February 24, 2014

Last week we worked really hard but it was a lot of fun.  We have been meeting a lot of people on the street and in houses.  Unfortunately we were not able to meet with our investigators last week and didn't actually have a lot of dendou time.  But when we did we worked hard.  I have recently come to a new phase of wanting to work really hard and get stuff done.  We are going to just steam roll through people until we find those who are prepared to become investigators.  It means talking to a lot of people, but it has really just become fun.  When I started my mission it wasn't fun at all, for lots of reasons (not the least of which was the language), but I have come to really love teaching and find lots of opportunities just to teach simple messages.  We are opening their hearts!

Gustafson Kaicho (Iain's mission president) visited us last Friday when we planned for the week.  It was a great learning experience and I am excited to apply some of the things we learned.  I want to start meeting with more members and "borrowing faith" as Kaicho said.  We ask them to pray for us to find people in the area and then we house and when we are done we tell them some people we found to pray for.  I am excited to try it out. 

Apparently there is a lot of stuff that Kaicho has had past missionaries do that he wants us to do too, but we are young missionaries and don't know what it is, so next month he is having a conference to train us on how to do things.  I think it will be fun. 

I think the EFY will be great for Wyatt.  I loved it and it helped me understand the gospel more.  Plus they are focusing EFY on preparing youth for missions which I think is great.  I don't think I understood the gospel like I should have before my mission.  I guess that's true for most people thought.  Teaching as a missionary is all about mastering the basics but as a youth we move past the basics fast and so you come out and you have to figure how to teach on your own.  Teaching is way fun once you get the hang of it though.  Hopefully Wyat can learn that kind of stuff, 'cause it is way helpful. 

Just make sure you feed the missionaries a lot when you have them over.  And if it is unique and tasty, that is good too. Missioaries usually like to serve the members too.  If they seem like good missionaries, don't hesitate to make an appointment. 

Love you, hope you guys are well.  Thanks for all of your emails, I love reading about your lives (Wyatt could write a little more I think). 

Iain

February 17, 2014

Being a missionary has totally changed my perspective of missionaries.  It is way fun, but while at our zone p-day today I realized how much I like just the regular mission schedule and doing real hard dendou work.  It makes you feel good, even if it is rather tedious at times (like when you house 50 doors and no one wants to listen).  But I have learned to love it so much.  It`s just a missionary thing too.  After my two years ends I can`t stop people and just preach anymore.  The changes.  This has just sunk in so much more recently.  Missionaries use the atonement so much each day.  I have at least.  It has been so important for me so that I can keep the Spirit with me at all times.  Without the Spirit this work has no hope for success and I need it so much to know the things I need/should do.  I have learned to love the Savoir so much personally.  And as I have read Jesus the Christ I have learned so much about his life.  It is way cool.  I understand so much more now.  I love it.  It has given me so much more of a desire to share that I didm`t realize could happen.

  

We gathered this weekend for zone p-day in Fukuoka.  It was fun, we played sports and checked out castle ruins.  Yesterday was Stake Conference so we came for that with a member and then stayed all day doing streeting (approaching people on the street and sharing a message) and other dendou.  It was fun but tiring.  We are emailing here in Fukuoka and then going home and finishing shopping and stuff.  Fun times but I want to go back to the normal schedule really bad now.  Transfers throw everything off.  

Tenney choro went to a place called Kure, which is in the Hiroshima zone.  He is there with Parker choro my best friend from Amami.  So now my two best friends in the mission are in Hiroshima without me.  Darn!  Sounds like so much fun though.  

I feel like it`s been forever since being at BYU and miss it at times, but I also feel like my life is change, the constant change of missionaries and areas and stuff.  A missionaries life is change.  It`s fun but stressful sometimes.  But I think this transfer will be fun.  We're starting off this transfer with some investigators now, still working hard.  Our new investigators are young and we might be able to have a couple baptismal dates by the end of next transfer.  We are excited for the success we have found recently.  It comes of course after weeks of hard work.  

Love you so much.  I can`t think of anything else for you to send, but I feel like I have forgotten something due to the recent stress and lots of stuff to do and no time and stuff, so wait for me to think another week please.  I love you, be safe. 

Iain

Lee 長老 

February 10, 2014

So first off, nothing is changing.  Fender Choro and I are still companions and still working in IIzuka.  But Tenney Choro is leaving so a little sad.  I really like the members here.  There are about 22 who come to church each week and they are all really nice.  We have had the opportunity to meet with about half but some of them live rather far away and the others have been unavailable which is disappointing.  We also have three deaf members in our ward which makes things interesting.  My friend Tenney choro has been here for sixish months now so he is pretty good at the sign language, but since he's leaving now I really have to learn some fast.  It actually isn't that hard and you learn some Japanese at the same time, so it works out well.  We have a class every other week to learn some.  It's fun.  We are actually doing service for one of the deaf members today.  Will be fun. 

This week we have been way excited.  We got a new investigator and are super excited to actually have someone to teach.  But still a lot of housing. 

My apartment building has probably about 63 different apartments.  We have seven floors and I think 7 apartments to a floor, so, yeah.  It's cool.  We live about five minute walk from the church, or two minutes by bike, if that.  It's way close, like Amami. 

Unfortunately we have to go way far to get groceries.  There isn't anything all that close by, so we ride for like fifteen-twenty minutes.  But whatever.  It's a pain bringing the groceries home though. 

Every apartment has a washer, but we don't have a dryer so we have to hang dry stuff.  It works out ok I guess. 

The nihonjin in our apartment does a lot of the cooking because he is really good.  But we eat all sorts of different stuff.  I still probably like okonomiyaki (the pancake things) the best.  I love everything though.  We just eat out rarely, but recently we went out to ramen a couple times and I've gone to sushi twice now.  Way fun, way good. 

We have had terrible weather the past week.  When I last emailed it was warm and now it is not.

The only other things I was thinking of for a package was my voice recorder and the other sd card.  Also if you want to put music on the sd card that fine too.  But don't worry about it too much.  I loved the music.  Don't have time, but don't send a package until I've gotten a chance to email again (ie. next week). 

Have to go.  Love you.  Stay well. 

February 2, 2014

Somehow this transfer has been really short.  I feel like I can't already have been here five weeks, but at the same time we haven't seen much of a change in Iizuka.  We haven't found any investigators or really changed any less-actives, but somehow it has been really fun.  I have learned a ton, about people about teaching, about myself.  But I have also realized that being diligent is a personal choice.  I realized that I really need to be dilligent of my own accord and not rely on the fire of others.  By being senior comp I realized the amount of affect I can have on our companionship.  So I have realized I really need to motivate myself or else nothing gets done.  Which is really hard because I am really lazy.  But as I realized yesterday I am probably the hardest working lazy person ever, so if I can just give myself a motivation I will be happy in the work. 

But it sounds like LA is really fun.  I don't understand any of the photos at all, you will have to explain them.  But they are all really cool.  Have fun with Kristin, say hi for me. I got your package on Friday.  I loved it, thanks.  But unfortunately I am out of peanut butter again.  So I have assembled the perfect package list that you can send anytime you feel like I need a package. 

• one cheeze-it bag
• three of those awesome peanut butter jars
• a bag of Homemade cookies
• one box of graham crackers

Keep sane, don't stress, love ya,

Iain

January 26, 2014

I loved the Bday presents. They're way fun.  I am so excited to have a small set of scriptures to meet with members and stuff like that.  They were way cooler than I thought they would be.  The cover is awesome.  I recently got a small Japanese triple comb. from honbu (Fukuoka) and I have been marking that up, so now I will have a marked up in both languages.  Used actually honbu Sunday when I was told during our meeting with the Branch Pres. that I was expected to give a talk today (yesterday).  Obviously I was scrambling to prepare something during Priesthood and Sunday School.  But in the end I didn't give anything I had prepared to.  I just talked about faith and miracles.  I hope it went well, but I honestly have no idea.  My comp said it was good, but no one else commented, so I am kind of doubting him right now.  Was way funny opening up my presents.  I opened up the Batman stuff first and as I kept going I kept thinking, "Wyatt.. Wyatt... Wyatt... this is obviously Wyatt's doing".  I actually got the package on Thursday and opened it, but obviously waited until Sat to open my presents. 

So after an interesting B-day weekend I am finally back to the usually missionary life.  Actually nothing changed after my b-day, so I am still continuing my mission life.  But I love it.  So last week we spent a lot of time trying to see Potential Investigators who we had found previously.  However many of them were either not home or busy when we tried to contact them, so we still don't have any investigators.  Moral of the story is, we are still spending a lot of time housing.  We have some plans to meet with members and less-actives so we will keep working on that and inspiring the members that Iizuka is not a dead area (although it's really hard sometimes).  The ward hasn't experienced a baptism in a year and a half or so and the most recent convert is less-active right now, so essentially if we can't change something soon, Iizuka is just going to shrink (all the members are already old right now).  Keep working though. 

Still haven't found a good curry shop, but we've gone out for sushi a couple times (something we never did on Amami).  Zone conference is next transfer, but we do get to see an Elder from the 70's come speak to our zone sometime next month.  Other than that, nothing particularly exciting. 

I love you all and hope you have a good week too.  Take care. 

RHM, Bromine, Iain, Elder Lee Choro