And it should be a cuss word too.
I hate cockroaches.
Sorry about how late this weeks email is you guys. This week was an uphill battle. As what will probably be my last transfer in Kaneohe comes to a long winded close, I look at the bright side. At the very least wherever I go next won't have roaches. I hope. Please don't have roaches. (please) That said, transfer news is this Saturday, so maybe I'll stay and maybe I won't, but from what I can tell this may be the moment when I ~finally~ get to leave the island. If I could pick any island to go to, I think I would like Maui. Maui has less wild dogs than big island or Kauai, and its more populated too. That's why I think it might be a good fit for me. But that said, you never really know. I might just wind up staying here, in the most amazing place on Oahu, even longer. Not that I would mind, as getting to spend the holidays with this ward that I have gotten to know so well would be a great opportunity for me, but still. President Bekker asked me the other day if a change of scenery would be nice, I said I'd miss this place, but that I was ready to move on if need be. I don't get to pick of course, and I'll go wherever I need to go, but that said, if I had to compare it to a video game, I have memorized the map and am ready for the expansion pack.
As for my dear companion, he's been making life a bit more difficult for me as of late. It's really hard because I have really tried to show him that I love him (no homo) and want to be good friends with him, but all he ever seems to want to talk about is how much he dislikes the area and wishes he was back on big island where he can go fishing again. I understand that feeling of longing, but I wish he would try to open up to the people here a bit more, because I love these people a lot, and I'd like it if he could see that, or develop a greater love for them himself. I tell you this not to vent about him or make you think less of him, I just think a few extra prayers to soften his heart to this area could do him some good, so please keep that in mind.
Now then. The main attraction. Kind of.
This week, for as much of a challenge as it was, for a number of reasons, it had a moment I will never forget. I've wanted to be able to teach in Japanese for a long time now. I've had opportunities before, but this week, I had a miracle. One of the members in our ward, Sister Jin Bo of South Korea, found out I could speak Japanese. And therefore asked us to teach her work friend from Osaka, who was curious about the church. Her name was Maiko and we ended up teaching the restoration. That morning I had had the prompting to study the restoration in Japanese, and of course I spent over 2 hours on it, not having a clue why, but studying like it was life or death. She had so many questions, but her English wasn't advanced enough yet to understand the church vocabulary. So when she got confused about something, she looked to me and I translated for her. It was surprisingly easy to explain things to her that way. So Elder Hoke taught and I helped out when explanation was needed. The most amazing feeling of accomplishment came over me when I spoke to her. And she was so surprised when I said that God had a body and looked like us. She had never heard of such a concept before, and found it comforting. When we were done, she asked how she could know it was true, and I told her that all she had to do was pray. She invited us back, and this Saturday I will do my best to teach the plan of salvation to her in full Japanese. Please pray for me so that I can have the spirit with me during this Saturdays lesson, because teaching is much harder than regular conversation, and despite studying extra hard, I know I still need all the help I can get. That said, this was an incredible experience, and I'm very glad that all that studying did something. To me, this lesson mattered. It was because of what I said that she was able to understand that she was a daughter of God. That is such a simple concept, but I finally feel like I was useful in a unique way.
Finally we come to the elephant in the room. I'm sorry, did I say elephant? I meant roach. Evil, monstrous roach. Now fun fact about roaches, they're like rabbits. Or, if you prefer, very very active people with limitless patience and pain tolerance. They never stop having kids it seems. The eggs of a roach take two weeks to hatch, and it was Elder Hoke's bag that brought the vile creatures here from big island. A while ago, mom sent me a stockpile of roach traps, bait, and killer. I've waited to use it until now, but yesterday he left his unfinished soup on the table, and when I got up to use the bathroom in the night and turned the kitchen light on, it was like every roach in the whole neighborhood showed up to party at the soup kitchen. Science may never fully understand the amount of things that built up inside of me in that moment. Perhaps it was midnight fatigue. Perhaps it was anger at my companion for not cleaning his darn soup up. Or maybe I just hate roaches that much, but whatever the cause may be, something, somewhere, snapped in me that night. I looked at the tiny faces of evil that tormented me so, and I decided that it was time to get some of my pent up frustration and stress out of my system. Those tiny terrorists picked the wrong wimpy white boy to mess with. I may be a Rogers, but roaches will NOT be my neighbor. You trespassin' my hood roaches, now we gon' throw DOWN.
I got the bait, and it was in every crevice, every place I saw movement, every tiny black speck with antenna, bam. I emptied a full bottle in there. I wasn't sure if it was necessary to wear the gas mask, but I wasn't taking chances, so I struck down my tiny oppressors with unparalleled rage and aggression. I have declared war, so we shall see if they return tonight. If so, I have much more where that came from. It felt good to be the Hulk for once.
Anyway, Happy Halloween everybody!
Until next week!
Also this gecko was in Maiko's house. She said I could take a picture. Apparently he has lived with her for almost a month now just on his own accord. She leaves fruit out for him sometimes and he licks the juices up apparently.
Sorry about how late this weeks email is you guys. This week was an uphill battle. As what will probably be my last transfer in Kaneohe comes to a long winded close, I look at the bright side. At the very least wherever I go next won't have roaches. I hope. Please don't have roaches. (please) That said, transfer news is this Saturday, so maybe I'll stay and maybe I won't, but from what I can tell this may be the moment when I ~finally~ get to leave the island. If I could pick any island to go to, I think I would like Maui. Maui has less wild dogs than big island or Kauai, and its more populated too. That's why I think it might be a good fit for me. But that said, you never really know. I might just wind up staying here, in the most amazing place on Oahu, even longer. Not that I would mind, as getting to spend the holidays with this ward that I have gotten to know so well would be a great opportunity for me, but still. President Bekker asked me the other day if a change of scenery would be nice, I said I'd miss this place, but that I was ready to move on if need be. I don't get to pick of course, and I'll go wherever I need to go, but that said, if I had to compare it to a video game, I have memorized the map and am ready for the expansion pack.
As for my dear companion, he's been making life a bit more difficult for me as of late. It's really hard because I have really tried to show him that I love him (no homo) and want to be good friends with him, but all he ever seems to want to talk about is how much he dislikes the area and wishes he was back on big island where he can go fishing again. I understand that feeling of longing, but I wish he would try to open up to the people here a bit more, because I love these people a lot, and I'd like it if he could see that, or develop a greater love for them himself. I tell you this not to vent about him or make you think less of him, I just think a few extra prayers to soften his heart to this area could do him some good, so please keep that in mind.
Now then. The main attraction. Kind of.
This week, for as much of a challenge as it was, for a number of reasons, it had a moment I will never forget. I've wanted to be able to teach in Japanese for a long time now. I've had opportunities before, but this week, I had a miracle. One of the members in our ward, Sister Jin Bo of South Korea, found out I could speak Japanese. And therefore asked us to teach her work friend from Osaka, who was curious about the church. Her name was Maiko and we ended up teaching the restoration. That morning I had had the prompting to study the restoration in Japanese, and of course I spent over 2 hours on it, not having a clue why, but studying like it was life or death. She had so many questions, but her English wasn't advanced enough yet to understand the church vocabulary. So when she got confused about something, she looked to me and I translated for her. It was surprisingly easy to explain things to her that way. So Elder Hoke taught and I helped out when explanation was needed. The most amazing feeling of accomplishment came over me when I spoke to her. And she was so surprised when I said that God had a body and looked like us. She had never heard of such a concept before, and found it comforting. When we were done, she asked how she could know it was true, and I told her that all she had to do was pray. She invited us back, and this Saturday I will do my best to teach the plan of salvation to her in full Japanese. Please pray for me so that I can have the spirit with me during this Saturdays lesson, because teaching is much harder than regular conversation, and despite studying extra hard, I know I still need all the help I can get. That said, this was an incredible experience, and I'm very glad that all that studying did something. To me, this lesson mattered. It was because of what I said that she was able to understand that she was a daughter of God. That is such a simple concept, but I finally feel like I was useful in a unique way.
Finally we come to the elephant in the room. I'm sorry, did I say elephant? I meant roach. Evil, monstrous roach. Now fun fact about roaches, they're like rabbits. Or, if you prefer, very very active people with limitless patience and pain tolerance. They never stop having kids it seems. The eggs of a roach take two weeks to hatch, and it was Elder Hoke's bag that brought the vile creatures here from big island. A while ago, mom sent me a stockpile of roach traps, bait, and killer. I've waited to use it until now, but yesterday he left his unfinished soup on the table, and when I got up to use the bathroom in the night and turned the kitchen light on, it was like every roach in the whole neighborhood showed up to party at the soup kitchen. Science may never fully understand the amount of things that built up inside of me in that moment. Perhaps it was midnight fatigue. Perhaps it was anger at my companion for not cleaning his darn soup up. Or maybe I just hate roaches that much, but whatever the cause may be, something, somewhere, snapped in me that night. I looked at the tiny faces of evil that tormented me so, and I decided that it was time to get some of my pent up frustration and stress out of my system. Those tiny terrorists picked the wrong wimpy white boy to mess with. I may be a Rogers, but roaches will NOT be my neighbor. You trespassin' my hood roaches, now we gon' throw DOWN.
I got the bait, and it was in every crevice, every place I saw movement, every tiny black speck with antenna, bam. I emptied a full bottle in there. I wasn't sure if it was necessary to wear the gas mask, but I wasn't taking chances, so I struck down my tiny oppressors with unparalleled rage and aggression. I have declared war, so we shall see if they return tonight. If so, I have much more where that came from. It felt good to be the Hulk for once.
Anyway, Happy Halloween everybody!
Until next week!
Also this gecko was in Maiko's house. She said I could take a picture. Apparently he has lived with her for almost a month now just on his own accord. She leaves fruit out for him sometimes and he licks the juices up apparently.
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