No Me Gusta!

Hola, Oi fi!

So I just got transferred from Kanazawa Japan to South Padre Mexico! Actually, I`m in Suzuka, but I couldn`t tell the difference. From the balcony of my apartment I can see the Atlantic ocean (which kind of feels liek the gulf of Mexico). There`s tons of fast cars - including an f-1 racing track that we plan to visit today - and every language besides Japanese. The ward of around 60 people is half Japanese, and the rest are Brazillians, Bolivians, other Latinos, and Phillipinos. It`s a zoo of languages - and we get to translate all through church! Elder Caro is amazing. His Parents moved from Chili when he was 1, to Australia - so he speaks fluent Spanish, English (with that crazy auzzie accent), Portugese (which he`s picked up on the mission) and Japanese. What this all amounts to is teaching lots of South Americans lots of good lessons while I sit next to him and just pray in my head over and over. We`ll have a couple baptisms this upcoming weekend - and probably a few more in a couple more weeks. It`s a fiesta.

So last night, after teaching some investigators, we came to a party at one members house. Two of the ward missionaries - Brother Ricardo and Sister Nancy - drove us and we all had a big sushi party with about twenty people from the ward. Ricardo and his wife are both from Bolivia and only speak Spanish. As we drive from appointments, Sister Nancy tries to teach me Spanish in the back of the car. It`s slow, but pretty entertaining. Anyway, after we finished eating sushi and headed off to our final lesson appointment, we got into the car. As we drove off, Nancy started exclaiming "Sushi, no me gusta, no me gusta!" and pretended to throw up. It made me laugh quite a bit. Not liking Sushi is something easily understood across all borders. (actually, sushi is pretty good, just not 20-25 dollars good).

Being around so many foreigners has been really interesting. I forgot that people acted differently than japanese people. In Gospel Principals class that I taught this past week, lots of people were joking around and just having a great time ragging on one another. It remember faintly that fun stuff like that happens at church back home - but it was pretty peculiar. I kind of forgot that church isn`t serious 100% of the time - that it should be fun. Of course the most fun is when we are edified and enriched by the Spirit - but still, church should always be apleasurable experience.

Well, here`s the location of my apartment if you`d like to check it out on google Earth:

N 34 Degrees 50.175
E 136 Degrees 35.386

I`m doing very well and am very happy. This may be my last area - which is kind of sad - but it`s going to be an amazing adventure. I love you all so much -thanks for your prayers, they are well used. I`ll let you know more details on the adventure next week - until then, tudo ben, tudo efesta. (All is well, all is a fiesta!) With love always,

Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Japan Nagoya Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints