Skip to main content

Merry Christmas! (Week 15)

By
Another great week in Japan! My first Christmas in Japan and it has been great. I will say, it is nothing like America though. In Japan, Christmas is purely commercial. No purpose, no caroling, no Savior. It is a very strange thing (and a sad thing as well) to experience, but it has provided lots of opportunity for Elder Dowdle and I to teach the true meaning of Christmas. One great experience we had was just yesterday on Christmas Day. We went caroling as a ward in the local Eki (train station). Lots of people were stopping to listen to us and even recording us with their phones! It was such a neat experience to be caroling in Japanese and still feel the meaning behind the songs and see all the passer-byes get to experience those songs about the Savior as well. What an amazing opportunity we have (not just missionaries) to share this wonderful message about the Savior.

In this past week, we have been really busy leading up to Christmas. Lots of members were in the Christmas spirit so we got fed a lot. The missionaries even had to split up a couple times so that we could make it to all the meals. We were definitely not complaining though. Several missionaries have been sick this past week though, including me and Elder Dowdle. We were feeling a lot better on Christmas morning and today though. A Christmas miracle! On Christmas Eve last week, we opened all our presents from the ward and from our  families. We got a lot of great stuff and thank you all so much for everything! That absolutely made our day and our week! All the clothes fit perfectly and all the notes and letters were amazing! Our apartment is absolutely loaded now!

On Christmas Eve (Japan time), we got to Skype our families back home for 45 minutes. It was so great to see everyone and I love you all so much! I was sad we didn't have more time to talk but these past few week has flown by and it just gets faster and faster. I am glad to hear everything is going good! It was nice to hear a southern accent for the first time in a while too. Believe it or not, a southern accent isn't very common in Japan lol. It was fun to talk a little bit about the culture in Japan as well. It is very opposite of the US where you can kinda just do whatever you want for your culture. There are lots of do's and don'ts in Japan. If anyone has any questions about the culture just let me know and I will do my best to answer!

Thank you all so much for all the Christmas gifts and letters and all the love! I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I love you all so much! Hope everyone has a great week! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

サドラー 長老

Merry Christmas!
A friend we are teaching
Sweet Chopsticks we got for Christmas
Our friend who is preparing for baptism
Fuji Yama (Mount Fuji) from a nearby Apartment Complex in Mutsuai

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Set Apart

By
On Saturday September 10th, 2016 Dylan was set apart as a full time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by our stake president, Peter M. Johnson.  There were a lot of family members there and it was an exciting and emotional day.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Temple P-Day (Week 32)

By
Note from Barry (catching up for last week): Dylan had a temple P-day this week and said he didn't have time to write an email, but he did send a quick note to His mother and I to let us know that he is doing fine and that he received the vitamins and supplements that we sent to help boost his immune system.  We also received a quick note from a retired American doctor who lives in Japan and serves as a medical consultant for the missionaries.  He said that Elder Sadler saw a doctor on Friday who specializes in Bell's palsy and that everything is progressing as normal.  He is taking an antiviral and some vitamin B. Thank you for your continued prayers. Here is a picture that another missionary's mother posted on Facebook this week:
Post a Comment
Read more

Sunshine, Palm trees, and Freedom🌞🌴 (Week 42)

By
Hey everyone! I have actually zero time to write this week because we are going to Costco and shopping on base today. Way excited! Yesterday, we had interviews with president Warnick so p-day got moved to Tuesday. We will still have another temple p-day in two weeks though so two Tuesday p-days this transfer. Fun fun. Anyway, don't have time to write much but we took lots of pictures this week so they can tell the story. I love you all!!!!!! Btw, Happy 4th of July. I'm so glad I get to serve on Yokosuka base this 4th of July with some of the people who work so hard and sacrifice so much for our country. We are beyond blessed to live in such a wonderful country with the various freedoms we enjoy. I would encourage everyone to give that some thought. Never take it for granted. Happy 'Murica Day!  Zone p-day last week (Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee)  Housing by the bay We climbed the highest mountain, to the highest house, to the highest chamber, and there was ...
Post a Comment
Read more