Scribbled Message

This is something Zach wrote to me (his dad).  He said it took him 3-4 minutes to write it.  I don't know if that is because he is getting good at the language or if it is because it is nothing but nonsense.

やった！ジョエルのでんど紙についてきこえなっかた。スペイン語か。まばちりじゃない？ナサンの紙ははやいですよね？もちろん、おとうさんのはなしのりょくはゆうめだ。トムはぜたいそんあ、ああじかんがあるのきもちはふつでわないでしょ。たぶんそんおいゆうでかれはOTできました。はい、ジャスタンにまいるします。カイルのマイルからかれは元気そうですよねう？美味しそう！！！わたしも食べたいです！あらら、リサの状態は元気についてもっと学ぶとき出羽tしにまいるしてください！ええええ、それはちょっとやばいですよね。かんぜんいわんぱくです。
あいしてるよ！

息子さん

He's only half dead (3/20/17)

It finally came. I killed a companion. ;(  Elder Yamaoka is now officially Danny-chan again. (His middle name is Daniel). It was really sad to see him leave, especially since I learned so much from him.

What's even sadder is that his last day was moving our apartment.

Anyway, this has been a very full week. Starting from Tuesday's DTM (District Training Meeting), my study has been focused on looking up towards heaven and thinking about hope and good things to come. It has been kinda strange how everything in my study has connected to this point. I learned a lot about true hope and faith in God's timing and blessings. I especially learned a lot from BofM (Book of Mormon) Jacob chapter 3 and "It is better to look up" from General Conference, a talk given to us by our ZL's (Zone Leaders). It was also weird timing with Elder Yamaoka leaving and a new dendo chapter starting that I was focusing on looking to the future and trusting in blessings to come. We also met with a bunch of people this week, being fed a lot to boot.

On Tuesday we met with the husband of the Miyoshi couple. The wife was at work but he wanted to say good-bye to Elder Yamaoka. Then we went to a members manju store. We were there for a while talking about missionary stuff as she is a ward missionary. Then we had to do some stuff to prepare for moving on Thursday.

Wednesday was also chock full of things. We had an amazing lesson with a less-active member named Niiyama kyoudai. He fed us pizza and soba which was delicious (but was really greasy ;) ) and then watched the talk "Like a Broken Vessel". It was amazing how strong the spirit was there in our lesson. I feel like that was one of those really special lessons that you only have a few times on your mission but it was amazing to see how much it meant to him. We then visited an investigator named Iidzuka San but he wasn't home so we just talked with his grandmother instead, really nice lady. Then onto a lesson with an investigator who we finally met since I got to Iwamizawa. She is an English tutor named Watanabe-San. It was really good and she has really studied the BoM which is AWESOME! Then we took a train to meet another investigator that I met for the first time,,, Adachi-San. This family absolutely loves missionaries and they fed us a huge meal. It kinda felt like I was at a member's house.

And then, Thursday came. It took a while and moving fridges and desks was a pain. But we managed to get it all done, though the new apartment was a mess. As soon as we were done moving it was time to say goodbye to Elder Yamaoka. It was really sad to see him leave because of the effect he had on me. I have learned so much being his companion (as expected of one of the strictest missionaries and a prior AP [Assistant to the President]). I am already looking forward to seeing him some time in the future. Then It was just me and Elder Seki which felt a lot more normal. Oh, and we did Eikaiwa (English class).

Friday, Kind of a slow day as we spent the day doing Weekly planning and Kid's Eikaiwa (which is SO FUN and a lot easier than normal Eikaiwa.) We also went to sushi but it was full of people so we forewent the pleasure.

Saturday: We went to Bibai (a town just north of Iwamizawa) and met a LA (less active member) there which was really nice.  Her granddaughter is the cutest thing in the world! She is half Japanese half Philippine and is always dressed up as a Disney princess. She also really loves to explore and take things which is really cute. Though kinda of hard to deal with when teaching a lesson.  We also did housing and went to visit some other LA's in the area.

SUNDAY: Also a chock full day. First Church which is always kind of hard when everyone is talking about church stuff which uses really hard Japanese. But, it's always a blast talking with the members.

After Church we had a "pot-luck" to congratulate our only young woman on graduating middle school. I love these parties as it provides us a much greater chance to talk with the members. Then off to dendo and a NA member's house who used to be the branch president. We taught about faith and he fed us some delicious homemade ramen.

Anyway out of time.

Love you all

Elder Harvey

MY COMPANION IS DYING!! (3/13/17)

(Note - for those not familiar with the term, a missionary "dying" simply means his or her time is up and he or she is getting ready to go home.  Harvey Choro's companion is just fine!)

So this was the last full week of dendo (missionary work) for Elder Yamaoka. It has been a very busy week and also a week with a lot of miracles. We have had a lot of bye-bye lessons this week and all of them were amazing! We also had a lot of Eikawa (English class) this week. Well, we always have a lot of Eikawa which is always a blast for me. I also learned a lot of culture things about Japan! Usually being in a 3nin companionship is supposed to be kind of hard but we are having an absolute blast together. Having a lot more Japanese being spoken is a little hard but I have learned soooo much being in this companionship. Our relationship with the members is getting so strong! We had a "pot luck" after church for Elder Yamaoka's bye-bye party. We had an LA (less active member) and a Eikaiwa student there too. We were able to show the ward members a lot of love, and show them some fruits of our labor. Then today we went bowling for a district activity. I got the high score for the first game with a score of 169. Not bad for the 3rd time bowling in my life. :3 Look forward to next week's email too.  Our schedule is pretty much already full with appointments and dinners....and MOVING!!! Sadly Elder Yamaoka's last day will be moving our apartment.

Love you ALL,

Elder Harvey

When two or three gather in my name. (3/6/17)

*DRUM ROLL* TRANSFERS HAPPENED! I am now in my 5th transfer in Japan!!! Time flies so FAST! It feels like 2 months ago when I was in the MTC but reality says 7. :3   Anyway the area I am in.....is still Iwamizawa! BUT, the number of missionaries increased to 3! It's weird how Sister Harvey became a 3nin a week before me. My new companion IS..... A NIHONJIN!!! (native Japanese)  And also one of my first companions. ELDER SEKI!  Not sure if I mentioned this but Elder Seki, Larson and I were companions my first day in Japan. However, we will only be a 3nin for another week and a half before Elder Yamaoka goes home. Though, I am ecstatic to be with these 2. :) It's really weird though finally knowing how Nihonjin feel in an apartment with more than 1 gaijin (foreigner). OK, onto how this week went.

Tue: DTM (District Training Meeting).  Got our transfer calls, did some finding, and had a lesson with Masaki San. It went pretty well and we committed him to pray more often.

Wed: We did a bunch of finding, tried to meet with 2 investigators and left them both food. We made cookies for our investigators and our new companion and district members.

Thursday: We deep cleaned the Ebetsu apartment (Ebetsu is another area not too far away). We found hand warmers that expired back in 1999. We filled 3 garbage bags full of various trash. Then we picked up our new companion and our new DL (district leader). Our new DL is actually one of Elder Yamaoka's sons (missionary who he trained).  Then back to Iwamizawa and did some Eikaiwa (English class).

Fri: We met with the Oono kazoku for the first time. (They are investigators since before I got to Iwamizawa.)  We did a mogie (role playing) lesson with a less active member (our reason is that I am gaijin so I need practice :> ) which went pretty well. Then Kids Eikaiwa which is always a blast! Somehow it's easier than normal Eikaiwa. Then went off to the Katayama's for another Eikaiwa. We are improving how this goes each time we go.

Sat: We want to Bibai, met with an NA, found some new Investigators and had a good time. Then back to the apartment for DKK (Doryo (companion) Keikaku (plan(ning)) Kai (meeting)). And we made notes for the branch members

Sun:  THIS DAY WAS AMAZING! The notes were a hit and everyone felt that the whole day was one of the best day's they had at church because they started the day with such a high spiritual note. Made better relationships with the members too. :) Then off to another NA and did a mogie lesson and he decided to feed us pizza on the 15th :).  Met a referral, and walked a lot. Then we had a Nabe (refers to a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one pot dishes and "things in a pot") party with Masaki San and taught a really good lesson over dinner.

Mon: Today was Zone activity. LOTS of fun.

Anyway out of time... :(

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Harvey Choro.

Captain's Log, Star Date....

Hey everyone!!! This has been a super busy week. We met with quite a few of our investigators, said bye to the Inaba's (missionary couple) officially, did a lot of Eikaiwa (English classes), and a lot more! I also had splits with my DL (district leader), it was super fun and we found some awesome new investigators. I also met with a bunch of NA's (not sure what this means) this week and they were all SUPER hard to understand.

Over all this week has been really good and I have learned a lot this week. Sorry, not a whole lot of time this week but know that I love all of you and look forward to your letters!

Love Elder Harvey

Farewells ;( (2/20/17)

So this week we heard that the Inaba's (the senior missionary couple here in Iwamizawa) will be going home this Wednesday to help their family. So a lot has happened this week very quickly.

Tue: We had a lesson with a member's friend at the church and a lesson with someone we found in our phone. He requested a Book of Mormon from us so we went to his house and met his family and explained the divine purpose of the book.

Wednesday: We had to go to Asahikawa for interviews with our mission president. It was a great interview from which I learned a lot. It was also really fun to be together with everyone from the whole zone.

Thursday: We had our zone conference which was great. I learned a lot about the atonement and life after death. We also met with an investigator this night and had PIZZA HUT! He gochi-ed us (had a dinner appointment/fed us) and we met his girlfriend for the first time. We had a really good lesson on prayer with them. (P.S. A large pizza here is about medium size or smaller, and is 30 bucks. This day everything was half off but he still bought 3 pizza's! Awesome guy)

Fri/sat: I got sick from zone conference so I was out all day both days. Only dendoed a little on Saturday

Sun: This was a very sad day. This was the last Sunday together with the Inaba couple. They both talked in sacrament meeting and everyone was in tears from Inaba shimai's talk. We also held a really big party for them at the end of church. Of course really sad. Elder Inaba played the weird Japanese flute for everyone, we took a bunch of pictures and somehow I was sucked into the Inaba's pictures so it was just a picture of us 3. We also had a lesson after church with the guy from Thursday. He wanted to come to church but he had work. :(

aaaand I'm out of time

Love you All

Elder Harvey

(Elder Harvey at his zone conference - top center)

Emergency Transfer!?! (2/13/17)

This has been a very interesting week. A lot has happened in the past few days so I will do my best to give as much information as I can.

Tue: We had DTM (District Training Meeting) in Ebetsu (in between Iwamizawa and Sapporo). It was my first time going there and it was a blast. We then returned and dendoed. This night we were calling people and making appointments for the week and such, when suddenly right after we end a phone call the APs (Assistants to the President - two missionaries that help the mission president run the mission) call us. We were slightly confused. It turns out the phone call was to inform us that Elder Morse was going to be emergency transferred down to Kushiro. I was going to receive a new companion Elder Yamaoka. We were told that they would find a bus for Elder Morse and he should start packing. We then, in our shock and disbelief, made some phone calls and then started packing. By the time we finished it was 12:30 :S

Wed: We woke up earlier, went to the church for some business and also made more phone calls. We were at the train station by 10:00. I saw Elder Morse off and then had to go on splits with the Inaba's (a senior missionary couple in the area). We ended splitting with just me and Elder Inaba going to the Library and then back to their apartment. Sister Inaba made us an amazing lunch and I continued to make phone calls. We picked up Elder Yamaoka and then had kid's Eikawa (English class). We also attended the Branch presidency meeting.

Elder Yamaoka is a Nihonjin (native Japanese). Right now he is at transfer 16 and has 5 weeks left in his mission. He was the AP when I first arrived in Japan. His family is 3 people - him and his parents. We have a lot of the same hobbies. He was enrolled in the 5th best college in Japan. He likes tennis. He is also really good at English.

Thursday: We did our weekly planning, got to know each other, and had Eikawa. We had a new person come who found our Eikaiwa through looking online and finding the site. We then had a lesson with Masaki San after Eikaiwa.

Friday: We finished our planning and making phone calls and then went to Ebetsu again for splits. I was with Elder Uerano who is a transfer 2 missionary. He's Canadian. We stopped some really interesting people who might have been a little out of it....

Saturday: We still had splits this day and I got to know Elder Uerano pretty well. He's a really fun guy and we had a blast dendoing together. Then around 5 o'clock we headed back to Iwamizawa. We had another lesson with Masaki San. I also destroyed them in billiards.

Sun: A lot of people were surprised that Elder Morse suddenly left. They all got to know him super well as he was here for 3 and 1/2 transfers. Everyone loved Elder Yamaoka through. Also an old investigator of about 16 years ago suddenly decided this day that he wanted to come to church and showed up half way through sacrament meeting. He stayed all 3 hours and gave us his phone number. We then went on our way to a less active member because it was his birthday.  We were able to get a return appointment doing "Mogi (role playing) lessons".  Hopefully we will be able to reactivate him! Then we did more phone dendo and found some more people. I also found a referral for Ebetsu sisters. :3

Mon: I got a haircut. Japanese barber shops are legit. They not only cut your hair but also shave you, trim your nose, trim your ears, wash your hair, and style it for you. It was also pretty cheap for how well of a job and all the things they do.

All right out of time

Love you all,

Elder Harvey

They say that it snows more in Iwamizawa than anywhere in Hokkaido (an average of 25 feet of snow per year, which is about 6 more feet of snow than Sapporo gets and 3 times more than the Buffalo/Rochester, NY area, the snowiest places in the US).  Sapporo is the snowiest city on earth, but Iwamizawa is not a "city."

The church in Iwamizawa