I totally missed the Ides of March!

New missionaries are awesome.  Ok, so here in this district we have an 18-year-old missionary from Brazil that we are working with.  Right now as a District Leader I'm in charge of the growth and development of all of the missionaries I serve, with a special focus on new missionaries.  He may only be 18 (meaning he was a freshman when I graduated High School!) but he's got dendo fire that's contagious.  (You should be proud of me in that I spelled contagious right on my first try)

Wednesday we had a BBQ planned over in Hiroshima and went with our one active young man, and the seminary teacher.  March 20 is a holiday in Japan (the vernal solstice) so it was the perfect time for a BBQ and soccer, right?  Well, that's what we all thought; the weather just didn't want to agree.  The entire first part of the event was spent huddled under a tree trying to cook the meat without it getting watered down by the torrential rain that decided to fall that day.  It very much reminded me of many a scout camp I've been on... The whole stake was invited but the participants ended up being half Mihara and Kure branches (the farthest away) and the other half Yasufuruichi (who planned it!)  I was perfectly fine with it, I knew everybody there (a rare thing for a missionary) and it was super fun!  Just as all of the food was done and everybody was feeling full, the rain stopped and we had perfect weather for soccer.  Me being me, I had brought an Ultimate disc with me as well, and I think that that became just as popular, if not more, than soccer!  As one of the kids was leaving I heard him talking to his dad saying, "I think I know what I want for my birthday..."  (Converts to frisbee +1 :D)  

After the BBQ and sports, the contingent from Mihara (all 4 of us) went to this restaurant called the World Buffet in Hiroshima which was awesome!  If any of you happen to be in Hiroshima (not sure how it would happen) I highly recommend it.  Just don't eat too much, it'll be hard, but make a fixed limit and you'll be fine.

Tuesday we had a big mission meeting with 4 zones!  We had a similar conference a little over a month ago and I was happy because I knew everybody at the conference.  Now 1 month and 2 groups of new missionaries later, I don't know half of the mission!  The Fukuoka mission is currently under a revolution!  Our number had dwindled from around 140 to 108 at one point, but with the new announcement in October, we're looking at hitting 240 within a year.  Come 1 year from now this mission is going to be completely different!   Elder Mills, an old mission president who served in Fukuoka, was the guest speaker, perhaps one of the most animated speakers I've seen at a zone conference yet.  We learned about the importance of short, powerful statements to invite the spirit in as we Find on the streets, and the importance of doing more effective methods more.  Personally I was impressed that he kept his Japanese up for so long after his mission, and his presentation was animated and kept your attention.  I think the thing I came most from the conference was wanting to have that kind of attribute some 30 years after my mission.  You could just tell that his life was the product of his service to God and Christ, what could be better than that!

Saturday at our monthly service at the center for people with disabilities went really well.  We play Shogi (Japanese chess) with them and this was their yearly Shogi Tournament.  I lost very soundly, but it was a great time to get to know the people.  Somehow it got around that it was going to be my last time at the service activity, so the coordinator at the center and his intern (it just so happened to be his last day too) had us come and talk about American and Japanese welfare principles, religious beliefs, and life in general!  It was awesome, and if nothing else, they certainly have a great respect for Christianity and this Church in particular.  

Oh Church was awesome.  We suddenly jumped to 36 people, and at the branch lunch afterward we reached 50!  A family from New Zealand was visiting before they leave to go to Australia, and all of their friends came to see them off.  I don't know if I've ever seen so many people in the church building!  That's definitely a family that I respect, and would be very happy if my own future family turned out like.  We swapped facebook info (which is totally possible now as I can actually find them within a relatively short amount of time) and it was a really sweet farewell.  Things are moving, miracles abound, and life is good.  

As simple a thing as listing all the good things in a week can make any bad feelings, any anger, doubt, fear, frustration slip away.  Try it out, it's awesome.

Elder Everett

エベレット長老

Welcome to the newest member in MIhara!

There's a lot that can happen in a week.  You could meet new friends, If luck is on your side you can find and start a new job, move across the country, move to a new country, you could even for example, turn over a new leaf (possibly a 4-leaf clover?) and start a new life.  There's a lot of things that we can do every week, and this week, our 71 year old friend here in Mihara made quite a big step and began her life as a disciple of Christ. 

The baptismal service was really cool.  Somehow Elder Swasey and I got out a pretty good version of 'When Jesus Christ was Baptized.' I would love to send over a video (Elder Swasey took one on his camera) but there's not really any way to send it.

However back at the baptismal service we had 2 of our investigators come (a mother and her daughter) and learn a little bit more about what it means to follow Christ.  They had a really good time, and after the service we had a dinner with everyone that came.  I don't know of any better way for people to fellowship and become friends than over a simple meal with a good atmosphere.  The members did a great job at welcoming Iwashita into the ward and even developing good relationships with the Asayama mother-daughter pair.  (Their names may mean 'rock-bottom' and 'shallow mountain' but they're great)

So Elder Swasey really likes to cook.  I don't know if I've ever seen a missionary make as many brownies (with pure cocoa, beet sugar, and organic butter and eggs) pudding (with organic soy-milk, 100% fruit juice, beet sugar, and an organic gelatin like powder) or 和菓子　(Japanese treats wagashi).  It's been really great as we've been delivering them to people that we meet.  I don't think there's been hardly anyone that we've met this past month or so that we haven't brought something to give them.  I feel like it's a good way to show them love and how much we care about them, but sometimes....maybe it’s a little much.  At the very least, it has them open the door a little wider, talk a little bit longer, and hopefully, eventually open their heart a little broader.  

Saturday we had a plan to go to Onomichi (the next city over) and visit a lot of less-active members, but as we made calls, every single person fell through.  We weren't really sure what to do but I had really felt like we should go and at the very least make the effort to go and see them, even if they weren't there (with loads of brownies and access to conference talks, we could at least leave something for them to eat and read when they got back).  There's been one member over in Onomichi that's been on my mind recently, and she was one that I really wanted to meet with, but fell through. This week I kept thinking, I need to call her, even if it's just for a little bit, I need to call her and see how she's doing.  The phone call didn't end up being something super exciting, it was essentially the same as any of the other phone calls I've had with her this past 2 months, and it even ended up with her canceling the meeting tomorrow.  So much for that little bit of inspiration..... At least that's that I thought until Sunday.

So Sunday was pretty great.  Iwashita got confirmed a member in Sacrament meeting, and she even made it to all 3 hours of church for the first time!  She always tells us how she doesn't know anything, but she plans on doing all she can to learn and keeping growing in the Gospel.  Up until Sunday she always left after the 2nd hour, missing Relief Society.  So today come the third hour we were really excited for her to finally make the step to go and join the other sisters!  As we were sitting in Priesthood meeting thinking that it was going all good, suddenly the 1st counselor in the branch presidency came and grabbed us.  He's like 'There's this woman called Shimatani at the door.'  I rushed out the door, and to my great surprise, it was Sister Shimatani, the member who I had been thinking about all this past week!  It was her first time back at church in over 10 years!  She had visited the building once when they had a big open house for it 6 years ago, but never on Sunday.  She made her way over by riding her bike to the train station in Onomichi, taking the train to Mihara, then walking nearly half an hour in a town she hasn't been in in over 5 years, and somehow found the Church!  Now it's not as if they come back to church once and all of the sudden everything is better, but that first step, the journey to come to church after a long period of absence, is possibly the hardest step to take; and I'm not sure what it is about Mihara, but more and more members here are beginning to take those first steps back to Church.  I'm fully convinced that a reactivated member is just as important, just a special as a new convert.  What a great Sunday!

Well, I think it should be getting warmer there, it certainly is here.  I hope you all have a great week, and go do something special!

Elder Everett

エベレット長老

Marching through Mihara

Well, it is the end of my 15th transfer and here I go starting number 16!  If I were to say that the feeling is surreal, well, that might just be an understatement.  So with the 4-week transfer, and nearly half of the mission changing, there was bound to be something happening in Mihara.  Well, if that's what you thought then you were with the rest of everybody else, everybody that is, except for President Gustafson and the Lord, because Elder Swasey and I are staying one more together.  

I started off my mission bouncing around and wound up in my third area by my third transfer, and I have now been in as many areas since then I as I had up until then!  I'm super excited for everything that's going to be going down in Mihara this transfer.  We've been going around finding all of the hidden youth here in Mihara.  We have one young man who comes every couple of weeks, and that's about it.  But throughout this week we've found that there are actually 8 possible young men here in Mihara!  4 of them are members, 3 less active, and the other 4 are non-members but they all range from 12 to 17 years old!  I'm not sure what it's going to take to get them to come out to church but I'm certainly going to do whatever it takes!

Tomorrow is a big day because we have a BAPTISM!  She's a wonderful older woman who's been meeting with us ever since she began taking English lessons last August!  She was telling us how much she has opened up since she began coming to church, and just how happy she feels whenever she comes to church on Sundays.  The power of the Gospel has a profound effect upon the lives of the people who let it in.  For the baptismal service Elder Swasey is playing the Violin and I am going to be singing 'When Jesus Christ was Baptized' which isn't in Japanese, so we've been working on translating it this week.  I've done a lot of translating throughout my mission, but something about translating songs.... that's just a whole other ball park (counting the beats, fitting the words, not mixing old and new Japanese, keeping proper respect levels and tenses.... ) it's a bit of a beast. 

As we've been continuing here in Mihara we've gotten really busy.  Almost every day has turned into us going from place to place visiting and teaching along the way.  As far as teaching goes, I have to say that this has been the busiest time in my mission.  At the same time I know that there is always more that I can do and with this last 6 weeks I plan on going all out and doing everything that I can!  

This past Sunday we had a branch conference, and our little branch of 20 or so people somehow grew to 36.  A good number of them were from the stake, but it was quite a sight to behold.  We even had a family come for the first time!  The mother is a member but hasn't come to church in many years, and she brought her 2 sons (part of the hidden youth of Mihara) who are 14 and 16 years old.  We also had a delicious pot-luck lunch afterwards with so much good food!  Carbonala Pasta, Japanese Beef Stew, rice balls, sushi, japanese fried chicken (its different you know)  … as they say in Hiroshima, 'my stomach got fat!'

The work continues to go on and I've got 6 weeks left to go and do all the good that I can!  Wish me luck!

Elder Everett

エベレット長老

Mihara's March Madness

I can hardly even believe that it's already March here in Mihara.  I still remember very clearly the day I came over from Fukuoka, and oh man, what a quick little trip that has been! 

 

Thing here in Mihara are really heating up!  This week we were able to visit with a lot of our investigators, especially ones who are hard to meet up with, and they are all doing really well.  This past Monday at the family home evening we have every week we challenged the family to have family prayer every day this week and to let us know how it went, today we're making them fried rice and planning on seeing how it went!   Before we visit them on Monday we drop by another family that lives around that area to talk to their son, who was baptized just over a year ago.  He's pretty much our only young man in the ward, so we try to spend a lot of time with him and help him stay active in the Gospel.  He's a really awesome kid and I love to work with him.

 

Speaking of, a little over a week ago we had him joint for a lesson with our main investigator, and his testimony really seemed to strike a chord with her.  He's 17 and she's 76, but even with the 60 years of difference, that's no barrier for the spirit to testify of truth.  This last week when we met with her again we reviewed the requirements for a person to be baptized and she set a goal to get baptized next week!  Now we're looking forward to the 13th and working with her to strengthen her faith and help her feel her savior's love throughout her life!  (I'm really happy that it's the 13th, because this transfer is only 4 weeks and if I get transferred, than it would be on the 14th.... If the only 'result' that comes from a short stay in Mihara is her baptism, then I am utterly and completely satisfied.)

One of the things that I've been coming to really appreciate is the effectiveness and the simpleness a phone call during the week can do for a person.  Even if we don't have something to really teach them, just checking up on how they are, getting to know them a little better, and really caring about them beyond Sunday is something that I've really come to appreciate this past week.  There's a quote that was said in General Conference that has stuck with me ever since I heard it.  It's been my motto for this last part of my mission and I think is more than worth sharing. 

 

"The Church cannot hope to save a man on Sunday if during the week it is a complacent witness to the crucifixion of his soul.”

 

This is why I go after all of the less active members I can in every area I go.  This is why we, as missionaries take time to visit members, hear their stories, lift them up and inspire them.  We are the Lord's hands in the service of his children, and we cannot fail as long as we pray to know and perform the will of the Lord.

 

This past week we made an extra effort to recontact former investigators and found ourselves in a brand new part of our area.  It took a good hour or so bike ride to get there (in the dark no less) which was possibly one of the more dangerous bike rides I think I've taken in the past 2 years.  Our options where either on the side of the highway with no bike paths or side walks (literally right next to the trucks whizzing by) or on the narrow walk ways between the maze of rice fields on either side. We ended up taking both ways at different times, relying on the kindness of the drivers while on the highway, and our little bike lights trying to navigate the maze of rice fields....  We're planning on going back, a good 2 hours earlier this time so that we have the Sun on our side.

 

Yesterday was a busy Sunday!  So March 3rd is a holiday here in Japan, the Doll Festival.  It's mainly for little girls, so there's pink things everywhere and dolls on gorgeous ornate stands everywhere we go.  It's to celebrate the start of the Cherry Blossom season here in Japan, which I think is just about the most beautiful time in Japan.  We were invited over to the Branch Presidents house for a sort of Family Home Evening where we made Pizza and had delicious ice cream (with pie filling as topping...?!)  But before that we got news that the son of one of our investigators was turning 13!  My companion and I made him a nice batch of brownies and got a member to take us over the 25 minute car ride to hand deliver it to him!  He's a really quite reserved kid, but oh man, he was so happy we were there to celebrate his birthday.  It's just like I was saying, going out of your way to go and do something nice for somebody else... there's not much of a better feeling then when they give that smile of appreciation back! 

 

The work goes on and the heat rises!  The cold winter is nearing it's end and the new life of spring is coming up.  皆さんの上に神様の平安と慰めがありますように。  (May the comfort and peace of God be upon you.)

 

Elder Everett

エベレット長老