Transfer 10?? Ehhh?

頼もう！

We're pretty much in Christmas season now! I love it so much! I wish every day had the Christmas spirit!

After our P-day was over, we decided to head to the north part of our area. About a 30 minute bike ride. We tried to visit some less active members but they ended up not being home. Before we left, we picked one more family, the Okuda family. We had never met them before and no one knew them in the ward. We said a prayer before we knocked, hoping they would be home and would be open to us. Lo and behold, the daughter, Nana, answered! We had a good talk and learned more about their family. They hadn't been coming to church because they were busy and the church is too complicated to get to by car. We showed the Light the World video from last year. She prayed at the end and we set a small return appointment for later in the week when everyone would be home. 

We had interviews with President on Wednesday. Always a fantastic opportunity! I really appreciate all that he and his wife do for us! While waiting for our interviews, Warnick姉妹 taught us how to make origami Christmas ornaments. There were hot glue guns, paper, and more craft stuff. In the stars we made, you can put a message inside for whoever you decide to give it to. I made one for Don兄弟 and gave it to him on Sunday; he loved it! Again, I love the Christmas spirit so much! 

Thanksgiving Day came...but nothing special here. We did get KFC for dinner though. And after district meeting the next day, we got all-you-can-eat しゃぶしゃぶ(shabushabu), so I guess that counts as our Thanksgiving meal.

Ever since we got LINE, we've been encouraged to do a lot of online 伝道. My companion and I made a Thanksgiving post as well as a little video about this year's Christmas calendar. We had a lot of fun with it and it's really added to our ways to spread the gospel. I am super excited for what's to come! 

We ended up going back to the Okuda family on Saturday. The mom answered the door this time and started sharing stories from her mission. She got Nana to come to the door as well and we talked more about the new Christmas advent calendar and gave one to them. Just as we were leaving, the son came back from work too so we talked to him. They are a great family and they seemed pretty happy that someone came to visit them. We invited them to the Christmas party and they said they will come. I love working with members! 

Sunday was a pretty long day. 桝田さん came to church; it was the last time he could come this year because of his work. After church, we helped the Kofu sisters teach their recent convert from China via video chat. This online stuff just brings so many possibilities haha. Then we watched a YSA devotional featuring Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard. One thing that stuck out to me is that after the mission, we should keep doing the habits we built on the mission. Scripture study, waking up early, interacting with and helping others etc. That will help us to stay focused on God as well as enrich our daily lives. Definitely will do that! As for transfers, I am staying in Hodogaya with 楊長老! This transfer will be 9 weeks instead of 6.. exciting! I'm glad I get to spend this Christmas season with amazing people! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

The Okuda's daughter, Nana-chan!

Coming back from interviews, we saw the couple missionaries, the Brashears!

Aang?

I had to do something with my baldness...But hey, melon pan!

Don兄弟 and his dog, Alex!

Found this on splits a couple weeks ago.. BELLFLOWER! My hometown ❤️

Thanksgiving Meal?

Nothing better than all-you-can-eat shabushabu! 

The church now has a Christmas tree! 

Umbrella Dendo

皆さん頼もう！

This week got a lot colder. I was quite surprised, but I love it! No more sweating! 

On Monday, we went to Asahi at the end of our P-day. My companion had to replace the brakes on his bike. Meanwhile, we housed the neighborhood nearby. Then out of nowhere, it started pouring rain. We didn't have umbrellas and we were wearing our brand new coats..So I got the idea to ask someone if we can borrow one. The last lady we housed wasn't interested in our message bit when I asked if we could borrow umbrellas, she said "Just wait here". Then she came back with two umbrellas saying "They aren't very pretty but here you go. Don't worry about returning them". We thanked her and went on our way. Of course, we plan on returning them soon along with a thank-you note! That was a nice, sweet little miracle!

We didn't have much success this week finding. A lot of rejections on the street and "kekkos" while housing. We did get to visit the 首藤 family though! Both the father and mother are super strong members and have done a great job raising their four kids in the gospel. One of their daughters, Erika, got back from a mission a few years ago. We asked them to think of people they can serve and ways to do it. And wow, they had a pretty good list! They have so much 伝道 fire! I love them so much!

We met with the こせき family on Saturday. It's been two weeks since the last lesson but they all remembered so much! Especially about the Book of Mormon. We taught the kids some emotions and then talked about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. We used the gospel art book to explain Jesus Christ. They love the pictures and were surprised to hear some of Jesus Christ's miracles. At the end, we asked them if they could come to church this week and the kids, Kaiin and Taiki were so excited that they pretty much begged their mom to come. The mom prayed at the end and then the 3 kids prayed together; they love to pray! Unfortunately the mom was busy on Sunday so couldn't come and bring the kids, but their desire is just awesome! I am really excited for them!

In ward council, we discussed our plan for White Christmas. That brought up a lot of ideas for the ward and how they can do missionary work. Then we talked to bishop after; we talked more in depth about the ward mission plan. A lot of it has to do with working with the members and reactivating the less actives. It's not going to be easy nor quick but with the bishop on our side, I know progress will come. When we have the bishop's trust, everything else falls into place. Missionary work is more than bringing people into church. We as members, know and have experienced the blessings that come from the gospel. So let us continue to work as members and missionaries together and share the gospel!

So out of the whole week, the worst thing was my haircut today. The last time I got a haircut, I showed a picture and the guy said "A 3 on the side and a 10 on top?". I said yes; it turned out ちょうどういい(chōdō ii- just right). Today, I went and told him the same thing. After a second of cutting, I realized it was a mistake. I guess he understood it as "cut 3mm and 10mm off". So now I'm nearly bald :l That's why I always use pictures and not numbers. Lesson learned. Anyway, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! また来週ね!

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Our investigator, 佐々木さん, saw us in action and took a picture

The こせき family as well as 高村兄弟 and 田口姉妹

They are so awesome!

Japanese Walmart?

Ran into the sisters while shopping at SEIYU(Japanese Walmart) after my haircut

Yup. Too short. 

In Due Time

頼もう！

Well, nearly halfway through November. One interesting aspect is that time is a man-made principle. Because we are so close to God on our mission, we live by his time standards, if there are any. That's why time flies so fast, especially on a mission. This is by no means absolutely true but a lot of missionaries feel that way, including me! 

清水さん went to China with his wife earlier in the week. We don't have him on Facebook yet and hasn't responded on LINE so we didn't get to help him progress as much as we wanted this week. That won't stop us though!

I had the privilege of going on splits with Harrison長老 this week. We focused on managing time and talking to everyone. It was great! Not many people listened to what we had to say but we did our best to talk to everyone. At some point, there were about 1000 middle schoolers(I'm not joking) in front of the library. They saw us and tried to speak English, although it sounded more like they were mocking us. Especially cause they all laughed after. Nevertheless, we still had a good time. 

I talked to Harrison長老 about some struggles I was having; personal as well as district/area struggles. We had a pretty deep talk. He reminded me of one thing. Sometimes, we will never see the effects of our actions/work. Perhaps some guy I try to talk to might meet missionaries down the road later in life and accept our message then. Or maybe my actions and efforts may affect how the ward interacts and does missionary work. But that doesn't mean I'll see it when I'm here. From that, I was also reminded that no effort is wasted and that I should do everything in my power to ensure that I leave every area stronger than I found it. I'm not completely sure how yet, but I really want to try. We are still trying to help the ward prepare to spread the gospel and do missionary work. It's a lot of work but everything will come in due time. 

On some spare time, I started writing a little rap about the mission. I've never liked rap before but this is a new me so why not? Congrats to Sister Sao from my ward back home! She just got called to the London, England Mission, Mandarin speaking! The mission is such a great experience; you can learn and grow so much with appropriate effort! Anyway, I hope everything is going well! また来週！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

You can never have too much fun while housing!

Night time Yokohama! I love the Landmark Tower and ferris wheel in the distance!

People tell me I wasted my money on this invisible chair...I think it comes in handy!

A Humbling Week!

頼もう！

Sometimes I wish this would write itself during the week; I get too lazy to write haha. I feel like Moroni when he mentions his "weakness in writing" in Ether 12. Nevertheless, I'll keep writing!

So I'll just hop right in to it. On Monday night, we tried to find some less actives near by. Then it just started raining out of no where. Despite having a raincoat, after about an hour in the rain, it doesn't do much good. I was kind of soaked when I got home. On top of that, I haven't been sleeping very well recently. So the next morning, I woke up with a cold! I didn't realize it at first; I thought it was just morning allergies. But after studies, I couldn't handle it. I went through an entire box of tissues. I called up Warnick姉妹 and then took a nap until 英会話. It was a bit difficult to teach but I managed. I took some NyQuil after the day was over and woke up better the next day. 

We had district meeting the next day; I gave the training while still a bit sick. It was about helping our investigators understand our purpose better so they can progress. I've learned so much being on the presenting side of trainings. The zone leaders brought some Domino's Pizza too! It was super good! Japanese pizza is waaaayyyy expensive though; no one really buys it. I'm looking forward to some $5 pizza when I get back haha. 

We biked all the way down to Hodogaya on Thursday; about 40 minutes. We tried to visit some investigators but they didn't answer. Then we went down to 保土ヶ谷駅 and tried to talk to some people. Most people ignored us; only a couple stopped. The ones that stopped preceded to tell us they weren't interested. I was a bit disappointed but eventually got over it.

On Saturday, we met with the mom and kids from last week. My first time teaching a family! The 姉妹 taught the mom English and 水落兄弟 and us taught the 3 boys. It's different working with kids; hard for them to stay focused...props to all the Primary teachers! After the English portion, we joined back together and taught them about God and prayer. They were way excited to learn! Especially when we told them that prayer is a way to talk to God! They also remembered everything the 姉妹 taught them about the Book of Mormon.  One of them read 10 pages by himself! I just love how kids are so open-minded and willing! They all have great potential and I am so excited for what's to come!

清水兄弟 came to church on Sunday! We talked to him during the second hour and were able to understand a bit more about what he is holding him back. As of now, he feels that he doesn't have a testimony and hasn't felt the Spirit. Then in the evening, we had dinner with him and his wife. We shared "To the Friends and Investigators of the Church" by Elder Costa from this year's April conference. We mentioned that he has progressed so much and is already doing the 4 things mentioned in the talk. We promised that he can recognize and strengthen his testimony by continuing. We then asked him to be baptized on Nov. 25. He hesitated to answer at first, but eventually said yes! We'll keep working with him so that he can be as ready as he can by that day! I know he can do it!

Throughout the week, I thought about the rejections and lack of success from finding. Also, I just struggled this week with 日本語. I either didn't know what to say or how to say it. I was a bit stressed. Halfway through the week, I decided to call one of our investigators, Roger. He is from  Africa and speaks English. He asked how our work was going; I told him a bit slow because no one has time to meet. I also told him about my language struggle. He then gave some advice that I really liked. One of the things that stuck with me was "It doesn't matter how the message is conveyed. The most important thing is the message". That's so true. We as member's of Christ's restored church have the amazing opportunity to share the fulness of the gospel of Christ. As long as we remember that and do our best, God will take care of the rest! (Oh it rhymes!) Sorry for the length of the post..Got carried away また来週！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Late Halloween party at 英会話!

One of the students dressed up as Hatsune Miku!

PIZZA LIFE

Domino's!

Neighborhood in Hodogaya!

Went to see Don兄弟 again!

Missionaries eat a lot!

Indo curry!

Teaching the boys English!

清水兄弟 and his wife Qiu姉妹!