Sunday, December 27, 2015

Uganda Freak Out When I Tell You This!!! (The Best Christmas Ever!)

Wow, what a week!  It all started out last Monday morning when I woke up and just had that terrible feeling in the back of my throat.  It came out of the blue so it was a disappointment for sure.  So Monday night and Tuesday night I rested a tad bit but the rest of the week was a go.  The throat only hurt the first couple of days.  By Christmas Eve I thought I was coming out of it but to my dismay on Christmas morning, my voice was half gone.  At least I felt better!  Christmas Eve was a split with good 'ole Elder Sato.   He has interviews with the mission president that day and had some trainings by him too.  After that we went back to the apartment and Elder Sato got a couple of hours of rest because he had a killer cold that he hadn't got rest from in like light years.  He used to serve here in Fukutoku before me so after his little time of shut eye we went to the church and had two lessons with two people that we weren't quite sure about their interest level but with Elder Sato help they turned into solid investigators.  Pretty solid day.  That night the assistants stayed over at our apartment as well because they came to our area for interviews.  We bought these cheap stakes kind of things that were super good and we rushed to cook them and eat them in time.  I will send pictures later.

Then Christmas came!  I woke up that morning a lot like those in Whoville after the Grinch stole all their presents.  The package from the family had not arrived in time on that Christmas morning.  Usually I'd be distraught but really it is an interesting feel.  I didn't stand up, hold everyone's hands, and sing Kum-Ba-Ya Christmas Hymns with everybody nor did a ugly, Green monster deliver the package to me but I did really understand more fully the Christmas Spirit.  This Christmas as I sat at my desk just pondering, as cheesy as it sounds, without the gifts and family traditions I was really faced with the question of "What makes Christmas special?"  The only answer there was was to realize that it was Christ who loved us enough to come into this world of sin to save us all.  I will always remember this as a special Christmas where I for the first time truly did just celebrate Christ's life and birth for us.  I will always hold that moment near to my heart...πŸ˜‚

Yesterday was a whirlwind ride.  We had an appointment cancel right after church so we had some free time which had us running around doing random things.  Then the sisters last week had visited a less active who lives in our area but goes to a different ward and the less active's son is a non-member and we were invited over to meet him and a couple other people.  So, not knowing exactly where it is we head over in the general direction.  Turns out we came right up against the border of another area in a city called Kasugai and were a bit lost.  We stop at a Circle K and try to find the address.  While there, we get a call from a member who was coming to teach with us tonight telling us he couldn't make it.  Usually that would be okay but we then couldn't go to the Christmas Party with the lesson active because we would be the only adult aged man there which isn't allowed for us missionaries.  Then, we are about to go and I find my back tire is flat and a scrap piece of metal had completely deflated my tire.  I am not a fan of Kasugai...  The sisters weren't picking up either so we begin our trek to a nearby train station on foot in the cold winter night.  It looked like our night would be filled with trying to find our apartment and salvage the night by talking to people on the street.  Alas, a super good lesson had fallen through and a less effective back-up would be launched into effect... or not...

The sisters called us in our downtrodden, poor, wayfaring state of grief and told us they had miraculously found a man to come with us to the party!  A man from Uganda named Baker had been sitting outside in his wheelchair and stopped the sisters and talked to them!  So, they asked him if they could go to the party with and found out he lived inside of the same apartment building as the less active!  So, we go to the train station (which is next to the apartment with the party), go inside, and the sisters take us to Baker's apartment.  Only us elders enter inside because there are only men inside as the sisters wait outside.  Baker is there with his other Ugandan friend Moses and he invites the sisters in.  We all tell him they can't and he takes us as racists, sexist Americans who just suppress females but after we explain the whole rule thing as missionaries he understands and lets it slide.  Next thing we know we are on the floor above them in a crowded apartment eating sushi with a Filipino family and our two new friends from Uganda who are WAY good at Japanese, like, literally fluent!  Moses is way cool and kind of quiet and had a lot of good questions when we were talking about the gospel while Baker was one of those guys who would take 10 minutes to prove his point and would go on tangents and try to teach you how to not offend foreigners living in Japan so we didn't get as far into the gospel as we would have like to.  I don't know what to do with people that already believe in God.  I might actually have to go in depth into the Apostasy!  Weird...

Anyways, I hope that everyone had a amazing wonderful Christmas and that everyone enjoys the college bowl season for me!  I love you all and I wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Elder Hall
ホール長老

Ponderizing Scripture:
"Come unto me... I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief."
- Ether 4:13

Chilling with my homeboy Shinji

Skyping with the FAM  BAM
S


Sunday, December 20, 2015

Hey, Santa! Are You Coming to Nagoya Are You Coming to See Me?

This whole week has felt like a one week long kokan.  After Elder
Moulton left, I went and stayed the day in a nearby area and had a
wonderful dinner with some members.  It was pretty funny because I
just show up and they had to bring in an extra chair because the
members weren't expecting me at all but it turned out okay.  That
night was pretty fun and then I went and picked up Elder Callahan!
We've been having a lot of fun and been settling into the area.  We
didn't have very many set appointments this week but we have been
visiting around talking to everybody on the street.

Highlights of the week were:
1. Went to a member's middle school (and younger) English Class's
Christmas Party.  I told about Christmas traditions in English and
Elder Callahan translated.  It was pretty fun to talk to the kids
afterwards as we ate sushi and other stuff.  Just being dorks with our
English.  The members really appreciated it and it was pretty fun.
2. Mission Leadership Council.  We went to the mission home and talked
with other people around the mission about some stuff.  We basically
just made a HUGE list of specific ideas on how we can help the mission
improve and reach our goals.  Everything from giving investigator's
parents who happen to be against the church a pineapple to soften
their hearts to not just teaching people lessons but actually helping
them progress.  I learned a lot and got to see some good mission
friends.
3.Ward Christmas Party!  It was pretty legit.  At the beginning before
we ate each table was taken into a room downstairs and we had to dress
up as characters of the nativity and take a picture representing a
different part in the Christmas story.  Then, later in the evening,
they told the Christmas story as they put the pictures up on the
screen.  We only men in our group so I volunteered to be Mary.  I wish
I had the picture but I will ask around.  Then we ate a bunch of
unhealthy cake and food and chatted up some people.  A couple of
members had brought friends and we had about five investigators there
so it was super cool!  Also, Santa called us during the middle of the
Christmas Party and said that he couldn't make it that night because
of a malfunction with the factories in the North Pole so he asked me
if I would fill in for him since I was the one that looked the closest
to him.  I happily accepted and even though the kids were sad that the
real Santa couldn't show up, they were still happy to get candy.

As far as Christmas goes, well, for New Years we have a lot of
appointments!  The Japanese like to celebrate stuff at New Years so
most people are still working.  Most kids don't have school then
though so it is good.  We are doing an exchange on Christmas Eve with
the assistants after we have interviews with the mission president so
that should be good!

Recently I have been reading through 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and
it is really cool to read about the Savior's visit to the Nephites
during Christmas season.  Today I read about how Christ had everyone
pray and there is like almost a whole chapter were they were all just
praying.  First to God, then once to Christ, and then Christ prayed a
couple times.  They partook of the sacrament and basically prayed for
a long time.  I love when Christ says, "ye must watch and pray always
lest ye enter into temptation."  I have been thinking a bit recently
about how to truly just stay active in the church and how to help
people re-inactive or just start living the gospel principles by
receiving baptism.  I think it really comes down to the three basics
of praying, reading the scriptures, and coming to church.  Prayer is
something we can always have in our heart and it is something that is
a constant action, 24/7.  Prayer is like air as we breath it all the
time and it keeps us alive spiritually.  Without prayer we don't have
that essential connection with God.  Scripture study is a daily thing
and act as food that gives us the spiritual nutrients that helps us
keep going.  We really can feast upon the word and fill spiritually
full afterwards!  Then comes church once a week which is almost like a
weekly vitamin that helps us become strong and gives us the things
that we don't quite get in our daily diet.  I have seen many people
who claim to do only two things, like prayer and reading scriptures
but because of time or not liking the members, they don't come on
Sunday.  They might claim they are alright but if we don't have all
those three things, eventually our spiritual vitals signs will begin
to fail.

Last General Conference, Elder Anderson taught us: "How we live our
lives increases or diminishes our faith. Prayer, obedience, honesty,
purity of thought and deed, and unselfishness increase faith. Without
these, faith diminishes."  We need to daily take action to give our
bodies our daily nutrients that are essential for living, if we just
sit back and relax on our spiritual journey, we will begin to decrease
along with our faith.  If you don't eat, you aren't really harming
your body in anyway.  Heck we fast sometimes right?  Why can't I just
stay where I am with my body right now and never eat again?  Our body
would start to malfunction and eventually stop working.  Let's not let
our testimonies starve to death this Christmas season.  It is a great
wonderful time to re-evaluate our spiritual course in our lives as we
think deeply about Christ and what he has done for us.  Just pray,
study and live the scriptures and go to church and you are well on
your way to eternal life.  I pray that everyone has an AMAZING
Christmas and that you go hard on that Christmas meal for me.  Love
you all and have a great week!

Elder Hall
ホール長老

Ponderizing Scripture:
"For with God nothing shall be impossible."
- Luke 1:37

MLC with the doki

Elders Moulton and Hall Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!!

Santa's Big Helper


Sunday, December 13, 2015

To Kill A Moulton Kai and The Font Awakens

Wow, what an emotional week.  Killing an elder always drains me and it sucks.  It is so cool to see an elder finish off his mission strong after two years of hard work but then again it is also depressing to see them go and realize that missionary death is an actual thing that happens.  I've got four transfers left which feels like forever but really it is quite short.  Hopefully Elder Moulton (I guess Kai Moulton from now on) will email me.  I just got reminded though of how I want my mission to end.  It is so worth it to work hard until the last minute because when it ends you can look back and see just how far you truly have come and how much you have been able to serve the Lord.  When my stake president set me apart to start me on this journey, he told me to work so that I can get on that plane coming home with no regrets.  I don't think that means mistakes because we all make them.  I don't think it means sometimes being an idiot.  What my companion told me was that you only have regrets when you make mistakes and don't learn from them.  Just never give up, keep improving and work hard.  Once a missionary gives up, then failure has settled in.  His example motivates me to work harder and although it might seem far away, to dedicate myself so on that ride to the mission home or the plane ride to America, I can feel peace, knowing that I did the work the Lord would have me do.  Next transfer I am getting Elder Callahan my kohai from the MTC.  He is super fun and hard-working (and I'm not just saying that because he is on my e-mail list or anything...) and we had a couple exchanges in the past when I was like transfer 6 so it should be fun next transfer!  I'm excited!

This past week was a lot of good-byes which has always been hard for me to handle.  President Utchdorf once said in a talk somewhere that we as Celestial Beings made out of eternal matter don't like endings because we weren't made for them, that God created us to enjoy life forever!  I think that is part of the reason I hate saying good-bye, even though I am still staying here.  The highlight, of course, was on Saturday night when we had dinner with the Bishop's family and Makino San, the eternal investigator who has been the Primary Pianist for a few years.  It was then, late Saturday night, that he decided to get baptized the following day!  It was crazy!  We were just over at the Bishop's house for a couple of hours getting the program all set for who should do what and everything.  Everyone was surprised the next day in sacrament meeting when they announced he was getting baptized.  Finally!

So, on Elder Moulton's final day in the mission field, he got the opportunity to baptize Makino San.  It was a beautiful experience.  It was very surreal.  I always believed I could see a baptize but it was actually happening.  It was cool too.  I have really grown to love this guy and am super excited he is baptized and a member now!  It is just like this over-whelming joy.  Like it actually happens!  People are baptized here in Japan!  It is crazy!  It actually happened!  Too many exclamation marks but really it feels amazing!  To be honest, the mission life can be hard, heck, who am I kidding, it's tough.  Sometimes it is easy to get discouraged.  It is easy to think what you are doing isn't going anywhere.  It is easy to think your best won't amount to anything.  It is easy to see others go home and wish you were on that flight instead of them.  It's not a 24/7 challenge but it gets hard a lot of the times.  It is hard to see the whole purpose of it all.  You know it in the back of your mind but sometimes when you are faced with the small choice of working hard or taking a little break it isn't that evident.  One good thing though I learned from yesterday is that it truly is all worth it.  As cliche as it is, you hardly ever see the results of your labors.  It really does take faith to give it your all especially when we don't see the outcome but it is all worth it in the end.  It is all worth it though.

I know that this church is true.  I have seen it change me into a better person and I know it will one day change me into the person and missionary I want to become.  I know that Christ lives and that he loves us each individually no matter our circumstances or who we are or even what our choices are.  I know he is always watching over us and each day gives us the strength to keep going and pushes us closer, although we might not recognize it, to God and true joy.  I know that baptism is the gate we must enter to go on the pathway to eternal happiness and that through keeping those covenants throughout our lives we can truly find joy and help others receive that same feeling of peace.  I know I am supposed to be here in Japan although I  don't know why for sure.  I know that the Lord will support me as I do my best the rest of my mission and give it all I got and that he will support me as he has in the hard times.  Until that end comes, God be with you all!  I love you all and thank you for all of your support, prayers, and faith.  I couldn't be out here without you all!  I love you all and have a great week!

Ponderizing Scripture
And now as I said concerning faith--faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. 
Alma 32:21
Elder Hall, Makino San, Elder Moulton


To Kill a Moulton kai