Captain Chiba came to church!

That one guy I mentioned in an earlier email made it to church last
week and he is totally investigating now! It was good to hear.

Hello, everyone!

Whazzup and hanging? My companion wanted to buy a wooden 6 foot tall
giraffe model. I told him it would prolly work through transfers if
the legs and head detached.

Weekly Questions!

Time is getting short. Any thoughts on that?
My time is sufficient for the work God has for me. That is all I am
concerned about.

What is my favorite Birthday memory?
Mmm... Normally I can think of one, but, while a couple come to mind,
I don't think there's a favorite...

Can I teach my family Happy Birthday in Japanese to add to the list of
languages we sing the happy birthday song in?
I can when I get home! I wouldn't send it in an email 'cuz 1) the
pronunciation would get all screwed up, 2) Japanese people actually
sing the happy birthday song in English, so I have to write it and 3)
I'm not too good at spelling Japanese words sometimes, and I'm too
lazy to look up the proper ones at this moment.

What is a quality I have found in myself or others that I admire?
You can't admire yourself! That just doesn't work! But I love short
people, I think it's pretty cool if someone is bi/trilingual, but the
number one attribute that I look for in others or work for myself is
an understanding heart.

Which Super Hero is my favorite?
Wolverine, for sure! He is way chill yet can beat the crap out of
basically anything, but he can still lose, but he can't die, so even
when he loses he gets a second chance. He also just goes and doesn't
pay the slightest attention to peer pressure, beyond considering if it
is actually helpful information.

If I could instantly play any instrument, which one would I choose?
Mmm... I really wanna play the drums, but I also wanna go back to
writing music, so I wanna re-learn guitar so I could write for that. I
would prolly choose drums and just work on guitar.

Chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?
If this is the ice cream question, vanilla. If not, strawberries are way good!

Elder Sawyer called about a referral they are sending our way and I
was all like "Woah, Elder Sawyer, it's been like, a year since that
first day in Kunitachi!" and he was all like "Woah, it has been, huh?
Time flies!" They grow up so quickly! Fifth transfer with my first
trainee... It was actually a couple of days short of a year exactly.

Random Story Time!
We went to a fun music activity and Elder Wallace played the piano and
it was pretty cool, then after we had some English class students come
up to us and say "Do you wanna go to the barbers together?" And Elder
Wallace and I were way confused, but after they said it a couple more
times we realized hey were saying "Do you wanna go get burgers
together?" And it was way funny. Then we went and got burgers and they
pulled out a pack of face cards while we were waiting for our food and
said "What do you wanna play?" And, because missionaries probably
shouldn't be playing poker, we played a game or two of go fish. It was
interesting and the burgers were way good.

I met an American member at the temple today and when I told her how
long I had been a missionary she she said "You're going to BYU, right?
My cousin goes there, oh wait, sorry. She's married, but she has lots
of friends!" And I thought it's funny how apparent it is that that is
the expected next step for missionaries.

That's about it! Loves to you all!
Younger Elder Brooksby

My companion paid 12$ in coins.

In America, people would get upset. In Japan, they count it and give
you your change.

Hello, all of da peoples!

Mostly questions this week!

Weekly Questions!

What do I dream about happening in my life?
I don't dream haha. I plan on doing everything eventually, the big
question is when and what first?

Where do I get the most joy from?
Family. My companion and I were talking about the happiest moments in
our lives, and he was categorizing them according to life events, but
I just thought of one or two specific moments, very family-focused
memories.

Did I get the postcards?
Yupp yupp! They were awesome! The square one was way intense! All the
elders in my apartment got really confused when I started spinning a
postcard in circles like I was reading it like that.

Does it happen to me that I am like, 20x more expressive in letters?
Mah, it used to. I talk more now, so I don't really know...

Did we get lots of good food this week?
Yeah, we already had a good amount of necessary shtufts, so this week
was actually way cheap! It's awesome!

What is it like to shop in Japan?
Like shopping in America, but with more fish and less sugar.

Have I seen or been to the Costco here?
Yeah,  that's where we got the four pounds of meat I mentioned two
weeks ago. The pizza is the same! It's crazy!

When I think of a new Book of Brooksby topic, how do I decide?
That's a good question! I have no idea! Sometimes an idea pops into my
head, sometimes I have to think about it, sometimes I look through PMG
or notes I've had before and sometimes someone asks for a specific
topic. Feel free to request a chapter sometime!

Am I thinking of happy thoughts?
Nah, gloomy is the way to go! I never think happy thoughts! That would be silly!

Do I like to talk on the phone?
I like text-based or face-to-face conversation better, generally, but
it doesn't bug me to talk on the phone. If there was no way to do
face-to-face, even with Skype, I would totally call someone and talk.

What calling in the Church would be my favorite? What do I think I
would like to do?
Anything I get called to, God knows it would be my favorite! I want to
help someone, somehow.

What is a hobby that I would like to do when I get home?
Mmm... I might start YouTubing shtufts, but I also wanna write some
books, learn to play the drums, random shtufts like that.

When am I the happiest?
When I am where I am, 100%

We went to landmark tower today! My trainee was all like "I'm
definitely gonna come here every transfer! This is awesome!" And we
had a good time.

Random Story Time!
We cleaned a river! And one of the sisters fell in! Just kidding! It
was fun, but not anything too exciting happened. The End!

Give a dog a treat for me!

Loves to everybody!
Younger Elder Brooksby

Carry four pounds of meat.

People notice. We went to Costco today and got a big thing of meat,
and it was all people would notice as we walked down the street. Got
some interesting looks.

Heyo, people!

We had a Halloween party and it was fun! We basically played
rock-paper-scissors for an hour.

Weekly Questions!

What is new in my life?
So much. There is so much new in my un-varying missionary life!
Really, though, everything is always new, so it doesn't seem too much
different, most of the time.

How is the new area?
It's fun. We haven't had as much time as we would've liked to explore
and talk to people, but we know it pretty well.

How is the new missionary training going? How is the faith training?
It's going good! We're having a party and getting work done! Elder
Wallace seems to be catching on to the work pretty easy, so I dunno if
that means I'm doing my job or if he just picks it up naturally, but
it's nice either way!

How is my language doing?
I haven't been doing much in language study other than marking my
grammar book in a way that makes newbies understand it easier, but I
don't really have a problem otherwise!

Are my suits holding up?
They don't. I get to practice my sewing skills a lot, but they always
look fairly decent 'cuz I've gotten pretty good at
lighter-maintenance.

Are we getting any cooler weather yet?
Yeah, we're required to wear long-sleeves from now on.

How far is the mission office from the Temple?
30 minutes? I don't remember exactly, but not too far.

Do I still need a map for the subway or bus?
Nope! Got it figured out! Having a phone with the train schedules
helps, but it's not necessary.

I saved my companion from a massive spider 'cuz he didn't see it and I
caught him by the arm and pulled him out of the way. He was way
nervous for the next few minutes.

Random Story Time!
We went to a big conference where Elder Ringwood of the Seventy came
and spoke to us and it was pretty cool. At the end we had a Q&A
session and I asked a question that I had had when I was a young
missionary, but by now I had solved the problem but I didn't know what
the solution was, I just knew it wasn't a problem anymore. He answered
my question pretty well and I got some cool insights from it, but
afterwards as he went to leave, instead of going towards the left of
the room and out the door, he turned right and walked over to the row
I was in and motioned me over. I went up and he said "Elder Brooksby,
I dot think I answered your question in the way I should have." And


then he answered the other part of my question with a way cool bit of
advice. It was memorable, to say the least!

Our bishop is the new stake president! I wonder who our new bishop will be?

Loves!

Younger Elder Brooksby