2/20/11

HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY,

Hey, how are you family? Looks like you`re all doing awesome! Just got the pictures of the dinner with Elder...I mean Brother Hinton. haha its so weird to see him without a name tag! Tell him herro for me will ya? Wow, it`s already been about two months since he got off of his mission now huh? Unbelievable. Time is going by so quickly...Can you believe that its already the last week of the transfer? Time in Iwade seems to be slipping away. But thats only because there`s some hard work going on over here! So, how is the family? Everyone getting prepared for a year full of travel and marriages? I can`t believe you guys are going all over the place in such a short time. I is excited for you! Selena, sounds like the Reno trip was fun for you! You got a backpack hurrah!

Wow, I can`t believe its almost the end of the transfer already...but I`m so excited! You don`t even know! We have a baptism set up on the twelvth of next month! Our yakusokusha`s named Fukunaga. He`s really an awesome guy, I love him to death. He`s a graduate student up at Kindai University right now and its looking pretty good. He has a genuine desire to learn more about the Gospel but there`s some parts that are still hard for him to accept. But hey, I don`t except him to take in everything all at once. True conversion comes with effort and most importantly, the Holy Ghost. He asks really deep questions too so it shows that he is honestly trying to learn more about the Gospel. We`re gonna finish teaching everything this Wednesday and help him prepare for the baptismal interview. Ah, I`m so stoked! We have a tentative baptismal interview date set on the eighth, but things could change because its kind of at a yayakoshi time because transfers are going to be a week before it. But, we`ll figure things out for sure! Pray for him will you?!

Ah, other than that, this week has been great. We had a transfer record of 18 people at chruch yesterday! The branch is regaining strength! AND I had an awesome kokan with Camacho choro this Thrusday! He`s such an awesome elder. He`s Philipino but he grew up in Okinawa...so he`s pretty much Japanese. Ah the Sennan Elders are so awesome! Dantas and Camacho, an awesome combination. Ah fun times, kokans are always the best because you get to mix things up! And then after that we had a sweet district meeting too. We`re starting to change our planning methods so we can more effectively work with investigators and memebers. Yay for improvement! I`m so excited for the up coming transfer though. I`m probably staying in Iwade...I mean I better stay in Iwade. I wonder who my new companion will be? Or will I train this next transfer?...find out next next week. Which reminds me, next week we might go to the zoo with the Sennan elders! YAY! Why am I so excited? Because there`s gonna be a potential investigator from Guatamala who`s gonna be there. Spanish dendo, here I come!

Well, it sounds like you guys are happy! But I still hope you guys are doing awesome. Things in Provo are probably going smooth eh? Tell me everything that goes on over there okay! I gotta go now and do what a missionary does aight? I LOVE YOU GUYS! Have a great week! Peace.

OKBYE,
Elder Saito

2/13/11

HEY!

How are you family?! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! I just wanna say that I love you guys! Its so good to hear from you guys again. Sorry my emails didn`t send a few weeks ago, I guess that happened to a few other missionaries too. But, I`m happy to finally hear from you guys again. How are things? It sounds like theres quite a lot of interesting stuff happening over there in Utah. Thats so awesome how Allie`s story was put into the New Era! Tell her congrats for me okay?


Speaking of time going by quick, this week flew right over my head! It was such an amazing week though. We were blessed so much! We had zone conference, which was awesome. And an all mission conference, which was awesome. And sweet lessons with great investigators! The zone conference was so great though. It was all the way over in Mikunigawaka so we had to jump on our little one man train early in the morning to get there. But guess who`s in my zone? Emma Tohara! Twas awesome being able to see her again. It caught me off guard so bad though! Emma is already on her second to last transfer! She gave her final goodbye testimony in zone conferece. I swear she just barely left on her mission! What has happened! haha I better be careful or the same thing will happen to me if I don`t pay attention ya know? But her testimony was great. Its amazing to see how a mission can change someone like that. Oh, and President McIntyre`s training was amazing! I learned so much in a jam packed hour that`ll help me on my mission so much! Zone confernce was just amazing.

But all mission conference, wow! We were blessed to hear from President and Sister McIntyre, Aoyagi kaicho and shimai, Sister Cook and then ended it with Elder Cook`s amazing testimony and vision of missionary work. It was a spiritual punch in the face! Just wakes you up and makes you want to spread the Gospel to everyone in the world! There were so many things that I loved in the mission confernece that I am way too lazy to quote them all...so I`ll tell you some of my favorites.

"What you`re doing here is the most important work you can possibly do in your life. You are not the only one who benefits from a mission. Everyone you love will be affected."
-Elder Cook
SO good, so good. I heard everything that I needed to hear from this taikai. Plus it was awesome because the whole mission was there and I was able to talk with all of my doki and friends. We weren`t aloud to have cameras so sorry, no pictures of Elder Cook or doki! But it was such a great experience. It was super sad saying good bye to some missionaries though because it was there last transfer...but I`m sure I`ll be able to see them again somehow!

Well, the taikai`s (conference) were just amazing. And we had awesome dendo experiences too! We have some pretty amazing investigators too. One of them being Hiramoto. He`s a highschooler but he has a desire to learn more about this Gospel. He was a referral from a memeber in Saitama! I know right? A referral in Japan, what? But it happened! He`s totally golden...but dendo is never that easy. But hey, it was never supposed to be easy. Because he`s still 17, he needs parents approval to be baptized. And they seem to be hantai. BUT we wont lose hope on him. I have faith that he`ll be baptized!

Ah so many things had happened throughout this week! I`m excited for the up coming weeks and what`s going to happen. Well, I`m running out of time, and I`m too poor for another hour on this computer so I`m going to go. Thanks so much for all you do you guys! I love you so much! thanks for the package too! But I don`t want you guys spending money on me anymore so there`s no need to send me anything! Okay, know that I love you guys! Peace!

Mucho Amor,
Elder Saito

2/8/11

Hey all of you!

First off, I want to say that I love you guys so much!

Second, I`m not too sure why my last weeks email didn`t send but here it is anyways:


Letters from Iwade:

Dearest family,

How are you guys? Its so good to hear from you! I can`t believe a week has already passed since I last emailed you guys. So many things have happened in such a short amount of time, I dont even know what to talk about anymore. But its sounds like America (as in people I know) is turning into a riot! Allen, Cindy, Logan AND Alisha`s all getting married without me there? Shame on them! haha but I`m so happy for them. Everyone`s getting married nowadays aren`t they? I wonder who is next...hmmm.

But, it sounds like the family has some pretty fun activities coming up this year. Selena and Richard are coming to Japan huh? Thats going to be sick! Tell them to say hello to obachanx2 for me okay? What exactly do you guys have planned for Spain though? Is Dad presenting something there or is he going to be studying at the university in Barcelona? I bet the sight seeing there is going to be sick! One day I`ll go to Spain...one day. Ryan`s finally on the mission! I`m so happy!

Thank you SO much for the package! I was surprised how much you could shove into one cardboard box and mail to Japan. That thing was about to burst at its seams! Thanks for the pictures too, I`ll be sure to use them more effectively with my "jikoshokai picture dendo." If you guys want anything from lovely Iwade feel free to ask! I mean, there`s like...one daiso here but its all good. Its so good to hear that Luis and Bona`s doing awesome. I need to get their addresses sometime! I think I may have Luis` but I"m gonna have to do some searching. Its so crazy to think that a bunch of my friends are all across the world spreading the same message to all the people. The Gospel is truely remarkable isn`t it?

Well, this week has been truely filled with miracles! Seriously, the Lord has blessed us so much! We started the week with two investigators but we were able to end the week with nine investigators and two people who are set with baptismal dates. Iwade may be inaka, but as long as we trust in the Lord, He will work through us so we can find the elect. Iwade is literally the land of faith. In all opposition, faith and hope are the determining factors whether or not you will succeed here. Its a lesson that I`ve started to learn for the first time on my mission. Iwade doesnt have the convenience of hundreds of people walking on the street all day or a huge ward with a bunch of members. Its a place where you learn how to deal with whats given to you and just work. I`m not going to lie, there are plenty of days I feel hopeless, but those are the times that all I can do is turn to something divine. ST Luke 1:37. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Seriously, through out this whole week, this simple scripture was running through my head...its literally all I could think about! Those seven simple words helped me and my companion out so much. I need to learn how to trust more in the Lord and not let my doubts and fears overcome me. If I work hard enough, I know that the Lord will work miracles! With the Lord`s help, we can help rebuild the foundation of Iwade. It may take a longer time, but thats when patience plays it`s roll. I know that success will take time...I just need to learn how to be more patient.

It may seem that there isn`t much going on in this sleepy town but I promise that things are going to change here in Iwade. So no worries about me! I`ll be just fine. Just keep on praying for our investigators will ya guys? I gotta go now, but it was way good to hear back from you guys! Hope all of you guys are doing awesome! Tell me all thats going on in good old Provo for me otay? Otay. Love you guys! Peace.

Mucho Amor,
Elder Saito

Anyways this is back to this weeks.

How are you guys? What`s going on over in Provo Utah? You guys need to keep me updated with all the 411! It sounds like you guys are awesome so I is super happy to hear that. Thats horrible that they passed that bill about shooting stray cats! I mean, I don`t really care about Rupert but I`m sure it would be zannen if other cats got shot...

Well, I would have to say that this week was just...one of the most up and down weeks ever. I`ve honestly never felt so fearful and uncertain about things...and yet so hopeful and genki at the same time. I felt so down at the start of the week. I was so worried and just thought about myself the whole time and it was literally, tearing me apart. I was selfish, I really was, and I didn`t know what to do with myself. So I naturually felt inclined to turn to the Lord. I don`t think I`ve ever trusted in the Lord as much as I did this week. I probably prayed more within this week than I had during my whole mission. haha. I was seeking for guidance, enlightenment, anything that would help me. After my prayers, I didn`t feel that I received an answer for anything and I began to become frustrated. I was impatient with myself and began to doubt. BUT, the Lord never forgets us. I realized that fact this week. He`s promised us that if we seek, we shall receive. It doesn`t specifically state anywhere how many seconds, days, weeks, years it takes to receive that answer but the Lord has promised us that He will answer when the time is right. Later within the week, I realized that I`ve known my answer to my prayers the whole time. When I realized my answer, I felt the Spirit so strongly! That answer happens to be my purpose of being a missionary. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. Its not only to baptism people but to share this Gospel to my brothers and sisters. I`ve been able to share this Gospel with countless number of people in Japan. Even if they kekko or ignore me, I feel so happy that I was able to share this Gospel with them! Even if it was a little bit. Baptism is only the end result of hard work, overcoming trails and accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior. I think that God has a purpose for me in this mission. And thats to rebuild areas and make them stronger then they were before. I think thats why President Mcyntire had sent me to white wash an area in my first transfer and to Iwade. We`ve already doubled the amount of new investigators found in the last transfer! Iwade is going to take a while to rebuild but thats still missionary work!!! I know that if I work hard every day, full of faith, the Lord will work miracles.

Other than my mission-life crisis, this week was awesome! I had an awesome kokan with my favorite Brazilian, Dantes Choro! It was such a blast! I was surprised though, I had remembered a lot more Spanish then I thought I did. (He`s ped at Spanish, Portugues and English by the way...Japanese is coming) He told me that I`ll probably go to Omihachiman sometime in my mission to serve in Spanish...hopefully we can work there together! That would be so much fun. I love that guy so much!

We also had a dinner at one of our investigators house on the 4th. I guess thats that one holiday where you throw beans at a demon (I forgot the name) and say `Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!` It was super fun, the dad of the investigating family had a oni mask on and we spent a good 5 min throwing beans at him. Oh Japanese tradition, how awesome are you!

Okay, well I`m running out of time and I don`t want to pay for another hour on this computer so i have to go! There`s so much going on over here in Iwade it would have to take me a lot longer to tell you all the details. But know that I`m still alive and working hard! Hope you guys are doing awesome! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Thanks for everything you do for me!

"Don`t worry about a thing. Cause every little thing is gonna be alright."
-Bob Marely

MUCHO AMOR
Elder Saito

1/24/11

Hey Family!

How are you guys? Thanks for the email! It was good to finally hear from you, its been quite a long and busy week since transfers. So Ryan is finally going on the big mission now huh? I`m so excited! He`s seriously going to love it so much, I mean...its the best two years you could possibly spend! Tell him good luck and that I love him much-o much-o. I bet his farewell talk was amazing too, the concept of a mission changes peoples lives so much. Its the "grow up" period. You learn so much within such a short amount of time.

Oh, Elder Hinton came over and said hi? Saweet! I can`t believe he actually did that. Tell him "Otsukaresamadeshita" for dealing with me and that I love him! He was seriously a great missionary, I`m surprised he was able to deal with a wampsac like me. But anyways, yeah keep in contact with him, I know he`ll love to practice his Japanese with natives. Oh! I saw Emma during transfers too! I forgot to mention that! It was so nice to see her. When she saw me she kept on telling me on how big
I`ve gotten and how I look so much like a missionary. It was funny because I didn`t realize how tiny she was until now! haha

Well...right now I`m emailing you guys sitting on a couch in a internet cafe. Where you may ask?...Iwade-shi in Wakayama-ken that is! You may have to scramble for a map to know where I really am because its pretty inaka (country side). Compared to the tokai (big city)of Okamachi...this is a sleeply little town. I`ve constructed a simple equation to help you guys understand how its like here. Payson, Utah x rice fields - people actually walking on the street + farmers + Kindai University = Iwada-shi. The train that took us to Iwada was like...a one cart train...no, thats exaggerating. I meant two carts. Our apartment is literally ten steps away from the small eki. In the day, you`ll be lucky to find 10 people walking on the streets that you can actually contact so most of our dendo consists of housing. As of now, we have two investigators and our branch consists of about 10 active memebers. Pretty small huh? In fact, its the second smallest branch in Japan.

I LOVE IT HERE SO MUCH!!! This is exactly what I was looking for! A place where I`m going to have to work my hardest to get going. This place is nothing compared to Okamachi. This, is, the, INAKA (country side)! And everyone knows that the inaka is the land of faith and miracles. I like it because it makes me feel like I`m at home because there`s mountains that surround us so its kinda like Utah Valley. Seriously, this place is awesome. Our church is on the second floor of an office building next to a mall. We share floors with a resturant company called "Onions and Tomatos" and the church consits of two rooms, the sacrament and primary. Yesterday at church, we had about 12 people there (including the missionaries) and it turns out that missionaries have to give talks every week because we don`t have enough memebers. This place is great! The branch seriously becomes your family and people here are so nice. Oh and turns out that my last companion, Rahn Choro and Emma have both served here before! What a small world! So, my companion`s name is Elder Niven. He`s a really great missionary, a bit quite, but still a good missionary. He`s only a transfer ahead of me so we`re working as co-seniors together. Its a really good experience for me because I need to start stepping it up as a missionary!

Well, from the four days I`ve already spent here in Iwade, I`ve already learned a valuable lesson. And that happens to be patience. I never realized how much patience you really need when you`re working in the inaka. I`m so used to the fast moving enviornment of Osaka that I`ve forgotten about patience. But, now that I have the chance, I`m going to slow things down and work faithfully. Faith=patience. Without faith, nothing will work. I know as long as I go on the Lord`s time and not my own, we`ll be able to see miracles here in Iwade.

Okay, well I have to go. Hope you guys are doing amazing! I want you to know that I`m okay and transfers went by fine. Pray for the people in Iwade so my companion and I will start seeing miracles! I love you guys! Peace.

Mucho love love,
Elder Saito

1/17/11

Hey herro hi!

HOW ARE YOU FAMILY!? Its good to hear back from you guys. I can`t believe that this is going to be the last time I write you guys from this computer. The last week of the transfer was a way good one. It went by quickly but thats because we were working hard! We`ve finally gotten out of the Oshogatsu stage and things are kickin back into place. BUT, first off, how are you guys? Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I hope you had an awesome birthday! It looks like the birthday party/sushi tabehodai went grood. Thanks for the pictures you guys sent me! Rupert looks like a demon like usual.

Ryan is leaving in like a week! Does he have everything ready for his mission? I can`t believe it, my boy`s growing up right infront of my eyes. Soon he will join me on this island...soon. Thats so exciting, he`s going to love it over here so much! So, Martin Luther King`s holiday was pretty relaxed I assume. It was probably freezing in Provo wasn`t it? Osaka was pretty chilly this past week. It even started to snow for a little bit!

Lets see, this week was actually pretty eventful. The Senri elders in our zone set up this amazing concert at the church on Saturday. It was sooooo good. There was a good turn out too; about 50ish people showed up. Out of the 50, about 7 were non-members. It was a great dendoing experience for the members. I swear the Senri/Okamachi memebers were on fire! They helped out with the concert so much and fellowshipped the non-members like crazy. The concert was family themed and a lot of our memebers as well as us participated in the concert. All the missionaries in our zone bore akashis, sang Families Can Be Together Forever and then after the concert, we gave church tours and had a little shokujikai. It was such a great atmosphere, you could almost feel this cloud of love that filled the air...or it could`ve been the heaters because it was burning hot in there. Either one works because the people loved it. A lot of the non memebers after said they liked how we emphasize on love and the importance of families. One of the non members even came to chruch the next day! Twas a good experience for sure.

Other then that...dendo has been normal. Yesterday, we found an awesome new investigator streeting. He`s this huge Japanese (way taller and thicker then me)guy who had an eyebrow and tounge piercing as well as fat dreads. I started contacting him by asking if he listened to reggae. Turns out he loves metal/hardcore music and in his free time he makes Omens (Japanese demon masks) We had a good conversation about American metal/harcore music and then jumped into the Gospel. We were able to set up another appointment with him and even commit him to baptism. (yes, we`re so hardcore that we commit people to baptism on the streets) He said he would like to so we`ll see what happens~ I`m super sad that I`ll be transfering out before we get to teach him again though...but oh well.

Speaking of transferring...this is going to be my first real transfer! I wonder where I`m going to go. My roommates are telling me Nishiwaki or somewhere way deep in the inaka. I hope I get sent to the inaka! The inaka is were missionaries turn into real men. Its also the area of miricales. My companion told me that he only found 2 people in one transfer but still saw a bunch of miricales. Well, anywhere I go at this point I`ll be happy. I`m determined to work as hard as I can. I have some goals that I`m going to have to accomplish in my next area. First, I`m going to love everyone. Literally, everyone. Second, I`m going to assume leadership postion so I need to become more responsible. Third, I`m going to see at least one baptism this next transfer. How am I going to accompish these goals? Easy. Work as hard as I possibly can, then trust that with the Lord, anything is possible.

Anywyas. I wish I could tell you were I`m going to be transferring this next week...but I can`t. So we`ll just have to wait till next week. This week will probably be hecktic but I`m so excited! I gotta go now, but I just wanna let you guys know that I love ya! I hope you guys are doing great. Don`t worry about me, I`ll survive. Plus I`m loving the mission anyways, there`s no need to worry. OKBYE~

Mucho Amor,
Elder Saito

1/9/11

Kazoku,

Hey hey hey, how are you guys? You guys are sounding super genki so I`m happy! From the pictures dad sent to me it looks like its still snowing a bunch over there in Utah. We`ve had some snow over here periodically but it never sticks...its still gets pretty freezing cold though. How is everything else back at home? UVU and BYU are off their winter breaks now yeah? Has there been anything new thats happened lately? So whats this I hear about you guys being the Asian ward missionaries at BYU? You guys gonna get some dendo experience going on! Don`t worry, you guys are going to love it so much. Oh yeah, and I forgot you guys are going to Spain this summer weren`t you? Thats so crazy, what exactly do you have planned to do over there again?

Okay, so for all the questions you clearly highlighted bright red in my email. Number 1. Yes, my jacket is perfectly warm. Don`t worry about buying me another one. 2. I will probably be transfering on the 20th. 3. The backpack I found was online. I don`t remember where but seek and Ryan shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto him.

Oh, tell Akemichan thank you so much for the package. i was going to write a thank you letter...but I realized I threw away her box and dont have her address. Oh and the Hasegawas too...tell them thanks for the Mcdonald bucks! I dont have their address either.

Anyways, this week has been great. Dendo has finally kicked back into motion because people are coming out of their Oshogatsu hibernations! This week we were supah blessed by being able to find a bunch of new investigators. We desperately needed to refill our finding/teaching funnel because our teaching pool was kinda short. BUT, with the new year, I feel things are definitely getting better. I have a good feeling that our progressing investigators will be baptized for sure. We have a few guys that are so close, SO CLOSE!!! but there`s a few things that are holding them back from baptism. We`re really trying our best to help them strengthen their faith while inviting them to come unto Christ. But we just need to be patient and trust that the Lord has our back. Everythings going to be alright.

Well, anywho, this week we had interviews with President McIntyre. It was good to talk with him one on one about dendo and how things are going. Its been about two months since the last time we had an interview so I had more questions to ask him. So, I`m probably going to be transferred out of Okamachi by next next week. Its a bitter sweet feeling though. I really love Okamachi and I know that our investigators are close to baptism...but at the same time I`m ready for a change and see more of the Kobe misison. I wonder where I`m going to go next...hopefully in some little inaka area so I have to work my brains out. I don`t care where I go though, it`ll be a good experience no matter what. Oh, and President told me that I could very well be training next transfer. What a crazy thought...I`m so far into my mission already that I could be training...AH! It goes by so fast. Yesterday during chruch, I realized that I`ve been on my mission for 6 months already and almost started freaking out. I swear if my mission goes by as fast as my last few months have gone...I`ll cry. But a manly cry...

Anyways...I`ve been super busy lately. My emails probably dont make sense because I`m too lazy/busy to proof read them...and now I have to wrap things up because i need to go shopping. Sorry its short, but I want you guys to know that I love ya and that I`m loving dendo so much! Hope you guys are doing awesome!

Mucho amor,
Elder SAITO!!!

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