Japan, Tokyo South Mission, Tokorozawa

Week 69 - January 23, 2017

This week's honestly was fun and good but not much changed really.

Splits:  We had splits with the Tokorozawa Elders last week and it went really well! We were able to talk to a ton of people and it was a great time. We also taught a lesson to K----a but it didn't go very far because he has a lot of questions and it would have been very helpful to have a member there. We would have a lesson with him tomorrow but we have splits with the AP's so the other Elders are gonna take it for us. Anyway, that's off topic but, ya, it was great.

We didn't get to meet with A--i this week 'cause his health declined a little and he went to the doctor so we will check up on him again this week. We had a lot of planning to do this week. We had to teach a lesson for church on Sunday and Elder Hawkins gave a talk. Also, we are giving the lesson for FHE at the mission home tonight so that should be a lot of fun. Hope it goes well. We have been working hard and pushing forward as always.

Sorry not much to put in his email but not much time either, just know that I love you all. If we stay close to the Lord in our own heart we don't have to worry about drifting away regardless of what happens in our lives. We can pray with sincerity wherever we are and at any time. That's all for this week!
Man,  there are no pictures this week either sorry.  We didn't take any! But I still love you all
Elder Molen

The gospel is the best!

Week 68 - January 15, 2017

This transfer is going way quickly. Here's some of the updates.

K----a:  He has a ton of questions still which is good but I think he is focusing more on intellectual than spiritual understanding; but he is also really desiring to learn and is super great so that's awesome. When he prayed at the end of our lesson he said his heart was rejoicing so that was awesome.

A--i:  He is so good! We were teaching about the restoration and he called his wife in the main part of the house (cause we were in his workshop) and asked for some tea. She brought it over and he said please go ahead and drink it. And we said that we don't drink tea. He said "oh really??" And we shared about how it's a rule and it's for our health. He then pushed his cup aside and said "I will not drink this from now on." It was so awesome! We challenged him to live the Word of Wisdom, and he said, "yes," so that's great.

Aside from lessons, this week we found a guy who had met other missionaries before. He invited us in and gave us a bunch of snacks. He said that he's not too interested but likes talking and we shared 2 Nephi:31 with him and told him if he wants to know, then he can. It was kinda surprising but way fun.

We did a lot of weird stuff this week and I'm not actually sure what it was but needless to say it has been a fun and effective week, today is zone p-day and we are redoing a game called Crystal Maze which apparently was an old TV show in England. It's a lot of fun to get to do stuff with tons of missionaries instead of just your district.  This has been a wonderful time and we are way excited to keep working hard 

Love you all and remember to comfort those in need and help others. Here's the pics from the caroling that I didn't get for a while.

The gospel is the best!

Japan Tokyo South Mission, Mochitsuki

Week 67 - January 9, 2017

So basically I don't have any time to write. Ya, "ate??" the situation
This week we were able to set a baptismal date with A--- for the 11th of February. We are way excited and expect good things from here. We had an event called a Mochitsuki where you smack rice with a big hammer and it turns into mochi. So we did that and it was a lot of fun! We also had MLC this week which was really good. Sadly, I had to translate for it. Japanese to English isn't too bad at all, but English to Japanese is way hard, but ya it was really good. We learned about setting goals and planning a lot which was needed a lot I think. But, ya, that's all for this week.
The gospel is the best.

Happy New Year from Tokyo, Japan

Week 66 - January 2, 2017 - I'm sure you've already heard it, but Happy New Year!

I would like to write a lot but I don't have much time today so I'll send pictures and do a brief explanation.

So basically this week has been a lot of random stuff. We have had a bunch of meetings and other random things. So we went to Kichijoji and got some giant gyoza, and we got donuts at a famous shop that only opens up after 8:00 PM. Pretty interesting, huh? 

We also had to do a bunch of cleaning of our apartment. We did a whole giant cleaning thing that took like the entire day but at least our apartment is clean now -- although it wasn't that bad before, but meh.

We went to go watch the first sunrise of the year in top of the church way early and it was fun. You get the Japanese vibes and it's pretty cool. 

We also had sushi on New Year's Eve at another one of those spinning conveyor belt sushi places and it was a blast. It was also Elder Harrison's (my mission son) birthday so shoutout to that big guy. 

At church on New Year's Day, we had a meal with some members after and they are super funny and made us dress up in the traditional kimono thing and put on a head thing. It was pretty funny. It's been a pretty decent winter so far and Elder Hawkins and I are super busy This week so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, love you all and have a wonderful new year!

The gospel is the best. 

Merry Christmas from Tokyo, Japan!

Week 65-December 25, 2016  Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas! As do all of you. Well I'll make this one short but here goes.

The Christmas party:  It was the ward Christmas party that we were hoping a ton of people would come to. All the members came and there were only a few non-members but it was really good. There was lots of food from Costco and Santa came and gave gifts to the kids. It was a great time. We sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and it was pretty basic but went well.

Christmas special Sacrament:  It was an awesome turnout. A good amount of non-members came to church along with one of our progressing investigators. He is in his 70's and has a bad knee. Remember that guy? Ya, it took him 2 hours to walk to church and he insisted on walking himself. He also fell over on the road coming and some other non members that were coming to our church as well helped him up and came to church. He was awesome! He has a crazy amount of dedication to do that. He also said that he feels this is God's church. So, ya, we are setting a baptismal date next time we meet. The service was great and everyone felt the spirit I think.

Caroling:  We went caroling on Christmas Eve as well. We passed out flyers during it, and it was so effective. A ton of people took our flyers just 'cause we sang Christmas songs. It was a ton of fun even though it was super cold.

Christmas Evening:  We had an appointment to eat at a member's house and it was so awesome. We went over and it was a super cool Japanese-style house, but also kind of American style as well. It was a like a big party. There were tons of the family's relatives and some friends from church there. We all had a great time and we got to eat some delicious food for Christmas so that was so nice of them to invite us over.

Other than than we are still working hard to find new investigators and have lots of meetings and stuff. Everyone remember that Christmas is really about the Savior and what he did for us so that we can be happy in the darkest of times as well.

Well love you all and Happy Holidays!
The gospel is the best!

The Weather Here is Bipolar - Tokyo, Japan South Mission

Week 64 - December 18, 2016

It's like super warm today for some reason and I like it but I know it's just gonna get cold again. Here's this week's stuff!

Tuesday:  We cleaned the apartment a bunch for the coming transfer which is always a blast. I love cleaning now. It makes things feel so much nicer. We also had a lesson with K----a San who came to the Christmas devotional on Sunday. We had a member there to help explain a lot of the stuff and it went really well. He had questions about the Priesthood and the order of things chronologically. The member helped a lot and we set another appointment with him. Then we visited the man Sal from New Jersey/Turkey, and it was good; but we think that he is partially just trying to expound his business and we don't really know if he has real genuine interest. At night we look for a potential investigator. When we knocked, the mother of the house answered, looked at us, and then just shut he door without saying anything.... it was lame. But then we talked to some guys having a fire outside their shop. It was pretty chill. They were kind of relaxed cause they had a little bit of sake (alcohol) but it was good. We gave them a Restoration pamphlet and let them know how to make their family happier.

Wednesday: We visited Brother U------a, and he was doing alright. We basically told him that we can come over time after time but if he doesn't act or do something then nothing will ever change. So we gave him the challenge to act finally and obtain peace and happiness again and he said he will think about it. We will follow up on that. Then we had the last district meeting of the transfer. It was goofy but good. Ekaiwa was pretty normal except that 3 way cool guys came and they were super stylish 19 year olds. So we Bro'd it up but ran out of time to invite them to church and stuff so we will do that next week hopefully.

Thursday:  Elder Spackman left to the mission home since it was his last transfer. Kind of sad to see him go for good this time, but it's ok 'cause we will keep trying our best and he will be back home as well. Then Elder Hawkins my new companion came in! We are going to get along really well I think. He is from England just south of London and is really chill so I am excited to have a good 8-week transfer with him. We then had a nice session of weekly planning and sort of just learning about each other. Then at night we went to visit the old man we gave a BoM to on Sunday. He let us in again and he had some thoughts about tithing. When him and his parents went to a Buddhist temple they basically just took a bunch of money from them. We told him that everyone in our church is volunteer and that it is our choice to pay money or not. We also told him that we pay tithing out of a desire to please God and help others out of our own will. He really liked that and said he wanted to do it. He said he will continue to read the BoM and that he wants to come to church once his knee is healed. We also invited him to be baptized once he knows this is true and he basically said that he had been planning on something like this since we first met. He said if you guys came all this way and I think it's good and don't do anything then it's kind of pointless and I was like "that's exactly right." So that went awesome.

Friday: We got to know all the new people on the zone because we just had district edits for the other areas on Friday. It went really well and I think everyone is trying really hard to get people to baptism. We also ate at a more traditional Japanese restaurant in Kichijoji that was really cheap but way good.

Saturday: We had a big cleaning of the church with the members. It was a lot of fun and the church looks great. Basically in this ward there are all of the cutest little Japanese kids ever. Like there are tons and they are all adorable. Then the rest of the day we just did pretty normal stuff.

Sunday:  It was pretty good. The Sacrament is such a great opportunity to look at your week and see how you can improve. Anyway, we just had a nice night of housing. We met some weird people. We met a totally drunk dude who said he was dying. We met a "dowist," whatever that is, I'm not entirely sure.  He just sad that boldly after he asked if we were Mormons and we were like "uhhhhhh.... ok" 'cause neither of us knew what that was. Then we met a potential investigator who is fine with studying the gospel, so that's great. It was great fun.

Today:  We went to Ramen Jiro again and then we are gonna go to a recycle shop. Anyway, I think that's all for this week!

The gospel is the best. 

New Transfer Coming - Japan Tokyo South Mission

Week 63 - December 11, 2016

This transfer was shortened by two weeks so some of the people could get home for Christmas.

Honestly, I feel like this week didn't have a lot of highlights but I'll do my best.

We had zone meeting again on Thursday. We had to do it again after the recent MLC we had, but that was Elder Spackman's last, and I think we all got a boost to go finding after all of those trainings. 

I would say that the biggest thing was probably the baptism on Saturday! The Sister's investigator got baptized and it went really well. They only had to do it one time and there were a decent amount of people who came to the service. Sadly, the other Elder's investigator didn't show up because he got a bit worried, so maybe the next week or week after that he will get baptized. This zone is trying really hard to get people to baptism and it's way awesome to be here and see everyone working so hard. After the baptism, we were able to go with a member back to O--o San's house and they talked about some of his questions and concerns. It went pretty well and it's gonna take a little bit of time but we think he will be able to make it to church some time.

We tried all week to invite lots of people to the baptism and meet with us and it went alright. There was actually a decent amount of success we found as we followed up daily with the people that we could. Also, on Saturday we had transfer calls. Elder Millard is going to be companions with Elder Murphy (Elder Spackman's current companion), and Elder Hawkins is coming to be the other zone leader with me! It is going to be really nice having the zone leaders put back together instead of having to go on splits all the time and stuff like that. 

So yesterday on Sunday we were able to have an investigator show up at the end of church. He was pretty nervous and stuff and said he wasn't super ready to talk but it makes sense 'cause it was a completely different environment and feeling that he's never had before. So we talked about the Restoration and he watched the Christmas devotional with us! I love Christmas. We will meet with him on Tuesday again with a member so I think that will go really well. 

That night we also found an old man who accepted a BoM and said it is ok if we come back the next day. He said he would read it and seemed pretty interested, so we are going back tonight to expound more.

The BoM and the gospel really do change people's lives. It's interesting to see how they come to realize truths that they hadn't heard before and sometimes how easy it is for them. I know that it's the Spirit that confirms it to them and that if we all follow that guidance then we will always be led right.

That's it for this week!

It's a pretty warm December 5th over here.

Week 62 - December 4, 2016

Highlights:  MLC: the leadership conference was way awesome this transfer!! Sister Warnick gave a training about finding those who are prepared. It almost seems like a where's Waldo deal in Tokyo. There are endless amounts of people to go through to find those who will receive us. But as we open our vision we can realize just like in the books, that there are other characters to look for. For example ( Waldo's girlfriend, dog, the wizard) all these other people are also ready but we have to open our eyes to different options, not just the guy with striped clothes and glasses. There were also some other good ones about always opening our mouth and using English class effectively. 

It's kinda weird 'cause I feel like I have been companions with Elder Spackman more than Millard. We always have to go on splits for zone leader stuff so ya it's like we are companions again even though my companion is Elder Millard. Funny thing about that, Elder Millard is from Tennessee and I remembered Mom, Dad and Rilee, you guys are going there for Christmas. 

It's also been really nice weather for the past few days, it almost doesn't feel like its December 'cause it's nice and warm so that's way nice. 

Saturday:  We were able to meet with a man named John. He is Christian and has met missionaries before, but they stopped meeting for some reason. We had set up a meeting with him over the phone so we met up. We learned a little about what he thinks of God and his background. Way cool guy! He's been all over the world 'cause he worked on a boat and has a lot of cool things to talk about -- super nice and likes to be happy and have fun. We asked if we could meet again and get deeper on what he believes about God and he said that would be fine so we are meeting again this week. After that, we went to meet with our investigator T----a. He is in his sixties and agreed to go watch a baptismal service in Kichijoji with us. So we went to that and it was way good! We got to sing hymns and watch the baptism and he said he was really moved and we told him that was the spirit! It was a good experience and after it was over, there was a concert being put on by the Shibuya Institute students. So we went to that with him as well. They sang about the real meaning of Christmas, the atonement, and a lot of other things. It was way good and T----a said that he felt a good warm feeling in his heart which again we explained was the Holy Ghost. Saturday was a way awesome day.

Sunday:  So church was good, pretty normal. We got to fast so that was a good opportunity. Here is where the really cool part comes in. M----i, the convert Elder Spackman and I baptized in Yamate went back to Okinawa to baptize his own mother!! He is a convert of six months and got to use his priesthood to baptize his mom. That's so crazy!! He introduced her to the church for the first time and helped her enter into the fold of God. It was such a cool experience because Elder Spackman and I got to Skype in together and see her baptism. He had to do it a few times but he eventually got it right and everything was alright. It was such a great experience to see one of the people you helped, help someone else. The rest of Sunday was good. Elder Millard conducted a baptismal interview for one of the sister's investigators and she passed and is preparing for baptism this Saturday. Also, the other elders have an investigator getting baptized the same day and his interview is on Tuesday so pray everything goes great.

Today: We are actually taking a ride back to Yokohama since Elder Spackman is leaving in less than 2 weeks. We are meeting up with M---i and another convert that I was also able to work with in Yamate. It is gonna be a good time. But, ya, that's basically the big stuff this week.

The gospel spreads forth and the Lord hastens his work in his own time. I know that is true and that if we just do all that we can, the Lord can work through us to reach the rest of his children. The gospel really does bring joy and fulfillment in our lives

I'm on Da Train!

Week 61 - November 29, 2016

I couldn't think of what to write for the subject so I wrote what was happening.

Tuesday: We had a pretty full day. We first had a less active lesson that went pretty well. We just listened to his concerns and tried to respond with the spirit. He thought we were just trying to get him back to church but we told him we are trying to let him feel the spirit so that he can turn his life to Christ and become happier. We will continue to visit. After that we had a small lesson with a guy who has been an investigator for a while. We taught him some English first then introduced a little bit about family history. He didn't want to let go of his family stuff if he gets baptized so we showed him how he doesn't really have to. After that we went to Kichijoji and had interviews with President Warnick. They were really good! We talked a little more in depth on if you ask seek and knock then you really can receive. And after that we had to attend stake priesthood meeting. We also had some massive gyoza for dinner! They were huge. Everyone needs to try them.

Monday night:  So we were housing and we found this guy named N------a. We introduced ourselves and our message a little bit and asked if we could come back to teach more and at first he said "I'm busy," but I asked if we could do it for just like 15 mins and he said that would be ok. So we made plans to go the next week.

It snowed on Thanksgiving! Also, about the earthquake, I woke up and felt it shaking me around and it was like a massage chair so I enjoyed it and went back to sleep. Anyway ya, Thanksgiving we went to the Bishop's house for dinner. We had pizza and a bunch of other stuff. It was a bunch of fun.

On Saturday we tried to visit a less active and while we were looking for his house a possibly drunk old man came out and yelled bad stuff at us. So we told him good luck, he yelled more, and we peaced out. He was looking for a cat and was mad at us for interrupting him.

Sunday: We were able to visit that N------a guy again. He listened to us and was polite, really polite. We taught about the rest of the restoration and it was hard to tell if he was interested or not. We asked if we could come back and he said he was going to be out of town so he gave us his email. Elder Millard and I were able to teach together and I think it was pretty good.

Monday:  We had zone meeting in Kichijoji. We just went over the stuff we learned at MLC and kept it short. Then we had a meeting with this random British guy but there was some confusion and we couldn't find him. And it was super cold! It's still cold! But that's alright cause we are preaching the word!

Today:  We went to the temple and it was just a splendid time as usual. We had some delicious ramen that destroys your body 'cause it has so much fat and oil, but we eat it anyway. We also went to a recycle shop that was way sick cause everything there is cheap!

Attention readers of this email: I have some apologizing to do. For the last year and a half my e-mails have been very bland and boring. I probably wouldn't read them lol. This is because I am endlessly lazy to put all of the feeling into it. So from here on I will stop writing all these facts and schedule stuff, and I will start writing the real good stuff!! I swear I didn't just turn boring on my mission. Anyways, I should probably be talking about the gospel but yes, the atonement is real, we can overcome our trials and we can have the Savior there every step of the way. That's all for this week.

Thanksgiving is this week!

"My new suit picture while trying to look like a model."

Week 60 - November 20, 2016

Now since I'm in Hibarigaoka I don't know if we will get Thanksgiving but we will see.

The highlights!!  Basically p-day I bought that new suit so I'll send a picture.

Wednesday:  I had my last Ekaiwa in Yamate, so it was kind of sad but not that bad. A student brought me some sick slippers which was super nice and I was way grateful. I said goodbye to the students and all that but nothing crazy.

Transfer day:  I just rode one train for like an hour and finally arrived at Hibarigaoka. My new companion Elder Millard is from Tennessee and he is pretty chill. We are gonna find and teach a lot of people this transfer, I can feel it!

Friday: Elder Spackman and I went on splits to go to district meetings. First we went back to my old area, Tokorozawa, which was crazy seeing it again. We had district meeting there and it's good to see that everyone in this zone wants to work really hard. Then we went to Kichijoji by bike cause it's only, like, 30 mins from Hibarigaoka. So that was good seeing all the office elders and the assistants. After that we had some bomb tsukemen, came back and had some pretty normal dendo.

Saturday:  We basically had meetings all day long. There was a family history fair that we had with the youth which was a ton of fun. Then we had stake conference at night. It always gets hard to focus for a long time on a language that isn't your native tongue. 

Sunday:  We had stake conference in the morning and then we had some nice dendo time in the mid-day section. It was alright. All we did was talk to a few people on the street but nothing spectacular. We did some nice kubari and streeting which was pretty good. There are lots of funny excuses that old guys give to why they can't listen. We did have an awesome lesson at night with this random guy. He had tons of questions like about why there were so many denominations, how to feel the spirit and why bad things in the world happen. We were able to tell him how the BoM can answer all his questions. He also said "I think a Japanese person who has felt the spirit before can probably explain that and other things easier." I was like " Yes, I think so too!" So we are gonna go back next week with a member.

Today:  We had some way good ramen, and Motoki came to Hibarigaoka to visit elder Spackman and I so that's way awesome. Well that's all for this week.  

Last District Meeting

Last District Meeting