October 24, 2016: Transfers and cold weather

It’s starting to get cold and dark really fast here in Furukawa!!  I’ve already taken out my sweater vests from my suitcases to try and stay warm.   Another transfer has come and gone and Elder Koide and I are... staying.  The both of us are staying here in Furukawa and in missionary terms, I am going to kill him.  (Basically be his last companion before he goes home)   We expect to work really hard till the very end. 

 Alright, as for this week, well it was a bummer.  Not the best one I have ever had in my life.  Seriously every single less active wasn’t home and nobody was answering the door.  Usually when Japanese people reject you, it’s pretty nice BUT this week was the exact opposite.  I’ve never gotten blasted so hard on my mission before last week.  It’s all good cause I still love the Japanese people and they are the best!!  We get at it again this coming week and I am pretty excited about it. 

Finally,  this email is really short cause nothing happened all week.  I have really been enjoying my personal studies this past week though.  It has really taken the stress off.  I have found a lot of really cool scriptures in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  Because of this past week, I challenge all of you out there who are reading my emails to read the holy scriptures.  Take 10 minutes a day, it’s great.  I promise you will be surprised on what you find when you do so. 

Love you all and have a good week.

--

Halverson Chourou

 

 

October 16, 2016: Tour de France

Hello everyone!!  

This week has been great.  Its getting colder and I am pretty sure its going to start to snow in the next couple of weeks.  Since General Conference has passed we have to wear suit jackets whenever we go outside.  This will last until next April when we have General Conference again.  So, some days I am freezing and others dying of heat.  It should be fun for the next couple of weeks.  

Tuesday we had the best Zone conference ever.  President Smith is a genius and such a good educator.  He unveiled to us the new plan to get a temple built in Sendai.  Raising the standard for lessons to be taught in a week to 10 instead of the 7.  Also, he promised all of us that we would see this miracle of a temple if we become more consecrated missionaries and really dedicating all that we have to the Lord and helped build his kingdom on earth.  In order to do that we are having a mission wide fast from tomorrow until wednesday.  I am really exited to see the fruit of this fast and see the culture of this mission change to a new a brighter one.   

 
Wednesday started the trend for the rest of the week.  Teaching lessons and talking to people who have seen UFOs.  Ya, it’s awesome. 

Had a lesson with Kanedasan who is this old man who has been coming to church for years and wants to learn.  It was a blast teaching him cause he posses questions and gives ideas of what he is thinking and then we can tie it to the gospel. 

Then we found a couple people that say they saw a UFO.  Crazy day but that crazy continued throughout the week.  

 
Thursday we tried to find some less actives.  We biked close to 50 miles roughly.  We biked to a point were all you could see was rice fields,  rice fields everywhere.  Oh btw there were TWO HOUSES!!!  Both of them are inactive and don't remember anything about joining the church.  After biking all that distance and just before coming home we stopped one guy and talked to him and found out he had a lot of questions and he became a new investigator which was way cool.  We are super excited about it!!  It was a miracle at the end of the Tour de France that we desperately needed.

Last night we had the opportunity to watch a devotional by Elder Bednar.  He went to Hokkaido and spoke to all the members of Japan.  We were able to watch it and it was awesome.  A really great devotional.  He gave some great insights and powerful thoughts on finding joy in the gospel and spiritual gifts.  He said that we all want spiritual gifts but if we search for them with the benefit of ourselves in mind, we will not get those gifts.  Because that is not how Heavenly Father wants us to use those gifts.  He wants us to bless others with them.  In the self-centered world we live in, we need to look out and serve.  Then and only then will the powers of heaven be unlocked to us. 

Love you and have a good week!

Elder Halverson 

ハルバソン長老~日本仙台伝道部

 

 

October 10, 2016: I'm a week late but General Conference!

Hello everyone, how is everyone doing!!  As I am writing this I am wondering if I am saying hello to a bunch of people or is it just my family and a few missionaries who read my emails.  ANYWAY...HERE WE GO.   TIME TO START THIS EMAIL.

 

Again I had the opportunity to work in Izumi.  Since Monday was district p-day, my comp and I worked in Izumi.  It was awesome and I love being in Izumi.  It is one of my favorite places on earth.  Elder Koide and I were able to talk to a lot of people and hand out a few Books of Mormon.  Sharing the gospel is always a great and fun time.  Again we are praying for those who don't have time now to hear the message but will sometime in the future.

We were traveling a lot this week so we didnt have as much time as we would like, however after coming back to Furukawa we had a lesson at the church with an investigator and a joint (member joined us).  I was a crazy funny lesson cause the member basically took over.  She wanted to teach this man about the plan of salvation and how he could meet his wife again in the after life.  I mean she talked about every detail and how it links to buddhism and kept saying how true it is.  I am very grateful for Sister Kimura cause she set up the lesson in the first place and it was an amazing joint.  After all that we had a lesson with our awesome recent convert and then with the less active who thinks all the christian church's are the same, but solely believes that ours is the only true one.   I dont know how to explain that situation.  It is what it is.  She came to general conference and watched the whole thing and we love teaching her.

Lastly, we are a week late being able to see general conference.  I watched it while listening to the english version though a pair of really handy head phones.  It was awesome as it always is. I really learned a lot about a variety of topics and was really able to feel the peace and hope of the conference.  That is exactly what made it so special.  While i was watching it I started to get the overwhelming feeling that this conference is broadcasting all over the world and it is sharing a message of hope.  That feeling made this whole week awesome.  It was a great experience, this conference is one that I will not forget.

Love you all and have a good week!!

Elder Halverson

ハルバソン長老~日本仙台伝道部

 

The amazing view of Izumi

 

Elder H,  "I made it on to the Japanese church website.  Look mom I'm famous!!"

Dad, "Do you nap on that couch?" 

Elder H, "I have a couple times haha It's the only one in the whole mission btw so i am kinda blessed."

"Gyouza is a type of food and we bought a ton of it on pday and cooked it all up last light."

Damion Freestone, Look at the pot lickers....

 

October 3, 2016: Knocking and Knocking

Well hello everyone!!  This week was awesome! I got to go back to my bean area and work there for the day!! It was way successful, Elder Bruce and I found 2 Q'S and had tons of fun!!  But sorry for the short email because it's district pday but I want to share a miracle of enduring to the end and always not knowing how much good you do.

 

So the last day with my last comp in Miyako, we were Streeting and we found this college kid in the last hour of the night. He was the guy that showed the most interest out of anyone I have talked to.  He was bubbling with excitement honestly.  But I transferred without hearing anything about him since then.  The other week I got a letter from my last comp saying that he came to church, meet with the missionaries, had multiple lessons with them and has a bap date.  He is on his way to being baptized.  He was the best because he was somebody who finally showed interest at the end of a hard day, a hard transfer.

He is awesome and from what it sounds he will be dunked.  Sometimes we don't see all the good we do or the immediate impact of what happens.

But it is there and if we try our best and help people along the way, then we have nothing to regret at the end of the day.  No regrets, just wake up do your best and repeat.  Do you best and God will help fill in!!  Love you all!

Elder Halverson

ハルバソン長老~日本仙台伝道部

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/fourth-floor-last-door?lang=eng

 

#fourthfloorlastdoor

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

 

 

 

September 26, 2016: This Day--Pres Erying April 2007

Well I am coming to ya again from a internet cafe and the guy next to me is out cold snoring like a bear.  It’s another great sunny and hot day in Furukawa, Japan and Halverson Chouruo is genki. 

 It has been another really blessed week.  Every week we get a newspaper type of email from the mission home telling everyone new annoucments or a message from President Smith and this weeks was noteworthy.  Pres Smith has a bold vision for the Sendai mission.  He sees that there can be a couple of new temples announced in the next five years.  Therefore he has given us a new goal for the mission, a Sendai Japan temple.  As of now we have enough members in the mission for a temple but we need 3 functioning stakes and we only have 1 because there are too many less actives in the Tohoku area.  To bless everyone’s lives, we work with a lot of less actives in the mission.  This week we were inspired to go out and find those who once knew the way to happiness, but for one reason or another they fell away and now need a bit of rescuing.  We had a lot of finding time this week and so Elder Koide and I went out and knock and knocked and knocked then biked and biked and biked.  We were out finding those who have lost the way and those who haven’t found it yet.  We got a good group of PI’s and a few investigators this week.  Slowly and surely we will have a temple here in Sendai and it will be a miracle.  Just hanging on to the hope that it would be announced is a great motivator.  We were again reminded that missionary work in Japan is slow compared to other countries and missions …. especially this mission.  But countless missionaries have come to this land for over a hundred years and now we have 3 temples so we can see results of everyone’s hard work.  I am challenged daily to go out and find “the one” and help them see what God’s love can do for them.  There are now over 130,000 members here in Japan and it is a miracle.  We have more work to be do in this amazing land of Sendai Japan, more people to find and more people to bless.  It is a great work and I love being a part of it.  This week I had another DTM in Izumi and they were having a party there so I got to see some of the members from my first area.  They are seriously the best people.  This time I was able to have an actual conversation with them, not just nodding my head and pretending to know what they are saying! haaha good ole bean days.

Lastly, everyone please read or watch the talk that I put up on the subject line.  It is very good and inspirational.  I am going to take care of the things today and not procrastinate.  You never know what tomorrow brings and you don’t want to regret not doing something.  Please read your scriptures, pray, smile and do your best.  Love you all and have a good week!

--

Halverson Chourou

 

 

September 19, 2016: The Lone Elder

All right everyone, I'll give you the run down of the week.  On Monday being my last day in Miyako,  Elder Kudou and I went around and I was able to say good bye to all the members that actually lived close to the church and within reasonable biking distance.  It was good time and kinda sad but I promised them all that I will be coming back to Miyako some time and see them all again.  Honestly, I want to keep that promise.  The following day was transfer, by myself.  I woke up around 5 o'clock on Tuesday morning and did some final packing and then after everyone else woke up we headed to the Eki.  Little did I know that a good number of the members had woken up early to see me off:) I love those people!  They gave me food, manga, and other presents.  Then I was off on my own for 6-7 hours traveling all the way to Sendai.  This is were it gets interesting.  I was supposed to meet some other elders in Morioka, and time was tight so I got off the bus and ran to where they were supposed to be and.... there is nobody.  So then I realize that I left my luggage on the bus so I run back to the bus stop and.... the bus is gone.   Hahah so at this point I am stuck in Morioka without a phone, no luggage, and a solo missionary.  Lol it was a ride.  After asking a few people to borrow their phone and getting rejected every time.  I go and ask the people working at the Eki to call the bus back and use stations phone.  After a few calls to the mission home and telling them that the elders are gone, I am stuck until my luggage comes back, and the APs telling me that all I can do is wait for other missionaries that will come from somewhere or I basically have to wing it and get to Sendai on my own.  Haha so with all that I get my luggage and catch the next bus to Sendai.  Just an hour behind on time.  I get to Sendai and again no body there so I just hung out until another solo missionary came out of the blue.  Well long story short I made it to Furukawa safely and I am now sleeping on beds not futons in this area.  Furukawa is great!  Bunch of great people here and it is terrific.   And there are a lot of people who don't know that they need the gospel.  Also there is a bullet train that runs about 50 yards away from the apartment,  so everyday about 15times I can hear/feel a bullet train pass by.  

Called up a pi this week and she became a new q so that is a great highlight of the week.  Also got to go back to Izumi this week.  It was an awesome time.  As soon as I got off the bus in Izumi, I was like "I AM HOME THIS IS THE PLACE". I AM SO HAPPY".

Ok on a serious note.  Everyday is a blessing!  The fact that we have sunlight to break apart the night every morning is a blessing.  Just the fact that I can be in Japan at this point in my life is a wonderful blessing/gift from God.  All the things that have come up to this point has shape me into the person and missionary that I am.  It is a blessing that I am so thankful for.  God love us individually and love to see us TRY.  Love you all and have a good week.

Elder Halverson 

ハルバソン長老~日本仙台伝道部