COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!

頼もう!

We did a lot of walking around in Yokohama again. We stopped by the Pokemon Center and the Ghibli Studios store as well. Everything was way expensive so we didn't buy anything. Nice sights though!

Zone conference was on Thursday at the Fujisawa stake center. I didn't realize how big our stake was. The focus was working with members; I learned a lot! One of the easiest ways to do missionary work is working with the members. They know the people that are ready. Our job is to give them that push to share the gospel. With our new, mission-wide "White Christmas" goal, member work is going to be essential. I am excited! 

As a start, we visited Don兄弟; he's been going through a lot lately, especially with the birth of his grandson. Although we usually go each week to go over Sunday school's lesson in English, we focused on serving him more. We got to help wash his car and then talked about church and how we can help him. It's tough for him because he doesn't understand much Japanese; we translate for him in sacrament meeting. But I believe he felt a little bit more at ease because he gave us a big list of his past English students. Yay referrals! 

We then met with 平田兄弟 later in the day. He was baptized last May. He's a pretty strong member and we've streeted with him a couple times. He's really excited to share the gospel with his friends and we are excited to work with him! 

The next day, we went to Machida with him to see the Machida Vivace Orchestra. We were invited by one of the members, 牛島兄弟, who plays trumpet for them. Before we left the apartment, we got a call from a lady. She said she wants to learn English with her kid. I told her we have 英会話 on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the FFEP, which can be done any day. She said she would come. As we were halfway to Machida, she called again, saying she was waiting at the church with her son and his friend. Apparently she mistook my "Ka to suiyoubi", which is " Tuesday and Wednesday" for "Ka doyoubi", which is "Tuesday and Saturday. So she went to the church. I called the sisters and they went over. They taught them English and introduced the Book of Mormon, which they happily accepted. In the end, they set an appointment for this Saturday. 3 new investigators! This happened because of that misunderstanding over the phone. Also, the sisters wouldn't have been able to teach them if they went to the concert. Everything just fell into place, too easily for it to be "just coincidence". It proved to me that God's hand is evident in every aspect of our lives and He is guiding us! 

桝田兄弟 came to church on Sunday! We talked to him about his current situation and helped him understand everything does not need to be perfect for him to be baptized as long as he is doing everything he can. The members shared some of their experience and I think it really helped him. Again, I'm so excited for this transfer! I think that's about it for now. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

This just an absolutely amazing picture of Christ!

Zone conference!

Fujisawa Stake!

Hodogaya Members!

Don兄弟！

Still can't do funny faces.

平田兄弟!

YOKOHAMA + TOTORO= PURE AWESOME

Good ol�f Yokohama!

I love Totoro!

What a great view!

THE LAND OF RAIN!

頼も! 

It's been raining for the last two weeks..I never thought I'd see the sun again haha. It finally stopped today. But it went all out with another typhoon last night. We received a notice from President yesterday that we had to stay inside for the night. It passed while we were sleeping :p So we are completely unharmed! 

It's been a crazy couple days as district leader. I had to go to the mission 本部(honbu-headquarters) for a training for new district leaders. I learned so much about my new responsibilities and the trainings were great! I was then able to apply what I learned in district meeting the next day. We set some goals and plans together and I really felt that we have a new 伝道 spirit. I am excited! 

We've been so busy; we didn't have studies for two days in a row. But the movie night that we held on Saturday went well. Most of the people were members, which is good, but unfortunately our investigators couldn't make it. 

We've been focusing a lot on the members, especially because of our new "White Christmas" goal. The best way to do missionary work is with the members! We brought it up with the ward and they are excited to get to work!  

My new companion, Elder Yo( Or Young, Yang) is from Taiwan. He speaks Chinese, Japanese, and English. We don't have many Chinese speakers throughout the mission so whenever other missionaries need help, he helps teach. We got to help the Kofu sisters with their recent convert after church through a video call. It was way cool!! 

Kind of brief today but the last week has been quite a blur with transfers going on. Have a great week! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Good ol' abura soba in Kichijoji before the district leader training meeting!

The lesson with the Kofu sisters and their recent convert(middle)

Some of us make better funny faces..

TRANSFER 9?? THE FUZZIES!

頼もう！

Its been raining for the last 4-5 days and its supposed to continue all week. I'm from California so this is absolutely amazing! Rain or shine, I'm ready!

So I had the opportunity to go on splits with our fantastic zone leaders. Eteru長老 and I were able to meet with one of their investigators and set a baptismal date for December 23! I'd never met him before but I know he is so prepared by the Lord! I'm looking forward to his baptism! The next day, I went with Harrison長老 to 鎌倉(Kamakura) for their district meeting. We talked to a lot of people on the train. When I got there, it was so 懐かしい(natsukashii-nostalgic). It's been almost a year since I served in 鎌倉! I then went on splits(while still on splits) with 池上長老. We went to their apartment and helped unload some furniture from the Tokyo temple into the Kamakura house. There were about 25 chairs, 6 tables, 7 rice cookers and so much more! 

Then we went to district meeting. Harrison長老 and I gave the training from MLC; it was a fantastic training and we were in tears by the end of it. We then scrambled back to 大和(Yamato) for splits review. Despite being super busy and jumping from place to place, it was awesome being a zone leader for a day! I learned so much from splits!

We went to 希望ヶ丘(Kibougaoka) on Wednesday to do some streeting. Right off the bat, we stopped an older man. He asked us a couple questions and we were able to explain what we do as missionaries. Turns out he's read a bit from the Bible and he really wants to know more. His name is Ban. He accepted a Book of Mormon and then gave us his phone number and address, telling us to stop by anytime because he has so much time! Miracle! 

On Saturday, I gave my first training for district meeting. It was about helping investigators go from a baptismal date to baptism. When I first received the assignment, I was unsure where to start. But through some diligent PMG study and the Spirit's guidance, it went pretty well. It gave me a test of what being district leader is like.

Speaking of that, we got transfer calls! I am staying in Hodogaya and my new companion will be Yang長老! He is from Taiwan; he speaks Chinese, Japanese, and English! How exciting! On top of that...I got called to be a district leader! Looking forward to this next transfer! 

Now about the "fuzzies". We get a lot of bread from a member in Hodogaya. So we use the toaster a lot. Bateman長老 often forgets how hot the bread will be coming out of the toaster and picks it up with his hand. Sometimes it's so hot that he accidentally drops it and it hits the floor. He describes the floor germs as "the fuzzies". But being American and believing in the "5 second rule", he still eats it after. So that's where that comes from!

We went to Yokohama today! We went to this all-you-can-eat Mexican restaurant called "La Salsa". I had 7 burritos haha! I love Mexican food! Then we walked around. The area reminded me of the pier back at home in Long Beach, CA. Landmark Tower is wayy tall! Absolutely great sights! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

While doing some grocery shopping, people kept telling me I look like Trump...I don't know why.

We got Indo curry after district meeting with the zone leaders and their investigator!

LANDMARK TOWER

Landmark Tower!

Couldn�ft fit the entire building in the picture!

YOKOHAMA PORT!

The scenery from La Salsa! I�fd be convinced this was America!

Went to the Pokemon Center!

TOO MUCH 啓示(KEIJI)!!

頼もう！

First off, I wanna say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing mother! I am so thankful for her love and support all these years, especially on my mission! 

We met with 桝田兄弟 on Friday. It didn't go as planned, especially with our 同席 being a bit late. 桝田兄弟 said he read quite a few scriptures throughout the week, including the summary of 2 Nephi 31. He mentioned that he feels he needs to be 100% ready in order to be baptized but we told him if he continues to wait for the perfect moment, he might not ever get baptized. He said he has two Sundays off this month(A MIRACLE) and we told him that it's a blessing from God. We also shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and he loved it. Unfortunately our lesson ended a bit abruptly because 桝田兄弟 had to take his wife to work. We asked him if he would be baptized this coming Sunday but he said he's still unsure. We know he can do it!

So the last three days have been absolutely crazy. We've been so busy, especially with general conference. On Friday, we had no time for language study and didn't eat dinner until the day was over. On Saturday, we skipped companion study. And Sunday, we didn't have personal or companion study and dinner. But it was great cause we were fed spiritually and met with our investigators!

General conference was great! I learned a lot, especially from the Saturday sessions. A couple things I loved was the focus on the Book of Mormon and families. I've been able to read the Book of Mormon everyday on my mission so far and it's been a great blessing! I know that as we follow President Monson's counsel to read and ponder it everyday, we can have the strength to carry on our daily lives, even in times of trouble. Before conference, I had some time to think about some questions that I wanted answered. And each one of them were! I am so thankful for opportunity to receive such great counsel and revelation from our beloved leaders! Unfortunately I fell asleep a little bit for the Sunday sessions..I didn't get much sleep the night before..Too much 啓示(keiji-revelation)!

On Sunday night, we visited 清水兄弟 with 小山岸兄弟. We had a nice talk about church and it allowed 清水兄弟 to relax a little bit. Last week, he had told us that he "definitely does not have the desire to be baptized", so we were a bit worried. But we had some good laughs, especially because 小山岸兄弟 is a comedic genius haha. 清水兄弟 and his wife have been reading the Book of Mormon together every night since we last visited. Little by little, he's progressing! 

Then we booked it over to 桝田兄弟's again around 8:30. 高村兄弟 was also there and we were able to talk more about how he feels about his baptism. Recently, the 桝田家族 has been struggling with money, especially because the wife has to get surgery next month. On top of that, he has to find a new job and needs his health to improve. He feels that he needs to fix all of that before being baptized. We testified that God will help him, he just has to continue to take the steps toward baptism. Again, we are praying for him and we know he can do it!

We got the chance to stop by GU(clothing store) today. I was able to get a nice suit for only $65! And it is the most comfortable suit I've ever tried! Super satisfied haha. It was a great week! Now on to the last full week of the transfer! Time goes too fast! 

Anyway, I encourage all of you to read the conference talks if you haven't yet or just review them! Have a great week!また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

I don't have pictures this week...But here are some from my first transfer! Almost a year ago!

I didn't realize someone took a picture lol

COMPANIONSHIP GAMES 🎖🏆

皆さん頼もう！

It's October! I feel like the year just started! But that means general conference! I hope you all enjoyed the talks and were inspired to act accordingly!

So finding this week was rather slow but we did get to follow up with our investigators. 清水兄弟 says he still doesn't have the desire to be baptized. He's been reading the Book of Mormon each night with his wife. We'll keep praying for him. 桝田兄弟 said he wants to meet this Friday and that he has a day off on the 15th of the month, so he'll come to church. We believe that was the answer to his prayer so he can be baptized on that day. We'll talk to him his week and see how it goes! 

There was a baptism in the Kanagawa ward. We went with 佐々木さん and he enjoyed it! He said he felt a "wonderful feeling" and talked to some members there. We returned to our church and  read the Book of Mormon with him. He said that it helped him understand that he needs to come to church regularly! A great miracle!

We had zone P-day today! The companionship games hosted by our wonderful zone leaders, Eteru長老 and Harrison長老. We had several competitions, such as "Do you know your companion?", a relay race, scavenger hunt and more! We didn't win the grand prize but it was a lot of fun and the zone leaders really put a lot of work to make it happen! 

Although I haven't been able to watch conference yet(waiting for Japanese translation), I did get to look at "Three Sisters" by President Uchtdorf from the women's session. One of the key things he mentioned is that we should hold on to the iron rod no matter what our trial/situation is. We are all God's children. God knows all of our potential and he knows we can do it. And it's all possible through Jesus Christ, the Atonement and the gospel. That's all I can really summarize sooo I recommend you all read it for yourselves! Have a great week!また来週ね!

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

We went shopping today...they have halloween stuff, including a sword!

COMPANIONSHIP GAMES

Introducing the COMPANIONSHIP GAMES!

Fujisawa East Zone!