Facebook Pioneer

Well you may have noticed I'm on Facebook!
Cool right?! The Tokyo and Tokyo South Missions are the only two
missions outside of the US to use Facebook as a form of proselyting.
To make it sound even cooler I'm one of a handful of people who have
the opportunity to use it. Right now only the mission leadership is
testing it. We're expecting that everyone will be able to use it in
about a month. It's pretty interesting so far. Slightly distracting,
but we've already seen some great miracles come of it and we're
excited to see what happens from here on out.

Since we're able to use Facebook I've found that after looking at your
profiles I want to talk to you a lot more. Unfortunately communication
with you all isn't allowed over Facebook. If you want to get in touch
with me however please send me an Email: andrew.howard@myldsmail.net I
don't always have a lot of email time, but if you send me a personal
email I'll do my best to write you back!! You can also write me a
letter at:

                    Elder Garrett Howard

4-25-12 Nishi Ochiai                 東京都    新宿区
Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo-To              西落合 4ー24ー12
161-0031                                   161-0031

Missionaries love mail!!

Other than the addition of Facebook things here are pretty normal.
Right now Elder Kudo and I are working hard to keep the momentum that
Elder Chen and I built last transfer. We have however been incredibly
busy with meetings and exchanges and unfortunately haven't been able
to meet with our friends as much as we would like. I guess sometimes
the work load is just different. As busy as we are however we have
managed to see a miracle every day! It's amazing how The Lord
consecrates your time when you are in his service. He really does
bless the Nations if the people simply have faith in him. We've been
blessed with the "heavenly gift" of Eternal Life and we GET to share
it with others.

Ether 12:
7 For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers,
after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them
until after they had faith in him; wherefore, it must needs be that
some had faith in him, for he showed himself not unto the world.

8 But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world,
and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby
others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope
for those things which they have not seen.

9 Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if
ye will but have faith.

Alma 26:
37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people,
whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his
bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my
great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.
Amen.

God has prepared a way that all of his children may be partakers of
the "Heavenly Gift". This way is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm
grateful that I have the gospel in my life. I never knew the value of
it until I became a missionary. I challenge you all to consider how
different your life would be if/when you didn't know or understand the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. And after you think about that for a bit. Pray
and thank your Father in Heaven for giving you a path to follow. I
know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and I know that God
lives. It's written not only in the Bible but in the Book of Mormon.
All we have to do is have a little Faith in him and we too can come to
know him.

Enjoy the warmer weather and have a great week.
If you get a chance write me an email or shoot me a letter, I'd love
to hear from you!
I love and miss you all!

Baptism

Yesterday I had the awesome opportunity of going back to Matsudo to perform the Baptism for a family I'm good friends with. This is Yukino. She's 11 and she is first member of the church in her
family. In December her and her family came to church with the Sugimoto family. The Mother Michiko was an investigator and really wanted her kid's to be a part of the church. I still remember when
Elder Young and I looked at each other and said that The Lord had sent us a prepared family. The Elders and Sisters worked with them and Yukino said on her own that she wanted to be baptized. The Baptism was
great. One of my other friends Naoya was also baptized the same time. It was a great day for Matsudo Ward and a great day for both Naoya and Yukino. It felt really good to be a part of their Miracles. Every
baptism really is a Miracle.

That was the biggest thing for me this week. My new companion Elder Kudo is the Man he studied English at BYU Hawaii for a semester we take turns simultaneously translating what the other is saying. To
switch it up I speak Japanese and he speaks English. It's really funny. We've been working really closely with the zone this last week to spread our "propaganda" if you will..

On Satursay we did a small meeting with the DIstrict Leaders and Sister Training Leaders and told them our zone vision. Our Zone Vision is the same as it was last transfer; "one by one" (3Nephi 11:15-17) or
in other words "one baptism per area per month) This transfer however we have great plan help us achieve that goal. The first thing is companionship baptismal goals. Rather than set a big baptismal goal as
a zone we wanted to help each companionship remember and work towards the goals that they've already set. And by focusing in the people that we have that are close to be baptism we can achieve those numbers and hopefully see even two or three baptisms per area. President Dorff (our stake president) challenged us to write down daily how we see the Hand of The Lord in our work. As Elder Kudo and I discussed this we
came to the conclusion that we feel the true Joy of missionary work when we realize that we were the hand of The Lord. That we were just a point in the flow that comes from God to the Investigator. We enter
that flow by following the Circle of Revelation. As we are the "conduit" from The Lord to the person we are helping we feel Joy and we like Ammon, can't contain ourselves so we have to share that Joy
with others. This is where partnership comes in. As we share our Joy with members they will naturally gain the desire to feel that Joy themselves and eventually they will also enter that flow and become another "conduit" to the investigator and then they feel the Joy and will want to share that with others as well. In summary Joy, People and Partnership are our focuses for the transfer. We feel really good
about this vision. As we planned everything seemed to fit into place perfectly. I have a lot of faith that this transfer we're going to see big miracles in every area.

Well that's all for this week! Share parts of this with the Blog and stuff if you'd like. It's actually really hard to send emails to everyone now because I can't make a group with my ipad.

Transfer Calls and Other Good Stuff

Transfer calls came in today and it was an interesting one. My prophecy was correct. I'm the only Elder who is staying in Sakado. Elder Chen is obviously leaving, Elder Leaver is going to Narita and
Elder Miller is going to Sado Island. My knew companion is Elder Kudo. He's Japanese and he's really cool. I'm going to train him how to be a zone leader. I'll also be inheriting 2 area's worth of work so that should be interesting. I've handled big responsibilities before but this is my first time being a Senior Companion as a Zone Leader so it's a little nerve wracking, but I'm excited nonetheless. Elder Healy
got transferred to Sanjo up in Niigata. There's a good chance I won't see him until after the mission ha ha.
More exciting news; I also may be participating in a Baptismal service for one of the investigators in Matsudo this next week. The Matsudo Sister's 11 year old investigator, Yukino-chan, has a crush on me
asked If I would come and it sounds like I'll be doing the Baptism. I'm a good friend of her parents so I said I'd come down and they're all excited. I feel privileged to be a part of someone else's conversion experience

Anyways. This week was a really cool week. We had interviews with President Budge and he taught me a lot about something called the Circle of Revelation. It's really simple. You pray for someone and ask
The Lord what you need to do for them. You study for them and you talk about them with your companion, and then you plan for them and then you act on the plans you made. Lastly you report back to The Lord and
The Lord gives you more revelation and you repeat the cycle. He told me that if I followed this pattern every day that I would not only be able to help my investigators and know what they need, but that when I
start my own family this will be the pattern by which I will lead and guide and strengthen my family.

We have an investigator who's name is Toshimasa. He's a really great guy who's been meeting the missionaries for 6 months now and has gone back and forth between progressing and not progressing. His dream is to own a coffee farm and open a cafe. He's read the entire Book of
Mormon and he's always asking great questions. We really love working with him. Lately he's had a problem coming to church. He's come in the past but for whatever reason he said that he just doesn't feel ready.
Yesterday was Elder Chen's last day at church so he invited Toshimasa again but he said that he wouldn't come. About 10 minutes into the meeting he showed up. I'm 100% sure that God is working on him. He
said "I woke up and had to decide if I should go to church or if I should go to my friend's cafe. Church just seemed like the right decision." If that doesn't prove that God is working on him I don't
know what else will. Elder Chen and I were really excited. I'd rather have Toshimasa come than 12 new investigators.

Last night we had a lesson scheduled with him at a members house and we hadn't finished preparing so after church Elder Chen and I decided to take some time to prepare for him. We found the talk "Finding Joy
in the Journey" by President Monson from October 2008 conference. We really wanted to share it with him because he knows that if he wants to join the church he has to give up his coffee farm dream, which he
is at this point seriously thinking about doing. We wanted to share it but we thought the best thing to do would be to pray about it. We knelt down and asked The Lord if this was the right message. We both
felt that if we watched the talk at that particular members house (Mori Kyoudai) it would really help Toshimasa because Mori Kyoudai would have a lot of good comments about it. It was decided. Somewhere
along the line the question came about whether or not we should invite him to be baptized again and set another baptismal date with him. We decided we should pray again. We prayed and both felt strongly that it
was time to give him the invitation to act. Elder Chen asked if he could be the one to offer the invitation. I thought it was a good idea. We felt the best date was April 6th.

When we were actually teaching the lesson everyone was pretty tired after fasting and although the talk was great I was worried that we wouldn't be able to make the invitation or set the baptismal date. As the conversation went on Elder Chen began to make the invitation and we were able to set the date we wanted. The spirit was so strong. When we were returning home Elder Chen shared with me that he felt so
strongly during the lesson that the Holy Ghost was prompting him to invite Toshimasa to be baptized. He like me has doubted whether or not the time was right but that he knew he'd felt the prompting and had to
act on it. Everything went incredibly smoothly. My faith was strengthened so much and my understanding of the Circle or Revelation has really grown. I want to continue to apply that principle daily.
The best way to do missionary work is the way The Lord asks you to do missionary work.

I love being a missionary it's an incredible experience. I'm excited to see what the next 6 weeks have to bring. As of today I have 18 weeks left. I'm where Colin was when I was his companion. That's so
hard to believe. Well. That's all of I've got for this week. Give the family my Love!

 Brazillian Food with Elder Hall (American Fork) at Capim Dourado Grill. Sylvio the owner is a great friend of ours. (Wow I'm chubby.)

The second picture is us with Sister Takishita and Sister Owens.  Sister Takishita's mom wrote us letters so we were celebrating. I wasn't looking.

This Week in Photos

More Snow

I had a really busy week as usual, but this time it was a bit more
like a big snowy adventure. We got another 5 inches or so and they are
saying that it's the most snow in this part of Japan for a 120 years!
we're expecting another storm on Wednesday.

This week was Mission Leadership Council. President Budge talked to us
a lot about our vision and purpose as missionaries. Elder Whiting told
him that we needed to raise our vision. President Budge, however, felt
that that wasn't really the problem. Our standards of excellence are
really high and we aren't even succeeding in reaching them yet. He
talked to President Heaton of the MTC about it and President Heaton
talked about our focus. He said that becoming consecrated, trying to
reach the standards of excellence and focusing on baptisms were all
good things. However, if missionaries really focused on their purpose
and there role in this work that we wouldn't need to focus on any of
these other things, they would naturally increase as missionaries
focused on helping others.

In D&C 88:73 it says that The Lord will hasten his work. HE will
hasten his own work. It doesn't matter whether we are here to help or
not, the work will be hastened. Our purpose is to focus on the people
and help The Lord help them. A lot of missionaries are struggling
because try as they might they don't see a baptism their first two
transfers or they worry about their Japanese skills etc. They get so
caught up in these things that they can't help anyone. Elder Neil A
Maxwell said that we often "get caught up in the thick of thin
things." I feel like that statement is really profound. Our goal is
not to learn Japanese, or to fix a wards' problems, it's to help
others come unto Christ. Our entire focus as missionaries is helping
other people. That's why they call it "SERVING a Mission." Our
Re-Vision is that we need to take the pressure off of ourselves and
start focusing on the people behind the numbers. They are there!! They
are waiting!! President Budge talked to us about the Leadership Model
and how we as mission leaders would help everyone make this 2 degree
adjustment. He talked about how after we had a Re-Vision that we
needed a Re-Alignment, followed by a Re-Charge and a Re-Model. The
Re-Model was probably the most important part. We as Zone Leaders need
to be asking the right kind of questions to help the missionaries we
work closely with help others progress.

The question that President Budge posed was a great one. he said, "Who
is God working on in your area? What do they need?" He then talked to
us about the Circle of Revelation and how it all begins from heartfelt
prayer. We also receive revelation during our personal study, our
companionship study, our language study, during our planning sessions
etc. As missionaries we have to act on this revelation in order to
better help our friends. It was an incredibly enlightening conference.
I feel much more capable as a missionary because I feel like this
conference really helped me focus on my purpose. It was simply the
basics, Re-Visited. I'm excited to share this with the zone.

Exchanges this week were really fun. I had a chance to work with Elder
Kitagaki in Okegawa. Because it was Valentines day and because it was
snowy and cold we thought we should do some sort of fun valentines day
dendo to cheer everyone up. Elder Kitagaki had the great idea of
buying chocolate and giving it to people on the street. In Japan there
is Valentines Day on February 14th and there is White Day on March
15th. On Valentines Day the women give the men stuff. On White Day men
give women stuff. Anyway we decided to give out chocolate and stop
people on the street. It was nearly impossible with the snow, but we
managed to stop a few people. It was really fun actually. A lot of
people took the chocolate we gave out and listened to our message. We
still didn't find anyone but we had a lot of fun. I think that's the
most important part.

Yesterday all the Sakado Elder's went to help a family in our ward
who's car port hd collapsed because of the snow. I wish I had taken
pictures. It was a sight to see. The 4 of us in our suits and ties
walked an hour in the snow tear the thing apart and then walked about
an hour back, all before Sacrament Meeting. If that isn't missionary
work, then I don't know what is.

Well that's the update! Here's a couple snapshots of the week!

Elder Chen and I at the Temple

Snow in Tokyo

This week wasn't that exciting but we did have some exciting weather! Here's the view from the back of our apartment. We got 4 inches of snow! In this part of Japan that's a super rare thing. Yesterday our church meetings were moved back to 1:00 so that we would have time to shovel the roads and parking lot, etc. It was a blast. It's really funny when snow falls like this in a place where snow doesn't usually fall. The people seem totally lost, they have no idea what to do. Trains stop and everything. It was super fun, but It was probably the most unproductive day of my mission. All I did was shovel snow with the other Elders in my apartment and dream about Utah Snow. That's just about all that happened this week, but now we have ipads! Elder Chen and I had to spend an entire planning session trying to figure out how to use them. It's odd to have technology like this after a year of not using high tech stuff. It's really sleek though. Everything is now done from the ipad and we even use them when we are streeting or housing to share scriptures and videos etc with the people we meet.  It's great! The only thing I don't like about it is that it can be a colossal waste of time if you don't use it the right way. We get to do some trainings on them in the next few weeks. We're excited about that.

Sakado is picking up momentum! Last week we found a super awesome investigator named Li. Yesterday he came with us to church and to a baptism in Urawa. he loves the Book of Mormon too! He says there are a lot of things he doesn't understand but that he feels like it teaches good things. Elder Chen and I weren't able to set a baptismal date yet, but we have an appointment for Tuesday. We're excited. We think he'll make it by the 23rd. The Ward needs it. I have faith that it will happen. 

not much else this week. I guess you can take what you like from this email and post it on the blog. I don't really feel up to writing another long email explaining the same stuff. 

Also if you can find any pictures of me Snowboarding and swimming I'd love to add them to my picture book that I show people. I feel like it lacks variety. Thanks mommy!

I got the package! Thanks so much! Those Red Velvet M&Ms are celestial!!

iPads

Things have been crazy busy and crazy cramped in this small apartment and we've been sacrificing p-day time to get things done.
We also went the Aquarium yesterday. I'll send pictures as soon as I can figure out how to send them from an ipad.

We get ipads today! All the missionaries will be trained on how to use them as new tools to help the work move forward!! We're excited I'm thinking that a lot more will get done. It's going to change the way the mission operates! I bought myself a bluetooth keyboard so I can email from my ipad. It's cool I'll be able to see the missions performance statistics in real time. I'll also be able to seet the statistics of each companionship in my zone and it'll give me a better idea of what I need to follow up with. As for the work it's as hard and rewarding as ever. The other day Elder Chen and I went out to do some streeting. We met a Black Man named Martin Reverend and had the opportunity to bear our testimony of the restoration to him in English. He didn't become a new investigator but Elder Chen and I both felt that we taught by the spirit and that he felt it as well.

It's an incredibly opportunity to do this for 2 years of my life. I feel that sharing the Gospel with people who don't know about it, but that need to hear it, has helped me become a man. If the Lord wanted to see millions of Baptism he could send the 12 and the 70. Instead he calls inexperienced young men and young women who are in the middle of discovering themselves and puts them to work in his vineyard for 2 years. The purpose of the missionary program is not just to baptize the nations. It's to shape us into future church leaders, worthy priesthood holders, fathers and mothers. It gives us a form of Job experience and language experience and gives a new perspective on the world around us, and of course it also gives us an opportunity to learn more about the gospel. I'm so glad I made it back to Japan just over a year ago.
It's changed my life.

Thanks for all the pictures Mom! B sent some great ones as well. Sounds like things are going great for the family!

I'll try to send a more comprehensive email next week (from my ipad) with pictures if I can, but you'll get to see me soon enough. ;)

お久しぶり！

皆さんお久しぶりですね！
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write!
Last week I was transfered. My new area is Sakado. It's a tiny area in Saitama-ken really close to my old area Okegawa.

I'd send you pictures of the apartment, but I somehow managed to lose my camera.

The apartment is crazy small. It was small when there were two people living here, it's even smaller now that there are four people living here. The area itself however is great! Sakado has been struggling in the past but that time of struggle is at an end. With eight missionaries and a ward that's super fired up we're sure to see success. Bishop Tetuanui (from Tahiti) has a tenacious plan that unites the ward in fasting and prayer for 28 days starting two days ago. He put his name was on the fasting calendar every other day and the members,  seeing that he  was fasting a lot more than his fair share volunteered to help out. Sakado is united in fasting and prayer and we're going to see the baptism that they've been waiting for for close to 3 years now. We're planning on a baptism on the 23rd of February at 1:00 pm. We don't know who it will be yet, but there are a lot of people that have a lot of potential.

My room mates are also a lot of fun. Elder Chen and I are having a blast. Yesterday we gave our zone training. The theme of the Training was preparing and sanctifying ourselves so that we can recieve the Lord's blessings. We talked alot about Changing our Natures and what the difference is between changing our behaviors and changing our natures. It was a great meeting. Tomorrow we have the opportunity to hear from Elder Whiting of the Seventy who is touring our mission. That's also happening in Sakado. We're going to be busy.

On the fun side of things, We had a pizza party a little while ago and had an absolute blast! It's too bad Elder Healy wasn't there to be with his 3 favorite people (^_^)  (I'd add pictures but the computer won't work ごめん!)

Saitama

Transfer calls just happened today. I'm plenty pleased with my transfer. I'm going to be a Zone Leader in Saitama West Zone (Sakado Area) with the Legendary Elder Chen on his last Transfer. It's going to be a blast!!
Okegawa (my old area) is in my zone so I'll get to visit it at some point. Elder Hansen is going to the other side of the Matsudo apartment to be with Elder Beckett. Elder LeFevre one of the District Leaders here will be Zone Leader with Elder Norman. Elder Day is going to Senzokuike (my old area) to finish training someone. It seems like everyone is pretty happy. We had a giant Zone P-day today to play sports and stuff while we all awaited transfer calls. Guess who else is a Zone Leader. Elder Justesen. He's transfer 5!! and Elder Gray who was in my district back in Oyama is also a Zone Leader at transfer 4!! crazy!! I knew that it would happen too. Those Elders are just way too good.

I'm gonna be sending home a small package this week, by boat mail. It will take about a month. Costs next to nothing so don't worry about that.

Things have been really good. I've learned a lot about myself during my time in Matsudo and I'm really looking forward to applying my new found knowledge in Sakado. This could be my last area. Who knows!
Sounds like B has got things figured out. Hopefully she's trying to follow promptings as well. She'd make an incredible missionary ;) I know that's her choice though.

We're getting Ipad Minis two weeks from now. Did I mention that? Every missionary gets an Ipad Mini with Facebook... not sure how that'll work. Updates soon!

Stay Healthy! Keep using the oils. I love peppermint. I could use another bottle of just peppermint actually. Also On Gaurd toothpaste rocks. I haven't even had a headache in like a month.

Give the family my love!

New Year, New Possibilities

This past week went by incredibly fast. I'm not sure if it was excitement for temple day or if it was stress from preparing trainings but it went by so fast!! Our trainings this week went really well actually. We had a Zone Meeting on Tuesday last week with all 35 missionaries and then yesterday we had our new missionary training meeting which was for all of the 1st and 2nd transfer missionaries. That went well. The meeting itself was bigger than any zone meeting we did the transfer before. Not only that but Sunday was a zone wide Japanese only day. It was incredible I spent about 10 hours speaking Japanese and was able to really pinpoint some of the things I've been trying to improve on. It did stress out some the of the younger missionaries but I would say everyone thought that it was worth it.

Today the temple was an amazing experience. Since last weeks shocker I had been feeling a lot of concern about what my future held or what I would do when I came home etc, on top of all the regular missionary stressors. I had a chance to just lay it all in front of the Lord and felt my spirits lifted. I'm really excited for the next few transfers. This next transfer is Elder Norman's last transfer and we are hoping that we'll have the opportunity to really work and grow just the two of us. Training and being a Zone Leader is really too much. We don't really have time to help our new missionary at all.  Anyways things are looking good from today forward.  I got the Christmas card. Funniest thing ever. Absolutely loved it.

This week will go by fast as well. Transfer calls are in 6 days and I have 3 exchanges this week so we'll be spending a lot of time traveling to other areas. Then I'll be on transfer 12! The big question is what I'm going to do for school... I have a couple of ideas but I still don't really know. Elder Healy and I were talking today and we both want to stay till the 22nd of August but that leaves no time to prepare for school and I really wanna hit the ground running when school roles around. I guess we'll figure that out when school gets closer. I've been thinking a lot lately and I think since I'm going to have to retake my first year of college anyway (I've been gone for 2 years) I thought it might be cool to experience ROTC. I'd like to sign up for that. I don't have to make a decision until Junior year and who knows maybe by then I'll have found my future wife. I'm going to ask dad to do a little ROTC research for me. I Think I've got a general idea about school but I wanna learn some things first. I'm thinking mechanical engineering would be cool. If I can learn Japanese I can learn math. I also was thinking about doing a minor in Japanese but if I graduate and complete ROTC then I'd have a Naval Science Minor so Dual Minor? or do I go Dual Major? I'm not sure what I can handle.. ha ha anyways just thought I'd let you know what's been running through my head. Thanks for all the
Love and support Mom.
I'm so glad I came back. This has been the most incredible year and this next one is only going to get better.

Give the Family my love!

DEAR JOHN

That's all I have to say on the matter. Life goes on.

Santa Clause Came To Town And His Name Was Elder Howard

This week has been insane!
The end of the year rush seems to be even more aparent here in Japan!
Well this is the last email of the year so I should update y'all.

Last week the Watanabe family asked me to be Santa at their Eikaiwa Christmas Party. It was great. Elder Norman was pretty much beside himself with laughter. All the kid's wanted pictures with me and I wore an ichy fake beird for about 3 hours. It was a blast though. Other than that Christmas was pretty uneventful here in Matsudo. None of our friends were baptized and no one invited us over. We had a nice quiet Christmas here in the apartment just the 5 of us. We did eat Sushi though. That was a trip. A lot of the new missionaries in the District don't like sea food at all. We stuffed our faces with eel and octopus and fish eggs etc. It was great.
I wish there was more to report, but to be honest it was a super quiet Christmas. New years here however should be great. The mission is changing things up this year.
on the 31st that's tomorrow we have Deep Clean Day. Sister Budge loves a clean apartment so  we're going to spend the entire day in our apartments cleaning a years worth of buildup and grossness. Our apartment is going to be holy ground when we're done with it! The next day is New Years day. We're going to be spending the day as a mission studying the Book of Mormon. A few of us in the Apartment have decided to try to read it from cover to cover in a day. It'll be some of the most dedicated study I've ever done but I'm expecting to learn a lot. I'll update you with the results next week!

Well I'm out of time once again. I love you all!
Have a Happy New Year!
I'm excited to hear from all of you in 2014.
What are some of your New Years Resolutions?

Quick Note

Main update for the week is that I am now a Zone Leader with Elder Norman whilst training Elder Hansen. Elder Day is part of the same apartment. Elder Young transfered to Togane. Elder Norman and I are zone leaders of the biggest zone in the mission. 35 missionaries. It's amazing but I'll tell you what it's stressful. I've been blessed with a cool head. I'm going to need it. There is a lot of work ahead of me. 2 zone training meetings. 4 district meetings a week. 11 exchanges and that doesn't include nightly reports and weekly conference calls. I'm a leader in the biggest zone in the most densly populated mission in the world. I feel like i'm doing something so much bigger than myself. It's great I don't have time to think of myself at all. It's exhausting, but the miracles are still coming! One of our friends is going to be baptized on the 29th of this month! I'm so excited for him. He's such a solid investigator he'll be an amazing member!

I know I promised to send pictures but transfer weeks are just too busy. I'll try to get some in next week and send a good blast mail. Next week I may just sacrifice mail time for calling time however. Um the later you do it the better probably. I'm thinking that if you try to do it at 5:30 there it's like 8:30 am here, which is kind of pushing it. We can see though. I'll send you an email during the week to solidify times. :) I'm excited and nervous.

Well gotta go mom. Give the family my love. I'll talk to you all next week!

Tall Towers

Well..transfer calls are here again. I can't believe it's been six weeks already! I feel like this past transfer went by way too quickly. It's been a blast though, I've spent almost the entire transer teaching people. I love it. I wouldn't want it any other way. It's been a busy week for us here in Matsudo as we try to keep up with the changing missionary life. Not only that but our Okinawan friend Katsuyuki is getting Baptized on the 22nd of this month! We only found him a week ago and he's doing amazing! He's progressing so quickly! The only issue right now is that he can't get work off on Sundays yet. He wants to though so we're praying that he'll be able to get work off and come to church. He'd be such a strong member of the ward, we need more people like him! We're looking forward to seeing our new best friend enter the waters of Baptism here in Matsudo this time. The White Christmas miracle is slowly but surely becoming a reality for the whole mission. Amazing things are happening! We still have 2 weeks left on the clock and we're all expecting the work to simply explode! This transfer is going to be a fun one! I'm going to continue being a Zone Leader with Elder Norman who is going to be my new companion and I'll be training for the fourth time. Elder Day and Elder Young will no Longer be my companions. Chiba zone split this transfer (Saitama also had to split) so Chiba South will now be his new Zone. Elder Day will however stay in the same apartment and be companions with another missionary. The Sisters also expanded. Matsudo will have 4 Sisters and 5 Elders. 9 Missionaries for one ward!! I'm not sure how many missionaries are in Matsudo Zone but it's close 35.. crazy. With the help of another companionship in Matsudo we'll really be able to get some good work done! I'm excited to see what happens!

Today I had the cool opportunity to go the the tallest tower in the world. The Tokyo Skytree!! You would not believe how tall it is. It's 634 Meters tall. I was able to stand at 451 Meters. From that high up you can see all of Tokyo. It goes on forever!! It's really such a cool city to live in. It's ridiculous how many people live here but still it's a blast! It isn't quite like home though. We went with Takuya. Our friend who just got baptized in Koiwa. He's the man seriously. It was a good relaxing p-day before the transfer picks up yet again.
Well that's all for the week! I'll be sure to update you on more exciting changes next week!

Stay tuned!
Love from Tokyo,
G

Desire and Consecration

I really really like P-days. It's nice to be able to just sit down in front of a computer and type out everything I've been thinking for the past few days. This week was loaded with good trainings, miracles and lessons. I think that there are just a few things I really want to talk about today though.

There are two elements in missionary work that one must possess in order to be the most capable and successful missionary. The first is Desire. Desire is the easy one. If you want to be a missionary, then you will work to become a better missionary. It's simple. There are so many new missionaries coming into the mission that have this desire and faith and they see a lot of miracles. They have the ability to shape the Tokyo Mission Culture through their expectations and hard work. It's amazing to watch. This is my third time as a trainer and I can clearly see that the missionaries who are coming on missions now are light years ahead of the missionaries I came in with because all of these new missionaries really want to be missionaries and they strive to be the best missionaries they can be.
Elder Oaks said

 "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming." 

Having desire is simple. The actions that follow are difficult. Let me explain. All of these missionaries are coming into the mission with the desire to see baptisms and learn Japanese and do all the things that the great missionaries do. Eventually that desire leads them to goal setting and planning and benchmarking. Things that will help them become better missionaries.

The second element a wall that even the most adept missionaries at some point will face and everyone has to decide whether or not they will make the climb. That wall is Consecration. The best missionaries are consecrated missionaries. The ones who leave all distractions, every streak of disobedience, every ounce of strength and desire on the altar of sacrifice. Those who strive to follow the rules and earn the Lord's trust. Those are the missionaries that make a difference. Everyone wants to become that kind of missionary, but not everyone can do it. I've decided that that's the kind of missionary I want to be. I have an awesome opportunity to work with 24 great missionaries to help them get to that point. If there are any missionaries who are reading this letter. Become that kind of missionary.

This week was a busy but it was a blast. The Elder Evan's and Christmas conferences were awesome!
(Picture Blast to Follow)

Well I hope you have a great week! 
I love you all

Two Year Mark

Hello everyone! Well the internet has been going at an incredibly slow rate today, but I'll do my best!

First things first. This week I reached two years since I started my mission. 

I went into the MTC November 16th 2013. It's been a tough road to get to this point and I'm still not done. I have about 8 months to go, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. It's changed my life and will continue to do so. Thanks again everyone for all the support while I was home. I couldn't have come back to Japan without it. I love you all!

This week has been absolutely incredible! We've been so busy!! We managed to squeeze in 21 lessons this week despite having to spend a lot of our proselyting time planning for a Zone Training Meeting! The Training meeting was probably the biggest thing that happened. We took almost a week to prep and plan for it, but the result was pretty amazing. We've been working with the missionaries here in Matsudo, trying to help them build the faith to see the Miracle of a White Christmas. We several trainings throught the meating that dealt with faith and works and at the very end we did the Board Breaking activity I always did at swim team before my Regional Meets. It was pretty intense!! We had a couple of the newer missionaries come up and show their faith by breaking wooden planks with their hands. The entire Zone practically exploded from the excitement. They all left with a lot more vision then they've had in the past. I guess that's the point! We're super excited to see what happens this transfer! There are a lot of miracles around the corner.

Tomorrow we are going to Kichijoji to see Elder David F Evans speak. The entire Tokyo South Mission will be there as well!! Following Elder Evans we'll be going to Nakano to the Tokyo Mission home to have our holiday conference. I'm excited! I'll be sure to send lots of pictures next week!

Love you all!
Don't catch any colds!
-G

P.S. We went to costco today! Pictures next week

Adjusting to Missionary Life

I love my companions!
It's interesting having a triple companionship like ours. It's my first time really knowing what it feels like to have room mates. We are always bickering about dumb stuff but we work crazy hard and see so many miracles! Just this week Elder Young and I were both sick! I'm still on the recovery, but despite being sick we tackled 22 lessons with Elder Day's assistants! That's more lessons than I've ever taught on my mission before and we did it as Zone Leaders, we barely have time for lessons because we are so busy with training and other things. 

Elder Young is the man when it comes to using time effectively. He doesn't stop for anything! He used to be the second fastest Pizza cutter in Australia and he worked as a store manager for Dominoes Pizza. His store set a world record for the most pizzas sold in a day! He had every job you could possible imagine offered to him by dominoes officials (We`re talking jobs with 6 figure pay here) and he turned it all down to go on a mission! This guy just knows how to work! It's awesome! I'm learning lots of healthy habits.

With Elder Young's tight schedule we're really pushing Elder Day, our new missionary to greater hights. The other day he had a small meltdown from all the stress and Elder Young and I had a great opportunity to train him on something we call the "Circle of Influence" with this new fund knowledge he's been working harder than ever before! However he isn't doing it alone! We just received a bag full of "Adjusting to Missionary Life" booklets for our zone and apparently this book has changed Elder Day's Life! We asked him a training on it at zone meeting this week! We'll see how he holds up! This is actually what his face looked like after discovering the booklet. Great right? Elder Young has been teaching him how to cook too! We've had a lot of fun with Elder Day, he's like our little brother.

With the Success in Lessons we've seen progress with our investigators. This is Takuya. Elder Young and his younger brother found him together (that's a fun story) and he's getting baptized on the 1st of December in Koiwa Ward (He lives outside of our area). We're excited for him. He has more desire to be baptized than I've ever seen from any other investigator! He's great, we love him!

Well that's all I have time for this week! Tune in next week for more excitement! Lot of big things coming this transfer!
Love you all! Enjoy the last few days of Fall, Winter is just around the corner!
-G

Week One in Matsudo!

Hey everyone!

Well it's been another busy week! I'm pretty sure that it's always just busy weeks for missionaries. Today isn't even really a p-day for me, it's just a lighter work day than the rest of the week.
This week was Transfers. I got to Matsudo at around noon on October 31st.
Right from the start we hit the ground running.

 

There used to be 5 people in this apartment. Now that there is only 3 of us we're picking up the other Elder's investigators and we are incredibly busy. We also have 5 Baptismal dates who are progressing fairly well right now. I feel like I've been dropped into the deep end.  We did weeklly planning right away and then that night during the hour and a half we had to dendo we found 3 new investigators! It was incredible! My first day in the area and we saw a lot of really cool miracles.

 

Working with Elder Young and Elder Day is a blast though. Elder Young is an incredible leader and I've actually been in the same district as him before so I knew him before. We work pretty well together. Elder Day is a great new missionary with a lot of Faith. He really want's to be a good missionary and it shows. We're trying to help him focus his attention on other things besides Japanese. It's going to be a great transfer I can see a lot of the momentum building.

As Zone Leader I have a really cool opportunity to work with the Assitants to the President and with President Budge. This year in Tokyo we will be having a `White Christmas` meaning that every companionship is to see a baptism before Christmas.  The utimate goal is to give back to the Savior. In connection with that we're working a lot with the individual districts in our zones to set the stage and vision for the next few months. There is so much Fire for the work in Tokyo right now it's incredible. This transfer is going to be 100mph the entire transfer!

I realize that I haven't sent any good pictures so I'll make sure to get some of my companions and I along with our church before next week (It's the largest ward and church building in Asia, just saying) lots of exciting things happening!

Have a great week! Eat some Pumpkin pie for me!
Lots of Love from Tokyo

I lied! I have pictures of stuff!!
You know what is almost as good as Ramen?

Tsukemen!

Elder Young is the one who`s behind Elder Day, Who's the one with me in the other picture.
 

Transfer Calls and Earthquakes

Sorry it's been awhile. I feel like I can't keep using the same excuse but to be honest I just haven't had to get a sufficient ammount of pictures and thoughts and put them together into a cohesive, enjoyable, easy to read blast message. So let me make up for the past few weeks by sharing the advenstures we've had this week!

 

Well a few people have asked me about the Earthquake we had a few days ago. It registered as a 7 and I'm guessing it made the news in America. Truth is it barely touched the news in Japan. Earthquakes happen here all the time. I've lost count of how many times I've felt them. There still super strange to me. This one however was the first one to get my heart pumping a little. It hit off the coast but almost the whole country felt it. Here in Oyama we got a 4 for sure. The information in this picture was posted following the Earthquake.

 

 

It hit us at about 2:30 in the morning and Elder Justesen and I managed to somehow both wake up right before it hit. It didn't really feel very big for the first few seconds. Then it got bad enough for us to stand up and move for the Desks when it ended. We both looked at each other with the same facial expression. That was exciting! We went back to bed and slept great! Totally normal. Nothing fell down and no one go hurt. It was a little exciting though.

This past week we also had our last District Meeting and I had my last district meeting as a District Leader in Oyama. I'm being transferred. My new home will be Matsudo! I'm going to the biggest church building in the Mission. Some of you may remember my pictures of it before. It's about 6 stories tall and has a Basketball Court on the top floor! I'm going to be with one of my favorie Elders, Elder Young. He's from Australia and we're going to be Zone Leaders! I think we may also be working with a new Elder, Elder Day. He's on his 2nd Transfer. A lot of things are happening! Oyama will have 6 missionaries. 3 Sisters 3 Elders. Elder Justesens new companion is coming from Niigata and their going to train a new missionary!

I've been really priviledged to work in such an amazing district this past transfer. I've learned a lot and grown a lot from the powerful testimonies they all have, and the miracles that I've seen as a district leader here in Oyama have helped me to realize that "God has not ceased to be God of Miracles." - (Mormon 9:16) I'm really quite sad to leave Oyama. Oyama ward has been almost like family to me and I really love the Investigators here. Hopefully Elder Justesen can keep working with them so I can come back and see a few of them get Baptized! Meanwhile, Elder Young and I are going to see some incredible Miracles in one of the coolest places in the Mission.

Well the transfer is at an end and I'm beat. I'm going to take a nap now.

Missionary Parking

Apparently B is running a Half Marathon this week. How did she get roped into that one, since when does she ever run? I'm trying to run every day here. I'm burning fat but I'm also dropping muscle too. I'm skinnying up very slowly. I figure the rest will come off when I come home and can work it off.

Glad to hear you sent Elder Justesen a friend request! He`s seriously the best! I'm going to miss hanging out with him if either of us get transferred. Elder Justesen is a really quick typer and he has less emails to write every week! Remember I have a 4 Parents and 3 Siblings plus Dakota, Rach, Sho and Sometimes others. I never actually do have time. I really made it a goal to write better letters and emails this transfer and then I ended up working even harder with Elder Justesen and now my number one priority every P-day is sleeping. Something that I simply can't seem to get enough of. My leadership responsiblities are still going great, but they do have me busy. The biggest issue however is the fact that we teach a ton of lessons every day! We managed 6 lessons yesterday! It's great working with Elder Justesen, we work really well together. Like Elder Gallacher I think I've made a true friend for life here. It's funny though that neither Elder Justesen nor Elder Gallacher are from Utah ha ha. Our investigators are doing great. We've been working a lot with Okenchu, our chinese investigator. He's doing great. He knows what we teach is true and he wants to get baptized, we're just trying to help him find another Job that keeps him away from evil. He needed money so he started working at a night club which is kind of funny because he doesn't really drink. We're praying for a miracle and I'm praying I don't get transfered yet. It sounds like a lot of big changes are happening this transfer though. I'm convinced Elder Justesen becomes a trainer. He's just that awesome.

I'm working hard and keeping thoughts of home at bay. I did the math today and I believe I only have somewhere around 37 weeks left on my mission. I'm going to sprint to the finish. There is still a lot to do and a lot to learn. I also still need to be companions with Elder Healy. Today was Temple Day so I got to see him. Sounds like he's doing good. Today I had the chance to offer up my transfer to the Lord and I feel that he's pleased with the work I've rendered this transfer. I hope that I can continue this pattern for transfers to come. The Typhoon was bad but it hit early in the morning. Another one is supposed to hit on Saturday. They're saying it's one of the biggest ones in 10 years or something. I gotta say though, I've been rather underwhelmed by the Typhoons here.  Things are good otherwise. I'm happy and and healthy and although I'm tired I realize that I can sleep when I come home from my mission. A Good missionary should always be a little tired!

I couldn't get any good pictures this week. My camera battery was dead and I forgot to charge it so I'll have to put some more in a better email next week if I can. We're going to Nikko again as a Zone this time! Japan is the best!

Here is one pic though. I call this Missionary Parking (^o^)