So Busy with Investigators

I'm assuming this is a picture of a family in their ward.

I've never walked behind a man with a monkey on his back!!--But Grady has!

September 13, 2009Time is going by much faster than I thought it would. It seems like every week goes quickly and before I know it, it's Sunday evening and we're all waiting by the computer for Grady's email. We love getting his letters. He always sounds happy and excited to be able to teach the gospel to the people of Japan. He is always so positive and happy and it makes it so much easier for me, knowing he absolutely loves his mission. I see growth every week and he's learning life lessons that it may have taken a lifetime to learn otherwise. Life is so good!!

Hey Family! Thanks for the emails. They were great. How is everything going? Sounds like everyone is happy. Sorry about the kidney stones. I hope I never get those. That is cool that Buhl closed and the cars are getting sold. I am glad that your life is less hectic. I’ll answer the questions first. My bike is all right!? I am glad it is a GT because I rode a brand new Giant the other day and it didn’t seem better than my old piece of crap. I like it a lot but the back wheel is bent so I am buying a new one today. I also need to fix the brakes but this will total to no more than a hundred dollars which is a lot cheaper and just as good as a new one. The other day at interviews me and another elder went out to fix the rear tire. You can adjust the spokes and so the wheel isn’t as bent but it made things worse. A spoke snapped and the tire went flat. He didn’t even say that he was sorry but it is all right. I will be working on my bike from now on I guess. This week I have been using Harris Choros old Mamacari. It is what all the Japanese people use. It is a funny looking bike that old grandmas usually ride. It does the job though. Ya the other day My umbrella got stuck in the spokes of the front tire as I was going but I jumped of quick and bailed. It was way funny. (He told Lenzi that when he bailed he was on the ground, laughing so hard and loud, and no one was laughing with him!! He said he might be too loud for the Japanese people!) I really don’t need money. The only thing I spend my money on is my bike pretty much. all the rest is out of the mission money. I have plenty of toothpaste at the moment but thanks. I have stopped losing weight and am staying pretty constant at about 155-160 or so. I have lost about 15 pounds. pretty crazy huh!? I feel really healthy though. Me and my comp get along really well. We definitely don’t click like me and Harris did but everyone has his and her own strengths. I have felt myself holding my tongue more often this transfer but the Lord has blessed me. I am really trying to change to. I could definitely be more flexible and I am trying. The language is coming along. I am starting to pick up more words so today I am also buying a jisho (electronic dictionary). It will hopefully be under 200 dollars. The mission is going great. This is probably the busiest I have been so far. It is hard to keep track of all the Investigators. We have some African investigators. They are from Ghana, Senegal, and Congo. They are pretty cool. I’ll tell you about one. His name is Emmanuel. He is 39, and has a family back in Ghana. We met with him last night and taught about the restoration. He understood well and the spirit was there. He really wants to know. Before we met him God prepared him. He recently lost about 12,000 dollars on a scam that someone did to him. He decided to come back to Japan to work and gain back the money. People in Japan also treated him bad but he decided to forgive and forget. He also decided to start listening to other churches beliefs. It was a miracle that we met him because he is usually not at Namba, the place we met him. He was there and we showed up and talked to him and set up the appointment yesterday. He realized what a miracle all this was and he is a great man because he realizes that we have to rely on God to be happy. We are meeting with him today and going to commit him to baptism. Ill tell you how it goes. I have faith that the spirit will witness to him that this gospel is different than the other Christian churches. It is the restored church and we don’t have to be confused anymore. We have a living prophet. Thanks for all the support during my life. My testimony really grows stronger everyday. Kitaoka is starting to get the priesthood. He passed the sacrament last week. I felt a little like a parent because I have seen his whole transformation process. O and dad I can read peoples through their eyes. The eye is the light of the body. "Matthew somewhere" Every contact I look into their eyes and listen for the spirit to tell me what they need to hear. The spirit is very strong and I am trying to listen more and more. The mission is great and thanks again. Till next week!