Well it has been a pretty good week...I mean my companion is still alive. So I'm not doing too bad. No but new missionaries coming over here have so much to learn. It is a big change. Everything is the opposite....including their language. It is fun but he is going good.
So yesterday after church we had a luncheon because we do that at least once a month. It was pretty good. We had two less actives there so it was very good. Actually we rode our bikes to go pick one of them up and then came back on bikes. He is like 43 and lives at home. He hasn't been to church in about 20 years so it was a good step. He talked with random members and made friends I think. Although he didn't come to sacrament meeting he took one step in the right direction so that is good. I don't think he has many friends so I think that he enjoyed talking to people. The stake president also visited our ward so it was nice to talk to him. He is a very Good man and loves the people so it is very good. But at the luncheon we had some tacoyaki. I'm not sure if I have ever explaned takoyaki before but it is a pretty popular Japanese dish. If you translate Takoyaki it means cooked octopus. It is like a ball of goo with tako in the middle. It is not that bad...actually octopus is good. If you get over the chewy tentacle part it is actually really good. I actually ate like 7 of the gooey balls.
Any way we had this new girl come to english class. She is 23 and from Peru. Then I was telling her about all the english classes we teach. and she is like why do you do all this for free. And I told her I love the people and I love to serve. Then she asks about the mormons. And so I talked to her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the need for a restoration and she was like that all makes sense so we are supposed to meet with her again tomorrow but it was really cool to talk to her and that is why I put so much effort in to english class because I believe it is a great finding tool. But it was really cool.
We also had a firework show here in Ogaki. We went and passed out flyers there and the fireworks were cool but we had some people that said they would come to the english class so it is very exciting.
Have a great week. Keep pressing forward.The church is true.
Love
Elder Nelson
Trainer?? (August 21, 2011)
First off I only typed a little last week because I went to a bbq and my companion had to pack and everything so it was busy to say the least but, It was way fun. I had some meat that I have never tried before. For example ostrich and crocodile and kangaroo. My personal favorite was crocodile. It tasted like Chicken on steroids. Don't ask me how we got crocodile meat in Japan but is was delicious. (No I still like bacon more, but still it was pretty good.) Unfortunately it rained and we had no umbrellas but it was fun. I also ate caviar (ya I'm not sure how to spell it) but it is called ikura. I have had small fish eggs before but these are bigger. And they are ok. Basically they are like balls of fish juice and when you chew there is just a bursting flavor of fish. I also ate nato which is fermented beans. I still have trouble eating that. It's just not that great. I tried to make the new missionary eat it but he took one bite and said no more...and I was like fine. I am trying to be nice but I have some work to do because I made him take a bite of some of the fowlest foods in the world(next to pickles of course).
Alright I met a man from Sweden today and I felt like I was looking in a mirror. He had golden hair and bright pink skin...it made my day.
Well ya last week I wasn't kidding when I said I went trainer but I am way excited and having a blast. Well as everyone has been saying there is this new curriculum for trainers. It is pretty intense but we have an extra hour to study which has its ups and downs. We also got Dvd players in our apartment. It's sweet. But they have very strict rules for example we can't even watch general conference on them right now. Trainers are the only people in the mission who have them right now. haha. So on Tuesday I went to Nagoya for some training and that was fun. There, President Baird told me 2 times that if he decided I wouldn't have been trainer, he said he would have transfered me somewhere else. It was kind of weird hearing that but it reassures me that God is incharge and he knows what he is doing. So I am glad I am trainer and excited. It hasn't been the easiest week of my mission but it has been rewarding and fun. Let me explain to you what it is like. I'm like K and he is like J. Men in Black. So ya I give him the little gun and he doesn't know how powerful it is basically. I mean if you watch it you would understand...I think it's pretty accurate.
It has been a fun week. We are really trying to focus on less actives because our branch could really use more people at church...also the less actives could be blessed form going to church so it's a win win win situation. haha. No but seriously we have a fall festival coming up and we are visiting any person that has ever had any relations with the church so that we can invite them. It is going pretty well. We have met some interesting people. We went to the station to pass out English class flyers and we met this black guy from Detroit (He doesn't like the Lions so we are friends). He was very funny but he has been here for 10 years and was very nice to us. He invited us to go over sometime so we are going to take him up on that offer this week. He loves singing gospel music and told us that we could make money if we started marrying poeple. Then as we were leaving he is like call me any time I gotchyo back bro. So I felt like I was back home for a minute.
We have a good week planned and I'm excited to still be here in Ogaki. I was way surprised to stay but I know this is where the Lord wants me to be.
Love
Elder Nelson
Alright I met a man from Sweden today and I felt like I was looking in a mirror. He had golden hair and bright pink skin...it made my day.
Well ya last week I wasn't kidding when I said I went trainer but I am way excited and having a blast. Well as everyone has been saying there is this new curriculum for trainers. It is pretty intense but we have an extra hour to study which has its ups and downs. We also got Dvd players in our apartment. It's sweet. But they have very strict rules for example we can't even watch general conference on them right now. Trainers are the only people in the mission who have them right now. haha. So on Tuesday I went to Nagoya for some training and that was fun. There, President Baird told me 2 times that if he decided I wouldn't have been trainer, he said he would have transfered me somewhere else. It was kind of weird hearing that but it reassures me that God is incharge and he knows what he is doing. So I am glad I am trainer and excited. It hasn't been the easiest week of my mission but it has been rewarding and fun. Let me explain to you what it is like. I'm like K and he is like J. Men in Black. So ya I give him the little gun and he doesn't know how powerful it is basically. I mean if you watch it you would understand...I think it's pretty accurate.
It has been a fun week. We are really trying to focus on less actives because our branch could really use more people at church...also the less actives could be blessed form going to church so it's a win win win situation. haha. No but seriously we have a fall festival coming up and we are visiting any person that has ever had any relations with the church so that we can invite them. It is going pretty well. We have met some interesting people. We went to the station to pass out English class flyers and we met this black guy from Detroit (He doesn't like the Lions so we are friends). He was very funny but he has been here for 10 years and was very nice to us. He invited us to go over sometime so we are going to take him up on that offer this week. He loves singing gospel music and told us that we could make money if we started marrying poeple. Then as we were leaving he is like call me any time I gotchyo back bro. So I felt like I was back home for a minute.
We have a good week planned and I'm excited to still be here in Ogaki. I was way surprised to stay but I know this is where the Lord wants me to be.
Love
Elder Nelson
bon yasumi (August 14, 2011)
This is a very special week in Japan because its the week when they honor their ancestors. Most people travel to their home and go visit the graves of their ancestors so it has been a pretty eventful week. Well not really it was normal but still. This week was also transfers and I have been in my area for 4 transfers already so I was pretty sure I was going to get transferred. I mean 6 months in one area is pretty long. But when I got the call this morning it turns out I was wrong. I am staying in my area for 1 more transfer (at least) and I am going to be a trainer...pretty interesting...I was surprised. I am nervous to become trainer but I think it will be fun. I know nothing about my new companion...not even a name or what race he is.
Last night we went over to a member's house. It was really fun. The father use to be the branch president but is now less active and the mother is the only one that comes to church. It's really sad because the kids prayed and they were good at it but I don't know why they aren't coming to church. But anyway we had a delicious dinner than taught a lesson, then had dessert and right as we are about to eat dessert my companion says his stomach hurts and asks for some medicine. By the way my companion earlier told them that his favorite food is ice cream. So the member gets him some medicine and says that you probably shouldn't eat the dessert...which was like jello with fruit in it. Then the father takes a bite and says This is so good...it's the best thing ever. Man if I couldn't eat this I would die. And my companion is just siting there sad and his stomach hurts...then the dad goes we should teach him a lesson about patience and long suffering...let's have ice cream he says. He needs to learn patience. So the mom goes and gets ice cream and we ate it in front of him....I enjoyed that way too much. haha.
But anyway I'm way excited to continue to work in Ogaki. I know im supposed to be here again. Thanks for the Love and support.
Love
Elder Nelson
Last night we went over to a member's house. It was really fun. The father use to be the branch president but is now less active and the mother is the only one that comes to church. It's really sad because the kids prayed and they were good at it but I don't know why they aren't coming to church. But anyway we had a delicious dinner than taught a lesson, then had dessert and right as we are about to eat dessert my companion says his stomach hurts and asks for some medicine. By the way my companion earlier told them that his favorite food is ice cream. So the member gets him some medicine and says that you probably shouldn't eat the dessert...which was like jello with fruit in it. Then the father takes a bite and says This is so good...it's the best thing ever. Man if I couldn't eat this I would die. And my companion is just siting there sad and his stomach hurts...then the dad goes we should teach him a lesson about patience and long suffering...let's have ice cream he says. He needs to learn patience. So the mom goes and gets ice cream and we ate it in front of him....I enjoyed that way too much. haha.
But anyway I'm way excited to continue to work in Ogaki. I know im supposed to be here again. Thanks for the Love and support.
Love
Elder Nelson
Peruvian Party (August 7, 2011)
Well this week was pretty interesting. First of all I ate cow tongue..ya I never thought I would eat that in Japan but I did. It wasn't bad. The funny thing is that I ate it at a sushi restaurant and as I told people that I had cow tongue this week they were like cool...and then I told them I had it at the sushi place and they crack up and say it must have been disgusting why did you eat it there. I had never seen it before so I just took it and ate it. It was a little tough and just me thinking that a tongue was in my mouth was hard but besides that it wasn't bad. I also had pickles and seaweed salad with a little honey on top. Alright this might be the worst thing I have eaten in my entire life...I feel like I'm underexagerating...like I don't want to complain because I'm sure people in other places have to eat worse things but this had to be the worse thing I have ever tasted. My companion who loves pickles said he didn't like it...so that is saying something. I even asked the lady who gave it to us if she liked it and she said that she didn't like it but she eats it because it is good for you. as if...one more bite and I was done for.
There was a summer festaval this week and that was pretty fun. We went with a less active and we met so many people that we know...it was so much fun.
English class is going well. The number of students has dropped a little probably because summer vacation just started so we are trying to make new handouts to pass out to people but it is taking longer than expected. We are still reading from the Book of Mormon...we are on page 21 so we are making good progress.
We always see this guy riding a little moped in front of the church when we go to set up for eikaiwa. It is so funny because he goes like 15 miles an hour under the speed limit because its so old. He always gets passed by cars, it's funny. We have been trying to figure out where he is from because first of all he waves to us and Japanese people wouldn't usually wave to us. He also has a nice mustache which isn't Japanese at all. So on Tuesday we see him and he waves to us and yells champion. Ya random but on Saturday as we are heading to an appointment we rode past his house and he was outside so we stopped and talked to him...come to find out he is Peruvian. We talk a little about the Book of Mormon and he invites us back the next day. The next day right after chruch we show up and turns out it was his birthday party...it was way fun and the food was delicious. We had Peruvian chicken and they all treated us like kings. We talked with them about God for a little while and then the subject got changed to gay marriage. They were all against it which is cool. The funny thing is that we talked with Peruvians in Japanese...there is something wrong with that...we should choose an easier language. They had all lived here about 10 years and they were so angry when we told them we had only lived in Japan for about a year. They wanted to know how we got so good. It is easy when you put your trust in God to help you. Just experiences like that show me that God really does help us and that we Have the Holy Ghost. We have help that other people don't realize we have but it is there. I know that God has blessed me and will bless anyone that seeks for his help.
Thank you everyone for your support...have a great week. be careful Pray always.
Love
Elder Nelson
There was a summer festaval this week and that was pretty fun. We went with a less active and we met so many people that we know...it was so much fun.
English class is going well. The number of students has dropped a little probably because summer vacation just started so we are trying to make new handouts to pass out to people but it is taking longer than expected. We are still reading from the Book of Mormon...we are on page 21 so we are making good progress.
We always see this guy riding a little moped in front of the church when we go to set up for eikaiwa. It is so funny because he goes like 15 miles an hour under the speed limit because its so old. He always gets passed by cars, it's funny. We have been trying to figure out where he is from because first of all he waves to us and Japanese people wouldn't usually wave to us. He also has a nice mustache which isn't Japanese at all. So on Tuesday we see him and he waves to us and yells champion. Ya random but on Saturday as we are heading to an appointment we rode past his house and he was outside so we stopped and talked to him...come to find out he is Peruvian. We talk a little about the Book of Mormon and he invites us back the next day. The next day right after chruch we show up and turns out it was his birthday party...it was way fun and the food was delicious. We had Peruvian chicken and they all treated us like kings. We talked with them about God for a little while and then the subject got changed to gay marriage. They were all against it which is cool. The funny thing is that we talked with Peruvians in Japanese...there is something wrong with that...we should choose an easier language. They had all lived here about 10 years and they were so angry when we told them we had only lived in Japan for about a year. They wanted to know how we got so good. It is easy when you put your trust in God to help you. Just experiences like that show me that God really does help us and that we Have the Holy Ghost. We have help that other people don't realize we have but it is there. I know that God has blessed me and will bless anyone that seeks for his help.
Thank you everyone for your support...have a great week. be careful Pray always.
Love
Elder Nelson
花火 (Fireworks) (July 31, 2011)
Good evening!!
Well we had a pretty crazy week here in Ogaki but it was fun. Well first off this time of year in Japan is very interesting. It is the time of fireworks and festivals so it is fun. So the other day we saw fireworks...they were very far away...probably a 50 minute train ride away (so we went to the top of our apartment and watched them) but the funny thing is that is still our area. I have never even been close to that place and there are people that live their in our Branch's boundary. Its crazy but anyway...the fireworks were very pretty even though they were very far away.
This week I had the opportunity to go back to Inuyama...it was very fun. I visited many people that I taught and met with and loved so it was very good. First we visited a recent convert and talked with him for like one hour. He is 20 and wants to go on a mission so that's exciting. Then we visited a lady that is not a member but when I was their I visited her a lot in the hospital and she is doing good. From that we went and visited an investigator that I taught. When I was in Inuyama he was drinking and smoking but come to find out he has stopped. That is very exciting. He expressed worry about stopping coffee but we explained that if you can stop drinking and smoking you can stop drinking coffee and he said he would...he is so close. He is progressing so very slowly but he is progressing. His wife is a member so she helps a lot. I think he will get baptized pretty soon. It was very cool to see him again. It was very fun to go back.
We try to do as many service projects can but this week I think we signed ourselves up for too much. We went over to this members house and we looked at his back yard and it is like a jungle. There are bugs everywhere, mosquitoes, giant frogs, snakes...and much more but we were supposed to clean it up. After about 2 hours we had 8 bags full of weeds and all sorts of who knows what in the bags. It was fun...there is still a lot to do there but it was cool seeing all those animals. After we finished we told the member what we saw and he was like what no we can't take down the forest now...we have a whole ecosystem back there. His wife just starred at him...haha. But I learned something interesting back there. In Japan I usually dont get bitten by mosquitoes right. So during this weeding project I decided not to wear repellent. There were mosquitoes everywhere but I thought I'd be fine. My companion put on the repellent. So after I was fine but the next day I woke up and I realized that I had been bitten about 10 times and that could have been prevented. We need to always remember to wear our repellent even if we think we will be protected we always need to be putting on the armor of God. We can do that by reading the scriptures and praying everyday. Going to the temple regularly would also give a huge boost to your repellent. Don't take the risk like I did even if you think you will be ok...put on the repellent no matter what.
Also another side note is that my companion put on repellent and got bit 40 times...so even if you are wearing repellent don't go to places you shouldn't be going to...even if you are wearing your armor. He would have been bitten alot more if he didn't wear protection but he would have been better off just staying away.
This week at English class we had 6 missionaries there. It was pretty cool. The assistants and the Zone leaders decided to drop by...it was pretty cool except I was the one teaching the englsih class. It went pretty good but I was pretty nervous.
Also this week we had an investigator come to church. He is pretty cool. Yesterday the topic during sacrament meeting was patriatical blessings. It was interesting but to say the least he was a little confused. I told him that he should start preparing for his and he looks at me and was like I have to be member don't I. I smiled and said its not that hard all we have to do is get baptized. Baptism is just a symbol of us keeping God's commandments and in turn we receive a lot of blessings. He said he'd think about it. But I thought it went pretty good. He is a good kid so we will see what happens.
Have a great week
Love
Elder Nelson
Well we had a pretty crazy week here in Ogaki but it was fun. Well first off this time of year in Japan is very interesting. It is the time of fireworks and festivals so it is fun. So the other day we saw fireworks...they were very far away...probably a 50 minute train ride away (so we went to the top of our apartment and watched them) but the funny thing is that is still our area. I have never even been close to that place and there are people that live their in our Branch's boundary. Its crazy but anyway...the fireworks were very pretty even though they were very far away.
This week I had the opportunity to go back to Inuyama...it was very fun. I visited many people that I taught and met with and loved so it was very good. First we visited a recent convert and talked with him for like one hour. He is 20 and wants to go on a mission so that's exciting. Then we visited a lady that is not a member but when I was their I visited her a lot in the hospital and she is doing good. From that we went and visited an investigator that I taught. When I was in Inuyama he was drinking and smoking but come to find out he has stopped. That is very exciting. He expressed worry about stopping coffee but we explained that if you can stop drinking and smoking you can stop drinking coffee and he said he would...he is so close. He is progressing so very slowly but he is progressing. His wife is a member so she helps a lot. I think he will get baptized pretty soon. It was very cool to see him again. It was very fun to go back.
We try to do as many service projects can but this week I think we signed ourselves up for too much. We went over to this members house and we looked at his back yard and it is like a jungle. There are bugs everywhere, mosquitoes, giant frogs, snakes...and much more but we were supposed to clean it up. After about 2 hours we had 8 bags full of weeds and all sorts of who knows what in the bags. It was fun...there is still a lot to do there but it was cool seeing all those animals. After we finished we told the member what we saw and he was like what no we can't take down the forest now...we have a whole ecosystem back there. His wife just starred at him...haha. But I learned something interesting back there. In Japan I usually dont get bitten by mosquitoes right. So during this weeding project I decided not to wear repellent. There were mosquitoes everywhere but I thought I'd be fine. My companion put on the repellent. So after I was fine but the next day I woke up and I realized that I had been bitten about 10 times and that could have been prevented. We need to always remember to wear our repellent even if we think we will be protected we always need to be putting on the armor of God. We can do that by reading the scriptures and praying everyday. Going to the temple regularly would also give a huge boost to your repellent. Don't take the risk like I did even if you think you will be ok...put on the repellent no matter what.
Also another side note is that my companion put on repellent and got bit 40 times...so even if you are wearing repellent don't go to places you shouldn't be going to...even if you are wearing your armor. He would have been bitten alot more if he didn't wear protection but he would have been better off just staying away.
This week at English class we had 6 missionaries there. It was pretty cool. The assistants and the Zone leaders decided to drop by...it was pretty cool except I was the one teaching the englsih class. It went pretty good but I was pretty nervous.
Also this week we had an investigator come to church. He is pretty cool. Yesterday the topic during sacrament meeting was patriatical blessings. It was interesting but to say the least he was a little confused. I told him that he should start preparing for his and he looks at me and was like I have to be member don't I. I smiled and said its not that hard all we have to do is get baptized. Baptism is just a symbol of us keeping God's commandments and in turn we receive a lot of blessings. He said he'd think about it. But I thought it went pretty good. He is a good kid so we will see what happens.
Have a great week
Love
Elder Nelson
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