A Buddhist God at the Diabutsu.

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Another Buddhist God at the Diabutsu.

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This is the Diabutsu

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Me and the Diabutsu.

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How they built the Diabutsu.

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Inside of the Diabutsu.

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This is the Turkish Ice shop.

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The beautiful Pacific.

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Drying seaweed on the beach.

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One of the gods at a Shinto temple.

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An amazing Juniper at the Jinja.

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Amazing pond at the Shinto Temple.

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The beautiful artwork of the Shinto Temple.

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Road leading up to the temple.

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View from the top of the Temple.

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The other God at the Temple.

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Just waiting on my companion in my parking spot.

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This is the Turkish man from the place we ate ice cream.

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Kamakura, Sickness, and an Apostle.

ヘロー皆さん！

月曜日 Monday
P-Day! After studies we did our shopping for the week. We then went to
Kamakura for the day with Elder Stevens and Elder Johnson. On our way
there I saw Mt. Fugi (Fugi-San in Japanese). When we arrived we walked
to the big Buddha or in Japanese the Diabutsu. It is one of the most
famous Buddhist artifacts in the world. It is a giant Buddha that you
can go inside. It is more of a tourist attraction now instead of a
religious site. It was amazing to see so many "white people" and kind
of weird too. After we went to the gift shops in the area, I bought a
ninja star! As we continued down the street we found a place that
sells Turkish ice cream! The man spoke fluent English! He is from
Turkey, and Muslim. He was very kind to us and even pulled out all the
pamphlets missionaries have given him in the past! He hands out our
pamphlets to people who ask about the mormon missionaries! How cool is
that? We got a picture with him and continued on our journey to the
ocean! It was amazing to see the ocean in the sunlight. It was
absolutely beautiful and surreal. There is something about the ocean
that makes you feel so small. We then walked to one of the biggest
Shinto Temples in all of Japan. It was absolutely beautiful! The rich
reds and yellows truly have an oriental feel. It felt like Kung Fu
Panda with the giant steps leading to the temple. After the temple we
took the train home and ate dinner and typed out emails at the Indian
Restuarant in our area and talked with the workers.

火曜日
I wore out my leg with all the walking on Monday so I had to rest it.
Sister Wada called and told me I needed to keep off of it more. After
our studies my companion and I, deep cleaned the apartment and
redecorated. Thankfully it took up most of our day. That night we went
to Tsurukawa to meet Gopal the Nepelese friend I found. It was a great
meeting, he was receptive and asked to learn more. He taught us some
Nepelese and showed us how he writes his name! It was awesome! After
we went home and kubaried a little bit. It was nice to be out of the
house. I found a man who was Catholic and had interest in our message.

水曜日
Rainy days. Since I am not allowed to walk I was apartment confined
with Elder Kennedy. My companion went on splits with the other
missionary in the apartment, Elder Bennion. elder Kennedy and I made
cinnamon rolls, and role played (in Japanese it is mogi), we wrote
Facebook posts, and tried to stay busy but ended up throwing the ninja
star at an old box. That night we went to Eaikiwa and taught! It was
awesome, the advanced class was enjoyable for us. They love learning
phrases so we taught them all kinds of phrases teenagers use. It is
pretty funny hearing 60+ year old men sounding like 16 year olds in
English with a Japanese accent. On our way home Elder Kennedy told me
that my Japanese has improved a ton since me first arriving it was
good to hear from someone I see everyday that I am improving.

木曜日
Our morning began with Interviews with the mission President! It was
awesome, I loved the advice I got from president. Sister Wada was very
interested in all the baking I am doing and asked if I would put the
recipes on the portal. She also asked about my ankle. And recommended
me going to the doctor again because of it not getting better. It's
actually getting slightly worse. When we got home we went to
shinyurigoka to meet up with our friend Koichi and ate lunch with him
it was a good time of building a relationship with him. After we had a
prompting to Kubari, so we decided because of my ankle only to do it
for 20 minutes. In that short amount of time I talked to a man who had
been to Ohio before! He came right up to me and began talking to me!
It was amazing! We then went back home a did our weekly planning for
the week. It was a good time of discussing the growth our area has
seen. Right after it ended our zone leaders called us and said that
the man who I met today emailed them and retold the experience of
meeting me and said that he wants to learn more about English and
Christianity! Talk about an amazing miracle! It made my day a million
times better. I then called Dr. Hansen the area doctor for
missionaries about my foot. He talked about possible causes but sent
me to the doctor for further tests.

金曜日
Sister Wada called us in the morning asking us to go to the doctor in
Machida. She even arranged for a member of our ward to pick us up! It
was so kind of her. We called her a lot to understand what was going
on. They did another x-Ray, and told me that I can't walk for 2 whole
weeks! It is going to drive me crazy! They think I have possible nerve
damage in my foot from the swelling, but if I stay off of it it should
be okay. After the hospital we came home and watched the District and
I shinned everyone's shoes. We also made some banana bread. Later we
went to sports night and I just sat in my wheelchair because I have to
sit. I hate to say it but these emails are going to start to get very
dull.

土曜日
We did our normal studies then we wheeled (I was taken in the wheel
chair) to the church for district meeting. It was Elder Fukuchi's last
one of his mission. The sisters and another set of elders didn't show
up! They were both too busy. It was a really quick meeting. After my
companion and I wheeled on over to the supermarket to buy some
supplies for our pancake party. On our way there we saw an old man who
was in his 80s sitting the floor of his house smoking. We talked to
him and he thought my companion was my son, and that I was 80 years
old. He also commented on me being very healthy for my age. It was
pretty funny. Japanese supermarkets are not very wheel chair friendly.
We took a picture on the parking lot of me in the wheel chair in the
handicap parking, it helped lighten our day. After we came home we
baked bread for the neighbors and I slept, it helps me force myself to
stay off my ankle. After we ate dinner we delivered the bread and took
a short walk outside.

日曜日
I woke up and my ankle hurt so bad I could hardly move so I had to
stay home. Elder Kennedy stayed home with me and I slept and worked on
getting myself better. After the other two came home from church we
ate lunch. Then we went to the church for our pancake party! It was
great to get out of the house and help out the ward! I loved the time
spent. After we went home and planned for the next day.

月曜日
We woke up super early for a special conference in the Tokyo Mission!
We had to wake up at 4:30 to get ready then be on a train by 6! It was
a hectic morning. We then commuted to Nakanko where he mission home is
of the Tokyo mission. I saw Eric Stevens at the conference! It was
weird seeing someone I knew before my mission in Japan! All of my
friends from the MTC were there too! It was neat to catch up with
everyone. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the quorum of the twelve
apostles spoke, along with President Raspban of the Seventy and Bishop
Stevenson of the Presiding Bishopric! It was awesome to hear from
these inspired men. They gave great counsel on bettering our teaching
methods for the Japanese people. I look forward to applying them. I
have noticed that all the apostles that I have met are very bold, they
have no problem telling things how it is. At the end of the meeting we
all got to shake their hands it was a neat experience. We then
commuted home and we stopped by the 7 eleven to load emails and see if
our transfer email had come. They had! I will be leaving Machida on
Thrusday and transferring to Tama, I believe it is the neighboring
area. My new companion will be Elder Nagano, he is Japanese! I have
really enjoyed my time with Elder Crandall, he has taught me a lot.
This next transfer will be hard in some language aspects but I am
excited to begin this new chapter of my mission.

I hope all is well back at home!

Love,

Elder Dunn


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Cow Tongue

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An amazing view of the mountains and the clouds.

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A sweet car we found in the area.

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They were putting hydraulics in a Mercedes Benz

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These are some of the basketball kids.

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My companion filling out my paperwork at the hospital!

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Just so everyone knows. I am fine.

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Cool Cars, Nice foreigners, and Prepared Nepalese People.

こにちは皆さん、

この週は私が少しびょきがあります。

I know many of you saw the picture of me in the wheelchair. Don't worry I am fine. I can walk. 


月曜日 Monday
We woke up and began our day with a big run, it started snowing when we ran! When we got back to the apartment we had cow tongue and eggs for breakfast! A member gave it to us at church and told us to take it. It was a bit chewy but okay. After studies we emailed home and then did our grocery shopping. I am learning more and more the ways of shopping for food. We sure do like lots of food for not a whole lot of money. After dropping the groceries at the apartment, we took the train to minami machida to go to the outlet mall there! It was pretty cool. It had a big American feel to it. It was fun doing some window shopping and relax for a little bit. After we went to this amazing car shop there. We walked right in and looked at all the Ferraris, lamborghinis, porches, and old Mercedes. It was a cool time looking around the restoration shop. We then went to the shop next door which sells super nice brand new cars of the same companies. It was pretty cool! When we were on the platform on the way home we met an Australian who was quite sour with us. He was quite surprised when we didn't even try to argue back, instead we told him we hope he has an enjoyable time in Japan and wished him the best. He looked pretty embarrassed when we instead of arguing we showed compassion toward him. To all my friends who are not of my faith; I am not here to persuade you to believe something or read the Book of Mormon, I am out here to share a message that is near and dear to my heart to the people of Japan, one which has brought me and those around me much happiness. Not to argue with people over beliefs. I really hope and pray whatever religion you are, it makes you truly happy because trust me, I have seen what happens to people who don't believe in anything, they really are missing something. When we got home we went to a basketball store in our area and talked to the man who works there about coming to a big basketball tournament that our mission is having. We then went to another store to buy some goodies to send in my brothers package! We then came home and had the idea to make cinnamon rolls for our Nepalese friends who own a restaurant on the Main Street by our house. We delivered them and they were so excited they served us drinks and talked to us. They even taught us thank you in Nepalese! They are such kind people.

火曜日 Tuesday
After our studies we went on splits with the Japanese elders again. This time I was with Elder Fukuchi (the kanji for his name is 福地, which translates to happy land in English). He is awesome, he goes home in three weeks so it was good to talk to him about learning Japanese. He is fluent in both languages which is really cool. When he goes home he will study marine biology in Okinawa! After we planned for our day we went to Ikuta, it is the last station in our area about a half hour train ride. It was fun, we talked to a bunch of people and gave out 5 Book of Mormons! It was pretty cool, being fluent in the language really does make a huge difference when talking to people. When we came home we had a delicious stew then went back out and talked to more people. It was a pretty laid back day. 

水曜日 Wednesday 

My day began with Elder Fukuchi. Him and I had our studies which he gave me some advice on how to better my Japanese, it was great, I loved the tough love. It was Elder Fukuchis last split, he goes home in two weeks. After we switched back my companion and I had some studies together, it was good to have my normal companion back. We then left for Nagatsuta to walk around the park and talk to people. It was awesome, we played basketball with some of the teenagers in the park. I fell on my ankle kind of funny. Dress shoes aren't made for touching rim. After the game we talked to the guys we played with about church. One guy spoke fluent English and had an Australian accent. He had received a Book of Mormon in Canada when he was there, but it was in English so he didn't understand it well. So we gave him a japanese Book of Mormon and he started teaching the kids about it! It was an awesome miracle. Then on our way back home we took the bike trail, then at a stop light we saw a mint greet Audi and a bunch of men taking pictures of it. Naturally the two of us wanted to go see. So we talked to them and invited them to church. They were really cool. When we got home we made pancakes! It was delicious. Then we went to eaikiwa! It was awesome. We only had one student since today was a holiday (founding of japan day). Since he was the only one he taught us in English about Japan's history! It was way cool! He even taught us some words in Samuri, Samuri is its own language, and it sounds awesome. He also taught us about the Japanese caste system the Samuri were on top, in fact even over the emperor, then came the farmers! The farmers were the second most important people in ancient Japanese society! Then comes the carpenters followed by the merchants. It was a neat history lesson of Japan. After we got home for the night and planned for the next day we watched the life of Thomas S. Monson. It was fun and relaxing to watch a movie on the IPad after a long day. 

木曜日 Thursday

Our morning began with a rather painful run because of my rolled ankle. After we went to zone meeting. It was really good. There were a lot of inspired trainings to help us as missionaries find the people of Japan. After the meeting we began our trek back home. We wanted to get some black thunder ice cream because this is the only time of year they sell them in Japan. We need up talking to a bunch of prepared and wonderful people, it was awesome. After coming home and eating lunch we had our weekly planning. We set up some lessons for the upcoming week and prepared for more things going on. After we went to Shinyurigoka to Kubari and talk to people. On our way we met our neighbors, he is an American from California! It was way cool, he was awesome, it turns out his brother is a member. We have a lurking suspicion that he may be a member as well. When we went and kubaried we met some neat people and invited them to church. We then met John, he is from New York, and way nice to us! Usually foreigners aren't super nice to missionaries. He wasn't that way at all, he asked to learn more about our message! It was an awesome miracle! 

金曜日 Friday 

After our normal studies, we went on a journey to go meet the car guys we met the other day. We met a husband and wife, they loved us, and told us we had beautiful hands, it was way cool. We kept walking and ran into all kinds of people that were prepared and open. When we arrived at the car shop they were putting hydraulics on a cool car. It was fun, they told us how they work and we invited them to church. After coming home we got ready for sports night and made our way there. We met our friend Suzuki there, after playing some basketball we gave him a church tour. We met Suzuki a few weeks ago, he works at the bike shop that my companion had his bike fixed at! We had no idea why my companions bike broke when it happened. We now know why! It is way neat to see the miracle in full perspective. He said he has read some of the Book of Mormon already and wants to learn more! Way cool we call people that are that prepared kingin or gold people.

土曜日 Saturday 

After studies we got a call from Sister Wada telling me I had to go to the hospital for my foot. She was worried it was really bad. We went to a different hospital than last time and went in and they said I was the last patient for the day! It was super nice of them! They told me I needed an X-Ray so they brought me in a room that looks like it is from the 50s in fact it probably was. It was pretty sketchy, they didn't put lead on me like they do in America. They then told me my foot was just badly swollen and that I need to stay off it for a few weeks. We then went to the pharmacist office to get the bandages they want me to wear. It took us a while to fill out the paperwork, well us in the sense my companion helped me/did all of it. We then went to the church and found the wheel chair so I can stay off my foot but we can still dendo. We shot hoops with the kids that were there. There are always kids playing basketball which is awesome! We had a great district meeting after where we discussed different things our district needed to do to become better. Our district has improved a ton, we are working super hard. We then went to Ho,e and everyone wanted to talk to us because I was in a wheelchair it was awesome and hilarious! After dinner we went to Tsurakawa, but on our way we met a man from chile! He was so receptive, and wanted to learn more about it! It was so cool! We then kubaried at Tsurukawa and I met a women from somewhere in the Middle East who had a lot of interest in our English class! It was pretty cool! I love meeting all the people around the world. 

日曜日 Sunday

After waking up I made crepes for my apartment! They were delicious! We then went to church. The bishop in our ward is going to California this week to give a presentation for his company, so naturally my companion and I told him some great hamburger places in the us. After church we talked with different people from our ward to get to know them better. I have noticed anyone that is 40-50 and younger I can understand decently well. People who are older have very difficult Japanese to understand. On our way home we housed some peoples houses continued home to have lunch. After lunch we went to shinyurigoaka to find a referral we received from the zone leaders. He is Nepalese! I love Nepalese people, we taught him the entire first lesson in only a short little while! It was so cool, they are so kind and want to learn more. It was so strange teaching in English, I was translating what I was going to say into Japanese then back into English, it was way weird! After we went to the curry shop of the people we gave cinnamon rolls to, to check up on them. They gave us laggese (I think that is how it is spelled). It was delicious, we Also learned some Hindi! Shukudia means thank you! 

Hope you all are doing genki back home! I am fine. My ankle isn't that bad. 

Love,

Elder Nathan Dunn

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This is a time lapse video of the okonomiyaki Tabehodai we went to.

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Another picture of the shop.

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Japanese guitar shop we stumbled upon.

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Hair cutting directions. I don't notice the difference, but there is supposed to be one.

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The man who brought us heat, or in other words fixed our aircon.

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Costco, Nepalese People, and all you can eat Okonomiyaki

こにちは皆さん！

この週は楽しかった！

月曜日 Monday
Pday! We woke up early at 6 to play some basketball at the church the
Japanese elders. We played Americans vs Japanese it was a enjoyable
time building a stronger relationship with the elders. We wanted some
Americana so we made a trip to Costco! It turns out Costco is a huge
craze in Japan! For such tiny people they sure do like bulk food!
After studies we began our journey which was about an hour by train
but it was only 8 kilometers away from the apartment we had to take a
round about way to get there. Once we arrived my companion and I
bought Costco memberships, the cool thing is that they last for a year
and are world wide, talk about a great business plan! We ordered a
whole pizza and I got a hot dog as well. They have the best deal in
Japan on an American hot dog, so naturally I needed one. It was
delicious, we saved some of it to give to the sister missionaries
later. While we were eating a women leaned over and asked in English
why does your tag say elder? I replied that is a fantastic question!
And I was able to explain how we are and why we are here! It was a
great experience. After our lunch we began our shopping. It was great
to see food in such large quantities for American prices, except tuna
fish. For some reason Japanese people love their tuna fish. In America
it seems they pay you to take it! We got a ton of meat and two
Japanese women walked past our cart with wide eyes, it was pretty
funny. We bought a lot of things to last the rest of the transfer. In
total we didn't end up spending a ton, but definitely got our money's
worth. Then we began the trek back on the train. Thank goodness they
sell large bags for a dollar! After we got home we emailed our real
homes then went to the church to send them off. After that we went and
bought our other groceries that we knew we could get cheaper at
another store came home and dropped everything off. We then kubaried
for an hour at the eki near our apartment. I talked to an Indian man
who had the same name as me! We talked for a little bit and at the end
he asked for me to call him! It was overall a very good pday.

火曜日 Tuesday
We woke up and enjoyed our normal study routine, however during
companionship study someone knocked on our door. It was the repair
man! He was here to fix our aircon (we call the heaters and coolers
aircons). He moved all our furniture then gutted the place where the
old one was and added a new one! Our downstairs has been freezing!
Today we went on splits with the Japanese elders. I am with Elder
Kojima! He is from Kobe. We waited at the apartment until the man
finished installing the new machine. It took quite a while. During
which I came up with the idea that we read the Book of Mormon back and
forth me in Japanese and himself in English. It took us 45 minutes to
get through one chapter! I am starting to be able to read aloud more
and more. I probably sound like a kindergartener reading though, oh
well it is better than where I started! After he finished installing
the machine we went to tsudakawa to Kubari. It was excellent! I met my
friend from Nepal I met last transfer, this time I got his number
though. He is way cool, and his name is impossible to write and say!
It was a way good time. I am starting to figure out how to talk to
people in Japanese, it is kind of really cool considering six months
ago I didn't know how to speak a word in Japanese. After kubaring we
came to the Japanese elders apartment to eat dinner. I made ramen for
us, surprisingly it is similar to American ramen, however the noodles
are better. And just like in America, the beef packs are still better
than the chicken packs. After dinner we went to my apartment to pick
up gym clothes for basketball in the morning then went to shinyurigoka
to Kubari some more. I talked to a little Japanese girl who is 4 with
her mom. She was so proud she could tell me her name and age. It was
fun to talk to her for a little bit, when she left she turned around
and said, "goodbye, see you later!" After kubaring we went to Mister
Donut. It is Elder Kojima and Is tradition for when we go on splits
together. We then headed home and called it a day.

水曜日 Wednesday
We started our day by meeting up with our companions at the church to
play some basketball. It is fantastic exercise. Then elder Kojima and
I went back to their apartment for breakfast and studies. It was a
good study, he helped me a lot with my Japanese and how I can improve.
We read in the Book of Mormon again back and forth. He made me a card
with all the Japanese sounds on it and asked if they had one in
English. Sadly they don't, English has so many more complex sounds
than Japanese. I figured out during language study if I memorize 4
kanji (characters) a day I will be at native level by the time I get
home! For lunch Elder Kojima made Nabe or rice pottage. It was
delicious. We then went to my apartment to switch back companions.
Elder Crandall and I then went to Tsurakawa to Kubari. I love kubaring
it really pushes me to use my Japanese to the best I can, and I am
noticing improvement with it here and there. I stopped a few people
and invited them all by myself. It feels good to be a fully
contributing member of a companionship. It is really hard at first,
and still is for the most part but I am working hard through it. We
then came back to the apartment and ate dinner, and wrote letters to
President Wada for his birthday! Then we went to eaikiwa, but there
were a ton of kids playing basketball, so since there were a lot of
missionaries that could teach the students we played basketball with
the kids! They were all really good! They are a bunch of neighborhood
kids that just show up!

木曜日 Thursday
When we woke up it was raining/snowing! None of it was sticking but it
was still enjoyable to watch. After our studies we did our weekly
planning. I made cinnamon rolls for us, they were delicious. Weekly
planning was sort of rough this week. We found out during it that our
only progressing investigator lives in a different ward which is in
the north mission so we need to refer him. We then went out to knock
on doors because everything else was too cold to do. We walked around
near our apartment and knocked on doors for a few hours. Then we saw a
man in a garage cutting wood, so we asked him if we could take a look.
He then said sure and told us to meet him around the corner, so we go
and another man meets us around the corner and beckons us inside, we
were like sure why not. When we walked inside we found guitar parts
all over. We stumbled across a guitar factory in the middle of the
Tokyo suburbs! The man was way nice to us and let me take some
pictures. After that neat experience on our way home we ran into a man
from Italy! It was way cool talking to him for a little bit. We then
went home and ate dinner. After dinner we went to a Korean family in
our wards house. We wrote a card for them in Korean, Japanese, and
English! It was pretty neat. When we got there the wife had made us a
cake! It was way nice of her! We played with their daughter who is
two! I can only imagine how hard it must be for people to not have a
back yard. It is weird realizing that no one here really have lawn to
mow.

金曜日 Friday
We began our morning with a run around the area! It was a great way to
wake up and watch the sun rise over the hills. From the top of one of
the hills you can see the beautiful mountains. It was great. We then
had our studies and lunch and then went to to church to plan our
lesson for Sunday and a lesson we had later that night. After we went
to Naruse to Kubari. My Japanese was in a weird funk, I kept mixing
words together. I pushed through it and it started to make sense. We
talked to a good amount of people but sadly no one was interested.
After our Kubari we went to the bakery to buy a snack to hold us over.
One of the many things I love about Japan is that they love French
style bakeries and pastries and it is inexpensive, it is a win win
situation. We then went back to the church to have district meeting.
The other elders in my apartment did a training on faith, it was
really good. After the meeting we taught Suzuki he is kind of an
eternal investigator (someone that is investigating for a very long
time). He comes to church every week but has no intentions of moving
forward. He is a very shy person. After at sports night we played
catch with him, my companion loves baseball so he taught us a few
tricks of the game. We then played basketball with about fifteen 12
year olds. They love the missionaries since we are big tall white
people. They kept asking me to dunk, sadly I can't, but we had an
enjoyable time playing with them. One of the kids names Dan and my
name in Japanese is said as Dan so they all love to scream my name
hoping one of us will answer. After sports night we came home and I
made us some of my Dads famous Flapjacks, they were totally natsgashi
(nostalgic), and made for a great ending to my day.

土曜日 Saturday
Our morning began with our normal workout routine and studies. After
lunch we went to the house of a family in our ward. We found out he is
on the board of education for machida which is a pretty big deal. I
love their house, they have a giant spiral staircase. Japanese people
know how to use their space very efficiently. They asked about the
where we were from and asked a lot of questions about the farm, they
are amazed with all the space I had back at home. We shared a message
from John 8:12 which says, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life." We have noticed within
our companionship that the people of Japan just don't seem to smile
much, so we try and focus a lot on being happy. It was a good message.
We then ran to the eki to get on the train to get to shinyurigoka for
a huge bi-zone blitz! There were about 60 missionaries in one town. It
was awesome. We went on splits with a bunch of missionaries. I went
with Elder Fukuchi, who is in my district, streeting and we taught a
high school student about the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. I went
kubaring with Elder Wanacott who is from Maryland. Then went housing
with Elder VanDyken who is from Australia! It was pretty eventful!
After splitting back with Elder Crandall we went to Machida to meet up
with our ward mission leader, his less active brother and another less
active member in our ward for dinner. Our ward mission leader
recommended either all you can eat pizza or okonomiyaki. We decided on
okonomiyaki, the place was so cool. We sat on a raised platform, cross
legged and there was a giant stove in front of us, then we order food
and they keep on beinging it for two hours! It was delicious! I took a
time lapse video of the experience; it should be on the blog. Oddly
enough after eating that much I didn't feel as bad as I normal do
after eating so much since a majority of the food were vegetables. We
them walked home from machida to work off some of those new-found
calories.

日曜日 Sunday
We got up and ready for church then went to the church to talk to
members coming in. It was great to talk to the members. Sacrament
meeting was great, I understood more than I did last week. I have been
keeping a dictionary out with me for looking up new words. After the 3
hour block, we had a meeting with the youth in our ward about
missionary work. It was a lot of fun. We had a ton of fun teaching the
youth. My companion and I taught how to house. After we went home and
made some Chinese food. We then went and did some housing. We found a
new potential investigator it was exciting, sadly he didn't have much
interest. We talked to a few more people but not many people would
talk to us. So when we came in I made us crepes. It was delicious.

I hope you all are doing well back at home!

Love you all!

Elder Nathan Dunn


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The Pokemon center!

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Dinner party at the church on Sunday.

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Dinner party at a members house!

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We took a picture with the president at an American memorabilia shop.

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Snow in Japan!

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I love the look of this house!

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This is shabu shabu.

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This is the famous tower in Yokohama. It is called Landmark Tower.

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This is a boat museum, I think we are coming back to check it out.

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A giant Ferris wheel in the Yokohama bay.

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This is a close up view of the game.

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My companion trying on snow boarding goggles with the guy that works there.

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Other side of Landmark Tower.

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My companion and I at the bay.

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Leaving the Taco shop we found these! It is a crane game where you try to hook a piece of cake!

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A buzz light year made out of Legos.

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This is the escalader that goes down in a spiral like fashion.

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Yokohama, Split Pants, and a Snow Storm

こにちわ皆さん！

私の週は素晴らしいです！

月曜日 Monday
We ran the giant hill in the morning that we both hate, but it was a
great workout. P-day! After studying today, we went and bought
groceries at the American equivalent of Aldi, only called Giomes. We
bought a ton of food, we will be eating well the rest of this week.
After my companion and I walked to the church and on the way talked to
a few people. It was great to email back home. After we headed to the
train station and went to Yokohama! Yokohama is A giant city. We went
to am all you can eat salsa place that was delicious. It truly is a
beautiful city, I loved walking around and exploring. It is a
fantastic fusion of Americana and Japanese culture. The roads are
wider and there are more Americans, it was a great trip. We walked
around the malls and enjoyed all the sights. I'll add all the pictures
to the blog. We ended up covering 18 miles today. Our phone tracks via
gps how far we go. Kanji is starting to make sense, I love it, it is a
whole new world that is starting to open up to me.

火曜日 Tuesday
After our normal morning routine, we decided to give housing a shot.
Housing is the thing you imagine most missionaries do, go and knock on
your door. Trust me, it isn't as fun for us as it is for you. However,
my companion and I looked to it with faith. We started by just walking
around and knocking doors then we felt prompted to go to a certain
apartment complex in our area, after walking there we found the
apartment complex to be a gated community, so we housed around the
area. We found a man in his 20s on his porch, we started talking to
him and we taught him the whole restoration! It was amazing! We then
went to the 7-11 to go to the bathroom and grab some Japanese ice
cream. After we decided to walk back to the apartment because it
looked like it might rain. On the way we saw a church and both had the
prompting to go inside, it is at the bottom of the giant hill we run.
We walked inside and the pastor took us in and we began to teach him
too, he had questions here and there, but truly was interested in what
we had to share, another awesome miracle. After we had a dinner
appointment in Naruse a neighboring town, we walked there and dropped
off a card to a less active member of the ward. She was surprised to
see us, the bishop told us where she worked so we went there. She
hadn't been to work all day but had to come into work for only a few
minutes and we caught her during that time. We then went to the dinner
appointment, it was delicious. The member smoked bacon for us, it was
delicious. Then we had to run home in the rain so we weren't late.
After planning for the next day I made some breakfast cake for the
next day and played Shogi with one of the other elders in the
apartment.

水曜日 Wednesday
Since housing worked so well the day before we decided to do it again.
We decided to knock on the houses that were in our area. The houses in
japan have intercoms with cameras on them so we talk to little boxes
most the time. We knocked on one house and an 80 year old Japanese
women came outside and talked to us, she loved us so that she invited
us over for lunch the next day! After that we went to an apartment
complex. No one answered their boxes so my companion went to go lean
on a rail on the third story. Before he put all of his weight on it he
just pushed it a little and it was so rusted out that it began to
give! Thankfully he tried it first! We then left the apartment complex
and found a college student that we taught the restoration to, it was
awesome. We then went home ate dinner, I made more breakfast cake and
packed for splits with the zone leaders the next day. We left early so
we could help set up eaikaiwa that night. As we came down the big hill
on the way to church we were talking then about 50 feet in front of us
we saw a person collapse! We rushed to the person and found that she
were okay but very old. We picked her up and my companion and I
grabbed her things. My companion held on to the lady, and I carried
her bags, the bags all together weighed more than the little old lady.
It was really sad, she had worn out clothes and was using a shoe
string as a belt. We walked her 30 minutes back home and helped her
into the house. Once we got inside she began to cry and say thank you
over and over, you really could tell the gratitude she had. She asked
us why we would even do something like that. We then told her we are
ambassadors of Christ and we do what Christ would do. She cried more
and hugged us, then we told her didn't have any money for her but we
did have a book. So we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her we would
send some of our friends (the sister missionaries) to her. It made my
night. Eaikaiwa was fun, I spent most of the time sending a text
message in Japanese for lessons on Saturday. After class we went on
splits with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Burube at their
apartment.

木曜日
After our normal studies we went to the church and mapped out a course
to deliver a new thing our mission is piloting called share the
gospel. It is a way for members to do missionary work easily by simply
liking Facebook pages and writing Google reviews about the church,
along as making Im a mormon profiles. We delivered one to the first
house and the sister was so excited that she gave us Japanese candies!
It was delicious! We then went to the next house, no one was home so
we continued to a grocery store to park our bikes (the other zone
leader let me borrow his). We found that the only way to get to the
members house that we were to visit next was through a Japanese grave
yard. They are a lot different than American ones, they are more like
shrines to their ancestors. However this graveyard did not have an
exit, is just up against a bamboo forest. So we climbed through the
forest until we found a giant fence that was to an elementary school.
We then followed the fence to the neighborhood then found a little
opening that we could squeeze through. After we had to jump down a 10
foot wall to get to the road. Talk about a bit of an adventure! When
we found the members house they welcomed us in and fed us Japanese tea
and cookies! It was delicious. After we left we had to find another
way back into the graveyard so we found a smaller fence to hop, only
this time when I lifted my leg to get up the fence the seam of my
pants split! I couldn't believe it! Since we were so far from home and
I was on splits (how ironic right?) I just walked with my legs a
little closer than normal. We then continues to drop off cards until
about 6 o clock then went to the big city of Machida to meet back up
with our normal companions and eat some shabu shabu (I'll explain what
it is in a second). It turns out the elder I was with Elder Burube
forgot his wallet so the other zone leader and himself left. After
realizing that the place we were going to eat at had a 40 minute wait
we went on a search for somewhere else, and we found one. So shabu
shabu is where you have a giant boiling bot of oil or water in front
of you on your table. Then they have a bar with vegetables on it, so
you go load up your plate with vegetables then but them in the water
to make your broth, then they bring our raw meat that you cook
yourself in the broth, as well as raw eggs that you then take the
cooked meat and dip it in the raw egg then the rice, it is absolutely
delicious! It is an all you can eat for 90 minutes and trust me as two
starving missionaries we did!

金曜日 Friday
When we woke up in the morning to go on our run we looked outside and
to our surprise it was snowing hard! It was awesome! It was great to
watch the snow as we studied. After lunch my companion and I did some
service for people. We walked around with our shovels and helped
people shovel their driveways, one old man told us, "I love your
hearts!". We walked all over and got completely soaked. We wore the
mormon helping hands vests because it looked less threatening than our
all black jackets. I feel as if we changed many people's hearts today
concerning who Christians are. It was great, I love serving the people
of Japan. It was exhausting though because the snow turned to rain so
the snow weighed an absolute ton. After coming in absolutely exhausted
we did weekly planning, which was hard being so tired, so we made some
food to help keep us awake. We then went to the Church for sports
night. When we got there there were some high schoolers that were
their way excited for basketball! They were way good! After more
people arrived we went to the kitchen to eat the bentos that the
sisters picked up for us at the ladies house who we were going to go
to the day before. We gave them the lunch appointment but the lady
handed the sisters the bags and told them to never come back, so they
gave us the food. After eating we went upstairs to the family history
room and my companion filled out his endorsement form for BYU in the
fall. It was weird seeing him fill out the form and realizing in a
year I'll be doing the same thing. After sports night we walked home
and relaxed from the exhausting day.

土曜日 Saturday
After studies we went to the church to have district meeting. It was
great the Japanese elders in the district gave a great training on why
Christ is the reason. After the meeting my companion and I went to go
teach the preacher we taught on Tuesday. The lesson was rough to say
the least. He tried to give us reason after reason of why he wouldn't
pray about the Book of Mormon to know whether or not it is true. So we
left him with our testimonies, prayed, and left. Arguing gets you
nowhere in life, and it is definitely not a Christlike-Attribute.
After the lesson my companion and I were pretty drained so we walked
back to the apartment to relax a little bit and confirm our
appointment with Diasuke later that night. It turns out that he was
sick so he had to cancel on us. Instead of eating dinner right then we
decided to go and get our bicycles from the shop. It was nice to be on
a bike again. After we got home we did some serious baking to get our
minds off of things, I made a cinnamon breakfast cake and okonomiyaki
(it is pancake batter, cabbage, and pork, that you top with the
special sauce and mayonnaise (it sounds gross but actually tastes
really good)).

日曜日 Sunday
Church was great, I am amazed how on fast Sunday's the bishop has to
stand up cut people off, the testimonies of the members are so strong
here. During priesthood our friend Nagamori-San (San is like mr. or
mrs. or basically any other title). We took him to the high priests
because it was more in his age group. The Japanese that they use in
that class is rough, I had no idea of what was going on. After church
we set up some appointments with members for the upcoming week, then
took the food everyone gave us home. After that we went housing around
until we could show the sisters where the
lady-who-fell-over-on-Wednesdays house. It turned out she wasn't home
so my companion and I tried knocking on more doors or rather talking
to intercoms, everyone in Japan has them, it is kind of weird asking
the voice inside the box if they want to learn about Jesus Christ,
granted I know there is someone on the other side, you just lose that
human emotion part that happens face to face. After that we went back
to the apartment and had a bowl of granola then went to the church for
a dinner party with all the missionaries in the district and a Chinese
member who is less active. It was a great dinner, we had
okonomiyaki/omelets she wanted to make both but I guess for whatever
reason decided to make them both together, it was delicious.

Well that was my week! I can't explain to you all how much I truly
learning to love these people. They are some of the kindest people on
earth, they always ask to help.

I read this quote this week. It has helped me stay positive about things,

"[the] ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a
godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do
this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord.
Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate,
nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the
commandments and made something very good of his degrading
circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated, because they will
not give up. They have the correct, positive attitude, and Dale
Carnegie's expression seems to apply: If you feel you have a lemon,
you can either complain about how sour it is, or you can make a
lemonade. It is all up to you. (Live above the Law to Be Free)"

Have a great week everyone!

愛してます！

ダン長老
Elder Nathan Dunn


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