And now it came to pass that Elder Sanderson must return homeward to reunite with his family. Yea, and we shall suppose that he will have a joyous reunion like unto that of Ammon and his brethren. Truly, Elder Sanderson had seen the blessings of the Lord upon he and his brethren. Yea, having been guided by the Spirit, he had been an instrument in the hands of the Lord in bringing many unto the truth. When he was discouraged and about to turn back, the Lord comforted Elder Sanderson and his brethren and said unto them: Go unto thy brethren, the Japanese people, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. And thus we see that through the power and wisdom of God Elder Sanderson has been delivered again. "And [he and his brethren have] suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps [they] might be the means of saving some soul; and [they] supposed that [their] joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some." (Alma 26:30)
Verily, it did pain Elder Sanderson that he must bid farewell to the land and people he had come to love so greatly. But we must have needs to suppose that "[he shall be] blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if [he] hold out faithful to the end [will be] received into heaven, that thereby [he] may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness." (Mosiah 2:41) For thus we have been taught by the learning of our fathers.
And now Elder Sanderson had experienced many things both new and strange. He had been taught in the language of Japanese and had tried to embrace the culture as his own, regardless of his towering size. Yea, he had learned many things and truly come to feel the love of the Lord. He had come to sing the song of redeeming love and truly had experienced that change of heart like unto President Baird before him. "And behold, the record of [Elder Sanderson] is engraven upon plates which is had by the kings, according to the generations; and I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy; wherefore, that which is sufficient is written. And I make an end." (Omni 1:11)
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
It's like spring-time here!
We had a Leadership Training this week with Brother Heaton, one of the managers at the MTC. It was really spiritual and my companion and I learned a lot. I feel everyone will be encouraged to work hard and trust in the Lord as we realize that we're not alone in doing the Lord's work. Hastening the work is not only our responsibility.
I had a comp exchange with Elder Hogan in Fujieda this week. It was really good and we were able to have a really good English Class where all the students were asking lots of good questions about the church. Elder Hogan said it was the best class they have ever had.
We met with our investigator with a baptismal date, Nobu, on Monday. He had read the Book of Mormon and we reviewed with him the assignment (2 Ne 31) and talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We were able to strengthen his commitment to be baptized a little more and also committed him to come to church on Sunday. Unfortunately he was able to come because of his college exams, but we are going to meet him again soon and set goals with him to help him be baptized.
We also met with a former investigator named Bruce this week. He is from America, but he has been in a lot of different countries spreading the cause of Christ. He said that as he has met others from other religions, he has developed questions about his own beliefs. He also likes Mormon missionaries a lot because each one has had a real conversion experience with Christ. I think he has a lot of potential to accept the Gospel, but it might be a little difficult for him here in Japan with the language barrier.
Yesterday we had a Stake Ward Mission Leader Training Meeting with President Yamashita. Our WML wants to work really effectively with us and he has a lot of good revelation and ideas that we discussed on the way home. I think Shizuoka stake will really start to progress now.
That's kind of the highlights for this week. Love you. Bye Bye.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
We had a Leadership Training this week with Brother Heaton, one of the managers at the MTC. It was really spiritual and my companion and I learned a lot. I feel everyone will be encouraged to work hard and trust in the Lord as we realize that we're not alone in doing the Lord's work. Hastening the work is not only our responsibility.
I had a comp exchange with Elder Hogan in Fujieda this week. It was really good and we were able to have a really good English Class where all the students were asking lots of good questions about the church. Elder Hogan said it was the best class they have ever had.
We met with our investigator with a baptismal date, Nobu, on Monday. He had read the Book of Mormon and we reviewed with him the assignment (2 Ne 31) and talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We were able to strengthen his commitment to be baptized a little more and also committed him to come to church on Sunday. Unfortunately he was able to come because of his college exams, but we are going to meet him again soon and set goals with him to help him be baptized.
We also met with a former investigator named Bruce this week. He is from America, but he has been in a lot of different countries spreading the cause of Christ. He said that as he has met others from other religions, he has developed questions about his own beliefs. He also likes Mormon missionaries a lot because each one has had a real conversion experience with Christ. I think he has a lot of potential to accept the Gospel, but it might be a little difficult for him here in Japan with the language barrier.
Yesterday we had a Stake Ward Mission Leader Training Meeting with President Yamashita. Our WML wants to work really effectively with us and he has a lot of good revelation and ideas that we discussed on the way home. I think Shizuoka stake will really start to progress now.
That's kind of the highlights for this week. Love you. Bye Bye.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Hello From Japan
Hey y'all,
It was a great week! We got three new investigators this week. We got two by calling former investigators in our Area Book. We don't know exactly where they will go when we start meeting them, but I am hopeful. We took a lot of time to find investigators yesterday as well. We were able to find a young man named Takeda through housing. At first he was a little off-putting with his body language and manner, but we were able to share a message with him and he seemed to warm up to us a bit. We have an appointment to go see him next week.
A less-active member's son who is our investigator, Tatsuhito, came to church yesterday. He seems to have a good testimony because he'll put down his video games for a few hours on Sunday too come to church. He is just having a hard time really progressing and we don't get to do lessons with him very often either. We were able to meet with almost all of our investigators this week, so that was good. We had a great lesson at a member's house on Tuesday with Nobu, a college student. He said he wants to be baptized to qualify for the Lord's blessings. We shared a lot of scriptures from the Book of Mormon and our member tachiai helped us invite Nobu to be baptized. He said yes and we set a date for February 8th! We are trying now to strengthen his commitment to be baptized and get him to come to church.
That's kind of the stuff for this week. Sorry it's so short. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
It was a great week! We got three new investigators this week. We got two by calling former investigators in our Area Book. We don't know exactly where they will go when we start meeting them, but I am hopeful. We took a lot of time to find investigators yesterday as well. We were able to find a young man named Takeda through housing. At first he was a little off-putting with his body language and manner, but we were able to share a message with him and he seemed to warm up to us a bit. We have an appointment to go see him next week.
A less-active member's son who is our investigator, Tatsuhito, came to church yesterday. He seems to have a good testimony because he'll put down his video games for a few hours on Sunday too come to church. He is just having a hard time really progressing and we don't get to do lessons with him very often either. We were able to meet with almost all of our investigators this week, so that was good. We had a great lesson at a member's house on Tuesday with Nobu, a college student. He said he wants to be baptized to qualify for the Lord's blessings. We shared a lot of scriptures from the Book of Mormon and our member tachiai helped us invite Nobu to be baptized. He said yes and we set a date for February 8th! We are trying now to strengthen his commitment to be baptized and get him to come to church.
That's kind of the stuff for this week. Sorry it's so short. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, January 13, 2014
Another Email!
Hey!
This week went really well. We had good trainings and stuff, but unfortunately our dendo time was a little hindered because of it. We haven't been able to meet a whole lot of investigators because of Shogatsu (Japanese New Year). We also weren't able to find a new investigator, but we did have a really good lesson with one of our investigators named Otatsume.
Otatsume san likes learning the Gospel in English. We had Brother Suzuki come to our lesson because he is very good at English. Brother Suzuki took us to pick Otatsume san at the station and took us back to the church. We were able to feel the Spirit as we read from the Book of Mormon together. Otatsume san said that he likes the Book of Mormon and he committed to read it and pray to know if it's true. I think he will start progressing really well as long as we keep having our lessons at the church.
So... I got my flight itinerary this week... I wasn't expecting it quite yet, so I wasn't exactly mentally prepared for it. I'm sure you all know the details already, but ya. That's happening for real now. Shucks.
Sorry this email is really short. It's been good this week. We will move on to another week of working hard and following the Spirit. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
This week went really well. We had good trainings and stuff, but unfortunately our dendo time was a little hindered because of it. We haven't been able to meet a whole lot of investigators because of Shogatsu (Japanese New Year). We also weren't able to find a new investigator, but we did have a really good lesson with one of our investigators named Otatsume.
Otatsume san likes learning the Gospel in English. We had Brother Suzuki come to our lesson because he is very good at English. Brother Suzuki took us to pick Otatsume san at the station and took us back to the church. We were able to feel the Spirit as we read from the Book of Mormon together. Otatsume san said that he likes the Book of Mormon and he committed to read it and pray to know if it's true. I think he will start progressing really well as long as we keep having our lessons at the church.
So... I got my flight itinerary this week... I wasn't expecting it quite yet, so I wasn't exactly mentally prepared for it. I'm sure you all know the details already, but ya. That's happening for real now. Shucks.
Sorry this email is really short. It's been good this week. We will move on to another week of working hard and following the Spirit. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Welcome to Shizuoka
Hey guys!
I'm loving my new area and my new companion. It's so good to be back in Shizuoka, too. We had some good lessons with less-active members and I have already met the three members whose baptismal interviews I did last year. They are all doing very well. I was so happy to see them all at church yesterday. We were only able to meet a few of our investigators this past week because of Shogatsu (Japanese New Year), but the lessons we were able to have went well. We had a really good lesson with Sajan, who is from Nepal and is here studying Japanese. We talked a lot about learning spiritual truth through the Holy Ghost and receiving guidance through prayer. Sajan committed to pray and when he came to church yesterday, he said that he had been praying everyday. We had a really good lesson about the Book of Mormon at church and he committed to read the Book of Mormon. He has a lot of potential to progress rapidly.
We also met with Ota san this week and talked about faith. We explained that we show our faith through our actions and we asked him what he thinks he can do to show his faith. He said he will continue to read the Book of Mormon. Before the lesson with Ota san, we were streeting near some illuminations at the park and found a new investigator named Yamada san. He is around forty years old and works in construction. We are going to meet up at the park next week and teach him.
Elder Takabori is really good at becoming friends with people and sharing the Gospel as he does it. We have only been companions for a week, but he has already taught me so much. I definitely think us being companions was inspired. I can see us working hard and working well together.
We a mochitsuki, or a process where you hammer rice in a big wooden bowl with a big wooden hammer to make mochi. It was a stake youth activity, so I got to see some members from Fuji. It was really fun.
That's what is going down in my neck of the woods. Love you all. Bye!
Love,
Elder Sanderson
I'm loving my new area and my new companion. It's so good to be back in Shizuoka, too. We had some good lessons with less-active members and I have already met the three members whose baptismal interviews I did last year. They are all doing very well. I was so happy to see them all at church yesterday. We were only able to meet a few of our investigators this past week because of Shogatsu (Japanese New Year), but the lessons we were able to have went well. We had a really good lesson with Sajan, who is from Nepal and is here studying Japanese. We talked a lot about learning spiritual truth through the Holy Ghost and receiving guidance through prayer. Sajan committed to pray and when he came to church yesterday, he said that he had been praying everyday. We had a really good lesson about the Book of Mormon at church and he committed to read the Book of Mormon. He has a lot of potential to progress rapidly.
We also met with Ota san this week and talked about faith. We explained that we show our faith through our actions and we asked him what he thinks he can do to show his faith. He said he will continue to read the Book of Mormon. Before the lesson with Ota san, we were streeting near some illuminations at the park and found a new investigator named Yamada san. He is around forty years old and works in construction. We are going to meet up at the park next week and teach him.
Elder Takabori is really good at becoming friends with people and sharing the Gospel as he does it. We have only been companions for a week, but he has already taught me so much. I definitely think us being companions was inspired. I can see us working hard and working well together.
We a mochitsuki, or a process where you hammer rice in a big wooden bowl with a big wooden hammer to make mochi. It was a stake youth activity, so I got to see some members from Fuji. It was really fun.
That's what is going down in my neck of the woods. Love you all. Bye!
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, December 30, 2013
And So Begins the Last Chapter...
Hello,
This is Shinji. (See picture) He got baptized yesterday, but the person who was going to perform the baptism wasn't there. Sister Brady turned to my companion and I and said, "One of you will have to do it." I was like, "I'll do it." So I got to baptize Shinji yesterday! It was so awesome!
I told you guys about our Christmas day and how awesome it was. We were able to visit a less-active named Shams before he went back to Iran. We went to Sakae and did caroling dendo with Sister Brady, Sister Kartchner, and the Gokiso missionaries. We sang Christmas songs and talked to a lot of people. It was a ton of fun and we definitely got our name out. The Sisters found an investigator too. After that we hit Outback Steakhouse for Christmas dinner. Good day.
We got a transfer call on Saturday and found out I'm transferring. I kind of saw it coming, but I'm still sad to say goodbye to Fukutoku. I am looking forward to going to Shizuoka for my last transfer, though. I will be Zone Leader with Elder Takabori, a Japanese Elder from Jersey. He's fluent in Japanese, but has a Jersey accent because he lived there for a long time. I think Elder Takabori and I will get along great, work hard, and have fun. I was in Shizuoka ken this time last year so it will be just like old times.
This week we were able to get a new investigator. Shinji was baptized and we set an appointment with his older brother Rean who has met with missionaries in the Philippines before. He has a lot of good potential and his mom already wants him to get baptized really bad.
It was a good week. We made the rounds on the people I wanted to say goodbye to and had a good last supper at a member's house last night.
That's all for now.
Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
This is Shinji. (See picture) He got baptized yesterday, but the person who was going to perform the baptism wasn't there. Sister Brady turned to my companion and I and said, "One of you will have to do it." I was like, "I'll do it." So I got to baptize Shinji yesterday! It was so awesome!
I told you guys about our Christmas day and how awesome it was. We were able to visit a less-active named Shams before he went back to Iran. We went to Sakae and did caroling dendo with Sister Brady, Sister Kartchner, and the Gokiso missionaries. We sang Christmas songs and talked to a lot of people. It was a ton of fun and we definitely got our name out. The Sisters found an investigator too. After that we hit Outback Steakhouse for Christmas dinner. Good day.
We got a transfer call on Saturday and found out I'm transferring. I kind of saw it coming, but I'm still sad to say goodbye to Fukutoku. I am looking forward to going to Shizuoka for my last transfer, though. I will be Zone Leader with Elder Takabori, a Japanese Elder from Jersey. He's fluent in Japanese, but has a Jersey accent because he lived there for a long time. I think Elder Takabori and I will get along great, work hard, and have fun. I was in Shizuoka ken this time last year so it will be just like old times.This week we were able to get a new investigator. Shinji was baptized and we set an appointment with his older brother Rean who has met with missionaries in the Philippines before. He has a lot of good potential and his mom already wants him to get baptized really bad.
It was a good week. We made the rounds on the people I wanted to say goodbye to and had a good last supper at a member's house last night.
That's all for now.
Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Sunday, December 22, 2013
How to Kill a Zone
Hello!
So we had a Zone Conference and the AP was incubating an Alien Baby called influenza. Then it struck us all on Friday. Literally the whole Zone was down. I was sick this past week as well, but I'm fine now. In other news, I lost 5 lbs.
We had the Zone Conference and we were sick, so unfortunately we weren't able to work as hard as we wanted to this week. We were able to do a companionship exchange with the Ichinomiya Elders on Wednesday and Thursday. Elder Ahuna and I went to teach an investigator named Komori-san. He has a lot of potential to progress, he just has a difficult time gripping onto one idea and going with it. He likes a lot of various religious beliefs and he hasn't prayed about which one is true. He is really nice to the missionaries and likes meeting with them. He tries to understand all the missionaries teach as well, so that's good.
We also did a kokan with the Ogaki Elders. I was able to do Shamoto-san's interview to be bapized and he passed! Unfortunately we will have to do it again because he wasn't able to be baptized on Sunday because he had to go to work all of a sudden.
We were able to have a really good lesson with Shirakawa and Naoko this week. We talked about Alma the Elder and his conversion. We read from the Book of Mormon about the people at the waters of Mormon. Naoko had to leave in the middle of the lesson, but she said she will try to quit smoking. But, we were able to commit Shirakawa to be baptized on Jan. 19th!
Well that's all I want to type now. See you on Wednesday!
Love,
Elder Sanderson
PS that sounds like I'm going home this week, but I'm not ok?
So we had a Zone Conference and the AP was incubating an Alien Baby called influenza. Then it struck us all on Friday. Literally the whole Zone was down. I was sick this past week as well, but I'm fine now. In other news, I lost 5 lbs.
We had the Zone Conference and we were sick, so unfortunately we weren't able to work as hard as we wanted to this week. We were able to do a companionship exchange with the Ichinomiya Elders on Wednesday and Thursday. Elder Ahuna and I went to teach an investigator named Komori-san. He has a lot of potential to progress, he just has a difficult time gripping onto one idea and going with it. He likes a lot of various religious beliefs and he hasn't prayed about which one is true. He is really nice to the missionaries and likes meeting with them. He tries to understand all the missionaries teach as well, so that's good.
We also did a kokan with the Ogaki Elders. I was able to do Shamoto-san's interview to be bapized and he passed! Unfortunately we will have to do it again because he wasn't able to be baptized on Sunday because he had to go to work all of a sudden.
We were able to have a really good lesson with Shirakawa and Naoko this week. We talked about Alma the Elder and his conversion. We read from the Book of Mormon about the people at the waters of Mormon. Naoko had to leave in the middle of the lesson, but she said she will try to quit smoking. But, we were able to commit Shirakawa to be baptized on Jan. 19th!
Well that's all I want to type now. See you on Wednesday!
Love,
Elder Sanderson
PS that sounds like I'm going home this week, but I'm not ok?
Sunday, December 15, 2013
We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Case of Pink Eye
Hello,
We had a slower week this week. Some time management issues and unplanned things popped up a lot. Things started off well, though. We had appointments on Monday and Tuesday. Monday night was fun because we visited Ayumi's ,one of the Sister's investigators, family. We were able to have a good time with her parents and calm some of their fears about her being baptized. Then on Saturday Ayumi talked to her parents about being baptized and they said that she can make her own choice and they won't kick her out of the house! She can be baptized.
On Tuesday night my companion and I were able to do a companionship split with members so we could cover two appointments. My companion and a member taught Jessyka's boyfriend and I went with our ward mission leader to do service.
On Thursday we taught Ryu-san about the Restoration. It was a great lesson and she had read the pamphlet, so she grasped everything quickly. She took a Book of Mormon and said she would read it. Due to her age and mobility problems, however, she said she can't meet us. We told her that we would stop by again with a friend later. She isn't an investigator right now, but we hope to get to teach her again.
On Thursday and Friday we had a companion exchange with the Inuyama Elders. I had a really good talk with Elder Benzon about how he can be an effective District leader. He felt that he had come to a good point with Japanese and missionary skills, but he wanted advice on how to apply it for the rest of his mission.
Our weekend was kind of a flop. My companion was sick on Saturday, so we were only able to go to the ward Christmas party. Then on Sunday I woke up with pink eye and had to go get medicine with a member. We had to stay inside all day, so I didn't infect northern Nagoya with a plague. We were able, however, to go to the Christmas Devotional and my testimony of the love of God and the reality of our Savior Jesus Christ was strengthened.
Their were some troubles with the investigators in Gokiso this week, so they ended up not getting baptized. And I wasn't able to go anyway. They will, however, be baptized next week, so here goes round two! I'm still praying for them.
On a more positive note, we get to Skype next week! My companion and I will do it on our Dec 26th, so it will be Christmas there. I can do it at 10 or 11 am, so it will be 6 or 7 pm. We still have another pday before then, but let's figure it out soon. That's all.
Good night and good luck,
Elder Sanderson
We had a slower week this week. Some time management issues and unplanned things popped up a lot. Things started off well, though. We had appointments on Monday and Tuesday. Monday night was fun because we visited Ayumi's ,one of the Sister's investigators, family. We were able to have a good time with her parents and calm some of their fears about her being baptized. Then on Saturday Ayumi talked to her parents about being baptized and they said that she can make her own choice and they won't kick her out of the house! She can be baptized.
On Tuesday night my companion and I were able to do a companionship split with members so we could cover two appointments. My companion and a member taught Jessyka's boyfriend and I went with our ward mission leader to do service.
On Thursday we taught Ryu-san about the Restoration. It was a great lesson and she had read the pamphlet, so she grasped everything quickly. She took a Book of Mormon and said she would read it. Due to her age and mobility problems, however, she said she can't meet us. We told her that we would stop by again with a friend later. She isn't an investigator right now, but we hope to get to teach her again.
On Thursday and Friday we had a companion exchange with the Inuyama Elders. I had a really good talk with Elder Benzon about how he can be an effective District leader. He felt that he had come to a good point with Japanese and missionary skills, but he wanted advice on how to apply it for the rest of his mission.
Our weekend was kind of a flop. My companion was sick on Saturday, so we were only able to go to the ward Christmas party. Then on Sunday I woke up with pink eye and had to go get medicine with a member. We had to stay inside all day, so I didn't infect northern Nagoya with a plague. We were able, however, to go to the Christmas Devotional and my testimony of the love of God and the reality of our Savior Jesus Christ was strengthened.
Their were some troubles with the investigators in Gokiso this week, so they ended up not getting baptized. And I wasn't able to go anyway. They will, however, be baptized next week, so here goes round two! I'm still praying for them.
On a more positive note, we get to Skype next week! My companion and I will do it on our Dec 26th, so it will be Christmas there. I can do it at 10 or 11 am, so it will be 6 or 7 pm. We still have another pday before then, but let's figure it out soon. That's all.
Good night and good luck,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, December 9, 2013
This message is brought to you by iPhone
Hey!
I'm emailing on Sister Hall's iPhone. Technology!
We'll another great week in the rear view mirror. We were able to get a new investigator this week. We tried hard to get a new investigator everyday. We weren't able to get one everyday, but we got a lot of potential investigators. We found Ryu san through housing during a companion exchange with the Gifu Elders. Ryu san is an eighty-year-old, Chinese Christian woman who met missionaries in Taiwan about thirty years ago. She could have even bumped into Mom. Ryu san speaks perfect English, so communication is no problem. We spent about thirty minutes at her door and talked to her about various things in the Gospel such as the afterlife, Christ's ministry, etc. We were able to set an appointment with her for this Thursday.
We had some good progress with a less-active member named Uchu kun. He's twenty-two years old and loves studying English, but he has a hard time wanting to go to church. We went out to eat with him and Kai-san, a PI, on Monday night and Uchu kun was dendo-ing Kai really boldly. Uchu was asking him questions about what Kai thinks about religion and God and things like that. It really got Kai thinking. Then on Friday night Elder Doll and I went to eat ramen with Uchu kun. We got to talking and he said he still wasn't sure if the church is true. We talked about prayer and the Book of Mormon being the evidence of the truth of the Church. He said he would read the Book of Mormon.
In other news two more investigators I taught in Gokiso are getting baptized this Sunday and I may get to baptize one of them! Soooo stoked!
Anyway gotta go love you!
Love
Elder Sanderson
I'm emailing on Sister Hall's iPhone. Technology!
We'll another great week in the rear view mirror. We were able to get a new investigator this week. We tried hard to get a new investigator everyday. We weren't able to get one everyday, but we got a lot of potential investigators. We found Ryu san through housing during a companion exchange with the Gifu Elders. Ryu san is an eighty-year-old, Chinese Christian woman who met missionaries in Taiwan about thirty years ago. She could have even bumped into Mom. Ryu san speaks perfect English, so communication is no problem. We spent about thirty minutes at her door and talked to her about various things in the Gospel such as the afterlife, Christ's ministry, etc. We were able to set an appointment with her for this Thursday.
We had some good progress with a less-active member named Uchu kun. He's twenty-two years old and loves studying English, but he has a hard time wanting to go to church. We went out to eat with him and Kai-san, a PI, on Monday night and Uchu kun was dendo-ing Kai really boldly. Uchu was asking him questions about what Kai thinks about religion and God and things like that. It really got Kai thinking. Then on Friday night Elder Doll and I went to eat ramen with Uchu kun. We got to talking and he said he still wasn't sure if the church is true. We talked about prayer and the Book of Mormon being the evidence of the truth of the Church. He said he would read the Book of Mormon.
In other news two more investigators I taught in Gokiso are getting baptized this Sunday and I may get to baptize one of them! Soooo stoked!
Anyway gotta go love you!
Love
Elder Sanderson
Monday, December 2, 2013
Jupiter! Two Baptisms!
Hey there, all you happy people!
This week was fantastic. Quite possibly the best week of my entire mission so far. We had a lesson with Matias at the McDonald's again. We were a little more bold with him this time, but it helped us let him know his own role in learning the Gospel. We got to visit a less-active we haven't visited in awhile named Shams. He's a funny guy from Iran. We were able to help him with some translation for his resume and we set another appointment for this week.
We visited the Hall family this week and we talked about their friends who they want to invite to hear the Gospel. We wrote down a list of eleven people then immediately visited them together. We sang a Christmas song and then invited them to the Christmas party. It was cool to see the people we visited light up when we sang a song and talked with them.
This week we were able to go to two baptisms. The bishop's daughter was baptized on Wednesday night and a bunch of the Sisters' investigators came. Little Ayaka-chan was so cute. So then on Friday my boy Wei Jing Xuan in Gokiso gets dunked! I walked into the church before the service and I almost tackled him. He has such a sick testimony! He was talking about how he didn't know how to overcome difficulty in his life until he met Elder Ludlow and I on the street. He began to elaborate on how he knows his life with change, but it's for the better. I was talking to him afterward and told him how Elder Ludlow and I were studying one day and I was falling asleep, so we went to go get ice cream at the convenience store. On the way home from buying ice cream we ran into Wei. Boom. I am so humbled and thankful to be a part of the salvation of another one of Heavenly Father's children.
A former investigator in Fukutoku named Makino-san was able to come to the Wei's baptism as well. We are getting to be good friends with him and we're currently trying to get him back into the investigator pool. On Saturday we did service together and had some fun at a ward barbecue, then later that night we got on top of our apartment (completely permissible, don't worry) and looked at Jupiter and her four moons with Makino-san's telescope. You could see Jupiter's rings! It was mind-blowing. A member, Tsuzuku Kyodai, also hung out with us and was really good at fellowshipping Makino-san.
Last night we visited a member family named the Hisakas. I looooooove members. The Hisakas are way nice and we were able to help their thirteen-year-old son know how he can gain his own testimony. We challenged him to read the Book of Mormon everyday and then next month during Testimony Meeting bear his testimony. He said he would. It was a pretty heavy, Spiritual moment for me. Not sure why. But I think his parents will help him and talk with him. He'll be fine.
That's kind of the news this week. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
This week was fantastic. Quite possibly the best week of my entire mission so far. We had a lesson with Matias at the McDonald's again. We were a little more bold with him this time, but it helped us let him know his own role in learning the Gospel. We got to visit a less-active we haven't visited in awhile named Shams. He's a funny guy from Iran. We were able to help him with some translation for his resume and we set another appointment for this week.
We visited the Hall family this week and we talked about their friends who they want to invite to hear the Gospel. We wrote down a list of eleven people then immediately visited them together. We sang a Christmas song and then invited them to the Christmas party. It was cool to see the people we visited light up when we sang a song and talked with them.
This week we were able to go to two baptisms. The bishop's daughter was baptized on Wednesday night and a bunch of the Sisters' investigators came. Little Ayaka-chan was so cute. So then on Friday my boy Wei Jing Xuan in Gokiso gets dunked! I walked into the church before the service and I almost tackled him. He has such a sick testimony! He was talking about how he didn't know how to overcome difficulty in his life until he met Elder Ludlow and I on the street. He began to elaborate on how he knows his life with change, but it's for the better. I was talking to him afterward and told him how Elder Ludlow and I were studying one day and I was falling asleep, so we went to go get ice cream at the convenience store. On the way home from buying ice cream we ran into Wei. Boom. I am so humbled and thankful to be a part of the salvation of another one of Heavenly Father's children.
A former investigator in Fukutoku named Makino-san was able to come to the Wei's baptism as well. We are getting to be good friends with him and we're currently trying to get him back into the investigator pool. On Saturday we did service together and had some fun at a ward barbecue, then later that night we got on top of our apartment (completely permissible, don't worry) and looked at Jupiter and her four moons with Makino-san's telescope. You could see Jupiter's rings! It was mind-blowing. A member, Tsuzuku Kyodai, also hung out with us and was really good at fellowshipping Makino-san.
Last night we visited a member family named the Hisakas. I looooooove members. The Hisakas are way nice and we were able to help their thirteen-year-old son know how he can gain his own testimony. We challenged him to read the Book of Mormon everyday and then next month during Testimony Meeting bear his testimony. He said he would. It was a pretty heavy, Spiritual moment for me. Not sure why. But I think his parents will help him and talk with him. He'll be fine.
That's kind of the news this week. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, November 25, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey there. It's weird to say I'm 21 years old now.
This week was great. A less-active member, Jessyka, came to church yesterday and she brought her boyfriend, Wellington, who is an investigator. They came to see Jessyka's kids in the primary program in Sacrament meeting and Jessyka's daughter translated the meeting into Portuguese for Wellington. Two other less-active sisters came to Sacrament as well. We have been visiting them a lot recently and they showed us a notebook that they have had since 2007 recording their church attendance and visits from missionaries or members. They have been really diligent with it, and I think they ended up encouraging themselves to come to church with it.
We had a really good lesson with Wellington this week. We talked about Christ and Repentance and had Jessyka share what she felt about repentance. Then my companion, inspired as usual, asked what Wellington thinks. He shared some really good comments and we were also able to ask him to say the closing prayer before we left. Wellington was nervous, but we encouraged Jessyka to help him. He is progressing well.
This week we were able to meet up with Matias at the McDonald's again. We actually ran into him a lot this week. The first time was at Nagoya station during transfers, then at the mall two days later. We were able to say hello to him and each time we ran into each other, he was happier to see us. We talked about various things and we have a pretty good relationship to start a real good teaching/learning experience. We have another appointment at the McD's on Tuesday.
This week we were able to meet a lot of member and less-actives. We also did some finding at Nagoya Castle park yesterday. It seems right now we have about 10+ PIs, but we're just working on getting them into the investigator pool now. It's a little bit of a test of patience, but we're working on it.
I really enjoyed the mission conference with Elder Evans this week. We had some missionaries from other areas stay with us the night before, so that was fun too. At the conference I learned a lot about what I need to do as a missionary in order to endure to the end of my mission. I felt the Spirit tell me that I need to have faith and not fear.
I had an awesome birthday on Wednesday! We had a pretty successful day of dendo and then we were getting ready to go to the church for a planning meeting with the Sisters before English class. I heard an Elder's voice outside the window. When I looked out I saw the Matsumoto Elders there, too. I thought they were way early because they said they couldn't come until late that evening. I jumped out on the balcony/veranda and told them to come up to the apartment. It turns out there wasn't any planning meeting at all, they were just going to the church to surprise me. I kind of spoiled the surprise party, but it was still a surprise to see them early. And ELDER PERKINS came over!!!! It was soooo good to see him. I haven't seen him in a while. Anyway, we went to the church and the Sisters made us tacos and a cake. Then we had a party at English class, too. I ate four different birthday cakes in one day and we still have some in our fridge. It was such a sick birthday. My companion was bummed the surprise didn't work out, but I love him for making my birthday awesome.
Have you ever had an American Thanksgiving in Japan made by a Canadian? I have. Brother Hall got crazy with the Costco goods and made a delicious turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Holy crap, it was good. I had three plates of food before I even started eating. People were making fun of me, but I showed 'em how it's done.
That was our week. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
PS I call the one with Elder Perkins and I "Sugar and Spice"
This week was great. A less-active member, Jessyka, came to church yesterday and she brought her boyfriend, Wellington, who is an investigator. They came to see Jessyka's kids in the primary program in Sacrament meeting and Jessyka's daughter translated the meeting into Portuguese for Wellington. Two other less-active sisters came to Sacrament as well. We have been visiting them a lot recently and they showed us a notebook that they have had since 2007 recording their church attendance and visits from missionaries or members. They have been really diligent with it, and I think they ended up encouraging themselves to come to church with it.
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| It was a good turn out at the birthday party. |
This week we were able to meet up with Matias at the McDonald's again. We actually ran into him a lot this week. The first time was at Nagoya station during transfers, then at the mall two days later. We were able to say hello to him and each time we ran into each other, he was happier to see us. We talked about various things and we have a pretty good relationship to start a real good teaching/learning experience. We have another appointment at the McD's on Tuesday.
This week we were able to meet a lot of member and less-actives. We also did some finding at Nagoya Castle park yesterday. It seems right now we have about 10+ PIs, but we're just working on getting them into the investigator pool now. It's a little bit of a test of patience, but we're working on it.
I really enjoyed the mission conference with Elder Evans this week. We had some missionaries from other areas stay with us the night before, so that was fun too. At the conference I learned a lot about what I need to do as a missionary in order to endure to the end of my mission. I felt the Spirit tell me that I need to have faith and not fear.
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| Sweet Birthday glasses |
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| American Thanksgiving in Japan made by a Canadian |
That was our week. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
PS I call the one with Elder Perkins and I "Sugar and Spice"
Sunday, November 17, 2013
See Ya Later Transfer 14!
Hey there, erbody!
We were able to crack down and really get to work this week and it paid off. Brother Hall gave us some Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa so we started doing Hot Cocoa Dendo. We hadn't met with Shirakawa and Naoko in a while, so we took some hot cocoa to their apartment and left a note for them. A few hours later Shirakawa called us and said he was drinking the hot cocoa and he was really thankful. We were able to set up an appointment for the next day at the Mister Donuts. When we met the next day Naoko asked us how much a Book of Mormon was. We were like, "They're free! Have one!" and gave them each a Book of Mormon. We were then able to talk about Christ's ministry and baptism. The lesson went great and we were able to share Ether 12:27 which ended up really helping Shirakawa -san.
On Friday we went down to Sakae to street contact some people. At first my companion and I were a little timid about talking to people, but we finally got into our groove so we could talk to people more naturally. After that our conversations more naturally turned to the Gospel. We got some awesome contacts on the street and then when it got later we decided to ride the Meijo Line on the subway because it runs in a loop. As we were getting on the train, we met three Vietnamese people who couldn't speak Japanese who were trying to get to the airport. We stopped a man and asked him how to get to the airport and he was going through Kanayama station, which is on the way to the airport. My companion was able to talk to him about what we do as missionaries and I was able to talk to the Vietnamese people. The Japanese man spoke some English, so he was able to help the Vietnamese people get to the train that would take them to the airport.
We started talking to basically everyone we could and an older man came up to us and asked us if we were Mormon missionaries. We of course told him we were and then began talking to him. He had to get off the train before us, but we were able to give him a pamphlet. We talked to a lot more people and got some good PIs.
On Saturday night, we had a dinner appointment with the Kashima family. They told us that they invited the Mizutas, another member family, over along with one of their non-member friends named Kasugai-san. Kasugai-san is the insurance salesman of three different families in our ward, but he is also their good friend. We had a great time talking with the members and becoming friends with Kasugai-san. Towards the end of our visit, Kashima Shimai asked Kasugai-san if it would be okay if we shared a message and he said it was ok. We shared a message from the Book of Mormon about families and he was pretty impressed. Then he started asking questions and all the members started answering his questions perfectly. Kasugai-san said that he thinks religion is important and then Mizuta Shimai asked what he thought about meeting with the missionaries to learn about the church. He said it sounds interesting and set up a meeting with us! We have an appointment next week and he is coming to our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday.
Thanks for the birthday package! I got it yesterday. Those soups are gonna be nice for the cold weather these days. I was pretty stoked about the Japan Nagoya tie tack too.
So another round of transfers has flown by. Things here in Fukutoku didn't change too much. Elder Wilcox and I are still companions and Sister Brady and Sister Kartchner are still kickin' it. We are getting two more Sisters as well. Sister Smith and Sister Avarell. That makes us six here in Fukutoku and our district is ten people with the Ichinomiya missionaries included.
We have an all mission conference this week with Elder Evans of the Seventy. So that will be cool. Well that's what's up. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
We were able to crack down and really get to work this week and it paid off. Brother Hall gave us some Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa so we started doing Hot Cocoa Dendo. We hadn't met with Shirakawa and Naoko in a while, so we took some hot cocoa to their apartment and left a note for them. A few hours later Shirakawa called us and said he was drinking the hot cocoa and he was really thankful. We were able to set up an appointment for the next day at the Mister Donuts. When we met the next day Naoko asked us how much a Book of Mormon was. We were like, "They're free! Have one!" and gave them each a Book of Mormon. We were then able to talk about Christ's ministry and baptism. The lesson went great and we were able to share Ether 12:27 which ended up really helping Shirakawa -san.
On Friday we went down to Sakae to street contact some people. At first my companion and I were a little timid about talking to people, but we finally got into our groove so we could talk to people more naturally. After that our conversations more naturally turned to the Gospel. We got some awesome contacts on the street and then when it got later we decided to ride the Meijo Line on the subway because it runs in a loop. As we were getting on the train, we met three Vietnamese people who couldn't speak Japanese who were trying to get to the airport. We stopped a man and asked him how to get to the airport and he was going through Kanayama station, which is on the way to the airport. My companion was able to talk to him about what we do as missionaries and I was able to talk to the Vietnamese people. The Japanese man spoke some English, so he was able to help the Vietnamese people get to the train that would take them to the airport.
We started talking to basically everyone we could and an older man came up to us and asked us if we were Mormon missionaries. We of course told him we were and then began talking to him. He had to get off the train before us, but we were able to give him a pamphlet. We talked to a lot more people and got some good PIs.
On Saturday night, we had a dinner appointment with the Kashima family. They told us that they invited the Mizutas, another member family, over along with one of their non-member friends named Kasugai-san. Kasugai-san is the insurance salesman of three different families in our ward, but he is also their good friend. We had a great time talking with the members and becoming friends with Kasugai-san. Towards the end of our visit, Kashima Shimai asked Kasugai-san if it would be okay if we shared a message and he said it was ok. We shared a message from the Book of Mormon about families and he was pretty impressed. Then he started asking questions and all the members started answering his questions perfectly. Kasugai-san said that he thinks religion is important and then Mizuta Shimai asked what he thought about meeting with the missionaries to learn about the church. He said it sounds interesting and set up a meeting with us! We have an appointment next week and he is coming to our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday.
Thanks for the birthday package! I got it yesterday. Those soups are gonna be nice for the cold weather these days. I was pretty stoked about the Japan Nagoya tie tack too.
So another round of transfers has flown by. Things here in Fukutoku didn't change too much. Elder Wilcox and I are still companions and Sister Brady and Sister Kartchner are still kickin' it. We are getting two more Sisters as well. Sister Smith and Sister Avarell. That makes us six here in Fukutoku and our district is ten people with the Ichinomiya missionaries included.
We have an all mission conference this week with Elder Evans of the Seventy. So that will be cool. Well that's what's up. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
88 Purple Baseballs
Hello! This week went by really fast.
So Fukutoku now needs a Portuguese-speaking missionary. A less-active member's boyfriend, Wellington, became an investigator and he only speaks Portuguese. We can do lessons with the less-active member translating for us, but we had a companion exchange with Elder Doll this past week so he could teach him in Portuguese. Wellington is very prepared for the Gospel and he said he wants to come to church. I know a handful of Portuguese words and phrases, but I haven't studied it that much.
In other news, we were able to meet with Mattias this week. We had a great talk about agency and the nature of God. He is from France, but his parents are Muslim. He doesn't know the true nature of God, but has a lot of interest to learn. It will be interesting teaching him because he doesn't want to feel forced to do anything. His progress in the Gospel will come from his desire to live it. It is mine and my companion's job to teach Mattias in such a way that he desires to live the Gospel.
On Saturday we went to an orphanage and played soccer with all the boys there. It was way fun, but there were wee tots everywhere. I'm like three times their size, so I had to be careful not to plow them over as I was running up the field. That afternoon we helped clean up Brother Hall's junkyard. We had to lift up an engine block with nothing but our man-strength. It took four of us and Brother Hall was saying that we can get that hernia we've always dreamed of. It was a good time. We also got to play softball at a stake softball activity that night. So it turns out I really like playing sports.
It's a short one this week, but that's the highlights. Looking forward to another good week. Hope you all have a good one too. Love ya.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
So Fukutoku now needs a Portuguese-speaking missionary. A less-active member's boyfriend, Wellington, became an investigator and he only speaks Portuguese. We can do lessons with the less-active member translating for us, but we had a companion exchange with Elder Doll this past week so he could teach him in Portuguese. Wellington is very prepared for the Gospel and he said he wants to come to church. I know a handful of Portuguese words and phrases, but I haven't studied it that much.
In other news, we were able to meet with Mattias this week. We had a great talk about agency and the nature of God. He is from France, but his parents are Muslim. He doesn't know the true nature of God, but has a lot of interest to learn. It will be interesting teaching him because he doesn't want to feel forced to do anything. His progress in the Gospel will come from his desire to live it. It is mine and my companion's job to teach Mattias in such a way that he desires to live the Gospel.
On Saturday we went to an orphanage and played soccer with all the boys there. It was way fun, but there were wee tots everywhere. I'm like three times their size, so I had to be careful not to plow them over as I was running up the field. That afternoon we helped clean up Brother Hall's junkyard. We had to lift up an engine block with nothing but our man-strength. It took four of us and Brother Hall was saying that we can get that hernia we've always dreamed of. It was a good time. We also got to play softball at a stake softball activity that night. So it turns out I really like playing sports.
It's a short one this week, but that's the highlights. Looking forward to another good week. Hope you all have a good one too. Love ya.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, November 4, 2013
We Didn't Start the Fire
That was the first thing that popped into my head^
Well, hello!
Let's get crackin'! We got two new investigators this week! Last week Elder Wakamatsu and I were on a companionship exchange here in Fukutoku and we met a Vietnamese man named Sohn in front of the Mister Donuts near our apartment. I could tell he wasn't Japanese as I went up to talk to him. We talked for a bit and exchanged phone numbers, then this Friday my companion and I called him and set up a meeting for this Wednesday. He will probably bring a friend, so we may get another investigator as well.
The other new investigator is Mattias from France. He speaks English really well, though. The Gifu Elders stopped at the McDonald's at Nagoya Station one day and met Mattias there. Mattias told them that he wants to meet the missionaries, but he lives in our area so he was referred to us. We set up an appointment for this Thursday at the Mac Shack. :)
We were able to meet with Lumbe on Saturday with a member, Brother Hall. (Remember the Brother Hall I helped in Kasugai? He lives in Fukutoku ward.) Brother Hall was being super friendly and testifying of the Gospel powerfully, so the lesson went great! We talked about Alma 32 with Lumbe and committed him to experiment on what we say. We commended him for his own righteous beliefs and faith in Christ and also give our words a test. Lumbe seems to be looking forward to the next time we meet and so are we.
We met with Chen at the Mister Donuts on Friday for a lesson. Mister Donuts is magic; we don't spend a lot of time there, but we get a good number of contacts. Anyway, Chen was kind of scatter-brained with all of the things he wants to talk about, but he told us that he wants to know what the big deal is about Christianity. We were able to talk a little bit about Jesus Christ, but we didn't have enough much time to cover a lot of stuff. His work schedule is busy, so he doesn't know if he can meet this week but we're going to try to get in touch with him later this week.
I went on a companion exchange here in Fukutoku with Elder Jones on Thursday. We visited a less-active member named Shams from Iran. He goes on for a long time how he doesn't like Japan and he wants to go to America so bad, but visa issues are standing in the way. He likes to talk a lot so we were there longer than we planned to be, but Elder Jones was really nice to him and helped us strengthen our relationship with Shams.
We got to help Brother Hall at his junkyard this week. We packed a shipping crate full of Skyline parts and the front end of an old Mini Cooper. We actually got to tear apart the Mini and cut off the front end. It was super fun! We also had an awesome Halloween party with the ward. The four of us missionaries made a photo booth (it was mostly Sister Brady, but we helped) and it came out way good. I went to the party a 1920s Gangster and I was yellin' at people in my Jersey accent to get their picture taken. I think I scared some girls because I was just barking at em in loud, difficult English, but it was way fun. The young men brought their airsoft gear and it made me want to play airsoft so bad. Check out the pics.
On another note, I read something interesting in the Liahona this week. It said the more specific you are with your prayers, then the easier it is to recognize Heavenly Father's blessings in your life. So now I am trying to be more specific as to what I pray for so I can be more thankful. I am also trying to stoke my dendo fire so I can work hard.
Well that's this week. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Well, hello!
Let's get crackin'! We got two new investigators this week! Last week Elder Wakamatsu and I were on a companionship exchange here in Fukutoku and we met a Vietnamese man named Sohn in front of the Mister Donuts near our apartment. I could tell he wasn't Japanese as I went up to talk to him. We talked for a bit and exchanged phone numbers, then this Friday my companion and I called him and set up a meeting for this Wednesday. He will probably bring a friend, so we may get another investigator as well.
The other new investigator is Mattias from France. He speaks English really well, though. The Gifu Elders stopped at the McDonald's at Nagoya Station one day and met Mattias there. Mattias told them that he wants to meet the missionaries, but he lives in our area so he was referred to us. We set up an appointment for this Thursday at the Mac Shack. :)
We were able to meet with Lumbe on Saturday with a member, Brother Hall. (Remember the Brother Hall I helped in Kasugai? He lives in Fukutoku ward.) Brother Hall was being super friendly and testifying of the Gospel powerfully, so the lesson went great! We talked about Alma 32 with Lumbe and committed him to experiment on what we say. We commended him for his own righteous beliefs and faith in Christ and also give our words a test. Lumbe seems to be looking forward to the next time we meet and so are we.
We met with Chen at the Mister Donuts on Friday for a lesson. Mister Donuts is magic; we don't spend a lot of time there, but we get a good number of contacts. Anyway, Chen was kind of scatter-brained with all of the things he wants to talk about, but he told us that he wants to know what the big deal is about Christianity. We were able to talk a little bit about Jesus Christ, but we didn't have enough much time to cover a lot of stuff. His work schedule is busy, so he doesn't know if he can meet this week but we're going to try to get in touch with him later this week.
I went on a companion exchange here in Fukutoku with Elder Jones on Thursday. We visited a less-active member named Shams from Iran. He goes on for a long time how he doesn't like Japan and he wants to go to America so bad, but visa issues are standing in the way. He likes to talk a lot so we were there longer than we planned to be, but Elder Jones was really nice to him and helped us strengthen our relationship with Shams.
We got to help Brother Hall at his junkyard this week. We packed a shipping crate full of Skyline parts and the front end of an old Mini Cooper. We actually got to tear apart the Mini and cut off the front end. It was super fun! We also had an awesome Halloween party with the ward. The four of us missionaries made a photo booth (it was mostly Sister Brady, but we helped) and it came out way good. I went to the party a 1920s Gangster and I was yellin' at people in my Jersey accent to get their picture taken. I think I scared some girls because I was just barking at em in loud, difficult English, but it was way fun. The young men brought their airsoft gear and it made me want to play airsoft so bad. Check out the pics. On another note, I read something interesting in the Liahona this week. It said the more specific you are with your prayers, then the easier it is to recognize Heavenly Father's blessings in your life. So now I am trying to be more specific as to what I pray for so I can be more thankful. I am also trying to stoke my dendo fire so I can work hard.
Well that's this week. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Hiyah!!
G'day,
We got two new investigators this week. When Elder Wilcox was on a kokan with Elder Ahuna a man named Shirakawa san was riding toward them on his bike and he said, "Seisho no kata desu ka?" (Are you a Bible person?) They stopped and talked to him and found out he had met with missionaries before. He gave us his phone number and this week we were able to meet him at the Denny's for a chat. When we showed up, he told us that he brought his girlfriend which concerned me at first. When we sat down with them they both started talking about how it was the hand of God that led us to meet. They have both recently stopped drinking alcohol, and they are very prepared for the Gospel. They have a lot of potential to progress very quickly. Unfortunately we were unable to meet with other investigators, but we're working hard.
We had a sick adventure to Gifu this week. We had a companionship split in Gifu and we got to do service at an Elementary school. It was way fun and the kids were really funny. We also got to party at a Matsuri (festival) and I got to heave a huge, million-pound thing called Mikoshi on my shoulder. The result was a bruised shoulder and a back ache that would floor Schwarzenneger, but it was a once in a lifetime event. Worth it.
This week was interviews with the mission president and now I have a Japanese Temple recommend. Cool, eh?
We also had Stake Conference this weekend and it was great. Our Stake Presidency changed, so we had Elder Whiting of the Seventy come and learn us sum Gospel. I received a lot of revelation regarding what kind of missionary and what kind of person I want to become. I was impressed with President Yamashita's talk on Saturday evening and Elder Whiting gave us inspiring counsel about how to be powerful member missionaries. I feel a big responsibility to continue the Lord's work after my mission.
That's it for now. Love ya.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
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| Kid at Heart |
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| Matsuri Festival |
This week was interviews with the mission president and now I have a Japanese Temple recommend. Cool, eh?
We also had Stake Conference this weekend and it was great. Our Stake Presidency changed, so we had Elder Whiting of the Seventy come and learn us sum Gospel. I received a lot of revelation regarding what kind of missionary and what kind of person I want to become. I was impressed with President Yamashita's talk on Saturday evening and Elder Whiting gave us inspiring counsel about how to be powerful member missionaries. I feel a big responsibility to continue the Lord's work after my mission.
That's it for now. Love ya.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Laughing All the Way
We are low on time so get ready for some thought vomit. My comp is hilarious and a beast at Japanese. The ward here is way awesome too. We had normal church yesterday, so we got to meet everyone and had a really good reception from all of them. Investigator count here is low, but Elder Wilcox and I are working on it. We are teaching some people, one in particular is from Congo. His name is Lumbe and he thinks very deeply about everything. He's a pretty cool guy.
On Friday we had a companion exchange with the Ichinomiya Elders. I was with Elder Naylor in Ichinomiya and we had a lot of great finding opportunities. Elder Ahuna and Elder Wilcox met with Chen, an investigator, on the exchange and they had a good lesson.
This week will be a lot of fun. We have started doing service and a boys' orphanage and we played soccer with them. They are way funny. Yesterday we went into McD's to use the bathroom and I asked a kid if he spoke English and we began talking. It was way fun to talk to them and we are gonna go hang out with them some time soon. That's kind of the biz.
Things are good here. Love you. Sorry for the short letter.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
On Friday we had a companion exchange with the Ichinomiya Elders. I was with Elder Naylor in Ichinomiya and we had a lot of great finding opportunities. Elder Ahuna and Elder Wilcox met with Chen, an investigator, on the exchange and they had a good lesson.
This week will be a lot of fun. We have started doing service and a boys' orphanage and we played soccer with them. They are way funny. Yesterday we went into McD's to use the bathroom and I asked a kid if he spoke English and we began talking. It was way fun to talk to them and we are gonna go hang out with them some time soon. That's kind of the biz.
Things are good here. Love you. Sorry for the short letter.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, October 14, 2013
"Heavenly Father has been good to me"
Hey,
That's one of my favorite quotes from conference. I don't mean to make me trunky, but I have no more General Conference on my mission... Shoot. I really enjoyed Conference. I noticed how Elder Perry mentioned using technology in spreading the Gospel. I hope iPads are on there way to the mission field soon. There were a lot of good talks like President Uchtdorf on Saturday morning when he talked about people coming to join us. Elder Oaks' talk about the commandments dictating our worship and priorities was impressive as well. Conference is awesome.
In other news, I think this has been the busiest week of my mission so far. Transfers on Tuesday, Elder Wilcox and I planned all day on Wednesday, we had Leadership Council on Thursday, then ZTM and service for the Fukutoku ward on Friday, and we ended with a great weekend of General Conference. Wow.
We did manage to visit with an investigator this week. Our current investigator pool has four investigators, Chen, Kenji, Lumbe, and Wellington. We found Chen this week when we were putting our bikes together near the eki. Chen parked his bike and asked if we had a flat tire or something. We told him we had just come to the area and found out he is from China and has lived in Japan for about thirty years. We got to talking about the Gospel and he said he had interest. We called him on Thursday and set an appointment. Boom! New investigator.
We met Lumbe on Saturday who is from Congo. He is Christian but likes deep doctrine. It was just our first meeting with him, so we got to know him and then set a next appointment. We left a commitment with him to read Moroni 10 so we can talk about it next time. We plan to visit a lot of members this week to get to know them more. We also have a handful of less-active members we are working with too.
I love Fukutoku. It's like it's own little mission. The ward is divided geographically into four zones with Ward Missionary Zone Leaders and each zone does one activity per month. Everyone has been encouraged by the bishop to do F&F with the missionaries as well in order to prepare their friends to receive the Gospel. The Ward Mission Leader and the Bishop have great dendo fire and were super helpful as Elder Wilcox and I were getting our bearings here this week.
The area is pretty cool too. It's on the north end of Nagoya city, so there are some more rural areas as you go north. We also have a golf course next to the river only about ten minutes away from the church. Maybe I can go hit nine with President Yamashita sometime. We also have some really cool members here. One is the Hall family. I met Brother Hall in Kasugai over a year ago when I worked in his junkyard. Now I'm in his ward. Small world.
I'm looking forward to another good week. I hope you guys have a great one too. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
That's one of my favorite quotes from conference. I don't mean to make me trunky, but I have no more General Conference on my mission... Shoot. I really enjoyed Conference. I noticed how Elder Perry mentioned using technology in spreading the Gospel. I hope iPads are on there way to the mission field soon. There were a lot of good talks like President Uchtdorf on Saturday morning when he talked about people coming to join us. Elder Oaks' talk about the commandments dictating our worship and priorities was impressive as well. Conference is awesome.
In other news, I think this has been the busiest week of my mission so far. Transfers on Tuesday, Elder Wilcox and I planned all day on Wednesday, we had Leadership Council on Thursday, then ZTM and service for the Fukutoku ward on Friday, and we ended with a great weekend of General Conference. Wow.
We did manage to visit with an investigator this week. Our current investigator pool has four investigators, Chen, Kenji, Lumbe, and Wellington. We found Chen this week when we were putting our bikes together near the eki. Chen parked his bike and asked if we had a flat tire or something. We told him we had just come to the area and found out he is from China and has lived in Japan for about thirty years. We got to talking about the Gospel and he said he had interest. We called him on Thursday and set an appointment. Boom! New investigator.
We met Lumbe on Saturday who is from Congo. He is Christian but likes deep doctrine. It was just our first meeting with him, so we got to know him and then set a next appointment. We left a commitment with him to read Moroni 10 so we can talk about it next time. We plan to visit a lot of members this week to get to know them more. We also have a handful of less-active members we are working with too.
I love Fukutoku. It's like it's own little mission. The ward is divided geographically into four zones with Ward Missionary Zone Leaders and each zone does one activity per month. Everyone has been encouraged by the bishop to do F&F with the missionaries as well in order to prepare their friends to receive the Gospel. The Ward Mission Leader and the Bishop have great dendo fire and were super helpful as Elder Wilcox and I were getting our bearings here this week.
The area is pretty cool too. It's on the north end of Nagoya city, so there are some more rural areas as you go north. We also have a golf course next to the river only about ten minutes away from the church. Maybe I can go hit nine with President Yamashita sometime. We also have some really cool members here. One is the Hall family. I met Brother Hall in Kasugai over a year ago when I worked in his junkyard. Now I'm in his ward. Small world.
I'm looking forward to another good week. I hope you guys have a great one too. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Game Changer
Olo,
Well I mentioned that we had transfer calls coming up. I'll get to that eventually. This week was great. We had a lot of meetings with investigators including our yakusokushas. Weijing Xuan came back from China and called us to meet so he can prepare for his baptism. When we met, he said that he wants to make sure to do things right because he is making a covenant with God. We were able to talk to him and teach him about the Doctrine of Christ and the Plan of Salvation. He understood it all really well, too.
This week we got a referral from the Meito Elders (another part of Nagoya) and then the referral called us. His name is Rishi, he's from Nepal, and he deliberately said, "I have interest in learning Christianity." You don't need to twist my arm when a guy says that.
He met us on Sunday at the subway station and we walked together to the church from there. We gave him a church tour and stopped in the chapel for our lesson. We sat on the benches and talked about the Sacrament, Atonement, and prayer. He said he felt very peaceful and said an incredible prayer at the end of the lesson.
The Game Changer. So on Thursday I went on a companion exchange with Elder Richard in Takabata, yet another part of Nagoya. That afternoon Elder Ludlow called me from Gokiso and said that President Yamashita called. I could tell something was going down then Elder Ludlow told me he was called to be the next AP! We definitely didn't see that coming.
So Elder Ludlow went to the Mission HQ on the next day, which cut our comp exchange really short and left Me, Elder Shimbashi, and Elder Dowe here in Gokiso as a power tri-force. We had the three of us to cover both companionship's' appointments this weekend, so we were sooo busy. But we ended up having a great week.
On Saturday we had the transfer calls. I found out that I am transferring to Fukutoku ward, in another part of Nagoya. It's only a twenty minute train ride from Gokiso. The Nagoya Zone got cut in half and Elder Wilcox and I will be companions and Zone Leaders over the Fukutoku Zone. Sister Brady, Jill's dance friend, will be in my area as well. I am super excited to go there because I already know some members there and it's still the same stake as Gokiso, so I will get to see the ward from time to time. Elder Wilcox was in the MTC with me. He is a great guy and a great missionary. He definitely loves dendo. I think he and I will do well together in Fukutoku. We are white washing the area, but I have no doubt that it's gonna be fantastic.
Oh, here's a picture of us at our Ward Mission Leader's house for dinner. They are the Nakajima family and their kids are stupid cute.
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Well that's it for ya. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Well I mentioned that we had transfer calls coming up. I'll get to that eventually. This week was great. We had a lot of meetings with investigators including our yakusokushas. Weijing Xuan came back from China and called us to meet so he can prepare for his baptism. When we met, he said that he wants to make sure to do things right because he is making a covenant with God. We were able to talk to him and teach him about the Doctrine of Christ and the Plan of Salvation. He understood it all really well, too.
This week we got a referral from the Meito Elders (another part of Nagoya) and then the referral called us. His name is Rishi, he's from Nepal, and he deliberately said, "I have interest in learning Christianity." You don't need to twist my arm when a guy says that.
He met us on Sunday at the subway station and we walked together to the church from there. We gave him a church tour and stopped in the chapel for our lesson. We sat on the benches and talked about the Sacrament, Atonement, and prayer. He said he felt very peaceful and said an incredible prayer at the end of the lesson.
The Game Changer. So on Thursday I went on a companion exchange with Elder Richard in Takabata, yet another part of Nagoya. That afternoon Elder Ludlow called me from Gokiso and said that President Yamashita called. I could tell something was going down then Elder Ludlow told me he was called to be the next AP! We definitely didn't see that coming.
So Elder Ludlow went to the Mission HQ on the next day, which cut our comp exchange really short and left Me, Elder Shimbashi, and Elder Dowe here in Gokiso as a power tri-force. We had the three of us to cover both companionship's' appointments this weekend, so we were sooo busy. But we ended up having a great week.
On Saturday we had the transfer calls. I found out that I am transferring to Fukutoku ward, in another part of Nagoya. It's only a twenty minute train ride from Gokiso. The Nagoya Zone got cut in half and Elder Wilcox and I will be companions and Zone Leaders over the Fukutoku Zone. Sister Brady, Jill's dance friend, will be in my area as well. I am super excited to go there because I already know some members there and it's still the same stake as Gokiso, so I will get to see the ward from time to time. Elder Wilcox was in the MTC with me. He is a great guy and a great missionary. He definitely loves dendo. I think he and I will do well together in Fukutoku. We are white washing the area, but I have no doubt that it's gonna be fantastic.
Oh, here's a picture of us at our Ward Mission Leader's house for dinner. They are the Nakajima family and their kids are stupid cute.
.jpg)
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Monday, September 30, 2013
Hanga danga dang dang
Quite...
Another great week in the books! We had three investigators at church yesterday! Megumi Shimai came for the third week in a row and David came again as well. Masatoshi, who is also a yakusokusha, came for the first time. He stayed for all three hours and seemed to enjoy it. We also have an appointment with him tonight.
We had a really good lesson with David and Barbie this week. We talked about setting a specific goal to go to the temple together and how we felt about it. We committed them to pray about it and David said he was thinking by 2015 they could be married. It was a really spiritual lesson and we are seeing more and more progress with them.
Megumi Shimai is still moving along. We weren't able to get an appointment for this week, but we have two for next week. She also doesn't know her schedule for the month of October, but hopefully she can come to church a lot. She has really enjoyed church every time she comes and she keeps all of her commitments as well.
We met with our investigator named Ryan. He is from Washington, but works for Boeing here in Japan. We went over to his house on Friday night and when we rang the doorbell no one answered, so we walked back to our bikes. We were standing there talking about another lesson we had and then Ryan came out of his house and said we woke him up. He let us inside, we talked for awhile and then shared a message about the Book of Mormon. He is agnostic, so he doesn't really believe in a religion but believes in God. He had some really good questions as we were talking about the Book of Mormon and we left him with a copy. He said he'll read a little bit and he promised he wouldn't throw it away. He seemed really interested and seemed like he felt something as we bore testimony of the Book of Mormon.
This past week one of our investigators, Dylan, gave us a list of scriptures from the Bible that he felt rose questions with regards to the Plan of Salvation. Elder Ludlow and I had an opportunity to study it. It came to a point where we had to tell him about the other revealed books of scripture (Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) and modern revelation that give so much light to the Plan of Salvation. Once we established that, our discussion went smoothly. We were able to share with him a section of D&C that explains the Kingdoms of Glory and he was interested in getting copies of D&C and PoGP. He seems to be opening up more to the church. Our lesson with him on Friday was one of our best that we've had so far.
Rumi Shimai is opening up to us a lot more. She feels like she has a "bad heart," as she put it in Japanese. We have stressed the importance of prayer and reading the Book of Mormon in connecting her with the grace of God and how it can help her overcome the bad feelings she has towards others and herself.
We had a comp exchange with the APs this week, which was great. We had a good day and it was a nice boost to our dendo. We also did an exchange with the Gifu Elders. I talked about becoming fishers of men with Elder Doll. We talked about forsaking all as Peter and the others did to follow Christ.
President Yamashita suggested that we do a 40 Day Fasting Relay in our wards for dendo success. We proposed it to the ward last month and we started last week. We are already seeing miracles from it. Both us and the other Elders had a great week last week full of success and big steps of progress.
We played softball with our ward on Saturday night. I was in the outfield with Elder Ludlow, which was a pretty good work out. Elder Dowe was on the opposite team and we were getting the ball to first base to get him out. He went for the slide and plowed the first baseman. Elder Dowe is a pretty big guy, so we were worried about our member on first. Later he trucked a fifteen-year-old who was guarding second, too. It was eventful night to say the least. I got a hold of one ball and set it way out to right-center field for a home run. I felt pretty good after that one.
This week we have a bunch of appointments scheduled and another exchange coming up. It's the last week of the transfer and things are changing a lot these days, so I'm thinking it's my last week in Gokiso. Stay tuned.
Well that's my bit. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Another great week in the books! We had three investigators at church yesterday! Megumi Shimai came for the third week in a row and David came again as well. Masatoshi, who is also a yakusokusha, came for the first time. He stayed for all three hours and seemed to enjoy it. We also have an appointment with him tonight.
We had a really good lesson with David and Barbie this week. We talked about setting a specific goal to go to the temple together and how we felt about it. We committed them to pray about it and David said he was thinking by 2015 they could be married. It was a really spiritual lesson and we are seeing more and more progress with them.
Megumi Shimai is still moving along. We weren't able to get an appointment for this week, but we have two for next week. She also doesn't know her schedule for the month of October, but hopefully she can come to church a lot. She has really enjoyed church every time she comes and she keeps all of her commitments as well.
We met with our investigator named Ryan. He is from Washington, but works for Boeing here in Japan. We went over to his house on Friday night and when we rang the doorbell no one answered, so we walked back to our bikes. We were standing there talking about another lesson we had and then Ryan came out of his house and said we woke him up. He let us inside, we talked for awhile and then shared a message about the Book of Mormon. He is agnostic, so he doesn't really believe in a religion but believes in God. He had some really good questions as we were talking about the Book of Mormon and we left him with a copy. He said he'll read a little bit and he promised he wouldn't throw it away. He seemed really interested and seemed like he felt something as we bore testimony of the Book of Mormon.
This past week one of our investigators, Dylan, gave us a list of scriptures from the Bible that he felt rose questions with regards to the Plan of Salvation. Elder Ludlow and I had an opportunity to study it. It came to a point where we had to tell him about the other revealed books of scripture (Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) and modern revelation that give so much light to the Plan of Salvation. Once we established that, our discussion went smoothly. We were able to share with him a section of D&C that explains the Kingdoms of Glory and he was interested in getting copies of D&C and PoGP. He seems to be opening up more to the church. Our lesson with him on Friday was one of our best that we've had so far.
Rumi Shimai is opening up to us a lot more. She feels like she has a "bad heart," as she put it in Japanese. We have stressed the importance of prayer and reading the Book of Mormon in connecting her with the grace of God and how it can help her overcome the bad feelings she has towards others and herself.
We had a comp exchange with the APs this week, which was great. We had a good day and it was a nice boost to our dendo. We also did an exchange with the Gifu Elders. I talked about becoming fishers of men with Elder Doll. We talked about forsaking all as Peter and the others did to follow Christ.
President Yamashita suggested that we do a 40 Day Fasting Relay in our wards for dendo success. We proposed it to the ward last month and we started last week. We are already seeing miracles from it. Both us and the other Elders had a great week last week full of success and big steps of progress.
We played softball with our ward on Saturday night. I was in the outfield with Elder Ludlow, which was a pretty good work out. Elder Dowe was on the opposite team and we were getting the ball to first base to get him out. He went for the slide and plowed the first baseman. Elder Dowe is a pretty big guy, so we were worried about our member on first. Later he trucked a fifteen-year-old who was guarding second, too. It was eventful night to say the least. I got a hold of one ball and set it way out to right-center field for a home run. I felt pretty good after that one.
This week we have a bunch of appointments scheduled and another exchange coming up. It's the last week of the transfer and things are changing a lot these days, so I'm thinking it's my last week in Gokiso. Stay tuned.
Well that's my bit. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Another Crazy Frog Week
Herro Everyone. I ruv you.
This week we had some great successes. We worked hard to try and open our mouths, but we ended up getting blessings in other areas because of our efforts. We got a referral from the Meito Zone Leaders regarding a Vietnamese man named Huu. We were able to get in touch with him and had a English class/Gospel lesson on Saturday and he and his wife became investigators! We are still trying to find Japanese investigators, though. It seems like we talk to one hundred Japanese people who don't become investigators and then the one foreigner we talk to becomes an investigator. We'll keep working at it. :)
Megumi Shimai was able to come to church again this week. It was a miracle because she suddenly was able to get work off. And she decided on her own to come to church. We are trying really hard to set a baptismal date with her. It might have to be in the distant future, but at least a goal will start to get her progress really moving. David also came to church. It has been a while since he came to church and I have been on companion exchanges when they teach him, so I was really glad to see him. He and Barbie are talking a lot about going to the temple, but they still don't have a specific goal. There are still a lot of obstacles standing in the way of all that stuff happening, including David's baptism, but things are looking up.
I had a companionship exchange with Elder Jones in Inuyama this week. It was really fun to be with an Elder who was in the MTC with me! He was kind of sick, but I was able to teach English class and make good friends with the students. The exchange was short, but we had a good opportunity to talk about the future.
We also got another Yakusokusha this week! (An investigator with a baptismal date) His name is Ishizuka Masatoshi and he is awesome! We hadn't met for a few weeks, but when he came he had read the Book of Mormon a little and read the Lesson 1 Pamphlet. He was filling in the blanks as we were teaching him the Restoration and he compared himself to Joseph Smith in his personal search for the truth. We showed him the Baptismal Font and invited him to be baptized when he knows this is true. He said yes and we set his date for October 27th! Hooray!
I have been riding the crap out of this mamachati (standard issue Japanese bike) they gave me while my bike is in the shop. It's a workout to push that thing as hard as I can push my bike. I found out that I can sit back on the fender and ride it like a motorcycle. It has a basket too, so that's convenient for picking up groceries. I can't wait to get my mountain bike back though.
Well, it's been another exciting week out here on the front lines. I'm loving my mission and loving my companion. Hard work is really rewarding. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
This week we had some great successes. We worked hard to try and open our mouths, but we ended up getting blessings in other areas because of our efforts. We got a referral from the Meito Zone Leaders regarding a Vietnamese man named Huu. We were able to get in touch with him and had a English class/Gospel lesson on Saturday and he and his wife became investigators! We are still trying to find Japanese investigators, though. It seems like we talk to one hundred Japanese people who don't become investigators and then the one foreigner we talk to becomes an investigator. We'll keep working at it. :)
Megumi Shimai was able to come to church again this week. It was a miracle because she suddenly was able to get work off. And she decided on her own to come to church. We are trying really hard to set a baptismal date with her. It might have to be in the distant future, but at least a goal will start to get her progress really moving. David also came to church. It has been a while since he came to church and I have been on companion exchanges when they teach him, so I was really glad to see him. He and Barbie are talking a lot about going to the temple, but they still don't have a specific goal. There are still a lot of obstacles standing in the way of all that stuff happening, including David's baptism, but things are looking up.
I had a companionship exchange with Elder Jones in Inuyama this week. It was really fun to be with an Elder who was in the MTC with me! He was kind of sick, but I was able to teach English class and make good friends with the students. The exchange was short, but we had a good opportunity to talk about the future.
We also got another Yakusokusha this week! (An investigator with a baptismal date) His name is Ishizuka Masatoshi and he is awesome! We hadn't met for a few weeks, but when he came he had read the Book of Mormon a little and read the Lesson 1 Pamphlet. He was filling in the blanks as we were teaching him the Restoration and he compared himself to Joseph Smith in his personal search for the truth. We showed him the Baptismal Font and invited him to be baptized when he knows this is true. He said yes and we set his date for October 27th! Hooray!
I have been riding the crap out of this mamachati (standard issue Japanese bike) they gave me while my bike is in the shop. It's a workout to push that thing as hard as I can push my bike. I found out that I can sit back on the fender and ride it like a motorcycle. It has a basket too, so that's convenient for picking up groceries. I can't wait to get my mountain bike back though.
Well, it's been another exciting week out here on the front lines. I'm loving my mission and loving my companion. Hard work is really rewarding. Love you all.
Love,
Elder Sanderson
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