October 25, 2009
Hey family! Thanks for all the messages! They were great! Ill answer the questions first. Ya your scriptures will be fine. Thanks a lot. He will really like them. I have never checked how long it takes. Sorry? The only things I would need would be like toothpaste, socks, boring stuff like that. I am bad at ironing pants so maybe a little drawing of how to do it like the pros. The only thing I spend money on is really bike repairs. Today I bought new tires, and brakes and stuff. So I guess money for that? I am sorry I really have no use for a lot of things.My schedule is:
5.30>wake up and study Japanese (read the Bom in Japanese etc)
6:30>exercise
7:00>shower and eat
7:30>read the Bible and Book of Mormon
8:00>personal study
9:00>Companionship Study
10:00>Japanese Study
10:45> Leave apartment During this time it just depends I guess. I usually just go streeting. Streeting is walking or riding around trying to stop everyone so we can talk with them. If I am not streeting I may be visiting less actives, teaching lessons to investigators, having meals with members, etc. We also astarted up an FHE for the youth and anyone who wants to come. It has been a good success. During this time I also eat Lunch and dinner. Yes you heard me I eat three meals now. My companion likes his meals a lot and I just make the best out of it. I am not gaining weight though.
9:00pm> Back in apartment and plan for the next day
9:30> call investigators and Potential Investigators
10:00> write in journal, iron shirt for tommorrow, and get ready for bed
10:30>Lights out and in bed(futoon)(This is not the American futon--it is a mat on the floor!)
O and dad to answer your question about the signs; the Japanese people all do the peace sign in photos so I guess it is just natural for us. I think it is funny because every Japanese person knows the peace sign. from 1 year old to 100 years old, they all know it. The language is going well. I really love speaking it. I am starting to think more in Japanese. I speak in Japanese from 10:30 am to 9:00 at night sometimes. Of course I talk to my comp in english and some other people but there arent really any breaks. It is person after person. It is weird not to talk to someone every 3 minutes or so. It is usually very fast paced and fun! I didnt know if I told you guys but during my first transfer in Japan I would teach lessons in Japanese in my sleep. I would sit up in the middle of the night and start talking in Japanese. It has been quite a while since I have done that but I though you might get a kick out of it. This week has been great! A lot of new investigators and busy with the usuall stuff. Anthony didnt come to church this week or last week so he cant get baptized on the 1st. We havent been able to meet with him since then either. I is kinda a bummer but I am looking on the bright side. He is reading the Book Of Mormon everyday and praying. He also found a job so he will know his schedule and we will be able to meet. The Lord really works in mysterious ways. Not everyone will be baptized perfectly on schedule. Baptism, really is in the Lords hands and the individuals free agency is very powerful. I had another experience this week that made me realize how powerful free agency is. Me and elder Cobur were on an exchange. He is from Driggs and he just got in Japan a couple of weeks ago. Because both of us are pretty new it was pretty hard to understand everything people were saying. He had to look to me for help because I was the more experience missionary. It was a fun day. At about 8:00 we were streeting and we met yokouchi. He is 20 and is staying with his friends family in Osaka for a while. He wanted to be taught right then so we walked to the church together. We taught about Jesus Christ and the apostasy and then got to the restoration. To teach this we watched the Restoration DVD in Japanese. It has perfect Japanese, not like mine and the people understand it really well. The spirit was there very strongly and during and after the film. He said he felt something different during the film. A good and peaceful feeling. We explained that that was the spirit. He understood well but when we aked when he could meet next he said he couldnt. He wouldnt even give us his cell phone number. There is an Elder Holland quote in the PMG that goes something like this, "when your investigators dont keep commitments you should be devastated! There is peoples salvation at risk" I was devasted. In times like these I do feel down because one of Gods children may still be lost. It is sad to see people recieve that powerful witness and then walk out on it. These experiences help us to grow. It makes me even more determined to study harder and be worthy for the HOly spirit. The mission is great and these people are awesome. Everyday I feel the Holy Ghost and try to heed its promptings. I love it hear and I love you all. O and dad, I dont care what they say, you look good in purple! Thanks again for all the messages! Till next week! Sayonara
Sleep-talking (in Japanese!)
Listening to the Spirit
October 18, 2009Hey family! Sounds like all is well. Olivia! Chet Eh! Hope you had fun. Happy early birthday! Lenzi sounds happy and ready to get married. Rudy, your westy looks sweet! That is funny about the YMCA! Good luck. Hopefully Butch doesn't fix everything but the problem,LoL. He is such a good guy. Well dad to answer your question, the family unit in Japan is very strong but the fathers work so much. The grandparents usually take care of the kids and the grandparents usually hate Christians. These are all generalizations but pretty true. I like talking to families but there just aren't very many walking around when we are streeting. The younger generation is more open to new ideas so we focus on them but the spirit really tells us who to talk to. K ill answer the rest of the questions. Friday needs English ones. I think he is coming to church next week! And I don"t need Peanut butter or cds, Thanks though. It would be nice to have those stickers with my address on them. I lost the ones you sent me. Thanks My companion is great! I was transferred last Thursday! To the other room. My apartment has 4 elders in it. I am now companions with elder Nicerio. He was in the same apartment last transfer with a different companion. He is Phillipino but grew up in Australia. Ill send pics. He is very nice and a good guy. This is his last transfer. I was a little disappointed because I wont really be seeing my old investigators anymore. This will be my third time starting from scratch pretty much. I am very excited to find more people to teach. My old companion Elder Budge is training a new missionary in Abeno too. His companion is from L.A., Elder Escalante. He adds a little Spanish flavor. My prayers really have been answered this week. We need people to teach and that is exactly what the Lord gave us. We met Anthony last Friday. He is from Nigeria and very large. We met him outside his apartment and he wanted to be taught right then. It was the smallest apartment I have ever been in. It was a little bigger than a queen sized bed. I know this because he had one in there! All three of us sat on his bed and talked about the Restoration. He understood very well and he accepted to be baptized on Nov. 1st! He is a great guy and I am excited to see how his life will change. Other than Anthony we found a couple other new investigators. God really does answer out prayers. I just hope that through my words these people will feel the spirit and know that they are children of God. I can honestly tell you guys that I haven't had a bad day. Last night was a little rough though. During streeting to stop people I say "sumi masen" It is like excuse me in English. Sometimes the people will say "Kekko desu" which means like im not interested. We were by a crowded train station with tons of people and like 20 people Kekkoed me in a row. It was like bam, bam, bam, bam. I feel so bad because they really don't know how important the message of the Restoration is. When little things like this happen I know that there is someone out there that is ready to here. I love it here. The people are so nice and are willing to listen. Remember how I told that I have been trying to follow the promptings of the spirit but it seemed like everyone I was prompted to speak to wasn't interested? Well I have seen just the opposite lately. Last transfer me and elder Budge talked to a man named Takao san last transfer but we didn't get his contact info or set up an appointment. after he left we felt prompted to go find him. We looked and looked but couldn't find him. I felt awful but went on. As we were talking to another guy Takao san came out of nowhere. We got his contact info and a return appointment and now he has a baptismal date. Anthony was the same way. We were riding our bikes home and I was behind elder Nicerio. It was dark so I couldn't see well and it didn't help that Anthony blended in. He is way dark. again I felt prompted to turn around and now he is getting baptized. Miracles happen everyday. It really is a miracle that we receive guidance from something that we have never seen. The Holy Ghost is very powerful. The mission is great and I love it! It really is the most important thing I could be doing right now. Thanks again for everything! You are so nice to send that quad for Friday. Love you all and see you later!