Heyooo, family email time!‏

Dear Family,

This week has been a good one. We found so many people the week before this week but we are still someone in the learning stages of how to really follow up well and get those people to turn into investigators so we spent most of the week trying to get that rolling. So we have been making calls and emails like crazy trying to get people to meet but unfortunately I think those meetings will take a little longer. But this week we did lots better at getting lessons set up and people are expecting calls and it's been way good, but boy am I tired. I have really been trying to get a lot better at streeting and it has been going great.

It sounds like everything at home has been pretty good, and I really hope Matt is doin alright, I've been praying for him. The trip to Utah sounded way fun for all you guys! This week we did mostly finding all day every day, we had a few lessons with members and stuff so that was good, and we met one of our investigators last night, Shinji San. He is a way cool guy who is pretty much fluent in English and loves it. But he doesn't really care if there is a god or not so we made a plan with him to read the Book of Mormon and pray every day this week, and to fast with us this Sunday to know whether there is a god. So if you all could pray for him that he will be able to receive an answer that would be much appreciated!

This week one miracle that we had aside from all the people who said they would come to church or meet with us for a lesson was a lady named Nohara, yes we aren't allowed to teach girls but we were housing and she answered the door and we taught her and referred her to the sisters but anyways. We rang her doorbell after our pi wasn't home when we said we would meet him and she said to tell her our message through the doorbell microphone (ping pong box) and so Elder Turley gave her a quick summary of lesson one and asked if we could talk at her genkan (front steps/doorway) and she said yes and we were able to teach her most of lesson 1 and share the Book of Mormon and pray with her. And she said she would read on her own before the sisters come to visit. It was way cool because most of that day we were just rejected and no one wanted to listen to us so it was quite the blessing.

I feel like I really haven't written much about the week but it really was way good, it was just a lot of first contact with people so there aren't many way crazy stories. Oh one funny thing this week is that my entire apartment, the zone leaders and us have spent a lot of time this week in a very small room with a porcelain seat... Elder Coggins made some Okonomiyaki for us on Wednesday and from that point on all of us were very messed up on the inside. It tasted delicious, but not so much worth it after so many hours! I felt like dad at Disneyworld! Haha

Thanks for all the pictures and updates on Matt and how everyone's doing. You're all in my prayers, not said as fast as Morgan can but still. Mom there should be a package coming in sometime this week ish so when you get it wait until May 10th. And then the order is box, then anything else! You'll understand when it comes :)

This letter is kind of all over the place but I decided I still want to buy a motorcycle when I get home! A Ducati just like the one in tron, although that may be far in the future. Everyone ok with that? Hopefully. Anyways, I hope you all had a great week and that everyone is staying healthy and having fun. Congrats Emi on graduating! And Meagan it looks like the house is coming together real nice! Morgan, I have the greatest blackmail picture ever now of you asleep in the suburban hahahaha! And mom and dad you're the best! I use those pictures you send me whether they are dads or they are moms as my backgrounds on my iPad so it's way fun to get new ones! Love you guys!

Love,

Elder Gailey

P.S. It's 75 and sunny here in Hachioji, and it's a great day for dendo!

We are related to Thor!

The River nearby

Elder Gailey and Batman!

Found some more old MTC photos

Late P-day Email from Hachioji

Dear Family,

Sorry to be on a little late on sending an email to you all, but we have had a pretty fun day so far! Today we went out to a place that we thought was a tie factory, but it turns out it was a tie research facility... What the heck is a tie research facility? Anyways after that adventure, we went to a recycle shop and had a way good find. Elder Turley, Elder Coggins, and I all found suits that look really good and are exactly our size, and they were only $20! Japan is a pretty sweet place! So if you see some credit card charges, that's what it is. I found some other cool stuff there too like ties and you all probably will laugh but, I also found some sweet teal pants! So I figured why not they were only like 15 dollars. So that was way cool! Anyways this week was really good.

This week was full of good stuff, we met a lot of people and have a ton of follow up to do this week, I think we have 3 lessons with people we met last week to do this week. So I'll let you know how those go next week! I met one of our investigators this last week as well and his name is Motoki. He is an interesting man for sure. I have never met someone who was not American that loved America as much as him. He let us in and gave us some American lemonade things and we talked for quite a while and we're able to pray with him at the end so it went way well. He just needs to let us talk for long enough to get the restoration taught to him! We'll see how far we can get this week! We also had a crazy experience one day. So we were walking to the church after talking to a kid who goes to a nearby high school and we stopped this guy who we weren't sure was a guy or girl at the time but it was a guy so it's all good. And he said that he wanted to see our church so we brought him over and showed him the inside and he said he had never read the bible and had never been in a church but that he really wanted to know what we believed. And so me and Elder Turley were sitting there thinking "he's kinjin!! (Golden, as in golden investigator)" and we started teaching him and as we started a member that we were planning to mogi (role play, as practice for lessons) with anyways came in and helped us teach. But about 3 minutes into the lesson, we find out that this man has been lying to us a bit. It turns out he studied religions and has read and really studied the bible as well as other religious texts in great detail. He never made references from the bible or anything like that but it was intense. We probably won't be teaching him much more though because he is currently trying to "make his own plan of salvation" that just so happens to be the same one that Satan wanted... So yeah but it was a way crazy experience and we're going to try and teach him one more time. 

Then when I was on splits with the traveling AP's because Elder Turley is the DL me and Elder Rockwood were walking to the second floor of an apartment building to visit a p.i. And a guy delivering a tv about the size of mine was doing the same so after he delivered that we talked to him and gave him a Book of Mormon, got his phone number and headed on our way, and hopefully he will answer this week because then we can teach him! We have found tons of p.i's while we've been out this week. It was great. Hopefully in the next couple weeks they will largely turn into investigators and start coming to church and everything, that would be good. I also had that Boy Scout English thing which was way good, the next one is in 2 weeks from last Saturday. The kids were a little shy but next time it will be better, it was definitely interesting seeing how scouting goes in Japan! There were a lot of hand signals and bows and attentions and it was way cool. I'll get some pictures from it next time. By the way thanks for the pictures mom! That was way cool! And I don't know if they are or not but maybe next time they will want the pictures too so if you find any more pictures of me doing my scouts things feel free to send them. They would be good for introduction and stuff anyways. Thanks! So this week has been good, it's been warm and also rainy, but there have been great things happening here recently. I don't know if you remember brother Mongen back in the good ol' Takao days, he was the less active that was from Mongolia and loved cars and that we were really working on hard for a long time. I just found out last night that he came back to church for the first time in about 10 years, with his family, yesterday. When I heard that I was so happy! And it seems like he'll be back to stay. God really does bless his children alright. 

Sounds like everyone made it safe and sound all the way down to Utah, which is a great thing, even if it did take 3 mountain dews! I haven't had any of those in quite a while actually! Those elk on the way look way cool! I miss sights like that picture right there, there is nowhere in Japan that I've been (even counting out in the most country part of our mission) that looks anything like that. That's way cool that you and dad have been married 30 years! You're getting old! ;) It was nice seeing pictures of all you guys! That's way crazy news about the 8th ward! As far as stuff from Deseret book, I'm not quite sure maybe some Mormon Tabernacle choir? I dunno! Thanks though! It's been a great week and I hope you all had a good week too! I love you!

Love,

Elder Gailey

 

Dinner at Tsukata's house

 

Yahoo Weather had the Ogden Temple

 

Pictures of Elder Gailey by Elder Hansen

Pictures from Takao before Elder Gailey left - last Eikawa

Brother Chiba

Elder Gailey and Sanno

 

Shun and Elder Gailey

Cherry Blossoms

Train ride on mountain to Takao

Hello from Hachioji!

Dear Family,

This past week has been pretty good! Obviously I got my transfer call on Monday so right now I'm writing home from the Hachioji ward building! And this week has been pretty good. Because I was transferring I went on Monday with my companion to Mt. Takao to buy some souvenirs at the bottom and then just packed and also packed on Tuesday for a bit. But I didn't want to use Sagawa (the company that missionaries use to send their bags from one apartment to another) because it was so close so I just worked it out with some of the missionaries in my district to get everything and my bike over there at the same time. So I left Takao at 11 and was all done moving at 12. Pretty easy right? I was able to say goodbye to most of the people in the Takao ward on Tuesday and Wednesday so it was a pretty good send off. Although on Tuesday, going to a lunch appointment my companion did have us ride our bikes 45 minutes past the place in the rain because he didn't really know where it was, so that was a bit frustrating but it worked out.

So now I'm in my new area! My companion is Elder Palmer Turley and he is on transfer 12 and has been here for quite a while in Hachioji and really knows and likes it. He's from Missouri but his family now lives in Utah somewhere. He's a really nice but pretty quiet guy. I don't mind though, it's going to be a good transfer, I think we work pretty well together so far. We have a few investigators but still need to do a lot of finding, so we are working as hard as we can. We have found some cool people already though mostly girls while housing so we have referred them to the sisters already since we can't work with girls at all. One day this week Elder Turley said he had really been feeling like we should visit a specific apartment building near the church. So we went there and it is a lock out so we couldn't go inside, but right outside we met and talked to a guy who told us that if God really existed that he would be way happy. So we taught him how to pray and he headed back up on his way to north Tokyo and I hope he prayed! And that same night on the second to last door we knocked we found a lady about 27 ish who told us that she believes in God completely but that because there is so much confusion and fighting between religions she can't figure out which one is right. So we told her how to pray and that God can help her with that just like Joseph Smith and she said to please have the sisters come over soon, so this week they will be visiting!

Then other than that we had GENERAL CONFERENCE, which is one thing I have come to love on my mission, I watch and read talks all the time and I really really enjoy it. So this time for conference we went to the stake center and because our investigators couldn't come, we went into the English speaking room with the other missionaries and watched all 3 Saturday sessions with an hour break between each one. And the same for the 2 sessions on Sunday. So that was way cool. Conference this year was really good! It seems like a lot of the apostles and the prophet are getting really old, President Packer is way tough to understand now, and you almost need a script to know what he's saying sometimes. I really liked the talk about choosing to believe, I think it could really apply to a lot of investigators here. So that was great!

Thanks for all the music mom! I think that will be good for now! And my goodness the experience at that food place sounds intense! Glad everyone is ok! And no I never got the baseball video, unfortunately. But I'm glad everyone is doing pretty good! I'm not sure if I will get to work with those 2 guys from splits but maybe! We'll see! I'm trying to get better and better everyday and have been really trying to listen for and follow the spirit better and we have been having some good results. I love you guys and hope you are having a great week! Keep it up and stay frosty! (That's a good thing, and my new catch phrase)

Love,

Elder Gailey

Elder Turley is on the far left, Elder Coggins is in between him and me, and Elder Hansen is on the right!

P.S. -  So my zone leader just found out that I am an Eagle Scout. And he said that starting pretty soon they are doing a scout English class run by missionary Eagle Scouts. Sooooo what he said is that they want us Eagle Scouts to ask our parents for our sash, shirt and neckerchief. Soooo in the next week or two could you send me those? Thanks Mom!

 

 

 

Transfer call received! A good way to start the week!‏

Dear Family,

This week was good. Heavenly Father certainly takes mercy on his children. I only had really one full day of just my companion, there was always something at the time that I needed it that would give me a break. God is good. We did some housing and did some Kubari (pass out flyers) and a lot of other stuff, and I think I got a lot of good stuff out this week, about ways I want to do things and things like that. But the biggest thing was when I went on splits with Elder Coggins, one of my zone leaders in Hachioji. And instead of rewriting it all I'm just going to include my journal entry (that I did on my iPad that night) so you can all read.

Splits:   "Today was the most intense day of my life. I can never forget some of the things that happened today with Elder Coggins. The day started with regular studies, there wasn't anything too special there, I had finished the Book of Mormon earlier this week so I was reading through it again fast and more book like. Then we went to Hachioji after language study because we were going on splits with the zone leaders. So while waiting for that we housed a bit and sat around for a bit so that my companion could do his spm report. Then the zone leaders finally came and we split up on the way to lunch but we knew we would be eating lunch together with James and Franky and the other Takao elders so there was that. So we ate and had a good time, I told Franky goodbye and gave him my business card. Then Elder Coggins and I headed out to go visit a couple pi's (potential investigators) of theirs and a less active. That went way well and we showed them the Easter video and talked a little about what the real meaning is with each one. And after the last one we decided to start housing around that spot. A lot of people were coming to their doors, but not much more than that really. So after a few phone calls that came in, we started walking and said a prayer to know where to go, and to help us be able to get some focus and do our best work. After that we followed where we felt we needed to go and shortly afterwards we found a guy, his name was Ryonosuke. He has met missionaries quite a few times and he even remembers where and what their name was. So we shared the Easter video with him and got to know him a little better. Then we taught him about prayer and he said he would pray every day if he has time. Then we found out he is a DJ and that he has my same sol republic headphones!  That was a way random, way cool connection for us. So then we went and stopped at a conbini for a snack for Elder Coggins. While he was eating, a man with some clear mental problems, but still a nice looking guy walked up named Haga. He asked us if we were English teachers and missionaries and he said some things then went inside and when he came out he had bought us both some coffee (didn't drink it but accepted) and then gave us his phone number and said he would come to Ekaiwa. That was cool then, we talked to a cool kid on the way back to the church but when we made it to the church is when the crazy miracle came.

We were walking up to the church and just before we went in we saw a man by the corner of the building and I felt like I should say hello to him. So I did and asked him how he was doing and he said he was good (in English) and then he explained the game that he was playing which was like a worldwide capture the flag at random wifi portals, of which apparently the church is one. So then he asked us straight up, what is the difference between your church and all the other churches. So I started telling him some of our beliefs and talked about the Joseph Smith story but partway through, Elder Coggins cut me off and went in another direction. I was mad at first like he didn't trust me, but then I realized I wasn't following the Spirits guidance and Elder Coggins was. And from then on I felt the most intense feeling of the spirit I have ever felt in my life I think. We just taught the restoration and that God was this man’s Heavenly Father and answered the questions we felt we needed to answer but we stayed pretty based on the restoration points. Pretty shortly after we started teaching this guy we found out he is incredibly learned in a lot of things. He has read the bible in Hebrew, Greek, Japanese, and English, AND he has read multiple versions of each of those. He has studied religions all over because he works for Hewlett Packard and has to go all over the world to do what he does. So he spends a lot of time near all the crazy Middle East stuff. And as much as he knew, we never got into a bible bash (partly because neither of us knew the bible well enough) but we just testified and I got an answer to Moroni's promise. I had finished the Book of Mormon earlier this week and not really felt anything different when I prayed but when I testified of it, I felt like I was surrounded by fire, but a good fire. So we testified like that's all we knew and made him promises like that God will answer his prayers. It was way intense and at the end he said that he would read the Book of Mormon that night and pray about it and that we could count on him keeping contact. He left sincerely wanting to know the truth and I really think he has or will pray with real intent to know. So it was an amazing experience. Right after me and Elder Coggins prayed and stood there and took a breath and realized we were Exhausted. Spiritually, physically (we stood for 2 hours) and mentally too. It was way intense. I plan to keep following up with them on how he is doing in Hachioji."

So that really was the biggest thing so far this week. It was a way good experience for me and I really enjoyed it. The next biggest thing is that last night the Mukaitani family had all the missionaries over for an Easter barbecue, and that was a way cool experience. We got there and helped set up and do as much as we could and they cooked so much meat it was incredible and it was all way good. They are one of my favorite families in the ward, they are always way nice to us and they have been especially nice to me since I got here. They told me that they were going to be way sad if me and Elder Simons leave. We are the 2 longest missionaries here, because we came at the same time. So we gave the spiritual thought, we are kind of expecting to transfer so it was a nice way to wrap things up if we do. It was way good, and we made sure to give them our business cards and took some pictures and had a lot of fun. If you guys come to pick me up we will definitely visit them while you're here. One of the kids (the married one) speaks pretty good English and so does their dad, and the kids know a good bit of words so it would be lots of fun, not to mention their food is amazing. So that was this week. There was a lot of doing nothing because my companion doesn't want to dendo much anymore, but I was still able to have a great week. Easter here wasn't as big of a deal as I had hoped but it was still good and we did a lot of good Easter dendo.

I'm glad Emilee is ok and everyone else is safe and sound, although no more car crashes please! I love you guys and I like cars so those are the worst! Thanks for all the updates on Easter and things that you have been doing, even though Morgan was the only one on the hunt it still looked like fun! Thanks for the eggs, Ryan included I suppose haha. I think the bunnies looked way good mom! I look forward to eating them and dad that picture (lunar eclipse – blood moon) is now my background, thank you! I've learned that I really don’t have any foods that I don't like anymore, with the exception of pickled plums, which are do-able but not fun. So Emilee I will gladly take all those pies off your hands. Yes I like pie now... And I would love any music or anything you send :) it's getting warmer here in Japan so I have broken the short sleeves out quite a bit. Everyone get healthy and have lots of fun and remember I love you! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Gailey

P.S. Any acoustic movie soundtracks or anything like that would be great! Lord of the rings, spirit, anything :)

P.P.S. IM TRANSFERING! I will be going to Hachioji where I was just on splits! I will be companions with Elder Turley. I'm not sure what he's like bit we shall see, I've seen him a lot and I slept in his apartment on splits. Hachioji is the closest area to Takao, but it is a ton different! I am incredibly excited. It will be way cool!

 

 

Popcorn Popping!

 

Ryo and Chiba

Elder Gailey and Elder Parks

Child Labor at McDonald's