Sunday, January 27, 2019
Week 76 - 01/27/19 - Group Email
I just got done playing basketball for the first time since I've been in Japan. Not a huge basketball fan but it felt good to run around a bit!
I'm just gonna make some bullet points of things that happened this week:
- We went and ate Chinese food with one of the less active members we are working with named Furuya this week. He in his 60s and is still not married but really wants to be. While we were walking down the street he turns to me and says "Ah man I really wish I would've called out to that girl across the street. I could've asked her to go to Karaoke with me!" It's probably a had to have been there type of situation but it was hilarious.
- We helped a different less active named Nozawa clean up his brother's house because he just recently passed away. It had to have been the dirtiest home I have ever been in. It made me really sad to realize that some people actually live like that. It was awesome to help him out and he seemed to really appreciate it.
- I ate Yakiniku (lots of meat that you fry at your table) for the first time in a long time. A guy we met on the train invited us. Pretty expensive but way good. No regrets.
- We did lots of housing in the freezing cold! The wind in my area is brutal so biking is not fun. People do not like talking when it's cold so we hardly shared any messages. Kind of frustrating but we got another week to try again!
- We had our ward mochitsuki party. Sadly this year we didn't actually make it using the hammer but we did get to eat lots of delicious mochi. We also played some fun games with the primary kids!
- My comp and I went running 2 days this week despite the cold. It had been over 8 months since I had last run and it felt great.
I hope you all have a great week!
ディーン長老
I'm just gonna make some bullet points of things that happened this week:
- We went and ate Chinese food with one of the less active members we are working with named Furuya this week. He in his 60s and is still not married but really wants to be. While we were walking down the street he turns to me and says "Ah man I really wish I would've called out to that girl across the street. I could've asked her to go to Karaoke with me!" It's probably a had to have been there type of situation but it was hilarious.
- We helped a different less active named Nozawa clean up his brother's house because he just recently passed away. It had to have been the dirtiest home I have ever been in. It made me really sad to realize that some people actually live like that. It was awesome to help him out and he seemed to really appreciate it.
- I ate Yakiniku (lots of meat that you fry at your table) for the first time in a long time. A guy we met on the train invited us. Pretty expensive but way good. No regrets.
- We did lots of housing in the freezing cold! The wind in my area is brutal so biking is not fun. People do not like talking when it's cold so we hardly shared any messages. Kind of frustrating but we got another week to try again!
- We had our ward mochitsuki party. Sadly this year we didn't actually make it using the hammer but we did get to eat lots of delicious mochi. We also played some fun games with the primary kids!
- My comp and I went running 2 days this week despite the cold. It had been over 8 months since I had last run and it felt great.
I hope you all have a great week!
ディーン長老
Elder Dean
Monday, January 21, 2019
Week 75 - 01/20/19 - Group Email
Konnichiwa!
Pretty regular week here but I'll try and give some highlights.
So, there is a less active member named Furuya who we have been working with these past few weeks. This week I called him every night and read the Book of Mormon with him and chatted about his day. He's an older single guy and loves it when I call. The first thing he always says when he answers is "Dean Choro?? Matte imashita!" (Elder Dean?? I was waiting!) haha I love it. He also has a dope telescope in his apartment that he bought recently but still doesn't know how to use. Once he finishes reading the instructions we are gonna look at mars, venus and all that good stuff. He loves space stuff haha. Its been cool to see how much it means to him that we take time to visit and talk with him.
We had a few other lessons with less actives this week that were all great. One of them came to church yesterday! A different guy we met with stopped coming to church about 40 years ago because he had lots of doubts and questions that no one would help him answer. He said everyone just told him to pray and read and that his questions weren't important. I totally don't agree so we told him we will help him find some answers to the best of our ability and he was pumped! Hopefully we can get him back to church here soon.
This week we also had zone conference. I had to give another training about using the Book of Mormon and it went okay. Glad it's over though.
We went on splits with the ZLs the other day which was a good time. One of them came to Japan with me so it was a way fun chilling with him at the apartment. Before bed I gotta play a game of shogi (Japanese chess) with Elder Brimhall. He wrecked me though lol.
Here's a quote I like from President Oaks in the Book of Mormon institute manual:
“The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become”
Have a great week everyone!
ディーン長老
Pretty regular week here but I'll try and give some highlights.
So, there is a less active member named Furuya who we have been working with these past few weeks. This week I called him every night and read the Book of Mormon with him and chatted about his day. He's an older single guy and loves it when I call. The first thing he always says when he answers is "Dean Choro?? Matte imashita!" (Elder Dean?? I was waiting!) haha I love it. He also has a dope telescope in his apartment that he bought recently but still doesn't know how to use. Once he finishes reading the instructions we are gonna look at mars, venus and all that good stuff. He loves space stuff haha. Its been cool to see how much it means to him that we take time to visit and talk with him.
We had a few other lessons with less actives this week that were all great. One of them came to church yesterday! A different guy we met with stopped coming to church about 40 years ago because he had lots of doubts and questions that no one would help him answer. He said everyone just told him to pray and read and that his questions weren't important. I totally don't agree so we told him we will help him find some answers to the best of our ability and he was pumped! Hopefully we can get him back to church here soon.
This week we also had zone conference. I had to give another training about using the Book of Mormon and it went okay. Glad it's over though.
We went on splits with the ZLs the other day which was a good time. One of them came to Japan with me so it was a way fun chilling with him at the apartment. Before bed I gotta play a game of shogi (Japanese chess) with Elder Brimhall. He wrecked me though lol.
Here's a quote I like from President Oaks in the Book of Mormon institute manual:
“The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become”
Have a great week everyone!
ディーン長老
Elder Dean
Monday, January 14, 2019
Week 74 - 01/13/19 - Group Email
This week we did a lot with members. We have really been trying to focus on helping returning members (less actives) which has been going great. One member always offers to drive us around so we have been able to talk with many members who haven't had any contact with the church for years! A number of them have agreed to let us teach them so hopefully we can get lots of them back to church here soon. We also had two member meals this week which were delicious. One of the members gave us this weird sea weed stuff that is super slimy that I had never eaten before and I was not a fan. Definitely one of the worst foods I've eaten since I've been in Japan BUT the rest was good :)
One of the members in our ward is a super nice guy and has recently let a homeless man move into his apartment with him. He has a lot of trust in this guy because he gave him his own key and everything. We had an opportunity to meet him and were hoping to teach him a bit about the gospel but we realized he has some pretty severe mental issues. During our conversation he paused, looked away and had a straight up conversation with someone like he was on the phone then after a few minutes snapped back into it and we resumed our conversation. It was bizarre. I feel really bad for him because he's had a rough life but we aren't sure we will be able to help him.
Not much else happened this week so here is a story from the January 2019 ensign that I like:
"I heard a story about a father who noticed his young daughter kneeling beside her bed, praying that Heavenly Father would protect little birds from entering a bird trap her brother had built and placed in the backyard. Later that day, the father grew concerned. He knew the trap was a good one. He had helped his son build it.
“I heard you praying this morning that Heavenly Father would protect the little birds from your brother’s trap,” he said to his daughter. “But sometimes sad things happen even when we pray that they won’t.”
She responded, “I just know he won’t catch any birds, Daddy.”
“I admire your faith, sweetheart,” the father said. “But if he does catch some birds, I hope that won’t hurt your faith.”
“He won’t, Daddy,” she said. “I know he won’t.”
The father asked, “How can you have such great faith?”
“Because after I said my prayers,” his daughter replied, “I went out back and kicked his bird trap all to pieces.”
It is good to pray for Heavenly Father’s blessings. But after we say amen, we have to go to work. We cannot expect the Lord to guide our footsteps if we’re not willing to move our feet. Nor should we ask Him to do for us that which we can and should do for ourselves."
I have definitely learned this principle as a missionary. In order to receive the answers we are seeking we have to act, study, and put in our own work! For example if we pray about how to help a specific person we are teaching, God isn't gonna put a specific scripture into our head that we have never even read before. We gotta know the scriptures and act in order to get that answer!
Hope you all have a great week!
ディーン長老
One of the members in our ward is a super nice guy and has recently let a homeless man move into his apartment with him. He has a lot of trust in this guy because he gave him his own key and everything. We had an opportunity to meet him and were hoping to teach him a bit about the gospel but we realized he has some pretty severe mental issues. During our conversation he paused, looked away and had a straight up conversation with someone like he was on the phone then after a few minutes snapped back into it and we resumed our conversation. It was bizarre. I feel really bad for him because he's had a rough life but we aren't sure we will be able to help him.
Not much else happened this week so here is a story from the January 2019 ensign that I like:
"I heard a story about a father who noticed his young daughter kneeling beside her bed, praying that Heavenly Father would protect little birds from entering a bird trap her brother had built and placed in the backyard. Later that day, the father grew concerned. He knew the trap was a good one. He had helped his son build it.
“I heard you praying this morning that Heavenly Father would protect the little birds from your brother’s trap,” he said to his daughter. “But sometimes sad things happen even when we pray that they won’t.”
She responded, “I just know he won’t catch any birds, Daddy.”
“I admire your faith, sweetheart,” the father said. “But if he does catch some birds, I hope that won’t hurt your faith.”
“He won’t, Daddy,” she said. “I know he won’t.”
The father asked, “How can you have such great faith?”
“Because after I said my prayers,” his daughter replied, “I went out back and kicked his bird trap all to pieces.”
It is good to pray for Heavenly Father’s blessings. But after we say amen, we have to go to work. We cannot expect the Lord to guide our footsteps if we’re not willing to move our feet. Nor should we ask Him to do for us that which we can and should do for ourselves."
I have definitely learned this principle as a missionary. In order to receive the answers we are seeking we have to act, study, and put in our own work! For example if we pray about how to help a specific person we are teaching, God isn't gonna put a specific scripture into our head that we have never even read before. We gotta know the scriptures and act in order to get that answer!
Hope you all have a great week!
ディーン長老
Monday, January 7, 2019
Week 73 - Group Email - 01/06/19
Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！
We had a huge miracle this week. We got invited to a dinner at a member's home and they were nice enough pick us up at the church and drive us there and back. Well on the way back we were turning right at an intersection (across traffic because they drive on the left side here) and I was in the back seat studying some words when I looked up and saw a car coming at us way fast. I kinda yelled mite, mite, mite! (mite means look) He didn't have enough time to react so we got completely slammed by the other car. It hit us literally right where I was sitting. Elder Suzuki didn't have his seatbelt on and I saw him in the corner of my eye totally launch into the roof of the car. He learned his lesson lol. Both cars were able to pull over so we didn't make too much of a scene which was good. Besides Elder Suzuki's head bonk we were all totally fine. The member told me yesterday at church that his car was totalled so I felt really bad for him. He's just a super nice old man. The mechanic said he was really surprised no one got hurt based on the damage so it was a miracle for sure. That was quite the experience though and my second car crash ever. I'm just glad the cars here are like toys because if we got hit by a normal sized car we would've been toast. 😥
some other things:
- A less active member we have been visiting came to church yesterday!
- For new years we went and watched the sunrise from a little hill by our apartment. It's something Japanese people like to do so joined the crowd.
- We got invited to a member's home for lunch and planned to take the train and buses but once we got off the train at the bus stop we realized the buses weren't running due to the holiday so we had to go all the back and grab our bikes. We were one minute late 😬
- We got a new missionary fresh from the MTC named sister Schramm. Apparently her mom was baptized in this ward so her fam has visited here a lot. Well yesterday at church a member started facetiming someone then ran over to sister Schramm and it turned out to be her mom hahaha. Late Christmas I guess.
- The members are awesome here so we had lots of meals this past week!
- One of the recent converts that I baptized in my last area just moved to Utah on a 4 year visa and he told me he is living literally 2 miles from my house! Kinda crazy. It'll be way cool to see him when I get back.
That's about it for the week. Love you guys!
ディーン長老
We had a huge miracle this week. We got invited to a dinner at a member's home and they were nice enough pick us up at the church and drive us there and back. Well on the way back we were turning right at an intersection (across traffic because they drive on the left side here) and I was in the back seat studying some words when I looked up and saw a car coming at us way fast. I kinda yelled mite, mite, mite! (mite means look) He didn't have enough time to react so we got completely slammed by the other car. It hit us literally right where I was sitting. Elder Suzuki didn't have his seatbelt on and I saw him in the corner of my eye totally launch into the roof of the car. He learned his lesson lol. Both cars were able to pull over so we didn't make too much of a scene which was good. Besides Elder Suzuki's head bonk we were all totally fine. The member told me yesterday at church that his car was totalled so I felt really bad for him. He's just a super nice old man. The mechanic said he was really surprised no one got hurt based on the damage so it was a miracle for sure. That was quite the experience though and my second car crash ever. I'm just glad the cars here are like toys because if we got hit by a normal sized car we would've been toast. 😥
some other things:
- A less active member we have been visiting came to church yesterday!
- For new years we went and watched the sunrise from a little hill by our apartment. It's something Japanese people like to do so joined the crowd.
- We got invited to a member's home for lunch and planned to take the train and buses but once we got off the train at the bus stop we realized the buses weren't running due to the holiday so we had to go all the back and grab our bikes. We were one minute late 😬
- We got a new missionary fresh from the MTC named sister Schramm. Apparently her mom was baptized in this ward so her fam has visited here a lot. Well yesterday at church a member started facetiming someone then ran over to sister Schramm and it turned out to be her mom hahaha. Late Christmas I guess.
- The members are awesome here so we had lots of meals this past week!
- One of the recent converts that I baptized in my last area just moved to Utah on a 4 year visa and he told me he is living literally 2 miles from my house! Kinda crazy. It'll be way cool to see him when I get back.
That's about it for the week. Love you guys!
ディーン長老
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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...
