Week 2 and still going strong....

So I'm a bad mother....I didn't even send a package up to Randy until today, although the package I sent has some of his favorite stuff like Goldfish crackers and Circus cookies...Oh, and the other reason I'm bad is that 2 days ago I called Randy to come and empty the garbage 3 times before I realized that he isn't here...LOL

His second letter he sent was titled "Dear Mother (And everyone else who reads the letter because I know she'll send it to everyone". Somehow he thinks I will share his letters, I wonder why he thinks that...LOL

He sounds like he is really loving life in the MTC...He does allude to not having time to email everyone back so he said something about Dear Elder....Well, I looked up dearelder.com and it is a website that will print off a copy of your email and get it to him the same day you send it...The cost is totally free as long as he is still in the MTC...I suggest that if you feel like you want to write, send it that way, then he can get letters more often then just on Tuesdays...Since Tuesdays are the only day in the week that he has time to write and do laundry and relax...Also feel free to send him any goodies that you want...I'm sure he is a hungry growing boy.

It sounds like he will be sending me his SD card from his camera soon, as we bought him 2 of them so he can have one and then we will send one back to him with some pictures. Once we get it I can download some pictures to his blog....

Enjoy his letters and what a blessing he has been to all of us in the Tateishi family.....-Mom_

Here is his letter to me....

I love you and I miss you, but I love it here and it's amazing. I learn so much Japanese and learn so much more about the Gospel. Every moment and every penny is worth it to be here here. Every day I wake up at 6:30 and begin my studies that continue until 10:30 at night. It's hard work and I have little time to much else other than study every day. P-Days are wonderful to just relax and to not think.

I have pictures and I'll send my SD Card soon enough to you so that you can see them. It's beautiful up here with the snow and since we are on the top floor of our 5 story building (AKA: Mount Fuji) we have an excellent view of the Valley. Mount Fuji is a pain, because I climb it with a full 20 lbs. of books at least 4 times a day x.x

Not sure what to say, we sit and study scriptures all day, learn to write in japanese, read it, speak it and are trying to be 100% english free. It's a hard task but it's a lot of fun and I'm learning far more than I ever thought I could. I regret nothing and I love what I'm doing. For everyone that knew me as the biggest procrastinator ever, well I don't procrasnitate very much anymore. I don't have the time to do it nor is it worth it. Although this is a hard thing to do I haven't had any real problems adjusting to this new environment. Day 2 I felt as if I'd been here all my life and now it's simply routine habit to do all that I do everyday. I don't miss much from home other than family and friends. I don't have many stories to tell yet since we are simply doing the same thing over and over again. Guess the stories will get better once I get out to Japan.

ummm.... Hard work and reading the scriptures is all I do, food is decent but gets old fast. Sorry to all those that I didn't email, I only have 30 min. of email time and I wrote as many as I could. If you want to get a hold of me sooner trying using a website called Dear Elder. I'll get the message as a hard copy and then I'll spend less time reading emails and more time replying. Send me addresses if you aren't immediate family cause I can't email you. Love you all

Randall K.K. Tateishi Choro


P.S. I love you mother and wish you well, your in my prayers everynight. Stay strong and stay safe, and remember: Always read your scriptures.

First emails to home

Well as you know my little brother Randall just left for his mission to the Japan Kobe mission. He is spending 3 months in the mtc before he ships out to Japan. My mother and I are going to be posting pictures, letters, emails and whatever we can in case you want to follow Randy while he's on his mission. For those of you who don't know what a mission is, Randy is spending the next two years of his life out serving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He will be going door to door telling people about the gospel and also helping the members there stay active. We are all very proud that he has done this and Hope that this blog will be worth reading.

Mondays are when Tateishi Choro gets to email family members and I'm not sure if thats the same day he gets to write to people. First off lets give you his address at the MTC:

Randall Kahiwa Kenji Tateishi
MTC Mailbox # 272
JPN-KOB 0401
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

I'm showing off his first real email home to our mom and dad and then I'll post the one to me (it's not as fun)

> Dear Mother,
>
> I Love you to Mom. Everything is just fine here, the days keep flying by so fast and it feels like I got here yesterday. The spirit is so strong here and everything just seems to fill my mind. I'm so excited to be here and to be serving my mission. The language is coming along fine and I'm learning it very quickly.
>
> So I guess I have plenty of stories to tell you already because this first week has been awesome and filled with excitement.
>
> My first day here you dropped me off earlier and they put me with the international missionaries. There were 3 from Australia and 1 from mainland china, a few from Brazil, some from Canada. I wandered around with them until we began to check into our rooms. When I got to my room I didn't have my luggage and spent the whole day trying to find out where it was before I finally found it and got to unpacking late. My companion is Elder Canon from Pason Utah and is quite a lot like me, my two roommates are Elder Boss and Elder Mckellar from Adalaide Australia. Elder Mckellar and Elder Canon are both going to Kobe with me and Elder Mckellar is quite hilarious and keeps us entertained. He built a 6 in. snowman (his first snowman ever) today, I'll send the pictures later.
>
> I guess I don't have much else to say, other than I love you and dad and stay safe and strong. Watashi wa Iesu Kirisuto ga Shinjitsu de aru to shitte imasu. Iesu Kirisuto ga aganainushi de aru to shitte imasu. Iesu Kirisuto ga ikite iru to shitte imasu.
>
> Your loving son,
> Randall Tateishi Choro

Then he wrote to me and titled it Konichiwa Mishite (mishite is how people in Japan would most likely say my name) here it is:

Hey Misty. How's life going? How's Hurricane?

Lol. It's amazing here, having the spirit as my constant companion and being able to earn so much about the Gospel. I'm sooo glad that I came and I will never regret it. I love learning the language and the studies. The MTC so far is just awesome and I love it. The 14 hours of study although sometimes they feel as if they never end are amazing, to read the scriptures, to learn how to teach, to learn how to speak a new language. I don't miss much other than my family. Love you and Doug.

Randall Tateishi Choro

Well thats it for now I'll try to keep things updated as much as possible!