Stories: My first Dod
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 -- Add Story
| REAL GREEN
By Elder Victor L. Simard III
My Traveling companion, Elder Stephen L. Richards, and I having just spent our five days in Tokyo doing intensive Nihongo benkyo, were put on a train for Kyoto. When we asked how we were going to know we were in Kyoto, Elder Blackwelder told us that the trains were always on time, we were supposed to arrive at 10:45 P.M. and that we should get off the train then. I felicitously asked him What if the train is still moving at 10:45? He answered with a straight face If it is 10:45 the train will be at Kyoto. Get off even if it is moving! But what do we do then? We whimpered
Dont worry, your we sent a telegram to your companions and they will meet you. He lied.
At 10:45 P.M., just as he had told us it would, the train arrived (and stopped) in Kyoto. We got off as instructed and saw
NO COMPANIONS!!! Nobody who looked even remotely like a Mormon Missionary. Really frightened, we made our way to the main part of the eki and still saw nobody who looked like a Mormon Missionary. We found a large map and uselessly stared at it.
After we had stood there for about two years (ok, maybe only a few minutes) a fellow who we later identified as an Eigo Bandit approached us and in perfect English said Canu I herpu you???
We had to restrain each other from hugging him. We said that yes we needed to go to this address(showing him a chidashi on which, Elder Blackwelder had assured us, The Kyoto Shibu address was written). The man explained something that sounded like he had to catch a train but that he could put us in a cab and tell the cab driver where to take us. He did, and since we had no choice but to get into the cab (You guys remember Japanese cabs?) we got in. The cabbie took us to a dark narrow street and let us out, pointing down a darker alley. We did think we may have been in the right place because on the fence just beside the alley was a poster with a fellow we were sure must have been Moroni. (or Mormon, or Nephi, or maybe even some guy from the Hill Cumorah Pageant,)
Carefully and quietly we made our way down the alley until we came to several doors (for those of you who dont know, Kyoto had no church house then, they rented a hall on Sundays and the Elders had an apartment
down a dark alley) Looking around, Elder Richards pointed at a small board, on which were some funny shapes drawn in black ink, and asked if that top funny shape didnt look a little like the funny shape on our golden questions pins? I agreed that it did and allowed as how the second, third and fourth funny shapes also looked similar to those on our pins.
About this time a window opened on the second floor of the apartment. A sleepy voice asked, What do you want? Astutely realizing that the voice spoke English (reasonably well for a Hawaiian) we asked if this was the Mormon Church. In answer we heard the voice announce, Hay Elder, our DODES are here. Now I didnt know what a DOD was, but assumed I had just come half way around the world to be insulted in the middle of the night.
A moment later, however we were being welcomed by Elders Kanekoa and Hayashi to the mission, and to Kyoto, They then introduced us to the benjo, which they tried to convince us was used by sitting on it with our back against the upright part. Being experienced world travelers, however, (we had been at this world traveling for nearly a week) we smugly told them that we knew better, and that it was used by
well you remember.
The next morning Elder Richards went downstairs, only to come running back up screaming that there was a WOMAN!!! down there. Elders K and H claimed they had forgotten to tell us about O Nishi Shimai, our maid and quite possibly the best cook in Japan. (But that is another story).
Elder Simard |
| |
|
|
|
List All | Add Story
|
