WAHOOOOO! I'm in Japan

Well, first off, Japan is baller biest rebel sin crazy awesome!

It`s so much fun. Nihonjin are so nice and super polite. At the Tokyo Airport, the lady printing my boarding pass called me "Sanderson-san Ian Derik-sama." I was like "What?!!!" Number 1: The title "san" at the end of a last name is very polite, but usually used for people older than yourself. Number 2: the title "sama" is super polite and very honorific. God in Nihongo is "Kamisama". Jesus Christ is sometimes called "Iesu Kirisuto-sama" or "Iesu-sama". I was blown away at how polite they were. Every time I ride past a cop on the street, he`ll stop the traffic as we cross and say thank you to us. And everyone says you`re good at Nihongo even if it blows super hard like mine. It`s funny too, because no one here takes a compliment like Americans do. In America, when you compliment someone, it`s polite to say thank you. In Nihon, you say "no no no no no" and then contradict their statement. They are very humble and loving compared to Americans.

So anyway, the flights were good. To Seattle was fun. Across the Pacific got a little long, but it was okay because I slept a lot. Then the flight from Tokyo to Nagoya was like nonexistent. I remember being in the Tokyo airport and watching all the vehicles move around on the tarmac. I felt like I was on Yavin 4 in the Rebel Base from Star Wars as we were loading up ships to go liberate a planet. When I boarded the plane in Tokyo, we had to wait to take off, but I was out like a light. I remember waking up for about 45 seconds to tell a flight attendant "Yes, I would like some apple juice." I then drank it, thought to myself "This apple juice is terrible," and then fell back asleep. When I woke up we were on the ground in Nagoya. Some people thought we were still in Tokyo. It was pretty funny.

When we got to Nagoya, we were picked up by Baird Kaicho (President Baird) and his wife and all the APs. We then did some proselyting on the trains back to the mission home. You`ll get a video of it sometime that the APs made for us. There is a scene where I am on one side of a man talking to him with Jones Choro on his other side. That`s the first time I thought, "Holy crap. I`m in Japan talking to a real Japanese man about the gospel in Japanese!" It was such a great experience. And I`ve had more too!!

My trainer is Duarte Choro. He`s from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a beast thug G. He is super loving and way funny. He loves doing the Lord`s work and he works me to death everyday. But it`s really good. He is a great example of relying on the Lord because he has been out here for a year and a half and has learned Japanese and English. He`s pretty much fluent in both.

We`ve been teaching investigators, visiting members, and contacting less actives. It is so much fun. Since I`ve been in Japan we have met two potential investigators. One is from England and his name is Raji. Another is an American named Katherine. They are both excited to have someone to speak English with. 

Well anyway my first area is Kasugai. It`s like a thirty minute bike ride from the Nagoya Mission home and is already really hot. But hey, I`m in Japan! My apartment is pretty big for a Japanese abode. It has a full five rooms, although small. My bike is being special ordered because (surprise surprise) they don`t have one big enough for me at the bike shop. Right now my comp is riding a loaner bike and I`m riding his.

 I`m taking lots of pictures, and I`ll send them home sometime soon. Thanks for the emails and such.

 Oh by the way, packages need to be sent via US Post Service so they can be forwarded to my address. They also need to be sent at least a month before the intended arrival date. If that makes sense.

Well I gotta end now, so love you all. Stay true to the faith.

Sanderson Choro

Mondays are P-day, so you`ll get my emails at about midnight on Sunday there.