Karrrma

It's happening.. I'm finally leaving Yamate. I will have to visit here again someday. I love this place so much. The ward is some of the most amazing people I have met in my life and I had the awesome opportunity to meet and see Nakamura and Motoki get baptized. Also I got to be a part of Motoki's confirmation this last Sunday, which was so special. He will be getting the Priesthood next week! I don't think any area will top this one for the rest of my mission but I am going to a pretty cool place called Hachioji. I'll be a zone leader with Elder Cook, who is just a legendary missionary. I have so much to learn from him, so I'm stoked. Though I'm also a little nervous, we are super different haha. I already know this is going to be the hardest I have ever worked. He is known for going super hard and it's his last transfer!

So remember when Elder Molen got a bag stuck in his front tire and flipped over the handlebars and I couldn't stop laughing a few weeks ago? Well Karma paid me a nice visit in the EXACT same place on the way to church this last week. I was in front of him and I really have no idea how but I lost control and over corrected. My wheel turned perpendicular to the direction I was going and I just went flying over the handlebars, hit the road and apparently rolled a few times. Elder Molen was close behind me and slammed on his front brake trying to avoid running me over. So he did a nice super man over his handlebars. I wish I had a video. Somehow through all of this neither of us were hurt. My legs now have all kinds of rainbow bruises and my hand got scraped, but otherwise we are completely fine. I'm sure God was looking over us on that one.

Other than that we met with Roger last Monday. Man he has got some crazy stuff going on. (Don't put this on the blog Nance) he has lived here for quite a while and feels like he has been here long enough to "see the side of them (Japanese people) that they don't want us to see." He told us a crazy story about how he almost died due to an uncalled for scuffle with the cops. People here already stare at us but when talking with a loud black guy it's on another level. Since he is positive there are people here trying to kill him (he said he has enough evidence to know it), he is very on edge. So he thinks anyone that stares has heard and believes the rumors about him. He was talking about how everyone was mean mugging him and right then a guy did it so he just called the guy out wayy hard and pointed at him saying, "he just did it! Yeah that's right! You!" Haha He is an amazing guy though and we are way tight. I love him and feel bad he is so worried about those around him. He talked to us about how our foundation can't be based on beliefs. I think that is true to an extent. Though we had the mutual agreement that we need to test a belief before we can decide if it can be a proper foundation. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and how we test if it's true by asking our Father in Heaven. He took that very seriously and said he would read and pray about it. We will see him again tonight. I am hoping he followed through!

1. Gonna miss this place

2. The eternal bro, Motoki, swaggin out at English class

3. Couldn't keep a straight face

4. Zone meeting

5. Gettin Hyphy

6. Right after the wreck lolz

7. The basketball activity this last week

8. Wasn't a lot of people there haha

9. Giant dog, pics don't do justice

Thanks Spam!

This last Sunday I got to baptize one of my best friends Motoki Maeda. I could go on and on about him but I don't have a lot of time. I will send pictures but I feel so lucky and blessed to have met him April 1st all because he was wearing a Spam shirt. It's the uniform for his restaurant but Elder Boody called out to him because of his shirt and he came out to talk to us. So we owe it all to Spam (and the Spirit lol). We sang the same song before his baptism that we sang to Bro Nakamura before we baptized him, "midaso (I'll find you) my friend." Such an amazing song, Motoki said it was his favorite part of the whole thing. Nakamura was there right next to him listening as well, it brought back memories for both of us. Motoki shared an amazing testimony of his conversion process. He shared Alma 32:18 and how he realized when we shared it that just because he doesn't understand or know something doesn't mean it can't be true. He talked about how excited he is to teach the gospel to his children as well and how he knew he needed baptism as soon as he thought about how everyone sins and how we need to correct our mistakes. Honestly a better testimony than a lot of the ones I hear from members. Such a special guy. I know we will be friends forever. Never did I ever think I would be able to meet and be a part of such a special dude's conversion. We share so many interests as well. Looking forward to being with him In UT this January. I know I was supposed to meet this kid, can't be denied. This Saturday we get transfer calls and I really don't want to leave but it seems likely. Motoki said he will miss me a ton if I leave. I told him we are eternal friends now so it's all good. He said, "No. Not friends, Brothers." That touched me, he really is family to me. I remembered one of my personal reasons for being here and that's to find eternal friends. Our rejoicing will be even more amplified in the presence of our Heavenly Father in heaven. All my friends that are reading this (all of you) need to know that I hope the same for you. I look forward to the day when we meet after my mission but even more so the day that we can be together in Celestial Glory. Please do the things necessary to get/stay worthy to do so. I love you guys.

I also love this ward so much. I can't imagine leaving. I love every single member here. They are great. The foreigners also spoil us so much, it's great. We had dinner with Jenny, the Bartons, Larsens, and later this week dinner with the Sorensons. They have been so great and given me a home away from home.

Last thing is last night Elder Molen and I were walking around freestyle rapping and in the rap I joked about calling out to a guy that was walking away from and had his back to us. I called out to him and to our surprise he turned right around. His name is Bing! We started talking and his family happen to come around the corner right then, they are all Chinese! He made a lot of uncomfortable but hilarious jokes about hooking us up with his daughters haha but he was way excited about the idea of us visiting their family and sharing a message. It was soo awesome, we found a family! Guess that's what happens when you talk to everyone.

Love you guys <3

1-4. Baptism Pics!!

5. Meat ball??

P!@$T1C B@G $W@G

Alright I got some miracles to share. All of which would not have been possible without the guidance of the Spirit. We were walking home Monday night with the other two Elders we live with in the rain. It was pretty close to 9 so we needed to hurry home to make curfew. There is no one outside during the rain here, especially at night but we saw a younger guy sitting on a chair, smoking & watching the rain. I was disappointed it was all four of us because it makes it weirder to stop and talk to someone. We turned the corner and kept walking. Right away I though, man we should talk to him and made about four different excuses each time followed by the same feeling that we should turn around. Once I felt it the 5th time I knew we had to go back.  It's kinda weird to just return back to a person like that, poke your head around the corner and say "hey let's talk!" But.... That's what we do! Haha. He turns out to be super chill and open. He talked about how he believes in God because he wants Him to be there. Then he asked us if he can join us for church! He didn't come this last week but we are currently talking on FB and hoping to meet soon. The idea to go back and talk with him did not come from me. I didn't want to go back so I wouldn't have created that idea. God is there and guides us through the Spirit.

Next one. I went to Kamiooka for splits with the zone leaders. As Elder Hilton and I were walking home we ran into a man who said he is from Palestine. His real name is Muhammad introduced himself as Mano because he is atheist. He wanted to argue the Bible and seemed to understand it completely differently than I have heard. He is basically very angry at God it there is one because of the things he and the Palestinians have been through. He eventually told us he could never find healing. We told him there is healing in Christ. He said that's not true, because he has tried by reading The Bible. We bluntly told him that's not how you find healing. It helps but we find it through utilizing Christ's atonement. We testified of the healing we have received through Christ from our mistakes and hard times. It got pretty intense and for the first time in the whole conversation he couldn't argue or answer. All he said back was, "where is your church, I want to visit sometime." I gave that guy the biggest hug. I know he felt the Spirit. I'm sorry but NO ONE can argue with love, testimony, and feelings of the Spirit. Christ is there, and therefore so is healing. He is waiting for you to take advantage of His atonement.

Remember that 63 year old black guy who thought we were racist and moved our bikes thinking he was going to steel them, then we became really good friends and he is super ripped? That happened maybe a month ago? Well.. Last night we saw him again. Finally got his name, Roger. We ended up having an amazing conversation about God. He was soo respectful, he would listen, genuinely think about what we said then share his thoughts. Just such a great experiences teaching him about why we go through trials in this life. The conversation got cut short so we set up an appointment for next Monday night! This was all after a rough time of knocking doors where not a single person talked with us. It was supposed to happen though so we could meet Roger again. Look back at your life and the times God may have protected, guided, or helped. Especially through your harder times. I love my Father in Heaven.

After much thought and prayer Motoki finally decided who he wants me to baptize him and I get to do it! I wanted a member to do it but I can't tell him no. I'm excited for this Sunday :) Looks like he has pretty much decided to completely change his life plans and head over to BYU's language learning school this January about a month after I get home!! So some of you will get to meet this amazing guy. Stay tuned for more news with that next week :)

Love you guys

Spackman 長老

Golden Week

Hey Guys!

This last week was golden week here in Japan which is one of the few holidays Japanese people get off work for basically the whole week. Since there is always a ton of people walking by the church on holidays the ward did another open house! This one was probably my favorite. I have been here for all three open houses: Christmas, Easter & Golden Week. We had a lot of help and the weather was really nice, so that was good!

We are still meeting with Motoki about every other day haha. Today we went to that awesome all you can eat, deep fry your own food restaurant together. I will send pics. Earlier in the week we taught him about the word of wisdom. He told us a couple weeks ago that he drinks about 5 cups of coffee a week. Though since he heard that day that we believe God has asked us not to drink coffee he decided to just quit then. He kind of forgot about it, but when we taught him this last week he realized he hadn't drank coffee for a week, and realized he doesn't even need it. So we didn't even have to ask him to stop, he just did it on his own! This kid is so in tune with the Spirit, it's amazing.

We decided based off how well he is doing that we could teach him the law of chastity & tithing and fasting. He is stoked to pay his tithing to help build up God's kingdom and totally supports keeping the law of chastity. Only problem though... He never has work on Sunday's but OF COURSE his boss needs him to work on the one Sunday we planned on having the baptism, the 15th.. So Motoki fasted and prayed with us that we could see a miracle and he could get work off the 15th! I swear this kid's faith might be stronger than mine. He reminds us to
pray like every night and prays when he wakes, before he eats, and before bed. Not only did he commit to keep all three of those commandments but we did his baptismal interview that day as well and slaughtered it! I got a video to share with him in it so check it out. We are hoping we can still do the baptism next Sunday but if not, the week after that. So excited.

Other than that just the typical stuff. We had met another guy on the street that seemed to be ok but he ended up showing up to the church, interrupting our lesson and later asking for money. I can't get away from these crazies!

I have really learned to love being a missionary, it took me a while to really feel it but I do now. There are hard times buts it's worth it. One thing that came up during the Word of Wisdom lesson is a little bit about my past. I talked to Motoki about where I was in my life before and how lucky I feel to have gotten away from some of my previous actions. There is not a week that goes by that I don't think about all of your help & examples in guiding me to where I am now. Especially you mom. I've got a long ways to go, but I am lucky to be where I am. There is hope for anyone.

Love all of you and don't miss out on entertainment below!

1. Today with the district and Motoki!

2. Got a chance to go to Motoki's Okinawan restaurant with Boody who was with me when we first met Motoki! 
(Check Motoki's feet)

3. At the restaurant today they had a strawberry special with all kinds of deserts and a strawberry chocolate fountain <3

4. Another one from the restaurant

5. I think I have a pill problem...

6. We found a place that gives us Tonkatsu (fried pork), karage (friend chicken), large rice & mashed potatoes all for 8 bucks!!!!

7. Gotta love sushi

8. MOTOKI!!!!

9. We were chillin in the clinic, just the two of us