Helloo! Wow are you guys today! I'm just doing great!
Dylan is being a bad friend. He hasn't sent me anything or emailed me really! Some of my friends as well! They say they will send me love but don't! it really hurts! I'm actually getting really mad at Brenna. She has had 8 months and not one letter has been sent to me. She has had so many snow days. no letter. I sent her a birthday present for crying out loud! (A VERY long letter from Brenna was sent in the mail last week.)
Anyways, enough of the banter. I want to talk about my week.
So Mabuchi uses strong language to explain himself. (Strong as in straight forward). He gets to the point and it helps actually a lot. If he doesn't like something, he will let you know. That is something that I have just come to love.
This transfer, I believe, is going to be great! Mabuchi is a master teacher and great speaker. I can't keep up in the lessons. He usually will ask me a question so I can help but it is seriously a level up in Japanese. Funny story to come. I figured the way to show him that I want to help him, is through his English.
Since I have told him I want to try to make his English better... I mean I love to teach English. I think that is my favorite part of Iizuka right now. they have an amazing eikaiwa class that I love just telling stories in. For some reason I'm remembering stories so easily. I can just talk for the entire class based off their questions. But anyways, I am actually pouring my heart out to help his English. Today I told him I hope we are together for another transfer so I can teach him more English.
It took me a while to come to this point and it took a lot of talking to gain his trust but I worked him good. I feel like our relationship is better now. But the price of that is that we weren't able to dendo all that much this week. Granted we had a crazy weird week where there wasn't a lot of time to begin with but the fact still remains that we used time to build our companionship unity. I feel bad about that but at the same time it was needed.
So 2 cool stories. One with M. So the whole Japanese level up is extremely hard. We were talking to this 18 year old kid and I knew we were trying to set up a return appointment but the subject changed and I couldn't follow them. All of a sudden the boy opened the door and walked in. Mabuchi followed. I was so confused as to why we were going inside but it all worked out.
Second story is we found a potential investigator the other day. We contacted him like normal. I don't know why I'm reporting on him but I had a strong feeling he will receive baptism. He told us his hobby was eating so that is great. Mabuchi loves to cook and eat. So we said we wanted to eat and talk more. The man said he will see but I have a feeling things will work out!
Iizuka is a little rough. we cant get out much before a "no" from the people, but that's okay. We keep going. Since i have a Japanese companion, suddenly everyone can't understand me. They keep saying "what??? huh??? I can't understand you?!!?" It is annoying but Mabuchi is so awesome it doesn't really matter in the end.
That's all I have really about this week. President came to Iizuka and did weekly planning for the other elders and took us out to dinner. It was good to be there with him!
Jameson 長老
Monday, February 24, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Dendo in Fukuoka
Most of Jarom's email was responding to ours. We started off with questions about his transfer.
1. Where did Rogers go? (Rogers Choro is his MTC companion who has been serving on an island south of Miyako.)
He is training in ishigaki still
2. Tell me about Mabuchi. Is he a DL? How long has he been in Iizuka?
He is. He is transfer 14. He has 3 more transfers until he returns home. He has been here for 2.
3. In your new apartment, how many Elders are there?
4 elders... it just went 4 man
4. Do you have sisters in your area? Do you know any of them?
In my area, no. But in my zone I know almost all the sisters. There are like 2 I don't know.
5. Tell me about Iizuka. Is it a branch, a ward?
Branch about 20 members
6. Is it cold? Is there a Costco near you? (maybe you can borrow a card and get some peanut butter and protein!)
There is a Costco in my zone but not near me.
7. Please tell me about leaving Miyako.
Will do.
8. Are you happy?
I guess I am happy. I'm so sad to leave the island but this place needs help. There are a ton of potential investigators but no investigators.
9. Will you be able to go to the temple?
In the future yes.
So on Wednesday and Tuesday I said goodbye to a lot of the members and investigators. I left most of the doorsteps crying. I really have such a deep connection with the people here. They are something really special.
I traveled to Naha, Fukuoka, and then to Hakata train station all by myself. That was about 5 hours of traveling. It was alright but once I got to Hakata I didn't know where to go. I walked around for a bit. I was totally lost. So I stopped and asked a man if I could borrow his cell phone. I had the ap's number memorized so I called them. They told me some directions and I didn't know the area so I got lost again. I borrowed another cell phone and they told me to wait and they will send some people to me. Then I paired up with Mabuchi. He is extremely blunt and honest to the point of saying that my Japanese sucks and that I have a low likelihood of becoming good.
He doesn't really like people according to the older elders in the apartment but once he gets to know you things get better. But all in all I think it will become better. I have lots of hope things will change.
The past couple of days have been great. We had a Stake Conference and we had a zone p-day after it. So we stayed in Fukuoka and did some dendo around there. I went with someone on my transfer and someone on the transfer below me. We found some amazing people, 2 of which said they would come to church on Sunday. It's crazy that if you just try to talk to everyone you can, you can meet someone who will be ready. We met this Australian that used to hang out with the missionaries all the time. He said he would come to Iizuka and talk to us. He used to be a Lutheran Priest. A really amazing guy. Bot only that but I got to see about half of my district from the MTC these past couple days, one of which we have talked about getting an apartment at BYU after the mission.
xoxo
Jameson
1. Where did Rogers go? (Rogers Choro is his MTC companion who has been serving on an island south of Miyako.)
He is training in ishigaki still
2. Tell me about Mabuchi. Is he a DL? How long has he been in Iizuka?
He is. He is transfer 14. He has 3 more transfers until he returns home. He has been here for 2.
3. In your new apartment, how many Elders are there?
4 elders... it just went 4 man
4. Do you have sisters in your area? Do you know any of them?
In my area, no. But in my zone I know almost all the sisters. There are like 2 I don't know.
5. Tell me about Iizuka. Is it a branch, a ward?
Branch about 20 members
6. Is it cold? Is there a Costco near you? (maybe you can borrow a card and get some peanut butter and protein!)
There is a Costco in my zone but not near me.
7. Please tell me about leaving Miyako.
Will do.
8. Are you happy?
I guess I am happy. I'm so sad to leave the island but this place needs help. There are a ton of potential investigators but no investigators.
9. Will you be able to go to the temple?
In the future yes.
So on Wednesday and Tuesday I said goodbye to a lot of the members and investigators. I left most of the doorsteps crying. I really have such a deep connection with the people here. They are something really special.
I traveled to Naha, Fukuoka, and then to Hakata train station all by myself. That was about 5 hours of traveling. It was alright but once I got to Hakata I didn't know where to go. I walked around for a bit. I was totally lost. So I stopped and asked a man if I could borrow his cell phone. I had the ap's number memorized so I called them. They told me some directions and I didn't know the area so I got lost again. I borrowed another cell phone and they told me to wait and they will send some people to me. Then I paired up with Mabuchi. He is extremely blunt and honest to the point of saying that my Japanese sucks and that I have a low likelihood of becoming good.
He doesn't really like people according to the older elders in the apartment but once he gets to know you things get better. But all in all I think it will become better. I have lots of hope things will change.
The past couple of days have been great. We had a Stake Conference and we had a zone p-day after it. So we stayed in Fukuoka and did some dendo around there. I went with someone on my transfer and someone on the transfer below me. We found some amazing people, 2 of which said they would come to church on Sunday. It's crazy that if you just try to talk to everyone you can, you can meet someone who will be ready. We met this Australian that used to hang out with the missionaries all the time. He said he would come to Iizuka and talk to us. He used to be a Lutheran Priest. A really amazing guy. Bot only that but I got to see about half of my district from the MTC these past couple days, one of which we have talked about getting an apartment at BYU after the mission.
xoxo
Jameson
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Transfer news!
Hello family and friends!!!
In regards to transfer calls, I don't think I'll get them until late again tonight. They don's give us much time to pack and say goodbye. That has been the case every transfer. We have been getting less and less time. But I have a feeling I'm done in Miyako. (We got a quick email telling us that Jarom has been transferred to Iizako Japan. He is going to the main land, where it is MUCH colder!)
I was able to meet a group of friends form the MTC this past Friday because of a conference with Aoyagi 長老 from the 70 who did a mission wide tour. So we flew up to Okinawa and we met all the missionaries on Okinawa. Elder Rogers and I have been on our islands for 6 months now and we think we are done. I was on the phone with him last night because we were trying to set up a skype call for today since it is usually done on Tuesdays to have our district meeting. But I have a strong feeling that we are done.
I want to first say sorry with regards to this wonderful Island. It is a great place. We have so many investigators now that I think about it. We have met so many wonderful people and I have been able to see the blessings poured onto this island. It's sad that it took me this long to realize it. But for that reason I think I'm going to be moved. Once you start to enjoy your area... you`re gone.
Jokes aside. I saw some of the elders on Okinawa and how their companionships are. I'm grateful to have Elder Jensen as my companion.
We had that huge conference we went to but from last week up until yesterday night, we had 6 lessons. 3 of which we watched the Joseph smith first vision.
Y. we gave him a Joseph Smith pamphlet to read. We followed up and he had read it but we only had 5 minutes to talk to him. He said he didn't believe the vision but he still has interest so we want to continue to teach around the vision.
M. He is a 19 year old kid that was a son of an investigator who died. We want to teach him and to make an impact in his life. He has a "whatever" feeling to everything he does so we try to ask him some of the most inspired questions ever and he just shrugs them off.
J. the Fiji man. We went to his house and only had 30 minutes so we watched the Joseph Smith First Vision with him. We asked him how he felt afterwards. He said he got goosebumps when Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph. We testified that was the spirit.
Next is S. She is the less actives mom. She tends to forget our teachings so we decided to review the first lesson with the Joseph Smith First Vision video. She said she understands our church more and believes that it is true but that she still has some conflict with her husband. He says he doesn't want anything to do with a church that was made in America. He says its an American church.
U. She was the lady who randomly came to church last week. When we met, we thought her knowledge of the gospel was deeper but it seems that she knows little to nothing about our message. But she remembers that when she was little she went to a church and she is trying to find out what church that was so she can once more feel it.
Lastly Y. She is the stubborn investigator who has a lot of potential but has so many questions that its stopping her from progressing. We taught her the importance of coming to church and the Spirit. She said that last week 3 times was enough so I thought of a example of an egg. When you beat eggs you need countless times to beat it in order to make it well mixed. We related that to our testimony. In order to make it "perfect" we have to constantly stir it. During the lesson I received a thought to give her a promise. This promise is that if she read the Book Of Mormon and pray everyday for the next month, and come to church every week, she can know if this church is true. But only on those conditions. If she can't do it, the promise wont be fulfilled.
Lastly the Fuufu went home and they took us to all these beautiful places last pday. Here are some wonderful pictures!
Jameson 長老
In regards to transfer calls, I don't think I'll get them until late again tonight. They don's give us much time to pack and say goodbye. That has been the case every transfer. We have been getting less and less time. But I have a feeling I'm done in Miyako. (We got a quick email telling us that Jarom has been transferred to Iizako Japan. He is going to the main land, where it is MUCH colder!)
I was able to meet a group of friends form the MTC this past Friday because of a conference with Aoyagi 長老 from the 70 who did a mission wide tour. So we flew up to Okinawa and we met all the missionaries on Okinawa. Elder Rogers and I have been on our islands for 6 months now and we think we are done. I was on the phone with him last night because we were trying to set up a skype call for today since it is usually done on Tuesdays to have our district meeting. But I have a strong feeling that we are done.
I want to first say sorry with regards to this wonderful Island. It is a great place. We have so many investigators now that I think about it. We have met so many wonderful people and I have been able to see the blessings poured onto this island. It's sad that it took me this long to realize it. But for that reason I think I'm going to be moved. Once you start to enjoy your area... you`re gone.
Jokes aside. I saw some of the elders on Okinawa and how their companionships are. I'm grateful to have Elder Jensen as my companion.
We had that huge conference we went to but from last week up until yesterday night, we had 6 lessons. 3 of which we watched the Joseph smith first vision.
Y. we gave him a Joseph Smith pamphlet to read. We followed up and he had read it but we only had 5 minutes to talk to him. He said he didn't believe the vision but he still has interest so we want to continue to teach around the vision.
M. He is a 19 year old kid that was a son of an investigator who died. We want to teach him and to make an impact in his life. He has a "whatever" feeling to everything he does so we try to ask him some of the most inspired questions ever and he just shrugs them off.
J. the Fiji man. We went to his house and only had 30 minutes so we watched the Joseph Smith First Vision with him. We asked him how he felt afterwards. He said he got goosebumps when Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph. We testified that was the spirit.
Next is S. She is the less actives mom. She tends to forget our teachings so we decided to review the first lesson with the Joseph Smith First Vision video. She said she understands our church more and believes that it is true but that she still has some conflict with her husband. He says he doesn't want anything to do with a church that was made in America. He says its an American church.
U. She was the lady who randomly came to church last week. When we met, we thought her knowledge of the gospel was deeper but it seems that she knows little to nothing about our message. But she remembers that when she was little she went to a church and she is trying to find out what church that was so she can once more feel it.
Lastly Y. She is the stubborn investigator who has a lot of potential but has so many questions that its stopping her from progressing. We taught her the importance of coming to church and the Spirit. She said that last week 3 times was enough so I thought of a example of an egg. When you beat eggs you need countless times to beat it in order to make it well mixed. We related that to our testimony. In order to make it "perfect" we have to constantly stir it. During the lesson I received a thought to give her a promise. This promise is that if she read the Book Of Mormon and pray everyday for the next month, and come to church every week, she can know if this church is true. But only on those conditions. If she can't do it, the promise wont be fulfilled.
Lastly the Fuufu went home and they took us to all these beautiful places last pday. Here are some wonderful pictures!
Jameson 長老
Monday, February 3, 2014
Being wamp
Helllooooooo my family and friends!!! This week was super interesting and a good experience to have.
We had 2 companion exchanges this week. Unfortunately I missed all the great lessons that happened with "my" area.
When Elder Jensen was with our district leader, they went and visited J. The Fiji guy that I talked about a few weeks ago. He is an extremely hard worker so we have not really been able to meet him. But they stopped by his shop at a time we usually don't go and he invited them in. Elder Jensen taught the plan of salvation and the guy kept saying it all makes sense and that he likes it. At the end Elder Jensen invited him to baptism. The guy said he will pray about it and when he receives an answer in his heart he will accept. His back story is that he has been in so many different churches growing up, baptized in 2 other Christian churches. He reads and prays all the time. He has some crazy experiences that make him fear and trust God. One time he was spear diving with his friend in the ocean and this great white shark swam up, barely missed him, and bit part of his friends arm off. Another time is when he was young he drank a lot then took his car for a drive. He wrecked about 10 cars. But because of that experience he stopped drinking and took responsibility. He is looking great!
The other day we had junkai, Elder Jensen had 2 MP lessons and a less active visit. One with with A. Last week we talked about how she wanted to be baptized. Well the lesson went extremely well and she is going to come to our church on Wednesday to watch the restoration film.
Another is with Y. She is the really difficult one but that's because her church answers every little detail. It doesn't let church members really find out for themselves. But she said she has a lot of interest which is a complete turn around from last time. That is amazing and she loves to talk about our message, but she believes her conversion will take over 3 years. So we will ganbaru until then.
E.J. visited a less active who shared a dream he had the night before. In the dream he was in a spirit world. He angered a spirit which he believed to be God. That angry spirit scared the living daylights out of him. He said after that dream he fears God.
I had a lot of finding success on those junkais. I found a lot of Potential Investigators and new investigators, one of which we talked about angels with. She believes in heaven and in angels and she believes that her children are kinda like angels. We talked to her and set up a return appointment.
Another guy is actually the post man who brings the packages to our house. He saw us and basically said that he remembers taking a lot of stuff to our house. We talked about eternal families and he said he wanted one.
But that isn't what the best part of the week is. 3 people came to church that usually don't come!. 2 non members and a less active. One non member is an investigator of the other chorotachi. But one of which no one knew who she was. I went up to her and by accident I started to speak English to her. That never happens. I'm either all Japanese or all English. It turns out she was fluent in English. Why? She lived in america as she dated some guy. The guy was Mormon. He was less active but she went with the family every week to church. She just moved to Miyako in December and goes to whatever church there is but she knows a lot about the church. I asked her if we could meet again to talk more.... haha she asked if I facebooked. I had to tell her that I can't use it but we exchanged numbers and hopefully this week we will talk to her.
Last night was weird. We went to visit a member who recently broke her wrist so she hasn't been to church in a while (she is 88). But she said she was hungry and wanted curry. We said we could make is for her. But as the conversation was going I realized she didn't have the stuff to make it. I wanted to ask if we could go buy it a different day and bring back that stuff later, but Elder Jensen said yeah we will do it. I thought to myself, if he is okay with it... i guess it is for a good cause to buy something on Sunday. We exit the house to go to a nearby family mart. I said "man this is so wamp (wanpaku-rebellious)." He said how so? I'm like "it's Sunday." We both just stand there and we already committed to it so we had to go and get it. So we bought it. Felt terrible about it. Came back and made the lady curry.
But as to deal with baptisms. (Editors note: I asked Jarom if he felt the purpose of a mission was to baptize or to bring others unto Christ.) That is just a number honestly. As it says in Corinthians, I am called to preach. Baptism is just a benefit of seeing salvation. Every mission is a baptizing mission. Every mission is different. I'm sad I'm seeing this area progress so much because I'll probably leave soon. But I'd rather work so extremely hard and have others say "man thanks to these elders, we are seeing so many blessings." And we have to remember the blessing of compensation. Our work here with be rewarded how many fold in heaven? Sure I feel Godly sorrow. But that is because I know how strong these people will be. Everyone says family is number one. Everyone is super hard core with their faith. My question of my heart is how can we find that connection to bring all that towards Christ? How can we bring them closer to Heavenly Father? These people are so amazing. I just hurt when I see that I can't help them. But One day I know it will just all click. I know Japan will become a strong people with faith in Christ. Everything points towards that. We just need to find what piece is missing.
Jameson 長老
We had 2 companion exchanges this week. Unfortunately I missed all the great lessons that happened with "my" area.
When Elder Jensen was with our district leader, they went and visited J. The Fiji guy that I talked about a few weeks ago. He is an extremely hard worker so we have not really been able to meet him. But they stopped by his shop at a time we usually don't go and he invited them in. Elder Jensen taught the plan of salvation and the guy kept saying it all makes sense and that he likes it. At the end Elder Jensen invited him to baptism. The guy said he will pray about it and when he receives an answer in his heart he will accept. His back story is that he has been in so many different churches growing up, baptized in 2 other Christian churches. He reads and prays all the time. He has some crazy experiences that make him fear and trust God. One time he was spear diving with his friend in the ocean and this great white shark swam up, barely missed him, and bit part of his friends arm off. Another time is when he was young he drank a lot then took his car for a drive. He wrecked about 10 cars. But because of that experience he stopped drinking and took responsibility. He is looking great!
The other day we had junkai, Elder Jensen had 2 MP lessons and a less active visit. One with with A. Last week we talked about how she wanted to be baptized. Well the lesson went extremely well and she is going to come to our church on Wednesday to watch the restoration film.
Another is with Y. She is the really difficult one but that's because her church answers every little detail. It doesn't let church members really find out for themselves. But she said she has a lot of interest which is a complete turn around from last time. That is amazing and she loves to talk about our message, but she believes her conversion will take over 3 years. So we will ganbaru until then.
E.J. visited a less active who shared a dream he had the night before. In the dream he was in a spirit world. He angered a spirit which he believed to be God. That angry spirit scared the living daylights out of him. He said after that dream he fears God.
I had a lot of finding success on those junkais. I found a lot of Potential Investigators and new investigators, one of which we talked about angels with. She believes in heaven and in angels and she believes that her children are kinda like angels. We talked to her and set up a return appointment.
Another guy is actually the post man who brings the packages to our house. He saw us and basically said that he remembers taking a lot of stuff to our house. We talked about eternal families and he said he wanted one.
But that isn't what the best part of the week is. 3 people came to church that usually don't come!. 2 non members and a less active. One non member is an investigator of the other chorotachi. But one of which no one knew who she was. I went up to her and by accident I started to speak English to her. That never happens. I'm either all Japanese or all English. It turns out she was fluent in English. Why? She lived in america as she dated some guy. The guy was Mormon. He was less active but she went with the family every week to church. She just moved to Miyako in December and goes to whatever church there is but she knows a lot about the church. I asked her if we could meet again to talk more.... haha she asked if I facebooked. I had to tell her that I can't use it but we exchanged numbers and hopefully this week we will talk to her.
Last night was weird. We went to visit a member who recently broke her wrist so she hasn't been to church in a while (she is 88). But she said she was hungry and wanted curry. We said we could make is for her. But as the conversation was going I realized she didn't have the stuff to make it. I wanted to ask if we could go buy it a different day and bring back that stuff later, but Elder Jensen said yeah we will do it. I thought to myself, if he is okay with it... i guess it is for a good cause to buy something on Sunday. We exit the house to go to a nearby family mart. I said "man this is so wamp (wanpaku-rebellious)." He said how so? I'm like "it's Sunday." We both just stand there and we already committed to it so we had to go and get it. So we bought it. Felt terrible about it. Came back and made the lady curry.
But as to deal with baptisms. (Editors note: I asked Jarom if he felt the purpose of a mission was to baptize or to bring others unto Christ.) That is just a number honestly. As it says in Corinthians, I am called to preach. Baptism is just a benefit of seeing salvation. Every mission is a baptizing mission. Every mission is different. I'm sad I'm seeing this area progress so much because I'll probably leave soon. But I'd rather work so extremely hard and have others say "man thanks to these elders, we are seeing so many blessings." And we have to remember the blessing of compensation. Our work here with be rewarded how many fold in heaven? Sure I feel Godly sorrow. But that is because I know how strong these people will be. Everyone says family is number one. Everyone is super hard core with their faith. My question of my heart is how can we find that connection to bring all that towards Christ? How can we bring them closer to Heavenly Father? These people are so amazing. I just hurt when I see that I can't help them. But One day I know it will just all click. I know Japan will become a strong people with faith in Christ. Everything points towards that. We just need to find what piece is missing.
Jameson 長老
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| Flowers from our Flower Shop friend |
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| A broken umbrella |
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| Bowling! |
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| Service for a member. We pulled so many weeds! |
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| Making Curry for break the fast |
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| I love this bean. He is super goofy! |
Monday, January 27, 2014
A ball of sass and awesomeness
I hope this is a better report than last week.
Honestly I understand the fact my wish of having a easy ascent to the finish line is somewhat a childish thought. I know there isn't an easy path to salvation. the probing question that has been in my mind is how can I better myself so I can help more people down that path. I know it is a change of my talents. It's how can I try harder, how can I try more earnestly, how can I be the best me so I can serve the most effective way. It's not anything against who I am. It's finding the best way I can use my skills.
I will admit Jensen is crazy amazing. He is such a hard worker. He tries to fit the square in the circle slot of one of those baby toys. He pushes and pushes until the toy breaks or until it fits. He is amazing at learning the language. He understands far more than what I do and he is ready to train.
But in my honest opinion, I also have been sent here for the sake of having friends of the companions. Someone needs to make it a good time and even though I have been rough on myself, Elder Jensen has showed me how to be better and overcome that, and for that I'm eternally grateful.
We have worked really hard and spent lots of our time trying to better this area this week. We have had a lot of deeper lesson plans for our investigators. I know if we were able to teach them, we would see a lot of success. But this week we only got to teach 2 lessons.
First with a old investigator named N. She wants to know which church is true so we tried to help but she said she is really busy so that she doesn't have a lot of time from now on.
Secondly we went to teach A. She is awesome. Just a ball of sass and awesomeness. We taught her the spirit world and we taught her the 3 kingdoms. She said her goal was the celestial kingdom so we extended baptism for her to achieve that. She said she wanted to receive senrei or baptism. She said she wanted to believe in our message so we went to give her Alma 32 to read so she can grow her faith. She wouldn't accept it at all. I bore testimony over something that I don't even remember. Cool thing is that after I said it she said okay and took it!
So sometimes we need to get out of a rut of how we do things. One day I remembered that Brother Sherman (our dear friend who served in Nagoya) told me to go to the city office to ask for service. This week we did that. Then we went on a hour long adventure to find the place that offers service in Miyako. We found it! In the winter they don't really do service but they said they will call us soon!
We had this really long contact with this guy this week. He kept saying that God maybe exists... and maybe he doesn't. It was really frustrating. He kept bringing up points that we haven't faced yet in Japan. He asked if God love us, why are people in Africa starving. Why in america so many believe in God but yet their crime rate is high and their marriage rate is low? It was hard to answer because of the language but we said that God tests the faith of those who he thinks can stand hard things. That's why bad things happen to good people. The other one with the America thing was too extremely hard to try to explain and frankly I couldn't come up with a clear simple answer.
So why in America do we have high crime rates? Why are the marriage rates lower? Why does this happen when lots of people believe in God? How can I explain that in simple terms?
Jameson 長老
Honestly I understand the fact my wish of having a easy ascent to the finish line is somewhat a childish thought. I know there isn't an easy path to salvation. the probing question that has been in my mind is how can I better myself so I can help more people down that path. I know it is a change of my talents. It's how can I try harder, how can I try more earnestly, how can I be the best me so I can serve the most effective way. It's not anything against who I am. It's finding the best way I can use my skills.
I will admit Jensen is crazy amazing. He is such a hard worker. He tries to fit the square in the circle slot of one of those baby toys. He pushes and pushes until the toy breaks or until it fits. He is amazing at learning the language. He understands far more than what I do and he is ready to train.
But in my honest opinion, I also have been sent here for the sake of having friends of the companions. Someone needs to make it a good time and even though I have been rough on myself, Elder Jensen has showed me how to be better and overcome that, and for that I'm eternally grateful.
We have worked really hard and spent lots of our time trying to better this area this week. We have had a lot of deeper lesson plans for our investigators. I know if we were able to teach them, we would see a lot of success. But this week we only got to teach 2 lessons.
First with a old investigator named N. She wants to know which church is true so we tried to help but she said she is really busy so that she doesn't have a lot of time from now on.
Secondly we went to teach A. She is awesome. Just a ball of sass and awesomeness. We taught her the spirit world and we taught her the 3 kingdoms. She said her goal was the celestial kingdom so we extended baptism for her to achieve that. She said she wanted to receive senrei or baptism. She said she wanted to believe in our message so we went to give her Alma 32 to read so she can grow her faith. She wouldn't accept it at all. I bore testimony over something that I don't even remember. Cool thing is that after I said it she said okay and took it!
So sometimes we need to get out of a rut of how we do things. One day I remembered that Brother Sherman (our dear friend who served in Nagoya) told me to go to the city office to ask for service. This week we did that. Then we went on a hour long adventure to find the place that offers service in Miyako. We found it! In the winter they don't really do service but they said they will call us soon!
We had this really long contact with this guy this week. He kept saying that God maybe exists... and maybe he doesn't. It was really frustrating. He kept bringing up points that we haven't faced yet in Japan. He asked if God love us, why are people in Africa starving. Why in america so many believe in God but yet their crime rate is high and their marriage rate is low? It was hard to answer because of the language but we said that God tests the faith of those who he thinks can stand hard things. That's why bad things happen to good people. The other one with the America thing was too extremely hard to try to explain and frankly I couldn't come up with a clear simple answer.
So why in America do we have high crime rates? Why are the marriage rates lower? Why does this happen when lots of people believe in God? How can I explain that in simple terms?
Jameson 長老
Monday, January 20, 2014
The gears were turning
I cut my hair today. By myself.... with help on the back and my ears. I'll attach a picture.
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This week we didn't have anything happen. We had 4 lessons and one less active visit that didn't really go anywhere. The less active was a member who was baptized and fell away immediately. He forgot everything about the church so we are teaching him little by little again. We wanted to teach him the word of wisdom. He has a lung problem and goes to the doctor a lot. He also smokes a lot.... just drop the pack man. Anyways, we taught it and the lesson was good. What came afterwards was bad. He said he quit the "Christ" because it was too hard. He told us to never come back. Well since there are 2 sets of elders, we will send the other batch to him. ;)
We had a lesson again with Y, the lady who does really deep questions. Well we prepped all week for this lesson. We made a awesome example for the spirit and why it is important. We blindfolded her and told her there was candy in the room. We told her to go find it. She couldn't. The member there was telling her to go the wrong direction. Then with a spray bottle we led her to the candy. After that we taught probably one of the deepest lessons about the plan of salvation. The spirit was so strong there and you could tell the gears were turning. Things were making sense. But we think she was freaking out that she knew this church was true. In order to just pull things apart she threw a fit about some doctrine about Adam and Eve. In the bible and Book of Mormon and other sources, often times it just says Adam. She kept asking for 30 minutes why not Adam and Eve. Why not Adam and Eve. Eventually we said, well when people become married they become one. And not only that, we think that Adam wanted to protect Eve's name just how Heavenly Father protects Heavenly Mother's name.
Things are going well. I ran out of time because I had a lot of emails today. Like 10 more than usual so I rushed through them. Thanks for everything!
Jameson 長老
This week we didn't have anything happen. We had 4 lessons and one less active visit that didn't really go anywhere. The less active was a member who was baptized and fell away immediately. He forgot everything about the church so we are teaching him little by little again. We wanted to teach him the word of wisdom. He has a lung problem and goes to the doctor a lot. He also smokes a lot.... just drop the pack man. Anyways, we taught it and the lesson was good. What came afterwards was bad. He said he quit the "Christ" because it was too hard. He told us to never come back. Well since there are 2 sets of elders, we will send the other batch to him. ;)
We had a lesson again with Y, the lady who does really deep questions. Well we prepped all week for this lesson. We made a awesome example for the spirit and why it is important. We blindfolded her and told her there was candy in the room. We told her to go find it. She couldn't. The member there was telling her to go the wrong direction. Then with a spray bottle we led her to the candy. After that we taught probably one of the deepest lessons about the plan of salvation. The spirit was so strong there and you could tell the gears were turning. Things were making sense. But we think she was freaking out that she knew this church was true. In order to just pull things apart she threw a fit about some doctrine about Adam and Eve. In the bible and Book of Mormon and other sources, often times it just says Adam. She kept asking for 30 minutes why not Adam and Eve. Why not Adam and Eve. Eventually we said, well when people become married they become one. And not only that, we think that Adam wanted to protect Eve's name just how Heavenly Father protects Heavenly Mother's name.
Things are going well. I ran out of time because I had a lot of emails today. Like 10 more than usual so I rushed through them. Thanks for everything!
Jameson 長老
Monday, January 13, 2014
Teaching and trying to find answers
So the past few weeks have been slow. We haven't able to teach that many people lately. Just when Elder Jensen and I feel like our Japanese has progressed the most and our teaching is the best, we hit this. Don't get me wrong, our Japanese is still terrible. I am having a hard time getting out of a rut that I'm in but we can teach all the lessons just fine. Our lessons lately have been really good. It's just that the lessons have become rare. We only had 3 this past week.
One of which is with Y San! we taught him the gospel of Christ yesterday. We did a lot of examples with him and different ways to explain the message. It was a great lesson. He prayed for us at the end but he said that he won't get baptized until he knows it is true. We said that he needed to pray to find that answer. He said he will just study it out. That is extremely frustrating.
Next was K. She didn't have any religious background before we met but she said she would like to listen. Now, 3 months later, we have barely gotten 4 lessons with her. She is really hard to meet. Because of that Jensen choro wanted to drop her. But I kept defending her saying that her previous lessons were amazing and she really does have heart. So we went to visit her and she wasn't home but she pulled up in her car.... then drove away. We were devastated. We went to another persons house and talked about it. Jensen wanted to drop her again but I said maybe she forgot something. So we went back and she said she just got home but she has time to talk. We taught an amazing lesson of prayer, scripture study, and the importance of the prophet. She said that she believes that Joseph smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. I gave her a prayer rock like kids have in primary. She said she will try her best to read and pray every night but right now coming to church is a little difficult.
Last lesson this week was with Y. She is a old investigator that we picked up through the area book. She believes that Joseph smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true. She has a deep faith in Christ but her view of the atonement is a little different. She was speaking really fast but I got the basic message of it. (Because we taught the plan of salvation to her) and she started to go on a rant. She would get baptized but her only problem with the message is really deep doctrine that Elder Jensen and I cant explain. It has to deal with why all the people can be saved, but they can't dwell with God. Well we could explain it but not in Japanese. That is extremely deep and how the atonement saves them but not gives them celestial glory. Other than that we gave her a promise at the end. We said we aren't perfect teachers and that we can't answer her questions but Christ's doctrine can and that doctrine can be found in the Book of Mormon. Remember when I doubt, go to the prophets and the Book of Mormon. Then the answer is in God's hands.
We got a recent missionary fuufu and they helped us during that lesson. we need member lessons with that lady. Honestly we would like member presents for every lesson. They help out so much, especially as we are young missionaries.
Being a young missionary I've been trying to figure myself out. What do I need to do to progress. Why did this or that happen to me. Why have been sent to Japan. Why can't I progress as well as others or why am I having this trial. I'm searching so stinking hard to progress. I can't find it. I'm pressing so hard. I'm trying so hard in prayers. I'm trying to use up every drop of my energy to find that answer. Of course the answer won't be a one answer thing. It will be little things that come over time. But how do I use that? What is my purpose as a missionary? To invite others to Christ. How do I do that? Well... Im still trying to fully figure that out. And I don't know how long it will take to fully comprehend that either.
Until next week.
Love Jameson 長老
One of which is with Y San! we taught him the gospel of Christ yesterday. We did a lot of examples with him and different ways to explain the message. It was a great lesson. He prayed for us at the end but he said that he won't get baptized until he knows it is true. We said that he needed to pray to find that answer. He said he will just study it out. That is extremely frustrating.
Next was K. She didn't have any religious background before we met but she said she would like to listen. Now, 3 months later, we have barely gotten 4 lessons with her. She is really hard to meet. Because of that Jensen choro wanted to drop her. But I kept defending her saying that her previous lessons were amazing and she really does have heart. So we went to visit her and she wasn't home but she pulled up in her car.... then drove away. We were devastated. We went to another persons house and talked about it. Jensen wanted to drop her again but I said maybe she forgot something. So we went back and she said she just got home but she has time to talk. We taught an amazing lesson of prayer, scripture study, and the importance of the prophet. She said that she believes that Joseph smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. I gave her a prayer rock like kids have in primary. She said she will try her best to read and pray every night but right now coming to church is a little difficult.
Last lesson this week was with Y. She is a old investigator that we picked up through the area book. She believes that Joseph smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true. She has a deep faith in Christ but her view of the atonement is a little different. She was speaking really fast but I got the basic message of it. (Because we taught the plan of salvation to her) and she started to go on a rant. She would get baptized but her only problem with the message is really deep doctrine that Elder Jensen and I cant explain. It has to deal with why all the people can be saved, but they can't dwell with God. Well we could explain it but not in Japanese. That is extremely deep and how the atonement saves them but not gives them celestial glory. Other than that we gave her a promise at the end. We said we aren't perfect teachers and that we can't answer her questions but Christ's doctrine can and that doctrine can be found in the Book of Mormon. Remember when I doubt, go to the prophets and the Book of Mormon. Then the answer is in God's hands.
We got a recent missionary fuufu and they helped us during that lesson. we need member lessons with that lady. Honestly we would like member presents for every lesson. They help out so much, especially as we are young missionaries.
Being a young missionary I've been trying to figure myself out. What do I need to do to progress. Why did this or that happen to me. Why have been sent to Japan. Why can't I progress as well as others or why am I having this trial. I'm searching so stinking hard to progress. I can't find it. I'm pressing so hard. I'm trying so hard in prayers. I'm trying to use up every drop of my energy to find that answer. Of course the answer won't be a one answer thing. It will be little things that come over time. But how do I use that? What is my purpose as a missionary? To invite others to Christ. How do I do that? Well... Im still trying to fully figure that out. And I don't know how long it will take to fully comprehend that either.
Until next week.
Love Jameson 長老
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