2017 07 17 It's been a busy week

Hello Everyone! You may not get this email for forever because I'm currently at the Fukuoka temple and there is no Wifi nearby to send it off, sorry.

Monday (月 Getsu 曜日yobi):

Today was a pretty good Pday. Me and Elder Yagame went with an Eikaiwa (English conversation class) student and checked out our city Sendai.

Sendai

there is a samurai armor maker here in Sendai and we got to check out some of the armor

More Armor

And…. armor

Tuesday (火 Moku 曜日yobi):

We had a really good District meeting BUT, it got interrupted by an earthquake! (NOTE from Dad.. here’s an Earthquake tracker LINK). In the evening we taught Madoka 姉妹 (shimai - sister).

sashimi

Wednesday (水 Sui 曜日yobi):

Today we 巡回ed (junkai - patrol / splits) in Kagoshima and that was cool. I went with Elder Kawabata. Elder Chadwick and Elder Woolston taught Madoka 姉妹 (shimai - sister).

the bike was missing a screw and this is how we fixed it

Grandpa Hana's Tie!!!

Thursday (木 Moku 曜日yobi):

Today we taught Mikiさん (san - “Mrs”) again and we talked a ton about faith. We also 突然 (totsuzen - suddenly) taught Madoka 姉妹 (shimai - sister) right before Eikaiwa (English conversation class) and answered some of her questions.

Elder Chadwick is sleepy

So sleepy...

Friday (金 Kin 曜日yobi):

Today was more 巡回 (junkai - patrol / splits) with the Taniyama Elders and I went with Elder Larson and we had a blast. In the evening we went to a 食事 (shokuji - meal) with the people we normally do kid's Eikaiwa (English conversation class) with and it was way cool. After Eikaiwa (English conversation class) I was talking with one of the moms, who the other elders had been teaching and I was able to answer some of her questions about forgiveness by using the Book of Mormon.

Elder Yagame slept on the way up

Saturday (土 do 曜日yobi):

Well, today Elder Chadwick was dead tired this morning sooooo, I did all the contacting. Through that we were able to find a cool mom and her son that we are meeting again. Then we finished weekly planning and did sports night, which not many people came to, again.

Sunday (日 nichi 曜日yobi):

Today we had some new people come to kid's Eikaiwa (English conversation class) and that made it a TON more fun. After church Elder Chadwick slept because he literally had no energy, but we were able to go out and 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) for a little bit and we had some interesting conversations. One of the things I learned this week is that you should try your absolute BEST to answer people's questions by using the Book of Mormon, it shows them how to apply it to themselves AND it is worded a lot better than we could word it.

pretty

2017 07 09 Another Week

Not lazy, just brain dead. Sorry for the lame title, I couldn't think of anything but, it has been an interesting week.

Monday (月 Getsu 曜日yobi):

Today we met Aoki 姉妹 (shimai - sister) while we were doing shopping and talked to her for a bit. While we were talking to her we we found out that she had set up a lesson with Madoka for that NIGHT! She said that she was going to call us later with all the details. The lesson went pretty good. We talked about some of her concerns and stuff like that.

we all had matching ties on July 4

Tuesday (火 Moku 曜日yobi):

Today was 面接 (mensetsu - interview) day! Wwe took a train down to Kagoshima so we could meet with President Egan. After the interview we got on the train and came right back. We taught a lesson to Haruna and talked about why she hasn't been able to receive baptism yet. We then read the BOM with her.

Video 1 cool doorbell we found

Wednesday (水 Sui 曜日yobi):

Today I went on 巡回 (junkai - patrol / splits) with Elder Williams and it was a blast! We were able to see the miracle! We set up THREE Return Appointments (RA) and we had a blast together.

I decided to wear a random jacket

Thursday (木 Moku 曜日yobi):

Today was spent mostly cleaning and doing weekly planning. We did pass our cleaning check. After that we had Eikaiwa (English conversation class) and some new people showed up and that was cool.

Friday (金 Kin 曜日yobi):

We had set up a lesson with Uncle Tom, (a guy we had lunch with last week) but it turned into another lunch date. Uncle Tom’s nephew is a missionary here in our mission so he and Elder Chadwick ended up taking him out. After that he took us and the other Elders out to eat Yakiniku (Grilled meat). We had kid's Eikaiwa (English conversation class) and after that we planned to 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) but Elder Chadwick was way tired so we rested for a good amount of time.

I'm still kinda confused why we took the picture but we did

Saturday (土 do 曜日yobi):

We 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) a little in the morning and then went to go help set up for the Branch's matsuri (Festival). It was a ton of fun and we were in charge of the water balloon toss but, that just became a water balloon fight and that was fun.

Sunday (日 nichi 曜日yobi):

Church was good. We had branch conference so some people for Kagoshima came down. Sadly, both Madoka and Haruna couldn't make it today. Madoka couldn’t make it because she had a really big test and Haruna was out because she got really sick. After that we went to the apartment and Elder Chadwick passed out. We were able to meet with the return appointments that we set up. The first kid was way cool and we talked with him for a good amount of time but, can't meet again because he is super busy. The second Return Appointment told us he didn't have interest so in the lessons, SOOOOOO we 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) near by. Today we have an interesting plan. An Eikaiwa (English conversation class) student offered to take me and Elder Chadwick to go and do something special. Unfortunately Elder Chadwick is still dead tired so me and Elder Yagame are going to……. THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT!!!! It should be very interesting.

a member singing at the matsuri

again at the matsuri

2017 07 03 It's Been, An Interesting........Week

Short intro…. Yep, it's been way cool week. With that I'll go ahead and tell it.

Monday (月 Getsu 曜日yobi):

We had fun Pday BUT it came to an interesting early end. We hopped on a Taira around 4 to head to Kumamoto for a combined Zone conference that starts on Tuesday. It was a lot of traveling and we didn't get to the Elder's apartment until about 9 that night.

The Train Route

It’s Pretty here!

Tuesday (火 Moku 曜日yobi):

We had a great Zone conference today. We talked a lot about diligence and it was way cool. Getting back from the conference to Sendai was an interesting adventure. On the way back we missed a couple of our train connections and to ensure that we were home at a reasonable time we got to ride the Shinkansen back to Sendai, it was nice.

Wednesday (水 Sui 曜日yobi):

We called someone a couple weeks ago and we went out to eat with him. WAY good food AND we even taught him a little bit too! ;D  It’s not easy finding new people to teach, but it seems like he has real interest in the gospel and we’re pretty excited for that. We tried 伝道 but, it didn't go to well but we had a lesson again with Madoka姉妹 and it wasn't the best lesson but, we tried answering her questions. Also, Elder Chadwick 's bike broke and that was fun.

Check out these potatoes we found!

Thursday (木 Moku 曜日yobi):

We taught Miki さん (san - “Mrs”) today, well Elder Chadwick taught her while I played with her son to keep him distracted, it was a blast. Then we spent the rest of the day weekly planning then went to Eikaiwa (English conversation class).

Me, Hidemichi (LA), Elder Williams, Elder Yagame, Rinka (LA) and Haruna (investigator)

Friday (金 Kin 曜日yobi):

Today we 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) around in the morning but no one was home. We went to kid's Eikaiwa (English conversation class) this week and they were a ton of fun to teach. We came back to our apartment area and tried to 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) but, we got a call from Aoki 姉妹 (shimai - sister / she’s the mission leader’s wife). So, today was her birthday but her husband and son got called into work so, her and Madoka 姉妹 (shimai - sister / the sister we’ve been teaching) were going to eat out together and they invited us along so we could teach a lesson. The lesson was good but it went way too long.

Thank you to whoever put that in my scriptures but, who are you?

I suspect it was my sister Talley or Megan...

Saturday (土 do 曜日yobi):

We tried to do some street contacting today but there was LITERALLY no one out. We got excited to finally find someone and we were having a good talk with this one kid but we found out he’s a Toitsu教会 (Kyokai - church) person*. It was a bit weird. Then we went to sports night and no one came. We got a little bit bored at the park so, we played a form of tag, with the basketball. Basically we rolled it and whoever it touched was it. So, in an attempt to dodge I jumped backwards but, I jumped a little too far back and ended up landing on my front and probably sprained my wrist.

*Note from Dad

I encountered a few Toitsu Kyo members when I was a missionary in Japan. Here’s a basic Wikipedia definition...

Toitsu Kyokai is also known as the Unification Church and is a relatively new religious movement founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon. Since its founding, the church has expanded throughout the world with most members living in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and other nations in East Asia. Its membership is also known as “Moonie”.

The Unification Church has been the subject of controversy over its beliefs, which differ from traditional Christian interpretations of the Bible and have been called heretical and anti semitic by some critics. The church has also been accused of brainwashing its members, which led to some being subject to deprogramming. Other controversial events include Moon's 1982 conviction in the United States of filing false federal income tax returns and criminal conspiracy and the 2001 wedding of Roman Catholic archbishop Emmanuel Milingo to a Unification Church member in a ceremony presided over by Moon.

Some kid's Eikaiwa students

The youngest members of the branch and they are very violent

Sunday (日 nichi 曜日yobi):

Sunday, good fast Sunday. We weren't able to teach Madoka or Momoka today but, we went to Kushikino with Aoki会長 (choro - elder) and we 伝道 (Dendo - tracking) with him, way cool. Then in the evening we saw some miracles. Of all the various contacts that we’ve made, we have not been able to commit anyone and schedule a Return Appointment with them. Tonight we set THREE Return Appointments! Then, we were talking to a high school about God and showed him the Book of Mormon and said the book was help from God. Then we explained more about the BOM and shared a scripture from it. He accepted the gift of the Book of Mormon and then we asked if we could come back and teach a little bit more and he said sure. MIRACLE!!!

Our present to Aoki姉妹 for her birthday

I ran out on Thursday, I love these things