Thanks so much for your emali. I love hearing from you and hearing your advice. Its good to know that i have a loving mom. I love you to so much. I also like that you are still the same person taht you were when i left. I got a quilt trip through reading an email. Yup!!! you havent changed and i cant wait to go home. I am just glad i didnt have to look into the eyes. hahah I really did appreciate all that you said. This week i am studying about the Holy Ghost in my personal study becasue i really do need his quidance in my life as a missionary and has a person. I really need and want to know where God wants me to go and what to say. So i am really trying to focus on it this week and hopefully for the rest of my mission. You are right too. I shouldnt of been made but i was really upset that my guy didnt show up and i didnt want to take critisim from anyone. But I am going to do better.
I hope that everything is ok with Breylle and her baby. I was so suprised to hear about waht happend. Tell her and Kayson taht they have my prayers. I will pray for them. Thanks for the update about them though. IT was good to know that KEss was present and taht he let you knwo that he was there. Janalyn was tellign me that she could feel his presence too. I really look up to KEss. I love him so much.
Befeor i forget, i want to let you know my ideas about the Newsletter because you said that you want EVERYBODIES input even mine. So here i go. I thought about it this morning. YOu should have a Miracle of the week or month. Like the best miracles that had happend in the month or 4 weeks of the month. I was also thinking you should do a Missionary Work section. Like something cool that somebody did besides me with sharing the gospel. I thought that would be cool. Another one is having a question of the Month. Have it be a difficult question that would take peopel a while to quess it. Then whoever quesses the right answer first, give them a treat or promise them something. I dont know, maybe to go get In n Out with mom and dad. That was my ideas though. Hope you like them.
My week was really good. Last monday i had this delicious PIE. It was Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse pie. It was so good. The best slice of pie that i have had in Japan. Pie isnt famous here like in america. It was so good. I cant eve describe. I am going back for my bday and my comps bday. From there i was on splits with the most conceded person i have ever met. All he did was talk about himself. He was super prideful. I didnt like how he did missionary work either. He was super rude to people and then he started doing business with them. Way bad. He even said taht he loves money more than a family. Way sad right? This is a missioary Too. I was way taken back. He was an older misionary too. He goes home in 3 months. I was super suprised. We had a lesson with our top gator Koh. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity. He committed to live both of them. BUt what scares me is that he asked about homosexualtiy. I hope that he is not gay. THat would ruin me. I really like this kid alot. I dont think that he is gay but it has been on the back of my mind for a while. He has a date to be baptized on the 4th of next month but wont make it because he needs ot come to church one more time and get his moms permissoin to be baptized. SO this month for sure. I was on splits again on thursday but with a missionary that is more my age. It was super fun. I really liked the missionary and we just talked and loved people and did missionary work the right way and we had fun. So it was a good day. Friday we had district meeting and district lunch. Saturday was transfer calls and wanna know what. I didnt transfer. I am still in the same place of Yamate. I still have the same comp too. The only thing that changed was that i am no longer the District Leader. My reign is over for a season. I will be back though. haha. Yesterday i fasted for the people and that i would be able to find the Lords elect. We then had homemade hamburgers for dinner. It wsa so good. It has to be the best burgers that i have had in Japan. Naybe because it was made by an american. It was so good. It was made just like we used to make them at home. It made my comp homesick. but i was in heaven. It did bring back good memories though.
Its crazy, my birthday and my 1 Year Anniversary (Hump Day) are this transfer. I will be 20 and will have been on my mission for 1 year. I cant believe that. Time is goin by really fast for sure. I really feel like i was just at home celebrating my bday and dads bday. I can remember the day i left for the MTC so clearly. It doesnt seem that long ago. I cant believe that in 6 weeks i will be on the down hill slope. crazy!!!!! I hope that i get a little something for my bday adn Hump day. Those are big events as a missionary. I really want to do something special fro my bday becasue it will be my only one in Japan. So if you have any ideas, please let me know.
So the language seems to be getting better. I am starting to connect the dots on a lot of things. I hope that i will get really good this transfer. Things are just making more since when i study them or when i read them. so, maybe i am starting to be blessed with the Gift of Tongues. Haha jk. I always just think of my set apart blessing. President Barker said that i the language would be easy and i would learn it fast. So maybe.
I really liked what you said about being a friend. I really am trying my hardest to just love people and talke and be their friend. I am also trying to focus on being more confident in myself and believeing in my self. I quess like the Attitude and Believing from the ABC thing. I really want to be more confident but not to confident where i am prideful like the one elder. So that is a transfer goal. I am sure my japanese will pick up too. Like the scrips say As a man thinketh so is he.
Oh i got your letter with all your den notes and bugs draweing. Tell everyone that i say thank you so much. It was super nice and really unexpected. Thank you so much mother. You are the best.
Well i really dont know waht ot write anymore. I can tell you what has been scaring me about home. I eat alot differently has a missionary than i did at home. The thought that scares me really bad is that when i go home will i gian weight because of the difference of how i eat. It is scary. I dont wnat to gain weight. I have managed to weigh 176-180 pounds for the past year and 2 months. I try not to think of it because it is far away and i really dont need to as a missionary. Your diet chnaged me mom. It really did.
Well i love you all. I love you Mother. I hope that you have a great week adn that you are safe. I cant wait to read your letter next week. Next week i will only have 5 weeks til i am sliding down the slope rather than climbing it. Crazy!!! Ill pray for ya all the time. Hope you do the same. God bless you and be with you. Love Ya. .
Love your 5:50 AM getting up in the morning son to go running,
Called to serve in the Tokyo-Japan Mission
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
kurt says more!!!
I just wanted to say some more. I was being rushed in my last emial. SO i really felt like i was all over the place. Anyways, i just got out of my lesson with Koh. We taught more about Joseph Smith and about the Word of Wisdom. He said that everytime he prays about the Joseph and his expirence he feels peace and everything else. So it was way good. He accepted the invitation to follow the Word of Wisdom too. He is so awesome i really wish that you could meet him. I am just super afraid that when he gets baptized he will become a less-active. He isnt keeping the sabbath day holy and doesnt really see why it is important to come to church. I am trying my hardest to let him know why it is important. I really want him to be baptized. I am just scared that he will be baptized and then fall away and i really dont want that. I really want him to know why it this is all important. I am really scared for him. I should have more Faith. His date is for the 4th of February. He is on the right track to meet that date too. We are planning on seeing his parents also. We need thier permission before he gets baptized. So we got that taken care of. It was super good. What a great way to start off the week. With a fabulous lesson and a fun day. I still have yet to go to that tower. I am home to make dinner and then we will head over there. I just wanted to write to you all a little bit more. I love you all.
Thursday President Stevenson talked about alot of things. One thing that i liked alot was that he tallked about something Elder Ballard told him. He said that some missionaries are called to thier missions not becasue of the people but because of their Mission Presidents. I really felt good about that saying. I really feel like i was called to my mission becasue of President Albrecht. He has helped me so much on my mission and i love him like i love you Dad. He really is my 2nd father. I am going to be so sad when he leaves in July. I cant beleive that he will be going already. I dont want him to. I really love him alot and i have positive that i was called to serve under him and that he was supposed to be my mission president. That was something intresting that i learned. But it was all good. Cant tell you everything though because that would take forever.
I sure love all of you. I did have a hard week last week. But it is over and i have grown from it and have learned. I am looking forward to a great week this week and to transfer calls. Those calls are really exciting. I wonder what will happen to me. It really is a mystery. President Albrecht as been looking at me alot lately like he has something up his sleeve. Its going to be a fun weekend. Anyways, next week i wont get my email to you until my tuesday and your monday. It is a confusing system. hopefully i will be able to write to all of you. But for now this will have to suffice. I love you and hope that you have a great week.
Thursday President Stevenson talked about alot of things. One thing that i liked alot was that he tallked about something Elder Ballard told him. He said that some missionaries are called to thier missions not becasue of the people but because of their Mission Presidents. I really felt good about that saying. I really feel like i was called to my mission becasue of President Albrecht. He has helped me so much on my mission and i love him like i love you Dad. He really is my 2nd father. I am going to be so sad when he leaves in July. I cant beleive that he will be going already. I dont want him to. I really love him alot and i have positive that i was called to serve under him and that he was supposed to be my mission president. That was something intresting that i learned. But it was all good. Cant tell you everything though because that would take forever.
I sure love all of you. I did have a hard week last week. But it is over and i have grown from it and have learned. I am looking forward to a great week this week and to transfer calls. Those calls are really exciting. I wonder what will happen to me. It really is a mystery. President Albrecht as been looking at me alot lately like he has something up his sleeve. Its going to be a fun weekend. Anyways, next week i wont get my email to you until my tuesday and your monday. It is a confusing system. hopefully i will be able to write to all of you. But for now this will have to suffice. I love you and hope that you have a great week.
Monday, January 23, 2012
23 January 2012
Sorry but this is the only email that i will be sending out today. I really want to write to each of you seperatly but i just dont have the time. I am very sorry.
It is good to hear about everyones week. I am thrilled to hear about your quad trip. I am so jealous. I really want to go. Mom i am sorry that you have been feeling sick. I will pray that you will feel better. Bug sorry that you didnt take an award in the contest for your Kodomo Dragon. That would of been coool if you would have won. Dad its good to hear that you are getting things done around the house and such. I bet that everything will look much different when i come home. I think so at least.
So my week has been a very intresting one. It hasnt been the best week i have had. Infact this week was one of the harder weeks that i have had in awhile. I told you all about last week up until wednesday so that is where i will begin. Wednesday we went to lunch with our investigator. It was a way good time. Infact it was awesome. I love him so much. He has to be one of my really good friends that i have met here in Japan. His name is Koh. He is fluent in English and is going to acting school. He is trying to get a scholarship to New York for broadway. He is way cool. Anyways after the lesson we had English class prep. THis is where it gets intresting.
We were planning on what we were going to teach and then a guy walked in the door. His name was Yamada. He was from a place 2 hours by train from our church building called Fuchu. So Yamada told us that God and Jesus Christ showed themselves to him when he was 30 years ago that is how he came to know about Jesus Christ. THen on Tuesday last week they showed themselves again to him and told him to come to our church. They told him to go to Yamate because their is a church their that he needed to join because their is a white church that he needs to enter. So Yamada came to Yamate and saw our church. Welll in front of our church building their is a Momument because that was the place Heber J. Grant came to in 1901 to dedicate Japan for the Gospel. So the momument had a church explanation. Yamada read that explantation and then he said that God and Jesus Christ appeared to him again and told him that this was the church he needed to be baptized into. So he came back agian on Wednesday night and told us this story. He had it all written in english on a peice of paper. At first i thought he was just crazy. But then i thought about how i tell peopel that Jesus and God can show themselves to anyone at any time because they are His children. I thought about Christiaan and the expirences he is having. Then i thought that maybe this guy is for real because he made the 2 hour trip over to my area 2 times in a row. Yamada kept saying that he wanted to play the piano for Jesus. So i gave him a hymn book. He said that he just wanted to learn about Jesus Christ. I told that i am a missionary and that is what i do all day long. He looked me in the eye and told me he wanted to become me. Well we had to start Englsih Class but afterwards we set up a day to meet with him again. It was for Saturday at 1:00 pm. What an expirence right? I have never heard of that or seen that in my life. I was so grateful that i was able to be apart of it.
Thursday we had a Special conference because President Stevenson of the quorm of the 70 came and spoke to us. It was a good conference and very tiring. Friday i had splits and it was snowing all day. It was so cold. My toes froze. I wasnt prepared for the weather and got wet and so i was just freezing. Saturday was also very very cold. After splits we had the lesson with Yamada. So we went to the church. Well Yamada never showed up. I was so bumbed. I thought that the Lord had finally blessed me with the person that was ready to be baptized and accept the gospel into his life. What made things worse is we had a joint misisonary from like 2 hours away there. THis joint is named Watanabe. He has personally translated for 5 prophets. He was the 1st japanese mission president in Japan. He is really well known in Japan among church members. He was there and i felt like a peice of you know waht becasue our guy never showed up. THen the guy started telling me how i should do missionary work. I hate it when people do that. THey dont give suggestions they tell me. I am Elder Van De Graaff. The Lord made me Me to do work the way I do work. Not how other people would do it. I got so frustrated. It was raining all day too. It was just a super bad crappy day. I didnt want to do work at all. I did do my first baptismal interview thougth. It was a guy from Africa. His name is Stanely. He is super cool. I took a picture and you will see it when i send my camera card home. But that was hard mentally too. I was super happy for the missionaries to get him to the waters of baptism.
I have been in the mission now for almost 1 year. To tell the truth, i am not very good at japanese. My comp who has been on a mission for 6 months is better than me and a missionary that i went on splits with last week has been on his mission for 4 months is way better than me. It is super frustrating. I want to speak super bad. I really do. I have been studying my but off but nothing seems to be sticking. I just want to accept the fact that maybe i wont learn japanese like i want to. It has been a super hard week on me. OR at least the last couple of days have been. I was thinking the other day why some missionaries are blessed with baptisms and the easy success while some are blessed with harder to see success. It doesnt make since. I mean there is missionarise in my mission who have had a baptism every transfer. I havent had 1. I know that it doenst matter but it really helps with motivation and keeps you moving. ITs super hard to keep moving when you dont see the immideate success. I dont know. I really wish that i could just call and talk about my thoughts. It would be so much easier. THe weather has been really crappy and things have just been really hard. I am super grateful that it is over though. I have moved on. that was last week and is in the past. My bucket has gotten bigger and i can now handle more than i could before. I am loving my mission to let you know. I know that i am being blessed but it is just super hard ot see it right now. I could really use your prayers right now that i will be able to focus on the right things and stay happy and positive. I am trying super hard.
My birthday is in less than 3 weeks and that is super weitd that i wont be a teenager anymore. I will be 20 years old. Did you know that on 12 February 2012 i will only have one year left on my mission? Yup!! thats right. I come home on 12 February 2013. So that is pretty wierd. I cant believe that i have been on my mission for 320 days now. In 3 weeks i will be counting the days until i come home. My 1 year mark isnt until 9 March though. It seems like yesterday i was just at home. It is going by fast and i hope that it just goes by faster.
I love you guys so much. I hope that i have a better week this week. I should. It is pretty cloudy today but i have already gone to China Town and am going to Landmark Tower tonight to go to the top of a really tall building to take pics. It should be way fun. I also have a lesson with a investigator in 20 min. Transfer calls are this saturday so my next p-day will be on next week tuesday. I might get transfered but i dont think so. My comp thinks i will stay and become a trainer. If i dont stay, he thinks i will become a Zone Leader or AP somewhere. I think he is crazy. But we shall see. I love you guys and hope tha tyou have a great week. I am love getting your emails. Mom, did you get a letter with a camera card in it recently? I sent one off on 27 December 2011. I hope so, or else i lost a bunc load of pictures. If you did please sent the card back. I hope that i get a little something special for my bday. It will be the only one i have in Japan. So i am thinking of doing something really special. We shall see. I hope everyone is in good health. I love you all. May God be with you always.
It is good to hear about everyones week. I am thrilled to hear about your quad trip. I am so jealous. I really want to go. Mom i am sorry that you have been feeling sick. I will pray that you will feel better. Bug sorry that you didnt take an award in the contest for your Kodomo Dragon. That would of been coool if you would have won. Dad its good to hear that you are getting things done around the house and such. I bet that everything will look much different when i come home. I think so at least.
So my week has been a very intresting one. It hasnt been the best week i have had. Infact this week was one of the harder weeks that i have had in awhile. I told you all about last week up until wednesday so that is where i will begin. Wednesday we went to lunch with our investigator. It was a way good time. Infact it was awesome. I love him so much. He has to be one of my really good friends that i have met here in Japan. His name is Koh. He is fluent in English and is going to acting school. He is trying to get a scholarship to New York for broadway. He is way cool. Anyways after the lesson we had English class prep. THis is where it gets intresting.
We were planning on what we were going to teach and then a guy walked in the door. His name was Yamada. He was from a place 2 hours by train from our church building called Fuchu. So Yamada told us that God and Jesus Christ showed themselves to him when he was 30 years ago that is how he came to know about Jesus Christ. THen on Tuesday last week they showed themselves again to him and told him to come to our church. They told him to go to Yamate because their is a church their that he needed to join because their is a white church that he needs to enter. So Yamada came to Yamate and saw our church. Welll in front of our church building their is a Momument because that was the place Heber J. Grant came to in 1901 to dedicate Japan for the Gospel. So the momument had a church explanation. Yamada read that explantation and then he said that God and Jesus Christ appeared to him again and told him that this was the church he needed to be baptized into. So he came back agian on Wednesday night and told us this story. He had it all written in english on a peice of paper. At first i thought he was just crazy. But then i thought about how i tell peopel that Jesus and God can show themselves to anyone at any time because they are His children. I thought about Christiaan and the expirences he is having. Then i thought that maybe this guy is for real because he made the 2 hour trip over to my area 2 times in a row. Yamada kept saying that he wanted to play the piano for Jesus. So i gave him a hymn book. He said that he just wanted to learn about Jesus Christ. I told that i am a missionary and that is what i do all day long. He looked me in the eye and told me he wanted to become me. Well we had to start Englsih Class but afterwards we set up a day to meet with him again. It was for Saturday at 1:00 pm. What an expirence right? I have never heard of that or seen that in my life. I was so grateful that i was able to be apart of it.
Thursday we had a Special conference because President Stevenson of the quorm of the 70 came and spoke to us. It was a good conference and very tiring. Friday i had splits and it was snowing all day. It was so cold. My toes froze. I wasnt prepared for the weather and got wet and so i was just freezing. Saturday was also very very cold. After splits we had the lesson with Yamada. So we went to the church. Well Yamada never showed up. I was so bumbed. I thought that the Lord had finally blessed me with the person that was ready to be baptized and accept the gospel into his life. What made things worse is we had a joint misisonary from like 2 hours away there. THis joint is named Watanabe. He has personally translated for 5 prophets. He was the 1st japanese mission president in Japan. He is really well known in Japan among church members. He was there and i felt like a peice of you know waht becasue our guy never showed up. THen the guy started telling me how i should do missionary work. I hate it when people do that. THey dont give suggestions they tell me. I am Elder Van De Graaff. The Lord made me Me to do work the way I do work. Not how other people would do it. I got so frustrated. It was raining all day too. It was just a super bad crappy day. I didnt want to do work at all. I did do my first baptismal interview thougth. It was a guy from Africa. His name is Stanely. He is super cool. I took a picture and you will see it when i send my camera card home. But that was hard mentally too. I was super happy for the missionaries to get him to the waters of baptism.
I have been in the mission now for almost 1 year. To tell the truth, i am not very good at japanese. My comp who has been on a mission for 6 months is better than me and a missionary that i went on splits with last week has been on his mission for 4 months is way better than me. It is super frustrating. I want to speak super bad. I really do. I have been studying my but off but nothing seems to be sticking. I just want to accept the fact that maybe i wont learn japanese like i want to. It has been a super hard week on me. OR at least the last couple of days have been. I was thinking the other day why some missionaries are blessed with baptisms and the easy success while some are blessed with harder to see success. It doesnt make since. I mean there is missionarise in my mission who have had a baptism every transfer. I havent had 1. I know that it doenst matter but it really helps with motivation and keeps you moving. ITs super hard to keep moving when you dont see the immideate success. I dont know. I really wish that i could just call and talk about my thoughts. It would be so much easier. THe weather has been really crappy and things have just been really hard. I am super grateful that it is over though. I have moved on. that was last week and is in the past. My bucket has gotten bigger and i can now handle more than i could before. I am loving my mission to let you know. I know that i am being blessed but it is just super hard ot see it right now. I could really use your prayers right now that i will be able to focus on the right things and stay happy and positive. I am trying super hard.
My birthday is in less than 3 weeks and that is super weitd that i wont be a teenager anymore. I will be 20 years old. Did you know that on 12 February 2012 i will only have one year left on my mission? Yup!! thats right. I come home on 12 February 2013. So that is pretty wierd. I cant believe that i have been on my mission for 320 days now. In 3 weeks i will be counting the days until i come home. My 1 year mark isnt until 9 March though. It seems like yesterday i was just at home. It is going by fast and i hope that it just goes by faster.
I love you guys so much. I hope that i have a better week this week. I should. It is pretty cloudy today but i have already gone to China Town and am going to Landmark Tower tonight to go to the top of a really tall building to take pics. It should be way fun. I also have a lesson with a investigator in 20 min. Transfer calls are this saturday so my next p-day will be on next week tuesday. I might get transfered but i dont think so. My comp thinks i will stay and become a trainer. If i dont stay, he thinks i will become a Zone Leader or AP somewhere. I think he is crazy. But we shall see. I love you guys and hope tha tyou have a great week. I am love getting your emails. Mom, did you get a letter with a camera card in it recently? I sent one off on 27 December 2011. I hope so, or else i lost a bunc load of pictures. If you did please sent the card back. I hope that i get a little something special for my bday. It will be the only one i have in Japan. So i am thinking of doing something really special. We shall see. I hope everyone is in good health. I love you all. May God be with you always.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
17 January 2012
How goes ye down in the land of Gilbert? It was good to hear from the both of ya's. I am so sorry that this email is a bit late. Today we went and did a session at the temple and we got back a bit later than i thought we would. I will tell you why later in this email but gomen. (sorry).
Mom, thanks so much on giving me the advice that you did. I really enjoied reading about it. Its crazy to see how much Job really had to go through yet his faith was so strong. I really wish that my faith is strong. That was something i was pondering about in the temple today. I love you guys so much and am very proud that both of ya are MY parents. I miss you guys but tomorrow i will be able to see ya. Its coming quick.
My Power-Week was really good. I know that the Lord blessed us with amazing expirences that i will never forget. Since this week was my power-week i will let ya know how it went. You guys will be blown away. It was just an amazing week.
Well last monday we found a new investigator right off the back and he seems really super nice. His name is Tatsuya but poeple call him Tattoo. He doesnt have any tattoo's and he is very nice and polite. So that was super good and got things started off very well. Tuesday we had a 5 zone conference in a area called Kichijoji. He was an amazing conference but everytime i have a conference, i get so sleepy. They are so spiritually uplifting and such, that my spirit just gets drained and all i want to do is sleep. Sister Albrecht used a video clip from a video that we have in our house. Do you remember the movie of the football coach who believes in God and uses faith for his coaching style? THere is also a part where a player carries another person across the football field on his back? Anyway, she used that video and it was way good and a motiation. I love getting together with all the missionaries and seeing and hearing how everyone is doing. I also love talking and being around the President. I really love him alot. It was a good tiring day. It pretty much took all day. Wednesday gets really intresting. As a missionary, i have high's and lows. When the highs are high, they are HIGH. THe same goes with the lows. The highs come and go very quickly, the lows seem to linger for awhile longer. Anyway, while streeting i placed a book of mormon to a guy who said he was intrested but didnt want to give us any contact info. That really just sucks. After streeting for like 3 hours we had a lesson with a man named Abe. Abe was a member referral. He actually doesnt live in my area or even in my mission. He lives in Sendai. He comes to my area for work once a month. His wife was the sister of a member in my ward. His wife passed away in the tsunami. I just have to say that i was so grateful that i was able to teach this man. When i said the opening prayer, he started crying. The lesson was super powerful and simple. We taught him about God and his love for us, Eternal Families, and Prayer and a bit about the Holy Ghost. He was in tears the whole lesson and so was i. I know that through me and my comp he was filling the Spirit. He had such good questions and i was able to understand and answer them with a power testimony. One such question was "Can you fill the Spirit even if you dont believe in God?". I testified and promised him that since God is our Loving Heavenly Father and we are His children, everybody in the world can feel Gods love for them and they will some point in their lives. When i said this, I wish you could of seen the change in his face and eyes. It was amazing to see the change in his eyes and face when I promised and testified these things. I know he was feeling Gods love. He is such a prepared person. I am so grateful that i was able to let him feel what this whole church is about. Not teach, FEEL!!!! I was on my highest high on my mission during and after that lesson. After his lesson we went to meet another guy. We were like 30 minutes late because we got lost and the first thing the guy started doing is just yelling and chewying us out. My high was gone and we were in the lows. We didnt let it get to us though because we just thought it was funny how we went from a really high to a lower than low. The nest day we met with Abe again before he left back home. When he came in he was asking how many lessons we give until someone can be baptized and how long it takes until someone can be baptized. He wants to be baptized. How amazing is that. THe elders up in Sendai are getting an amazingly prepared person. We taught him about the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and temples. He was fascinated with the temple and understood why it was so important. Once again i know that the spirit was strongly felt in that lesson. Not becasue he was crying but becasue i could see it in his face. I know that he really has a desire to learn and follow Jesus Christ so that he can return to his wife. He wants to meet with the missionaries everytime he comes down. We changed hi slife forever. Its amazing. Friday we had splits and i went with a missionary who is on transfer 3. He owned me up on japanese. He is so good at it. He was saying stuff that i didnt know. I had to look up so many words. He is a beast at the langauge and i can tell that he has been blessed with the gift of tongues. It was a big pill to swallow and not get down on myself for not being that good as a 6th transfer missionary. We had a lesson with a investigator named Koh. He is 19 and was baptized into the Catholic church. He had great questions about the difference between the LDS and Catholoic church. So we told him. He was super suprised. I know that the lesson was good becasue i got to tell him about the Restoration and then we set a baptismal date with him for the 4th of February. He has great faith in Jesus and God. All he needs to know is that Joseph Smith really saw God and Jesus and restored their Gospel. He is in the process of doing that right now. I know he will get his answer. He is one of my best friends over here. We are meeting with him tomorrow for lunch. This is the 1st baptismal date in my area in over 8 or 9 months i htink. I heard that this area was a really hard area because the ward doesnt like the missionaries. But i really think we are changing that. In the past 4 weeks we have had 18 lessons and 9 of those have been with a member. I know that the Missionaries now have the trust of the ward. We went from 2 people at our missionary meeting wiht the mission leader to about 10 poeple. Its becomeing a hit. Its great to see. THe Lord is really blessing us. Saturday we had another lesson with a investigator named Shiozawa. He is 18. He really wanted to know why we are on the earth. So we told him about Returning to God and preparing to meet him. We told him hat he cna do that by the 5 principles of the gospel: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring (Enjoiing) to the End. He accpeted baptism too. His date is for the 25th of February. My comps birthday. What amazing miracles the Lord is allowing us to see right. I liked how you talked to Bug about how wards give missionaries talks at the last moment. On saturday i got a call and they asked me to give a talk on sunday about service and the blessings that come from it. I just thought that was really funny becasue it happened to me. So i gave a talk on sunday also with last minute notice. Sunday was good and we might have found a really prepared man. We shall see.
So taht was my week pretty much. I know that the Lord really allowed me and my comp to see miracles. It was absolutely fantastic. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Our hard work is paying off. THe ward is trusting us, we have an investigator pool, we have baptismal dates, and more people are coing to our english class. We have been working really hard to build it up but it is paying off. All we have to do now is finish up the last 2 weeks until transfers. THen i will be on Transfer 7. Or the HUMP Transfer becuase that is when i hit my 1 year mark. I have only like 8 weeks till my 1 year mark. Crazy!!!!
Yesterday i have another really funny expirence to share. We wer passing out english flies and this old grandma called me over. I went over and she just started talking to me in half japanese and half way broken english. She was talking about how her dad is chinese and her mom is japanese. She was also teaching me how to pass out fliers. She talked to me for like half hour. I was just listening becuase who knws how long its been since someone has talked to her. Anyways while she was talking to me about this and that, she kept grabbing my coat and like rubbing my arms and stuff. THen she pulled me in really close and started whispering. She then kissed me on the cheek. It was really wierd. Some random old lady kissed me. She was 76 but looked like 105. But it was way funny and a good expirence. Not many people can say they were kissed on thiere missions. I just dont have to tell people how old she is. hhahaha.
Today at the temple was great.I thought about my faith and stuff like that and really had good feelings about it. I was also thinking about my mission thus far and the people who i have touched. I found out that 2 peopel in my last area want to be baptized. One is a man and his son the Ushimaru. He is from South America. I found out that he has a date, the other is an 18 year old named Kenji. I took Kenji to church once but now he wants to be baptized. I felt really good. I then started to think about all the poele who i have taught. I decided that i needed to keep in touch with them more. So after the Temple i went and visited a man named Sugiyama. He is my investigator from my 1st transfer. He really appreciated our visit and we talked about the scriptures and stuff. I really appreciated him and i felt really good seeing him. I think taht is why my Temple session was so good because i recieved revelation on something that i need to do.
I love you guys so much. More than you know. I was looking at pic on sunday night and i just love you guys so much. I cant wait to talk and see you again. I need you to send me back my camera cards as soon as possibel. My card now is getting really full. You guys will love the one i will be sending home when i get a spare card. It is so cool. Its got tons of videos and stuff like that. There is not much else that i need to tell you guys. But i do LoVE all of you nad appreciated everyting that you do for me. Tell everyone that i love them and hope to hear from them. I hope you all have a great week. I will get back to ya on my monday next week. That is your Sunday. Take it easy and God Bless you Always
Mom, thanks so much on giving me the advice that you did. I really enjoied reading about it. Its crazy to see how much Job really had to go through yet his faith was so strong. I really wish that my faith is strong. That was something i was pondering about in the temple today. I love you guys so much and am very proud that both of ya are MY parents. I miss you guys but tomorrow i will be able to see ya. Its coming quick.
My Power-Week was really good. I know that the Lord blessed us with amazing expirences that i will never forget. Since this week was my power-week i will let ya know how it went. You guys will be blown away. It was just an amazing week.
Well last monday we found a new investigator right off the back and he seems really super nice. His name is Tatsuya but poeple call him Tattoo. He doesnt have any tattoo's and he is very nice and polite. So that was super good and got things started off very well. Tuesday we had a 5 zone conference in a area called Kichijoji. He was an amazing conference but everytime i have a conference, i get so sleepy. They are so spiritually uplifting and such, that my spirit just gets drained and all i want to do is sleep. Sister Albrecht used a video clip from a video that we have in our house. Do you remember the movie of the football coach who believes in God and uses faith for his coaching style? THere is also a part where a player carries another person across the football field on his back? Anyway, she used that video and it was way good and a motiation. I love getting together with all the missionaries and seeing and hearing how everyone is doing. I also love talking and being around the President. I really love him alot. It was a good tiring day. It pretty much took all day. Wednesday gets really intresting. As a missionary, i have high's and lows. When the highs are high, they are HIGH. THe same goes with the lows. The highs come and go very quickly, the lows seem to linger for awhile longer. Anyway, while streeting i placed a book of mormon to a guy who said he was intrested but didnt want to give us any contact info. That really just sucks. After streeting for like 3 hours we had a lesson with a man named Abe. Abe was a member referral. He actually doesnt live in my area or even in my mission. He lives in Sendai. He comes to my area for work once a month. His wife was the sister of a member in my ward. His wife passed away in the tsunami. I just have to say that i was so grateful that i was able to teach this man. When i said the opening prayer, he started crying. The lesson was super powerful and simple. We taught him about God and his love for us, Eternal Families, and Prayer and a bit about the Holy Ghost. He was in tears the whole lesson and so was i. I know that through me and my comp he was filling the Spirit. He had such good questions and i was able to understand and answer them with a power testimony. One such question was "Can you fill the Spirit even if you dont believe in God?". I testified and promised him that since God is our Loving Heavenly Father and we are His children, everybody in the world can feel Gods love for them and they will some point in their lives. When i said this, I wish you could of seen the change in his face and eyes. It was amazing to see the change in his eyes and face when I promised and testified these things. I know he was feeling Gods love. He is such a prepared person. I am so grateful that i was able to let him feel what this whole church is about. Not teach, FEEL!!!! I was on my highest high on my mission during and after that lesson. After his lesson we went to meet another guy. We were like 30 minutes late because we got lost and the first thing the guy started doing is just yelling and chewying us out. My high was gone and we were in the lows. We didnt let it get to us though because we just thought it was funny how we went from a really high to a lower than low. The nest day we met with Abe again before he left back home. When he came in he was asking how many lessons we give until someone can be baptized and how long it takes until someone can be baptized. He wants to be baptized. How amazing is that. THe elders up in Sendai are getting an amazingly prepared person. We taught him about the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and temples. He was fascinated with the temple and understood why it was so important. Once again i know that the spirit was strongly felt in that lesson. Not becasue he was crying but becasue i could see it in his face. I know that he really has a desire to learn and follow Jesus Christ so that he can return to his wife. He wants to meet with the missionaries everytime he comes down. We changed hi slife forever. Its amazing. Friday we had splits and i went with a missionary who is on transfer 3. He owned me up on japanese. He is so good at it. He was saying stuff that i didnt know. I had to look up so many words. He is a beast at the langauge and i can tell that he has been blessed with the gift of tongues. It was a big pill to swallow and not get down on myself for not being that good as a 6th transfer missionary. We had a lesson with a investigator named Koh. He is 19 and was baptized into the Catholic church. He had great questions about the difference between the LDS and Catholoic church. So we told him. He was super suprised. I know that the lesson was good becasue i got to tell him about the Restoration and then we set a baptismal date with him for the 4th of February. He has great faith in Jesus and God. All he needs to know is that Joseph Smith really saw God and Jesus and restored their Gospel. He is in the process of doing that right now. I know he will get his answer. He is one of my best friends over here. We are meeting with him tomorrow for lunch. This is the 1st baptismal date in my area in over 8 or 9 months i htink. I heard that this area was a really hard area because the ward doesnt like the missionaries. But i really think we are changing that. In the past 4 weeks we have had 18 lessons and 9 of those have been with a member. I know that the Missionaries now have the trust of the ward. We went from 2 people at our missionary meeting wiht the mission leader to about 10 poeple. Its becomeing a hit. Its great to see. THe Lord is really blessing us. Saturday we had another lesson with a investigator named Shiozawa. He is 18. He really wanted to know why we are on the earth. So we told him about Returning to God and preparing to meet him. We told him hat he cna do that by the 5 principles of the gospel: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring (Enjoiing) to the End. He accpeted baptism too. His date is for the 25th of February. My comps birthday. What amazing miracles the Lord is allowing us to see right. I liked how you talked to Bug about how wards give missionaries talks at the last moment. On saturday i got a call and they asked me to give a talk on sunday about service and the blessings that come from it. I just thought that was really funny becasue it happened to me. So i gave a talk on sunday also with last minute notice. Sunday was good and we might have found a really prepared man. We shall see.
So taht was my week pretty much. I know that the Lord really allowed me and my comp to see miracles. It was absolutely fantastic. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Our hard work is paying off. THe ward is trusting us, we have an investigator pool, we have baptismal dates, and more people are coing to our english class. We have been working really hard to build it up but it is paying off. All we have to do now is finish up the last 2 weeks until transfers. THen i will be on Transfer 7. Or the HUMP Transfer becuase that is when i hit my 1 year mark. I have only like 8 weeks till my 1 year mark. Crazy!!!!
Yesterday i have another really funny expirence to share. We wer passing out english flies and this old grandma called me over. I went over and she just started talking to me in half japanese and half way broken english. She was talking about how her dad is chinese and her mom is japanese. She was also teaching me how to pass out fliers. She talked to me for like half hour. I was just listening becuase who knws how long its been since someone has talked to her. Anyways while she was talking to me about this and that, she kept grabbing my coat and like rubbing my arms and stuff. THen she pulled me in really close and started whispering. She then kissed me on the cheek. It was really wierd. Some random old lady kissed me. She was 76 but looked like 105. But it was way funny and a good expirence. Not many people can say they were kissed on thiere missions. I just dont have to tell people how old she is. hhahaha.
Today at the temple was great.I thought about my faith and stuff like that and really had good feelings about it. I was also thinking about my mission thus far and the people who i have touched. I found out that 2 peopel in my last area want to be baptized. One is a man and his son the Ushimaru. He is from South America. I found out that he has a date, the other is an 18 year old named Kenji. I took Kenji to church once but now he wants to be baptized. I felt really good. I then started to think about all the poele who i have taught. I decided that i needed to keep in touch with them more. So after the Temple i went and visited a man named Sugiyama. He is my investigator from my 1st transfer. He really appreciated our visit and we talked about the scriptures and stuff. I really appreciated him and i felt really good seeing him. I think taht is why my Temple session was so good because i recieved revelation on something that i need to do.
I love you guys so much. More than you know. I was looking at pic on sunday night and i just love you guys so much. I cant wait to talk and see you again. I need you to send me back my camera cards as soon as possibel. My card now is getting really full. You guys will love the one i will be sending home when i get a spare card. It is so cool. Its got tons of videos and stuff like that. There is not much else that i need to tell you guys. But i do LoVE all of you nad appreciated everyting that you do for me. Tell everyone that i love them and hope to hear from them. I hope you all have a great week. I will get back to ya on my monday next week. That is your Sunday. Take it easy and God Bless you Always
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
09 January 2012
THanks so much for the awesome emial!! I really enjoied reading on how everyone is doing and how your week went!!! I hope that this year is a good year for me too! I think last year was a really good one but it had its hard parts for sure. I hope this year is better than last year. I think it will be!!!
So i quess i will just get right on the dot on what went down in my week!!! There is alot!!!
Tuesday: Way good and very hard day. We went to the busiest part of my area. Its a place called Sakaragichou. Its got a theme park and tons of shopping malls and a tower called Landmark Tower. Its famous here in Japan. We went to the train station do do work. The train station looked like the scene off the Best 2 Years where they are doing work in the little square area and everyone is going in every direction. THats how this place was. It was nuts. I really felt like i was on the movie because no one wanted to listen to me. NO ONE!!! I didnt talk to one person for 2 hours. Peopels hearts here are really hard. That made for a very hard day.
Wednesday: We were back in the same place but this time with an old investigator. He was super lonely and needed someone to talk to. I reazlized on that day that i represent Jesus Christ. Its not everyday that peopel get to spend 1 on 1 with the savior. So spending it with his representatives is just as good. I think we really helped him out. Just talked and were his freinds. He bought us some food too. He is super nice but has no interst in church whatsoever. But little by little he will come to see that our kindness comes from the church. we just have to show love.
Thursdayand Friday: I was on splits with a Korean. It was fun. He speaks english fluently. He can talk too. It was kinda of a hard night on thursday night. THe ward i was visiting had a member baptism. I got to thinking about my mission adn stuff. THe only baptisms i have seen on my mission are 8 year old baptisms. I know i am not a failure but i would really like one of my investigators to get baptized while i am there someday. But it was good split. ON friday we had District Meeting too. On the way back, i saw a Navy person, so i went to talk to him. I came to find out he is from New York. But he lived 10 min. away from HIll Cumorah!! He was not a member. He had some many questions and super good intrest. It was super difficult to teach him the Restoration becasue i havnt taught it in English in like 7 months. He felt the spirit for sure. I gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. I didnt get his number or email because he doesnt own a computer or phone. I really hope that he finds the missionaries that are in his area. He was awesome!!!! While i was doing that my comp was expireincing something different. At a stop a couple got on the train and stood between me and him. The couple came to find out wasnt a couple and the girl was married to someone else. Ya, thats right!!! THey were on their way to go to a little something something while her husband was at work. THey were american too. Talk about weird!!! I was on a spiritual high and my comp was in like hell. It was just kinda funny. THat stuff is pretty common here in Japan though. sad to say.
Saturday: Me and my comp had a great talk. We were both having a really hard day. It was super difficult. I realized a bunch of stuff in our talk taht i wanted to let him know. We were both trying to fiqure out why it was so hard. We fiqured it was becasue we were turning into robots. Saying the exact same stuff with every person. we were expceting for people to say no. We had no joy. I also came to realize that i hadnt been my selft. THis is the first time i have a younger comp. I quess i really wanted to have a good image about me so he could tell other missionaries about me. I was super prideful. I was not being myself. I tried to just prove that i was a good missionary and doing stuff that i wouldnt normally do so i could get praise. Its really bad for me to say. I am thankful that i was able to notice it. I knew that there was something wrong, i could feel it but i didnt know what it was. I have repented adn i am going to be myself for now on. Maybe i needed to learn this becasue everyone says i am going to train next transfer, so if that is the case i wont have to impress anyone. It was a super good talk. It started at 8pm and didnt get done til 12:15pm.
Sunday: Probably the best Sunday i have had in Japan. I had an investigator to church. In sacrament meeting all the talks, which were 3, were super awesome. Peopel had the topic of how the gospel changed their lives nad how they joined the gospel. Pretty much their conversion story. Super awesome. I know my gator felt the spirt so much. He loved chrch. In my ward their are 2 deaf people. So almost everyone can do sign langauge. So after church i went to hte Sign Langauge Class. It was super fun. Its Japanese Sign Language. I now know how to introduce myslef, tell wher ei am from, and my age in japanese sign langauge. Its awesome. I love it. To end the day, we had pork chops and potatoes. I thought that the pork was steak wehn we bought it but it was pork. But it was a good memory from home. Really good day.
Today: I started my power week. I am sacrificing working out so i can be out working 30 min earlier. I really want to find the people the Lord has prepared, so in order to do that i need to sacrifice somethign so i can do that. I chose working out and being out 30 min. earlier. Hopefully this will show the Lord my faith and he will bless me to find those he has prepared. On our way home, their was like a block party. TOday is a japanese holiday and everyone pounds rice into this gooey stuff called Mochi. It was super fun and really good. I got offered Sake(Japanese alcohol), Beer and tobacco. I have seeen everything this past week that God doesnt want us to do. But It was super fun and really good. Not the beer and stuff, the mochi. Today i also started something called the 7 Day Challenge. The challene is to eat Nato (Ferminted Soybeans) for 7 days straight. They say if you do that, you will like the stuff. BTW Nato is super gross. I had it once my first transfer and it was disqustign. But ireally want to get into the culture of Japan. Someone told me the best foreign speakers are the best becasue they accept the culture. So i decieded i have to do what japanese people do. ANd they eat Nato. Nato is super healthy for you to. One pack is only 95 cal and 8 grams of protein. Its like all protein. I already had my first pack and its gross. trust me. I am taking a video of it everyday. You will see.
So that was my week. I am super happy about my talk i had with my comp. It has relieved so much stress. I cant put in words how good it was. I am so happy about it. It really has been a rough week for me. Like i said before, the people here are really hard in thier hearts. I go out finding for 7 or 8 hours a day and i will return with no numbers or new investigators. I am learning something of improtance though, i dont think i will be shy to talk to girls or people when i get home. It is becoming really natrual to just start talking to someone. So i am excited to put my streeting skills into practice on girls when i get home. hahaha.
I love you so much!! Todya i have been on my mission for 10 months. Can you believe that. I have been in Japan for 230 days too. It is so crazy. Only like 2 months til i will it my 1 year mark and then i am on the down hill side. 62 days until my hump day! Crazy!!! I thought i would let you knwo that. I love you!!! I hope you are enjoing my pices. I would really love it if you could send those cards back as soon as possible. I got another one to send home and you will love it. Its going to be my best one yet. I love you!! Have a good week and look for the missionary oppurutunities. I heard an apostle say 'How can we pray for our missionaries to have expirences, if we ourselves dont look for them?" You are awesome mom. I love you!!! You are the best thing ever!!!!!
Much Love from the Nato Eating Son,
So i quess i will just get right on the dot on what went down in my week!!! There is alot!!!
Tuesday: Way good and very hard day. We went to the busiest part of my area. Its a place called Sakaragichou. Its got a theme park and tons of shopping malls and a tower called Landmark Tower. Its famous here in Japan. We went to the train station do do work. The train station looked like the scene off the Best 2 Years where they are doing work in the little square area and everyone is going in every direction. THats how this place was. It was nuts. I really felt like i was on the movie because no one wanted to listen to me. NO ONE!!! I didnt talk to one person for 2 hours. Peopels hearts here are really hard. That made for a very hard day.
Wednesday: We were back in the same place but this time with an old investigator. He was super lonely and needed someone to talk to. I reazlized on that day that i represent Jesus Christ. Its not everyday that peopel get to spend 1 on 1 with the savior. So spending it with his representatives is just as good. I think we really helped him out. Just talked and were his freinds. He bought us some food too. He is super nice but has no interst in church whatsoever. But little by little he will come to see that our kindness comes from the church. we just have to show love.
Thursdayand Friday: I was on splits with a Korean. It was fun. He speaks english fluently. He can talk too. It was kinda of a hard night on thursday night. THe ward i was visiting had a member baptism. I got to thinking about my mission adn stuff. THe only baptisms i have seen on my mission are 8 year old baptisms. I know i am not a failure but i would really like one of my investigators to get baptized while i am there someday. But it was good split. ON friday we had District Meeting too. On the way back, i saw a Navy person, so i went to talk to him. I came to find out he is from New York. But he lived 10 min. away from HIll Cumorah!! He was not a member. He had some many questions and super good intrest. It was super difficult to teach him the Restoration becasue i havnt taught it in English in like 7 months. He felt the spirit for sure. I gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. I didnt get his number or email because he doesnt own a computer or phone. I really hope that he finds the missionaries that are in his area. He was awesome!!!! While i was doing that my comp was expireincing something different. At a stop a couple got on the train and stood between me and him. The couple came to find out wasnt a couple and the girl was married to someone else. Ya, thats right!!! THey were on their way to go to a little something something while her husband was at work. THey were american too. Talk about weird!!! I was on a spiritual high and my comp was in like hell. It was just kinda funny. THat stuff is pretty common here in Japan though. sad to say.
Saturday: Me and my comp had a great talk. We were both having a really hard day. It was super difficult. I realized a bunch of stuff in our talk taht i wanted to let him know. We were both trying to fiqure out why it was so hard. We fiqured it was becasue we were turning into robots. Saying the exact same stuff with every person. we were expceting for people to say no. We had no joy. I also came to realize that i hadnt been my selft. THis is the first time i have a younger comp. I quess i really wanted to have a good image about me so he could tell other missionaries about me. I was super prideful. I was not being myself. I tried to just prove that i was a good missionary and doing stuff that i wouldnt normally do so i could get praise. Its really bad for me to say. I am thankful that i was able to notice it. I knew that there was something wrong, i could feel it but i didnt know what it was. I have repented adn i am going to be myself for now on. Maybe i needed to learn this becasue everyone says i am going to train next transfer, so if that is the case i wont have to impress anyone. It was a super good talk. It started at 8pm and didnt get done til 12:15pm.
Sunday: Probably the best Sunday i have had in Japan. I had an investigator to church. In sacrament meeting all the talks, which were 3, were super awesome. Peopel had the topic of how the gospel changed their lives nad how they joined the gospel. Pretty much their conversion story. Super awesome. I know my gator felt the spirt so much. He loved chrch. In my ward their are 2 deaf people. So almost everyone can do sign langauge. So after church i went to hte Sign Langauge Class. It was super fun. Its Japanese Sign Language. I now know how to introduce myslef, tell wher ei am from, and my age in japanese sign langauge. Its awesome. I love it. To end the day, we had pork chops and potatoes. I thought that the pork was steak wehn we bought it but it was pork. But it was a good memory from home. Really good day.
Today: I started my power week. I am sacrificing working out so i can be out working 30 min earlier. I really want to find the people the Lord has prepared, so in order to do that i need to sacrifice somethign so i can do that. I chose working out and being out 30 min. earlier. Hopefully this will show the Lord my faith and he will bless me to find those he has prepared. On our way home, their was like a block party. TOday is a japanese holiday and everyone pounds rice into this gooey stuff called Mochi. It was super fun and really good. I got offered Sake(Japanese alcohol), Beer and tobacco. I have seeen everything this past week that God doesnt want us to do. But It was super fun and really good. Not the beer and stuff, the mochi. Today i also started something called the 7 Day Challenge. The challene is to eat Nato (Ferminted Soybeans) for 7 days straight. They say if you do that, you will like the stuff. BTW Nato is super gross. I had it once my first transfer and it was disqustign. But ireally want to get into the culture of Japan. Someone told me the best foreign speakers are the best becasue they accept the culture. So i decieded i have to do what japanese people do. ANd they eat Nato. Nato is super healthy for you to. One pack is only 95 cal and 8 grams of protein. Its like all protein. I already had my first pack and its gross. trust me. I am taking a video of it everyday. You will see.
So that was my week. I am super happy about my talk i had with my comp. It has relieved so much stress. I cant put in words how good it was. I am so happy about it. It really has been a rough week for me. Like i said before, the people here are really hard in thier hearts. I go out finding for 7 or 8 hours a day and i will return with no numbers or new investigators. I am learning something of improtance though, i dont think i will be shy to talk to girls or people when i get home. It is becoming really natrual to just start talking to someone. So i am excited to put my streeting skills into practice on girls when i get home. hahaha.
I love you so much!! Todya i have been on my mission for 10 months. Can you believe that. I have been in Japan for 230 days too. It is so crazy. Only like 2 months til i will it my 1 year mark and then i am on the down hill side. 62 days until my hump day! Crazy!!! I thought i would let you knwo that. I love you!!! I hope you are enjoing my pices. I would really love it if you could send those cards back as soon as possible. I got another one to send home and you will love it. Its going to be my best one yet. I love you!! Have a good week and look for the missionary oppurutunities. I heard an apostle say 'How can we pray for our missionaries to have expirences, if we ourselves dont look for them?" You are awesome mom. I love you!!! You are the best thing ever!!!!!
Much Love from the Nato Eating Son,
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
02 January 2011
It was good to get your email! I really enjoied reading about what you did for the New Year week. You know what, it was super good to see and hear you guys. You didnt get to hear much of me but i loved hearing from you. My week has been fast and slow at the same time. I dont know why. But i will fill you guys in on what went down.
Tuesday: I had a District Leader Meeting with President at the Mission Home.
Wednesday: We had a member present lesson and then we taught english.
Thursday: Had weekly planning then a dinner at a members house.
Friday: Had District Meeting, another member present lesson, and then dinner at our Bishops house.
Saturday: Had a lesson about Faith then Dinner at a chinese members house to end the year. (real chinese food on the last day of the year. SO GOOD!!!)
Sunday: Church
So that was pretty much my week. Ya, any free time that we had, we were out on the streets doing work. It has been really difficult to do work here the past 2 weeks because of the holidays. I have to tell you about my area a little bit. It is super SMALL. i can get from the south end to the north end in like 1 hour and 15 min and from the west side to the east side in 15 min. It is super small but it has lots of hills. It also has lots of tourists. It is a very famous spot in Japan for people to come and visit. It has China Town, and a tower named Landmark tower (fastest elevator in Japan). So with the holidays there has been lots of toursists from all over Japan and the world and when we stop someone they tell us that they told live in my area and dont want to listen and then go on there way. It has been super hard. But things should be rolling forward soon with the holidays over. My ward also has about 55 to 60 active members. It is pretty small. Yesterday at church there was barely 30 with kids included and the missionaries. Way small area, land and church wise, but huge area people wise. Since i am in a very popular place, there is alot to see during the day when i am working so i dont get to bored. But i get a bit trunky.
My 2 member present lessons were way good. The first one was with an 18 year girl and we taught the Restoration. I was thinking of how i can teach it unique from other missionaries. And then the idea came to me. SO i had an apple but on the apple i had drew lines dividing the apple into like 6 pieces. I then wrote different principles inbetween the lines. So the apple represents the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The core of the apple(with the seeds and stuff) is the preisthood. The preisthood holds everything together. But when Jesus and his apostles were killed, peopel only took things they liked from the True Gospel. So inorder to show that i started cutting the apple into peices around the core and dividing the apple. I then told her that the Preisthood was need to hold or perform all the ordinances of the True Gospel but the preisthood was gone. I then led that into the Restoration and said taht when Joseph Smith prayed God and Jesus revealed the True Gosple agian. So i showed another apple that was perfect and not cut up into pieces. And at the center of that gospel is Faith. THe apple seeds. I thought it was a great example. I am sorry if it sounds confusing over the net but it was good. THe other lesson was good too. We talked about Faith and then he came with us to the Bishops house for dinner. He had a really good time. The kid is way cool. In our other lesson we watched Finding Faith in Christ. I looked over at the Shiozawa, Our investigator, and he was crying. We asked him about the video and what his thoughts were and he just said how important Christ was and he wanted to meet agian. We then testified to what he said and invited him to read Alma 7. He accepted. It was a really spiritual lesson. I really enjoied it.
My new years was kinda rough. We didnt have anyone to church adn my mind was else where for some reason. I really didnt feel like a New Years. I am glad that you all had good one and hope that you enjoied quading. I am super jealous aobut that. Like i said my area gets me super trunky. Today is pday and we went to a Billabong and Quiksilver store that we found on the busy street. It was an old memory. It got me super trunky. Some of my old music was playing and i saw stuff that i wore before my mission and stuff that i wanted. I want this quiksilver belt. It is black and has the Quiksilver logo has a belt buckle. I want it so bad. But it is 50 bucks. Maybe i ll get it for my birhtday. But it made me super trunky and just made me start to think about my life befoer my mission. I cant believe that i have got only like a year left. THat is crazy.
This morining i was thinking about this transfer already. I got really stressed last because i saw everyones stats. every area in my district has gotten 11 lessons thus far in the transfer expect me and my comp. we only have 5. So i got really stressed just comparing myself to the other areas. THat was a BIG oops. This morning i was writing about my transfer to the President and i realized that i dont need to compare or prove anyone how hard i am working or how many lessons, investigators, or referrals i get. THe Lord sees how hard i am working and knows my heart. I realized that this morning and it made me feel super good. Here are some of the miracles:
When i first came to this area they had 1 kinda investigator, and no potentials. THe ward also didnt trust the missionaries. So that was a hard thing to come into. THats exactly what happened last transfer to me. But since the begining fo the transfer i have had more member present lessons than ohter lessons. We have found 5 new gators. We have visited 12 member families. Have gotten tons of P.I.s. And also have eaten at the members houses at least twice a week. So with all those i just had to take a moment to think about all the good that i have seen in an area taht is a tourist site. PRETTY DANG GOOD!!! We have also gained the trust of the members. So i dont think that i am a bad missionary at all if i dont have 11 lessons in 2 weeks or 5 new gators in 1 week. We have gained the trust of the members, eaten with the members, and done lessons with the members. You have to have a foundation before you start building right? I think the past 2 weeks have been building the foundation, now its time to start building the real thing. I am sure the Lord is going to bless us. We are planning on Next week doing a power week. We are going to get up at 5:50 every morning and only exercise for 1/2 hour. That means i am sacrificing my workout. THen we will start personal study at 7:30 instead of 8:00. We will get 1/2 hour more of work in the day by doing this. Hopefully the Lord will see our sacrifices and bless us. Not working out by the way is a HUGE sacrifice. But i really felt like if i did that, the Lord really will bless us with lots of success.
Well that is all about i have to say to you guys this week. I sure love all of you. I hope that you all have had a great holiday season. I got your Christmas letter and i love the calender adn card. Its great. Oh next week is fast sunday. I was wondering if you could fast for these people. Yoshitake, Furoishi, Shiozawa, adn Koh. THese are our investigators. Yoshitake really wants to be baptized but his parents wont give him permission. So really please pray for him. All of them are 18 so we need all of their parents permission. So please fast that they will accept to be baptized and get their parents permission. That would be great. I love you and always pray for you. I cant wait to hear from ya next week but more on Mothers Day. only 4 more months. God Be With you Always!!!! Stay classy!!!
Tuesday: I had a District Leader Meeting with President at the Mission Home.
Wednesday: We had a member present lesson and then we taught english.
Thursday: Had weekly planning then a dinner at a members house.
Friday: Had District Meeting, another member present lesson, and then dinner at our Bishops house.
Saturday: Had a lesson about Faith then Dinner at a chinese members house to end the year. (real chinese food on the last day of the year. SO GOOD!!!)
Sunday: Church
So that was pretty much my week. Ya, any free time that we had, we were out on the streets doing work. It has been really difficult to do work here the past 2 weeks because of the holidays. I have to tell you about my area a little bit. It is super SMALL. i can get from the south end to the north end in like 1 hour and 15 min and from the west side to the east side in 15 min. It is super small but it has lots of hills. It also has lots of tourists. It is a very famous spot in Japan for people to come and visit. It has China Town, and a tower named Landmark tower (fastest elevator in Japan). So with the holidays there has been lots of toursists from all over Japan and the world and when we stop someone they tell us that they told live in my area and dont want to listen and then go on there way. It has been super hard. But things should be rolling forward soon with the holidays over. My ward also has about 55 to 60 active members. It is pretty small. Yesterday at church there was barely 30 with kids included and the missionaries. Way small area, land and church wise, but huge area people wise. Since i am in a very popular place, there is alot to see during the day when i am working so i dont get to bored. But i get a bit trunky.
My 2 member present lessons were way good. The first one was with an 18 year girl and we taught the Restoration. I was thinking of how i can teach it unique from other missionaries. And then the idea came to me. SO i had an apple but on the apple i had drew lines dividing the apple into like 6 pieces. I then wrote different principles inbetween the lines. So the apple represents the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The core of the apple(with the seeds and stuff) is the preisthood. The preisthood holds everything together. But when Jesus and his apostles were killed, peopel only took things they liked from the True Gospel. So inorder to show that i started cutting the apple into peices around the core and dividing the apple. I then told her that the Preisthood was need to hold or perform all the ordinances of the True Gospel but the preisthood was gone. I then led that into the Restoration and said taht when Joseph Smith prayed God and Jesus revealed the True Gosple agian. So i showed another apple that was perfect and not cut up into pieces. And at the center of that gospel is Faith. THe apple seeds. I thought it was a great example. I am sorry if it sounds confusing over the net but it was good. THe other lesson was good too. We talked about Faith and then he came with us to the Bishops house for dinner. He had a really good time. The kid is way cool. In our other lesson we watched Finding Faith in Christ. I looked over at the Shiozawa, Our investigator, and he was crying. We asked him about the video and what his thoughts were and he just said how important Christ was and he wanted to meet agian. We then testified to what he said and invited him to read Alma 7. He accepted. It was a really spiritual lesson. I really enjoied it.
My new years was kinda rough. We didnt have anyone to church adn my mind was else where for some reason. I really didnt feel like a New Years. I am glad that you all had good one and hope that you enjoied quading. I am super jealous aobut that. Like i said my area gets me super trunky. Today is pday and we went to a Billabong and Quiksilver store that we found on the busy street. It was an old memory. It got me super trunky. Some of my old music was playing and i saw stuff that i wore before my mission and stuff that i wanted. I want this quiksilver belt. It is black and has the Quiksilver logo has a belt buckle. I want it so bad. But it is 50 bucks. Maybe i ll get it for my birhtday. But it made me super trunky and just made me start to think about my life befoer my mission. I cant believe that i have got only like a year left. THat is crazy.
This morining i was thinking about this transfer already. I got really stressed last because i saw everyones stats. every area in my district has gotten 11 lessons thus far in the transfer expect me and my comp. we only have 5. So i got really stressed just comparing myself to the other areas. THat was a BIG oops. This morning i was writing about my transfer to the President and i realized that i dont need to compare or prove anyone how hard i am working or how many lessons, investigators, or referrals i get. THe Lord sees how hard i am working and knows my heart. I realized that this morning and it made me feel super good. Here are some of the miracles:
When i first came to this area they had 1 kinda investigator, and no potentials. THe ward also didnt trust the missionaries. So that was a hard thing to come into. THats exactly what happened last transfer to me. But since the begining fo the transfer i have had more member present lessons than ohter lessons. We have found 5 new gators. We have visited 12 member families. Have gotten tons of P.I.s. And also have eaten at the members houses at least twice a week. So with all those i just had to take a moment to think about all the good that i have seen in an area taht is a tourist site. PRETTY DANG GOOD!!! We have also gained the trust of the members. So i dont think that i am a bad missionary at all if i dont have 11 lessons in 2 weeks or 5 new gators in 1 week. We have gained the trust of the members, eaten with the members, and done lessons with the members. You have to have a foundation before you start building right? I think the past 2 weeks have been building the foundation, now its time to start building the real thing. I am sure the Lord is going to bless us. We are planning on Next week doing a power week. We are going to get up at 5:50 every morning and only exercise for 1/2 hour. That means i am sacrificing my workout. THen we will start personal study at 7:30 instead of 8:00. We will get 1/2 hour more of work in the day by doing this. Hopefully the Lord will see our sacrifices and bless us. Not working out by the way is a HUGE sacrifice. But i really felt like if i did that, the Lord really will bless us with lots of success.
Well that is all about i have to say to you guys this week. I sure love all of you. I hope that you all have had a great holiday season. I got your Christmas letter and i love the calender adn card. Its great. Oh next week is fast sunday. I was wondering if you could fast for these people. Yoshitake, Furoishi, Shiozawa, adn Koh. THese are our investigators. Yoshitake really wants to be baptized but his parents wont give him permission. So really please pray for him. All of them are 18 so we need all of their parents permission. So please fast that they will accept to be baptized and get their parents permission. That would be great. I love you and always pray for you. I cant wait to hear from ya next week but more on Mothers Day. only 4 more months. God Be With you Always!!!! Stay classy!!!
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