Japan Tokyo South Mission: Bad Brad & Spackdaddy

In my letter last week I totally forgot to tell you guys about transfers! I didn't transfer and stayed in Hibarigaoka. I am training though! I went to the mission office this last week to pick up Elder Bradford and he is awesome! He reminds me so much of my younger self. I feel so old being 21 while he is 18, but we definitely would have been homies in high school. Not only am I feeling old in age but I am feeling old in the mission. I had a sudden realization at the mission home seeing all the missionaries going home that Elder Belnap and I are next. We are the oldest in transfer age in the mission...

I will send pictures but we took Kurenuma to an awesome dinner with the Suzuki family this last week. They converted from the Catholic church together as a family, it's such a cool story. Bro. Suzuki has been an awesome influence on Kurenuma. Kurenuma ate a ton, then went to the bathroom. He came out looking super uncomfortable and asking where something was (we didn't pick up what he said). We thought for sure he wrecked their toilet and was looking for a plunger and we could not stop laughing haha. He was just looking for the sink though lol. The next day Kurenuma came to general conference (we watch it a week later) and we had a lesson afterwords with Bro. Suzuki. We just talked a bit about the conference. He said he believes that the men that spoke were representatives of God. He spoke about his belief in Christ and the Book of Mormon as well. It's crazy, he has really strong faith in Christ, it's amazing. We brought up baptism and he said he isn't ready, that he wants to learn more first. Then Elder Bradford, not understanding most of what was being said, just bossed up and asked some awesome questions. Do you have faith in Christ? "Yeah, he isn't just God's son but he is the Savior." Do you believe in the BoM? "Of course! I believe it's the word of God." Do you want to follow God? "Yeah, of course. I want to be obedient." We then shared scriptures from 2 Nephi 31. We talked about how all we need is faith and repentance before baptism. Bro. Suzuki talked about what it means to set a goal for baptism. I pulled out the calendar and Kurenuma accepted for the 5th! Even though he just got here and can't speak the language we couldn't have done it without Elder Bradford as well as Bro. Suzuki (and of course the Spirit).

Oh another thing I just remember, Elder Elsmore (my last companion) and I went to another place by train and I really wanted to get a cheap drink which means we have to walk a ways away from the station because the vending machines are usually more expensive, closer. As we were walking we met a lot of cool people and I started thinking there was a reason I felt the strong need to find a cheap drink. I felt like I should go down a certain road and remembered that drinks are a lot cheaper in grocery stores. We hopped in the nearest one and a 16 year old named Mark checked us out. He is from the Philippians and Christian. We didn't have much time but exchanged numbers and gave him a pamphlet. He read it and we have been talking on the phone. He is here with his family of 7 and sounds way chill about coming to church. You should be hearing more about him in the future!

I don't have a lot else to share from my week but I really enjoyed General Conference as I always do. I really liked what Elder Uchtdorf said in his talk: Too often we let ourselves be distracted by the imperfections of our fellow members instead of following the example of our Master. We tread a path covered with diamonds, but we can
scarcely distinguish them from ordinary pebbles.

Love you guys <3

1. The homie Elder Bradford