kyari

[Kyari]

This is Locke writing in news from Kyari regarding his mission to australia, where he is currently training for it in Utah. (He asked me to put them in for him due to him not having access to a computer)

Things are great. This place is immensive! It wasn't a good trip though... missed a couple of flights out of Toronto and didn't get to Salt Lake City till 1:00 Atlantic time... but I'm ok! The MTC has completely lifted my spirits out of a very humbling experience with the airlines.

I had all my missionary stuff. I'm not sure Id I mentioned it, but this is a korean speaking mission. I'm not sure how much I'll use it, but I've got korean nametags and korean scriptures and everything else! I'm just excited to be here, personally, but this is all a bonus! Yay!

All of the stuff I've I'm doing here ... Everything ... is blowing over me at an astonishing rate. I'm praying for guidance that I can learn it all and stick to procedure! But I will!

Anyways, not much to say. I'll write often, I promise!

- Elder Aitken (Kyari)





BTW, just to clarify what I didn't at the top of the message. Kyari asked me to post what he sent me in letters, and relay peoples responces to him as well. Anyways, if you want to get in touch with Kyari or send him a note, either post it here or Email it to me at lockebeulve@hotmail.com with Kyari or Eldar Aitken in the title.


Locke

[Locke]

Sorry bout starting the new thread, but I had my setting on posts from the last month and didn't see the concerning kyari thread. I thought it got lost in the middle of the forum troubles somewheres. Sorry bout the mutual same threads...

[Zedie9]

:graduate: I hate we weren't able to give Kyari a proper goodbye, but I wish him well on his journey nonetheless. How long will he be gone, and is there absolutely no way he can sneak off to a cyber café or something? :spin:

[Kilu]

I thought Kyaris name was Daniel Aitken O_O

[Kyari]

Kilu : His name was Daniel Aitken. When he became an elder in the mormon church he became Elder Aitken, and thats why he signed his letters Elder Aitken.

Anyways, time for letter number 2 from Elder Aitken

Ahnya hashumnika! Are you at peace? I've been 1 week here at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. It can be frustrating, but I'm learning the language quickly and am immersed in 'pokum kong-boo hada' - Gospel Study. I'll he here 12 weeks. 11 more, anyway.

Last thursday a living apostle spoke to us! That was humbling... I am always impressed with this place. Anyway, it's my dinner time, and I have practice teaching afterwards. See ya in 2 years!

- Aitken Chang No - Elder Aitken

P.S. The food here is eerily good!

[Locke]

Kyari will be gone for 2 years on a mission to Australia. He will be missed, and in regards to the cyber cafe thing, I'll ask him in the next letter I send out to him, along with good wishes from everyone who wants to wish him luck. :rofl:

[Kilu]

:)
Of course we wish him good luck :) OR, atleast I do :p

[pikatsu]

Phuah, never trust anything religious...

[Locke Cole]

:dontsign:

There should be no account sharing whatsoever on these forums. I see Locke and Kyari have the same IP address, so this is a one time warning. No matter the situation, passwords are not to be shared. Please note this.

Best wishes go out to Kyari, however no matter how long his time away from us, his account should be for him alone.

[Giea]

Best wishes to Kyari! Even though we talked like forever before his trip. Hope to hear from him soon.

[Pezito]

Yep, good luck Kyari ! I hope you learn lots of things and enjoy this new experience. :)

[Locke]

Locke Cole: Sorry bout me doing both users, was only doing it because Kyari asked me to. I'll post any further letters in my user, I guess.


Anyways, here's the next letter I got from Kyari. Be forewarned, it's a long one :P .



Hello RPGamers! As I write, I am sitting in the Chapel in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where our Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, Gordon B. Hinckley has Church every Sunday. What a breathtaking sight! It's very white... and it's been kept very well preserved.

Today I'm taking a tour of Temple Square in Salt Lake City; the very heart of the Mormon Church. Here stands our flagship temple and many exquisite buildings and houses dealing with Church Administration. I'm very proud my tithings pay for the sort of offices fitting to Prophets and Apostles of God .... Wow.

9:20 AM - Family History Centre, the largest Genealogical archive in the US and possibly on earth ... kinda awe-inspiring seeing how many great men like Winston Churchill and President Bush come from the same heritage 500 years ago. I can see the Conference Centre now; an auditorium that seats 30,000 people. It looks smaller on TV (haha).

9:30 AM - We've gone through the East Gate of Temple Square. This is the 'old' Temple Square ... the Tabernacle and Temple are here. We're heading to the aforementioned Conference Center now, I wasn't sure it was on the tour ... I guess so.

Well, we're in there now, the large part, the 30,000 seater ... She's a bit big. A bit. They're tuning the organ at the moment. Kinda annoying, but necessary I guess. This place was built in 2000, dedicated by a prophet of the Lord. They're setting up for our world conference in October.

The seats have a wheat pattern on them. It symbolizes that Christ is the Bread of Life ... Oh, there's a Korean speaking tour guide/ missionary here. I don't understand her when she talks anything but English. Oh well, that's what you get from 2 weeks of learning.

9:52 AM - That's it for the Conference Center ... off we go to the Visitors Center at North Gate. There's a massive Cristus statue in here I need a picture of ... Woo! There it is! Picture time! That's a big old statue. This place is immense ... I saw a model of old Jerusalem - Every building was recreated in there. Down to, like, people houses. I can't wait to check out the Temple. I appologise if I write marginally about it. That's ... just the way it goes, you know? Not supposed to write about sacred stuff...

10:03 AM - I can hear music from the Tabernacle just by the temple. I can see the old meeting house as well.

Ah, the Tabernacle. Pinnacle of Acoustic Prowess in the 1800's ... what a beautifully crafted building. There's a guy playing the massive organ very well.

Now we're in the assembly hall ... smaller. A bit. These places carry that sense of musty, ancient air so many old religions gathering places carry. There's alot of history to these places, and I feel kind of humbled being where I might take a slight part of that.

I really appreciate these 2 places, these cathedrals ... they don't have the gothic dark flavour of most famed cathedrals; rather they are couloured mostly white with gold and light green trim ... very pure.

They're doing work on the Temple grounds. I think it's so honorable the condition they try to maintain!Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord, the brass engraving reads out front, tall as it is. Everythings full of symbolism around the temple. What an exciting, peacefull, spiritual place... full of pictures and highly exquisite, top-notch engraving and carvings... I can never doubt it's divinity. Truly.

That's pretty much it for the tour. Look up some pictures online! It's good stuff. Have a good one!

- Elder Aitken

[Pezito]

I wanna see those pics ! :spin:

[Giea]

- Elder Aitken

Wow, what a cool title, Elder Giea.. I like it!

[Elhaym van Houten]

Wow, Kyari, that sounds great...

make sure to show us some of those pictures, that place sounds really interesting :)

....congratulations on being an elder...
somehow that makes you sound older than you are :D
Anyway, I wish you good luck for your mission to Australia...I imagine it might become a great experience fore you.
(and I hope you can drop by if you find an internet café somewhere)

[Locke]

I sent off a letter to Kyari earlier today featuring the comments of those who I had the chance to read at that point (Elhaym, I'll send yours in the next one). Anyways, just to clarify, I don't think any pictures will be coming from Kyari for a while, but most of the places he looked at have pictures online (google probly has them if you search it). Anyways, I'll submit any more letters as I get them.

[Mithrandir]

Tell Kyari, that Mithrandir sends some potatoes I just bought at the market. They are from PEI.

And maple syrup too. You can't be Canadian and go on a trip without Maple Syrup.

And speaking of mormons. I recently bought a CD of christmans songs and it's by some mormon choir. The arrangements are just great. I think they were weitten by John Rutter and some other guy. Anyway, with my music band we're doing a christmas CD and we recorded those tracks (only instead of an orchestra, it's a concert band). When I'll have my copy, I'll put some except for you.

[Zedie9]

:) Speaking of Kyari, Mithrandir - perhaps you could rip that and put it on Kyari's server. ;)

Hey, Kyari! What souvenirs are you bringing us back from Australia? You have plenty of time to amass some good loot! :hungry:

[Locke]

Sorry I took so long to post the next letters, but my computer died on me. I lost the use of the main hard drive, which is always fun. Anyways, it's up and running now, so here is the first letter I got after it died on me. I'll send off the letter I have ready for him now that I can add in your questions. No responce yet from the earlier comments, but you'll see it posted when I get one. Anyways, here's the latest instalment of the Kyari thread :spin:

Hello RPGamers! Greetings from Provo, Utah! I'll be here another ... 8 weeks? 9? Who knows. Whatever.

Life on a mission is better than ever! This place is immence ... I have to say that I'm proud to be doing the Lords work.

Well, at this point, I know enough Korean to talk about the Nature of God ... like, "He is our Father" and "He Loves us" and stuff. I can talk about the Restoration of the Gospel ... in total I know about 200 words, plus conjugations and verb formats, as well as some dependant clause (when, in order to, stuff like that). Not bad considering I've been here 3 1/2 weeks, and that conversational English contains 700-800 words ... woo.

New movie or church is putting out - "The Restoration". As missionaries, we get a sneak preview. Good stuff.

It's really neat hearing about all this stuff from Apostles and Prophets called of God, rather then Joe Shmoe down the street. I appreciate this place immensly.

We're getting more Korean Speaking missionary trainee's in a couple of weeks ... We're gonna pull the old "We're new here" joke on them, where we pretend to be new to the Training Centre, and pretending we know Korean because we studied it before we got here ... make them think they were supposed to study it ... should be fun! See ya!


- Elder Aitken (Kyari)

[Locke Cole]

I wish I could go to new places and stuff. He's lucky :)

[Kilu]

Yeah. Gotta agree with you there. Eventhough I don't share his passion, it would be awesome to see new places and travel some. I'm envious :)

[Locke]

RPGN! Hi there! Greetings from Provo, Utah!

Our church is coming up with new proselyting materials soon ... it'll be the first new stuff that our church has put out in 30 some odd years... I'm excited to be part of the transition.

I didn't know before, but Japanese and Korean are very close. I'll be speaking Korean in Australia, so it's going to be no trouble to learn Japanese as well. I feel obligated to do so after I get home. I probably will. Yay!

Slow week ... I'm now recording tapes to send to my family. Should be fun. I like recording. Got some musical "supplies" too. Hee hee! I like it here so much.

Anyway, dry cleaning will be done soon. Talk to you later!


- Kyari (Elder Aitken)

[Giea]

That's great! Now we know that Kyari is having fun =). That's really good to hear, thank's Locke.

[Pezito]

And yes, as far as I know korean and japanese are quite similar in some cases (you can hear it if you watched subbed movies). Actually, someone told me lately that korean is even harder to learn than japanese ! Good thing for Kyari, I guess. :p

[Locke]

Sorry bout the wait for these last 3 letter, but my comp went on the fritz again, so I had to get it fixed. Kyari sent his address for everyone to send him mail if they wanted in the first of these 3 letters, but he leaves for Aus. in a couple days (it's in the calendar), so I'll wait till I have a letter from him in Aus. to give everyone his mailing address. Anyways, Here's 3 letters from Kyari.


Hello RPGamers!

I wonder if any of you people know Korean. It's a very difficult language. Pronunciation is not in any way easy. I struggle with it... but I am on the Lords errand .... so no worry!

People keep sending me mail. I don't even know them! It's crazy! I guess there's people around here who just appreciate missionaries. Wow!

Last week was what we call "general conference" - it's where millions of us get together and through sattelite, the internet, TV, or Radio (or being here live) get to listen to living prophets and apostles speak to us concerning revelant information that they feel the need to dispense to us. I had an excellant time. Too bad it's over.Oh well! 6 months till the next one.

I'm finding, over here, how much I really like music. It's crazy! I mean, I find myself buying boxed sets of tapes that cost me $2.00...) My point is,music is good stuff. I aquired a hymn book and read from it regularily. Some music is just so inspired ... and fun!

Anyway ... this week, all the directors from the many missionary training centres around the world are here for the launch of the new missionary teaching program. It's exciting; the tension is immense!

Anyway, see ya next week!

- Elder Aitken



Hello RPGamers!

This week has literally been the most important week at the Provo Missionary Training Centre in 30 years. And I'll tell you why.

This week we moved over to a new systen for teaching the gospel. All the old ways are gone: The doctrine is the same, of course... see, the problem was our missionaries had stopped teaching the gospel properly. They knocked on people's doors all day and if someone let them in, they'd teach a rote, memorized lesson with the hopes that maybe it'd make sense. Then, they wouldn't teach about how we live in any way shape or form, simply because they thought they didn't have to! This is very wrong. So the system was scrapped, and this week, a book called "Preach My Gospel" was handed too us.

Preach My Gospel emphasizes prayer, study of the scriptures, and listening to the Holy Ghost as effective teaching methods - not the random methods used before ... it emphasizes focusing on how our message applies to them, and says to focus what you say on the needs of the person who's listening. Of course, you have to tell them the whole thing at some point, but it's stuff like "if they're confused about who God is and our relation with Him, don't talk to them about how faith in Christ can help them overcome sadness." In other words, don't be a complete idiot. But that's not all.

Many people here have searched their whole lives for the meaning of our existance. People study years and ponder and come up with nothing. Zippo. Zilch. Or if they do, it's full of holes and then isn't very reassuring... sometimes, we are left to ask, why? "Why are we here? Where did we come from? What happens when we die? Who is God? Is he real?

Pages 31-70 of Preach my Gospel explain it all, according to our doctrine. A grand total of 39 pages, 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper. It's nothing new to me... but I have never seen the meaning of life explained better. Who we are... what our potential is... who God is... what Christ did... I am humbled and amazed by their efforts. It is phenomenal work, and I can't wait to teach the answers to lifes questions with the simplicity provided by this book.

I can't wait to get started. Thanks for your responces! See ya!

- Elder Aitken

Hello RPGAMERS!!!

What an action-packed laser-week! I don't know what a laser-week is, but oh boy, it must be full of action!

Our church put's out a lot of movies for educational/entertainment purposes. One of them, made about 2 years ago, called "The Restoration," was about the life (early life, that is) about our founder, Joseph Smith. So, get this: the boy who played Joseph is here in the missionary training centre, Now! He's going to New Hampshire. How exciting! He did so well in the film. He had to get a haircut, though. It's a bit odd.

I sure am missing video game music. But that's why I've been given a brain, no? It's forcing me to learn to play them on the piano. Which is good, because now I'm improving on the piano. Ha!

I've been eating much Korean food here. My comanion is Korean and his parents keep sending him food. Lots of seafood.

So at least I can learn to teach gospel principles in Korean. I may have no ability at all to hold a conversation, but that's ok, no? I'll have a trainer, and I'll learn. Fun!

I hope it starts snowing soon here. It's weird being amongst so much snow way up in the mountains but having none here. I mean, really. Where is my snow? It keeps raining. Oh well.

In any case, I'm off to Australia in a few weeks. Talk to you soon!

- Elder Aitken

[jetblue]

Ane yo Elder. I know a few words and phrases in korean but I use to know more back in high school with some of my korean freinds. I forgot alot and since I have no one to practice with. When I use to go to my freinds house I learned to cook some korean dishes and till this day I love kimchee. The more sour the better.
Remember that bowing is very Important. Also when you enter a korean home remove your shoes even if they are wearing shoes. And always show much respect to the seniors of the house.
The korean community here in chicago is huge. They have a tv channel and lots of store's.
Good luck in australia and dont drink to much soju juice.http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Locke]

Got two letters, each a day apart. Here they both are, anyways.


Dear RPGamers,

This week I am quite excited! I feel like I have somewhat a grasp on the Korean language and I will be studying Japanese and Mandarinas well, requisite to the mission I am going to. My travel papers came - I make the 14 hour jaunt to Australia on the 15th of this month.

It sounds exciting. I'm sitting here, thinking, "let me out of here! I wanna go!" We talked to a Mission President who served there. He said it's beautiful.

I don't know if you know Stephen R. Covey, but he came to talk to us. He wrote "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." He is such a great speaker!

Anyway, Meeting prophets and apostles ... famous people ... going to Australia in a week ... Woo! Have a good one!

P.S. Address:

Elder Daniel Joseph Aitken
Australia, Sydney, South Mission
PO Box 403
Mortdale, NSW, 2223
Australia.


Hello RPGamers!

There will be a 2-3-5 or somewhere therein pause in my post's starting after this one. This is because ...

On Monday I'm off for Australia! Woo! How exciting! Unfortunently, mail takes some time to get around internationally, so .... yeah.

Anyway, I'm all set to go. My affairs are in order, I know enough Korean to preach the Gospel and have/understand rudimentary conversation, so ... SEND ME OFF ALREADY! Heh, I'm a little impatient, you see. Oh well! I hear the roads in Sydney are a little messed up. Sounds Unboring!

I've enjoyed my stay, though, at the Missionary Training Centre. Very... Spiritual place. I'm kinda sad to go, and leave so many friends and good memories. See, it's a little bittersweet, because I'm extremely anxious to get out there and talk to the Australian - Koreans! I'm a bit tense and anxious. Or perhaps I just need something to eat? I dunno.

Our language teacher just had a baby! Wow ... the cycle of life goes around, does it not? I'm excited for him. He showed us how to celebrate the Korean "Pepero" day; Pepero are Korean candy - chocolate covered pretzel sticks. On November 11, because the date looks like 4 Pepero sticks (11-11) everyone in Korea eats and shares Pepero. It's kinda a cheap way of making a corporate holiday ... but Pepero are delicious!!!

Also we learned the 1 hour version of Korean history - how Koreans say their history is bloody and war - filled, but in actual fact they've only had 2 major invasions in the last 2000 years, and their dynasties were so peaceful that they lasted longer than most other dynasties in the world, and how they've never attacked other countries. So there.

Anyway, see ya in Australia!!


- Elder Aitken

[Kilu]

Address eh :) Maybe I'll send him a letter myself :)

[Locke]

That'd be why he asked me to put his address up :D.

[Kilu]

Though I have no idea what to write in it :p

[Locke]

I don't think he'd care overly much what any letter from somebody said. He'd probly be glad to talk to anybody :p . Anyways, here's the first letter from him sent from Australia :D

Hello RPGamers:

If only you could see the paper I'm writing on... My first week in Australia is up. It's fun! Hard work, but fun! Very Asian. Sydney is 50% asian I believe. Although that's not to say I haven't seen Australians. They're just all drunk, that's all. Like the one that sang Elvis to us. Good times.... Good times...

The President of this mission is a jet-flying multi-millionaire who lives in a mansion (but I think the church bought the mansion). The people investigating our church (the people we teach) are surprisingly friendly. One cooked us dinner last night. We have no car ... or bike.... so sometimes we walk for an hour to appointments. Aiee!

This place is so different... cars look the same but the steerings on a different side ... food is the same brands, but the taste is so different. It's fun!

I got alot of cool Asian stuff though. It's hard to stay away from it. I got a pencil (green) that says "Zzokki is a cute friend" on it. Wah!

One of our churches in downtown Sydney is in a skyscraper. It looks like an office! Weird!

Anyway, that's the initial Sydney report! Ciao!

- Elder Aitken

[Zeugma 440]

I got a pencil (green) that says "Zzokki is a cute friend" on it. Wah!
:rofl: That's a korean brand, I think... sound typically asian :rofl:

One of our churches in downtown Sydney is in a skyscraper. It looks like an office! Weird!
wow, that's cool ! :shades:

[silverDistortioN]

did i ever mention that i have some relatives in sydney? they're 50% asian too. =)

[Astrolounge]

My aunt is the former govener of Queensland.

[Ephraim]

Former governor of Queensland, eh? Does that mean you live down under too?

Hi everyone! Kyari's older bro here! I just got back from one of those missions he's on a few months ago, though I was assigned to the Philippines.

From the letters I've been getting from Kyari, it sounds like he's been having a blast in Australia, finding strange (from his perspective) foods that taste good, and other such things that you experience in international travel.

We've been in regular contact, and he's been thinking of switching to me or his other brother to make his regular posts, so look forward to more from Ephraim/Kyari.

[Yuffie]

My dad's the ambassador of Tuvalu. :D

All I know is it's some islands in the south pacific and there's a total population of 10 000 people and it's combined area is 10 square miles. :rofl:

1000 people to every mile if you missed that. :p

[Ephraim]

1000 people to the mile? Sounds like the Philippines. 80 million people on a few islands just south of Hong Kong... pretty packed in the capital city.

[Kilu]

We've been in regular contact, and he's been thinking of switching to me or his other brother to make his regular posts, so look forward to more from Ephraim/Kyari.
Just remember to use your own account only. Locke Cole wasn't all that happy when the other Locke posted with Kyaris account when he started this letter thread.

[Ephraim]

Just remember to use your own account only. Locke Cole wasn't all that happy when the other Locke posted with Kyaris account when he started that letter thread.
Duly noted. :peacesign:

[Ephraim]

More news! As a missionary, Kyari gets 2 phonecalls home a year, one on Mother's Day and one on Christmas. So I talked to him for an hour and a half Sturday night. He's having a blast, loves the people, though he says he's only met about 2 real Aussies in his whole time there so far. I may just start stealing the updates that Locke's supposed to be doing, seeing as they come through my house first anyway.

On a side note, the whole "2 accounts signing on on 1 IP address is entirely possible, as Locke and I are next-door neighbors. Not that we'd use his computer to go online, but it's still technically plausible. Don't worry, though, we won't do it. :ponder: http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/evilgrin.gif

[Kilu]

2 accounts from 1 IP? I have same IP with my brother (pikatsu) as well. What's your point?
The point was that there should be no account/password sharing.

[Ephraim]

You're perfectly right. Sorry. :blush:

[Ephraim]

2 letters from Kyari! They're on some nice stationery, with korean lettering at the top.

Hello RPGamers!

Australia is so... Asian! Korean... Japanese... Chinese... it's really funny. There's a town in the Sydney area called Strathfield. My companion and I went stationery-hunting there. Strathfield is known as Little Seoul - Seoul being the capital of South Korea.

It was a bit of a hunt, but we found a stationery store. I got a gift pack with stationery... pencils, pens, supplies, useless junk... it's great!

That's my story this week. Honestly, it's busy. Too many people to teach... oh well. That's a good thing! See ya!

---------------------

Dear RPGamers,

Busy week. I can hardly remember anything that happened. It kinda flew by. We have a lot of work to do... a lot of people to meet, a lot of Korean food to eat http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/biggrin.gif; I finally learned how to "properly" hold chopsticks, according to Koreans, Japanese and Chinese. In actual fact, each country has their own method. And then within countries there are "sub-methods." It's weird. Plus, Korean chopsticks are metal, flat, and hard to hold.

Okay, so every "Mission" in which we serve has boundaries. 2 days ago I learned that Olympic Park, where the 2000 Summer Games were held, is ACROSS THE STREET from our mission boundaries. Aiee! I could have cried when I heard that...

At least I get a Christmas package from my grandparents. Merry Christmas by the way!

Oh, by the way, January 2, 2010 is a palindrome. Whee! See ya!

[Ephraim]

Haven't posted in a while. But I got an email from Kyari! Here it is, cut and paste directly!
----------------------------
Dear RPGamers,

I have decided to stop letter-writing, and I am now writing to you by way of e-mail, through a proxy poster (my brother). Rest assured these future posts should more resemble my hand-typing from before (and actually be not-a-week-late! What fun!)

I hope all fares well. I understand there have been responses on this thread, and as soon as they are relayed to me, I will be able to speak to you more clearly, and with less blind groping for subjects to talk about.

The past week has gone well. Things always look up when the members of the church want to feed you nearly every day. It takes less strain on the wallet, that's for sure. I'm taking my savings and setting them aside for now. Perhaps they will avail me somewhat in coming weeks. For now, I wait.

Sydney, Australia is preparing heartily for Australia Day. I assume they are going to re-use the New Year's ball for it, because as of yet they still have not taken it down from the Harbor Bridge. Odd. It's clearly visible from the Opera House steps and/or Circular Quay. Nobody here is sure why Australia Day exists - not even the Aussies. Another day to go out drinking, I guess . . . anyway, there are giant banners floating around Hyde Park. I think they're getting excited.

Missionary work goes well. We have met many new interesting people, and one is preparing to be baptized in February. I am also meeting a strange number of Catholics who want to Bible-bash. Oh well. A silly game, bashing is.

Anyway, that's it for now. See ya!

[Yuffie]

I really admire Kyari for getting out there and putting everything else on hold while he follows his dreams and ambitions. So many people would keep postponing and worrying about something like that. It's great to know he's gone for it and even better to know what a great time he's having. :)

That's enough normal speak from me for now. :D

[Mithrandir]

Seems like you're doing well. That must be quite fun for your family to know everything's fine and you have no problems.

Just so you know, the green party won the last elections in Canada. And Quebec is separated with Ontario.....just joking...man if we can't make a joke about Canada without receiveing potatoes...

[Kilu]

http://rpgn.lintbox.net/hosting/userfiles/Kilu/potatoes.gif

[Zeugma 440]

http://home.comcast.net/%7Edanhersam/mordor.gif

[tanisthalon]

Lol, where are these coming from?????

[Kilu]

Who knows. I have had that POTATOES one for quite a while now, no idea where I got it originally.

[eViL bAz]

LOL!!!!!! That was really funny wherever you get it they have a good Imagination and creativity

[jetblue]

http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/biglaugh.gifninja wizardshttp://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/biglaugh.gif

[Zeugma 440]

This one always makes me smile, even after a billion times :D Got the link from some random poster on VGM Central.

[Yuffie]

Sort of thing I'd like to make, but I'm far too lazy to find images...and well...do much really. :p

[Kilu]

Obviously we are still in need of this.


http://rpgn.lintbox.net/hosting/userfiles/Kilu/gandalf.jpg

[Yuffie]

Tee hee, that'll never grow old.

[Maxin]

I found a bunch of those animated .gifs the other night...but some were, well, perverted...is THAT the only subject they could touch when they made these things?

But the ninja wizard one keeps making me laugh everytime I see it...

[Yuffie]

Don't show me...but how the hell could anyone turn Gandalf and Co. into some sort of perverse act? :confused:

It just doesn't seem plausible! Or right!

[Maxin]

Let's just say it involves males, and that's it. That's really all I want to say. But there were a bunch of them. And apparently they were enjoying making them.

Eh, the gall of some people...

[Ephraim]

New post from Kyari! :spin: I left a physical post at home from about New Year's that just arrived today, but here's the email:

----------------------
Dear RPGN,

Sorry for not posting last week. I was in a bit of a rush; we went to the Sydney Opera House that day. It was Australia Day - I think that's their 4th-of-July; no one really explained to me what it was. Yeah. Anyway, we stopped off at the Opera House and took some pictures. A very enjoyable time indeed; Sydney's Australia Day Parade takes place in the harbor, and we got to see the tall ships in there. So much fun.

Yeah. Things are shifting around. There's a new missionary in our flat, from Vancouver (in Canada). He's originally from Korea. It's pretty cool; I enjoy having that kind of mentoring going on in my language study.

This week I have decided that if everyone realized these 5 things, all of Christianity would stop being completely confused about every point of doctrine whatsoever. They are as follows:

1) The rights of the Priesthood are INSEPERABLY connected with the powers of heaven, and the powers of heaven cannot be handled or controlled, ONLY upon principles of righteousness.

2) Not all spiritual manifestations come from God.

3) Science is in no way at war with religion; those who believe so do not understand what religion teaches.

4) If all men would stop wondering what God thinks and simply ASK Him, people would be less confused.

5) Spiritual truths can only be discerned with spiritual eyes.

Ponder over that. See ya!
___________________________
More tomorrow!

[Ephraim]

Hey, another letter from Kyari - hand-written style. This one's kinda old, I kept forgetting to bring it to work.
______________________________
Dear RPGN,

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year! Things are well in Sydney. I have been anxiously engaged in my business about here... prospects are no more than looking up.

I have been strangely busy, but so it must be... for if I wasn't, I would be strangely bored out here. Sydney is a city that opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 6:00 PM... rather boring, to be completely honest. Unless you're looking for fun.

I have been reading the Journal History of Joseph Smith, the first leader of our church. It's hardly worth knowing a thing about the persecution and growth of early Latter-Day Saint history without first reading this. Few volumes have I found more interesting or enjoyable....

In any case, Christmas went well; various packages were sent to me, and received with much thanksgiving. Hundreds of people were crowded on the steps of the Sydney Opera House to watch the New Year's fireworks; a magnificent sight, indeed.

I need to go get groceries and check my e-mail, but I shall write again soon!

-Kyari

[Ephraim]

Here's an email from Kyari, just received it:
______________________
Dear RPGN,

This week I ate at a restaurant called the Crystal Seafood Chinese restaurant. A member of our church treated us (rather randomly, I might add).

Lemme tell you, that place was NUTS! I swear! They ushered us to a table (I don't think the waiter liked us since we were still in white shirts, tags, and carrying scriptures with us), and gave us a little card. Then, a bunch of people ran around with carts full of food, asking us if we wanted anything. If we said yes, they stamped the card. At the end, the card was taken to the front, to tally the price.

Anyway, amongst the three of us, what did we have? Let's see . . . . . . 3 bottles of water, fried baby octopus tentacles . . . Sichuan-style ribs, a plate of dumplings, Jiaodses, scallops and scallop dumplings, mango pudding, soy sauce covered greens, deep-fried vegetable wraps, spring rolls, and a plate full of king shrimp wrapped in a rice paper wrapping. Needless to say, at the end, we were in a lot of pain.

From my experience here I have learned that Chinese food in North America is fake. I have never seen an actual Chinese restaurant here serve:

- stir fry
- egg rolls
- fortune cookies
- chicken balls
- pretty much everything else.

Anyway, I'll continue to . . . er . . . 'study' the food here and tell you how it goes. See ya!

[daniel]

what did i miss where is he:( and how come kyari can't just visit here and post:(

[eViL bAz]

Well for what I heard (read :p) its that he is in a Mission Trip in Australia and he its in there I dont remember the time he would be there but yeah Kyari its Out there doing Good things :) ( I respect persons that have their side well defined :) )

[Ephraim]

Part of the mission rules are that Kyari can't visit any websites, even those related to the church he's serving, except for one: the church's webmail site. So he's writing through me.

Though I must admit, when I served a mission in the Philippines, I used to visit & post here. I stopped after a month, though.:emlaugh:

Kyari will be away until September 2006.

[Yuffie]

Ugh...I'd never survive on a mission...I couldn't eat any of the food. :knockedout:

Actually...that's the seem reason I can't survive anywhere I go...so I guess it's not just to do with missions. :D

[Ephraim]

Food is a difficult thing, when you're in a foreign country. But you can always take the good view: I lost over 50 pounds in the first 6 months of my mission, and kept it off for the rest of my stay!:dance:

[silverDistortioN]

what, you don't like filipino food?
the dog is delicious. =9

(...kidding, of course. >.>)

[Ephraim]

I actually wasn't allowed to eat dog, not that anyone ever offered (that I know of :p), and I don't even want to think of balut (steamed duck egg, with half-developed embryo). I actually got used to most foods there, though, hence the stop in the loss of weight.

[silverDistortioN]

cooking dogs has been illegal there for a while...
i'm guessing that's why you weren't offered.

[Ephraim]

Not as far as I heard...


I even saw a picture, one of the guys who was there for the exact same period took a picture, it was hung on a rack and being cooked by a welding torch... but then he was assigned to a remote area, where there's really no one to check up on law enforcement, even if they could get past the Muslim militants. I stuck mainly to the city, where dogs were too disease-ridden to eat.

[silverDistortioN]

http://www.internationalwildlifelaw.org/phil_animal_act.html <-- section 6.

...but yeah, that probably qualified under the "remote area/muslim militants" clause.

[Ephraim]

Kyari's RPGN post!
___________________
Dear RPGN

This week will be short; I don't have much time.

Interesting stuff. We've been meeting with members of our church to make sure they don't go apostate or anything. They in turn give us food. Many of the food. Delicious.

I am doing in-depth studies of the scriptures. I think some people pass them off too lightly . . . there are things in there that can be only understood through God's help. Yay! Time to study about the state of spirits between death and resurrection and the preaching described in 2 Pet: 3 and 4! Yay!

Anyway, Doubleday Publishing just put out a public copy of the Book of Mormon. Hard cover, nicely bound, beautiful jacket. I saw it today. I was going to buy it, but . . . 25 bucks? Nah, I'll stick with my free paperback copy, thanks.

Anyway, see ya.

[Ephraim]

Another email from Kyari:
______________________

Dear RPGN.

This week has been a tough one. In addition to being unnaturally busy with frequent, consecutive appointments at every hour of the day, I have also been absent during two consecutive deaths in the family - one of my uncle, and one of my grandmother.

It's been rather difficult thinking about what I should do. On the one hand, I don't want to be away from my family in this period of time. The deaths were on either side of the family, and so both families probably wish to be together as much as possible. Plus, many of them have no faith, or do not at least share mine, and I do not want to insult them by diligently remaining in Australia.

On the other hand, I know my obligation to God, and I do not want to break any covenants I have made with Him. It's been hard wondering about home all this time, but I believe my duty lies to God first, and then to my fellow man, and that He knows where I should serve and to whom, and that I should listen to Him.

I am going to stay here the full time; I know it's tough, but I will. The surprising thing is (or maybe not so surprising) that the Gospel teaches some very important things - one, that if life is seen as a beginning and an end with a bunch of crap in between, well, of course it's going to be depressing. Only through seeing all things as eternal - that good desires are rewarded and bad desires and actions require punishment, do things fall into place. And only even a bit. I do not understand the depth of what I believe in the least. And, two, that if all men throughout history could know that the family is an eternal unit that must be worked for and preserved, that the charity and pure love shown by the world would increase a thousand fold.

I have some things to think about. But at least I know they're true. If I didn't, well . . . I sure wouldn't be out here preaching for 2 years while Satan is picking off my family one by one.

Best of luck,

-Elder Aitken (Kyari)

P.S. I hit my 6 month mark yesterday! Gah, what have I been doing for 6 months?

[Ephraim]

Kyari writes again:

So last week I was COMPLETELY laid to waste. I mean 100%. Ran a fever of 39.1C (that's about 103F for you American folks). Hilarious fun and all. No TV, of course, as a missionary, and so I was holed up reading all week. Reading and writing. And doing whatever. 'Whatever' being not eating, that's for sure. I was on Amoxycillin for the last while, and that wasn't very fun. Gave me explosive . . . . . . well, yeah.

On the plus side, it's been fun sitting around reading. I think I've gained a greater appreciation for Holy Writ. I feel pretty unqualified as a writer in comparison to the things they wrote. Gah. The lives of some of those people . . . Often they will completely forego spiritual discussions and sermons in favor of chronicling the actions and lives of some of the most morally solid lives ever lived. Often I learn more from what they did in comparison to what they said. It's better to have a model, I believe, than a method, in finding a righteous path.

Anyway, observations of the sick. Yeah. See ya.

[Zeugma 440]

woo ! :D :D
:birthday::birthday: http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/birthday.gif !!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYARI !!! :bday: http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/birthday2.gifhttp://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/birthday2.gif

[Kilu]

Happy Birthday!
:cheers:

[Yojimbo]

yup,

http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/birthday2.gif

and kilu, depending on his/her age its more like this below.
:drunk::drunk::drunk::drunk::cheers::cheers::cheer s:

[Locke]

Hmmm, Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really don't think that I could ever envision Kyari having any type of alchoholic drink going into him..... But all the same, happy belated birthday, and good luck on the next year and a half.


Oh, Ephraim, when you guys are preparing an email to send to Kyari, could you do me a favor and let him know that your friendly neighbor/whatever will be sending him a letter sometime in the next week. :p Thanks.

[Ephraim]

No prob, Locke.

BTW, another email came today!

**************************

Dear RPGN;

Sory for being slack, it's because I'm a jerk. Feel free to slaughter me with vile libelous posting.

Yuh huh, so anyway, things are going well in Sydney, Australia. Nothing's exploded, the Opera House still stands, people still drive on the left side of the road, and I still need more sleep. And Koreans are loud as usual.

It's pretty much been same-old here. Except we seem to be meeting with many members of the church lately to eat. I don't know if it's because they have too much food or what. Members love missionaries! I think.

Anyway, it's been raining on and off lately. The other day we walked an hour and a half in blinding rain to see an appointment that didn't show up. 와. And I've been fighting off a cold ever since. Anything you've heard about the Sydney monsoon season is completely false. There is no monsoon season. There is only monsoon. To be a season it would one day have to end. On the plus side, I've figured out where I can buy baguettes. Mmmm . . . bread.

So I've met at least a dozen French speaking people out here and I'm starting to figure out I know a lot more French than I think. The problem is, though, that the people here learn Paris French, and the real French are all from the Polynesian Islands (i.e. Tahiti), and I can't understand what they're saying and they can't understand what I'm saying. Oh well. I guess it's hard to keep a language 'as-is' for 200 years. Sucks to be me.

In other news, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) is hilarious fun. Especially with a companion who speaks almost-but-not-perfect English. You see, someone as such is easy to use as an example (see: "Elder Hong is similar to a pig. Now say it together! Elder Hong is simi . . ."). Yeah. It's fun.

Erm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . yeah. That's about it from this semihemisphere. Just trying to keep up the Lord's work and keep members from going apostate. Beware of pride! It fells countries and tears away at men! And eat your vitamins! Preferably the chewable variety (or 'masticable' as we say in French). See ya!

-Elder Aitken

[Kilu]

와
:confused:

[Ephraim]

I'm pretty sure he has a korean keyboard, that's probably the English rendering of the code.