Summer Night Festival?

So I've been in the Fujisawa stake more than half of my mission. Sometimes I wonder why. And the best reason that I can think of is the fact that I know Spanish. I ran into a guy on the street one night and he said he was from Peru. Then I asked him in Spanish if he spoke Spanish and BAM! He went ham! I hadn't spoken in a while so I was a bit rusty but that's when the gift of tongues kicked in and we were able to have a decent conversation! 

We had zone conference and helped out clear an apartment this week. Pretty tiring physically and spiritually haha. We did some more Rubik's cube 伝道 and it turned out real well. Also, a typhoon passed by and the whole mission ended up having to stay inside the rest of the day. The rain didn't hit us too hard but the wind was pretty solid. 

Sunday night was an adventure! The advantages of having a Polynesian companion is that they are huge and people recognize them. One guy we talked to loved rugby and told my companion that he's got a great body for it haha. 

Shortly after, I met a young guy who was carrying an instrument. I took a closer look and it had a DCI (Drum Corps International) logo on it. For those that don't know, it's basically like the NBA of marching band. Anyway, I ran over to him and talked to him; we connected instantly after I showed him a picture of when I marched back in 2015. It was way cool experience cause people that even know DCI are rare in Japan. I was just glad that I could use some pre-misison stuff to introduce the gospel to someone! 

On the way home, we biked passed a summer festival. We heard some drumming and went to check it out. Many people were doing "bon odori" which is a traditional Japanese dance. It was quite the experience! I love the culture!

Have a fantastic week!

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老

wanchai.chab@myldsmail.net

#RaiseTheBah

We had some shaved ice during ward FHE!

Zone conference!

Me, my companion, and the zone leaders!

Surprises!

Sushi run!

My DCI brother! He wants to join SCV!

Some festival drummers!

Like Father, Like Son

頼もう！

I take back what I said last week about being exhausted. I really experienced it this week! 

Before transfers, we cleaned our apartment, had a few district meetings, SPM, 英会話 and a few lessons. A lot of members from one of my previous areas, Hodogaya, were at SPM. I was super glad to see them. In one of the lessons, we met with 英一郎さん. He's a  new investigator with a lot of potential. He agreed to be baptized on August 26 when he knows this is true :) 

Transfer day came and I went to the 本部 to go pick up my new missionary. It was announced that I'd be training Elder Ormond, from New Zealand. We were both pretty excited. He's a big dude with a big heart. Over the last few days, we've been working hard and he's got a lot of enthusiasm for the work. After getting home the first day, we had a lesson with Feiさん, which was in English/Japanese/Chinese. Quite the day. I took him to go buy his bike the other day as well. All of it reminds me of when I first got to the field, pretty 懐かしい!

One night during all of this, I sat down and just thought about all the work I haven't done yet. I had things to organize for the district and ward while training Elder Ormond. I was feeling pretty stressed and didn't know if I could handle all of this. But after taking a step back, I realized that just with all callings and assignments, God knows how much we can handle and what will help us grow. I'm not a perfect missionary nor person, but with God's help, I can do all things. 

With that peace, everything's just been a breeze. I've received a lot of guidance for the district and I'm excited to apply it! We have a lot to do this transfer and many of them will be new to my companion, but that's the fun of it! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老

wanchai.chab@myldsmail.net

#RaiseTheBah

Last district picture before the transfer!

Elder Ormond and I!

Bike shopping!

La Fiesta! Transfer 15!

Lot of adventures this week! 

I went on splits with Elder Bird on Thursday and Elder Palmer on Friday. Elder Bird and I tried something new. We filmed us teaching about prophets and sent the video to 智彦さん, who has been quite hard to meet recently. Technology has helped our 伝道 so much! Also, as we were walking home from the station, it started to rain cats and dogs! There wasn't a cloud in the sky before that, so we weren't ready. We ran in the rain and made it home, completely drenched. We had district dinner later on at Sukiya, where I got a king size of gyudon. It was a lot of food but I finished it. T'was quite the experience. 

Later that night, we taught Feiさん over LINE video chat. 高村兄弟 from 保土ヶ谷 helped us out with the Chinese. Feiさん is making a lot of connections with what we've taught. We are hoping to set a baptismal date with him for August 25th! 

Elder Palmer and I had a wild time out in the blazing hot sun. We talked to a lot of people and had some Indo curry. Although we've known each other our entire mission, we never served together until now. And unfortunately, he's finishing his mission this week. Lot of dying missionaries, but I'm not trunky one bit haha. 

We had a fiesta on Saturday! About 350 people came! The decorations and costumes were fantastic! Lot of work was put in to make it happen, and it was a great turn out. I got to do a dance from Argentina and speak some spanish to people that came. What a great day to be a missionary in Japan!!

Transfer calls came and I'll be staying in Yamato! My new companion will be a brand new missionary and I will be a district leader! Quite the combination. A lot of missionaries are going home this week and our mission is shrinking. Zones will now consist of entire stakes instead of being split in half. I'm entering my last 12 weeks and my new companion will begin his first 12. Going to be fun! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老

wanchai.chab@myldsmail.net

#RaiseTheBah

Technology makes lessons possible wherever people are!

Fiesta with two of our investigators!

Base bowling!

Bowling on Atsugi base! 

They Don’t Think it be as it is, But it Do

I don't know what happened this week, but I'm exhausted. And a whole lot darker haha.

We had a long day on Thursday. We went to MLC, where we learned a bit more about the upcoming changes to 英会話 and had a really good training on "Joy". We had a lessons with 礼一郎さん, who we met about two weeks ago on the street. He was excited to learn and even said he would be baptized when he knows it's true. Then we had a lesson on LINE video chat with Fei, our investigator from China. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and he connected a lot of the things we taught, as well as some things that we did not teach. Both are doing great and it's been fulfilling to see God work through them. 

We had a nice day in Yokohama, walking around and checking some shops. Pretty hot though. Next week is my companion's last P-day so we did some prep. Gonna be a great week! 

-Elder Chab

チャブ長老

#RaiseTheBah

The Brashear's fed us some American dinner!

Good ol' Yokohama

A temple in Chinatown

Will it Matter in a Thousand Years?

Blazin' hot this week. I thought Southern California summers were bad.
Nevertheless, we hit the pavement hard!

We got to do a video lesson on LINE with our friend Fei. He mainly
speaks Chinese but knows quite a bit of English and Japanese. He had
some trouble understanding some things due to the language barrier but
after the lesson, I had my Japanese father, 高村兄弟 help him out in
Chinese. He really has a desire to learn more and wants to be baptized
in the near future!

We had a zone blitz at 戸塚駅 on Friday night. Pretty cool cause I was
there back in January when I was stationed in 保土ヶ谷. We talked to a lot
of people and it was a lot of fun!

So I watched an episode of "Hope Works" recently. It's kinda like
TEDtalks or some other motivational speech show. Stephen Jones talked
about his life for a bit and what helped him with decisions. He asks
himself "Will it matter in a thousand years?" I really liked that
idea. It works with a lot of things..for example:
Maybe you have an argument with a family member or friend. Maybe you
are deciding whether or not you should quit your job. Go to school or
go serve a mission?
He said, "If it doesn't matter in a thousand years, it doesn't matter to me."

With that said, I think all of our choices matter. Sometimes we may
have a lot of decisions and miss out on what's really important. Right
now, I have the opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ.
Whether or not they accept right away doesn't matter. Rejections do
not mean I have failed. But the fact that they were offered a chance
will matter in a thousand years.
Please take some time and ask yourself "Will it matter it matter in a
thousand years?" and "What will I do?"

Have a splendid summer!

-Elder Chab
チャブ長老
#RaiseTheBah