Letter from Dallin June 10, 2009 Arrived in the mail with CD of tons of pictures!
Family! I know that I probably won't have any time to email today, so I am writing the old-fashioned way. It is a lot slower.
Last week after normal emails, I got to say hi to Mom because she was on the computer. That was nice. What time was it in Utah? Nearly midnight, right? Mom, you should go to bed before then. But it was still way awesome.
On Friday we met some Americans who were members. That was cool to talk in English to members who don't live here. We saw a different American on Saturday. He is a 16-year old member who is spending summer break in Asahikawa with his non-member grandpa so that he can learn Japanese. He came to church on Sunday and I got to try and translate for him. I still don't understand a lot of things they say at church so my translation was pretty bad.
On Saturday we had a party at the church with some members and investigators. It was way fun and really good for the investigators to get comfortable being in the church. One of the members, a 16- year old girl, kept staring at me and i eventually overheard her tell one of the sister missionaries that she thought i was "super cute" and that I looked like a big teddy bear. That was sort of awkward, so I tried to avoid her for the rest of the party.
After the party we went on exchanges so I was with Elder Jankowski for the rest of the day. It was lots of fun because there was a matsuri ( festival) going on. There was a parade with a lot of marching bands. we went to Kaimono Koen to street contact and a lot of various bands were set up playing music. Each block had a different band, and it was lots of fun to hear music as we did missionary work. It made me really miss playing music and listening to music.
Anyways, working with Elder Jankowski really lifted my spirits ( which have been pretty low recently). He really encouraged me and inspired me to do the best I can in any situation I may be in.
So on Sunday I went to work with my new resolve and it helped me feel better and made the time seem to go by faster.
On Monday we had a normal day but we had a special mission at night. Sister White ( one of the sister missionaries in Asahikawa) is going home this week and we wanted to do something for her. so we printed off pictures of fun/cool/interesting things from the past 3 transfers in Asahikawa. we added quotes and funny lines/sayings to some of the pictures and arranged it all so it looked nice. We also wrote her a big thank-you note and signed it. so then we raided the sister's apartment building and decorated their door. It was lots of fun and a nice thing to do for Sister White ( especially since the sisters always do way nice things for the elders). When Sister White saw it she was very happy ( at least that's what her companion said).
Tuesday was a mission -wide cleaning day where we spent 5 hours cleaning the apartment. It wasn't fun, but it was a good thing to do. So last night (9th) we got transfer calls and i am leaving Asahikawa! I am going to miss this district and the ward that I have been serving in, but I am excited to meet new people and see new things.
I am going to Higashi ( literally translated "East"). It is the east side of Sapporo, so now I'm in the big city! In Higashi lives the president of Royce Chocolates, the biggest chocolate company in Japan ( I think). He is friends with the missionaries, and apparently he give them chocolate all the time. Also, his hous is way nice and he has tons of cool cars. Hopefully I will get to become friends with him and see his house.
My new companion is elder Naganuma--that's right, a Japanese! it will be challenging to speak Japanese all of the time, but I am excited. I don't know anything about him except that he has way good English and he attended BYU_Hawaii before his mission. Everyone says that he is a good missionary, so I am excited. He is near the end of his mission. I think he goes home in Nov./Dec. It will be a transfer of learning.
Anyways, right now Elder Jensen is getting a free bowling lesson ( he earned it /won it by going bowling so many times). That is why I won't have time to email but it seems like a good lesson and it is perfect timing for me to write this letter.
I don't know how long I will get to email next week in my new area, so don't be surprised if it is short next week. That's about all for the week. If you had any questions, I am sorry that I didn't answer any of them. I love you all. Have a great week. Elder Christensen
