http://www.stv.ne.jp/webcam/en/otaru/index.html
Thanks for following his journey. Sounds like he is already making a difference. He emailed us tonight (it's the next day for him, 16 hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time) and wanted cookie recipes to make cookies for friends and investigators. I guess they don't have Cream of Tartar or Sweetened Condensed Milk in Japan so we had to hurry and make quick fixes for the recipes.
As he mentions, he loves emails, letters are good too, if any are inclined to send him a Christmas letter, package, etc. To get to him in time you would need to mail it by December 1st. Sure proud and excited for him. All is well.
Kelson's dad, Shawn
 |
| Otaru Canal Walk |
11-16-2014
Where do I begin. First of all I have literally zero time. Our printer wasn't working today so It took time for me to read all the emails. Don't let that deter you from sending emails though, I will be able to do it, and it makes me very happy to have an Inbox with 28 emails in it every week. Also don't worry about length. I just love getting them, and usually I will have printing abilities. If you have questions, or something I need to include in this big email, put it at the beginning in big bold words, because I don't even look at emails until I have printed them and am back at the apartment.
Well Japan. This country is just amazing. I love being in Otaru. It is a
little big city for my taste, but it still feels like home. The mountains remind
me of Utah. We got a fair ammount of snow this week. I almost died like 5 times
while biking. Its scary, but its a thrill. It is beautiful out here though. The mountains are so full of snow. And crazy thing I found out today that Elder
Rostedt told me. The roads here are HEATED. How awesome is that. If only roads
were heated in Utah. That would be nice.
The people. I cant even begin to explain the kindness of the people here.
One of the Less Actives in our ward (congregation), her name is Sister Matsumoto. She calls us
up the other day to tell us that she bought us a bunch of stuff and to come by
to get it. She bought us gloves, neck warmer things, and a ton of food. They
didn't look cheap either. She is so cool. She is about 4 feet tall, and has an
amazing voice. Its so funny, and hard to understand, but she is so cool I love
her already. Its fun to take advantage of the whole Senpai Kohai hierarchy here.
Basically if someone is higher than you socially (for the most part just age)
and they try to stop you to talk to you, you stop what you are doing and listen
to them. Its fun to take advantage of that and stop a lot of the high school
students. It gets us a lot of contacts, and a lot of people that we are hoping
will come to our English classes.
The food. I love it, but I do miss American food. There I said it. I had
pizza yesterday for lunch, and lets just say I want regular pizza again more
than anything. But it is still pretty good. I've had a lot of rice, and noodles,
and bread. The bread here is something that is very amazing.
Well I dont have a ton of time anymore, but I would like to ask you all to
keep 2 of our investigators in your prayers. One of them is named Hirai san, and
the other on is Domu kun. I cant go into to many details, but they are probably
the closest ones we have to getting baptised, but both cant because they both
have 1 thing holding them back.
Thank you all for supporting me in being out here.
I love you all so much, and miss you everyday. Im not trunky though. I love
Japan
Sorry I didnt get to talk about to much. Ill try to do better.
Ai Shite Imasu
Elder Eliot
