4th week in Japan
9/7/2015

Dear Family and Friends,

I am terribly sorry that I could not send you an email last week. We went to email at the church at the end of the day, but the wifi was out. My favorite part of the week is being able to email back home, so it kind of brought down my spirits a little. I was a little bummed out that I couldn't tell you about my experiences here, and I don't have to much time to do that today. Nevertheless, Japan is still so much fun! Thank you for all of your help and support. I love reading everyone's emails from home, and hearing about how all of you are doing. Sorry if I am not able to email any personal letters today, but let Gena know that Elder Done was in my group that left for japan. I knew him at the MTC. Also let Kayli know I would love to write her, and I will write her next week for sure. These past couple weeks have been a little crazy, and we are always very busy, but hey that is just what missionaries are like haha. 

I was able to read the O remember, remember talk by Erying and I wanted to write a few parts that I like from it. "Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life." I have thought about this a lot, and I thought about how I need to write in my journal everyday out on my mission. So far I have not missed a day, and I really hope that I can keep it up because there are so many experiences that I do not want to forget. I also like the part of the talk when he says "yeah, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those that put their trust in him." This can apply to everyone, but I know that putting my trust in the Lord has helped me so much on my mission. There are a countless number of times when I feel like I cannot say something in Japanese or I feel like I just cannot do something; however, I know that as I put my trust in the Lord I can do all things. I have looked to him for guidance this whole time. The Japanese language is not easy to learn, and every time I feel like I am getting the hang of it, I learn something new and my hopes are shot down. Even though I often feel like I am never going to learn the language, I trust the Lord to help strengthen me through these times of hardship. Grandpa emailed me a few weeks ago and told me to keep pressing forward, even when I feel like it is too hard, just keep pressing forward. Now whenever I feel like something is too hard I look back at that email, and I just keep pressing forward. 

I have also really learned how to enjoy things that you normal wouldn't think are that fun. My companion and I are pretty close already and he is a fantastic trainer. He has taught me so much, and I am sincerely grateful for what he does to make things fun. We often joke around about dumb things together. He loves to watch Lord of the Rings, so much that he can actually quote the whole 12 hour extended addition line by line. It is insane! It is fun to ask him while we are riding to our appointments, alright what is the 5th line that Sam says to Frodo in the 3rd movie after they reach mount doom. He thinks for a few minutes and then can quote it word for word. He is crazy haha, but it is so much fun to do little things like that. I have really tried to enjoy my mission while I am out here. I know that the time won't be long before I am coming home, and that is why I strive to enjoy every moment. The time just flies by so fast. I can't believe I have been out for almost 3 months already. It feels like I just left the airport in St. George yesterday. Also we had a fun party on Saturday last week. They did a play that was super funny, even though I didn't understand anything. We played bingo and ate somen (noodles) from this slide. I will attach some pictures. Maybe a video sometime if I can. 

One funny thing that I did to help me remember the language was write sticky notes on all of the furniture. Before I left mom told me that it might help me to learn the language, so we did it and it honestly has helped a lot! I also went to Japanese class last Monday. One of the Japanese couples we teach, teaches a Japanese class on Monday nights. It was so helpful for me to learn from them. Over the past couple of weeks I have had 3 companionship exchanges. As some of you may already know, I had an exchange with Elder Riley. He is in the same group as me and just barely got to Japan. It was a little nerve racking to be teaching and housing with someone who is brand new like me. We got lost multiple times throughout the day, and had appointments fall through, but it was still a very good experience. Also the umbrella that he said broke was not the one that I brought with me to Japan hahaha sorry. The one I brought with me was one we found in the closet because I didn't think I would need it. 

These past couple of weeks I have been struggling with faith and teaching boldly, but like always immediately when I turn to the scriptures they have the answer. I have been reading at the end of Helaman lately, and he teaches the people with faith and authority. The prophets of old are such good examples of what I need to be like as a missionary. I love how whenever I need help with something, or I need an answer to a question that I have, I turn to the scriptures and they always have the answer. I encourage all of you to do the same. If you ever need strength or an answer to something (anything), turn to the scriptures. They are also so motivational to keep me moving forward. I love reading about all of the things that the prophets of old taught. On Monday night we were able to teach a member family about Samuel the lamanite, and how he had the faith to go back to the city and teach the people. He taught with faith and boldly to the people. After teaching the lesson we asked them for a referral. We have been trying to get the members involved with missionary work. I told them the experiences that Slade had with doing the 21 day challenge. I ended up in tears, but we could all feel the spirit so strong. 

Questions: First speaking of Napolean Dynomite, did you know that he served in Japan? I did get the packages you sent me! Thank you so much! The speakers work great!  Also that greenie package was so nice, it made my day a lot better. Brinly and the other girls' letters were very cute. Logan wrote "is this right?" on his note in the package, and sad to say it was not exactly correct, but my companion did understand what you were trying to say haha. Yes I got a few postcards that were very nice. Thank you so much.I got the PB and J which was very good. 

1. I have not been able to use the translation device much because the iPads have the same thing kind of (sorry).

2. I love riding my bike. It is extremely nice and light weight. Plus it is fun to ride around places. 

3. Yes we each have our own iPads 

4. I have not been able to play basketball sadly, and I don't think I will be able to any time soon :(

5. My companion loves to sing, watch Lord of the Rings, listen to music, he is from LA. 

6. I did get some postcards, one from William and one from Sandra 

7. We have 1 ward, it is medium size for Japan, about 30 people

8. A keyboard would be nice for my iPad so I can email from it, but you don't need to send me one. I could also get one here, but the cheapest good one is about $60 or so

9. The most fun thing so far is getting to know all the people. The people here are just amazing. I love them all so much. The most difficult thing is probably the language. I always feel like I am getting the hang of it, but then I learn something new. The most surprising thing is probably how much English there is here. People love to speak and read English. 

10. We do see other missionaries. I actually got to see Jaden Raker at our last zone meeting! I will attach some pictures. I get to see other missionaries fairly often. On P-day the Okayama elders come over to Okayama Nishi. I also got to see Smith choro again which was very nice! I loved being able to talk to him again about the MTC. 

11. I have taught a ton of lessons! We have a lot of investigators and less active members, so we teach a lot. We don't do that much housing/streeting which is nice. 

Thanks again to everyone for all of your love, help, support, and prayers. I can't thank you enough. I love all of you so much and I hope I can continue to tell you more about Japan. Also let Michael know that he will do awesome for me would ya! I am sorry I didn't get to email many personal letters today, but when I have time I will definitely email/write you.  

Hirschi 長老