Week 16- 1/19/2016 We Finally Went to The Zoo

皆さん！ how is everybody. This week was a blur honestly. We were really

busy all week and I don't see a break in the foreseeable future. I'll

highlight some of the things we did.

So, we've been teaching this family for a bit. We teach the son

English. His dad took missionary lessons a while back so he has

exposure to the missionaries. The son really likes us, and the dad

decided for us to teach all his kids. We've been building a

relationship with them for the past few weeks. The other night, during

ping-pong, we got to talking about why he was interested in us. He

said that when the missionaries started teaching the Word of Wisdom,

he really liked it. Through following it, and feeling the spirit, he

was able to quit alcohol. He said he wants his kids to have that in

their lives. We've been talking about baptism lately and will try to

commit him this week! They're an amazing family.

Also, we've been teaching this American guy for the past month and a

half. He came to church last Sunday which was surprising. He's been

more receptive then our main focus investigator. However, after

sacrament he pretty much told us to stop wasting our time, religion

just really isn't who he is. Then he accepted a Book of Mormon. We'll

decide later this week on further action.

Really this week just involved a lot of biking and streeting. We had a

few really good contacts, but none of them have replied to us. We

haven't given up hope though. We talk to a lot of people. We recently

made a goal to go above our normal goal while contacting. Lately,

we've been doing really good.

I guess the highlight of this week is going to the zoo and temple.

Today was a temple p-day hence the email delay. I finally got some

good pictures for all of you. I also ate some pretty good gyoza. For

those of you who don't know what gyoza is, it's a Chinese style of

dumpling, usually with pork and cabbage inside. They're usually fried

on one side as well. Well, that's pretty much it for this week. Wish I

could write more but my brain is pretty much fried. Have a good week

everyone!

モア長老

At the Temple

A real panda

You could get pretty close to the seals

This polar bear was walking around all mad

Otters

The tiger was teasing the lion in the next cage

Penguins. The name of the penguins are actually inappropriate so I can't write them

Red panda

Week 15- 1/11/16 The Wind Doesn't Stop

 So let me give you a recap. We were very busy this week. We taught

like 11 lessons, (half our transfer goal) in one week and saw plenty

of miracles. I also figured out that the wind is always blowing

against us, no matter where we go.

This week was literally non stop work. Since this is Elder Yoshinos

last transfer, we went to Waseda university, one of the leading

Universities the world. He had to get his re-entry interview done.

Also, we had a training meeting. So we took the train to Urawa and met

our new Zone Leader.

Honestly not many cool things are happening other than our

investigators. I'll start with Nao. Recently, Nao has showed a ton of

interest. We usually meet him over ramen and teach him gospel

principles and English. However, this week he surprised us. He said

he's started praying at home by himself every day. We never asked him

to do that. He's not afraid to pray in public either, because he just

offered the prayer for the ramen. Totally blew us away. His faith has

increased a lot and I'm so proud.

Another cool investigator story. Recently, we've been teaching a boy

named Hiroki English. His dad met with missionaries before and their

family comes to every eikaiwa. Recently, they've really become

attached to us. They come to every event we invite them to. Eikaiwa,

mochitsuki, even church. They're an awesome family. To make it better,

the dad gave up coffee and alcohol after learning we don't drink any

of those, without having to give him the commitment. It seems like our

investigators are preparing themselves.

Today, we had a mochitsuki. It's pretty much a party where we make

mochi. Tons of people came, and the members brought friends. Everybody

enjoyed socializing, and I got to show off my strength by pounding the

mochi with a hammer. All in all, it was a good time, and we made a lot

of new people interested in what we teach and do.

I was riding my bike a few days ago, when a car just turn in

front of me. I was going pretty fast but I slammed my brakes and force

the bike sideways. Next thing I know I'm on my feet, perfectly stable,

with my bike a few feet behind. It felt like I was picked up, or

helped up as I ditched the bike. Pretty cool experience.

Anyways thanks for tuning in everybody. Sorry, no pictures this week,

too busy. I'll try to take more next week!

モア長老

Week 14- 1/4/16 Transfer One, Over and Done

Hello once again 皆さん,

Yes it's been another week, and despite the two days we got off, it

still feels like a busy week. We deep cleaned our entire apartment. It

took us all day but we eventually finished and had the last hour of

the day to ourselves, them we read and studied literally all day the

next next day. It was nice to rest for a bit. And I'm officially a

transfer two missionary. Still a green bean but not as green.

Last week I said I was going to Ueno zoo on Tuesday but it turns out

the zoo, and every other tourist attraction in Ueno was closed due to

the New Years. Instead, we went to ameyoko, which was crazy packed.

It's this one little street with a ton of vendors screaming how cheap

their wares are. On the way to ameyoko, we ran into this giant toy

store. Naturally we went inside. It was six stories tall, and had

every kind of toy you could imagine. However, the top floor was my

favorite. The 6th floor was completely devoted to Star Wars and I took

some pretty cool pictures of things they had there.

After our p day activities, we went to the temple. All day I was

nervous because we had a lesson later that night with an investigator

named Angel. He's from the Dominican Republic, and is a strong

Catholic. My companion and I were both very nervous because we don't

really know how to teach people with religious backgrounds. However,

after that temple session I was at peace. We rode to Angels house,

they fed us some Spanish rice, smoked pork, and grilled bananas (which

was amazing) and ended up having a good lesson. He wants to meet again

sometime.

This whole week has been full of us being fed, and I am extremely

grateful. We even had homemade tortillas and soft tacos yesterday.

It's been so long since I've had a (good) taco.

And I finally got to do one of my favorite things. We were invited to

play soccer and basketball with the YSA men and a few investigators.

We all had a good time, but after is when it got better. We went to a

yakiniku house. For those of you who do t know, yakiniku is when you

order a ton of raw meat, and cook it on your own grill. And of course

it was tabehodai, or all you can eat. By the end of the night, we

pounded like ten platters of meat, and everyone smelled like campfire.

It was so good.

Well, that's my week everyone. We didn't really have many investigator

lessons because of the New Years, it's a really big deal in Japan. But

I'm sure I'll have more experiences this week. I'll attach pictures,

thank you for tuning in everybody!

モア長老