Monday and Marcy.

Yesterday was one of those perfect summer days we get here in the Northwest. Sunny and 70'. It was a lovely day to be out on the town. And Marcy and I were...out on the town. Things did start off rather bumpy due to inexplicable problems with my van. It was possessed, then it died. Luckily Nathan didn't need the car AND he was willing to come and get us. Also luckily we were just here in town. In the same parking lot as a craft store...It would have ruined our day to have had the van decide to die elsewhere. We were able to get everything done on our list.

Bead Store. Check.

Goodwill. Check.

Lunch outside at the marina. Check.

Sunny day for lunch. Check.

Etc...Check.

Jewelry making. Check.

Hair dyeing. Check.

Movie watching. Check.

Mischief managed. Check.

Our Man in Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

Things are going well here in Japan still. But I`ve already said that before. Things out of the ordinary include cockroaches and bike problems (Well that one`s not so out of the ordinary). Up to this point in my mission I`ve had the pleasure of not dealing with or worrying about cockroaches. Unfortunately on Wednesday night we found 2 nice big cockroaches in our study room. One of them was placed under a cup with a little bit of dish soap (I guess that kills them) the other made a nice run for it through the apartment stopping to hide behind stuff like the shoe rack, as if that would stop us. We pulled all the shoes out and made a nice mess of the entry before forcing it out from behind the shoe rack. Unfortunately it managed to dart into our bedroom. It made it under the bed momentarily before being pulled out by a hanger or cardboard tube. It too met the same dreary fate underneath a cup with a little detergent. We`ll probably go out and buy some cockroach hotels/traps today, they`re only 5 for $1 I think.

The bike issue started Wednesday night when my bike suddenly got a punc while we were riding by a train station. It was raining that day. We ended up walking the 45+ minutes back to the apartment just in time to plan for the next day and get ready for bed. The next morning I quickly patched the tube but the tire (The rubber outer part) had gotten ruined by rubbing up against another part of my bike on the way home. There was another old tire on the balcony that I used instead. It was a little iffy looking but I didn`t want to buy a new tire $25-$45. On Saturday I decided the tire was a little too iffy and that I should get a new one. Unfortunately the bike shops didn`t have a cheap one in stock of the correct size so I figured I`d wait until Monday. Well Sunday morning on the way to church the tube got a punc again. The old tire hadn`t been able to handle another day apparently. This morning I ran to a member`s apartment with another missionary in order to borrow an old missionary`s bike. On Friday the other missionaries in my apartment are going to the Mission Office and will pick up a spare used tire from there hopefully. Until then I should be fine.

I don`t tell you these things because I`m depressed or anything but simply because I can`t think of much else to write you other than we did missionary work last week.The picture is out of one of my two grammar books that I try to study from daily. I pick one grammar out of the book a day, study it in the morning and try to use it throughout the day. Dokoroka is the grammar I`m working on today.

Oh yeah. I didn`t transfer and neither did my companion so we`ll be together until mid-July when he goes home. I imagine I`ll still be in this area until September but I`m not sure.

Well take care and good luck.

Sincerely,

Elder Andrew West.

Summer is finally (almost) here.

Seminary is over...

Graduation for Alex is over...

EvCC finals are done....

Danny finished all of his classes...

Reservations are made...

I am cautiously optimistic that summer vacation is here.

Ye Olde Warde Party

Our ward had a "Medieval Times" themed activity last night. We were divided up (before coming) in to 4 different teams. Our family was on the red team. After eating dinner the tournament began.

Unlike the other 3 teams, ours seemed, at first glance, to be the weakest - and possibly the smallest.

Looks can be deceiving.

Steve came in a respectable 2nd in archery. Our Young Women's team won "Feed the Peasant", both the junior AND senior primary teams won their obstacle courses (I think). Alex and Danny cooperated (I know, they cooperated?) to win the swordsmanship contest. I came up with 2 items for the random "Who has this item" (I had a $50 bill and dental floss...).

My favorite contest winners were for the "couples" activity. It was a little rough and tumble - so Steve and I didn't sign up - we got the missionaries to do it. I so totally wished that I had brought my camera. One Elder galloped his "horse" to the other end of the gym to save the "damsel in distress". When he got to "her" he had to grab the sheet on which "she" was sitting and drag her back to the other end. Priceless.

Alex is (sniff) Growing Up.

The last time I took Alex in for a physical was about 2 years ago. It was right around the time he turned 16. I held him tight while he got his shots...and then again when he had blood drawn. He was literally drenched in sweat from fear.

I was dreading the thought of mission shots...but our little boy is growing up - he got a shot, a TB test and had blood drawn. All without me even there.

Awesome. Those aren't Band-Aids - they're badges of honor.

Word of the Day

en⋅nui  [ahn-wee; Fr. ahn-nwee] –noun

1. a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui.

Synonyms:listlessness, tedium, lassitude, languor.

The perfect word for summer vacation time with kids. Instead of saying "I'm bored", you can have them step up their vocabulary with new phrases such as: "I'm suffering from ennui".

I just like the way it sounds...on whee.

Our Man in Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

It`s good to here from all of you again. I`m glad to hear you`re all doing well. I remember how much I disliked the High School Graduation when I had it, it was way too long. Oh well, at least it`s over for you for now.

Things are going well for me here still. This week is transfers, the calls come tomorrow. I doubt I`ll transfer but my companion could, probably won`t though.

It is heating up here still, it`s currently at the point where you sweat slightly inside without doing anything unless you have a fan on you. It`s nice when it`s cloudy but I`d rather have heat than rain as a missionary.

The end of next transfer is when I hit my year mark as a missionary. Wow. Can you believe I`ve already been gone that long? Well... I can, but still it seems a little strange. Anyways that does mean I still have one year to get to the point where I want to be before going home. I`ve only been in Japan for 8 months now and have 14 months left in Japan. That makes me feel better.

I`m really happy to be here serving in Japan at this time. I`m sure I`ve already said that in the past but it`s still true. The other missionaries I`m serving with are great. No one`s perfect but they`re all pretty good. My favorite missionaries are still my room mates from the MTC. I`m sure they`re all awesome missionaries even though I rarely get to see them or talk with them.

Well I`m going to cut this week`s email short, sorry about that.

Sincerely,

Elder Andrew West

PS. Is there an Elder Tani serving in one of the Marysville Wards? He`s actually originally from Hirakata, my last area.