I got lazy...sorry

Hey Hey Hey,

Herro, how are you family? It looks like you guys had a sweet Thanksgiving and Black Friday! Thanks for sending me those pictures Dad! Mom looks like Yoko Ono and it looks like Selena drew on her eyebrows...but other than that, Richard and Dad look exactly the same. Its good to see the family is doing awesome. So, looks like Richard and Selena were lucky when they were Black Friday-ing again I see. It seems that somehow Richard is always lucky when it comes to video games. Wow, I can`t believe its almost December already. This will be the first Christmas away from home...I think. Do you guys have any plans for Christmas break? Oh and for a Christmas present...lets see maybe a tie or something will do. Oh, or you could get me some electric shaver at TJ Maxx or something. That would be greatly appreciated too. What about you guys? Do you have any requests of things you want from Japan?

How is everyone? Oh, has Ilikea gotten any of my last two letters? The one with a drawing of a cat? She mails me things like Gospel supplies and stuff but I haven`t gotten an actual letter, like things that are going on in her life etc, for about a month. I have a feeling that none of my letters that I`ve sent to people have actually made it to their destination. I mean, I sent you guys, Bishop Edgington, and a few other friends a letter too. Well, its probably because I used weird envelopes from 100yen shop. Those probably never make it to America. Or everyone just hates me. Could be both.

Well anyways, it looks like its been snowing quite a lot this past week in Provo. It still hasn`t gotten super cold over here yet, nor have we had any rain or snow. Its really annoying weather. When the sun is shining, its hot, but when the sun goes down or we`re in the shadows, it turns freezing. Dang you Osaka and your weather.

Things are going by so quickly over here. My second transfer is almost already over! My trainer is going home in about a week or two...which seems crazy to him. I`ll already be in my third transfer! fdashklfdsahfkla I can`t believe how fast its going. BUT, awkwardly, I feel as if I`ve been here in Okamachi forever. Its like I`ve been going to church with everybody in this ward and roaming around Toyonaka for a long time...which I haven`t. Its really an interesting feeling. It`ll probably go away once I transfer though. Anyways, you know you do a lot of dendo once you start dreaming about missionary work. I sometimes have dreams where I`m contacting people and trying to set up appointments...or it could`ve not been a dream and my life is just turning into a blur...Well, our investigators are doing pretty good. I mean there`s the up`s and down`s but thats just dendo. You just learn how to deal with it and be optimistic. The good news is that these past few weeks, finding has gotten better. We really need to start refilling our investigator pool because a few of our investigators are at that "spiritual standstill" and are not really progressing. For those investigators, we just need to be patient and help them progress with the help of the members. The statement "patience is a virtue" means so much more when you`re out in the field. Some of our investigators have really legitimate testimonies but unfortunately, have a few commitment problems. Two of our yakusokusha`s have told us that they believe that the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus is their Savior, but feel that it isn`t their "time" to get baptized. I swear it feels like your insides are exploding when an investigator tells you a few days before their baptism that they don`t feel ready and they want to postpone it. Just being patient at that time is tuff...Its hard to understand the balance between them really not being ready and the adversery working against us. I just want to yell at that point, throw a Book of Mormon at them and say "you`re more than ready!" But of course I would never do that, because I dont really know their situation and I have no right to judge. Maybe all of this is the Lord just trying to teach me a lesson on patience. It will come in time though. All I can do at this point is show love and support the investigators while helping them understand the importance of baptism more clearly.

Well anyways, I`m too lazy to type more.Hope ya`ll are doing good good. I hope that work is fabulos for you guys and that you`re all just enjoying life as much as I am. Okay, talk to you in a week! OKBYE.

Love ya guys,
Elder Saito

PS. I still hate you Rupert.

chubby?

Rex is totally gaining weight!!! haha

Hellos!

Hi Mom and Dad! You guys genki? Hope you guys are doing awesome as usual. Well, I guess Thanksgiving will already pass once I hear back from you guys but I hope your `sushi party` goes well. So it was Richard`s birthday this week too? haha that debu is already 24 now huh? Well, tell him happy birthday for me and that I`ll have to punch him once I come home because he celebrated without me. Speaking of debu...I guess I`ve been getting pretty debu(fat) myself without even noticing. We have this scale in the bathroom that`s in kilograms so I wasn`t sure how much I really weighed. I weigh 85 kilos right now...which for some reason I thought was just 170 pounds. BUT...according to the mass converter on our cell phone, I weigh 187 pounds. So now I`m in denial and have convinced myself that the scale is actually off.

Anyways, how`s Pochi? Is he alright? Did you find out whether or not he has arthritis in his legs? Because I would be so sad sad if he did...my poor puppy. Why couldn`t this happen to Rupert instead? Well, I`m really happy that Dad was able to send a few pictures of the pets. Why don`t ya send some pictures of the family sometime too? I wanna see all of you guys. Its actually not cold at all in Osaka right now. Which I guess is kinda weird because it should be freezing.

Well, this past week has gone by pretty slow. A lot of things have occurred over the past few days though, both good and bad. But, I think I would rather concentrate on the good things more. We really have been blessed this week with an amazing investigator. His name is Ryoma and he`s a son of a member in our ward. His situation is kinda interesting but I don`t feel like I should go much into detail. The main point is that he`s really progressing towards baptism and is recognizing the Spirit. He explained to us that the past few years he felt that he was straying away from "the right path." He told us that things went downhill once his mom left for America for a year and his job became a disaster. He told us at one point he felt an urge to get back on the right path and he thinks that baptism is one of the ways to do that. It really is amazing though, he had already quit smoking before he even met with us and now is trying to give up coffee, beer and tea in order to be baptized. We invited him to begin coming to church about a month ago and he`s been coming almost every time since. He told us that he feels peace when he comes to church and prays. Its the picture perfect explanation of the Spirit! I`m really happy for him and I`m praying for him that things go well!

Also, this past Tuesday we had the opportunity to go and see Brother Aki in the hospital. He and his wife are in their 90`s and I guess Brother Aki was on the verge of dying earlier this month but suddenly became healthier again! What`s amazing is that he was the first Japanese missionary to ever serve a mission in Japan! He`s a stud! Brother and Sister Aki are the most genki people you`ll ever see. It was a miracle that we were able to see them though because when we went to the hospital, he was out taking a walk with his wife (yeah he`s that genki) and we only had a half an hour before our next lesson. When we only had a few min left so we wrote them a letter and decided to leave. Right when we were heading to the elevator down, the elevator we were going to take opened and Brother and Sister Aki were just coming back from their sampo. It was perfect timing! They were so happy to see us and Brother Aki kept on telling us that we were so tall. Meeting them really lifted our spirits. They`re so tiny though! They`re both about 4 feet I swear (yes smaller than `ilikea) I`ll try sending you guys a picture. I hope I get to see them again before I transfer.

Well, there`s so much more I could write...but I`m far too lazy. Plus my P~day is almost over anyways. Where does all my time go? Well, now I`m gonna try to catch up on my letters I have to write. Has Selena got my letter? Either the 100yen envelopes failed me and never made it to America or they just forgot about my existence. Both are ideas are plausible. Anyways, you guys have a great Thanksgiving! Hope you guys are doing fantastic as well as Pochi and Monty. As for Rupert...hopefully dad forgets him outside in the snow for a week. OK bye bye.

Love ya guys,
Elder Saito

11/15/10

Herro Famiry,


How are you guys? Its so good to hear from ya! Is it really almost time for Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping? I can`t believe it. It seems just like yesterday that Richard, Selena and I were sitting in front of Old Navy just so Richard can get some stupid Lego Starwars game for free. When is Thanksgiving anyways? I`ve kinda forgot already. There`s already Christmas things going on over here in Japan so I have no idea of whats happening holiday wise anymore. Oh yeah, thanks so much for the packages! They came in this week.



Well, maybe by the time I come home from my mission Ryan will finally get his mission call. haha give him a good slap on the head for me. Hopefully, he gets it within this week then...maybe. I still can`t tell where he`s going either...I hope its Mexico or something. Thats great that Trent was able to baptize his son! I bet it was an amazing experience for him. Tell him that I is happy happy for him!...or I`ll just write to him sometime.



......I dont know anything about Japanese grammer. I just know that if it sounds right, then it is right. Really, I have this huge Japanese grammer book that I got at the MTC but I haven`t even looked at it yet. Some day I`ll learn proper Japanese grammer...but at this point I`d rather just learn more Kanji.



Well anyways, yet another week has passed by on my dendo...its amazing how fast its going! This week was pretty eventful. There`s still a lot of `mission drama` going on between us and one of our investigators who was supposed to be baptized. We`re still working to get all of that resolved. But other than that our investigators are doing well.



Lately I`ve been thinking a lot on how it would feel to be an investigator. While thinking...I realized on how difficult it would be to accept the Gospel if I were to be born in the Japanese culture. A lot of the stuff that is contained in the gospel is so...different or contrary to the normal beliefs here. When investigators do accept this Gospel they have to change their lives so much. They sacrafice a lot too. A lot of new converts have a really hard time staying active because of the outside pressure from family, friends, environment, etc. I`ve now realized that true conversion takes time. I think a lot of missionaries don`t realize that. We have to help investigators realize that they have to change their lives inorder to be in better harmony with Christs teachings...I just need to learn to be more patient with my investigators. Rushing for a baptismal date might be good, but I`ve realized that there isn`t a reason to force them. I learned from experience that that doesnt work. I would much rather have only one baptism my whole mission and have them stay active then baptizing hundred of people and having them fall away.



While streeting or teaching lessons you hear a lot of interesting ideas and teachings from different beliefs. Buddust, Shinto, Atheist, Christian all sorts of ideas. They`re all really good to hear and i find it amazing how differently people can think. I really do respect their ideas, religions and ways of thinking. I sure that all of the different teachings have truth within them though. But, it is true that only the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has all of God`s true teachings. I think I realize that fact little by little everyday after hearing all these ideas.



Well, I dont have time to write anymore. My P-day is now over. I bet the last two paragraphs didn`t really make sense...I didn`t have time to read through it. I hope you guys are doing great! Stay safe you guys!


Love you guys,
Elder Saito


Hey guys, this is Selena. If you would like to leave a little note for Rex, write something in the comments and we'll add it into our weekly emails to him. Thanks!

pikachures

11/8/10

Hey Mom and Dad,

Herro parents! How are you guys? I is happy to hear from you guys again. I can’t believe how quickly weeks go by when you’re on your mission. I feel as if I just was emailing you guys yesterday. This second transfer is going by even faster than the first though! Can you believe I’m already starting my third week? I swear this mission is going to be over before I know it. So is it already snowing a lot over there in Utah? Lets see, its starting to get kind of cold over here in Osaka though. Definitely not Utah cold yet, it just gets a bit chilly so we’ve busted out the vests and scarfs for dendoing. I heard it doesn’t really snow in Osaka...its just cold like how I imagine a frozen tundra would be. Thanks for sending me the packages though! I haven’t received them yet though but I’m going to pretend like I did. Gloves should come in handy though when I’m biking in the freezing wind though! Tell Shirley thank you, thank you very much. Has Ryan got his mission call yet? I was talking to a sister who was companions with Emma and she told me that Ryan accidently turned in his papers saying that he was 530 pounds or something. Is that true? I can totally see it happening though!

Well, this past week was pretty good. I feel like I’m improving and getting more and more comfortable streeting and getting more involved in lessons. Being able to stop people and strike up conversations seems natural to me. Which I assume is a good thing. I figured once Elder Hinton leaves I’ll be the one responsible to keep up the connections with investigators and members. That is if I stay in Okamachi though...which I probably will because we have investigators with baptismal dates who need to be baptized. One of our investigators is supposed to be baptized this week but unfortunately, has a big problem. His name’s Hatakeyama and he has one of the strongest testimonies I’ve seen yet. He really understands that importance of baptism and wants to get baptized but his parents are super hantai. I guess he was supposed to be baptized quite a while ago but his parents got really mad at him and told him that if he were to be baptized, they would disown him. Its such a complicated situation. We’ve tried to meet the parents with the bishop but he told us it would be a bad idea. He’s kinda shy so its hard for him to bring it up with his parents again so we’ve been trying to support him. He’s not supposed to even have contact with us missionaries but he still lets us call him. I’ve been calling him for the past few weeks and trying to encourage him to talk to his parents again. Amazingly, he did. But his parents became even more angry so things just got more difficult. I couldn’t really do much but comfort him and give him scriptures of hope and faith. He really believes though, which gives me faith that he will get baptized sooner or later. Hopefully, we can get him to talk to just his mother because she seems to be more understanding. If we have atleast her support, I think that things will workout.

Well anyways, I can write for hours about our investigators but I’m far too lazy and I’d rather hear from you guys. So, whats the plans for Thanksgiving this year? Are you guys sending me a frozen turkey this year? haha jk. I’ll just have a slab of tuna or something instead. Oh and for MOM’S WEEKLY QUESTIONS that I always forget to answer. No, I don’t need a Pants Guard Band Device That Protects Pants from the Chain That Spins to Move One’s Bicycle. My bike has a chain guard so I think I’m fine.

Oh and this Sunday there was a return sister missionary that was visting our ward because of her cousins baptism or something that looked really familiar. I asked if we knew each other and she said she wasn’t sure. Later her parents came and I saw her mom staring at me...then all of a suddenly she yelled ’RIKI! RIKI!` and came scuffling towards me. Turns out her and her family lived in Provo about 6 years ago and eat dinner at our house once...or something like that. I forgot their name...I think it was Sakuma or something...but I`ll send you guys a picture. Anyways, the family’s dad worked at BYU for a year or something teaching math...and dad befriended him or something? I can`t remeber the details but the picture should be enough.

Well, I gotta go now. Things are going well over here in Okamachi. No worries about me dying or getting hit by cars. I is careful. The pictures I`m sending are in order: That one family I met, a huge Mcdonalds, and the city lights of the area we are dendoing.

Hope you guys are doing well! Be safe and don`t work too hard!

Love you guys,

Elder Saito

There are pictures but for some reason they won't upload on my computer so stand by, I'll get them up eventually.

11/1/10 Spanish Speaking???

Hey Mom and Dad!

Hey, hey, you, you, I don`t like your cat. How are you my famiry? Did you have a little get together AND eat sushi without me? That`s lame. But it`s okay though...because seafood is supahcheap over here! You can get 10 tarakos for about 800 yen and a huge fish for 500 in the super over here. Well, lately the weather has gotten pretty cold here. The temperature dropped significantly around Tuesday so we had to bust out our sweaters and Hitler overcoats. The day before yesterday there was a typhoon warning but nothing really happened. Yesterday, it rained quite a bit though but nothing too bad. I heard it gets pretty cold over here in Osaka so I shall prepare myself by eating and having my fat protect me throughout the winter.

So this week has been pretty hard...ish. As you may have known, Okamoto was supposed to be baptized this past Sunday...but unfortunately things got really complicated on the day before his interview. Well, we had one of our ward member doseki with us in the lesson. We figured out that he knew the doctrine picture perfectly but didn`t have a testimony of his own. The situation is so much more complicated but I feel that I shouldn`t go into detail. So I wont. But just know that things went up and down from there. As of now, I`ll just tell you whether or not he gets baptized. For this week, all we can do is show him that we love him and that this baptism is not for us but for his own well being. Well, if he doesn`t get baptized now at least he`ll be ready for the next time he has a chance to listen to the Gospel.

Other than that...this week has been pretty amazing. We`ve seen so many other little miracles! We were able to get two new yakusokushas throughout the week. Also, we got a new missionary who just transferred in named Elder Johnson. He`s a really awesome missionary who`s half Japanese and...well half rest of the world. He`s like Alisha...but a guy. He`s an amazing asset to the district and I think this transfer is going to be a success with him here. This week we also had a Prep Mission class that the stake and put on. I was set up with a threesome and we dendoed in Ibaraki. One of the members I worked with named Senba who was a return missionary from Sapporo and was an AP for 7 months of his mission. This guy is a stud! I`ve never seen someone have such dendo fire! While we were dendoing he literally talked to EVERYONE on the street. He even stopped people who were driving by on scooters! Absolutely fearless. I guess in Sapporo he was in a pretty inaka area so he would sprint to people if he saw them. He taught me a bunch of tips and shared inspirational mission stories. He taught me that we have a huge responsibility to spread the Gospel to everyone we can. We are responsible for everyone`s salvation who walks past us. I swear one day, I want to be as an amazing missionary as he is. After our mission prep class, he gave me one of his favorite ties and wrote on the back Love is Motion. It really is isn`t it? Love is not just going through the motions, but the action itself. After seeing his example, I keshinned to talk to everyone I can to fulfill my responsibility and purpose as a missionary.

Well, this week has been tuff but we`ve definitely been supahblessed. I`m not dead yet so now worries about me. Hope everything is going well back at home! Tell Rupert he should eat more beef jerky! Haha Peace!

Love,
Elder Saito


Well can I also onegai you to send me my spanish verb conjugation chart sheet, { I might be transferred to the Spanish speaking area says President. It should be in my desk or something} pictures of the family and me playing football to show ward members.

Elder Saito