Very fast week (Week 97)

Good morning yall in Utah. I hope you are all doing well. I am doing pretty well I suppose. Life is crazy. And its still hard. But I'll keep fighting through to the end. Dad said he didn't understand the subject to my last email. It says happy halloween but spelled in Japanese. Happi harouin. Erika should be able to read this stuff by now. Ask her.

 

I have just about everything taken care of for school. There are things that I need to do when I get home and I was wondering when we were going to be gone so I know which day to sign up for. If there is any important information in the stuff in the mail you can just tell me but I don't think there is anything I don't already know. I register for classes today and then it will all be done until I can get home. And as far as where I'm living I haven't really done much thinking about that. Elder Trane may or may not be able to go to UVU this time around so living with him won't be possible. He's from Colorado. They messed up his flight plans so he has to fly to Salt Lake and then to Colorado instead of straight to Colorado from wherever we land in America first. So anyways. I don't know what to do about where I live. I don't really care either.

 

Not very much happened in my week either. H___ was not able to come to church. He is really busy this week with preparing for some interview he will have in Japanese. But this coming weekend we will probably be able to meet him. M_____ chan is not answering her phone or texts. And we went all the way to her house on the mountain far away and only spoke to her sister. I don't know how she's doing. The only investigator we were able to meet was H___ san and she just isn't moving forward very much. We hope to change that. But until then its kind of frustrating.

 

In other news a few weeks ago we knocked on the door of this young family and talked to the father who was very kind and kind of interested so we gave him a Book of Mormon. And he said he was too busy to set a return appointment so we couldn't quite rope him in. And then we visited him again on Saturday but this time met his wife and two small super cute little Japanese children. And she was very nice. We had a nice little talk. And asked if we could come another time to share our message. And she said yes but she wants to listen with her husband. Which no Japanese woman ever says. The biggest problem in Japanese families is that the dad and the rest of the family are not very connected. But this family seems to be doing very well. And we will meet them on Friday morning. These are my first new investigators in a really long time. So I am really excited about that.

 

Is there anything you want from Japan? I took the money out but am having trouble spending it. I got some cool stuff for you but now I don't know what to get except for stuff I just want to take home. So if you want something tell me. Asap. Like right after you read this email.

 

Well I have only two and a half weeks left. I never thought I would get this close to the end. Its kind of scary. I don't know what to do with myself. I will probably just continue working hard. I have done a lot of thinking about missionaries I have known that just kind of shut down at the end of their missions. I've known a few. And I really don't want to be like that. So I will tanoshiku ganbaru. And work until the very last second. Maybe I'll still dendo people in America until I get released.

 

Anyway. I love you all so much. Have a good week.

 

Love Elder Liddle 長老

ハッピーハロウィーン！(Week 96)

I'm going to Miyajima again for the last time today and I'll make sure to get you guys some good stuff. Its the best place to go to get just a bunch of cool stuff. Like swords. :) If you have any requests for anything cool from Japan please let me know but odds are I won't get that email today and you will probably end up not getting it. Unless its easy to find in a normal store. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.

 

So you said something about a car and the lumina not working and stuff. There is a really nice beetle next to our house I think. It might not work either but I'm sure it could if there was but a little love thrown its way. よろしくおねがいいたします。

 

If Jon thinks I can work for him and go to school then I think that is what I would want to do. But I don't really know much about my schedule yet. Up until today I have been working every week with UVU to be able to just get in. There are a lot of things that I need to have them let me postpone in order to go. And there is just one more thing I need to do and then everything will be in the clear to register for classes at the beginning of November. And then the lady also told me to go meet her when I get home to see if I can't start some math and english as well after I get some test taken. So we'll see how that all works out in the end. I don't really know whats going on.

 

I saw that picture of some girl I don't recognize and the missionaries from Nathan and Sadie. That one was pretty funny. I actually did have my first dangerous encounter with a dog this past week. That dog wanted to kill me. But I got out of there before he could even touch me.

 

Japanese people don't really celebrate Halloween. They do get a bunch of decorations out in the stores and stuff but none of them even know what day Halloween is. They all know its probably at the end of October but that's it. Our ward just had a Halloween party this week and it was pretty good. A lot of nonmembers came. And it was just pretty fun. I didn't really have any costume. I was boring. But Halloween in Japan is not nearly as good as Halloween in America. American Halloween isn't that awesome either but at least the candy is good. There was no good candy at our party.

We did meet with H___ again. And he is going to be our investigator. It was an awesome lesson with him. He said over and over that he wants to believe and we told him what to do in order to believe and he said he was going to do it. And it was legit. But he didn't end up coming to church and we don't know why. I hope he is ok. We can't meet him again until the weekend because he is so busy with work through the week. I hope all is ok. He's awesome.

 

M_____ chan にも we met her. We went with the sisters to see her. And it was really good. A really good little meeting. And Sister Nihei asked M_____ chan what she wanted from God as far as help goes. And she said she wanted help with her sickness. And she just about started crying as she said that. And then Nihei shimai came in with the testimony and promise of God being able to help her and it was awesome. Sister missionaries are so awesome. We also learned that M_____ will be leaving her hospital to go live with grandma at some point. As to when she is leaving for grandma's house that is kind of unclear at this point. But she is no longer in the hospital. I also don't know how long she will be at grandma's. But I hope its forever. I always walk away from her lessons thinking that I just want to bring her home and let her join my family and see how a real family is. Its so sad. Thank you for being such a wonderful family. I don't think you realize how awesome your family is when you are just hanging around in Utah until you get out and see what families are like out in places like Japan. So thanks for being so awesome. I love you.

 

There was a lot of rain and bad weather this week so dendo was really difficult. I got super soaked and it was cold. Its been getting colder here finally. Japan is too hot. And too humid. So even when its cold its not really fun.

 

I'm just a 普通 missionary. Don't go around telling people I'm awesome or anything. I'm just the regular diggedy. But I do plan to work hard until the very end. The very last day. The very last hour. I sure don't want to leave my mission. I love being a missionary. I love Japan so much. Well for these last few weeks 楽しく頑張りましょう！

 

Love Liddle 長老

言いたいことはない (Week 95)

It has been yet another week. And it has been really fast. I don't really know where the time goes. I can't really remember what I did. But I know I was busy. I do remember that we went to Fukuoka for MLC again. That was fun. I only get one more of those. I love being in the mission home with President. It was also really interesting this time because we went to Fukuoka the night before without any real permission to do so and met up with 4 other zone leaders and went to all talk to President about a problem that we were all having. I was nervous to go without permission to leave early and talk about what we talked about but it really had to be done for the good of the mission. And so we did it. And President was just so full of understanding and love. And I just love that guy. So it went really well and I think things here will run a lot more smoothly for the whole mission. I am excited to work to the end of my last transfer.

 

Everyone keeps treating me weird now. They all make jokes about how I am going home soon and stuff. The problem with being in the same ward for almost a whole year is that they all get to know you really well and then they just make fun of you the whole time. Even President was talking about how I am about done. I just don't think that is something I want to think about right now. I just want to fight to the end. But I am excited to go home and see everyone.

 

We were able to meet M_____ chan again. This time we only biked most of the way and took a bus the rest of the way up the mountain. She is doing ok. She seems pretty genki when we meet her. I don't really think she needs to be in this hospital anymore. I think she is ok now. It seems like she is only here so that her mother can get rid of her. And she said that she and her mother were going to go to Okayama ken over the weekend to talk to her grandmother about having her go live with her grandmother in Okayama until who knows when. That is not in our mission so I don't want her to leave but I also think that it would be much better for her to live with grandma. It sounds like she is actually nice. So I don't know what will happen. But I hope things work out ok. I just don't know what to do for her. Its hard. But I guess we will just keep sharing the gospel.

 

Yesterday the Hikari sisters had us go with them to meet a potential investigator they had who is a man named H___. That is how you spell it in Japanese. It might be Juan in English. Anyways he is from Vietnam. And he is really cool. He really has a lot of interest in the gospel and he wants to come to church and listen to our message. And it sounds like he really wants to learn to pray. He was concerned that prayer might only be possible in Japanese. But we told him Vietnamese is ok too. So we don't know if he is going to be our investigator or the sisters investigator or both. But he is cool. And I think is ready to receive the gospel.

 

When I first went zone leader my zone was like 24 missionaries. And now my zone is 34 missionaries. It is a lot of people to keep track of. The mission is getting huge. And missionaries just keep getting dumped into my zone where you don't think there would be room for them. Its awesome. I'm sad I have to go home right as things are getting crazy.

 

Well I feel like I didn't really say anything this week. Sorry about that. I love you all. And I can't wait to see you. But until then tanoshiku ganbaro!

 

And by the way the word for hello in Vietnamese sounds like the Japanese word for unfortunately

die. Just so you know.

 

Love Elder Liddle

And so it begins (Week 94)

We had a nice successful transfer week this week. It was crazy as usual with problems right and left but everyone transferred just fine and now the whole zone is safe. There were quite a few changes made in my zone. I am not transferring just like I thought. Elder Eckman is not transferring. But Elder Braswell transferred down to a place called Yanai in Yamaguchi. And a new missionary came here to Hikari named Elder Alexander. My beautiful Elder Dolbin finally transferred out of Saijo. I was so sad to see him go. But he went to Kumamoto! Go Kumamoto! To be zone leader there. He is such a boss. And I will get to see him still a couple more times because all the zone leaders go to Fukuoka every month to meet with President. And now most of the Saijo missionaries are new to the area. Including Elder Trane! I finally get to work with my home boy! And not only is he in my zone but the same ward! That's what I'm talking about. We get our last one together. That is most of the stuff you would care about I think.

 

And now I begin my last transfer. Now more than ever my theme song is Alma 36:24. 楽しく頑張りましょう！

 

People keep treating me like I'm going home soon. It is really strange. It kind of makes me sad. I don't want to leave Japan. I love it here. I love these people. I love you guys too though. I really want to see you again. I can basically make any Japanese girl cry by how I talk about how much I love my family and just want to see my mom and my dog again. Just so you know.

 

So the sisters had a baptism this past week! It was pretty cool. She was my investigator until we passed her to the sisters to start teaching. Her name is Sister Ikkaku. Kind of an interesting name. I've never heard it before. But she is way cool. And her progression exploded after we gave her to the sisters. So that was awesome. There have been quite a few baptisms in this ward this year. All of which I have been privileged to see. I have been in this ward for a really long time.

 

I got pretty sick this week. With like a cold or something. I am still kind of feeling it a little. But I called the mission nurse about it and she ordered me to go home and sleep until I was better. So I had a whole day where I did nothing. Nothing but feel like garbage. It was pretty bad. Probably the sickest I have ever been on my mission. But I am feeling much better now. I still haven't seen a doctor about that other problem. No time. Just dendo. Mom, don't worry. I am doing fine. I'm just tired. Dendoing like this for a year and 10 months will make a guy tired.

 

So I got accepted to UVU today. I got it all taken care of. It was way harder and crazier than I like to think about and its too much to tell you here. But I'll tell you about it in 5 and a half weeks.

 

So is Thanksgiving after I come home?

 

So we visited O______ M_____ chan again on the top of her mountain. Get ready to start crying. So she is on the top of this mountain in the hospital for who knows how long. She doesn't know when she is going to get out. And it is obviously for some sort of mental/emotional problem. You can tell by her arms that she was once extremely dangerous to herself. So its no question that she struggles with some intense depression. But it looks like she is doing much better these days. She seems happy when we visit and there are no fresh scars. And then she said that her family has never visited her there. The last time she was there she was in for three months. I don't even know before that. She gets like two week breaks here and there. And then she said she never wants to go home and that her mother has said to her that she doesn't ever need to come home. Which is the Japanese way of saying I don't want you to come back. So she is just this 17 year old girl trapped in a hospital on the top of a mountain that has no loving family. I just wanted to take her home with me and show her what life is really all about. I want to show her my family and I want her to know what it feels like to have a family that loves you. So please go adopt her. It is just so sad. I don't know what to do. Just teach the gospel I guess.

 

E__ chan is awesome. She came to General Conference and she has just finished reading the Book of Mormon and the scripture guide in the back that they have in the Japanese Book of Mormon. She is just so awesome. And her baptism date is coming up at the end of the month. So we'll see how it goes. But I think that she is probably ready to be baptized. And I would be surprised if she didn't get baptized this month. Assuming everything with parents goes ok and they don't change their mind. Pray that all goes well.

 

General Conference rocked. I loved it.

 

Well I will talk to you in a week. I hope you are all doing well. I sure love you all.

 

Love リドル長老

I love mountain pear people (Week 93)

So the water fight last week was pretty good. There was approximately 260 water balloons and two squirt guns. Elder Eckman and I each had one balloon and a squirt gun. And then over twenty other missionaries had their water balloons and all attacked us. We counted on them turning on each other so we would get a break. But they didn't until the very end. So I was nailed by a few water balloons. They cornered me and just kept throwing them until I was saved by a phone call. And one of their balloons broke my balloon. So mine just got me all wet too. I got wasted. And then after I took the phone Elder Eckman got wasted. It was pretty good.

The rest of the week was pretty good. Really tiring. Really stressful. I feel like my health has not been that great these past few weeks. I am more tired than I think I should be. It has been difficult. And Elder Eckman called Sister Gustafson about it. She thinks I might need to go to the doctor. But we'll see. I'm just tired.

Yesterday we biked up a mountain to visit M_____ chan in the hospital. She will be there for maybe more than a month. And she is a pretty good investigator. So we want to keep visiting her. But the mountain climbing was death. I really did just about die. I am not in very good shape.  And then we came back and I started to feel dehydrated. So I bought food and a huge drink. And we kept working. And then at around 7:00 I started dying and my head hurt really bad and I felt sick. And we went back to the apartment and I just laid there and about died. I couldn't eat or drink because it made me sick. And I died. And then had to go out and work more at the end. But I didn't die. And now I feel more normal. So that was an adventure.

M_____ chan is really cool. I like her. She said she likes the bible more than the Book of Mormon. Which I have never heard. Especially from a Japanese person. Most of them have never read the bible. But she has. And she is really kind and wants to hear more about this. She said we can visit any time in the visiting hours. We might take the bus next time. She really is up on the top of a mountain. She is in the hospital for probably depression reasons. Which can't be easy for her. And she said that no one ever comes to visit her. No friends or family come. She does have friends inside the hospital. But it is hard for her. So pray for her. She's really a cool girl.

We found a new investigator yesterday named S_____ san. Please pray for him and that we will be able to meet him again and that his heart will be open to the Spirit.

Today is transfer call day. I haven't got my call yet but yesterday we called the mission home and asked a few questions so I know about me and some of my zone early. But all that information is subject to change until transfer calls start being made. So as far as I know Elder Eckman and I are not transferring. Which is probably how it will stay. But I'll know for sure in a couple hours. In two days I begin my last transfer. I don't feel ready for my mission to end. I feel like I am still the same person as when I started. I kind of wanted to come back a changed man. But I suppose I still have time to work on that. So 楽しく頑張りましょう！

This past saturday there was a talent show in one of the other wards. And they invited the whole stake. So I went. And it was good. Lots of really good talent out there. And they got word that I can now play the violin like a cello and they got a violin for me to play. So I played it. It was so hard. But I did better than the time in Fukuoka. And it was received well by the members. So I guess it was good. But it wasn't my cello. Oh how I miss my cello.

I hope you are all having a good day. Conference sounds good. I'll get to see it this coming saturday and sunday. I love you.

Love Josh.

書きたいことはない (Week 92)

Well it is good to be with you once again. I will try to share my adventures with you in the least boring way that I can. But lately I just feel like things have always been the same as the previous week.

Last week we had that BBQ which was really fun. Lots of fun people there. I guess its normal to me now but the food at Japanese BBQs is different. All the meat comes in small portions and they bbq lots of vegetables and there is always rice in some form. And their sauces are really Japanese. And you eat everything with chopsticks. And the most popular drink is the tea. I'm looking forward to some real BBQ sometime after I leave. This just doesn't cut it. But the people were really cool. I sure love the Japanese people.

Our week was pretty good I guess. We went to a far away place that is up a long hill that takes about an hour to get there because my body is weak. And we found an investigator from a long time ago. A nice family with 4 kids. That is way more kids than normal Japanese people. And they were cool. But not so interested in the Gospel. So we housed near there and found this girl in an apartment building near the old investigators house. She has a cool name. When you pronounce it make sure you say the t sounds clearly and not like a d. O_____ M_____. It took me a couple tries to understand what she had said. Anyways. She is really nice and wants us to come back. And I get the feeling that she really needs to understand that she is a loved daughter of God. There were a few things that gave Elder Eckman and I both that impression. So please pray for her. Pray that all will go well and that we will be able to teach her and that she will be able to understand it and feel the Spirit.

Near the new investigator there is a less active member who we started visiting this week. He is less active because he has kind of a mental problem and its hard for him to be around a lot of people. I had met him before but always with another member who did all the talking while he just stood there. But when we went alone he smiled at us when he opened the door and he actually talked to us. And we visited again a couple days later and he played the guitar and sang for us. In English. He is a really cool guy.

Yesterday the Hatsukaichi ward did their dendo fireside and the Hatsukaichi sisters wanted us to go do it with them. So we did. And it went really well. That is such a wonderful ward. During one of the role plays we asked them to do a sister came up to me and said her nonmember friend was just outside and wanted me to invite him to an activity coming up and give him the flyer and stuff. And so she took me too him and then she dendoed him hard core and I just stood there and watched it happen and handed him the flyer but said almost nothing. That's the way it should be. Members do everything with the missionaries just being there. And then later that day she came up to me to talk to me about a less active member in Hikari ward. A woman named Z_____ s_____. I met her once before a really long time ago. Probably in February. And she told me that Z_____ s_____ was kind of having a hard time and she wants her seven year old son to be baptized next year and she saw us missionaries the other day and wanted to talk but couldn't. So we decided to visit her yesterday. I have tried to visit her on multiple occasions and she has never answered the door. But she did this time. And we had a wonderful talk. And she just was way cool. We will probably go for a p day and bike with her to Miyajima. Road biking. So it should be fun. She is super cool. That was really fun.

It has started to get cooler here but its still really hot. I still sweat every day. The leaves are just barely starting to change. Fall here is cooler but they say it won't really get like cold until November. Which is terrible because October 1 marks the day that we have to wear suits every single day. That's like tomorrow desho?  Well. I am excited for cold weather. I love the cold much more than the hot.

Today we will have zone p day. We are going to have a water fight. The deal at the beginning of the month was if the zone could accomplish a certain amount of the monthly goals then they get a certain amount of water balloons. And the more they accomplish the more balloons they get and the less the zone leaders get. And our zone owned this month. They surpassed all the goals but two. So I am going to get wasted today. But it should be fun. And then we will BBQ the American way. Kind of. Its still pretty Japanese. There will be rice and stuff. But it will be good. I love rice.

I love you all. I hope you are all having a wonderful day. I'll talk to yall later.

Love Geri Geri chan

Howday (Week 91)

Well it has been yet another week. And I feel I don't have much to report again. But I'll do my best.

So the Carp game last week was the bomb. It was way taihen to take care of everything and getting everyone to the game but then it was an awesome game. To be honest it was the first time I have even seen the Carp score. But they won 5 to 4. And the only reason the other team scored from 1 to 4 is because in the last inning they put in some pitcher who wasn't very good. But they told me graduated from UVU so that was cool. There are like 4 guys on the team who aren't Japanese. Anyways. It was just super fun. Easily the funnest P day I have had in a long time. Maybe the funnest ever. I kind of yelled myself a little hoarse. And for a couple days I sounded really manly.

I'm sorry to hear that dad has to head out again. That is quite unfortunate. But he will be able to do good there so its all good right?

So I am having a few problems getting everything set for going to school in January. But hopefully it will all work out. Just pray. The hardest thing is only being able to do anything about it once a week. I would be really komatteiru if I couldn't get to school in January. So pray.

We were able to meet with our one investigator H_____ san. She is a friend of a member. She is pretty cool but not really progressing too much. She just seems like she likes to learn about a lot of religions. She wants to find the true one. But she doesn't necessarily seem like she is willing to do what she needs to in order to find out if its true. And she has the strangest questions that cause doubts in her. So its hard to teach her. But we are ganbaruing. And all should work out in the end. Other than that my other investigator we gave to the sister missionaries because it would work out much better if they taught her. And she came to church yesterday so that was cool. We had 4 nonmembers in our ward yesterday. It was awesome.

When I was in Saijo with Elder Dolbin a 23 year old girl found Elder Dolbin when he was on splits with someone else and knew all about missionaries and stuff. And we started teaching her. Her name is A_____. Perhaps I have told you about her before. Well I didn't get to teach her that much while I was in Saijo. But Elder Dolbin has continued to teach her. And yesterday she got baptized. It was really cool. She really is awesome. That is the first time I have had a person I taught get baptized. And I was privileged enough to see it. It was so good. The Spirit was so strong. I am so glad I was able to be there. She really is awesome.

So that was my week. Good stuff happened. And I am excited to work harder this week. And with that I'm off. I've got a bbq to attend in one of the other areas in our zone and it should be a party. I love you.

Love Elder Liddle