1/2/11

Family.

あけましておめでとうございます! Happy New Year! I can`t believe 2011 is already here! AND Christmas has already passed. I blinked once...and December went away. It feels like my whole mission is flying by that quickly. Anywho, it was good talking to you guys over the phone on Christmas. It was 懐かしい to hear all of your voices...even if its only been like 5 months. It sounds like you guys are all genki genki though. Oh, thanks for the Christmas presents too! I love the electric shaver, shirt and Thai Elephant Piggy Bank. The shaver makes my beard grow twice as fast though. I forgot to shave one morning and by the end of the day I looked Philipino with my stubble. And for the Jello...I haven`t made it yet. Our ward is so nice though, we got a bunch of Christmas presents from them. Most of it were sweets so now our apartment is overflowing high-calorie sugary goodness. I need to write them thank you cards...gotta get on that. I hope you guys liked all my presents! When I saw dad`s present I knew I had to get it for him. You better put that on Sienna`s back.

So it sounds like you had quite a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I`m glad things are going awesome over there. From the picture you guys sent me it looks like Richard and Selena are just as lazy as ever. Was it their new years resolution to sit on a couch eating out of paper plates for the rest of their lives? I kid, I kid. Tell them...or Selena at least, thanks for her letter. I`ll probably write her a month from now.

New Years here was...well Oshogatsu. Dendo was kind of slow this week. No one could really meet till the middle of January. Oshogatsu is definitely THE holiday for Japanese people. But I really liked it because I saw a lot of Japanese families spending time with each other. I love it when I see people doing that. It seems that not only in Japan, but all over the world people don`t understand the full blessings of families. Its okay if dendo was slow this week because I think it would`ve been bad on our side if we forcefully met with our investigators and took time away from their families. But we were still able to meet with a few of our investigators when they could so its still all good. My companion and I went to Juso on New Years eve because its a small party city in our area and we thought that there would be a lot of people...but to our disappointment it was empty. Literally, there were like 13 people in the whole city counting us. But whatever, it was still good to dendo(proselyte) the remaining people. Everything is closed here till about the 4th ish and thats when people start coming out of their houses like bears out of hibernation. SO, that`s when the dendo will pick up. My companions and I spent New Years doing pillow talk about New Years resolutions and stuff until midnight. When midnight came, my companions and I yelled, screamed and hugged each other, then quickly repented for staying awake past curfew, and fell asleep immediately. It was quite the new years. We didn`t hear any of the kanes ringing though...which was a bummer but whatever.

On New Years day, we had a mission Sports Taikai(meeting). Only half of the mission was there but we still had a bunch of fun. Unfortunately, I didn`t see Emma their...maybe I`ll see her once I transfer. But nevertheless it was fun. I hisashiburi played soccer and football too. I was glad that I could still kinda move like I used to but the next day all of us were sore. Hopefully I don`t become a grandpa by the end of my mission. Anyways, it was way fun...and I saw my old SOAR counselor, Mario, there too. It was so random, he was the last person I thought I would see there. But he`s dating President Mcyntire`s daughter so it makes sense. Anywho, it was great to see him. This week was pretty much just filled with member meals/dinners. It was really good to build a stronger relationship with the members and refuel their dendo fire. Everyone in the ward is so nice, I`m gonna miss them once I transfer.

Which reminds me here`s the paragraph for the ward:

Dear Grandview 16th Ward,

Thank you so much for the Christmas letter! I can`t even tell you how grateful I am to receive support from my favorite ward. Its a great booster for my "dendo fire" to hear from all of you. Reading the messages from familiar names really made me feel the love that the Christmas season brings. The mission in Japan is truly amazing. The work is progressing daily and many of our brothers and sister in Japan are recognizing and feeling the love that this Gospel brings. With the new year, remember all of the blessings that come from this Gospel is through your faith in Jesus Christ. I hope all of you guys are doing well.

Much love,
Elder Saito

So anyways, it was good emailing you guys.Hope this next year will be an adventure for all of us! Be safe and work hard. OKBYE!

Mucho Ruv,
Elder Satio