Monday, December 31, 2018
Week 72 - 12/30/18 - Group Email
Happy (almost) New Year!
We got transfer emails today. Basically everyone in my district is staying here in Kofu except one sister is leaving. Should be a good transfer!
On Saturday and Sunday a member offered to drive us around as we visited people. He also took us to some of his friend's homes and introduced us to them. It was super cool! He is a bold dude. One of the less active members we visited let us in and we talked for a good 40 minutes about the church and shared a message. He was really nice and ended up coming to church yesterday! We plan to work more closely with him from here on out so I'm excited for that.
Funny side note:
While we were cleaning the ward building a member was talking to me about his brother who apparently hates the church and Americans. He said his brother is left handed (in english) and I was like "Oh no way me too, and so is Elder Suzuki!" He was way surprised for some reason then said he thought left handed people are mostly just in Russia and Japan. I'm like nope pretty sure they exist all over the world. lol. I was confused so I asked him to clarify in Japanese and what he meant to say is "Left Wing" as in politics. I'm still confused as to why he thinks there are liberals only in Russia and Japan but it was a funny misunderstanding.
I'll share with ya'll a little mystery. π΅️
So the other week we knocked an apartment and met a guy named Oe who runs track for college (long distance) and accepted a Book of Mormon from us. Fast forward to the next week and we went back to visit him. Well he didn't answer unfortunately so we knocked the apartment next to him to see if that person was home. He was and he talked to us for awhile. I asked what he likes to do and he told me he's on the track team and that he runs long distance. I figured this apartment housed a bunch of kids from the track team because it's close to the college but then I asked him for his name and he said Oe. I was trippin at this point (because Oe isn't a super common name) and pointed to the next door over and said oh do you know this guy who is also named Oe?? He said he doesn't know the people living next to him and doesn't know another Oe. I asked if we had met the week prior and if he got a Book of Mormon from us but he said nope. Sorry if that doesn't make sense lol but I'm still confused by the "coincidence" of it all.
Some other things:
- I saw an old dude on the street repping an Alta ski resort hat! He said he has never been but just a cool little thing.
- We vistited a place called Minobu last p-day that was super cool. Lots of temples and we hiked a peak with a nice view of Fuji.
- In Japan people clean their homes during the new year so we did lots of cleaning in our apartment and the church. We got our apartment looking spick and span!
- I gotta Skype the fam on Christmas! That was awesome. What's not awesome is that they got a new puppy without me... BUT they gave it a Japanese name "Yuki." haha. It's half Weiner dog half Chihuahua. Yeah I was surprised too.
On Saturday and Sunday a member offered to drive us around as we visited people. He also took us to some of his friend's homes and introduced us to them. It was super cool! He is a bold dude. One of the less active members we visited let us in and we talked for a good 40 minutes about the church and shared a message. He was really nice and ended up coming to church yesterday! We plan to work more closely with him from here on out so I'm excited for that.
Funny side note:
While we were cleaning the ward building a member was talking to me about his brother who apparently hates the church and Americans. He said his brother is left handed (in english) and I was like "Oh no way me too, and so is Elder Suzuki!" He was way surprised for some reason then said he thought left handed people are mostly just in Russia and Japan. I'm like nope pretty sure they exist all over the world. lol. I was confused so I asked him to clarify in Japanese and what he meant to say is "Left Wing" as in politics. I'm still confused as to why he thinks there are liberals only in Russia and Japan but it was a funny misunderstanding.
I'll share with ya'll a little mystery. π΅️
So the other week we knocked an apartment and met a guy named Oe who runs track for college (long distance) and accepted a Book of Mormon from us. Fast forward to the next week and we went back to visit him. Well he didn't answer unfortunately so we knocked the apartment next to him to see if that person was home. He was and he talked to us for awhile. I asked what he likes to do and he told me he's on the track team and that he runs long distance. I figured this apartment housed a bunch of kids from the track team because it's close to the college but then I asked him for his name and he said Oe. I was trippin at this point (because Oe isn't a super common name) and pointed to the next door over and said oh do you know this guy who is also named Oe?? He said he doesn't know the people living next to him and doesn't know another Oe. I asked if we had met the week prior and if he got a Book of Mormon from us but he said nope. Sorry if that doesn't make sense lol but I'm still confused by the "coincidence" of it all.
Some other things:
- I saw an old dude on the street repping an Alta ski resort hat! He said he has never been but just a cool little thing.
- We vistited a place called Minobu last p-day that was super cool. Lots of temples and we hiked a peak with a nice view of Fuji.
- In Japan people clean their homes during the new year so we did lots of cleaning in our apartment and the church. We got our apartment looking spick and span!
- I gotta Skype the fam on Christmas! That was awesome. What's not awesome is that they got a new puppy without me... BUT they gave it a Japanese name "Yuki." haha. It's half Weiner dog half Chihuahua. Yeah I was surprised too.
Anyway,
Love you all!
γγ£γΌγ³ι·θ
Elder Dean
Monday, December 24, 2018
Week 71 - 12/23/18 - Email
Merry Christmas everyone!!
These past few weeks we have been giving out Light the World pass along cards with a piece of chocolate attached to spread some Christmas cheer. Small thing but it's fun to see how much it makes some people's day.
We had a really awesome Mission Christmas conference the other day. One recent convert got up and bore his testimony about how much the gospel has changed his life in just the 1 month since he's been baptized. It was cool to hear. He's already preparing for a mission! It was a very spirit filled meeting and got me pumped for Christmas!
Yesterday we received a box from our ward full of Christmas presents and food. This thing was massive. We couldn't wait so we opened everything already haha. We now have wayyy too much chocolate but I'm not complaining. It was super nice of them. Kofu ward is awesome!
I talked to a college student on the train the other day and gave him a pass along card with a chocolate then he returned the favor and gave me a piece of candy haha. I quickly realized that he had a major social problem but I could tell how much it meant to him that someone reached out and talked to him. When we got off the train he asked if I had 5 minutes to spare until his next train came and we just chatted. I told him I like running then at the end of the conversation he said "let's go running sometime!" even though he told me he hates exercise. I think he just needs a friend. We added each other on LINE so I hope we can meet up again and help him out. I'm glad I was able to meet him!
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
γγ£γΌγ³ι·θ
These past few weeks we have been giving out Light the World pass along cards with a piece of chocolate attached to spread some Christmas cheer. Small thing but it's fun to see how much it makes some people's day.
We had a really awesome Mission Christmas conference the other day. One recent convert got up and bore his testimony about how much the gospel has changed his life in just the 1 month since he's been baptized. It was cool to hear. He's already preparing for a mission! It was a very spirit filled meeting and got me pumped for Christmas!
Yesterday we received a box from our ward full of Christmas presents and food. This thing was massive. We couldn't wait so we opened everything already haha. We now have wayyy too much chocolate but I'm not complaining. It was super nice of them. Kofu ward is awesome!
I talked to a college student on the train the other day and gave him a pass along card with a chocolate then he returned the favor and gave me a piece of candy haha. I quickly realized that he had a major social problem but I could tell how much it meant to him that someone reached out and talked to him. When we got off the train he asked if I had 5 minutes to spare until his next train came and we just chatted. I told him I like running then at the end of the conversation he said "let's go running sometime!" even though he told me he hates exercise. I think he just needs a friend. We added each other on LINE so I hope we can meet up again and help him out. I'm glad I was able to meet him!
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
γγ£γΌγ³ι·θ
Elder Dean
Monday, December 17, 2018
Week 70 - 12/16/18 - Group Email
Hey everyone we had a pretty eventful week!
Last p-day we went hiking again and it was my comps first time ever summiting a mountain so I was happy to be apart of that! Nothing better than a summit view. At the bottom near the train station there is a way cool statue that we found! I'll send pics.
The other day I got rice out of the container and noticed a little fly in there so I looked in the bin and saw a ton of little white maggots in the rice. It was DISGUSTING! We had been using that rice everyday so who knows how many maggots we ate...
I love doing wheelies on my bike and have done them every now and then during my mission but the other day I popped one too hard and my foot got stuck on the peddle so I ate it pretty hard flat onto my back haha. My comp was also right behind me so he slammed my bike and took a spill too. Ooops. I kinda broke my seat and ripped my pants but besides that we were all good! and no one saw ;)
My throat has been bothering me so I looked up the nearest ear nose and throat doctor θ³ιΌ»η§ in japanese and clicked on one nearby that popped up. We went there and after waiting 45 minues I finally got in. I told the doctor my throat hurts and he was like you mean your neck? I'm like no my throat and opened my mouth. He looked in my mouth and then said well this is a dermatologist so we only do skin. lol. I felt so dumb. Doctors related to ear nose and throat popped up on my map apparently so I learned I gotta double check better ha.
We had quite a few lessons this week that all went pretty well! Our new Vietnamese investigator said during his lesson that he doesn't know why but he feels something telling him that he needs to keep learning about our church. It was way cool! We were able to testify and explain that that is the Holy Ghost. He has a ton of potential!
Some other things:
- My comp experienced cold hands for the first time in his life the other day. He's from the Philippines so he's never had to worry about that. His hands were numb and he was getting all worried that something was wrong lol. I was dying.
- I finished reading all of the conference talks that Pres. Nelson has given since hs became a general authority. It was really cool to see all of the things he has taught and the repeated themes in his talks. He's definitely a prophet of God! "Perfection Pending" oct. 1995 and "The Creation" apr. 2000 are two of my favorites.
- We met a guy who said he has been to the spirit world and met God. He said during an operation for his cancer he floated above his body and flew all around the world. We offered him a Book of Mormon but he said he literally know everything so he has no need to read it lol. It was a very bizarre conversation.
- I finished the Book of Mormon for the 5th time since I've been out!
- We met an old guy who was 88 and thought I was 35. When I told him I'm 20 he made the funniest face and looked like he saw a ghost or something haha. It was really funny.
- We had our ward Christmas party the other day and tons of people came. We were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to a number of people who seemed quite interested. It's fun to see people interact with members and feel the light of Christ. The church really is a completely different environment from other places in Japan that has a very special light about it!
Well that's about it. I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season!
γγ£γΌγ³ι·θ
Last p-day we went hiking again and it was my comps first time ever summiting a mountain so I was happy to be apart of that! Nothing better than a summit view. At the bottom near the train station there is a way cool statue that we found! I'll send pics.
The other day I got rice out of the container and noticed a little fly in there so I looked in the bin and saw a ton of little white maggots in the rice. It was DISGUSTING! We had been using that rice everyday so who knows how many maggots we ate...
I love doing wheelies on my bike and have done them every now and then during my mission but the other day I popped one too hard and my foot got stuck on the peddle so I ate it pretty hard flat onto my back haha. My comp was also right behind me so he slammed my bike and took a spill too. Ooops. I kinda broke my seat and ripped my pants but besides that we were all good! and no one saw ;)
My throat has been bothering me so I looked up the nearest ear nose and throat doctor θ³ιΌ»η§ in japanese and clicked on one nearby that popped up. We went there and after waiting 45 minues I finally got in. I told the doctor my throat hurts and he was like you mean your neck? I'm like no my throat and opened my mouth. He looked in my mouth and then said well this is a dermatologist so we only do skin. lol. I felt so dumb. Doctors related to ear nose and throat popped up on my map apparently so I learned I gotta double check better ha.
We had quite a few lessons this week that all went pretty well! Our new Vietnamese investigator said during his lesson that he doesn't know why but he feels something telling him that he needs to keep learning about our church. It was way cool! We were able to testify and explain that that is the Holy Ghost. He has a ton of potential!
Some other things:
- My comp experienced cold hands for the first time in his life the other day. He's from the Philippines so he's never had to worry about that. His hands were numb and he was getting all worried that something was wrong lol. I was dying.
- I finished reading all of the conference talks that Pres. Nelson has given since hs became a general authority. It was really cool to see all of the things he has taught and the repeated themes in his talks. He's definitely a prophet of God! "Perfection Pending" oct. 1995 and "The Creation" apr. 2000 are two of my favorites.
- We met a guy who said he has been to the spirit world and met God. He said during an operation for his cancer he floated above his body and flew all around the world. We offered him a Book of Mormon but he said he literally know everything so he has no need to read it lol. It was a very bizarre conversation.
- I finished the Book of Mormon for the 5th time since I've been out!
- We met an old guy who was 88 and thought I was 35. When I told him I'm 20 he made the funniest face and looked like he saw a ghost or something haha. It was really funny.
- We had our ward Christmas party the other day and tons of people came. We were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to a number of people who seemed quite interested. It's fun to see people interact with members and feel the light of Christ. The church really is a completely different environment from other places in Japan that has a very special light about it!
Well that's about it. I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season!
γγ£γΌγ³ι·θ
Monday, December 10, 2018
Week 69 - 12/09/18 - Group Email
Proud to announce that I ate my first Big Mac this week. Can't say I've been missing much though. We helped Brother Sharp finish up his english class sign so he bought us McDonalds. He always hooks it up.
We met a really awesome guy from Vietnam this week. He came to our English class and I was able to talk to him about religion and we ended up meeting the next day! He's super solid and had a lot of great questions so we are excited to teach him.
We also met a nice Highschool kid that loves Christmas!! He sounded way down to come to our Christmas party next week and said he'd even bring his friend. We'll hope he comes through. He also accepted a Book of Mormon and seemed pumped to read it!
We had a Christmas open-house the other day at the mission home. My district performed some songs in the chapel and sounded absolutely terrible haha. Luckily we performed in the afternoon because hardly anyone was there yet. BUT while we were singing I looked up and saw 2 good friends from Astugi (my last area) sitting in the audience! We had a nice reunion after. Later another friend also came, so that was awesome.
The downer of the week, I was studying and accidentally hit my open water bottle with my elbow spilling it all over my scriptures. Luckily it just hit the edge of all the pages and not directly on any but still a major bummer. I dried the pages and stacked tons of books on it so it doesn't look too bad anymore. I always seem to spill things lol. π
Well I hope everyone is getting in the Christmas spirit where ever you are in the world. Lights have been going up around the city and it's getting freezing so it's starting to feel like Christmas here! We have really been focusing on teaching and testifying about the savior as Christmas is getting near. I'm very grateful for all Jesus Christ has done for us and I know he lives! It's awesome being a representative of Jesus Christ during Christmas time! I know Christ is our savior and that he really suffered for each and every one of us. Every time I meet a Christian in Japan they stand out and have a special light about them. I know there is a reason for that! As we strive to become like Christ and walk as he walked we will become happier and more able to feel the love that he has for us.
We met a really awesome guy from Vietnam this week. He came to our English class and I was able to talk to him about religion and we ended up meeting the next day! He's super solid and had a lot of great questions so we are excited to teach him.
We also met a nice Highschool kid that loves Christmas!! He sounded way down to come to our Christmas party next week and said he'd even bring his friend. We'll hope he comes through. He also accepted a Book of Mormon and seemed pumped to read it!
We had a Christmas open-house the other day at the mission home. My district performed some songs in the chapel and sounded absolutely terrible haha. Luckily we performed in the afternoon because hardly anyone was there yet. BUT while we were singing I looked up and saw 2 good friends from Astugi (my last area) sitting in the audience! We had a nice reunion after. Later another friend also came, so that was awesome.
The downer of the week, I was studying and accidentally hit my open water bottle with my elbow spilling it all over my scriptures. Luckily it just hit the edge of all the pages and not directly on any but still a major bummer. I dried the pages and stacked tons of books on it so it doesn't look too bad anymore. I always seem to spill things lol. π
Well I hope everyone is getting in the Christmas spirit where ever you are in the world. Lights have been going up around the city and it's getting freezing so it's starting to feel like Christmas here! We have really been focusing on teaching and testifying about the savior as Christmas is getting near. I'm very grateful for all Jesus Christ has done for us and I know he lives! It's awesome being a representative of Jesus Christ during Christmas time! I know Christ is our savior and that he really suffered for each and every one of us. Every time I meet a Christian in Japan they stand out and have a special light about them. I know there is a reason for that! As we strive to become like Christ and walk as he walked we will become happier and more able to feel the love that he has for us.
Everyone take advantage of this amazing holiday and season and don't forget to light the world!
Love you all!
γγ£γΌγ³ι·θ
Elder Dean
Monday, December 3, 2018
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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...
