December 16, 2013

Hey everybody! Things are going great here! Here's the week's rundown for you!

Monday: Well today was a relaxing P-day. We did the usual stuff except we got Beef Curry at email which was pretty good! then we actually got to take naps today! I loved it! We also all got haircuts today cause Transfers are this week so we'll be busy and we all wanted our hair a little shorter.

Tuesday: Today we got Transfer calls! K and B are staying.  All of the Sisters are transferring except for M Shimai. D is going to Odori with my Mtc companion D Choro, and I got a Nihonjin Comp here in Ebetsu. His name is S Choro and I've heard great things about him so I'm excited! I hear he doesn't know much english though so I'm a little nervous about that. But I'll survive!

Wednesday: Today was D Choro's birthday so we decided to celebrate a bit. We got pizza for lunch cause it was half off which was nice but still expensive. We also had our gyosa party tonight! I had 60 gyosa, about a liter of water, and 2 pieces of toast and still had room, but I decided not to push it. So dad, I've beaten your record! ;) I did decide afterwards though that it wasn't my best idea by far... ;) haha but I'm doing ok, don't worry!

Thursday: Today was Transfer day! We started off with Personal study, and then quickly prepped and headed to the train station to try to get to the music practice that Sister Evans set up for preparation for the music night. I got to talk to a bunch of my friends from the MTC as well as friends I've made while here so that was pretty fun! I met S Choro and he's super awesome, and I love him already!  He got a package from his parents though at the transfer spot, and it was filled to the top with like 45 clementines! It was kinda crazy, but because of that I've found one of my favorite foods. You get clementines and either peel them or don't and freeze them. It's delicious!

Friday: So S choro is absolutely hilarious. He doesn't know a ton of English, but he knows some, and I found that I know more Japanese than I thought! It was also a blizzard today, but we walked through it anyway and actually had a lot of fun with it!

Saturday; Today we had the ward Christmas Party! It was really fun and I sang with the ward choir which went better than I thought! We decorated cakes, ate some good food and talked with a bunch of people so it was fun! Oh so Christmas here in Japan is a little different. They usually go to KFC(yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, I don't know why either), and then make Christmas Cakes and give presents. Kinda cool...

Sunday: Today was also good. Church went well, I felt like I could talk to the members more because I feel like my Japanese is alright. Messiah practice went well, but it's super high music so I hope I don't lose my voice before the concert cause it doesn't do much for my voice... We'll see! Also the conductor thinks I'm absolutely awesome, and can do no wrong so I feel like I'm back in High School with my teachers loving me, also thinking I can do no wrong... Kinda funny, like a blast from the past... ;)

Well that was my week! Have a great one!

December 9, 2013

Hey everybody, my week was good this week! I hope yours was too! Here's how it went:

Monday: Well today started off like the normal P-day (cleaning, study, shopping) but then we went to email at the Atsubetsu ward cause D Choro needed to practice the piano for the music night. After emailing we ran back home so we could meet up with this lady we know to help her find an English textbook cause she wants to learn how to speak English pretty fluently. Then we relaxed for a bit, and then took a train to a station near the Stake President's house cause they invited us over for dinner again and it was amazing again!

Tuesday: Today we had a really really good DTM, and had soup curry for lunch which is way good. Then we did dendo, then for Eikaiwa, one of the students brought their little son who enjoys being lifted up high, and fake fighting so I ended up doing that a lot. It was pretty fun to fake die though... ;) I also found that I had two packages at the post office!

Wednesday: Today was really fun. I went on splits with B Choro again, and we had a blast. I also got both of my packages today! One was from Mom and the family and the other was from the ward! It turns out that both were Christmas packages, but since there's the customs declarations I basically knew what I was getting anyway, plus we've got transfers this week and I want to know how I'm going to pack it all, so I opened them. For all of you who sent something in the ward package, thank you so so much! It really was so cool to see how many ward friends I've got supporting me back home! Family, thank you so much or all of the thoughtful great gifts! Grandma, especially thank you for the socks! I was wishing I had some wool socks and almost went to buy some, so I'm glad I opened them, and that you were so thoughtful of how cold it is! Mom the CD is awesome, and the peanut brittle was heavenly! Everyone enjoyed both a lot! :) I haven't opened my stocking yet, but all of the stuff that I did open I am super grateful for, so thank you all so much!

Thursday: Today was kinda a crazy day, but we were very blessed! This morning we saw a house get torn down across the street from us. Then we had an appointment and on the way a car almost hit us when we were just walking on the sidewalk, and it stopped like a foot away from us so that was a miracle! Also on the way back from the appointment we almost got hit again, so we were very blessed to make it back to the apartment without any injuries! Thanks for your prayers!

Friday: Today was pretty average, but while finding today, we played a game where you say a Japanese word, and the last character of the word has to be the first of the next one. Also no repeating words, and no ending in an "n" cause no words start with just an N. So I got a bunch of vocab to learn from it.

Saturday: Today we tried some new ways to dendo. One was survey dendo. We basically made a survey to hand out that would gage people's interest in religion. So we went to the Eki next to our apartment and after handing out about 10 a guy told us that we couldn't do it there. So one of the managers came and explained that it was against the law to hand out religious surveys in an eki, and in order to do it anywhere else, you had to get permission from the city hall. So we accidentally broke a law while dendoing today... Whoops! We also tried giving tours of the church but it wasn't very effective either. But we had dinner with this family in the ward which was really fun.

Sunday: So the member we had dinner with last night tries to write letters to the missionaries' parents when she gets to know them, so she asked for Mom and Dad's information. Usually she tries to translate it into English but it's really hard for her. So to try to make it easier on her I told her that Mom and Dad went to Japan on their missions so they might understand a LITTLE bit. But she took that as only write in Hiragana and Katakana. I then tried to explain that they had forgotten most of it, but she didn't quite seem to understand... So sorry mom and dad, but you may have some homework to do soon! ;) Then we had Ward Choir, which went well, and then lunch and getting ready to walk to Atsubetsu for the Messiah Rehearsal. I have the address by the way for the videos. It is on www.usream.tv/channel/sapporo-messiah/ Also there is a facebook page Sapporo Messiah but ya, fun week!

I hope everyone's doing well, and I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Bickel

December 2, 2013

Hey everybody!

Sorry my email will be a little shorter today cause I don't have a ton of time! So here's how the week went!

Monday: Today we had a fun P-day, and there was another earthquake! Small again though so I barely even felt it... Anyway, we did our regular P-day stuff and then took a subway to Sapporo and took a bus from there to Asahikawa for our Zone Training Meeting! We were in an apartment with 14 total Elders so we definitely had a good time! We were travelling today for about 3 hours though so it was kinda long, but it was still pretty fun!

Tuesday: Well today we had Zone Training Meeting and it was super good! At the end of the meetings people usually go somewhere to eat together, but we had Eikaiwa that night so we weren't able to go with everyone. So we stopped by McDonalds and then took the train back to Ebetsu so another 3 hours. We made it just in time to prep and teach, and it went pretty well! Fun day though, I enjoyed it a lot!

Wednesday: Well today was pretty normal up until Dinner. I remembered how Dad had 60 something gyosa one night so we got these 2 dollar trays of 30 gyosa each and I ended up having 36 gyosa and still having room for 3 melon cream soda floats, 3/4 of a cup of rice, and a big glass of water! It was kinda a party! I also decided that I want to break Dad's record without throwing up so just wait to hear news on that one! ;)

Thursday: So B Choro got an airsoft gun from his Bean Shower, and Japanese airsoft guns look pretty real. So naturally, we made some first person shooter movies with our cameras and the gun and it turned out super funny! Sadly the guns are illegal in America cause they don't have the orange tips. In Japan guns are illegal no matter who you are so they don't have to worry about that stuff too often. The rest of the day was pretty normal but it was super good for sure!

Friday: Today was one of those long boring days where we just house and there isn't much that goes on... But those days come, and we just go through it. Cause when it comes to long days and trials, "All things will end". So it's not too bad.

Saturday: Well today started out a little sad. We were both feeling kinda down about how there weren't a whole lot of visible signs of our work or progress, but during comp study, we both just started reading different scriptures, patriarchal blessings, and stuff like that and we almost immediately felt a ton better! The rest of the day was walking to appointments and places to go dendo, and it was a little crazy because of the ice, but I got some Ice Spikes for my shoes that I can put on pretty easily, so it wasn't too bad! But despite the cold, the sad start, and everything else, it turned out to be a really good day! :)

Sunday: Well today was a good Fast Sunday! We had some good housing and found some really cool people. We had a really good, warm dinner, and it made me very happy cause we have rice! We were low on rice for a while, but the ward is awesome and they gave us a bunch! Oh I also was made a part of the Ward Choir today so we'll see how the performance goes... Oh and we didn't have Messiah rehearsal today cause of Fast Sunday. I did get some information on that though so you may be able to watch the video of the performance. It isn't until the 28th though so you've got a while... 

So that was my week! I hope everyone else is doing well as well and I love you all!

Bickel Choro

November 25, 2013

Hey everybody! I hope your week went well!

It turns out that they have to amputate my legs... Just kidding they are doing a ton better so thank you for all of the prayers! They helped a lot!

Anyway, here's my week:

Monday: So today was a pretty normal P-day except we had a district Activity. For that we went to this nearby sports center and played Badminton as well as Volleyball against these high school Japanese boys and it was actually a lot of fun, and everyone wanted to do it again so we'll see if that happens. That night the other elders couldn't wait to give me their birthday presents to me so I got a few presents a few days early.

Tuesday: Well today was pretty fun! After DTM the sisters sang a song for me kinda like what D Choro and I did for F Shimai. Interestingly enough they sang Poker Face and it was super weird, but pretty funny. Then they gave me presents as well, so I had 3 days of presents! For DTM lunch I chose to go to Fireburg which was super good! Then I went on Splits with K Choro for a bit which was fun, and then we had Eikaiwa where people kept on telling me I didn't look or seem like I was 18.

Wednesday: Well my Birthday came a day early this year. Literally though cause of the time change... ;) So today we made cookies for some investigators and ward members that we wanted to thank so we did that and delivered them which was fun. I also got the package my family sent me which was super nice to get the day of my birthday and it was super good so thanks! For dinner we took our Dendo Shunin (Ward Mission Leader) to sushi so that was really fun and tasted delicious! In all it was a great Birthday!

Thursday: Today was pretty normal except we met with an investigator at a nearby restaurant and taught a short little lesson. Also the Zone Leaders came for splits tomorrow so we talked to them for a while and it was fun!

Friday: So today I was on splits with H Choro, and we had a blast! We had a few good deep chats, which I've missed, as well as some funny contacts! We also talked to this guy at Aeon who told us that river frog was really delicious, when we were shizen dendo-ing near the fish section. We almost bought it just so we could say that we'd had river frog on our missions, plus it was super cheap, but decided that we didn't really have the desire to eat it anyway, so we decided against that... ;)

Saturday: Well today we had two really good appointments that went really well! We just did the usual dendo other than that though, and missed Ping-Pong cause of the appointments, but that was alright. But ya we had a regular but good day today. (Isn't it nice that my "regular days" are good days? :) )

Sunday: Today was very good. We had some good meetings at church and it was the Primary Program so that was cute. I aslo found out that our Bishop's wife went to the 26th ward for like a month and visits every once in a while cause one of her mission companions lives on Apple Blossom Lane, so it was cool to hear that and to think of how small the world really is... We also had the lunch meeting thing after church with all of the members so that was really fun! Then we had the Messiah rehearsal again which is still hard, but it was good! Then we walked back, had spaghetti with Fried Chicken and then it was time to go to bed!

Really fun stuff this week, and I enjoyed things a lot! Thanks again for your prayers! I really did feel them! I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Bickel

November 18, 2013

Hey everybody! This week's been very good! And I hope that your's has been too! Here's what went down.

Monday: So today we had an appointment with our strongest investigator during the day so we left our P-day activities and walked the hour to her house, met up with our member Team-up on the way, and then taught the lesson. Afterwards it was snowing pretty hard, so when we went to email we took a train! Then we continued with our regular P-day activities but it felt really weird cause usually we do our dendo that night!

Tuesday: Today was DTM but also F Shimai's birthday, so D Choro and I sang her a song and danced. We sang her our version of "Drive By" by Train and did some actions that we made up and it turned out super funny/fun. It was a little off key, and a little strange but it worked out pretty well! Afterwards we all had a snowball fight in the church parking lot because there was a little snow and so that was a bunch of fun as well!

Wednesday: Today I had splits with B Choro and we had a really good time. We mostly did housing, but one funny thing that happened was when our trainers left to dendo they took both apartment keys and both phones, which have maps on them so that's how we get around, so we were a little lost on what to do, but I decided that we'd stop by one spot to see if they were there. Turns out I was right and they totally were there, so we grabbed what we needed and did what we planned to do the rest of the time. :)

Thursday: Today was pretty usual. Did Housing, DKK, and Study, but not much else happened that is interesting enough to report on. ;)

Friday: WE HAD AN EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!! It was a pretty small one and the only reason why we noticed it is cause we were in the middle of Language Study and our desks moved a bit, but I can now say that I've survived an earthquake which I think is pretty cool... ;) But it was a pretty good day, we had a great appointment that went well, and we did a bunch more finding, and then the Zone Leaders H Choro and K Choro came for splits with the other two elders tomorrow.

Saturday: Today we had Ping-Pong again, housed a bunch, and did the usual stuff. The snow was gone today and yesterday though so I figured it was warm enough to just wear a thin light jacket for dendo... Well I was fine for the most part, but once it got dark... Well I'll just say I was a little chilly... ;) haha but it was a good day!

Sunday: So today we had church, but afterwards we were asked to go to this Single Adults activity for a while so that was kinda fun, but seemed weird since we're on missions... ;) We also had a Mogi with one of the members and it went really well. After lunch and everything, basically all of our time was spent getting to Atsubetsu for my first Messiah practice. The music for it is super cool, and I really enjoyed it and think it'll be very cool, but it's super hard and high. And well... I have a low voice that doesn't go high very easily, plus I haven't sung forever, so it was a little bit on the difficult side... But it was super cool, and I think it'll be good. After that was over we quickly went back home to make sure we were back in time, and just finished out the day from there.

Last Little Note: So my knee has been hurting pretty badly lately, so I'd really appreciate a few extra prayers if possible. I'm still able to walk and go dendo, but it's definitely an inconvenience and isn't the most comfortable or painless thing... So I'd really appreciate it! Thanks so much!

But ya, I've had a fun week, and I hope everyone else did too! Love you all so much!

Bickel Choro

November 11, 2013

Hey everybody! I hope everything's going super well! Here's how my week went!

 

Monday: So D Choro's bike is still flat so we tried to just find a pump and see if that would work. Sadly, we couldn't find one that was worth getting so we decided to take a train to email instead of walking. After email we met with this lady we know and had lunch at this really cheap but good pizza and pasta place. After lunch we went to Village Vanguard which is like a mix between Hot Topic and Spencer's so it's got some really cool stuff, but it's all pretty expensive... Then we ran/walked back to quickly grocery shop and dendo but that was about it for the day.

 

Tuesday: So today was good! We had DTM again where we had a workshop on Companionship Unity and how to use it in our contacts. It was super funny and hard the first few times cause D Choro would have us switch off talking, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. But then he had us do it again, but just try to make it more smooth and normal, and it was really good! We taught basically all of lesson one within like 5 minutes and it was engaging and it was really cool so we are going to try to use that a lot more.

 

Wednesday: So today we had splits again and I went with K Choro again. We had another really fun time. At one point we found these two Gaijin's (foreigners) on the street so we stopped to talk to them for a bit, and we found out that one was from Portland Oregon, and the other was from Lithuania! What a pair right? :) but that was cool. Then we went housing, visited non-attending members, went to a few appointments and just had a fun time!

 

Thursday: Today was kinda a weird day... We had DKK like normal, but the rest of the day we were just in these really weird moods so it was a bit strange, but it was good. So nothing much else happened today so that's the day's summary.. ;)

 

Friday: Today was super cold, but we didn't know it when we got ready for the day, so we were a bit cold... It also rained/hailed/sleeted so that got us wet too so it was a bit of a crazy cold day, but we made sure that we did all we could to stay warm and healthy so don't worry! ;)

 

Saturday: Today was actually a pretty rough day... I was really feeling like I was an ineffective missionary and that we should have more people to teach and people who wanted to recieve baptism, and just basically that I should be a better missionary in general, so I was having a really rough time. I actually even went to bed feeling like that so it wasn't looking too good, but I had a really good dream that I don't actually remember, but I felt a lot better afterwards.

 

Sunday: Good news! Today was a ton better! So today it was raining really hard again, but we made it to the church ok! I stayed fully awake and aware through all of church so I was pretty proud of myself for that, and then we had some really good Taco Rice (basically taco stuff on top of rice) for lunch so that was great! Then we went housing for a while, during which we tried to figure out what we were going to do for F Shimai's birthday on Tuesday. After housing we went to a member's house for dinner which was some really good Tenpura and we just had a bunch of fun!

 

So ya that was my week! It had some ups and downs again, but if every day was super happy and fun, then I wouldn't enjoy them as much. Again, I hope things are well back home and that everyone's having some good times! Love you lots and I'm praying for you!

 

Elder Bickel

 

PS. Just a fun little fact, I decided what meal I want when I first get home. I want a Papa Murphy's Chicago Style Pizza cause Japanese Pizza is expensive, small, and not nearly as good as American! Enjoy Pizza while you can! ;)

November 4, 2013

Hey everybody! I hope everyone's week went super well! Here's how mine went:

Monday: Today was a really, really nice day. It wasn't raining, it was a little chilly, but it wasn't too bad! We did the usual stuff, but had extra free time, so we took naps! I haven't had a nap in so long so it was really nice to catch up on my sleep a little! Then we got ready so that we could go to dinner with a member again(2nd time)! The food was delicious again, and our district is really close now so it was really fun since it was Tsuchida Shimai's last time before she went home. I got complimented on my chopstick skills again which is actually a pretty frequent thing... Also I was told that I am Mickey Mouse? Oh and that I should come back to Japan and be a comedian and just say 'Kirin Desu' cause apparently it's hilarious when I use my low voice...

Tuesday: So today we got our Transfer calls... I'm staying in Ebetsu! I'm pretty happy about that, and I'm still with Elder D which will be fun! S Choro is transferring though so it'll be weird without him... Everyone else in our district is staying too though except for T Shimai since she's going home so it'll be really fun. Oh and K Choro is going to be training so that'll be cool. But ya that was the exciting stuff for the day...

Wednesday: Today was a good day. I studied two talks that D Choro let me borrow and learned a bunch in comp study. Sadly we had 3 appointments that fell through, but to make up for it, we treated ourselves to ice cream for dinner! Other than that though today was pretty average as well. I'm just glad that my average day is a good day... ;)

Thursday: Today we got to meet K Choro's new companion, Elder B. He's a pretty cool guy and I'm excited to get to know him. Today was pretty normal again, but while we were housing we made sure to have a fun time. :) Also it's kinda funny, but sometimes I feel like I'm living "The Best Two Years". There are definitely differences, but it's funny how close it is sometimes.

Friday: So today we went off of our apartment's map to a portion of our area that we didn't actually know what was out there. Funny enough, there really wasn't much out there other than factories so we came back onto our map and found this really nice area that we started to work on. So far we've only done a block, but we've gotten some good appointments so it's exciting! Also, just a little spiritual thought: Christ went through all of our trials, plus more. And if he did that, with an amazing attitude of love and forgiveness, we can go through our smaller portion of trials with attitudes that emulate Christ. It's a comforting thought...

Saturday: Today was very enjoyable. We had Ping-Pong again hoping that one of our investigators would show up, but he didn't, but we still were able to talk to the other Elders' investigator though so it was fun. After that we went and talked to this former investigator who is super nice, and we talked about a bunch of funny American things that the Japanese haven't even thought of cause they're so crazy. Like Paintballing, Potato Cannons, and stuff like that. And we asked if she would come to a few activities with us so we're hoping that'll work out.

Sunday: So today was a very good Fast Sunday, but there were a few hiccups. One of those was that D Choro's back tire happened to be flat again... So that's kinda a bummer cause it makes doing things on P-days and going places for appointments and dendo very hard. But the Spirit was strong today so that was nice. Plus we all have trials no matter what we're doing so this is just one of ours that we'll go through with good attitudes! ;)

But ya it was a pretty normal week, but we had some fun times. I hope all is well and continues to go well! Love you all!

Elder Bickel