Little Miracles Everyday

Here's the picture we sent Grady of his sister, Lenzi's, wedding. She was so sad that he couldn't be there--but not sad enough to wait 17 months for him to get home!!

November 22, 2009 Hey family! How is it goin! Sounds like the wedding went well. I am glad Lenzi was so happy. Ya, it is kinda a bummer that I couldn’t be there, but there is a reason for it. The picture you sent was awesome! Thank you. It sounds like it is pretty cold there. This week has been super cold here. It is kinda like Idaho weather because it changes so quickly. But it is a wet cold instead of a dry cold. I think that it might be colder here. I wear the big Patagonia coat everyday! It is way nice! I’ll answer some questions first. Right now I have about 15 investigators. They are from Japan, Nigeria, China, New Jersey, etc. We have three types of investigators. Other, progressing, and investigators with a baptismal date. Progressing means that they are keeping commitments and reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. To help people progress, reading and praying are so vital. One of my favorite things to experience is someone praying to God for the first time. Just imagine a child trying to say his first prayer and it is very similar. It is awesome to see them progress. Oh, and we do a lot of streeting but there are a lot of other ways to find God’s Children. Member work, housing, eikaiwa (English Class), Japanese class, Outreach activities, etc. In an ideal mission the missionaries shouldn’t even have to find people. The investigators should come from the members. Every conference many apostles talk about it. Pres. HInckley gave a good talk about member work. I love the Abeno ward but they aren’t to the point of giving out referrals yet. I love going to their homes and mogiing with them. A mogi is another word for practicing. We will usually teach one of the lessons together, or teach them how to confront their friends, etc. It is way fun because I get to know them better. Many of the people in Japan are converts and first generation members. They have strong testimonies and I love hearing there conversion stories. Moriya san is the only investigator with a baptismal date. He is scheduled for the 20th. Things are looking good for the other investigators. They are really great people and want to know more. Last night I thought back on my first three transfers in Japan. I have seen so many miracles it is ridiculous! I know that the Lord’s hand is in this work. His power is unbelievable. There are little miracles everyday and when I look back to every investigator it is a miracle that they listened to what I had to say. No. I haven’t seen someone get raised from the dead or anything but even small simple miracles turn into eternal things. Baptism is only the start of following the Lords straight and narrow path. Eternity hangs in the balance for every investigator. It is humbling to know that I am simply the Lords instrument. Oh, and I had transfer calls this morning. I am staying In Abeno! I am way excited. This will be my 4th transfer here. Ill end up being in Abeno for over 6 months! Time is really flying. I’ll tell you guys about a little experience I had yesterday. I was at the church way early for a meeting with the ward mission leader and one of our investigators showed up. His name is Shimazu and he is about 70. He is one of the sweetest old men I have ever met. He has a heart of gold. Me and him walked into the chapel together and we were the only people there. Immediately the spirit was there. He looked me in the eye and said that he felt very happy and he wanted to cry. Both of us had tears in our eyes as I explained that that feeling was the spirit. I have witnessed how powerful the spirit is many times and I know that it is key in helping people realize that God exists and this is his restored gospel. Well, I am sorry that I have talked so much but I love you all and tell me about school and how it is with two high schools. Oh, and mom I got the invitation and the card thanks. Have you gotten my package yet? 　Again and I love you all. Till next week!

Praying for the Missionaries

I'm not sure, but I think this is part of Grady's district. He doesn't always tell us who are in the photos!!

November 15, 2009 Hello Family! How is everything goin? Dad it sounds like the Fed Ex job is pretty sweet. Oh, and ya, the older the car is the more the insurance is here. I never see old cars anymore. I’ll see one in a garage once in a while. I haven’t seen a Subaru 360 yet but ill let you know.
My bike is good now. It glides just like moms old red Schwinn. It is sweet. It is bright blue with blue tires too. It is pretty funny because Elder Budge has an all white bike and Elder Escalante has an all red bike. Together we make the American flag. It is pretty sweet. From here on out it shouldn’t be too much upkeep. Just new brake pads every couple transfers. They are 20 dollars for four. I write in my journal everyday so it should be good. What do you do with the pictures I send you? And are my pictures all right? Please let me know. Well this week has been pretty good. I met with a couple of investigators this week. One of them is named Jay. He is 43 and from Nigeria. He is huge! Probably like 6`4 and close to 300 pounds. He dwarfs me. He is way cool but very busy. He really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true so he is reading and praying about it. Yesterday at church I had a cool little experience. Ishiba shimai, a Phillipino lady in the ward said the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. Her prayer really touched me. She prayed for the missionaries, which included me. I know you guys pray a lot for the missionaries but I guess it was just good to here it from someone here in Japan. I love the members here. You can talk with someone for a while and say wow, they are a great person. I have found out that if the spirit tells me the person is great it is much better. My mind can’t comprehend all things, and that is why we need the spirit. I am so blessed to have an opportunity to feel the spirit everyday. Sorry Mom about the late birthday present. It should be arriving shortly. Well, I love all of you and I am very thankful for how good you all are to me. Oh, and in the next email send me how you were blessed by following a commandment. Oh, and Adri is in Jeruslalem?! I didnt know. That. sounds sweet. But anyway, thanks again and I love you all. Till next week.

Sweet Reminders

November 9, 2009 Hey everyone! Sounds like everyone is doing great! Happy birthday Mom! Hope is was fun. I am glad the kitchen thing went well. Sounds like everyone really worked well together. It is the same way with missionary work. Me and my companion do everything together. The other day I was a little riled up because of some comments an investigator made during a lesson. I let it get the best of me. After, as me and my comp were walking, I didn’t have the spirit so we stopped and said a quick prayer. The spirit came back and we could go try to find people to teach. Another example is right now. Today has been a little wild. It was exactly like one of our car projects gone bad dad. A long story short, I know what I want for Christmas this year. LOL. My bike acted up and I started switching things and nothing seemed to work out, even the people at the store weren’t helpful, and I spent more than I wanted to. I am fine though, sometimes life is like this. This is definitely just spilt milk. I always remember that saying, “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” Because of the troubles with my bike I was thinking about it too much. The Lord really comforted me and I know it will be all right. I know it kind of sounds silly but I use that thing everyday. So for Christmas I really don’t need much. Just some extra money in my personal fund. I’ll answer the questions now. I read mostly in English. I only understand bits and pieces in Japanese, if that. I have one investigator committed to baptism. His name is Moriya. He is about 45 and has a family. His family lives in Kobe and two of his daughters are baptized. He is a pretty nice and funny guy. He is really fun to talk to. I usually eat at a members house at least once a week. Sometimes they try to make American food because they think we don’t like Japanese food. They are so nice and thoughtful of us. Other times we eat Japanese stuff. I really haven’t had anything way gross or anything. The only time that I almost threw up was when I had to eat a chicken bone. I didn’t want to be rude and spit it out so I just chewed it the best I could and swallowed. I don’t know anything about Christmas yet. I don’t know if I wasn’t paying attention or what but ya, Ill get back to you on that one. The Japanese love Christmas. Everyone celebrates it! It is really funny because they have know Idea who Christ is. I think it is cool because it is an in for a conversation starter. The dictionary is sweet. I really like it. I learn a lot of vocab from it. O and don’t forget to invite Travis Hall to the wedding. I think he would love to come. I have a pretty experience that I had this week if I can get through it without too much trouble. I’m sorry, it will make you cry. An investigator didn’t show up for an appointment at the church but he lives across the street from the church so we decided to try to find him. After a couple of kekkos an old man answered the door. He let us right in and gave us drinks and food. His name is Bansho. He is 60 years old and has Parkinson’s. The apartment was very clean and very familiar for some reason. After a minute or two I realized that it smelled just like Nana and Papas houses. You all know that smell. It is pretty distinct and I love it. After a couple minutes of chatting Bansho grabbed a picture book and showed us his life before he got Parkinson’s. He still looked very kind and a really happy person like he is today. He was a really good golfer and he loves golf. He can’t play anymore but he still loves it. This is what really tore me up. In the pictures he looked just like Papa. always smiling and he even swung the golf club like him. As I looked at Bansho more the more and more he looked like papa. Of course he is Japanese but for some reason it was like I was talking with Papa again. I started to cry pretty bad because the spirit was really strong and it was like Papa was alive again. I know this sounds kinda crazy and I don’t know why it happened, but the Lord knows why. I will never forget this experience because it might be the closest I feel papa until after I die. This really has made me think how important this message is. It really does go beyond the grave. The restoration isn’t just a good way to live life, and it isn’t just the best church on the earth. It is restored truth through a prophet of God. This is a message of eternal truths and eternal life. I know that what we do in this life is very important and going on a mission for two years is the least I can do. Things are looking great in Japan! The people here are very hard workers and I love them. I love you all and I am excited to hear from you again next week! Saranara

We Are All Children of God

November 1, 2009 Hey family! How is it goin? Sounds like everyone is very busy. Lenzi and Jon’s house sounds sweet! Older homes look so much cooler. I am glad that they are both happy. Dad is a pretty good guy. That story reminds me of the story about when Jesus was performing miracles on the Sabbath day and the Pharisees didn’t see why that was important. They only saw that Jesus was maybe working on Sunday. I hope I can keep on improving my concept of the Sabbath day. O and before I forget, when you send the scriptures please send my photo cards back. Ill answer your questions first. My rain gear is great! I have had no problems. Anthony has been very hard to get a hold of. His phone stopped working so now we stop by every other day or so. His girlfriend is always there and she is very shy. She doesn’t help out all that much but things are looking up. The futons are sweet. I sleep really well, especially because it isn’t hot anymore at nights. I haven’t gotten sick at all. I feel pretty good everyday. I just got this flu shot thing the other day at the doctors. They really freak out about diseases here. A little flu will close down schools and stuff, and everyone starts wearing the masks. It is kind of funny. This week has been great! FHE has really been fun. My Chinese friends showed up again. At first it was the 6 missionaries, 1 member, and 2 investigators, but then 4 Chinese people came. The investigators make everything so much more fun because they like to have a good time. We are currently teaching two of them about the gospel. Activities are way nice because it is easier for someone to come and have fun rather than sit down and have a one on one lesson right off the bat. The Osaka stake is really coming around too. They are really excited about the outreach program and started assigning leaders and activities. The outreach program is kind like mutual. It is for young single adults. We eat, have a message, and play a game. It is really a great place to build relationships and bring investigators. The youth here are great! They really have to make a lot of sacrifices. Some people have to ride there bikes for an hour to come to the activities. I have really learned about how to love people since coming here. There are so many less actives in Japan. There was a time when they were baptizing like 100 people a month! It was pretty wild. It actually grew too fast. They just weren’t prepared for it. Because of this a lot of people fell away and have long since been forgotten. We meet with 2 or three less actives regularly. I always feel the spirit so strong when I meet with these people. They really have great hearts but just struggle with something or another. I love to see the progression every time we visit. Everyone really is a child of God. I feel this everyday talking with people I have never talked to before. I automatically feel close to them because they are my brother or sister. Pres. McIntyre said something that stuck with me the other day. "You missionaries aren’t here merely to make friends, My purpose is to make eternal friends." This really put it in perspective to me. This message and truth that we know goes beyond the grave. It is a marvelous work and I love sharing It everyday. Thanks for all the emails and tell Grandma and Grandpa thanks for me. I love you all and have a great week!