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.
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