23rd week in Japan
1/18/2016
I love 伏見!

こんにちわみなさん！
Hello Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing? This past week has been a great week in Fushimi. We have been working on teaching as many people as we can in order to find those who have actually been prepared by our Heavenly Father to hear the gospel. It has been fun getting to know so many different people and actually being able to find those who are interested in hearing about the gospel. Even though Japanese culture is very enclosed and not very many people want to hear about Jesus Christ, we have been able to find those who are ready to hear the message of the gospel.

So there are a few things that for some reason I have not mentioned yet about the area here in Fushimi. Here in Fushimi there is a kind older member named Douke 兄弟. If I were to describe Douke 兄弟 in one sentence it would be that he loves the missionaries. In fact Douke 兄弟 loves the missionaries so much that he sets up a dinner appointment with us every single Tuesday night! When I first heard about it I didn't believe that it was true. He has actually been doing this Tuesday night meal with the missionaries for the past 12 years! He is the coolest. So it gets even crazier, every time we go over to his house for dinner he feeds us a full 8 course meal! I don't know how he has the money to do it, but he just loves the missionaries. I can never eat all the food that he gives us, so I have to stick the leftover food in a Tupperware every time we go over there. He doesn't mind it either. He is such an awesome member.

I may have mentioned in a previous email, but recently we found a family from America. The dad is a 6 foot 7 basketball player and the coolest guy. The day that we found their family they invited us over for dinner on the next Monday! So the dad's name is Moses and the wife is Sarah. We walked into their house the next Monday night, and get this, they have a bunch of different scriptures from the bible pinned up on their wall! We walk in a little further and they are listening to MOTAB! I couldn't believe my ears. This family is incredible! Every night before bed they all recite a scripture together too. They are the coolest family. We have been talking to them about what they believe and what we believe. We have found so many different things in common. I really hope that we can help them discover the truth in their lives and help them reach baptism. Every week since then they have had us over for dinner every Monday night.

Sorry this letter may be a little shorter. The Philipinos that we found were progressing very well to their baptismal date, but I feel like we have set it a little to early for them. They weren't able to make it to church this last Sunday, so they haven't gotten their baptismal interview done yet. I know that as we continue to help them progress towards baptism that they can be baptized soon though. God's work is moving here in Fushimi. I love this area. The people here are amazing! I love Japan and am so grateful for this opportunity to serve Heavenly Father for the next two years! The gospel is true everyone! My ponderizing scripture for the past week was Mosiah 2:17. I love how humble King Benjamin was. He was such a great king over the people. Even though he was their king he served others as if he was one among them. He loved his people.

I hope that everyone is doing well back at home! Thanks for all your emails and support.

Questions:

1. I haven't seen too many other parks and gardens yet. I have seen some pretty cool places though! I haven't had too much time to go places on P day because we are always so busy, but it has been fun to see some neat places here in Kyoto when we do have the time.

2. The language is coming well. I truly do love studying this language. It is a lot of fun and so unique. It is soooo different from English, which makes it difficult, but fun. Even though I cannot express myself in Japanese as I would be able to in English, it has been getting easier. I just love the people so much that I don't care how dumb I sound in Japanese as long as I can express my love with what I know. It is a lot of fun!

3. My companion has until August 23rd before he has to go home. He said that he loves the Kyoto area a lot! He also really loved Tokushima.

4. It was actually very easy to send the luggage when I transferred. I might have to send a few things home to you for the next time I transfer, but it wasn't a problem at all. I think I am good with the bags I have thanks a ton.

5. Yes they do celebrate Valentine's Day in Japan. My companion said they celebrate it even more than in America. He says that it is huge!

6. I love our Ward Mission Leader. He is fluent in English and just got back from his mission in Saporo. He is the coolest guy. I love all the members in this ward they are incredible! Douke 兄弟 is great. There is a guy in the ward who is always happy 24/7 named Taco ちゃん. He is really awesome too. I really just love all these people though!

7. I have been able to play a little bit of piano in the area. Sometimes when we get done a little bit early setting up for English class, I get to play a little bit. I really want to learn after my mission though! I have realized how fun it is and how useful it would be to know how to play. I think I will probably try to learn when I come home.

Thanks again everyone for all that you do. I love you all! Have a great week!

Hirschi 長老

22nd week in Japan
1/11/2016
Talk with everyone!

Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing? I hope we have all started off the new year
well. This past week has been a bunch of fun. I have learned so many
different things about having fun and enjoying everything while out on
my mission. Japan truly is an incredible place. Even though it is
often hard being turned down by so many people, trying hard to spread
the gospel brings so much joy. Another thing that I have really grown
to understand on my mission is that Heavenly Father truly does love
each and every one of us more than we can even imagine. I love this
gospel!

On our P day last week we went to a very famous place in Japan called
the Fushimi Inari. Because it was during the New Years time the place
was packed with people. It is a very famous shrine that many people go
to during the New Years for their Buddhist culture. I did not take any
pictures because we are not supposed to take pictures in shrines as
missionaries, but it was a very interesting place. There was a bunch
of vendors and some strange Buddhist cultural things to do. We also
got to see the 1000 gates, which was pretty interesting.

We had a fun Eikaiwa class on Monday. Because the New Years time has
finished, a lot more people showed up to Eikaiwa. We usually just have
different conversations in the class, but this week we tried to teach
something on pronunciation. In the Japanese language they don't have a
pronunciation for the letters Th, V, and L. We wrote some words on the
board and tried to teach them how to pronounce these different
letters. It was pretty funny trying to practice together with them and
realizing that English is a pretty difficult language. Yes, we don't
have 20 thousand kanji characters, but we do have some pretty strange
things that we say in the language.

I was also able to have an awesome companion exchange with the one of
the zone leaders last week. The zone leader who I exchanged with last
week really taught me the meaning of talking to everyone. His name is
Goff choro and he talks to everyone that he sees! He is a really funny
guy, and because he is 16th transfer he is very good at Japanese.
Every time we finished teaching to someone we would turn around and be
teaching someone else. Heavenly Father really blessed us that day to
be able to teach many of his children about the gospel. We were able
to teach 13 lessons in one day. That is by far the most people I have
ever taught in a day. Goff choro really taught me how to talk to
everyone and have fun while doing it.

My ponderizing scripture for last week was Jacob 7:25. Last week I
invited everyone to try to show charity. I have really been trying to
show charity to all of those that I have been teaching. I love these
people so much, and even more importantly I know that Heavenly Father
loves them so much. If we continual show charity to those around us we
will be more blessed in our lives.

Questions:

1. Yes, the music flash drive works in my new apartment. My companion also has a
lot of music so it is nice while we are eating and when we have time
to listen to it at the apartment. I think I am good on music thanks.

2.We just changed the apartment recently so some things get sent to the other

 apartment. We are working on fixing that sorry. Next transfer calls are on the

25th of January. I cannot believe it is coming so fast.

3. Yes, we still teach English every Wednesday. It is so much fun. I love the
Eikaiwa students here. There is an old guy that comes every week named
Shouji. He is hilarious.

4. We are going to start doing ping pong every Friday at 6:30.
We actually got to play some last week on Friday too, but not too many
people showed up. It was still a lot of fun anyways with those who did
come. It has not snowed yet. It is pretty cold though. I think I have
heard that the coldest month here is actually February. I am thinking
that it will not snow though.

5. We don't get to see the missionaries in Osaka really, but we did
have a Zone Conference on Friday last week. We met with all the Kyoto
missionaries. It was a lot of fun. We also learned about having fun
there too.

6. My companion has 4 brothers and an older sister. He played football in
high school and likes to do a lot of different things. He is actually
really good at ping pong too. He has a crazy spin that I can't stop.
He also likes ballroom, juggling, soccer, a lot of various things.

7. I am doing great! Thanks tons though. You are awesome!

I know that we are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Father. He loves
each of us. Love you all,

Hirschi 長老

21st week in Japan
1/4/2016
Let 2016 Begin!

こにちわ家族と友達
Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone? I cannot believe that the year of 2015 is over
already! I think one of the things I have come to learn on my mission
is that time is absolutely incomprehensible while you are serving the
Lord. I am truly appreciative of this opportunity that I have to be
serving as a missionary in Kobe Japan. I love these people. So the
year of 2016 has begun. I hope that we have all set some good goals to
work towards accomplishing this year. I know that I have! I have
really learned how important setting good goals is. For anyone who has
not set goals yet for this year, I would encourage you to make some
goals that will help you stretch.

Last week after my companion and I finished emailing we hurried over
to the Fushimi Castle before our P-day came to an end. The Fushimi
castle is very beautiful, and quite a bit different from
the Okayama castle. We took a lot of pictures and went hiking around
for a while. I will make sure to send some. We didn't get the
opportunity to go inside the castle because it is closed right now. It
was still a lot of fun though. After visiting the castle we went to
visit a shrine nearby, which is pretty cool. We are not allowed to
take pictures in shrines really as missionaries because it is against
rules, but it was interesting to see some of the things in the shrine.
They have so many cool looking monuments and things that they do at
the shrines. Buddhism does have some unique culture.

We also had interviews with President Welch last week. It feels like
it was very recent when we last had interviews with him, but it is
because he is trying to get on a different schedule. I always love
being able to have a one on one with the mission president. It is
incredible to me that he even has the time for that. President Welch
is just so full of wisdom. We talked about the New Testament challenge
that he gave the missionaries and how to apply what we are learning
from Christ's teachings. My companion and I have really been trying to
teach as the savior did. After all, he was the best missionary ever to
walk this earth.

One thing that is very different about Fushimi is that the number of
investigators in this area is so few. We have about 3 total
investigators; whereas, in my last area we had about 15. It has been
different not teaching as many investigators, but good for a change to
try to find and teach more while finding. I truly do love this new
area though. I will always miss Okayama because I had so many fun
memories there, but I knew that I wouldn't be there forever. One thing
that is also interesting is that we have sister missionaries in
Fushimi. So we end up teaching a lot of lessons together with them.
Also this ward has had so many meal appointments. In my last area we
had a total of maybe 3 or 4. We have already had about 6 or 7 and the
transfer just started!

Yesterday was fast Sunday. One of my goals this year is to bare my
testimony in every fast and testimony meeting. Yesterday I was given
that opportunity. Even though my Japanese still needs a ton of work, I
still love being able to share what I know about the gospel in the
small amount of Japanese that I know. Also being able to hear and grow
from everyone else's testimonies is always a wonderful opportunity.
After sacrament meeting we taught two of our investigators from the
Philippines named Jerome and Vermont. They are the coolest guys in the
universe. They love God and are always wanting to show their thanks.
We taught them the first lesson and committed them to being baptized
on the 24th of January, and they accepted! Jerome and Vermont are so
strong, and I know that as we keep working with them that we can see
them get baptized on the 24th.

My ponderizing scripture for this week was Moroni 7:47.  Moroni talks
about charity. I have really noticed a pattern of how all the prophets
have charity for the people that they are teaching in the Book of
Mormon. This week I am going to try to work on showing charity towards
others, so I would invite each of you to join me.

Questions:

1. Yes I was able to put the basketball puzzle together. Thanks a bunch it was
fun. It is good to be able to participate in the tradition of putting
a puzzle together each year for Christmas.

2. I don't think I need anything. I still have a lot of the Christmas money
you sent. I think I might look for some better ear muffs around here. Thank
you so much though.

3. I love this new ward to death! They are literally my new family
here. One of the guys that I love in this ward is our Ward mission
leader. He just got off his mission in Saporo and he speaks fluent
English. He is such a cool guy. I love everyone in this ward though.
They are all incredibly strong and faithful members.

4. Hahaha good question. My companion doesn't say much about 

Napolean Dynamite, but if someone from America asks
him where he is from and they don't know where Preston Idaho is he will say
it is where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed. He said he has gotten some
pretty awesome reactions out of it too.

5. Yes President Welch gave all the missionaries a tie with the theme 

Walk with me on it.  My favorite thing I got for Christmas

is the Christ statue that you gave me. It always helps me to keep the
savior in my thoughts. Thank you so much.

6. For New Years we had a fun dinner appointment with one of the members in our
ward. It is supposedly tradition to watch the sunrise for New Years in big groups
here in Japan, but my companion and I couldn't find anybody doing it.
So we just watched it come up ourselves. Nobody did any fireworks
really, so that was a little bit unfortunate, but we will be making
this delicious stuff called mochi next Monday. It is that white
pounded rice that I sent in the package to you guys.

Thank you everyone so much for all your support and love. I love you guys,

Hirschi 長老

20th week in Japan
12/28/2015
Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

How was everyone's Christmas!? Isn't it just the best time of year to
celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ? I hope that it went
well for you all. Christmas here in Fushimi was absolutely awesome!
The actual day of Christmas wasn't too much different than any other
day in the mission, but we did get to eat a Christmas dinner with one
of the families in our ward. Christmas in Japan is quite different
than in America. It definitely isn't as big as in America, but it
still was a ton of fun! My favorite part of Christmas was being able
to Skype home to you guys! I am so grateful that I was given the
opportunity to do that. I know it wasn't that long, but it was
absolutely the best thing ever just to be able to see you! Thank you
so much.

We taught Eikaiwa (English) for my first time in this area on Tuesday
last week. It was a bunch of fun seeing some new faces and getting to
know some new people. We talked to them a lot about America and the
culture there compared to here in Japan. Also the Eikaiwa here in
Fushimi is supposed to be one of the biggest Eikaiwa classes in the
mission. When I went, not too many people showed up, but the total size
is about double as many people as my last area.

This week has been a pretty crazy busy and fun week. On Wednesday we
met with about 1/3 of the missionaries in the mission for a Christmas
talent show. President and Sister Welch showed us the video that they
came up with for 2015. Every year they make a video and let each
missionary put in a couple pictures that they took that year. Then a
lot of the missionaries showed us their talents for the talent show.
The sister training leaders in our area wanted a bunch of people to
join in for their talent, so they had pretty much the whole Kyoto zone
join in. Smith choro and I got to be part of the show too. I will try
to send the short video of what we did in the talent show. It was a
ton of fun talking to all the other missionaries in the zone. So
before the talent show started we heard that they did sports in the
morning! Smith choro and I were so pumped to be able to play some
basketball together just like good old times at the MTC. Then we found
out that they were doing it at a different church this year that did
not have a basketball court, so that was kind of a bummer. We got to
play dodgeball instead though, which was a ton of fun! My companion
and I were pretty sore for the next few days after that haha. Also
after our Christmas party we went to the ward Christmas party, which
was a bunch of fun. We had to ride through a ton of rain to get there,
so by the time we got there we were drenched in water haha. Everyone
was really surprised to see us so wet, but they all helped out and got
us a few towels to dry off. Before the party ended my companion
dressed up as Santa Clause and handed out presents to all of the kids.
He is a funny guy, so it made the party a lot of fun.

On Thursday last week we went to another area that was in our district
to do some of our last Christmas caroling for some more old folks. It
was a ton of fun, and one of the missionaries in my district is from
my zone in the MTC (Hill choro), so it was good to catch up with him on
some things. We took about an hour bus ride over, and I have really
been taught by the sisters in the area how to talk to people on
trains. It has been fun to try to share the gospel even when we are
just on our way to a different area. I am not really used to that much
because my last area we were able to bike almost everywhere. Anyways
our Christmas caroling was a ton of fun. My companion dressed up as
Santa clause again and handed out a bunch of presents to the old
folks. It is fun to see their faces brighten up when we sing them
Christmas hymns.

I was also gifted with the opportunity of speaking in church on Sunday
this week. I couldn't believe that the bishop already wanted me to
speak in church, even though I had only been here for a week or so. I
gave my talk on missionary work, and talked about what President
Welch's vision for the mission is right now. Even though it wasn't as
long as the bishop probably wanted my talk to be, I got a few laughs,
and hopefully I was able to help out a few different people in the
ward. Giving a talk in Japanese is pretty tough, but I know that as I
keep working on my language ability it will gradually get easier. Also
talking to people in the Japanese language has gotten so much easier.
Yes, it is still really hard to understand people, but I feel like it
has gotten a lot easier to talk to them. In the Kyoto area they speak
a different dialect of the language, so sometimes it is different than
it was in Okayama. It is interesting to see the different ways that
people speak in this mission. I do know that the gift of tongues is
real though. I have already felt it have an impact on me while I have
been out here.

My ponderizing scripture for last week was Jacob 4:10. I hope that
everyone had a great Christmas. Even though Christmas is over, let's
continually remember to keep the savior in our thoughts.

Questions:

1. My new companion is a good guy. He is from Preston Idaho. He used
to do ballroom dancing and track in high school. His first name is
Johnny.

2. Yes, for Christmas I got some good bike gloves that will help out. I also tried
to get some earmuffs, but sadly they broke pretty quickly. I guess
they were only like $7 so I should have expected that. Also the ward
gave us a ton of food! It was crazy how much food they gave us. I know
we won't be able to eat it all. Yes thank you so much for the package!
It was awesome! I love the new scriptures and everything. I just loved being able
to skype home to you. That wasn't on our Christmas Day, but it was so
good to see all of you. Thank you so much for making Christmas great!

3. We have a washer, but hardly any apartments in the mission have
dryers. Our apartment does not have a dryer. I have never realized how
useful a dryer is in my life haha. Hanging up clothes every time you
wash something is a lot of work. Plus they don't dry to fast because
it is freezing and sometimes the sun gets covered by all the clouds
haha.

4. There were a lot of people that Iknew who were postmen in my last area, 

but here there are just a lot of different ones.

5. I am pretty sure they don't get out of school for Christmas here. They
do get a break for New Years though.

6. In my last area I didn't see any golf courses, but in this area I have see a few
driving ranges! I know one of my investigators in my last area would go to play 

golf with his buddies every once in a while. He had to leave Okayama to do that though.

7. I think for New Years the ward might have another party. This ward
is completely different from my last ward. They give the missionaries
so much food and have dinner appointments a lot. It is crazy!

Thanks everyone for all that you do. I am so glad that I got to skype
home to you for Christmas! That was a very good experience. I love you
all,

Hirschi 長老

19th week in Japan
12/21/2015
Kyoto!

こにちわみなさん！Hello Everyone!

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone during this wonderful Christmas season! I hope it has
been a fun Christmas season so far! Japan isn't that huge on
Christmas, but it has been fun to spread the Christmas cheer with
everyone. One thing that is pretty unfortunate about Japan is that
hardly anyone gets a day off of work for Christmas! People in Japan
work so hard. Anyways I don't want to get everyone down on the
Christmas cheer because Christmas is coming up in a few days! I cannot
believe how fast the time has gone by! I sure hope you all have a
great Christmas.

So I transferred to my new area Fushimi last Thursday. It was hard to
say goodbye to everyone in Okayama. I will sure miss that place. After
saying some goodbyes I packed up and got ready to go. It was funny
because all of the elders that were leaving to Kyoto left early so
Weakley choro and I didn't really know what to do. One of the Japanese
elders stayed behind for something so he and I made our way over to
Kyoto. In order to transfer my stuff I packed up my bags and sent 2 of
them through a system called sagawa which is nice. They got here last
Saturday. Then I had to pack up my bike in a bike bag, my backpack,
and my carry on and haul it around with me haha. Thankfully my bike is
extremely light so it wasn't too much of a problem at all. People on
the trains were way confused why I was carrying a bike around with me.
It was pretty funny. Anyways the transfer process wasn't a problem at
all because the Japanese elder I was with knew exactly how to get to
Kyoto. It was cool talking to him because he is almost finished with
his mission, so he gave me some good advice.

When I finally arrived at the Osaka station, I met my new companion
elder Iverson. He is a pretty funny nice guy. We went with a member to
eat for lunch. After lunch we headed to Fushimi to see my new
apartment. It was way nice to have a new apartment. I mean I really
miss Okayama a whole ton and everything, but the one thing I won't
miss is that old apartment haha. I have heard it is one of the worst
in the mission. Anyways my new apartment is awesome! The missionaries
actually just moved the apartment a couple months ago so it is pretty
much brand new. Also the new area I am in is beautiful. It is still a
big city and not very countryside at all. I have heard a lot of good
things about Kyoto. This is the place to go visit lots of fun places
on P day. It is also a very traditional Japanese place in Japan.

The ward here is absolutely incredible! I just love the new ward that
I am in. I miss the Okayama Nishi ward, but these people have already
become my new family. On Sunday I met all of the new ward members
here, and they are the nicest people in the world. Also our new ward
mission leader is the coolest guy ever! He is about 21 years old and
just got back from a mission in Saporo. Somehow he is able to speak
fluent English just from serving a mission even though he is full
Japanese. He is so awesome! I cannot wait to work with this guy more.
We have already become best friends. We also have like 3 dinner
appointments scheduled with the members next week! They are so active
in working with the missionaries it is amazing! I love this new area
that I am in!

After giving a short introduction to everyone in sacrament meeting on
Sunday, the bishop asked me to give a talk in church next week. That
was fast. He is a good guy though, and the ward is awesome, so I am
happy to do it! After church we went with some of the members to do
Christmas caroling at an old folks home. It was a lot of fun to sing
songs for them and help bring them the Christmas spirit. That night a
bunch of missionaries from the zone got together to sing Christmas
songs in the middle of the Kyoto station! That was a lot of fun too!
The best part about it all was that I got to see Smith choro again! He
moved into the Kyoto area last transfer, so it was sad not being able
to see him for a while, but now we are in the same zone! It was so
good to catch up with him and see how he was doing. I also got to see
my old zone leader who is an awesome missionary! I love that guy. We
had a bunch of fun singing Christmas songs and visiting for a little
while. It will be fun to work in this new area, and I am very excited
to celebrate Christmas.

My ponderizing scripture for last week was Jacob 3:2. Thank you for
keeping up with the challenge for everyone who is. I hope we can
continue to remember the savior during this Christmas season. Jesus
Christ was the greatest gift of all. My challenge for all of you is to
watch a short video called he is the gift on gospel library. It is
only a couple of minutes long.

Questions:

1. Yes I have been opening my presents every day. Thank you so much! I have actually made a video for each of the gifts.

2. Yes I got the package with the stockings right before I left Okayama Nishi. I gave Weakley choro his stuff and headed off to transfer. Thank you tons you are the best!

3. My new companion is a good guy. I love my new area a ton! It is
incredible and the members here are awesome!

4.For the transfer,  I had to pack up my bike and some luggage and carry it around. I just took a bunch of different trains to get here.

5. My companion said he wants to skype around 10:00 a.m. on the day
after Christmas here. That would be about 6:00 p.m. on your Christmas
night. Will that work for you? I could do it a different time if not.
I also tried to add you on Skype, hopefully that works. Let me know.

6. I met the new ward on Sunday. It was fantastic! They are all way awesome!
Christmas will probably be a fairly normal day. I think we will do our
regular study and go out to dendo (do missionary work after lunch). We
might get to visit a member that night for dinner.

Thank you everyone! I love you all. Have a great Christmas season!

Hirschi 長老