Not a good week….

29 April 2014

So this week was a bit of a sick week. My companion and I didn't get much done. Hopefully we get better. The thing that's hard is it's just different sickness after sickness. And it goes back and forth between Elder Huntsman and I. But we still did a couple of things this week.

On Thursday we did a small service project. Somebody was moving from here to Nagoya, so we packed and carried boxes. It was really fun. It was for a less active and a guy who would be just flying out to the MTC to start his mission.

We also had training this week for an upcoming open house in Yamate. Yamate was the first place the church got established when it came to Japan, so there is a lot of historical influence.

I feel bad that there's not much to write this week. Hopefully when we recover I'll have some miracle stories for you.

Love,

Elder Davies

My Testimony of Jesus

Happy Easter everyone. Easter in Japan isn't really that big yet, but we did a couple of things. The church had a sunrise service, it was really good. It was just a lot of people's testimony of Christ. Also my companion and I made Easter eggs...we used markers to color eggs. I'll send the picture we took. If you’re wondering, I drew the bunny :D Also we watched the new video called "Because of Him." It's only a couple of minutes long but it's fantastic. If you haven't seen it yet I recommend that you take a look. 

http://easter.mormon.org

Also last week we went to a concert. One of our English students performs in a choir and got us free tickets to his concert that they only do every 3 years. It was a fantastic concert…all about flowers blooming. Our student was super excited to see us after, it was nice to be able to support him. Other than that not much has happened this week. We've been spending most of our days trying to find people. We don't really have any investigators right now, so we’re just talking to a lot of people on the street.

So instead of 5 questions, because it's Easter my Dad has asked for me to share my testimony of Christ.

My testimony of Christ is simple. I may have never seen Christ. And I may never see Him while in this earthly body, but I know He lives. I know He lives because I have felt His love. And because I have felt His love, I know that He wasn't just a man that said some nice things two thousand years ago. But He was the Son of God, and He left us the perfect example to follow. As a child, He learned from His parents, He increased in knowledge precept by precept, He was baptized by a man holding God’s authority, He went and traveled to preach the word of our Father, He atoned for the sins of the world, and for speaking the truth, He was crucified. However, death was not His end. On the third day He rose from the dead. Christ conquered death, so we would be able to follow His example and live again. I testify that Jesus is the Christ. That He lives in a resurrected body of flesh and blood. That He is a God of the living, not the dead. That we will live again with our loved ones. And while we live now, He is anxiously engaged in our lives. That He has not abandoned us on this earth, but continues to talk to us not only through the Holy Ghost to our hearts but also through the Prophets that He has given us to guide us. Last of all I testify that He loves every single one of us. And that every single one of us can feel His love, no matter the circumstances. 

I testify of these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ,

Amen.

We gave up chocolate and Mormons don't even observe Lent!

So right now chocolate is the worst thing in the world. The sister missionaries here have an investigator who is having problems with the word of wisdom. She apparently smokes a pack a day, drinks 8 beers, and drinks a ton of coffee everyday. And to break addictions is really hard, especially when it's part of your daily routine. To help support her, the sisters have gone on a chocolate fast. They aren't eating chocolate to help support giving up all tobacco and stuff. Elder Huntsman and I were asked to join the fast. I felt kind of bad at first because we don't really eat that much chocolate, and we didn't feel like we were giving up much. I don't know why, but ever since we started this fast we have been receiving so much free chocolate and things with chocolate in it. Kinda bites but it's ok. The sisters’ investigator is really progressing. She is down to two cigarettes and a cup of coffee a day. I think she might be getting baptized soon.

Also this week we had general conference. It was fantastic. I was luckily able to watch it in English. We had a small room upstairs in the church were it was being played. The room was packed full of missionaries. We invited a lot of our friends to come show up, but only one came. Unfortunately, he didn't enjoy it that much. But he did think the conference center was a nice building. A little bummed that all he got from it is that our church has a nice building in Utah.

Anyway these weeks questions:

1. You said your companion is from Utah, which town?

    He's from Alpine. I think it's close to Provo.

2. What is Elder Huntsman like?

    Really funny. He's a bit of a music nerd. Likes music and video games. And likes playing video game music. He's really good at peeling onions. One might call him the best.

3. Did Elder Huntsman go to college before his mission? If so, where?

    UVU. I think that's Utah Valley University.

4. What are some things he likes to do?

    He loves to play trumpet. Though he says he really wants to learn French horn.

5. What is something funny about Elder Huntsman?

    He is really good at flailing his arms. In fact all of his companions have picked up his flaily arms. Including me.

Cherry Blossom time

Hey everyone,

This week was a lot of fun. With the cherry blossoms in bloom we went and had a picnic with all our investigators and friends. Elder Huntsman and I went early to grab a spot and it was way nice and sun shinny, and about the time people started showing up it started to rain. We ended up walking from the park to the church (about 1km) and ate at the church and played some games. It ended up being a big success and a lot of fun. That same day we had a dinner appointment at someone's house. My first one since being in japan. It was with a young couple that we found housing. The husband is American and the wife Japanese. I think we've ended up being pretty good friends. We had ravioli. It was way good, tasted just like Italy. And for dessert I made brownies from a special box that the gushiken family sent me.

We also got to play basketball with shunsuke this week. It was a lot of fun and we met a lot of people at the court, we're going again this Friday to meet up with some of the people we met. But after the game we ended going out with shunsuke to a restaurant we haven't been to before. It was a yakitori place (chicken on a stick) and was way good. They had a lot of different types of yakitori and some other menu items. One thing that we tried was raw horse. Sounds weird but was way good. Probably in my top 5 things I've had in Japan.

Here's the 5 questions:

1. What do most Japanese people do on Sundays?

  I think they relax for the most part. Or go to work. If it's a day off they go out with family I think.

2. What's your Sunday meeting schedule?

  Well as missionaries we have a meeting in the morning at 830 then we have church at 930 until 1230. Our last meeting is sacrament so more people can make it.

3. What do you like most about Sundays?

  Seeing the ward. Everyone is really nice, and it's really good practice for my Japanese.

4. What do you like least about Sundays?

  Well church is 3 hours. And that's a big block of the day. Though it's a lot better now that we have the morning block.

5. What's different about LDS church services in Japan, compared to LDS services in the US?

    Um...it's in Japanese. Otherwise it's the same really. Same books, same topics, and same meetings.

Not a great week…sick from curry

Well sorry everyone for not sending a letter last week. We ended up going with an investigator to a Japanese Cultural park with traditional Japanese houses. It was really cool to go to. That last week was also fantastic we found lots of people and really had a productive week. I'm really looking forward to this next week because I think we might have some really good lessons. This last week however was not that great to be honest. 

Elder Huntsman got sick twice this week unfortunately. And it was kinda our fault. We made some curry that, well, didn't make either one of us feel good. And that was actually the first time Elder Huntsman got sick. Then this week we've been a little low on food in the house, so we've been throwing together whatever we can. And one night we didn't know what to do but saw we had left over curry in the fridge and thought we should eat that. Long story short, I had a very painful night but felt fine by morning. Unfortunately the effects lasted a little longer with my companion. Not sure why we ate that curry. 

Now for those 5 questions:

1. In your area, what do most people live in, homes or apartments?

       I would say it’s 50/50. We live in a residential area that's for sure. It's just a lot of houses and apartments packed as close together as possible. 

2. Does everyone take off their shoes in their homes? Are there other customs you have learned about?

        Yep, no shoes in the houses, that means I can't wear socks with holes in them unfortunately. But we actually don't go into houses often. 

3. We think of Tokyo being very crowded, does anyone have yards?

      Not really. Sometimes you can find a house with a little extra property, usually in the really wealthy areas. But most people would pick a Japanese garden over grass. 

4. What's your impression of how people keep their homes?

      Well we don't go in often. And I think for the most part most houses are a little on the messy side. Unless someone is coming over, then it's spotless. 

5. Have you seen any unique things in people's homes that you don't see in the US?

     Um well Japanese houses have a different layout than American houses. And are much smaller. So usually there are no chairs, we just sit on the floor, so the tables are small too. Also, there would be all the classic Japanese stuff like tatami mats and the family shrine. 

So not really much to say in this letter, but thank you to everyone for their support. I can really feel it. 

Love you all,

Elder Davies