This is probably, officially the LAST BLOG POST! Unless I put a last one on back in the States... which would probably be pointless since you could just call me or whatever.... Anyways, it was a hell of a good last week! So Monday we had the district activity, which I had planned since the beginning of the transfer. We used the hall of the church (not like the hallway but the biggest open room) and we had it strewn with turned over tables, chairs, whiteboards, and anything you could use for cover. Why did we need cover? Because we had a shoot-out! At the beggining of the transfer I bought 6 pump action shotguns that shoot darts! (pretty much Nerf guns) and we went crazy! We spent a few hours just doing different teams and styles of it. It was probably one of the most fun district activities I`ve ever done and everyone agreed. That night the Abashiri elders stayed the night since we had district training meeting the next day. Tuesday was DTM, and then English class at night, during which the Zone Leaders came, for our splits on Wednesday. Wed. Elder Knighton and I were together; he was my companion for 3 months about a year ago, and it was great to work with him again, we had alot of fun. They left that night to go on splits with the elders of the next area over. Thursday and Friday were normal, oh well Friday night Elder Nelsen treated me to an all-you-can-eat yaki-niku (grilled meat) restaurant as a good-bye present, what a swell guy! Saturday we had a lunch activity with the YSAs (Young Single Adults) of the branch, made okonomi-yaki, pretty much a big savory pancake filled with veggies and meat covered in sauce, pretty much burgers and pancakes combined, way good. And an old investigator of mine came! Elder Ishiga and I found him in Kitami about a year and a half ago, he is a chinese college student and really cool, I recently got back in touch with him. That nightwe had dinner with an older member, Brother Hanada, probably in his 60s, who had a stroke a few years back and can`t really use his left arm or leg. We visited him 2 weeks ago, and he said he wanted me to come over for dinner before I leave. I wasn`t sure how well we could cook with only one arm, but he sure treated us to a meal! He is way legit, was in the Army, was pretty much the equivalent of a Green Beret, told us stories of how they had to learn to survive in the mountains, start fires from nothing and build traps to catch rabbits and stuff, he showed us some pics from his glory days. He also mentions he was trained in hand-to-hand combat, and says he wants to show us some moves. He has Elder Nielsen stand in front of him, and tells him to grab his shirt collar. Elder Nielsen was a little hesitant, but Bro. Hanada insisted. So Nielsen goes to grab him, and Bro. Hanada snatches his wrist and has it twisted around in a split second. As he`s got Nielsen`s arm twisted, he takes a moment to explain how he is holding his wrist with just 3 fingers, but with those 3 fingers he can move him wherever he wants, which he demonstrates by moving Elder Nielsen`s arm and wrist around as he winces in pain. He then goes on to show us how to take someone down with just a blow to the shin, by a chop to the neck, etc. He is such a BOSS! Sunday was great, it was the first Sunday of the month, so a Fast Sunday, I was able to bear my testimony, said alot of goodbyes. There are truly some great members and people here. That night the branch president had us over for dinner along with a few members, more goodbyes. So, Today is P-Day; tomorrow, Tue, is DTM and english class; then Wed we leave for Sapporo; Thu I have my last interview with Pres. Evans and dinner with everyone going home, and then Fri morning I fly back home. It is definately a weird feeling. Well thanks to anyone who has kept up with this blog during this two year adventure. I hope you enjoyed following all of the craziness from this part of the world. I will see you all in the real world soon. Thanks! Elder Andrew Kade Jones

Hey Everyone! Greetings from the Kitami snowglobe! It started snowing Saturday night and has not stopped since! Sunday morning we woke up and there was a few inches of fresh, nothing crazy. Woke up Monday morning, and there were snow banks/drifts where everyone had shoveled yesterday! There was a good 10 inches in front of door, we could barely open it! Everyone has been going crazy trying to shovel and all (you would think snow blowers would catch on here - they haven`t) and I have a feeling we can do alot of service getting cars unstuck. So last week was pretty legit. We have this English class student who really wanted to take us ice fishing, and we went with him on Monday. We left at 7am and headed out to a lake an hour away. We pulled up to where the docks are, loaded all of the gear on a sled and walked right off the dock onto level snow. Walked out to the middle of the lake close to a bridge, and drilled 3 holes with his auger. We pitched a tent and pulled everything inside and got going! We had these little 1.5 ft long poles and a special meter long line with 5 hooks on it. You put some little maggots on and plunk it in. It was a great time, we caught about 25 fish total (maybe a few inches long, they looked too small to eat but he says theyre alright), I got about 8. He had a little camp stove, we heated up some water and had cup ramen, and he had a bunch of snacks. He cleaned and gutted the fish on the spot, packed them up and gave them to us after explaining how to fry them. It was really fun! Tuesday we took a 3 hr bus ride to Kushiro for a Zone Training Meeting, we had time for dinner and I took Elder Nielsen out to a restaurant with a Kushiro original - Spakatsu. Its spaghetti with rich meat sauce and 2 kuts of fried pork, and it is GOOD! That night we had 16 elders in the Kushiro apartment, that got a little crazy. Breakfast was a slice of bread with blueberry jam or kechup on top and showers were from 5-8am with about 10 mins a man. I love these meetings! Friday we had our usual 1hr train trip over to Abashiri to teach their English class, but they are out of town all week due to a missionary conference in Sapporo, so we had a borrowed apartment key from them. Breakfast there wasn`t much better, they didn`t really shop since they were not there all week, but we scrounged up something. Other than that nothing too crazy, all of our investigators or potential investigators were not home or busy, so not too much progress with anyone. Better luck this week! - Elder Andrew Kade Jones

Well another week out in Kitami city. Not that we were in Kitami much, but we had some adventures. So Wednesday we went up to Sapporo for a big conference, well we got up there wed afternoon and went to this big park in the middle of town for the world famous snow festival! We started at block 1, where there is this old big red TV tower than used to be a broadcast tower but now is just an observatory and we waited in line to take the elevator up to the top for a panoramic view of the festival and a snow covered Sapporo at night, it was quite the view. From there we just walked the 12 blocks of ice and snow sculptures. There is one area with a kicker where they have a snowboard jump contest every year, we watched a bit of that. So I was looking for a good souvenir, and they have little magnets and buttons and stuff, but there were these posters up everywhere for the festival. Everywhere I asked people were not selling them and did`t know where (or If) they were available. Well at one point we go into one of the many warming booths they have (portable rooms with heaters and usually a theme or some company handing out stuff) to thaw out. This booth was just pamphlets about Sapporo and all. I struck up a conversation with the lady there, and mentioned that I was searching all over for those posters. ''Oh really? wait one sec'' she says and runs into the back. She comes back and asks ''do you want a medium or large one?'' What? I found `em! We both get 2 medium ones for free! Life is Good! We stayed in some other guys apartment (12 total) that night and went to the conference on Thursday. Once it was finished we went to the Sapporo station for dinner and then just went around downtown Sapporo doing some shopping. Came back to Kitami Friday afternoon, got to the apartment and unpacked, ate some cup ramen then repacked and left for Abashiri, the next area over, where we teach their english class. Other than that met some great people and taught some great lessons and all, Elder Nielsen and I are kicking butt out here. I just wish there was more time in the day! Have a great week! Elder Andrew Kade Jones

Hey Everyone! Another great week in Kitami. It is still snowing and freezing, but today is quite warm, which means slush! And snow falling off roogs left and right, so watch out for that... Really though nothing too interesting this week. Tuesday had the first District Training Meeting of the transfer, that went good, this district is pretty young so lots of things to teach. Other than that we`ve just been working our butts off, meeting lots of new people and teaching lessons/making appointments. Well, really though, that`s been about it... can`t think of anything worth reporting... a college student member had a little dinner party at his house, and an investigator of ours came, as well as Brother Yamashita! My first convert here in Kitami a good 1.5 years ago. He is doing great, he says I`ve turned Japanese since I was a young missionary here, I guess that`s a compliment. This week we go up to Sapporo for a Zone Conference and the snow festival! So it should be a fun week! You have a fun one too!

January 26th - final transfer

Well, my first few days out of the mission office, and the beginning of my last transfer! It has not quite hit me yet that this is the end, and lets hope it stays that way for a while... Well Monday through Wednesday night was just prepping for the transfer, everything went fairly smooth. Thursday the transfer spot, which is normally at the Sapporo train station, was at a locaｌ church again, so everyone could practice for the upcoming concert. I had to go pick up the 100 boxed lunches for everyone, but since we wouldn`t be participating in the actual concert we didn't need to be there, and I`m not about to have my last meal in Sapporo be a boxed lunch! So I got together with my new companion, Elder Nielsen, and we took 2 other guys with us and went to eat at the really good burger place right next to the office that I frequented. Had another delicious burger, said good-bye, the cute waitress girl that might have a thing for me was really sad, told me to come back whenever I get the chance (sorry babe, but if I come back it will be for the Burgers!). Then the 2 of us headed off to the bus station and caught the 6 hour bus to Kitami. Ok, so this is where things got cool. So we get in Thursday night, and start planning for Friday. President Evans has talked about how missionaries should try leaving the apartment in the morning (we normally leave at 12) to catch people going to work and all, so I decide we will try to leave at 10am. I ask where he wants to tract that afternoon, and he picks a place. We look through old records and find a guy who lives in that area, Terasaki san, and we write down his info. Done Deal. Next morning we leave and street (contacting people as we walk) down to the bus station to grab a schedule, and then leave to head back. As we are walking out of the bus station, there is a guy coming towards us, but I figure he probably has a bus to catch and so I think to leave him, but Elder Nielsen ends up stopping the guy. So we start talking, he instantly recognizes us, says he met with the missionaries a few months ago. We talk about what he remembers from them and all. At one point I tell him our names and ask for his. `Terasaki` he says....`Wait, do you live here?` I ask and point to his address in my planner. `No, I moved a few months ago to the next town over`. `Really? Ok, well what are you doing in Kitami?` I ask. `I was visiting my dad today, he is in the hospital. I`m about to take the bus home right now`. WHAT! `Ok, we would love to call you and talk, maybe meet sometime. Is this your phone number?` `No, I got a new number. Here I`ll give it to you.`....WHAT!?! We were both blown away. If we wouldn`t have left early we could not have met him, and if we wouldn`t have picked that place to work that afternoon we would not have had his info on us. It was crazy! Other than that things have been normal, really good but normal, just cranking out. It is way cold in Kitami, much more than Sapporo. Elder Nielsen is pretty chill, he is on his 4th transfer an I am his 3rd companion here in Kitami. Should be a good last few weeks. Hope you all are doing swell! Elder Andrew Kade Jones.

Well, had another one of those weeks, where we didnt get out of the office much...There was alot of transfer talk, President Evans decided my last area, and I am.... going right back where I started in the middle-of-nowhere-famously-cold Kitami! It was a bit of a surprise, but there is a companionship there that is really struggling, the younger missionary had 2 transfers with a trainer who did no training, just about ignored the kid, and then his next companion was a bit of a stubborn Japanese missionary who doesn't like him for one reason or another and they are not doing good at all, the younger missionary has really been struggling lately. President Evans says he trusts me to go and build him up and get some final success there, so I agreed to it and promised him my best. Well other than that we had alot of time in the office making powerpoints and preparing for various meetings coming up in the next few weeks. Thursday/Friday we were in an area called Shinoro to go on splits with the zone leaders there. It is a 4 man apartment and my bean Elder Spurling is there. We got to catch up and made the mistake of staying up late talking, which killed me the next few days. So this week my replacement comes in and I will train him in the ways of the Assistant, and Thursday I will meet up with my new companion and take the 6 hr bus ride out to Kitami. I was hoping to go down to some famous hot springs on my last P-Day but it seems that there is alot of crazy things going on and in short I will be quite busy running erands today. Welcome to my life. Have a great Week!

Well, we had THE WEEK this week, that 7 day period you have some point during the transfer when you can't wait until P-Day. So last Monday night we had a 1.5 hr drive up to Iwamizawa to stay the night with the Zone Leaders. The next morning we were up early and had a 2 hr drive up to Asahikawa for their zone training meeting with the 22 members of the zone. The zone leaders had a good workshop, we had a 5 min part in it, and it all went good. We all got lunch then the 4 of us returned to Iwamizawa and went on splits there that night. Wednesday morning we all were up and out the door early to return home, the ZLs had splits in another area along the way so we took them to Ebetsu and dropped them off (note: I did all of that driving). Got to the mission home at about 10am, started transfer talk with Pres. Evans. It seems my last area is decided, well, I helped decided, but the Prez keeps moving me around in the system, I think he is just playing with me until the last minute. That afternoon we prepped for a mission correlation meeting with a local stake presidency and that night we met with them. We got home, and spent the rest of the night in the office prepping the agenda for next transfer's zone conference. The next morning (Thursday) I drove us 1.5 hrs down to Eniwa to go on splits with the ZLs there for a few hours before us (2 APs) the 2 ZLs and the other 2 Eniwa Elders hopped in the van and made the 5 hr road trip down to the southern tip of Hakodate. There just happened to be a blizzard raging on our way down there - I'm talking snow blowing sideways and barely being able to see the taillights of the car in front of me and mostly judging by the guardrail next to me and semi trucks coming the other way that send clouds of loose snow into the air that cut off visibility completely for a good 3 seconds. Yeah, I was a little on edge the whole time - drove all of that too. Got to Hakodate that night, and stayed the night in the Elder's apartment, with 14 of us total. The Next day (Friday) we had their zone training meeting, did a great job, we had a 15 min workshop, got lunch at the awesome burger place down there. After several delays and dealing with people with little common sense, we departed from Hakodate that afternoon with the 2 APs and the 2 Eniwa Elders and 2 Sisters. There was also a raging snow storm on the way back again. We stopped off in Muroran (one of my old areas) to drop off some things, I made a detour to cross the big bridge spanning the bay, it was well worth it, very nice view. We dropped off the Eniwa missionaries and got into the mission home at about 10:20 pm Friday night. Saturday was pretty normal, office work and our Sports Night activity that night at the church, Sunday was good, an Investigator came to church for the 3rd time and we had a great lesson....So yeah.... this week should be a little more relaxed. But, it's the Mission Home: It's never quite as calm as it seems.... Have a great week! Elder Andrew Kade Jones