Ward Halloween party
Our apartment
View of Mnt Fuji from our apartment
In the elevator
Dinner at a members home last night (the Tashibu's)
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Week 11 - 10/29/17 - Group Email
Hello Everyone,
This week we had our ward halloween party, tons of people showed up and a lof of non members came! Also Japanese kids in halloween costumes are honestly soo cute haha. We had zone conference on thursday and talked alot about working with members, we are trying to meet with everyone in the ward and share a message and build our relationships. My ward is already pretty awesome though so we shouldn't have too much trouble working with the members this transfer. We had dinner at a members home last night (the Tashibu's) they are an awesome fam and it was really fun! I also had my first real ramen from a ramen shop and it was dang good, I'm so excited for the food here!
We taught a couple lessons this week and found a few Potential investigators. One of our investigators Tazaki San is progressins pretty good and reads the Book of Mormon a ton but feels like he wants to know more before he commits to anything so we are trying to build his faith a little. I taugh Eikaiwa (english class) for my first time this week. I taught the advanced group cuz I can't really explain things in Japanese lol. It was so much fun though and all the people that came are awesome. One of the guys that comes has read the Book of Mormon 3 times but doesn't wanna give up his worldy habits to join the church, he's super stubborn and has been working with the missionaries for a long time but we're gonna try and figure out how we can help him. One of the hard things about Japan is that everyone works really long days and usually 6-7 days a week, so it's hard to get appointments and it's hard to get people to come to church. All in all though this week has been good, hopefully we can get some appointments set with our potential investigators!
Hope everyone has a good week!
Elder Dean
We taught a couple lessons this week and found a few Potential investigators. One of our investigators Tazaki San is progressins pretty good and reads the Book of Mormon a ton but feels like he wants to know more before he commits to anything so we are trying to build his faith a little. I taugh Eikaiwa (english class) for my first time this week. I taught the advanced group cuz I can't really explain things in Japanese lol. It was so much fun though and all the people that came are awesome. One of the guys that comes has read the Book of Mormon 3 times but doesn't wanna give up his worldy habits to join the church, he's super stubborn and has been working with the missionaries for a long time but we're gonna try and figure out how we can help him. One of the hard things about Japan is that everyone works really long days and usually 6-7 days a week, so it's hard to get appointments and it's hard to get people to come to church. All in all though this week has been good, hopefully we can get some appointments set with our potential investigators!
Hope everyone has a good week!
Elder Dean
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Week 10 - 10/22/17 - Group Email
Hey everyone, I'm finally in Japan! My first area is called Shonan. It's the southern part of my mission and on the coast. My Comp is named Elder deAndrade and he's from Brazil. He's a cool kid and we get along well. Our area has tons of people who speak portugese and spanish so we have a few investigators who speak those languages. Elder deAndrade speaks Portugese so that will be intersting for me. We had 3 lessons planned this past week for investigators but 2 canceled to so we only got to teach one. His name is Tazaki san. I guess the missionaries have been teaching him for a while and he's pretty interested. I was pretty lost during most of the lesson cuz my Japanese is terrible and it's so hard to understand people.
The first few days were pretty stressful. After the long flight we had a 2 hour bus ride and then had to do some stuff at the mission home so it was a longgg day. The first morning here we ran down to the park and did radio taiso. It was so fun and a cool cultural experience. So basically everymorning at 6:30 on the radio they play this workout and tons of people gather all over parks and infront of businesses and do these weird exercises haha. It's mostly old people but it was so fun! We had a ton of trainings throughout the day then in the afternoon we got paired with missionaries and had to go out and talk to people. I was super nervous at first but it ended up being really fun! Talking to people is not as scary as I thought it be. Rejection doesn't hurt when you can't understand them haha. I gave out a Book of Mormon which was cool. That night we went out and ate, Me elder orton and elder ota ate Sukemen (noodles that you dip in soup). I'm so excited to eat the food here because it was really good!
On Thursday we found out who our trainers were and traveled to our areas. My comp loves to cook so that has been a blessing! We have gone out knocking doors a couple times and have talked to a few people on the streets. We taught a guy from the philipines who spoke english which was so nice! The first day of church was awesome, the members here are really friendly! I had to give a self introduction and bear my testimony in sacrament. I couldn't understand very much at all during the meetings so that's frustrating but it will get better.
Last night there was a typhoon warning and they told us to get ready to evacuate cuz it looked pretty bad but it ended up hitting during the night and we didn't have to evacuate. It's been pretty rainy everyday and pretty cold here. Sorry for such a long email, hope everyone is doing well!
Dean 長老
The first few days were pretty stressful. After the long flight we had a 2 hour bus ride and then had to do some stuff at the mission home so it was a longgg day. The first morning here we ran down to the park and did radio taiso. It was so fun and a cool cultural experience. So basically everymorning at 6:30 on the radio they play this workout and tons of people gather all over parks and infront of businesses and do these weird exercises haha. It's mostly old people but it was so fun! We had a ton of trainings throughout the day then in the afternoon we got paired with missionaries and had to go out and talk to people. I was super nervous at first but it ended up being really fun! Talking to people is not as scary as I thought it be. Rejection doesn't hurt when you can't understand them haha. I gave out a Book of Mormon which was cool. That night we went out and ate, Me elder orton and elder ota ate Sukemen (noodles that you dip in soup). I'm so excited to eat the food here because it was really good!
On Thursday we found out who our trainers were and traveled to our areas. My comp loves to cook so that has been a blessing! We have gone out knocking doors a couple times and have talked to a few people on the streets. We taught a guy from the philipines who spoke english which was so nice! The first day of church was awesome, the members here are really friendly! I had to give a self introduction and bear my testimony in sacrament. I couldn't understand very much at all during the meetings so that's frustrating but it will get better.
Last night there was a typhoon warning and they told us to get ready to evacuate cuz it looked pretty bad but it ended up hitting during the night and we didn't have to evacuate. It's been pretty rainy everyday and pretty cold here. Sorry for such a long email, hope everyone is doing well!
Dean 長老
Week 9 - 10/20/17 - Mission Home Email
Dear Brother and Sister Dean,
Your son arrived in the Japan Tokyo South Mission in good spirits and ready to commence his proselyting assignment. We had a wonderful time with him.
Elder Dean has been assigned to work with Elder De Andrade and they are serving in an area called Shonan. Your son can receive his mail at the following address (Mission Home address):
Elder Jacob Michael Dean
Japan Tokyo South Mission
1-7-7 Kichijoji, Higashi-cho
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0002
Japan
Attached are pictures of your son with Sister Warnick and me, of himself, his companion, and group pictures of the new missionaries and trainers. We have also included a map showing the locations of the various areas in the mission. You can use it as a personal record of his assignments.
As Elder Dean adjusts to his new proselyting area, the positive sustaining support he gets from you at home will be a great blessing to him. May the Lord bless you and your family as you share in your son’s mission experience.
Sincerely,
President J Paul Warnick
Week 9 - 10/17/17 - Mission Home Email
Dear Parents,
This is a quick note to let you know that your missionary arrived safely in Japan on Tuesday afternoon, October 17, 2017.
President and Sister Warnick will soon have dinner with the missionaries, visit shortly, and then send them to bed for a much needed rest.
Wednesday is orientation and training day. On Thursday they will meet their new companion/trainer. In the afternoon they will be off to their new area. We will take additional pictures Thursday and send them to you as soon as we get them all ready.
Our Mission’s preparation day is Monday. This is the day missionaries can email family and friends. However, when missionaries have a temple day, normally one Tuesday every six week transfer period, this becomes their preparation day. So, expect an email either Monday or Tuesday each week.
Thank you for entrusting your missionary to us in the Japan Tokyo South Mission. We so appreciate all you have done to get your missionary ready for this experience!
Sincerely,
Sister Loftus
Japan Tokyo South Mission Secretary
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Week 8 - 10/11/17 - Group Email
Hello Everyone only 4 days till 日本!,
It is hard to believe that my time here at the MTC is finally coming to an end. I am so ready to actually go to Japan and start my mission! We got our travel plans and are leaving the MTC at 4:50am Monday morning. I was actually pretty surprised at how much the MTC didn't suck haha I had pretty low expectations but it hasn't been bad at all. Not saying I would ever want to be here again but I have learned a ton and have made some pretty good friends.
One of the Elders in my room, Manui Choro is from Hawaii, his family sent him a package with a bunch of weird hawaiin food (Dried octopus, tons of different fish jerkey, and lots of weird plum things, I'll send some pics) It got me ready to start eating some werid stuff in Japan haha, some of it was actually way good though! One of the days this week a bunch of elders from our zone played a huge game of soccer. It ended up being super fun and competitive! It was kinda hard to play without cleats so I ate it a bunch and have a huge bruise/scrape on my butt lol.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and spoke at our devotional last night. It was sweet to be able to hear from another apostle before we leave. He spoke about the Book of Mormon. He told a bunch of stories about how hard it was for the Book of Mormon to get printed in the first place and how lucky we are to have it so readily available today, especially in over 90 different languages! Nothing else really to report on this week, only so much happens in the MTC. Hopefully I will have a bit more interesting emails once I get to Japan!
ディーン長老
One of the Elders in my room, Manui Choro is from Hawaii, his family sent him a package with a bunch of weird hawaiin food (Dried octopus, tons of different fish jerkey, and lots of weird plum things, I'll send some pics) It got me ready to start eating some werid stuff in Japan haha, some of it was actually way good though! One of the days this week a bunch of elders from our zone played a huge game of soccer. It ended up being super fun and competitive! It was kinda hard to play without cleats so I ate it a bunch and have a huge bruise/scrape on my butt lol.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson came and spoke at our devotional last night. It was sweet to be able to hear from another apostle before we leave. He spoke about the Book of Mormon. He told a bunch of stories about how hard it was for the Book of Mormon to get printed in the first place and how lucky we are to have it so readily available today, especially in over 90 different languages! Nothing else really to report on this week, only so much happens in the MTC. Hopefully I will have a bit more interesting emails once I get to Japan!
ディーン長老
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Week 7 - 10/04/17 - Group Email
Hello everyone! Only 12 more days till I go to Nihon! Hope you all had a chance to watch some of conference. It was really nice to watch it from the MTC, I hate to admit but it was my first time watching every session so that was cool.
The three talks I liked the most were
1. Elder Callister's from Sunday afternoon - He talked about the Book of Mormon and escentially brought up every argument people may have to disprove it, then gave a logical reason of why those arguents are wrong. You can argue either way about the truth of the Book of Mormon but only good can come from choosing to believe it, and the possibilty of Joseph Smith writing that book on his own with the writing skills he had is extremely unlikely.
2. Elder Uchdorf's from Prieshood - He talked about the light of Christ. I liked the anology he used about how even at nighttime the sun is still there and it's light is still shining. But since the earth is in the way it appears dark. Christ's light will always be there but in our current world Satan is constantly trying to cast a shadow over the light, so we just need to always seek the light! I liked how he said as disciples of Christ (missionaries) we constantly have that light with us and our mission is to share it with the world.
3. Elder Nelson's from Saturday afternoon - He also talked about the Book of Mormon. I liked the story he shared about the king in Ghana who he was able to shared a Book of Mormon with. The king loved the bible and when he received this Book of Mormon he said it was better than receiving "diamonds or rubies". He then asked us to think how different our lives would be if we didn't have the Book of Mormon and that we shouldn't take it granted because so many people don't have it in their lives.
Random side note: My comp is way ticklish so every night all the guys in my room pin him down and tickle the crap out of him, it's hilarious!
ディーン長老
Dean
The three talks I liked the most were
1. Elder Callister's from Sunday afternoon - He talked about the Book of Mormon and escentially brought up every argument people may have to disprove it, then gave a logical reason of why those arguents are wrong. You can argue either way about the truth of the Book of Mormon but only good can come from choosing to believe it, and the possibilty of Joseph Smith writing that book on his own with the writing skills he had is extremely unlikely.
2. Elder Uchdorf's from Prieshood - He talked about the light of Christ. I liked the anology he used about how even at nighttime the sun is still there and it's light is still shining. But since the earth is in the way it appears dark. Christ's light will always be there but in our current world Satan is constantly trying to cast a shadow over the light, so we just need to always seek the light! I liked how he said as disciples of Christ (missionaries) we constantly have that light with us and our mission is to share it with the world.
3. Elder Nelson's from Saturday afternoon - He also talked about the Book of Mormon. I liked the story he shared about the king in Ghana who he was able to shared a Book of Mormon with. The king loved the bible and when he received this Book of Mormon he said it was better than receiving "diamonds or rubies". He then asked us to think how different our lives would be if we didn't have the Book of Mormon and that we shouldn't take it granted because so many people don't have it in their lives.
Random side note: My comp is way ticklish so every night all the guys in my room pin him down and tickle the crap out of him, it's hilarious!
ディーン長老
Dean
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Week 6 - 09/27/17 - Pictures
Sunday priesthood class
last pic with my 2 boys
just got sent this pic from awhile ago
our whole zone
Me and hall choro
Hall, Bradford and I
Me and Farley choro
Nicoles, Turpin, Jones and I
Me and Jones choro
last pic with hoj choro for 2
Me and my doryo
Week 6 - 09/27/17 - Group Email
This week all of the daisenpai left to Japan. It was sad to say bye to all of them because we had been together for six weeks and none of them are going to my mission. I had to say bye to Ethan hoj also but I can't wait to be able to speak Nihongo together when we get home! On the plus side though we are now daisenpai which means we leave next! I'm so pumped!
On Monday our district was chosen to host the senior missionaries coming into the MTC. We got to help them unpack their cars and show them to their rooms. They were all so nice and it was alot of fun helping them! I am super pumped for conference coming up. It's gonna be fun to have a change of schedule and actually pay attention for every session. Me and Orton Choro were able to commit both our "investigators" to baptism this week! It's been fun to teach them but I can't wait to teach real investigators in Japan.
I have decided that the MTC does a really great job at hiring teachers. Every single teacher and sub we have had has been so good. One of our main teachers Coelho kyoudai from Brazil is easily one of the best guys I have ever met (everyone in my district would agree). He is such a nice and geniune person and has such a strong testimony and I am so grateful for his example!
Our teacher has given all of the goal of not using 'umm' while speaking in Japanese or English for that matter haha. It's actually so hard and during a prayer I panicked and ended it super fast cuz I literally couldn't think without saying umm!! Another funny thing, just barely me and orton were walking back to our room with some lunch. I had a bowl of grape nuts cereal (no milk luckily) in my hand and totally ate it walking up the stairs and my cereal went everywhere haha good times.
I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and getting in the mountains for me :)
Enjoy conference weekend!
愛しています!
Dean 長老
On Monday our district was chosen to host the senior missionaries coming into the MTC. We got to help them unpack their cars and show them to their rooms. They were all so nice and it was alot of fun helping them! I am super pumped for conference coming up. It's gonna be fun to have a change of schedule and actually pay attention for every session. Me and Orton Choro were able to commit both our "investigators" to baptism this week! It's been fun to teach them but I can't wait to teach real investigators in Japan.
I have decided that the MTC does a really great job at hiring teachers. Every single teacher and sub we have had has been so good. One of our main teachers Coelho kyoudai from Brazil is easily one of the best guys I have ever met (everyone in my district would agree). He is such a nice and geniune person and has such a strong testimony and I am so grateful for his example!
Our teacher has given all of the goal of not using 'umm' while speaking in Japanese or English for that matter haha. It's actually so hard and during a prayer I panicked and ended it super fast cuz I literally couldn't think without saying umm!! Another funny thing, just barely me and orton were walking back to our room with some lunch. I had a bowl of grape nuts cereal (no milk luckily) in my hand and totally ate it walking up the stairs and my cereal went everywhere haha good times.
I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and getting in the mountains for me :)
Enjoy conference weekend!
愛しています!
Dean 長老
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From movie night the other week. Zone blitz in our area. hiked Mount Oyama. IT's pretty cool t here is a huge Buddhis...
