Tsukagoshi San

Well, As for Daichi, he came to church for the first time this week!!!! :D He loved it and at the end was kind of in shock.  I asked him how his first time at church was and he looked at me and said, "Everyone... they really believe it.  They know it." His faith was strengthened so much simply by the members faith.  It was a good reminder that even when we least expect it, we're always representing The Lord.

Shingo: no contact.  His job is insane and he's going to work as well!  

As for Tsukagoshi San.......

Elder Li and I prayed about it and decided to go back to the park where we met him every day at the time when our lesson was planned.  When he wasn't there the second day, we went back to the place where we met him and looked around.  Remembering that he told us his family owned a glass shop, we stopped at the first one we saw and checked the phone number out front: IT WAS HIS. 

The night before we had tried calling that phone number, but when we asked for, "Tsukagoshi San" some family member on the phone replied, "There are lots of Tsukagoshis!" And hung up thinking we were salesman or something.  (It is somewhat common for family's to stick together in Japan throughout their whole lives if they don't get married.) We were discouraged.  This sort of thing is pretty common when people realize that we're Christian, but this time we KNEW that their relative had interest!!  We had resolved to knock on the door that next day and if they answered, face them so that we could continue to teach him.  Elder Li felt very strongly impressed to go at exactly 4 o'clock.  Boldly we went, not knowing how things would turn out at the confrontation.  Both of us were actually terrified.  Not that Japanese people are allowed to have guns or anything, but knocking on someone's door after rejection is generally terrifying.

 We arrived just a few minutes early and saw the home from across the street.  A small figure sat on the front porch. . .  He saw us coming and waved, a Book of Mormon in that hand!  It was him.  It was such a miracle.  He was beaming from ear to ear as we approached and immediately stood up following us to the nearest park to talk taking a break from his chores at the glass shop.  He told us his first name: the family name is Tsukagoshi, that's why we couldn't find him!!  He's been so happy to see us every day since!  He came to church today again and our lessons have resumed as normal.

We originally lost him because he was super tired from work and forgot about our appointment, but he was so excited to find us again.

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time, right after church!

I want to bear my Testimony of the divinity and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  I know that my savior lives because of it.  It is not my religion, but it is the keystone of my beliefs.  Like a compass it has guided me to truth.  Nephi said it best when referring to the scriptures:

"...hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.  And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye--for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day."

(2 Nephi 33: 10-11)

The Savior Jesus Christ was born.  He lived.  He died.  He was resurrected, and he lives again and forever!  If you are struggling with anything, turn to him.  You'll find peace.  

  

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for.  It's the first week of another transfer, and as such today was............ TRANSFER CALLS.

  "Elder Li?  Elder Stout?  You there?" asked our Zone Leader Elder Solomon.  "Yep, we're here!"

"...... you're staying together in Shibuya another transfer!!!!!!!" WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!  I'm so stoked!!!!!!!  Elder Li wanted to stay and see Daichi and Tsugoshi San to the end of their baptisms so badly, and The Lord heard his prayer.  And mine, because I wanted him to stay too.  We've become so tight!  I think he's my closest companion so far.   We've seen so many miracles together, too.

I miss you all so much, and if I was doing anything other than The Lord's work it wouldn't be worth it.  But, you and I both know how worth it it is. 

スタウトL老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

Shoutout to Grandpa Austin.  Do you know what this statue is?  HACHIKO MAE!  Your favorite dog movie!!!  That's the closest eki (train station) to our church actually!  Cool huh?!

This is my eikaiwa (English) class!  Some of my favorite people in the whole world right here.

Shibuya district last transfer.  We were pretty intense!  

Elder Li and I learned how to make Karaage from the Sato family, and we've gotten really good at it!  Pretty sure I've already gained weight from only knowing this recipe for a week.  Also, we've been making our own Gyouza too!!  Mama, you should be so proud of me, because I'm becoming a real chef :D

This is my Birthday dinner!!  Some marshmellow and strawberry toast (courtesy of a member,) some homemade gyouza and Karaage... only a little burnt (; But we even made half of those gyouza shells by ourselves!  It's just water and flour, pretty easy.

Also, look! I made crepes for the 27th of March.  Happy birthday to me.  Nailed it.

Cherry Blossoms!

Tsukagoshi San, someone I will never forget

Today is Temple P-Day, so I'm emailing a day late!  Last week too, I had to send my emails from the apartment and they didn't actually send until we had wifi the next day, that's why you didn't get them for so long!  But I hope not to have issues with that again in the future (;

Last transfer I went to the temple on the very first PDay, and this transfer I'm going on my second to last, so I haven't been in several months.  Going again today was an amazing blessing.  I was promised once in a blessing that I would come to love the temple, and that day has come.  It is one of the biggest highlights of every month; visiting the house of The Lord.  I felt so much peace there, and believe me when I say it was needed!  Life in Shibuya can get stressful for someone who's slow-paced like me ;)

Hahaha!  Yeah, Nagano Shimai... so we're just sitting in the apartment panting because Elder Li and I had just crashed in the door after a late lesson, we were just starting to plan when suddenly the phone goes off: "Elder Li, hello!  This is Sister Nagano.  I'm coming to your apartment.  Goodbye." His face dropped instantly from a smile to a look of horror. The entire apartment of 8 Elders erupted when he repeated the brief message: "There's NO WAY!  It's too late, she's not coming now!  Maybe tomorrow, not NOW!" "But what if she DOES come now?!  Come here Elder ___, we're cleaning the kitchen!" "Everyone CALM DOWN!" "YOU calm down and start vacuuming!!" and then a knock at the door.  In the video she took from outside on our front step, there's an audible, "Oh SHOOT.  That's not the door is it?"

When Sister Nagano's voice echoed, "Hello!" down the hallway, Elder Morris literally fell out of his chair with a loud 200 lb crash, and him and Elder Li began shoving everything they could grab into a nearby backpack to make the desks look cleaner.

Needless to say the visit was VERY needed, and the Shibuya apartment is looking MUCH better.  ;)

Some fun facts about this apartment: 1) It's in the busiest city in the world 2) It's the only 8-man apartment in Tokyo mission (maybe any mission for that matter,) 3) It's the most expensive missionary apartment in the world. 4) We have a bath tub that we use nightly.

So, by way of investigators, it's been an interesting transfer.  We've found more people than I've ever found before, but many of them just disappeared after the first lesson.  Teaching has been so much fun though.  We have some of the most interesting/fun people in this area. I've mentioned Daichi, he's the nicest guy on the entire planet and he's SO cool.  "Nice guy, cool guy." Recently, he's experienced a little bit of opposition to the church by way of friends and such who are of a different faith and don't want him to change.  They are good people, but please pray for their hearts to be softened, because he loves the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Shingo is a very funny man!  He wants to be a farmer in Japan and is going to school and work almost 24/7, so we usually only teach him over the phone except when he can make it to church.  He truly doesn't have time for a lot of lessons, but he's so prepared and has an amazing desire to follow The Lord.  Please pray that he'll be able to find time, or that time will make itself available to him!

This week I met someone who I will never forget. Elder Li and I were tracting hard.  "The grind baby." ;) We'd been talking to every person we saw with no apparent success for several hours when he said, "We gotta go this way." gesturing to the left, a street we never walk down.  We follow the prompting and the FIRST person we talked to, a man wearing 2 beanies to keep his ears warm:

"Hello!  We're missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  We're originally Americans, but because of Jesus Christ and His teachings, our lives have been changed and we've become happy.  As missionaries we teach about Jesus Christ, would you like to learn?"

"Yes!"

"O--oh!  Maybe not now, but another time, we could meet up and talk..."

"Now is fine!"

"Alright!  Should we talk right here?"

"There's a park over there, follow me."

Tsukagoshi San walked us to a nearby park where we sat down and talked about Heavenly Father and how we can communicate with him through prayer.  Our new friend loved the lesson and tried praying twice with us right there.  Afterward we gave him a Book of Mormon and he was delighted to start reading.  We asked for a phone number and then set an appointment for the next day at the same time meeting at the eki (train station,) so that we could go do a church tour.  He smiled and waved us off as we road away.

The next day, we arrived at the Eki.  My watch read 1:55.  "No sign of him... Maybe he forgot."

1:58... 1:59.... 2:00, and there he was!  A smiling face under a head of long messy hair (he looked completely different without the beanies on,) Exactly on time.  This time, we toured the church.  We watched a video together and talked about who Jesus Christ really is and how the gospel can bless our families.  He was very quiet, but smiled and contributed with really good answers when we asked.  At the end of this lesson, we invited him to join us at a baptism being held at the Hiroo English ward that night.  We showed him the spot and said, "Right there at 6:45?" and he nodded yes.

Wading through crowds of people that evening, the baptism beginning in only a short time, we looked all over for him.  "Do you think he forgot?" I asked Elder Li, checking my watch-- 6:44.  Then a hand waving at us caught our eyes.  There he was!  Exactly on time!  The baptism, although all in English, was very touching for him.  He told us he strongly desired to be baptized too.

The next day at the park, exactly on time, we met him again.  This time there had been some rain, but we found a big wooded Japanese bench designed for stretching your back, with a long arching support, that was mostly dry.  So following Tsukagoshi san's example we stepped up onto the seat of the bench and sat down on it's rounded back.  That lesson on the restoration was a little hard for him to understand, but he did he best and promised to see us at church the next day.  In fact, he was so eager that he arrived an hour early and instead of attending the ward mission meeting (in Japan it's called DCS,) we taught him a lesson with one of the temple missionaries.  Tsukagoshi San attended all 4 hours and the shokujikai (lunch,) afterword.  We said we'd see him at the church the next day at 1 o'clock, and he walked away beaming.

The next day, we were at the church on time, but he wasn't there.  When my watch read 1:15, he still wans't there.  We were worried, so we biked all the way down to the park just in case, but he wasn't there.  He never arrived at the church, and we can't contact him through the phone.

We don't know what happened to Tsukagoshi San, but please pray that we will find him.  I know he desires to follow God, and he's already brightened my life so much.  I have hope that we'll see him at church, but please keep him in your prayers!

OH MY GOSH!!!  TELL AUSTIN CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!  I'm so excited for him!!  It's going to change his life.  He's going to be such an amazing missionary, I know he's already a super hard worker.  If I could give him advice it would be this: Read Preach My Gospel all the way through before you go, just a little each day.  And then give yourself to The Lord.  Don't hold anything back.  I love you Austin!

I miss Narita SOOO much!!  Those ward members are my family now, and I look forward to the day that I can see them again.  But GUESS WHAT!?  The other day I got a package in the mail from one of my old ward members.  It was full of fresh fruits: grapes, apples, kiwis... that kinds of stuff is really expensive here, but it was SO good.  I just love them so much.  The ward members here are amazing too, but there are a lot more, and they're all really busy, so getting to know them is a bit tougher.  However, I'll let you know :)

Hey, I'm sorry for forgetting so many people's birthdays!!!  Rachel (I know it was a while ago...) Mark (I didn't forget either of yours, I just forgot to write,) ... I'm the worst.  I know it.  If you or someone else could send me a list of birthdays, I'll be better at that ;) BUT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE I ACCIDENTALLY FORGOT TO EMAIL!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!

Alright, that about wraps up this email.  I love all of you, whoever else is reading this email. I'm doing well!!  Hope you love the videos and the photos, cuz they've been 2 weeks coming ;)

My favorite one's are the Shuji Kyoudai ones.  Shuji is the funniest man on the planet.  Enjoy.

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

Playing yakyu (baseball)

Elder Li and I are a Fiery Strong Companionship

So, I have almost no time at all.  I'm really sorry, this email is going to be super lame.  I can't send any pictures because I'm emailing from a 7-11.  Long story short, the rain has been insane this week (as you'll see in a video I'll send you next week,) and we can't get to the church the rest of the day where the wifi is strong enough to send videos and pictures.  

Anyway, because of the rain and other hold-ups I have less email time than usual, which is already so "sukunai" (little). Basically, next week I promise to block out a full hour and a half and not let anything change it so that I can send you and dad and all my siblings real letters.

On the topic, shout out to Megan and Rachel and Dad for their emails!  I love you three so much and I've been looking forward to responding to you all week but just ran out of time fast today.  Sorry!!

I have 5 minutes to write, so here are the random topics in my planner that I thought up throughout the week (:

1. The Jensen's sent me a letter in December and it seriously made my week.  Apparently Emma has been writing in her journal that I made with her and the rest of my class for sacrament meeting and hearing that really made my day.  I just want her and her brother to know that I care about them and that their letter meant so much!  Also, good luck Adam on getting drum major!!!!  You'll do great!  Tryouts will be an awesome experience no matter what happens, but I'm voting for you!

2. I probably need real tooth paste and deodorant before summer if you can afford to send such a package.  If not, it's fine.  But the Japanese are kind of like the French when it comes to deodorant...

3. I LOVE PICTURES FROM YOU!  Thank you so much for all the thoughtful and fun emails, I love them.

4. I've started waking up a half hour early and studying kindergarten kanji and I'm learning SO MUCH.  I love it!  I can't wait to be able to read this language!!

This week at long last I can report that Elder Li and I are nothing but a firey strong companionship!  We have tons of fun together, we love each other, and we're beginning to understand one another.  As always, however, we're both working as hard as we can.  Not much progress with our investigators, but we're doing our best and The Lord is consecrating our efforts.

Chelsey, I hope you're doing well!  That sounds so tough.  I love you sis!

  

And that goes for everyone, the week sounds like it's been pretty tough.  On the bright side, we all have each other, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters.  On my hardest days, just imagining all of your faces fills me with hope and makes me truly happy.  We're the most blessed family in the world.

I'll send a better letter next week!  I'm sorry!!

I love you so much!

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D