November 23, 2015

A whole lot of busy happened this week.

First of all we had a special meeting in Kamisugi 上杉 about the use of iPads and the does and don'ts of how to use them correctly in our everyday lives as missionaries.  I was a really good meeting.  However the really cool part was what President Smith said about the iPads.  He said that missionary work has been done for years without iPads and they were still successful.  And I'm not saying that they are not helping hastening the Lords work, but the fact that missionary work can be done with out them.  haha Just ask anyone in the ward that served.

They all did them without iPads!!!  President Smith said something really interesting when he were at the meeting.  He called it "save the generation"  he said that one of the big points of having the missionaries have iPads so that they know how to correctly use them when we all finish our missions and return home to our devices and the world wide web.   Along with hastening the work with the iPads, it's also helping the individuals at the same time.  It's not just a thing were while you are a missionary you don't do these things because you aren't supposed to and then when you go home we all go back to the world being unchanged.   Its the old saying, "the mission will change you if you let it do so".  He talked about the practices, qualities, and traits that we practice and become masters that will help us become better people and Fathers, Mothers, Daughters, Sons, Husbands, and Wifes.

Another really big topic he focused on was the practice of being one by working with your companion to become closer to God.  He related it to when we become married, with our spouses as we work with each other to come closer to the Lord, we will become "As one".  Not just husband and wife but with Heavenly Father as well.  The man is a flipping genius.

I wish I recorded the presentation haah.  A long story short, he applied all the rules and guidelines of missionary life and work to prepping us to become better people in the future.  All in turn coming closer to God as we do it all.

I dont have any more time to write cause we are in the middle of a shopping mall and people want our seats.  haha Love you all and have a good week!!!愛してます頑張ってください

 

Elder Halverson and Anpanman

 

 

Elders Mcnaab and Halverson

 Met up with the MTC crew at conference

 

Notes

 

Elder Mcnaab and Halverson will stay together thru another transfer

 

Nothing big happening for them on Thanksgiving.  Just another day in Japan.

 

Foot is good

Biking is tiring but good also

Teaching a lot of less actives

People stare all the time and this time I was on a split with Elder Larsen and we walked into McDonald's and all these high school girls were looking at the two of us and I yelled HELLO and they all starts to freak out and blush hahaha



November 29, 2015

So this week we had transfers.  All the missionaries that were transferring had to go to Kamisugi for a big transfer party.  Even though I wasn't going to transfer, I still had to go to the meeting because there was also a "New Missionary Training" that I obviously missed because of my foot and being delayed.  So the plan was that we go Tuesday and leave later the next day.  But as soon as we go to Kamisugi we find out that the new missionaries plane got delayed from LAX to Tokyo and then again when they were trying to go from Tokyo to Sendai.  The meeting that I was to attend was pushed back to later on Wednesday.  That made it so Macnab Chourou and I had to stay at the honbu (mission home) for an extra day and wouldn't be able to return back to Izumi until late Friday night.  So therefore my comp and I could do almost zero work in our area.  All in all, the meeting and the orientation was really cool.  A lot of new things I learned about missionary work in Japan and Japan in general.

 In Japan it is really complicated to throw away garbage, it has to be separated from plastics, bottle caps, cardboard ... just to list a few. And we have to take it out every single day.  It's really taihen (troublesome).

 We gained two more elders in Izumi.  Their names are みまき長老と村上長老(Mimaki and Murakami Elders).   Both of them are 日本人.  They both are so cool and really good missionaries.  It's really nice to have two Japanese native speakers in the apartment in case the Macnab Chourou and I have questions about Japanese and such.  Oh I almost forgot they both make really good Japanese food on top of that all!!!  I am really happy with that haha.

 Cool Experience time:

Yesterday Macnab Chourou and I were heading to the church early to catch a meeting and as soon as we get to the church the bishop greets us saying what are you doing here??  We say "we have here for the missionary meeting" he responds "oh man I forgot to tell you that it was cancelled this week."  Well shoot then, I guess we will just do our studies here at the church.  As soon as we start our language study, the bishop comes in again and says there is someone here to learn about church and God.  So we sit down with this guy and we figure out that he is from Vietnam, speaks no English, little Japanese, and really only Vietnamese.  So now we basically have two Vietnamese investigators that know little Japanese and little English as well.   It was very interesting to sit down with this guy and try to communicate with him.  While my comp talked to him and tried to figure out his beliefs and such, I had the iPad in my hand with the google translate app opened up, translating from English to Vietnamese and then showing this person.  After a while we figured out that his is Christian and he google searched a church for the sole purpose of coming to praying.  Our church in Izumi was the first place to pop up and he just randomly showed up yesterday morning.  We "gave" him an Vietnamese Book of Mormon,  by gave I mean we downloaded the gospel library app on his phone and changed to the language setting to Vietnamese and he just started to read.  He stayed at church for the whole 3 hours and just read from his phone because obviously all of meeting was in Japanese.  So really he didn't understand really much of anything.  It was really quite interesting to say the least, hopefully he becomes an investigator because he really seemed to enjoy it.

Another story from yesterday.  There is a family in the ward that is American.  They are from Sandy, Utah actually.  Again, they don't know Japanese very much at all.  So I had the incredible task of translating for Brother Chapman!  All I would say is this "I think he is talking about this but I am not sure" or when I thought I had an idea "Oops never mind, it's not at all this but it could be this instead" Haha it was fun/interesting. As time went on, I got the hang of it.  The language is coming along slowly.  Anyway the Chapman's are a great family.  Wee had Thanksgiving at their house on Thursday.  It was so good haha just like home, I stuffed myself.  Mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey, stuffing all that good stuff haha.

So again I forgot my journal for all of my stories and what happened.  But have a good one, I love you all!!!

 Elder Halverson

November 22, 2015

A whole lot of busy happened this week.

First of all we had a special meeting in Kamisugi 上杉 about the use of iPads and the does and don'ts of how to use them correctly in our everyday lives as missionaries.  I was a really good meeting.  However the really cool part was what President Smith said about the iPads.  He said that missionary work has been done for years without iPads and they were still successful.  And I'm not saying that they are not helping hastening the Lords work, but the fact that missionary work can be done with out them.  haha Just ask anyone in the ward that served.

They all did them without iPads!!!  President Smith said something really interesting when he were at the meeting.  He called it "save the generation"  he said that one of the big points of having the missionaries have iPads so that they know how to correctly use them when we all finish our missions and return home to our devices and the world wide web.   Along with hastening the work with the iPads, it's also helping the individuals at the same time.  It's not just a thing were while you are a missionary you don't do these things because you aren't supposed to and then when you go home we all go back to the world being unchanged.   Its the old saying, "the mission will change you if you let it do so".  He talked about the practices, qualities, and traits that we practice and become masters that will help us become better people and Fathers, Mothers, Daughters, Sons, Husbands, and Wifes.

Another really big topic he focus on was the practice of being one by working with your companion to become closer to God.  He related it to when we become married, with our spouses as we work with each other to come closer to the Lord he will become "As one".  Not just husband and Wife but with heavenly Father as well.  The man is a flipping genius.

I wish I recorded the presentation haah.  A long story short, he applied all the rules and guidelines of missionary life and work to prepping us to become better people in the future.  All in turn coming closer to God as we do it all.

I dont have any more time to write cause we are in the middle of a shopping mall and people want our seats.  haha Love you all and have a good week!!!愛してます頑張ってください

 

Elder Halverson

November 15, 2015

This week has been a really crazy one.   First off I'll tell you about what my comp and I had to do yesterday.  We had to teach the primary class in church.  Idk how people handle that, but seriously those kids are nuts haha.  Well as soon as I stood up in the front of the room, all the kids in the class started to scream OKII or DEKAI  おきい でかい which means GIANT and HUGE,  at the top of their lungs. haha.  One thing about teaching primary, it's a lot of visual aids and stories and writing english on the board and then having all the kids say it in Japanese and English.  Another funny thing was that when I wrote the kanji for "I" and "God"  on the board all the kids said 漢字をかけるよ！！basically they were incredibly surprised that I knew kanji and blurted it out.  But the best part of it all was when we started to teach about the Savior, all the kids were quiet.  It was like we had calmed the storm and they were listening without breathing.

The other day my comp and I had planned to visit a less active member and recently we hadn't had much luck at all visiting him or any less active for that matter.  Also to add to the misfortune it was a complete down pour and we can't ride our bikes when it's raining.  We had to walk 5 miles in one direction in the rain.  I got lost on our way over there also so we decided to say a quick prayer for guidance.  We finished and headed down this road and wound up in front of his apartment building.  We go up and knock on his door and have to wait a little bit for him to answer but he finally answers and he had just woken up from a nap and we had a little door step lesson about family and I was able to explain the scripture in Japanese without stumbling over any of the words.  It really made the walk over worth it and I realized all God wants you to do is just try, just try your hardest.

They also had the primary program yesterday and it was the funniest thing and coolest thing.  I was really cool to see all the kids up there trying their hardest to testify while being really embarrassed or laughing so hard.   As usual there were the kids who went up to the mic grabbed it and shouted.  "I KNOW JESUS LOVES ME"  and "JOSEPH SMITH IS MY FAVORITE PROPHET".  It's a worldwide church, right!

I got to go Furukawa on splits this last week.  A whole lot of nothing happened there, we just fixed an elder's bike.  Also actually something was very cool that happened, we had a goal of handing out a Book of Mormon while we were there.  The Elder I was on spilts with decided to go to this shopping mall type place and it was totally deserted except for the arcade room where they were 3 kids playing mario kart.  I was nervous as can be and started to talk about the Book of Mormon to the kids and asked one if he was excited for Christmas and he said he was.  I explained that Jesus and Christmas were the same thing and I told him if he read this book he would be able to learn more about Jesus and Christmas as well.   He asked if it would be all right if he receive a book and his Japanese went right over my head but my comp said "He wants one, you can give it to him"  Oh, ok yea, here you go and I put it in his hand and his friend said that if we were giving them out, he wanted to have one to read.

I got to eat Indo Curry that was really good.  Yea that is it!  Sorry I forgot my journal so I can't really remember everything right now but I love you all.  Have a good week!!

Elder Halverson

 

Notes:

 

November 9, 2015

Well, I'm going to try and remember all that happened in these last 5 days and get it in this email.  頑張っている。The last few days at the MTC were kind of a bitter sweet couple of days.  However, in the end it was just, I'm ready to get out of this place and move on to Japan.  The MTC is definitely only a 9 weeks experience and not a 12 week experience.  I was joking with Elder Brooks while I was at the MTC saying that I'll be in the MTC twice as long as he will be! Heaven forbidding that he breaks his foot or something. lol  Again the MTC was a really good/Strange experience but I kept feeling it was time to move on to Japan and bigger and better things.

The flights over were a little bit strange and a little bit awkward as well.  I had three flights, first SLC to LAX then from LAX to 成田 (Narita) in Tokyo then to 仙台 (Sendai).  I slept like a baby on the first flight, I couldn't stay awake even though I had plans to study some words on the plane.  It's probably from the fact that I had been up since 1o'clock in the morning running around the residence in the MTC trying to pack for when the bus left at 3:30.  But really the weirdest thing was the flight to Tokyo.  I board the plane trying to go to my seat and the only non 日本人 were all the missionaries boarding the plane.  I go over to sit in my seat and this lady stops me and starts trying to tell me in broken english that she doesn't want me to sit by her because her friend is coming down from the back of the plane.  So I have to switch with her and I go to the very back of the plane.   It was the most uncomfortable seat I have ever sat in in my life.  I don't know how I slept that plane ride cause it seems like it was going to last forever.  Never going to end!!

Really the funniest thing that happened was while I was in the Tokyo Airport.  I had become good friends with some of the missionaries going to Fukuoka and Kobe that were on my flight.  I was talking with a bunch of them in the Tokyo airport and a few of them are tall and especially one that is about 6'9".  We are talking and looking around and we notice that all of the Japanese people are looking at the two of us and the best thing was that this guy with a camera is trying to be discrete when we aren't looking he is taking pictures of us and when we look over at him he drops his camera and looks away.  It's the funniest thing.  He would just walk up, snap a quick picture, drop the camera, look away and then walk away.

About 85 attending members in the ward

I finally made it to the Sendai airport, where Pres. Smith and his wife greeted me and gave me tons of food and such.  We talked all the way back to the Honbu and I meet my trainer there.  His name is Elder MacNab.  He is from Payson Arizona.  He seriously is the coolest guy!  He is more than happy to help me with Japanese and such.  We both don't know much about cooking so we have had curry like 3 nights in a row.    I am serving in a place called 泉 Izumi.  It's a suburb of Sendai and I love it here.  It's really the coolest place and all the people here are amazing and so nice.  The ward that I am in is the biggest one in the Sendai mission for Japanese people.  There is another one in Misawa which is an American branch, also there is a military base there.  It's really cool.

Idk what else to write because its been a really busy couple days.

I have taken a lot of pictures but they are all on my camera and I don't have an adapter to the iPad.  If and when I can transfer them over I will send them home.

Remember I love you all and wish you a happy Thanksgiving.  I am loving Japan and the Japanese people.  I have been blessed to be sent here.

Elder Halverson

View of Izumi - out on our bikes on the way to the park



Pizza....so much better than another bowl of curry.

NOTES:

Excited for the BHS Volleyball team...they won the State Championship over the weekend.

 

Disappointed for BHS Football that lost a close one on Friday night.  Great year though.

 

Spoke in Sacrament Meeting and introduced himself.  "I told everyone how tall I was and everyone went oooohhhh and aahhhh like wow."

 

Is he able to understand the language.  "I can understand every now and then and am able to piece together what a lot of people are saying and a lot of times my comp has to translate for me.  For example he had to during sacrament and the other meetings."

 

"Remind Mike that the Settebello stock is plummeting since I left the company."

 

 



 

November 4, 2015

Received a form letter from 2016745@LDSChurch.org on 11/03/2015 Subject:  Arrived safely

 

3 November 2015 

 

 

 

 

                                                               

                                                                               

                                                               

                                                Marty Leroy Halverson |Pam  Halverson

                                                               

                                                                               

                                                               

                                                 

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                1240 Westwood Rd

                                                                                                                                Bountiful, UT 84010

                                                                                                                                USA

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Marty L Halverson  ;

 

Your son , Elder  Halverson , has safely arrived in the Japan Sendai Mission. We are thrilled to have him  with us. We are looking forward to working with Elder  Halverson . 

Please know that the Lord's richest blessings are in store for your son  as he  fully dedicates his  time to serving as a missionary. As Elder  Halverson  writes home each week, you will be blessed with a special spirit of missionary work. Your weekly letters should encourage and support your son 's efforts.

 Sincerely,

 

________________________________________President and Sister Smith

 

Then this morning, Nov 4th we received two emails with pictures.

 

This would either be his companion or an office guy. 

Either way, it's funny to remember how tall Mitch is.

 

 

 

Here is a photo with your son and President and Sister Smith taken at the Sendai airport last evening.

We’re happy to have him here in Sendai!

Sister Anderson

Japan Sendai Mission

 

Note:  Feeling blessed to see him and know he is in God's hands now.

 

October 29, 20015

4 Days to go 

 

I want to start out this email by saying that I got to meet another really famous person (in the Mormon world) this week.  On Tuesday, Neil L. Anderson came to the MTC and spoke about how missionary work is very similar to life in the sense that it follows the SOAD pattern.  Sacrifice, Opposition, Adversity, and Deliverance.  It was really quite an amazing talk.  He showed a video from a conference talk he gave a few conferences back.  Likening what we go though in life and missions to a tree blowing in the wind.  He said that the tree experiences rough winds and trails.  It tells its roots to grow faster and deeper into the ground.  The trunk will become more dense in order to withstand the heavy winds.  He said that was just like us, that we have to experience trials and hardships and fight through them and not buckle over from the opposition and adversity.  Then when we are delivered, we will see how much stronger we are and be ready for the next trial and can take them head on.  His talk again was a really good one, I am really glad I was delayed so that I could hear his stories and learn from him.  But really almost as cool as listening to him speak ... I GOT TO SHAKE HIS HAND AND TALK TO HIM AFTER THE DEVO.  ha ha I was in total shock!!  Two famous people right in a row!!  Hopefully my luck doesn't run dry because I am going to need it in Japan!!

 

Oh, I met another Elder Halverson from Ogden.  It's funny never knowing another other Halverson all my life and I've meet two here in the MTC, both from Ogden...I think he is going to Russia.  I'm pretty sure anyway.  

 

I also had a really cool sacrament last week on obedience.   It is the first law of heaven and we will really reap the blessings of God if we are obedient.  It is important to be obedient because you want to, not because you have to.  It ties back into the scripture I have shared in past emails.  If you endure your trials well, God will lift you up to the clouds above all that is dirty and dark.  I think is Alma 27 something.  There is a really cool short section in PMG about obedience in the Christ like attributes section.  I think everyone should read and see.  

 My scripture of the week is about not giving up and never doubting yourself or those around you. 

 

Alma 56:47

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

Pictures:

 

Crandall Kyoudai, he is one of my teachers and I love this guy to death!!   The best guy ever!

 

This is the Cedar City Temple which should be completed by the time I'm home.

 

Praying I get outta here!

 

Notes:

 

He is nervous and excited about getting to Japan.  Wants to get started meeting people and spreading the "good word".  Tired of doing the same thing every single day!

 

Wouldn't you know it...his iPod broke just before leaving for Japan.  I asked him what color he wanted for his replacement.  I was thinking he'd pick red.  He is in total mission mode and picked either silver or tan.  No garish red anymore.

 

On his way to Japan, Elder Halverson was only going to call from SLC...I encouraged him to call from SLC, LA and Tokyo. I assume the mission president will call once he his Sendai. 

 

Excited to get to Japan and get a good meal which says to me he is sick of the comfort food they serve in the MTC.  Time for something different.  He was trying to decide what to get at the airport. 

 

Cramming as much language as possible before leaving the MTC.  Having a good time with the one on one with the trainers.

 

 



 

 

October 26, 2015

Elder Halverson's Mom

Received a telephone call from Elder Halverson today informing me that he has received his itinerary and will be flying out November 2nd.  He will be flying with this MTC companion as far as Toyko.  From there, he will fly solo to Sendai where the mission president will greet him and take him to the mission home.  At the mission home, he will stay two days getting instruction and further training as he prepares to enter the field.  He is thrilled to be leaving the MTC and getting to work. 

We talked about how anxious he was about flying alone when they were going to send him out on the 19th. 

He sounds so much like himself, but different.  It is a humbling experience to see that all those years of watching him change and grow, now are happening at lightening speed in the mission field.

He's the same kid, but not.  He is in the Lord's hands now.

I love and miss him.

October 22, 2015

October 22, 2015

Hello everyone, 

So Sunday night at the Devo, Chad Lewis was the speaker and he brought along Taysom Hill.  I was scooting past him and we noticed each others scooters and I SHOOK HIS HAND.  I had a little chat with him about his scooter and all that good stuff.  And even better, Chad Lewis invited him up there to bear his testimony and it was probably the best Devo I've ever had.  Chad talked about the importance of his mission in his life and about how there had been many times where the odds were stacked against him on his mission and in his football career.  He kept stressing how important it is to not giving up and just keep persevering during the hard times.  Taysom talked about all that he learned and benefitted from and because of his mission and how during the hard and the good times he wouldn't trade anything in the world for those experiences.  He also said that he talked to one of the 12 during a BYU home game in the press box and he said.  "Taysom, if the Lord wanted you to be on the field making plays he would, but the Lord has something in store for you and he wants you to learn from this experience."  This really hit home because I finally realized that I'm on the Lord's time and His errand and He wants me to learn something from this MTC experience with braking my foot.  Idk, maybe I will talk to someone on the plane and share with them the gospel.  
For the update on my foot.  I am out of the boot and into an ankle brace.  I can wear both of my shoes now!!!   It's kinda obvious that one of my shoes hasn't been worn for a while now because just before I broke my foot I polished up both of my shoes pretty well and the left on hasn't been worn for a solid 5 1/2 weeks.  

I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that he was nervous about sending me right out to Japan.   His concern was that he didn't want me to go just after I started to walk in an ankle brace.  So I could be flying out on the 26th or the 2nd of Nov.   Its' another "look for the silver lining" experience.  I could get extra Japanese help but miss Halloween in Japan (which I heard is really quite cool).  Idk it's really up in the air.  Everyone will know if I send an email on Sunday or Thursday ... just depending on where I am in the world.  

I love you all and everyone have a good week!

 

NOTES

 

He goes in to see the doctor tomorrow (Thursday) to perhaps get cleared to go.  Doesn't even know then because he doesn't have a plane ticket.  His companion that had to wait because of health issues is leaving on Nov 2nd.

 

Mitch's companion has been telling Mitch about the Star Wars trailer...obviously he has seen it.  How they do this stuff still surprises me.

 

Marty asked Mitch if seeing the trailer to the movie would make him trunky and his response was great.  "I've got bigger concerns than the Star Wars trailer."

 

All those links I had put into his new watch....he had to take them out because it was too big.  Go figure!

 

Miss this boy so very much.  I want him to get to Japan so he can begin in earnest. 

God's will, not mine.

 

Mitch is teaching me so much.

 

 

 

October 15, 2015

WHAT'S UP?!!!!

Examples are one of the most powerful things in this world; that is the total and complete truth.  Ever since I broke my foot here at the MTC, I always had the question in my mind on whether I would leave on time with the rest of my zone.  My District would always be positive and always say positive things and were uplifting in all that they did.   So when I couldn't go, I'll admit it has been hard to let go of all the missionaries in my zone because I'm going to miss them. I know I will see them all again when mission conference rolls around.  What is really amazing about this church is that we have the Book of Mormon,,  I know it's kinda obvious but it really is such a great book!!  I read Alma 36:3 again and it took on a new light.

3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

We all need to put our faith and trust in the Lord.  Endure our trials well, with a smile on our face and we will be lifted up at the last day.  Those who endure their trials well will receive a bounty of the Father's blessings. 

Another huge and very important part of enduring trials well is patience.  I don't think I would have realized this if it weren't for you mom sending me the talks from conference.  I read every single one of the talks that you sent me.  The one I liked most was the talk given by Pres. Uchtdorf.  I believe that it is the same talk that was made into a Mormon Message. It is about how a Professor at Stanford University conducted a study where he put a marshmallow in front of children and told them they had to wait 15 minutes before they could eat it.  I recommend reading or watching it, if you can find it.  He goes on in the talk and says that good things come to people who wait.  It's hard to be patient in this world we live in now with fast food, instant messaging, and everything in the world is at our finger tips.  It can be read and uploaded at amazing rates of speed.    "Patience - the ability to put our desires on hold for a time".  It's a huge part of the Priesthood as well.  We are all on the Lord's time and He has a plan for each and every single one of us in this life.  Sometimes we think we should get what we deserve right this instant.  However, God might want us to learn one last final lesson and then all will be right with the world and we will realize why we had these trials and will be grateful for them and what we have learned from them.    He finally says at the end of the address that "the work of patience boils down to this: keep the commandments; trust in God, our Heavenly Father; serve him with meekness and Christlike love; exercise faith and hope in the savior; and NEVER GIVE UP.  The lessons we learn from patience cultivate our character, lift our lives and heighten our happiness."

I would ask all of you to read this talk and mark it up everywhere because it is a great one in deed.  Love you all and hope that you have a great week.  Stay positive and never give up!!!

 


Japan District before the Oct 12th departure

 

NOTES

-        My last comp would text his gf on his iPad during class and during the day all of the time.

-         New comp is from San Antonio, easy to talk to, really into video games and is outgoing.

-        The foot feels line with the occasional ache and pain.  Using a walking boot for now.  PT starts next Wednesday, after visit to the doctor

-        Since he and his (newest) companion are the only Japanese missionaries right now, they get one on one with the trainers along with a new program.

-          Got a little “trunky” when everyone left for Japan, but worked thru it

-        Found out last night at the temple with Taylor that he and Mitch have the same gray suit from Mr. Mac

-        Dodgers playing for their playoff lives tonight.  KC and Blue Jays are in.