Eve of Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!...in 2 days! Its been pretty good out here, record setting snow falls and such. You gotta love it! Today is Christmas Eve, all the missionaries in the city are getting together all day for a party that, to be honest, sounds kinda lame, but its never a choice! Tomorrow is Christmas, which is not really special, we are still supposed to go out and work! We are trying to get the missionaries in our area, about 8, together to celebrate a sister missionary leaving and enjoy some christmas curry and eggnog, provided by me! Should be a good time. I had the ladies in the ward make some stockings for us, and we gave a bunch out to our investigators and such, it was very nice of them. Just yesterday we were in the hallway of the church and the Primary president pops here head out the door and says "hey, can you teach a quick lesson about Christmas to the kids?" Teaching a quick lesson without any prep? We do it all day! It was also a fun moment with the 10 or so Primary kids. I got sick for about 24 hrs last week after hitting a Chinese restaurant, think it might be food poisioning... but hey, the potstickers were still pretty good! Well thats been about it, Have a great Christmas everyone!

Elder Andrew Kade Jones

Its still dumping snow, and we are still chugging away on bikes! Were like the USPS, we work in all weather all day no matter what, but instead of filling your mailbox with bills we fill your life with blessings! So stop slamming doors in our faces! Seriously though, its pretty fun. The best is to try and drift around corners on the ice without spilling and eating it. But the work rolls on! Guess what I had one night for dinner this week? Burger King! I went on splits to a smaller part of town, thats famous for having the only BK on the island. I had a real Whopper! Make that 2! And I got a crown! We had our ward Christmas party this past Saturday, it was wat fun and there was lots of good food! And since we are missionaries we got all the leftovers! And "Santa San" came, A.K.A. the only white guy in the ward (other than us) who lives here, was a missionary here a few years ago and married a Japanese girl. All the little kids had a blast! Anyways, we are just getting ready for Christmas and all the partying. Have a great week!

Elder Andrew Kade Jones

Well the snow is finally here! It was dumpin the other day, we were trying to bike through 8 inches of powder. I stopped to try and help an old couple shovel, the grandpa starts yellin that he will call the cops on me! Whats with people? 2 houses later we stop to help a lady who was shoveling the parking lot of her ramen shop. We were chatting with her and shoveling, and she endedup givin us a free bowl of ramen! She restored my faith in humanity. There was also a nice little the earthquake the other day, I was cooking dinner and tossing some veggies in te frypan, when all of a sudden I start shimmying around with the fry pan! Wasnt anything bad, the apartment just swayed for a minute, theyre pretty common. Thats been about it, one week closer to Christmas!

Elder Andrew Kade Jones

Let it snow let it snow let it snow! Well it was for a few days there but its rather warm today and all turning into slush! Which means it will freeze tonight and be ice in the morning! Slush or ice, both are very sketchy to ride in. Someone said it will be raining soon too, I guess its a very unseasonably warm winter. Could global warming be more than a myth?... But when it is snow its not soo bad, nothing seems to scare people more than a smiling white guy on a bike trying to stop and talk in the middle of a snow storm, makes talking to people on the street next to impossible. Well I hope everyone is getting all prepped for Christmas, no such thing as lights or trees or any of that junk in Japan! Christmas here consists of getting drunk, eating cake, and other various things that high school kids dream of and missionaries avoid like the plague! Hey, I guess everyone has their own way of celebrating. Everyone feel free to send a christmas card and a package if youre feeling the Christmas cheer! And feel free to send recipes I miss homemade American food! If there is one thing I will miss as part of this season, it is eggnog. Japan, please get on the program. Well have a great week everyone!

Elder Andrew Kade Jones