had been brewing up for a few months.

Yesterday, the branch went to the hospital to sing and dance for kids. Someone said I was sick (which I wasn't) and so they wouldn't let me go. So Roberto and I waited for them and we drove around and had a nice talk. He could tell I was stressed out and needed some help. He just talked to me, didn't ask about anything. Exactly what I needed.

Well, Hope to get a better overall week this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SAM ON TUESDAY!!! I can't believe he will be the big 15. I hope it's a great day! Halfway done with the transfer and I might be three weeks away from leaving. Who knows. What do you guys wanna do about Skype on Christmas? Love you all so much!

Elder Parry

Getting Cold in Matsumoto

December 2, 2012

Dang all of you....going to Disneyland without me haha. So I got two things to let you know. First, I sent my package to home last Monday and it should get to you about Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Sorry it took so long to send, things just have gotten crazy and busy with dying missionaries and just being a missionary. And now my other thing, it's actually a really big question. I have been talking to Chiaki lately a lot. She really wants to visit America next year because she loved it so much this year. I told her she should come visit Utah and hang out with me. Would it be ok if she came to Utah for like a week and hung out with us? I wanna take her to a bunch of fun places too. We are seriously talking about it. And yesterday, Karen just got a bunch of money from her modeling stuff and asked if she could come too. I told them if they came over the July 24th week, there would be a lot of fun things to do. Is that cool?

Well, this week had a lot. Weeks get more and more filled but they go faster and faster. I have only six months from tomorrow....dang! Well I did an exchange with Elder Rocha from Ina. The Brazilian. It was pretty fun. We went over to Roberto's house and had a bunch of Brazilian food. Then I had an emergency on the way back and couldn't make it back. So we ran into a store and all they had was a squatty potty....shows my luck! Only in an emergency do they only have squattys. It was tough, but I can honestly say I accomplished it for the second time.

We had a bunch of sporty things this week. We went to the batting cages on Tuesday. Oh man, was that so amazing. I still hurt from it, I took like 100 swings in a row and it felt so good. I bit rusty. but it was great. Then on Wednesday, a less active asked us to play soccer with her. So we played before and after Eikaiwa. It was way fun. But it is getting so cold here. It snowed way hard Saturday morning. But we started our ping pong night! We are doing it every Friday night. We had eight youth come, two less actives and three non members. It went way well. I'm excited to get that going too. I think it will help us find some good, young, fun people.

We had a referral from America to help out their siblings in Matsumoto. The girl in the couple is eight months pregnant and their 3-year-old daughter has such a high fever she might have brain damage. Elder Hiruta talked on the phone with her the night before and prayed with her and explained everything. We went on Saturday and explained a little more, then Elder Hiruta gave one of the sweetest blessings I have ever heard. He simply told the girl she was a daughter of God and she came to this earth to two loving parents. The mother and father were crying after. They were a sweet little family. She wants us to come play with the daughter when she gets better and come to church. It was a really sweet experience.

We had dinner at a member's house on Saturday and it was way fun. It was with most of the same people from ping pong night.

This week was good, this next one is SUPER busy. It should be fun too. Things are going great though. I love the people here I am with right now. Pray that I don't leave please. I don't feel like my work here is done quite yet. I love you all so much. I can Skype on Christmas. When would you like to do that? Let me know.

November 25, 2012

You met Soliai! Haha, I was super surprised when I saw that picture! Haha, I'm so glad you got to meet him, he was such a great missionary and friend. That's way cool though. I wanna apologize for getting my package, that includes my Christmas card, off so late. Things got super crazy and busy having Kussie die and just with all the normal missionary things happening. I just sent it off so hopefully it will arrive next week. There is a bunch of my crap I don't wanna have to haul around and stuff for Christmas.  It's kind of light, sorry. I hope you enjoy it!

This week was pretty good to say the least. I stayed in Ina when Kussie died for the day and hung out with the two Latino missionaries down there haha.

I have a really cool experience. We had an all mission conference last Tuesday. On the train ride down, I was emailing Chiaki and she mentioned to me she wanted to quit smoking after eight years and really wanted my help. I promised her I would be with her every step of the way. That was the first miracle. The second, the mission conference was about overcoming addictions and behaviors. It was an amazing conference too. The first thing President said was, "I still wonder why we are doing an all mission conference, but I do know that everyone in this room has something that they need help for and this will be the answer to your prayers." It was amazing and I just felt so at peace and warm the whole time. He gave us this challenge to do every day for the next 90 days during our studies. I have followed it and have already felt more love and peace. The next day, Chiaki came over to help me with the car stuff from last week (that I hit with a baseball) and I talked to her about quitting. We talked about the blessings of quitting, her factors, and other things. We set goals to go down one every day (she smokes 20 a day). I told her I wouldn't drink hot chocolate til the end of the year. I've never wanted hot chocolate more in my life, but I'll do it for her.

The rest of the week ran together. We had a solid eikaiwa (English class) and I got picked on the whole time. My students were joking around with me. It was fun, except when they were criticizing me for not knowing how different grammar structures and words are used....Japanese people. Then Thursday was a day of service! We did our hospital service and then went up to Nancy's and cleaned up her yard. Then I made a feast with all the food you sent. It was way good. Thanks a bunch. Elder Hiruta was way excited. It's funny, I will spent both Thanksgivings, Christmas, and New Year's with him in the mission!

We had an interesting visit with a less active who just married a handicapped girl. There isn't much more need for explanation haha, then we had a feast at the Matsuhashis house and had a little FHE.

After an over three-hour bike ride there and back on Saturday, I had a pretty solid Sunday. With this challenge from President, as I took the sacrament yesterday and I really understood the meaning it has for me. It was the greatest feeling I have had while taking the sacrament.

The night had a disappointing moment. I watched Karen smoke a cigarette. It broke my heart. I just gave her a blessing this last week to help her overcome it. I finally just sat down with her and made goals with her too. And now for her, I'm not drinking soda til the end of the year for her. I really would just do anything for that family. It's hard when you are doing your best then crap is thrown at you from Satan's evil monkeys. I guess I can say I have come to love people here as I do with my family and friends back home.

Things are good. This was a good week. Life is good, God is good. That's about it for the Boob's report!

Well, you know,

Evan

Hiruta Choro

Hello from Ina!

I'm just in Ina for the day with my boys Romero and Rocha. Sent off Elder Kusume this morning by himself. That was such a fun two transfers with him. I loved it so much. Well as for my next companion...HIRUTA!!! I'm so stoked! He was in my apartment in Kariya.  I'm so excited. And heck, don't talk about me leaving, I still have at least six weeks (in Matsumoto). Take it easy.

We had a full-packed week of crazy stuff. We did our normal running last Monday with Roberto. This is going well with him. Then we went on two exchanges this week. I went on one in Suwa with Kobayashi. He is so funny, we had a way good time. Then the next day, I went straight to Ueda and picked up Wilcox. We had a blast. Those two exchanges were way fun and I got a lot of things done and talked about a lot of things that were so good.

Well, we had a Thanksgiving party at the church. It started out a disaster. I was playing catch with Chiki and the ball went off her glove and hit a car on the way by....the guy was a huge jerk about it too. He just stood there with this stupid face looking at me and asking what he should do. I told him to go get it checked or have me buy some wipes to wipe it off. I was just super angry with the way he acted. So he left and came back and told me it was around $700. I was so angry. It was the smallest little mark with no bump or scratch. But because he drives a homo car (Toyota Prius) they have to replace the door. Chiaki worked her magic and got it down to $300. So I will have to pay for that. I just hate people like that and lost respect for Japanese. But it got better! We had the Ueda and Suwa elders come and we had a slamming Thanksgiving party with Nancy Karen and Chiaki. It was so fun and so good. We used some of the food that you sent in the package!

We had just a packed week of visits and dinners and parties and rain. We had all the elders stay over Saturday night for district conference and we had such a good time. I love this zone! I'm sad that Demille left, he is the only elder leaving besides Kussie. But I'm way excited for this next transfer still. Thanksgiving and Christmas, wassup!  I can't stay on too long, just wanted to say I love you and things are good here in Matsumoto!!!!

Elder Parry

Mad Love For President Baird

November 11, 2012

Sup,

Well, seems like the Parrys had great weeks in completely different countries. That video was so funny (Isaac getting his rat tail cut off after his championship game). That's way awesome that he won again! I remember being there for that first one. I was at the Honbu with President Baird when we found out Obama won. He wasn't very happy.  I don't know though, people here in Japan were very sad too though.

As I said, this was a great week. I actually had the lowest stats I think I have had on the mission, but we were all over the place. We went to two ashiyus on Monday which was great. Then on Tuesday, we found out that one of my former companions was going home early and the Honbu wanted support there for him when he left. So we went down to Nagoya on Tuesday and for support and stayed the night. There were nine elders in the honbu that night. I was up kinda late having pillow talk with Elder Ashcroft. But we had Zone Leader council the next day. It went pretty well. I sat with President Baird at lunch and we had a long great talk about Matsumoto, drama, and sports. I love that man so much. I started crying when I talked to him too and he got teary eyed. One of those talks.

So we went running with Roberto again. It was a great run. I feel bad, I think he has some problems and drama in his life and I am just at the point of not knowing what to do here. There was more drama at church too and Karen finally came and got chewed out for having something. I wasn't the happiest guy around at church. I just don't know anymore, I don't leave church feeling relaxed and uplifted, I feel stressed and tired. Just the things some people do.

We had a great Zone Training Meeting. The training went pretty short, then we did a testimony meeting and a prediction meeting about transfers. It was a really good and spiritual meeting. I then went on an exchange after with Okajima to Suwa. I have now been to all the apartments and churches in this zone. Oh ya. It was a pretty good exchange, he talks so much though. I couldn't get him to stop talking for the longest time. When we met up the next day, we met at a station that has an ashiyu and went out and got lunch. On the train ride back to Matsumoto, I saw Mount Fuji!!! It was so cool. Looked as good as ever.

Well, church was church. Like I said earlier. We went to the model place for Karen and saw all the people from before. I felt so relaxed and at ease there. Like church should feel. Then Roberto called us to have dinner. WE went over and he cooked Brazilian food for us. It was way fun and way good. We are going running with him again tonight. Things are good here in Matsumoto. This is Elder Kusume's last week. We have a pretty busy and fun week ahead of us. Can't complain :)

Love you all! Elder Boob

Pikachu Costume

November 4, 2012

Dear my Beloved Family,

Don't worry about too much in the Christmas package, use the money for when you come and pick me up and stuff when I get home. I actually have a pretty big announcement to make. Sit down please, I was already sitting down....no I'm not pregnant haha.  With all the new mission changes and new programs at the MTC, to get everything aligned, everyone going home AFTER March 12 goes home two weeks early....so therefore, my mission ends on June 4th instead of the 18th. There hasn't been an official announcement, but Ellsworth told me to hurry and let you know with all the tickets and stuff. Another side announcement, I'm down to a solid 182 pounds! Haha.

This week was pretty interesting. It has been SOOO cold too. We are having December weather now. We met with some guy on Monday from another Christian church and we talked about the differences and just a lot of random things about Christianity.

We went on a hike to see these way cool and pretty shrines. It was a lot of fun. All the leaves were changing. I know exatly what you were saying when you said I didn't know nature until I came to Japan. It's so true, so beautiful and awesome.

We had a slammin' Halloween party! I did ALL the planning and it ended up a solid success. We had a bunch of treats, played a bunch of games, and just had a good time. I went in a big Pikachu costume haha, I'll send you some pictures. We had a way awesome lesson with Li before the party. Roberto helped us out and he told of his conversion story and Li said that he answered all her questions and concerns. She is looking really good to get baptized. She took us out for Chinese food the next night. It was way fun. I have come to love spicy food out here on the mission. I was eating it by the spoonfuls.

We did an exchange with the APs this past week. It was a way good one. I got to go with Elder Ito and we visited some people and froze our butts off. We then played soccer the next day with our two kid investigators. We lost our second ball in the trees. We tried for an hour to get it but failed. Go figure haha.

We met with two investigators we hadn't met in a while yesterday. One of them, I taught about eternal families and it was one of my better lessons. I just was able to realize all that I have and was so grateful and powerful in all I said.

Things are great here. So much is going on. Roberto asked me if he could take us on a hike when I come and visit! To be honest, I would like to spend 3-4 days here in Matsumoto when we visit. He wants to take us up the mountain to a lake, sleep over night, and hike down the next day. So awesome! I love you all! Remember Remember, the 5th of November...

Long live the legacy of the BOOOOB

Jake is Going to Phoenix!

October 29, 2012

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup Fam?

I am so stoked for Jake. I haven't been able to stop thinking about that since he got his call. When I have told people about the call, I get more excited for him. People always ask me what kind of missionary he will be, I just tell them that he will be a better one than me haha. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or an easy thing haha. But you know, to be honest, I was disappointed with my call at first. I always wanted to go Spanish speaking. But you know, this is the best mission FOR ME. Phoenix Arizona mission is the best mission FOR JAKE. I know he is just gonna absolutely love it. He will realize it little by little.  He's gonna drop gospel bombs down there in the big AZ.

Well, the work was been slowin' down here. Our number of lessons and successes have gone down. But it was still a good week for what we had. On Monday, we played mallet golf in the middle of nowhere with our district. It was way fun. The only reason that place had a train station was for that golf course haha It was way fun. I stayed in Ueda on an exchange that night with Elder DeMille. It rained super hard and we couldn't get much done. So we rode a lot of trains and tried to visit some less-actives in this resort city called Karuizawa. It was beautiful. Found out both of the less-actives had already moved haha. On the way back from the exchange, I got out to take pictures and I heard the door shut. I turned around and stuck my arm in the door and pried it back open haha everyone was giving me some really funny looks.

We went running again with Roberto. It was pretty fun. He talked about his conversion story when he took us out to dinner after. He is such a good guy. Elder Kusume had a bunch of problems with his bike this week and Roberto came over at like 10:00 and fixed it all up.

So Elder Kusume got super sick on Saturday that is still going on now. On Saturday, some members told him to relax, so they took us up to the ashiyu in Kamikochi and we saw all the leaves changing colors. It was BEAUTIFUL! I have grown to love nature. But we were stuck inside yesterday literally all day. I was going crazy. It has gotten rainy and super cold here which doesn't help. Half the branch had this sickness. I feel alive and great! haha.

Things are good here. Like I said, the work is a bit slow. But we are hangin' in there and trying to have fun! Hey in the Thanksgiving package, have Caroline send me one of those snapback hats she designed! That would be way awesome. Two more quick things: when do you want my Christmas card by? and my back retainer on my top teeth came out this week haha. Hey guess what? JAKE IS GOING TO PHOENIX!!!

Elder Boob

Elder Aoyagi from the Seventy Visits

HAHA of course I know Uniqlo, I have bought some clothing from there a lot. Speaking of clothing, Dad, please take some money out of my account, I bought a new suit last week. I was sick of wearing two suits that were too large. So I got a new suit to wear to like conferences, interviews, and trainings. I wore it at our conference last week and got a bunch of compliments. About thursday, that is during our district meeting, so put it up on my email as fast as you can, then I will just get on after and check my email! I can't do Skype. but just a quick email and I will just check it after. I'm sure you will all be there after, I'll just email for like 10 or 20 minutes. That's so crazy about all the stuff goin on with sports.

Well, this week had a lot. But we didn't have the best week considering missionary work. Suwa has just had one problem after another since they whitewashed. They had no money to get to Nagoya for a conference, so we had to go to them and I paid for both of them to get all the way to Nagoya. Then I kept getting calls from people in my Zone saying that they had no money. I called the financial elder in the honbu and had a long talk with him. His excuse was that he sent their money to other areas. Just need him to pay attention a little more.

We had a conference in Nagoya with a member of the Seventy, Elder Aoyagi. It was pretty good. we had eight elders stay in the same apartment haha. It was all in Japanese and I lost focuse the second half. It was way good. I saw some of my favorite people though: Hiruta, Nishimuro, and Gish. We had a Zone Leader meeting with him afterwards and it was pretty good. He gave some very uplifting words on being a successful missionary and Zone Leader that I needed to hear.

Chiaki came home from America. We went with them to an shiyu then her boyfriend took us out to yaki niku. I had a cool experience there where Karen was getting tempted to try to smoke because her sister was. She looked up to me and asked if it was ok. In the end, I told her I would be disappointed if she did. She said she didn't wanna do that to me. So it was a cool experience.

We helped an American member, Sara, with some translations at her apartment. Then she needed a blessing with drama from church and work. I gave a sweet blessing. I know the Spirit was there and speaking for me. I told her things that were not my words. Afterwards, she was crying and said everything was what she needed to hear. Its hard for her, she's all alone in a country that she can't communicate with. After, we went straight to our investigators house and played soccer with two investigators and their friends. It was pretty fun. I stink at soccer, but I'm big enough to get away with a lot of things haha.

I love you all and miss ya a ton. You guys are the bomb. I'm so happy to hear how everyone is doing. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU LOVE ME!

Elder BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB

Still in Matsumoto

October 8, 2012

I apologize that I am emailing so late. I will explain today after I tell y'all that Shortboob is still in Matsumoto! Which means I will be here until at least New Years!!! Life is good, God is good. But today, we had a little activity where we played soccer at a park and it was way fun. Then we had to rush and get ready and go to an orchestra concert which was good for the first hour and a half, which was the first half. It went way too long. I got tired and this grandma sittin behind me got super mad at me because she said I was a distraction, so I told her to buzz off haha.

Well, this week was great. Last Monday, we did a Zone Activity and went to the Matsumoto Castle then we went and played football and soccer at a park. It was way fun, especially being with everyone. And in fact, everyone is staying in our Zone! No one transferred! So good.

We had Zone Leader Council.  President Baird went over an hour and a half late so we didn't get back until like 10:30.

The nest day, one of our plans fell through. So because Nancy and Karen were in Tokyo for the day, we ran up to their house and pulled all the weeds out of their garden and left some big worms we found on their porch. They came home to two pleasant surprises at 3:30 in the morning.

Spent a lot of time with Roberto this week. Ran another 10k with him. We did a BBQ with him and his family on Saturday, then he kidnapped us to an Ashiyu and took us to the mountain to see deer and go for a hike. It was pretty dang fun.

We had interviews on Friday. I love those because I feel like it's a time I can really sit down and just talk to Sister Baird. It was way fun. She is the bomb.

So yesterday...pretty crazy. Miki showed up after church ended. We ran to our apartment to get something and when we came back she was getting in a fight with two members, including Nancy. She was trying to make excuses to go back to America, but she said she broke the law in America. We listened to the second half and figured out from it that she is a lost cause and to be honest, just a waste of time. I don't even care to meet with her anymore. I think she has been using us a lot lately. But after that, we went to a slammin BBQ with Nancy, Karen, and Sara to that place that is 25k away that we biked to a few weeks ago. It was so fun! There were people there from all over Japan. I talked to so many people. It was way fun we got invited to a Christmas BBQ. Gotta love Matsumoto.

I can't believe all that's going on back home. Jake is just gettin right on out the door. Everyone is just growing up. I won't be able to recognize anyone. That's so good mom! I have been stuck at the same weight for almost 3 months. but I think it's pretty good? 185ish. Like I said before, Life is good, God is good. I love you all so much!

Elder PArry!!!!!

Typhoon

September 30, 2012

Good thing you asked about the package because I have a request: could you send me some of those teeth whitener strips? Hope that won't be too difficult. And second, Dad, you sent me mine and Jake's credit card, what am I supposed to do with his? And could you ask Jake to send me Coach Johnsons address? I think that is all for my onegais (favors) this week. Happy late birthday Caroline!

 
WE had a pretty fun week. It started off with Karen's model show on Monday. Nancy told me that you saw some of her pictures on Facebook. It was quite the event. They had all the models sit in front of everyone and they had their make up and hair done in front of everyone in like 45 minutes. Then they did their little walks on the stage and that was it. They had a different model/fashion show for like different events. That one was super weird. But in the end, Karen got second place and she gets to go to Tokyo next month! It was way exciting. Then after, her manager asked Karen if he could take them out to dinner. They were our ride so I felt bad intruding. So Karen asked if it was ok if her 'older brother' could come, and the manager said 'well they are family right' haha so we went to this yaki niku place that was super expensive (60 bucks a person) and way good. I had horse meat for the first time. Fun day.

WE did an exchange with the APs. Nothing special really happened. I went with Ellsworth again. WE did visit a solid potential investigator that I had found a week earlier only to find out she is a less-active haha.

Remember how I told you Matsumoto is good with surprises? Well, Roberto called us and asked us to wear regular clothing and meet him at this place called Sky Park. So we did, he then told us to drink a lot of water and stretch. I'm confused at this moment, what is this Brazilian gonna do with us? Then the answer came....'let's go running' we ran 10 KILOMETERS with him. That's like 6 miles! Have I ever done that before? Never. Did I finish? You betcha. It was fun and my legs are still a bit sore. He wants to go again this week....before you know it I'll run a marathon.

We played soccer on Saturday with two of our investigators. It was pretty fun. I'm the man haha just kidding but I was a lot better than I remembered. And I forgot regular clothing and did it in my church stuff. After that was when the typhoon started. On Sunday, we needed to help two people move, with the rain it wasn't the funnest thing ever. The first place we were almost useless. The second was helping Nancy's son and we were stuck up there for a bit because the rain was comin down too hard. Eventually, we rode in the back of his moving truck and got back home dry.

That's another episode of a week in Matsumoto. I love it here, I love you guys. Thanks for all the support and prayers. I am officially 2/3 of the way done as of today. My! My! Time flies. (I thought I would leave you with a little of my girl Enya)

jya ne, Elder PArry

Li Accepted Baptism!

September 23, 2012

Ya, Ellsworth called this morning to do our weekly reports and he told me my whole flight itinerary. Guess we aren't going to Hong Kong eh? That's fine, it should still be pretty fun. About the Tokyo temple, I actually got Nancy and Karen (not just Nancy, but KAREN) to set goals to go to the temple. Nancy's is earlier, but Karen wants her goal to be when I go home and I can baptize her at the Tokyo Temple. That would be way awesome. Sounds like things are good. That's way cool Caroline and Houston are going together. That sounds like it would be so much fun. And Jake sounds like Jake. Hang in there Sam and Isaac.

So yes, there was an emergency transfer. It was quite big too, it involved over 20 missionaries and 9 areas. Luckily, I was not involved. But one of our zone areas got whitewashed. Two new missionaries came in. It has been crazy trying to help get things settled down and just for President and the APs.

So we got kidnapped this week....several times. First was on Monday. We had no plans for Pday and Nancy called us and said 'we are on the way to your apartment, we are going to an ashiyu' so we did haha it was beautiful. After, we went to a park and played tag and hide-and-go-seek. It was a way fun day. Then on Wednesday, Roberto called and asked for a blessing. We gave him a blessing and then said 'hey lets go play basketball' so we did haha. Then we did a little rock climbing on a wall. THEN, on Friday, we went to Karen's rehearsal and after, they took us to ramen and another ashiyu. Kidnapping occurs often in Matsumoto. But it is a very good thing.

We had a solid lesson with Li this week, she accepted a baptismal date! It's on October 28. Some more time, but she is solid and just needs her testimony strengthened a little more. I think this will be enough time for her to come to understand why it is really for her.

On Waturday, we went to an undokai with a Filipina member and her son. It was pretty fun. All these little kids were trying to talk to me, it was funny. That day was tough thought, I had no self motivation. I prayed and prayed for help. Then at night, we visited this potential and he was lovin it! He told us to come back again next week. God does answer prayers and it was a well needed one.

So I gave a talk yesterday and cracked a joke and everyone was laughing. It was solid. They asked me to go from a 5 minute testimony to a 20 minute talk right before. I just said that might not happen, it lasted 7 minutes haha. Then after church, we had a gyoza party for Hiromi's birthday. We made them from scratch. It was way fun and way good.

I really REALLY don't wanna leave here in two weeks. I don't think I will. Pray that I don't. I do every time I pray. I love this area, I could be here til I die. I'm doin' my best, lovin' life, and havin' fun. Not much more you need. I LOVE YOU ALL

Boob

Baptism Fell Through

September 16, 2012

Wait why won't BYU play Utah for 3-4 years? I'll never get to see a BYU and Utah game until I'm like a senior. That's crazy. Well, this week was....I don't know? I'll explain and let you make the judgment.

Well first, Miki went from being 99% in the water, to wanting to become a Protestant in a matter of like a day. I really don't understand what is going on. She talked to her Protestant friend from America and when we had a lesson, she just brought up all these concerns. It was ridiculous, we had a way good member come and help teach, we answered all her questions perfectly (which we have answered a thousand times already) and she said 'I know it's true, I don't wanna leave the people and I don't wanna leave. I just need time and wanna study Protestant.' She went to their church yesterday and our American member went with her and tried to help. Apparently Miki loved it. She has just been so stubborn and is influenced by others way too easily. We seriously don't know what happened or what to do. We worked a lot this week to try and help her get ready and do all that was necessary. She is literally turning her back right now.

Let's talk about the good now, we taught seven lessons on Wednesday haha.  I was so tired at the end. Then we rode our bikes 25 kilometers to visit a less active. That was so far. And it was in the middle of nowhere. They said they love the gospel but hate the members. Welcome to drama in Matsumoto.

We had a campfire on Saturday night with some members. It was so fun! Nancy and her whole family came, and Roberto was there. We BBQ'd, played games, and had a really cool spiritual message at the end. It was super fun. Then Karen had her model debut last night, so we went and watched the photo shoot. It was really fun and cool to see. The photo guy is supposedly famous. He has photographed Lady Gaga before and he showed us the dress he made for her. It was nuts. Something like 30,000 dollars.

So that was my week. I don't really know and understand a lot about it. But it was a good one. I love you all and miss ya a ton! I'm way glad everything is going so well back home.

It's the Boob!

Zone Leader Council

Shelom,

Well for a quick start, I am almost out of allergy drops. Like really close. But don't worry about last week. It was still a really good email. Thanks for everything.

Things are great hear. This last week had so much but in such short periods. Nancy threatened us for abandoning her, as a joke, so we went out to dinner with her and Karen and had some of the best ramen I have ever had. It was so good.

The next day, we went down to Nagoya and had Zone Leader Council. It was really fun. We learned the new outline for teaching Eikaiwa (English class). It was really fun. Then we had some Mexican food prepared by Sister Baird and had a great lesson from President Baird on Christ-like Attributes. It was a really good day. It was Ashcroft's birthday, so Elder Kusume and I got him some boot fur and gave it to him haha, it was so funny.

We had a way good Zone Training Meeting. We taught all the things we learned at the council to the zone. It went really well and everyone in the zone seemed to enjoy it too. I went on a kokan (exchange) with Elder Wilcox after. He is a really cool guy from Cali and loves to surf and skate board. We get along really well. He is the same but like opposite haha.

We had the English Speech contest at the church on Saturday. He had to help set up and talk with them because we are native speakers. It was pretty fun. The kids had some really funny and fun presentations. A girl I helped a bunch from Homestay got second place. It was fun to see her again.

So Sunday was the day of headaches. Nancy, Karen, Li, and Miki came to church. Of course, our section was very distracting. Nancy and Karen promised President Baird they would come every week  that they didn't have prior plans, which is way good for Karen. Then Miki had over an hour interview with our bishop and came out crying, then did 'girl talk' with an American member for another hour. We were pretty concerned, but it was actually tears of joy and happiness. She is FOR SURE gettin wet next week. Then I sat in on two interviews to help translate. President and Sister Baird were there and it was splendid. I kept hinting to let me stay in Matsumoto and President thought it was funny. Then we rode over an hour on the bikes to get to the Komatsus and apologize for mixing up their appointment. Welcome to dendo inJapan! in Matusmoto!

I love it out here, things are good. I love you guys a ton. Thanks for everything really!

Elder Parry

New Companion: Elder Kusume

September 2, 2012

Thanks for the awesome email! I got really happy to hear about all the people that said hello. I miss them all a bunch too. I will give them all a big hug when I get back.
Well, week one was a pretty great one. Elder Kusume is the man. He is so fun and funny, he is like a Nihonjin version of Ashcroft. It is way fun. He is an excellent teacher and is helping me a bunch as a missionary and with the language.
As you know, last week I got to stay in Kariya, so I went to my favorite Indian curry place then I went and visited....SEFA!  Haha we were both way happy to see each other. He still called me his little Samoan!  It was way fun and so great to see him. I realized I missed Kariya a lot more than I thought I did. He took us out to get some ice cream. It was a lot of fun.

The clock was fun (on transfer day, the missionaries all come into Nagoya and meet at the clock in the Nagoya Eki--train station, get their new companions and then head back out from the train station to their various areas). I loved seeing a bunch of friends that I love. DTM (district meeting) was excellent this week too. We are learning about Christ-like Attributes now. It is great. The new Shimai (sister) is a half from Okinawa but lived in St George for a while. She is way cool and I'm excited to be in her district. They actually got stuck on the train for like six hours and got back at around 1100, it was raining crazy hard. And that day, Karen had to go to the hospital and we went and gave her a blessing and just stayed to help comfort them. She had three  kids go to the hospital this week and her son is getting divorced. Kind of a crazy week.
Miki moved her baptism date up a week! WE are going for September 16! I am way excited and she is so prepared.  At church yesterday, I was sitting there and couldn't sit still. I just wanted to bare my testimony. I got up and just bore a simple one on the love and importance of this gospel. It was really cool.

Roberto called after church and asked if we wanted to get kidnapped. He took us to Suwa and we watched fireworks over the lake. It was sooo cool. It was way fun too. He and his wife are way strong people and I love to be with them. I love Matsumoto. With Kusume being here, I think I will be here until at least Christmas!!! Booya, I love you all, tell everyone I say hi and I love them too. Enjoy the cabin! You really are the best and miss y'all a bunch. Got nine months left, eeek!

Love,
the Boob

Baptism Coming Up!

August 26, 2012

            Well hello from the wonderful area of...Kariya! Haha, I am here for the night because I dropped off B-ski in Nagoya. Let me start off with that story, it was the bomb coming down. We got to the train station in Matsumoto and realized we missed the train, so Nancy and her son and Karen were gonna take us to the next transfer station in the car. We got close and the son turns around to Nancy and says, 'let's go to Nagoya'!  Hahaha, so we rode the whole way down with them in the car. It was WAY fun hahaha. And my new companion is Elder Kusume! He is a way cool guy, he is a Japanese elder from Tokyo. He is actually coming from being companions with Elder Ashcroft. I have met him a bunch and he is a really cool guy. But as your week was, mine was very busy and crazy too.

            I'll start off with Miki.  We taught her a bunch this week. And Roberto took us to an ashiyu (a Japanese public bath where people can soak their feet) with her too. All the lessons were super good. After the 10 Commandment lesson, I felt the power of the Spirit so strong, we invited her to be baptized on September 23 and she accepted!!!  I'm so excited for her. She still needs a testimony about Prophets, but she is lookin' pretty solid. I'm way excited for her.

            So I had a fun exchange this week. I felt like the theme of this week was 'Let's cancel all the appointments on the elders'.  And people did a really good job with it too. Haha, we were able to still do a good amount. B-ski was super trunky, and wasn't at all like Jessop. It was kinda tough, but I'm happy to be moving onto a new transfer.

             Miki actually came to the District meeting and had a way good experience. She was crying at the end of the demonstration. Then after we went with the Filipina member and got the Halo Halo again. It wasn't as fun as before, but it was still the bomb. They took us out and got some Brazilian food. Can't complain.

            Two cool experiences. I was talking to a member and he said he served in Sendai so many years ago and I asked him if he knew Frank Lemon.  He said he still talks to him on Facebook a lot. He asked if I knew Ben! It was way cool, he got so happy. I showed him some pictures. Then the next day, I was translating for an American member and we got off topic and she told me about her cousin at BYU and I figured out she was in my FHE family at school and her roommate was Sara! This world is too small. It was really cool though. I loved having these cool experiences.

            Finally, by bike got destroyed, going up a hill like the whole gear section broke off. I had to walk everywhere that day and it was not a cool day. I have to ride one of those mamacharis (little girl bike) I had in Kasugai for like two weeks. WOO!  So that's exciting. That was my exciting week. I'm really excited for this next transfer. Elder Kusume actually goes home in two transfer, so yes that means three in a row. Haha I love you all a ton. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

shortboob

Li is Back

August 19, 2012

            Nancy JUST called and was excited to see a note from you on Facebook. I made that last week for her and she is addicted to it. She has called us several times this week telling us that she barely got any sleep because she was messaging people all, haha it's super funny. I'm glad you two are friends now though, she was pretty excited. That's so cool Jake is down at BYU now! Tell him to look under the desk! I marked my territory under the desk, I think he will appreciate it.

            So this week was an interesting one that ended way good. Li came back from China! I was so excited to see her. She had a tough time in China and coming back. She had felt a bit depressed and we just tried to help her in the lesson. She came out of it super happy and asking us when we can meet again. She also asked if there are places in China to take the sacrament. Hopefully after a few more weeks, she will want to get baptized! Speaking of that, we invited Miki to be baptized this week. She said she definitely would, she just doesn't know a date. So that was good.

            Hit my year mark in Japan on Thursday! Celebrated good, Nancy made us a bunch of Mexican food. Man it was so good. She can cook some slammin' food. We set a goal date for her to go to the temple and get her temple recommend! I hope I'm still here for all of that. I'm so excited!

            We had a Zone Training Meeting. It was a lot of fun. I had to teach most of it. It didn't go as planned, like the APs coming. They had a super stressful week. There were two emergency transfers because a missionary got up in the night, packed up, and got on a plane home. Then he ran away with his girlfriend. Crazy stuff. Then another Elder went home. I have a lot more respect for people in the mission home. I bet it is super stressful.

            There were some bad thunder and lightning storms this week. A couple of them kept us in the apartment. It got really bad though.

             Best part of the week, yesterday we got kidnapped by Roberto. At church he told us to go home and change and he would pick us up. He took us and a bunch of members to a park and had a huge Brazilian BBQ. SOOOO GOOOD! It was way fun just being with them all. Then after everyone left, he turned to me and said, 'let's go to the mountains' so he took us to a hiking trail that overlooked all of Matsumoto. It was so cool! It was way fun. It was pitch black coming down and I think some animals were chasing us. It was quite the adventure.

            This was a good week. Thanks for the package! I gave Nancy some of the Sprees and she was going crazy. She and Karen wanna go out for dinner when you come to pick me up. Then Roberto wants to kidnap all of us and take us to a mountain. I for sure wanna come here. Life is good, God is good. I love you all!

Elder 'Da Bomb' Parry

Good Thing I Didn't Go To Brazil

August 12, 2012

If it is possible, I would like to stop in Hong Kong and see Grandma and Grandpa for a few days on the way home. We can take out a few days here in Japan to go see them. B-Ski isn't too excited to go home. We are just working together and trying to do our best. It's been a really fun transfer. First off, I got the letter about the family trip. Sounds like it was way fun! I LOVED Jake's goatee. It looks legit, I miss having one. I heard you have to promise to stay clean shaven when we go home. That is a promise that I honestly don't think I can keep.

This week was fun. I got to go on an exchange with Elder Ellsworth! It was way fun. We got Indo-curry, visited Nancy, did some housing, and visited a Filipina less-active. It was way fun, I love Elder Ellsworth.

We met with that investigator that found us five times this past week. She is doing super well. She came to church yesterday and had a way good time. We have talked to her a lot about baptism and she has a very good chance of getting baptized within these next two weeks. It's way awesome to finally see an investigator like this after such a long time.

We had Zone Conference in Nagoya on Friday, so we went and stayed in Gokiso the night before. Elder Hiruta is there. It was way fun, and a lot hotter than up here. We wrestled for about an hour and a half. The Zone Conference was pretty good. The mission home people were pretty stressed out and a little on edge, so it was a little bit tough, but it was still really good. We had to give a training and I thought it went really well. We taught how to have better morning studies and planning ahead of time. It went really well. We got to go down to Nagoya and come back with our whole zone.  I love our little zone.

We had a young single adults activity at the church where we made these picture frames, then our Brazilian member had a BBQ. I love Brazilian cooked meat. It was so good. He didn't get to eat that much because he was cooking, so he went and got more and invited us to come and have some more after haha. It was way good again. Good thing I didn't go to Brazil on my mission, I would just get bigger and bigger.

This week was good, a lot of unexpected stresses, but that's the mission. It was a fun week altogether! I love you all. Just so you know, I am on my last vile of drops. Good luck to everyone startin' up sports and gettin' ready for school!

Elder ShortBoob