Week 11- People are people

 Aloha Minasan,

I actually started this email on Tuesday because I wanted to make sure I didn't forget what had just happened. And I'm terrible at Journaling. This week's thought is on how people are people. Sounds pretty obvious but sometimes we can forget such a simple statement.

This Tuesday me and my companion had scheduled a lesson with a friend at 8pm. Looking at their timeline it seemed as though this friend had received all the lessons and earlier Elders had put down that the only thing holding them back from Baptism was their mother (this friend is 9 years old). We saw that they hadn't been taught in a while so we planned on going over and giving a mock baptismal interview to see where her knowledge was at and how ready she was for baptism. Apparently the mom had canceled a bunch of appointments before with excuses and honestly we thought the same was going to happen this week. But she didn't respond. So me and Elder Peña decided to take a chance and made our way over to their house. Even if it meant that they didn't answer or didn't want us there and we would have to trek back to the house in the cold we took the chance. I feel so blessed that we made the decision to go over and visit them. We knocked on the door and they immediately answered, we were able to greet them and started the lesson. As we started asking her the questions it became pretty clear that she really didn't have a great understanding of the lesson and principles that were supposed to be taught. We both kinda look up and start talking to the mom about what she's been taught and the previous Elders. Come to find out that she only had two lessons and they were trying to push a baptismal date 2 weeks after the second lesson. The mom expressed concerns about how she felt like they were treating them like another number and how she wanted her daughter to understand what she was agreeing to and the importance of it. I felt so extremely frustrated and embarrassed about the entire situation. This mom who was so kind and supportive of her daughter was made to seem like someone preventing her daughter from being baptized, and the way the previous Elders acted was not right at all. We immediately apologized and talked about how we both completely oppose that sentiment. I'm glad Elder Peña and I both love getting to know people, because I feel like that is what the mission is about. Being able to connect with members and friends and help them progress in coming unto Christ. Not rushing a baptism because I want another baptism under my belt. I felt extremely blessed that the mother gave us another chance despite her past experiences and we used the time to get to know the family a lot better. While Elder Peña talked to the mom I was able to play with our friend and her little sister. It was a blast and even though they had some pretty crazy games I really enjoyed being able to get to know them a little better. We were able to set a return date and plan on starting the lessons back from Square one. I wanted to share this experience with you all because it's something I feel so passionate about. People are people, they have emotions, they all have their own life stories. Everyone is different but when we treat each other like “just another person” we lose sight of treating each other with the kindness and respect we all deserve. For all my missionary friends reading this, I urge you to not play the numbers game, get to know your friends AND members. It will go a long way, people will see that you are being genuine and reciprocate that. For my family and friends, remember that the people around you are REAL people with REAL feelings. We all have so much going on in our own lives sometimes we forget about what's going on in other people's lives. I invite you all to try and get to know the people around you a little bit more, and be genuine. The results will show by leaps and bounds and people will be able to tell.

2nd Nephi 31:20 - Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Heavenly Father is GOOD, and I feel so blessed that they gave us a second chance to rebuild that relationship with them. All things are possible through Christ❤️

Highlights!!!!!

-このでんどぶににほんじんはいるのか？！

-The chicken coop

-2 BAPTISMS THIS NEXT WEEK + MORE?

-Coincidence service

-Elder Blue Shirt

-The boys dressed in all black

-The Bradford's 

-Two talks💀

にほんごをはなすことができません。MAN I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOMEONE WHO COULD SPEAK JAPANESE. So sad, but for context I was scrolling through area book and came across the name ここ. I kid you not I wanted to jump right out of my seat. The characters translate to “koko” and I could tell it was a Japanese person. The timeline said she wasn't interested in the church and that she was a foreign exchange student but I really just wanted to be able to talk Japanese. I thought it was perfect because she apparently could not speak much English and wasn't making much friends, I was like かんぺき！！I was super stoked because I wanted to help her and be able to just have a conversation in Japanese. Well we got to the house and she's no longer there. ここ moved back in July and I was pretty sad about it not gonna lie. Wasn't really a highlight but man it would have been really cool でも、しかたない。Ig.

The Chicken Coop:

This one was supppperrrr fun not gonna lie. Anyways we had a service project with one of the friends we were teaching. This friend kinda had the same situation as our other friend where the missionaries were kinda pushy for baptism. So much so that they made this friend cry. Yeah, lots of cleaning up after them SMH. なにあたよおまえら！？！？But they had asked us to help them put tarp over their chicken coop and maybe move some wood. We were super grateful because it gave us a chance to build a relationship with the family and do some service. We thought it was gonna be easy but bahahaha it took a lot more time than we thought. Anyways, the chicken coop was like right next to their fence so putting the tarp over and making sure it was secure was not easy. でも、だいじょうぶ。I put those Eagle Scout skills to use and we finished that. Ended up moving a LOT of wood and moved some furniture. Which was interesting because they had a spiral like staircase and let's just say I definitely was carrying most of the weight. But it was fun and we shared a lesson and got a return dinner appointment. Super stoked to see them again!!

2 Baptisms this week + more:

SUPER STOKED. We Have two baptisms this week and I'm super happy for them. Honestly crazy what they've both had to overcome to get baptized. So one of them Jameson (10) has had about 6-7 baptismal interviews already and right before he was about to get baptized he moved. We got words from the Elders and got right on it. Jameson is a super awesome kid and super funny. Apparently their last ward wasn't very engaged with their family either so we made sure that the fellowshipping with their new ward has been going and honestly we are so grateful with how helpful they've been. The family has told us how much of a difference it's made and how nice it's been to see people care about them. Super happy for Jameson!! Next is Ieasha, who has been working on baptism for a while. And actually this past week not only did their truck break down before a lesson but we learned her brother just got cancer. She's been super optimistic and we've been helping out however we can but we really are praying that nothing else happens. I shared my experiences about how when I felt I was finally making the right decisions everything came crashing down. But through my faith and Heavenly Father's mercy I have been blessed tenfold after sticking to that path towards him. It's been super hectic trying to make sure everything is going smoothly but pray for both Jameson and Ieasha! We also actually got a text that a friend that we had trouble contacting wants to get baptized too, so super stoked for that but the work has been crazy. 

Coincidence Service:

So one day we are walking back home and it's kinda late and it's really cold. ALSO IT'S STARTED SNOWING, PLEASE STOP. Anyways, we are walking back and we take a wrong turn. Before we realize this though we hear a big thud and see a guy covered in sawdust and we wave asking how he was doing. He takes off his earphones and asks us what's up and we just ask if he needs any help. He says we'll if you don't mind getting dirty, so we got right to it. He was renovating this house and was moving tiles from the garage to the house. The tiles were pretty heavy and there were a lot of them so I'm glad we helped out. I ended up getting my Lululemon slacks covered in sawdust but it's alright (don't worry mom I washed them right when I got home.) It was so cool though because we got talking and he was actually a mission prep teacher for another area and was stumped on how to encourage a mission for all his youth. He told us about how a lot of the youth don't know what to do after high-school and college or a mission doesn't seem to be in their plans. It was so cool because we had just the answer he was looking for. Because actually me and Elder Peña have a youth splits sign up sheet which we talked about. And how the youth in our area love it and it helps get a lot of them motivated to actually go on a mission and through splits they can see what missionaries actually do and how rewarding the work is. Then we kinda talked about how much of a blessing that it was that we ended up taking a wrong turn, how he had to drop something super heavy at that moment, and how we had to wave for that all to happen. Felt super blessed and grateful we were able to help him out a bit.

Elder Blue Shirt:

So apparently my name is Elder Blue Shirt now. LOL, so how this happened was actually during Thanksgiving. We got invited by another companionship to a turkey bowl and were so down. We pull up and I'm in a byu blue long sleeve. We had a lot of fun but apparently I caught too many balls and made too many touchdowns because not before long the other team would start shouting “WHOS MARKING ELDER BLUESHIRT!!” Like halfway into the game I could not go a single play without having one of the youth viciously man marking me through the play. It even got so bad as to when they got tired they would switch off. It was still a lot of fun but unfortunately the name has kind of stuck whenever we play sports. My companion and the Elders we were with will not let me live down Elder Blue Shirt. But regardless it was super fun and pretty funny too. We ended up winning BTW not to brag or anything.

The boys dressed in black:

Thus was pretty funny, but me and Elder Peña went to a nearby chapel to play some pickleball and basketball. We get into the gym and turn on the lights when we hear someone moaning on the speaker system. We go to check it out and yell out “HEY WHOS THERE” We then see a group of 6 boys dressed in all black staring at us like deer in front of headlights. They had no idea what to do, and they definitely weren't supposed to be there. We told them we wouldn't get them in trouble and got them all to come into the gym.we asked them if they wanted to play basketball and they said sure. But I told them that in order for them to not get in trouble we had to share a scripture with them. They all quickly agreed and we started playing. It was super fun and they all seemed to be having fun. When they were all tired we gathered them up and shared a quick scripture with them. We also found out that they were all sophomores which was interesting because one of them had a full beard but whateverz. We got some of their names and made sure to tell them to stay out of trouble and to get home safe, but it was a pretty fun night. It probably won't be long though till we track them down and convert them (jokes, maybe).

The Bradford's:

So we teach this inactive member family called the Bradford's. Oh how I love them with all my heart. The dad, brother Bradford, has such a deep knowledge of gospel doctrine and wants his kids to take the lessons from us so that they can have a good foundation. Brother Bradford was one of the members I kinda made cry, but the thing he struggles with is Moroni's promise of the BoM, he never got that “fuzzy feeling” of confirmation. Last week I talked to him about my experiences with doubt and how we can change our thinking from “why” to “how”. Instead of “why can't I get this feeling” we ask ourselves “how, or what can I do to feel the spirit.” He loved that and I have so much love for them. But anyways he has three kids (that come with him for lessons) one older boy and two young girls. This week we did a fun small lesson about repentance and the gospel of Jesus Christ. I didn't think much of the lesson until after. As we were talking to Brother Bradford about how we could help them, his youngest Kaitlyn ran up to me and just hugged me. I was so surprised and shocked but I felt so happy to know that what we were doing for them mattered. It reminded me that even though that lesson seemed pretty small for me, for them it means the world. I felt so blessed and I have so much love for that family❤️

Two Talks💀: 

I still have to get used to the fact that I have to give adult talks now. No longer are the days that I have to give 5 minute talks. But anyways I didn't really prepare for the talk but Elder Peña started joking that he would give me 20 minutes to talk. I honestly thought he was joking until I saw that I got a fat whopping 30 minutes to talk. I think he didn't realize how much time they actually gave us but I'm glad it was a topic I could easily talk a lot about. I got to talk about gratitude and the first talk that I got a nice 30 minutes for I held out pretty well for a fat 19 minutes. Bishop came in clutch after that but oh well BAHAHAHA. Anyways my next talk was only 14 minutes but still it was super fun. The MLS (missionary leadership support) were super surprised I was able to pull that off. They even joked that they saw my face when I looked at the clock after my comp sat down. Super fun though I'm looking forward to getting to know the people in the area better. Love the area and the people and it's been great getting to know the people this past week. But on a serious note I was extremely blessed to talk about gratitude because through the talk I realized how little I express gratitude to those I love. Definitely something I'm going to work on because it is important to express gratitude to those you love and care for. And on that note, I'm grateful for ALL of you. Those who support and pray for me, those who email me back, those who just read my emails. I'm thankful for everything you guys have done for me No matter how big or small. I love you all so so much and you all mean the world to me❤️

Japanese word of the week:

かんしゃ/Thanks or Grattitude

私は皆さんにかんしゃしてます！

愛してます！！

Shoots!

TheRisingSon

エリス長老