平成30年！

頼もう！

明けましておめでとう！Happy New Year! 平成30年になりました！They count the year two ways in Japan; the regular way (2018) and by a name chosen by the emperor since the beginning of his reign (平成30年- heisei year 30). 

When I received my mission call, it was stated that I was to preach in 日本語. But based on this week's experiences, I think it was supposed to be English. On Wednesday, shortly after leaving the church, we talked to a guy named Nick. He is from good ol' San Diego and he just got to Japan two months ago. He said he isn't religious but he goes to church every now and then and he's down to come to ours. After that conversation, we stopped another guy using English. He is Japanese but pretty much is fluent in English. He told said he'd like to learn more English as well as the Book of Mormon.  Thursday, we went over to the Puankhan's; a Thai and Japanese family. But they went to BYU Hawaii so they are fluent in English; they even taught their kids English.  So I have no idea if I am in Japan or the US now. 

Unfortunately I woke up with a fever on Thursday. I slept till about 1:30 then I just 頑張る'd through weekly planning after. It was pretty miserable. I couldn't eat much food at the Puankhan's cause of my headache either. We had apartment deep cleaning on Friday and Saturday so I 頑張る'd through that as well. At least our apartment is nice and clean now. Most of the fever went away by Friday, but I went through a whole tissue box that day. I don't get sick, but when I do, man, does it take a toll on me. 

On Saturday night, we visited the 高村家族. They have 7 kids. Lots of conversations going on at the dinner table. Reminded me of my family dinner. Unfortunately my companion and I made the mistake of eating before we went to their house because we didn't know they were gonna feed us. We ended up eating double dinner that night. I love the 高村s so much though! We shared a message about conversion and it went great. 

As we were planning on Sunday morning, I looked outside and to my surprise, it was snowing! Lightly and not very long, but it was awesome to see. I love the cold, especially with snow. 

I picked up a Japanese Liahona the other day and randomly read an article. Then I read something familiar. 「とにかく泳ぎ続けるんだ」or "Just keep swimming". Yup. Good ol' Finding Nemo. It doesn't matter if I've taught more English class lessons than the gospel. It doesn't matter if I haven't gotten a baptism yet or found anyone on the mission. I don't speak perfect Japanese yet either. The only thing I have to do is "Just keep swimming". Because we have the Savior, we CAN keep swimming, no matter what.  And as the new mutual them declares, there is Peace in Christ. At this new time of year, I invite you all to take a look back on the past year and determine at least one thing you can do better and "just keep swimming". Thank you everyone for another fantastic year. Be safe and have fun!

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Puankhans! 

Merry Christmas! Round 2!

Merry Christmas everyone! Feliz navidad! メリークリスマス！

We got pretty busy this week. We got to work a lot with the members and got to sing at a carehome with an investigator. Christmas conference was pretty awesome. We gathered as a whole mission and had a talent show. So many talented people in the mission! 

I got to call my family as well today. I didn't really know what to say and my English conversation skills are slacking now. But I guess that's good. Anyway, I hope you have a splendid Christmas! Remember Christ and let's light the world! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

My 同期!(Came to Japan with me)

Gutierrez長老! Feels good to be reunited!

All of my 同期!

Christmas Adventures!

Family Home Evening this past week!

直井家! 

松浦家! I love them so much!

Universal Christmas Spirit!

頼もう

Pretty full of Christmas activities this week, even though most people don't celebrate Christmas here. Christmas to Japanese includes eating Christmas cake (especially strawberry shortcake), going to KFC on Christmas, and LOTS of Christmas sales for clothes and what not. They save the big celebrations for New Year, or 正月(shōgatsu). Bit different to what I am used to but hey, it's still pretty cool. 

Finding this week was pretty rough. Most people didn't even stop to talk to us after we greeted them. I went on splits with one of the zone leaders, 水口長老, and we had the opportunity to do some online 伝道. We used FaceBook and sent videos to members. The work is hastening...fast :p Unfortunately our finding didn't go too well; more rejections. Kind of discouraging, especially on splits, but there's a lot to learn from those as well. 

Saturday was jam packed of Christmas. We headed over to the 本部 early in the morning  for the Christmas Open House. My group practiced a bit then we got to work. My companion and I were sent to manage the Nativity room. There were dozens of Nativity sets from all of the world. It was really cool to see. There were lots of missionaries inviting people on the streets to come check out the open house as well as a bunch caroling in front of the church. My district and the 鎌倉 district got to sing as well;. We sung Picture a Christmas, the Nativity Song, and many more. As we sung, I couldn't help but notice that there I was, in Tokyo, singing songs from my primary days. Just amazing :)

We hopped back on a train after our shift to go to our ward Christmas party. We waited at the station for someone we met the day before who said he was going to come but he didn't show up. The ward party was pretty fun; we played some Christmas games and ate some really nice food, including Costco chicken and pizza! Plus, Santa came to town! I didn't know he spoke Japanese, so that was different :p 

The primary kids gave each of us a Christmas poster they had made. How cute! Then later at night, we went as a district to visit the American guy with the big Christmas decorations on his house. His name is Daniel. We rang the bell and started singing. When he and his wife came out, they had the greatest smiles on their face. After he finished, he went back into his house, and then came back with a bag of cookies for us! Unfortunately he went back in right after that, so we didn't get to talk to him. Glad we could help them feel the Savior's love for them though :) We then knocked on a couple doors before the night ended and sang to everyone. Most people shut the door on us once we started singing but we just kept going. I love spreading the Christmas spirit, even if others don't understand it yet. As we were sitting in our apartment later than night, someone rang our doorbell. We opened the door to find the 田口 family outside; they gave us a Costco pizza and bagels! I love them so much! Christmas is next week soo let's continue to light the world together! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Nativity set from Cambodia!

Thailand!

Japan!

Universal Christmas Spirit Pt.2

China!

There were a whole lot more than this!

Our present from the primary!

Ups..and Downs

頼もう！

Hello wonderful bamboo shoots! In one of my favorite dishes, abura soba, they have these things called menma. It's basically boiled bamboo shoots. They've kinda got the texture of a rubbery, boiled carrot. I thought it was pretty weird when I first tried it; I didn't think you could eat bamboo like that. But it's good. 10/10 would recommend :)

We went to an area called 星川(Hoshikawa) on Tuesday. Before I proceed, let me tell you a bit about the area.  星川 literally means "star river". Most of the buildings in that area are pretty tall; some 20 stories high. You can definitely see stars better at night. And right in the middle of the town is a river. So it lives up to its name. Anyway, we decided to house a 12-floor apartment building. We knocked on about 30 doors starting from the top and decided to go back streeting. We came across and older guy; we greeted him and he stopped. We mentioned that we were missionaries and that we teach about Jesus Christ. He told us that he normally wouldn't stop and talk to people like us but he felt something special this time. He also said he was drunk :p. But he wanted to meet again so he gave us his number after taking a Book of Mormon. He works night shifts and he sleeps in the day, so he's a bit hard to contact. But hopefully he is as sincere about meeting when he was drunk. 

We went to a number of places for finding this week. In the end, we were able to talk to a lot of people and get a new potential investigator each day. It was a lot of fun. With LINE, getting contact info has never been easier! We are trying super hard to contact these people as much as we can and set up some lessons. 

On Saturday night, we took some time to prepare for the Christmas open house held at the mission 本部 in 吉祥寺(Kichijoji). There will be Christmas decorations, including nativity sets, from 60 countries. Warnick姉妹 loves and collects nativity sets. All the missionaries will be working hard to make this two-day event full of Christmas spirit; it'll be a great introduction to Christ and Christmas for the people here. My district and the Kamakura district were asked to sing for 30 mins. So we practiced singing some Christmas hymns that night. We practiced today as well. I am super excited!

So Sunday morning, we received a referral from the Japan Fukuoka mission. This referral was met on the airplane to Japan, by one of the new missionaries straight from the MTC. That's so cool; props to that missionary. As with all referrals, we tried to contact them ASAP. We called and emailed; no response. We decided we would try to visit the guy then. Only thing was that he lived at the lowest point of our area, with no train to get down there. Our options were to take the 40 min bike ride or pack up our bikes, take a train to the closest station, unpack the bikes and bike for about 10 minutes to his house. We went with the second option. We packed up our bikes and got on a train. After we got off, we started putting our bikes together (mainly just the front wheel to the frame). I finished my bike then looked at my companion. He said he couldn't find the axle for the front wheel. We searched in his bag and couldn't find it. We assumed it was left on the floor before we got on the train. We called Don兄弟 and asked if he could drive us because he lived close by. He agreed and off we went. We arrived at the address but one problem. It was all apartments and the address we had didn't have an apartment number. So we called again; no answer. Then we knocked on all 12 doors; no one with that name. We then drove back and thanked Don兄弟 and headed back home on the train. When we got to our station, we surprised to find that the front axle was nowhere to be found. That was a lot of disappointment for one night, so much for our Sunday. I trust there was reasoning for all that though. 

Last thing, I'd like to share some stuff from my studies this morning. I was reading the Book of Mormon and "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard. I came across 3 Nephi 13:20-22 while reading the Book of Mormon today, which reads:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

In "Our Search for Happiness", Elder Ballard shares the same words, but from Matthew 5:19-21. That was a really cool connection between from the Bible and Book of Mormon. 

Anyway, I want to share some insights. There are a lot of things that bring us happiness and joy in this world. Food, games, sports, money, friends, the list goes on. But true happiness comes from living the gospel. Non-worldly things. Eternal families, loving others and being loved. I know that as we place our treasures in the eternal aspect, we will be full of light and we will be able to share it with others. 

I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday as well. I don't remember everything I said but I had mentioned my grandpa that passed away last August; he had Parkinson's disease. Rather than sorrow, I was filled with peace knowing that I will see him again after this life and that through the gospel, we can overcome trials. A couple members came up to me with tears in their eyes, thanking me for my words. I know it was the spirit that guided my words though. I love the mission so much! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

View from 12 stories up

Picture from last transfer with the Yamazaki family!

Banana 伝道

I love bananas. Minions love bananas. 

Our meeting with the drunk guy!

Searching some addresses at the 7/11! 

Minion Christmas

We stumbled across an American house with amazing Christmas Decorations

Nothing better than Darth Vader and Christmas

A New Species

Winter brings out a new species of missionaries :p (Don't worry, we didn't go out like this)

Dendo Mania

Out on lunch break! Chinese food!

Singing practice!

Sunday's bike train adventure!

Light the World..Again!

頼もう!

Christmas season again, and just like last year the church has put out the Light the World program. I love it! More ways to spread the Christmas spirit and most importantly, word of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

A lot of things happened within the last few days so I'll just try to sum it up quickly. On Thursday night, we went streeting with 高村兄弟. He is amazing and taught us some lessons on stopping people for first contacts. As we've applied them, we've seen a lot of progress! We then had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. Normally we don't go to the Saturday sessions but it was a special request from the stake president. I understood most of it and I learned so much! We heard some great talks and testimonies and I got to see a lot of members from my previous areas, Shonan, Kamakura, and Atsugi. The stake president spoke at the end. I'm not sure how what he spoke about was related but he made some pretty funny faces as he imitated experiences from his mission. He's so awesome! I am so glad I get to work with such amazing members! 

I had some left over thoughts from last week, so here we go. (日本語も書いてある）

Last Sunday, we had the opportunity to go to primary. They asked us about how we prepared for a mission. Buying clothes, studying, helping the missionaries, and waking up early were some things we mentioned. All great things, but I think one of the most essential things you can do to prepare is to gain/recognize/increase your own testimony. There will be a lot of great experiences that will increase your testimony on the mission but there are also some that may cause you to question yourself and your beliefs. I remember one day as I was passing out fliers, some lady came up to me, yelling "Jesus Christ is dead! This is Buddha's land! Stop what you're doing and go home!". I was quite surprised and thought about what she said. Then I shook it off and realized that the gospel is even more true because there are people trying to stop me. It's times like that where your testimony plays a big role. 

Whether or not you serve a mission, or if you are not a member yet, a testimony is key. I remember President Monson's words this past April when he said "If you do not have a firm testimony of these things, do that which is necessary to obtain one". Going to church, reading the scriptures, praying are some ways. But don't just do them; do them from the heart, with real intent to know. A testimony won't come in an instant, neither will it come only to the mind. Rather, it'll come to your heart, through the Spirit. And when it does come, as the Prophet says "a testimony needs to be kept vital and alive through continued obedience to the commandments of God and through daily prayer and scripture study". I know President Monson's words are true. I know the gospel and Book of Mormon are true. I invite you to follow our beloved Prophet's words and find your testimony. 

先週日曜日私達はプライマリーに参加する機会がありました。彼らは私達が伝道に出るようどうやって準備しましたかと聞いて私たちは衣服を買ったり勉強したり宣教師を助けたり早く起きたりと答えました。全部はいいことですが自分の証を得、認め、強めるのは伝道に出るよう準備するために最も重要な一つのことだ私は思っています。もしろんあなたは伝道で自分の証を強めるすばらしい経験はたくさんあります。でも自分自身と自分の信じるものを疑わせる経験もあるかもしれません。ある日チラシを配っていたときにある女性が私の方に来て「イエス・キリストは死んでいるよ！ここは仏の国だ！あなたはやめて帰ってくれ」と叫びました。私はびっくりして彼女の言ったことについて考え始めました。気にしなくて私を止めようとする人々がいるので福音がもっと真実であることを気づきました。そのような場合で自分の証は大きな役割を果たすでしょう。

あなたは伝道にでるかどうか、あるいはまだ教会員でないなら証は大事なことです。四月の総大会からモンソン大管長の言葉を思い出しました。「これらのことについて確固たる証がなければ，証を得るために必要なことを行ってください。」教会に行ったり聖典を読んだり祈ったりするのはいつかの方法です。それらをするだけではなくて心から知る望みを持って誠心誠意にしてください。証はすぐに来ないかもしれないしそのうえ思いだけに来ません。むしろ、それはあなたの心に、御霊を通して来るでしょう。来るとき預言者が言うように「証を活気づけ，生かし続けるために，神の戒めをたゆまず守り，日々祈り，聖文を研究する必要があります」。モンソン大管長の言葉が真実だと知っています。福音とモルモン書も真実だと知っています。愛する預言者の言葉に従って自分の証を見つけるようにお勧めします。

I recently received a parcel from my mom. It contained letters that the members from my home ward wrote for me. As I read them, I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed with their love and support. I am so thankful for each one of them! I'd also like to thank those that have been contributing to my mission funds. It's such a blessing and I know that every one that has will be blessed in their own lives. 

As we get further and further into the Christmas season, please do your best to light the world! Find someone to serve! Today, we went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant with the Yamato/Zama districts. Some of us participated in a contest. Whoever could eat the most didn't have to pay. I only got to 16 plates, or 32 pieces. Ramos長老 got 35 plates and Harrison長老 got 33 plates. Too much sushi haha. On a side note, happy birthday to my grandma and sister! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Before FHE at the 本部 on Monday night, we went to a Chinese ramen shop. I got the spiciest. My stomach was on fire for about 30 minutes after eating it. It was pretty spicy, even for a Thai person :p

We got to ride a brand new train!

Some scenery while on the train

Life in Japan

Classic Japan

Mitsukyo Station 

The aftermath. Half of the people left before we could take the picture unfortunately.