Week 91- 100

 Aloha 皆さん、

Wassuppp my fault I have been pretty bad with emails (its been almost a month). I made sure to write one this time because if I didn't I definitely would get an earful from some people. Anyways a lot of stuff has happened and somehow my 100 days left mark passed without me even realizing it. It's crazy but there's not that much longer. (Now 90 days*)

My biggest enemy and a lesson I've had to learn my entire life is nostalgia, and anticipation. I swear all my life I've always thought “when I finally (blank) life is gonna be so sick” or “bro I wish I could go back to (blank), I miss those times.” In middle school I wanted to go to high school so bad, in high school I could wait to go to college. In college I just wanted to get a job or go back to high school. On my mission though, I've looked towards ending my mission, wanting to go back to college, past areas, high-school. I couldn't wait till I became DL, Trainer, ZL. Then I wanted to go back to being a junior companion. Nostalgia and anticipation has cooked me so bad bro😭 I've often forgotten to love in the moment. I guarantee one day I'll probably look back and wish I was still out here in Japan (heat or cold even though I hate both here fr). 

As I was reading in Psalms I came across a short scripture about this. Even though it was short after I read it i kinda just stopped reading and sat there thinking for about 30 minutes about this. 

Psalms 118:24

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Every day if we are too focused on the past or present then we will miss all that's around us. The Lord has a plan for us. A very specific plan. And if we don't appreciate and live in the moment, we may miss some of the joy and fun that can be found in today. 

This has been especially hard with the end coming closer and closer but something I've been trying to do a little more of each and every day. 

Highlights: 

-The months adventures + exchanges 

-ITS COLD

-Boss interview

-Zone conference 

-Had to translate for a general authority 

The month's adventures + exchanges:

We did so much this past month and I swear we were all over the place. One P-day we finally got to go up to Mt. Aso. It was so fire but so cold. Kumamoto is surrounded by a ton of mountains and Mt. Aso is the biggest one, it was super beautiful and the drive up to was super crazy. Had a ton of exchanges which were all super fun but I think the best one definitely was the AP exchange. They came to Kumamoto in the car and so for the exchange we got to use the car (probably the last time I'll use a car on my mission). Me and Kesler 長老 decided to do some inactive member visits in our area at this place called amakusa. Amakusa is basically this island off the coast of mainland Kumamoto. My favorite part about being able to use a car in Japan is driving on the highways through nature. It reminds me so much of Hawaii. It was super beautiful and before we went home we stopped by this beautiful shrine that was at the top of this mountain overlooking the island. It was super cool and we went right at sunset, luckily we were able to drive all the way up so we didn't have to hike and take too much time. But definitely was a peak life experience.

ITS COLLDDD:

I swear every time in Japan when its summer I can't wait for it to be winter and when its winter I can't wait for it to be summer. I swear fall is nonexistent in Japan but I digress. It's cold in Japan again, not really a highlight but when I first got into this area I was sweating my butt off, now its freezing. Time flies.

Boss Interview: 

Had President interviews online this time which was chill. But based off this last interview I don't know if I'll be dropped as a ZL or not. Going into the interview I thought it was pretty clear I was but Boss 会長 has this vagueness about him. We have transfer this next week so I guess we will see what happens for my last two transfers👀

Zone Conference:

We had a Christmas Zone Conference this time and so it was two Zones together. I really liked it because that meant I got to go all the way to Kagoshima, we got to use the bullet train and see a ton of other missionaries. A lot of whom I haven't met before or haven't seen in forever. It was a fun time. We did a nativity play and white elephant. This year I got an electric desk cleaner which is better than what I got last year (tooth brush and deodorant). Overall pretty fire. 

Had to translate for a general authority:

This past Sunday right when I woke up I got a message from the ward first counselor telling me I had to translate for a general authority coming to Sacrament meeting. It was a cool experience I guess but for the life of me I can't pull up scriptures or quotes fast enough. I'll never be a translator but it was super cool to meet Elder Wong. He was super nice and was at BYU Hawaii for a little bit so we got to talk about home a little. 

Kay Das all this time

Shoots!

愛してるぜ~

エリス長老

TheRisingSon