Things are going super duper well!

President Nagano is an amazing man!  I love every chance we get to talk and am really looking forward to our Zone Conference this transfer!  Sister Nagano is THE BEST.  She makes the best home-made treats, is so nice and caring, and is the most selfless lady in Japan.  Sometimes she's a little funny though: you know how in Japan everyone goes to the hospital if they feel a little off?  Well a few weeks ago I was pretty dehydrated, which caused some weird effects.  When I called her about it she exclaimed in a tone horrified enough to make me think I was on my death bed, "OH MY GOODNESS!  That could be... (Something in Japanese) YOU NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!" Luckily the mission Doctor called me the next morning to say, "Your fine, drink more water, don't eat bananas." (I'm not gonna lie, I've missed those bananas so bad...)

Anyway, I'm so lucky to have them.  President Nagano always reads and answers my emails and cares so much for our needs.  But he is very busy!

I still absolutely love my ward, but find myself getting more and more frustrated getting to know and love them so much and not being able to speak to them at all, because everything I can say was said my first transfer.  They're all the kindest people and are so much fun to be around.  I'm really so blessed!  But I feel useless among them.  Before my mission my best tool to help others was my ability to talk with people and listen to them, and I simply can't now.  We have some special needs members whom I adore, and yet I can't speak Japanese simple enough to make them feel like I'm interested in what they try to say to me, so I mostly just sit with them and play dumb jokes on them so that we can laugh together... The rest of the ward has kinda given up on talking to me, or talks super fast assuming I'm already fluent cuz it's been 3 months. Mama, how did you learn this language?  I am struggling big time.

That said, I'm about to share a miracle that should make me feel better about my current state... (;

Well, firstly, Takahisa Kun!  The boy-miracle from when Hibino was still my Doryo!  He came to Eikaiwa and afterward agreed to get lunch with us.  We were headed out the door when I saw a church member, Brother Mogi, and stopped him to say hi when he responded, "Hey!  Come help me clean the church, it's the sisters' day and they left early." When we objected saying we had a lesson, he put his hand on Takahisa's shoulder and asked, "Will you vacuum the floor for me?" AND HE DID!  He is seriously the nicest kid ever.  Afterward, Mogi Kyoudai (Brother Mogi) told us to get in his car and did a Doseki (or member present) lesson at the sushi place he took me to my first pday here!  And it went SO well!  Takahisa kun wants to take the lessons, and though he wants to think about baptism, he wasn't opposed to it.  He is SO 金人! (kin-jin "gold person")

We'll meet with him next Saturday cuz he's busy with school, but please keep Praying for him!

Second, Frank.  I don't know if I mentioned him last email, but in a nutshell he finished all the lessons and wanted to be baptized but wasn't able to because of some worthiness issues.  It threw him so hard that he stopped talking to the missionaries.  Elder Kitagaki knew him from last year, and we went to visit him.  Now, he's a progressing investigator hoping to be baptized on the 27th!  It's been hard teaching him, in a way.  He felt God "rejected him," because not passing the interview was really difficult for him for obvious reasons.  He's had a few smaller failures in the past followed by a divorce leading to a powerfully dark time in his life.  We focused on teaching him about Alma 34:31, how the moment we begin our journey back to the strait and narrow, the atonement begins working for us.  But we need to open our hearts and let the Lord help us.  Then we talked about Elder Hales talk specifically about being the person you want to become and marry.  The spirit was so strong and that's when he said he wants to come back and be baptized.  He's so awesome, but he's so hard on himself and really needs strengthening.  Please pray for him!

Lastly, not a person, just an experience that has changed my mission.  

Our district leader is training his first greeny! But he still has to go on exchanges with every missionary.  Guess what that means?  I was a trainer for 24 hours.  I prayed more fervently for those days to be a successful learning experience for both of us and for it to be an effective day of dendou (missionary work). During study I did my best to lead a good companion and new missionary hour of study.  It went pretty well!  Also, new missionary fire is real, he taught me so much!  Anyway, we decided that we'd do faith dendou like Elder Hibino and I did: that's when we found our golden investigator, and that's when we're most open to the spirit.  We set a goal for 10 people talked to and 2 Books of Mormon given out, prayed, decided to talk to the first person we saw, and struck out!  When I saw the old couple, I wanted to search for someone younger and less probably Bhuddist, but we'd made a commitment!  AND GUESS WHAT?!  We ended up having an awesome conversation I didn't know I was capable of, shared a Christmas message, and gave him a Book of Mormon to which he said, "I love the Bible, I'll read it!" (In Japanese.)

As we followed this pattern of fearlessly pursuing the spirit despite inadequacies, we made exactly 10 contacts and gave away 3 books!  That is by far the most successful day I've had so far, and I was with someone who spake 0-no Japanese.  But he did his best and our most amazing contact was when we taught these two middle school kids who promised to read the book and got a tad emotional learning what we could say about the true meaning of Christmas using the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon.

I'm sorry for my rant on the language earlier, things are going super duper well!  It's easy to see your inadequacies when you're constantly trying to represent the savior ;) I think my invitation this week is for everyone reading this email to prayerfully find a Christlike attribute which they need to improve and when you begin seeing your weaknesses, know that's because you're drawing closer to the Lord, not farther away.

-スタウト長老

Elder Stout

This was us just before eating a very late thanksgiving dinner with no meat ;).  The strange looking but delicious egg salad was Elder Kitagaki's work. My Doryo is an AMAZING COOK!!  Don't worry, after he continues to teach me, I will be well fed my whole mission!

New Companion, Elder Kitagaki

Herro!  I amu fine sank you, andu you?

(; Kiddin'.  I'm doing great!  Whew, these first few days have already been pretty crazy.  My companion is AWESOME!  This could very well be one of my favorite transfers of the mission, based on what we've done so far, so I guess we'll have to watch and see (:

Elder Kitagaki: he's like, the only Nihonjin taller than me, he's super funny, super serious about the work, way more serious about loving others, and is so knowledgeable.  When I sent my trainer, Elder Hibino, off on the train I was so sad, because the ending of an era for me is always the worst.  I'm a natsukashi kinda person.  But stepping off of another train to find my new companion:

I checked out of the boarding platform and was looking around for my new companion when I saw a terrified looking foreigner with a crazy handle-bar mustache fiddling with his wallet.  Suddenly from the information desk walks a professional looking young man who points and begins explaining the all-kanji signs to the foreigner.  I walked up to the young man, and sure enough, it was Elder Kitagaki.  I don't believe there's a better first impression of a missionary than when you find each other solely because he is the one person in hundreds clearly offering selfless service without anyone he knows watching.

We've talked to as many people as we can stop and it's just been amazing!!  I love working with him.  He is so driven and I feel like my missionary work is becoming so much more effective because I'm always linked to my purpose.

So, I'm running low on time; next week's email will have to be much longer! But two things:

1) Elder Kitagaki turned to be during companionship study and said affectionately, "Elder Stout, you are as big as the ocean." . . . . . . . "I mean, your heart."

I about died laughing.  Mostly because, just like you said mama, calling people fat here is super normal and I see it all the time!  Haha, anyway, the second point is a bit more serious.

2) MY MIRACLE!

As I was writing my emails home the other week I got a phone call from an investigator who was struggling with a lot of things and decided to drop us because of it.  It was really hard for me because I really like him and I know he's trying hard and I want him to change, so I was upset.  Elder HIbino, seeing that I was upset, leapt to his feet and said, "Shinkou dendou shimashyou!" (“We're doing faith finding!”) I chased after him as we ran out the door and we prayed.  On the count of three, we pointed and he said, "That way is bright." I had felt something different, but decided to trust his experience over mine.  We took off on our bikes and talked to two sets of teenagers, all uninterested.  After going a while longer he pilled into a side-area of the road and yelled, "Dozou!" it was my turn.  I had seen a guy with a white umbrella a ways back and wanted to talk to him but felt it would be a waste to cross the street and turn around.  However, the way that I had felt "was bright" back in front of the church was toward that young man, and I was in the lead.  Feeling only a tad foolish, I followed that initial prompting and we more or less chased down this kid across two intersections until we finally pulled up next to him.  Panting, I asked, "Do you like English?"

After a short conversation with Elder Hibino, the boy followed us to the church to take a tour.  HE TOOK A TOUR.  He loved meeting the other Elders and promised us he'd be back on Saturday for Eikaiwa.  When he left we were all astonished at the product of our faith.  But it was truly a miracle.  A few days later we received this text:

"I'm really sorry, but I can't come to English class on Saturday". . . “Of course,” we both thought, but then the second half of the text read, "But I'll come to church on Sunday!"  He came to all three hours and loved it and is bringing a friend to eikaiwa this week.  Takahisa kun is truly a miracle, please pray for him!!!!!!

K, I have to go, we have an appointment, sorry to keep things brief!!  I got a ton of emails this morning (like every Monday) but wasn't able to open all of them, so my apologies!!  Have a wonderful week!

-スタウト長老

Elder Stout

I'm either super lucky, or super blessed, or (probably) BOTH!

Narita is SOOO good!  Things are cooling down and it really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.  You'll be happy to know that I had my third shoukuji (member dinner,) with Sister Sugimoto, your companion. (: And guess what?  SHE MADE US THANKSGIVING DINNER!!!  I didn't think I would get one, but she bought an entire Turkey and everything!!  It was so awesome.  Anyway, so Thanksgiving has already happened for me.  Therefore, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (;

Our awesome district and the Sugimotos!!! The sister at the bottom left is Sister Chandler: she's been here my whole time in Narita and is returning home this week.  It's so sad; she's an awesome missionary!  The missionary behind her is Elder Kuroiwa: he's also leaving and has had an awesome imapact on me!  He reminds me of my Liechty brothers.  I love him so much.

Well, here's the story of the week!

Today was transfer calls where we find out if we're switching areas/companions!  We got the phone call and guess what?!  Elder Hibino is getting transferred to a nearby area called Togane (so I'll still be able to see him at Zone Conference.) But get this: HE'S BECOMING A ZONE LEADER!!!  HA!  That's my companion!  He's been so awesome and I've learned so much from him.  I'm so lucky to have had a Japanese trainer, he was exactly who I prayed for.  This next transfer I was afraid of what kind of follow-up trainer I'd get.  To be honest, I've been praying to have my zone leader maybe get demoted and be my companion because he is such an amazing missionary and I could learn so much from him... So after President Nagano tells my companion his big news and we all freak out, he turns his attention to me: "Elder Stout, you will be staying in Narita.  Your new companion is... Elder Kitagaki!" I've never met him, but everyone else got so excited for me.  All I know is:

1) He's on his last transfer and has already served in Narita where he found or taught tons of our recent converts and investigators.

2) He's just coming out of being a zone leader of several transfers

3) He's a nihonjin who is completely fluent in English.

I'm either super lucky, or super blessed, or (probably) BOTH!  I'm so stoked to have another native companion, especially since I can communicate with him without any trouble (though I'm gonna do my best to speak only Japanese.) So, that was the miracle of today (:  WA!!  I'm so excited for this next transfer!  And so excited for my companion who gets to go and be a zone leader!  He's ecstatic, he's wanted to go to Togane for so long.  He loves this area (Chiba Area.)

So, a more spiritual thought (; I adopted your Ponderize Scripture 2 Nephi 31:20 and what hit me the most while I was reading was the way it says, "You must have a perfect BRIGHTNESS of hope." The definition of brightness is producing OR reflecting a lot of light.  There are lot of ways you can take this analogy, but one is in the fact that we sometimes feel like we aren't very hopeful at all.  However, when you feel hopeless, know that to have a brightness of hope, you may just need to do your best to reflect the hope of others, or to trust in the things you know despite the things you don't.

This church is true.  I know it is because I have experimented on the word and I know that the seed is good! (:

Sorry, I'm out of time and can't send a second email, but I'll try to write a lot more next week!!  (I'll have lots to say about my new companion and my adventures :D ) OH!  One more thing: Last week, immediately after we were dropped by that investigator and I finished emailing you, I saw one of the best miracles of my mission so far!  I want to tell you all about it but I don't have time, so please remind me!

-スタウト長老

Elder Stout

Ps, Tell the Newells thank you so much for the letter :D And everyone else, thanks so much for adding to it!!  The Christmas tree is in my study room.

Have you ever had shabu shabu?  They give you raw meat and you boil it yourself in this big bowl on the table. SO GOOD!!  Without telling me, my companion ordered 100 slices of bacon which we may or may not have slain. Don’t worry, I ate lots of salad too.  And also feel super sick.  It was awesome.  ;)

Exact words Yuki (my cat) said when I left for the MTC.  I hope she's okay! 

I wouldn't rather be anywhere else!

Gooooooooooood moooooorning Americaaaaaa!

Yep, today was temple p-day, so I'm emailing late.  Whew! It’s been a full day!  I apologize in advance, I think this is gonna be a short email because I am exhausted and out of time. \:

So.  First off, the sad stuff: about 2 minutes ago our only official investigator (the one who's having troubles with tobacco and alcohol and pornography) just called and said it’s too hard for him to quit right now, but he'll call us back one day when he's ready.  He's been an investigator for over a year.  So, that was kinda rough.  We've had a super good lesson ready for him for over a week, but he kept canceling up til now.

The material stuff is hard to quit, but pornography is so much worse.  So much worse.  It just gets inside of people and devolves their souls, and I hate it.

Anyway, I'm done with that tangent.  Today we went to the temple!!  I love the temple more than I can put in words.  After 6 weeks of dendo, it is so amazing to just recharge in the most spiritually active place in the world!  In honor of the season, I am so grateful for the blessing of temples that we have today (:

I saw Elder Clark again and we talked for a good 5-10 minutes after our session!  Aw man, he is SUCH a good missionary.  His area is having a super hard time, they just lost everyone they were teaching in one day, but I can tell that he's doing amazing things there despite that.

So, Elder Hibino and I did "exercise dendo" the other day, which is another way of saying "half of our less active members live in a city super far away, so we spent just under 6 hours on bike that day.  YEAH!  I'm being completely serious when I say I loved every minute of it (: It was pouring rain, which makes Japan so pretty.  I felt like every gorgeous view I saw, valleys covered in mist, skyscrapers half obscured by low clouds, explosive sunsets, that sort of epic scenery, was from The Lord to me.

So, right now I feel like a Baggins.  I love home, and I sometimes miss my cozy furniture with my feet propped up, a warm cup of pumpkin spice, and a nice book, but now that I'm on my adventure, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

All right, that's about all I have time for.  Here are some pictures!

Here's the sculpture right outside of the Tokyo temple!!

This was just before exercise dendo.  Can't say it made me feel suuuper great.... (;

Temple p-day noodle lunch!!  Japan has the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the world.

I love you all and miss you so much.  If you love and miss me, go share a ponderize scripture on FaceBook. (;

-スタウト長老

Elder Stout