Sunday, January 25, 2015
Rainy days in January, stake conference, and two dinner appointments.
こんにちわ 私の家族と友達！
Hello my family and friends!
火曜日 Tuesday
Temple P-Day! Today we woke up early and ran sprints up a giant hill
next to our apartment, it was exhausting. After we rushed to get ready
so we get catch a train to get to Hiro-o where the temple is. I have
finally understood kanji enough to figure out how the trains work.
Plus all trains in Japan have everything in both Japanese and English.
Hiro-o doesn't really have the same feel as Machida. There are a lot
of foreigners and I was told that the parking lot next to the temple
and church is the most expensive in the world because land is so
expensive there. The temple was great, it is nice that the same
feeling of being home is with you no matter where you are in the
world. After the temple we came home and did our shopping, emailed in
the apartment and then went on an adventure to explore machida. Come
to find out there are a ton of snowboarding shops here! I may have to
try it out when I get home at BYU. My companion, Elder Crandall, is
from Salt Lake City so he loves snowboarding and was showing me all
the cool things about snowboarding it was a great opportunity to get
to know my companion better. As we were walking around we found a 90s
fashion recycle shop. It was hilarious and awesome, somehow the
Japanese people have fallen in love with overalls, timberland boots,
and plastic jackets. We found some neat old hats there. We then went
to the church to send off emails, then walked home and relaxed.
水曜日 Wednesday
Rain. Actually fun fact, the first kanji (symbol) in Wednesday is
water! So it was fitting that today was a rainy day. After studying we
went to 7-eleven to go update our area books (7-eleven has Wi-Fi and
is the closest place to us). We then realized neither of us had our
cell phone so we walked back to the apartment and searched everywhere
for the phone but it turns out the other companionship had taken the
phone with them! Missionary work is hard without a phone (I know all
of you previous missionaries that didn't have phones are like,"try two
years!") but when everyone uses cell phones and that is how we save
contacts its a little different. We then decided to train dendo or
ride the trains and talk to people. We talked to a man is college who
is studying agriculture, we had a fantastic talk! We took the train to
shinyurigoka about two stops up on the line. We talked to a few more
people and invited them. Rain has a psychological effect on the
Japanese people they become very closed in. We met an Indian man! He
was awesome, they are always so curious about Christianity and want to
learn more. We then kubaried (hand out English class flyers), it was
freezing and raining! It was so bitter we stayed outside for only 20
minutes then went to the mall to get hot chocolate and rethink our
plan. After throwing different ideas back and forth we decided the
trains were the best place because they were warm and dry. I attempted
to talk to an old man by myself which was rough, he was using words to
honorify me for some reason or another, but I couldn't understand he
was. My companion helped but it confused him too. We came home for
dinner and then went to English class. Our students were hilarious
today, I really do love those 4 old men in our advanced class. We
talked about idioms, like "green with jealousy" to which one man pipes
up, "my wife makes me green with sickness". Elder Ford was just
transferred into the machida area, so when he explained he was from
Ohio too they all started asking him questions, but since he had lived
in Germany for the previous couple of years he couldn't answer the
questions so he deferred to me and we talked about Ohio ! They were so
interested that they asked if I would teach the rest of the
intermediate class about Ohio too! Thank goodness I payed attention in
history. So don't worry fellow Ohioians the Japanese know we are a
state not just part of their morning greeting, "ohyo gonzimasu"!
The Japanese elders brought my package because it was forwarded to the
wrong apartment. It was a great boost after a long rainy day.
木曜日 Thursday
We began our morning with a zone conference in Sagamihara it is to the
south-west of my area. It was good to see members of my district from
the MTC there. There was good trainings about keeping our apartments
clean, and using digital media in our missionary work. After my
companion had a meeting with the zone leaders for an hour. We then
went to the train station it was pouring rain again. We decided to
lighten up the day with some pastries so we went to a French pastry
shop called "Vie Le France". It was delicious and inexpensive a double
win! As we were waiting for the train we met another Indian man who is
Muslim, he was a very happy man. We invited him to church and said he
would love to go. They are such an open minded people. When we got
home we did our weekly planning and I made the brownies in my package.
My companion said he hadn't eaten brownies in over a year, they were
great for a rainy day. We then ventured to go visit the Family who I
had intended to go to on splits last month but we got lost. We made it
this time! They were so happy to see us, we intended only to share a
quick 10 minute lesson but they asked if we had eaten dinner, we
hadn't because we didn't want to be late. So they fed us! She made
clam and shrimp chowder, garlic bread, and garlic roasted clams. They
were fantastic. There was one clam that was still sealed shut so I
decided to just smash it open. It broke alright, but bits of clam
shell went everywhere. My companion started laughing so hard he almost
fell out of his chair, thankfully the members thought it was really
funny too. We talked about our families and got to know theirs a
little better too. They loved the pictures of the raspberry farm.
After we left we began our adventure back home, but we got lost and
ended up being late back home by 30 min, japan can be a very confusing
place sometimes.
金曜日 Friday
I went on splits with the other elder in my apartment. He is from
Oregon, and from a family of 15 (no that isn't a typo). After study he
had a really bad head ache and laid down for a bit. It ended up
delaying our plans by a few hours. We walked the bike trail and talked
to a few people. It turns out that there are 1 million people on my
area alone, and it is tiny! After coming home we ate dinner and went
to sports night, we played basketball with some kids and afterwards we
taught them about Adam and Eve. They had never heard of them before
and only knew about evolution.
土曜日 Saturday
After our usual study we went to the church and had district meeting.
It was a great meeting. The sisters had a training on love. It was a
great training we passed around a piece of paper and wrote things that
we loved about each other on it then read them out loud. It was
hilarious. Then we had priesthood session of stake conference. It was
great, but 2 hours of Japanese straight on the brain is a mentally
exhausting thing. After we went out with a Chinese member to eat
curry! It was delicious! Then we went back to the evening session of
stake conference, or more mental exhaustion. It was really good, but
it is very hard to understand when they speak very quickly for 2
hours. After the Kofu elders stayed the night at our apartment because
it is a 2.5 hour train ride away.
日曜日 Sunday
Stake conference again! Daisuke came and almost brought his friend
too, but his friend was asleep. It turns out he might live in the
other mission, but he still comes to our ward. We need to find that
out soon. I sat next to him and his friend Anna who brought him to
church. The building was absolutely packed! They had to but chairs on
the stage there were so many people. It was a good conference,
President Wada spoke, I'm not entirely sure what about but I felt the
spirit, the Tokyo Temple President also spoke, it was really good. I
like how the format is identical our home stake. After the conference
we came home and streeted along the river to go to the bishops house
for dinner. He made taco rice, it was ohyshi (delicious)! My companion
and I are working hard to gain the trust of the members, it is
starting to work because when we asked who we could help the bishop
gave us a list! We are building awesome relationships with the
members. After we went to visit another family in my ward, they are
super nice and loved our surprise visit so much they gave us apples!
All fruit in Japan is very expensive.
Hello my family and friends!
火曜日 Tuesday
Temple P-Day! Today we woke up early and ran sprints up a giant hill
next to our apartment, it was exhausting. After we rushed to get ready
so we get catch a train to get to Hiro-o where the temple is. I have
finally understood kanji enough to figure out how the trains work.
Plus all trains in Japan have everything in both Japanese and English.
Hiro-o doesn't really have the same feel as Machida. There are a lot
of foreigners and I was told that the parking lot next to the temple
and church is the most expensive in the world because land is so
expensive there. The temple was great, it is nice that the same
feeling of being home is with you no matter where you are in the
world. After the temple we came home and did our shopping, emailed in
the apartment and then went on an adventure to explore machida. Come
to find out there are a ton of snowboarding shops here! I may have to
try it out when I get home at BYU. My companion, Elder Crandall, is
from Salt Lake City so he loves snowboarding and was showing me all
the cool things about snowboarding it was a great opportunity to get
to know my companion better. As we were walking around we found a 90s
fashion recycle shop. It was hilarious and awesome, somehow the
Japanese people have fallen in love with overalls, timberland boots,
and plastic jackets. We found some neat old hats there. We then went
to the church to send off emails, then walked home and relaxed.
水曜日 Wednesday
Rain. Actually fun fact, the first kanji (symbol) in Wednesday is
water! So it was fitting that today was a rainy day. After studying we
went to 7-eleven to go update our area books (7-eleven has Wi-Fi and
is the closest place to us). We then realized neither of us had our
cell phone so we walked back to the apartment and searched everywhere
for the phone but it turns out the other companionship had taken the
phone with them! Missionary work is hard without a phone (I know all
of you previous missionaries that didn't have phones are like,"try two
years!") but when everyone uses cell phones and that is how we save
contacts its a little different. We then decided to train dendo or
ride the trains and talk to people. We talked to a man is college who
is studying agriculture, we had a fantastic talk! We took the train to
shinyurigoka about two stops up on the line. We talked to a few more
people and invited them. Rain has a psychological effect on the
Japanese people they become very closed in. We met an Indian man! He
was awesome, they are always so curious about Christianity and want to
learn more. We then kubaried (hand out English class flyers), it was
freezing and raining! It was so bitter we stayed outside for only 20
minutes then went to the mall to get hot chocolate and rethink our
plan. After throwing different ideas back and forth we decided the
trains were the best place because they were warm and dry. I attempted
to talk to an old man by myself which was rough, he was using words to
honorify me for some reason or another, but I couldn't understand he
was. My companion helped but it confused him too. We came home for
dinner and then went to English class. Our students were hilarious
today, I really do love those 4 old men in our advanced class. We
talked about idioms, like "green with jealousy" to which one man pipes
up, "my wife makes me green with sickness". Elder Ford was just
transferred into the machida area, so when he explained he was from
Ohio too they all started asking him questions, but since he had lived
in Germany for the previous couple of years he couldn't answer the
questions so he deferred to me and we talked about Ohio ! They were so
interested that they asked if I would teach the rest of the
intermediate class about Ohio too! Thank goodness I payed attention in
history. So don't worry fellow Ohioians the Japanese know we are a
state not just part of their morning greeting, "ohyo gonzimasu"!
The Japanese elders brought my package because it was forwarded to the
wrong apartment. It was a great boost after a long rainy day.
木曜日 Thursday
We began our morning with a zone conference in Sagamihara it is to the
south-west of my area. It was good to see members of my district from
the MTC there. There was good trainings about keeping our apartments
clean, and using digital media in our missionary work. After my
companion had a meeting with the zone leaders for an hour. We then
went to the train station it was pouring rain again. We decided to
lighten up the day with some pastries so we went to a French pastry
shop called "Vie Le France". It was delicious and inexpensive a double
win! As we were waiting for the train we met another Indian man who is
Muslim, he was a very happy man. We invited him to church and said he
would love to go. They are such an open minded people. When we got
home we did our weekly planning and I made the brownies in my package.
My companion said he hadn't eaten brownies in over a year, they were
great for a rainy day. We then ventured to go visit the Family who I
had intended to go to on splits last month but we got lost. We made it
this time! They were so happy to see us, we intended only to share a
quick 10 minute lesson but they asked if we had eaten dinner, we
hadn't because we didn't want to be late. So they fed us! She made
clam and shrimp chowder, garlic bread, and garlic roasted clams. They
were fantastic. There was one clam that was still sealed shut so I
decided to just smash it open. It broke alright, but bits of clam
shell went everywhere. My companion started laughing so hard he almost
fell out of his chair, thankfully the members thought it was really
funny too. We talked about our families and got to know theirs a
little better too. They loved the pictures of the raspberry farm.
After we left we began our adventure back home, but we got lost and
ended up being late back home by 30 min, japan can be a very confusing
place sometimes.
金曜日 Friday
I went on splits with the other elder in my apartment. He is from
Oregon, and from a family of 15 (no that isn't a typo). After study he
had a really bad head ache and laid down for a bit. It ended up
delaying our plans by a few hours. We walked the bike trail and talked
to a few people. It turns out that there are 1 million people on my
area alone, and it is tiny! After coming home we ate dinner and went
to sports night, we played basketball with some kids and afterwards we
taught them about Adam and Eve. They had never heard of them before
and only knew about evolution.
土曜日 Saturday
After our usual study we went to the church and had district meeting.
It was a great meeting. The sisters had a training on love. It was a
great training we passed around a piece of paper and wrote things that
we loved about each other on it then read them out loud. It was
hilarious. Then we had priesthood session of stake conference. It was
great, but 2 hours of Japanese straight on the brain is a mentally
exhausting thing. After we went out with a Chinese member to eat
curry! It was delicious! Then we went back to the evening session of
stake conference, or more mental exhaustion. It was really good, but
it is very hard to understand when they speak very quickly for 2
hours. After the Kofu elders stayed the night at our apartment because
it is a 2.5 hour train ride away.
日曜日 Sunday
Stake conference again! Daisuke came and almost brought his friend
too, but his friend was asleep. It turns out he might live in the
other mission, but he still comes to our ward. We need to find that
out soon. I sat next to him and his friend Anna who brought him to
church. The building was absolutely packed! They had to but chairs on
the stage there were so many people. It was a good conference,
President Wada spoke, I'm not entirely sure what about but I felt the
spirit, the Tokyo Temple President also spoke, it was really good. I
like how the format is identical our home stake. After the conference
we came home and streeted along the river to go to the bishops house
for dinner. He made taco rice, it was ohyshi (delicious)! My companion
and I are working hard to gain the trust of the members, it is
starting to work because when we asked who we could help the bishop
gave us a list! We are building awesome relationships with the
members. After we went to visit another family in my ward, they are
super nice and loved our surprise visit so much they gave us apples!
All fruit in Japan is very expensive.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
A transfer completed, a new companion, a crazy man, and a trip to the hospital.
こんにちわ 皆さん！
Hello everyone!
この週は楽しかった！
This week has been exciting!
Without further delay lets get to it!
月曜日 Monday
Today we had P-day! It was good to have a few hours off to just relax.
I took a nap, it was much anticipated and needed! Then we went to
Shinyurigoka to go to the malls! It was way cool. There are two giant
6 story malls in the area and a ton of other stores my companion
bought a 100% cashmere scarf for 20 dollars! If you remember back to
when we went caroling, this is where the malls are. Right before we
left to get groceries we got the call we had been anticipating all
week! Transfer calls! Ever 6 weeks is called a transfer. Missionaries
serving from foreign countries serve for 16 transfers and Japanese
missionaries serve for 17. It is a way to distinguish how old a
missionary is. Also at the end of each transfer a few things can
happen, you can; be assigned to a new area with a new companion, stay
in the area and receive a new companion, or everything stays the same.
As you can see this call decides my next 6 weeks. The call came from
the assistants to the president (these are also missionaries), we got
very excited as we were told our fate. I have been called to stay here
and relieve a new companion, Elder Crandall, this exchange is set to
take place on Thursday. We then went emailing at the church, where we
met up with the sisters and took a group picture so we could heart
attack members houses. To do this we cut out a ton of hearts out of
colored paper and taped them to the doors of members with little
messages on them. It was an awesome time to build kanke
(relationships) with the members.
火曜日 Tuesday
We went to kurasushi (I call it Mary-go-round sushi). This is where
you order sushi on an iPad and it comes out on a conveyor belt to your
table. I ate angel fish, and blowfish among other delicacies, it was
delicious. After we finished up heart attacking members, then went to
the gym to work out and talk to people. I ran for 40 minutes! It was
good to see I can still run! After I lifted weights and talked to a
man who was 73 and had a compressed disk in his back 3 years ago. Now
he is one of the fittest guys k have seen. He put all four of us
American missionaries to shame. He was way ripped, he is buddist so we
talked a little about our and his beliefs, it was a good talk. As we
were leaving the front door of the gym a couple of teenagers came
walking and and were interested in why we were there, it was a great
opportunity to explain why we are here.
We then came home so Elder Leftwich could pack his things.
水曜日 Wednesday
Monthly-deep-cleaning-day! Yippe...not really. Once a month we deep
clean our apartments so they are conducive for the spirit. We washed
and scrubbed everything! Elder Leftwich finished packing and sent his
bags via a company to his new area. Before we started cleaning we met
up with an older man (japan has the highest rate of elderly people in
the world), he worked with international affairs for japan! He knew a
lot of BYU professors and said that he loves the Mormons! We talked a
little about the gospel and invited him to hear our message! After
cleaning for 5 hours we met up with Shin at Machida so my companion
could say goodbye. Then we rushed to McDonalds to grab a quick dinner.
(McDonald's in Japan is actually a desirable job here, and they will
deliver your food! Downside is that their dollar menu isn't as
comprehensive, and they don't have ranch or buffalo sauce, oh well
can't complain, they do have shrimp hamburgers though.) we then had
eaikiwa, and all the missionaries leaving the area said goodbye to the
students.
木曜日 Thursday
Transfer day! After lunch, my companion and another elder in the area
split and I split with his old companion as they went off to their new
areas. It is sad to say goodbye to good friends. Elder Johnson and I
went back to the apartment because it was down pouring, I made bread
and we read from Preach My Gospel. Then at 1:30 we went down to the
train station to go meet Elder Crandall! I actually knew Elder
Crandall from my first day of being a missionary here in Japan, he
took me out and we talked to a bunch of people. It turns out one of
the people we talked to is getting baptized at the end of this month!
We went to the apartment and brought all of his bags in and began
planning for our next week and getting to know each other. We have set
up a lot of stuff. Elder Crandall knows what he is doing and we will
get a lot of work done this transfer!
金曜日 Friday
We woke up way early and ran to the church for exercise! It was a
great run, and absolutely exhausting. After studying we biked down to
a less actives house to drop off a card and visit him. He ended up not
being home so we but the card in his mail box. We then took our
adventure to shinyurigoka to street around, we talked to 7 people in
the time we were there! It was awesome! We worked way hard, we then
biked home for dinner, but we got lost. I don't know the area
extremely well and we used trains to get everywhere so riding my bike
from place to place is a little harder. I know how to get around on
the trains without any problems though. We ended up pulling the iPad's
out to get a general idea of where to go. On our adventure we found
these random ruins that are 5000 years old! It was amazing! We plan to
go back to them later on this transfer. After dinner we went to sports
night and played soccer and basketball, it was a lot of fun.
土曜日 Saturday
After our normal study block we went to an indocurry place for lunch!
(Indocurry is curry from India, it is delicious, and is traditionally
made by Indian or Nepalis people, they serve you curry and this bread
called nan). The men working there were from India and were awesome,
later in the day we dropped off a card and some candy bars to them.
After lunch we had district meeting and my companion (the district
leader) helped us set new goals, our companionship is going to be
working very hard this transfer, I am excited to get a lot of work
done. After the meeting we went back home and decided to go on
adventure dendo (dendo is Japanese for missionary work) so we explored
around, on our way out we walked by the huge house next to ours and
met the man who lives there! He was fluent in English and had a neat
life story. He said his boss was mormon and he really respected how he
lived his life. Thank goodness for those people. He has an Aston
Martian and told us that he will need to give us a ride in it sometime
soon! We then proceeded to talk to a bunch of other people about
various things. By far my favorite conversation was about how our
ancestors relate to Jesus Christ. My companion and I then explained
why we have temples, and how because some of our ancestors could not
receive baptism in this life we can go as proxy to be baptized for
that person in the temple. It was a fantastic conversation, you could
tell the man was thinking very hard. We then had to sprint home
because a repair man was coming to fix our aircon (that is the word
for air conditioner in Japanese). It turns out though that our aircon
is so old that it can be fixed so we are figuring out something for
the downstairs of the apartment. The upstairs has 3 aircons that work
so we should be okay. After dinner we went out to go meet with two
less active bishops in our ward. We trained to shinyurigoka but then
got caught up talking to numerous people on our way to a 7/11 to get
wi/Fi for the map. After we were able to load the map we found that it
was a 35 minute walk, so we started sprinting to get to the house and
back to the train station on time. About halfway there we realized
that we would make it on time and decided it was better to try
tomorrow.
日曜日 Sunday
This transfer my companion and I made a goal to learn everyone in the
wards name. So we brought pen and paper and wrote down the name of
everyone we met. This was a sharp contrast to six weeks ago when I
just arrived and was so overwhelmed that I looked upset. It impressed
the ward a lot because we have 2 dinners for this upcoming week. They
really can see when you work hard. Church in Japanese is just hard,
staying awake is probably the hardest part. Translating is mentally
exhausting. After church we had a lesson with Diasuke, we discussed
the existence of God and spoke about Alma 17 where Ammon teaches king
Lamonhi. It was a really good lesson, we asked the elders quorum
president to sit in and he just added to the great spirit that was
there. After church we went home and ate lunch, I took a nap. Then we
went to go deliver the messages we meant to give out the day before.
As we were walking on the road we walked past a convenience store
where a man walked in and began to scream who knows what to the little
lady working there. So my companion walks toward the door to get a
better look of what is going on. The man (who looks like a Japanese
version of jack sparrow, the best connection I can make) looks at my
companion, drops his drink and begins to follow us. He walked about 10
feet behind us for half a mile, all the while neither of us have any
idea idea what this man wants or is going to do. We kept walking then
on a side street we booked it for a good 1/2 mile til we knew we lost
him, we could hear the man start screaming who knows what again, but
we knew we was gone. We then back tracked to themmain road we wanted
and proceeded to the house we were trying to get to the night before.
2 hours from leaving the apartment later we found the house. We then
went back to the apartment so we could get some medicine for the
sisters and visit another family in the ward, this time we took our
bikes. We dropped off the medicine to the sisters at their apartment
then rode our bikes to the members house. On our way however my
companions bike exploded. We were at a stop light, then right after it
turned green and we started to bike away then I hear my companions
bike make a ripping/running over sound. We stopped to assess the
damage, we found his chain to be ripped in half and the gear selector
ripped off as well. So we parked our bikes and locked them up in an
alley way and continued to go visit the member. They were really kind
and offered to take us home but we needed to drop off the bikes at a
bike shop so we could fix it the next day. We ended up being a half
hour late home because we had to walk to the nearest train station. It
was an exhausting day, we walked 19.6 km alone!
月曜日 Monday
My day began with a trip to the hospital. I have had a giant red bump
on my arm for a few days so I went to go get it checked out. I have
learned how government run health care works. Kind of an eye opening
experience. The way you check in is similar to how you check bags at
an airport. It doesn't have that friendly American hospital feel about
it. The nurses wear the 50s all white nurse outfits, instead of
scrubs. And the waiting rooms have all the people sit in classroom
like seating like you can see the person in from of you. I saw the
doctor and got it drained, it was pretty gross, but they said it was
probably caused by stress or something. They prescribed antibiotics
and set me on my way. It was quick, but didn't have that American love
that we infuse in our medicine. Then I went outside to go get my
medicine and had to make the decision between 5 different pharmacies
right next to each other on the same street. I took a Japanese elder
with me to translate for me, he was really helpful. Then I went to go
switch back companions so we could begin our normal day. We walked to
machida from the other elders apartment which was about an hour walk.
On our way to machida we met a lady who stopped us and asked us about
who we are, we love questions like that, we gave her a Book of Mormon
and she was so excited about it, and kept thanking us for what we
brought. The women of japan are truly a prepared people, it is too bad
we aren't allowed to strike up conversations with them. We continued
our journey and had lunch at an Italian all you can eat place, it was
really cool. They had a traditional Italian pizza oven! The pizza was
fantastic! We then continued our journey some more til we got to the
bike shop where we left our bikes the night before. My companion
talked to the bike repair people about getting things fixed which took
about an hour, they let us both keep our bikes there, which was great
because we were 8ish miles away from home. On our way home we ran into
a man who was so excited that we were missionaries when we introduced
ourselves he said in the best English he could "I love Mormons, only
it sounded like I wauve modumons!" It took us by surprise! He asked if
we could come visit him sometime soon, we plan to this upcoming week!
During dinner I introduced the piano guys to my companion. It was good
to sit down and relax for an hour. Then we hit the streets again and
talked to another man who is in college, we gave him a Book of Mormon
as well and invited him to church. In the end we talked to 18 people
and invited them all to church, we have some big hopes for them. We
also walked 20 km.
Sorry this week is so long! There was just so many awesome things that
happened! This transfer is going to be amazing!
Thank you for your love and support!
Elder Nathan Dunn
ダン長老
Hello everyone!
この週は楽しかった！
This week has been exciting!
Without further delay lets get to it!
月曜日 Monday
Today we had P-day! It was good to have a few hours off to just relax.
I took a nap, it was much anticipated and needed! Then we went to
Shinyurigoka to go to the malls! It was way cool. There are two giant
6 story malls in the area and a ton of other stores my companion
bought a 100% cashmere scarf for 20 dollars! If you remember back to
when we went caroling, this is where the malls are. Right before we
left to get groceries we got the call we had been anticipating all
week! Transfer calls! Ever 6 weeks is called a transfer. Missionaries
serving from foreign countries serve for 16 transfers and Japanese
missionaries serve for 17. It is a way to distinguish how old a
missionary is. Also at the end of each transfer a few things can
happen, you can; be assigned to a new area with a new companion, stay
in the area and receive a new companion, or everything stays the same.
As you can see this call decides my next 6 weeks. The call came from
the assistants to the president (these are also missionaries), we got
very excited as we were told our fate. I have been called to stay here
and relieve a new companion, Elder Crandall, this exchange is set to
take place on Thursday. We then went emailing at the church, where we
met up with the sisters and took a group picture so we could heart
attack members houses. To do this we cut out a ton of hearts out of
colored paper and taped them to the doors of members with little
messages on them. It was an awesome time to build kanke
(relationships) with the members.
火曜日 Tuesday
We went to kurasushi (I call it Mary-go-round sushi). This is where
you order sushi on an iPad and it comes out on a conveyor belt to your
table. I ate angel fish, and blowfish among other delicacies, it was
delicious. After we finished up heart attacking members, then went to
the gym to work out and talk to people. I ran for 40 minutes! It was
good to see I can still run! After I lifted weights and talked to a
man who was 73 and had a compressed disk in his back 3 years ago. Now
he is one of the fittest guys k have seen. He put all four of us
American missionaries to shame. He was way ripped, he is buddist so we
talked a little about our and his beliefs, it was a good talk. As we
were leaving the front door of the gym a couple of teenagers came
walking and and were interested in why we were there, it was a great
opportunity to explain why we are here.
We then came home so Elder Leftwich could pack his things.
水曜日 Wednesday
Monthly-deep-cleaning-day! Yippe...not really. Once a month we deep
clean our apartments so they are conducive for the spirit. We washed
and scrubbed everything! Elder Leftwich finished packing and sent his
bags via a company to his new area. Before we started cleaning we met
up with an older man (japan has the highest rate of elderly people in
the world), he worked with international affairs for japan! He knew a
lot of BYU professors and said that he loves the Mormons! We talked a
little about the gospel and invited him to hear our message! After
cleaning for 5 hours we met up with Shin at Machida so my companion
could say goodbye. Then we rushed to McDonalds to grab a quick dinner.
(McDonald's in Japan is actually a desirable job here, and they will
deliver your food! Downside is that their dollar menu isn't as
comprehensive, and they don't have ranch or buffalo sauce, oh well
can't complain, they do have shrimp hamburgers though.) we then had
eaikiwa, and all the missionaries leaving the area said goodbye to the
students.
木曜日 Thursday
Transfer day! After lunch, my companion and another elder in the area
split and I split with his old companion as they went off to their new
areas. It is sad to say goodbye to good friends. Elder Johnson and I
went back to the apartment because it was down pouring, I made bread
and we read from Preach My Gospel. Then at 1:30 we went down to the
train station to go meet Elder Crandall! I actually knew Elder
Crandall from my first day of being a missionary here in Japan, he
took me out and we talked to a bunch of people. It turns out one of
the people we talked to is getting baptized at the end of this month!
We went to the apartment and brought all of his bags in and began
planning for our next week and getting to know each other. We have set
up a lot of stuff. Elder Crandall knows what he is doing and we will
get a lot of work done this transfer!
金曜日 Friday
We woke up way early and ran to the church for exercise! It was a
great run, and absolutely exhausting. After studying we biked down to
a less actives house to drop off a card and visit him. He ended up not
being home so we but the card in his mail box. We then took our
adventure to shinyurigoka to street around, we talked to 7 people in
the time we were there! It was awesome! We worked way hard, we then
biked home for dinner, but we got lost. I don't know the area
extremely well and we used trains to get everywhere so riding my bike
from place to place is a little harder. I know how to get around on
the trains without any problems though. We ended up pulling the iPad's
out to get a general idea of where to go. On our adventure we found
these random ruins that are 5000 years old! It was amazing! We plan to
go back to them later on this transfer. After dinner we went to sports
night and played soccer and basketball, it was a lot of fun.
土曜日 Saturday
After our normal study block we went to an indocurry place for lunch!
(Indocurry is curry from India, it is delicious, and is traditionally
made by Indian or Nepalis people, they serve you curry and this bread
called nan). The men working there were from India and were awesome,
later in the day we dropped off a card and some candy bars to them.
After lunch we had district meeting and my companion (the district
leader) helped us set new goals, our companionship is going to be
working very hard this transfer, I am excited to get a lot of work
done. After the meeting we went back home and decided to go on
adventure dendo (dendo is Japanese for missionary work) so we explored
around, on our way out we walked by the huge house next to ours and
met the man who lives there! He was fluent in English and had a neat
life story. He said his boss was mormon and he really respected how he
lived his life. Thank goodness for those people. He has an Aston
Martian and told us that he will need to give us a ride in it sometime
soon! We then proceeded to talk to a bunch of other people about
various things. By far my favorite conversation was about how our
ancestors relate to Jesus Christ. My companion and I then explained
why we have temples, and how because some of our ancestors could not
receive baptism in this life we can go as proxy to be baptized for
that person in the temple. It was a fantastic conversation, you could
tell the man was thinking very hard. We then had to sprint home
because a repair man was coming to fix our aircon (that is the word
for air conditioner in Japanese). It turns out though that our aircon
is so old that it can be fixed so we are figuring out something for
the downstairs of the apartment. The upstairs has 3 aircons that work
so we should be okay. After dinner we went out to go meet with two
less active bishops in our ward. We trained to shinyurigoka but then
got caught up talking to numerous people on our way to a 7/11 to get
wi/Fi for the map. After we were able to load the map we found that it
was a 35 minute walk, so we started sprinting to get to the house and
back to the train station on time. About halfway there we realized
that we would make it on time and decided it was better to try
tomorrow.
日曜日 Sunday
This transfer my companion and I made a goal to learn everyone in the
wards name. So we brought pen and paper and wrote down the name of
everyone we met. This was a sharp contrast to six weeks ago when I
just arrived and was so overwhelmed that I looked upset. It impressed
the ward a lot because we have 2 dinners for this upcoming week. They
really can see when you work hard. Church in Japanese is just hard,
staying awake is probably the hardest part. Translating is mentally
exhausting. After church we had a lesson with Diasuke, we discussed
the existence of God and spoke about Alma 17 where Ammon teaches king
Lamonhi. It was a really good lesson, we asked the elders quorum
president to sit in and he just added to the great spirit that was
there. After church we went home and ate lunch, I took a nap. Then we
went to go deliver the messages we meant to give out the day before.
As we were walking on the road we walked past a convenience store
where a man walked in and began to scream who knows what to the little
lady working there. So my companion walks toward the door to get a
better look of what is going on. The man (who looks like a Japanese
version of jack sparrow, the best connection I can make) looks at my
companion, drops his drink and begins to follow us. He walked about 10
feet behind us for half a mile, all the while neither of us have any
idea idea what this man wants or is going to do. We kept walking then
on a side street we booked it for a good 1/2 mile til we knew we lost
him, we could hear the man start screaming who knows what again, but
we knew we was gone. We then back tracked to themmain road we wanted
and proceeded to the house we were trying to get to the night before.
2 hours from leaving the apartment later we found the house. We then
went back to the apartment so we could get some medicine for the
sisters and visit another family in the ward, this time we took our
bikes. We dropped off the medicine to the sisters at their apartment
then rode our bikes to the members house. On our way however my
companions bike exploded. We were at a stop light, then right after it
turned green and we started to bike away then I hear my companions
bike make a ripping/running over sound. We stopped to assess the
damage, we found his chain to be ripped in half and the gear selector
ripped off as well. So we parked our bikes and locked them up in an
alley way and continued to go visit the member. They were really kind
and offered to take us home but we needed to drop off the bikes at a
bike shop so we could fix it the next day. We ended up being a half
hour late home because we had to walk to the nearest train station. It
was an exhausting day, we walked 19.6 km alone!
月曜日 Monday
My day began with a trip to the hospital. I have had a giant red bump
on my arm for a few days so I went to go get it checked out. I have
learned how government run health care works. Kind of an eye opening
experience. The way you check in is similar to how you check bags at
an airport. It doesn't have that friendly American hospital feel about
it. The nurses wear the 50s all white nurse outfits, instead of
scrubs. And the waiting rooms have all the people sit in classroom
like seating like you can see the person in from of you. I saw the
doctor and got it drained, it was pretty gross, but they said it was
probably caused by stress or something. They prescribed antibiotics
and set me on my way. It was quick, but didn't have that American love
that we infuse in our medicine. Then I went outside to go get my
medicine and had to make the decision between 5 different pharmacies
right next to each other on the same street. I took a Japanese elder
with me to translate for me, he was really helpful. Then I went to go
switch back companions so we could begin our normal day. We walked to
machida from the other elders apartment which was about an hour walk.
On our way to machida we met a lady who stopped us and asked us about
who we are, we love questions like that, we gave her a Book of Mormon
and she was so excited about it, and kept thanking us for what we
brought. The women of japan are truly a prepared people, it is too bad
we aren't allowed to strike up conversations with them. We continued
our journey and had lunch at an Italian all you can eat place, it was
really cool. They had a traditional Italian pizza oven! The pizza was
fantastic! We then continued our journey some more til we got to the
bike shop where we left our bikes the night before. My companion
talked to the bike repair people about getting things fixed which took
about an hour, they let us both keep our bikes there, which was great
because we were 8ish miles away from home. On our way home we ran into
a man who was so excited that we were missionaries when we introduced
ourselves he said in the best English he could "I love Mormons, only
it sounded like I wauve modumons!" It took us by surprise! He asked if
we could come visit him sometime soon, we plan to this upcoming week!
During dinner I introduced the piano guys to my companion. It was good
to sit down and relax for an hour. Then we hit the streets again and
talked to another man who is in college, we gave him a Book of Mormon
as well and invited him to church. In the end we talked to 18 people
and invited them all to church, we have some big hopes for them. We
also walked 20 km.
Sorry this week is so long! There was just so many awesome things that
happened! This transfer is going to be amazing!
Thank you for your love and support!
Elder Nathan Dunn
ダン長老
Monday, January 12, 2015
Shogi, Zone Conference, and the Tokyo Temple
私たちの家族と友達、こいちわ！
My friends and Family, hello!
It seems like just Tuesday I was emailing home, oh wait I was. It wasn't long ago since the last time I have written but jammed packed none the less! Let's get started!
火曜日 Tuesday
Today was our temple P-Day! I ended my splits with Elder Kojima at 6:45 to which we ran to my apartment to switch back companions and so I could change into a suit in order to catch the 7:10 train. We then took the train which turned into the subway outside of the mission boundaries to go to the temple. It is on the corner of a street, but wow is it magnificent, it is by far one of the smallest temples by land, but the land within is used exceptionally. I love the inside of the temple, it has amazing ties to japan within. I listened to the session in English/Japanese/French, it was really good! After we went to the book store in the basement of the temple. When we went home we bought groceries, cleaned, and wrote a few letters. After we went out with one of our investigators, 乳助 (daisuke), to dinner! The entrance to restaurant was in an alleyway and just some stairs the lead down. It looked kind of sketchy, but we followed. Down the stairs their was a full on koi pond and bridge to get into the restaurant! It was amazing! It was good to talk to him in a relaxed setting, he is a way cool guy. I'll add the picture of what I had to eat. Afterwards we went to a crepe shop on a corner, they were absolutely delicious. The women's work space was so tiny but man were those delicious!
水曜日 Wednesday
After our daily study we went to street the park and play shogi with the old men, we brought the other two Americans in our apartment. The old men loved having all of us there. They were impressed with how quickly we were picking things up. We invited them to church, but they were not interested. After coming home we went to eaikaiwa and talked about New Years and resolutions. The men in my class were hilarious about there resolutions one of my favorites were, "when in Rome do as the Romans do."...I'm not sure if he understands what a resolution is...after class we had a music concert. The two Chinese men in our class brought their traditional Chinese instrument, I have no idea what it is called. It has a small drum on the bottom and two strings like a cello. Super crazy looking but the sound was terrific. It sounded like something from Kung Fu Panda!
木曜日 Thursday
Today was weekly planning so we didn't get to leave the apartment til 4. I made cookies, they were delicious! After we went to shinyurigoka to hand out eaikiwa flyers. We handed out quite a few. I have noticed when you smile and walk up to people they are more apt, it sounds really simple, but it takes a lot of practice. We then went to the church to have a Taco Party! We payed our Zone Leaders to go to Costco to buy taco supplies. This was the first time since being in Japan I had cheese. Wow, that was a good moment. We invited another investigator Shin to the Taco Party. He loved it and brought his girlfriend! It was a good time and we played signs and celebrated Sister Smiths birthday. We had to sprint home because we were almost late. That was a fun 2 miles.
金曜日 Friday
My friends and Family, hello!
It seems like just Tuesday I was emailing home, oh wait I was. It wasn't long ago since the last time I have written but jammed packed none the less! Let's get started!
火曜日 Tuesday
Today was our temple P-Day! I ended my splits with Elder Kojima at 6:45 to which we ran to my apartment to switch back companions and so I could change into a suit in order to catch the 7:10 train. We then took the train which turned into the subway outside of the mission boundaries to go to the temple. It is on the corner of a street, but wow is it magnificent, it is by far one of the smallest temples by land, but the land within is used exceptionally. I love the inside of the temple, it has amazing ties to japan within. I listened to the session in English/Japanese/French, it was really good! After we went to the book store in the basement of the temple. When we went home we bought groceries, cleaned, and wrote a few letters. After we went out with one of our investigators, 乳助 (daisuke), to dinner! The entrance to restaurant was in an alleyway and just some stairs the lead down. It looked kind of sketchy, but we followed. Down the stairs their was a full on koi pond and bridge to get into the restaurant! It was amazing! It was good to talk to him in a relaxed setting, he is a way cool guy. I'll add the picture of what I had to eat. Afterwards we went to a crepe shop on a corner, they were absolutely delicious. The women's work space was so tiny but man were those delicious!
水曜日 Wednesday
After our daily study we went to street the park and play shogi with the old men, we brought the other two Americans in our apartment. The old men loved having all of us there. They were impressed with how quickly we were picking things up. We invited them to church, but they were not interested. After coming home we went to eaikaiwa and talked about New Years and resolutions. The men in my class were hilarious about there resolutions one of my favorites were, "when in Rome do as the Romans do."...I'm not sure if he understands what a resolution is...after class we had a music concert. The two Chinese men in our class brought their traditional Chinese instrument, I have no idea what it is called. It has a small drum on the bottom and two strings like a cello. Super crazy looking but the sound was terrific. It sounded like something from Kung Fu Panda!
木曜日 Thursday
Today was weekly planning so we didn't get to leave the apartment til 4. I made cookies, they were delicious! After we went to shinyurigoka to hand out eaikiwa flyers. We handed out quite a few. I have noticed when you smile and walk up to people they are more apt, it sounds really simple, but it takes a lot of practice. We then went to the church to have a Taco Party! We payed our Zone Leaders to go to Costco to buy taco supplies. This was the first time since being in Japan I had cheese. Wow, that was a good moment. We invited another investigator Shin to the Taco Party. He loved it and brought his girlfriend! It was a good time and we played signs and celebrated Sister Smiths birthday. We had to sprint home because we were almost late. That was a fun 2 miles.
金曜日 Friday
Zone Conference! Today we woke up early and headed to Takao for Zone Conference. Everyone compares the area to Utah because it looks similar the mountains are gorgeous! The meeting was really good it lasted from 8-4. President Wada told us to be Jedis not Clone troopers. He said we need to use the spirit to guide us and working inspired, and not just go throughout the day like a clone trooper. He also gave us great counsel from when he was a professor at BYU long ago, (my mission president ran 600 pizza huts, and was a key person in bringing universal studios to Japan, as well as was the CEO, currently he is my mission president.) He said when he was a Japanese teacher there he observed two students who liked each other but were too afraid to ask each other out. When the guy did end up asking the girl out, he did it in a none forth coming manner, or with out a will you question. The girl said no and the story ends. He made a point of someday, when we ask someone to marry us it is in the form of a will you question. In Japan when you ask someone to marry you it is, "Will you wash my underwater for the rest of your life?" I wish I were kidding. This is really how the traditional Japanese ask. It was a good meeting about being bold. After the mission doctor, dr. Hansen, talked about the importance of self-reliance as missionaries. It was a good talk and I was impressed at how well I has prepared for coming on a mission. That night we were in charge of sports night. We opened and brought snacks at the end we had the spiritual thought. I had to give it, so I spoke about the hut we built for the berries this past year. It worked really well, after I spoke, another elder came up to me and thanked me for not caring about how bad my Japanese and just trying, he said a lot of elders are too scared to even try.
土曜日 Saturday
Today was amazing! We woke up and came to the church to play tennis with a man who lived in New York for 25 years, he was was cool. He taught me how to serve like a pro, his English was so good. After playing tennis we invited him to come to church. We then went home ate lunch then went to the park, we played with the old men again, I almost beat them! I invited them to church too, but they ignored me, oh well it happens. We then went to visit an investigator who was in charge of all the ham radio licenses in japan. When I told him I was from Dayton he was really excited because that is where they hold a big ham radio conference every year! I had no idea! He was pedapeda (fluent) in English so we spoke about English. We talked about baptism and he said if he were ever to be baptized it would have to be in the ocean. We talked to a lot of people and invited a lot too, it was a good day.
日曜日 Sunday
Miracle day! We planned for 5 people to come to church one called Saturday night and told us randomly he wanted to come, we hadn't spoken to him in over 3 weeks! The next one was one of our progressing investigators, Diasuke, he was sick and texted he could come, it was too bad, we will see him later this upcoming week. The next two were the couple, they were busy with work and couldn't come. The next was a complete miracle. Nagamori-San. We meet with his last Sunday but he told us he would come SOME Sunday not THIS Sunday. We said okay but kept praying for him. Then in our meeting with the ward council in the morning the executive secretary poked his head in the door and said Nagamori was here. We looked at each other and sure enough he was there! He stayed the whole time, it was awesome to see him! After church we walked him to the bus stop and set up a meeting later in the day. When we met with him we talked about music for a while, he loves classical music! It was awesome, we compared our favorite composers. He then showed us his photo albums from his trips! He has been all over, I loved the one from France and Italy. Super amazing. We then talked about God and the existence of God. He is so stubborn, if he would just pray. We have faith though. Our prayers were answered this past week, And I know that yours can be too if you get on your knees and ask. When we were walking to the train station we met a guy who was talking pictures. Come to find out he has read the whole Book of Mormon! It was a huge surprise,that man was put in our path for a reason. We are meeting with him later this week!
Love you all, stay safe!
Elder Nathan Dunn
Monday, January 5, 2015
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