Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Hello my dearest and most wonderful family!

 

Alright, so you are probably wondering what happened in all of the transfers and what not and what mission I'm in. 

 

Soooooooooo, I got transferred to Kawasaki ward.  It's in the Yokohama Stake.  Which is in the Tokyo South mission.......  Yay! :)

 

My new companion is named Elder Call.  He is from Spanish Ferk, Utah.  Yes, I did spell it like that intentionally.  My new area is right next to my first area and actually I've come here for splits and meetings and stuff a ton of times so I know this place pretty well already.  Elder Call is on transfer 7 and I am starting 9 now!  Yikes!!!!  He is a way good missionary.  He is like 6"2, 240 lbs of manliness.  He has had a lot of success on his mission and the area and ward are doing really well right now as far as dendo is concerned. 

 

Not going to lie, this last weekend has been the hardest and most emotional time for me so far on my mission.  It's been way hard having to say goodbye to Elder Lee who I love so much, all of my investigators that I found and are progressing way super well, all of the way awesome ward members, and almost all of my missionary friends as well.  Basically everyone I know is going to be in the north mission.  I was pretty bummed at first, but I've received a strong confirmation that this is where the Lord needs me.  I know that not just in the south mission, but in Kawasaki right now, the Lord needs me to be here.  There have been tons and tons of goodbyes, and they have been especially hard since there have been lots of people who I know that I may never see again.  But it's done, and I'm here in this great place now.

 

In fact, we just got back from a lesson with 3 Filipino ladies named Marleen, Mari, and Kei.  They are all about 35, very interested in the church, and Marleen and Mari have baptismal dates for 7/27.  Wherever I go, I seem to find the Filipino's.  I don't know, but I'm not complaining :)  All three of them live in the same apartment complex where they house and protect domestically abused women from their husbands.  All three of them have had very very very hard lives and very very bad men for husbands.  Marleen is kinda like their ring leader, haha.  She absolutely is converted to the restored gospel and was the first person to discover the church a few weeks ago.  Then she brought her friend Mari to church on Sunday, where they were able to refer her and begin teaching her.  Mari is rather shy.  I don't want to sound rude or anything here, but in order to accurately describe Mari I would say that she is kinda like a terribly abused dog where when we reach out our hand, she kinda pulls back shrinks down at first.  But, she is warming up to us well now and isn't shrinking back anymore.  We met Kei for the first time yesterday, Marleen brought her with her when they came to the lesson.  Kei is a lot more aggressive and hard to crack.  She didn't want to participate in the lesson, so she just sat there and listened when we taught and read with us when we read.  But she will come to church with us and her little baby this Sunday. 

 

I apologize for how long this email has taken for me to write.  I've spread it out for like three days, haha.  It's because our area is becoming a 4 man area with 2 more elders coming in and we have been doing a lot of prep for that.  We are getting Elder Nakamura, who I was in the MTC with, and his new missionary!!!!  It's gonna be fun fun fun!  But our apartment is way too small for 4 people, so we've been trying to figure out how all of this is going to work, haha.  It's gonna be waaaaaay super tight, but it will end up alright I think.  We have a Costco pretty close by and one of our 60 hippie friends by the name of Rocky usually takes us to Costco.  Elder Lee is going to be training over in Kawagoe and he is freaking out pretty hard, haha.  I gave him a neck tie for being the best companion ever and yesterday I found his favorite N64 video game, Legend of Zelda, for 3 bucks at a recycle shop where we sold a bunch of junk from our apartment, and I'm going to mail that to him cause he is so awesome. 

 

I'm gonna send you guys a package in a few weeks with some fun things and a letter and what not, haha :)

 

I'll write a longer letter next week, but for now this will suffice. :)

 

I love you all and it is so good to be hearing from our family members!!!!!  Also, the ward is really getting dendo fire back home which is super awesome and exactly what the prophets are telling us to do!!!!  Ganbare dendo!!!!!!!!!

 

Have a great week!!!   I love you all so much :)

 

Elder Crandall

 

Here are some pics from a lunch with an old lady investigator named Shizue.  Also, a pic of Elder Lee and I by our apartment/ church.  It's close to a river. 

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Hello everybody!!!

Man, it's a party up in P-town!  You got the whole gang together up there.  Well, over here in Tokyo, today was temple p-day and it was the last time that the whole mission will be together as one.  We will get our area calls this next Saturday morning and I have no idea how I feel about it.  I would very much like to stay here, but where ever is totally okay with me. 

We had a great time going to the Saitama Lions baseball game against the Nagoya Dragons.  It is totally different from American games.  For one thing, we ate sushi for our snacks :)  No popcorn or crackerjacks.  The stadium is much smaller than an American one.  There is a designated cheering section, kinda like at a college game.  It has much more the feel of a minor league game to it.  All of the announcements were done in English, surprisingly.  (either I'm completely fluent in Japanese or it was English).  There were two blacks guys in the field, one per team, and they both played third base.  There was a giant picture of Ichiro drinking beer in the corner, but that is everywhere in Japan.  Overall, it was a very fun experience :)  But I like American games better, haha! 

It is hoooottttt!  The crazy humidity is back in full blast!  I've been dripping with sweat all day today.  The dendo recently has been very good.  We have been doing a lot of quality finding in our spare time and have found quite a few college aged kids that are now investigating the church really well.  Also, we had a YSA in the ward bring her good friend to church this last Sunday and we were able to answer his questions and start teaching him the gospel.  His name is Mo and he is a way cool guy.  We counted it up, and we are teaching people from 12 different countries around the world: 

Japan- lots of people

Korea- Kim and Ryo (we play basketball with Kim and teach Ryo and his family)

China- Shin, Enka, Yaung, Benson, Rin, Goh

Ecuador- Fanny (she works close to the church and is trying hard to get Sunday off)

Brazil- Thala (we have her come help us out at English class, she is going back to Brazil in July, high school age girl)

Holland- Kohji (he is going back to Holland in July as well, absolute bro, not really progressing anymore)

Indonesia- Miko and Ryu (brother and sister that we go to Japanese class and English class with)  

Fiji- Shalesh (interesting guy, eternal investigator, he is an artist and comes to church randomly)

Uzbekistan- Sher (started teaching him this last week, Muslim, but is very interested in the idea of modern prophets)

America- various (we gots lots of American friends)

Nepal- Chandran (works close to the church, likes Indian food :)  )  

Philippines- Lea (baptized and active! Going to visit her tonight and help her get started on family history)

That's just a quick sum up of all of our "gaijin"- foreign investigators.  We are really excited about Sher, the Uzbekistan guy.  He is a 25 year old college student who is very intelligent and just the coolest, nicest guy ever.  He has these crazy cool lime green eyes and is fluent in Uzbekian, Russian, English, and Japanese. 

We also started an international soccer team with the other elders in our zone and this last week we had like 15 PI's and 7 investigators come play with us at the park, including a guy from Syria named Muhammah.  He is a refugee and was boss at soccer. 

In case you were wondering, they don't really celebrate fathers day here, haha.  But HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you so much Dad, as well as Grandpa, for being righteous priesthood leaders and examples in all of our lives.  We, and especially me, are so blessed for having the loving council and support of a patriarch in the home.  I have seen what they look like without them, houses without fathers.  The Father is an essential figure in the home and I am blessed to have the best one in the world :)  Wouldn't trade you for all of the grilled steaks at the Outback!!!  Have a great day!!!!!

Well, I sincerely pray that everyone has a splendid week and that everything will be pleasant and enjoyable as you play together this next week.  Remember to share your toys and make good choices!!!!!  楽しんでくれ！！！！(Enjoy!)

愛しているよ！(I love you!)

クランダル長老 (Crandall Elder)

Monday, June 10th, 2013

Hey hey hey family!

 

Oh man!  I was waaaaaaaaay super surprised to hear that Dad got called to be in the Bishopric!!!  Not that he isn't like a spiritual giant or anything, but that it seems like he just got called to be on the high council a few months ago!  Crazy desu! (it is crazy)

 

Today is Elder Lee's birthday and so we have been doing a lot of various celebrations and things for his birthday.  We went to an all you can eat pot stickers for 5 bucks place and I ate 32, Elder Lee had 18, but one missionary had 50.  We don't have a lot of time 'cause it's late at night 'cause we just got back from a lesson with a lady named Fanny from Ecuador.  I taught her in half Spanish, half Japanese, half English and it went super well.  She loves the BOM and is so excited to be making religion a big part of her life once again. 

 

We also found this new lady from Brazil who speaks way good English and we started teaching her, as well as a older gentleman who use to be a pro rugby player.  How cool is that!  Sister Lea is doing very good.  She is having us over for dinner tomorrow and is making some sort of special Filipino food.  Kowaii sou desu yo (it is cute)!

 

I am doing very well, health wise and spiritually as well.  This last week, we had the opportunity to meet with the area 70 over Japan, Elder Ringwood from the 1st Quorum of the Seventy, and he gave some awesome trainings to us on being more consecrated and exerting our faith in our daily dendo.  His wife is Elder Nelson's daughter and she gave some way good trainings as well on the spirit and it's influence in our converts conversion.  It was way cool being in a very small setting with a general authority and he was also able to tell us a little bit more about the mission splitting and what not.  Transfer calls will be on the 22nd and where ever they tell us to go then is what mission we will be in.  I am hoping to stay north!!!  I like it up here, but of course, I will go where the Lord wants me to go. 

 

I am going to a Saitama Lions pro baseball game this Thursday with the Bishop and his family.  He is going to refer his crazy Buddhist cousin to us and also he wants to give us a good time on the town.  I am way excited for that!  Ichiro is looking good in your picture as well as the boys. 

 

Tell Bishop Critchfield I am exciting to return home under him and all the best wishes and blessing of heaven be with him as he ganbaro's as Bishop :)

 

I have to go now, but I love you all soo much and I can feel the power of your every day prayers in my every moment out here :)  Arigatou!!!!  (Thank You)

 

Until next week!  Good luck!

 

Love,

Elder Crandall

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

よよよよよよ！！！！うぁつうっぷ家族！！皆さん元気そうですよ、よかったと思うよ。最近、私はこの家族が誰だろうかと理解して来ました。カイヨとくにだれか？まだ子供じゃないですね。大人になたから兄弟たちはどうゆ人になたとかどゆこと好きかとぜんぜん知らないです。それと、カイヨはどなぐらい彼女がいますか？？？？写真を見せるからいっぱいがいるそうですよ（笑笑）。さすがわたしの弟。

 

Maybe google translate will do a good job with that, idk, but if you want I'll translate what it says for you in a year :)

 

Hey, so I'm attaching some pictures.  We took a few pictures while we were ****BAPTIZING LEA THIS WEEKEND WAHOOOOOOOOO****!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She was soooo sooo sooo happy yesterday.  The whole day was nothing but smiles, high fives, and her trying to sneak us side hugs while no one was looking cause she knows we aren't supposed to hug girls, haha.  She is an angel for sure and all the ward leaders and all the ward members were so happy that she has come into the church.  Elder Lee did the confirmation right afterwards in Sacrament Meeting and Lea gave a very simple but very powerful testimony afterwards.  Sister Matsui, her friend that referred her, is also in the baptism pictures.  They are both super tiny, like, Elder Lee is a way small guy and he looks way big next to them.  She bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting about how hard she had prayed that she would be able to share the gospel with her friend and that she could come into the church with her.  She then shared with everyone how happy she was when Lea decided to come with her to church that morning and that we were there ready and willing to invite her to learn about the gospel.  Everything with Lea couldn't have gone smoother.  It truly was miraculous from start to finish.  This was Elder Lee's first investigator to get baptized and he is as happy as can be.  The ward here is so fired up about dendo now! We had two people come up to us after church and tell us that they are going to bring their friends to church next week and want us to start teaching their friends!!!  And then our Bishop has arranged for us to go to a pro baseball game with his family so that he can refer his crazy Buddhist cousin to us!!!  Yippee!! But no, it's actually way good progress. 

 

We were also privileged yesterday to be able to go with the Elders Quorum President and the Bishop to visit a brother's mother who had a stroke and was in the hospital.  This lady, no joke, looked like she was relatively happy mid 70s year old lady, still had a solid head of brown hair and all.  But, she was actually 91 years old!!!  She has been little by little, miraculously recovering over the past few days and has basically regained most of her mobility and ability to use the left side of her body (that was the side that was hit hard by the stroke).  We helped give her a blessing and then comforted her and told her what a great mother she is and how she doesn't have to worry about recovering.  We gave her a picture of Jesus and shared with her a little scripture about hope.  She took the picture and held it close to her chest and through a stream of tears told us how thankful she was for the blessing.  She is not a member, but she has come to know Christ through the actions and deeds of her son. 

 

We had a few more miracles this week with some of our investigators.  One of which was with a bro named Yoshiki (he is 70 years old).  He took us to the all you can eat steak house last Monday and before we began to eat he told us, "I know you guys have to pray before you eat food.  Is it all right if I say the prayer this time??"  We of course said yes and he said a wonderful prayer.  This is the same guy that about a month ago snapped at us in a lesson after we tried to commit him to pray saying that he doesn't believe in God yet so how can we expect him to do anything he doesn't believe in.  But, on his own, he has been able to find God and he says that he wants to join the church soon (like in a few months or so).  Old dogs can learn new tricks, its' just really tricky for them to learn and it takes a while.  We also had an amazing lesson with our Chinese bro, Yaung.  We taught him the doctrine of Christ and about what we need to do to go to heaven and he got very embarrassed and upset and told us that he felt really bad for never learning this earlier.  We told him that it wasn't his fault and that he can start now on the path and it will do him so much good.  He really wants to change his life and we have helped him be able to recognize the spirit and he has had a few spiritual experiences over the past few weeks that have helped him gain a strong testimony of God and the spirit.  He is committed to get baptized on July 14.  His big problem now is that he has a part time job on Sundays so he can't come to church.  We could really use all the prayer we can get with him so that he will be able to get Sundays off from work :)

We also met with our high school aged friend named Yuu who over the past ten days has read half of the BOM!!!!!!  He loves it and was very sorry that he was unable to finish the whole thing yet.  He totally is a lot like Teppei from Yachiyo!  Hopefully, this time he WILL follow through and get baptized. 

 

I've been having to brush up on my Chinese, Tagalog, and Indonesian speaking skills the past couple of weeks.  My English is going down hill fast, haha.  We've got investigators from all over the place and it's hard to ever communicate all of my thoughts and feelings to anyone. 

 

There is no Elder Weber in the mission yet.  I recon he will get here this next transfer.  We made extreme party celebration sandwiches for lunch today.  I included those in the pictures I'm sending :)  Thank you for always sending me Elder Barnes' emails each week!  I look forward to hearing about some of the cool things he is experiencing down there. 

 

The first paragraph to this email was about the boys, but simply stated it's that they are too cool for school these days.  I don't know where or how they  got all the cool genes in the family, but Kelsie and I got jipped!!!!  ;)

 

Have another safe, fun, and fantastic week my beloved family!!!  Ganbaro Nippon!!!!!!!

 

I love you!!!!!!!!

 

Elder Crandall