December 7, 2015 - It's getting cold here!

To start out this email, I'd want to explain a type of missionary work that a lot of foreign missionaries do here in Japan.  It's called "Nanpa dendo", basically it's when the American elders go walking down the street and all the high school girls are blatantly staring at us Gaijin (Foreigners).  And we give them a big HELLO or KONNICHIWA, and that's went we got them!! haha Either they will want to speak English to us, or they will listen to our Japanese.   My comp explained this type of dendo to me, basically the translation is "smooth talker". haha  It's funny cause anyone from home knows that I am not smooth at all.  Sand paper basically.  haha

That same day while my comp and I where riding our bikes to a less actives house, two JWs saw us and were basically disgusted at the sight of us.  She asked if we could read Japanese in really rude Japanese.  We both said no cause Japanese is extremely hard to read.  She shoved this pamplet to my comp and turned around and walked away.  Basically we got dendoed.  We were the recipients of missionary work haha.

 On Thursday we were reading the Christmas list from Smith kaichou. One of the scriptures was really impactful.  It has changed the way I look at missionary work during Christmas.  The reason we receive gifts on Christmas day is because it's the Savior's birthday.  He was the gift to the world and to all mankind.  After I read that, I could see the interest in people when i gave them a Book of Mormon and talked about Christmas with people that we meet everywhere.  Christmas is the best time to do missionary work here.  The people are so interested in Christmas just because it's an American holiday and because we are both American.  All the nihonjin just love it that much more!!  It's really making it fun.

Another thing that Smith kaicho extended to us was the opportunity of getting a baptism before the end of the year.  He told me , "I know there is someone in Izumi right now that is prepared to receive baptism".  Also, he said it is going to take a miracle.  I honestly believe that this miracle is going to happen, because all throughout the district the numbers have been rising and companionships are finding new investigators that are extremely interested in the gospel.  We have some time to see this miracle unfold and I know that if we work hard, we will be able to see that miracle.  Just the other day my companion and I both were getting these thoughts of people left and right to visit, contact, and so on.  It was nuts!  It's true when the scriptures say to treasure up my words and in the very hour you need them, they will be given you.  But in the end we won't see a miracle if we aren't obedient.   "To the degree we are obedient, we will be blessed" - Smith 会長 also another quote "obedience bring blessing, obedience with exactness brings miracles"

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 Hope everyone had a good week and love you all

 

Elder Halverson