Blowing Chunks & Crackin Screens

Everything from throw up to broken iPhones make for an interesting time this last week!

I'll start with Kurenuma. He is still doing ok but things aren't looking as hopeful as they did before. I had been thinking he must have some issues with being baptized that he wasn't telling us and he finally opened up a bit about it. On Friday he came to dinner with us to the Fukuda's. It was amazing! They went all out on us, probably
spent so much money. Pizza, curry, tonkatsu (deep friend pork chop) and finished it off with cake and a ton of ice cream! :) Bro. Fukuda has been a mission president and temple president for the Tokyo temple. He is just the happiest genkiest old man ever. The next day Kurenuma came to the church and we had a member around his age with the same job there named Daisuke. Daisuke helped us out a TON in the lesson. I learned a lot about focusing on the person not the lesson. We figured out Kurenuma has an awesome testimony of the BoM and Christ but doesn't feel like he personally needs baptism. The reason being is because he doesn't feel like God has told him that he should, which is fine... But he is expecting that answer from God to come by being blessed with more money and better health. He also is mostly meeting with us because he wants to make friends. Those aren't bad desires but he is missing the whole point of the gospel. Soo much more than money, friends & better health. It's feeling joy no matter what you have or what situation you are in. It may be hard for him to be baptized as soon as we hoped but we'll see! He needs to more fully understand God and His plan for Kurenuma.

Last night may have helped him. There was a monster conference with Elder Bednar in Kichijoji and we rode with Bro. Suzuki, Fukuda and some other members. Elder Bradford was in the back with Kurenuma who was feeling sick. Bradford said he is going home if he gets barfed on haha. Kurenuma ended up blowing chunks but luckily we got him a bag beforehand. The conference was straight fire! The whole area presidency (Yamashita, Whiting, Chea), mission presidents from here and Tokyo mission and my old mission president, WADA. Made my
day to see him, love and missed him and Sister Wada so much. Got a pic too. Elder Bednar spoke specifically to anyone who isn't a member, I wish I could quote it but it was so turnt. Kurenuma was locked in and taking notes. Before we went home Kurenuma chugged a Fanta and of course on the way home puked his guts out again. I don't know what it is but watching people barf is the funniest thing, I was biting my lip so hard.

As for the broken iPhone, we went out to a neighboring station Oizumi and met some awesome people the other day. We were able to exchange info with three of them, one of which was Hirano. He was in his young 20's waiting for his friends to come so they could go drinking. We gave him a church flyer and started teaching him. He had the flyer in one hand and a brand new iPhone 7 in the other (which he said cost him $1,000). As he tried to open the flyer he bobbled then dropped the phone facedown.. The moment of silence... He picks it up and says it's ok! Then realizes the screen is completely shattered. We both felt terrible but he wasn't even phased! He didn't even care, he kinda got mad at us because we were so worried about it haha. He said he wants to learn more and we're talking on FB!

We also got Bradford a new bike in Kichijoji. While we were there we stopped by at a hip-hop clothing shop and there was this way cool Japanese guy that used to live in LA and he had basically become Mexican. Kamimura was way cool, tried to rip us off on some clothes and then accepted a lesson. Hopefully he keeps meeting with
missionaries. After that we were walking down the road and some guy just blew by us bent over with his arms extended behind him running around like he was Naruto and we just busted up laughing lol. I'm just constantly laughing and having a good time with Bradford over here.

He's way funny, has no fear and just acts like himself while trying to respect the culture. He is soo much like me, feels like he's my little bro. He got up to introduce himself at church and share his testimony yesterday. First thing he says is, "Hello! Are you genki?!" Haha ward laughed pretty hard. He later boldly said, "if you need help, I was
called to serve the Lord as well as this ward." It was way intense. Elder Millard was also supposed to talk yesterday but the ward forgot about it. After his talk Bradford just turned to the bishopric and said, "now Elder Millard?" They said next (meaning next time) but Bradford thought they meant next speaker and just starts waving to Millard loudly telling him to get up while the bishopric was trying to stop him. Dang I realize a lot of these stories aren't half as interesting if you aren't there but watching Bradford act so American up on the pulpit was hilarious.

When Elder Bednar spoke specifically to the nonmembers yesterday he taught a bit about God's plan for them and asked them to learn more from the missionaries. He said, "You can recognize the missionaries because they are happy. They smile because they are happy." He told a story about a girl that was really struggling in life and noticed a co-worker who was always smiling. This girl couldn't think of a single reason why she could smile. She asked the coworker why she is always smiling and the coworker shared her knowledge of God and His plan for her. She was later baptized and is now always smiling. I thought about what Bednar said, "smile because they are happy." It's so true, I don't feel like I am ever forcing a smile because just like the co-worker, I have all the reasons to smile. I'm a child of God, He loves me, I know my purpose and I know who I am. So can anyone.

Love you guys

1. The Wadas <3

2. The iPhone kid, Hirano

3. Another guy we met the same day Masuda

4. Dinner at Fukudas!

5. Haha random group pic we got pulled into at the Bednar conference

6. Indo Curry

7. Tsukemen つけめん

8. Hibarigaoka ward pic from a while back (I'm not there)

9. Yamashita conference from last transfer

10. The other half of the mission

11. Part of a video we made for the zone, this is literally how we start conversations on the street in Japan lol

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

2. When they announced he would be my trainee

3. The new district! Left: Yoshikawa & Millard (who is also way sick), Right: Castañeda & Heartshorn

4. All the trainers and trainees!

5. At dinner with Kurenuma haha he's not the most photogenic dude

6. Haha love him tho

7. It was such a bomb meal, we had empanadas!

8. For the first time on my mission I feel like I am getting sick. I was not feeling it last night. You may be able to tell by this selfie lol.

Motoki's going on a mission & Keisuke's baptized!

Dang there were some monster miracles this week! I got a phone call from Elder Molen over in Yamate. He was my last companion in Yamate and has been there since I left. He told me that Motoki (homie from Yamate we baptized) came back to visit and said he has decided to serve a mission! I've been in touch with Motoki over FB and he told me all about it the next day. I'll quote his words, it's long but worth it:

"A lot of things happen these couple of weeks, and I had opportunity to share the gospel, work with missionaries, and so on. What I've done is really small things, but it was big things for others. I felt the spirit so strong when I served for others. I've never felt like this way before.
I went to Kyoto to visit my friend, he introduced his missionary friends to me, and we worked together; we went from door to door to share the gospel.(It was a really bad rain, and no one listened to or accepted us.) It was really good experience for me because I could learn how hard being missionary was. Last week, I went back to Okinawa because my grandma had got hospitalized; she has cancer and her condition is really bad. According to doctor, my grandma doesn't have much time to live, and we should be prepared.  My family was really depressed and stressed out. I'm ok so far because I know no matter how bad things happen, our Heavenly Farther always help us and prepare a way. But my family didn't know that, and I think they felt like they were in a hopless place. They needed hope and somebody to lean on, so I tried everything that I could do such as  teaching the gospel, sharing some scripture, and taking them to the church with me. After that, they felt better; that made me happy.  I asked Okinawan missionaries to help my my family. My mom called me a few days ago, and she said that she was going to take a missionary lesson this Sunday. I believe everything is gonna be alright. Through these experiences, I realize that there are a lot of people who need the gospel around the world. I wanna help them, and I know I can do it if I go on a mission. My grandma always told me when I was little "Do what is right, not what is easy."  One of my missionary friends who I met in Kyoto said exactly same thing when I asked his advice on going on a mission. That words helped me to decide. I know going on a mission definitely isn't easy; it is really hard,  but it's right thing. The blessings from the Lord are so great, for both me and my family. I know I will never regret what I decided! This is why I choose to serve."

Man I can stand behind every single thing he just said. It's amazing that his future and maybe his current family's lives as well as those he has an impact on now will be completely changed by his decisions to follow Christ. God does amazing things through our imperfect and small actions. I'm so thankful I could be an instrument for God to perform such an amazing miracle. We can all learn from Motoki. Never be scared to share the blessings of Christ's gospel.

Ok another big miracle... Keisuke from Hachioji got baptized!! He asked me to give the talk and I was a little worried if I would be able to go, but we managed to get our investigator Kurenuma to come which allowed us to go and for him to have an awesome experience. I gave the talk and it actually went really well! Keisuke shared his thoughts to everyone afterwords and talked about how his mother passed away and he felt really guilty that he hadn't been a good son. He has always wondered if there is anything he can do to make up for it. He found it. I think he will be headed to the temple soon to receive baptism for his mother. What a glorious moment that will be for him to be reunited with her :)

Kurenuma offered to say the prayer so that we can go home safely. In the prayer he asked for help from Heavenly Father that he can also be baptized. He isn't ready to set a date but he is looking way solid! :)

I wanna end with something I quoted in my talk at Keisuke's baptism that applies to all of you! Love you all so much! ❤️

"Christ promises to forgive our sins on the condition that we accept Him by exercising faith in Him, repenting, receiving baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and striving faithfully to keep His commandments to the end of our lives. Through continuing repentance, we may obtain forgiveness and be cleansed of our sins by the power of the Holy Ghost. We are relieved of the burden of guilt and shame, and through Jesus Christ we become worthy to return to the presence of God."

1. Dat Baptism Tho 👌🏼

2. Haha Keisuke looks so small next to us!

3. Wait, maybe he's just small...

4. Haha love him <3 Kurenuma is on the far left

5. The aftermath from a service project we did at a members house last week

6. Number 2

7. On dat preppy weed pickin swag lol

8. Probably the most unhealthy ramen I've had, that's butter haha

9. Haha Elder Elsmore hates being touched.

10. Guess some drunk driver hot this pole, wiring in Japan is done so terribly, look how messy that is. They just took the pole out and let all the wires hang haha

11. Gotta love Chinese food

12. Mochi ice cream