January 24, 2016

Well everyone it's officially snowed! It went from one day being nice and sunny to the next day being completely white. It's definitely been an interesting experience trying to live in snow especially coming from California. When I tell people here that I am from California they ask me if I am dying here...most of the time I respond, yes! Well this week we tried our hardest to do as much work as we could in the snow and that was a challenge. We have realized why missions in the States that snow a lot have cars. Komatsu being a very bike heavy area because everything is so spread out and people live far makes it hard to do lots when you can only walk. For example, Tuesday we really wanted to visit a certain less active who lives a pretty good distance by bike. Well we started off trying to bike in the snow and then quickly learned why missionaries DON'T do that. We decided to just chain our bikes to a pole and walk to rest of the way. Well it took us an hour to walk all the way there in the snow and when we got there she wasn't home. We then walked the hour all the way back. Fun stuff like that everyday now! 

This week was also transfer calls.... I'm staying in Komatsu with Elder Pennington! We are way excited to be here another transfer and are looking forward to seeing lots of miracles. 

Saturday we also had a pretty cool experience. We were riding home and we were passing near the train station when we saw this guy selling something from the back of his car. Well we realized it was tako yaki (fried octopus balls)! This guy just parked his little tiny Japanese car, opened the back, pulled out an oven, and started making tako yaki. Well it's not everyday that you see that so we couldn't resist and bought some. Well the guy turned out to be way cool and we had a good discussion while he cooked our food. You gotta love Japan and silly stuff like this. 

Sunday was maybe the saddest day of my mission. The Dias family is finally gone for good. Sunday they came to church and Alessandro got the priesthood and it was so cool. Then that night we visited and ate with them. It was very hard to say goodbye to them. I love them so much. Hopefully one day I can see them again. 

That's really it for the week. I love being here and serving the people here in Japan. The people here are great and I love them so much. I feel like I am starting to get a glimpse into the love Christ has for each of us and its so incredible. I have learned so much about patience, charity, and humility since coming on my mission. I know as we always strive to become more like Christ and follow his perfect example we can find more joy and peace in our lives. 

Love you all and hope you all have a great week! 

Elder Myers

Tako Yaki

The Dias Family

District and Zone Leaders

Snow in Komatsu

Do you want to build a snowman?

January 17, 2016

I am currently inside a 7/11 because the wifi at our church is out so sorry if I didn't respond to some of your personal emails, but I promise I will next week. 

Well this week was full of ups and downs so that made for an interesting week. The week started off not so great and then by about Thursday and Friday it got a lot better. Things are going really well here in Komatsu and I love it.

So Wednesday we went to visit a sister in the hospital and me and my companion played guitar and sang for her. It was way fun and she loved it. We love making people smile so that was a big win! 

Thursday it finally snowed! Everyone has been freaking out here because by this time there is usually several feet of snow but so for there has been nothing. Well Thursday it snowed just enough to make a thin layer on the ground. Sadly right after it started hailing, then raining so all the snow went bye bye. That was a fun day to go out because the weather was just no fun at all. 

Friday we had a cool experience finding an investigator. Well in Japan right now the church is testing out new proselyting pamphlets. They are pamphlets made especially for people without a Christian background. They have really been pressing us to use them in as many phases of our missionary work as possible. Well me and my companion decided to take a step of faith and go against the normal housing technique and instead use the new pamphlets at the door. Well we got shut down several times but finally we knocked on this one door and this man answered. We asked him if he believed God existed and he replied " well of course he exists, right." . It was so cool. We were almost speechless! Well we whipped out our cool iPads with our pamphlets and taught him really quick about our beliefs about God and he thought it was awesome. Well we asked if we would come back and he said yes! He has a family of 4 and we will be teaching them on Tuesday. So exciting! 

Saturday we went and helped the Dias family load up their moving truck....sooo sad! They are moving to Nagano which is in a different area. They are coming back at the end of this week to hangout and then Sunday, Alessandro gets the priesthood, but after that they are staying in Nagano. It was way sad helping them pack. It's hard to watch someone you've grown so close to just get up and leave. Also as a going away present they gave me a fancy air fryer for making like French fries and stuff. Every time I would go over to teach them we would always have French fries so I guess that's how they wanted me to remember them. So from now on I'll be carrying a air fryer around my mission. Hahaha! 

Saturday we also met with the less active Brazilian family in our ward and they made us some Brazilian rice and beans and I ate until I almost threw up. I haven't had real Brazilian rice and beans since I left home so when they brought it out I went crazy. It was so good! I also love this family they are so awesome. 

Oh missions are so awesome and so life changing! I don't think anyone can ever put into words the kind of joy and happiness that a mission brings. I love seeing this gospel work in people's lives as well as in my own. I love always having the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the huge blessing that is. I love the Book of Mormon and the great power it has. I've come to have such a greater appreciation for the Book of Mormon since coming on my mission. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here in Japan and serving these people. This is truly my home now and I don't think I'll ever be able to leave! 

I love you all and hope you all have a great week! 気を付けて！

January 10, 2016

Well this week was just absolutely beautiful!! Can I just say that being a missionary is so awesome! This is by far the best week on my mission. 

Well Tuesday we went to an appointment with an investigator and he didn't show...sad. However as we were riding to our next appointment we found a new investigator. One dropped but we found a new one! Funny how that works. Well his name is Hiraki and he is a 70 year old man who's voice is interesting because he smokes so much. We talked to him on the street and he said he would come to church on Sunday. Well Yesterday he actually came to church!! He stayed for sacrament meeting and then left but he said he is coming again next week. We are finally finding some good investigators here. It's awesome!! 

Wednesday we had the Dias family's baptism interview. They passed!! Hahaha! They are so awesome. Afterward we all went out and ate to celebrate. Haha! We showed up at the restaurant and they told all the Japanese people that me and my companion are fluent so people started freakin out and we're talking to us and were so surprised that we were 19 and could talk so well. It's always fun when you surprise people that you are a foreigner who speaks Japanese well. 

Well Sunday was by far the best day ever. The Dias family got baptized!! It was such an awesome baptismal service. The spirit was definitely felt by everyone there. Me, my companion, and a man from the ward did a version of Nearer my God to Thee durning the program. I sang the first verse in Portuguese then me and my comp sang the second in English then we all three sang the third in Japanese. it was so powerful and everyone loved it. The Dias family bore their testimonies and it was so great. They were so happy after the baptism it was so amazing. My face hurt at the end of church yesterday cause I had just been smiling so much. 

Also yesterday during second hour Alessandro (the father in the Dias family) asked me when he can get the priesthood. I was like "wow we just finished your baptism but okay if you're ready lets do it". He then started telling me how he thinks it's cool that he will be able to baptize people and pass the sacrament. He also told me that he is going to go find someone and baptize them once he has the priesthood. Haha! He is an awesome guy! Well we got him in for an interview with the bishop and he is getting the priesthood this coming Sunday. 

I love this family so much and am so grateful for the opportunity I had to meet them and teach them. They don't feel like investigators to me anymore. I feel like they are just my family. It's like I just baptized a part of my family. They are so amazing. It's been such a testimony builder for me to watch them make changes in their lives and try so hard to come closer to Christ. I don't know if I could go to church when I can't understand what is going on very well. They have so much faith and it just touches my heart. This is what the mission is all about! Bringing people closer to Christ literally brings you more joy then you can ever feel in any other way. 

I know this church is so true and that the gospel that I go out and preach each and every day is true. I love the Book of Mormon and the powerful and heart changing words that are written within. I love that we have a prophet on the earth who I know is a man of God. I love that this gospel brings people so much joy, peace, love, and hope. I love this all so much and that's why I'm here. I love what I am doing here and don't think I ever want to leave. Haha. 

Thank you all so much! I miss you all and hope you have an amazing week! 

皆さん頑張ってね！

The Dias Family

Special Water

January 3, 2016

Hello everyone!! Well this week was New Years so Japan was a party!! As missionaries we were actually asked not to go out for 3 days so that was interesting. We did a lot of studying and cleaning the apartment. It was fun. 

Well for this week this is what went down:

Monday we spent the evening with a less active Brazilian family. We have recently been visiting with them every Monday evening and pretty much doing family home evening, so that's been really fun. They said now that their work schedule had loosened up they want to start coming back to church so that's awesome. 

Thursday we had English class and only one person showed up and he is a good friend of the missionaries and is pretty much fluent in English. So we ended up writing a song in English and me and my companion played and sang it. It was super fun. When we finish it I will send a video. 

Friday was New Years so some members took us to some cool shrines and we had a really cool time. On New Years everyone goes to shrines so there were tons and tons of people. In Japan there are shrines on every street you go down, it's crazy. 

Finally on Sunday we had a normal Sunday and it was great. However, me and my companion were fasting to find a new investigator cause we haven't had very much success lately. Well as soon as we ended our fast with dinner we left the apartment. Well like the 5th person we talked to ended up becoming an investigator. It was literally the worst street contact I have ever done. My Japanese was sooo bad. I was stumbling over all my words. Somehow though this kid became an investigator. His name is Shimoguchi. And he even said he is going to bring his parents so we might actually be getting 3 investigators. Crazy! God is real! He promises us missionaries that if we have faith and open our mouths he will take care of the rest. Well, I have definitely seen that since I have been here. There are times when I think to myself "how did that person even understand me?" But somehow they did and actually have interest. We just have to have faith and God will take care of the rest. It's like that in any situation. Just have faith and take that step and God will provide. 

Lastly ... Dias family is getting baptized this week!! Their baptism interview is Wednesday and their baptism is Sunday. We are praying hard that all will work out! We are sooo excited!!! And so is everyone else here! 

Love you all and hope you have an amazing week!! 

Elder Myers

That is a big shrine

Ninja Training

December 27, 2015

This week was a very fun week. Elder Pennington and I have been having a lot of fun together and have had a lot of interesting and cool experiences this week. Missionary work always brings interesting stories. 

First off, Monday we went and visited a less active Brazilian family that we haven't been able to see since my first week here. We actually got them to answer the door! We had a nice visit with them and it was really cool. They lost their jobs here too, like all the other Brazilians here, however they are planning on staying here so that's awesome. They have lots of potential to come back so we are excited to be working with them.

Tuesday, Elder Pennington and I attempted to do some caroling. Emphasis on ATTEMPTED! Hahaha! Caroling is something that people don't do so it is kind of odd. We are foreigners so we can kinda get away with doing things that aren't necessarily socially acceptable. So we went to some members and less actives homes and sang and gave them some cookies. It was really fun. One lady told us that we should just sing in English...guess we weren't doing too well in Japanese. Haha! Another lady pulled up in her car as we were about to knock on her door...awkward. We had a fun night attempting though. 

Thursday I probably had the most interesting experience of my mission so far. We got a call from a 17 year old less active young man and he told us he had a Christmas present for us. We were so happy because we have been trying to meet with him forever and then he just called us up, we thought it was a Christmas miracle. Well we show up to this random train station where he tells us to meet him. We are looking around and don't see him anywhere. From all the way across the station we see a girl dressed in a Santa costume and she is waving at us. We start to walk in her direction because we figured the boy was over there in their group of friends. Well as we get closer the girl runs over to us. This girl is in a very immodest, barely clad Santa costume. She has huge high heals and stockings on. Well as she gets closer....it's the 17 year old less active boy!!!!!!! He just hands us our present and walks away like it was nothing. To this day I still have no idea why he was dressed like that, and I am forever scarred. 

Friday was Christmas so that was fun. As missionaries we don't do much cause it's still a normal day. However we went to a really nice restaurant for dinner so that was enjoyable. 

Sunday the Dias family came to church!!!!!!! Yay!! They are getting baptized on the 10th of January and we are so excited. Sunday evening we also went to their house and spent two hours eating and having a good time. We love spending time with them and teaching them. They are seriously my second family. 

This week was fun! Being a missionary is always full of fun times! I know I've said it before but there really isn't anywhere I'd rather be. Being out here serving people, preaching the gospel, and growing closer to the Savior makes me so happy. 

Hope everyone had a great week and Christmas! Love you all! 

Elder Myers

Spelunking (in our apartment)

December 21, 2015

Hello everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I have had an awesome week. This week was full of adventures and stories. 

First off, Monday was Elder Jenks and my last night together and it was very sad. We became very close and I think of him like a brother now. Also on Monday night I got hit by a car. That was super fun. I am totally fine and so is my bike. Good thing cars are tiny here in Japan. Hahaha! 

Tuesday I went to Nagoya and picked up my new companion. He is AWESOME! His name is Elder Pennington and he is from Tennessee. He is a super silly goofy guy and we get a long super well. He also plays guitar and sings so we have lots of fun with that as well. Really looking forward to this transfer with him. 

On Friday we taught the Dias family and we decided we would take a leap of faith and share a powerful scripture and then challenge them to baptism again. Well that lesson was the most powerful lesson Elder Pennington and I have ever been in, it was amazing. The Dias family accepted the challenge to get baptize and are scheduled to be baptized on the 3rd of January. Elder Pennington and I are so excited! Later on Friday, we went to a less actives house, about 40 minutes away by bike, and as we were leaving to go home Elder Pennington realized his bike tire was flat. That was a nice long walk home. Haha! However while up visiting this less active we came across a super pretty beach that we will definitely be going back to see soon.

On Saturday we went to visit a less active member and as we were leaving we came across a cool little shrine and so we wanted to go check it out. Well as we get closer this little Japanese old man comes out of no where and just starts telling us how this is a special shrine and that it has special water. He told us that we needed to drink from it so... Yeah we did!! It was way funny! So yeah I think we are going to become fluent in Japanese or have eternal life of something now. 

Sunday was also a very interesting day. We had an inactive member whom we had visited during the week come to church. We were so excited and sat him down and started teaching him a lesson during second hour. Well like half way through the lesson a member pulls me out and tells me he is forbidden at church. So we had to kindly escort him out. It was a super interesting experience. Also on Sunday evening we talked to this Indian man on the street and then he told us he didn't have time right then but we could come back and talk at his restaurant. He then ended the conversation by telling us that we are his best friends. It was so funny. I don't know if we will ever see him again but I am glad I could be his best friend for about 40 seconds. 

This week was a very fun and interesting one. I love the mission and am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord for 2 years. Christmas isn't a big Holiday in Japan at all. I don't even know if I would consider it a holiday here but I am still so grateful for this time of the year where we really ponder about our Savior. I am so grateful for the sacrifice He performed on my behalf and all the joy and peace I can have because of Him. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and remember that there is no Christmas without CHRIST! 

Love, 

Elder Myers

My new companion Elder Pennington

A shrine we found this week

December 14, 2015

This week was a fun one!! Can't believe it's almost Christmas though! It doesn't seem real here cause the Japanese don't really celebrate it. Well this is the last p-day of transfer 2. Tomorrow I am officially not a bean anymore! Yay!! 

So Monday I went to the dollar store and bought some Christmas decorations and decorated the house. It's nothing much but it brings a little more of the Christmas spirit here in our apartment. 

Wednesday was a sad day :( the Dias family said they need more time to get baptized and don't want to plan a baptismal date right now. They said it's hard to join a church where they don't understand it all because they don't really speak Japanese. They still want to meet with us and keep coming to church so that's awesome . We will just keep trying our best with them and I know one day they will get baptized. They know that everything we teach is true and they have such strong faith. They love the Book of Mormon and love the church members. They are so awesome and I love them. 

Friday was transfer calls.... I'm staying in Komatsu!!!!! My companion Elder Jenks is leaving though. I'm kinda sad about that but it's okay. I'll get to meet my new companion tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. New transfer equals new miracles in Komatsu! I'm excited for another transfer here and a new companion will be fun too!! 

Saturday night was our Christmas party and that was super fun. I went around with jolly ranchers and big 5 gum and gave them out to the kids and some of the adults and they went crazy for that stuff. In Japan they don't have super sweet or sugary candy so jolly ranchers just about gave them all diabetes, but they loved it. Funny stuff! Now they all ask for candy when they see me. Hahaha! 

That's all the good stuff from this week!! I love it here! It's getting colder and I think we might see snow this week so that will be exciting. So glad I am out here on a mission, there is no place I'd rather be. This gospel and the opportunity I have to share it everyday makes me so happy. Right now is literally the happiest I've ever been! Just going out and telling people about Jesus Christ everyday, what's better?  It always brings a smile to my face. Especially this Christmas season where everything is centered around Jesus Christ. How can we not just be so full of love and gratitude for Him and his sacrifice. A scripture I've thought about a lot recently is Luke 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." I love how it says "YOU"! It is so direct. Jesus was born for YOU. He was born for ME. He knows us perfectly and he would have came into this world and suffered just for one of us. He loves us that much! That gives me so much comfort and peace. Jesus lives and loves us, I know that! 

Love you all and hope all is going wonderfully. I Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season! Take care! Till next week! 

Elder Myers

Our little Christmas tree