The Work Continues

Well, we had another great week here in good old Aizu.

 

That phone call was really fun. I'm sorry there is so much to tell you and sometimes you just don't know where to begin and where to end.

 

Anyway, I forgot to tell you that Jeremy Reynolds joined the mission force here in Sendai. So I know someone actually in Japan! It's crazy.

 

This week wasn't too eventful. As I was sitting in church on Sunday listening to a talk given by the Elders quorum president, he was talking about families and time. He talked about that how our time in this life is limited and very short. But that is what is so great about the Gospel that families can really be together forever. I just really think what a great blessing it is to have this knowldge that we can be eternal.

 

This week we were able to teach our investigators a couple times. The Hoshi couple has so much potential but I feel like I just want them to be perfect investigators and always progress. But that's not the case, you have to be patient and long suffering you have to really try and discern peoples' needs and help them anyway you can. Right now they are really hesitant about coming to church but we will continue to search and be guided by the spirit to know why and try to settle any worries they might have.

 

Oh I don't know if I told you about the Shuwa Class.  After one of our Eikaiwa classes, I overheard one of the students talking to someone about shuwa and a class so I jumped right in and got all excited because she told me that there was a Shuwa class here in Aizu and that it was free. You better believe I went! It was so awesome, when I first arrived the lady who was a translator for the Deaf teachers came up to me and told me you cannot have any religious talk in this place.  I was a little upset because I wanted to proselyte but I understood that it is a free class and I couldn't. But that is where the Lord works in Mysteriouus ways... So we went to this class with an Eikaiwa student who just happens to be an investigator too. The class is 2 hours long and there is a half an hour break between the two hours and during that time all of the deaf people asked me questions about who I am why I know Shuwa what am I doing in Japan and so I got to Proselyte and tell them all these things.  At first I was hesitant because the lady told me not to, but our Eikaiwa investigator was able to actually work with us in explaining our purpose. It was way good and a lot of the students are now coming to our Eikaiwa class ( the ones that aren't deaf) and the deaf people I am going to try and get their phone numbers next time and see if I can't use what the Lord has allowed me to learn and build up his kingdom that way.

 

Anyways hope you are all good and love you all.

 

Elder Nebeker

You don't always get to see the fruits of your labor (Dec 22nd letter)

So this week was incredible.

 

So this week I learned that sometimes you don't always get to see the fruits of your labor. While I was in Hachinohe I didn't have the best success but I always had faith that I could find people and did my best everyday. As I was thinking about it this week eating lunch, I saw a letter on the table and saw that it was addressed to me. I was confused why I hadn't seen this letter before but I grabbed it and it wasn't from anyone from America it was from Japan.  I opened it and it was a letter from a Member in Hachinohe who told me that when I had taught her High school class they had an amazing time and now 3 of the students are active participants in Eikaiwa and love talking to the missionaries. Even though it was something small it made me realize that even though I might not always have success I am setting a strong foundation and leaving my areas stronger than I found them. It's really amazing how the Lord works in Mysterious ways.

 

Anyways this week was full of fun awesome things. We got to teach our investigators quite a few times this week. I really love the 2 year old Yuna, she is so CUTE! Makes me want to have a little Japanese kid. Anyway, they invited us to go out to dinner with them too. It was their anniversary and they took us missionaries with them. Super cool. We were able to really strengthen our relationship with them and afterwards we went to some weird place and took the most hilarious pictures.  It is some self editing thing that makes you look like you are wearing some hardcore make up. It was ridiculous but hilarious.

 

Right now we are really trying to get their family to come to church.  They read and pray all the time, but for some reason they won't or can't come to church. It's frustrating because you love them so much and you just want to see them be happy forever.

 

Also, this week we had one of our Christmas parties and it turned out awesome. So to give you some background, at least each quarter the branch has a missionary fireside where we create goals that the branch wants to see the missionaries do. And one of the goals was to see 70 people at the Christmas party. So the Christmas party came around and we had exactly seventy people there! It was an awesome Miracle. Everyone me and my companion had invited to the Party came and we saw so much success from it. The sister missionaries were able to find a new investigator through it and also some people came to church the next day that were at the party. So I think It was a pretty good success. We were able to squeeze a lesson right after the party too.

 

I could always use more ideas to teach, using books would be awesome. Im getting a little tired of drawing pictures. Literally even if you can think of themes or anything that could be used as a teaching aid that would be great because I teach a few kids from the ages 2-5 years old.

 

Love you cant wait to talk to you.

 

Elder Nebeker

Aizu Wakamatsu (December 15th Letter)

When I first arrived in Aizu it was actually really warm and quite pretty. There are a lot of mountains to look at and it's kind of like a Park City feel except for about a thousand times more houses and buildings. Then my second day in Aizu one of member tells me it's going to snow. I didn't think much about it because it snowed once in Hachinohe and it was barely anything so I thought Japanese people didn't understand what it really means to SNOW. I was completely wrong. It has been snowing for three days straight now and I have never seen  so much snow in my entire life. I can't ride my bike anymore for the winter and and it is so crazy how much snow they get. I would have to argue that there is more snow here now in these three days than Utah gets in an entire year. Super crazy!

 

Just to tell you a little bit about the area; It is by Fukushima where the nuclear power plants had a problem and are leaking.  I won't get to see a lot of my area because radiation levels are too high and there is still a lot of people who live in these places because they have to. We have another Branch in Koriyama that had to be closed down to missionaries but we still get to go every once in a while and help the members out there. And I really want to help them out because there is a deaf person! I love deaf people, so I am excited when it is my turn to go! There are a lot of people who were affected by the earthquake in 2011 here in Aizu. There are still a ton of people who are living in the assisted living homes which are teeny tiny little things. I feel really bad for them but so glad that I get to help them out in my time here in Aizu.

 

My companion is a great guy! But its certainly weird switching companions.  He is from Idaho and he doesn't speak much Japanese which was weird going from speaking only Japanese to now English. He really is as nice as they come.

 

Right now I have 3 Investigators! WHOOOO!!! Its a miracle!

We are teaching a family called the Hoshi family. We teach their 2 year old daughter English and she is super cute! The mom is super nice and so is the dad. They knew each other in Junior High but didn't really talk and then later in life ended up getting married. Anyways, you might be wondering how in the world do I teach a 2 year old English. It's not easy.  You have to be super creative and make a lot of crafts to try to have attention the whole time. So if you have any Ideas I would love to hear them. Right now they live really close to the church, living with their parents because when the Earthquake happened it split their house in half. They told me all the stories of what happened here in Aizu during the earthquake. It sounded pretty scary. Food couldn't be shipped into Aizu for a couple months and so all the stores were out of food and a lot of people were coming into Aizu to evacuate Fukushima so there were a lot more people here. They said that this was one of the hardest times but that's when they prayed to God to help them to know what to do. They said that it was during this time that they realized just how important families are and that this life is pretty short with families. So we were able to explain how the Gospel can help them and that they can be with their family forever and that they can always talk to God and seek his guidance and thank him. They right now are reading the Book of Mormon together as a couple and basically share it with all their friends. Its super awesome! We have been shoveling their snow in front of the house so they can leave and go to work and stuff. And they were very appreciative. So much that they asked to set up appointment(s) We have a couple with them already set and they invited us to go get dinner with them on their aniversary! Like way nice! So our other investigators have been coming through their friends.

 

Oh I almost forgot! Here in Aizu we have two missionaries who just recently returned from their misisons and one went to Nagoya and the other went to tokyo. They know a lot of Jamies friends (WADE!) and they know a lot of my friends too who are serving, They know my prom dates brother Elder Sanderson, They know my friend Josh Nielson and they know Riley otteson. So it is a pretty crazy small world! They also know some of my MTC teachers, The branch does at least.

 

 So I hope to keep on working and doing my best here in Aizu. We have an appointment tomorrow with Hoshi family and one or two of there friends so I will ganbarimasu! Will do my best!

 

Love you all keep up the good work in LEHI!

 

 

Elder Nebeker

Transfer

Well, hello there.

 

This week made me really love my area Hachinohe!

This week we had Zone conference which was way fun! 

Our zone (Aomori) decided that they wanted to do a play of Jesuss birth and I was lucky enough to be Joseph for it! Lucky me. We didn't have any practice either because there is no time to meet together as a zone to practice it. But I still think it went very well. And don't worry, my head was covered with a cloth so people didnt have to stare at my bald spot. :)

Thank you so much for the lettters I really appreciated them and it certainly helped me realize how much love there really is around me. 

This week was a pretty exciting one, it made me absolutley love Hachinohe. I had the opportunity to go and teach an English class at a high school and I had no idea that I was supposed to teach. Literally I just walked in, ate dinner with the teacher, and she said, hey I have to grade the students tests today so you'll be teaching for about an hour today. I was a little bit panicked, cause I had like 5 minutes to prepare. So I said a quick prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help me think of ideas and things to do with this class and that it would just be a good time. So we started class and it was honestly SOOO fun! I made everyone do introductions and played games and talked about America with them. And the best part is is that they asked what Elder meant.... Hee hee i could then preach to them. So we shared what Elder meant and why we call everyone Brothers and Sisters. Then one of them asked what the meaning of Christmas was. So I got to share with them the meaning of Christmas and so basically I taught thirty or so students at one time. I had a blast! Its amazing how far a simple prayer can go. I actually ended up teaching for 2 and half hours because it was so fun and the students really enjoyed it and wouldn't let me leave.

This week we were able to visit one of our potential investigators.  It was a lady I had found clear back in the summer when I first came.  We haven't been able to get ahold of her because she is always busy but we we have been able to talk to her family in the past and finally this Sunday we were able to get ahold of her and shared a message about the restoration and we got her phone number and we will teach her family! Yeah! 

This week also one of our old investigators came to an activity.  We had zone conference so we only got there at the last few minutes of the activity.  We weren't able to see him, but the branch President came and said that he wanted to talk to us because he lost his job recently and wants to talk to the missionaries again. So we have an appointment with him today to eat dinner and talk some things over.

And of course, things start to liven up here and I WILL TENKIN! I will transfer. Im transferring to Aizuwakamatsu! Basically the other end of the mission! Crazy! I will be companions with the Disrtict leader. I'm super excited but I am so sad to leave Hachinohe because I know that I might not see these wonderful people again. But I know that the Lord's work must continue.

 

Love you all and hope to hear from you again soon! Sorry I don't have more time to write!

Elder Nebeker

Baptism in Hachinohe

Kazoku! (family)

Well I'm just going to start with my week,

On Monday I decided I needed a hair cut but I don't trust the haircut places here because they cut Japanese style hair not Gaijin (foreigner) hair so I thought I would try giving myself a hair cut. I went to the local mall here and found some clippers and returned to my apartment. So I didn't want to charge the clippers for very long cause it was P day, I wanted to do other things, I wanted to get my hair cut over fast. So I charged it for about five minutes and thought that if I just do like a 3 on the sides and a 4 on the top I should be fine. So on these clippers its only one clipper and you can slid it up and down to change the length to like a 3 or 4 or 2 and so I did that and I got the length that I wanted and began shaving away... Then because I didn't charge it for very long it started to slow down so I thought I would just try to go faster and faster...  I added a little pressure as I was going fast and all of a sudden the slide lock came loose on the clippers and it switched into a 1 and I heard Vrrrrrooooom, and I became Hage (Bald)... not really bald but I shaved my hair down quite a bit that you can see skin which is not normal for my rather thick hair. I was a little shocked but I just thought maybe if I cut the rest of my hair to a 2 on the sides and 3 on the top that would blend it better so then I relocked the Clipper adjustment and continued cutting when all of a sudden the clippers died. So I didn't have time to charge the clippers and finish the hair cut so I took out the scissors and thought meh, If teenage girls can do this so can I. So I tried to taper things out a little bit but then my companion yelled LET`S GO! crap I was only half way done with my hair cut. I looked at it and had a flash back of cutting Rachel Tietjens hair. Nothing has changed in the last 10 years or so,my cutting ability is about the same. Eventually one of the church members noticed that I was a little bit bald on the sides and asked if they could help and she fixed my hair right up. Very nice Kyoukaiin (church member).

On Thursday, we got a call from a church member in Misawa which is where the American Air base is and it was actually an American on the phone and they invited our district to Thanksgiving. Oh my goodness I have never seen more glorious food in the 5 months since I have been in Japan. We had a good talk with them and they were so nice.  We were very fortunate to go because Misawa is not in our area but we got special permission.  It was really funny because Japanese Elders have never sat in a lazy boy before or just a regular American couch. They were in heaven. It was super funny. They all said they want to move to America after that. I was really grateful for them and their charity.  They actually came back to Hachinohe and helped me repair my bike because they had a lot of spare parts.  I had to replace my back tire, both my brakes, both pedals, and I found out that my back rim was bent pretty bad. My poor bike has had to go through a lot lately but that's okay. 

 

Jump Back to Wednesday. Eikaiwa day. We had a special new student who came.  He is in the Japanese Jedai.  Its like a marine force for Japanese but Japan can't have an army because of world war two, but he had a really good time at Eikaiwa and we were able to talk to him after class.  He asked us a lot of questions about church and he said that he wouldn't mind becoming Christian... We were all in shock, so we invited him to Open space, another activity we have at the church, so that we could talk to him more and teach him break dance,cause my district leader break dances.  He had an awesome time and really enjoyed talking with us missionaries and he asked if we could get lunch with him sometime, and of course we said yes and we invited him to church and we went on our way.

 

 Oh time out, almost forgot Saturday, there was a baptism in Hachinohe!!

Super Exciting we finally had a baptism here in Hachinohe.  It was one of the Sisters investigators. It really made all the church members happy and it gave them some mission fire I think. It was so amazing to see someone who humbled themselves and became clean. I was able to participate in the confirmation and it was really amazing to feel of the power of the Holy Ghost. She is a very Humble lady and will be a great church member.

Sunday, Sunday was an awesome day. Like I said we were able to confirm the Holy Ghost and not only that our friend from Eikaiwa came to church and stayed for the whole thing! We were really surprised.  We asked him if he thought it was long and he said no.  He said that what he felt today wasn't a usual feeling it was a better feeling and that he really liked Sunday school and being able to have a discussion. It was super awesome. So we plan on continuing to work with him. After church one of the members came and grabbed  us and said this is my son teach him. WHAT! I was so shocked, apparently the members son has been struggling in life and wants to know what the purpose of life is. So us Hachinohe missionaries get to teach him. Super awesome.

I love you all and I am so grateful for you.

 

Elder Nebeker