Atsugi Round 2

Transfer calls came this week. I'm staying and so is my companion. So is the rest of the district except Mitabi (who is going home). We are getting an Elder who speaks Spanish to replace him! Couldn't be any more perfect, we have a decent amount of hispanic members and investigators in our ward. 

A few disappointing things happened this week. Shimizu couldn't make it to church (though we just had a way sick lesson with him), Akihiro, Sheryl and Kuramochi didn't show up to a ward baptsim we had this week as they said they would. Though we are still seeing miracles!

I was studying some Japanese in the apartment as Elder Brown was writing an email. I got sick of studying and decided I would try calling some people. Right away I thought of Kohei, a friend we met on the street a while back. I searched his name and 2 Kohei's showed up.. I clicked on the wrong one but decided I needed to give him a call too (no idea who he was). This 18 year old kid answers who is Japanese but lived in Canada and therefore is fluent in English. He said he is Christian and knows about Christ. Then he says he is down to come to church and listen to our message.. Crazy how we may have met the other Kohei just so that I could notice this one to call and set that lesson up. Whether that's how it went down from God's perspective or not, He definitely led me to this kid. BOOM MIRACLE. 

We lost contact with Kuramochi, our investigator we found a few weeks ago. Then this week he just showed up at the church, thank goodness we were there. He had read the whole Book of Mormon in a week! Then we had a lesson with him. BOOM MIRACLE.

Shimizu is doing well too. I really don't feel like I deserve all these many miracles, but I am definitely thankful for them. Trying to make the most of it! To add on to it, why am I so blessed to live in America with the great family, friends and opportunities I have had? Blows my mind. Never forget how lucky you guys are living in America with dope family and friends.

I read a really good talk this morning from the binder of talks the homie Coleson hooked up. Do me a favor and read it. And no one shall offend them by David A. Bednar, Gen. Conference October 2006. Here is the link:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/and-nothing-shall-offend-them?lang=eng

Love you all

Spackman 長老

Pics and Vid

1. (Video) Killed the biggest cockroach this week. You need sound for this thing. I am doing most of the screaming haha. It was 7 minutes long but I cut it down for yall

2-3. Two of my favorite foods. Indo Curry and Tonkatsu Curry

4. Awesome family in our ward the Watanabes. We had dinner this week.

5. FINALLY! A picture of Shimizu and us! He is standing between Elder Brown and I

You're going to want to read this one

Atsugi is straight turnin up lately! Man what a great week. 

Before I talk about my week though I want to give a shoutout to the most humble and hardworking man I know. Gary Spackman. The man I am now and man I want to be are hugely based of him. I feel as if I don't know him as well as I should because he refuses to put himself in the spotlight nor talk about himself despite how hard he works and how much he has sacrificed for me. So I feel the need to do it for him. I don't know how you do it dad, but I'm "glad my daddy." 

I went on splits with my very first companion, Elder Nagano in Fujisawa. It was so fun, we went hard. I was too prideful when we were companions. Wish I would have respected him more. He is a great missionary. We had zone conference this week which was very spiritual and motivating. I have the sickest mission president and mom.

Alright so this week was seriously so dope. I hit 6 months which actually made the mission feel longer but that was a cool milestone. This week we had 2  lessons with Shimizu who is doing so good and on track to get baptized July 12. We discussed a lot of the commandments and he has no problems. He stopped doing stuff because missionaries in the past have told him he can't if he wants to join the church. You don't have to be perfect to get baptized but he is going above the standard. Man I love him. I gave a talk this last Sunday about charity and had him come up with me. I talked about how he is actually my teacher and I have learned so much about love as I have felt God's love for him. I had him share his testimony, I put him on the spot and he was really uncomfortable but then he bossed up and killed it! BOOM MIRACLE The ward was so supportive and complimentary. I think it really boasted his confidence in his testimony. I really hope I don't transfer. 

Not just for Shimizu either though. So many miracles this week. My companion is driving me absolutely insane I'm not going to lie but we are seeing too many miracles to really care too much about that. 

We met with Kobayashi after a while of not seeing him. He came to the church to have a mock sacrament meeting cause he has been hesitant to come to church. We challenged him to baptism and to our surprise he accepted for late August. He is just this old funny guy that I never saw actually doing the things we ask and coming closer to God. Still shocked. BOOM MIRACLE

We try to call as many friends as possible when we have time. We called our friend Akihiro who they haven't seen in forever. He is Filipino and in his earlier 20's, he speaks fluent English. He answered and said he has been reading the Book of Mormon but that it's hard in Japanese. Perfect excuse to meet. So this last Saturday we met to drop off an English one. He had said we could share a message. As we were inside sitting down about to start a girl comes home. He said "oh that's my wife." WHAT?! This dude is married? Then we figure out they have a 5 your old daughter.. again.. WHAT?! His wife must have had her at 16. Such a young and nice family. She joined us for the lesson, the Spirit was so strong, and I felt it guiding the conversation. There wasn't a time where I didn't know what to say. They loved the message and are reading and praying every day to know if the message is true. They are both totally chill with the idea of baptism. Next week we will hook them up with a date. BOOM HUGE MIRACLES!

Remember Naomasa, the guy that went to Purdue who also speaks English? We finally got ahold of him. He is so busy and it's worse now because he has a daughter in the hospital but he has been reading the Book of Mormon and asked us for some scriptures that would help him. We should meet with him in a couple weeks assuming his life gets back to normal and I don't transfer.. Really sad to hear about his daughter but BOOM MIRACLE.

We were knocking doors the other day. We met this kid our age and we asked what his hobby is. He said creating EDM (Electronic Dance Music). YEAH BOI! I haven't even met someone that knows "EDM" let alone makes it. He knows all my favorites Aviici, Calvin Harris, David Guetta... Even though his sister kept coming out and speaking for him saying they are Soku Gakai. He said he was interested... Ehhh I'll count it BOOM MIRACLE!

Not a lot we can do though because Soku Gakai is this super sketchy religion here where they pay off your debts when you join but don't let you leave or join any other religions... 

All in all one of the sickest weeks ever. EXCEPT COCKROACHES.

I hate cockroaches they are the most vile, gross and disgusting creatures on earth. I know God is perfect but it had to be a mistake when He made cockroaches.. Our apartment is super old. We killed 12 of those guys in 4 days! We have traps set up but when we come home we sneak in and grab shoes, flip on the light and just go on a killing rampage. It's pretty fun haha. I killed 3 in a row and I was yelling at the top of my lungs just getting stoked-- I was on a killing spree. Though after words I realize how nasty it is our apartment is so infested.

This week I heard a stat that may/may not be true. While I was at USU I met a lot of guys who had served missions but definitely didn't act like it. I always thought, "how could you believe in something so firmly as to serve a two year mission simply for that purpose then throw it all away" sounds ridiculous right? Apparently not ridiculous enough. I heard that 50% of missionaries go inactive at least for a little after they get back home. Whether accurate or not there is a ridiculous amount falling away. I immediately thought of my friends. There are few in this world that I think consider friends to be family as much as I do. I love you all. Though I am specifically speaking to those of you considering, leaving on, currently serving on, or returned from missions (even if we are not friends, listen up). You have been the sickest examples for me and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I now have a responsibility to return the favor. Don't ever stop being an example. I will try my hardest to do the same. We all can endure if we help each other. Simply having a testimony in this world is just not good enough anymore NEVER forget how badly we need to constantly continue our conversion to Christ, NEVER forget the experiences, blessings and answers you have received and can continue to receive from God. If you asked your investigators to come closer to God to eventually endure to the end, no less is expected of you. I won't expect any less of you. Please do the same for me.

love you fam,

Spackman 長老

Pics

1. Our district took this picture for our "mission dad" and dads back home. Love ya

2. Elder Stevens lol I live with this kid.. I had a similar picture but my shirt was off and I already have wayy too many girls emailing me right now sooo... 

3. We were watching some BYU devotional and found my twin singing. Though I am obviously far more attractive.. It's a little scary how identical we are....

6 Months? Whaaat

So this week I've been out for 6 months. Halfway to a year? Insane. Though it's a little sad to hear about some of the homies going home now like Braiden. Just cause I still got a ways haha.

Doesn't mean I'm not still liking it out here though! This week I went on splits to Shonan. Before we left we had indo curry which is my favorite food here. It's not Japanese but it's great. Shonan is on the coast. We went and talked to people, not super successful but it was great to see the beach for the first time in 6 months. There were people playing volleyball and there was a basketball court there. We will probably go there next p day. While I was there I missed the lesson with Shimizu here but he is doing well and we talk to him on the phone every day. I'm a little worried about what will happen when Satan makes his next big move to keep him from getting baptized, but all I can really do is pray. We have a lesson with him tonight. Really hoping I don't leave before he gets baptized. On splits we found a pretty solid investigator for the companionship in Shonan, who is stoked about reading the Book of Mormon. He had his head buried in it as he walked away. Shonan also had a massage chair in their apartment. Oh man it was nice. There are so many cheap places to get massages here and I want one so bad but of course as a missionary I shouldn't. One member here came in the church and while I was sitting down just gave me a back rub and had recently been to America and gave me a bunch of skittles. They are gone now but they were soooo good! It's been too long. Two things I have been dying for haha.

Elder Brown and I had a day completely devoted to finding a new investigator and we definitely found one and kind of another. This guy on the street told us he is interested in religion and at the end of our convo I felt like I should ask if he would get baptized if he found an answer to his prayers about our message. To my surprise he didn't really sound opposed to it. We had a lesson with him this week. He definitely is involved in some immoral things but he is searching for truth and prayed in the lesson to know if our message is true. If he has trouble finding an answer I may have to share my experience of how I found my answer by living the commandments for a while so I could be in tune with the spirit. We should be meeting with him consistently. We found another lady who reads the bible and is Christian but doesn't really claim to a religion, she had a way cool son who is really good at English. We will hopefully be able to teach that family soon.

Really not a lot else to update.... Kobayashi has been bailing on us lately. We should be meeting with him tonight. He has got to start coming to church tho!.. Kinda sad, yesterday someone jumped in front of a train at the station that's right next to our house :( as I have said before Japan is the number 2 country in the world in terms of suicides. Some of these people really need the piece, guidance, understanding, and joy that comes with this gospel. Wish I could have talked to that person before they threw it all away.

Sorry for the lame email. Love you guys. Things get hard sometimes in life. Never give up, be humble enough to seek God's help, and ask for it from others. If someone asks you for help, you notice someone needs it, or even have a feeling someone does. Do something about it! Sometimes we just need to forget about our problems and help others.

Spackman 長老

Pics
1. Not very pretty but Shonan beach!

2. This statue of a jacked dude on top of some shop here

3. We made a ton of cookies for some activity. I made some sick ones but here's Japan's flag.

4. Video: having some fun at the playground lol

Sorry this is so late

Konbonwa!

This probably won't get sent till tomorrow because today was crazy busy but an awesome p day. I haven't had a normal p day since I got here. Kinda wearing on me. I just wanna chill, email, wash my clothes, and SLEEP. Today we started the day off by going to the Zama army base here. So weird. Once we went past the gates it was back in America. Man it's going to be weird when I get home. So while I was waiting for Elder Brown to finish updating his insurance I "had" to wait in the waiting room with game 2 of the finals on. Ohhhh no I have to watch one of my favorite sports events and favorite athlete.... Haha I watched most of the 4th quarter. So sick. Glad to later hear that the Cavs won in overtime. Go Cavs baby! Though GS is pretty sick, not gonna lie... Then we went with one of the families in our ward to eat and to a dam that Elder Mitabi's dad helped build (one of my roommates, the short Japanese one). Definitely a great dam party ;) Then we met up with Fukuoka Kyodai who loves going out with us to teach lessons and find people. He is such a stud and really wants to serve a mission. We went to dinner with him and helped him answer some difficult life questions that I can't answer a lot of times haha. 

This week we talked to a lot of cool people. Found a couple new investigators, referrals and friends. It's really tough to get back in touch with people a lot of times though. Kind of frustrating... The referrals we found because I hopped in one of their selfies then we started talking and realized they are from Bangkok, Taiwan! They spoke English and agreed to meet with the missionaries there. Hopefully I can hook the homie McKay Luker up with them :) That same day we found some really chill guys that weren't interested in the church but were cool. I bet we see them in English class someday. They liked taking pictures of "poses". See below.

I recently finished all of Doctrine and Covenants. Good stuff but it definitely dragged on. I definitely have a lot more respect for Joseph Smith and stronger testimony that he and our prophet today receive revelation from God. I wouldn't necessarily suggest reading it front to back. Though there are seriously some dope scriptures in there. I am back reading the Book of Mormon, taking in as much as I can. It is literally insane how much I am getting out of it this time around. Crazy what prayer, an earnest desire, and concentration can do. People read so many self help books to try and better their lives but ignore and harden their hearts to the best one, the word of God written in the Book of Mormon (and Bible). It literally answers any question you have. It's stories are wild too.

One thing I have learned a ton about out here is the church member and person I want to be when I get home. I have seen some of the best examples of excellent members but also seen some bad ones. Really opened up my eyes. Some of the best examples are Fukuoka (who I mentioned), Kitajima (our ward mission leader), Sato (our current bishop) and Watanabe (I talked about him when I was in Tokorozawa).

It sounds weird but I am excited to go home and strive to be a good member. To do missionary work with the people I meet, to fulfill my calling and go beyond what is expected. I'm positive in doing so it's bound to bring me and others more happiness and continue my conversion to my Heavenly Father as I prepare to meet him again. If I ever seem to forget these things please remind me. 

For some of you I may sometimes sound like a crazy pastor. Don't worry I'm still the same Brett, though this gospel really has changed me for the better. I know it because I feel the joy it brings. I feel more guidance and help.

We had a long lesson with both Kobayashi and Shimizu this week. Man Shimizu is so solid and learning that the Book of Mormon can answer all of his questions, as I mentioned earlier. He's reading on his own and finding answers for his life. It's so great. I am really confident he will own his baptismal date here in about a month. Let's hope I don't transfer beforehand. Kobayashi seemed to take a step back this week. We were going to invite him to be baptized but it didn't seem like the right time to do so. We are trying to get him to church.

Still loving Atsugi and the awesome members here.

I love you all, strive hard to be better people not just in others eyes but in God's eyes :)

-Spackman 長老

1-2. Pictures on the street with random kids, they liked doing "posses"

3. Sunset view from the 3rd floor of our church

4. We brought the sacrament to a sick member who has way bad cancer. He has awesome faith

5-7. The dams we visited

8. Elder Mitabi, shortest Elder in the mission haha