Porcupines, Pandas, and Pangolins

       Well this week was really fast. We did a lot of fun stuff and had a lot of appointments with members. Especially yesterday. We had a lot of places that we needed to go and didn't really have to ever plan what we were going to do.

        One of the fun things that we did this week was going to the eki and playing the guitar on Tuesday. At the beginning of the week I had a cold, and it was cold, so singing for a couple of hours in the wind made me lose my voice. It was a weird experience not really being able to talk when that's really all we do all day every day.

        Then another thing that we did was of course eikaiwa. The eikaiwa here is really fun and there are a lot of people that are really good. And some new people came! So that was really fun. After eikaiwa, one of the people that came wanted to take pictures with us. #Japan So we took a lot of pictures with her. Some of them will be included.

        Then on Thursday, we had signed up to talk about eikaiwa on the radio. It was really hard, but fun. Elder Otsu said that he wished that I had talked more, but my throat hurt and I didn't understand
what the guy was saying...they talk a lot different on the radio than in a normal conversation.

        Also we got to have a ping pong night on Friday night. I was reminded once again how bad I am at ping pong. I can hold my own against missionaries, but not the people that come to ping pong activities. Because they actually like it.

        Then on Saturday, we got to finally have our first lesson with a non-member! We went to teach her daughter English, but then we still got to talk about God and prophets.  It was really good and she had some good interest in the message.

        We also were able to find some people through calling all the people in our phone and the other Elders gave us all their investigators that need someone that speaks English for the lessons, and so now we have people to focus on! We are really excited.

        We also have been teaching all the members about member missionary work and the ward is going crazy with it! Ichinomiya is awesome.

        Also last night we had an awesome FHE with the Ward Mission Leader and it was super fun. His wife is also a really good cook. We were all really full at the end and biking home was not the most fun thing in the world.

        Anyway, I hope that you all had a great week and that your hair is really cool.

Elder Richardson

 

 Pictures (what you all really look at)
1-3. After Eikaiwa with Chiaki
4. DTM from Elder
5. *Bonus Pic*

 

 

Don't breathe in...there are little hairs about

Well this week was 

First off on Monday, we had our good ol' pday activities and stuff. Then after dinner we started to tackle the "PI" list in our phone. For some reason none of the people in our phone showed up on our iPads, so we get to put all of them in.  We did that for a little bit went around town and found a Baskin Robbins. And then we came back for the night. That was when the fun started. Elder Whited needed a haircut for Saturday. Well, we are both poor and cheap missionaries, so he asked me to cut his hair. I have had the experience with Elder Greer doing this, but I only did the sides and back. It turned out ok, but not the best. This time I was to do the whole thing. So at first we didn't have clippers, but then the other Elders got home (right below us) and we asked if we could borrow theirs. Overall, I didn't do that bad of a job. There will be pictures and such at the end. 

Also we spent some time to clean this apartment on Monday and I just have to say that if you leave windows and a shower doing nothing for months, it is just nasty. Also the amount of long hairs all over the place is incredible. I am so glad we have dark floors. 

Then on Tuesday, we got to go try our hand at badminton and, just as always, I was pretty bad at it. But it was way fun. We also went around and discovered our area that day. 

On Wednesday, we have lots of eikaiwa, so it feels like we pretty much just did that. I really like eikaiwa though, so it was great. Also we had interviews with President Ishii, so it was a good day. 

Then on Thursday we just had planning in the afternoon and we went to get some things from daiso that were necessary to get. That night however, we went and played volleyball. Or at least kind of. It was soft volleyball. So kind of like tiny volleyball, with a tiny net, and a partially inflated dodgeball. So I actually could kind of spike it. But not that well still. It was pretty fun though, and now they are taking a break, (It is a pretty intense sport, they will need a month or so of break) and we will have to go back. Elder Kariya really likes sports dendo, so we have been doing a lot of that here. Good way to find people. 

Then on Friday, we cleaned our apartment because the Elders from Komatsu were coming down to stay the night for the conference the next day. We also had an awesome member appointment and it was amazing. This is literally the best ward in the history of ever. We talked about member missionary work and they started to share about how they had started to introduce some of their friends to the gospel the week before! Without being asked to share! And the whole ward is like that. It is super nice. Then we had ping pong night and we forgot to tell lots of people that we were starting it up, so only some eikaiwa students came and our ward mission leader happened to show up by chance. Then we went and got the Elders from the eki. That was a fun night. We were all getting ready for the conference and ironing our shirts and such. It was fun to get to see those two again. (They were in the same zone as Elder Whited and me last transfer). 

Then on Saturday we had our mission conference. It was super nice to see all the missionaries that I know and to meet some new ones. And one of the new bean-chans is from West Valley and knows some of my friends from high school. That was weird. Also this was probably the last time that I will see any of the sisters that I came out with until after the end. It was pretty sad and I will miss them. Then Elder Holland came a spoke to us, as well as Elder Yamashita and Elder Whiting from the Area Presidency. It was such a great time. He (Elder Holland) talked about the importance of loving your mission and how personal a mission actually is. And yes, he is a pulpit pounder. Then that night the other Elders' investigator, Hattori san, was baptized. He was super excited and when he walked in he asked when he gets to share his testimony. It was super cool to feel the difference of testimony of an Apostle and of a newly baptized person. But the spirit was just about as strong in the room. It was a really good day. And unfortunately, I had to play the piano for the baptism. 

Then on Sunday, we got to go with the Young Men for Priesthood meeting. It was a super good lesson and I really like the Young Men. They are all really solid and they want to work hard. It was cool to see how comfortable they are with inviting someone in to their classroom. And the other Elders' investigator iori came and he had a great time I think. 

I love the gospel and all the amazing opportunities that we have from it. Jesus is the Christ and truly suffered for our sins. Through the Atonement of Christ we can really do anything. I am amazed at how we can always start over and the amazing power that we get from Christ. We can truly use the Atonement for our life. Not only just in forgiving our sins and overcoming our weaknesses, but we use the power of the Atonement for everything if we try. We can use it to learn to ride a bicycle, to speak Japanese, to read our scriptures, to pass our math test, or to just be able to forgive someone who did us wrong. Truly it is amazing. 

I will end with a quote from Confucius, "To be wronged or robbed is nothing unless you continue to remember it."

I hope you all have a great week. 

Elder Richardson

Once Upon a Time. . .

Hello from Ichinomiya!

Well, as you know, I was transferred so I am now in a new place (well I have been here before multiple times) and with a new companion (Elder Whited). So this week was pretty fun. Last Monday was my last day in Nanao and I spent that night with my chums Mario and Nishikawa. Always a good time. Then on Tuesday morning I started my train rides. Luckily, it wasn't nearly as long as last time and I was able to get here in just under 6 hours.

Well the main things that happened this week were that and then on Saturday, there was a wedding reception and I actually knew one of the people that got married! He is from Gifu ward! So I saw a lot of members that I know and that was really fun. There will pretty much only be pictures of the reception because that was all that we really did other that update records and figure out what we are doing here.

Well, that happened and so we got to meet a lot of the members before Sunday and so now we really feel like we know this ward just after a week. It was pretty fun and we got to make and eat some good food.

I hope that you had and have a great week! Sorry this one was short, but we didn't get to do much!

Later then,
Elder Richardson

 1) Elder Whited, the bride and groom, and me

 

2) Everyone

3) Elder Kariya and Elder Otsu (The other Ichinomiya Elders) during set up

A Missionary's Lament

Well, once again, I will transfer. Truly it is a bittersweet feeling to leave Nanao. I have learned so many things here and have really grown to know the people here (there weren't very many of them so it wasn't too difficult). Like the areas before, I am ready to leave when I do, but I don't want to go. Also, like the areas before, when the work starts to pick up a little bit, I leave. Such is the curse of
Elder Richardson.

However there is some rather exciting news. I get to go to the wonderful land of Ichinomiya! I am opening a second set of Elders there with the Legendary Elder Whited (the only person that you will
ever meet from North Dakota). I am really excited! We will be in the same district as my beloved Gifu! My bean-chan area!

Well, this last week in Nanao (king of areas), was rather exciting. We got to go visit an unknown member. By unknown I mean that we only had the last name, phone number, and address. We tried to go last week, but she was not there and later she mailed us and we got to set up an appointment. On Sunday, the Branch President was really surprised because not many missionaries can get in the house apparently. Well we got in and got a promise that she will come to eikaiwa from now on.

Also another thing that happened this week was that our eikaiwa class was super awesome! By that I mean that many people came and it was a great way to start the new course that we are changing to.

Then on Saturday we had a super awesome thing happen! We had transfer calls (texts), and then we had to catch a train to Anamizu to meet our good buddy Hiro. He was super excited to see us again (he had been traveling since the end of December, so it had been a while) and we were excited as well! He said that if we didn't have plans then we should go up to his school and meet some of his friends. So we went up and at first we went into the teacher's lounge (he is an assistant in the main office so we could do that) and met a lot of the teachers. And they were all fluent in English. Then Hiro wanted to take us to lunch and then come back and so we went out and right as we were
leaving one of his friends came up and Hiro introduced us. His name is Yusuke. He is also nearly fluent in English. And one of the first things he said to us is that he is really interested in Christianity
and actually wants to convert. So needless to say, we gave him a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon.  Then we went to this awesome, really out of the way, restaurant. There will be a video of one of the
amazing things that we discovered there. Well later, we ended up back at the school and we had a mini eikaiwa that involved a lot of card games and magic. Yusuke and Hiro essentially invited a few of their friends to come and speak English with us. A few people came and then people had to do things and it ended up being us and only a few people. It was super fun!

Then church was kind of sad and they even played "God be with you till we meet again" for the closing hymn. Pretty funny. Then packing and cleaning really got going and it was a lot harder to pack this time because instead of having a box that I could ship, I have to ship the guitar so I had to figure out how to fit all of my books and such in my suitcases with my clothes. It wasn't too hard. I just am leaving some extra sweaters that I acquired and some coats that I never wear. (>_<)

Well thats about all that happened this week. And if I missed anything, it will be in a video probably.

See you next week from the paradise city.

Elder Richardson

Funny sign tell you what not to do in train stations.  They are all puns.

Hiro introducing his school.

The restaurant.

The eikaiwa (not real eikaiwa) crew.

Picture Hiro took forever ago.

 

Koukan

 

Hospital Eikaiwa

 

The promised video of the restaurant

 

 

My legs and fingers don't work!!! I'm just a twenty year old baby!! (>_<)

First off, thanks to all for the birthday wishes. And to the rest of you, thank you for the guilt you now feel...Elder Iwaasa(^^). And for those of you who didn't know, I forgive you for being heathens.

Now this week, we had some great news that I am sure many of you know about (especially since many of you are missionaries).  We will be having changes to our schedule and to our key indicators. I am really excited for the change! I think that a new flexibility will help a lot. At the very least we will now be outside talking to people when we would normally be inside. So that means new people! Also the new Key Indicators will help us focus on what the past has shown us will help us the most. I love what Elder Bednar said in the broadcast to missionaries, "this is a worldwide Church and one size doesn't fit all." I thought that was a really cool way to put it!

Anyway, this week we had a lot of things happen and we got a lot of "behind the scene" dendo done. We spent a little time and fixed the map, and updated the phone. Map cred: Elder Greer. Phone cred: Yours truly. They were both, and the phone still halfway is, an absolute disaster! I love deciding and having some time to fix things for areas right before I might transfer! *in the most sarcastic way*

Now that we have started really organizing our records, we realized that there are some members of this branch that we have never heard about. So we are going to start going a little nuts with a member
record. (Which is also a disaster). In other words, we are going to focus really hard on member work.

Also I got to play the piano for sacrament meeting again and it was super awesome because normally they have us bless the sacrament and so another guy got to bless it for the first time! He was great! It was such a great experience and what a good time it was for his mom!

Also we had a koukan with the Zone Leaders and it was super fun! I got to go with Elder Iwaasa and we saw a miracle! We were biking to the apartment from the eki and almost immediately after we walked inside it started pouring like The Dickens! Not that The Dickens necessarily pours... but it was pouring! That's the weather in the Ishikawa prefecture for you. Anyway the other Elders in Kanazawa were out and when we saw them at the church later they were completely soaked! It
was a miracle because since we were on a koukan, I didn't have any extra clothes that I could've changed into. (I don't think the other Elders changed their clothes, but that is their fault.)

Well, that's just about all that happened this week. And I learned a lot of "useful" words on our koukan with Elder Iwaasa. #StrangeShiritori

 

I hope you have a great time and remember to keep on eating Ice Cream even though its cold!

-Elder Richardson

1) Raphael

2) Someone showed me this in the Newspaper

 3) It was delicious

 

4) The most important day of the year

 

 5) What we get to spend our time with

  

6) Our Snowman

 

  Video) Hospital Eikaiwa

Monday, January 23, year 29. Yep, 29. And 餅搗き (Rice Pounding)

This week we did a lot of crazy stuff. It was pretty fun and we got some good work done.
First off, on Monday, we visited our good friends Nishikawa and Mario (they seem to be the only ones home on Monday nights). We talked with them about Family History and Mario seemed pretty interested and said that he might check out the website. Also we will probably meet at the church and give him some tips. That will be way fun!

Then on Tuesday, we met with Itagaki: the blind masseur. He was a former investigator that we found in our phone and Teraguchi Kaicho is actually good friends with him, so he came and was the tachiai for us. He is a pretty funny little guy. He really, really likes samurai history too. Also that day, we went to the Hospital to change sheets and they were having a "flu epidemic" so we got to do...everything just like normal. We wore masks and aprons and gloves.

Then on Wednesday, we had a koukan with the Kanazawa Elders and I got to go to there and work with Elder Frisch. He is super fun and really energetic. We biked around in the snow for a while and visited some people. It was really fun. That night we got to go with the bishop of Kanazawa ward and visit a Less Active Member that he sometimes plays tennis with. The member's kids were sick, so we didn't get to go in and meet him, but now the missionaries know where he lives and can visit him and set something up.

On Thursday, we were going to have our weekly planning session, but due to the koukan and train times, we were cut way short. And we had a lesson with Hirose! He wants to be baptized, but before he commits, he wants to know what he has to do after he does (obviously). So we started teaching him about the commandments and taught him the 10 Commandments of Moses. He really liked it and he said that he will try to follow them...only number six might be kind of hard (Thou Shalt Not Kill) lol. That was pretty funny. He also likes to do a little English, but we just kind of sit and talk in English for 30 minutes rather than have a lesson and the gospel lesson is partially in English anyway. And so he brought his guitar again and we just played around.

Then on Friday, we had DTM and DKK. So our day was pretty packed. Then Elder Greer had been having a headache that didn't go away for over a week, so we called Sister Ishii and she told us that we should go to the hospital to get it checked. That took a little while and we weren't able to get as much planning done as we had hoped. We were also going to have a lesson with one of our  investigators, but he texted and said he would be 30 min late and then again and said maybe 45 min and he kept postponing it and so we sat and updated records and expecting him to show up. He didn't. So we went back for dinner and finished DKK.

On Saturday, we got to go with the group "Salad Bowl" and do some rice pounding. It was super fun  and there were a lot of gaijin there. So we got to meet a lot more of the ALT's in Nanao and some other cool people. They were way fun and some of them want to meet again. Maybe we can introduce the gospel as well, that would be way good. We went housing that night and it was really, really cold and there were no people home. So we decided to visit Yazaki, because he had called and said that he was sick. That was pretty good and he said that he would try to come to church even though he wasn't feeling too well.

On Sunday, it was raining slush. It was super weird. Also lots of people came to church and I had to play the piano. It was scary. I got to choose the hymns, but it was still pretty scary. Then we went out
to work. And after a short prayer, decided that since there were no people on the street and no one was home, to go to the apartment and call people and update the map and records. The records up here are a mess.

Well, that was my week. I hope that you all enjoyed your week and that you had some good weather.

Elder Richardson

In Kanazawa we saw an anomaly.

 

Yazaki is a weirdo even when he is sick

 

 Doing Family History is a mess

 

Hirose

 

Greer

 

Me

 

 Greer

 

 Me Pounding Rice

 

The Field is White, Already to Harvest

Hello all!

This week we had quite a lot of experiences. It all started with Monday, as most weeks as a missionary do. We decided to try and find a woman that used to meet with the missionaries in Wakura and we started that way. That day, I was a little more fired up than usual and so, although it was when we were going downhill, I started talking to a man. I thought that he was Japanese, so I started talking in Japanese. When I asked if we could talk for a little bit, he looked at me and replied, "sure". Turns out he was from South Africa and his name was Hannes. That is all that we know about him. He was really funny with any questions that could give us any information on him. Then we biked to the lady's house and she wasn't home. Then that night we went to visit our friends Mario and Nishikawa intending to teach about family history, but the conversation was led into more about the Lord helping us to learn Japanese and what we do all day. Still a really good thing for them to learn. We also learned more about Hannes because everyone knows everyone up here. 

The next thing that happened was Tuesday. The usual order this week. On Tuesday, we had a koukan and I got to work in Nanao with Elder Arscott. He is in the same douki as me. It was super fun and I learned a lot. Also we had some awesome lightning and storms that day. We found a youngster whilst housing that was super cool! His name was Tanaka, we housed into him and had a super good discussion about prophets. When we pulled out the Book of Mormon, he looked at us and said, "I want to read this book!" So, of course, we gave it to him and shared how to know if it is true. Then we prayed with him on the doorstep and it was such a great little discussion. 

Then following the same order as has been set throughout many, many years, it was Wednesday. We got to teach peer support eikaiwa and talked about prettty much nothing. Everyone just said that they were sleepy the whole time. Then we went outside and Hirose (one of our favorite people ever) brought me his guitar to play right there. It was fun and has been quite a little while since I had played. Turns out I still remember a few songs even. Pretty cool. Then we had normal eikaiwa and once again only Brother Yazaki and Brother Uehira came. We taught them one of my personal favorites for the game: Egyptian Rat Killer. Good times, good times. 

Thence Thursday didst commence. We stayed inside for weekly planning for much of the day. I was a really good time though. I feel that we got a lot done. Then we taught Institute and a miracle happened. We actually got to teach a lesson for more than half the time. Only short kablamo talks this week. And it was just about doing the reading assignment so that we can all learn together. And all were edifices once we were all understood. It was great. 

Following was Friday which was freakishly white. Seriously though. We had ZTM for the whole morning and afternoon. Then we got to Nanao. Then it started snowing. We continued and did everything like normal, but it was snowing. I am so happy!!! I love snow. All the people here think I am nuts (missionaries included), but it is just great! Our appointment didn't go through on Friday, so we got to bike around in the snow for a little bit and decided to do some Language study like we had in the backup plan. 

Simply put, it snowed all Saturday, unceasingly. We were having incredible difficulty with bikes on Friday night (I couldn't turn or brake) so we got permission to leave our area and go to the bike shop in Kanazawa. It took a little while. Also we got to walk there in the snow. And the wind. It was cold. And it was super great!!! We also got to shovel the church parking lot before we went because an appointment we had fell through. It was so fun! I just love snow. Anyway, we spent a lot of time on trains, walking to a bike shop, and sitting in said bike shop on Saturday. It was so snowy that the trains were all late and we got home just after 10:30...past missionary bedtime. 

Then on Sunday, we went to church and were running. A little late for our normal hour early time and no one was there. Also the parking lot had regained quite a lot of its snow. So we went in and turned on the heaters to warm it up and wondered who to call if no one came. Then we heard the door open downstairs and it was not who we expected at all. It was one of our YSA and his friend who is also a former investigator. I say former because he has been a little busy and we haven't been able to meet with him. Anyway, they got there first and we were amazed. Then all the other peeps showed up and we had a good little sacrament meeting (because little sacrament meetings are all we ever have). Then we walked around and did our usual, just not quite as far because we didn't feel like it was a good idea to bike. Turns out they don't plow roads in Nanao. And we ended up over by the fisherman's wharf and built a snowman. We kept trying to get other people to help us, but they were content just watching. We got to talk to a few of them though. 

Well that was pretty much it. It was a good week. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much (and hopefully more than) as I enjoyed living it. 

Amen

Post-Amen:

This week we realized that we need to step up our game in all aspects of the work. And here is an analogy: The gospel will roll forth as a stone cut without hands and grow until it fills the Earth. In other words it will do a snowball effect. Well, as we learned whilst building a snowman, when you are rolling a snowball, it is really slow at first. And if you don't try and pack a little of the snow onto the ball (in other words, help the snow that stuck to the ball stick more) then it will fall off or just be too weak to be placed on the snowman. Also, you can only do it for so long by yourself. If you want a truly amazing snowman that is huge, you need to have someone help you push. And you need to be equally yoked in your pushing or it will get shaped weird. Therefore: When preaching the gospel, you will have slow times. And sometimes when a member first changes their life to the way of following Christ (snow sticking to the ball), they might need a little help to stay on. Otherwise they will either fall off or when the real trials come the whole area in the church will just fall apart. So we need to strengthen it as we go. And especially right after it sticks to the snowball. And the work is not meant to be done alone. All members of the church are missionaries. And that is for a reason. Missionaries are pretty strong just because we are around 20 years old. But even a 70 year old man could help us push a snowball if he had wanted. And all members can use their own talents to do missionary work. Truly we can, this is the Lord's work, and He wont let us fail. He will help you. "When you are on the Lord's errand, you are entitled to His help." Even the prophet says so, and I know that he is a prophet and so what he says is true. I bear my witness from my heart that no matter where we are, from Salt Lake City, Utah to little old Nanao in Japan, WE CAN DO THE LORD'S WORK! This is true and I know that, and nothing and no one can ever take that away. I know that Christ lives and through Him, we can be made clean. I have felt it. I know it from my heart. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

(Real Amen)

Awesome Moon and Cloud shot from this morning

The field is white

The field is very white

The field is still white

Our snowman

Quite the accomplishment

Return with honor!