November in Pictures and Brighter Days

We're happy to see that Skyler isn't missing out on too many of his favorite things!

 To start off I would like to respond to mom`s question about my emails seeming happier. The answer... the first few months of being out in the field are hard. You have nothing behind you, you honestly feel like this will last forever and you can`t say too much, because the language is extremely difficult. Nobody really wants to talk to you because they see your badge, which in big bold letters says Jesus Christ and for some reason that seems to scare everybody away. Because I could say little to nothing, my mind would wander, and I focused on things like what it’s going to be like to see everyone at the airport when I get home? How much longer is today going to last? Instead of focusing on questions like, how can I be best prepared to answer questions? Or what`s the best way to get somebody`s attention and be able to keep their attention? So the first three months were difficult, struggling with home sickness, missing my freedoms of when I was not a missionary, etc. But now as I do have a little ground to work with, I have experiences behind me that testify that this work is true, I have seen miracles, I have seen really hard days and even hard weeks. I have been rejected many times, but I have learned how to deal with it. I have learned that only through my faith in Heavenly Father can I get through all and anything.  Now, that does not mean that I don`t still have hard experiences but I am learning how to deal with them in better ways. For example, my companion and I got pretty sick this past week (we ate some bad food), but nevertheless we continued to work. We put our faith in the Lord, put smiles on our face and walked around the train stations and neighborhoods for hours trying to make the best of things and do what we are supposed to do as missionaries. Not only were we sick, but a majority of our lessons fell through. We have been merely contacting for the days we were sick. Some may get angry at God for putting them in such a difficult situation. I have grown to know that Heavenly Father gives us hard trials because he loves us.  And there is a difference in believing that and experiencing it. My prayers in the morning and at night have become more meaningful. I pray to Heavenly Father and thank him for these trials. Because through those trials the bright days are so much brighter. We didn`t find any new investigators all week, but we did grow and we talked to a lot of people. There are many things that happen out here that simply cannot be put into words - thoughts and experiences that are personal and cannot be shared. But now that I have a little bit of a footing, and can see what I truly can do, and how simple my task is, I am much happier!!!

I got to go on a kokan this friday to Akashi!! Best day of my life. This is the longest suspension bridge in the world!!! I also got to hang out with all my buddies one last time!!! I love this work!

Transfers are coming...

I taught the employees at my favorite restaurant "hook 'em horns".  I am really going to miss this area!

New Area

The new branch that we are working in has about 13 members, one of which is American!  Because he is from America, we got to have Thanksgiving and I was in charge of cutting the turkeys.  Talk about a blast! There was two of them and I took the first bit and then the American and the branch president also took a turn to finish it all off. We also got to make the piñatas.   I destroyed the last one.  There were so many little kids there and this was their first experience with a piñata.  It was awesome.