The Work is About to Take Off

Hello!  How are you?

I’ve been really tired lately.  The work’s been rough.  The area book was pretty full at the beginning of the transfer, and we’ve dropped quite a few people.  We’re doing our best.

Elder Taylor is the best.  I got way lucky.  I got the best trainee in the mission.  We’re doing really well.  He’s an awesome missionary.  The beginning of every transfer is kind of weird no matter who your companion is.  It’s really weird getting adjusted to it.  After two transfers with Elder Li, I feel like as a person and as a missionary I’m way different.  I’m a lot more like him.  I was a lot slower at the beginning of those two transfers, and now I feel like l’m a lot faster paced.  I should probably actually slow down a little bit maybe.  J  And Elder Li is one of my best friends now.

Me and Elder Taylor.  We’re over the phase of getting used to each other and now we’re on the phase where we can actually start having heart-to-hearts.  So it’s good.  He’s a way killer missionary.  He’s way solid.  He knows exactly what he’s doing, exactly why he’s on a mission.  He really contributes to all of our companion study and companion planning sessions.  And I’m really grateful for him.  I have a feeling that by the end of our two transfers together, we are going to be really good friends.  Right now we’re still just developing that relationship.  But he’s an awesome missionary, so solid. 

We’ve been working with the ward more.  We’ve set up a lot of appointments to meet with them and practice teaching the first lesson, to build trust with them.  It’s very needed, because I need to practice my Japanese so much.  It’s scary.  I’m not ready to train.  But everyone has faith in me, especially Elder Taylor, because he doesn’t understand the Japanese that I do speak. 

About you talking to Sister Whitmer, shout out to Sister Whitmer!  How are you?  I love Sister Whitmer.  I love the Whitmer family.  Brother Whitmer is one of my heroes.  And Josh obviously is one of my best friends.  I love being in the same country as so many of my friends.  After our missions, it’s going to be awesome.  We’re all going to speak the same language.  I’m stoked for that!

Austin, Lydia, Brooke, and Sammie!  I’m so excited for all of you!  It’s so weird being graduated!  Austin, you’re headed on a mission, and you’re going to kill it!  You’re going to be a killer missionary.  And everyone else, you’re going to be ahead of me in school in like three months, so that’s weird!  But it’s awesome!

Lately times haven’t been the easiest, but I’m doing well.  I’m loving my mission more and more everyday, even though it’s gotten a little harder everyday.  But I think that’s going to turn around soon.  Elder Taylor and I have a bit list of people we’re going to visit this week.  We’ve contacted a lot of them.  The unity with the ward is already getting a lot better, and I think the work is about to take off.  Mark my words, it’s about to take off. 

One more month and I have been in Japan for a whole year.  Can you belive that?  I still feel like I just got out of the MTC!  It’s crazy how fast time goes.

I love all of you so much!  And I miss you!  But I’m where I’m supposed to be and I know that.  I love you!  Bye bye!

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

One of Japan's prettiest places are its graveyards!  They're so cool!

My companion is afraid to show his face when wearing a helmet

 cuz he thinks he looks dumb while being safe ;)

Serving with a first transfer missionary

Sorry, it's been a bit of a crazy day, and I'm struggling to remember all that happened this last week...

YES.  Earthquakes.  I am terrified of them.  Everyone makes fun of me, but during that one, the house was shaking pretty hard for like 20 seconds and I thought it was the end of the world.  I almost hid under a table, but wasn't able to move because I was petrified with fear.  I told my Eikaiwa class the story of Mr. Marrott and how he told me that I was going to die in a massive earthquake in Utah and he made me cry for like a week.  They all laughed really hard. ;)

Elder Taylor is such a hard worker!  He's such a sweet elder and has the CRAZIEST stories.  He's 22, and... wow he has crazy stories.   For example, he was once a signature away from signing his future away to Disney as a cast member for a Disney Channel short, he even met the cast of Zach and Cody AND did the, "My name is Ammon Taylor, and you're watching Disney Channel" thing and signed Mickey Mouse in the air!  He's also super good at piano and can play mostly anything by ear.  He's got a really intensely spiritual story leading to why he's on a mission, so, I guess all I can ask is that you pray that I will be able to help him become the missionary he is meant to be.  Or at least that I won't be a roadblock in the process ;)

Elder Taylor was really scared our first few days tracting, but we talked about not missing a single person, and so as a man came forward on his bike, we gave each other the look, and he yelled, "Sumimasen!"

The man passed, wheeled around, stopped, and set up an appointment with us!  YEAH!!!

My language abilities are still far below where I would like them to be.  I do not consider myself fluent, but I am able to speak to anyone I need to about anything I need to, so that's progress.

Our focuses right now are few:

1) Actually meet with every person who sets an appointment with us.

2) Have a member at every lesson if possible.

What is your advice on finding yourself and being yourself but not focusing inward, but not being like, a robot?  Being with a first transfer missionary . . . He picks up all of my quirks, sayings, and mistakes, and I never know how to act around him.  I want to be myself, but with so much pressure to be a "by the books" missionary, I've forgotten how to be myself.  I really hope I don't come home super awkward.

I love you so much!  :) Take care and be safe!  

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

Training Elder Taylor

I have no idea where this year went.

I still feel like a brand new missionary.  However, my time came when Elder Li and I hugged at the train station and he told me, "I'll see you in a few months.  We're both going to be pretty different.  But after the mission, we're gonna hang out right?  Play Smash Bros, [basket]ball..."

"Oh yeah.  We're gonna play hard.  I love you, man." 

"I love you two." 

"Go change Japan."

 "You too."

Our first week together was one of the most frustrating weeks of my life, and now he's my favorite companion I've ever had.  Elder Li has become one of my best friends in the world.  I can not wait for the day that we can hang out again and talk about the old times as well as what we made of the new.  His sense of humor, his work ethic, our teamwork, and our desire to serve The Lord entirely with full faith became something really special.  And then I entered the platform and was gone in a flash on the train.

Getting to the Mission Home by myself was kinda terrifying, but Japanese people help you out A TON if you just ask.  I got a little lost, and when I got off of the train at my last stop, the time was 8:54.  I ran hard to make it on time, and was only a little sweaty when I crashed into the training meeting for the "greenies."  Once there, I had the privelege to sit between two brand new American Elders named Elder Taylor and Elder Bayfuss.  We joked and laughed when appropriate, but mostly I tried to hype them up for the work thinking, "One of these two could be my companion for the next 3 months..."

Well, you already know who it was. :)

Elder Ammon Taylor.  He's from Arizona, and he's an amazing young man.  He dreams of living up to his first name as a missionary in Japan, and was stoked when I told him I had just as big of dreams for this place.  He reminds me (only a little bit,) of Todd, especially when he wears his glasses.  He's a very loving Elder and knows exactly why he's on a mission.  I hope that The Lord can consecrate my efforts and qualify me for the work.  I imagine this is a little like what the brother of Jared felt when he approached God, "So, about needing light for the barges... I have some... rocks...."

Some people say that training is a "humbling" experience.  I think so far, the word "leveling" has been a bit more fitting.  My Japanese is not up to par, and I'm not a terribly organized or inspirational person, and although I thought I had EVERYTHING figured out before I met Elder Taylor, when someone is 100% dependent on you, you realize how blatantly unprepared you actually were.

I have no idea how I'm going to handle being a parent.

But, luckily, I have a wonderful companion who is patient with my flaws and only wants to do his best to serve The Lord.  That's all I ask for.  I know that even if that is all we have, we will still see miracles.  I think back to the most successful time of my mission so far, and it in fact was not when I had a companion who was fluent in the language.  I will always tie the success of my work directly to mine and my companion's faith, because I have seen countless times how related those two things are.

That said, our second day together we were invited out-of-the-blue to a member's house for dinner and he invited several other members.  We were asked to share our vision of the work.  Hoping to be impressive and to ignite the beginning of a flame that will eventually light Japan in "Dendo Fire", we prepared a full lesson including our vision for the ward and how we may work together to strengthen the culture of the church in Japan.  But it became apparent to me half-way through the lesson when the baby started screaming and the members started yawning and my companion looked blankly at me because he didn't understand a single word that had been spoken in the last several moments, that I fall far short of what The Lord needs from me.

And so I've been praying hard.  And it'll really help me if you do the same.  I know you already do, but I figured I'd just write it in case. 

But don't worry.  I'm not throwing in the towel or letting go.  The difference between winners and losers is that winners get up every time they fall.  And I know that "There's no growth in the comfort zone" so by my logic that means there's "Super growth in the super discomfort zone." ;) I expect both of our Japanese to improve a lot in the next bit 

Thank you so much for your emails, the really mean the world to me! :)   We're doing our best out here to be obedient, healthy, and happy, and successful!  I love you so much!  The Skype was the best, I keep thinking about it (when I have a second to think anyway ;) 

I feel your support and am so grateful!!!  Always thinking about you, can't wait to hear from you next week :)

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

ELDER TAYLOR!!!!!!!!

We got some traditional japanese treats!  They're filled with anko (sweet bean paste).  I don't think he liked it much, but no Americans do at first (except me ;)

The prayer mounds every morning when the Alarm hits 6:25....

Mother's Day Skype with Elder Stout

We got to Skype with Elder Stout on Mother's Day!  It was so good to talk to him.  He is doing great!  He told us that they just had transfer calls, and he is going to be training a new missionary!  They are receiving several English speaking missionaries, several Japanese missionaries, and several missionaries from Brazil.  He doesn't know which his new companion will be. 

Calling you was a massive highlight of this whole year! :D I love seeing everyone and just getting to talk to them.  The two biggest feelings I have after talking with everyone is, 1) That I love all of you and can't wait to hang out again, and 2) That I want to work super hard now because in reality the time until I'm home is all too short.

I'm so so so excited to be a trainer, but also so so terrified.  Everything you've said is exactly how I'm feeling: very excited and blessed and nervous and inadequate.  If The Lord trusts me and if President Nagano trusts me, then I must be able to do it.  I'm terrified to know if my companion is English speaking, Japanese, or Spanish!!  I have no idea what I'm getting, but I'm stoked for anything! :D  We're going to work hard and we're going to see some massive changes in the near future.  Elder Li and I have really imagined an amazing vision for what this mission could be, and it all starts with the members.  Hopefully, if I show my trainee that we work with the members from the very beginning, he can change the culture of the mission from day 1!!

It's a lot of pressure, but I just know I can do a good job.  Please pray for me every day, but pray harder for my new companion.  I know I will.

As for people we're working with, as I said over the Skype call, we haven't been able to meet with Tsukagoshi san.  It's a big holiday in Japan right now so he may be out of town, but after visiting his house many times I wonder if he's afraid to meet with us after not passing his interview.  Please pray for him to have courage, and most importantly to have hope.

Daichi has not been able to skype this week.

Matsuoka san is about 45, he's insanely busy as is expected with Tokyo life, but he makes time to meet with us once every week.  We've set a baptism date for the 11th of June, and he said that if he feels these things are true by then, of course he will be baptized.  Please pray that he can give up smoking and will be able to work it out with his job to come to church every week leading up to his baptism.  He is such a kind and intelligent man, and even though he usually likes to view the gospel from a careful-to-test-the-waters-nice-ideology viewpoint, he's beginning to recognize the spirit and it's an amazing transformation to witness.

We had a wonderful lesson with a man named Tang from Taiwan and the WHOLE thing was in English!  Wow.  He's actually moving, so we have to refer him to some other Elders, but being able to teach in English is so liberating, I love it.  I get to know these people so much better and have an easier time answering their questions.  Although it was really funny noticing how Elder Li and I fell into habits of thinking up Japanese phrases which we usually teach, and translating them into English out loud.  For example: "We know this is true.  So we would like to recommend that you read The Book of Mormon to know for yourself."  Recommend.  It sounds so funny in English, but in Japanese, that's just the polite way of saying, "If you read this Book, you can know too."

I've actually had an interesting idea recently.  So, the mind is a muscle, right?  Well, when your average teenager wants to get super in shape, what does he do?  Does he work every muscle in his body for 6 days a week?  No.  You work different muscle groups daily to give your body time to grow.  What if our minds are the same!!  This transfer, my language plan is going to be like my work out plan: Monday and Thursdays: Vocab, phrases, and grammar.  Tuesdays and Fridays: Listening Speaking/pronunciation.  Wednesdays and Saturdays: Reading, writing, and Kanji.  Obviously, I'll still focus on my investigators needs, and learn what they need.  But for the other half of my study, I think focusing like this will help me grow much faster.  What do you think? :) Maybe I'm just crazy; let me know.

It was so good to see all of you during the skype call :D :D :D I love being bombarded with the siblings.  I felt like Harry Potter holding the Deathly Hallows and watching significant figures from his childhood just fly out of nowhere to give him advice and to laugh with him before things get really intense.  So, y'all are basically the best.  Thanks for being such a fun and tight family.  Mama and Dada, I'm so grateful for the personal time we got to talk.  I'm sorry it was a little bit short, it always is, but that's a little "shoganai."  The time flew by so fast.  I think we talked about everything we needed to... in any case, I was just grateful for the opportunity to call and loved every minute of it :)  I hope you got enough time with me!

Ok, I wasn't planning on sending a big email today because we skyped, but apparently I had a lot to talk about... 

I love you Mama, and I love you two Dada!!  I love all of you siblings!!!

Until next week! :)

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

Japanese pizza is weird.  This picture is
missing the corn pizza though, luckily . . . .

This park looked like too much fun!

I LOVE YOU!