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