Two e-mails from Chris arrive today!

e-mail #1

Hello!
Well, the work continues here. Everything is pretty good, it has been a lot harder of a week then previously, but I love it and will just keep on keepin' on. So I think I told you about Mervyn. B. Arnolds talking to us last tuesday, that was pretty awesome. I came to find out yesterday that he is the same General Authority that told the story of the boy in Brazil who would get woken up by his priesthood leader on sunday, and have teo go to church instead of going surfing. So one day he tried to dodge his leader by sleeping over at a friends, so his leader went and waded into the ocean and got him to church. Sweet story, you should definitely re-check it out.
I guess I'll tell you a little more about the district, I didn't really get to explain much last week.
Our district leader is Elder Kingsford. He is from Alabama and is a wicked smart guy, he is learning the language faster than anyone else and has never spoken a word of Japanese. He loves to read, he is about half way done with Jesus the Christ, and because of his example I have started to read it as well. It's a long book, kinda hard to read, but talking to him about it has strengthened my testimony in Christ.
He is part of a threesome, his companions are Elder Telemans and Elder Hackett. Telemans choro is from Las Vegas, and is a very outgoing and fun guy to be around. He and I get along pretty good and are working on the language together quite a bit. Hackett choro is from Salt Lake, and is one of the funniest guys in the district.
In our room, we have Huff and Peterson choro. Huff is from Washington and went to BYU for a year, he is a hardcore rock climber. He is the most like me, and I get along with him pretty good. He has the tendency to not get too excited about a lot of stuff, but it has been great to get to know him more. Perterson is from AZ and went to Westwood High. As I get to know him more and more he is so friendly and has so much to offer, he is a spiritual giant but doesn't let that off. He is also a wicked hard worker in all he does, both in the gospel and in japanese. He got the most improved on our first nihongo kuwizu.
My doryo continues to be awesome. He is so outgoing and is so much more loving then I could ever be. In our lessons, he is able to cover up anything I say or miss, and does it in a manner that is warming and friendly to the investigator.
The shimai in our district rule. First, its nice to have them because it keeps the room well behaved and smelling nicer! Take from that whatever you would like. Sister Hafen is a music major and is always smiling and outgoing. Sister Wing is very shy, but has been opening up more and more each day. She is a fun person to talk to when you can get her to talk back. Sister Aland is awesome. She is definitely the easiest to talk to and get along with. We have a bunch of dumb little sayings, like "HERRO KITTY" and stuff, where we put on the cheesiest grins and do peace signs on both sides of our faces. I'll get a picture of it, it is pretty epic. She has a sister who is 19 and has done a year at BYU, I am totally going to write her today. HA! Flippin' sweet.
The food here continues to bnot be that great, it is pretty meh. Every breakfast I eat a bowl of cereal or if they have pancakes/french toast I hit that up. The dinner/lunches aren't that amazing, I don't know what Zack loved so much about it. Someone tell him that the drinks are the bomb diggity, but the food is good maybe one meal out of every four. It's all good, I am keeping healthy by eating a buttload of candy and running a few miles on the indoor track every day at gym. I have also become a volleyball superstar, go me.
Well, give me some ideas on what to write back abuot. I will be doing laundry in a couple hours, so when I do that I will be able to answer any questions I have. I'll take my journal down with me so I can re-count some of the experiences I have had this past week. Well, 16 minutes left on my account for the day, so hopefully I will have some mail by the time I log back on so I don't waste any time.
I love you all, know the work is going good and I miss you!
Love,
Elder Heninger


e-mail #2

Harro!
Okay, so here's the dealio with email. What we do is we go to the building on the third floor of our classrooms, our class is on the fifth floor, the highest, the celestial kindgom if you will. We go to the third floor, log on, hurry and print them out, then log off so we don't waste time. This way we don't use anything over a minute, and can print off all the emails we get. They are only .06 to print off, and the church gives us 6.00 a week, all of which I have been using for drugs.
I have been sick the past week, but that's not really important. Our room is 68 degrees, and the thermostat doesn't work, so that's why I wanted the blanket. I just caught a cold for a few days, a bunch of other guys have it too so I am gueesssing they passed it to me. I just took lots of sudafed, cough drop things, and prayed a whole lot. I'm doing just fine now. So I have fourteen minutes left, what to say....
Japanese is coming along just fine. I am really glad I spoke it in high school, I knew a lot more then I thought I ever knew, and it is still helping me even in week #3. It allows me to only have to concentrate on the tango, the gospel portion of it, and not have to worry as much about undertstanding particles and sentence structures because I already understand them. Marcus said the nihongo from school didn't help him, but I know it has helped me. The Lord has helped me to memorize it even more, an experience I had with this occured three days ago.
As I was studying, I was struggling to remember anything. I bought a keyring with little flashcards, and have four definitions per card so I don't just waste them and have to buy a million like other kids do. So I was struggling, and I just stopped and offered up a prayer to be able to remember the words as I read them. I read through each one slowly, and then was able to go back through and did almost all 60 without any mistake. I know that the Lord is watching over me, and as I put my heart into learning the language, and am not lazy about it, he is going to continually bless me because of it.
So yeah, the district is awesome, the senpai in our branch are freaking awesome. There are two kids from canada, Hill choro and Devuyst choro. Both are from alberta, around the cardston/raemond area. They think I'm freakin awesome for having a tie with canada, both are so outgoing and loving its awesome. The other guy, Hill's doryo, is manago choro. He is from Oahu, Hawaii, and is a short c hubby loving hawaiian guy. He is so funny and brings so much happiness to our classroom hallways. Sorry for the typoes, this keyboard is totally the suck.
Anyways, that is about it for our district and the past week.
I love you and am so grateful for your example to me in all that you have done, and your example in serving the Lord daily in your life. This work is hard, I am so freakin' tired, but I love EVERY minute of it and am enjoying myself so much. Be sure to forward this email and my previous ones to Ryan Hall and Ryan Auhl so they can know how I am doing!
Well, I have another 8 minutes, not sure what to really talk about. I feel like it's wasted time if I dont' use it! I got all the packages, the mail has been freakin' awesome. I like the dearelder.com, but hand written never hurts either. Aland shimai got 8 pieces of handwritten mail the other day, it was a total jodan but we all just laughed about it. Good stuff, I wouldn't mind if you got a bunch of people together and mailed me a ridiculous amount of letters all on the same day. Mail-bomb away!
Watashi wa kyoukai ga shinjitsu dearu koto o shitteimasu. Fukuin o ai shite imasu. Watashi wa Josefu Sumisu ga yogensha de atta to shitteimasu. Thomas S Monson ga yogensha dearu koto o shitteimasu. Watashi wa Iesu Kirisuto ga kamisama no musuko dearu koto o akashi shimasu. Iesu Kiristuo ga sukuinushi dearu koto o shitteimasu. Watashi wa Josefu Sumisu ga morumon sho o honyaku suru koto o akashi shimasu. Morumon sho ga kamisama no kotoba dearu koto o shitteimasu. Morumon sho ga shinjitsu dearu koto o akashi shimasu. Watashi wa Ten no Otoosama ga watashitachi o ai suru koto o akashi shimasu.
The testimony hasn't really had too much added to it, we have spent the week learning more tango, bunpu, and a lot related to families and whatnot. I do love this Gospel and am so glad to be on a mission, and I have truly felt God's love towards me as I do what he wants me to do. Be sure to respond through dearelder or by hand, I am not gonnna be on anymore today. I'll write tonight after the devotional to tell you who talked and how it was!
Well, I love you, pass my love along to all who read!
Ai shite imasu,
Ja mata ne,
Heninger choro