Email #87 Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Dearest Family and Friends,
久しぶり！I'm sorry I've been so terrible at emailing lately.
This past week went really well. We had to drop a lot of people and
were unable to meet with some of the people we were meeting most with
just a few weeks ago. However, we were really blessed and were able to
find some really good new people. We found 4 new investigators and had
two new people come to church! It was a great week. Last Monday, we
had a fun p day. We went to a game center and played ping pong and
pool and went bowling with Yuta and two members from the foreigners
ward, Brother Andrus and Brother Baker. It was lots of fun. Brother
Andrus reminds me a lot of Curt. I beat him at ping pong, so it felt
extra sweet. On Tuesday, we did a lot of finding. It felt good to get
out. We found this crazy Nepalese guy who opened the door, grabbed all
his stuff, walked outside with us and started talking about how much
he hates Christians but would come with us to church if he could
receive money. He then handed me the phone and I talked to a different
random Nepalese guy. While I was on the phone the first guy talked to
Elder Yoshida about how much he hates Americans but because he likes
Japanese people he won't yell at us. He was also wearing no underwear
and some pretty baggy pants and every time he leaned forward he was
plumber cracking pretty hard. It was an interesting experience. That
was pretty much Tuesday. On Wednesday we went and helped Brother Baker
move. He moved back to Oregon after living in Japan for 3 years, and
we helped him do some of the last last minute stuff. It ended up being
a good opportunity for 伝道, as we were able to invite his upstairs
neighbors to English class and talk to a really nice family that
hadn't been to church in a while. Brother Baker is a great guy. I'll
for sure see him next time I'm up in Oregon. Thursday we taught Yuta
and did weekly planning. Yuta hasn't come to church yet in church
clothes, like a tie and a nice button down shirt, so we found some
extra ones in the apartment and gave them to him. They fit pretty well
and we're excited to see him at church. He's so solid. He literally
has no problems with doctrine or commandments or anything. He's
basically already a member. We just need to help get him starting
thinking about serving a mission. Friday went way well. We did a lot
of finding and had ping pong night. We had Shunsuke, a new
investigator, come! He was found on member splits by Brother Andrus
and me about two months ago. I've been in contact with him on Facebook
trying to get him to come to different events and he finally came! He
didn't play any ping pong and just asked a ton of questions about
church and what we believe. He had looked up the church before coming
and came with lots of questions. Most of his interest is intellectual
right now, but he has lots of good potential. He came to church on
Sunday! He came late and went to the foreigner's ward and was able to
sit by Brother Andrus, which was pretty sweet. He had a picture on the
temple on his phone with a rainbow behind it. It was pretty sweet.
He's a good guy and God is for sure preparing him. Great day. Saturday
was a good day of finding. Sunday went really well. We've really been
trying to reach out to the youth and every companionship has been
going to seminary once a week. On Sunday, we got some candy and a note
from them saying that they were grateful for us coming and that they
love us. It was sweet! Both of the investigators we thought would come
ended up not coming to the Japanese ward, but both came late and
attended the English ward! It was definitely a miracle. One was
Shunsuke and the other is named Doe. He's from Vietnam and doesn't
really speak Japanese or English, but has a really pure heart. We
found him a while ago as well and have been talking about church ever
since. A little while ago he sent me a message that just said, "I want
Jesus worship." He converted to Christianity in Vietnam and loves
Christ. He's been trying to come to church since we found him, but
finally had time off work to come. He's a super good guy. There's a
member who just moved back to Vietnam that speaks fluent English that
we are planning on using to help him learn. Unfortunately, Yuta didn't
come to church. We still aren't sure why yet, but we will find out on
Thursday, when we have our next lesson. Yuta's baptism is in three
weeks. Please pray he will make it! We were also able to teach Daniel,
a 9 year old son of a somewhat less active family. He's a good kid. We
literally have virtually nothing to do with his baptism, but he will
be baptized in two weeks. Exciting stuff! Yesterday was a normal day
of 伝道 because we had temple p day this past week. We were able to meet
up with TK, a really good friend Elder Alder and I met playing
basketball last year. He's half Taiwanese and is going to school down
there. He's been having kind of a rough time and has been going to
church a lot and is praying and has really changed a lot this past
year. God is working on him! He is planning on moving to America
eventually, and I'm hype for it. He's a really good friend and I would
be hype to hang out with him and get him to church there. Please pray
for him and his family! We were also able to teach Kouki, a former
investigator from my first area, Sanjo. He moved closer to Tokyo and
we were able to go to a missionary futsal activity with him. Please
pray that he will start reading the Book of Mormon again and be
willing to pray about it and learn about it. Today was a good day. We
went to the temple and had baller aburasoba afterwards. I don't know
how to explain it, so just google it. It's so good. By far the best
part of after the temple is spending time with other Elders. It's been
a good week.
I've been thinking a lot about how God knows us individually and has a
plan for each one of us. Of all the things I have learned on my
mission, I think the most important has been realizing that I truly do
have a Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me as an individual. I
love God! I'm so grateful for His love and I know that He loves each
of you. Really realizing this, not just having the knowledge but
really coming to know that this is true, has changed my life. I know
that the experiences I have had in Japan and will yet have have been
the best experiences I could have for my growth and my happiness. They
haven't always been the easiest, but I have loved every moment and am
grateful that I still have more time to give God my all. I love this
country. I love God and am so grateful that He has helped me so much.
I'm so grateful for all of you! I am praying for you and thinking
about you and rooting you on, despite a lack of communication both
general and individual. Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Calhoun
1. Yuuta taught us the Plan of Salvation
2. Bowling. Brother Andrus is next to me, Brother Baker is on the far
right. And Yuuta!
久しぶり！I'm sorry I've been so terrible at emailing lately.
This past week went really well. We had to drop a lot of people and
were unable to meet with some of the people we were meeting most with
just a few weeks ago. However, we were really blessed and were able to
find some really good new people. We found 4 new investigators and had
two new people come to church! It was a great week. Last Monday, we
had a fun p day. We went to a game center and played ping pong and
pool and went bowling with Yuta and two members from the foreigners
ward, Brother Andrus and Brother Baker. It was lots of fun. Brother
Andrus reminds me a lot of Curt. I beat him at ping pong, so it felt
extra sweet. On Tuesday, we did a lot of finding. It felt good to get
out. We found this crazy Nepalese guy who opened the door, grabbed all
his stuff, walked outside with us and started talking about how much
he hates Christians but would come with us to church if he could
receive money. He then handed me the phone and I talked to a different
random Nepalese guy. While I was on the phone the first guy talked to
Elder Yoshida about how much he hates Americans but because he likes
Japanese people he won't yell at us. He was also wearing no underwear
and some pretty baggy pants and every time he leaned forward he was
plumber cracking pretty hard. It was an interesting experience. That
was pretty much Tuesday. On Wednesday we went and helped Brother Baker
move. He moved back to Oregon after living in Japan for 3 years, and
we helped him do some of the last last minute stuff. It ended up being
a good opportunity for 伝道, as we were able to invite his upstairs
neighbors to English class and talk to a really nice family that
hadn't been to church in a while. Brother Baker is a great guy. I'll
for sure see him next time I'm up in Oregon. Thursday we taught Yuta
and did weekly planning. Yuta hasn't come to church yet in church
clothes, like a tie and a nice button down shirt, so we found some
extra ones in the apartment and gave them to him. They fit pretty well
and we're excited to see him at church. He's so solid. He literally
has no problems with doctrine or commandments or anything. He's
basically already a member. We just need to help get him starting
thinking about serving a mission. Friday went way well. We did a lot
of finding and had ping pong night. We had Shunsuke, a new
investigator, come! He was found on member splits by Brother Andrus
and me about two months ago. I've been in contact with him on Facebook
trying to get him to come to different events and he finally came! He
didn't play any ping pong and just asked a ton of questions about
church and what we believe. He had looked up the church before coming
and came with lots of questions. Most of his interest is intellectual
right now, but he has lots of good potential. He came to church on
Sunday! He came late and went to the foreigner's ward and was able to
sit by Brother Andrus, which was pretty sweet. He had a picture on the
temple on his phone with a rainbow behind it. It was pretty sweet.
He's a good guy and God is for sure preparing him. Great day. Saturday
was a good day of finding. Sunday went really well. We've really been
trying to reach out to the youth and every companionship has been
going to seminary once a week. On Sunday, we got some candy and a note
from them saying that they were grateful for us coming and that they
love us. It was sweet! Both of the investigators we thought would come
ended up not coming to the Japanese ward, but both came late and
attended the English ward! It was definitely a miracle. One was
Shunsuke and the other is named Doe. He's from Vietnam and doesn't
really speak Japanese or English, but has a really pure heart. We
found him a while ago as well and have been talking about church ever
since. A little while ago he sent me a message that just said, "I want
Jesus worship." He converted to Christianity in Vietnam and loves
Christ. He's been trying to come to church since we found him, but
finally had time off work to come. He's a super good guy. There's a
member who just moved back to Vietnam that speaks fluent English that
we are planning on using to help him learn. Unfortunately, Yuta didn't
come to church. We still aren't sure why yet, but we will find out on
Thursday, when we have our next lesson. Yuta's baptism is in three
weeks. Please pray he will make it! We were also able to teach Daniel,
a 9 year old son of a somewhat less active family. He's a good kid. We
literally have virtually nothing to do with his baptism, but he will
be baptized in two weeks. Exciting stuff! Yesterday was a normal day
of 伝道 because we had temple p day this past week. We were able to meet
up with TK, a really good friend Elder Alder and I met playing
basketball last year. He's half Taiwanese and is going to school down
there. He's been having kind of a rough time and has been going to
church a lot and is praying and has really changed a lot this past
year. God is working on him! He is planning on moving to America
eventually, and I'm hype for it. He's a really good friend and I would
be hype to hang out with him and get him to church there. Please pray
for him and his family! We were also able to teach Kouki, a former
investigator from my first area, Sanjo. He moved closer to Tokyo and
we were able to go to a missionary futsal activity with him. Please
pray that he will start reading the Book of Mormon again and be
willing to pray about it and learn about it. Today was a good day. We
went to the temple and had baller aburasoba afterwards. I don't know
how to explain it, so just google it. It's so good. By far the best
part of after the temple is spending time with other Elders. It's been
a good week.
I've been thinking a lot about how God knows us individually and has a
plan for each one of us. Of all the things I have learned on my
mission, I think the most important has been realizing that I truly do
have a Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me as an individual. I
love God! I'm so grateful for His love and I know that He loves each
of you. Really realizing this, not just having the knowledge but
really coming to know that this is true, has changed my life. I know
that the experiences I have had in Japan and will yet have have been
the best experiences I could have for my growth and my happiness. They
haven't always been the easiest, but I have loved every moment and am
grateful that I still have more time to give God my all. I love this
country. I love God and am so grateful that He has helped me so much.
I'm so grateful for all of you! I am praying for you and thinking
about you and rooting you on, despite a lack of communication both
general and individual. Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Calhoun
1. Yuuta taught us the Plan of Salvation
2. Bowling. Brother Andrus is next to me, Brother Baker is on the far
right. And Yuuta!
3. The Temple
4. Us and TK
Love you all!
4. Us and TK
Love you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment