It's beginning to look a lot like...

Zombie! (Apocalypse.) everywhere I go! There was a night long ago
where several of my siblings and I stayed up together singing
zombie-version Christmas songs we invented. It was way fun!

Merry Christmas and happy New Years, everybody!

Thus ends the usage of Christmas messages this year! Too bad, too; we
just found a really good one!

Weekly Questions!

Was the temple nice?
Yeah, it was tons of fun! It's nice to be as close as we are to it.

Just the one question this week, but that's alright! I'm sure they
will pick up again soon!

We had our Christmas conference this week, and we got to watch "Meet
the Mormons" there! It was actually way good! I recommend it to
everyone! Speaking of recommends, we got a cool mission temple
recommend holder as well! Good shtufts for Christmas.

Random Story Time!
We went to visit a member that lives supa' far away, rode around for a
while 'cuz we made the mistake of letting the other elders lead, then
we got there, shared a message, played Uno with some interesting
rules, then we rode our bikes with the dad running beside us to a
ramen shop, where we ate some way good ramen then rode to another
member appointment, had a role-play lesson with them, then rode out to
visit a potential investigator of ours named Esther so we could invite
her to church. It was a fun day.

Elder Wallace and I had a 3-4 hour long cleaning session this week and
found out that one of our futons is supa' moldy and we're gonna have
to get it replaced, unfortunately. Hey, we might end up with bunk-beds
so it doesn't happen again, so not a bad deal!

I think that's it! Loves!
Younger Elder Brooksby

How many proposals in one day?

Two different girls asked me to marry them this week. On the same day.
I feel like I should've been keeping track of how many girls have
proposed to me, but I didn't think it would be that frequent!

Hallo, humans and doggies!

Elder Wallace and I were asked to come to a training we had already
heard in the mission home. That, along with a ton of other events,
makes our use of trains increase significantly. Whoo, reimbursements!

I have yet to be asked any questions this week, but if I get any
before I'm done writing, I'll be sure to answer them!

We've actually been extremely busy this week. We only had one day that
wasn't completely planned by Sunday afternoon, at least until we
realized that we also had to do weekly planning... We have little time
beyond our appointments!

For some reason, all of our investigators speak English! It's kinda
strange, but two of them are English teachers, one of them Vietnamese,
etc, etc... Not anything that Elder Wallace is complaining about, for
sure!

Random Story Time!
This week we made it to the English class of the guy I mentioned last
week! It was supa' fun! It's not that I have anything against our own
English class, but that guy knows how to run shtufts! There were about
15 kids, ranging around 6~10 years old, with one 14 year old in the
advanced class, and it was ridiculously high-energy. The teacher guy
kept trying to set us up with the 14 year old, getting her to ask
weird questions and stuff. For example, (Elder Wallace also got
proposed to once or twice this week.) he told her to ask "Will you
marry me?" and she was all confused and didn't catch what he was
saying, then one of the younger kids told her what he meant, so she
turned to Elder Wallace and said "How old are you?" and it was
hilarious. I definitely want to go back and help sometime!

We had our Ward Christmas party this week! The Elders were asked to
help build Bethlehem, so we used all our amazing scouting skills and
owned that wood and rope and made some pretty cool mangers and
shtufts, then I was nominated by the other elders to play the angel
Gabriel in the nativity. It was kinda funny 'cuz when we did the first
rehearsal I was still wearing all of my work clothes, so I had to take
off my black hoodie and gloves to put on the white robes of angel-dom
and I instantly thought of the scripture Romans 13:12-"The night is
far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."

We went and helped out at an open house in a church in Yamate for a
good long while today, just kinda standing around and telling people
to enter the building and fill out the questionnaire. We'll be back
tomorrow near a park near the church from 9:30am to 1:30pm, so a good
three hours. It's gonna be... Fun? Prolly?

Anyways, ttyal! Lovingeds!
Younger Elder Brooksby

I do the monkey bars...

...upside down! Elder Wallace and I decided that you could prolly make a lot of money by becoming a professional monkey bar climber.

Hullo, humans!

We've all been sick this week! I was inside for over three days long! Elder Wallace got a break when Elder Van Vleet felt more sick than him, so they went on splits to trade off. Luckily we should all be up to speed soon!

Weekly Questions!

What part is your favorite to play in the family nativity scene?

I like the wise men, mainly for the fun hats. The narrator or cameraman is pretty cool too.

How is my mission president doing?

He's doing alright, I believe. I haven't seen him recently, though.

Any new things going on for you?

Not tons. We have an appointment with one of our investigators who we haven't met in about two weeks, so that should be fun.

What are some Japanese activities for December?

It's date month! Most American holidays are dating holidays in Japan.

Is there anything you would like for Christmas?

Letters are cool. I wouldn't really want much else...

Do you guys know how hard it is to find a mini hole-punch? I'm trying to finish up a planner cover but I can't find a proper sized hole-punch anywhere!

Random Story Time!

We got a referral! Or we almost got a referral! A member who just moved in started talking to her neighbors and she said she just needs to set an appointment with him. It's supa cool!

Funny quote from this week: "Me and we! It's like me and you, but with more me!"

That's about it! Loveds!

Younger Elder Brooksby

Rock vs. Paper: My companions biggest life decision.

My companion was stuck deciding between buying a 40$ 3,000 piece
puzzle of Machu Pichu or buying a 42$ rock sphere and wooden stand. He
chose the rock.

Hello peopleseds!

I got a letter of letters from my home ward, so there are quite a few
questions this week. I guess I'll have to rely on my family to get
them the responses if they want them...

Weekly Questions!

How am I?
Doing awesome! How are you?

How is my mission going?
It's going awesomely! How's yours?

How is Tokyo? Is it nice here?
It's awesome! How's America?

Have I met any awesome people here?
Tons of awesome people, actually. Some of the coolest people live out
here. Sometimes I actually even miss one or two of them!

What is something I like to do?
I like to destroy stereotypes. Like, for example, clothes. In America
I would wear a black v-neck tee shirt, dark jeans, black shoes, black
fingerless gloves, a grey hoodie and had long, dark brown hair. It was
surprising to see how much different people acted around me just
because of how I looked, and with that look it was often a negative
reaction. Aware of that, I enjoyed just doing good things and making
people think "Huh, maybe those kids aren't as bad as I thought they
were...". Stereotypes are useful sometimes, because people who dress a
certain way are aware of how that type of person is viewed and still
dress like that for a reason, but I like to make people realize that
they aren't necessarily always who they think they are.

What is my favorite food?
Okonomiyaki! It's like a cabbage pancake with shrimp and fish and
seaweed and whatever else you want to put in it!

How many people have I baptized?
It's generally a better idea to have the investigators member
fellowshipper baptize them, so I have baptized 0 people.

How much longer do I have on my mission?
I'll be back eventually.

What is the hardest thing about serving a mission?
Having to leave. When you leave America, that's hard sometimes.
Leaving things up to God, that's hard sometimes. Leaving the stability
of who you used to be, that's hard sometimes. Leaving your best
friends, that's always hard.

What is my favorite color?
Black and red. If it's just one, dark red is the coolest!

What is Christmas to me?
A holiday for April 6th haha

What are my favorite things about Christmas?
I love ... Mmm... I was gonna say puppies, but that was only once...

What do I wish others would do for me at Christmas time?
Be happy with improvement, nothing less. That would make me happy.
Also, if people would send me letters or messages or something, I
would love that.

What do I think I am good at?
Humility.

Where do I see yourself in a year from now?
Probably taking a ton of random college classes, possibly in Japan,
possibly in America, possibly in Germany.

Do I love my mission?
More that you could even know.

Do I know that my family loves me?
That I do. I think I'm more aware of love when I let myself love more.
It's just the logical choice now, right?

*****Transfer Update!!!*****
Elder Wallace and I are the same!
Elder Ford leaves and Elder someone replaces him!
Sister Kaizaki leaves and is replaced by Sister Matsuzaki!
Elder Kojima is replaced by Elder Cook!

Lunch after church
Random Story Time!
We had a Thanksgiving party! It was awesome!

We were at a church lunch after sacrament and just felt like I would
miss Japan and how they all hang out forever after church for no
reason. Then I realized I just really miss Hodogaya and all the
awesome people there, and that's really what sums it all up.

Loves!

Younger Elder Brooksby