Birthday Fun and The Learning Curve

Hey Everyone!

     Fall has arrived. Yesterday the weather had cooled down so much I almost considered putting on a sweater! It was wonderful. I'm a very big fan of cool weather here in Japan. Spring was incredible I'm excited to see what fall brings. Everyone says that the best food of the year is available during fall, which means I better start working out more.

     This week was an awesome week for Elder Justesen and I. Tuesday was Elder Justesens Birthday and mine was on Friday. The members got is cake and candy. We hung a birthday sign and took eachother out to eat on Tusday and Friday. It was wonderful, but the best part was the Miracles we saw this week. Thursday was weekly planning and Elder Justesen and I had the opportunity to set some really high goals for the Transfer! We're shooting for two Baptisms, and we want to reach the mission Standards of Excellence (20 Lessons per week) by Week 3 of the Transfer. We're super fired up. On friday one of our good friends Shun, who's 17, told us he was thinking that he wanted to get Baptized. To say we got excited would be a huge understatement. One of our other investigators Rob committed to read the Book of Mormon before we could even offer a solid invitation. We're excited to see these kinds of Miracles. On top of those we found 6 New Investigators this past week. I'd be lying if I said that miracles like this only happened in our area. 

 

     My District has grown this transfer as I now have two new Companionships. Koga after a whole of year of being empty was reopened by Sisters! and Utsunomiya (formerly the biggest area of the mission) was an only Sisters Area. There is now a companionship of Elders there. The wards are super excited to see more missionaries and have been working hard! This past week our Zone had the highest amount of lessons taught and new investigators in the entire mission. Transfer day was on Thursday by the way, so this all happened in 3 days. We're all super super stoked for this transfer. Since my district has grown I have 4 companionships to call per night. I now spend the last hour of my evening calling people. I actually don't mind it at all, but the learning curve as very suddenly expanded and I have twice as many questions to answer and people to train. Most of the District is still new. There 11 people including me in my district( well currently 10, one is having visa issues and isn't here just yet) and of those 11, 7 people are Transfer 3 or below. Which means that everyone needs help being trained. I'm glad our Sister Training Leader (Sister Vail) is amazing, she can really help me with all 7 Sisters. I'm also training Elder Justesen although I feel like the man has come pre-trained. It helps.

     I'm super excited to see what amazing miracles this transfer brings! This could be one of the most epic transfers of my mission.

Thanks for all the Birthday Love. I got several packages and lots of delicious junk food from America. It was a super great birthday!

Have a great week everyone! Stay on the Lord's side and "you'll win every time." I know that God lives and I know he loves the Japanese People.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here in Tokyo and share our special knowledge with them.
Lots of Love from Oyama,

Elder Howard!

 

 

Spiders, Typhoons and Early Transfers

Hey Everyone!
I'm sorry to say this but I'm short on time again. I'm always short on time, lets face it I'm a missionary :)
This week has been a bit of a blur but it's been rather exciting. Last week on Tuesday we had Temple Day. It was great! I love the spirit that is there in the Temple. Following the Temple I had a chance to hang out with Elder Healy and few other friends. It was nice to get some quality time with my doki members as for most of them this is there last transfer. In 12 weeks I'll probably be the last member of my MTC group in Tokyo. Tuesday was followed by a normal day of proselyting Elder Buhler and I went out and worked for one last day before it was time for him to pack his things. I got reorganized and refocused which was really awesome. 

 

 

It was a little weird to get transfers a week early. Today was real transfer calls. Friday morning I helped Elder Buhler get his stuff to the mission home and dropped him off and then I met my new companion, Elder Justesen. Elder Justesen is a beast! It was sad to say goodbye to Elder Buhler because I know he has a really hard time ahead of him. He was a great comp and I'll miss him.I'm really excited to work with Elder Justesen. He's super cool. He's from Sacramento California and he's just a super laid back guy. He loves dendo and loves studying and learning Japanese. His Japanese is incredible especially when you consider that he's still a first transfer missionary (technically the transfer doesn't start until Thursday )He was being trained by the Zone Leaders in Narita (Elder Hamada and Elder Bergen) for the first five weeks of the transfer so he's full of awesome knowledge. He's so genki all the time it just gets me super pumped to dendo! We hit the ground running with a really great weekly planning followed by two really solid days of dendo! Yesterday we found a new investigator. He's a really young missionary. He turns 19 tomorrow! Crazy right! Missionaries are just gettting younger and younger. Actually there are a lot more young missionaries in the mission now than there are old. It's crazy to see how many 3rd transfer missionaries are training!

Elder Justesen and I are working super hard and are already seeing lots of miracles. Along with the Miracles however we've already been through one or two adventures together.

Omoigawa is the prettiest place in our area, but it has a dark secret. Spiders. Walking back across the bridge at night we looked in horror at the spiders that came out of hiding and were dangling from the bridges railing. Now I really don't like spiders and you'll probably think this is dramatic but I promise you this is no lie, there were hundreds and hundreds of spiders, big and small. I did the best I could to get pictures but I'll be honest i didn't want to get near them! It was a little disturbing but it was also a crazy fun adventure.

Today was a little more of an adventure. We had a really large Typhoon make it's way across Japan. The wind and rain was spectacular but we watched it all from the safety of our apartment. We even were able to take naps today! Now the sun is setting and the clouds are the coolest shades of pink and orange.

I snapped a picture so you all could see. I got lots of pictures this week!
Here's a lot of pictures of our adventures this week. Including delicious boiling ramen, and the spider bridge Love you all! Have a great week!
G

Confucius Anyone?

Sup Everyone!

Well this week has been another complete roller coaster. Gee you'd think I'd be used to it by now.
This week I had the opportunity to go on splits with 3 wonderful Elders. First I exchanged with Elder Apolonio (One of my Zone Leaders) on Wednesday and we found 2 spanish speaking investigators and a Brazillian potential investigator. I'm now trying to learn Spanish at the quickest possible rate. It isn't going well. Japanese is really rooted into my mind now. We had a wonderful exchange though and I learned a lot about baring simple testimony rather than just trying to blast people with doctrine. It was a great day of Dendo for us. Thursday morning I headed to Maebashi (right next to Takasaki, that was a little nostalgic) to go on splits with Elder Barlocker (The other District Leader in the Zone). Elder Barlocker is one of my favorite Elders and he's my original senpai which means we were in the MTC together. He's awesome and with him I learned a lot about talking to everyone and just being over the top excited everytime you talk to someone. We worked in some creative bike dendo and I had a blast. I spent the whole day on a bike with no brakes and nearly had to bail a few times but it was a blast. We even took a few minutes to escape from the sun and eat some fresh picked Nashi (Japanese Pears) It was awesome and I'd say Elder Barlocker rubbed off on me a lot. We then had the opportunity to go on Splits with Elder Hogue. Elder Hogue and I knew each other before the mission. It's really cool to have the opportunity to receive training from him,

not that he's one of the Assistants. He's a Legend in the Tokyo Mission and I had a blast working with him on Friday. Elder Hogue and Elder Barlocker really stoked a fire that's been sitting semi dormant. I was so ready to Dendo on Saturday. Companion exchanges rock I had a really awesome opportunity to feel the Joy for the work more than I have in the past. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. From last Saturday to my Birthday there will be exactly 21 days. I'm considering this the tail end of my "mid-mission crisis" and the beginning of a better Elder Howard.

On a fun note today Elder Buhler and I went to Ashikaga city to what is literally the Oldest School in Japan. It was awesome. Over 800 years of history and Confucianism. Elder Buhler and I went on a whim and it was probably one of the coolest things I've seen here in Japan on my mission.

 

I also found a random Moulin Rouge sign and thought it looked cool...
 

Well the last of my time is up sorry to everyone who's written me but hasn't heard back. Things have been pretty crazy here and I haven't been able to write at all. 

Have a great week everyone! 

I love you all!
G

Japanese Rations

Hey Y'all!

I hope you all had a great week.
To say this week was stressful and exhuasting would be an understatement, but we are pressing forward, slowly.
Elder Buhler has finally given up on the notion of going home and he's ready to tough it out. He's convinced he's going to die, but I think he'll be alright. He's got good vision. If he expands his horizons regarding food then we'll be good to go!
I've got just the thing for him to eat too. :)

Check these out! Japanese military rations. Cool right? Our stake president had a ton of them in his food storage and gave half to us and half to the sisters.
They aren't as delicious or as extravagant as MREs, but they are still pretty tasty. The rice is the coolest part though. The rice actually tastes great! It's just cooked vaccum sealed rice and it lasts forever. Pretty cool right? I'm going to enjoy eating these over the next few weeks. 
We bought Elder Buhler a nice bike today. Now that he's committed himself to stay I think we're going to see twice as many miracles here in Oyama.

That's all the news I've got this week. I'm doing good. I'm super tired but that's just a result of training and being District Leader at the same time. I'm pretty sure I'll be tired right up to the point I come home. Missionaries are tired. That's life ha ha. It's sure fun though!

Thanks for your love and support everyone! Have a great week!

Rice and Miso Flavored Ice Cream

This week was really great. We've really seen the ball start rolling here in Oyama.

Two days ago after a mogi lesson with a member we were feeling that the ward members have a lot of fire but the ward has no dendo plan. We diagnosed the problem as Missionaries being the "Tanto" over missionary work. We have all been trying to bring the ward up to our level and our vision rather than try to follow the Bishop's and Ward Mission Leader's vision. Missionaries change however and the past few transfers have done a bad number on Oyama.  Yesterday President Inaba (our Stake President) came and delivered a super blunt talk about missionary work. Our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Shimizu, said it "singed his ears" but in a good way. After that everyone seems really ready for missionary work. We're going to have an area meeting with the Sisters at another Ward Missionarie's house and discuss some things we can coordinate to help members feel the joy of missionary work. We also scheduled a meeting with the Bishop and Dendo Shunin so we can discuss Oyama's Dendo Future. It's exciting to be a part of such a cool time in missionary work!
Well I'm just about out of time, but this week was a lot of fun.
Elder Buhler and I went with the Sisters and a family in the ward to another member's restaraunt, Misoya Komezou.
Rice and Miso are their specialties and it was soo good. I had a delicious Oyama Wagyu Gyudon. I'm sure you are all wondering what that is. 
You all know Kobe beef right? Well one step under that is Wagyu (I think) and it's famous in Oyama. I had a rice bowl with steak in it and it was celestial. I forgot to take a picture though. For desert we ate Rice flavored and Miso flavored Ice Cream! As strange as that sound, Miso icecream is my new favorite flavor besides strawberry of course.
It was great.
Elder Buhler has stopped losing weight, he still doesn't eat much, but he's eating more than before. He attempted eating sushi and octopus like a boss last week. I was impressed. He still wants to go home, but it looks like he's going to be stuck with me for the time being so training will continue. We found these tiles in the sidewalk yesterday and played Rock Paper Scissors. It was fun. 
Doesn't this insect just look so cute? Does anyone know what it is? 
Yes that's right, it's a cicada and they are really really loud. They're everywhere in Japan right now and you can hear their buzzing and singing for miles around. I hated them at first but they're growing on me a little. Reminds me of crickets back home.
Well that's all I have time for today. Sounds like summer has just about ended there. Good luck to everyone who's going back to school!
I love you all!

Transfers and My Greenie

Hope you're having a good week!
I sure am. I'm about ready to keel from exhaustion though. These past few days have been a blur!

I went to the Mission Home on thursday morning and spent 4 hours in training meetings, They paired us off and then we all got our stuff and went to lunch before heading back to our areas. My new companion's name is Elder Buhler. He's from West Valley City Utah. He's a pretty cool guy. Really smart. He's got a lot of vision but the mission is slowly killing him I think, especially now that he's here in Japan. What I mean by that is he is starving to death. He won't eat anything. I think the 4 things I've discovered he'll eat (Not likes mind you just will eat) are the Noodles from Ramen, Strawberry Yogurt, Toast and Bananas. That's seriously all I've seen him eat. Rach, B, Molly. I thought you 3 were the pickiest eaters I'd ever met, man was I surprised. Elder Buhler is a league or two ahead of you.

We've been following  the church's new missionary training program the last few days and he's pretty good about doing the things I "challenge" him to do. 
He did his first door approach yesterday  and he bore his testimony in sacrament like a champ. I was proud that he's my new missionary ha ha. His Japanese is pretty rocky but he's only been studying two months. We'll work him into it. I'm training him as if he's going to stay here, but he's already expressed to me and to President Budge and the area Psychiatrist that he wants to go home. We'll see what happens. I shared my story with him in hopes that he would see just how much he doesn't actually want to go home. It doesn't seem to be working.

We've been in a million pictures together already and oddly enough I don't have one, sooo when I get one I'll send it.
In addition to training Elder Buhler I'm juggling the responsibility of being district leader. In the area I'm serving there are two sisters and two elders. I have more transfers than the 3 others combined. and there also a new missionary in Utsunomiya which is also in my district. 
6people, 4 Sisters (3 of which are new), 4 New Missionaries
I'm like the dad of this part of the zone and I spend a lot of time on the phone answering various questions. It's a good thing I enjoy it ha ha.

 

That's pretty much everything that's been happening lately. P-day today is a little jumbled because we have an appointment this afternoon, and Elder Buhler has a bunch of stuff to do. I'll send a more articulate and fun blast next week. 
Thanks for all your love and support!

Examples and Warnings

Hello Everyone!
I hope you are all having a great week! I am for sure! Let me tell you a little about what's happening right now.
First off, I got my transfer call yesterday. Turns out I was right. I am training this next transfer. On top of that I've been called as District Leader for one more transfer. District Leader/ Trainer combination. It's a lot of responsibility but I feel that I'm capable and ready. I can do this with the Lords help. This past transfer has taught me many things about myself and about the importance of the work here in Tokyo. One thing I learned last week really stuck out to me. There are two kinds of people in this world. Examples and Warnings. I heard this from my Zone Leader, Elder Shibuta, during a companion exchange this week and it stuck. I have always tended to put people in thise two categories, even without labeling them as an Example or Warning. I believe that this transfer the Lord has prepared me for next transfer by showing me what kind of Missionary I do and don't want to be. My time with Elder Kim was really difficult, but I wouldn't trade the knowledge I've gained this transfer for anything. I'm excited for the challenges that next transfer will bring.

This week was a good week to experience some of the culture in Japan. Last P-day was temple P-day and afterwards we went to the park to eat McDonalds and hang out with some of the returning Missionaries. You can see the top of the Temple over the trees.

 

 Then we went to  to Asakusa.  Asakusa is really cool temple in downtown Tokyo famous for the giant Lanters that hang from the gates. 

The Skytree looms in the background and it's a really cool mix of Old and New! I got some of the typical, cheap, tourist souveniers. It was a fun little trip though. Saturday we had a natsu matsuri (Summer festival) and a special music night concert and I worked the sound table. 

It went pretty well. Elder Kim and I even performed, though I can't sing at all. We had our last district meeting of the transfer and I got a picture with the Sisters and Elder Kim. This isn't in order but, Sister Long, Sister Kubota, Sister Vail, Sister Tan, Elder Kim and of course Me. They're an awesome district and next transfer it will be much the same as Sister Long and Sister Kim are the only ones leaving. Both to be replaced by new missionaries! 

Yesterday was P-day again (But I didn't get to write so i'm doing that today) and we went with our friend Shohei to Nikko. Some of you may remember Nikko. It's famous for the Temples everywhere. We actually didn't spend as much time there as we did on the trains but it was fun. Here's a picture of the Shinkyo bridge.

That was my week! Today we have to send Elder Kim's bags to the Airport and get some other things done for him to leave and then we have a bye bye party for Sister Long and Elder Kim. I got to The Honbu with Elder Kim on Thursday Morning to pick up my new missionary. I'm both excited and nervous!
It's going to be a good week!
Have a good one!
I love you all!
G