Week 4

Konnichiwa Family!

How has the week been now that school has started? Is Ryan loving junior high? I wrote him a letter yesterday, I think, so he should get it sometime next week. This week was pretty great. Being called as the District Leader has been such a huge blessing! I finally get to pick up my own mail (along with everyone else's)! I was talking with Elder Peay just a minute ago and he asked if I was DLing it (District Leadering it) I told him I was and apparently him, Elder Tribe, Elder Brady Cowley, Elder Jacobson, and I believe Elder Barton, have all served as DLers in the MTC. We blame it all on our mission prep class and President Brower! He's the man! On Tuesday night we had the privilege to hear Elder Neil L. Anderson speak to us at the devotional. I couldn't help but remember how Ryan had just barely heard him speak at jamboree and I remembered the story he told about him having enough faith that he could command the rain to stop. He shared a great message on missionary work, as the speakers do every week, and had a man there with him that was one of his missionaries while he was serving as mission president in France. They had some great stories and it was incredibly inspiring. Apparently it's really rare to have two apostles in three weeks come speak to us but it was still amazing and I hope they continue to come! So last Saturday was our first TRC experience. We taught a man from Japan that taught at BYU and has a son on a mission in Fukuoka right now. As we were getting to know him, telling him about our families and hobbies and such, he asked us how many times we had done TRC. We told him that he was our first one and apologized for our lack of ability to speak Japanese. He was taken back! He couldn't believe that was our first TRC lesson and told us we were ready to go to Kobe! Soooo cool. He was incredibly nice and I shared one of my favorite scriptures, 1 Nephi 3:7. I said that I loved Nephi because he was Chikara (powerful) but also meek. He didn't know what meek meant and we explained that it was another way of saying humble. He was so excited that we ACTUALLY taught him something. Oh, he's a member by the way. It was still such a great experience and I kept the teaching review card that he gave us after we were done.  I wish I could remember his name! So our teachers that we had pretty much since the first day, Fowers Sensei and Nitta Sensei, had to leave our class because BYU started on Wednesday. It was way sad! They were awesome teachers and taught us so much. Fowers Sensei was like an older brother to us and Nitta Sensei was a little half-japanese guy that loved everyone. Our new teacher, Clark Kyodai, was Fowers Sensei's trainer in the mission field, they both served in Tokyo, and an AMAZING teacher! Our other new teacher is Hollister Sensei but we haven't met him yet because he's on his honeymoon. Next week we'll start teaching our new "investigators" so wish Donaldson Choro and I good luck! Last night we had a substitute teacher named Kosaka Sensei. He's from Osaka, Japan and served his mission in New York. Kosaka from Osaka, cool right? He didn't seem to think it was very funny... but I sure did! He told us a lot of good things for Japan, like not to skimp on a bike when we get to our mission. He said the Wal-Mart bikes will just fall apart so we should invest in a solid one. Like I ever invest in cheap things anyway ;) I hope everything is going great at home. I'm doing great. I can't believe its almost been 4 weeks. ahhh so crazy. Apparently the new iphone comes out in two weeks? Let me know how it is! I also heard Jason Dufner won the PGA. Good for him. How are my Yankees doing. How's Woods Cross doing? Let me know this week! Keep the Dear Elders coming! I love them so much!!! I love you Family!!!

Elder Giles

I filled our door with pictures and quotes. You could say I'm pretty creative...