Sun...Rain...Sun...Rain

Man I really wish the weather would make up it's mind! I leave in the morning when it's sunny and end up getting drenched at night because I didn't have an umbrella with me. Anywho, brad and meghan thank you for the ideas. They will prove to be very useful seeing as how my new Branch President is getting huge banners to advertise Free English put up all over the city. Wow, that'll be great!

Feliz Cumpleanos

I just wanted to take a minute to send a ‘Happy Birthday!’ shout out to Dad. Happy 51st. I hope you enjoyed yourself. I apologize for my tardiness in wishing you a happy birthday. I’ve been up in the Japanese Alps for the past three days soaking up the fresh air, bounding through the mountains, and taking a few dips in the ‘onsen.’ I’d post a few pics but my computer is acting up a little right now. I’ll try again later.

Meghan and I are getting psyched for our return to the Valley. We will be arriving to town on Saturday afternoon. Since it appears that everyone will be out of town or otherwise engaged at that time, we were planning on stopping by sometime Tuesday or Wednesday (I’ll be down in Tucson helping Ben & Tiffany move to a new home all day Monday). We’ll work out the details later. We’re looking forward to meeting up with all the Minerlets that reside near home base and want to forewarn you: come prepared to see pictures and video footage. It ain’t a slide show, but hey, what is?

Elder T, Meghan has a few ideas for your English classes. 1) Pictionary. A good fun way to build their vocabulary. 2) Crafts. Making simple crafts while speaking in English is a fun way for kids to remember verbs and phrases. 3) Read books. Make sure the books have pictures and are fairly easy to understand. Ask review-type questions after each page. 4) Watch video or movie clips. Stop frequently and check for comprehension. Easy way to generate vocabulary lists. The most important thing to remember when teaching little kids is…energy. If you don’t show any enthusiasm you’re hosed before you ever start.

I hope that everyone is doing well and look forward to seeing some/most of you in a few days.

The Land of the Morning [HEAT]

Wow, I can't believe it. It's really a hot one today. Not so much the heat, but the humidity just makes me swet like a camel in the Sahara! Anywho, things are moving along here. Brad and Meghan, I have a quick question for you. I am interested in making my english classes more exciting, especially for kids under the age of 12. What are some things that you have done or you think would be fun, but also help to build their english skills? I'm guessing that you taught english classes a lot on your mission. Any advice would be helpful.

Well, well, well

I had a feeling deep down inside that Mom might have forgotten the password for the blog. Mom, it's good to know that you found out how to work this thing. Hombre, it was good to see that you were able to get yourself oriented as well. Now if we could only get Mish, Amy, and Clint & Heather to contribute...

Meghan and I are excited for this upcoming weekend. We'll be heading down to Chosei to spend the weekend with the Sugimotos and the Shiraishis. There's a pretty good chance that Brad's white body will see the sun for the first time this year as we lay out on some exotic beach down there. I'm hoping for the best.

The rumors are true: we are coming home in 2 weeks. Time has really flown by for us. Meghan has gotten the hang of grocery shopping, train riding, etc just in time to go back to the States and never do it again. My internship is in its final stages and I can honestly say that it was a great experience for me professionally and personally. Meghan and I have enjoyed our time here thoroughly and I believe we'll be bringing home enough pictures and video footage to give everyone a taste of Japan (whether they want it or not).

As to why President Hinckley came to Korea so late...there was an article in the Deseret News that said that something happened to Pres. Hinckley's son, Richard, while he was on the plane (the handle of an exercise rubber band broke and hit his eye or something) so they returned to Alaska and got him some medical attention before going to Korea. Elder Richard Hinckley returned home to Salt Lake. The news article has a lot more detail if you want to check it out.

Hope all is well with the rest of the fam and we'll be in touch soon.