Monday, June 29, 2015
Kodomo (children's) Eikaiwa, Serving Ito-San, and Transfer Calls.
兄弟姉妹の皆さんこんにちはへ
This week has brought a lot of change into my mission. Just as a heads
up to everyone my Preparation Day will be switching starting this next
week from Monday's to Saturday's while serving in the Honbu.
月曜日
Elder Coggins and I woke up and went for a run. We went on our normal
5k track, except this time we felt a little adventurous, so we took a
turn we hadn't taken before. About an hour later we made it back to
the apartment. It was so far! We probably doubled our run! We then
went to the church to work on my companions BYU application. After
that we went to Bit Camera so my companion could buy a voice recorder.
Bit Camera is like Best Buy with 8 floors and cells everything from
cosmetic products to cell phone plans, and everything in between. It
was a fun trip inside. We then went to go eat sushi with the other
elders that was a lot of fun! Then off to buy the groceries for the
week. I was nominated head grocery shopper, (let me translate this, I
am now cooking for the apartment). So we bought all kinds of fun
things to eat (which won't destroy our stomach lining). We then came
home, then ran to the church to do emailing. After that we went to
kichijoji for the Wada FHE! It was so good! We had 4 people from our
ward there! Elder Hansen and Elder Hadlock played hymns on the piano
and guitar and related it to how we can feel the spirit differently.
It was really good, they are the two most musically gifted people I
know. They played a duet of "come ye children of the lord"on the piano
and didn't even look at the piano, no script or anything both playing
from ear! It was amazing. After we had refreshments and I met the
office couple, the Adamsons, they are really nice, but don't speak any
Japanese. So I helped him translate. That was fun to do. Yamauchi
Shimai (who was baptized about two weeks ago) talked to Brother
Adamson so a while. She is really really funny. She said, "I am 82
years old, but I like to dress and act like I am 18." It is so true,
she is so funny. I call her grandma. On the way home we got smashed in
a train again and got home at 10. It was a long night, but really
enjoyable.
火曜日
We woke up and worked out. After studies we went for an adventure! We
had a pretty open schedule. We planned to go and fix my companions
bike since the quick release pin was bent. So we went to the church
thinking we could just smash the pin straight. Well we are probably as
smart as the hammer we used because we bent it in the opposite way.
With that we found Misu kyoudai who told us where a bike shop was. It
was really far so he offered a ride, and dropped us off at the shop.
They were able to find the right pin, which was a big miracle! Then we
started our journey back to the church. We ran into a two young men on
a bridge, they were speaking weird Japanese so we asked them where
they were from! They were from China! We talked to them and invited
them to our music night! After that we ran into another man who we
walked to the eki with. Then we ran into Nori and followed up with our
appointment for tomorrow. After that met a huge man! His name was
machida and he is a taxi driver. He was so happy, we were able to set
up a lesson with him for Thursday! Then we went to the church. When we
tried pumping the tire up we realized that there was a hole, so we
went to another local shop and asked. As you can probably guess we got
to walk all the way back to the bike shop to get a new inter-tube. On
the way we talked to a few kids coming home from school, as well as
other people along the way. Then we rushed back and my companion
grabbed one of the missionaries old bikes and we went to Kitano to
meet Tomo for sushi and a short lesson. We talked about family
history, it was fun talking about my aunt who is a genealogist, and
how he can trace his line back too! After that good lesson and a lot
of sushi we got on the bikes to come home. Well my bike is a little
faster than old blue so my companion had to crank a little harder to
keep up. Then from behind I hear an awful grinding noise. As you can
imagine, the chain and the transmission had broken off the bike and he
was dragging it behind him. It was hilarious! That old bike met its
death, 5 years after being used my missionaries. We then went to the
church to teach our recent convert Ishikawa kyoudai, we taught about
Jesus The Christ. It was an enjoyable lesson. We then ran home to make
curfew.
水曜日
After studies we went to the church to fix my companions tire and fill
it up. After we went back to church to teach Nori San. It was a very
interesting lesson. We used the spirit to ask a lot of inspired
questions to get her thinking. It was a really good, we set good
expectations which was the end goal of the lesson. After the lesson we
ran into the sisters who informed us that that we were going to have
to run the kids English class for about half of it. That frightened us
a lot. But we decided to ganbaru through it! So we came back to the
apartment and grabbed all the extra American change I have. Then we
went back and began preparing. The first half hour was one of the
longest half hours of my life! The kids were so intense, and our CD
player broke when we were singing the wheels on the bus. We were both
sweating like pigs and probably as lost as well! thankfully the
sisters came! It went a lot better! It was night and day! I have
gained a greater respect for women and working with children. Men just
aren't very talented in that aspect...at least my companion and I
aren't. We then came home and recovered and ate dinner, then back to
the church for normal Ekaiwa! It was a great class we talked about our
world around us. We teach with the sisters intermediate class, it is a
lot of fun. We have a discussion topic during each class. Today's was
"Why do you think we notice the differences in societies first?" It
was a pretty deep question for newer English speakers. It was neat to
hear the results and things. After the class we usually hold a
discussion with all the students, however had no topic and we were
running low on time so I jumped in decided to do a big introduction
about Ohio! We covered everything from the airplane to amusement parks
to crop rotation. It was a pretty wide spread topic. I am sure they
all want to go see all the corn in Ohio. They all loved seeing the
pictures of the farm back at home. After class we stayed and talked
with a less active sister for a little while then came home!
木曜日
After getting ready for the day we went straight to the church for
zone meeting! It was really good, I liked the training on Christ-like
attributes a lot. It gave me something more specific I can work on.
During the meeting Takeyama called us and said that he couldn't come
to our lesson that night but could come to church on Sunday! Perfect
there is a YSA activity! After the meeting we went to stamina as a big
group and ate a ton of food. After that we got on our bikes and went
to Ito-sans house to help him clean. It was a mess as usual, and we
were trying to get something specific we could do. Well my companion
and I couldn't, and we had a lesson to go to so we left for the lesson
and the other elders stayed behind still working. When we got to the
church we realized neither of us had keys, and even worse, our two
lessons scheduled fell through that day! What a bummer! Machida-San
had work so we couldn't meet with him. After that we called the other
elders to see how they were doing. They were in it retry deep with
Ito-san, they began cleaning and started a big project that needed us
there, I guess the Lord really does work in mysterious ways. So we
hopped on the bikes and peddled over. Upon arrival we saw trash bags
everywhere mostly filled. After inquiring as to what had happened we
began helping. There were so many Mosquitos, we were all covered in
bites. However we were able to clean a lot of it, and wave to
neighbors too! After we finished for the day we thanked him and went
to have dinner. After we went to ping pong night and an Ekaiwa student
and I talked about planes, I found a way to look at the planes at the
Air Force museum on google maps! It was fun to see all the old planes
I grew up seeing!
金曜日
After studies, Elder Eaton and I began cleaning the back porch. It has
a lot of trash out on it we realized. Mostly because we never use it.
We bagged up a few bike tires, blankets and all kinds of other things.
Then put it out for the trash. Well the cleaning spirit then got into
everyone and we began our deep clean of the apartment, since it was
raining, it was the perfect time to! We cleaned out our tatami room
really well. We then had our weekly planning, however we wear t able
to finish because we had a lesson so we ran to that, however he didn't
show up, so we came back home, changed into normal clothes, and went
to daiso to print out a picture for Ito-San. We began cleaning again,
which turned into taking old boxes, literal wooden boxes, down stairs.
We found all kinds of cool things, like a really old Canon camera,
newspaper articles from right after WWII, and money dating back to the
year 400! Talk about some neat stuff. We helped him bag more of it, as
well as clean up. There is so much dust in that house, that Elder
Gaily asked 12 times if he had a vacuum. Then when Ito said no, he
went looking for one. We found two. Sadly neither of them worked
though. It was an enjoyable time serving others.
土曜日
We woke up did our normal work outs then studies. Elder Mak, Elder
Hansen, and Elder Gailey came back to the apartment for lunch! I made
pancakes, eggs, and bacon! It was fun cooking for one more person.
After that we went to the church to get our transfer calls (or emails
rather). Well Hachioji, I've enjoyed your beautiful mountains, and
wonderful people. However I must leave. I have been called to the
Honbu (Mission Office) to be the Tech Staff Elder of the mission.
Elder Moua whose first language is Hmong, but speaks fluent English
will be my companion. Is is the current Tech Staff Elder, and will
train me for a transfer before handing everything over to me. I am
going to vent a little more than I usually do in these journals now.
To be completely honest, at the beginning of my mission I really
wanted to be a Tech Staff Missionary, it seemed like an easy life, and
I felt like I could help out a lot. Well 9 months into my mission now
I feel the opposite is true. I really really really (yes, that much)
love dendo. Watching people feel and see the light of Christ is
amazing. I love going out and serving others. I still will however I
only have 3 hours to help bring my brothers and sisters into Christ a
day instead of the normal 8 it is cut pretty significantly. However
like the famous song says, I will go where you want me to go dear
Lord, over mountain or plain or sea. Well if the Honbu is where I am
needed than that is where I will serve with all my heart, might, mind,
and strength (and trust me it will use it all too). I am not sure how
my journals are going to be in the Honbu at all, they will probably be
shorter. So in advance I am sorry. Okay vent over. After I got my call
I looked to see what was happening to my companion, he is training a
new missionary! So cool! President Wada was at the church for a stake
meeting so he called in all the missionaries to talk to them about
their calls. He talked to me about some things to keep in mind at the
Honbu. It was a comforting talk. To be honest, I am more scared of
going to the Honbu than literally anywhere else. On the bright side of
things, Soster Wada is excited for me to bake! After talking with
president we went to go try and teach a lesson, however the girl
wasn't home so we bikes back. Then went out to Ramen before the
Hachioji music night! It was so good, and very well attended. I
helped, well shadowed really, Elder Burube who was tech staff before
on how he worked with the lighting and sound. It was a good learning
experience. However, I loved the music. I love how easily it is for us
to bear testimony through music and song. It really does give a
different meaning to the words when they are sung from the heart. It
was wonderful. After that we helped clean up and then ran home to make
curfew. Sorry today's is so long, I had a lot on my mind.
日曜日
We awoke and I fixed another pair of pants to fit, then went to church
for DCS. It was great, no one believed me when they heard I was
leaving so soon! I have only been here for 6 weeks! Our friend
Takeyama came to church! In Priesthood we started talking about
marriage, then it evolved into what our favorite part of the gospel
is. I guess we know what his was. Then we had gospel principals where
we talked about parables of farms. Well the good ol'raspberry farm was
brought up and I was able to share some neat experiences from it.
Sacrament meeting was good. I found an interesting observation. In
America we typically reference the Hebrew translation of words, or the
Greek or Latin roots. However in Japan they often reference the
English word. One of the speakers talked about Moroni 10:3, talking
about exhort, and how the translation was unable to completely convey
the feeling of the word. It was really interesting. Afterwards. I said
goodbye to my buddy, Sister Yamauchi. She was so sad to hear I am
leaving! We talked for an hour, she said we can be best friends
forever. I love that woman, she is my favorite 82 year Japanese woman.
She said that she expects to sit next to me at the Wada FHE! After
that we talked with more members then went to the YSA activity. It was
the most awkward time I have had on my mission. Everyone was so
awkward around each other, so naturally as missionaries we couldn't
really talk a whole lot. Let's just say we were happy when it was
over. We then came home and finished weekly planning. We had a long
and through weekly planning session for my companions new missionary
that he will be receiving. We had a really long companionship
inventory. But it went really really well. I am glad we had it. It
fixed a lot of things.
I love you all!
Elder Dunn
This week has brought a lot of change into my mission. Just as a heads
up to everyone my Preparation Day will be switching starting this next
week from Monday's to Saturday's while serving in the Honbu.
月曜日
Elder Coggins and I woke up and went for a run. We went on our normal
5k track, except this time we felt a little adventurous, so we took a
turn we hadn't taken before. About an hour later we made it back to
the apartment. It was so far! We probably doubled our run! We then
went to the church to work on my companions BYU application. After
that we went to Bit Camera so my companion could buy a voice recorder.
Bit Camera is like Best Buy with 8 floors and cells everything from
cosmetic products to cell phone plans, and everything in between. It
was a fun trip inside. We then went to go eat sushi with the other
elders that was a lot of fun! Then off to buy the groceries for the
week. I was nominated head grocery shopper, (let me translate this, I
am now cooking for the apartment). So we bought all kinds of fun
things to eat (which won't destroy our stomach lining). We then came
home, then ran to the church to do emailing. After that we went to
kichijoji for the Wada FHE! It was so good! We had 4 people from our
ward there! Elder Hansen and Elder Hadlock played hymns on the piano
and guitar and related it to how we can feel the spirit differently.
It was really good, they are the two most musically gifted people I
know. They played a duet of "come ye children of the lord"on the piano
and didn't even look at the piano, no script or anything both playing
from ear! It was amazing. After we had refreshments and I met the
office couple, the Adamsons, they are really nice, but don't speak any
Japanese. So I helped him translate. That was fun to do. Yamauchi
Shimai (who was baptized about two weeks ago) talked to Brother
Adamson so a while. She is really really funny. She said, "I am 82
years old, but I like to dress and act like I am 18." It is so true,
she is so funny. I call her grandma. On the way home we got smashed in
a train again and got home at 10. It was a long night, but really
enjoyable.
火曜日
We woke up and worked out. After studies we went for an adventure! We
had a pretty open schedule. We planned to go and fix my companions
bike since the quick release pin was bent. So we went to the church
thinking we could just smash the pin straight. Well we are probably as
smart as the hammer we used because we bent it in the opposite way.
With that we found Misu kyoudai who told us where a bike shop was. It
was really far so he offered a ride, and dropped us off at the shop.
They were able to find the right pin, which was a big miracle! Then we
started our journey back to the church. We ran into a two young men on
a bridge, they were speaking weird Japanese so we asked them where
they were from! They were from China! We talked to them and invited
them to our music night! After that we ran into another man who we
walked to the eki with. Then we ran into Nori and followed up with our
appointment for tomorrow. After that met a huge man! His name was
machida and he is a taxi driver. He was so happy, we were able to set
up a lesson with him for Thursday! Then we went to the church. When we
tried pumping the tire up we realized that there was a hole, so we
went to another local shop and asked. As you can probably guess we got
to walk all the way back to the bike shop to get a new inter-tube. On
the way we talked to a few kids coming home from school, as well as
other people along the way. Then we rushed back and my companion
grabbed one of the missionaries old bikes and we went to Kitano to
meet Tomo for sushi and a short lesson. We talked about family
history, it was fun talking about my aunt who is a genealogist, and
how he can trace his line back too! After that good lesson and a lot
of sushi we got on the bikes to come home. Well my bike is a little
faster than old blue so my companion had to crank a little harder to
keep up. Then from behind I hear an awful grinding noise. As you can
imagine, the chain and the transmission had broken off the bike and he
was dragging it behind him. It was hilarious! That old bike met its
death, 5 years after being used my missionaries. We then went to the
church to teach our recent convert Ishikawa kyoudai, we taught about
Jesus The Christ. It was an enjoyable lesson. We then ran home to make
curfew.
水曜日
After studies we went to the church to fix my companions tire and fill
it up. After we went back to church to teach Nori San. It was a very
interesting lesson. We used the spirit to ask a lot of inspired
questions to get her thinking. It was a really good, we set good
expectations which was the end goal of the lesson. After the lesson we
ran into the sisters who informed us that that we were going to have
to run the kids English class for about half of it. That frightened us
a lot. But we decided to ganbaru through it! So we came back to the
apartment and grabbed all the extra American change I have. Then we
went back and began preparing. The first half hour was one of the
longest half hours of my life! The kids were so intense, and our CD
player broke when we were singing the wheels on the bus. We were both
sweating like pigs and probably as lost as well! thankfully the
sisters came! It went a lot better! It was night and day! I have
gained a greater respect for women and working with children. Men just
aren't very talented in that aspect...at least my companion and I
aren't. We then came home and recovered and ate dinner, then back to
the church for normal Ekaiwa! It was a great class we talked about our
world around us. We teach with the sisters intermediate class, it is a
lot of fun. We have a discussion topic during each class. Today's was
"Why do you think we notice the differences in societies first?" It
was a pretty deep question for newer English speakers. It was neat to
hear the results and things. After the class we usually hold a
discussion with all the students, however had no topic and we were
running low on time so I jumped in decided to do a big introduction
about Ohio! We covered everything from the airplane to amusement parks
to crop rotation. It was a pretty wide spread topic. I am sure they
all want to go see all the corn in Ohio. They all loved seeing the
pictures of the farm back at home. After class we stayed and talked
with a less active sister for a little while then came home!
木曜日
After getting ready for the day we went straight to the church for
zone meeting! It was really good, I liked the training on Christ-like
attributes a lot. It gave me something more specific I can work on.
During the meeting Takeyama called us and said that he couldn't come
to our lesson that night but could come to church on Sunday! Perfect
there is a YSA activity! After the meeting we went to stamina as a big
group and ate a ton of food. After that we got on our bikes and went
to Ito-sans house to help him clean. It was a mess as usual, and we
were trying to get something specific we could do. Well my companion
and I couldn't, and we had a lesson to go to so we left for the lesson
and the other elders stayed behind still working. When we got to the
church we realized neither of us had keys, and even worse, our two
lessons scheduled fell through that day! What a bummer! Machida-San
had work so we couldn't meet with him. After that we called the other
elders to see how they were doing. They were in it retry deep with
Ito-san, they began cleaning and started a big project that needed us
there, I guess the Lord really does work in mysterious ways. So we
hopped on the bikes and peddled over. Upon arrival we saw trash bags
everywhere mostly filled. After inquiring as to what had happened we
began helping. There were so many Mosquitos, we were all covered in
bites. However we were able to clean a lot of it, and wave to
neighbors too! After we finished for the day we thanked him and went
to have dinner. After we went to ping pong night and an Ekaiwa student
and I talked about planes, I found a way to look at the planes at the
Air Force museum on google maps! It was fun to see all the old planes
I grew up seeing!
金曜日
After studies, Elder Eaton and I began cleaning the back porch. It has
a lot of trash out on it we realized. Mostly because we never use it.
We bagged up a few bike tires, blankets and all kinds of other things.
Then put it out for the trash. Well the cleaning spirit then got into
everyone and we began our deep clean of the apartment, since it was
raining, it was the perfect time to! We cleaned out our tatami room
really well. We then had our weekly planning, however we wear t able
to finish because we had a lesson so we ran to that, however he didn't
show up, so we came back home, changed into normal clothes, and went
to daiso to print out a picture for Ito-San. We began cleaning again,
which turned into taking old boxes, literal wooden boxes, down stairs.
We found all kinds of cool things, like a really old Canon camera,
newspaper articles from right after WWII, and money dating back to the
year 400! Talk about some neat stuff. We helped him bag more of it, as
well as clean up. There is so much dust in that house, that Elder
Gaily asked 12 times if he had a vacuum. Then when Ito said no, he
went looking for one. We found two. Sadly neither of them worked
though. It was an enjoyable time serving others.
土曜日
We woke up did our normal work outs then studies. Elder Mak, Elder
Hansen, and Elder Gailey came back to the apartment for lunch! I made
pancakes, eggs, and bacon! It was fun cooking for one more person.
After that we went to the church to get our transfer calls (or emails
rather). Well Hachioji, I've enjoyed your beautiful mountains, and
wonderful people. However I must leave. I have been called to the
Honbu (Mission Office) to be the Tech Staff Elder of the mission.
Elder Moua whose first language is Hmong, but speaks fluent English
will be my companion. Is is the current Tech Staff Elder, and will
train me for a transfer before handing everything over to me. I am
going to vent a little more than I usually do in these journals now.
To be completely honest, at the beginning of my mission I really
wanted to be a Tech Staff Missionary, it seemed like an easy life, and
I felt like I could help out a lot. Well 9 months into my mission now
I feel the opposite is true. I really really really (yes, that much)
love dendo. Watching people feel and see the light of Christ is
amazing. I love going out and serving others. I still will however I
only have 3 hours to help bring my brothers and sisters into Christ a
day instead of the normal 8 it is cut pretty significantly. However
like the famous song says, I will go where you want me to go dear
Lord, over mountain or plain or sea. Well if the Honbu is where I am
needed than that is where I will serve with all my heart, might, mind,
and strength (and trust me it will use it all too). I am not sure how
my journals are going to be in the Honbu at all, they will probably be
shorter. So in advance I am sorry. Okay vent over. After I got my call
I looked to see what was happening to my companion, he is training a
new missionary! So cool! President Wada was at the church for a stake
meeting so he called in all the missionaries to talk to them about
their calls. He talked to me about some things to keep in mind at the
Honbu. It was a comforting talk. To be honest, I am more scared of
going to the Honbu than literally anywhere else. On the bright side of
things, Soster Wada is excited for me to bake! After talking with
president we went to go try and teach a lesson, however the girl
wasn't home so we bikes back. Then went out to Ramen before the
Hachioji music night! It was so good, and very well attended. I
helped, well shadowed really, Elder Burube who was tech staff before
on how he worked with the lighting and sound. It was a good learning
experience. However, I loved the music. I love how easily it is for us
to bear testimony through music and song. It really does give a
different meaning to the words when they are sung from the heart. It
was wonderful. After that we helped clean up and then ran home to make
curfew. Sorry today's is so long, I had a lot on my mind.
日曜日
We awoke and I fixed another pair of pants to fit, then went to church
for DCS. It was great, no one believed me when they heard I was
leaving so soon! I have only been here for 6 weeks! Our friend
Takeyama came to church! In Priesthood we started talking about
marriage, then it evolved into what our favorite part of the gospel
is. I guess we know what his was. Then we had gospel principals where
we talked about parables of farms. Well the good ol'raspberry farm was
brought up and I was able to share some neat experiences from it.
Sacrament meeting was good. I found an interesting observation. In
America we typically reference the Hebrew translation of words, or the
Greek or Latin roots. However in Japan they often reference the
English word. One of the speakers talked about Moroni 10:3, talking
about exhort, and how the translation was unable to completely convey
the feeling of the word. It was really interesting. Afterwards. I said
goodbye to my buddy, Sister Yamauchi. She was so sad to hear I am
leaving! We talked for an hour, she said we can be best friends
forever. I love that woman, she is my favorite 82 year Japanese woman.
She said that she expects to sit next to me at the Wada FHE! After
that we talked with more members then went to the YSA activity. It was
the most awkward time I have had on my mission. Everyone was so
awkward around each other, so naturally as missionaries we couldn't
really talk a whole lot. Let's just say we were happy when it was
over. We then came home and finished weekly planning. We had a long
and through weekly planning session for my companions new missionary
that he will be receiving. We had a really long companionship
inventory. But it went really really well. I am glad we had it. It
fixed a lot of things.
I love you all!
Elder Dunn
Monday, June 22, 2015
A Trip to the Temple, a New Tennis Racket, and a Fun Shokugi
Hello everyone!
Is it that time of the week already?
火曜日
We woke up way early and got dressed then bikes to Kitano Eki to get
on the train to go to the temple. There we met up the sisters and
began our journey. Elder Gailey was the leader since he has served in
the area the longest. We had a good idea of how to get there. This
included Shibuya Eki. If you have ever seen a video of japan and they
showcase the busy cross walk, it is Shibuya, it is a massive Eki, and
there were thousands of people. We were literally shoved into a train,
I have never been that close to my companion and the sister
missionaries, nor have I ever wanted to be that close. When we got off
the train I felt sick from all the bodies, it was the first time in my
life I have ever gotten claustrophobic sickness. The temple was
wonderful, I really enjoyed the session. After we went to Burger
Mania, an American hamburger shop near the temple. It seems like there
are always good places to eat near the temples. Coincidence? I think
not. I ordered a bacon cheese burger. Wow, let me tell you, it has
been a while since I have had a real American hamburger. After that
slice of heaven, we got on the train to get back home. Once back at
Kitano we went to mode-off, or a clothes store recycle shop. There I
found two suits for 20 bucks! I was quite pleased, they arent the
prettiest looking suits, but they only have to last about a year or
so. We then went to giomes, my companion got the wild idea to buy a
fish. So now we have a salmon in our freezer. Why we have a salmon, I
don't know. We then went to the church so my companion could work more
on his college essays, during which I downloaded more BYU devotionals.
They are always a good mental break during lunch. At 6 Tomo came for a
lesson. We talked about hope, and how during our trials we can have
home. We read Ether 12 with him, it was a good lesson. After we
emailed and my companion continued to work on his essays. He really
wants to get into BYU.
水曜日
We awoke, and went to the church to have a lesson with Adam. It was an
okay lesson, he didn't really understand what we were saying. The next
Lesson we will need a Chinese speaking member. After studies they had
me prepare the salmon we bought yesterday. Well I've never cooked
fish, but i figure you can't go wrong with olive oil, salt, pepper,
lemon juice, and basil. It turned out really good! We then went to the
church to contact since it was raining. We invited over 100 people
through the phone to various activities. As well as set up a lesson on
Sunday with a man from Nepal, referred another man to the missionaries
in Hong Kong, and we're able to set up an appointment with another man
for other elders in our mission! It was a lot of contacting! After we
set up for ekaiwa, it was pretty quick. Then we went out to find
measuring cups, however we found a fabric store instead. It had some
cool Japanese fabrics, and relaxing Yoga music. We then walks home and
talked to a few people here and there. Then ate dinner and went to
ekaiwa. It was a really fun ekaiwa. The sisters, whom we normally
teach with,weren't there since they weren't feeling well. We talked
about everything to Ferraris and Lamborghini's to American weather
patterns. It was a fun conversation.
木曜日
We woke up had studies, then went to indo curry. I don't know of o
have ever completely explained what indo curry is. It is curry made
using spices from India and Nepal, and almost always made by Indian or
Nepalese people. The dish is usually served with nan (or a flatbread)
which is usually unlimited. To eat it you rip the nan and dip it in
the curry. They also include usually a drink called lassi, which is a
yogurt milk drink. It is super delicious, the place we went to had the
option of a two curry lunch set. So I got the chicken and mutton
curries, they were amazing. After our trip to Nepal we came back home
in the rain to weekly plan. We usually write up things about our
investigators on a giant wipe board, however the marker we used was
permanent so that made for an interesting cleaning job. During weekly
planning we both had the feeling to visit a man named Ito. We visited
him last week and did some service at his house. Since last Saturday
he has come to church, and English class! It was such a cool miracle,
he has never come to either before, and now he has a desire to come to
both. On our way over to his house we talked to a few people on the
street, no one had any super awesome interest, which just meant that
we needed to get their sooner. We arrived and knocked on his door. He
was so surprised to see us and so happy too! We asked how we could
help him so he took us up stairs. I'll tell you what, I have never
seen dust so thick in my life. He enjoys collecting things...well more
like everything. We helped him move some boxes downstairs so he could
go through them. We found some really cool things as we were helping
him. I felt like I was in the T.V. show "American Pickers" only in
this case "Japanese Pickers". He had magnetic tape for music, like the
predecessor to the cassette tape! He tried to give my companion a
massive Japanese dictionary it was huge! Like library's in America
have smaller dictionaries than this thing. My companion kindly
declined, and we continued searching. We were brought into a
back-almost attic-room in the house. There he tried to give us a
telescope and a pair of skis, I would have loved to take them, however
the usefulness of them is very limited. We continued searching and I
found a box with the words "brother" on it. Thinking I had heard the
name before I asked. Ito responded by saying that it was machine.
Which confused me since it looked like a mini fridge. I then asked if
I could open it. We moved some things out of the way and opened it. I
then realized what it was. It was a sowing machine case. He said he
had the sowing machine somewhere, but who knows where that it. However
behind it were a few tennis rackets. Two of them were almost brand
new, he then handed them to us and asked us to take them. We have
talked about finding tennis rackets so we could play with potential
investigators. It was a cool little tender mercy and gift. It was fun
serving him, he is really lonely so we are the only communication he
has sometimes. After helping him we left for the church so we could
make it to our lesson on time. My companion got some dinner and I took
a nap in a chair for 20 min. We then taught Takeyama, or waterfall
mountain. It was a wonderful lesson! We taught the entire restoration
in half English half Japanese. Most people we teach like that only
like the lessons for English practice however he was different, he
wanted to know all of the gospel words. He even asked us questions
about how baptism works and how we can stay clean! It was so good!
After we went to Alps to buy a few groceries we forgot, and to buy
measuring supplies.
金曜日
After studies, I took a rest, I was absolutely exhausted, I have
noticed rain makes me feel tired. After my rest we went into the rain
ready for our long day. It was pouring and didn't show any remote
signs of stopping. We decided to house a specific area, so with our
umbrellas we walked, and walked, and walked! The first house we
knocked on had an old man at the door. He was really nice, and thanked
us as Americans for setting Japan free. It was a little confusing. We
continued to house around, no one was interested in listening to the
two white men with shirts and ties, soaking wet, and teaching about
Jesus. One woman asked if we could do her a favor. We said sure! What
is it? Leave came her response. Welp...we gave her an opportunity, and
who knows maybe she was having a rough day, and doesn't like the rain.
At another apartment complex we knocked on a door and the door across
the way moved a little, then the handle moved a little more. Then a
little head poked out! It was a little boy! We asked him where his
parents were then his mom popped out the corner and said hello! It was
pretty funny! A little while later we knocked on another door, I
noticed out of the corner of my eye the mail box move and a little
finger pop out, then the door opened and a woman came out holding a
child. The girl looked younger than me, so that worried us a little
bit. My companion and I were then able to teach her the plan of
salvation, and set up a return appointment. My companion and I then
asked how old she was because she was either really interested, or had
the hots for us. It turns out she is 16, however she said we could
teach her family...so we are hoping it is true intent. We continued
housing a bunch of houses, then walked back to the apartment to change
shoes we were soaked! We found boots in the apartment and went to the
train station to try to meet another man we tried to set up a meeting
with. He stood us up which was a little sad. We both felt the need to
go to a certain place for dinner, which is an interesting thought. We
thought it was a certain area, however it was over a kilometer away.
In the rain, not ignoring the prompting we continued forward. We only
talked to three men on the way there, and none of them had this
miraculous interest we were expecting. However we had hope that it was
preparing someone for us. After dinner we went the church in the rain,
and waited for our lesson however he stood us up too. It was pretty
sad, so we went to go buy vanilla so we could make cinnamon rolls for
Sister Wilsons birthday the next day. Elder Rockwood was on splits
with Elder Eaton so he slept over at our apartment. Elder Rockwood and
I were up until almost 2 talking, he has a lot of neat experience, it
was pretty exhausting though.
土曜日
During part of our normal studies I made cinnamon rolls for district
meeting. It was fun, I was surprised how much of the recipe I could
remember/do with only milliliters. It opened a new world in cooking.
After lunch we went to district meeting. Everyone seemed dead, I tried
to count the smiling people in district meeting and it was really sad.
So I proposed that our district make it a goal to smile more because
we have the chance of a lifetime, literally! There is no reason that
we can't try and crack a smile. If Satan can get us discouraged this
work tanks, so I choose to smile and stick it to him. After district
meeting elder Gailey and I went on splits and headed to Machida for
scouts ekaiwa! It was so much fun this time! I took more of the lead
role and had a blast with it. We played games and sang songs. The more
I go there the closer I get to our little scouts! After Elder Gailey
and I went to get some Raman! It was delicious, and huge! It hurt to
eat. After we came home and felt the need to take a longer way home,
there we found a man walking his dog, he was really nice, however he
tried to explain to us that there are many paths, but only one right
one and the rest are parallel. It didn't make much since, logically
the restored gospel makes sense, we tried to explain but he tired to
use age as an excuse. Well we will all have our opportunity at some
point or another.
日曜日
We woke up and got ready, i had to tailor my pants before church, I am
getting pretty good at that for how often I have done it. After we
went to church, it was really good. During sacrament we decided to
split up so we could sit next to more members, I sat next to Kuroki
Kyodai! He is a great older man, who usually sits by himself. After we
came home, and ate lunch, but I felt more tired than hungry so I
slept. After we studied then went to go visit the girl that we met on
Friday. However when we got to the church, we forgot our bikes so we
planned to use the sisters. As we were climbing a big hill, the bike I
was using slipped, and the chain slid off. It turns out the bike is
unable to handle the last two gears very well. So we took the bikes
back to the church, and got it figured out. Then we streeted around
for a little bit. We talked to a man by the laundry mat, he wasn't
interested at all, but he had met missionaries before which is great!
The next man we talked to gave us a really strange feeling. He kept
saying, I want to learn. However he wouldn't accept any of our
invitations to learn. Well you won't learn anything if you don't
accept! We then went to the church to meet Misu Kyodai so he could
take us to the shokogi at the Bishops in-laws house! It was delicious!
He has 4 daughters, two of them are under 10, they are really silly.
They reminded me of how the boys get when we have the sisters over for
dinner. We played games as with the family, it was so much fun! We
then came home and sang hymns on Misu Kyodai's car.
Another Fast Week in Japan!
Big Hearts Everyone!
Elder Dunn
Is it that time of the week already?
火曜日
We woke up way early and got dressed then bikes to Kitano Eki to get
on the train to go to the temple. There we met up the sisters and
began our journey. Elder Gailey was the leader since he has served in
the area the longest. We had a good idea of how to get there. This
included Shibuya Eki. If you have ever seen a video of japan and they
showcase the busy cross walk, it is Shibuya, it is a massive Eki, and
there were thousands of people. We were literally shoved into a train,
I have never been that close to my companion and the sister
missionaries, nor have I ever wanted to be that close. When we got off
the train I felt sick from all the bodies, it was the first time in my
life I have ever gotten claustrophobic sickness. The temple was
wonderful, I really enjoyed the session. After we went to Burger
Mania, an American hamburger shop near the temple. It seems like there
are always good places to eat near the temples. Coincidence? I think
not. I ordered a bacon cheese burger. Wow, let me tell you, it has
been a while since I have had a real American hamburger. After that
slice of heaven, we got on the train to get back home. Once back at
Kitano we went to mode-off, or a clothes store recycle shop. There I
found two suits for 20 bucks! I was quite pleased, they arent the
prettiest looking suits, but they only have to last about a year or
so. We then went to giomes, my companion got the wild idea to buy a
fish. So now we have a salmon in our freezer. Why we have a salmon, I
don't know. We then went to the church so my companion could work more
on his college essays, during which I downloaded more BYU devotionals.
They are always a good mental break during lunch. At 6 Tomo came for a
lesson. We talked about hope, and how during our trials we can have
home. We read Ether 12 with him, it was a good lesson. After we
emailed and my companion continued to work on his essays. He really
wants to get into BYU.
水曜日
We awoke, and went to the church to have a lesson with Adam. It was an
okay lesson, he didn't really understand what we were saying. The next
Lesson we will need a Chinese speaking member. After studies they had
me prepare the salmon we bought yesterday. Well I've never cooked
fish, but i figure you can't go wrong with olive oil, salt, pepper,
lemon juice, and basil. It turned out really good! We then went to the
church to contact since it was raining. We invited over 100 people
through the phone to various activities. As well as set up a lesson on
Sunday with a man from Nepal, referred another man to the missionaries
in Hong Kong, and we're able to set up an appointment with another man
for other elders in our mission! It was a lot of contacting! After we
set up for ekaiwa, it was pretty quick. Then we went out to find
measuring cups, however we found a fabric store instead. It had some
cool Japanese fabrics, and relaxing Yoga music. We then walks home and
talked to a few people here and there. Then ate dinner and went to
ekaiwa. It was a really fun ekaiwa. The sisters, whom we normally
teach with,weren't there since they weren't feeling well. We talked
about everything to Ferraris and Lamborghini's to American weather
patterns. It was a fun conversation.
木曜日
We woke up had studies, then went to indo curry. I don't know of o
have ever completely explained what indo curry is. It is curry made
using spices from India and Nepal, and almost always made by Indian or
Nepalese people. The dish is usually served with nan (or a flatbread)
which is usually unlimited. To eat it you rip the nan and dip it in
the curry. They also include usually a drink called lassi, which is a
yogurt milk drink. It is super delicious, the place we went to had the
option of a two curry lunch set. So I got the chicken and mutton
curries, they were amazing. After our trip to Nepal we came back home
in the rain to weekly plan. We usually write up things about our
investigators on a giant wipe board, however the marker we used was
permanent so that made for an interesting cleaning job. During weekly
planning we both had the feeling to visit a man named Ito. We visited
him last week and did some service at his house. Since last Saturday
he has come to church, and English class! It was such a cool miracle,
he has never come to either before, and now he has a desire to come to
both. On our way over to his house we talked to a few people on the
street, no one had any super awesome interest, which just meant that
we needed to get their sooner. We arrived and knocked on his door. He
was so surprised to see us and so happy too! We asked how we could
help him so he took us up stairs. I'll tell you what, I have never
seen dust so thick in my life. He enjoys collecting things...well more
like everything. We helped him move some boxes downstairs so he could
go through them. We found some really cool things as we were helping
him. I felt like I was in the T.V. show "American Pickers" only in
this case "Japanese Pickers". He had magnetic tape for music, like the
predecessor to the cassette tape! He tried to give my companion a
massive Japanese dictionary it was huge! Like library's in America
have smaller dictionaries than this thing. My companion kindly
declined, and we continued searching. We were brought into a
back-almost attic-room in the house. There he tried to give us a
telescope and a pair of skis, I would have loved to take them, however
the usefulness of them is very limited. We continued searching and I
found a box with the words "brother" on it. Thinking I had heard the
name before I asked. Ito responded by saying that it was machine.
Which confused me since it looked like a mini fridge. I then asked if
I could open it. We moved some things out of the way and opened it. I
then realized what it was. It was a sowing machine case. He said he
had the sowing machine somewhere, but who knows where that it. However
behind it were a few tennis rackets. Two of them were almost brand
new, he then handed them to us and asked us to take them. We have
talked about finding tennis rackets so we could play with potential
investigators. It was a cool little tender mercy and gift. It was fun
serving him, he is really lonely so we are the only communication he
has sometimes. After helping him we left for the church so we could
make it to our lesson on time. My companion got some dinner and I took
a nap in a chair for 20 min. We then taught Takeyama, or waterfall
mountain. It was a wonderful lesson! We taught the entire restoration
in half English half Japanese. Most people we teach like that only
like the lessons for English practice however he was different, he
wanted to know all of the gospel words. He even asked us questions
about how baptism works and how we can stay clean! It was so good!
After we went to Alps to buy a few groceries we forgot, and to buy
measuring supplies.
金曜日
After studies, I took a rest, I was absolutely exhausted, I have
noticed rain makes me feel tired. After my rest we went into the rain
ready for our long day. It was pouring and didn't show any remote
signs of stopping. We decided to house a specific area, so with our
umbrellas we walked, and walked, and walked! The first house we
knocked on had an old man at the door. He was really nice, and thanked
us as Americans for setting Japan free. It was a little confusing. We
continued to house around, no one was interested in listening to the
two white men with shirts and ties, soaking wet, and teaching about
Jesus. One woman asked if we could do her a favor. We said sure! What
is it? Leave came her response. Welp...we gave her an opportunity, and
who knows maybe she was having a rough day, and doesn't like the rain.
At another apartment complex we knocked on a door and the door across
the way moved a little, then the handle moved a little more. Then a
little head poked out! It was a little boy! We asked him where his
parents were then his mom popped out the corner and said hello! It was
pretty funny! A little while later we knocked on another door, I
noticed out of the corner of my eye the mail box move and a little
finger pop out, then the door opened and a woman came out holding a
child. The girl looked younger than me, so that worried us a little
bit. My companion and I were then able to teach her the plan of
salvation, and set up a return appointment. My companion and I then
asked how old she was because she was either really interested, or had
the hots for us. It turns out she is 16, however she said we could
teach her family...so we are hoping it is true intent. We continued
housing a bunch of houses, then walked back to the apartment to change
shoes we were soaked! We found boots in the apartment and went to the
train station to try to meet another man we tried to set up a meeting
with. He stood us up which was a little sad. We both felt the need to
go to a certain place for dinner, which is an interesting thought. We
thought it was a certain area, however it was over a kilometer away.
In the rain, not ignoring the prompting we continued forward. We only
talked to three men on the way there, and none of them had this
miraculous interest we were expecting. However we had hope that it was
preparing someone for us. After dinner we went the church in the rain,
and waited for our lesson however he stood us up too. It was pretty
sad, so we went to go buy vanilla so we could make cinnamon rolls for
Sister Wilsons birthday the next day. Elder Rockwood was on splits
with Elder Eaton so he slept over at our apartment. Elder Rockwood and
I were up until almost 2 talking, he has a lot of neat experience, it
was pretty exhausting though.
土曜日
During part of our normal studies I made cinnamon rolls for district
meeting. It was fun, I was surprised how much of the recipe I could
remember/do with only milliliters. It opened a new world in cooking.
After lunch we went to district meeting. Everyone seemed dead, I tried
to count the smiling people in district meeting and it was really sad.
So I proposed that our district make it a goal to smile more because
we have the chance of a lifetime, literally! There is no reason that
we can't try and crack a smile. If Satan can get us discouraged this
work tanks, so I choose to smile and stick it to him. After district
meeting elder Gailey and I went on splits and headed to Machida for
scouts ekaiwa! It was so much fun this time! I took more of the lead
role and had a blast with it. We played games and sang songs. The more
I go there the closer I get to our little scouts! After Elder Gailey
and I went to get some Raman! It was delicious, and huge! It hurt to
eat. After we came home and felt the need to take a longer way home,
there we found a man walking his dog, he was really nice, however he
tried to explain to us that there are many paths, but only one right
one and the rest are parallel. It didn't make much since, logically
the restored gospel makes sense, we tried to explain but he tired to
use age as an excuse. Well we will all have our opportunity at some
point or another.
日曜日
We woke up and got ready, i had to tailor my pants before church, I am
getting pretty good at that for how often I have done it. After we
went to church, it was really good. During sacrament we decided to
split up so we could sit next to more members, I sat next to Kuroki
Kyodai! He is a great older man, who usually sits by himself. After we
came home, and ate lunch, but I felt more tired than hungry so I
slept. After we studied then went to go visit the girl that we met on
Friday. However when we got to the church, we forgot our bikes so we
planned to use the sisters. As we were climbing a big hill, the bike I
was using slipped, and the chain slid off. It turns out the bike is
unable to handle the last two gears very well. So we took the bikes
back to the church, and got it figured out. Then we streeted around
for a little bit. We talked to a man by the laundry mat, he wasn't
interested at all, but he had met missionaries before which is great!
The next man we talked to gave us a really strange feeling. He kept
saying, I want to learn. However he wouldn't accept any of our
invitations to learn. Well you won't learn anything if you don't
accept! We then went to the church to meet Misu Kyodai so he could
take us to the shokogi at the Bishops in-laws house! It was delicious!
He has 4 daughters, two of them are under 10, they are really silly.
They reminded me of how the boys get when we have the sisters over for
dinner. We played games as with the family, it was so much fun! We
then came home and sang hymns on Misu Kyodai's car.
Another Fast Week in Japan!
Big Hearts Everyone!
Elder Dunn
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
A man named Spice, a Surprise Birthday Party for the Sisters, and a Few Fantastic Lessons
> Hello everyone!
>
> I hope you are all beating the heat back home!
>
> 月曜日
> We went for a run! Then we went to the church so my companion could
> work on his essays and I could study. However my companion needed help
> with his essays, which turned into the next three hours working on
> translating the essay from southern English/Japanese to English. Trust
> me, it was not easy! We then came home, and I found that the post
> office tried to deliver a package as was unsuccessful. We then went
> and had soba for lunch and walked around looking at suits for a little
> before our lesson. We got back to the church in the knick of time. We
> met Nori-San who nudists on speaking only English to us. We gave her a
> church tour and she only spoke in English, so the new sister
> missionary who is Japanese couldn't understand. We tried to give her
> to the sisters so the sisters could teach, but she insisted on meeting
> with us, and church policy states that we need another man if we are
> to teach a woman. So we began frantically calling the ward looking for
> someone while the sisters went to a room and began talking. Then they
> continued talking, and started a lesson! The lesson ended up being an
> hour and a half. So the member that came to be with us didn't need to
> be there! We felt really bad, but the other elders were there to get
> haircuts by a member so he stayed and got a haircut. We left after the
> lesson and went to Costco! We grabbed our big backpacks and got
> moving! At Costco we bought a lot more food. We bought a cake for
> sister Suzuki who have birthdays soon, as well as other American
> candies and things. We will for sure have enough food to last us the
> transfer. We also got American pizza there. We then went to the
> church, dropped it off and went to Diaso to buy party supplies, we
> decided to throw a surprise party for the sisters! When we got on the
> train we met a guy from Michigan named Spice, he was one of the
> friendliest foreigners I have ever met. We then went to another store
> to look at suits, but in order to get to our emailing we had to run
> back to the church. We then emailed, then went home and planned!
>
> 火曜日
> We went to the church early for a lesson with our friend Adam, but he
> forgot. After our studies we cleaned, then Elder Eaton convinced us
> that he should cook again. Cooking is not throwing random spices into
> food. He put so much spice in the curry it was burning our eyes from
> the spice, so we opened the windows, pinched our noses and ate. My
> companion and I went to the church to do some contacting, my companion
> got hit with the spice mess and was "busy" for the next half an hour.
> When he was finished he came out and exclaimed, "Elder Eaton will not
> cook again!" With that we left for Hachioji minamino (south field). We
> met a man near the police box just standing there. So we walked up and
> asked him how he was doing. He was bird watching, so we talked about
> birds. He was really funny about describing the birds. I didn't know
> at first that a swallow was a bird so when he kept telling me to
> swallow I thought he was asking me to do the action. I am sure that
> was an interesting sight to see. We tried to give him a Book of Mormon
> but he was t interested. We then spoke to a few families and made our
> way to a members house. The member wasn't home, however his father
> was. So we talked to him. He kept telling us he didn't speak any
> English, however our whole conversation was in Japanese. It was really
> funny. I like old Japanese men, they come in so many different
> flavors. We then went to another members house who we thought were
> less active. We went there and met the wife who was waiting for her
> kids to come home from school. She was really nice we shared the
> family proclamation to the world with her. Then she started speaking
> about her mission. Which was really really confusing since I thought
> she was less active. After the visit I turned to my companion and
> asked if she was. He said no, her husband is in the elders quorum or
> something. We then went to the post office so I could pick up my
> package! It worked! We figured out how the postal system works thank
> goodness. Then to the church. My companion made a scripture case for
> one of our investigators. Then we taught a lesson to Tomo. It was a
> really weird lesson. Our Japanese was awful and we had no idea why. It
> was really confusing. So we ended the lesson. We then had another
> lesson with a different recent convert. Our Japanese was perfect. It
> was night and day! We talked about it later and couldn't figure out
> why it had happened. The spirit wanted something different for each of
> them. We then came home and planned.
>
> 水曜日
> We awoke and began our day. We studied then went to the church and did
> some contacting. We were able to get a hold of a few people then went
> to Daiso for the party for the sisters we bought the supplies we
> needed then went back to the church for a lesson with a member. The
> missionaries have been meeting with him for almost 10 years every
> week. We read the scriptures together in Japanese as best we could, he
> was really kind toward us. After we went to the third floor for Kodomo
> ekaiwa or kids English class! It was so much fun! We sang and danced
> and played games. One of the little girls was really intrigued by my
> eyelashes and hair being different colors. She was really funny. We
> then went out for dinner at Indo curry it was delicious as normal.
> Then we went to the church to start decorating for the party. We ran
> out of supplies so we jumped on the bikes to pick up more supplies.
> Then we worked busily stringing balloons and getting the cake out and
> putting the candles in. All the while everyone else taught the normal
> English class. We then realized neither of us had a lighter. So we had
> to run to the combini and back then into our class because we joint
> teach with the sisters. So we sent them downstairs or had one of the
> missionaries fake needing a drink. Then we passed out party hats, and
> poppers. After shuffling everyone in the room my companion lit the
> candles and I went with elder Gaily to get the sisters. We surprised
> them so good! They had no idea! Two of the sisters birthdays are
> within about a week of each other. The students loved the cake! Some
> of them said they had never seen a cake that large before! They ate
> the whole thing too. Sister Suzuki cried, it's her first transfer and
> we don't think anyone has ever thrown her a surprise party before.
> Sister Wilson was ecstatic and took pictures with everyone. So over
> all it was awesome! It was a great way to end our night, and a fun
> opportunity to serve others.
>
> 木曜日
> We got up and went for a great run! Then went to zone conference! It
> was a really really good conference. It was a much needed spiritual
> recharge. There were some great trainings given. After the meeting
> sister Wada went around talking to all the missionaries. She asked how
> my baking was going. Well this apartment doesn't have an oven I told
> her. She then responded, "well that is a problem isn't it. How are you
> supposed to bless others with your baking?" She then said they have
> one at the honbu and will send it over to our apartment! We then went
> out for dinner to Go Go Gorrilla! It was delicious, thankfully this
> time I didn't get as much. We then walked back to the church. On our
> way there we stopped a college student and talked with him for a
> while. Then he we asked if he would come to the church with us! He
> said yes! So we took him to the church and had a wonderful lesson with
> him. We hope to see him again soon. We then went housing, we didn't
> find anyone remarkable, but they were all kind toward us. It was an
> overall refreshing day.
>
> 金曜日
> After studies we made nachos and had weekly planning. It lasted quite
> a long time. During it we got a call from Elder Naganuma, my old
> companion, telling us that we would be getting a new fridge at 5! So
> we had to be home. During weekly planning we cleaned up our giant wipe
> board, and called a bunch of people. We had to call President Wada
> about one of our investigators, I enjoy talking to President. We then
> went to the church to find some addresses for our plan that night,
> then back home to get the fridge. We had to carry a fridge up 3
> flights of stairs, so as you can imagine it was exhaustive, and it
> split another pair of pants. We then moved things from the fridges
> into the one big fridge and had dinner. After dinner we went to go
> visit Misawa-San, we found out he is really sick and terminally ill.
> However when we tried to go inside with him he took us down stairs and
> went housing with us. I was really confused. We decided that he isn't
> all the way there sadly. We will still visit him, but not focus on him
> anymore. After that we went to go visit someone else. Just as we
> arrived at the apartment complex our phone rang, it was the other
> elders. They told us our investigator was at the church. What who? It
> was the investigator we have been trying to meet with all transfer! He
> was there! So we speed up to the church and had a get to know you sort
> of lesson. It was a really good time. When we got home we found the
> zone leaders in our apartment. They locked themselves out of their
> apartment so they spent the night.
>
> 土曜日
> After lunch we went to the church to have district meeting. It was
> fun, after we went to Ito-Sans house. He is an older man with a lot of
> stuff. He is really nice, but not all the way there. We helped him
> move some things in his house. Then went out to sushi with him, and
> the elders from takao. After that we streeted back to the apartment
> and met a really interesting man who quoted dragons, and scriptures.
> It was interesting to say the least. We then went back to the
> apartment and my companion layer down while I called old
> investigators. I was able to get a whole of a few and even invite them
> to English class! After that we went to the church so we could take
> our language tests. They were pretty exhaustive because they prompt
> you with Japanese prompts then you speak. It is not fun. Then we came
> home.
>
> 日曜日
> We awoke and got ready for church, and left for DCS. DCS was good the
> bishop ran it since it was Ward Conference. After DCS we went into the
> hallway where a member came up to us and told us that Ito-San had come
> to church! We invited him in passing! It was so cool! Then another
> member came up to us and told us that we were going to have a lesson
> with Watanabe-San that night and he was going to doseki! Talk about an
> awesome miracle! Then we had our regular meetings and a shokugi
> afterwards! There was so much delicious food there! After we went home
> changed and called the kofu elders to cancel our split. We then
> studied for Watanabes lesson so we would have an idea of what to teach
> him. Then we got on a bus and went to his house. He has one of the
> cleanest and nicest houses I have ever been in. We sat with our doseki
> and had a great lesson. It lasted 3 hours, but the spirit was so
> strong. And our member was pulling out scriptures left and right, it
> was amazing! After the lesson Ueno Kyodai, our member for the lesson,
> took us to the church. It was really nice of him. At the church I
> called the sisters to work out plans for some joint lessons the next
> day. And my companion put in our lessons. We then went to the
> apartment and switched microwaves with the sisters. So now we have a
> newer microwave that bakes!
>
> 月曜日
> We studied then went to the church to do some contacting. We tried
> calling the honbu about our 4 fridge situation. They didn't answer so
> now we still have 4 fridges in our apartment. We then went to Go Go
> Gorrilla, since it was a day with a 5 in it you get a coupon for a big
> size! It was delicious. On our way back we were walking through the
> eki and a man came up to us and asked us, "are you Mormons?" Uh yeah,
> how can we help? He said that he had been to church before but moved
> and wanted a map! So exciting! We then grabbed the bikes and went to
> kitano. We talked to a lot of different people. I really enjoyed
> housing in to one family that was really excited to meet with us
> again. We then went to the apartment and made brownies for the family
> home evening with a family in our ward. On our way there I really
> enjoyed riding by the cars on our bikes. There is a fun adrenaline
> that come riding that close to cars. Family home evening with the
> sisters and the family from our ward. We talked about our families, I
> enjoyed showcasing my family and the farm. After the lesson we had
> dinner, except we wearnt expecting it, and since they had already
> eaten it was just us and the sisters. It was a little strange. After
> we rode to the church, so my companion could take a language survey
> and so I could post a recipe to the portal.
>
> Another quick week down!
>
> Love you all!
>
> Elder Nathan Dunn
>
> I hope you are all beating the heat back home!
>
> 月曜日
> We went for a run! Then we went to the church so my companion could
> work on his essays and I could study. However my companion needed help
> with his essays, which turned into the next three hours working on
> translating the essay from southern English/Japanese to English. Trust
> me, it was not easy! We then came home, and I found that the post
> office tried to deliver a package as was unsuccessful. We then went
> and had soba for lunch and walked around looking at suits for a little
> before our lesson. We got back to the church in the knick of time. We
> met Nori-San who nudists on speaking only English to us. We gave her a
> church tour and she only spoke in English, so the new sister
> missionary who is Japanese couldn't understand. We tried to give her
> to the sisters so the sisters could teach, but she insisted on meeting
> with us, and church policy states that we need another man if we are
> to teach a woman. So we began frantically calling the ward looking for
> someone while the sisters went to a room and began talking. Then they
> continued talking, and started a lesson! The lesson ended up being an
> hour and a half. So the member that came to be with us didn't need to
> be there! We felt really bad, but the other elders were there to get
> haircuts by a member so he stayed and got a haircut. We left after the
> lesson and went to Costco! We grabbed our big backpacks and got
> moving! At Costco we bought a lot more food. We bought a cake for
> sister Suzuki who have birthdays soon, as well as other American
> candies and things. We will for sure have enough food to last us the
> transfer. We also got American pizza there. We then went to the
> church, dropped it off and went to Diaso to buy party supplies, we
> decided to throw a surprise party for the sisters! When we got on the
> train we met a guy from Michigan named Spice, he was one of the
> friendliest foreigners I have ever met. We then went to another store
> to look at suits, but in order to get to our emailing we had to run
> back to the church. We then emailed, then went home and planned!
>
> 火曜日
> We went to the church early for a lesson with our friend Adam, but he
> forgot. After our studies we cleaned, then Elder Eaton convinced us
> that he should cook again. Cooking is not throwing random spices into
> food. He put so much spice in the curry it was burning our eyes from
> the spice, so we opened the windows, pinched our noses and ate. My
> companion and I went to the church to do some contacting, my companion
> got hit with the spice mess and was "busy" for the next half an hour.
> When he was finished he came out and exclaimed, "Elder Eaton will not
> cook again!" With that we left for Hachioji minamino (south field). We
> met a man near the police box just standing there. So we walked up and
> asked him how he was doing. He was bird watching, so we talked about
> birds. He was really funny about describing the birds. I didn't know
> at first that a swallow was a bird so when he kept telling me to
> swallow I thought he was asking me to do the action. I am sure that
> was an interesting sight to see. We tried to give him a Book of Mormon
> but he was t interested. We then spoke to a few families and made our
> way to a members house. The member wasn't home, however his father
> was. So we talked to him. He kept telling us he didn't speak any
> English, however our whole conversation was in Japanese. It was really
> funny. I like old Japanese men, they come in so many different
> flavors. We then went to another members house who we thought were
> less active. We went there and met the wife who was waiting for her
> kids to come home from school. She was really nice we shared the
> family proclamation to the world with her. Then she started speaking
> about her mission. Which was really really confusing since I thought
> she was less active. After the visit I turned to my companion and
> asked if she was. He said no, her husband is in the elders quorum or
> something. We then went to the post office so I could pick up my
> package! It worked! We figured out how the postal system works thank
> goodness. Then to the church. My companion made a scripture case for
> one of our investigators. Then we taught a lesson to Tomo. It was a
> really weird lesson. Our Japanese was awful and we had no idea why. It
> was really confusing. So we ended the lesson. We then had another
> lesson with a different recent convert. Our Japanese was perfect. It
> was night and day! We talked about it later and couldn't figure out
> why it had happened. The spirit wanted something different for each of
> them. We then came home and planned.
>
> 水曜日
> We awoke and began our day. We studied then went to the church and did
> some contacting. We were able to get a hold of a few people then went
> to Daiso for the party for the sisters we bought the supplies we
> needed then went back to the church for a lesson with a member. The
> missionaries have been meeting with him for almost 10 years every
> week. We read the scriptures together in Japanese as best we could, he
> was really kind toward us. After we went to the third floor for Kodomo
> ekaiwa or kids English class! It was so much fun! We sang and danced
> and played games. One of the little girls was really intrigued by my
> eyelashes and hair being different colors. She was really funny. We
> then went out for dinner at Indo curry it was delicious as normal.
> Then we went to the church to start decorating for the party. We ran
> out of supplies so we jumped on the bikes to pick up more supplies.
> Then we worked busily stringing balloons and getting the cake out and
> putting the candles in. All the while everyone else taught the normal
> English class. We then realized neither of us had a lighter. So we had
> to run to the combini and back then into our class because we joint
> teach with the sisters. So we sent them downstairs or had one of the
> missionaries fake needing a drink. Then we passed out party hats, and
> poppers. After shuffling everyone in the room my companion lit the
> candles and I went with elder Gaily to get the sisters. We surprised
> them so good! They had no idea! Two of the sisters birthdays are
> within about a week of each other. The students loved the cake! Some
> of them said they had never seen a cake that large before! They ate
> the whole thing too. Sister Suzuki cried, it's her first transfer and
> we don't think anyone has ever thrown her a surprise party before.
> Sister Wilson was ecstatic and took pictures with everyone. So over
> all it was awesome! It was a great way to end our night, and a fun
> opportunity to serve others.
>
> 木曜日
> We got up and went for a great run! Then went to zone conference! It
> was a really really good conference. It was a much needed spiritual
> recharge. There were some great trainings given. After the meeting
> sister Wada went around talking to all the missionaries. She asked how
> my baking was going. Well this apartment doesn't have an oven I told
> her. She then responded, "well that is a problem isn't it. How are you
> supposed to bless others with your baking?" She then said they have
> one at the honbu and will send it over to our apartment! We then went
> out for dinner to Go Go Gorrilla! It was delicious, thankfully this
> time I didn't get as much. We then walked back to the church. On our
> way there we stopped a college student and talked with him for a
> while. Then he we asked if he would come to the church with us! He
> said yes! So we took him to the church and had a wonderful lesson with
> him. We hope to see him again soon. We then went housing, we didn't
> find anyone remarkable, but they were all kind toward us. It was an
> overall refreshing day.
>
> 金曜日
> After studies we made nachos and had weekly planning. It lasted quite
> a long time. During it we got a call from Elder Naganuma, my old
> companion, telling us that we would be getting a new fridge at 5! So
> we had to be home. During weekly planning we cleaned up our giant wipe
> board, and called a bunch of people. We had to call President Wada
> about one of our investigators, I enjoy talking to President. We then
> went to the church to find some addresses for our plan that night,
> then back home to get the fridge. We had to carry a fridge up 3
> flights of stairs, so as you can imagine it was exhaustive, and it
> split another pair of pants. We then moved things from the fridges
> into the one big fridge and had dinner. After dinner we went to go
> visit Misawa-San, we found out he is really sick and terminally ill.
> However when we tried to go inside with him he took us down stairs and
> went housing with us. I was really confused. We decided that he isn't
> all the way there sadly. We will still visit him, but not focus on him
> anymore. After that we went to go visit someone else. Just as we
> arrived at the apartment complex our phone rang, it was the other
> elders. They told us our investigator was at the church. What who? It
> was the investigator we have been trying to meet with all transfer! He
> was there! So we speed up to the church and had a get to know you sort
> of lesson. It was a really good time. When we got home we found the
> zone leaders in our apartment. They locked themselves out of their
> apartment so they spent the night.
>
> 土曜日
> After lunch we went to the church to have district meeting. It was
> fun, after we went to Ito-Sans house. He is an older man with a lot of
> stuff. He is really nice, but not all the way there. We helped him
> move some things in his house. Then went out to sushi with him, and
> the elders from takao. After that we streeted back to the apartment
> and met a really interesting man who quoted dragons, and scriptures.
> It was interesting to say the least. We then went back to the
> apartment and my companion layer down while I called old
> investigators. I was able to get a whole of a few and even invite them
> to English class! After that we went to the church so we could take
> our language tests. They were pretty exhaustive because they prompt
> you with Japanese prompts then you speak. It is not fun. Then we came
> home.
>
> 日曜日
> We awoke and got ready for church, and left for DCS. DCS was good the
> bishop ran it since it was Ward Conference. After DCS we went into the
> hallway where a member came up to us and told us that Ito-San had come
> to church! We invited him in passing! It was so cool! Then another
> member came up to us and told us that we were going to have a lesson
> with Watanabe-San that night and he was going to doseki! Talk about an
> awesome miracle! Then we had our regular meetings and a shokugi
> afterwards! There was so much delicious food there! After we went home
> changed and called the kofu elders to cancel our split. We then
> studied for Watanabes lesson so we would have an idea of what to teach
> him. Then we got on a bus and went to his house. He has one of the
> cleanest and nicest houses I have ever been in. We sat with our doseki
> and had a great lesson. It lasted 3 hours, but the spirit was so
> strong. And our member was pulling out scriptures left and right, it
> was amazing! After the lesson Ueno Kyodai, our member for the lesson,
> took us to the church. It was really nice of him. At the church I
> called the sisters to work out plans for some joint lessons the next
> day. And my companion put in our lessons. We then went to the
> apartment and switched microwaves with the sisters. So now we have a
> newer microwave that bakes!
>
> 月曜日
> We studied then went to the church to do some contacting. We tried
> calling the honbu about our 4 fridge situation. They didn't answer so
> now we still have 4 fridges in our apartment. We then went to Go Go
> Gorrilla, since it was a day with a 5 in it you get a coupon for a big
> size! It was delicious. On our way back we were walking through the
> eki and a man came up to us and asked us, "are you Mormons?" Uh yeah,
> how can we help? He said that he had been to church before but moved
> and wanted a map! So exciting! We then grabbed the bikes and went to
> kitano. We talked to a lot of different people. I really enjoyed
> housing in to one family that was really excited to meet with us
> again. We then went to the apartment and made brownies for the family
> home evening with a family in our ward. On our way there I really
> enjoyed riding by the cars on our bikes. There is a fun adrenaline
> that come riding that close to cars. Family home evening with the
> sisters and the family from our ward. We talked about our families, I
> enjoyed showcasing my family and the farm. After the lesson we had
> dinner, except we wearnt expecting it, and since they had already
> eaten it was just us and the sisters. It was a little strange. After
> we rode to the church, so my companion could take a language survey
> and so I could post a recipe to the portal.
>
> Another quick week down!
>
> Love you all!
>
> Elder Nathan Dunn
Monday, June 8, 2015
Prepared People, Food Poisoning, and a Baptism!
Hello friends and family!
Here is the week of elder Dunn!
月曜日
We awoke at the normal time on and did some sit ups and push ups. Then
had our studies. Right after studies we went to the church and worked
on my companions college application for the next 3 hours. We got a
fair amount of it done. He just has his essays and other parts to
finish up. I found out that my companion was the best in the world at
skeet shooting before he joined the church, then quit so he could go
to church on Sunday's! Talk about a conversion! We then went to
Costco, and spent a ton. My companion and I were kids in a candy
store! We bought all kinds of delicious foods. One of the members Misu
Kyodai drove us so we emailed while in the car. It was really funny
putting 4 giant white people into a tiny car with a bunch of food.
After getting back to the apartment we quickly finished emails, and
ran to the church to send them off. We then had an awesome time of
dendo. We felt like we needed to go down a certain street, so we
headed in that direction. We went down some pretty sketchy streets,
but then we found our guy! We stopped a high school student and were
able to share some of the Book of Mormon with him! He was so excited
to get the Book of Mormon! It was awesome! After that we talked to a
few more people. We invented a game that helps us, "count the smiling
people" it is fun, but kind of sad because the ratio is always pretty
low. So all of you reading this, SMILE MORE, you never know how far a
simple smile goes! We talked to a few more people than ran home to
make curfew.
火曜日
After lunch we went out went to the church. There we went to the
church, there we found the sisters and other elders there. The
district leader was doing the baptismal interview, it took over 2
hours! We left before it was finished though. We began walking by the
eki, and a woman approached us in English. "Hello, are you
missionaries?" she asked. "Yeah, we are for that church over there."
We responded. (The eki is a 3-5 minute walk from the church) She then
proceeded to tell us how she was looking for a church and wanted to
know about ours. Then she set up a return appointment for the the next
day! Talk about a neat miracle. We the continued walking to the other
side of the eki, we ran into a man and talked to him for a little bit
and as soon as we told him our nickname is "Mormon" he became really
uncomfortable around us. My companion then asked, "what do you know
about our church?" To that he responded, "A lot" he responded.
"Really? Like what?" My companion answered. "Well nothing actually."
He was trying to frustrate us and pull us in circles. So we gave him a
Book of Mormon and invited him to learn, he declined though. We then
began our hike toward Nishihachioji which is a few kilometers away. It
was an enjoyable walk, we stopped in every drug store, in search of
insoles, sadly they do not carry insoles, or if they do they are not
comfortable looking at all. Our target was to visit a few less actives
in the area, sadly none of them were home, which was kind of a bummer.
The people we talked to kept rejecting us really badly, it was a rough
day on both of us. We then came home, ate dinner, and listened to a
BYU devotional. After dinner we went Streeting nearby the church. We
talked to a college student who we were able to pray with. Hearing
someone utter their first aloud prayer in possibly their life is a
very special and exciting opportunity, especially when they pray with
real intent. After our lesson on the street we went to the church to
teach ishikawa Kyodai, he is a recent convert so we are teaching the
lessons to him again. We decided to let him teach us the lesson this
time. It was a good lesson, it reminded me of how I taught at the MTC.
水曜日
We had a lesson at 8 so went to the church in the rain to meet Adam.
It was a great lesson, we learned however that we really need a
Chinese speaking member to help us. He understands about half of what
we say, which isn't very helpful to us. We decided to stay and study
there, then came home for lunch. After lunch we went out to go find
people. We talked to a few people here and there. One at a bus stop,
one in a park, and a few others here and there. We really have been
focusing on inspired questions as a companionship. Such as asking,
"what is your life's desire?" Or "Have you ever thought life after
death before?" The responses have been wide and varied and a lot of
the time humorous. However it helps us gauge more easily what people
need to hear. We talked to one man, who was so excited to hear our
message. It startled both of us, because of the stark
rejection-stricken-contrast of the day before. We asked him if he
would learn more, he said yes, but in two weeks, next week I am going
to Korea. However he promised us he would read in the meantime. After
that cool miracle, we housed a very traditional style Japanese house
where an old man came out, we shared a Mormon message with him that
touched him, however he had no interest still. The next few people
were nice but uninterested. We talked with a kid about snakes, that
was an interesting conversation. However it didn't really go anywhere
gospel-wise. He just isn't ready to hear yet. We then walked to the
church, to help the sisters with kids ekaiwa. However the other elders
were there so we were okay. We then went to the second floor to set up
for normal ekaiwa. We were both super hungry so we decided on eating
out at Go! Go! Curry, whose mascot is the gorilla. It is way
delicious. I ordered a huge, I mean huge meal. It was a pound and a
half of food. I felt sick after, but full none the less. My companion
had a hard time finishing his meal too! We then went to the church and
taught Tomo. When we started the lesson Tomo had a surprise for us, he
went to the Tokyo Temple with a friend and took pictures! It was so
cool! We talked about how the Bible and Book or Mormon support each
other and cross referenced it with both books. It was a fun lesson, I
took the lead in teaching. Then we had ekaiwa, it was fun. We asked
really deep questions for conversation class. I think it confused more
than helped any of them. After that we ate snacks with the students
and came home.
木曜日
Since it was our turn for the ward fast relay we woke up and lounged
around the apartment, and got ready, had studies, then had weekly
planning. It was pretty pitiful weekly planning session. We only had
to plan for two people. Everything was the same from last week which
was a little sad. We then went out to dendo. We talked to some really
prepared people. Like our new friend Takiyama who is a English teacher
nearby. He said he has Sunday's off and and is searching for religion.
He invited himself to church on Sunday! It was such a cool miracle! We
then kept walking and met M (I have no idea how to spell his name, but
that is what he told us) he is from Indonesia. I had the hardest time
understanding him. Thank goodness my companion is from the Deep South!
He was a great guy and asked us if he could have our phone number. The
miracles of fasting! We then went to go to a yakuniku place for
dinner, however it was way to expensive for our wallets. So we went in
search of another restaurant, we found sweets paradise which is a
sweets and curry restaurant. It was pretty good, definitely not the
best food I have eaten in Japan. We then went to the church so we
could get the keys to the font so we could clean it tomorrow. While we
were waiting I called a few potential investigators, it is great
Japanese practice. My Japanese cracks my companion up. In fact he fell
on the floor laughing. He is helping my Japanese improve a lot,
laughing helps when learning a new language. The zone leaders brought
the key, and the peanut butter we ordered! Now we have 8 pounds of
peanut butter! Yippee! We then went back to the apartment to drop it
off and house nearby. We ran into a guy around our age, he was really
nice and as we were talking to him, his dad walked up coming home from
work. We shared a little more about who we are, and showed them a
Mormon message! It was a great way to end our busy night.
金曜日
Our studies were amazing. We learned a lot about how to help our
investigators. For lunch Elder Eaton made a concoction. Let's just say
he won't be cooking anymore for us. After that excursion of sorts. We
went to the church to clean the font. Only there were no cleaning
chemicals so we walked to a store, bought some and cleaned the font.
After we came home changed into our Shirts and ties, and got ready to
go! Only I found another hole in my pants! So we glued it shut! Ha!
Take that! It was sprinkling so we took umbrellas. We walked through
the Eki, and talked to a few people of the other side. In Japan it is
actually illegal to proselyte in the Train Stations. We stopped a few
people, some of them were really funny about us. One old man told us,
"I am a Christian, and I love all Christians, but I think Mormons are
weird, and probably not Christians" (we told him our name was
motsu-jitsu saito iesu kirisuto kyokai, or lds) we then told him our
nickname was Mormon. To which his eyes bugged out and he turned mid
conversation and walks away. It was really confusing, and more amusing
than anything. We kept talking to other people, and attempted to visit
a few members however none of them were home. Kind of sad. Then it
downpoured, yippee we get to work in the ran. We walked home, on our
way my companion wanted mabodofu for dinner so we went to seven eleven
to buy some mix, however they were out. So we went to family mart,
which doesn't carry it. So we settled on mini stop! Talk about an
adventure to get it! Dinner was interesting. Elder Eatons
concoction...well...in my companions words, "was more backed up than a
port-a-potty on saint Patrick's day". After than fiasco we went out to
dendo, we went to Misawas apartment, who a week ago came up to us
asking for a Book of Mormon. He had read and prayed! We didn't even
ask him to! It was amazing! He is progressing along that little path!
Wahoo! We then visited a few other people and walked home, soaked.
Overall an absolute great day.
土曜日
Working out didn't really happen due to the Elder Eaton Food Fiasco.
After studies, we went to the church and had district meeting. It was
great. We learned a lot about our investigators, which helped a lot. I
really enjoy our district. We are working really hard. After my
companion and I went to the mall to buy a card for the baptism! It
took us forever, mostly because we are bad gift shoppers. After we
went to the apartment to pick up my companions clothes so he could
perform the baptism. After dropping him off at the church, Elder Cook
and I went back to the apartment to pick up clothes he forgot. The
baptism was great! My companion performed the ordinance for the new
sister. I was surprised at how much I was able to understand! After
the baptism we ran to a combini to grab some dinner, then back to the
church for a stake priesthood meeting. It was really good. I kept a
notepad out for words, let's just say there is a lot I don't know. The
stake president spoke last, he translates for general conference and
is half American so he speaks fluent English. He got up and spoke
about how little we understand in Japanese. Them related it to how we
are all children of God and learn and grow at our own levels and pace,
it was well received! After the meeting we went back to the combini
bought soba and Orange Julius supplies and went to the apartment,
however it didn't work super well.
日曜日
During DCS we got a call from our friend Takeyama-San! He was here for
church! Yoshi! He came to all of church, however he fell asleep during
sacrament meeting. After we were able to teach a really good lesson
about the scriptures! He promised he would read and even promised to
come on Wednesday to Eakaiwa, and to meet before! We then came back to
the apartment, changed, and did our studies. After we went to meet
with Misawa-San we brought him a Book of Mormon with perfectly rested
corners, and we brought him some chocolate. It was a great lesson! We
still aren't sure if he needs baptism or not, but we are working on it
slowly and surely. After we went to the church and Misu Kyodai took us
to shokogi at a members house! The food was so delicious!! We
socialized with everyone, the new member, Yamauchi Shimai was there,
she took a lot of pictures and said I am a "funny boy" but I didn't
really understand her Japanese super well. We played games, sang, and
sister Reeves who is going home at the end of the transfer bore her
testimony. It was a really fun Shokugi!
Keep on smiling!
Love you all!
Elder Dunn
Here is the week of elder Dunn!
月曜日
We awoke at the normal time on and did some sit ups and push ups. Then
had our studies. Right after studies we went to the church and worked
on my companions college application for the next 3 hours. We got a
fair amount of it done. He just has his essays and other parts to
finish up. I found out that my companion was the best in the world at
skeet shooting before he joined the church, then quit so he could go
to church on Sunday's! Talk about a conversion! We then went to
Costco, and spent a ton. My companion and I were kids in a candy
store! We bought all kinds of delicious foods. One of the members Misu
Kyodai drove us so we emailed while in the car. It was really funny
putting 4 giant white people into a tiny car with a bunch of food.
After getting back to the apartment we quickly finished emails, and
ran to the church to send them off. We then had an awesome time of
dendo. We felt like we needed to go down a certain street, so we
headed in that direction. We went down some pretty sketchy streets,
but then we found our guy! We stopped a high school student and were
able to share some of the Book of Mormon with him! He was so excited
to get the Book of Mormon! It was awesome! After that we talked to a
few more people. We invented a game that helps us, "count the smiling
people" it is fun, but kind of sad because the ratio is always pretty
low. So all of you reading this, SMILE MORE, you never know how far a
simple smile goes! We talked to a few more people than ran home to
make curfew.
火曜日
After lunch we went out went to the church. There we went to the
church, there we found the sisters and other elders there. The
district leader was doing the baptismal interview, it took over 2
hours! We left before it was finished though. We began walking by the
eki, and a woman approached us in English. "Hello, are you
missionaries?" she asked. "Yeah, we are for that church over there."
We responded. (The eki is a 3-5 minute walk from the church) She then
proceeded to tell us how she was looking for a church and wanted to
know about ours. Then she set up a return appointment for the the next
day! Talk about a neat miracle. We the continued walking to the other
side of the eki, we ran into a man and talked to him for a little bit
and as soon as we told him our nickname is "Mormon" he became really
uncomfortable around us. My companion then asked, "what do you know
about our church?" To that he responded, "A lot" he responded.
"Really? Like what?" My companion answered. "Well nothing actually."
He was trying to frustrate us and pull us in circles. So we gave him a
Book of Mormon and invited him to learn, he declined though. We then
began our hike toward Nishihachioji which is a few kilometers away. It
was an enjoyable walk, we stopped in every drug store, in search of
insoles, sadly they do not carry insoles, or if they do they are not
comfortable looking at all. Our target was to visit a few less actives
in the area, sadly none of them were home, which was kind of a bummer.
The people we talked to kept rejecting us really badly, it was a rough
day on both of us. We then came home, ate dinner, and listened to a
BYU devotional. After dinner we went Streeting nearby the church. We
talked to a college student who we were able to pray with. Hearing
someone utter their first aloud prayer in possibly their life is a
very special and exciting opportunity, especially when they pray with
real intent. After our lesson on the street we went to the church to
teach ishikawa Kyodai, he is a recent convert so we are teaching the
lessons to him again. We decided to let him teach us the lesson this
time. It was a good lesson, it reminded me of how I taught at the MTC.
水曜日
We had a lesson at 8 so went to the church in the rain to meet Adam.
It was a great lesson, we learned however that we really need a
Chinese speaking member to help us. He understands about half of what
we say, which isn't very helpful to us. We decided to stay and study
there, then came home for lunch. After lunch we went out to go find
people. We talked to a few people here and there. One at a bus stop,
one in a park, and a few others here and there. We really have been
focusing on inspired questions as a companionship. Such as asking,
"what is your life's desire?" Or "Have you ever thought life after
death before?" The responses have been wide and varied and a lot of
the time humorous. However it helps us gauge more easily what people
need to hear. We talked to one man, who was so excited to hear our
message. It startled both of us, because of the stark
rejection-stricken-contrast of the day before. We asked him if he
would learn more, he said yes, but in two weeks, next week I am going
to Korea. However he promised us he would read in the meantime. After
that cool miracle, we housed a very traditional style Japanese house
where an old man came out, we shared a Mormon message with him that
touched him, however he had no interest still. The next few people
were nice but uninterested. We talked with a kid about snakes, that
was an interesting conversation. However it didn't really go anywhere
gospel-wise. He just isn't ready to hear yet. We then walked to the
church, to help the sisters with kids ekaiwa. However the other elders
were there so we were okay. We then went to the second floor to set up
for normal ekaiwa. We were both super hungry so we decided on eating
out at Go! Go! Curry, whose mascot is the gorilla. It is way
delicious. I ordered a huge, I mean huge meal. It was a pound and a
half of food. I felt sick after, but full none the less. My companion
had a hard time finishing his meal too! We then went to the church and
taught Tomo. When we started the lesson Tomo had a surprise for us, he
went to the Tokyo Temple with a friend and took pictures! It was so
cool! We talked about how the Bible and Book or Mormon support each
other and cross referenced it with both books. It was a fun lesson, I
took the lead in teaching. Then we had ekaiwa, it was fun. We asked
really deep questions for conversation class. I think it confused more
than helped any of them. After that we ate snacks with the students
and came home.
木曜日
Since it was our turn for the ward fast relay we woke up and lounged
around the apartment, and got ready, had studies, then had weekly
planning. It was pretty pitiful weekly planning session. We only had
to plan for two people. Everything was the same from last week which
was a little sad. We then went out to dendo. We talked to some really
prepared people. Like our new friend Takiyama who is a English teacher
nearby. He said he has Sunday's off and and is searching for religion.
He invited himself to church on Sunday! It was such a cool miracle! We
then kept walking and met M (I have no idea how to spell his name, but
that is what he told us) he is from Indonesia. I had the hardest time
understanding him. Thank goodness my companion is from the Deep South!
He was a great guy and asked us if he could have our phone number. The
miracles of fasting! We then went to go to a yakuniku place for
dinner, however it was way to expensive for our wallets. So we went in
search of another restaurant, we found sweets paradise which is a
sweets and curry restaurant. It was pretty good, definitely not the
best food I have eaten in Japan. We then went to the church so we
could get the keys to the font so we could clean it tomorrow. While we
were waiting I called a few potential investigators, it is great
Japanese practice. My Japanese cracks my companion up. In fact he fell
on the floor laughing. He is helping my Japanese improve a lot,
laughing helps when learning a new language. The zone leaders brought
the key, and the peanut butter we ordered! Now we have 8 pounds of
peanut butter! Yippee! We then went back to the apartment to drop it
off and house nearby. We ran into a guy around our age, he was really
nice and as we were talking to him, his dad walked up coming home from
work. We shared a little more about who we are, and showed them a
Mormon message! It was a great way to end our busy night.
金曜日
Our studies were amazing. We learned a lot about how to help our
investigators. For lunch Elder Eaton made a concoction. Let's just say
he won't be cooking anymore for us. After that excursion of sorts. We
went to the church to clean the font. Only there were no cleaning
chemicals so we walked to a store, bought some and cleaned the font.
After we came home changed into our Shirts and ties, and got ready to
go! Only I found another hole in my pants! So we glued it shut! Ha!
Take that! It was sprinkling so we took umbrellas. We walked through
the Eki, and talked to a few people of the other side. In Japan it is
actually illegal to proselyte in the Train Stations. We stopped a few
people, some of them were really funny about us. One old man told us,
"I am a Christian, and I love all Christians, but I think Mormons are
weird, and probably not Christians" (we told him our name was
motsu-jitsu saito iesu kirisuto kyokai, or lds) we then told him our
nickname was Mormon. To which his eyes bugged out and he turned mid
conversation and walks away. It was really confusing, and more amusing
than anything. We kept talking to other people, and attempted to visit
a few members however none of them were home. Kind of sad. Then it
downpoured, yippee we get to work in the ran. We walked home, on our
way my companion wanted mabodofu for dinner so we went to seven eleven
to buy some mix, however they were out. So we went to family mart,
which doesn't carry it. So we settled on mini stop! Talk about an
adventure to get it! Dinner was interesting. Elder Eatons
concoction...well...in my companions words, "was more backed up than a
port-a-potty on saint Patrick's day". After than fiasco we went out to
dendo, we went to Misawas apartment, who a week ago came up to us
asking for a Book of Mormon. He had read and prayed! We didn't even
ask him to! It was amazing! He is progressing along that little path!
Wahoo! We then visited a few other people and walked home, soaked.
Overall an absolute great day.
土曜日
Working out didn't really happen due to the Elder Eaton Food Fiasco.
After studies, we went to the church and had district meeting. It was
great. We learned a lot about our investigators, which helped a lot. I
really enjoy our district. We are working really hard. After my
companion and I went to the mall to buy a card for the baptism! It
took us forever, mostly because we are bad gift shoppers. After we
went to the apartment to pick up my companions clothes so he could
perform the baptism. After dropping him off at the church, Elder Cook
and I went back to the apartment to pick up clothes he forgot. The
baptism was great! My companion performed the ordinance for the new
sister. I was surprised at how much I was able to understand! After
the baptism we ran to a combini to grab some dinner, then back to the
church for a stake priesthood meeting. It was really good. I kept a
notepad out for words, let's just say there is a lot I don't know. The
stake president spoke last, he translates for general conference and
is half American so he speaks fluent English. He got up and spoke
about how little we understand in Japanese. Them related it to how we
are all children of God and learn and grow at our own levels and pace,
it was well received! After the meeting we went back to the combini
bought soba and Orange Julius supplies and went to the apartment,
however it didn't work super well.
日曜日
During DCS we got a call from our friend Takeyama-San! He was here for
church! Yoshi! He came to all of church, however he fell asleep during
sacrament meeting. After we were able to teach a really good lesson
about the scriptures! He promised he would read and even promised to
come on Wednesday to Eakaiwa, and to meet before! We then came back to
the apartment, changed, and did our studies. After we went to meet
with Misawa-San we brought him a Book of Mormon with perfectly rested
corners, and we brought him some chocolate. It was a great lesson! We
still aren't sure if he needs baptism or not, but we are working on it
slowly and surely. After we went to the church and Misu Kyodai took us
to shokogi at a members house! The food was so delicious!! We
socialized with everyone, the new member, Yamauchi Shimai was there,
she took a lot of pictures and said I am a "funny boy" but I didn't
really understand her Japanese super well. We played games, sang, and
sister Reeves who is going home at the end of the transfer bore her
testimony. It was a really fun Shokugi!
Keep on smiling!
Love you all!
Elder Dunn
Monday, June 1, 2015
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