マリークリスマス！いいお正月！

こんにちわ皆さん！マリークリスマス！

I hope you had a Merry Christmas! My week has been busy and blessed! 

Monday

We began our preparation day with some great window shopping, walking around to the various stores in Kichijoji and enjoying the various shops around. Then we went and emailed but about halfway through I felt awful, to the point where I couldn't email coherently anymore. It was pretty meager. So we bought groceries and went home so I could rest before we went to FHE, it was probably a miracle that Michael overslept and wasn't able to come so we set off to visit a potential investigator who had no desire to meet with us until halfway through next month, as he told us that he had to get back to work and went to the next room where he had the window open as he watched professional soccer. Guess I need to get into his line of work someday. We housed around and tried talking to people but no one would listen to us, we got Kiire, which basically is the equivalent of telling your dog to leave. So we left a little dishearten but we know our purpose and we're still happy deep down. 

Tuesday

I woke up and felt awful! My head cold had gotten much worse overnight and I was now shivering and just a hot sweaty mess, not a good example of someone who is supposed be a representative of the Lord. However we had presidents interviews so we got ready and went to the Honbu, there Sister Wada commented on my health, she said, "your eyes aren't as blue today, you need sleep." So I was told to get some sleep. While my companion was interview she sat me down and said it was good to see my companion smiling, she said she had never seen him smile before. It really is all about love, it's the motive. I then had my interview with President Wada, it was good to have an interview with him but it has kind of lost its excitement since I have lived in the area for so long. Either way I learned a lot during it. After we came home and I crashed for about 5 hours, but afterwards I felt a lot better! During my sleep my companion made bread so we went by the bishops house to drop it off! We "ping-pong-dashu" ed his house. Then housed the surrounding area, one lady listened to us but her husband came out shortly after and yelled at us. Since becoming the senior companion I have had to help translate for my companion, but I don't want to offend him so I usually simplify what is said or give it a little easier. It is interesting how much words can offend you no matter what language you speak. 

Wednesday

After studies we went over to the church to help set up for a training meeting for all the district leaders. The meeting was great I learned a lot about how I can become a more effective leader in my district, I was asked to give a training on working with ward leaders and I compared it to pulling figurative weeds, so we can have uninterrupted communication with our ward leaders. It was a fun analogy, and made me thankful for all those farm experiences I have had growing up. (Not saying I missed performing them, I'm just saying I learned a lot from them.) After that we grabbed some dinner and had a lesson with Kajira Kyodai (who literally is a Japanese hippie) and Michael. It was a great lesson we taught about the Holy Ghost and the influence that we can feel before baptism. Eikaiwa was wonderful! We had a few students show up because it was a national holiday (the emperors birthday! That's right Henry you have the same birthday as the emperor of Japan!). We discussed or Christmas Traditions as families in America. Then we talked about the symbols of Christmas, we ended up teaching the class all about Jesus Christ's birth and the Wise Men! It was such a wonderful lesson, and way quickly relatable to the gospel. 

Thursday (Christmas Eve)

After studies we had District Meeting! It was fun except the zone leaders and the sisters didn't come so half the district was practically gone. Either way it was a great meeting and we got a lot figured out for the district and ward. After I was called into the office to help with a project for our families then got stuck running a few errands. After we journeyed to the Akumatsu's house. We found it a little early so we housed around the area and found an old man who had some interest but we were able to teach him either way. The dinner was great! It was the Akumatsu's, Elder Ford and Elder Mukai, the Sisters, and us. All in their apartment with their 3 kids! It was a lot of fun! I hadn't realized it but it has been over a year since I have had a dinner appointment with kids! It was a blast, they were all really excited for Santa to come, so they began the NORAD tracker. I love how big Christmas is starting to become in Japan. It was a great night.

Friday (Christmas)

After we got ready we ran to the church so Elder Gerard could Skype his Family! I grabbed a computer and worked on updating a few things on the website and apps. After his Skype call we had some studies and went out to lunch as a District to Yakuniku (Korean BBQ) it was pretty good but nothing like ham haha. Then we went back and Elder Yamada asked me to help him out with some of the apps, so I spent some time helping with that. After we left and went housing, in this practically abandoned neighborhood. It was pretty sketchy, sadly no one would listen to our message, in fact one woman said, "oh thanks for the reminder" and came and took her wreath down. After being a little heart broken we went over to the Bishops house for dinner. The Bishops son in law was there who just came home from his mission in Irvine! I had no idea so I spoke Japanese to him until he straight up said to my companion with an American accent, "so how long have you been out?" That kind of shocked us. However he is awesome and it was another great dinner, their kids were great! I loved spending time with them. 

Saturday

After getting ready we ran to the church so I could Skype home! The last time I saw everyone was in May! It was great being able to talk to them, and very rejuvenating in a sense. It was kind of weird though because I feel like it is getting harder to relate to things back home. It was also weird hearing that I need to think of college, to be honest that has been the last thing on my mind recently, but it might have to be something slowly. It was the hardest to hang up this time, maybe because it was Christmas, maybe because it had been so long, who knows. I have just learned on my mission that families are the one of the most important things in this life, that's why we teach it second to people. After we went to Ippudo ramen, then back to the church to have new missionary training and wait for Raju! Raju is from Nepal! He is awesome! We spent some time getting to know him and his culture and it was amazing! Just mind boggling cool! He is probably the only man I know who was born and raised in the Himalayan mountain range and is scared of heights! Imagine that! His sister is getting married soon so he explained how Nepalese people have weddings, it is a three day ceremony! After the lesson we tried contacting Michael again, sadly he wasn't able to contact us. So we hiked to our dinner appointment which took an hour to get there! We got super lost, but when we got there they were in open arms waiting to greet us! It was a great dinner appointment! I love the Uchiyamas they are the parents of one of the families in the first area I served in! It was so wonderful to be there! We had our lesson before we ate, in Uchiyama Kyodais words it was so we, "didn't have to stress over it". He had a really interesting career with IMB that he shared with us, we had indo curry for dinner and sister Uchiyama gave me the recipe! Yoshu! After dinner we went to Michaels apartment but sadly he wasn't home so we left a note. As we housed around the area we got yelled at by a drunk man who didn't want to talk to us, which was really funny because we could hear his wife in the background saying, "stop it, you are embarrassing."

Sunday

We changed around where we meet for DCS, it helped a lot! Everyone was more open with their comments, we were just to far apart. We finally were able to contact Michael, his phone had died. Sadly he was unable to come to church so we sat with members, during Sunday school, the topic was about strengthening your marriage, it was interesting to hear from the position of a missionary, but i learned a lot nonetheless. After we talked with Naka Kyodai, who is a fashion designer/president of his own fashion line. He was way open to talk to us, and invited us over for dinner after the new year! We were invited to attend high priest group the third hour which was special, they asked us to bear our testimonies, so I bore mine on families. It was a great meeting overall. During choir Michael came! So we grabbed a member and taught about the importance of baptism out of 2 Nephi. After we went home ate supper then went to the church to help fix one of the apps that broke, then off to Ueki Kyodais lesson. It was a great lesson, We had Elder Gerard take the lead, and he did a great job. After we went to the church to start weekly planning, but we met a member visiting from America who lays fiber optic cables across the ocean floor. It was an interesting discussion. There are some people in this life who you meet only once but have a large impact on the rest of your life, he was one of those people. 

I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas! 

Big Hearts! 

Elder Dunn

Some Super Fancy Mochi from an Eikaiwa student! 

The beginning of the adventures of Elder Dunn and Elder Gerard

Dear Friends and Family, 

This week I have been thinking a lot about what the Angel said to the shepherds at the time of Christ's birth. In Luke 2 verse 10 we read, "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." As a child growing up we have a tradition in my family to act out the Nativity. Growing up I was the lucky one in my family to play the Angel and stand on the piano bench as my dad read from the scriptures, this verse. It really hit me this past year what "good tidings" really means. In Japanese the word for the gospel is fukuin or 福音. The meaning of the first character is good 福, and the second character means sound, or report 音. So I'm Japanese good tidings means the gospel. So the Angel was saying in effect. I bring you the gospel of great joy, which shall be to all people. I love being able to help spread "good tidings" this Christmas season! 

Monday

After our studies and lunch we headed over to the church to grab those good ole emails and then went Christmas Shopping for our families! It was a blast, who knew there was so much neat stuff crammed in this city. After finished, we went back to the church to write emails, then went to Seiyu for groceries. I was having a real sweet tooth, which is pretty rare for me so I grabbed a bag or macadamia nut Oreos. I will tell you they are grand. Then we went to Mitaka for a 4 man kubari with the other elders. I stopped one woman and talked to her about why I am here in Japan and she said that she'd met Mormons when she was living in New York City and has been wanting to meet us again! We exchanged contact info, and will hopefully get in touch again. We all stopped various people, I have found most people are more willing to take a flyer of you say "merry Christmas" instead of "free English class"! After kubaring we went to McDonald's to warm our hands and toes and grab a drink then headed home before curfew. 

Tuesday 

Since Elder Ishikawa is leaving he needs to pack,which also is the same day as the big transfer cleaning so the elders who aren't leaving clean the apartment for as long as it takes. Well when your house is this big it takes forever. Elder Gerard and I worked hard to get this place spick and span. Elder Mukai dropped off our bunk beds too. So we had to hoist them from the window in order to get them to the second story, the stairs are too narrow. After they finished Elder Ishikawa and and I went to the Matsumoto families house to charge a Christmas message with them! It was a fun time, their daughter reminds me of the boys back at home. When we asked for a referral they pointed us in the direction of some less active who lived in some nearby apartments. So we headed over there and found a woman who had a lot of interest and was probably really lonely, but she wouldn't accept any of our commitments. It was kind of sad. We continued housing but sadly no one wanted to hear of our Saviors Birth. 

Wednesday

After our studies we headed over to the church to meet with Adachi-San! He is so great, we taught about the Word of Wisdom and he took it all in! He said he has been following the commandment for over 20 something odd years! That is usually the hardest commandment to teach investigators because they see it for all the bad, not all the blessings that are available from following the council. After that great lesson we prepared for Eikaiwa for a little bit then went to go streeting in the park, only we ran into all the new missionaries there talking to people, so that was a little embarrassing, so we went up a side path and invited people over there, sadly no one was super jacked to listen to the missionaries so we weren't able to teach anyone, it was a bummer. After we met up with the other Elders and went out for dinner at a tsukemen (ramen with the soup separate) shop. I ordered 500g of noodles, and it was so delicious. It has become one of my favorites. After we went back to the church to split for two separate lessons. Sadly Ishikawa-San didn't come so we weren't able to teach him, but Michael came about 30 minutes late, so we hurried and had a simple lesson about prophets before Eikaiwa.  It was a good lesson, simple but effective. We planned on skyping a former missionary for the lesson but come to find out he overslept his alarm. Maybe next time. Eikaiwa was great, it was Elder Leachs last time, which was really sad, because we have been teaching together for over 6 months! One of the students was so sad after class she ran out the door and ran to a waffle stand nearby and bought him some waffles. The new missionaries there seemed excited, I hardly saw them because they all went to different classes but they seemed happy. Right after Eikaiwa ended I ran into Ward Council to report about the work in the ward. We got some good feedback, but they are a little lukewarm about missionary work right now. 

Thursday

Elder Jennings and Elder Ishikawa were grumpy during studies and kept arguing, I think they were a little stressed about leaving. After an interesting companionship study we took them to the train where we dropped them off, and at that point, Elder Gerard became my new companion! We are both pretty excited! It is hard to believe that I am in the same shoes by follow up trainer was in a year ago! Crazy! We went out for lunch at Shakeys, then went to the church to get our weekly planning done. I have noticed it is important in the first weekly planning session to set up expectations for each other so you know what you can expect fro, each other as well as understanding how you will accomplish this great and marvelous work. After we came home and ate dinner then housed around the church before sports night. There we taught an old drunk man in English about the plan of salvation and Christmas...it was an interesting lesson, especially since his wife had hung up the intercom on us after saying, "where are you..." Then he walked out and said, "Americans?". "Yes sir" we responded. "I like you people, why are you here?" I love lead ins like that. It was fun teaching and testifying in our native tongue. After that we went to sports night and balled it up with the people there, sadly there weren't a whole lot of people there so we will have to work on fixing that. 

Friday

After studies we went to the church and had 12 Week, it was weird having that again. It was fun to teach and train though. We made a goal that day to pass out 6 copies of the Book of Mormon to people. So we headed over to Kogane and began housing. We talked to a man a little bit about the Book or Mormon and offered him a copy and he accepted it! Sadly he told us he didn't want to talk to us anymore though. The next lady we found was so sweet but said she wouldn't read the book because she was worried we would be like Muslims. Which turned into a giant hole of, "you don't watch the news? Really?"...it was exhausting. The next person we found is a Jehovah's Witness, they have a pretty strong religion here, sadly the woman only wanted to argue our beliefs, she seemed kind of disturbed that we are paying our way to come out here and are completely volunteer based, but we shared what we believed and bid her goodbye. Then we went home ate dinner and got ready for district meeting. I a, slowly getting the hang of district meeting, it is just a lot to be in charge of. My district is the biggest in the mission since it includes the mission office as well. Busy busy busy. 

Saturday

After 12 week, we rode to kogane to meet with Michael, but he was asleep so we had to call to wake him up. While we were waiting for him we street end a few people, and talked to some nice people sadly none had interest. Then Michael showed up and he took us to his apartment where we had a lesson! It was a great lesson! The Spirit was so strong, he really wants to improve his life and he knows the gospel will do it for him! After the lesson we ran home, changed, then went to the ward Christmas party. Japanese Ward Parties are insane in the membrane! The Elders Quorum did the Scrooge play, the High Priests made these intense flower arrangements (made by Brother Naka the fashion designer in our ward), which told a story about Christmas, the primary sang, the missionaries told the nativity, and the ward choir sang, all while we ate dinner! It was awesome! Eikaiwa students came, and we had a potential investigator come with his family. His name is also Michael, he is American/Japanese and loves talking to missionaries. I think he tries to corner missionaries with his words, but Elder Gerard and I had no part in that, and we just testified over and over. At one point we testified about the importance of learning how to fall, I have never felt more like a parent in my life. It was kind of scary. After that we helped clean up then housed around our apartment before going home, but we only got yelled at by old men. 

Sunday

DCS was great! We really are getting this ward moving, the ward mission leader wants to change things which is great! Michael our investigator with a baptisimal date came to church, and made a bunch of friends too! It was grand! He loved it so much he asked if we could come next week! Uhhhhh...of Course! After church we went home, sang Christmas carols in the park, and then we ran to Ueki Kyodais house for a quick visit before going to the Stevensons house for dinner. Brother Stevenson is American but sister Stevenson is Japanese, and their kids are all grown up, they are a fun family. The whole district came which was a lot of fun. One of the daughters, who served a mission in Hawaii really got after Elder Gerard for not speaking enough, it was pretty funny. After we played some games and had a short message, we sprinted home to make our curfew. 

Big Hearts! 

Elder Dunn

Half a kilogram of ramen

A bedazzled hummer near an apartment we housed. 

Another week has flown by laboring in the Lord

私の愛する家族と友達へ

Tuesday

We all woke up early and headed off toward the temple. We planned to stop at the McDonald's by Kichijoji eki, but it doesn't open until 8. So we went to the one in Hiro-o instead. The trains were stuffed as always. Elder Gerard lost his name tag. The temple was great, I enjoyed the time spent inside. After we wrote emails, went grocery shopping. Then ran back and forth to the house and the church to meet with a man we set an appointment up with, Ishikawa-San. He is a great old man, we went out to dinner with him at the big gioza shop and had a little lesson about what to expect from us, to set some expectations with him. However we must have been in the gioza shop to long because they got upset with us for being there too long. Aver the lesson we went to visit some less actives but couldn't find any of them, instead we got barked at by a viscous dog, and yelled at by old men. Kind a different end to the day. 

Wednesday

After a good study we headed over to the church to find some less actives. We found an area that was really sketchy...this apartment was completely run down, paint chipping, rotting wood, no lighting, and had a Buddhist man chanting very loudly. We got out of there quickly I'll tell you what. Then we found a bunch of other crazy places. It was just a crazy day of finding. After dinner we set up for Eikaiwa and taught our students about American idioms which was great. As we went down for the game, we saw a man who was outside the room and looked lonely so we talked to him and set up an appointment to meet him later on in the week. He has a lot of potential, and needs to feel love a lot.after we rushed to PEC where I reported on our efforts for the week. 

Thursday

We began our morning after personal study at the old apartment where we helped close the apartment. It is a pretty dang sad apartment. The office hired a trash company to take all the large (unburnable) items out of the apartment. It is surprising how quickly they are able to pick that much stuff and make the place all slick and span! After we went out to lunch with the Sato family! He is in the bishopric and is hilarious! He told us about an experience he had on his mission where he drove a milk truck! Missions sure we're different back then. What I loved most was his appearance. Japanese fuka which is traditional Japanese garb, with tabi boots, and a Rolex. You kit have to look it up to actually get an idea of what it looks like. After our lunch at a super fancy French restaurant we went to the church to weekly plan. It was normal, after we saw the Adamsons! They came back from America! It was great seeing them again! When we got home for the night Elder Jennings and I began splits! We planned to go visit some less actives, but got lost after we hopped a barrier to find an apartment complex. Japanese addresses are so screwy. When we came home we had some great catching up since the MTC. Crazy thing is in the MTC we hated each other, but now we are practically brothers. It is neat to see how i've grown up a little bit. 

Friday

For language study Elder Jennings and I made cinnamon rolls for district meeting. Then headed over to the church to drop them off. Then off to Ogikubo! It is the craziest place I have been in Japan, just a bunch of strange people. We went housing and got lost so a man helped us find the address, he was saying all kinds of funny things in Japanese as he did it. Then he brought us to the sketchiest place in Japan I have been. It was an abandoned apartment complex. The first three floors had no one except one person, so we went to knock it and we hear the Piano man by Bill Joel playing in the black ground so we look in the open window and say hello! An old woman creeps from behind he corner and begins blabbering....literally....blabbering...we had no idea what to do! We just stood there, and then Sophie pulled up a chair and continued. Somehow I understood what she was saying and she told us that they evacuated the apartment complex for mold or something...either way we booked it outta there. Then if that wasn't enough we went to get some kabobs for lunch and met this lady who was a former investigator! She lived in Turkey and told us this crazy story about her brother who was gone because of his sons death fighting the terrorists! Just nuts! Great kabob though. Delicious. We then ran to district meeting, it was pretty normal, nothing special. Then questions of the soul, we went with two of our investigators, Micheal, and horie. President Wada related it's a wonderful life to our normal lives. I had never seen the movie before so that was interesting. After I got called into the Honbu to help with transfer calls..

Saturday

We went early to go help with transfer calls. The other Tech Elders tried over complicating it so we had to redo it but it all worked out. I am staying in Kichijoji and will have a transfer 2 missionary as a companion, almost the same position my second companion was in! It'll be a blast. He has been living in the same apartment as me so it'll be pretty cool to be companions. He is from the D.C. Area and a way smart elder. We will get a lot done together. Then we went to indo curry, and elder Jennings explained all about buddism since he has recently been learning a little bit to help investigators. Neat stuff! Then Elder Ishikawa and I went to teach Micheal! It was a great lesson! We committed him to baptism on the 9th of next month! He is way down to meet too! After we went to the church and elder Jennings and I went on splits again to go an teach the craziest lesson of my mission. I wish I could explain more about it but I can't. I'll just tel you that things were very thin, and I never before have seen someone totter back and forth so much in my life then say no to baptism. Just an out of this world experience. 

Sunday

DCS was great! The ward mission leader is starting to realize the importance of members in he work! Yay! Then we had a great 3 hour block of church. I love the members of this ward! They are starting to seem normal to me! Crazy! After church we went home ate lunch the. Came back for the Christmas devotional! It was so great! Even in Japanese the spirit of Christmas is so strong! I loved it. Afterwards we were talking to some members and they were asking me what I used to shoot on the farm. Guns are illegal here in Japan so they think guns are amazing. I told them about a potato gun I made in high school! They got a big kick out of shooting potatoes haha. Then we ate dinner and ran back to the church to sum it baptisimal dates and run back home for conference call. 

My week has been a doozy! But I have felt a lot of peace and comfort in reading from the Book of Mormon in Alma. In it I have been focusing a lot on the bravery of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis, they were so righteous that they would rather die than break a commandment they made with God. It really has put diligence into a new perspective for me. 

Have a great week! 

Big hearts,

Elder Dunn

Sketchy apartment building

Another sketchy apartment

Teen drivers beware, this could be your next car!

The Return, Elder Dunn in the Field part II

Dear Family and Friends, 

This week has been BUSY! I am learning how to juggle, that is probably the best way to express how I feel now. 

Monday

We woke up and had a full studies! It has been so long since I've had a full studies! Afterwards Elder Ishikawa and I wrote some letters, then headed over to the church to email. After emailing we went to yodabashi camera for some light bulbs. Japanese electronic stores are insane, it has about the same building footprint as a Best Buy, only it is 9 stories tall! It has everything inside. Since the light bulbs and the massage chairs are on the same floor we took a little break. Thinking back on it, it's probably better if they were on the same floor as the sowing machines. After we went to the post office to buy a box, then to lunch and an insanely cheap ramen place, back to the church to fill out a package slip and borrow some tape from the Honbu. Back to the post office to send the package then to some Christmas shopping. I'll tell you what I found some neat stuff. The sad thing is last Christmas Japan was so new to me that I was able to find good presents however, now I've been acclimated to Japan. After some shopping we bought groceries and went home. Then spent our last hour of preparation day decorating the house for Christmas, since it used to be a sisters apartment not to long ago they have a ton of decorations. Then as we were going to the church to look up some addresses, I got a call from the assistants asking about a tech problem so I had to spend an hour in the office fixing it, then teaching Elder Leach and Elder Yamada how to fix it if it comes up again. Then elder Ishikawa and I went to go visit Less actives! Sadly we weren't able to meet with all three we tried visiting. One we spent a little over an hour looking for! Japan's address system is so confusing! As we were riding home that night i was reminded, "no effort is ever wasted". 

Tuesday

One. Year. In. Japan. Wow. I can't believe I've been here a whole year that is crazy to me. We had normal studies, ate lunch, then went to the church so I could send my presidents letter, but when we got there Elder Mukai needed Elder Ishikawa and I to go with him to the old elders apartment to see what kind of trash was left in it...there is a lot. So we spent two hours with him while he fiddled with the idea of having a company come pick it all up, thankfully he did because we would've been in quite the pickle if he hadn't. We then helped him load a washing machine into the van and take it to another apartment. When we arrived at the mission office, which shares the parking lot with the church. Elder Ishikawa and I were on our way over to the church when Elder Leach came out and asked if I could help with something, so I spent another hour in the Honbu. Then we finally got out and I could send my letter, it is dangerous going back to the office. We went to the park afterwards to dendo but no one would talk to us, literally no one. We tried and tried but we must have had our invisibility suits on or something. We then came back home and I made us some omelets while my companion watched a Play that the machida stake had a while back it was pretty interesting. Feeling more hopeful we found some less actives and went to go bless their lives. The first member we visited wasn't home but his 90 year old mother was and claimed she was a devoted Buddhist as she batted her eyes at me. Talk about giddin' on up outta there! The next person we couldn't find, but as we were housing the nearby area we found another woman who had no interest in church whatsoever, as she claimed 5 times, but she proceeded to tell us about why she believes family history is important. Perfect! Another great opportunity to testify of the gospel. The next person we met was yet again another woman. At first we asked her for directions then introduced ourselves as missionaries, she then told me in English, "I have no interest in religion, but I want to learn more English"! Well perfect! We have got something for you too! The next person we visited was home! He answered his intercom, and told me, I was the one making the call on this house, "I have never heard of your church before, and I don't have a religion" I responded, "great, we are missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we love people that don't have religions, in fact, we love everyone because that is what the savior would do." After going back and forth, he told me, "leave me alone I'm watching tv, and I don't hold a religion, close the gate on the way out." I was lost at the last bit because it was a very command form of the word so I asked him to repeat it like 4 times. Then he just hung up, confused because of radio static and commanding words I turned to my companion who smiled, then said in English, "he wants us to close the gate." Oh. Oops. On our last door of the night we rang and a woman answered, we introduced ourselves and our message and she responded, "sorry I'm on the phone right now, but I'd love to hear your message, can you come by later?" Uh...yes! Well send our sisters over have a great night! Talk about one of those last miracles for the day. Elder Jennings and I Tim tam slammed to celebrate our year mark in Nehon, and I wrote the ward mission leader. Having a Japanese companion is great for practice because we spent 45 minutes talking about the difference between McDonalds in America and Japan right before bed. 

Wednesday

After studies we headed over to the church for a lesson with Adachi-San! That man is so great, we taught him the Plan of Salvation and he soaked it in like a sponge then asked all kinds of inspired questions. Kajura Kyoudai had some great questions as well, it was a good lesson overall. Afterwards I got called into the office to help with the photocopier, all the other office Elders had left for various driving related things so since I was close by they asked me to help. We came back near the house to knock on some doors. We got yelled at and had the door slammed in our faces over and over again, but finally the last woman we talked to we were able to give her a plan of salvation pamphlet and committed her to read it. Then came home, ate, and went to eikaiwa. Part of being district leader means I am in charge of eikaiwa for the area. Gulp.   I think it went well, we are figuring out some new ways to improve and grow our classes. Afterwards a man by the name of Michael with his other drunk friend and I had an interesting talk, they are kind but we will see what comes of it, they are deadest about coming next week which is great!

Thursday

After studies we headed on over to the church for Weekly Planning. It took us a while because we had a lot of contacting to do as well as get to understand the area better. There was also MLC going on so that was an interesting time being inadvertently involved with that. After our planning we headed over to an inport store to find hot cocoa however there was nothing great. So we headed back home but just as we were about to leave Elder Yamada came running after me for some more help. Don't get me wrong I love helping it is just hard when you plan for things to do that day. When we got home we went to unlock the door, and well it was locked. Then we tried the windows. All locked. Then Elder Ishikawa and I began trying to figure out how were were going to get inside. Our second floor has a walk out balcony so we decided I would hoist him up and he would climb onto the concrete wall, into the window sill and then up into the balcony. It seemed pretty easy so we went at it and wouldn't you know it, he made it on the first try! And without falling too! Sadly all the doors were locked up there too! So he was stuck up there yelling for me to call the other elders because they had the key. We waited about 15 minutes until they came. Poor Elder Ishikawa, he was pretty cold up there without his coat. After dinner Elder Gerard and I began splits. We decided to visit some members, we found one active members house but remembering they had small children we left a note and continued our journey. We found one other house and a woman helped us find another as well. It is funny how friendly Japanese people are if you ask for directions, but as soon as you bring up the gospel it is game over...sometimes. 

Friday

Elder Gerard and I headed over to the Church early and grabbed Elder Leach and Elder Yamada for a meeting with all the new missionaries. On our way to Hakuraku, I found out that I'd be giving a bulk of the training, so much for not being Tech Staff anymore. Afterwards we went out to eat at a Shabu Shabu place, it was delicious! It's probably one of my favorite Japanese foods. On the train ride home we ran into Bubba Kyodai, a recent convert in Hakuraku, I had never met him but it was great to see him. When we got home Elder Gerard and I looked up some less actives to go visit, and went to go house around them. We chose Maedaimia which is at the very edge of our mission. I thought it'd only take 20 minutes by bike however it took about an hour to get there 😩and we left the mission as we were getting there. We found on of the less actives wives, but it turns out her husband is dead and she had no interest so we moved on inviting a few people here and there. Afterwards we biked back to the church and ran to Seiyu (Walmart) and bought some supplies for hot chocolate for district meeting. Then we had a District meeting, it was great! You could really feel like things will start picking up here in Kichijoji. After we came home I wrote the award mission leader who hasn't responded to any of the messages I've sent him this week. I think it's the right email address...guess I'll just have to be persistent. Then Elder Ishikawa and I talked about Star Wars in Japanese, I actually found out that Japan doesn't have a rating system for movies, they just kind of advertise movies to certain ages. Also if a movie is doing really well and makes over a certain amount of money the movie is cheaper to go and see! 

Saturday

Elder Mukai called us earlier in the week and told us that we needed to clean the old apartment which is a piece of junk...seriously though it is awful, the elders had to emergency transfer out of there because of all the mold. So we had to bag up all the trash and take it out to the churn, but in the mean time we had fun getting stuff small enough to fit inside of the trash bags. In Japan you have to separate all of your trash which is really frustrating, because you have to continually ask yourself the question, "Could I burn this?". And the answer is, well if Boy Scouts taught me anything it's thatI can set fire to anything. Sadly that doesn't work here in Japan. After we finished, we hurry and changed and ate dinner at this oil noodle place, it was alright, I think broth just makes a good dish though. Then off to the Christmas Concert! It was so crazy going again this year, last year I went and understood nothing. But this time I understood the whole thing! It was so cool! Plus I knew more than half the cast this year! It was neat to see the youth I worked with in various wards sing. Afterwards we talked to them and I was amazed at how many recognized me with how many missionaries change! Get this though! I saw my MTC companion, Elder Tolen! But if that wasn't enough we both recognized a man we taught in the MTC, Yuhei! We went up to him and began talking to him and catching up, he just got his mission call to Kobe, and got into BYUi! It was cool being able to talk to him in his native tongue and feel comfortable. I remember thinking how embarrassing it was to speak Japanese, not to say that has changed a whole lot. It is just different. 

Sunday

We went DCS, and had a great meeting, we announced our plan of caroling to the ward, it got some people excited which was great. A man sat in front of my companion and I at church, then afterwards he turned to talk to me and said in English, "Hi, I am brother so-and-so." We got to talking and when I inquired as to where he learned English he said the Yokota Air Base, i related where I was from and he grabbed his phone and showed me a picture of an address in Ohio and asked if it was close to me. Turns out the address is inside my stake boundaries! The man who taught him English retired close by to where I live! Pretty nuts! We were on our way to Gospel Principles with him but the Assistants grabbed him and took him somewhere else. After church we split up the fruit basket and then Visited Kosaka Kyoudai who is a computer animator for Japanese cartoons! It's pretty cool, we shared the Liahona message and set up a dimmer appointment for later in the week. After we went to Ueki Kyoudais house and taught him "Who is God" one of the new pamphlets we are using. Then we ate dinner and went to Mitaka Eki to Carol! There was a great turn out from the ward! They were all pretty excited to sing! By the time we left there was a giant group around us listening. Elder Jennings found a Chinese man, and the sisters found a woman! It was a great district activity to help the ward members and people of Kichijoji. 

Monday 

After studies and lunch we went to the church to send our presidents letters and find some less actives to visit. However the Wi-fi was off. So I called my friend at the area office Elder Jones who is over all Technology in the Asia North area, and he was able to turn it back on remotely. We got that figured out then left for kogane which was forever away! We housed a whole apartment complex and no one answered the door. We prayed and felt like we needed to go somewhere else so we turned down another street and found 3 kids playing basketball. We talked to them about Christmas, actually it was more like taught they had no idea why people celebrate Christmas. Then we visited the Takahashis but they weren't home, so we left them a message. Then took the long bike ride home to eat dinner. After some spaghetti, gravy, and chicken bullion noodles we went with the intention to go to south Mitaka to find more less active and house in the nearby area. However, when we got to the church we took the snap shots, then just as we were about to leave the church a woman came up to us   Holding a Mary medallion and asked if it was ours. Sadly it wasn't but she expressed interest in who Mary was so we showed her the nativity Bible Video and were able to testify about it and set an appointment for her to meet with the sisters. We then stopped by the Honbu to grab some fliers to go and street in the park but the tech elders needed me to write a quick excel file for them so that blew through more time :/. Finally we were able to get out but sadly we only had a half hour. 

A lot of people really are unaware of what Christmas is all about aside all the Shopping, American songs, and KFC dinners. Some people think it is just an American holiday or the "cool- in thing to do". But in actuality it's not. It's to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I really love sharing our Christmas message with those we meet on the street. The simplicity of the video and children's testimonies of Christ really put the holiday into a clearer perspective. It really is able to impact those whom I have the opportunity to serve here in Japan.

Hope y'all have a great week! 

Big Hearts! 

Elder Dunn

Me and some of our Eikaiwa friends!

We went to this ramen shop that puts charcoal in their water to purify it.

Elder Tolen, the man we taught in the MTC (Yuki), and me after the Christmas Concert.