SICK New Year!

Happy New Year! 

2015 here we come! Here's to a full year in Japan! I can't wait! I hope all of your New Years festivities were the greatest and you brought the new year in with a bang! I was deff in bed by 10:30 so you could say brought new year in with a bang... Or a loud snore! Thanks for a wonderful 2014 everyone who was a part of it it's been real! 

So in Japan for New Years is kind of a big deal! They actually celebrate it here for like 4 days! Everyone goes back to their home town and also everyone is drinking and having a good time which is great... But not for missionary work... We spent New Years Eve deep cleaning the apartment then we went out to go eat sushi! It's kind of weird some people go super hard for New Years and others act like it's not anything special... I kind of went all out and ate a ton of sushi ahh well gotta bring in the new year right! On New Year's Day we were given the opportunity to read from the Book of Mormon the whole day! I read a lot in Alma and it really helped me remember my purpose and what I am doing as a missionary. 

For lunch we were invited over to the Takara families house! We had okonomiyaki which is like a dinner pancake... Kinda it's way good! It was fun talking to them and having a good time. Kimura shimai was talking to me about wanting to help her friend out and have her hear what they believe but she felt like she wasn't worthy or qualified because of some things that happened and her situation. I had a really good conversation with her about how because of her situation she is even more qualified to help her friend out! The spirit was so strong and I felt it telling me exactly what I needed to say to help her. I really felt the lord working through me to help her out it was so cool! 

For dinner we went over to the Ito family's house! All I can say is it was fuuuuuun! Ito Kyodai is one of my favorite people here in Sakado! He is so funny and so just warm hearted! We ate temaki sushi where you make it yourself and make a little sushi ice cream cone, lamb, and some more fun stuff! I love Japan because there are always really cool things that you eat for New Years! Like there is this thing called... Yorokonbu... I think but you eat it because it sounds like yorokobi which means like joy, excited, happy! So to bring in the new year of happiness, joy and excitement you eat it! So fun! After we had a little jam sesh with his guitar and my Uke it was so fun! I love the itos!

Friday to continue a week of not being able to do much missionary work we had a mission conference! This was the first time I have been able to see the sisters from the MTC! It's way weird we have all never hugged each other ever but we all wanted to way bad when we saw each other! All I can say is the handshakes were reeeeeeeal! Other missionaries are cool and all but there is something about going through the MTC together that just brings you closer together. I know me and my MTC district will always be way tight! It was really fun all gathering together and seeing what the whole mission is like (well minus a few areas they are too far to come) we had some trainings and reviewed our year... Which was weird cuz I haven't been here for much of it... We were able to watch "Meet the Mormons" which is a movie about... Well Mormons... Haha it's was really fun and we got to see a real movie!!!!! I had forgotten what that was like... Haha! I loved how one person said I am not perfect... But I am perfect in trying! I love this so much as long as we are trying our best that's all that matters! I liked this movie a lot! It has some really cool stories in it and it taught me a lot! It is so cool that no matter what it is there are people from all walks of life that can connect on certain things and hearing about different places my friends are serving it really helps me realize that although we are all very different we are all people and we can all connect one way or another. The movie was really good also it was a movie! What!? Conference was way fun though I learned a lot and it was too fun to see everyone again!

Well.. The rest of my week has been spent laying in bed and praying.... I got really sick the day after the conference and have been in bed since then. I've been thinking a lot about my savior during this time. I think of how if I took how much I am suffering and how much pain I'm in now and added just a little bit it would be too much for me to bear. I thought of all my sins, struggles, sickness, pain, guilt, bad feelings, choices, and mistakes in my life and how if I felt all of those there would be indescribable amount of pain that I couldn't bear it. I thought of how he has done this for me. For me alone, all that pain is too much to even fathom... Yet he did it for the whole world all at once. I am so thankful for my savior and all he has done for me and for all my family and friends. I thought also of how lucky i am to have a working heathy body most of the time. Whenever I am sick it's always a reality check for me and helps me remember that just being able to stand is a blessing. I think I forget this a lot of the time. I hope I can get better within the next couple of days because I have missed doing missionary work. In the MTC when one of us was sick it was like vacation but now I really have come to love missionary work and can't wait to get back out there and help people! 

Challenge of the weeeeek!

New Years happened! Of course resolutions are on everyone's minds but I'd like to challenge you to review your year. Take a look at what you did and what kind of person you were. Think of the fun times and the sad times. The things you remember are the things that had the biggest impact on you... Most of the time anyways. So what are you going to remember this year? This time next year what will you remember? What are you going to do so you will be able to remember what you want to... If that makes sense. So I guess my challenge is to review and to make a change so that you will have the best year full of amazing memories! 

Tweeeets! 

Let me describe to you my sickness

I feel like an alien is trying to escape my body, like the hulk is squeezing my head trying to make it into orange juice, like I got hit by a semi truck... full of Mexican wrestlers who after they hit me got out and used me for their training, like I am super Mario that just ate a magical flower finding out that I can spit out fire, like someone thought my throat was a dirty grill and needed to clean it with a wire brush... Oh and my nose! Like old faithful... Builds up for 45 minutes then BOOM! But I'm ok :)  mom sent me the exact medicine I needed two weeks ago! #momsjustknow #thiswouldhavebeenlike10tweetsandanunfollowontwitter #emailperkes #prayforkengo 

Someone bring me a Keva Juice please... #tribalprincessplease 

I often teach my comp common words in English and he is always like oh like this? And he says a way more complicated version of that word! 

Do you think they will let us watch meet the parents instead of meet the Mormons? -Elder Tuttle

Missionaries are the weirdest people... But it's totally ok because we are all missionaries and we are all weird and awkward together! 

Thank you for all the letters and packages recently! I love you all! 

I wonder how many people actually take the time to read my blog... 

Well love you all lots hope you all have a great new year and have fun going back to school and work and such! Know you are always in my prayers and I love you! 

Love, rice, and Yorokonbu! (I don't even know if that's the right name...)

Love 

Elder Byoki ;)