Monday, November 12, 2012

Hello Family!

 

Thank you Connor :) I liked your letter!

 

So I just got the invitation today! It is the first letter that I've gotten this whole transfer and I'm on week 6 of it, haha.  It was way ひさしぶりですね。But I like it! It's way classy and refined, yet simple and modern :) they look really cute together, haha! I'm working on the video.  In fact imma gonna finish it and mail it right after this :)

 

Well, this week, was good I guess.  Kobayashi didn't make his baptismal date, he was still kinda far away and so we have been trying to set a new date with him, but he has gotten really sketchy and doesn't email us back or answers our calls very often anymore.  We are kinda starting to go back to square one with him and stick to ping pong and trying to become better friends with him and get him church friends.  But we found a new investigator this week.  We went streeting in Hiyoshi which is home to a very very large University and so we really wanted to talk to a lot of college age people and stuff like that.  Low and behold, we call out to this random college guy in English but the guy behind him replies instead back in English.  The guy that replied is about 70 years old and is like one of the happiest people that I have ever met.  His name is Yamamoto and he used to live in New York and is fluent in English.  I was on splits with my DL Elder Hosier that day and so we just started talking to him about America and why we are in Japan.  He was very happy and told us that his life motto is to make everyday more happy than the last day and so he always walks around with a smile and tries to help people.  He said that he used to believe in God, but recently he doesn't know.  His best friend of 50 years passed away 2 weeks ago and he was very heartbroken and sad about that.  Elder Hosier shared a very touching experience where he had a closer relative who was like his best friend pass away and he related to Yamamoto very well.  We then explained to him about our beliefs about God and the purpose of life.  We then shared the the plan of salvation and told him what his friend was doing right now. ( we didn't just say this is what we believe, we told it very factually and very bold which was key to sparking his interest) We told him that we need to do certain things like get baptized in order to return to live with God and because his friend was never baptized he can't return to live with God, BUT, we taught him about baptisms for the dead and how he can do that here in this life for his friend. He was kinda hesitant at first, but by the end of our talk, he pulled out his planner and asked when and where our church was and we set up a time to meet with him.  It was a cool experience for me because we didn't do a whole lot of explaining our beliefs, we mostly just testified about things and how important these things are to us and how it will bless his life and his friends life.  He is coming to church Sunday!

 

So next Monday is the end of the transfer (dakara) it's transfer day.  So, I may or may not, maybe, I think, might be, idk, be transferred.  If I don't, then for Thanksgiving we are going to the Yakosuka Naval base and having dinner with an American Family :)  and then that same transfer, we have Christmas and New Years! It's three holidays in 1 transfer and so I would honestly love to stay here with all of the ward members that I know and with Elder Anderson cause he's cool.  But man, let me tell you, new years ( ShoGatsu in Japanese) is like the biggest holiday in Japan.  Apparently, it's a two week celebration and the elders get fed like twice a day for two weeks.  I'm way excited, haha, plus I just love Christmas anyway, by far my favorite Holiday. 

 

This past week, I had a cold but nothing too bad.  I was still able to dendo and do stuff, but it wasn't as fun, ha.  Everyone in The Cabin (our house) is sick right now, but we refuse to wear the doctors masks that all of the Japanese people wear!  'Tis the season.  Last week, I bought Heat Tech thermals and a really soft scarf :) I would never wear a scarf in America, but here in Japan it's the cool thing to do.  I'm actually wearing it right now :)  

 

This morning I had rice and milk and sugar for breakfast :0 yummy  When I get back, there are a lot of things that I want to do with you guys, as far as food goes.  We need to do shabushabu, yakiniku, gyudon,curry, kimichi, tim tam slam, real ramen, oyakodon, cha han, maborofu, and the list goes on!  Me and Elder Anderson take turns cooking and so I've gotten pretty good at cooking lots and lots of weird things :) none of them are really that weird though. 

 

I hope everything goes smoothly with the rest of the wedding plans! Every time I think of the wedding I get way excited and I feel so happy for them.  I wish I could be there, but sometimes I'm relieved that I'm not, hehe:) But keep praying for us to find prepared people and that the members of Japan will have a change of heart and become more involved in this great cause :)

 

I love you all so much and I want you to know that I truly know with all of my heart that the cause that I am involved in is ordained of God and as his servant I testify to the divinity of this Gospel and of Jesus Christ.  I love you.

 

Elder Crandall