Tender Mercies/Too Rebellious

February 12, 2016

So...they released me from being district leader because I was being to rebellious, and they were talking about sending me home because I punched one of the Elders in our district...

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Hello Family! I love getting all of your letters! Everything is going really good here! I love the spirit of the MTC! I am so blessed to have such a supportive family who is so supportive. We are learning so much here, and sometimes it is a little bit hard to grasp and handle, but then right when your mind is about to explode, it's Pday! The setup for missionary work is truly inspired! We got Ipads, so that's fun! Ipads are a great tool, and I can read letters at anytime! So I will get your emails whenever you send them! Ipads are also a big distraction for some Elders sometimes. Being focused is the number one key to being successful here at the mtc. The more focused you are, the more you will progress. In life when there is no focus, their are no accomplishments. I am learning a lot of Japanese! It's really fun to be actually being able to put some sentences together, and know what a lot of words mean! However, we still have a long way to go! We went to the temple this morning and the Lord blessed me with an amazing tender mercy. When walking out of the sealing room, I looked back and saw an older man who I recognized, with his cap on I couldn't tell who he was right away, but then I realized that it was Patriarch Packard!!! I talked to him for like 10 minutes, and it was a really good to see him and feel of his spirit, especially since I had just read my patriarchal blessing last night! The lord really does love us, and whenever I question myself, or feel frustrated, I feel comforted by the spirit in some way or another, and today it was running into our awesome patriarch! The food here is still good! It is interesting to have every meal be unlimited however. I think that its good to help me bulk up, I don't want to gain weight though. It's just interesting that something that could have been a whole meal at college or at home is just a side here. haha. The juices here are really good, and it is a lot like eating at efy everyday!

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So I'm sure you're all a little bit concerned that I punched an Elder in our district, but he deserved it. 

 I'm kidding I really didn't punch an elder! But I was released this past Sunday from being District leader, but My companion (Doryo) and I were called to be zone leaders! (That's why they released me as district leader.) The branch presidency called Graham Choro to be district leader, which is really awesome! We also gained another Elder in our district, who was fluent at Japanese enough to be on the fast track because he took 2 years of it in high school and two years in college. He's graduated from college in business management! But he only converted two years ago to the church (he's 24) and so he knows no gospel words in Japanese, so he got put with us instead and is going to be here for 5 weeks total. He is super awesome! His name is Holbert Choro! He is from Las vegas, and he is very short, and is a little bit Asian, but mostly white. He's a super solid Elder and is really a good influence on the elders in our zone. Two of which have wanted to go home already. The MTC is what you make of it, and if you're not ready to work hard or don't know why your here then it is going to be a long hard road, but the opposite is also true. For most of us here the time has flown by! We are trying to help all of the Elders in our district to know why they are here, and to be exactly obedient. Mostly we are just trying to love them, and help them want to be here, because that is our number one goal is to not have them go home. You can' t receive the gift of tongues, and the spirit won't help you very much if you don't get out of bed in the morning until 7 AM! But It's super fun to meet people here, and see Elders and Sisters come in that you know! It was awesome to see the Amau family! They are awesome! When Sister Amau said goodbye to her little sisters it was really sad because they reminded me a lot of my little sisters. I miss you guys! But the spirit helps me to not feel too sad. We are actually hosting again this week, and Amanda Crawley wrote me telling me that she was coming in, so I can probably be her host! (They let elders host sisters until they get to the bookstore, then they'll get a different host that is a sister.) It feels like 4 months since I was home, and yet each day flies by like it was only an hour long. We get an hour of gym time each day which is super nice! I play basketball a lot, and some good volleyball! The elders that were really good at basketball left this last Monday. I became really good friends with this Elder named Elder Clarke! He is super cool! He is going to go to BYU Idaho when he gets back!! He is going to California on his mission, in the same mission as Dad I think! (Samberandino?) He is spanish speaking, and will be awesome! He is super good at basketball, and we're going to make an intramural team at BYUI when I get back! I love you all so much, and hope that you know that I pray for each of you every single day. I know that the Lord loves you, and I know that following the commandments is the happiest and most rewarding way to live life. I love you. 

Our friend, John Amu, with host Elder Conover!

Love, Conover Choro

Dropping off his little sister at the MTC

Hello Family!

February 5, 2016




I love hearing from you and am glad that you all seem to be doing so well! I miss you a lot, but am so busy here that I don't have time to stay sad. haha. We have quite the district! haha Grahm Choro is a stud! He's 20 Years old. He is way into crossfit Eric! He loves skiing, and has done summer sales the last two summers, and did so well! He is going to be an amazing missionary. His companion, Harper choro, is the biggest character ever. He is the super skinny, very pale skinned, pretty tall elder, in the pictures I sent you. He is well, the best word to describe him is geeky. He's awesome, and super super smart. He is a "programmer", loves his video games, and is also apparently a DJ, and always talks about the lifestyle of a dj. It's hilarious. Some quotes by him, "As a programmer I have no need for muscle." What about being able to hold your kids when your older? "I can build a robot to do that." hahahahaha another..."I don't get up at 6:30, because I am worried about my safety. I will literally run into things!" haha another..."I can build robots to move my couches". "I'm a dj, I'm used to going to bed at 2 and waking up at 5." (The dj comments are hilarious, because he's the last person I would assume to be a "DJ".) Another quote: "My mind is blown by how well they protected this computer! I literally cannot bypass any of these walls, and that has never happened to me!" 

We also have another elder in our district who is also really tall, but not super skinny, (Still relatively skinny though) He is extremely smart, and also a character. He has lots to say, all the time, about all of his opinions and ideas. He's the kind of person who likes to take 10 minutes seemingly to contradict someone, only to end up agreeing. It's hilarious. As far as ages, only me and Harper choro are 18, everybody else is 19. Our zone leader Monopori choro is from australia, but is Samoan, he's the biggest G ever, and is the funniest coolest elder. He is 24 years old!! He's so awesome. Basketball and volleyball here are sweet! My companion is great! He's also a G, more of a quiet G. He has 3 tattoos! haha. 

The days have started to fly by here! The first 4 days were good, but they lasted an eternity, but now the days zip by. I haven't had any issues getting up on time, so that's been good! The food here is good! I am not sick anymore, so I can eat things that I would like, and not just drink water and cranberry juice now! haha They have really good granola and honey bunches of oats type cereal here! I haven't eaten any really good cereal here, because I wasn't healthy, but I might eat some sugar cereals now. haha. I've been drinking almond milk with cereal! It feels a lot better. We went to the temple again today! I love being a missionary! It's so fun and I am learning so much about what it really means to be a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I've found that whenever I have a judgmental thought about someone, or am allowing myself to be bothered by someone, that the spirit is not with me. I have been able to overcome a lot of my pride, and not be irritated by things that can be extremely irritable! haha. Japanese is awesome! I am learning a lot! I am almost as good at Japanese as I am at German! It's crazy how fast we learn things here! I can pray, and bear my testimony, and many other things in Japanese! I set a goal to learn at least 20 words a day outside class, 5 during each meal, and 5 in the morning while getting ready. At night I make flashcards for the next days words. I might up it to 30 words a day soon! The gift of tongues is real, and helps a lot! We have progressed a ton in the language!

This is the G 24 year old!

Last friday night we taught our first Japanese investigator! I went into the lesson literally thinking that he was not a member, and that we had to speak Japanese to teach him the gospel. He didn't understand any English at all. I barely knew any Japanese and I had to teach this investigator about how God is his heavenly father who loves him. My companion is awesome, because he knows a lot of japanese from being in the mtc for 5 weeks here a year ago. He helped a lot, but the spirit was strong and I was directed to where I needed to look to find the words and how to say what I wanted to say! It was such a cool experience. I have learned that the more that I trust in the lord with total humility, the more he helps us. I went into the next lesson pretty confident(In myself) and it did not go well at all. The third lesson was great again though, because I recognized that I had to be humble and know that any ability I had to speak was soley because of the spirit. The fourth lesson was also good, and we invited him to be baptized, and he said he would after learning more, and now we are getting a new kudosha (Investigator). That investigator (Inasan) will most likely become one of our new japanese teachers, and then we will have another volunteer investigator to teach. It's awesome! It's really important to see the investigators as real people, and pretend that they really are real investigators, who want to learn about the church and know literally no english. The more I do that the more the spirit helps me in the lessons. It is super awesome. I love being here. I am tired a lot, which isn't necessarily bad, it's just how the mission is, haha I'm sure Eric can tell you that. I love you all so much, and hope you are doing great. I am praying for you and I know that Heavenly father and Jesus Christ love you so much. 

Love, Conover Choro