I did have a witty subject line...

Hello,

Let's get down to the business first. We were blessed to find a new investigator this week. His name is O Ryoku-san and he is Chinese. He is a college student and we were able to meet with him twice last week. We're going to visit him again today and invite him to pray. We also met his roommate, Ko-san. They are very nice guys. I'm excited to help O Ryoku-san progress in the gospel.

This week we had Zone Conference with Elder Aoyagi. He is a member of the Seventy. It was so neat, because I got to have an interview with him and get to know him on a personal level. We talked about how the Lord gives us strength, which he also mentioned in his talk. It was very instructive and Elder Gillespie and I have already started applying the things we have learned in our companionship and our dendo.

This week Ishida-san came to church! He could only stay for sacrament meeting, but he had a great experience. It has been interesting to see his heart change as he comes to know this gospel. I asked him the other day if he would read a passage in the Book of Mormon on his own and he said "yes" without a hitch. It was so cool! I have really noticed how involving members in his progression has helped him a lot as well.
I had a comp exchange this week with Dunn Choro again. This time we were both in Nakatsugawa. It was good and Dunn Choro gave me a "gift" plaque like President Eyring made for his sons of which he spoke in Priesthood session. It was really cool.

So we made cookies a couple times this week. The first time were chocolate chippers and they turned out okay. The second time, we made peanut butter cookies about the size of an oreo and put chocolate frosting between two of them and son of a gun, they were tasty! We also got our kids English class students a little wired on them, too.

Well this week's is a little short, but it was a good one. We are suiting up for our Halloween party on Friday. Elder Gillespie and I might just switch nametags for our costumes, but I don't know yet. Love you all.

Love,

Elder Sanderson

With each death comes new life

Heyya family & friends!

So about the subject line this week. Duarte Choro "died" this week. For those of you who need a reminder, he was my trainer. It was sad, but he lived to see his "grandson", Gillespie Choro. The new life is Gillespie Choro's birthday! It was on October 14th. We got to watch conference, go dendo, then eat spaghetti and make birthday cake. It was so much fun. He said it was a great birthday.

Who loved General Conference? Ooohh, ooh, pick me. Me, me, me, me, me! I really enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk in the Saturday AM Session and Elder Christopherson's talk in Priesthood session. President Monson's and Elder Holland's talks were really good, too. It's hard to pick a favorite. It was fun to watch, because it was just me and my companion watching it on Jindo Kaicho's computer at the church while it was on in Japanese in the other room. All the other missionaries went to Nagoya, but it is kind of far for us, so we watched it here.

This week at district meeting, a member from Kasugai came. He is preparing for a mission. Actually, I have mentioned him before. His name is Kan-kun. Our meeting was in English, so I told him I would translate for him. I translated about 85% of the whole hour-and-a-half meeting for him. It was so cool to see the Spirit help me know how to say what was being said, while continuing to listen in English. And then if I would miss a part I would summarize it to him in Japanese and Kan-kun said he got a lot out of it. Man isn't this Gospel awesome?

Dendo was good this week. No new investigators yet, but a lot of potentials. One such man called us on Sunday morning and said he wants to study Christianity. We took that as a sign from Heavenly Father saying that He's gonna help us out a lot this week. We are very optimistic to say the least.

The work is moving here in Nakatsugawa. I can feel that it's going to erupt like a volcano soon. I am so glad to have Elder Gillespie as my companion. He really loves Nakatsugawa and together we are working hard and trying our best to be worthy of Heavenly Father's help. We have set a goal to get a baptism this transfer and we have told Jindo Kaicho as well.

I hope things are fantastic back home. Love you all.

Love,

Elder Sanderson

That was quick...

Well there goes another transfer. Whoooooooosh! Gillespie Choro and I are still together. Yay! Sounds like things are awesome at home. I heard about the Debate this week from our Branch President Jindo. He said Obama failed hard. And he told us that he heard President Monson's announcement about missionary ages! Woohhoooooo!!! I hope they call me on a mission, and then they call me on a mission, and then they call me on a mishawnaaaaa!

Things are great. We had interview with President Baird, which were awesome. We taught Ishida-san a few times this week and he said he will read the Book of Mormon. We also had a good less-active member lesson about prayer. Good dendo.

Hey guess what! We made such good food this week. Gillespie Choro got gravy mix in a package so we made chicken, mashed taters, and gravy with some salad. Man, it was tasty. We are pretty much out of food, so it's a good thing we are going to the store today.

My companion and I were talking about the new ages of missionary service. Megan also mentioned that it will change Utah culture as we know it. My companion and I were talking how BYU will be completely opposite now. They freshmen guys will be looking for wives, because they haven't gone to school before there missions. The freshmen girls, however, will not want to date in order to prepare for a mission possibly. Kinda funny. We watched the clip of President Monson's announcement today and the whole conference center (more likely the whole church) was like "What?" I saw one kid on the video turn to his older brother and say something that made him look terrified. Yay! The work is moving, isn't it?!

I don't get to watch Conference until this weekend, but I'm excited now. Good luck and have fun and work hard out there, you little saints, you!

Love,

Elder Sanderson