It's Gonna be A Party!

     Olympic Torch 1998

     Olympics 1998

Hi all!

  Yesterday we had an awesome day at church! Two young investigators came so we went with them to the Youth Sunday School class. That brought back some good memories and it was really cool. It was testimony meeting too and a lot of people shared their testimonies, including a little girl from primary, I haven't seen that in a long time. Also I forgot to mention last week all 4 of us were invited to teach sharing time in primary. That was fun! Even though our object lesson was not exactly how we pictured it. haha

    We continue to have good times and also challenges. I got to be Senior Companion for a day on another Kokan, that was a little challenging but tons of fun as kokans tend to be. The next day we got up an hour early so we could catch the train to Matsumoto for Zone Training Meeting. ZTM is always great because I get to see a lot of missionary friends from around the zone. And then we all eat at a ramen restaurant and take a long train back. I was beat after all that! ha.

   This Saturday we will head down there for another adventure as we have General Conference! Yay! I'm so excited to hear the words of the prophet! Even if its a week late because of translation haha. We previewed a couple of talks this morning, so cool. And we will be having a big sleep over with all the Choro tachi there too and we will go on more dendo adventures. Pretty Exciting.

  Well I encourage you all to check out what the Prophets have to say for today. I know and have a testimony that the Lord has guided them to say what they say to help us be better servants. I think one of the things I'm really learning is just to try to always help everyone and make that a focus in our lives.

I love you all and pray for each of you! And if anyone knows what day Easter is please let me know! Happy Easter whenever it is!

Love y'all,
ワトキンズ　長老

Basketball dendo!

Me emailing y'all. hi!

Heart Attack!!

Church Rocks!!

My companion played with the rangers! haha

Church Rocks!!

Nielson Shimai as a test subject for the awesome colors on my new camera.

Eikaiwa sign

Nielson Shimai again.

Takusan Photos and a Golden Reunion

Beautiful Scenery

Nagano Branch Building

Road Trip to Karuizowa

New Camera!!!! Back in blue and ready to roll. I hope you enjoyed all the photos I've sent today, there are plenty more and a few videos as well that will hopefully get to y'all at a later date. For now I am thankful that I am whole again as not having a camera for me was like not having part of my personality and character with me. Thank you to Mom, Dad, and Grandma for making this all possible! I will try to send at least 2 photos every week I can, like before.

  So last week I got to see all of my MTC buds again! We went all the way to Nagoya for trainer's training. You have seen them all in my Bean video and past photos, we've all changed, grown, and in some cases shrunk, a lot since being here in just 6 weeks. It was like a little family reunion. Some of my MTC Dai Sempai were there too! It was great to see them again. Also, Shimai and I even still have the Nihao thing going on haha.

   Back in good ole Nagano, things have warmed up a bit and the snow is gone. TuAkoi Choro and I have been having takusan crazy adventures like singing hallelujah at a gospel club and taking the wrong train, and meeting crazy people, crashing bikes, and so much more. We continue to find and teach as we work harder and enjoy the craziness that we find all along the way.

Nagano Branch Activity

Tuakoi Choro at Nagano Branch Activity

   We even had a super awesome Branch Activity. It reminded me of the ward activities back home. Everyone came together and cooked and played with the kids and we even taught a new investigator that came. The next day, Sunday, we had a linger longer after church or Shokujikai as its called. We have one every month and everybody brings good food. So much fun! The youth also just had Youth Conference! In March because of school break, man I love youth conference, good times. It looks like they all had fun there.

   Well the Scripture I'd like to leave you with is the one I thought of when I saw my brethren and sisters in Nagoya, Alma 17:1 to 3 when Alma and his brethren meet after a long time of hard Dendou. They had all grown in mind and in spirit. Oh the joys of missionary work! I encourage everyone to do the work and rejoice in it.

Love my blue camera, love you all much more,
Cullen E. Watkins Choro

  I'M AN ADUUULT! :)

We dug all that out from under 5 ft of snow my first week!

Gospel Singing Club! We sang "Oh Happy Day" and gave glory!

New official name tags! Japanese and English together.

That makes 6 name tags!

Power Rangers and Kamen Rider things!

Road Trip to Karuizowa

Road Trip to Karuizowa

Agito Lock Seed

I is 2!

Its been 6 weeks! Transfer 1 is done, on to transfer 2. Nothing changed in Nagano though, but we continue to be the very best like no one ever was.

   Last week we had Zone Taikai (Zone Conference) so we went to Matsumoto Branch for the day to hear training from Yamashita Kaicho and Yamashita Shimai along with our missionary leaders. I love the Yamashitas, if I didn't mention this before. They are full of wisdom, peace, and a love for us and the Lord. They are truly golden. They are fun and happy too. I am so blessed to have them for Mission President and Mission Mother, as I like to put it.

   We met many interesting People this week. One of them was an older man from Great Britain, who we had lunch with. He told very great stories about his travels and adventures from when he was young, in English with an accent, up until he moved to Nagano and settled down with his family. Another young man we met that same day shared photos about his adventures with helping people who'd been effected by natural disasters and poverty. These people were pretty cool and got me thinking about how our lives are adventures again. I'd thought of this before, but truly we can do anything. We don't have to travel the whole world, but everyday we can help others and try new things and have an adventure.

   I wanted to leave that thought with you as well as this, the Atonement, is a simple, yet powerful truth. We shared about it with someone briefly this week, and we felt the spirit witness to us of how true it really was.

   TuAkoi choro is doing good if y'all were wondering, he will be training me for this next transfer as well so continue to pray for us to learn everyday and that we will find the elect.

  Thank you for your letters too, I've been getting a lot recently. I'd also like to send a shout out to my Sister Jasmine who is 17sai today! Tanjoubi Omedetou!

Aishiteimasu minna san,
Watkins Cho to the other ro.

Kain tachi dance time!

Zenkoji Temple

the ashiu

Good...morning?

  This week we visited a lot of members/ Kyokain or just Kain which sounds like something from star trek. We saw Goe Kyodai at McDonalds, he's an american who lives in Japan and teaches english. Hes our Branch Eikaiwa instructor. Then we went home teaching with a member of the District Presidency, really spiritual guy. We visited the Ezaki family, which is a big family, and we had dinner and played games. They have three teenagers and two younger kids, it reminded me of being home with everybody and the missionaries at our house.

Our fairytale visit with the Yamaguchi kazoku and Family Home Evening.

  Then yesterday we saw the Yamaguchi family. they live way at the top of a snowy mountain in a wooden house that they built. It was like a fairy tale or something. Just getting up the mountain in their car was an adventure. They have 3 little girls and one little boy and they all love Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. So I asked them which Kamen Rider was their favorite and did the henshin poses for each of them. Before we left we also did the Kyoryuger dance together. I've never had an audience like that before, they all got a kick out of it! The other missionaries just about died with amusement. We played games and did a lesson and it was just great.

   I also went on a kokan this week, this time I stayed here with our District Leader who loves hip hop dancing. While dendoing in the city we came across a dance studio that he was interested in. A man welcomed us in an within minutes we are watching a team of young middle to high school girls practicing this dance routine and they were really good. I was amazed at the fact that this was happening to us. We invited them to Eikaiwa and shared a short message, then they asked us a lot of questions about america. They were very excited to have an audience. It was really funny, you never know what to expect out here.

  So I love the members and all these people. There are different and unique people everywhere you look! So lets invite them to come to Christ!

Love you all and hope yalls week rocks,
Cullen Watkins Choro

We loved the ashiu so much we had District Training Meeting there!

Basketball with an investigator family.

 Hospital Eikaiwa

Bean Chan Power!

All of the Nagano Branch Missionaries with Masato Kyodai who's leaving for his mission next month!

Hello!

  This week we had ZTM/Zone Training Meeting so we woke up an hour early and took a 2 hour ish train ride to Matsumoto. I got to see my MTC buddy Bills Choro again and we learned alot of things about our mission goals. It was so cool to talk to Bills Choro again and compare stories of how much we've grown this past month. I can't believe its been that long already!

    We spent some time with some members last week, they are all really nice. Our Ward mission leader took us, one of the recent converts, and Masato Kyodai to an all you can eat Japanese buffet. It was so fun. I accidentally grabbed a bowl of coffee ice cream and everyone laughed when I brought it to the table. Masato Kyoudai put it in the grill on the table. Really fun times with the members here. Masato Kyodai just went back to his family for a month before he leaves for his mission in Tokyo. Man, it's been so long since I did that, but not really. Still 20 months left!

    We often have the days that all missionaries have when we walk and bike and share and invite and nothing seems to come of it. But we must not give up. Just last night my companion followed a prompting to go house and as a result we talked to 2 interested people and even gave out a copy of the Book of Mormon. Every little soul counts because he or she is worth so much to their Heavenly Father.

    I want you all to know that I love you all a lot, I got a ton of letters this week from the Seminary students and from some of the Conway missionaries. It really inspires me to keep doing more everyday. I also got my favorite picture of Troop 857 in the mail this week, those are my brothers and I continue to strive to be a good example for them all.

Love you all and appreciate your support especially during my "Bean Chan" days!

Love,
Watkins Choro

Bills Choro from my MTC District is in my Zone so I asked if he could share some photos with me. These are the long awaited DaiSempai photos from my last day at the MTC!

Ｐａｒｔｙ ｉｎ Ｕｅｄａ！

 

Ｂｉｌｌｓ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ｓｅｎｔ　ｍｅ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｐｉｃ　ｏｆ　Ａｌｌ　ｏｆ　ｏｕｒ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ｔａｃｈｉ　ｉｎ　ｏｕｒ　Ｚｏｎｅ　ｗｈｅｎ　ｗｅ　ｗｅｒｅ　Ｄａｉ　Ｓｅｍｐａｉ．Ｉ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｔｈｅｓｅ　ｇｕｙｓ！

 

 

 

Fｉｒｓｔ　Ｋｏｋａｎ！

　　Ｉ　ｓｗａｐｐｅｄ　ｐｌａｃｅｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　Ｂａｉｒｄ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ｆｏｒ　ａ　ｄａｙ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅｎｔ　ｔｏ　Ｕｅｄａ，　ｔｈｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒ　Ａｒｅａ　ｉｎ　ｏｕｒ　Ｄｉｓｒｉｃｔ．　Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　Ｖａｇｈｎ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ｏｒ　"Ｂａｎ”　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ｉｎ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ．　Ｈｅ'ｓ　ａ　ｃｏｏｌ　ｇｕｙ　ａｎｄ　ｇｏｏｄ　ｍｉｓｓｉｏｎａｒｙ．　Ｎｏｗ　ｉｎ　Ｊａｐａｎ　ｉｔ　ｉｓ　ｈａｒｄ　ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｄ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｔａｌｋ　ｔｏ，　ｍｏｓｔ　ｏｆ　ｕｓ　ｄｏｎｔ　ｈａｖｅ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｔｈａｎ　５　ｉｎｖｅｓｔｉｇａｔｏｒｓ　ｕｓｕａｌｌｙ．　Ｓｏ　ＯＹＭ　ｉｓ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔ．　Ｏｎ　ｋｏｋａｎｓ　ｔｈｉｎｇｓ　ｕｓｕａｌｌｙ　ｇｏ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｂａｄ　ｏｒ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｇｏｏｄ．　Ｔｈｉｓ　ｋｏｋａｎ,　ｈｏｗｅｖｅｒ　ｗａｓ　ｊｕｓｔ　ｍａｇｉｃａｌ．

　　　　Ｂａｎ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ａｎｄ　Ｉ　ｗａｌｋｅｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｔｒｅｅｔｓ　ｏｆ　Ｕｅｄａ　ａｎｄ　ｔａｌｋｅｄ　ｔｏ　ａ　ｇｒｏｕｐ　ｏｆ　ｔｅｅｎａｇｅ　ｂｏｙｓ．　Ｗｅ　ｐｌａｙｅｄ　ｂａｌｌ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅｍ　ａｎｄ　ｔａｕｇｈｔ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｔｈｅ　Ｆｉｒｓｔ　ｖｉｓｉｏｎ．　"Ｗｏｗ　ｔｈａｔ　ｗａｓ　ｃｏｏｌ！”　ｗｅ　ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ．　Ｔｈｅｎ　ｗｅ　ｋｅｐｔ　ｒｕｎｎｉｎｇ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｗｈｏ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｌｉｓｔｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｕｓ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅ　ｔａｕｇｈｔ　ｔｈｅ　１ｓｔ　ｖｉｓｉｏｎ　３　ｔｉｍｅｓ　ｊｕｓｔ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｗａｌｋｉｎｇ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ！　Ｗｈａｔ？！　

　　　Ｉｔ　ｇｅｔｓ　ｂｅｔｔｅｒ．　Ｈｏｕｓｉｎｇ，　ｋｎｏｃｋｉｎｇ　ｏｎ　ｄｏｏｒｓ，　ｉｓ　ａｌｍｏｓｔ　ｎｅｖｅｒ　ｆｒｕｉｔｆｕｌ，ｉｎ　Ｊａｐａｎ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｄｏｎｔ　ｅｖｅｎ　ａｎｓｗｅｒ　ｔｈｉｅｒ　ｄｏｏｒｓ，　ｔｈｅｙ　ａｌｌ　ｈａｖｅ　ａ　ｃａｍｅｒａ　ｍｉｃｒｏｐｈｏｎｅ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｄｏｏｒｂｅｌｌｓ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｅｙ　”ｋｅｋｋｏ”　ｙｏｕ　ｆｒｏｍ．　Ｗｅ　ｗｅｎｔ　ａｎｙ　ｗａｙ　ａｎｄ　ｔｏ　ｏｕｒ　ｓｕｒｐｒｉｓｅ，　ｔｗｏ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｏｐｅｎｅｄ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｄｏｏｒ　ｆｏｒ　ｕｓ　ａｎｄ　ｏｎｅ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｌｅｔ　ｕｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｈｏｕｓｅ．　Ｗｈａａｔ？　Ｗｅ　ｔａｕｇｈｔ　ｔｏ　１ｓｔ　ｖｉｓｉｏｎ　２　ｍｏｒｅ　ｔｉｍｅｓ　ａｎｄ　ｇａｖｅ　ｏｕｔ　ａｌｌ　ｏｆ　ｏｕｒ　ｌｅｓｓｏｎ　１　ｂｏｏｋｌｅｔｓ．　

　　Ｍａｇｉｃ　ｗａｓ　ｈａｐｐｅｎｉｎｇ　ａｔ　ｈｏｍｅ　ｔｏｏ，　Ｂａｉｒｄ　ａｎｄ　ＴｕＡｋｏｉ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　ｔａｕｇｈｔ　ｏｕｒ　ｉｎｖｅｓｔｉｇａｔｏｒｓ　ａｔ　ａ　ｐｅｔ　ｓｈｏｐ，　Ｄｏｇ　Ｅｉｋａｉｗａ　ａｓ　ｗｅ　ｃａｌｌ　ｔｈｅｍ．　Ｎｏ　ｗｅ　ｄｏｎｔ　ｔｅａｃｈ　ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ　ｔｏ　ｄｏｇｓ，　ｗｅｌｌ　ｓｏｍｅｔｉｍｅｓ，　ｂｕｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｆａｍｉｌｙ　ｏｆ　３　ｔｈａｔ　ｏｗｎｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｅｔ　ｓｈｏｐ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅ　ｔｅａｃｈ　ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ　ｔｏ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｂｅｃａｍｅ　ｙａｋｕｓｏｋｕｓｈａｓ　（ｐｒｏｍｉｓｅ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ）　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｍｅａｎｓ　ｔｈｅｙ　ａｒｅ　ｏｎ　ｄａｔｅ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｂａｐｔｉｚｅｄ！　Ｗｈａａａｔ？！　Ｂａｐｔｉｓｍｓ　ａｒｅ　ｒａｒｅ　ａｒｏｕｎｄ　ｈｅｒｅ，　ａｎｄ　ｓｅｅｉｎｇ　ｏｎｅ　ｉｎ　ｍｙ　ｆｉｒｓｔ　ｔｒａｎｓｆｅｒ　ｉｓ　ｐｒｅｔｔｙ　ｓｐｅｃｉａｌ．

Ｗｅｌｌ　ａ　ｌｏｔ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｈａｐｐｅｎｅｄ　ｂｕｔ　ｔｈａｔｓ　ａｌｌ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｌｅｔｔｅｒ．　Ｉｍ　ｓｈｏｒｔ　ｏｎ　ｐｉｃｓ　ｔｏｄａｙ　ｂｕｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｌａｔｅｒ　ｏｎ．

Ｌｏｖｅ　ｙｏｕ　ａｌｌ！
Ｗａｔｋｉｎｓ　Ｃｈｏｒｏ　：）

Out to Dendo Another Day!

Me, Tu Akoi, Avarell Shimai, and Nielson Shimai at the ashiu

Hello from Nagano!

   This week we shoveled snow! Yeah. And we dendo-ed! BTW here's some vocab: Kokan/Exchanges, Tachiai/Member present, Kyudosha/investigator, Dendo/misiionary work, preaching!

     We've been walking everywhere because of the snow and riding trains a lot too. I did buy a bike this week, it's pretty cool, I just need to get back in the hang of riding.

     I am trying to be better at OYM/Open Your Mouth. So I just say hi to people and try to stop them on the streets and Tu Akoi Choro usually tries to back me up, he's way good at nihongo. We also teach Eikaiwa/English Conversation Class, that's pretty fun especially since it's in enlish and I can understand it and it helps a little with Japanese too.

     This weekend we went with the Sisters to downtown and sang primary songs while passing out Eikaiwa hand outs. It was pretty fun and I talked to some people, that's one thing that I have trouble with is just talking to everyone. The shimai are really good at it, Avarell Shimai was just stopping people and theyed smile and talk to her and we'd just get people walking past us and saying thanks. It was pretty funny. So there isn't a boundry line between us and the sisters here, we just talk to the men and they talk to the woman folk. So we sometimes team up. Teamwork! We also have Elders from another ward in our district who we will be doing kokans with soon, so more on them later.

       I suppose I should mention that I have had some interesting and really good food here, more than I can eat at times. The members like to give us a lot of food, I've had yakisoba, yakiniku, ramen, and a bunch of stuff I don't even know. It was pretty fun, last week a member took us out two days in a row and we visited an ashiu where we soaked our feet. There's a picture of it from my doryo.

      So I am learning about faith and how it helps us through our trials. This week we are hoping to find new kyudoshas and hopefully, baptize. Thanks for your prayers. Please write me letters, it takes 12 days to get to me as far as I know, but I would love to hear from anybody and particularly members of my family and my ward.

    I went to church yesturday in our little branch in Nagano and there was a linger longer after. It reminded me so much of Conway just in the characters of the branch and the family that was there. I love my ward at home and the branch I serve in here.

  Hope yall have a great week,
Cullen E. Watkins Choro

Joe, You can't buy me Hotdog Man!

Me, Tu Akoi, Avarell Shimai, and Nielson Shimai at the ashiu

Me and my Doryo at an ancient Japanese place of sorts.

Tu Akoi Choro

Me