Well, We had a nice Christmas week here in Japan. Actually yesterday it snowed a little. I'm not sure if it would usually count as a white Christmas but I will count it this time. We had a bunch of Christmas parties that we went to this week so that was good. We actually went with some investigators and they really enjoyed going so that was good. We had a lot of fun talking with everyone about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm way sad Christmas is over. The big hype and now it's just gone. It is always a fun month. It wasn't quite the same hear in Japan but it was still pretty big.
We actually have been trying to give people presents and gifts but everytime we have tried to give something to someone we end up coming home with twice as much stuff. It goes to show that you can't give the Lord the crust of bread without getting a loaf in return. We actually went to this member's house just to drop of a little goody bag that we made and she ran inside and came back with like a chicken platter, apologizing that that is all she had. There were like 10 pieces of chicken on it. All we gave her were a few treats and she gave us a ton a food in return and wouldn't stop apologizing because it was so little. And I'm just standing there like you gave us your Christmas dinner, it is plenty, actually it's too much!! But she just kept apologizing. My companion and I were able to feel the Christmas spirit as we visited everyone and we saw immediate blessings for spreading the Christmas spirit. I hope everyone enjoy(s)(ed) Christmas and have a happy and safe new years!!!
Love
Elder Nelson
Christmas Party! (December 18, 2011)
Well we had a great week before Christmas and it was topped of by a wonderful Christmas Party. We had a great week preparing for this Christmas party, and we weren't sure how many people were going to come. We invited a lot of people and worked really hard to get as many people there as possible. It was a great program. It started at 5 and the young men and young women put on a nativity and did it by shadows. They made cut outs and made them move on the projection screen. It was a good and then the primary was the angel choir and then there was another choir that sang Silent Night. It was way good. Way spiritual. Then after that we watched the Christmas devotional and that was really good. Then we had a huge feast and there were so many people that we couldn't all fit in the cultural hall...no one could sit down we were all standing. So in our ward there are about 80 active members and we think that about 150 people came to the party which is a huge success. It was so great. The four of us misisonaries couldn't keep up with all the people we didn't know there. It was really ridiculous. I tried to talk with everyone but it was just too much.
Then on Sunday we were hoping that some of them would come to church but only a few came. It's still good. then after church we went and as a service sang at an old folks home. It was fun. They loved us. It was funny talking to them. Old people are always surprised when foreigners can speak Japanese. They also like taking my picture but it was good. I learned some Japanese traditional songs, now if I can remember them it will be a different story.
It was really nice seeing the Nativity and listening to the music. It was such a great opportunity to feel the spirit and be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. I am grateful for the Savior's example and the life he lived for all of us. The Nativity is such a miraculous one and I am touched to hear it every Christmas season. He is the Christ the Son of the Living God
Have a great Christmas. Make it a memorable one!
Thank you
Love
Elder Nelson
Then on Sunday we were hoping that some of them would come to church but only a few came. It's still good. then after church we went and as a service sang at an old folks home. It was fun. They loved us. It was funny talking to them. Old people are always surprised when foreigners can speak Japanese. They also like taking my picture but it was good. I learned some Japanese traditional songs, now if I can remember them it will be a different story.
It was really nice seeing the Nativity and listening to the music. It was such a great opportunity to feel the spirit and be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. I am grateful for the Savior's example and the life he lived for all of us. The Nativity is such a miraculous one and I am touched to hear it every Christmas season. He is the Christ the Son of the Living God
Have a great Christmas. Make it a memorable one!
Thank you
Love
Elder Nelson
忙しい (busy) (December 11, 2011)
We have had another extremely busy week. We can't manage to stay in our own area for too long. We had the opportunity to go down to Nagoya and hear a general authority. It was a very good meeting. I was able to learn a lot. We talked a lot about trials and why we are given trials. It's very interesting. I think in the April conference, Elder Christopherson told a story that explains it best. He talked about a kern bush and then how Hugh B.Brown didn't get a promotion because he was a member. He later learned that God was preparing him to become an Apostle. It's very interesting the way trials can help us.
When I was traveling to Nagoya I had the opportunity to talk to some high school students on the train. It was probably one of the most interesting experiences because I never expected it to happen in Japan but they saw that I was a Christian and we started talking about Christmas. After that, they were like do you know Adam, and I'm like of course. They were all shocked and then I started talking about the fall and prophets. It was way cool because 99.9999% of Japanese high school students don't know any of that so it was cool to talk about it with them. They are doing a play at their high school about it so I thought that was really cool.
Englsih class is going really well. We are starting to teach free private lessons but basically the free private lessons are lesson 1 in Englsih and it has gone really well. Two people have shown a lot of interest so that is good. Along with that we are still doing Book of Mormon Englsih class and all the students are still reading the Book of Mormon so it is going great.
When we came here to Hamamatsu, the Bishop was kind of cold...like he wouldn't really talk to us. He would just shake our hands and kind of ignore us but yesterday he came up to us and shook our hands and then one of the speakers didn't show up so he asked us to speak in Sacrament Meeting. I thought that was a blesing because it shows that he trusts us. Our topic was Duty to God and how it has helped us. Funny thing is mom and I last week emailed about what I learned from Brother Horsley, so I talked a little bit about that and the great experience that it is and how much it can help. It went pretty well but I am thankful for my leaders and parents that helped me to prepare for this mission. Well, honestly nothing will prepare you fully for a mission but you can try to get as close as possible.
I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be in Japan for one more Christmas. It is a speacial place. Have a great time and be thankful for this time of the year.
Love
Elder Nelson
When I was traveling to Nagoya I had the opportunity to talk to some high school students on the train. It was probably one of the most interesting experiences because I never expected it to happen in Japan but they saw that I was a Christian and we started talking about Christmas. After that, they were like do you know Adam, and I'm like of course. They were all shocked and then I started talking about the fall and prophets. It was way cool because 99.9999% of Japanese high school students don't know any of that so it was cool to talk about it with them. They are doing a play at their high school about it so I thought that was really cool.
Englsih class is going really well. We are starting to teach free private lessons but basically the free private lessons are lesson 1 in Englsih and it has gone really well. Two people have shown a lot of interest so that is good. Along with that we are still doing Book of Mormon Englsih class and all the students are still reading the Book of Mormon so it is going great.
When we came here to Hamamatsu, the Bishop was kind of cold...like he wouldn't really talk to us. He would just shake our hands and kind of ignore us but yesterday he came up to us and shook our hands and then one of the speakers didn't show up so he asked us to speak in Sacrament Meeting. I thought that was a blesing because it shows that he trusts us. Our topic was Duty to God and how it has helped us. Funny thing is mom and I last week emailed about what I learned from Brother Horsley, so I talked a little bit about that and the great experience that it is and how much it can help. It went pretty well but I am thankful for my leaders and parents that helped me to prepare for this mission. Well, honestly nothing will prepare you fully for a mission but you can try to get as close as possible.
I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be in Japan for one more Christmas. It is a speacial place. Have a great time and be thankful for this time of the year.
Love
Elder Nelson
Abundant blessings (December 4, 2011)
Well this has been a great week as we try to get in to the Christmas Spirit. It's a little different here. This year Christmas is on a Sunday so some people in Japan will have a day off but it is not a holiday, unforunately. We do have the privilege of seeing Christmas lights every once in a while and stores are pretty decorated...but it's very different from America. If you ask a Japanese person what they do for Christmas they say eat cake. Giving presents isn't a big thing here in Japan. But nonetheless we are preparing for a huge Christmas Party at church. It is going to be way fun and the youth have put a lot of time into it. I am way excited as we try to get people not of our faith to come to this party.
Another thing that I had the opportunity of doing was eating steak. There is this Peruvian family in our ward. It is a very sad story because the whole ward and even the missionaries thought he had moved back to Peru. For some reason me and my companion felt the need to visit him even though everyone else thought he moved. Two weeks ago we met him and his wife. It was a way good experience for me to know that God cares for all his Children and that eventhough sometimes people maybe forgotten by other people, God never does forget them. But last week they invited us over to their house and fed us steak...it was way good. If that isn't a blessing I don't know what is.
Another blessing I had was to go back to Fuji and meet many people I served with and worked with a year before. To my surprise some people remembered me...actually a lot of people remembered me. As I was able to travel to Fuji I thought of how much I had grown and changed over the past year. How much I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life and I have been blessed. It was also a giant blessing to go back to a ward that I have previously served in and meet all the members again. The point of the visit is to train the ward mission leader so that he can better work with the missionaries and the members more efficiently, so it was good but always nerve racking. It has been exactly a year since I have left Fuji and I am so grateful I got to go back and meet friends. It was such a huge blessing to me. It just reminds me that the Lord knows and answers our prayers in miraculous ways.
I am way excited for this Christmas eventhough I will be away from Family and Friends but it will be a time to share Christ's love with people who desperately need it.
Love
Elder Nelson
Another thing that I had the opportunity of doing was eating steak. There is this Peruvian family in our ward. It is a very sad story because the whole ward and even the missionaries thought he had moved back to Peru. For some reason me and my companion felt the need to visit him even though everyone else thought he moved. Two weeks ago we met him and his wife. It was a way good experience for me to know that God cares for all his Children and that eventhough sometimes people maybe forgotten by other people, God never does forget them. But last week they invited us over to their house and fed us steak...it was way good. If that isn't a blessing I don't know what is.
Another blessing I had was to go back to Fuji and meet many people I served with and worked with a year before. To my surprise some people remembered me...actually a lot of people remembered me. As I was able to travel to Fuji I thought of how much I had grown and changed over the past year. How much I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life and I have been blessed. It was also a giant blessing to go back to a ward that I have previously served in and meet all the members again. The point of the visit is to train the ward mission leader so that he can better work with the missionaries and the members more efficiently, so it was good but always nerve racking. It has been exactly a year since I have left Fuji and I am so grateful I got to go back and meet friends. It was such a huge blessing to me. It just reminds me that the Lord knows and answers our prayers in miraculous ways.
I am way excited for this Christmas eventhough I will be away from Family and Friends but it will be a time to share Christ's love with people who desperately need it.
Love
Elder Nelson
Thanksgiving (November 27, 2011)
Well...thanks for the package. Unfortunately I didn’t get the package until Saturday but it’s all good. I have eaten a lot of it and it is really tasty. Thanks so much. I think the other missionaries would really like to thank you for the bacon bits. They are almost gone. They make bacon sandwiches with bacon bits. So I think they would express their thanks.
Also whenever I go to people’s houses and show them pictures they always say mom is cute and looks really young so I figure mom would like to hear that.
Ya thanksgiving was good I guess...it was sad but good. We tried to find a service to do and couldn’t so we decided to donate blood. That was way fun. My companion almost fainted because he had never done it before. They only took 400 ml so it’s like nothing. It is the most you can give...I think in America you can give like 800 ml but I’m not sure.
Then we ate a lot of dinner. The package didn’t come so I made this stew stuff...it’s kind of like potato soup but obviously not as good. Elder Brown made this fried Chicken stuff. Then Elder Amussen made mashed potatoes and Elder Imaizumi made this fried beef stuff which was really good.
The sad part was we had a huge party planned in Ogaki with a big turkey but I guess there is nothing you can do.
The baseball activity was way fun. We are already planning the next one!!
Which reminds me...what do you do for mutual...my ward wants to start doing mutual every week but they don’t know what to do. I said we would come up with ideas to help them but I forgot what we did...I know we did mission prep and watched the Office at Brother Horsley’s but what can they do with a young men and young women with a total of 6 to 8 people with very little leader support and people live far away??? Any Suggestions?
We got some new investigators this week. One is really good. He is Brazilian and his wife is a member. In the lesson his wife keeps pushing him to get baptized and wants him to baptize their 4 year old daughter when she gets old enough. He also has interest in eternal families but feels obligated to his Catholic family. I think he has a lot of potential though.
We also teach one English class a week, so that’s fun but we got a new investigator from that. He believes in God and we taught him how to pray and he offered a great prayer. It was heartfelt. He is awesome and hopefully he will come to church next week...unfortunately we will be in a different ward next week, because we have to train their ward mission leader. I’m really excited because it is the Fuji ward. That will be really exciting to see all my old friends.
Some more interesting news is that President Stevenson is coming to visit our mission next week so we will have a zone conference. He is The Area President and was the Nagoya mission president before President Treveller so that is very exciting. I also get to go to Nagoya this week for zone leader training. So we have a pretty busy next couple of weeks.
I went on a companion exchange with Elder Adachi last week so that was way fun. It was cool to serve with him again. He’s a good missionary. I told him I’d come visit him in July or August and he said he’d come pick us up from the airport if he has a car. So that’s cool.
I bought a suit and it was half off...I was so excited...it is pretty cool but guess what the waist size is 32 inches. It actually fits pretty well though.
Yesterday we had a really good lesson in Sunday School. We talked about thankfulness and how we should be thankful for the Holy Ghost in our lives. We read this book and it was really touching (I actually ordered it) but it talked about all the different times when the spirit has touched people and gave them that peaceful feeling. As I heard that I thought how thankful I am for the Holy Ghost and how much it has helped me in my life, especially getting transferred to a new area with a companion that does not know the area at all. I have seemed to somehow be able to find the places we need to go magically. The funny thing is every time I think I got to a place really fast all by myself, the next time I get lost. But every time when we find the house quickly and I give thanks for the help of the Holy Ghost it is just as easy to find the next house. It is crazy how the Spirit works but I am so thankful to have its help in my life. It has been a blessing and I am really grateful for this gift. It is really a great gift from our Heavenly Father. And as long as we are standing in Holy Places we are entitled to it.
Love you all very much. Hope you had a special Thanksgiving and as we move into the Christmas season, Hope you feel that spirit in your life
Love
Elder Nelson
Also whenever I go to people’s houses and show them pictures they always say mom is cute and looks really young so I figure mom would like to hear that.
Ya thanksgiving was good I guess...it was sad but good. We tried to find a service to do and couldn’t so we decided to donate blood. That was way fun. My companion almost fainted because he had never done it before. They only took 400 ml so it’s like nothing. It is the most you can give...I think in America you can give like 800 ml but I’m not sure.
Then we ate a lot of dinner. The package didn’t come so I made this stew stuff...it’s kind of like potato soup but obviously not as good. Elder Brown made this fried Chicken stuff. Then Elder Amussen made mashed potatoes and Elder Imaizumi made this fried beef stuff which was really good.
The sad part was we had a huge party planned in Ogaki with a big turkey but I guess there is nothing you can do.
The baseball activity was way fun. We are already planning the next one!!
Which reminds me...what do you do for mutual...my ward wants to start doing mutual every week but they don’t know what to do. I said we would come up with ideas to help them but I forgot what we did...I know we did mission prep and watched the Office at Brother Horsley’s but what can they do with a young men and young women with a total of 6 to 8 people with very little leader support and people live far away??? Any Suggestions?
We got some new investigators this week. One is really good. He is Brazilian and his wife is a member. In the lesson his wife keeps pushing him to get baptized and wants him to baptize their 4 year old daughter when she gets old enough. He also has interest in eternal families but feels obligated to his Catholic family. I think he has a lot of potential though.
We also teach one English class a week, so that’s fun but we got a new investigator from that. He believes in God and we taught him how to pray and he offered a great prayer. It was heartfelt. He is awesome and hopefully he will come to church next week...unfortunately we will be in a different ward next week, because we have to train their ward mission leader. I’m really excited because it is the Fuji ward. That will be really exciting to see all my old friends.
Some more interesting news is that President Stevenson is coming to visit our mission next week so we will have a zone conference. He is The Area President and was the Nagoya mission president before President Treveller so that is very exciting. I also get to go to Nagoya this week for zone leader training. So we have a pretty busy next couple of weeks.
I went on a companion exchange with Elder Adachi last week so that was way fun. It was cool to serve with him again. He’s a good missionary. I told him I’d come visit him in July or August and he said he’d come pick us up from the airport if he has a car. So that’s cool.
I bought a suit and it was half off...I was so excited...it is pretty cool but guess what the waist size is 32 inches. It actually fits pretty well though.
Yesterday we had a really good lesson in Sunday School. We talked about thankfulness and how we should be thankful for the Holy Ghost in our lives. We read this book and it was really touching (I actually ordered it) but it talked about all the different times when the spirit has touched people and gave them that peaceful feeling. As I heard that I thought how thankful I am for the Holy Ghost and how much it has helped me in my life, especially getting transferred to a new area with a companion that does not know the area at all. I have seemed to somehow be able to find the places we need to go magically. The funny thing is every time I think I got to a place really fast all by myself, the next time I get lost. But every time when we find the house quickly and I give thanks for the help of the Holy Ghost it is just as easy to find the next house. It is crazy how the Spirit works but I am so thankful to have its help in my life. It has been a blessing and I am really grateful for this gift. It is really a great gift from our Heavenly Father. And as long as we are standing in Holy Places we are entitled to it.
Love you all very much. Hope you had a special Thanksgiving and as we move into the Christmas season, Hope you feel that spirit in your life
Love
Elder Nelson
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