Called to serve in the Tokyo-Japan Mission
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
16 July 2012::
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
I hope that you had a great day or are having a great day. Next year i will be at your party for sure. But today, just know that i am thinking of you and am excited for you. Last year you got an eamil from my bishop with my pictrue in it. Now you get an email from me. Next year is even better because i will actually be tHere. It is like a step system. Pretty funny uh?
That is so cool that you got to go and meet President Albrecht. I love him so much. I am so thankful that you were able to meet my temporary father. He is the greatest right? I am so gald that he was my mission President. You are right. He has so much love for everybody. I really miss it. That missionary that you met actually went home after his 2nd transfer. One of my previous companions was his trainer. Thats how we knew eachother. Pretty cool uh. I bet you loved meeting somebody who was just with me. Thats a pretty cool thought to me. I hope he said good things about me. But he probably lied haha. jk. I hope what he said made you happy. I am trying to be the missionary you want and expect me to be.
I am glad taht you had a great week. It sounds like you are just partying it up this summer. All i hear is about you going to the cabin, hawaii, or utah to party. It sounds really fun. Some of taht food sounds really good too. Maybe you can send me some quick-to-make-recipes. I need some new cuisine in my life. The only catch is i dont have a stove. So jsut some stuff that doesnt need a stove to make. THanks. I sure love you.
So my week was really good. but i think the weeks are getting harder and harder to remember. I will try my best to remember what happened this week or at least the highlights. Lets see. . . I gotta pull out my journal.
So i finally did my training that i was telling you about. It was super good. I did my training on desires. That subject reallyhelped me alot when i was a younger missionary. So that is what i did. I had some cool object lessons. One of them is water, dish soap and dry ice. When you put the dry ice into the soapy water it has a reaction and makes tons of bubbles. You should try it. The Budges got robbed and Sister Budge had lots of necklaces stolen. Because of that there was some detectives that stopped by. Pres. Budge was doing interviews so he sent me and another elder to translate for Sister Budge. It was cool. I was like in a detective case. I felt good.
On thursday we went to the temple with our recent convert, Tsutomu. It was so great. They asked me to translate the spiritual message to Japanese because the talker didnt know Japanese. It was fun but i need to study my temple words for sure. haha. It was super great to see Tsutomu gettin baptized for the dead. He had a huge smile on his face. It really brought me the best happiness. I love him so much and am so grateful for that expirence. My baptism was cool. It was the first time in almost 2 years doing baptisms. Crazy. Well this is where it gets interesting. I am an american in Japan doing baptisms in Japanese for Korean names. isnt that a bit strange. I had to laugh about it when i thought about it. One of the names dated all the way back to 1333. That is a long time. I hope to meet him inthe after life.
Friday i had a cool expirence. While i was passing out flyers a guy came up to me and started talkin to me. He had been to america for 2 years and went to church once. WEll today i got an eamil from him saying that it was destiny that we met and that he wants salvation. It was way cool. maybe ill send it to you. At the end of the email he closed by sayin "your lost sheep". How funny is that. He is going to get baptized in August. Thats what we are planning for.
On sunday i finally got to be interview by President Budge. I was supposed to be interviewed by him on Wednesday but i didnt have time. So I did it on Sunday. You could definately tell he is different than President Albrecht. Pres. Albrecht had way more love. President Budge is laid back and a way funny guy. You cna tell he is brand new. haha. I am glad i get to know him. I am excited to deepen my relationship with him and to get to know him better. Sometimes it is pretty hard thinking that Pres. Albrecht isnt my Pres. anymore. I loved him so much. But I got Pres. Budge now, so i will make the best of it.
So I am just loving life right now. It is supe hot. Not as hot as last summer though. I am doing great and super healthy. The only thing that is wrong is that you can totally tell i am an old missionary. My white shirts arent white (a faint yellow/ same with the garments), both my pants have huge holes in them, my shoes have holes in them, and my workout clothes stink super bad. haha. The other elders make fun of me for it. I really need to buy new stuff. Can you go to bank of america and see how much money i have in my account. I also need a new card. My card expires next month which means i wont be able to get any money out of my account. THanks you are the best.
I love you mom. You are the best in the world. I cant wait to see you in a coulpe of months. I cant believe that i have like 6 months left on the mission. Time goes by so fast. I am still ZL and time is still going to go as fast as ever. So better be planning on what you want to do when you come here. It will be here in no time. You will love it here. I love it here so much. I fyou can still pray for me that would be great. I could use them. Tell my siblings that i love them and that they need to write me more often. I love getting mail. It is amazing as a missionary. Well, im super tired and i cant think anymore. I love you. THat is the important part. Cant wait til next week. Stay Classy!!!
Love your Van De Breezin Son,
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
11 July 2012::
I am so sorry that i am not answering or writing your emails seperatly but i have been super busy and i dont have the tiem to do so. I am doing so GOOD!!!! Life here in in Japan and as a Zone Leader is super busy but really good. So i do have an answer for you about President Albrechts homecoming. It is on the 15th of July at 11 A.M. The church is located across the street from Krispy Kreme's in Orem, UT. Thats all i know. I am sure people up there know about it. His address is 909 S. 725 W. Orem, Ut. His emial is steve_albrecht@byu.edu or leann@albrechtfamily.com. I am sure they would love if you could get to it.
So it is great to hear how everything is going on at the cabin. I am kinda bumbed that i dont get to participate in that. Oh well though. Hope everything continues to go smoothly. So I have been really busy this week. We had tons of lunches to go to and lots of splits to go on. I went on splits in my bean area, Shibuya. It was way fun. When i was there 1 year ago, we didnt really work. But we worked hard when i went there again. We also ran to Tokyo Tower. THat was super fun. It took us a total of 1 hour to get there and back. Maybe a total of 6 miles. It was pretty solid. When we finished splits we had a English Class and we celebrated teh 4th of July. It was super fun we had about 60 people come and more than half werent members. It was super fun. A great turn out. Thursday i had splits to go on with Elder Nakamura again. I went on splits with him my 2nd transfer and it was fun to work with him agian. Friday was super cool. We had aobut 1.5 hours to go finding and we found 3 new investigators. Talk about being blessed. Saturday i had the great oppurtuity to go on splits with a pre-missionary. He is thinking about going on a misison. It was a stake event. It wasnt very good at all. He didnt hlep me at all and i tried to make work as fun as possible but it is hard when nobody wnats to listen. So at the end he said that he had a good expirence which is good. I also got to meet President Budge on Saturday. He is really different from President Albrecht. I hope that i can get a good relationship like i had with Pres. Albrecht. We shall see. I have a mini-zone conference Tomorrow and i get to have a interview. I am super excited. SUnday after church we went to a old folks home to sing. It was super cool to see how excited tehy were to see us and get a performance. It was suepr hard singing in Japanese stuff that you dont know. haha. But it was fun.
That was my week in a real short wrap up. It was a super expensive week this week. Being a Zone Leader is SO expensive escpessially here in TOkyo. I am going broke. But still good. So, as busy as i was, it was a bit of a hard week, mentally. Since i have come to this area, our stats and investigators and everything has just gone down. It doesnt make me feel very good. I also had the thought of being released of ZL after 1 transfer and that stressed me out a bit. There was just so much that was stressing me out. I never thought taht a mission could entail so much stress. I think i just put it on myself. I have decided that my thoughts are my weakest point. I fasted on Sunday that i could develop stronger thoughts and be more positive in my thought process. I could use some prayers with that. onegaishimasu. On sunday, night i was thinking aobut how long i have been on my missoin. It is July of 2012. I am half way throught the summer of 2012. That is so crazy. I cant believe that i am going to start the down hill slide of my mission here in a very short time. It is going by so fast. I only have 5 transfers left. 5! That is not ver many. I love you guys so much but i realized on Sunday that i have lived without seeing you for 1.3 years. That was a big shock to me. Tomorrow i have a training to give and i am going to do it on Desires. Please pray that i will be able to give a good training. I am way nervous about it.
I dont know waht else to say. I am out of things to say. Oh, i have not gotten 1 letter this transfer. I got your postcard but no letters. What is up with that? I love mail! Maybe you can get my siblings or nephews to write me. I would love that. I would love a letter from a girl too.
!!!! I am doing pretty good. Trying my hardest. I am definatley going to need new EVERYTHING when i get home. I bought 1 new pair of mesh garments today but they are way to big for me. I am kinda mad. I forgot the size that i got last tiem. My garments right now slightly yellow. They are slightly yellow because i wear them running. It is pretty gross and i ma going to need new ones when i get home. haha. Well I love all of you very much. Please continue to pray for me, i could use them. Today at the tmeple was great. I love going to the tmeple. I cant wait to go to them temple with everyone again. It will be super fun.
You are right mom. I have about 3/4 left of my mission. It is a scary thought of home. It really is. I dont like to think to much about it becasue my thoughts get carried away. But it is super scary. I dont konw what i am goin to do. We shall see.
I lvoe you mom and dad. I am grateful for the both of you. I am sorry my emails have gotten bad. I just really am not focused right now. I think i got most of my week in though. I hope to get a letter this upcoming week. I am goign to send you a birthday card this week so you will get it late. Sorry. I have been to busy to send it. But one is coming. Have a great week! I lvoe you with all my heart.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
26 june 2012::
I dont even know where to start this email. THat seems to be the norm. nowadays right. I never know where to start. So about Rindlisbacher. I do know him acutally. I have never served with him but his name in Japanese is Rindi and mine is Bandi. So it is almost the same. But that is interestin. The lady DeAnn knows is acutally the mom to my current companion. It is sister Hansen. haah. Me and her son are companions. Small world right? It Is good to hear that Hawaii was amazing. Ill keep my comments short becuse there is just to much to say. I want to go there some day. There are lots of Japanese people there. It sounds like a fun place. Maybe aftr my mission. It is super good to hear that you gave out a book of mormon. I am glad that you got to expirence that. Congrats.
So i have been super busy this week. I was telling dad, yesterday was the first time in like 3 days that i got to sleep in my own futon. It felt awesome. Tuesday i went on splits with a missionary that was training. It was suepr good. A huge typhoon blew in while we were out doin work. I love riding my bike in the rain. We have these rainsuits to help keep us dry but they dont really work. THey are called Kappas. YOu can either wear it and get drenched in sweat or you can not wear it and get wet. Either way you are going to be wet. Anyways, on the way back to the apartment, the bike i was on broke. That seems to happen alot for some reason. Bikes just cant handle me. Well we were about 20 minutes away, in a typhoon. I decided that i would ride the working bike and pull the other missionary on the broken biek. I felt like a horse. I love making good memories like that. It is awesome. I will remember that slpit for the rest of my life.
On friday, i went on splits to the same area but with this time with the District Leader.( Before we went though, i did my run. It was crazy. There was another typhoon all friday morning. Well i go running in rain, snow, or sunshine. Well maybe running wasnt a great idea. I wasnt expecting to run through a river. It was raining so hard that water levels on all the ground was just above mid-shin level. It was like running for 30 minutes in irrigation level water. I was soaked. And i got lost. I ended up running about 5 miles. It was nuts but yet another great memory. I am grateful for my companion i might add.) I really like him too. I have known him his whole mission. We were in the same district when he was a bean. Well, we got to teh area, and we had a white day. Something i havent had in a long time. Thursday was the first itme i have done more than 20 minutes of streeting in over 3 weeks. I have been so busy in my new area that we dont go find people. SO i was a bit overwhelmed with having over 7 hours of finding time. Another reason i love being ZL is because i have to set a good example for these missionaries. So i have to be happy and work my hardest all the time. It has been really good. I cant really express what i mean in words. Well, we went streeting for 3 hours and then passed out flyers. When we did that, a really nice lady came to me and started talking. She had a butload of kids with her too. Well they were all her kids. THe oldest 9 adn the youngest 2. THe lady was Japanese and had 6 kids in 7 years. THe dad was japanese too. THat is unheard of here. She was super nice too. SHe took the missionary lessons 10 years ago but got pregnant so stopped. But they looked like a super happy family and you could tell they had studied before. I invited her constinently to come back to church but she just said maybe. We will see she was super cool. Kinda reminded me of Janalyn. When we were heading home, we stopped a guy from Detroit. WHAT A MISTAKE!!! He ended up talking for about 1 hour about non-sense stuff like denying God and a bunch of stuff like that. I tried to testify to him and share my beliefs. For example, i said that God had helped me in sports so much. Well Chad, the guys name, told me that i was fooling myself and that i did all by myself. THere was no way. I realized at that moment, that i am different as a missionary and other people. It was super easy to see how much of a grasp that Satan had on that mans heart. I am glad that i have this Gospel in my life and all that it does for me. I never want to be like thaat gyuy taht i met. NEVER! He ws a sad story for sure.
Ok, thursday was our all mission conference. It was super sad because this was President Albrechts last one. He leaves this saturday. Anyway, at lunch the Kawamitsu did ther performance. I got to introduce them to all the missionaries. It was awesoem. I also got to talk to them for a little bit before. I tried my hardest to get a picture afterwards but i got pushed into the Sacrament room and they left. I was a bit dissappointed but i am sure i will meet them again. Everyone loved it so much. President kept telling me thank you for organizing it and all the missionaries had a blast. It makes me happy, when i can make others happy. It was awesome. I was super happy. They left me 2 CD's, and 2 hand drawn pictures of the Savior. I really like the posters. I cant listen to the CD's thought. At least not yet. I really like there stuff though. It was a great day.
Saturday we had Stake conferce so we stayed at the Mission Home apartemnt with the APs and the office elders. It was a party. We had tons of Ice cream, rotten beans called NATO, hotdogs, mochi (pounded rice). Just so much food. It was so much fun. THere was 9 missionaries there. That is dangerous. I loved it so much. THen on Sunday we had a special stake conference where elder Uchtdorf spoke. It was awesome. He gave great advice on how to have the spirt and what we need to do. THe main point to the conference though was missionary work. Members havent gotten the hang of the phrase "every member a missionary" yet. They dont do missionary work here. It is a huge struggle for missionaries to get the members to share teh gospel with there friends. One day, they will get the hang of it and the missionaries will NEVER have finding time. Only Teaching. That is the way it should be.
Out gator, Tsutomu had his Baptisnal Interview too. He PASSED!!! He will be baptized this upcoming Saturday. I am so happy for him. I have cna honestly see that his countance has changed. It is awesome to see. How could anybody ever deny this gospel after serving a mission when you cna expirence first hand seeing people without the gospel, seeing poeple accept and be changed by the gospel, and seeing the differnce between people who live the gospel and those who dont? You cant. If you do, you are straight up dening the holy ghost. I am so grateful for this expirecne that i have and waht i have been able to expirence. It is changing my life forever. I am so grateful for it. kokoro kansha shiteimasu! Anyway, I am so excited for tsutomu. I have seen him change. THe only thing i am not excited about is that he asked me to confirm him. I am way scared. I have never done anything like that before. let alone in Japanese. It will be interesting. Please pray for me.
SO like said before, President Albrecht leaves this upcoming Saturday. I am not happy about that. I love him so much. He has had such an impact on my mission. He has changed me so much. I look up to him so much for alot of things. It isnt goin to be the same without him here. I konw President Budge will be good, but i dont knw him yet like i do President Albrecht. I hope our relationship can be as good if not better. I know my relationship with President ALbrecht will be a everlasting one. I love him so much. I am going to miss him alot. You need to go to his Homecoming. It is on the 15th July 2012 at: 909 S. 725 W., Orem, Utah 84058. I really want you guys to meet him. Please go if you can.
SO as you can see, i am just constantly busy. I am just going from place to place to place. I am loving it so much. I have really come to love Japan and the people. I feel like alot of these popel are my family. Tsutomu reminds me so much of Kamas. I feel like i have my family right here with me nad that i am not alone. I lvoe it. I lvoe you and everyone in the famly so much. Japan is AWESOME!!! You will be blown away when you come. I am excited to see what you guys will be like when you come. haha.
I have a favor for you mom. I want you to be honest too. Cna you tell me what kind of person i was before the mission? What my strenghts were, what my weakness's were, how i was different from others, stuff like that? I really want to hear. I also want to examine myself to see if i have changed while on my misison. Can you do that for me? I would really appreciate it. I was also wondering if you could send me some pictures of me before my mission? Like right before my i started losing weight. I really want to show people what i looked like before mmy diet. Cna you send me some pictures liek that? TO show how fat i was? Also any other pictures.
I love you mom. I feel like there is so much i want to tell you but i just cant remember everything that has happened. It has been so busy with me and everything. I do want to tell you though that i am loving my mission. I am having the best time ever. I love it here in Japan. I am so grateful that almost 1 year ago when i was having a hard time that i stuck it out and stayed. I am so grateful for this Gospel and everything that it has to offer.It is awesome. I love it. I love you and my family. I am excited to see all of you again and be with you again. I love my life and mission, my family, and my Savior Jesus Christ. Thanks for everything that you have ever done for me. You are the best.
日本語で自分の証をしたいと思います。伝道出る前にこの福音を好きだけどあまり生活しなかったんです。だから伝道の間無坂しかった時間がありました。この福音の証を持ちませんでした。けど福音の原則を生活することによって、私は証を得ました。モルモン書、ジョセフスミス、回復のことが大好きですよ!自分の伝道が大好きですよ!この伝道から私の人生が変わられました。心から感謝しています!イエスキリストは私の救い主であり、購い主です。彼の教えによって、私は自分の家族と共に永遠になることができって本当の幸せを感じます!この福音のことは私の全全部のことです。人々がこの福音を試したらもたらす幸せと平和を感じることができます。私の証です。もう一度私はこの福音に心から感謝しています!これらのことすべて、愛するイエスキリストのみ名によって、この証申し上げます。アーメン。
I love you mom. Google translate will probably say this super wierd so have fun translating it. I lvoe you and cant wait to hear from you agian. If you want to send me anything else, fun things, cool things, other pictures, etc. . .i am not opposed to it. I would love it. I havent gotten mail in ove r5 weks. I love you guys. Take it easy!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
24 june 2012::
I think you said it perfectly. Short but sweet. I dont have much time either. Or actually not much has happend. Well alot happens but i cant really remember and i dont want to take the time to tell. This week went by really fast though. The past 2 weeks have been the fastest 2 weeks of my mission. I cant believe how fast everything is going. Its amazing.
I am happy to hear that everyone is doing good. It is good to get an update about everyone. I love my family so much. I miss you guys alot but am loving it here. The other day i was thinking about Japan and stuff the other night and i realized how much i love it here. I was thining that in less than 8 months i wont be in Japan anymore. I was really sad. I really love it here and i kinda dont want to go. I have tried so hard to love it and i am finally here. It is home.
SO this week we had a couple of lessons but not as many as last week. Our investigator Tsutomu is way BOMB. He asked at the end of one of his lessons if he would cry when he got baptized. He is excited and it will happen in 2 weeks. Can you still pray for him? He is great and i really like him. A really stylin guy. As ZL in the most populated zone in the world, i had to go to 3 district meetings. Takes alot of time. I am getting good and doing work on trains though. But we went all over tokyo today. It is a good thing i was thinking that i am a ZL in tokyo so when you guys come, i will know all of the subways and trains we need to go to to get places. Pretty neat uh? This week we are starting splits with everybody we have to go on. It is going to be really really busy on top of all our lessons. I love being busy. it is the best.
SO this week had some trails. Monday i lost my bank card. I dont know where it went but i felt really bad. I didnt feel like i could be trusted because i lost it. Well it is all solved now. Tuesday i crashed on my bike and put some holes in my pants. It was fun and my comp got a video of it. It is pretty funny. Wednesday i got up and my camera card was lost. I am still mad about this one. I dont know where it went. I lost over 1.5 months worth of pictures. Sorry. It had bapitsmal pictures, family pictures. funny pictures, etc. I look for it all the time. I think it is in my apt somewhere. Please pray that i will find it. Then on Thursday i looked at my watch that Kamas gave me and it had stopped clicking. The lense was all fogged up. So my quess it got a little water in it. I dont know how though the watch is water proof. SO my next quess is the batteries are dead. But today i am going on a watch hunt. And last but not least, my japanese. I made so many mistakes and just couldnt speak all week. I felt like an idiot. My companino has much better japanese than i do and we are on the same transfer. That put me down a bit. SOme of the other elders started laughing at me for making a mistake and i got super mad at them. I hate it when people just make fun of you for not being as smart. Iwish they would just tell me what i did wrong. Oh well that was a while ago. If you guys could pray, i am sure you do, that i will be better at speaking and opening my mouth. I really want to be the best i can be. I really do. I want to impress you guys when you come. But that is it.
Like said this week was good but rough. In those rough times, i really sought for service. I was able to do so much service in this apt. There are 4 elders. THere is alot that i can do. I am sure of it. I was happy escpesially when the other elders were asking who did stuff for them. It was good and i was happy. I have gotten a testimony of serice while here in Japan and i am so grateful for it.
I love you so much mom. I am so grateful for you and all that you do. THe fireside with the Kawamitsu is this Thursday. President Albrecht leaves next Saturday. It is crazy. You should go to his homecoming in Utah. It would be fun. I cant think of too much other stuff that happened to me this week. Zone Leader is crazy. I am trying so hard to be humble and just learn and set a good example for everybody. Please pray that i will be able to do a good job and be the best leader that i can be. I love yo so much. I hope you have a great week. I am excited to hear from ya. Stay Classy
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
12 June 2012::
It seems like i just emailed you like you a day ago. Time has been really going by super fast. i want to answer some questions before i dive into my email. First off, Grandma E. I do know the Elder taht knows Jay. He is actually in my Zone. I am his district leader. That is super funny. I will mention to him about Jay when i see him again. My President hasnt changed yet. President Budge comes on the 29th june and President Albrecht leaves on the 30th June. It is going to be very sad having that change. I am in a daze of what it is going to be like with a new president. Things will change and stuff will be different but i am sure the work of the Lord will be the same. Mom, Lili is doin good i think. This week on the 12th she has her big test that has been keeping her from coming and being confirmed. So this upcoming sunday she should be confirmed. That is what she told me before i left. Please pray for her. Just a side note, I have been in contact with the Kawamitsu's for awhile now. I actually arranged with them a good bye concert for President Albrecht just like you asked me too. So no worries there.
OK. I will tell you know about my new calling. only two words can describe it. ALWAYS TIRED!!!! I have never been so tired my entire mission. It is constantly work, work, work. I dont get a break. haha. The area i am in is on FIRE right now too so that doesnt help at all. THis past week we had tons of planning to do for our zone vision and stuff like that. Our vision is "fear departs when faith endures" from hymn #128. We really want to focus on not being afraid and just doing it. So we planned about that alot but some how we managed to get 7 other lessons, 3 member lessons, and 6 new investigators. I dont think i went out streeting once but that is what we got. Pretty amazing uh? The four man apt. doenst help at night either because we all talk until about 11:30 at night and then fall asleep. It is super hard, but i am sure loving it. I am really intimidated by this calling. I dont want to screw up at all. I fasted on Tuesday or wednesday (i cant remember) so that the Lord will help me in this new calling and give me strenght, guidance, and just help on what to do. I really hope i can be the best ZL i can be. I really want to hlep this Tokyo Zone alot. I have decided in order to do that, i just need to be myself and do what i have done in the past. If i worry to much about being good or bad, i get stressed. And if that happens, i do dumb things. So i have decided just to work hard, smile, and laugh everyday. It seems to be helping a bit besides being tired. I dont know how i will ever overcome that one. I think that will have to wait until after my mission. I am sure that as i get used to being a ZL, i will be more accustomed to things and thus in turn be less tired. We shall see. Please pray for me. I really need the prayers. I am constantly doing something. It is nuts. But the time is sure going by fast. I cant believe how fast this past week has gone. It really has gone by so fast. It will only go by faster too.
So we do have a couple of investigators like i was telling you about. I wnat to talk about 2 in general. The first is Tsutomu. He is really cool and reminds me of Kamas. He loves motorcycles and having nice things. He has been a gator for aobut 6 years and in the past month has had a complete changed heart. He wants to be baptized now more than never but has a habit of drinking coffee. So please pray for him ahtat he iwll be able to stop doing that. He si way solid and will be baptized on the 30th of June. The next is acutally a miracle. His name is Michael. He is from Canada. He lives right next to our church building and hte missionaries have met him before and asked him to come to church and he never did. So we never thought to much aobut him. We saw him on tuesday or wed. and asked him to come to game night on sat. He showed up and sadi he would come to church. We were wondering if that was the truth. Well he came and turned out he is total golden investigator now. I taught him on splits and it was awesome. He was so open and willing to learn. I never thought that people from the American Continent, living in Japan, could become a golden investigator but i am wrong. He has a christian background so when i started teaching he understood everything righ away. He asked about the one thing he didnt understnad wich was the gift of the Holy Ghost. I testified to him that with this gift, GOd can tell us anything and everything that we need to know in this life. I told him that theHoly Ghost will guide, direct and comfort us. He told me that he wanted that because he needs direction right now. He really is humble. I am butchering this story but bear with me. He committed to be baptized on the 14th of July. Please pray that he will feel the Holy Ghost in his Life and that he will be able to make the right descions and be baptized on that day. He is awesome and i am excited to work with him.
SO sunday was super hard on me. I decided to start fasting on every sunday that more people can come unto christ. Well this sunday after church we had a linger longer. I really wanted to eat the food. But i was determined that throught my fast, we would find people to teach, commit and baptize. It was really haard and like torture. Well sunday night within 2 hours we found 4 new gators, 4 other lessons, and 4 new baptismal dates. Isnt that CRAZY????? I am so glad that i stuck to my fast. I know the Lord is blessing us so much right now. I love it when my faith increases like that. It is amazing!!!!
So my week was way good as you can tell. Super busy, super tired, but lovin life. It is really good and i hope it stays that way. I am sure it will. I love you guys so much. I am grateful for your support and everything that you do for me. 2 days ago i hit my 1 year and 3 months in the mission mark. Pretty crazy uh? Going to fast!!! Oh, i get up and workout then run every morning at 5:50. Well my comp has something on his bike that tells him how far he goes and how fast he is going too. SO one morning we used it. I thinkyou will be supiresed. I ran 3.2 miles in just under 24 minutes. Isnt that awesome. He said i was going about 9 mph the entire way. I was way proud of myself.
I hope you have a great week mom. I love you so much. I am excited to get a letter from ya soon. I am going to be sending my current camera card home. You know what to do when you get it. I am looking forward to this transfer so much. It is going to be suepr fun. I just hope that i can be the best i can be and do what the Lord knows what i can do. My prayers are always with you. Stay Classy!!!
Monday, June 4, 2012
04 June 2012:
Man i am so sorry that this weeks email is later than usual. Today has you know has been transfers. Before i tell you want has happened to me and my new companion i want to tell you about this week but more in particular of a huge MIRACLE!!!!
So i loved your emails like usual. It sounds like everyone had a blast at the cabin. I was praying that everyone would do good. Glad it went well. I did get the Newsletter but like Kelly i cant see the pictures.
Well Last week i told you that our grandma investigator didnt want to be baptized. I fasted for her all day on sunday. After she told us that, i knew she was WRONG. I still had a feeling that she was going to be baptized. I still had lots of hope. Monday was a normal day. We went to Jennys house for dinner and was way fun like usual. Tuesday we went to the temple. Of course all day Monday and all day Tuesday me and Elder Chne were just thinking about Suzuki shimai. Or the grandma. It was a great temple session adn i focused and prayed just about her. I had a great feeling throughout the entire session. Well after eating all you can eat pizza me and elder chen both had a feeling that we should fast for her again. So Elder Chen started his fast right then. He fasted until lunch time on Wednesday. I started my fast Wednesday morning and finished by dinner on Wed. On Wednesday though we had a lesson with her just about baptism and its purpose. It was so great. We both studyed for her in the mornign. After study we both felt like the problem that was holding her back was being forgiven of her sins. Well WE had a 2 hour lesson. To be short, a miraculous miracle happened. Her heart was softened and she said taht she wanted to be baptizedd on the 3rd of June. Yesterday for me, by her son. ANd she wanted me ot confirm her. WHAT A SUPRISE!!!!!! It was great. WEll, sunday came around and i was nervous as any one in the world. Do you wanna konw why? Quess who showed up? Elder Yamashita of the 70 came to our ward. His son is in my ward and they were visiting. I was so nervous. WEll, Suzuki shimais son didnt want to baptize her, so i did. It was a great last sunday for me in Yamate. I was able to baptize someone before i left. SHe asked me not to forget her. I dont think i w=ever will. She is one of the biggest miracles i have seen on my mission. It was great. She is an amazing woman with a strong testimony. I will definatly bring you to Yamate when you come to Japan.
Saturday we got transfer calls. I am going back to the TOKYO Zone as a. . . . . . . .ZONE LEADER!!!!! Yup, i am in the biggest zone in our mission, the busiest zone in our mission, and i have to take care of over 30 missionaries. I am way excited but way nervous. THis is a HUGE calling. I am in the heart of Tokyo as a Zone Leader. I have never been so nervous on my mission. I got up at 5 this morning because i was so nervous. Elder Chen wanted to take me to a all you can eat for our last time, and he ate for food than me. I was nervous. I am definatley going to need your prayers. on this one. My new area is called Urayasu. It has a baptism in it almost every 3 weeks. I am also in a 4 man apartment. My new companion is Elder Ren Hansen. He is acutally on the same transfer as me. We were inthe MTC together. Its funny because when we were in the Mtc We told eachother we were going to be ZL comps on Transfer 10 in TOkyo. Well that came true. I am way scared. To make things worse i had to give a goodbye at Yamate. THat was way nerve racking too. It was testimony meeting and quess who was on the stand? Yup thats right, Elder Yamashita of the 70. I was nervous as anyone. It was so hard to say good bye. I love that ward so much. It is my home here in Japan i think. Panda gave me a really cool plaque that has kanjis on it. THey mean: Healer of the Heart or Soul. It has two meanings. One is i want to be a heart doctor and the other because i changed is heart and soul. It is way cool. I love it so much. Elder CHen also gave me a pair of new running shoes. I love them. I will be honest though they arent comfortable and they are cheap so they wont last very long. But it was still way super nice of him and will wear them until i cant anymore.
I love you all so much. Sorry this eamil is so short. My new area is busier than my last area and i am zone leader so i wont have as much time as usual. I really need your prayers. I am super nervous about htis calling and yeah please pray for me. I want to do my very best. I love you guys so much. Hope you have a great week and i cant wait to hear from ya next week. Love you!!! stay classy!!!
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