I get to be Santa!

So I don't remember what I told you all last time so I'll just start from last Monday.  Elder Wilcox and I went down to Kamogawa for a Chinese party with Yi, Tai, and their friends. Yi and Tai cooked a ton of Chinese food for us and it was soooo good. There wasn't a man in their apartment when we showed up so we went on a little walk while we waited. While we were walking around the neighborhood we noticed a cool spiral staircase on the side of a neighboring apartment building. Kamogawa has a pretty beautiful view of mountains and the ocean, which I really like, so we went up the stairs to take a look. Once we got there we noticed that the stairs had a little slide attached to it in case of an emergency like a fire....or missionaries that can't go to amusement parks and will take the next best thing. So we rode the slide down and this one old lady inside just gave us this look as we went by. Probably wishing she was doing it herself.
     We had temple P-day on Tuesday and it was good. I don't know what else to say about it other than it was a spiritual boost. We had District Meeting in Chosei and basically I just opened up a discussion and told the other missionaries the story of my (mission) life. I talked about all the hard times and the unpleasant feelings etc. etc. and then how I personally overcame it and was grateful for my experiences. When I get home maybe we can do the same thing. Apparently they really liked it and took it to heart because every day since then hey went out and found a new investigator! They're so awesome!
     We had our apartment checked by some senior missionaries this week and usually it's an unpleasant experience for missionaries. But not this time! Our apartment is spotless and they had no improvement points. Ok, they had one. I got into the food storage and ate some of it because I ran out of money and was pretty much fasting for a few days at the end of the month so they laughingly told me to save that for emergencies. But other than that we were good. My mom sent me like 3 months worth of spaghetti and pancake mix so I won't ever go hungry again. Thanks Mom!
     We went finding around our neighborhood and just started knocking on apartment doors nearby. One lady didn't have interest, but she gave us a giant apple! Later on an old man gave us a big bag of oranges from the tree in his backyard. We usually don't get food when finding, but God was looking out for me and provided something yummy. Cooler than food was we knocked on this one lady's door and she came out to talk to us. Her name is Miki, they're the Miki family, and she used to go to a Christian church and read the Bible. She was actually looking for a church to take her kids to and we were like, "Have we got the church for you!" She should come after the holidays because she's visiting family. We teach little kids English once a week and since my family sent me a Christmas package with candy in it I thought, why not share it? So I handed out some candy to the kids if they got an answer right and apparently they don't have minty stuff in Japan. This one 3 year old girl had never tasted mint before and lost it crying like I had poisoned her. I felt so bad but at the same time completely lost it laughing. Bad teacher.
     Our Branch does caroling once a year down in front of the train station. Luckily I got to be here for that because it was kind of fun. We went right after church so there weren't really very many people but a few people stopped to listen. Right as we were starting this group of girls from Shorin High School (a school I've volunteered at a few times) walked by and recognized me. They stopped to listen for a few songs and even clapped for us. This old white guy stopped and listened and he clapped too. There were only like 10 people that listened but it was really fun.
     Oh yeah! We busted out the Santa suit for this year's Christmas party and since it fits me just right, I get to be Santa this year! I get to bring unspeakable joy to the children of the world this year! They can't sit on my lap and if they asked me for a present I might not understand what they want, but I can say "Ho Ho Ho" and hand out candy. Easy stuff.
     I'm really excited for this Christmas season. I've been asked to give a talk on Christmas about what my family does on Christmas. We open presents and then play with those presents. Luckily I have a week to think about it. My challenge to you all this year is to remember the true meaning of Christmas and try to spend this Christmas not wrapped up in the commercialism, but really focusing on what matters most. Since next time will be too late... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Elder (Santa) Rogers