Good Afternoon,
What's up? It has been another great week here on the island nation of Japan. It was an interesting week. I was in Numazu all week. I am sure all of you know exactly where that is. It is actually pretty close to Tokyo. I got on a train to Tokyo while I was there but I got off before I made it to Tokyo. While I was in Numazu it rained on us. The smart misssionary that I am and the eagle scout that I am thought that I would not need a rain jacket or rain suit of anykind. On Thursday I am pretty sure a typhoon hit us. I am not sure because I haven't watched the weather for a while but it was. It like dumped buckets of rain on me. I did have an unbrella but it is hard to use when the rain is coming side ways. It was fun. We made the safe walk to english class and taught . Our shoes were all wet so we all took are shoes off and were wearing socks. Some of the students thought they weren't supposed to wear shoes in the church. In Japan some buildings you have to take your shoes off first before you enter. It was fun.
Another funny thing about Japan is that sometimes when you go into to people's houses they make you put on slippers. They never have my size in fact the largest they ever have is like a size 9. It is pretty funny. So I wear these slippers but my heal is sticking out of the end. Then if you use the bathroom in their home you have to put on the bathroom slippers. It is very interesting. I don't know why but that is just the way it is.
It is starting to get pretty cool outside. I can ride my bike for like a whole 5 minutes before I start to sweat, just kidding but seriously the weather is getting way nicer.
So on Saturday we went to chill at the mall. Why one might ask, well it is a great opportunity to find people. It is easier to talk to people and become friends if we know what they like. But yesterday we went to the food court where a lot of people are, and we played jenga. Yes it is a pretty good attention getter. We talked to a few people. We tried to get a girl to play but her boyfriend wouldn't let her. I can't inmagine why, but we become friends with people and then share the gospel and then baptize them. It sounds like a good plan ot me.
We do a lot of finding here because we have very few investigators. This area was opened up pretty recently so there aren't too many investigators. We do a lot of finding, and knoking on doors all day can get boring so we have fun and it works pretty well. We have one really good investigator who said she wanted to be baptized. Of corse, my companion and I were thrilled but she wants to learn more so that is good. She loves the plan of salvation and thinks it is the coolest thing ever. Probably because it is like the coolest thing ever. Like we can live forever with are families. If that isn't cool enough we also get to live with God and Jesus Christ. So it is the coolest thing ever.
Keep having fun.
Love
Elder Nelson
富士山 (Mt. Fuji) September 20, 2010
Good Evening everybody,
How is life going, probably pretty good. Japan is still great.
Fuji is awesome. First of all I am 10 minutes away from the beach by bike. It is pretty nice. You can do so much at the beach like, bbq, watch people swim, watch people surf and fun stuff like that lol, but seriously the beach is awesome. I have only been once and I just looked at it and kept riding my bike. Fuji is way nice though. It is much cooler than Inuyama. Inuyama was incredibly hot but Fuji is much nicer. It is also September so it has started cooling down anyway, but still. Mount Fuji is huge. I have never seen anything like it. The problem is I can't see it most of the time. It is always covered by clouds. It is kind of wierd. It is this massive thing and I can't see it most of the time. I think the clouds are attracted to it. I have seen the whole thing once and it is truly massive. I think we are going to go hike it one pday. That will be fun.
The apartment is way nice. It is a yonnin which means it can fit 4 missionaries. At the moment there are only 2 missionaries: my companion, Elder Wilson, and me. So it is huge. Inuyama's was pretty small but this apartment is huge. That is also another bonus about Fuji. So pretty much I love Fuji, not just because of the mountains, the beach, and the apartment, but there are also great people here too.
My new Companion is Elder Wilson. He is from Oregon. He is 20 years old and he is on his 13th transfer. This is his 4th transfer in Fuji. When he returns from his mission he wants to be a navy seal so that's pretty cool. He has slowly started to train for it. We have gone running a few times in the morning. I am not the biggest fan but it is good for me and I could use a little exercise.
So today is Tuesday which is not pday so this makes it a little awkward. lol. Ya yesterday Elder Wilson and I had to travel to Shizuoka to meet the other elders. They were actually having a ward activity there and they played softball. Yesterday was a holiday called honor the old people. Im not sure the real name but that is what they do. Softball was fun. So there are 10 missionaries there and we played against the ward. So we are young, fit, in our 20s, playing softball against these members who are in there 30s and 40s and have kids and everything. I pitch the first inning and I am throwing nice underhand pitches. I thought that's what we were supposed to do. They get like 4 runs but whatever. Then it is our turn to bat and they made us submit a line up. Which is weird but thats how serious this was. Then this member gets up and is throwing like the world softball champion. I am pretty sure his pitches were going 60 miles per hour. We had trouble hitting him. He didn't go easy on the elders who had never played baseball before (or softball). Some of us were pretty good but we couldn't get enough runs to beat them. I started pitching harder but I can't throw that hard under hand. It was like the most seroius game of softball I have ever played. We had umps and everything. It was rough. They were so happy to beat us.The final score was 7 to 6, but man was it tough.
So there are 12 missionaries in our zone and none of them are sisters. It is the second smallest zone next to the Nagano Zone. My last zone was the biggest but now it's smaller. They are both cool. One of my zone leaders is Elder Larson. He went to Cimarron high school and graduated in 08. He is pretty cool.
Ya back to my story. After playing hardcore softball, Elder Wilson had to go to Nagoya. There is a week long training there for all the leaders. He is a district leader therefore he has to go. So I dropped him off there and then I returned to a new area. It is Numazu. I will be here until Friday and Saturday with Elder Carr and Elder Otahara. They have been out 6 and 5 transfers respectivly. It tool a while to get back because it is further away then Fuji. Numazu is way close to Tokyo. Numazu is cool but we don't have three bikes so we are going to do South America missionary work (lol) and walk everywhere. It shouold work out well.
So last Tuesday I came to Fuji. It took quite a while. It was about an hour ride to Nagoya from Inuyama where I met Elder Wilson. We got on a train and four hours later and 50 dollars later we were in Fuji. It was a long day. Everything went well.Both Fuji and Numazu are closer to Tokyo than Nagoya. I think it is about 20 dollars and an hour and a half train ride to Tokyo.
We have one really good investigator here. She is so nice. I have only met here once though. She was supposed to come to church but cancelled because her son got sick. Hopefully she will be able to come this next week even though we won't have too much time to visit her.
Well everything is going well. Have a great week back in the USA.
Love
Elder Nelson
How is life going, probably pretty good. Japan is still great.
Fuji is awesome. First of all I am 10 minutes away from the beach by bike. It is pretty nice. You can do so much at the beach like, bbq, watch people swim, watch people surf and fun stuff like that lol, but seriously the beach is awesome. I have only been once and I just looked at it and kept riding my bike. Fuji is way nice though. It is much cooler than Inuyama. Inuyama was incredibly hot but Fuji is much nicer. It is also September so it has started cooling down anyway, but still. Mount Fuji is huge. I have never seen anything like it. The problem is I can't see it most of the time. It is always covered by clouds. It is kind of wierd. It is this massive thing and I can't see it most of the time. I think the clouds are attracted to it. I have seen the whole thing once and it is truly massive. I think we are going to go hike it one pday. That will be fun.
The apartment is way nice. It is a yonnin which means it can fit 4 missionaries. At the moment there are only 2 missionaries: my companion, Elder Wilson, and me. So it is huge. Inuyama's was pretty small but this apartment is huge. That is also another bonus about Fuji. So pretty much I love Fuji, not just because of the mountains, the beach, and the apartment, but there are also great people here too.
My new Companion is Elder Wilson. He is from Oregon. He is 20 years old and he is on his 13th transfer. This is his 4th transfer in Fuji. When he returns from his mission he wants to be a navy seal so that's pretty cool. He has slowly started to train for it. We have gone running a few times in the morning. I am not the biggest fan but it is good for me and I could use a little exercise.
So today is Tuesday which is not pday so this makes it a little awkward. lol. Ya yesterday Elder Wilson and I had to travel to Shizuoka to meet the other elders. They were actually having a ward activity there and they played softball. Yesterday was a holiday called honor the old people. Im not sure the real name but that is what they do. Softball was fun. So there are 10 missionaries there and we played against the ward. So we are young, fit, in our 20s, playing softball against these members who are in there 30s and 40s and have kids and everything. I pitch the first inning and I am throwing nice underhand pitches. I thought that's what we were supposed to do. They get like 4 runs but whatever. Then it is our turn to bat and they made us submit a line up. Which is weird but thats how serious this was. Then this member gets up and is throwing like the world softball champion. I am pretty sure his pitches were going 60 miles per hour. We had trouble hitting him. He didn't go easy on the elders who had never played baseball before (or softball). Some of us were pretty good but we couldn't get enough runs to beat them. I started pitching harder but I can't throw that hard under hand. It was like the most seroius game of softball I have ever played. We had umps and everything. It was rough. They were so happy to beat us.The final score was 7 to 6, but man was it tough.
So there are 12 missionaries in our zone and none of them are sisters. It is the second smallest zone next to the Nagano Zone. My last zone was the biggest but now it's smaller. They are both cool. One of my zone leaders is Elder Larson. He went to Cimarron high school and graduated in 08. He is pretty cool.
Ya back to my story. After playing hardcore softball, Elder Wilson had to go to Nagoya. There is a week long training there for all the leaders. He is a district leader therefore he has to go. So I dropped him off there and then I returned to a new area. It is Numazu. I will be here until Friday and Saturday with Elder Carr and Elder Otahara. They have been out 6 and 5 transfers respectivly. It tool a while to get back because it is further away then Fuji. Numazu is way close to Tokyo. Numazu is cool but we don't have three bikes so we are going to do South America missionary work (lol) and walk everywhere. It shouold work out well.
So last Tuesday I came to Fuji. It took quite a while. It was about an hour ride to Nagoya from Inuyama where I met Elder Wilson. We got on a train and four hours later and 50 dollars later we were in Fuji. It was a long day. Everything went well.Both Fuji and Numazu are closer to Tokyo than Nagoya. I think it is about 20 dollars and an hour and a half train ride to Tokyo.
We have one really good investigator here. She is so nice. I have only met here once though. She was supposed to come to church but cancelled because her son got sick. Hopefully she will be able to come this next week even though we won't have too much time to visit her.
Well everything is going well. Have a great week back in the USA.
Love
Elder Nelson
転勤します (The transfer) September 12, 2010
What is up everybody?
It was a great last week in Inuyama. I was able to go see Inuyama castle. It was incredible. It is up on the mountain that overlooks the river. If anyone is ever in the Nagoya, Japan area I would highly suggest checking it out. It was so cool. We got to go into the castle and climb to the highest watch tower. It was way cool and a way good place for a castle. I think it is a pretty good defense place. The Inuyama castle is the oldest castle in Japan so that's really cool too. As we were climbing up the stairs there were creeks everywhere. It was kind of scary. It was really cool though.
So this last Saturday I made pancakes for the ward. They had an activity so I made pancakes for them. It was awesome because everyone loves pancakes. The hard thing was that all I had was a frying pan so I only could cook one at a time. It took a while but it was fun. We actually got 3 investigators to come. That was really cool. The sad thing is that investigators will go to that thing with no problem but then not come to church. Why can they come to a 4 hour activity on Saturday but not 3 hours of church on Sunday, I will never know. Yesterday was good. We went to the bishop's house. It was really good. We had this wierd egg thing with like mushrooms and raddish and eggplant. It was pretty good. He also gave us kimchi because he knows I like it. It was way fun. We also visited a less active member. They were Brazillian. It was fun talking with them in Simple Japanese with some Portuguese thrown around. Ya but they gave us these chips and man they tasted like seaweed. I can see why they gave them to us. Of course I ate the whole bag but man they were weird. I might as well have been eating seaweed.
So transfer calls were this morning and let me tell you they just make you nervous. Then they called at like 9:50. They are like Elder Fedrickson you are...not transferring. He is actually becoming a trainer. He is way nervous. Its pretty funny. I am transferring. I am going to a place that I think everyone wants to go. I am excited to be going there. When the assisstant called me he told me I was going to the mountains. So yes I am going to Fuji!!!!! Yes that is the biggest mountain in Japan, so I am very excited to go there. I packed this morning and all my stuff is headed there including my bike so I have no bike today or tomorrow. So we all meet at the Nagoya train station tomorrow and I will be on my way to Fuji. I Hear it rains alot there too so that will be fun.
It is going to be sad leaving this area. I have made a lot of friends. the ward is very nice but I am excited to move on. Everyone has been nice to me as I have struggled with the language. It is still pretty rough. I can understand decent but sometimes I can't say anything that I want to. It is very frustrating but also it is very humbling.
Have a great week. Keep up the hard work
Love Elder Nelson
It was a great last week in Inuyama. I was able to go see Inuyama castle. It was incredible. It is up on the mountain that overlooks the river. If anyone is ever in the Nagoya, Japan area I would highly suggest checking it out. It was so cool. We got to go into the castle and climb to the highest watch tower. It was way cool and a way good place for a castle. I think it is a pretty good defense place. The Inuyama castle is the oldest castle in Japan so that's really cool too. As we were climbing up the stairs there were creeks everywhere. It was kind of scary. It was really cool though.
So this last Saturday I made pancakes for the ward. They had an activity so I made pancakes for them. It was awesome because everyone loves pancakes. The hard thing was that all I had was a frying pan so I only could cook one at a time. It took a while but it was fun. We actually got 3 investigators to come. That was really cool. The sad thing is that investigators will go to that thing with no problem but then not come to church. Why can they come to a 4 hour activity on Saturday but not 3 hours of church on Sunday, I will never know. Yesterday was good. We went to the bishop's house. It was really good. We had this wierd egg thing with like mushrooms and raddish and eggplant. It was pretty good. He also gave us kimchi because he knows I like it. It was way fun. We also visited a less active member. They were Brazillian. It was fun talking with them in Simple Japanese with some Portuguese thrown around. Ya but they gave us these chips and man they tasted like seaweed. I can see why they gave them to us. Of course I ate the whole bag but man they were weird. I might as well have been eating seaweed.
So transfer calls were this morning and let me tell you they just make you nervous. Then they called at like 9:50. They are like Elder Fedrickson you are...not transferring. He is actually becoming a trainer. He is way nervous. Its pretty funny. I am transferring. I am going to a place that I think everyone wants to go. I am excited to be going there. When the assisstant called me he told me I was going to the mountains. So yes I am going to Fuji!!!!! Yes that is the biggest mountain in Japan, so I am very excited to go there. I packed this morning and all my stuff is headed there including my bike so I have no bike today or tomorrow. So we all meet at the Nagoya train station tomorrow and I will be on my way to Fuji. I Hear it rains alot there too so that will be fun.
It is going to be sad leaving this area. I have made a lot of friends. the ward is very nice but I am excited to move on. Everyone has been nice to me as I have struggled with the language. It is still pretty rough. I can understand decent but sometimes I can't say anything that I want to. It is very frustrating but also it is very humbling.
Have a great week. Keep up the hard work
Love Elder Nelson
意志あるところに道は開ける "Where there is will open the way" (September 5, 2010)
Whats up
It has been another wonderful week here in Japan. I think it was one of the hottest. but thats ok. I was hoping it would start to cool down soon but whatever.
So we went on companion exchanges this week. It was pretty fun. I went to Gifu. The elder I was with is a great example for me. He is from Utah but he went trainer on transfer 3. He is now on transfer 4 and doing well. He is also pretty good at Japanese and that is why he went tranier...probably. It was fun. Gifu is like a major city compared to Inuyama. Inuyama is kind of a city but kind of not. Its difficult to explain.
We found this cool Brazilian guy the other day. He was wearing a back brace so we asked him why and he said he got hit by a car. Then he's like I have like nothing to do. So my companion and I gave him something to do. He is going to read the Book of Mormon. He was actualy very excited. He tried to pay us for it but we insisted that he could have it for free. Finally I told him we can't read pourtuguese so please take. He told us he would read it all. That was really cool. We are excited to meet with him.
So we have an english sunday school class that we attend everyweek. It is very fun. Lately a lot of spanish people come so we have a english/spanish sunday school class. It is very fun. I am always learning alot. it is very interesting. There are more people in that class than the japanese class.
Ya so whenever we ride the train we try to talk to people as we ride. we have met alot of different people, sometimes they are not in our area but we can give them as referals to other missionaries. I recently talked with a guy who had previously met with other missionaries. I thought that was funny. He was from Brazil, but now living in Japan. He didn't live in our area but we still got his information and gave it to other missionaries. That was pretty cool.
Trains are actually crazy here in Japan. Like whenever we come home from Nagoya the trains are packed. Everyone tries to get on and you are all up against each other. It is very uncomfortable. One might ask why don't you wait for the next train. The problem is the next train is just as full. It is very sad. It is a very unique experience. It is very hard to talk to people when you are on very packed trains but we try.
We are going to try to go to Inuyama castle today. I have lived here for four months but I haven't gone yet. It looks way cool from far away.
So have a great week. It seems like everyone had fun starting school.
Love
Elder Nelson
It has been another wonderful week here in Japan. I think it was one of the hottest. but thats ok. I was hoping it would start to cool down soon but whatever.
So we went on companion exchanges this week. It was pretty fun. I went to Gifu. The elder I was with is a great example for me. He is from Utah but he went trainer on transfer 3. He is now on transfer 4 and doing well. He is also pretty good at Japanese and that is why he went tranier...probably. It was fun. Gifu is like a major city compared to Inuyama. Inuyama is kind of a city but kind of not. Its difficult to explain.
We found this cool Brazilian guy the other day. He was wearing a back brace so we asked him why and he said he got hit by a car. Then he's like I have like nothing to do. So my companion and I gave him something to do. He is going to read the Book of Mormon. He was actualy very excited. He tried to pay us for it but we insisted that he could have it for free. Finally I told him we can't read pourtuguese so please take. He told us he would read it all. That was really cool. We are excited to meet with him.
So we have an english sunday school class that we attend everyweek. It is very fun. Lately a lot of spanish people come so we have a english/spanish sunday school class. It is very fun. I am always learning alot. it is very interesting. There are more people in that class than the japanese class.
Ya so whenever we ride the train we try to talk to people as we ride. we have met alot of different people, sometimes they are not in our area but we can give them as referals to other missionaries. I recently talked with a guy who had previously met with other missionaries. I thought that was funny. He was from Brazil, but now living in Japan. He didn't live in our area but we still got his information and gave it to other missionaries. That was pretty cool.
Trains are actually crazy here in Japan. Like whenever we come home from Nagoya the trains are packed. Everyone tries to get on and you are all up against each other. It is very uncomfortable. One might ask why don't you wait for the next train. The problem is the next train is just as full. It is very sad. It is a very unique experience. It is very hard to talk to people when you are on very packed trains but we try.
We are going to try to go to Inuyama castle today. I have lived here for four months but I haven't gone yet. It looks way cool from far away.
So have a great week. It seems like everyone had fun starting school.
Love
Elder Nelson
学校 (School) August 30, 2010
Good afternoon.
Wow I can't believe summer is over. I have been asking all the kids here when school starts and I didn't realize how soon it actually was. Time is flying. I can't believe it is almost September. It is insane. Wow I bet everyone is excited to start school. Especially seminary what a great opportunity to learn. Everyone is lucky in America to have the opportunity to go to seminary. At least in my ward there is only seminary once a week and it is on Sundays after church. Occasionally they have it on Fridays but not too often. It is a very good opportunity to learn and prepare for later in life...for example to serve a mission. It really helped me so have fun and try to learn because it will help, I promise.
This week was way good. We have started teaching new investigators. It is always fun to teach people. It is actually one of the funnest things I do. Its wierd how that works but its true. We teach a lot in English but also Japanese. My Japanese is improving but I still have trouble. I made some mistakes this past week but I have learned from them. It is better to make some mistakes and try then make no mistakes but never try. I am getting better each day so it is good. It is hard though when we are tracting and we run in to Portuguese speakers. Then we struggle in Porteuguese but they are really receptive if we could just talk with them a little better.
Today was pretty cool. We went to Nagoya and saw our zone leader. Our poor zone leader was in the hospital so we went and visited them. He is doing way good and is going to be released shortly. I know that God takes care of his servants. We also had Pizza Hut...It was soooo good. I haven't had good pizza for a long time. There was like a speacial and a Medium was only 8 dollars. It is usually 24 so it was a steal. They put corn on their pizza which seems wierd but it's not bad. It's actually pretty good. So that was way fun. I also had the opportunity to play ping pong which is way fun. They really do have ping pong tables in every church over here. There is no basketball court so thats tai hen but whatever.
Lately we have started doing tracting a different way. So like we are in Inuyama but our area is like in 8 cities like its huge. Its like way big so it is easy to get lost. We just ride for a long ways and then get lost. Then we ask people how to get places. Because we are sincerely lost and looking for something they help us. We have actually found many people by doing this. We find the good people because the mean people just don't help us. The nice people do though and we invite them to English class or tell them what we do. Like we are vollunteers and we help people become more happy and that works too. It is way fun.
We had zone conference this past week. it was way good. We only have it once every three months now so it is more rare but it was way good. Everyone at first was way afraid of our new mission president. Now everyone loves him. He likes to yell but he is just very emotional. He teaches us with such power. It is way awesome. He is way good. He challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas so I have started it over again. It will be way good. We are doing the challenge that at the end of chapter 5 of pmg if you want to look. He also promised us that our investigators would get an answer to their prayer about the Book of Mormon in 3 days or less. He said it shouldn't take weeks to get an answer. If they have faith and are truely praying they can get an answer in three days. That's not just true for them that is true for everyone. He also taught us about trials. He told us a story and then taught us how important it is to stay in control of your temper. If you lose it bad things can happen. So when you are having a bad day just think of the Savior. It was way good. He is a really powerful teacher and a way good mission president.
How is your area and your companion doing? My area is fine. There are a lot of interesting people but you know its all good. My companion is awesome. He is way cool. He is also way smart. He got his bachelors degree at the age of 18 so ya he is pretty smart. We have fun.
Have you learned much about Buddhism? I have learned that no one really knows what Buddhism is. They all say they are Buddhists but that have no idea what they are talking about. It is their excuse for not listening to us but its lame. No one knows what it is.
Do you have sister missionaries in your district? Ya actually I think that sister you are talking about is in my district. Funny. Her name is Sister Severson. She is way cool.
Are there any native missionaries in your area? Like are there missionaries gone from my home ward. Yes two. The Bishop's daughter and a Brazilian member's son. Those two families I think have fed us more than the entire ward combined so we like them alot.
Dad and I had the TV on this morning and we learned in Japan the end of summer they celebrate with fireworks. Has that occurred in your area? I have seen fire works but they have celebrations all summer so I am not sure.
Have fun as you start school and have a great week,
Love
Elder Nelson
Wow I can't believe summer is over. I have been asking all the kids here when school starts and I didn't realize how soon it actually was. Time is flying. I can't believe it is almost September. It is insane. Wow I bet everyone is excited to start school. Especially seminary what a great opportunity to learn. Everyone is lucky in America to have the opportunity to go to seminary. At least in my ward there is only seminary once a week and it is on Sundays after church. Occasionally they have it on Fridays but not too often. It is a very good opportunity to learn and prepare for later in life...for example to serve a mission. It really helped me so have fun and try to learn because it will help, I promise.
This week was way good. We have started teaching new investigators. It is always fun to teach people. It is actually one of the funnest things I do. Its wierd how that works but its true. We teach a lot in English but also Japanese. My Japanese is improving but I still have trouble. I made some mistakes this past week but I have learned from them. It is better to make some mistakes and try then make no mistakes but never try. I am getting better each day so it is good. It is hard though when we are tracting and we run in to Portuguese speakers. Then we struggle in Porteuguese but they are really receptive if we could just talk with them a little better.
Today was pretty cool. We went to Nagoya and saw our zone leader. Our poor zone leader was in the hospital so we went and visited them. He is doing way good and is going to be released shortly. I know that God takes care of his servants. We also had Pizza Hut...It was soooo good. I haven't had good pizza for a long time. There was like a speacial and a Medium was only 8 dollars. It is usually 24 so it was a steal. They put corn on their pizza which seems wierd but it's not bad. It's actually pretty good. So that was way fun. I also had the opportunity to play ping pong which is way fun. They really do have ping pong tables in every church over here. There is no basketball court so thats tai hen but whatever.
Lately we have started doing tracting a different way. So like we are in Inuyama but our area is like in 8 cities like its huge. Its like way big so it is easy to get lost. We just ride for a long ways and then get lost. Then we ask people how to get places. Because we are sincerely lost and looking for something they help us. We have actually found many people by doing this. We find the good people because the mean people just don't help us. The nice people do though and we invite them to English class or tell them what we do. Like we are vollunteers and we help people become more happy and that works too. It is way fun.
We had zone conference this past week. it was way good. We only have it once every three months now so it is more rare but it was way good. Everyone at first was way afraid of our new mission president. Now everyone loves him. He likes to yell but he is just very emotional. He teaches us with such power. It is way awesome. He is way good. He challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas so I have started it over again. It will be way good. We are doing the challenge that at the end of chapter 5 of pmg if you want to look. He also promised us that our investigators would get an answer to their prayer about the Book of Mormon in 3 days or less. He said it shouldn't take weeks to get an answer. If they have faith and are truely praying they can get an answer in three days. That's not just true for them that is true for everyone. He also taught us about trials. He told us a story and then taught us how important it is to stay in control of your temper. If you lose it bad things can happen. So when you are having a bad day just think of the Savior. It was way good. He is a really powerful teacher and a way good mission president.
How is your area and your companion doing? My area is fine. There are a lot of interesting people but you know its all good. My companion is awesome. He is way cool. He is also way smart. He got his bachelors degree at the age of 18 so ya he is pretty smart. We have fun.
Have you learned much about Buddhism? I have learned that no one really knows what Buddhism is. They all say they are Buddhists but that have no idea what they are talking about. It is their excuse for not listening to us but its lame. No one knows what it is.
Do you have sister missionaries in your district? Ya actually I think that sister you are talking about is in my district. Funny. Her name is Sister Severson. She is way cool.
Are there any native missionaries in your area? Like are there missionaries gone from my home ward. Yes two. The Bishop's daughter and a Brazilian member's son. Those two families I think have fed us more than the entire ward combined so we like them alot.
Dad and I had the TV on this morning and we learned in Japan the end of summer they celebrate with fireworks. Has that occurred in your area? I have seen fire works but they have celebrations all summer so I am not sure.
Have fun as you start school and have a great week,
Love
Elder Nelson
食べ放題 (August 22, 2010)
Hello,
It has been another great week here. I don't think it has rained once this last week. I take it back it rained once but still, pretty good. I think it is starting to cool down but now that I say that I am sure it will be way hot soon but it's all good I am getting a nice tan...
This week we went to the Bishop's house and we made your own sushi. It was way good. I probably made the best sushi ever. So naturally it had rice , tomato, avacado, egg and crab...I think. I'm not exactly sure what the crab thing was but it tasted good. He also knows how much I like kimchi so he gave us kimchi too. It was all way good. We also ate with a Brazillian member. It was some Brazillian dish with like a lot of chicken and egg so it was way good too. Today we are going to a buffet. We are way excited. It is a thai curry resturant. It is going to be awesome. They have this stuff called nun and it is so good. It's like bread and you dip it in curry and you are filled with happiness. And because its all you can eat it just makes everything better. I am pretty excited.
This week was interesting. I got a few flat tires so that was kind of lame so we were on the trains alot and we were able to meet some people as we talked to them on the trains. It was way cool, and my bike is ok for the moment. I fixed it so we will see how long that last but it will be good.
It sounds like everyone is excited for seminary.
We have been teaching a lot of Philipinos. They seem to be the only ones that are willing to listen sometimes. It is fun teaching them because it is in English. They also always have a religious background but I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. One we are teaching is cool but he just won't pray about Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. He is like I prayed but not about the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith so we are working on that. He comes to church every week and that usually seems to be the hard part. We are going to try to meet with him tonight. He lives by this huge mall so we will probably go there until 6 and then go to his house.
We also found a new investigator kind of. This member came up to me after church and was like my son is 11 and has not yet received baptism. He has also heard none of the lessons. Will you teach him and baptize him. We were like ahhh we can do that. That was pretty exciting part of our day.
Japanese is getting better. I am still struggling but I am getting better. I am starting to understand some more complex things so its getting there. I think its just repitition. I will have it down soon.
I also was in a Japanese hospital. It is a very interesting place. There is a member there and an investigator so it was a good experience. We were able to bless the investigator so hopefully that helped her. She is doing better now. Hopefully we will be able to go visit them again soon. It is so cool to have the prieshood and be able to use it. I know this church is true.
Have a great week!! All is well
Love Elder Nelson
It has been another great week here. I don't think it has rained once this last week. I take it back it rained once but still, pretty good. I think it is starting to cool down but now that I say that I am sure it will be way hot soon but it's all good I am getting a nice tan...
This week we went to the Bishop's house and we made your own sushi. It was way good. I probably made the best sushi ever. So naturally it had rice , tomato, avacado, egg and crab...I think. I'm not exactly sure what the crab thing was but it tasted good. He also knows how much I like kimchi so he gave us kimchi too. It was all way good. We also ate with a Brazillian member. It was some Brazillian dish with like a lot of chicken and egg so it was way good too. Today we are going to a buffet. We are way excited. It is a thai curry resturant. It is going to be awesome. They have this stuff called nun and it is so good. It's like bread and you dip it in curry and you are filled with happiness. And because its all you can eat it just makes everything better. I am pretty excited.
This week was interesting. I got a few flat tires so that was kind of lame so we were on the trains alot and we were able to meet some people as we talked to them on the trains. It was way cool, and my bike is ok for the moment. I fixed it so we will see how long that last but it will be good.
It sounds like everyone is excited for seminary.
We have been teaching a lot of Philipinos. They seem to be the only ones that are willing to listen sometimes. It is fun teaching them because it is in English. They also always have a religious background but I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. One we are teaching is cool but he just won't pray about Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. He is like I prayed but not about the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith so we are working on that. He comes to church every week and that usually seems to be the hard part. We are going to try to meet with him tonight. He lives by this huge mall so we will probably go there until 6 and then go to his house.
We also found a new investigator kind of. This member came up to me after church and was like my son is 11 and has not yet received baptism. He has also heard none of the lessons. Will you teach him and baptize him. We were like ahhh we can do that. That was pretty exciting part of our day.
Japanese is getting better. I am still struggling but I am getting better. I am starting to understand some more complex things so its getting there. I think its just repitition. I will have it down soon.
I also was in a Japanese hospital. It is a very interesting place. There is a member there and an investigator so it was a good experience. We were able to bless the investigator so hopefully that helped her. She is doing better now. Hopefully we will be able to go visit them again soon. It is so cool to have the prieshood and be able to use it. I know this church is true.
Have a great week!! All is well
Love Elder Nelson
花火 (August 15, 2010)
It sounds like summer has been great. It sounds like the normal summer, everyone is excited to go back to school. It has also been a great summer back here. Ya so this past week and part of this week is bonyasumi. Yes that does mean that alot of people get work off. Yasumi means holiday so its obviously bonholiday. So there were alot of people with work off. The only problem with that is people seem to go out of town when they have work off. Actually in Japan they go and see their ancestors grave right around this time. So there are alot of people travelling. It's kind of cool but we were able to go with a philippino member. He was way cool, we visited some investigators and less actives and then he took us to a philippino shop. It was awesome they had root beer. Naturally I had to buy some even though it was 120 a can. They also had peanut butter, it was 4 pounds but it cost 1500 yen. So unfortunately i did not purchase it. I might go back. we will see. Also this weekend there were tons of fireworks because of the holiday. They were way awesome. We actually were invited over to a members house then walked to a river and the fireworks were shot over the river. The member wanted us to put on a kimono and go to the fireworks but somehow we got out of it. The fireworks over the river were so cool. The show lasted about 30 minutes. I could not help singing America the Beautiful. It was way cool.
Lately we have started teaching Bryan. He is way cool. His wife is a member and he has met with the missionaries for about two years. He wasn't really progressing but now he is coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. It is really exciting for him. He still needs to change parts of his life but he is making way good progress.
Do you do much tracting? Yes we do it all the time.
If so, are there apartment buildings you go to or do you tract neighborhoods? We do apartment buildings alot. They don't usually give the excuse that they are Buddhist. For some reason people that own a house usually tell us they are Buddhist. Sometimes we do houses though. You never know. We also like talking to people on the street or train. Like 5 days ago we were in Nagoya because my companion had to go to a training meeting so I went streeting with Elder Eckman. That was fun but after we went to a Chinese all you can eat buffet. It was way good. It was like all you can eat Panda Express for 10 dollars, drinks included. Its hard to beat that. They also had ice cream. On they way home I talked to this guy on the train. He was way cool. He was a Christian and he was Japanese. That is pretty rare. He was also a doctor and had been to America. I thought it was cool. He doesn't live even close to my area but I was able to give him as a referal to other missionaries. Pretty cool right. So we are always talking to people, always. It really helps with the language and finding people.
I liked the green bike but then I decided to trade it in for a mama chattei. Just kidding. A member gave us the girls bike. I rode it every once in a while. It was helpful when carrying 10 kg bags of rice around or a watermelon. It is now broke and unfixable so I don't think I will ride it anymore.
The girl you baptized, what about her family? Her dad is not a member and has no interest. Her mom is a member and so are her parents. And where is she from? They are Japanese, so they are from Japan.
Right now it is typhoon season. It is pretty insane. Not a big one yet I don't think it just rained a lot last week. We got so drenched. It was pretty fun. Like it looks like it will be a great day and then boom. It rains and you can't get under cover quick enough so you get all drenched and then we just keep going.
Have a great week. Make your summer great. Don't worry my summer has flown by too.
Love Elder Nelson
愛してますよ
Lately we have started teaching Bryan. He is way cool. His wife is a member and he has met with the missionaries for about two years. He wasn't really progressing but now he is coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. It is really exciting for him. He still needs to change parts of his life but he is making way good progress.
Do you do much tracting? Yes we do it all the time.
If so, are there apartment buildings you go to or do you tract neighborhoods? We do apartment buildings alot. They don't usually give the excuse that they are Buddhist. For some reason people that own a house usually tell us they are Buddhist. Sometimes we do houses though. You never know. We also like talking to people on the street or train. Like 5 days ago we were in Nagoya because my companion had to go to a training meeting so I went streeting with Elder Eckman. That was fun but after we went to a Chinese all you can eat buffet. It was way good. It was like all you can eat Panda Express for 10 dollars, drinks included. Its hard to beat that. They also had ice cream. On they way home I talked to this guy on the train. He was way cool. He was a Christian and he was Japanese. That is pretty rare. He was also a doctor and had been to America. I thought it was cool. He doesn't live even close to my area but I was able to give him as a referal to other missionaries. Pretty cool right. So we are always talking to people, always. It really helps with the language and finding people.
I liked the green bike but then I decided to trade it in for a mama chattei. Just kidding. A member gave us the girls bike. I rode it every once in a while. It was helpful when carrying 10 kg bags of rice around or a watermelon. It is now broke and unfixable so I don't think I will ride it anymore.
The girl you baptized, what about her family? Her dad is not a member and has no interest. Her mom is a member and so are her parents. And where is she from? They are Japanese, so they are from Japan.
Right now it is typhoon season. It is pretty insane. Not a big one yet I don't think it just rained a lot last week. We got so drenched. It was pretty fun. Like it looks like it will be a great day and then boom. It rains and you can't get under cover quick enough so you get all drenched and then we just keep going.
Have a great week. Make your summer great. Don't worry my summer has flown by too.
Love Elder Nelson
愛してますよ
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