Monday, May 27th, 2013

Yo whats ups Family!!

 

So far I've had a pretty good day.  I woke up, did some study about Family History and how to incorporate that into our dendo.  Then we went over to the stake center and played basketball with Kohji and some of the Elders.  Then we went out for a zone p-day at a bowling alley.  I averaged about 115, not too bad.  My companion, Elder Lee, was the worst bowler ever the first game.  But then something clicked and he bowled a strike like every other frame.  No joke, went from being the worst bowler to the very best in like 5 minutes.  We ended up winning and being the companionship with the highest score. Team Landall brought home the Gold!!!!  Then we did some grocery shopping, found a good deal on some oreos, score.  Enjoyed some oreos and milk for lunch, and am now getting ready to go to a yaki niku date with our 70 year old awesome investigator named Yoshiki.  He is progressing slowly but surely and today he wants to say thank you for all of the help we give him by stuffing us with grilled meat.  :)

 

Also, yesterday night, one of our other 70 year old investigators invited us over for a Sunday night dinner.  His name is Chonan.  He knows how much Americans like meat so he grilled us up some steaks that were like the size of a steering wheel, haha.  We had a wonderful gospel discussion with him while he was getting hammered on some fancy scotch whiskey (he's really lonely and although he knows the word of wisdom, he still insisted on him drinkin).  He has a hard time changing and trying new things, like Christianity, but he knows we have nothing but the best intentions for him.  Maybe someday he will have a softening of his heart and join the church. 

 

Our investigator Lhea is doing wonderful.  We had a few fantastic lessons with her and she is looking very good for getting baptized this next weekend.  Her only problem so far has been stopping coffee.  We had Naoki come over from Matsudo and joint for her word of wisdom lesson and he did such a good job.  He was such a little missionary, bearing his personal conversion experience and how he was able to quit coffee.  I was so proud of him :) He also taught her about priesthood blessings and how much they have helped him overcome his problems.  She asked for a priesthood blessing and I was able to give her one.  She has been struggling her whole life with her relationship with her father and she came to us in our last lessons saying that she read in 3 Nephi that Christ has commanded us to forgive all men and she said that she is trying to forgive her father so that she can be freed of that burden.  She told us that she has contacted him and is trying to get him to listen to her.  We are planning on teaching her about the temple and eternal families soon so that she can make that her goal with her family.  It truly is such a blessing to be working with her.  I'll have more pictures and stuff to send to you next week so be ready!!!

 

This week, we had 3 lessons in a row with investigators where they were moved to tears by the spirit that was in the lesson.  It was a combination of having some awesome members at the lessons and that the people that we are working with right now are humble and are truly looking to change their lives.  We have about 15 solid investigators and we found a few new ones this past week that are in dire straits and really looking to change themselves. 

 

Every day is fun working with Elder Lee.  We have really been focusing on teaching people about God and getting them to have a solid testimony of Him and His attributes.  We have found a good combination of scriptures to do this.  We use Moses 7:28-32 to show people that God created us all and that He loves us and weeps with us when we have sorrow and pain.  Then we use D&C122:7 where God tells Joseph Smith that all of the trials in our lives are for our benefit and growth .  This really helps people see that the purpose of this life is to grow and that unless God gives us hard times, we are unable to reach our fullest potential.  I can truly feel that when we focus our teaching and testimonies on the fundamental principles of Deity and our relation to Him, the spirit is stronger in the lessons.  When in doubt, teach about God. 

 

Everything is going our way here in Kawagoe.  We teach on average two lessons per day, our English class has exploded and we went from about 15 students per week to about 28-30, and from that we have been getting a lot of new investigators.  The ward is participating in our lessons on a daily basis, many of our investigators are meeting regularly, we will have a baptism soon, Elder Lee and I just keep getting closer and closer, the rice fields by our house are producing a pretty good crop this year, the weather is about 72 degrees every day with little rain, and I can feel the love of God on a daily basis.  It is a good time to be a missionary.   Ganbaro Japan!!!!!!!

 

I've got to get going now, but good luck with your choir and games boys!!!  Only a few more weeks left of school!!! 

Dad, it's no coincidence that basically the ONLY thing you can find in Vegas are things that are against the commandments of God [except our awesome family there].  Satan's got to have a home base somewhere.  At least it's in the desert. 

 

Have a wonderful week my dear Mother.  Remember who you are and make good choices!!!!!!!!! ;)

 

I love you all!!

 

愛

 

クランダル長老

Monday, May 20th, 2013

Konnichiha!!!!

 

It looks like everyone is keeping super busy as always.  Life is never gonna slow down is it? Well, it sure isn't slowing down here.  In fact, we have lessons scheduled for every night this next week with various people!  So far we have over 7 lessons scheduled!  We are going to be all over the place helping out a lot of good people. 

 

I don't know if you remember what I told you about over Skype about our new investigator Lhea, but she is doing fantastic and is looking to get baptized on the 2nd of June.  She is 40 years old, a mother of two kids that live back in the Philippines, has lived on and off in Japan for the past 15 years so she is pretty good at Japanese, and is living with an active ward member by the name of Sister Matsui.  The left side of Lhea's body is paralyzed from a severe stroke she had when she was 26 years old.  She can't use most of her left arm, she has a bad limp when she walks, but has been able to regain movement in her face and neck so she can talk fine and can now flex and stretch and perform most all normal house functions.  Lhea got the stroke from over excessive use of alcohol and not having enough oxygen in her blood to keep a good flow in her brain which caused it to malfunction and she had a stroke.  She has lived a very very poor life and has dealt with the tragic death of both her parents when she was a teenager.  She had to care for all of her family by herself while she was a teenager and young adult so when she had her stroke and became handicapped, she saw it as a punishment from God for neglecting her family and thinking only of her wants and pleasure.  She has since been married and has two elementary school age children that live with her extended family back home.  The member lady that she lives with has been an amazing example to her and has cared for her for a very long time.  They are like sisters and Lhea wants nothing more than to be spiritual sisters with her as well.  In fact, when we showed up to their house for the first lessons, before we had even started teaching, Lhea was telling us that she really wants to join the church and that she will come to church every week and was asking us how to join the church.  We have no trouble with her desires as far as teaching her goes.  However, we have to be careful that she understands all of the fundamental principles before she gets baptized.  Princess Lhea isn't the best at English or Japanese so we have to explain things very very slow and simple for her.  But she truly is an angel and it is a huge blessing to be working with her.  We are going to teach her the second half of the plan of salvation tonight and then tie that into the doctrine of Christ and why repentance is important in this life.  This is the first time that Elder Lee has worked with a kinjin, Golden Investigator, and so he is off the wallz excited about everything.  This will the first investigator he has had get baptized. 

 

We went through a lot of interesting things this past week.  Our Zone set a mission record, we were the first zone where every area found at least 2 new investigators in one week.  I found this way nice high school kid in the middle of Kawagoe city who wanted me to teach him about Christianity (this is extremely rare, I was so excited).  He said that he had read a lot of stuff online and wants to have a chance to hear it from professionals.  He says that other kids make fun of him for believing in God, but he says that he knows that He is out there.  He very humbly and quietly asked me, in the middle of a very crowded train station with a million people bustling by, if I thought it was cool to believe in God.  I grabbed that kid and gave him a big shoulder hug (he is quite a bit smaller than me, well, everyone is smaller than me) and told him that he was cool for believing in God.  I testified to him that believing in God is the coolest thing he could ever do. Then I testified to him that I believe in God too.    His name is Yu.  I can tell he isn't really a popular kid, he is kinda nerdy,  but he is the coolest kid I've met in a long time.  He reminded me a lot of Teppei, the guy back in Yachiyo.  I don't know what happened to Teppei, but one of my friends transferred into Yachiyo recently and he says that Ninoska's brothers are going to get baptized!  And that she will follow them not long after :) :)

 

Also, Naoki Morita, the kid we baptized in Matsudo, his mom got baptized in Matsudo this last Sunday :) :) And Naoki is going to come out here on Thursday and help us teach Lhea. 

 

Our district right now is on fire.  We have some of the best missionaries in all of Japan here in Saitama and we are looking to break a lot of mission records this transfer.  Not only with new investigators, but President has bumped up our goal with lessons from 15 a week to 20, which may seem pretty tough, but the Matsudo Elders last week taught 31 lessons.  Elder Anderson and I spent 6 weeks pouring gasoline on that area so that they could come in and light that place on fire.  We want to be the first district to all get over 20 lessons in one week. 

 

I gots to get going now, but man, Connor looked like such a stud in those pics from his play.  We all know that he was the chosen one, the one destined to be the coolest out of all of us. ;)  Not to mention Kyle looking fly in that prom pic!  My boyz are growing up too dang fast.  I remember when we would smack each other with foam noodles all day and then take down the droid army on the xbox by night.  Now, my brothers are smacking life with the foam noodles of awesomeness and I am trying to take down the robotic overworked Japanese army! 

 

I heard a great quote by Elder Faust the other day that I want to share with you.  It applies to being busy and fulfilling responsibilities.  It says," Satan selects his disciples when they are idol.  Jesus selected his disciples when they were busy at their work, either mending their nets or casting them into the sea".  Don't ever assume that the Lord only calls people to serve Him when they are not busy, the Lord WILL call you while you are at work.  

Good Luck! :)

 

I love you all so very very much!!!!  Enjoy the weather there!  It's hot and rainy here :)

 

愛しているよ！！！！

 

Elder Crandall

 

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Okay Mummy!  Here is the plan. Both Elder Lee and I are staying one more transfer together here so we will be able to Skype you Monday morning my time.  Let's shoot for Monday morning at like 10:00 am my time.  This is Sunday at 6:00 pm for you :)

Happy Mothers Day!!! 

Elder Crandall

Note from Elder Crandall's Mommy:

Twice each year that a missionary is serving for our church, the family of the missionary gets to call and talk (sometimes Skype) with that missionary!  Christmas and Mother's Day are the two times each year that we can do that.  We are so thankful that Elder Crandall is in a mission with Skype technology available to him so we can actually see him while we are talking with him!!  The pictures below are a little fuzzy as our connection was fuzzy at times, but nonetheless, it was amazing to see him and hear his voice!  He is doing great and loves being a missionary and sharing the Gospel message with the people in Japan!  He likes to tease us and speak in Japanese so we don't understand what he is saying, but we love it!  Elder Crandall is thankful for the love and support from so many family and friends!  We are too! 

Love,

Craig & Mauri

  

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

CONNOR!!!!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TANJOUBI OMEDETOGOZAIMASU!!!  TEENAGER NI NARIMASHITA NE!!!!!!!!! YOKKATTA!!!!!

 

Man, it has been a weird week for sure.  I am officially over the hill now.  It's all a count down from here on out.  I can't become home sick anymore, I can only become trunky, haha.  But I'm doing fine nonetheless, not trunky at all.  Everything is just one massive blur and it still feels like it was yesterday when I started the mission. 

 

A lot of my good friends on the mission are leaving for home right now.  My last companion, Elder Anderson, and I got together with Naoki in Matsudo for a bye bye lunch at a sushi restaurant.  He is going home this week.  It was way fun being back in good old Matsudo with Elder Anderson, it felt like I had just been on a 6 week split, like I had never moved out ya know. 

 

This past week was a Major holiday in Japan, called Golden Week.  It's just a string of very unimportant holidays like Independence day, green day, children's day, etc. etc., and most everyone went back to their home town and got drunk for like a week, haha.  So we did a lot of finding, not a whole lot of teaching this week.  We found an old investigator along a river that runs by our house named Shalesh and he is from Fiji.  He called out to us and asked us if he could come to church and we said absolutely he could come to church this week.  He was way drunk when we met him, but he ended up coming to church on Sunday and we had a great time with him, haha.  He is a professional artist and makes murals and such for non profit organizations.  Way cool guy when he isn't wasted, haha. 

 

Thank you, mom, for the story/question about the temple.  To answer your questions, I should tell you what I did today :)   I woke up at 5:40 and went to the Temple :)   We got lost half way there 'cause we had to navigate an unfamiliar route through the busiest train intersection in the world, but we made the second session of all missionaries in the temple.  We get to go once every 6 weeks and all the missionaries in the mission go.  In the future, when the mission splits, we will only get to go once every two transfers.  We go on Tuesday so our p-day switches from Monday to Tuesday on temple day so that is why my emails are always switching what time they come, haha. 

 

I feel really really weird about how this next week is going to go.  So far, it's been a great week and we have even found a new investigator guy that is interested in the church.  But I feel like I have not been able to settle into this area.  I still feel like I am disconnected in some way.  I love the members here and I love the investigators, but I haven't been able to grab this area by the horns and make it mine yet.  Especially when it comes to the investigators that are doing really well.  Kohji and Emi have come a long way and are looking pretty solid to get baptized some time in the future.  We need to focus their progression back on that baptism goal or else they will become eternal investigators who never take the plunge into eternal life.  I'm not sure when they will get baptized, maybe by the end of the month, but I have the strangest feeling that because I didn't grab hold of them and push well enough towards baptism for them, I am going to get transferred out before I see them baptized.  I don't really know what I am saying at all though, haha.  I guess, if this week goes really really well and everyone can meet and we set a bunch of baptism dates and everyone is progressing and we see tons of miracles, then I am going to get transferred out on Monday, is my guess, hahaha.  

 

I was soooooo excited when I heard that Brayden Richards got called to Japan :)  I sent him an email already but I'm still flipping out, I am so excited.  Japanese brothers!!!!!

 

I gotta go dendo now, but I love you all and I wish you all the best of luck in your upcoming tests and plays and performances and everything that is going on back home :) otsukaresamadesu (cheers for good work)

 

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Take care!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Elder Crandall