the one where he killed his comp

 "Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we had probably the best P day of my mission so far, and we went to Round 1 and did bowling, billiards, and a bunch of other stuff pretty much ALL day! It was super great, and it was district P day, so everyone pulled up and had a good time.

Tuesday, we had DCM, and one of our members, Yuki姉妹 pulled up to say goodbye since my comp was leaving the next day and eat lunch with us. Of course, we all went to McDonald's, and after, we all got ice cream together! After that, we did some packing and then went to our first dinner appointment that day. We went to the Maki's house (super dope family in the ward that I played Uno with like a month ago). We had some really good tonkatsu, and they all said goodbye to Lopes. After that, we went to dinner with one of our friends, Maiさん and had some really good ramen and let her say goodbye to Lopes. This week was full of a lot of goodbyes...

Wednesday, we went to the mission home and played some basketball with all the guys going home and then had their goodbye devotional. All the missionaries going home share a final testimony, and it's everyone's last chance to see them. We also had institute at Kobe and played some more sports before doing an institute lesson. It was super fun, and the mission president's wife made dinner for all of the missionaries leaving, and then we all got the leftovers... Good stuff.

Thursday we got up and went on a final little walk with all of the guys and then ate breakfast together and I went home by myself😏😏 3 hour ride home and the first time I've been alone in over a year... Weird feeling 🤣🤣 When I got home, I met up with the other guys, and we went to dinner with the Clark's again!! They are the best family in our ward, and the wife made some AMAZING Mexican food for us😆😆😆 it was such a good day😁

Friday, we went to get sushi together and POUNDED a ton of sushi... The rest of the day was mostly packing and a couple of meetings. 

Saturday, we all kinda split up because it was transfer day!! There were a few guys staying at our apartment, and then three of us left to the station to pick up our new comps!. My new comp is Elder Wynn!!! He is also from American Fork, we were in the same MTC district, served in the same reassigmment, and got to Japan the same day. Safe to say we have one or two things in common. It's gonna be a party of a transfer, and I'm so pumped to rock Okayama together 😆😆

Sunday, we had Stake Conference! It was great and the Clark's gave us a ride because it was a good two hours away from the church because no church building is big enough to fit everyone for the meeting 😆😆 We got to meet up with a bunch of missionaries from all over and it was sick! I got to see my boy Elder Campbell (we were comps in my last area a, d he's an absolute legend) a, d it was fun to catch up and see how things have been going for him. He actually transferred into my zone, so I'll get to see him a fair bit, which I'm super excited for 😁😆

Overall, it was such a good week, and I am BEYOND excited for this transfer!! I can't wait to work with Elder Wynn, and it's gonna be a fun 6 weeks! 😆😁

Spiritual Thought:

1 Nephi 3:7

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

That trust comes from knowing God. More than any other people on earth, we have, through the glorious events of the Restoration of the gospel, felt the peace that the Lord offered His people with the words “Be still, and know that I am God.” My heart is filled with gratitude for what God has revealed about Himself that we might trust Him.

—Henry B. Eyring

Well, that's all I got this week! Feel free to email me if you have time! 

That's all, folks. 

Bowling with the gang!

District Pday with everyone!

Started with some billiards with my boy Otahara長老

Otahara 長老 and I did a couple of arcade games....

Lopes's last day! Flicked up with an awesome member, Yuki姉妹

Missionaries with Yuki

The boys... Yours truly is rocking the Tom and Jerry tie 😆

Ate with the Watanabes, and said more goodbyes

Dinner with the Maki family!!

A flick with everyone... Lots of saying goodbye to Lopes

Got a flick with the whole district

Dropping him off... Had to go to McDonald's for the final time 😭😭

Dinner with the Clark's! They are the best! She made us some FIRE Mexican food 🤌

Ate out with our recently baptized member... Masahiro is an absolute legend

Lopes is gone and I rocked the day with these guys...

Had to get a dog... #77

Waiting for the new comp...

First day with my man Wynn長老

the one where dreams came true

 "Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we had a big sports night as a ward, and it was a blast!! 😆😆 We played lots of basketball and volleyball with everyone and we had some friends come too, which was super great! 😁

Thursday was a busy day! We went to lunch with one of our friends from Nepal named Deepak, and he is a super cool dude! After that, we had some time to plan for the week and then we went to dinner with another one of our friends. It was our first time meeting up with him, and he is awesome! He has a lot of interest in English and next time we meet he wants to bring his wife! Good stuff! After him, we went to second dinner with another friend and he also wants to learn English from us! He's only 18, but he's a pretty sick dude!

Friday, we taught English and made really good friends with a new guy. He came last week but my comp and I weren't there and he and I got along really well! He said he wants to come every week, and he is super cool!

Saturday, we started the day by going to a member's house for lunch, and they are a fun family that has 4 kids who are all pretty young! It made for a chaotic and fun meal. After we ate, we played a card game with all of them and just had a good time! After that, we went to the church, and we had a game night that the ward had put on. We were separated into 4 teams and did a bunch of competitions. It was absolutely hilarious and we also had one of our friends come, which was super great! After the game night, we went to dinner with a recently baptized member, and it was super fun! He's been wanting to take us out all transfer, but we couldn't find the time, so it was a much awaited dinner. After that, we all went back to the church because two of the kids in our ward got baptized! It was super fun, and one of my favorite things is that while they wait for the person who got baptized to shower and change, we all just sing hymns as a ward. Anyone can just call out a Hymn, and then we sing the first verse together! I've done it twice since being in Japan (they don't do it at every baptism) and it is hands down one of the most amazing spiritual experiences I've been able to be a part of.

Sunday was magnificent. One of my dreams for the mission finally became a reality. While we were welcoming everyone into church, we saw an old married couple sitting at the bus stop waiting for the bus. My comp said we should go talk to them, so we did and invited them to come to church. They said they couldn't today but that they would come next week or the week after. We felt great about that answer since that's much more than what we usually get and went back inside since church was starting. Church had been going for about 5 minutes when I see the old couple walk into the chaple escorted by one of our amazing members. I quickly ran over to them, and we sat together and enjoyed sacrament meeting together. Near the end of the meeting, the husband started coughing, so I took him into the hall to grab a drink. He took the opportunity to tell me a little bit about his life. He used to go to a baptist church about 30 years ago and that Christ changed him into a better person. Before he found religion, he was in the yakuza (the Japanese mafia) and did some REALLY not good things but that he quite literally did his time and then found religion and changed. We talked a bit more and then went back in to finish sacrament meeting. After the meeting had finished, some of our members had introduced themselves to him, and he was telling them how much he loved church and that he was so happy to have met me. We then went to second hour and he and his wife loved it and we were also able to do a short lesson with them after. They said they wanted to come to church every week. We were thrilled to hear that, but we explained that this was my companion's last week before he goes back to Brazil and that as missionaries, we transfer pretty frequently. He asked how long I was going to be here, and I told him that I just got here, so I should be here for a decently long time. He was so relieved and gave me many hugs throughout the day. He also gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I ever need anything. 😆😆 And that's the story of how my dreams came true, and I became best friends with a member of the Japanese mafia. 😆😆😆

In our ward, there is also a senior missionary couple, and after church, we went to their house and had brunch together! 😁 They made great food and FIRE sourdough pancakes. 😁😁 After that, we had a couple of calls with other missionaries, and then we went to dinner with our friends Jennifer and Paige! They wanted to throw a little goodbye party for Lopes since it was his last week and we ate Bangladesh food since that's where Jennifer is from and it was pretty fun because she showed us the tradional way to eat their food which is with your hand😆😆 So yeah it was a pretty fire day 😆😆😆

Spiritual Thought:

Mosiah 2: 16-17

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God

"This is the service that counts, the service to which all of us have been called: the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save."

—Thomas S. Monson 

Sports night with the ward

Such good food! 😆

Dinner with Jennifer and Paige! 😁

Game night with the ward! 😆

Dinner with the Clarks

the one with an old friend

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we went to a meat buffet (しゃぶしゃぶ) with some of the sisters in our area. After we finished eating, we went to the church and played ping pong, chilled, and talked with everyone. Again, it was another light P day.

Tuesday, we had District Council, and then at night, we went to kobe for exchanges with the APs. We spent the night there and it was pretty fun because there were a lot of missionaries in the apartment.

Wednesday, I was on exchanges all day! I went with Elder Holmes, and we used to be comps back in Uwajima (the promised land😉). We had a pretty good day and found lots of people! At night, we went to institute and before we did institute we played a bunch of different games and sports for about an hour. While I was playing some games, I saw an old friend walk in the door... Makoto 姉妹！She was the first person I was able to see get baptized in Japan! It was all the way back in my first area about 10 months ago! I hadn't seen her since I left, and it was SO good to catch up with her! We talked for a while, and she was surprised that I could actually speak Japanese now 🤣🤣🤣. The rest of the day was good, and we stayed the night in Kobe again, and it even more missionaries came, so it was a blast!😆

Friday, we had Eikaiwa, and it was a lot of fun! We played 'would you rather' the whole time and would talk about why some people would want to pick one thing over another... It was really funny because I asked a lot of very unserious and random questions. It made for a fun night.

Saturday, we had a game night, and our friend Chika came! We played soccer, ping pong, football, and basketball, and then after we all went to McDonald's together (this week was better.... We only went like three times). Chika is super awesome, though, and I could see her get baptized next transfer, so let's hope for the best!🙏🙏

Sunday we watched General Conference!!! 😆😆

We watched the Sunday sessions from last week, and it was so awesome!! 😁😁 I especially loved Elder Holland's and President Nelson's talks!! They were both SO good, and I loved also hearing about the 17 new temples that were announced!! The rest of the day, we had lots of calls and meetings and stuff, but for dinner, I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy for all four of us! 😋😆😆 They all loved it, and two of the guys had never had gravy before, and they loved it so much 😁😁

Spiritual Thought:

Alma 41:4

And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other 

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."

—C. S. Lewis

Well, that's all I got this week! Feel free to email me! 

That's all, folks. 

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy😋😋

Back at it with the old comp, #76

McDonald's with the gang

Service day last week!

the one with the big jump

 "Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we started out the day by calling the fam and then met up with some other elders, and we were planning on spending the day with them. But, they came by train and didn't have bikes so they had to walk everywhere so they hung with the other elders all day and my comp and I went to some stores and then McDonald's for some milkshakes. We ended up going to a park and played a bunch of football and soccer so it was a fun day. We ended the day by meeting up with everyone and went to McDonald's for dinner. Solid day.

Tuesday, we were on exchanges, and I went with Elder William. He's from Indonesia and a pretty fun dude! We had a pretty chill day and saw a lot of success together! We also had District Council, and it went really well! It was really nice not being the one planning it anymore😁😁 That night, we all met up for dinner and went to McDonald's

Wednesday was another day of exchanges! I went with Elder Marntinson (he's one of the elders that we live with), and it was a lot of fun! We had a good time talking (in English, which was a nice change of pace) and did tons of stuff! It was a really good day, and it was fun to work with him for the day. That night for dinner, we hit up McDonald's.

Thursday was a pretty normal day. We did studies, went to find people, and planned for the week. At the end of the day, we were a little hungry, so we decided McDonald's was a good idea for dinner.

Friday, we were sick of getting McDonald's for dinner, so we instead went for lunch. We also had English class and a couple of lessons, so it ended up being a really good day. We were super busy, and it made the day fly by... 

Saturday, we got up early and went with a member to do some service... He picked us up, and we drove over to the place. While he was driving, we hit a straightaway, and out of nowhere, Jump by Van Halen started BLASTING in the car. The member just shouts, "HERE WE GO" (in Japanese), and floors it. We were picking up speed for a solid 10-15 seconds before we hit an absolute RAMP in the pavement... We got like two and a half feet of air and came CRASHING down... After we hit, we all had to collect ourselves and calm down a little since we basically just flew. So, it took us a minute to realize that one of the wheels was clearly scraping against something and that the car started to smell pretty bad. So we pulled over to see the damage, and one of the hydraulics had been slammed all the way down, and the tire was scraping on the fender. The member had done this before, but he forgot to account that one of the missionaries was pushing 260 pounds and another one was about 230 lbs. Plus, two more missionaries, his two kids, and himself. Yeah, we were lucky that car didn't shift earth's gravity and knock it off its axis when it landed. To say the least, he had to leave us four missionaries in the middle of nowhere, (because we weighed too much and the tire was scraping because of us) and take his kids back home and pick up a new car. Yeah.... We didn't make it to the service project. But it's okay because we had another service project after that, and we made it to that one. We were weeding a member's farm, and the mosquitoes were BAD. I ended up getting just over 20 bites, but I got to rock my Noah's Ark overalls, so it was worth it... After service, we were pretty hungry, so we hit up McDonald's for lunch. After that, our ward had a Halloween party, so we played lots of games and did tons of fun stuff! We had 3 of our friends, and one returning member came, and they all had a lot of fun! After the party we (all of the missionaries and then two other friends from the party) met up with one of our other friends, and went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner! I've got lots of pictures and videos from today, so go check them out if you want to see my costume and stuff. 

Spiritual Thought:

Mosiah 18:8-10

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; 

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— 

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you 

But, it is said, "If belief in Christ is the way, why is peace so elusive in the western world where people profess belief in Christ?" The answer is simple: Professing is not enough. Men must accept him for what he in fact is—the very Son of God, man's Redeemer. They must have sufficient faith in him to take upon themselves his name in the manner he prescribed. Specifically, the believer must (1) repent of his sins—that is, bring his conduct in harmony with Christ's teachings; (2) enter into a covenant with God, that he is willing to take upon himself the name of Jesus Christ and always remember him and keep his commandments at all times and in all things and in all places. This covenant he must solemnize by being baptized.

All who, through faith in Christ, conform with these requirements receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

—Marion G. Romney

Well, that's all I got this week! Feel free to email me!

That's all, folks. 

A flick of all the missionaries

Lunch after district council,

A flick of some of the boys

My Guy ryota 😆😆

I got the costume from a member... I was obligated to use it... But yes, it is from an anime😭

One of our friends Chika!

Lots of flicks at the party!

Mission Leadership Conference

Zone Conference Okayama