Woop Woop it's Pday!!

Dear Family,

This week was pretty good we got out of the house on Monday night and by today Elder Bunker is pretty much better. We both still have coughs but I have had mine for like 3 weeks and it should go away soon I think, it's annoying but I don't think it's bad. It's kind of like the MTC where I had a cough the whole time but eh I'm not too worried about it. We did lots of finding and are getting our streeting skills back up and what not. This week we have a lot to do for Nakajima's baptism but it's going pretty well and apparently we are much more on top of it all than the average missionary who does the baptism set up and papers and everything usually a day or 2 before. Thank Camp Helaman for that one! I was stressing about it pretty bad because yesterday was stake conference and we couldn't get it announced in church but the ward passed on the information through a phone tree and in a day and a half everyone knew! So we don't have to call every member now which is a huge weight off our shoulders!

We are still focusing a lot on getting better at streeting and getting our SOS (salvation of souls) invitations (invitations to church or other spiritual things like FHE or Questions of the Soul). And we are getting better. We walk everywhere to make streeting and finding people more possible. We haven't found new investigators this week, it's been really tough for the whole district to get anyone to want to learn this month. So we are working as hard as we can and hopefully with the baptism on Saturday we can get a lot of cool experiences for people and investigators. Uki still hasn't been coming to Ekaiwa or to our lessons but I think he just doesn't like the rain and is still semi sick and stuff but he is still reading and still doing everything he needs to do except meet with us so that's a good silver lining. Tamura is kinda crazy as usual but we are still teaching him. And Brother Sanno (the less active we found a couple weeks ago) is basically back to being active again! So that's way cool, we are just basically being gospel doctrine teachers for him during the week. He and Nakajima Kyoudai came to stake conference with us yesterday and seemed to really like it and Sanno built up some relationships with ward members so I think pretty soon we can just turn him over to the ward!

Visiting Brother Mongen was way cool this week! So we went over on Friday and knocked on his door and he had us come in and we started to talk with him and his wife for her work has to go over to China a lot. (They are both from China so that kind of makes sense) So Mongen Kyoudai is home alone a lot for long periods of time because his wife when she goes to China is usually there for 2 or 3 months at a time. Last time it was just her but this time she had the kids come to learn some Chinese, so Mongen Kyoudai is all alone and kind of bummed about it but it gives him lots of time to get a lot of work and things done. He has finally been reading the Book of Mormon on his own a lot! It's slow because he is a very deep thinker so he thinks about every word. We read with him for about half a chapter (1 Nephi 3) and we explained things as we were reading. He had a big problem with Nephi having to kill Laban and stuff but we showed him the answer for why that the scriptures give and slowly it went from that to talking about the spirit. We were telling him that a lot of times the spirit is like the air, you don't notice it until you don't have it, and that the spirit prompts us to do good and sometimes it is just us thinking it would be good to do something. So he looked back and he started rattling off example after example of times he may have felt that and he was thinking that hey, maybe I have felt the spirit! So that was a huge step for him. We left on a spiritual high and I can't wait to visit next week! It's going to be great I'm sure, I hope he can keep progressing like that because I would love to be sitting in sacrament and see him over there with his family receiving blessings so much that there isn't room to receive them!

We met a lot of cool people this last week and hopefully we can see some of them start lessons soon, I'll keep you updated! But it sounds like life at home is exciting! Be careful with those shredders mom! There's still lots of supplies, I have a bottle and a half of contact stuff and everything else is still good. In that next package though I may need a box of envelopes because the Japanese ones are way thin and I don't think they can handle going to America so if you could toss those in the next one that would be helpful! Thanks for taking care of the sports authority stuff! And dad it's probably best to use a tray! Haha that will be a way cool Efy for Morgan and Maddy! And I will for sure bring home probably 4 or 5 or 6 pairs of tabi boots. They cost 10-20 dollars each so not even bad! I want to see some pictures of those cars dad! So if you have time, feel free to send some or put some on Facebook! I am way excited to hear how badly the Seahawks kill the patriots! Go Hawks!

I will keep working as hard as I can and keep inviting everyone! I love you guys and thanks for all the support and help! Mom and dad you should have a letter soon! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Gailey

P.S. Tell Brother Swanson thanks and hello for me! Tell him I miss camp like crazy and want to attend when I get back as an adult and help out in anyway possible! Maybe they could use me on their frisbee team right? Haha thanks!

5 Months Already

Dear Family,

It's been a pretty good week this week. We haven't gotten to do as much Dendo as we usually would have liked to do because Saturday night until today Elder Bunker has been sick. We were able to go to sacrament and part of DCS meeting though so that was good because we were able to get a less active that we found a week or 2 ago to come to church with us. He's a little crazy mentally and he always tells us about it, but he has been baptized and he wants to start coming back to church and quit smoking. We had a lesson with him in Saturday where we read the Book of Mormon with him and got a feel for what he does and doesn't know about the gospel. He actually took us out to a soba place afterwards and we had some good curry and katsu chicken.

We've been trying to do a lot of streeting this week as we both feel like we have gotten kind of bad at it. So pretty much all our finding time was spent just walking around trying to talk to people. We found quite a few cool people and maybe through some perseverance we can have a man named Kojima take lessons eventually, he lives right up near us so it shouldn't be too hard to visit him every now and then. The big trick will be actually finding specifically which house is his. In between walking around all day we had a couple lessons. We stopped by another less active members house (Brother Mongen) and talked to him and followed up on if they made a family Book of Mormon reading goal, which they did. And we had a lesson with Tamura San who seems a little less fushigi (mysterious and crazy) so we will keep teaching him unless in the coming weeks he becomes too fushigi to keep teaching. Brother Nakajima is finally accepting, ready, and willing to proceed with his baptism on the 31st and while we weren't there for ward council our ward mission leader (brother Kato) talked about it and it is a go for the 31st at 10:00 am and he will be baptized by the first or second counselor in the bishopric. We are very excited for him to get baptized. He will get to pass the sacrament very soon after he gets baptized too so he is almost more excited for that. Some of our other investigators and potential investigators are nearly impossible to meet with or contact so that's a bit frustrating but we are working as hard as we can.

On Sunday when Elder Bunker was asleep and I was putting a bunch of things into our area book, doing some tedious things that had built up a little bit over the week and past few weeks, I started thinking about the past few weeks in Takao, there were a lot of good things but I started focusing a bit too much on some of the not so good things and then we got a phone call from our ward mission leader saying he was bringing us some food because Elder Bunker was sick. So he walked to our apartment and dropped off some still hot pancakes and miso soup that him and his wife had made at the time of the call. So Elder Bunker got some perfect sick food and I got to eat some too. Then Elder Bunker went back to sleep and I started thinking again and I realized that we have seen so many miracles and things in the past weeks. From brother Kato bringing us some delicious pancakes to brother Nakajima suddenly being incredibly excited for his baptism, there were tons of miracles.

I was able to join you guys in your fast although it was not at the exact same time I don't think but I did the best I could there, hopefully Trevor makes it through everything with no issues. Dad, it is quite the work that we get to do out here isn't it? It's been way cool to see how the gospel touches so many people's lives in so many different ways, and as a missionary I have a special part in helping that come about. I have really begun to love being a missionary. And of course along with that comes not enough time. Today is my 5 month as a missionary mark and next month I am 1/4 of the way done, it seems crazy and I feel like it's just going to slide right away pretty quick. I am incredibly glad that I made the decision to come here and while its a hard language and sometimes I get frustrated with the people because most of them just ignore us but I love it.

It sounds like Morgan's aches and pains have gotten fushigi (haha). Hopefully everything gets figured out there pretty soon though. Sounds like she had quite the crappy experience that night though! Haha! Glad Meagan is doing alright as well! And the Seahawks won by 1 touch down... Holy smokes that is close! If I missed anything in this email just let me know, but last and most definitely not least, on my 5 month day, Happy Birthday Mom!!! You're the best mom out there! I love you!

I love everyone else in the family too, have a great week and do some exciting things!

Love,

Elder Gailey

Pounding Rice to make "mochi" (ground rice cakes)

The girl is a ward member who turned 20 so they have a special
traditional kimono that they wear so one of our
investigators forced me to take a picture with her.

Other fun pictures

These are Elder Bunker's Tabi boots
(shoes that mostly construction workers wear)

 

Still in Takao

Dear Family,

Well it's been a slow week! Transfer calls were supposed to be today, but we got them last night so I can tell you all already that I'm staying in Takao and so is everyone else with the exception of Elder Ford from the group of 3 in the area. We will be down to 6 missionaries, 4 elders and 2 sisters as of this Thursday. It will be an interesting transfer, I sure will be learning a lot about patience. I have my good days and my bad days but I'm getting better. I am excited for the time that I get to go to another area and see more of Japan and teach people in a different place and find other methods of Dendo that a lot of times you can't do in Takao, but I am still very glad to be here for another transfer! By the end of this transfer I will have spent almost 5 months here in Takao, which is a crazy thought!

Like I said, it has been a slow week. Uki san got sick so he couldn't come to his lesson, so it has been almost a month since we saw him last. Tamura san has started to become very mysterious, his phone always has a different answering machine and it rings strangely and he only calls us when we are busy and he leaves notes at the church that say that if we hear anything bad about him not to listen. So he is kind of crazy we think. Mark is always busy so we haven't met with him all transfer. But Brother Nakajima is still going well and should be getting baptized on the 31st so we are very excited for that. We're trying to build up our investigator pool. but it's always tough to find anyone who wants to hear more about religion in general. We will keep working as hard as possible.

Things at home seem like they are pretty interesting! Hopefully both Morgan and Meagan will be all good, I have made sure both of you are in my prayers every day. You all are really. Hopefully the Seahawks can go one more at least! That would be way cool. I hope they are still as good as now when I get back for sure. Oh, by the way, next week is temple p-day so I will be emailing on Tuesday my time so Monday your time. I probably will be writing on the train and the messages will send when I find wifi.

I think this week the funniest thing was probably Tamura sans "fushigi" (strange or mysterious with a negative connotation) letter. We read it and just couldn't help be way weirded out. We may need to drop him but before that we have to meet him at least one more time so we will see. This week hopefully we can meet with Uki san again, I would really like that. A spiritual thing from this week was on Friday. We had my first zone conference. It was way cool, President Wada and the AP's came and taught and spoke and stuff. It was way cool and it really helped me regain some motivation to really talk to everyone, which I was doing, but it was a very nice little boost that we got.

That pretty much sums up the week I think, so I hope all of you have a great week. I'm glad despite all the hard times and the medical things this week, everyone is still just doing their best to enjoy life and accept Gods will. I hope you all have a great week and I will talk to you more next week and I will send a ton of pictures next week as well!!

Love,

Elder Gailey

New Year 2015

Dear Family,

Boy this week has been a very big week! New Years is huge here, it's called 正月 (shougatsu) so we had all those meals I told you about plus 2 ish that were added in the week so basically we were scrambling to get from one to the other and Dendo on the way. It was very busy but we made it to everything and did everything with pretty much no problems and we actually got some places with extra time to study outside or walk around! So on the day of the first we had a way cool thing planned, I think I told you what it was, that we were climbing Mt Takao. It was way hard to get up and it was way cold but I got a lot of cool pictures and it was way crowded! And none of us brought lights and some of the nihonjins who were hiking had them so our night vision was destroyed and it was quite the interesting "hike of faith" type thing! At the top, it was way cool but I can't pull my time lapse off my camera so I will need to send you my memory card pretty soon! The top was way crowded, because watching the first sunrise is such a big deal, it was way weird and cool and fun.That was the biggest event this week. It was way good for finding actually. People are always willing to answer the "正月のために何をしますか？ what are you doing for shougatsu?" questions so it was nice! Because most people in Japan have that week of New Years off of work, everyone basically does the American Christmas time stuff. Visits and plays around all the time. So none of our investigators could meet this last week, therefore they are in the same place as before as far as we know right now, but we will be meeting with all 4 this week! 

I still have not found anything in Japan that I don't like, with the exception of pickled plums (umeboshi).  Takoyaki (Octopus and rice balls) is even good now! I don't love Takoyaki but I like it! And I ate a bunch of strange traditional foods at our meals this week with the members so it was way cool! Around New Years everyone starts to make "mochi" (ground rice cakes) and there are a bunch of people that choke and die on them every year because they are so sticky but I think they are delicious and I am careful with them!

We have been doing lots of exploring recently in between member visits and appointments and stuff, Takao has some crazy areas! We found an area where with big, houses and everything, even by American standards. And we also found some random farm with probably 30 scarecrows that were very realistic and creepy! It's way fun to talk to people while exploring though, and my Japanese is getting much better especially after some of my New Years goals! One of my new goals is to be able to be a translator for big mission conferences for English to Japanese by my birthday. It will be way hard to do, but if I can get there it will be very cool! 

After one of the meal appointments that we had, we were on the train and I had one of my favorite contacts yet. I was sitting next to a guy and I just started talking to him about this and that and what he did for New Years. He was actually on his way to meet his family to go to Tokyo Disneyland (which he isn't a big fan of) and the conversation just slid right in to church talking about family, our purpose as missionaries, and all kinds of stuff! It was way fun, and while he doesn't want to learn more now maybe the next set he meets will be able to teach him! It was way fun! And my Japanese was good enough that he never had to repeat himself and neither did I and it was almost as easy as if it was English! Quite the confidence boost there for sure. But I don't know. I think that's all I have to report this week!

It sounds like the drive home was interesting with the windshield wiper fluid and Ginger and being tired, I'm glad you all got home safe! I'm also glad you all had a good time in Utah together, playing games and enjoying life. The stories of Kaiden this week were way funny, I enjoyed them a lot, and it's funny that he is already not excited for a little brother or sister, but when he/she comes he'll be fine. Thanks for all the pictures and updates and things! Hopefully I hit all the questions and things!

And that journal is perfect, thanks mom! Today I may have some charges on the card because I am going to Kunitachi and Elder Bunker is going to show me around for the day. It's gonna be fun, and hey, maybe I will serve there sometime! Anyways, I love and miss all you guys! Be safe and have a happy new year! Don't forget to do your New Years goals on reading the Book of Mormon! We just taught a lesson to a less active last night on that and he blew us away that he was already trying to make one of those goals with his wife (Brother Mongen) so don't forget that! Love you guys!

Love,
Elder Gailey