3 March 2008

Dear Family,

It’s MARCH! I hope everyone’s February was filled with Valentine’s and birthdays! This past week went by particularly fast. We had Zone Conference in Hiroshima, so that took a couple days. Since we are four hours by train, we have to go up the day before in order to be in Hiroshima for the meeting. So that was way fun. We played sports for last P-day. There were a couple college age kids that we got to play too. It was fun.

This week was good. Hey Dad, I heard your Sunday School lesson was awesome! You rock! I sure hope I can stand up to the great example I have been given. Also, Grandma and Grandpa Buck are moving !?! The property looks so beautiful! No one has a yard, let alone grass, here in Japan. Not even the parks! Haha. I guess having relatives in Utah is pretty much inevitable for us Mormons. Haha.

Hey Mom, the standard of living here is great. You would be proud to see how nice we are keeping our apartment, and how healthy we are eating. In our new apartment, in our sleeping room, we have tatami mats and futons and heaters and sliding doors and yeah. One side is even made of rice paper! It is very Japanese. It’s awesome!

We have also had the opportunity to ride by the ocean a lot recently, and I love it! It is waaaaaay pretty. We had a stunning beautiful day Saturday. I saw a flock of hawks just sleeping in the middle of a field and I thought, I’m sure Mom or Dad would have wanted to see this! So yeah, there is a chance I’ll switch areas this week, so I’m soaking it in.

Recently, I tried making/eating rice pudding for the first time, and I loved it! Rice, butter, milk, salt, sugar, honey, and maybe raisins. It’s way good! I think I’m turning into a Japanese person.

This week, I have really gotten more comfortable talking to people I don’t know. Knocking doors yesterday, I felt happy and confident. I have received a lot of help with Japanese. Conversations are much more natural, and I’m already starting to forget English! If you emanate, “I’m a scary foreigner” or “I’m just a salesman,” then people will reject you hard, without even listening. But if you emanate, “I am having fun and I am happy and I am grateful to talk to you,” people will listen even if they aren’t interested. But we are in the business of making friends and sharing the happiness we have found in the gospel! It’s fun.

Sunday, me and Elder Moon had a lesson which we planned as just a friendly introduction and talking about God, but we were led by the Spirit, and went through most of Lesson 1 without even trying! It was sweet. Yanagida-san (our investigator) had some awesome questions that we figured out the answer to together. We both rejoiced and were edified together. (Sounds like a scripture!) So I have caught a glimpse of how this work should be done, and it was AWESOME! And I am pumped! So I’m doing well. I printed off some pictures last week, so bon apetite!

I love you all,
Elder Hogge