Week #71...Halloween fun!

Kitoni Ward Halloween Party

We had an AMAZING Halloween party here in the Kotoni Ward! :-)  The members went all out, putting up a scary maze, getting a whole ton of food made, even arranging for a local high school band to come and play a few tunes.  I went in pajamas, with a newly acquired Pikachu pillow, but I managed to forget to get the pictures from the party sent to me, so Ill have to talk to the sister missionaries the next time I see them (They're a lot better about that than I am! ;-)

And I got the package! :-) The 'Minionaries' were adorable (and would have been even more amusing if I were still in Otofuke, as the district was going to go as minions to do a play. ;-)

One other thing that was hilarious was that the origami paper you sent was actually the same brand of paper that missionaries buy here in Japan.  It probably got shipped over to America in order to get shipped back to me in  Japan! :-) 

As far as winter and the apartment goes, It's getting colder, but that doesn't have too large of an effect on me, as I actually live in the mission office.   I don't need to be outside much recently.   And things are going really well with Elder Velasquez! :-)

The costumes that the kids had are adorable!  And their smiles were even cuter! :-) 

Love you,

-Elder Roylance

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Week #70...Keeping Busy!

My new companion and I are getting along pretty well. We both want to be able to accomplish a lot while we're here, so things are pretty crazy here at the mission home! :-) That's not just for us.  what I've discovered is that there is no down time for anyone at Honbu.  ;-) 

And... We're still trying to figure out what would be best to do with Facebook in the mission. We have a lot of ideas, it simply needs to be decided what will be effective or not.

We should hopefully start using Facebook this transfer, though the bigger concern is over how to get the members involved.

We do not have the package yet... It's been a little tricky. At the moment the package is with someone who lives right by the temple site so we just need to figure out how to pick it up from there.

It's been a crazy week, probably to be followed by many more crazy weeks!  ;-)

Next item on my checklist is to figure out my Halloween costume :-)  People in Japan don't do trick or treating like in the States (people are a lot more cautious here in Japan), but it's a tradition to have a Halloween party at the church.

And thanks so much for the recipes!  :-)

Love ya,

-Elder Roylance

Transfer Time Again...

I've been able to see the emails from the past few weeks in these last couple of days. :-) 

Truth be told, I've kind of forgotten the last couple of weeks what with the whirlwind of the last couple of days. So as you've heard, I transferred to Honbu!  :-)  I am actually not becoming an AP, Recorder, or Commissarian.  What is happening is that I am now a 'Special Assignment Missionary', which means that my new companion, Elder Valasquez., and I get to do something that has never been done before.   With the upcoming launch of Facebook for the Hokkaido missionaries, we are the strategic experts.  Elder Valasquez was a companion of Elder Uekubo's earlier in their mission, and he is the source for a lot of the ideas that Uekubo Choro and I pulled off successfully in Otaru.  Essentially he's the ideas man while I'm the technical expert, and we get to work together to try and make something crazy! :-)  We will get three hours per day to work with contacts and new investigators. :-) At the moment we are essentially opening, with no investigators and no area book, but we'll give it our best.

As far as the temple goes, the initial projection was June 12th, but the recent talk in the ward here is that there is a delay that will probably take until at least 2017. When it's ready might be a prime bit of time to visit back here though.  That would be amazing!

I had a boost on Sunday.  :-)  I am once again considered adorable by all of the members of the ward. Haha

I LOVE those pictures! Everyone is so adorable! ;-) I'm glad to hear you had fun  I don't yet have any new pictures to return in exchange(due to my tablet having been broken) but we're taking a trip over to a mountain in Otaru today, so there should be plenty of opportunity for some.  :-)

Love ya,

-Elder Roylance

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Week # 68...If his letters get any shorter we'll be lucky to get a "Love ya, Elder Roylance"!

Same situation again, sorry.
I should be able to fix my iPad this week at transfers though :-D

Love ya,
Elder Roylance


Yep...That was it for the week.  Thankfully we were lucky enough to get some pictures from the Ward Mission Leader in his area this week!!!

At the ward building in Obihiro

I'm so happy that Jeffrey was able to see General Conference this week!  So many amazing talks...and it looks like the members in the ward spoiled them with yummy treats while they listened...

Week #67...And we thought some of his previous emails were short? :)

(Nope...This isn't a NEW picture, but it is one that hasn't been posted previously.  Thought maybe it would make this post look a bit longer! :)  It didn't work, did it???  LOL)

Hey mom :-)

I'm just quickly tapping this out on Upchurch Choro's iPad.  Mine is still not working and I forgot to ask the clerk to leave the computer room unlocked. :(

But basically... I'm doing fine, and I should have time to actually email next week!

Emailing back will just send it to a different missionary, so I guess you'll hear from me next week.

Love you,
-Roylance 長老

Week #66...iPad Problems and Winter is on It's Way

Truth be told, I didn't have a haircut when that picture was taken.  ;-)   I'm just sneaky with my hairstyling. :-D   You will be relieved to know that  I did actually get a haircut today.   I didn't get a new suit, either.  I am still about the same weight as when I left, so I would hope this means that some of my fat is turning to muscle! :-)   I did think it felt oddly baggy that day.

We were able to go to the Obihiro Zoo today!  It seems to have been a field trip day for an elementary school, so it was even more fun than i had anticipated :-)  Due to the zoo and rain, and suddenly having the opportunity to see the grandchildren of two of our investigators...one of them only a week old!  I was unable to email until just barely.  Sorry to keep you waiting

I am typing this from the Obihiro ward's computer.  It turns out that a recent iPad update sometimes renders them unusable, so for the moment I am iPadless.  This also means that all the pictures I took are lost, unfortunately.  :-(   Apple got a new update out so that from here on out it doesn't break the devices, but those of us who already downloaded it are kind of toast.  Sometimes my eagerness to try new technology comes back to bite me!  LOL   Luckily there are only three of us in the mission with the issue, but it has increased my phone calls for help with the iPads by quite a bit.

 

The times are going to get colder, but I will be just fine. :-)   I LOVED last winter, so I'm really looking forward to another one! :-)   Winter is a time when you don't get hot, it never rains, and the lack of bikes makes you take things slow and enjoy the world around you.  I can't wait! :-)

That is sooo cool that you're going to be the Mia Maids Adviser!  I think the trick with this one might simply be to stop thinking of it as a scary thing. :-)  The more you feel free to relax and be yourself, the more the girls will feel that way too. ;-)  You're not there to be trendy, you're there to help them and be a friend.  :-)

Sorry I don't have much time today, it's been kind of hectic...as you can probably tell by how late this email is!

Love ya,

-Elder Roylance

Week #65...Another Week of Mostly Pictures...But at Least There are Pictures!!!

Today at 7:14 PM

I got all of your videos!  :-) Luckily, most of them worked, but yours didn't I'm afraid.  I waited till today to open them, but it was really great, thanks so much!  :-)

I certainly believe that Claire will be able to marry a prince in the Temple.  :-) (side note with the videos, Justin definitely would not want my help with his math homework.  I have totally forgotten everything beyond basic algebra.)

Things are going great with my companion! 

   

(Some things like wanting yummy food never change!)

As far as our investigators at the moment are concerned, one common theme we have is that we have multiple investigators with strong testimonies about everything but one, namely, they have no desire to come to church. Any suggestions?

We are currently trying to get some of these people to family home evenings and the like. :-)

I'll be sending pictures :-)

Love Ya,

   -Elder Roylance

Zone Conference!