Awesome week (Week 76)

Mom. You wrote at the end of your email that you were hugging me in your mind. Right as I read that my zone leader Elder Clayton hugged me and said tell your mom I hugged you for her. So there you go. I got hugged.

So this week has been interesting. For most of my mission I was lucky to get a new investigator every few weeks or more. Lately Elder Dolbin and I have been getting a couple a week. And then this past week. We destroyed it. With the Lord's help. We got 7 new investigators. One is already gone because he never showed up to his appointment but holy smokes. The more you get the more you keep. And the more you keep the more you get to see progress and get baptized. So we are really excited for this bunch of people. And the more to come this coming week. I don't doubt that we will be able to get a similar outcome next week. This is just the time for dendo to explode here.

K_____ s_____ did not end up coming to church. We weren't even able to meet with her last week. But we tried to give her cookies in the mail and we gave her a cd of nice Japanese spiritual music to bring her the Spirit when we aren't there. Which music I love. It is quite beautiful and made me cry while Elder Dolbin was reading in the other room. But we have an appointment to see K_____ s_____ tomorrow!

L_____ X_____ Y_____ did not come to church either but he had work. He said he would go as much as he could though. And he seemed quite sincere. He said he has only read a little of the Book of Mormon in the few days it had been since we saw him. And we asked him about it. He had only read like 50 pages and just prayed before and after to figure out if it was true. No big deal. This guy is so cool. I love him. We even set up a baptismal date with him today. It isn't until September 8 but he has one now. And I honestly think he will get baptized. His biggest concern is that when he returns to China at the end of the year he won't be able to be Mormon anymore. But I hear there are ways to be Mormon and still obey the law in China. My zone leaders gave me a website. L_____ s_____ said that believing our teachings comes really naturally to him because he grew up going to the Chinese Christian Church. So. I have high hopes for him. He is so cool. He even said today he can't really get baptized earlier because he is so busy but when he gets a break from school he will start hitting the Book of Mormon hard and then get baptized. So it looks like joining this church is in his plan. So I just am happy about that.

We have been visiting a less active member named Y_____ K_____. He is so cool. We have such a good relationship with him now and I just love him so much. There is something I love about old Japanese men. They are my favorite. And we have been visiting Y_____ K_____ a lot lately. And then he came to church yesterday to go to ward conference! I was so happy. I really think he will start being more active in the church soon. I am so excited.

We found a Chinese woman the other day and we will visit her tonight. She doesn't speak any English and not very much Japanese. So we are going to visit her with a Chinese member. Who is coming all the way from Hiroshima just for this visit. We don't have very many members in our area that are active. Just 4. So visiting with members is really hard. And the distance from the church in Hiroshima is like going to Salt Lake I think. It is far for people that have normal lives and jobs and are busier than anyone I have seen in my whole life.

I think I just became the missionary that has been in Hiroshima zone the longest. Last transfer there was one sister who was here longer than me but she returned home and now I am the one who has been here the longest. Just so you know.

Well this past week was so awesome. We taught more than I ever have and contacted more people than I ever have and we found way more new investigators than I ever have. And I can tell you why. It is because we are relying on the Lord even more. We have started praying much harder and way more frequently throughout the day. And we are going through the missionary handbook and picking out anything that we don't do perfectly and we are starting to do it perfectly. And every man we pass we talk to. And we are figuring out ways to really feel the Spirit and to help  the Nihonjin feel the Spirit when we talk to them on the streets. I really feel like we are starting to do everything that we can to bring to pass the salvation of the wonderful people here in Japan. And then the Lord does the rest. The Lord does it all. The proof is right here in this last week. We didn't really do anything that different when it actually came to the finding activities and how we approached them. We just tried to get the Lord involved more and He sure got Himself involved. I can't describe to you how awesome this feels. It is awesome to just be able to trust the Lord so much and to feel the Spirit all the time and to see things just work out well. I have really grown so close to the Lord on my mission. And especially these past few transfers and this past week. I just feel ready to go and do whatever the Lord wants me to do. Even if its awkward. I had an experience like that yesterday. I felt a strong prompting and it required me to do something awkward and to take a risk. But I did it. And it was weird. And I honestly can't see what came of it. But immediately after I felt peace and the Lord's approval. I heard a quote by President Monson just the other week. I can't quote it word for word here but he basically said something like he wants the Lord to know if he needs an errand run that he will always run that errand for Him. I want to be like that. So I have been trying really hard to do it. And I am having amazing experiences. This is just too cool for school. You wait homies. We're about to set up Saijo Stake. 楽しく頑張ろう！

Well. I'll just let you guys go now. And I have to go. I'll talk to you next week with whatever miracles come our way this time.

Love Elder Liddle

Transfer day! (Week 75)

We got transfer calls this week. I have been here in Saijo for 4 transfers and with this companion for 2 of them. So the odds of me transferring were quite high. And if not me then he would. I just didn't think we were going to stay together. So I was scared for the call. Wondering where they would send me. Sad because I don't want to leave Saijo yet. I love it here. And then the call came. And they told me neither of us were transferring! Yay! One more transfer with my bean in a wonderful place!

 

So early last week we were streeting. And I talked to a man coming home from work. He seemed like the typical Japanese businessman. But what was different is that he actually talked with us for a long time. Well. More like talked at us. He asked me what the heck I was doing here and he told me how stupid it was to try to teach about Christ and some book I thought was interesting in a Buddhist country. And he went on for a while about how there is no way I could prove to him if this was all real. And then at the end he said to me I should go back to America and teach the people there in English or go home and come back when I can actually speak Japanese. My confidence in my Japanese is not really very high. And then when I tried so hard to talk to this man clearly he told me how awful my Japanese really was. So that was really hard for me the rest of the night. I honestly started asking myself why I was all the way out here trying to teach in this language. God should have chosen someone else who is good at the language to teach these people. But as I prayed that night I remembered that this gospel is so true that it doesn't matter how well I say it. Its truthfulness is so true that it basically tells them itself. I just have to know how to say kono fukuin wa shinjitsu desu. And then I felt a big love for that man while I was praying. He made me so angry that night. But as I prayed I felt God's love for him. And now I just feel sorry for him. I hope someday he can find what I have found in this gospel.

 

K___ san did not come to church. It was rather frustrating. But we will get her to church this week. I told her on the phone how disappointed I was that she was going to do something else. And how much I knew this would help her. And she said she would come next time. But I fear it won't be easy. It may be quite hard. So we'll see.

 

We did have another guy at church though. He is a chinese man named L__ X___ Y_. We met him on the street and set up a time to teach him English when he had time. And then at the English lesson we asked him if we could share the gospel message with him and he said yes. And we asked him to come to church and he said yes. And then he did come. And while there he asked a lot of questions and then asked if we could all go to church together again next week. And then we gave him a chinese Book of Mormon and he said he would have it finished in 2 weeks. So he seems pretty cool. It was a really nice day. He is a cool guy.

 

Also that day we had one of our less active members we were asked to focus on come to church again. She has been considered reactivated now and she said she will come every week now. That makes me so happy.

 

Yesterday we visited a potential investigator who said it was ok to come back but said at the moment he was busy getting ready to leave for work. And he was busy again but that was because we chose a bad time to visit him. We should have visited him last week. And he told us he wanted us to come over and told us to come next week. And to make sure we did it this time. And then we found out he was from Brazil. But his Japanese is so good I thought he was Japanese. So he is way cool. And that was a really cool miracle.

 

This past Sunday we got together with the zone leaders and with a whole bunch of priesthood holders in the ward and we all split up with a member and went to visit less active members in Saijo. All of them in one day. And it was so cool. Not really many people were met. But it was awesome to see all the members and missionaries working together. I was with our ward mission leader. And he was listening to classical music in his car. He asked me if I could play that kind of music on the cello and I said yes. I used to do it all the time. And he said it seems like so much fun to play in a big group and to make those harmonies and that beautiful music. I told him it was. It is one of my very favorite things to do. And he said its the same with missionary work. When the missionaries and the members work together and all have the same goal it creates beautiful music. And that is what we had on Sunday. Beautiful music. It was really cool. I love this ward so much.

 

I am so glad I have one more transfer here. I love this place. I think my favorite is actually still Tsuboi. But Saijo is good. Cross your fingers that I go Hiroshima Zone leader next transfer. The zone leaders are in the same ward and I never want to leave this ward. And odds are my next area is my last area.

 

Well. I love you all. Especially you dad. Have a good day.

Love Elder Liddle

Subject (Week 74)

Well. It has been yet another week. And this week was also not as successful as I would have liked. But it was good. I just want to be able to do more. And I want my investigators to progress more. But they have their own agency and their own time. So I'll let the Lord take care of that.

One thing that I get to do as district leader is to interview the investigators in my district for baptism. And I had my first interview this last week with a wonderful man from the Philippines who speaks english and almost no Japanese. I am so lucky. But he really is an amazing man. I already knew him a little bit because he is the zone leaders investigator and we go to the same church. And the interview was a really good experience. I felt the Spirit really strongly and I felt such a love for him. And I felt very powerfully that he was ready for baptism. And then yesterday he got baptized. And that was a really cool thing to see. He is a wonderful man.

 

Also this week we visited one of our newer investigators named K___ san. And she is really cool. We visited her with the senior couple missionaries close to here and it was a really good experience. The Spirit was there. And then we talked about baptism and how it will make your past mistakes go away. And she started crying. She said there are many things she did when she was younger that she feels bad about and then she asked me if I was telling her that baptism would wipe that away and make her feel good like how she feels when we visit. I told her yes. And we set a date for her to be baptized. June 30. She was supposed to come to church but then told us she had an appointment and couldn't go. And I did not hide the fact that I was very disappointed. So I think she will come next week. And we have an appointment to see her tomorrow. I have high hopes for her. She is wonderful. My only real concern is that I have been here for 4 transfers and transfers are next week. Its looking like I am going to transfer. But I really don't want to leave. I love it here.

 

We also met a man a while back named K____2 And we didn't really share anything gospel related with him then. We just talked to him for like a half hour about whatever because he was at work and we just stopped by to look at the watches. So we talked there. And he gave us is number so we could meet up again. And we talked again but could never find time. And then I never called back. But the other day we were trying to visit a potential investigator we found in some apartment buildings and as we were leaving he walked up. Apparently we just housed his house but he wasn't home yet. So we talked again. And this time shared a message with him. And he said it would be ok to talk more about it. And we will call him today and get with him probably on Wednesday for lunch. He is really cool. And it was quite the miracle that we ran into him again.

 

So every area in the mission has five less active members that they are supposed to focus on that is chosen by the bishop of the local ward. And we have our five. Which is all fine and good. But then last week at church our ward mission leader's wife came up to us and said she wants to get us together with one of our five next sunday morning to teach her. She likes missionaries and wants to listen to their lessons but was going to go back home before church started. So it was our job to get her to stay. And she came yesterday morning. And we heard before we got there she ran into the stake president and asked him to take her name off the records. Then we met and had a little lesson. And the Spirit was strong. And she thanked us for the lesson. And stayed for all of church and for the baptism and for most of a fireside after the baptism. It was quite a miracle. I am so happy someone finally came to church that I have been working with. And then the sister who set it up came up to us after and started crying and thanked us over and over. It about made me cry as well. I was so happy. Yesterday was a really good day. Lots of miracles have been happening lately.

 

Ok. Well. Its been real. Have a good day. I love you all. Kore kara mo tanoshiku ganbarimasho!

Love Love Me

Just another week (Week 73)

This week was just another week. We had a good time but didn't get as much done as we wanted. So that was too bad. But that basically always happens. We want to do more and for some reason it just doesn't quite work out the way we want.

Yesterday we went to Fukuoka for another 4 zone conference. That was really good. It was really fun. I learned a lot. And then we had a big talent show. Each zone had 30 minutes to fill. And I think almost the whole mission was told to be on the look out for a cello for me to play because of one of my zone leaders. He was really pushing for it because he wanted to hear what this heavy metal thing was like. But no one ever found a cello. So they had me do it on a violin instead. It was weird. I played the violin like a cello and told everyone it was just a mini cello. And I sounded terrible. I don't play the violin. Its too small. And part way through I looked up at the audience and almost everyone was filming me. It was really scary. And Elder Amor was there. He returns home in a few weeks and he told me at that time he is going to put the video he took up on facebook. So maybe you will get to see it. But it was horrible. They just liked it because it was something crazy they have never seen before.

 

Most of our investigators are not really progressing anymore.  So that isn't too fun. But we are still trying with them. And we are finding new ones a little bit. We found a guy who wants to come to church and will come next week. And we will see if we can start teaching him. And we started to go through the records of past investigators and started to try to find some of them that we felt we should visit. And we chose one who lives close to Hiroshima University from three years ago. Personally my hopes of this man still being there were really low. But we set out looking for room 211 in some apartment building in Saijo. And we finally found it. And no one answered the door. Then we just went streeting and taught a lot of little lessons but got no new investigators. It was fun. But sad. And we even met two guys from Egypt. That was a first for me. And then we decided to house the rest of the apartments where 211 lived. So we did. And no one was answering. And the one guy who did was obviously upset that we were there. So we were seeing no success but just kept going. Then a kid answered his door and listened to our message. And I asked him if we could come back to teach him a little more for like 30 minutes. And he said he had time now and asked us to come in. So we did. And we taught him and gave him a Book of Mormon and we set up a new appointment and we started off with a pretty good relationship. So it was fun. And it was a miracle. We were so happy and surprised. No one ever invites you in when they first meet you. And then as we left I turned around again to look at the room number. 211. The very door we felt we needed to find as we set out that morning. Yeah. That was cool. I have high hopes for this guy.

 

Other than that nothing really happened that was exciting this week. We will see how this week goes.

Just to keep everyone updated on my number of cool forms of transportation: Yesterday I had shinkansen number 5. And my airplane rides is hanging out at a solid 23. Yeah. No missionary gets that much. Out of all the missions in Japan ours is probably the only one that ever uses Shinkansen. And out of the missionaries in my mission only my zone gets to use them. And no one in Japan uses planes either. Except me. Yeah. I'm that cool.

 

Well. I hope you are all happy. I had fun talking to you last week. It was really fun. I'll see you in six monthsくらい。

 

Have a good week.

Love, 医

Skype for Mother's Day! (Week 72)

He looks so good!

Just another manic monday (Week 71)

Well I have had many strange experiences this past week. Mostly they have been good ones and I am glad I have had them. I guess I'll just go through my week chronologically.

 

Well last Tuesday was awful. We just went finding all day and neither of us were feeling it and it wasn't good. It was just long and like painful and no one wanted to listen to us and it was just not fun. But we kept going. And kept going. And then went a little more. And at the end of the day we found a new investigator. Which made us extremely happy. But just so you know he has already been dropped. I'll get to that story later. And then right after we met him we contacted a less active member and got his phone number and stuff. So it was a night full of miracles.

 

We tried to meet [S___] on Wednesday. Apparently you spell his name [S____]. But it sounds like a d. So we'll see where that goes.

 

Before I forget. I can skype next week. It will be 11:00 in the morning for me on Monday. Elder Eliason just told me it will be 8:00 pm for you on Sunday night. So maybe check that to make sure. But plan on the skype!

 

Thursday we had zone training meeting. It was awesome. I learned a lot. And then we went with the ward mission leader to visit less active members and [Y____1] san. We met the less active members but not [Y____1] san. But we will probably meet [Y____1] san tonight.

 

Friday was my first apartment cleaning check. The senior couple missionaries that live near us checked it. And we passed. No surprise there. I'm a clean guy. Also on Friday we had lunch with the less active member who contacted us on the street last week. He is so awesome. And his wife and kids are cool too. But he goes to Taiwan today until July so that is lame. But he will probably come back to church. He's just too cool. And then we had another lunch at a nice restaurant with some old man we meet on the street all the time. We always talk to him. He is so funny. And last time he asked us if he could take us out to eat. He's 86 years old. We try to share the gospel but he just seems too old to really be able to understand and listen. But he is super cool. I love the old men here.

Saturday was a lesson with [Y____2] san. We had our ward mission leader come with us. It went really well at first. But then it really kind of spiraled out of control. She went off on some of the problems she has with her husband and stuff and it destroyed the spirit of the lesson. And Tanaka 兄弟　handled it really well. And it really gave us a lot of insight. We kind of know how to go about things with her now. But she may not be progressing as much as we thought. So we'll see. It was really intense. And really sad. I love her. I want to help her. But she doesn't connect that the Atonement can help her. So its hard. This missionary thing is hard.

 

Yesterday was exciting. Just a lot of church and churchy meetings. But then a super fun meal with a bunch of people from the ward at our ward mission leaders house. It was just way super fun. I loved it. And then we had the most interesting experience of the week. So we went to meet that investigator we found on Tuesday last night. And he wasn't there. But instead was a Japanese woman and a French man outside the building. The French man was drunk. Way drunk. And he threw his bottle of alcohol on the ground and started yelling at the woman in Japanese. And he grabbed her face and stuff. Then took her down some stairs where the bikes are all parked and stuff. And then we had some kid call the police for us. And we stayed there making sure he didn't hurt the woman but we didn't approach him because we were afraid it would provoke him. And then he came back up the stairs and the kid finished calling the police and then the man came up to the two of us. My companion has spoken to him before so he knew we were missionaries and he talked to us and told us to show him God. It was really quite sad. He was so drunk. And you could see how much he needed God. He was talking about how his life is dirty and he asked us what we do when we make mistakes to feel better. We didn't do much talking. Mostly just him. And it was kind of freaky because we didn't know if he was going to get violent. Both of us were way tense and ready to take him down. And then finally two police officers showed up. By the way his English is almost perfect. I was relieved for a moment when the police showed up but then the woman police officer was just not very impressive. And so I was tense again ready to save her behind if he got violent. And then like 6 more cops showed up. So it was ok. And then the police dismissed us and we went inside the building. But the woman police officer seemed to treat it all a little too lightly and said everything was fine and that the woman said she was ok so it was all good. At least the men seemed to have a little more backbone. But overall I am just not impressed with the Japanese police. But it strengthened my desire to be a police officer so I think God gave me that experience to help me decide what to do with my life. I've been worrying about that lately. Also after that experience we went inside and prayed for the man. And we felt so full of love for him. He needs help and we so desperately want to help him. And then we went streeting. And met a nice man with only one leg who talked to us for a long time and taught me some Japanese to help me teach Japanese people about God. Just stuff to say to Japanese people that will be more natural for them. Which was awesome. I needed to learn that. And it was just good.

So. That was my week. And the part that sticks out most is the drunk French man. It was scary and intense and sad and full of love all at the same time. And I am worried about my investigators. They just aren't progressing as much as they once were. But we will keep working and we will ganbaru to the end. I feel like a lot happened this week but mostly our investigators weren't available. So we didn't get much done with them.

 

And today we are going to Miyajima. Go look it up.

 

I hope you are all doing well at home. It sounds pretty good. Except with dad being gone. I hope he survives the training. And you don't have to worry about me being boring when I get home. I'm still a nutcase. So just plan something fun and I will be fun. But if you plan something boring then I will be boring. So really its up to you how I come home.

 

Well I love you. Have a nice day. I'll see you next week. And then the next time I'll see you will be in an airport.

Craziness and a half (Week 70)

So I didn't transfer. Just as I expected. And Elder Dolbin didn't transfer. Just as I expected. I didn't manage to worm my way out of district leader position. Just as I expected. So nothing has really changed. Except Elder Munro went home. Which was sad but happy. And the new zone leader is pretty cool. Its fun going to church with him. His name is Elder Eliason. Yup. You heard right. My MTC doryo. So that's fun. Elder Dolbin and I actually planned everything for the week assuming we weren't transferring so its good we didn't transfer. We got a lot done. And it was crazy fun. But not as much as I would have liked. Our investigators were not as home as we would have liked them to be. But we talked to a lot of people on the street and taught a lot of lessons. Which is always fun. I love doing that.

 

So we found three new investigators this past week. One of them has unfortunately wouldn't agree to set up an appointment but said he would call us if he felt something when he prayed and read the Book of Mormon. He was actually sincere. But now its all up to him. Which is scary. We don't know if we will ever see him again. But he really will try the prayer thing. So I have hope. Another investigator we found is a college man who is very kind and said he would read the Book of Mormon before we came to visit him again. We have an appointment tonight. I have high hopes for this man as well. And the third man we found this week is actually from Indonesia. He doesn't speak any Japanese. His name is [S____]. And he doesn't have the best english so we have to speak really simply and its pretty hard for him to express himself. He is a diligent Muslim. He reads their book and prays every day. Which I think is really cool. I don't meet enough people that care about God. He said he won't convert but we can come back so we'll see where that one goes. Its been fun. Lately we have been finding a lot of new investigators and kind of sifting through them to find those who will actually progress and among those we are finding those who will be baptized. So its been really fun.

We haven't met [Y___1] san in like 40 years but we have an appointment scheduled with him this Thursday. Which is so good. With bro Tanaka the ward mission leader. I love him so much. Tanaka kyodai is the coolest guy ever. Anywho. It should be good.

 

We did bring a scripture to [Y____2] san. And it was very cool. It was about prayer. And then I shared an experience I had praying for her. I felt the spirit and I started crying in my prayer for her and thought it might be good to share that with her. I told her how strongly I felt God's love for her and how much I loved her and her family and I about started crying as I told her. And then after that all she could say was thank you. She obviously felt the spirit just as strongly as I did. She said thank you twice. Once in english for our sake and once in Japanese so she could feel like she was really expressing herself accurately. It was so good. She is so awesome. She is moving slow but she is moving forward. And I am so excited about it.

 

I did buy glasses. They are not like any glasses I have ever had before. They are kind of a Japanese style. And it was way better than buying glasses in America. Even though they asked me all the questions in Japanese. But it was fine. And the worker there was really cool. We kind of became friends and she gave me a discount. So maybe you will get a picture. After I get my hair cut and can use a computer that allows plugging stuff in.

 

Well. That was my week I think. It was fun. I want to stay here forever. It has been too much fun. I'll talk to you next week.

 

Love Josh.

 

And about skype. I don't know yet if I can skype. I asked the zone leaders to ask the assistants but they haven't got back to me yet. We all got an email on the phone telling us what to do to have our families call our phones. And nothing about skype. So I may or may not be able to. I'll let you know by next week what I can do.