Week 96

This week was pretty good. We started it off by attempting to get some extra desks out of the Sister's apartment. Their apartment is way nicer than ours, by the way. Their fridge probably cost a good three times what ours did and is probably twice the size. I'm not sure why. We eat probably double what they do. Anyway, we couldn't get the desks out the doorway because the fridge was in the way and we weren't sure that even if we moved the fridge that we could get it around the corner in the hallway. Which meant that we had two options. We could disassemble them and take them out piece by piece, or we could toss them out the window/off the second story balcony. Sister Lee looked at them a little bit before we came back (after the first attempt we had to leave and teach English class so we went back the next morning) and discovered that it would be very difficult to take them apart. That left us with only one option. Raise your hand if you remember what it was! :)

So we couldn't actually toss them because they're big and would probably break one of the classy automobiles parked in front of their apartment. So we had to tie them with a sheet and lower them using some weird bath towel/blanket things that we found in our apartment. We got them out without breaking a single thing including ourselves. It was very fun. I would definitely do it again. 10/10. Unfortunately no pictures because I was worried that if our desks fell then we would have too much evidence. Since they didn't I feel fine about sharing the whole story with you. :)

We also went to Yokote twice this week. Yokote is a pretty small place. I got there and walked out of the train station and said "this is a small place". Or something like that. Before the mission I never thought about how big places were or how I would tell. But I think I'm okay at judging the size of places. The first time we went was for companion exchanges. I went with Elder Anderson who is half Japanese but went to some elementary school in Japan so his Japanese is very good. It was fun. I got katsudon there. The next time was for a couple of baptismal interviews that they had. He's the district leader and couldn't interview his own candidates so I got to go do them. That time we went to a fancy udon place.

I love you the most!
bEn

We also got ramen with our friend, Tsukasa. He's pretty cool. :)

We got ramen with our friend, Tsukasa. He's pretty cool. :)

Week 95

We had a District Conference in Morioka so I got to see Brother Shibata and Brother Kurosawa who both got baptized while I was there! That was pretty fun. I didn't get pictures with either of them which was a mistake, but I've always been bad about taking pictures. Those reading this are probably very familiar with the quality and consistency of my picture taking. On our way to District Conference in our Branch President's car we got a flat tire. But our Branch President is hilarious and he was like "We're going to drive on it until we can find a car shop". So we drove on a totally flat tire for probably ten or twelve minutes. By the time we found a new tire the old one was not just flat but totally shredded. Funny stuff. But we made it to the conference on time and our Branch President made us some way good soup for lunch afterwards.

While Elder Davis and I were crossing a bridge the other day we realized that there were some really big fish in a river a few meters below us. We weren't there too long before they had all spotted us and come to beg us for food. Silly fish. They reminded me of three goldfish that live in Kent, WA.

I still haven't been to a normal church meeting in Akita yet. Two days ago was District Conference and the week before that was General Conference. So I still haven't met several of the members. I didn't write an email last week so I don't think I mentioned that General Conference was FANTASTIC! One of the themes that I liked was the importance of families. Families are ordained of God and are important in helping us to learn and prepare to again meet God. The happiest people I know are the ones who love and prioritize their families and make continuous efforts to strengthen family relationships. Speaking of families, I recently got a really cool keyboard app (since my standard Samsung one stopped cooperating) and I can put pictures behind it!

I read Ether 6 this week. I don't remember if I said anything about it the last time I read it but I made a lot of parallels between the barges, the storm, the stones that shine in the darkness, and other stuff in that chapter to missionary work. I recommend that you all read Ether 6 while thinking about the stones touched by Jesus as missionaries/members of the church. I think it will be pretty fun. :) I'm also including a link for those people on this list who happen to not be in possession of a Book of Mormon because this part is one of my favorites:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/6?lang=eng

Have a great week!
Elder Mitchell

Excerpt from the family letter: This week I got to go to Sendai for MLC which stands for Mission Leadership Conference. I think that President Sekiguchi maybe felt bad for me because I'm so old and had not been a zone leader yet. So he made me a zone leader. What a guy. MLC was pretty fun. I think that I ended up talking more than the average person because I had some ideas about how to improve the mission that were maybe a little different than other peoples' ideas. I think that President Sekiguchi appreciated some of them though. He thanked me for coming afterwards. :)


While Elder Davis and I were crossing a bridge the other day we realized that there were some really big fish in a river a few meters below us. We weren't there too long before they had all spotted us and come to beg us for food. Silly fish. They reminded me of Orange Juice, Fireface, and Lacy. :)

I only have about two and a half months left of mission. Hmm.

I read Ether 6 this week. I don't remember if I said anything about it the last time I read it but I made a lot of lines between the barges, the storm, the stones that shine in the darkness, and other stuff in that chapter to missionary work. I recommend that you all read Ether 6 while thinking about the stones touched by Jesus as missionaries/members of the church. I think it will be pretty fun. :)

I love you the most,
Ben

 Elder Davis

Week 94

Hello Mommy,

My week number just keeps getting bigger and bigger. 94 is a lot of weeks. I did love General Conference. I forgot to write in my last weekly how much I was dying to watch it. I don't remember exactly how many minutes I spent on that weekly but it wasn't very many. One thing that stood out to me from conference was the blessings that President Nelson and Elder Rasband gave at the end of their talks. I especially liked Elder Rasband's.

Elder Rasband
Take heart, brothers and sisters. Yes, we live in perilous times, but as we stay on the covenant path, we need not fear. I bless you that as you do so, you will not be troubled by the times in which we live or the troubles that come your way. I bless you to choose to stand in holy places and be not moved. I bless you to believe in the promises of Jesus Christ, that He lives and that He is watching over us, caring for us and standing by us. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

President Nelson
Brothers and sisters, I thank you for your faith and sustaining efforts. I leave my love and blessing upon you, that you may feast upon the word of the Lord and apply His teachings in your personal lives. I assure you that revelation continues in the Church and will continue until “the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
I bless you with increased faith in Him and in His holy work, with faith and patience to endure your personal challenges in life. I bless you to become exemplary Latter-day Saints. I so bless you and bear my testimony that God lives! Jesus is the Christ! This is His Church. We are His people, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Another couple that I remember are the throwing the food out of the plane one, Elder Bednar's rope one, and President Oaks' family one. I don't actually remember what President Nelson's last one was about but Elder Rasband's daughter's question about whether or not to have kids was a good one.

My new area is very good. The members are way more supportive than Morioka and we have some good places to get groceries. We have a 業務スーパー, we have a fruit and vegetable stand, and we have a Don Quijote. There is also a pretty good restaurant right by the apartment that happens to also be pretty cheap. My companion is Elder Davis. He's from Arizona and has been out about 9 months I think. We have a few people that we're trying to work with but none with overwhelming desire to get baptized and join the church. We're working on changing their minds. :) The weather is okay. The last few nights have been pretty chilly. This side of the island is okay. A little bit less likely to get covered by water than the other side I think.

I love you the most!
BeN

Week 93

Hello,

い'ヴぇてょうghたぼうtどいんgてぃsふぉらうぃぇのwぶtねヴぇrはヴぇ.いじゅstぇftmyけyぼあrどんじゃぱねせもであんdtyぺdとmyへあrt'sこんてんt.うぁtどようてぃんk?

If anyone can read what I just wrote it would be Amy. I just left my keyboard on Japanese mode and typed in English. It was pretty fun.

(Amy's response: Okay, so that thing that Ben wrote in English using the Japanese keyboard says, "I've thought about doing this for a while but never have. I just left my keyboard on Japanese mode and typed to my heart's content. What do you think?")

Brother Kurosawa got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! His life situation is pretty poor but he has committed to improving it and believes that being baptized and following the commandments will help him do that. He's right as long as he actually tries hard to fix it. 

I'm transferring to Akita. That's where I picked up my current companion from last transfer. He really loved that area and the members are apparently way more supportive than they are here. I'm pretty excited for that. I plan to see lots more miracles in Akita! I need to pack because I did personal study this morning, then I went to lunch with Brother Shibata because it was our last chance. And then I had to talk to Brother Kurosawa on the phone for a little bit. So I haven't started yet. Hopefully everything fits in my suitcases...

Have a great week!

Elder Mitchell

 After the baptism.

Two of the district members couldn't make it to our last District 

Meeting so they were amateurly photo shopped in. :)

Week 92

This week we had a big mission sports conference. It was pretty fun except that I was last for pictures so I didn't get as much sports time as I would have liked. The night before the conference I got peer-pressured into getting a "king" size at Sukiya which is a popular chain restaurant in Japan. It wasn't very good and I ended up being the only one of the six there to finish it. They all went for take-out boxes.

I got a couple of pictures this week. One is the Sukiya. The other is with an Elder that I served in Iwaki with. He wasn't my companion but he's way funny. His name is Elder Nishino and he's from Sapporo.

We're planning on having a baptism this Saturday for Brother Kurosawa. Please pray for him to be ready by then. We still have a couple of things to work out with him before then.

Have a great week!
Elder Mitchell

Week 91

This week we went to Yakiniku King. It was really fun. One of the Elders decided at the end that we needed to eat lots of chocolate cake and started ordering them by sixes. He ended up eating 12 pieces of cake. I think I only had five. I haven't ever been too interested in chocolate cake. I prefer other kinds of cake. And ice cream. And fruit pies.

I also saw a Lamborghini this week. It was white. My best guess is that it was a Veneno. I've been separated from the internet for a while so I couldn't say for sure.

We've met with our friend Brother Kurosawa almost every day for the past week. He has already cut his smoking in half! We're doing our best to help him prepare for baptism and active membership in the church. His date is currently for the 6th of October.

I've decided that I like asking people if they know why Jesus is so famous. Basically everyone knows that he resurrected after three days, so if they ultimately reject me, they have to by implication, ignore the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Unless they happen to be Christian already. Then it turns into a discussion about Joseph Smith and the restoration. A lot of people think that anyone who sees God is crazy. And it's probably true that most people who claim to see God are crazy, but to rule out the possibility of God being seen would have to rule out either God's existence or his ability to make miracles. I believe in both God's existence and his ability to perform miracles. And I'm grateful for this time that I have to share my testimony as a missionary.

Have a great week!
Elder Mitchell

Week 90

Hello everyone,

This week I had 35 plates of sushi in one sitting. It was pretty fun. The picture is a little bit before we actually finished, and the Elder I'm sitting next to is not actually my companion, because he sat at another table and didn't do the all-you-can-eat.

The work here in Morioka has been speeding up a lot lately! We unfortunately had to drop a baptismal date because Sasaki Kyodai's daughter doesn't like the idea of him joining a church. He is 87 years old, but we really wanted to baptize him. :( We have a couple new people that seem really promising though. One of our new people showed up to church on Sunday with a church address card and restoration pamphlet. He remembered meeting us but we didn't remember meeting him at all. We don't think that our failure to remember him showed... (Missionaries are not perfect :)) We had a great lesson with him and our recent convert, Brother Shibata, during the second hour of church and then another good one last night. We don't have a baptismal date with him yet but based on our conversation with him he believes that following the commandments and getting baptized will help him with some struggles that he currently has in his life. And it will! He's planning on coming to English class too. I think that part of the reason for our increased success is that we're praying not just to find prepared people, but for prepared people to find us. Our mission president asked us to do that at a recent zone conference.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Mitchell

 Sushi

My companion and I with Brother Shibata