There's even more snow now.....!!!!

Hey guys,

I actually only have 5 minutes. We went to an onsen today and the bus didn't come and the train was late and I have to go sing at a big mission FHE in a few. 

I got transferred to Ebetsu. One of the snowiest places on this island and therefore Japan. I'm with another elder that just finished training and he's a total boss! We get along super well and im learning a ton from him. Elder Shoell actually came with me and is still in my apartment.....

I also became the District Leader so I have to take care of everything that goes on in my area and the one over. I also have to do an 1:30 workshop every week for everyone in Japanese......pray for me. I feel super busy, but we actually have investigators and are teaching lessons everyday!!! It's super great here!!!

Love you, 

Elder Spurling

Zone conference in December

Farewell to Shinoro.....

Hello Family

I am making this voice recording at 10 o'clock at night so I have to be quite. We are laying in bed but do not actually have to be asleep, we have lights out but are really just chillin.   Sometimes we use flashlights and just hang out.  Actually my trainer Elder Jones who is an AP came to do splits with the other elders in my apartment, the zone leaders, and we talked till way late in the dark, it was way cool.... I love Elder Jones, he is my bud.  He is going to "die" (go home) next transfer which is REALLY sad, Elder Watanabe goes home too. It is going to be way lonely in this mission.  I will be one of the oldest non Japanese missionaries.  

This week was super fun, last Monday we had a ward party.  We all go and they make some special rice. We pound the rice with hammers, you may have seen it before but we pound it with hammers and it makes it really soft and mushy.   Then they take it and put in all these ingredients and it is super good, I LOVE it!!  I unfortunately did not get to do it, I lost the opportunity to the primary kids, it was sad for me but the kids are crazy, they are fun kids. After that we had music practice for a concert for the whole mission coming up.  Otherwise, this week we have been feed 7 times this week, which is seriously unheard of in this mission, in Hokkaido.  Nobody feeds the missionaries here.  One of those was today we went to a ladies who was a NA- not active and she was SO COOL!  She had all four of us over with her husband and 2 kids, 16 and 13.   They are all super talented, they love music so we all got to present or do our music talent.  Elder Roenberg played the guitar, and Elder Watanabe played the piano and he is apparently better than we even knew, he is the boss on the piano.  Another family we saw was a mother and son who are both active.  The son is getting ready to go on a mission soon and they are way cool.  We had a super fun time with them, everyone seemed to have fun and we taught a nice little lesson that go pretty deep and then we found out the next day that the mom had called the mission home and said she never wants the missionaries to come to her home again.  Apparently one of the elders offended her but what she said he did, he did not do so we think she is a little bit crazy.  When we left she said "please come again" but I think I will go back again before I leave...... oh yeah I am being transfered this week from Shinoro.  I said good bye to lots of people at church, I love this place and am really really sad to leave. It has been my home for 6 months.  I hate to leave,there are alot of good things happening here.  We taught a lesson this week, it was great.

On Sunday I taught the Gospel Principles class, unprepared, and it wasn't half bad, it could have been better but it wasn't terrible...

So I will tell you where i go, the last few weeks in Shinoro have been awesome.  The ward is great and this apartment has been way fun.  I am super, super sad for us to be separated but it has to happen.

Alright Love you family, talk to you next week

Elder Spurling 

Elder Roenberg had a birthday and his family sent Star Wars stuff so here in crazy Darth Vader masks

They sled in their driveways....no kidding they really do

Good morning family
this week was New Years.  We were busy all week long.  We had a Book of Mormon Day where we read all day long, 10 hours straight.  I did not get very far, some do but I got to 2 Nephi.  I was looking for some specific things and not rushing.  The bad part was that we were fasting, it was so hard.   Especially since we had a crap ton of snacks, candy and bread from our ward sitting everywhere.  I really loved Book of Mormon day, I prayed alot alot alot.  At the end of the day I really felt how true the book really was.  I was so grateful for that day.
The next day was New Years.  It is completely impossible to teach so we spent the day with members.  It was great we spent about 4 hours with one family and then went to another.  That is really all we have done this week is connected with members.  They celebrate all week long so we really could not do anything else.  It was awesome though, there are some way cool people here in Shinoro.   I don't want to leave them but I probably will in the next few weeks since I have been here for 5 months.
The day after New Years we had a deep clean day.  We literally spent the entire day in our apartment cleaning everything.  Took everything apart, cleaned it, and put it back.  It was dumb, and I don't think Elder Shoell liked it very much, but it turned out kind of fun.  It was something to do.
This week we got a ton of snow!!!   You cannot imagine how much snow.  Last week we watched it snow during scripture study, then we got ready to leave and I stepped out the door and it literally went up to my shin.  It got progressively worse the rest of the day and it was seriously knee deep.  We were the only ones out walking in it so we waded through knee deep snow all weekend.  It is INSANE.  They do not clean the snow off the streets.  We have been shoveling driveways like crazy.  Piles of snow are taller than Elder Shoell and he is over 6 feet.  They have to shovel snow into very specific places and they make these piles that their children sled down.  Seriously they sled down their driveways.

I love everybody, I think you are fantastic.  Please tell my Primary class hello, I was thinking of them this week about how awesome they are.
Take care
Elder Spurling