So, I heard about mom chopping down a tree from Mom herself in her letters XD Mom,  I really hope you are being careful though, that was hard stuff to do, even for me! hahaha

As for my last letter, Yeah I laughed pretty hard while I was writing it too XD

Our Sundays are different here when it comes to the regular lesson plan. the Gospel Principles teacher speaks spanish, and we aren't really ever in that class, because we're busy translating in other areas of the church XD I wish I could hear the lesson though.  Dad, I understand you taught the church lesson this week -- I hope you took notes :D

So, Chelsea, you dyed your hair back to your natural color? You're probably preparing to dye it another color, we'll see though ^_^

Mary, you've been pretty busy with School, and trying to keep up your four point Oh, so I know you don't  have much relaxation time.

Dad, regarding how we get money here, we get 3 "Man" every month (30,000 yen or around $300) and that doesn't exactly last very long, the frist day we get the money, we usually have to pay around 10000 for all the things we need for the month, and then each week we have to buy food and stuff, which can range from 1,500 a week to 2,500, (more if we have a lunch appointment scheduled >_>) plus getting around is expensive (going to one of our investigators costs nearly 1500 round trip) But at least travel gets reimbursed.

So, Aidan is starting to talk in full sentences!!???  Awwww man I wanna see him talking!!! I got the pictures of him at the Pumpkin Patch, he's getting so big!!! (Is there a way I could have you send me pictures on here from now on, so that I can put them on my flash drive and go get them printed out at a convenience store)? Apparently, I CAN get photos through email. Just make sure they are not too large.

Dad, I hope you feel better soon! That's no bueno, Hontou ni yokunai!

Guess what? They actually celebrate Thanksgiving day here, it's called Kinrou Kansha no Hi, and it means Labour Thanks day. So we have a mini party scheduled on the 23rd, with Ping Pong, Music, food, and games :D Also for Christmas, it looks like I am going to be Santa XD They handed me a Santa Suit XD this'll be fun hahaha. our Christmas party will be on the 17th of December though XD.

The Weather at the moment here is: slightly chilly, but not freezing, and very sunny, with occasional days of rain.

As for me, I am thriving out here!!!

So dad, you're still studying for your test in December!  I miss reading now that you mention it XD That's one of the things I wish I had right now, Books. Not that I don't have reading material, but Books that don't have to do with Wars, Plagues, etc..., would be a welcome refreshment XD

As for an LDS temple, they don't have a temple close enough for us to be able to attend, the nearest one is in Tokyo, which is an entirely different mission almost 300 miles away. (there are currently 2 Temples in Japan)

Thanks for letting me know they put my plaque on the church wall! Sweet! Can you take a picture of the plaque to show me please?

Ok, so as for this week -- This week was AWESOME, Just Yesterday we had an amazing experience with Jeana and Cezar, two of our investigators, So, we went to their house after church, and got there at 7PM, and since I can'd understand what they say, I kept their daughter preoccupied by playing with legos with her while Duarte Chourou taught them, and he committed them to Baptism on the 18th of December!  It was Awesome! So now we'll be going to their house to teach them more often, because there are things that they need to work on before they can get baptized, and the deadline is pretty close! So that was way awesome and exciting :D I got a letter from Momma, and it had pictures of Steven Brookie and Aidan, and some writing done by them as well as Brittany, which was way Sweet! Thank you! come to think of it, that's really all that happened this week XD

Johnson Chourou got a new companion named Ward Chourou, he's kinda geeky, which is perfect, because he fits in quite well XD soooo.... yeah XD Happy Healthy, having fun, staying safe, and wanting to figure out how to send videos to you guys XD I have a video of Duarte Chourou on the train that I wanna send, but I will figure that out next time.

Mom! I actually can't save that money by mailing rather than emailing, because emailing is the only way to reach President Baird XD, so I have to come here anyways XD thank you for consistently writing to me! I love getting letters from you watashi no subarashii Haha! 

anyway! I gotta run for now, I love you all!!!!! Muah Muah muah!!!! 

ヒル長老

(regarding Brittany's birthday): HappppppY Bday BrittleBirddd!!! :D :D
(regarding Linda making home made ice cream from scratch, using brown
rice, coconut milk, stevia, tic tacs, and unsweetened chocolate!
Healthy mint chocolate ice cream!) Good job on homemade Ice cream

Momma :D When I come home, I will show you how to make this Icecream
cake that is from Brazilllllll :D

(regarding Brittany's weight loss): WHeW!! Great job on the weight

loss Brittany! That's Crazy intense! What are you doing that's making
you lose all the weight??

(regarding our surprise at his being able to wear a costume for
Halloween): Really? Why were you surprised at being allowed to dress

up for Halloween? If we didn't show up in Costumes, No one would. That
was part of how we got people to come, we were like, hey! Come to the
Halloween Party! We Made our own Costumes, you should come! It'll Be
fun! Hahahah.

Anyways, It feels like I have always been on a Mission XD I can't
remember doing anything else now XD hahaha, Four months down... Who
knows how many more to go lol.

(regarding how comfortable his bed looks): Hahahah Yeah the Beds here

are interesting, they're comfortable... If you have a ton of the
Futons XD my bed has like six futons and a normal mattress under it XD
BUT The Blanket is super Comfy, it's a Huge Dawny pillow basically XD
it'S REALLY warm XD which stinks cuz it'S pretty hot out here still.
We haven't really gotten into winter just yet, we've been getting
plenty of rain, and lots of Sun, but no snow yet, Trust me, I will be
making a huge deal about it if I get snow here XD we don't do Daylight
savings here in Japan XD LAME!!!

(regarding what the most useful items he took with him have turned out
to be): Hmmmmmm most useful Items.... Paper... Shoes.... Pjs... Oh and

the first Aid kit has been coming in handy a lot recently, for spider
bites and such XD
The bugs here are ridiculous, like, When I went on a Koukan (Splits)
with Johnson Chourou (THe one from my District at the MTC And who is
still in my District out here) We were leaving the apartment, and two
doors down, I looked to my right, because I thought I saw something
run up the wall, there was a HUGE Spider, like, this thing was as big
as a Tarantula, and it looked angry XD so he and I were stuck next to
this thing cowering in fear for a good three minutes (we took a
picture)

Anyway, This week was intense, lots and lots of work, (more like lots
of really long train rides) and we were able to visit a family that we
are teaching, and they have accepted Baptism, now we need to set a
date, and they need to come to church at least three times in order to
be baptized, so I am super happy for them, Their names are Jeana
Cezar, and her Daughter Jennifer, and they are way nice, they speak a
mix of Spanish and Portuguese XD

 Plus we did two Koukans (missionary splits), With the same people

this week (So I went on a Koukan with One of the companions, then went
with the other the next day) which was wayyy expensive, the train to
their area is like $10 one way, so we spent $40 in two days >_> the
only good thing about that is that the Money gets refunded, so we're
good XD

One thing I have noticed is that it is ridiculously difficult to stay
on top of Journal Writing, try as hard as you can, and you still miss
days >_> But! I have made it a goal to stay up on it, and not miss
anymore days!!!!!!

Mom! "HAHA" is Mom in Japanese, 母　<== that's the Kanji for it.

(regarding a code cipher Linda set to him): Also mom! Thanks for the

Quist wheel, that thing is reallly helpful for deciphering! I was able
to decipher the Boyd K Paker quote in less than 2 minutes. (The
Greatest conflict any man will ever face is with self) Sweet Job,
also, a small tip for the Hiragana quist, The 'wo' sound is actually
pronounced 'o' so there are actually two ways to write o XD It's
pretty Confusing, but one of them is only a Particle, It's never used
to write a word. EVER. を <==== This one is never used to write words,
it's a topic marker.

Anywho, I'm glad you guys are all able to stick together! I'm sad I
miss all these family interactions, but ohhh well XD

By the way mom, thank you for the Hanky with all the stuff from the
family party! That was way awesome to see everyone's writing on it!!!
Ahhhh!!! Awesome. Also I have used a lot of those Kanji you wrote on
there already, like Chikara, and some others (I can't remember any
others at the moment, I left it at the apartment XD)

Oh! Today we found out that one of the Elders in our District is being
transferred to a different area, which is sad, because he is awesome,
and we are definitely going to miss him at our District meetings >_>
(Kusume Chourou, Johnson Chourou's companion/Trainer) so we are all
pretty sad about that. Nothing we can do to change that though Blahhh.

OH!!!!!! We went to a Japanese Temple with one of our potential
investigators, as well as Johnson Chourou and Kusume Chourou (So in
total there were six of us, me, Duarte, Johnson, Kusume, Monica, and
Fabi) and it was Hilarious, because Kusume Chourou, The Japanese
Elder, didn't know what some things were, and I was like, isn't that a
Sake barrel, and he was like O_O How'D you know that, and then when we
went to these well things I was like, hey, don't we have to wash here,
first the right hand then the left and he was like O_O How'd you
know?? And then when he pointed at this pile of sand outside of
buildings he was like, I don't know why that is there... and I was
like, isn't that there to ward of evil spirits? And he was like O_O OH
YEAHH!! How'D you know that??? HAhahahah it was awesome XD All the
anime I have watched has payed off here in Japan XD

Score 1 for the Anime nerd :P

Anywho, that's pretty much my week in a nutshell, I love you guys and
I hope you are having a blast together, Mom, I think I got your
letters on Thursday, (We are able to check the mail daily)

Love you!!!! Stay safe!

Hiru Chourou

Elder Hernandez