"You look like you are melting"

Hello Everyone! This week was great! Really short and fast, but great and fun nonetheless. We did quite a lot, but first on Sunday, something happened that is awesome! Our investigator Sai, said that he wants to be baptized! We've been teaching him since I was with Elder  Hansen (which is a really long time ago) and he is really doing good! He said that he wants to follow Jesus so we can all live in the 高榮 and be happy together. (That's Celestial Kingdom in Chinese). He's going to go on a trip for about a week, but he promised to read the Book of Mormon everyday and to pray. So we should be good. But pray for him! He is going to be baptized on the 24 of September!

        So that was a big miracle and on Saturday, (I guess I'm going backward this week), we had a little miracle too! We were going around making a "member book" so that we can know stuff about the members in the ward, and we were going to go to these people's house that are super awesome! But then as we passed the KFC, I was like, "let's go visit this less active that lives over here who is never home!" So we did. And he was home! Which is crazy, because he said that we came at the perfect time because he hasn't been home during the time that missionaries are out for about two weeks! Like leaving at five and coming home at eleven! Crazy! (He's a doctor).

        Then our Friday Miracle was that we got to experience the Karate Kid! We went and painted a less actives house and, no joke, he told us to paint side to side not up and down. We almost died. But it was way fun because they have been really hard to meet with recently and also painting is way fun.

        On Thursday, our big miracle was that we got to go to Numazu's eikaiwa again! And we got to meet some new people! Also, in Fuji that night there was a lady that asked the sisters to teach her the gospel sometime after eikaiwa!

        On Wednesday, we got to teach three lessons rapid fire! We went and housed a big building and found a guy that was interested in the Book of Mormon and said we could come teach him about it. Also he has read the bible! Which is pretty rare for Japanese people! And he's got the coolest looking tattoo sleeves ever! Pretty cool dude! Then we went and visited our investigator Tezuka! And it was great, she mentioned a thing that a member said in the last lesson we had. She said something like, when I was baptized, I didn't know 100% that it was true. Still I don't think I know 100% that it is true, but I believe it enough that it makes up for what I don't know. Tezuka really liked that. She
thought that in order to be a member of the church you have to know for sure 100% that it is true, but it's just not like that. You only have to know what you know and then believe enough to make up for the rest. And then we went and played basketball with Mirai and had a great lesson afterwards. He was really involved. When we were talking about the great apostasy, he looked at me and said, "God called another prophet right?" It was perfect. Because God did call another prophet!!! It was a really great atmosphere in the lesson.


        Then on Tuesday, our miracle was that we finally got our key for our apartment fixed! So now we can lock it! From the outside! Small thing but it was a really nice thing to have.

        Last Monday, miracles abounded! We received revelation to clean our apartment really well and we had an apartment inspection on Friday. Not that ours was messy or anything. But they were really impressed. Also we got the miracle of rest. It was needed. And we went and got crepes for lunch at this place at the bottom of our store that we buy our food at. It was good!

        Well I hope you all have a great time and look for all the small miracles in your week! I would love to hear them if you have the time!

Elder リチャードソン

Half Vampire and Half Ninja...and Stronger than Both!!!

       Hello everyone! First off, I just wanted to say how awesome my companion is! I can't say that enough. He is the best. The only thing is that he underestimates himself. His Japanese is so good and he always can say the things that he wants to say, and he can understand everyone really well!  He is flawless in teaching and everyone thinks he is hilarious. I love my little bean chan.

        Anyway, we did a lot of good work this week. On Monday, we had lunch with a member and it was really fun! They are so awesome and we had a good time. Then that day we went and talked to a lot of people on the street that night. Normally we have a lesson with Tezuka on Monday nights, but recently she has been out of town. It is a little frustrating sometimes. But it is ok because we now have time to find someone new that we can also teach.

        Then on Tuesday, we helped Elder Mendel learn where things are by biking around a lot. Unfortunately the people we wanted to visit were not home, so we had to make up a little bit of what to do.

        Then on Wednesday, we went and visited Kinya Kyodai! It was awesome and he is doing a lot better! And he was really excited because that morning he got to go outside for his exercise time.  Then we were really hot so on the way down, we stopped to get ice cream and it was totally revelation! We met up with a member there and she was super excited to see us and then we talked to a bunch of kids that are willing to meet and we got their numbers!

        On Thursday, we got to go help with Numazu's eikaiwa and that was way fun! When Elder Bauer introduced Tike (a man that goes to eikaiwa that is super funny) it went as follows:

        Elder Bauer: "And this is Tike, who is half vampire and half ninja."

        Tike (without a second's pause): "and stronger than both."

It was great! We laughed so hard! And we had a good time at Eikiawa.

        Then on Friday, we had ZTM and had to go to Shizuoka! It was way fun and we got Burger King for lunch! It was a really good training and was really fun to see all the new and old faces in the zone. I realized that I have been here a long time. And I looks like it will be even longer. But it's ok because Fuji is the best area in the best zone. So you know, I've got it going on. Then that night we went and visited with Ookii Kyodai! He is doing awesome and in order to help him prepare to enter the temple, we are starting to introduce him to family history work! He is a little bit nervous about doing it but we said that it will be ok and we will help him. It will be awesome!

        Then on Saturday, we had a BBQ at the Nakajima's house! It was fantastic and a lot of people came and we did some service of pulling weeds. Which was super hard. The weeds were like eight feet tall and as wide as a broom handle. So it was some hard work! All of us were happy though because we all helped each other. And the food was great! It wasn't like an American BBQ but we had some great Japanese food. And that night we had ping pong and Sai came! We were able to play
with him, do the Forrest Gump thing with hitting the balls into the box and have a short lesson.

        Then the next day he came to church! It was awesome and he said that when he prays he feels his heart get quiet and bad feelings go away! That was super great to hear! He is feeling the spirit! So we are going to be teaching the rest of the commandments from here on out and we are praying for him really hard! He is progressing so well and he is willing to obey the Lord!

        Then on Sunday night there was a matsuri! Which is like a Buddhist festival, but not really so we went! And we found five new investigators! At the same time! They are awesome and we are going to meet on Saturday and teach all of them at the same time! Then there was a firework show that night to end the matsuri and Sai asked if we would go watch with him. So we were there and he was there, but even with calling and texting each other, there were just too many people there and we couldn't find each other. But it was fun and nice that he wanted to watch with us.

        But this was a really good week! At the beginning it was a little slow, but we endured with patience in our afflictions and at the end of the week we were able to find five people. It was all worth it!

 

        I hope you all have a great week and enjoyed Pioneer Day, because even in Japan they celebrate that Utah holiday with fireworks!!! Jk.

Farewell my friends and see you next week!

 

The epic story of the bean chan...

    Once upon a time there was a bean chan named Mendel. He liked to watch movies. One day while in Sandy, Utah, he got a letter that would change his life forever...this is his story.

        He was told by a living prophet (much like Moses in the old days) to go out and work, but he told him to go out and work in Japan. So good old Mendel became ELDER MENDEL, SLAYER OF KINGS and packed his handy dandy notebook and his toothbrush, got all of his visa requirements
and went to Japan. There, he had to deal with his first real foe and hinderance of his divine calling: the deadly foe of JET LAG. While still battling this enemy, he was brought into a room where he was to be assigned a guide through the mystical realm of Nagoya Japan. He was told he would be assigned for his first quest in the small town of Fuji where he would slay all of the things. He said, like Nephi of old, "I will go and do the stuff that I should." Or something like that...

  Anyway, hello everyone and welcome to this week of hearing Elder Richardson ramble on about absolutely nothing. Well...here we go.

        On Monday, it was so long! We had to get up early (at 6:15 instead of 6:30) and send Elder Day to the Honbu. I had to go with him all the way to Hamamatsu. Which is why I was there last week. Then we had a lunch appointments there with a less active member and an investigator. It was way fun and we also went out for ice cream. Life is good. Then that night we had a dinner appointment with investigators that are from Peru. So the whole time it was in Spanish. Good thing I mastered that a little while back otherwise I wouldn't have done as well. It was really weird because they called us our first names because it was easier for them to say. We were for the night Lucien, Raphael, and...Dante. Hahaha! It was great because they were excited that they didn't have to translate my name. It was a really fun time. Then that next morning, we shipped off Elder Dijkwel's stuff up to Matsumoto. Then we waited and then I had to get on a bus and then a train to the Honbu. It was long but, unlike was planned. I didn't have to go alone. But my companions were sisters! It was weird. They were going to present some training in the meeting I was going to so it was really fun.

        Tuesday was spent, as stated before, mostly on trains. But then we had a training and were sent to spend the night in an area that was close to the Honbu. I got to have my temporary companion Elder Ence. Who was in the MTC with me. It was way fun and super awesome! We went out and dendoed hard in Meito (the area that the Honbu is in) and got them a couple of referrals. I was a little bummed because the other trainers got to stay in Gifu, my last area. But it was good anyway.

        Then on Wednesday morning, we went to the church to practice singing for when the bean chans come in and we practiced our little hearts out from about 10:30 to 12. Then in came the beans!!!  Elder Laumatia should be proud to be a Grandfather and also that I did what he asked and put a lei around my bean chan's neck when it was announced that I was to be his trainer. Then we got money, bought a helmet and his sheets and things set up his iPad and left for Fuji. Also important note: Elder Paulson (the financial secretary) gave us Costco muffins!!! Then we spent the rest of the night on the train. It was...fun I guess. We got to talk a lot, not as much as normal, I let him fall asleep a couple of times, but he was trying really hard not to. But we went and made it home in time for going home for the night! Yay!

     Then on Thursday, we went and bought his bike, got some food for the rest of the week and then went out and did some dendo. It was good. Then we had eikaiwa that night and it was awesome! We played hangman at the end and they were all getting into it a little bit. Whenever someone would miss a letter, they would do the wah wah wah thing! It was awesome! Also we did our weekly planning that day.

        Then on Friday, we worked our tails off and talked to a ton of people. We are trying to get Elder Mendel as much practice as possible. Then we had a great lesson about the temple with Ooki Kyodai
and he is really trying hard to be ready to go!

        On Saturday, we had ping pong night and no one showed up! It was lame. But we had to be there because we told people that we would until seven so we got pretty good at ping pong. And we then had a lesson with Keitarou kun and he is good! He said he doesn't know if God is there but wants to so he will do the things we tell him. He committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray every day this week! And we told his mom so she said that she'll hold him to that.

        Then on Sunday Elder Mendel had a talk! And he nailed it! It was perfect and everyone was impressed with his Japanese! And Sai came to church too! He was great and he participated in the lesson and everything! And he said that he will come next week! That night we also had a lesson with Sai and he even asked if we would eat dinner at his house. It was good! His girlfriend came over and cooked Thai food for us and it was really spicy but really good! And we taught about the Ten Commandments so he said that he will follow them and he will come to church every week if he can. And he was worried about when he didn't follow the commandments before so we reviews that we can repent and that we can always work to improve! It was a great lesson!

     Well I hope you have a great week and stay fabulous! I love being able to share the gospel and I suggest that you all read D&C 15:6! It's great!

Lots of love and stuff!
Elder Richardson

Our food plan for the week.

Elder Mendel, the Bean Chan

 

Mission mash-up. Where's Dante??

 

My planner

 

Dear everyone,

        This week was rather interesting. We had a lot of "lasts" for Elder Day.  But before we get into all of those...it's time for a quote!!!

                "Seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost enthusiastically...You can do it. Be brave. Pluck up your courage. If you are brave, brave brings confidence."

        This was in one email from President Ishii to all the missionaries from a while back. Recently I was thinking about the spirit and I wonder, do we seek enthusiastically to have the spirit? Or do we seek it but only just to have it? If we were enthusiastic about it, we would always do anything and everything to have it. Then the second part is my favorite. Be Brave. That's sometimes a really hard thing to do. But as Ishii Kaicho stated, being brave brings confidence. If we want faith, we have to act on it. Bravery is just faith in action. Once you take that little step, you will be able to take another. You can't ask the Lord for more than you can handle. You have to wait and He will give it to you at your pace. Not at the pace you want, but at your REAL pace.

        I learned so much this transfer from Elder Day. I am really grateful for his great example of missionary service and especially his humility and patience. He is a great guy. And he's pretty good looking too! :) But today, he went to the Mission Office and tomorrow, he will go to America. These past six weeks have gone by so very fast. But we saw many great miracles and met many people.

        So in other words, today I am in a place called Hamamatsu. Not that it really changes anything for any of you...but I am. Or at least, I think I am.

        But let's get started! On Monday, we had a really weird pday! We didn't go shopping except to get milk and bread. We had enough food and meal appointments that we didn't need to buy much food. (We still didn't eat it all we have an extra loaf of bread). Also we went and hiked up as far in Mount Fuji as we are allowed to go, but that's not that important. I already sent out about that last week anyway, because we emailed when we finally got home. Then, we had a great lesson with Tezuka San at the Mochizuki's house! We talked more about church and she set a date that she can come to church! It's not that big of a thing, but one step at a time.

        Then on Tuesday, we ate at McDonald's for Eid al-fitr (which we really don't know what it is but its on our calendar so we looked it up and it said that they have a feast). But we went to Mackers and ate for dinner that night (we were going to meet an investigator there, but he missed his train so we rescheduled). And that night we had sports night! I am getting a lot better at badminton. Still not great, but I did win a match.

        On Wednesday, we broke down and did a little bit of deep cleaning in our apartment. Then we went with a member and visited a guy form his work that said he would listen to the message! #referral and it was great! The member really wants to go on a couple mission and so he is super dendo fired up! So when we were talking to the guy about what missionaries do, the member brought up every single lesson and we pretty much shared an overview of the entire gospel. Then that night
we went to the same member's house for dinner. It was really fun, and he is now even more super dendo fired up.

        On Thursday, we had the last DKK of Elder Day! We planned like the Dickens! Not that Dickens was really famous for planning or anything, but we did! Then we had eikaiwa that night as well! I love teaching English to people. We had the last eikaiwa of Elder Day!

        Friday, we had the last DTM of Elder Day! And for the closing hymn we sang "God be with you til we meet again" it was great! Then right after that we went to Indo curry for district activity, the last
district activity of Elder Day! Are you getting the idea yet? Then we had to pack up all of his stuff and call the shipping company. That night we went and visited Ooki Kyodai! It was awesome and he had read a lot in the preparing to enter the temple pamphlet. He is really excited and even though it will be a little while, it's really good to have a goal to work to.

        Then on Saturday, we had a great lesson with Yatomi San, and Nonaka Kyodai came and helped us with that! It was awesome! This week we had three lessons with a member present! I've never had that many in one week before! Then we sent off Elder Day's luggage to the airport, and then went to the bike shop and they took it to recycle it. Then that night we started doing ping pong right before seminary. This was the first time, but hopefully lots of people can come and then all the young people can just stay for seminary. Then after that was transfer calls! Even though we knew we were definitely getting a call, it didn't make it any better. Usually there's suspense of if a call comes or not, but this time we were both just looking at the phone waiting. And I got the best call ever! I get to stay in Fuji!!! But they didn't tell me my companion's new name...because I'm training!!! I'm getting a bean chan! So this should be fun. I'm pretty stoked, but also a little nervous. Like what if I break him? Hahaha!

        Then on Sunday, Mizusawa came to church! And it was awesome, we could finally give him the Persian Book of Mormon that we had ordered, but then he was job hunting so we haven't been able to meet with him for a long time. (Yesterday was actually the first time Elder Day met him...and the last). Then we had a YSA activity and watched "Meet the Mormons" and it was great! Then we had a lesson that night with Nakajima Keitarou kun. It was great and so now we should be able to do one every week.

        But that's about all that happened this week. We had a lot of member appointments as well, but mainly just to say goodbye to Elder Day. And we ate way too much food. Overall, I'd say that killing a missionary (that means being his last companion) is a really weird experience and now I have one notch on my name tag. Hahaha!

       I love you all tons and stuff and hope you have a great week! I should know my companions name by next week (I hope) haha! I will receive him in two days. #TheSuspenseIsKillingMe

Enjoy your lives this week...and every week, but you know...
Elder Dante C. Richardson

 Elder Day and Dante sporting new ties in Simona's wedding colors!

 Our fabulous DTM pictures...
RIght to left: (back row) The Late Sister Rogers (Fuji), Sister Talbot
(Fuji), Elder Bauer (Numazu), Featuring Elder Burns (Shizuoka Zone
Leader), Elder Otsu (Numazu), The Late Elder Day (Fuji), Elder Yuasa
(The Japanese James Bond), Sister Yuasa (secret English Master)
Front row: Me, Elder Tom Cruise/McClellan (The other Shizuoka Zone Leader)