Week 43

Dear Everyone,

 

So a couple of changes in our mission...  One our Pday is being changed to Monday...  So maybe nowadays you'll have to write me a day earlier.

お願いします

o-negai shimasu.

(please)

 

Oh and also our mission decided to do a test project for the entire world.  Every companionship in our mission is being given a laptop computer for their apartment.  We can do email. Go on lds.org and then we also get to do skype with members and stuff, and on Christmas and Mothers Day I can do skype with you guys!!!  How cool will that be.  Well I am going now and hope to hear from you in an hour or so but if not, ta-ta till next week.  Love you all!

 

Elder Keith

 

"Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words."  =D

Week 42

Just this past Saturday I was able to return to Tama for a baptism!  When I first got to Japan, my first day in the field.  I had a lesson with a girl named Mai.  I taught her basically the entire time I was in Tama.  And I watched her grow in testimony as we went.  On Saturday I was able to return and watch her be baptized.  It was such an incredible experience.  It was truly a joy for me to be able to do that.
Also this past week we had begun having lessons with someone who was an investigator a couple years back.  When we had our first lesson with him he told us that he wanted to be baptized.  We went and saw him yesterday and found out that his parents also want to be baptized.  They want to be baptized all together and we set their date for the 31st of this month.  We're now working with the shimai to make sure that they all know and understand everything that they need to in order to be baptized.
It's a good thing that we have the Lord on our side in this here missionary work stuff.  Without Him, this stuff would be pretty dang hard.

In other news...It has not gotten any colder hear.  Nor do I think it will any time soon.  

But this transfer is soooo awesomely fun so far.  It feels incredible to be working as hard as I can and not taking extra time for things that don't help people progress towards eternal life. 

I do believe that I have found a new hobby too!!  Killing Roaches!!

I found out to that if you spray them with dish soap enough they will die. 

And not 10 minutes ago I totally punted a cockroach!!  It was in the bathroom at the church and we tried to get it with dish soap but it ran out the door, so i tried to kick it back into the bathroom but instead it exploded.  xD  I picked up like 3-4 pieces xD

Dang roaches heh heh. 

Love you all.

Elder Keith

Week 41

Watashi wa anata no musuko desu.  Heh heh, figure that one out =D.  I am doing awesome.  I think I may have lost a kilo tho!  I sweat sooooo stinking much.  Like it's ridiculous.  Yes it is still flipping hot here.  And I'm told that it's only going to get hotter.  Although the rainy season is coming to an end so it should get less humid but it's still mega hot.  Like hotter than I've seen.  It's definitely like more than 35 every single day.   The bike riding is going well.  Our companionship is going terrific.  Especially when comparatively speaking.  It's like just chilling with your best friend for like 6 weeks.  But we're super focused and super hard working.  And we've been seeing miracles because of it.  One of the miracles is that Mai an investigator from Tama is getting baptized this saturday.  It's awesome.  I'm super stoked.
Hopefully everything goes well for everyone this summer. That's great that dekiru kagiri (that means to the extent that you can) you are talking about me to everyone.  That's what missionary work, this gospel is all about.  Even the small stuff counts though we may not realize it at first.  Yeah I get a really great feeling about this transfer.  It's been tonnes of hardworking fun so far.  And if this continues I know that we will be blessed.

Well I wish you all the best and leave you with my love.  Looking forward to hearing from you next week.=D  Love you!!

 

Elder Keith

 

hey so i guess this is a video of us.

http://youtu.be/PS_7vAvXFOM

 

Week 40

Heyyyy  =D

So basically over the past couple of days we have had many things happen.  All have been good for once.  So on Friday night we received transfer calls.  I'm staying in Kofu, which is great because I love it here.  And the wards LOVES the missionaries.  So much!!!!  Then they told me that I was getting a doki companion.  His name is Elder Shiozawa and we were in the same room together at the MTC.  It was/is/will be terrifically awesome because we became like best friends in the MTC and it continued in the field and now, we're companions!  He is a 4th generation Japanese, but he was born and raised in America so we had basically the same skill level in the MTC.  But now I'm area senior (we're co-senior companions) and for the first time on my mission who is not miles ahead of me in Japanese.   So I kinda get the feeling that this will be a hard transfer.  But boy will it ever be fun!!   We're actually down to just 1 companionship now.  The church has like 120 people but it covers an entire ken (province).  Mount Fuji was terrific fun!!  It actually took us like 8 hours to get to the top though because my former companion was really trudging along.  It was so magnificent and it was soooo high.  Unfortunately I really didn't use enough sunscreen (typical me right?) and wound up with a pretty pink burn, mostly on my neck and hands.  then it took us 4 hours down because we took a different route.  Actually it was just the missionaries from Kofu and the ward that went.  It was soooo much fun and I took lots of pictures and stuff so you'll probably be able to get a feel for it when you get them.  This past week Kofu was the hottest place in Japan with a blazing 38C.  And as a missionary I know we're not supposed to go swimming but it's not hard when the humidity is like 1000%.  No lie it's way humid here.  We're in a basin surrounded by mountains...  oh dear.  And we've recently found a couple big roaches in the apartment...  oh no.  But besides those couple minor things everything is terrific right now.  I love my area and my companion and I love missionary work.  I now have a companion that doesn't have trouble with motivation and will work.  Yeah it will be awesome.

Dear goodness, today marks 7 months in Japan!  Time goes by too fast sometimes and too slow at others.    So yeah that's how things are with me right now in Kofu.  Thanks for all your support and everything.  

Love you. 

愛していますよ！

Elder Keith

キース長老

Week 39

Hey Mom and Dad,　

 

はい靴を受けました。どうもありがとうございます。あなたたちは素晴らしい両親です！

the translation is:

Yes I received the shoes.  Thank you very much.  You are wonderful parents!

 

Yeah I got a way lotta stuff planned and coming up for me this week.   Today P Day, tomorrow English class, Thursday we're having a music night xD, Friday we have a dinner appointment and splits, and then Saturday we're gonna climb mount Fuji and then get transfer calls =O. 

As may be seen in the above Japanese sentence yes I did get both of the parcels. It's way great thank you.  And it's good that you sent them from America because I heard from the office couple that the Canadian post office is on strike.  They can't send anything to Canada.  But yes everything fits fine, and I am tickled with everything.  

Waaa everyone is growing up!!  Be sure to take lots of pictures please.  

Yes we do have a couple of investigators right now.  They are a little frustrating at times but we're doing our best. 

And as for the companionship... we had something happen this week.  One of the Elders in the other companionship actually returned home.  Not due to worthiness or anything bad but he did go home.  So as a result for this last week of the transfer, we are a 3-man companionship.  I must say that was the saddest day of my mission.  The elder who went home was in my MTC doki.  He was super nice and really helped me out at the beginning of the transfer especially.  And since transfer calls are on Saturday (while we climb Fuji actually) and we are super busy until then I just need to relax.  This transfer definitely taught me a LOT about patience.  So yeah that's the news on the Kofu Elders.

And that's all the time I have for this week.  

Love you both.  thank you again for the packages.

You're in my prayers

 

Elder Keith