TRANSFER 11

頼もう！

We had a church tour with Tsujiさん on Saturday. We also taught him some of the Restoration as we went along. He had many questions and wanted to know. He really liked that we can have a second chance through Christ. We taught him how to pray too. It was great! Sadly our buddy 宮本さん didn't come to church yesterday like he said would.

Transfer announcements came in! I am..... transferring! To the Machida 1st ward as a district leader! This will be the first time I go to a stake other than Fujisawa or Yokohama. My new companion will be 池上長老; that means I'll be speaking/learning more Japanese! I'll be in the same apartment as my previous companion, Schow長老 and my MTC senpai, McDonald長老. 楊長老 is training and becoming district leader; he has two transfers left. Sipe姉妹 is going to Kichijoji and Wheeler姉妹 is training and becoming an STL. So Hodogaya will be filled with bean-chans! Exciting stuff! 

Well I'm off to Kichijoji for the rest of the day! Have a splendid week! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Fujisawa East! From zone conference a couple weeks back!

Snow in Tokyo!

頼もう!

I am currently on a train packed to the max as I write this.  With no companion. Pretty crazy. Don't worry, there is an explanation below!

So a lot of this week was rejections and getting ignored. Then on Sunday night, we met to visit someone that Harrison長老 and I found during splits a couple weeks back; 宮本さん is his name. We expected to just follow up if he read a Restoration pamphlet we gave him, but he invited us in. He showed us his custom motorcycle seat he was making for his Harley Davidson. He sewed it all by himself. Then we talked about the pamphlet, he had many questions and we discussed for a while. We shared our experiences and felt the Spirit. Long story short, he's way prepared. We asked if we could setup another time to meet, but he declined, saying he'll just come to church on his own. He said he has a lot of interest though. We'll be praying that he comes this Sunday. 

That was the first time someone has ever let us in their house and share a message. I felt like a real missionary! Even though I know that the success of missionary work is not based on how many people accept us, but wow! I certainly felt the joy mentioned in DC 18:15. 

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

Declaring repentance to bring one soul(which also includes ourselves) back to our Heavenly Father. Be patient, work hard and results will ALWAYS come. I love this work! 

Back in the safety of the church, with my companion, I will now explain my solo adventure. We heard from many people days prior, to be careful of the snow that would come on Monday. We did all our normal P-day morning stuff like grocery shopping. It was snowing pretty lightly; we thought that was all. Then we headed over to 本部 in Kichijoji to practice some dances and songs for the upcoming Polynesian night in March. Turns out I get to use some of my talents as a drummer! A dream come true! As we practiced, the snow picked up; there was snow everywhere. As a Californian that loves snow, I was ecstatic! I ran and jumped all over the snow. Then we headed back to Kichijoji station to return home. 

Little did we know of the impact the snow had on the trains. We arrived at Shibuya, the busiest station in Japan, perhaps even the world. Many trains were stopped, leaving thousands of people in the underground station. We got jammed into a crowd. The best way I can describe it is take a bag of cereal. Every grain of cereal is a person. Now imagine that everywhere. People shoved and pushed and eventually I got separated from my district. There was a guy yelling "Chijou ni detai", or "I want to get to the surface" as he pushed me. 20 minutes later, I escaped that madness. My district was no where to be found, leaving me all alone. My companion was with the sisters so I tried to call but their phone was dead. Luckily, we made a plan to meet at home if we did get separated. I hopped on the next available train, which was just as crowded. Normally it takes about 50 minutes from that point to home but everything was delayed; it took almost 3 hours. I did get to talk to some nice people though.

I arrived at our home station around 7:30 and waited for them a bit. No one came. I walked home in about 20cm deep snow and it was still coming strong. I got to our apartment and knocked cause I didn't have keys, but no one there, neither at the sisters. I sat in front of our door and took a break. I prayed and ate some taiyaki (fish shaped desert). Then I got a call from President saying they just arrived at the station. I headed over and eventually saw them on the road and ran to them! It was 8:40! I was separated for about 4 hours so I was pretty glad to see them! We made it back safely to our apartments, ending my solo adventure. 

Today, Tuesday, we've been shoveling snow off houses, roads, and cars. It's so much fun! Have a nice week! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Last Monday night's zone blitz!

My daily planner I bought two weeks ago! I'm using it after the mission too!

600 grams of tsukemen! I didn't even get close to finishing it!

Snow Vibes!

After practice snow vibes!

My snowman!

Winter wonderland!

I love snow!

Snow is the best!

主に従おう

頼もう！

So our P-day time was switched last Monday cause we had the 新年会 with the ward. At night, we went dipped into Kamakura's area and went to a pace called 東戸塚(Higashi-Totsuka). And man I found the jackpot! BURGER KING! We went and I got a nice bacon cheese whopper; it was niice. It's not my favorite place for fast food, especially burgers, but it was a good taste of home.

We decided to try out more online proselyting this week. I made a short FaceBook post and it went pretty well. It's definitely different than traditional proselyting such as knocking on doors but it's pretty fun. We can reach a whole more people than those in our area and in a more sociable way. The Lord is hastening his work! 

Saturday was quite the adventure. We were on our way to the station, kinda in a rush to catch our train. On the way down, 4 people stopped and listened to our message. We were a bit surprised but it was a lot of fun. I realized that during our busiest moments, when we are going from place to place, appointment to appointment, the Lord will place His prepared people in our paths. Although it is good to make it on time for appointments, trusting God and talking to the people on our path is more important :) That's where the real miracles happen! 

We ended up missing our train but it was okay. We found out that someone jumped in front of the train that we were supposed to get on and killed himself. Soooo we got to avoid seeing that. We met 宮木兄弟, a bishopric member, at 天王町駅 and then we 伝道'd together. Unfortunately no one stopped during that hour. He took us to an old soba restaurant after and we talked about how we can help the less actives. 

Then we scrambled to good ol' 白楽駅 to see the Kanagawa elders' investigator enter the waters of baptism! 前島兄弟 or Brother Maeshima. Also, one of their other investigators happens to be Chinese and he was coming with his family, so my companion translated for them.  前島兄弟's testimony is so strong and even though I don't know him much, I couldn't be more proud of him. Another son of God, brought closer to Him :) I love it!

We returned to our area and then met with our Chinese investigator, 張さん. We got ramen together and had a good talk. Most of the conversation was in Chinese so I couldn't say much, but still great. He had some questions about the great apostasy so we answered that. He might be moving over to Yokohama soon, meaning he'll become their investigator but it's okay. 

One of my favorite songs from the new mutual album is "I Will Follow Him" or 主に従おう. Just as the song mentions, our Savior knows what we need and He will guide us. Where ever we are, whenever we need Him, our Savior is right beside us. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices but His love "will sustain us". I know by following Jesus Christ, we can find peace, especially in a world where it can feel hard to do so. And we can begin simply by learning about him! So let's do it together! 

Quite long today but so much happened and so much to say. But have a great week! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

Not a very good picture but Burger King!

Forgotten picture from Christmas! A member got us cake!

At the soba place with 宮木兄弟！

Back in Kamakura!!

Came back to Kamakura today! Hachimangu shrine in the background!

The palace!

View from the top!

Buddha, Baptism, and Tonkatsu!

Big Buddha!

Brother Maeshima's baptism!

Made some tonkatsu after sightseeing in Kamakura!

Happy Coming of Age Day!

頼もう！

On the first Monday of January is 成人の日(Adult Day). Throughout the city are little celebrations for people that are 20. So according to Japan, I'm still a kid!

So I had my whole weekly typed up but then my iPad crashed, erasing everything I had typed as well. I don't have a lot of time and I am a bit frustrated cause of it so today is gonna be short. 

The members fed us dinner from Monday through Wednesday. We ate a ton of food and I probably gained a couple of kilos. Fortunately we did a lot of biking so I was able to lose it. I love the members; they are my Japanese family haha. 

We had splits with the zone leaders, this time in our area. Despite our lesson getting cancelled, Harrison長老 and I had a lot of miracles that night. We talked to a lot of people and many of them listened to what we had to say. We got quite a few of potential investigators from it; hopefully they become new investigators soon!

The next few days were kind of the opposite. Many more appointments got cancelled, including a skype lesson with a Chinese investigator from a different area. Nevertheless, just keep swimming!

We were told about the 2018 Asia North area plan on Sunday. The vision: Invite all to come unto Christ, be converted, and feel joy in the gospel by first seeking the kingdom of God. I love it! I wish I could explain everything but I know that a lot of great things will come!

Today, we had a 餅つき(Mochitsuki- Mochi-making) with the ward. Nothing is better than pounding rice with giant hammers. Definitely takes "Don't play with your food" to a whole new level. It was super good too! A great way to end the week! また来週ね！

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老 

愛しています(^-^)

The 西條 family!

宮木 family!

Mochitsuki!

I like my hammer.

Just poundin some rice!

Even kids can do it!

Vroom Vroom!

I bought a bike ;)

Good ol' Cadillac