His next transfer

Welcome Home Elder Jameson!!

We have a longer video on Facebook. Due to file size, this is the only one we could post here. It is WONDERFUL to have him home. He is doing well but looking for ways to serve and continue the work during this next transfer - the transfer of continued life and continued progress.

Becoming a Member Missionary!

This week was fast and had some up and downs.

Monday we had a cool experience where a less active in our area is about to get married and his parents came into town. We sat down with him and gave him a blessing. He isn't coming to church because of his job. For some reason I feel like a lot of Japanese church members don't fully understand the Sabbath day. Granted if they told their boss they couldn't work on Sunday, they could get in trouble. But if more and more Saints were to press forward then it could start a culture of Sabbath worship in Japan. It has to start somewhere, and that's our faith.
Later K had his baptismal interview. It didn't end well. The zone leader wanted to hear more of his testimony and K doesn't do well with explaining things and being asked a bunch of questions. So he freaked out and ran out during the interview. Needless to say, he wasn't baptized. But he will soon. He just has to work out his problems.

Tuesday we met H again! It's been a while but we called her and she said she was at a nearby store so we went there. When we got there, there were three college students that she caught and told them to talk to us in English and about the gospel. So from here out I think she will start meeting us again.

Wednesday we worked pretty hard. There isn't much to report on this day other than we were being soaked in the rain.

Thursday was amazing!  We met with this lady named A. We found her a few weeks ago when her and her daughter were trying to find a cat. We helped and it turned into a pretty good experience. Well we came back and this lady is super cool. About 10 years ago she had a vision of Christ and he was doing everything that she was doing. She assumed that he was in her heart. We told her that everyone has the light of Christ in them and it tells them from right and wrong. And when she looks at people, it's kind of like the older pictures of Christ, where there is a light or a glow around their heads. After that we basically introduced almost every other doctrine that we had and we testified that it was true. She said, "around your heads the light is enormous. I know that what you are saying is true because I feel in my heart that it is true."

 Hopefully she will come through. But she brought 2 friends to have us talk to as well. They all had pretty good interest. They told us, the things that we teach a lot of Japanese people have interest in, but when we knock on doors, people just see us as people trying to get them to church. It made me realize the importance of members who can introduce the gospel to their neighbors and friends. Member dendo is the best way to go!

Friday we again set out to try our hardest. Taught some lessons with some new investigators. We found this one guy named Ha. He is in his 60s and he is Christian. His wife is from the Philippines. They are from the Church of Christ and they don't believe in resurrection. Which gave us a great chance to teach through the bible. I know that there will be a resurrection and we will all rise the last day because of what the scriptures teach. If others teach differently, they, as Moroni says, they do not read the scriptures or they do not understand them.

Saturday we dendoed a lot and saw some new potential investigators. Nothing too crazy happened. It was another good day.

Sunday was good. N worked super hard to be able to come to church. It was really good of her. I'm so happy she is such a great person and I know she will go far in life.

Later we had a meal where we got to teach N about temples and we are prepping her to go to the temple next month to do baptisms.

I'll be coming home soon but I hope that I can always remember the things I have learned here so that I can be the best member missionary I can be.

The Lord is blessing the area

Hello! This week was super good. Had some really heart felt lessons and things are going really well for Miyazaki.

Monday night we met with these two people from Nepal. They are Hindu but they wanted to learn about our religion. It was so hard to teach them because of the language barrier. But they accepted a Book of Mormon.

On Tuesday we met with this new investigator named Ki. He said that he wanted to be more happy in his life. We gave him a pamphlet and he said he would read it. We came back and he actually read it. Lots of Japanese people say they don't understand the pamphlets. I can read them and understand them. They are super simple. But he read it and actually understood it! So w challenged him to be baptized on 25th of July. He said yes.

Thursday was really good as well. Sad because we went to visit S and she told us she would be going to her parents house for a month so she won't be able to get her baptismal date. Then we dendoed really hard in the rain. The rain is nice when it's not cold. I'm just glad I have multiple shoes to wear.

Friday we met with K. He is looking good for his baptism date next week. He is really trying his hardest to be baptized!

Saturday we met with N, the guy from Syria. He is really upset with what is going down in Syria. He isn't doing so good. He said that hearing all of that makes you think that God isn't there. He said I just don't think God would just be silent about things like this. To that we said, God isn't silent, he sent prophets today to help us. He really liked that and took a Book of Mormon. He is such an amazing man and I am so grateful to meet him. I love that man so much.

We also we out to eat with the K family that came to church 2 months ago. We just need them to come to activities and the kid needs to tell his dad he wants to go to church. The dad will do anything the kid wants. So we need to work with the kids.

Sunday was great! N came again! She is amazing. S came. Then K came as well. S recently got a new job that works nights and she thinks that she can't come to church anymore. Up until now I didn't realize the blessing of working nights at Amazon. I was able to bear a strong testimony about how the Lord strengthens you even if you are out of your mind tired and come to church. We promised her that if she were to pray specifically for help to find a different job and to come to church, that she will be able to enjoy the blessings of church, be baptized, and find stability in her life. She said she wanted to see what kind of blessings come from it.

We dendoed after and found two new investigators. They are both in their 20s and we set up appointments with them. We met Ki and told him the expectations of baptism. He accepted it pretty well. Lastly we met with the M family and they said yes to doing family home evening with the Ma family. They are perfect for each other. The Lord is blessing the area!

It is a great opportunity

This week was pretty great. At the beginning it was a little slow just because we didn't have any appointments.

Monday night we went up north to visit some people. Most of them weren't home unfortunately but there was a great miracle on the way home.the less active we have been working with, we met her on the street again! It's been a huge blessing to meet her so many times. She actually came to the baptism service on Sunday.

N isn't looking too good. We went to the hospital to check up on him and he kept saying how he thinks it's against the rules to talk about religion in the hospital. In response to that I said to him, let's just go ask the doctors right now if that is okay. He immediately rejected that and told us it would probably be impossible for him to be baptized. As we left we talked to the front desk and explained the situation. They said it's okay to talk to him but not others. So we will go and tell him that this week.

On brighter news, we found 5 investigators this past week. All of them were in their 20s and one was in his 30s. Super amazing blessing. Most of them were families and they agreed to a return appointment pretty quickly. No hesitation sometimes is the sweetest thing to hear. That and hearing someone say yes to an invitation to baptism. It is just a great opportunity to work for these people and try to help them find happiness.

There is this new investigator named S. She is 20 years old and she is amazing. We invited her to be baptized on the 25th of July and she said yes. She wants to feel God's love and wants to have peace in her life. I don't know exactly what she is thinking during the lesson so we need to ask her more.

K is good. He said yes to follow chastity, word of wisdom and tithing. But he is a character. During N's baptism, during her testimony, he interrupted to testify what she was testifying about. He is hilariously out of control sometimes. He has a kind heart.

Sa.... She is struggling. She is just working so hard to find a job and a new apartment. It's almost like the blinders horses wear. She is so focused on those things she forgets the rest. She found a job that works nights and because of that she didn't come to church. Interesting because she quit her job to go to church and now she picked a job that won't allow her to go. I called a member about it and talked about what we should do, Elder Hunsaker and I felt like the member should talk to her about it. So we talked it over and the member is going to try to help her find a job that will keep the Sabbath day and show her the way to rely on God when it comes to trials in life. The member went through the same thing of trying to find a job. They are the same age so it's perfect.

But on the other hand, N got baptized! Holy cow she is an angel. The thing was perfect. I had the chance to baptize her. It was really great! And the service was great.

It was a great fast Sunday. But for some reason it was really hard on our bodies since we had to wake up early to fill the font. The rest of the day I was fine but as soon as I sat down for dinner, it hit really hard. During the day Hunsaker threw up. It was awkward because it was in the middle of a contact. But the blessing of it is was we were able to find some prepared people that accepted the message really well.

The most pure person

I guess I will cut down to the investigators this week. This week was spent well and we worked super hard. Got to see many cool people and hopefully we can start to fill our teaching pool with the elect.

First is Na. He is still in the hospital But we met him and he was super good. Changed his baptismal date because we didn't know if he could get out of the hospital on time. But then he told us not to visit him for the rest of the week. I'm not quite sure what is going on with him.

Then there is K. He came to church on Sunday. We met him on Friday as well. He is a talker but he really wants the best for himself. He said on the lesson on Sunday that he was going to prioritize God in his life. He is looking good for his baptism on the 20th.

S. We didn't met her this week. She did come to church. I called her on Saturday to ask how she was doing with her prayers and if she was ready to be baptized on the 20th. She said she didn't know. I asked her how many times she prayed. Only once, she said. So we challenged her to pray everyday at a certain time. She said she would.

No. She is amazing! She is looking good for her baptism for next week. She is the most pure person ever! She is so willing to be baptized. We tell her what she needs to do and she makes sure to do it. It is a complete miracle to be able to work with her.

Y isn't doing hot. We may give him a break for 2 weeks.

We found a new investigator named T. He is 26 and has a 4 month baby. He is pretty cool. We will try to meet him again tonight.

We have been working with this less active named Ka. Total blessing. We passed a light and it turned green to cross. We had a strong feeling to cross. We crossed and ran into her. Then we invited her to a meal appointment we had. She came and had a great time. The member asked her to say the closing prayer and she said "I'm sorry I haven't been coming to church but from here on out I want to become closer to you" it made me really happy. She is starting to warm up again!

That was basically the main work we were able to get done. We have some new people we are trying to meet. I'll try to report on them soon.

Exact obedience brings blessings

So my new comp is Hunsaker. I don't know if you know this name but apparently it's pretty common in Utah. He is a really good kid. Really quiet. His trainer was a transfer 3 missionary so I'm basically in training again. He is transfer 2. Everyone thinks he is like 14 years old. He is 5 foot flat and is just so cute. Everyone asks how old he is. They treat him like a child. I had this guy ask me if I wanted to drink beer I said no and he turned to Hunsaker and looked at him. Then just didn't even ask him. He walked away. But he is an overall good kid. I like him. But he is super silent. But if I ask him to testify or to teach, man he knows his stuff.

This past week week was spent finishing last minute things for Kikuchi. He wanted to say goodbye to a lot of people of course but in that process we were able to build better relationships with members
and less actives. A couple of weeks ago we talked about a member who just straight up told us not to come again. But we randomly visited her and were able to talk to her for a bit. Eventually it lead to her coming to see Kikuchi on Thursday and then coming to church on Sunday to talk to the branch president during church. It was awesome.

Other members trust us more now and we spend more time planing with them to help the ward and our investigators. I feel like they are starting to warm up to dendo. Well they were before but now it feels like it's starting to come together.

Thursday Crawford choro and I dendoed while we waited for the other elders to come. It was really good. We had 3 lessons overall to go to: H, N and one of their investigators all of which have
baptismal dates. The lesson with H went really well. We talked about tithing and she said she would pay it. But later that day apparently her son came to her house and talked to her a bit and she freaked out thinking if she pays tithing and joins this church her son would disown her. She also has a concern that she can't pay the whole tithe. So she called us telling that she wants to take a break for a bit.

N is doing good. Still in the hospital. We can visit every oncein a while. He was happy on Thursday but upset on Friday. So the two lessons were really opposite. We are trying to figure out what he
needs. But for now we are prepping him to answer the baptismal questions.

On Saturday we went to visit Y. She was the lady who's son tired to commit suicide a while back. It's so weird. The thing has calmed down a bit and now she is kinda being hard to teach. She says she wants to have all the blessings of the gospel. But she isn't willing to try the things we ask. I tried talking it out with her but she would just bring up excuses. One by one we took them down and it is sometimes so interesting how some people choose things. Even though there are all these promises and feelings of the Spirit, they choose not to change because they don't like change or they don't want to take a step in the unknown. I understand the latter is one of faith. But I don't understand why people wouldn't want to take the steps if the promises are so great.

Anyways we had a good day and we had Sunday. Great day. Izumi shimai came. S came. K came. S said that she changed to not wanting baptism to saying that she will receive it one day. So we challenged her to pray if she should get baptized on the 20th of June. She said she would. We will send her scriptures and read with her so she can find an answer. She said she hasn't felt the Spirit in a while but when she was at church last week, she said she felt it again.

Throughout the day we saw some cool miracle. It truly pays to make a detailed plan and to trust the plan to be able to meet Gods prepared children. We were exactly obedient to our time and met this guy who lived in America and was fluent in English. He gave us his number and we will meet him next Sunday. We met a former investigator on the street and he said he wanted to continue. This couples car was broken down and we helped them push it into the parking lot. This man brought
us back to his house and eventually said yes for us coming back. All of these were because we were exactly on time to where we needed to be and if we were a moment later or if we decided to change, we would have never met them. The Lord works through being exact and specific. If we do things in a vague manner, the result will be different. You get what you put in.

This Elder just came off Miyako. We are having a blast talking about it!

The gospel lifts you up

Man this week was pretty crazy. We went on junkai with the elders in Miyakonojo on Tuesday. It was good to be with some of the elders there since I've known them since the beginning of my mission. We worked hard and talked to many people. One great thing that happened is that I was able to do the baptismal interview for the shimai investigator named T. She is doing great, passed the interview, and knows so much about the gospel.

Wednesday we had a lunch with H. She took us out to a buffet. Great place. We talked about the word of wisdom and she said she would follow it. Later we just dendoed hard and started to set up for eikaiwa. H sure can talk. She can talk about anything from a or z. But when she talks about the gospel it is amazing.

Thursday we had a lesson with S. What a wonderful lesson! We just talked about the application of the gospel can do for you. Rather than weighing you down, it lifts you up and allows you to pull through your trials. She loved he lesson and there was something light about her after the lesson.

Friday we taught H again. Man she can talk. We got through half of the plan of salvation and she brought up word of wisdom again. She had a hard time to understand why it was given but the members did a great job explaining it and she said she is okay with it now. We will have to meet with her more often to help her get to her date. She did bring up some points that led to the fact we need to focus on the Spirit and teach her what that is.

Later we visited Y. He isn't ding well. Let's just say he will probably be dropped.

Saturday was great. We did some service for a member and it was really great to help him. He is like 94 years old and can't do much for himself. After we went and visited N in the hospital. He recently went in but he is in there so that he can find some rest. He will probably make it to his baptismal date. Later we were waiting for K at the church,  A man that we had met a week before came to the church to talk with us. It freaked us out. But at the same time K came to the church. So we had the member teach K about repentance and we taught the the first lesson to the man. He really liked it.

Sunday was the baptism of T. I was able to perform the baptism. It took 5 times because she was wearing a temple dress instead of a baptismal dress. She stepped in the font and her dress spread out like a Lilly pad. I thought at that moment.... Oh no this is going to be hard. It went well. Six investigators came to church and enjoyed it. Later K asked if he could be baptized as well. N had a great experience and said she wanted to be baptized too. Things are looking great. S said too that baptism is a lot more simple than what she thought. She is thinking about it too. The work here in Miyazaki is great!