Someday I will Climb Mt. Fuji!

Week 89 - June 18, 2017 - Transfers
So this week, as you know, was transfers, so there is some good stuff going down.
So basically I had my last ride off to Kōfu district meeting the other day and that was a great time! Some day when I come back to Japan I'm going to climb Mount Fuji.

On Thursday I went to the mission home and I got to see Elder Smith there 'cause he was training as well, so now my mission posterity is growing. We received a lot of trainings as usual about how to be a good trainer and that's always needed 'cause training is an important duty. Then we got our companions and there were 2 elders I already knew that were just coming back for one reason or another. I got paired with Elder Shephard! He was in my zone when I was in Yamate and he is Elder Harrison's MTC companion so it was great to see him again, and I think we will have a great time together. I also saw Elder Pratt when he was going home so that was cool to see him one last time. The rest of the day was just a lot of planning.

On Friday there were a few different things. We went searching for some former investigators and talked to everyone we could on the way. Almost got a few people's numbers but at the very end they declined. We adventured the back streets of Takao a little more which was kinda fun.

On Saturday we went and got Elder Shephard a bike. It's slowly getting hotter and hotter which I'm not too excited about but it's better than Winter so hurrah! We also got to do a decent amount of housing that night. Got some pretty classic elderly people saying 7:00 was too late and a grandma shining a flashlight at us, so that was fun.

Sunday was great! We got to talk to a decent amount of the members and get to know them better. One kid who was going to come to church said his grandpa was dying of cancer and recently got worse so I told him we would pray for his grandfather. One Ekaiwa student came to church and we were able to help teach her about what the church is and who missionaries are. The ward mission leader is awesome and created a book with members pictures, addresses, and basic information so now we can visit him and all the less actives yay!! We visited an investigator family who said we could come back and we had high hopes for but he said he has no interest even though he thinks it's great. I told him that this can change his life and if he reads the BoM he can know that. Again he said he's good. So we were pretty sad and I kinda wondered why people had to do that. But then the next house we knocked on cheered us up 'cause the elderly lady who lived there gave us an umbrella 'cause it was raining. We tried to say no but she insisted, so we took it. Then at the next house we went to we meet a man who had come in contact with missionaries 40 years earlier! He said he remembered some of the Lehi stories and stuff and we were pretty blown away. We invited him to learn again but he said he has no time and can't. That was a bummer but we gave him a pamphlet and he said he would read it.

Today we are going to Hachiōji cause I need to download my pictures onto a flash drive. Also it's a pretty cool place and we're gonna check it out. But ya, we saw some cool miracles and disappointments but the work moves on! Talk to you all next week and happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there!! Keep working hard. Love you all.
The gospel is the best!

Mexican Leg Fire - Polynesian Night - The zoo

Week 88 - June 11, 2017 -  This week was pretty good but also kinda crazy so I'll give you the important stuff.

So since before I came to Takao I was informed we were being evicted so we went to check out of the new apartment we will move into.  They hadn't cleaned or refurbished anything yet so it was pretty disgusting. The guy was like, "Don't worry, it will all be cleaned and stuff so don't worry." I hope they get a nice deep clean in there before we move in.

Wednesday was still taken up with going to Kofu and having district meeting but after we came back we were able to set up for Ekaiwa and have a lesson with our investigator R---a. He is reading the BoM and has a pretty big desire to learn it seems. He is doing very well and we are excited to keep meeting with him 'cause he's way chill and keeps our commitments.
We also had MLC for this month and we talked about a lot of different stuff.  I really think that the mission is at a good changing point where people change themselves/work with the ward and then see all the miracles that come from that.

We had splits on Friday with the Hachiōji elders and it went super well! We had 2 lessons that went great! First we met an investigator at the church for a lesson. He is kind of a quiet guy who seems a bit awkward but he is awesome. He understands a lot of what we teach and I think he has tons of potential. We set really good expectations of the purpose of missionaries and also figured out what he's expecting. I think that was a really good point of the lesson 'cause he knows that we expect him to follow our commitments and that eventually we want him to be baptized. We followed up on the restoration pamphlet we gave him and he had read some of it. The rest of the lesson went really well and he understands a decent amount.

Then at night we were going to have a church tour with a friend from Mongolia that we met a while ago but I didn't have the keys to the church so we couldn't get in! So we just told him why people go to church and how it's a wonderful good place. Then we went to get dinner with him at ramen and we explained our purpose more. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday we had ping pong for a little and it was also supposed to be transfer calls but they said that it was going to come late so we just continued on with our normal stuff. We had to leave ping pong early to go to SPM. We were able to talk about a few things to do/improve in the stake so that was good. After it was over, we realized we had our transfer calls! So everyone opened up and I am so happy! My dream came true. I'm district leader here in Takao, but my new companion is a new missionary, so I get another son! I am straight up Abraham, so that made me happy. At night we finished a nice weekly planning session for this next transfer week.

Sunday was pretty good as usual and we were planning on 3 of our investigators coming to church but they all bailed! I was so sad but it's ok 'cause we will get them to come next week! We were also planning on visiting 2 less actives and an investigator but a huge rain rolled in and started dumping on us so we were only able to visit the 2 less actives. One wasn't there and the other said not today and shut the door so we will cheer him up with some goodies or something next time we go over.
Today is beautiful weather and it should be pretty good but I'll start with sending all those videos from last week. Love you all!

A Plethora of Animals

Week 87 - June 4, 2017 - This week was crazy busy.

First off, we had splits with the AP's in Kichijōji which was a wonderful time as always. There are always so many people that you would probably have to try hard not to talk to people. I always learn a lot every time I go on splits about how I can improve the way I teach. I think it will be an eternal quest.
Then we also went to the middle of Tokyo in Iidabashi for the doctor to get my ingrown toenail fixed again. So now it feels a lot better and less painful. We found a Wendy's there but it wasn't the same. They didn't even have frosties! It was blasphemy. But it all went well.

Then we had to head to Kofu for district meeting on Friday which always takes a long time. There was an awesome view of Mount Fuji which was really cool. We got back and we're able to give a church tour to a new investigator. We talked about baptism and the sacrament which I think he was able to understand really well. We gave him a Restoration pamphlet and set up a next appointment for the next Friday! It was a great success. Then we went and played soccer with our college friends again but it seems they might not have too much interest in anything we have to offer so we are gonna take a break from the for a week or two so we can use that time more effectively.

On Saturday we headed down to Kichijoji for Polynesian night practice and set up. We made sure everything was gonna go smooth and made it look as good as possible. There were tons of people who showed up and I think everyone had a good time watching it. We went pretty hard with all the dances and stuff so I'll try and get those videos to send back as well. It was a huge success and we had 3 investigators come to it so that was awesome!

Fast Sunday was great and we were just kind of busy with a lot of different stuff. Another one of our investigators sadly wasn't home at the time we planned to visit so that was sad. But we were able to find 2 new potential investigators so that was a blessing.

I think the biggest thing I have to work on at this point is my teaching skills. I feel like I've learned how to find people effectively but I still need to share personal experiences and specific blessings with people or else it just turns general and doesn't really give them a desire to have it. So that's what I'm working on these days. Anyways, the work is moving forward and I've really been able to gain a testimony of that recently. Just do your best and the lord will help.

That's all for this week and I'll send the other pics/videos in another email when I have them so ありがとう！So ya we gonna go see a plethora of animals later I'll try to send pics.
The gospel is the best!

We are Climbing a Mountain Today!

Week 86 - May 28, 2017 - We are going to Mount Takao later so that should be fun.

Basically the big things this week were that we had zone conference and splits. Zone conference was really good. It was all about improving our prayers and helping our investigators gain a testimony through prayer. I have been wanting to improve my prayers for a while so that was a real help for me especially. Shout out to Nathan who got home this week 宜しく。

Also splits was way fun! We housed in the rain cause I didn't want to carry an umbrella. Luckily it wasn't coming down very much. We found a bunch of Buddhist people this week and when we asked them why they are Buddhist they said they have no idea. I was thoroughly confused that someone doesn't even know why they believe in something but that's ok 'cause we are here to give them the good news and a good reason.

We were also able to find 6 new investigators this week! That was a huge miracle. We met with a family at a restaurant and we were able to share the Family Proclamation with them. It went alright but it was kind of a loud place and their baby got frustrated. But next time he said we can go over to their house before I transfer so that's sick!

We also got a new investigator who came to church yesterday! He is super nice and is from Okinawa so naturally he is also chill. We have a lot of good things going on over here.
The work is moving forward and I'm excited to be a part of it. I'll send more pictures later but that's it for this week! Cya.  The gospel is the best.

Another Week in Takao and First trip to Kofu

Week 85 - May 16, 2017 - Another Week in Takao

We've been pretty swamped like this entire week with just meetings and planning so I will try to make it interesting.

 We had MLC on a Tuesday! It was a way awesome one is time cause we are focusing on just the restoration and linking everyone back to that. All the trainings were way bomb and I think everyone was able to feel the spirit during that. We had an activity where we read Joseph Smith History verses 14-19 (the first vision) and we just talked about every truth we could find within that. For example, Heavenly Father and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone. It was crazy! There were so many it was unbelievable, and it was one of my favorite activities I've done. So needless to say, that MLC rocked. Also we got hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and I almost cried.

Next, I made my first trip to Kōfu which takes 2 hours by train. It's a huge bowl close to Mount Fuji and it was way cool. I'll attach the pics and videos with it. We had district meeting there and introduced our zone theme which we think went pretty well. Everyone seems excited and we are certain we will see tons of miracles this transfer.

Then we had English class at night. The 人数 was 少ない so we will have to work on getting more students there.

Thursday we had a lot of stuff to do. We had Jitensha taxi. It just means bike taxi and we drive elderly to their apartments for service. I'll send the video for that too. It was way fun and we did some planning with that as well. We then had district meeting in Hachiōji which also went well with introducing the theme. We got back to finish our planning and contact some people but that was about it for that.

Friday was pretty sick. We had exchanges with 2 of the Hachiōji elders. We had a good time during the day and found a few potential investigators. The time schedule was a bit weird though. At night we got invited by one of our investigators to play soccer with all his college friends on the campus so we were like "awesome!" So we went there and made good relationships with all of them and told them we were missionaries and stuff. It was a ton of fun and I think next time we will be inviting them to the Polynesian event to see if they can come.

Saturday we got to help a member move. So we carried and lifted a bunch of stuff into a different apartment. We got uncomfortably stuffed into a Japanese truck and it was just a blast. After that though we had to go to a meeting with the stake president since we are the zone leaders. Elder Battaglia, Elder Riggs, are the other zone leaders so they were there as well. We talked about the wards and if there was anything we/them could do more to get the work moving forward. It was way good and he's an awesome stake president. Then we had priesthood meeting where I actually got called out by the stake president randomly to talk about how the work is going and things like that so I did my best and winged it.

Sunday was pretty funny. For Mother's Day I expected to hear all the usual songs and flowers and all that, but I was the only person who talked about it. The rest of church was focused on the priesthood!! It was pretty funny 'cause the primary kids even sang about the priesthood and I was like this is so weird, why aren't they talking about moms. But ya, Japan does what it wants.

Yesterday was also really good. We had skype with the fam, good to see you guys. Then we had a zone meeting on all the stuff we learned at MLC which went really well but was kinda of difficult with the time frame we had. Regardless everyone had a good time and realized what President Warnick's focus is. Then we ate dinner and had a blitz in Takao! I went with Elder Ayala. He is on his last transfer and I'm on my second to last so we just had 2 grandpas going for it. We somehow found he one Hispanic guy in the area, and Elder Ayala talked with him for a while and it was a big miracle 'cause we got his number too. Then we talked to a few other great people.

Today we went to the temple and now next time I go will be my last! Oh my gosh! It's getting kinda weird now. But ya, as usual the temple was a great experience. The Restoration is real and if you don't thinks so, read it! Until next week. Here is the loads of pics and stuff.