For a Small Moment

Well, the call from my Mission President was the last thing I was expecting on a Sunday evening.

But I know that the Spirit guided Doctor Hansen in Tokyo. He is not even a spine specialist but he caught and noticed things that none of the spine specialists here in Hirosaki noticed. As hard as it is for me to leave the place that I have grown so much to love, I know that one day I will be able to come back and pick up where I left.

I feel bad for my companion Elder Kugai, He is like a little brother to me. I love him. I love all the investigators that I have gotten to teach here in Hirosaki. My hope is to come back with even more strength and a stronger Testimony. 

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment."

D&C 121:7

Well, I guess I can tell you more happy things right?

This week, I gave a district meeting on "Study", and I focused on focusing our studies on investigators. So I myself tried especially hard this week, and I prayed really hard for each investigator and how I can better help them. I have never had better personal studies yet on my mission. And this week as we taught Akimoto san, it was a half English half Gospel lesson.  Our theme that we chose to teach him was "Showing Love". SO we started the lesson off with English, and he looked at me and he said I have had something on my mind all morning and I want to know how to say it in English. So he said the sentence in Japanese and I translated it for him, "The People Live to Support Each Other." It just happened to be along the lines for what we prepared for him. And when we shared the message, he was very moved and tears were shed. It was a great lesson.

We have been having a lot of things happen like that recently with our investigators.

This week we taught a lesson to Narita San and we were talking about keeping the commandments with him, and he told me again that when he first met Christians and read the Bible he thought they were crazy. But he followed one of the commandments and he felt so much peace and happiness and that is how he began to believe in the bible.  He says that when he tries to talk to people they think he is crazy. And he says that as much and as hard as he tries to explain to people it does no good because they just have to try to know. ( Though whole time I thought to myself, ya, that's exactly the same things we are trying to tell you.) It was pretty funny, but that lesson went really well.

Well I guess I could call but I don't know where to buy a call card here in Japan to make it cheap so see you all in a couple of days.

love,

 

Elder Nebeker

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

Hello everyone,

I have been on my mission now just over a year, and about a month ago my back began having pain. The pain slowly moved to my right leg. I went to a spine specialist here in Japan and he told me it would be fine and that I should just rest. But a week later the pain became a lot worse. I returned again to the Doctors where they took and MRI and told me that I can either have surgery or let time fix it. So I chose to continue my mission and try letting time fix it out. But due to the back issues, I have very little to no strength in my right calf. On further examination, my back issues have caused me to have nerve damage. I received a call from my mission president, who informed that the neural surgeons want me in America this week to perform surgery to try and save the strength in my right leg. They said they can't guarantee that I will have power restored in my leg, but that by having the surgery there is a chance. So I will be pausing my mission and returning to America this week to have surgery. 

I love my mission and I know that every thing that the Lord allows to occur in our lives is for a purpose. 

"if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

D&C 122:7

I am a missionary I know it, I live it, and I love it.

 

Elder Nebeker

I am a Missionary, I know it, I live it, I love it

Well I'm sure you are wanting to know about my back and you have probably heard some from Sister Smith. But I went to the Doctors on Wednesday at 8:30 and waited until 12:30 to actually see the Doctor. It was the same  doctor as last time and he had told me last time that I should just rest and I will be fine. So I wasn't to happy to see him again, but I explained to him my pain and so he let me take a MRI after some discussion. I went and had the MRI and I went back and it was a different Doctor and he was really funny. He said that he has met some doctors that work at the University of Utah. But he took a look at the MRI and one of my discs in my back had collapsed and the one above it was partially herniated. So he tested some of my reflexes and I don't have a reflex in my right ankle. So I kind of walk with a limp. But he said that I should take it easy for about 2 months or I could have surgery. But I can definitely feel everyone's prayers. I can walk pretty good and at least proselyte and do the things a missionary needs to do. So thank you! I can tell that my back is very fragile so I am trying to be careful.

So every week I get to the opportunity to do a District meeting. This week I thought I would give our District a theme. So I chose the Theme, "I am a missionary, I know, I live it, I love it."  The district and I discussed why each of them were important. I asked each missionary why they chose to go on a mission. And wow, hearing everyone bear testimony about how they and why they chose to come was a really cool experience. Definitely one to remember. The District is really cool. I am glad I get to work with them. I attached a picture of our district, we decided to be zombies. I think it turned out pretty good. ( It was District P-day today.)

I also attached a picture of my companion. Elder Kugai. He is doing really well, He likes to sleep, a lot. He can fall asleep literally anywhere. I have been stressing to him that an effective Missionary is someone who is always inviting others to do something to come closer to Christ. I think that a lot of people just look at numbers and how many people they baptized. When it is our desire to serve and bring people closer to Christ. It is the peoples agency whether or not they act on the message.

Oh I also attached a picture of my burnt coat. I don't need a new one. I had a member cut the burned portion out and then I found an old coat that was in the apartment and took some material from that and had her sew it. It actually looks pretty good and gives it some more character and a memory.

I also sent a picture of me in a hulk mask. I got the mask from a member in Aizuwakamatsu. I was thinking about using it for this years Halloween party. 

Well this week was pretty good. Our finding time has been kind of limited recently because of my back and having to be at the doctors. But I think that this upcoming week should be pretty good. This week we taught Narita san, Who is really cool. Except for he mostly has interest in learning English. But we discussed repentance and we broke down the word repentance for him. I used my Dictionary to break it down. But Re- is to do again. Pent- Means the past, ance- Means an action. So we thought it was interesting how it broke down in English.  We took the Japanese (悔い改め) (Kuiaratame) And the first Kanji in it is Heart (心) But the way it is written is like a child's heart. And the last part (aratame) (改め which means to revise or change. So the way we looked at it is how Christ always tells us to become like children. Through Repentance. We do an action that takes us to a state from the past like a child. But through repentance, We revise and change who we are to become better.　I thought it was really cool.

This week we also taught one of our investigators Akimoto san. He is hilarious and way rich and pretty well known here in Hirosaki. He took us out to eat after our lesson to a hotel restaurant.  Everyone knew him and they just let him park wherever he wanted and treated him like a king. It was pretty funny. But He is doing good. He has a lot of questions about the purpose of life and about after death. So we are working on him with that. I think that he will really start to progress here shortly. 

Well That was basically my week. I hope that everyone is doing good. I love you all. 

Elder Nebeker

Burning Feeling

This was another good week here in Hirosaki.

As I was studying my scriptures in the morning, it got a little cold, so I decided to turn on the space heater. As I kept reading my scriptures I felt this warm burning feeling, and I thought, " this is the warm burning that all those people must have been talking about over the pulpit for all these years."  But nope, it was just my winter coat burning..... 

 This week I saw a video that I thought was so good. Its a mormon Message video. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3792885561001

Maybe you could watch it for Family Home Evening or something.

This general Conference was really good. I think that there was a few big major themes to it.

I think that Gaining a Testimony of Joseph Smith and a current Prophet of the church today was really emphasized. I think that setting and making our priorities right was also a big thing, not letting small things distract us from our Eternal goal. "Eternal Perspective" And the last was making the Sacrament a more spiritual experience. 

As I was thinking about the sacrament this week I thought about how surprisingly different the Church in Japan or at least in Tohoku (Sendai Japan) is from the America. In America during the sacrament you will see countless people on their phones. Yes some are looking at scriptures and things, but a lot are not. In Japan you will not see that anywhere. When the sacrament is passed, you will see every head bowed in prayer. 

Well to update you on the work here in Hirosaki; Elder Kugai and I have been trying to help our investigators strengthen their faith in Christ. 

Narita san wants to try following more commandments to see his faith grow. So we are planning to use the bible to introduce a commandment and reinforce it with the Book of Mormon. Because he has a particular interest in Christ and his life. 

 

Elder Kugai and I have been doing some Streeting to help him open up more to talking with everyone. It is such a good learning experience for me too. 

Well to update you on my back, The pain has moved into my right leg and is constant. But Japanese doctors use every excuse to have a day off so there hasn't been any doctors offices or Hospitals open to go to. But my Branch mission leader is becoming a doctor and he graduates next spring so I have been working with him, and he thinks that I have nerve that might be pinched by something causing pain. But Hopefully I will get things figured out soon. 

Love you all,

Elder Nebeker

P.S.  Since receiving this letter from Jason, we checked with his mission President's wife about Jason's back.  They arranged some tests at the clinic where they determined he has a herniated disc.  He reported to Sister Smith that he is doing better.  His mission President is an Orthopedic surgeon, so we feel very blessed to have them there to help him.

A Day lived in Procrastination is a Dangerous Day

Hello Family!

Well I will let you know that I absolutely love my new companion Elder Kugai. He is very humble and ready to learn. He is very teachable. I think that he will be a great missionary. He also has a desire to work, which is so important.

This week we taught a lesson to Narita san and it was my companion's first lesson. We talked to him about the plan of Salvation and a lot about the Doctrine of Christ. He had a lot of questions and we were able to help him answer his own questions.  We taught him to follow what Jesus has taught us to do to make it back to Heavenly Fathers kingdom. And He said that he will receive baptism but he wants to know and gain more Faith in Jesus Christ. It was a really good lesson. He is a really cool guy who has seen the power of the Scriptures in life.

Japan is getting so COLD! Yabai! its so cold.

Anyways. The HIrosaki district is still doing so good. We are seeing so many miracles. 

I created a prayer list for the district where we pray specifically about everyone's investigators. It has seemed to be really effective. 

I'm sorry this week was basically just transfers so there is not too much to talk about. I was on a bus with 5 other missionaries traveling the last 3 days. 

Basketball Dendou (Mission work) seems to be doing really well for us. It is just starting getting started up so there is only like 4 people that come. But it is easy to get people outside to join and start conversations with them. But maybe God doesn't think it is too good of an idea because I woke up with back problems the next morning and I didn't even play too hard. Not to mention I have been sleeping on the floor for a year now.

 

So How is the Weather in Utah? Anything exciting happen in the ward? Any split announcements yet? 

I enjoy pictures as much as you probably enjoy my pictures. So I will be sure to send you some next week.

Well I have been continuing my study of The Miracle of Forgiveness. This week I learned about the Penalties of Procrastination. I learned that once you begin procrastinating it makes everyday harder to repent, eventually to the point where you lose the spirit, and all desire to repent. And that everyday living in Procrastination is a dangerous day. Because if something bad were to happen there is no turning back. So none of you be Procrastinaters!

Well Sorry its short but I love you all! 

 

Elder Nebeker

Hirosaki District on Fire

Family it is so good to hear from you!

Well I will just start with the news this week.

This week we had transfer calls...... and I will be tra.... not be transferred! Unfortunately my white washing buddy Elder Thayne will be transferring . He will be going to Misawa, which is an American air base that has an American ward. I think he will really like it, but he is not too happy that he is transferring. 

So I stay as DL in Hirosaki and my new companion is Elder Kugai, from Japan. I will be his trainer! Now the funny thing is my trainer, (Elder Keshino), was Elder Kugais trainer for a little bit, but the mission President, (President Smith) has asked that I finish his training. So I get to train my mission Brother.

Well, The Hirosaki District has been on fire this week! This Sunday the district was able to set 2 baptismal dates for October 25th.  I am so excited for these people. They both seem way cool, and definitely need the Gospel. At the same time that all of this is happening, the Hirosaki district will be completely changed. Half of the District will be transferred. :( But I am excited for the new missionaries coming in.

This week we had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators, his name is Narita Shizuo. We taught him about Christ and his Atonement, and we watched a video called, "He is risen"  ( https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng ) And then we watched another video called, "Because of Him"       ( https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng )

I gave you the References so you can watch them too. :)

But we watched those two videos with him and it was way powerful. We talked about the resurrection and what Christ did for us. 

He told us that a few years ago when he first thought about Christian people he thought they were crazy to believe in such crazy things. He thought they were all nuts. But he said that he was dragged to church by one of his American friends and at church he received a bible. This point in his life was stressful and he wasn't sure what to do. And so he read a scripture in Mathew that says something like this, "Don't worry about tomorrow, let the things of today be taken care of" and, he said it had an impact on him.  He still thought that Christians were crazy, but he decided to try what the scripture said and he he felt so much less stress. He became so much more happy and he said from that point he knew that what the bible said and what the Christian people were teaching was not fake. That it was believable. Then it kind of turned into a testimony meeting with him, it was so awesome. I opened up to Alma 32 which talks about the Word of God being compared to a seed. And I explained to him that what he experienced was like Alma 32, Where he didn't have a perfect faith, but he had enough faith (Like a mustard seed) to experiment on the word and apply the teachings in his life. He then realized that it was a good seed and now he has a strong faith in the bible and that Christ lives.

 

He than explained to us that he can tell a Christian person apart from other people in Japan. He said it is so easy. Especially where hardly anyone is a christian in Japan. He was able to sense the Light of Christ.

It was a way cool lesson. That is basically what happened this week.

Also I have been finding a lot of people who like basketball here so we have been using basketball as a proselyting tool. I am thinking about making it an official weekly activity because we are finding a lot of PI`ｓ through it. 

Well On a fun note for you all to be more spiritually enlightened. This week I read about the Sins of Omission and Commission. And wow. just wow. I read about it in a book called "The miracle of Forgiveness" It is a really good book. I have learned a lot from it. But if you have time you should study the sins of Commission and Omission.

Love you all,

Elder Nebeker

Obedience Can Draw People Nearer To Us

Wow this week was fantastic!

So let's just start out by saying that what Elder Thayne and I took time to do in organizing our District is really starting to pay off. 

This week we had Zone conference, we were told that some time this year we would be getting Ipads. But who knows? I don't mind old style Dendo (Proselyting).

But anyway, we talked a lot about obedience at the conference and I really enjoyed it. We talked about how through our obedience alone, we can draw people nearer to us by the light of Christ. I believe that to be very true.

After the conference we were on the bus, and I saw a black man, probably the second I have seen all my mission. I introduced myself to him, and he was very nice. He knew about the church and he was from Michigan. We started talking and come to find out, one of his good friends is a bishop. We somehow got started on the topic of leadership and we talked about some of the most successful people in today's time. We agreed that it came down to the point that those people knew how to manage what they had. They delegated responsibilities to keep the work moving forward. He asked me a good question that I had never thought about before. He said why did Jesus call the apostles that he did. Why was a fisherman, (Peter) left with a sword when Christ went into the Garden?  It's because he was good with his hands. How else could he cut a man's ear off without cutting anything else? Why was Judas left in charge of the Money? Because he was good with money. Unfortunately he used it to betray Jesus but, He asked me that question and we had a really good conversation about how Christ lead. I got a lot of insights talking with him about how to be a better leader, sadly he was only there for the day....

But like I said our hard week paid off this week.

Me and Elder Thayne went from a white wash with no investigators and basically nothing to do until this week. We now have 4 Investigators. One of them came to Church this week. He wants to meet with us everyday. He is 20 and his name is Nakano Shuya. He is way cool. We also have a man named Narita Shizuo who is way cool. Believes in God. We have Akimoto who wants to know the purpose of Life. We also have Sakamoto who was an old investigator who has read the entire Book of Mormon but is afraid of water.  So that is what is keeping him from being baptized. 

This week we completely Crushed our goals. 

I wish I could type longer but actually one of our investigators just barely came in so it will have to be short this week.

Love you,

 

Elder Nebeker

Congrats Natalie!

Remove The Things That Are Keeping Us From Serving Our Best

Dear Family & Friends,

 

This week we had a big conference in Morioka which is pretty far away from Hirosaki making this week a lot of travel. At the meeting, we had Elder Whiting address us.  He is a member of the quorum of the Seventy and is first president over the Northern Asia mission.

He talked about Obedience and Christ and his atonement. It was so cool. I learned a lot of things. One thought that I had during this meeting was about the Anti Nephi Lehis. How they showed their loyalty and faith by taking their weapons of war and putting them deep in the earth, so that they would not be tempted to even take them up again. And as I thought about that, I thought what as a missionary can I bury? What can I do to show the Lord my commitment to Him and this work?

 

So I got the idea that as a district we are going to do as the anti nephi lehis did and literally remove the things that might be holding us back from serving our best. 

I absolutely love being able to go out everyday and talk with a lot of new people everyday. People who will listen are very few, but I think that we plant a lot of seeds. In the pmg it says that no effort is wasted. I believe that with all my heart. Last week we had the opportunity to hear the Branch Presidents Conversion story.  He said that when he first met the missionaries it was on the street and he had no interest whatsoever. They handed him a pass a long card, and he just kind of put it a side. But then about a month later a different pair of missionaries came up to him and handed him the same pass along card and he once again told them he had no interest. So he went along for about another month when another different pair of missionaries came up to him and handed him the same pass a long card again. He realized that maybe something we were sending him a message that he needs to listen to what they have to say. So it took a long time but he finally listened to the missionaries and was able to be baptized. He was basically an Eternal Investigator, until one day he kept on getting the feeling he needed to go to the church. So on his way home from work, he told the taxi man to take him to the church so they did.  And then he called the missionaries up and told them he was at the church and ready to receive baptism. SO they did it there on the spot.

Me and Elder Thayne have been trying to set up some system so that we can coordinate the work better with all the missionaries in the district. It took some time. But we got it all set up so I am way excited to see how this district does.

Well Congrats for Nat! I am so excited I can see so many blessings here in the field and at home. I love it.

 

Love,

 

Elder Nebeker

He's Alive

Hello family I have a pretty funny story to tell you, and pretty cool.

So this week I got a call from one of the members here in Hirosaki.  She asked me if I knew a man named Okata San".  I replied, "I have never met him but I believe that he is the other Elders' Investigator." Well she went on to tell me that this Mr. Otaka has gone missing and the cops went to his house and all the windows were open and his car was there and his cell phone was in his house. He had been gone for five days. So the cops checked his phone and found out that the last person he came in contact with was the missionaries. So the cops thought that the missionaries might know something about his whereabouts.  They set up something to come investigate the missionaries. Apparently this man is a famous "Kendou" instructor, and if you don't know what kendo is you could probably look it up on you tube.  It is a very famous sport here in Japan, its like sword fighting almost. Anyway, all of his students' thought that he was dead and no one could find him. Well one of the missionaries remembered that when they were talking with him he said that he was going to go fishing up in the mountains.  The missionaries called up the member that was helping the cops to tell her what they remembered and so she got in contact with the police.  They sent a search helicopter up into the mountains and they FOUND HIM! he had slipped down a really steep hill and had broken his leg really bad so he couldn't walk.  Luckily he was by a river and so he drank a little bit of water and ate a mushroom that was growing by him.  He survived for 5 days like that! Crazy! Anyway it was the missionaries information that saved his life. Talk about miracle.

Well that was pretty much the exciting thing of the week.

It has been a year now since I have been in Hachinohe! And on Saturday I got to attend a priesthood meeting where I was able to see some of the members! It made me so happy. Makes me want to just start all over again back in Hachinohe. I love my mission. But anyways, The new branch president in Hachinohe came up to me and asked me if I knew who Shion was, and I said, "Yeah! I met her on the street a year ago when I was in Hachinohe." He smiled and told me she goes to Seminary everyday and is a great member missionary. He thanked me for the work that I did when I was in Hachinohe. And I felt so much better about my experience in Hachinohe. At the time when I was being a missionary I felt so unsuccessful.  During my time in Hachinohe I wasn't able to even teach one lesson or find one investigator. But the one thing that I made sure to do was be obedient always and try to invite people. As I look back on that experience I realize that really through our obedience and faith we can see miracles as it says in Moroni 7. 

Well I love Hirosaki and the opportunity to work here. 

Sounds like everyone is doing really good. You are all in my prayers. 

Love,

 

Elder Nebeker

Hiking Iwaki San

Frog Analogy - Continued from Previous Letter

Hello,

Our District had the opportunity to hike a really really big mountain called Iwaki san. It was soo beautiful! 

To answer some of your questions - the Japan Sendai mission still does not have Ipads or facebook. Sometime this year or next year they are supposed to introduce them to our mission. We are still old fashioned missionaries. I am excited to get the ipads and also dreading it because we have to put all of our records that we have into them before we can start using them.  My friends in Tokyo said it takes forever, like a month.

To tell you my thoughts on the frog analogy, I think that the frog could represent someone who is sinning and has "temporary happiness".  Sometimes it might seem easy to not keep the commandments, to live "the life". He might get his food easy and it might be easy for the moment, but when the spiders get to him he is going to wish that he took the correct, but harder route to get his food. Although it may seem fun and the easy life, in the end it is much worse. 

That was my thoughts on it.

So sounds like it was a good funeral I am glad that Grandma is at rest now. I was reminded of a good Chapter in the Book of Mormon this week it is Alma Chapter 40. It talks about the resurrection. I think that it might be comforting to read.

To update you this week on what has happened. After we had finished emailing last week, we were on our way home when there was a couple on their bikes in front of us speaking some bizarre language.  I felt like we needed to talk to them but I wasn't sure how. All of a sudden my companion sneezes really loud and they look back at us and said "Hello" in English. We started talking to them and came to find out that they were from the Philippines and were going to college in Japan right now. I explained that we were missionaries and they quickly replied and said they knew and told us that our church is very famous in the Philippines and kindly accepted us to come and visit them. They have a family of 5 and we have planned right now to visit with them this Saturday. I really hope that the appointment goes through. It is a very rare opportunity in Japan to be able to teach people as a family. 

This week we were also introduced to some investigators that the sisters had been teaching, but they want me and Elder Thayne to teach now. So We have 2 investigators now. One of them is Narita san. He is way cool, he loves English a lot.  He is mostly interested in English but he is willing to hear the Gospel, as long as it is in English. Also we have Akimoto San who is a way cool guy he is about 67 years old and is a really good Golfer. He took us out to eat at a Best Western Hotel.  It was like 20 dollars a person. He is really nice, probably one of the most Jolliest old men I have met in Japan.

This week as we were out and about handing flyers to people for our Eikaiwa, we met an older gentleman who stopped me and said, "Your main purpose here in Japan isn't to teach English is it?" And so we sat down on a bench and talked about religion for about an hour. He took a Book of Mormon, and was really excited to read it. Unfortunately he doesn't live here in the Japan Sendai mission he lives in the Tokyo mission boundaries.

Well, I want to hear more about the Family. Lately I haven't heard too much from everybody. So let me know what's going on!

Also tell Reegan Congrats on his baptism for me! That is awesome. :)

 

Love,

 

Elder Nebeker

Hirosaki

Hey!

 

Just to give you update in the mission life.  Hirosaki is huge! It is also a Samurai Town so there is a castle.  I thought it was going to be like Aizuwakamatsu because it is also a Samurai Town.  The Samurai often made their towns in a grid format so all the streets connect, but Hirosaki is different.  They made it a maze so no one can get to the castle. White washing is very fun, we get to do  a special Proselyting style called "Losting". When we get lost we ask people for directions and then start a conversation about the Gospel. It's actually a really easy way to start talking with people. Since we don't have any investigators right now we use every possibility to talk with people.

 

It was so amazing to go to church and instead of seeing 15 members seeing 60 members. I felt like I was back in a ward in America.

 

The District I am in is awesome.  There are 2 baptisimal dates right now, so there should be a baptism soon! The members of My district are; Elder Timothy Thayne, Elder O`connor, and Elder Takeda. You all know Elder Thayne, he is very fun always full of energy. Elder O`connor is from Arkansas.  He is half Japanese - really nice. Elder Takeda is a fairly new missionary and is Japanese. I love him, he is so funny.

 

Then there are the sisters; Sister Valentine, Sister Moon, Sister Kurokawa, and Sister Takata. Sister Valentine is from Lehi Utah, we know some of the same people, she is really funny. Then there is Sister Moon who is from Alpine really nice.  Her  father is a mission president right now. Sister Kurokawa is Japanese and is graduated from College. She is really nice and fairly new to the mission. Then there is sister Takata who is also Japanese and she is farily new to the mission too.

 

So funny story, The last day I was in Kitakami we decided to visit some Old investigators and we went to one that was about a 30 minute bike ride away.  Once we arrived we locked our bike and then my companion Elder Thompson dropped his key and it went straight into a rain gutter that you can't lift up and is way deep. So we got to carry his bike all the way back to the apartment. A lot of people looked at us like we were the weirdest foreigners. It was pretty funny. My companion wasn't too happy.

 

It was sad saying goodbye to the investigators I got to work with. Hamato was pretty sad. I hope that he will be able to stop tobacco sometime soon. Also I said goodbye to Kudo san.  She was really suprised and couldn't believe that I was transferring. She was a little bit shocked but thanked me for teaching her that she can see her family again after this life. She gave me one of her father's ties that passed away. And then a family called the Ito`s that I worked with bought me dinner before I left. It was hard leaving friends behind but I have high expectations for Kitakami in the future, especially the young daughter of the less active Anri.

 

I love being able to help people around me who don't know about the Gospel.

 

That is really unfortunate to hear about Grandma. I hope everyone in the family is doing okay. Since coming on my mission my testimony in the Plan of Salvation has increased so much. Being able to teach it often and help people realize that there is so much more to this life, it is such a wonderful thing. I know that Christs' atonement and Ressurection made it possible for us to overcome death. So grateful to have the knowledge of the Gospel.

 

Love you all!

 

 

Elder Nebeker

Ehhhh....drum roll

So,

I am not sure where to start off!

So the transfer ended this last Sunday and as I was sitting in personal study reading about Nephi`s family murmuring when randomly the phone started going off.  I didn't think too much about it but then I looked at who was calling and it was President Smith! So I answered figuring it was transfer calls not thinking that our district would change because I just got there and so did the other Elders.  My old companion Elder Kuiken was leaving for home so we thought that it was just an announcement for our new roommate.  But nope, I am being transferred to Hirosaki where I will be the District Leader.  I will be white washing the area and my companion who will be accompanying me is the one and only Elder Timothy Thayne. Hirosaki is a lot bigger than the area I am in, it is sort of like Aizu and is by Hachinohe too! There are 8 missionaries in Hirosaki - 4 elders and 4 sisters. It is probably the biggest area I will have served in up until this point. So that is kind of exciting!

I feel really sad to leave Kitakami, I really just started loving the place and got used to everything. Now I am being transferred.

Well this week was "Obon" which is like Memorial day in America except it is for an entire week. So all of our investigators were way busy and couldn't meet with us.  We couldn't have lessons, but we were able to do a ton of finding. My companion and I decided that we would ride our bikes to the next city over to dendou (proselyte) which is about a 1:20 minute bike ride.  As we were on our way, I just stopped abruptly and pointed to a small billboard out in the middle of nowhere.  I think I found spider Planet or something. You couldn't even count how many spiders there were. It was insane. But anyways, to continue with my story, we reached our destination and stopped off at a store that some of our Friends work at.  It is called Pick n Roll, Basketball store. They had a lot of other friends there too and they asked if we could take a picture with them.  We took one and than one of the workers brought up a man and said he can speak English, make him speak English. So I started talking to him but he didn't want to speak English.  He was kind of being shy, so I kept on trying, and then we got into a big conversation. Turns out he is a member that knows all the old missionaries from like 3 years ago. He was baptized and he moved from Sendai to Kitakami and just lost all track of the church. So we found a lost sheep! that was pretty cool.

Okay back to spiders... this week as I was in the middle of nowhere. I parked my bike when I saw the most giant man eating spiders in my life. They were terrifying, but way cool to look at. There were about 4 of them, but then I spotted in the middle of the four spider webs a frog - yes a frog.  I wondered how the frog got up there, then I thought it is crazy because the man eating spiders could easily kill him. I realized , he may have put himself in risk for complete and utter failure, but he also had a life time supply of food. He just has to stick his tongue out when one of the bugs come in the spider web and he has dinner, what a Genious!

One day I would like to use that and relate it back to the Gospel or life but haven't thought that far yet...

If you have any good ideas let me know.

So as we were looking for an old investigator this week we also ran into another less active member who we have been trying to teach her daughter. She allowed us in and we were able to teach her and her daughter! It was way awesome!  I think she will be baptized sometime, but I guess I won't know because I am transferring :(

Well I love you all and I will let you know how Hirosaki is!

Elder Nebeker

FARMERS TAN!

Dear Family & Friends,

It is so hot here in Japan, its has been 95 degrees with probably 80% humidity. I'm getting a nice farmers tan on my arms.

This week was awesome! I am finally starting to get Kitakami a little figured out! at least I think...

This week we had a joint with Hamato san who has been trying to stop tobacco.  He is still having a hard time but this week we taught him Christ's Doctrine; Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. He really enjoyed the lesson and I asked him if "When he can stop tobacco would he receive Baptism?" He said "Yes". So he is actually really doing well. He didn't show up for church though :( That was disappointing but other than that it was a really good lesson. And I think we are going to try to set up a date for him to aim for this upcoming week!

Also Kudosan - We met with her and her son for Free Family English Program that we do with them. (30 minutes English, 30 minute Gospel lesson) and so I felt impressed to read the Book of Mormon with them and we started with where they were at and read Lehi's vision. I explained to her that the fruit is happiness and that the Iron rod is the gospel path. She thinks that she is in the dark mists right now but wants to have happiness. It turned into a really good teaching opportunity.  We set up an appointment with her to just hear the gospel and we taught that today. We got a joint with her and ended talking about the Plan of Salvation. It went really well and she is set up to progress. She really likes it and learned a lot of new things today. We also cleared up a lot of misconceptions she had. She thought that we we would go straight to hell if we sinned after baptism. So that was really good. We explained the Atonement and sacrament to her. And she really liked it. It was a little bit of a long lesson, but the joint helped us so much. The joint we chose was perfect for the lesson and had a lot of personal experiences to share. It was absolutely awesome. So every week from here on out we will be teaching one lesson that is just gospel and one that is free family English program. 

Also this week we had a huge festival in Kitakami! It was so cool, I have never seen so many people gathered in one spot yet on my mission. We went to work and handed out Book of Mormons and all the pass along cards that we could. We did streeting till we felt we were going to pass out of dehydration. It was so much fun. I felt really bad because we started talking to some young kids and there was about five of them but me and my companion only had 2 Book of Mormons. We explained our purpose and how cool the Book of Mormon was and gave the 2 we had and the other boys were really upset we didn't have more. I felt a little bad but told them to call us and we can get them more. So hopefully the boys will call.

I took a lot of pictures to of the Matsuri (Festival) it was way cool, they have people dress up as monsters and they dance with swords, and have beasts march. It is pretty cool. They have live Japanese drums lined up all the way down the street just pounding and people shouting and the drums just vibrate your whole body. It was really fun. The name of it is Onikenbai. You might be able to find it on youtube. Not sure. 

We also ran into a ton of less actives at the festival and they were all nice and willing to meet with us. So that was really cool, we got a lot of Appointments set up.

This week we identified some part member families that we wanted to start working with and we decided to visit a less active that has two daughters who are not yet baptized and we met her and her daughters. I asked them if we could teach them as a family and they accepted and seemed to enjoy our visit. So I hope to see some success from that too! 

Also today we had a member introduce her husband to us who is not a member. We just talked with him. You could tell he was a little nervous but I am hoping to be able to work with him more. The member who introduced us to him just became a branch Missionary so I have high hopes for her husband!

Funny story; today as we were about doing some shopping a little kid came up to us and started talking with us and he was so excited to see "Gaijin" (Foreigners).  He asked if he could take a picture with me and afterwards we started talking a little bit more and he got a little quiet and just looks at me and said, "I need to use the bathroom" and booked it away, he pooped his pants....... But he came back and I printed out the picture for him that we took. And he took us back to meet his mom but his mom was in the bathroom but he wants to meet with us more and wanted us to meet his family. So were hoping we can introduce the Gospel to his family too.

That was pretty much my week. Also the thunder hear is so SCARY! i love it!

Love you all,

 

Elder Nebeker

Reap What You Sow

Family & Friends,

This week was pretty usual but there were still some really cool miracles. This week we were able to meet with Hamato san and teach him the Plan of Salvation.  He really liked it and it made sense to him. He said that he wanted go to the 日の栄　celestial kingdom.  He has depression and he was trying to stop tobacco in a week doing a week program thing that we challenged him to do.  He didn't make it so he is really depressed and has kind of lost the desire to stop smoking. He also didn't keep his promise to  come to church. So that was really disappointing, but we made another promise to have him come to church next week. I think he really needs to feel the spirit more to get his desire back. 

This week we were able to make an appointment with an Eikaiwa student. She is dating a man from Whales. So that was pretty cool. We will hopefully be able to start teaching her.  We are slowly working on her boyfriend. They are really cool and we will be going to have dinner with them sometime soon here so that is when we are thinking to invite her boyfriend to hear the lessons. 

This week we were able to get Kudo san to set up to meet with the missionaries to just hear the lessons separately from teaching 30 minutes Eikaiwa and 30 minutes Gospel. Now she will be hearing the lessons from us on a weekly basis! I am pretty excited because she will be able to progress even more. 

On Saturday  the Old mission President of Sendai, Tateoka, visited and the branch threw a BBQ for him and we were able to get Eikaiwa students there and a less active actually came and brought a few friends. It was really cool. So we got to talk with him quite a bit. He is the son of a member here who actually ran away so that was a really cool reunion to have him back with his family.

On Sunday a less active that I gave a blessing to when I first came to Kitakami came to church and was really happy. She thanked me and told me that she is always praying for me so that I have success. It made me really happy. I was so happy when I saw her at church.

Today  I read a talk in this months Liahona about Reaping what you sow. It is about a lady who sells seeds and the complaints that she gets are just ridiculous. But she ties all the complaints back to us and how sometimes we expect things to happen when we don't sow.  I challenge you to read it. I thought it was really good and applicable with missionaries or anything we do. Please read it.

Well I love you all, And I pray that all will be well with you all!

Love,

Elder Nebeker

The Gospel is Wonderful

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was awesome I absolutely loved it!

So this week we had the opportunity to go to a member's house that was kind of far away and do some service for her friend.  Unfortunately we were a little late and were not able to do the service but we were invited in to the home and had some snacks.  When the member had some questions I started answering them for her and it turned into a huge gospel discussion with her while her friend was there. We talked for a while and we were getting into some pretty big stuff. Her friend stops and looked at the member and said, "You are like a child, how can you believe all of this stuff?" And the member said back to her politely, "I think it's wonderful".  Before I could bear testimony, the lady got up and walked out of the room to do something. The member we went to visit looked at me and told me, "I think the gospel is wonderful, but then sometimes I think I am crazy." With tears in her eyes, I looked and I told her that I know the Church is true. I haven't felt more power behind a simple saying before.  Its amazing how a pure simple testimony can help.

This week as we were riding our train back from Zone meeting I spotted a high school student that I had given a Book of Mormon to last time I was on the train. I waved at him and he came towards me and gave me a Bro hug, and we started talking and jumped into a conversation about his family. His dad left his mom and the kids when he was really young, and he explained to me that his mom's life hasn't been easy but that she has always been there for him.  Even though they  have arguments he really loves her and that when he gets older he wants to repay his mom for always being there for him. I talked to him about it for a little bit longer and had to get off the train but I was able to get his phone number and want to follow up with him again this week. He blew me away. He was so cool.

This week we went to play basketball with a potential investigator and there were some high school kids on the court that were watching us kind of like they were too cool.  We challenged them and utterly destroyed them. I had a good chat with them after and come to find out they are a bunch of baseball players, so I got really excited and asked one of the kids their positions.  He said pitcher, so I told him I was a catcher, so he pulled out two gloves from his bag and we played catch for awhile. It was a blast and the kids all told me to keep the baseball for the memory. And we traded numbers to talk more about what we do. So I am pretty excited I would love to turn a whole baseball team into investigators!

That was basically my week so far. Our investigators were either sick or too busy with work this week, so it was kind of hard to meet with them. But I got call from one of the Eikaiwa students saying they want to do Family English Program which is half Gospel and half English! That was really exciting.

There are a lot of miracles happening here in Kitakami, and I wish there were a lot of people here like the picture you saw. We are lucky to see 5 people on main street in one hour!

Love you all and good luck with everything!


Elder Nebeker

Typhoons, Earthquakes, Giant Spiders

Hey!

I am doing fantastic, like you might have known a Typhoon came in this week but it didn't do anything here in the Sendai Mission.  It basically rained for three days, which is normal here then the Typhoon cleared up.  The next morning around 4:30 a.m. the phones in the apartments started to go off like crazy.  So I woke up and it was a big earthquake alert.  I have never received an earthquake alert before so I told my companion to wake up cause its probably going to be a big one.  The apartment started shaking a little and was over. It was the littlest earthquake I have felt in Japan and I probably wouldn't have known that it was an earthquake except for the phone letting us all know. So we are all okay. I don't know about the rest of Japan, because I have felt a ton of earthquakes and that little one was a different feel.  It felt like it was deep underneath us like a wave pool. I am used to rapidly shaking earthquakes. So I hope the rest of Japan is good.

Well, I had to tell my really good friend Kobayashi goodbye.  It was actually really harder than I thought. But I am excited to work with my new companion Elder Thompson. He is from Washington state, (Seattle).  He is 19 and is turning 20 next week. He came to Japan the same time as me. So we are considered, in Japanese, (Doki). He will be fun to work with.

This week as I was talking with an investigator, we somehow got on the topic of spiders, and apparently they do not kill spiders in Japan. So there are like thousands of giant ferocious man eating spiders here! I asked why they don't kill them and she told me it is because they are scary and if you kill one then more spiders will come to haunt you. Pretty logical to me if you ask, especially with the spiders here in Japan. The last spider I saw was about the size of my palm and had the biggest body ever. I am pretty sure you can't even categorize it in the insect family. It was brown and its body looked like leather off a new baseball glove.

Since no one kills spiders in Japan, tracking when the sun goes down is terrifying.  You will be knocking on a door and then realize there are spiders crawling on you!  My companion knocked on a door and I let him take the lead.  I looked up and realized there was a spider on his forehead.  I wasn't sure what to do, So I just let him keep talking. I don't know if the lady at the door realized either, but they ended and for some reason I just forgot to tell him.  When we got back to the apartment He looked at me and said, "I feel a big bump on my forehead, is there a red mark?" I kind of laughed and said, yeah... And let him know. I thought it was pretty funny.  Apparently I failed at my duty to protect my companion.

We were able to get a new investigator from Eikaiwa, me and Elder Kobayashi set up the appointment before he left. So that was a cool miracle this week.

We visited less actives and I got so LOST! It was pretty bad but we found our way back to the apartment before 9, We were on foot because my bike is broken. Not sure if I told you that. The gear system exploded on me as I was riding my bike the first week I got to Kitakami. But Its okay because we are getting new bikes today!

Recently in my personal study I have been studying about Charity and how it is related to Missionary work. I don't think I quite comprehended how important it is in missionary work. In Moroni he states it clearly That without charity we are nothing. I like it a little bit better how it is translated in Japanese. "If you dont Have Charity you have nothing in worth." It is pretty strong, and as I studied it I learned that charity is really loving our brothers and sisters and having that desire to help them.  When we have that charity, even if the people don't accept our message they will be impacted for good by our charity.

Well that was sort of my week! A lot of things happened, We had 2 LA members come back to church this week, also Eikaiwa in Kitkami which has been only about 2 people for the past 4 years has jumped up to 10-12 active students every week. There are a lot of miracles happening and I think that the lord is really blessing Kitakami.

I love you all!

Elder Nebeker

Bringing Someone Closer to Christ Brings Peace

Dear Family and Friends,


This week has been crazy.  Wednesday we got to meet the new mission president that was pretty cool. He is really nice and he is working really hard to re study Japanese with his wife. He is a very inspiring man. He gave a training on obedience and said that obedience is faith. I really enjoyed his talk. He said he had a dream of an awful tsunami and it was full of debris and tearing down everything in its path.  He said the Tsunami was the sins of the world and that we are the rescuers. It was pretty cool.

I had an interview with him and he is very nice. I am way excited to work with him.

Also this week our Eikaiwa had a huge jump in numbers. When I first arrived, their was about 3 students who came on a regular basis.  Now we have 12 students coming on a regular basis. We were also able to find some more investigators through the jump in numbers.

This week we had some awesome awesome lessons. We met with Hamato san on Tuesday.  He has been reading the Book of Mormon faithfully and when he walked in the first question he asked was, "How do I become a Christian?", It was way cool.  We told him that it's through Coming unto to Christ, receiving Baptism, and keeping the commandments.  He then realized he will have to quit smoking so he can be baptized. So he is trying really hard to break his habit of smoking. I have been offering a lot of prayers for him. I really like him, he is a very humble man who needs help from the Gospel.

Next we taught Kudou and her son. We watched a video about a car accident that took the lives of a Church member's family. It showed how he was able to forgive the person who took his family's life away. We then talked about the power of Christ. She was in tears, and told us that her first son was also killed in a car accident.  He was three years old and she has been searching forever to know what happened to him. She was so happy and so grateful for the lessons. She sent a big text that night after we got home about how much the lesson meant to her.

I love the feeling of knowing that peace of bringing someone closer to Christ.

This week we also were able to attend a Sports activity, held in a big city called Morioka. It is not in our area but we got permission to go because some of our investigators wanted to go. It turned out way good. We had 12 people come all the way from Kitakami to Morioka to play. We had more people there than from any area that attended.  It was way cool, and only one person that came from Kitkami was a member. So we had a lot of good Mission opportunities.

This last transfer ended early because the last transfer was 7 weeks and so this transfer was 5 weeks. It ended so quick and because my companion only has one transfer left we figured that he would just stay in Kitakami and finish off there. P.s. I dont know if I told you but my companion is my grandfather in the mission - He trained my trainer. But anyways we got Transfer Calls last night, and I am staying in Kitakami but my beloved companion is being transferred!! I was pretty sad last night and so was he. But I will be getting a new companion named Elder Thompson.  He left on his mission the same time as me. He is from Washington state. That's about all I know about him. I have been asked to serve as District Leader here in Kitakami. Which is pretty terrifying I just barely came to the area. But I will do my best!

Well anyways I love you all!

Love,

Elder Nebeker

Focus on Christ

It feels pretty weird that I have been out for almost a year! I feel like I just barely got to Japan. But I absolutely love it! I wish I could just push a time brake that would stop this experience from going too fast.

Mom I hope your English skills are pretty good, because when I get home I am going to need some serious help being able to speak. I struggle with remembering words and using correct grammar and well most everything I say is Japanglish.

 

The Work here in Kitakami is amazing! I absolutely love it. It was a little bit of a slow start but things are starting to pick up now. My companion and I have really been focusing on helping people gain faith in Jesus Christ.  We have really felt that that is the most important thing for investigators. Though it may seem like a DUH type of thing you would be surprised how many people do it but don't really do it. So we have focused really hard and old investigators and eternal investigators our now progressing reading the Book of Mormon and are now asking for lessons from us. This week our investigator Hamato san, who has a tabaco problem, read the Book of Mormon and absolutely loves it. At first he had no interest in reading it but we encouraged him and now he reads it faster than the missionaries can. Also a young mom and her son (Kudou san) have really started liking and loving the lessons we teach. We have been using Mormon Messages to help her feel and recognize blessings of the Gospel. We watched a video about not judging others and as soon as it ended She shouted in English "THAT IS RIGHT!" it was really pretty cool. We picked up a new investigator from Eikaiwa who we planned on teaching 30 minutes of Eikaiwa and 30 minutes of Gospel. But when he met us he just asked if we could do the gospel portion. We also have another investigator that has severe depression that was somehow triggered off really bad a few years ago.  He wakes up every morning and stares at the mirror for 2 hours and says, "I can forgive people." And I guess it wasn't working so he called us and asked, "Do you know a better way to Forgive people?" So we are focusing on Christ with him too.

I can't really think of too many things I want. A letter would be nice though ;)

We have been talking a lot about hastening the work here in Japan. I think that it is cool that they said things on the other side of the veil are hastening too. You can definitely feel the urge for the work to move faster.

I love you a ton! Can't wait to hear from you again soon,

Elder Nebeker

Friendly Fire

Yo, Im not gonna lie - one of the biggest temptations on my mission so far is to go swimming and now knowing that my family is out on the lake is not helping!

Just kidding I hope you are having a blast and that it wont be windy for you.

This week was a really good week, and a little sad. I said goodbye to President and Sister Rasmussen as they are returning to Arizona and in a week we will be getting our new mission president. President Smith. Everyone is a little excited and scared to see how the mission is going to change, but I think it will be fun.

This week we were able to pick up a few new investigators. We found them through Eikaiwa, and it's pretty funny. Because Kitkami is so small our area has three cities in it, Hanamaki and Mizusawa. So we started up another Eikaiwa in Mizusawa. This last week we had a little problem with the other elders old investigator who got mad because the missionaries had stopped teaching her English.  But it was because she had no interest in our message. So she called the mission offices and complained so now we are teaching a third Eikaiwa class which is also in Mizusawa. So we have a lot of Eikaiwa teaching to do but we are finding a lot of investigators through it.

The earthquakes are starting to slow down a little. That or I am just sleeping through them now. Yesterday we had a crazy rain and lightning storm. Probably the craziest I have ever seen in my life. We got so soaked.

This week I also heard an amazing talk that I would like to share some things from.

We were in zone conference when A couple missionary stood up and bore testimony and the wife said something that I agree whole heartedly.

I labeled it Friendly Fire.

Now friendly fire is in war accidently or purposefully shooting your teammate in combat. Now why on earth would you want to do that, you wouldnt right? Its just like gossiping or telling rumors or attacking members and the people who have the same eternal objective as you. Why are we trying to shoot them down. Is it out of our own pride? Shoot at the right enemy, you will never win the war shooting your teammates. 

I really liked that and thought how applicable and how easy it was for me to understand.

This week we also had a special broadcast that was for all of the asia North Region, President Christopherson presided and they talked about becoming stronger members and that there is a lot of spiritual dangers but they are not labeled. It was way cool and I think that everything they said was very inspired for Japan and Korea. It was really weird to see so many American old men speaking Japanese. There was Elder Walker and Elder Stevens. Who I believe are in the seventy who gave both their addresses in Japanese.

Anyways. I don't have a whole lot of time this week, But have fun In Lake powell!

Love,

Elder Nebeker

Father's Day Letter

Recently, I have been reading in 1 Nephi from the start. And I have noticed some pretty funny things that I think would be fun to share. Now I look at Laman and Lemuel, They are pretty normal people for the most part.  If my father told me to go into the wilderness and leave everything behind I would probably mumble too, and if  I was told to take a week long journey back to get a Book I would probably mumble again. Now you notice in this pattern they are always mumbling.  When they get back, Sariah their loving mother who was very much a worrier was very relieved.  Then we reach Chapter 7, which I think is really funny.  This time Lehi asks his sons again to go to Jerusalem and find wives.  Now if you look closely at the wording in this chapter it does not say that they mumbled going to Jerusalem this time and when they found Ishmael's family, it was not, "I Nephi taught Ishmael's family." It says, " And it came to pass that WE went up unto the house of Ishmael and WE did gain favor in the sight of Ishmael, insomuch that WE did speak unto him the words of the lord." I thought that it was really funny to see how it was women who had power to make Laman and Lemuel not mumble for at least a little bit... :)

Pretty interesting, sorry there isn't more of a punch line.... I guess what you could say is that no matter how much Mom worries this Lake Powell trip she still has power over you Dad. :) Love you!

So this week we met with a lot of our investigators but a lot of them have been investigators for a really long time so we are looking for new investigators. We are working with the few members that are here to get referrals and teach their friends and families. There are a lot of part member families so I feel pretty strongly that we need to work with the part member families.

The area I am in right now is really spread out so we are always taking the train to get to places. And we are doing 3 Eikaiwa classes now, 2 in one city and one in Kitakami. It is getting pretty good results.  We are able to set up a lot of activities with the people and slowly introduce them into the Gospel.

This week I was able to give a blessing to a member in the ward who is having surgery, it is such a wonderful blessing to know that the priesthood has been restored, Im always grateful for the blessings dad was able to give us children growing up. Thanks Dad!

Just to tell you a little bit about Japan right now, In Kitakami there has been an earth quake everyday this past week! I LOVE it! I think they are pretty cool. It is also rainy season here in Japan so It rains everyday! It is starting to get humid, but isn't very hot in Kitkami so were alright. Kitkami is probably one of the prettiest areas I have served in so far because it is very open and there are parks and GRASS! There is no grass in japan it is either dirt fields or weeds. So that was a shock to see. They also have a big river that flows through the city but because of the rainy season, it might flood.

The investigators that we are working with right now is a man trying to get off cigarettes.  He was a referral from a member. We have a young mom and her son who are looking for peace.  She is really nice and can feel the spirit. There is also a young mom and her 2 daughters that really like church things but aren't sure whether or not to enter. And we have another Mom who we are teaching and a young man to whom we are also teaching.

We have a lot of prospective investigators that I am excited to work with that will be mostly this week. There is so much that happens in one week I just don't know how to write about all the experiences! But I am doing fantastic. I love Japan and the people.

P.s. now that I have a Japanese companion I eat fish Everyday!

Love,
Elder Nebeker

Kitakami

So I have transferred to good old Kitakami,

Just to tell you about the area, it is really small, and really spread out.  There is not a whole lot of people. Our church is on Main Street and shares a building with a wedding bridal shop. We have the bottom floor. There are about 17 active members and they are all way nice. For my first Sunday here, I got to see my MTC teacher.  He was here visiting because he had served in kitakami for 8 months. So that was pretty fun.

My new companion is Elder Kobayashi.  He has 2 transfers left until he goes home, so I will probably be with him to the end. He is really funny. He is Japanese but his English is fluent. He is from Hokaido but before his mission, his family was living in hawaii for a little bit. We have really fun elders in the apartment too.  After planning, we usually pull out dart guns and turn into little kids...... The apartment is really small. I have to duck under all the doors.

We have a couple of investigators.  One of them, Himatosan is trying to stop smoking so we are working with him.  He was found by a member refferal. We also have a young mom and her son that we are teaching too. The kudou family. She is really nice and very receptive to the spirit. We have taught her a couple times now.

Oh, funny story. So before I left on my mission we watched a video together where people in Japan were trying to get in to a train and they had police men shoving them in so they could all fit.  Well, I experienced that for the first time! Yeah lets just say that it was the most humid uncomfortable train ever, but was pretty funny.  You can't really move because you are just crammed in their like sardines.

The area is pretty, you kind of feel like you went back in time or something a little bit. Every single person here plays baseball too, so it is pretty easy to talk to the highschool students.

Well this week has mostly been traveling so I have no idea what to type about.　But I am glad everyone else is doing good and hope to hear from you again soon!

love Elder Nebeker

Time to Grow and Help Somewhere Else

Dear Family & Friends,

 

My new mission president comes in 5 weeks.  His name is President Jeffery R. Smith and he is from provo Utah.  He is some kind of surgeon. So basically, after this transfer he will come.

 

Speaking of transfers I have been transferred! I am going to Kitakami.  It is a really small town that is working on trying to get another branch built because everything is so spread out. So that will be really fun and a good focus for me. My new companion is Japanese, Elder Kobayashi.  He is almost finished with his mission so I will get to serve with him until he goes home. He is really funny.

 

Now as sad as it is to transfer, I had a really good reminder from our recent convert Tatsuya.  I told him that I was transferring and he looked at me and said, "There is a reason for transfers, you have accomplished the things that the Lord wanted you to do in Aizu and now he wants you to grow and help somewhere else, and whoever comes here has something that the Lord wants them to accomplish...."

 

I love Tatsuya Kyoudai! He is so cool!

 

This week we were able to meet with the Hoshi family.  During the lesson we talked about their thoughts about religion and Hoshi Tatsuya said that when he had first heard that his wife was going to the church, he was kind of mad and thought that she was really stupid and wanted nothing to do with religion.  Then on a winter day the missionaries came (Me and Elder Kuiken) and we helped him shovel his drive way and he thought there is no way he could ever become friends with a foreigner because they don't speak Japanese and don't understand us.  He said he would have never pictured himself where he is now and that he would have a friend with that is a foreigner, and be listening and applying religion in his life. He thanked me for helping him.

 

During that lesson we talked a lot about baptism, and they said that they want to be baptized but they want to prepare, so we made goals to help them prepare. Tatsuya wants to quit drinking Sake (alcohol) and talk to his parents about it, so we had them make goals to do that and they are repenting and striving to change their lives right now, and will eventually be baptized.

 

I have made so many new friends here in Aizu over these last 6 months. I will definitely miss Aizu but I am excited to see what the Lord wants me to accomplish in Kitakami.

 

I forgot to tell you, on Tuesday I had a split.  Me and the zone leader drew the plan of salvation in a park with chalk, which apparentley is bad here in Japan, so we had to avoid the park keepers.  However, they kept it there and a ton of people have been looking at it and visiting Mormon.org.

 

So yay for adrenaline Rushes!

 

teehee...

 

Love you all and hope that all is going well,

 

Elder Nebeker

The Miracles Keep Coming

Dear Family & Friends,

 

So first of all I have to tell you of the first miracle that we had this week.  It started on Tuesday which is one of our longer days because there are hardly any appointments.  However, we managed to set something up with our recent convert Tatsuya, and we planned on meeting him at a park.  We went to the park and sat there and waited and waited and waited until about 30 minutes had passed so then we thought he wasn't coming (and obviously we tried contacting him). So we decided we would leave when we got a text that said, "I have someone I want you to meet". So he came to the park with one of his roomates and he introduced us.  Tatsuya told us that his roomate wants to know why Tatsuya is always happy when he goes home. So he told his roomate about us and introduced us to him. We were able to give a book of Mormon out to him and set up an appointment. Talk about a miracle! It was way cool!

 

During our next lesson with him, we asked if he would recieve baptism and he said yes! But he said he wants to get an answer to his prayers to know for sure. So that was way awesome.  We will be teaching him from here on out and helping him to try and gain a testimony and recieve answers to his prayers.His name is Mizuki he is 22 years old and he has the same job as Tatsuya cleaning radiation in Fukushima.

 

The second Miracle we had this week was Tatsuya and Izumi.  On Saturday night as we were all sleeping the phone went off buzzing.  It was a text from Izumi and Tatsuya and she said, "I finished.  I have a lot of questions."

 

Awhile back I had given her a a kids book of mormon which is still fairly long, and she and Tatsuya read it that entire night and so she said I want to meet tomorrow.

 

So we met with her on Sunday after Church, and we taught a lesson with one of the members, Holy cow I have never had to answer so many bizzare questions before, but it was really fun. She asked us about the 3 Nephites and wanted to know whether or not they were still living. So we talked about that and then she had a really good question about dispensations.  She wanted to know about all the people before Christ what happened to them, because from her reading she understood that it was Christ who made it possible for us return to heaven and be ressurected. So we started teaching her parts of The Plan of Salvation then moving into Parts of the Restoration. We had no idea where our lesson was going, but we finally got it centered down to, "What do we need to do in this life to get to heaven".  So we taught Christs doctrine about Faith, Repentence, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the End. It was an awesome lesson.  We got to talk in depth about faith and about Repentance and a little bit about baptism, and of course they are hesistant on baptism because they realize that it is a complete 180 degree turn in life style but that is where the Member came in and rocked the lesson. He talked about his conversion and how he loved to party and that's all he wanted to do.  Then he met the missionaries and he thought that he wanted to become more like them and be more serious about life and he could notice difference too in his life after meeting with the missionaries.  He was afraid to make the 180 but he did it.  His parents were against it and it wasn't easy for him but he has grown so much and he bore testimony on how much it has blessed his family and how happy they are. Izumi and Tatsuya loved it! They were so thrilled and we didn't feel at that time it was necessary to push baptism, but they said they want to start the proccess of repentance and prepare to be baptized so they are going to do that. And everyone in the room was encouraging Tatsuya to give up alcohol.  It was really funny, but we commited them to prepare for baptism and we set up an appointment to go to the Members house and do a family home evening with them. So I am pretty excited for that. It was way cool.

 

Thanks for always praying for the investigators and the people in Japan. There are so many miracles going on and they will just continue to keep coming.

 

Love,

 

Elder Nebeker

God Sends Trials Because He Loves Us

So I wonder if I will transfer?  It will be 6 months at the end of this transfer and if I don't transfer I have the potential of being in Aizu for a very long time because the new mission president will be coming after the next transfer. A.k.a. my year mark. So it just depends on what he thinks and the inspiration the mission president gets.

So to update you on things this week here in Aizu, we have been able to teach the Hoshi Family,

It is a little bit weird because Izumi wants to be taught by the sisters and her husband wants to be taught by us and we just want to teach them as a family. They are on such different levels of understanding right now so it is really quite confusing, but we were able to teach her husband Tatsuya.  We went over the plan of salvation with him. It was way good.  After we had explained a portion of it, I looked at him and I felt prompted to ask him what he was thinking and he went on a 10 minute spill about how cool he thought it was.  He looked at the picture of the plan and he said, "Now that I understand, what do I need to do to get to the top kingdom?".  We were pretty excited so our next lesson with him is on the doctorine of Christ about baptism, faith, repentance, and enduring to the end. So we are excited and we are going to try giving him the baptisimal commitment because Izumi always just says that his parents are against religion so that is why he cant get baptized.  However, when we talk to him we feel differently so were going to see if that is really what it is or not. Be praying that the spirit will touch him and he will open his heart.

This week we weren't able to meet with Yoko and Tom, unfortunately but when they came to church on Sunday she had a lot of really good questions.  The only problem is that she lives in a place that doesn't have missionaries and we would have to obtain permission to go and visit her.  So we basically have to wait until she comes to Aizu to meet with her.  We are trying to stick closely to Tom but haven't been able to contact him this week.

Two weeks ago we visited a less active and she wasn't home.  I remembered a suggestion given by one of our newly called branch missionaries and he said that when we visit the less actives to write a note especially to them.  Obviously we have done this in the past, but as we visited this particular less active I felt like I should write a note, so I told Elder Bailey and so we took a sit on her porch and I wrote a letter telling her who I am and that we were really wanting to meet her.  I wrote our number down and didn't think much about it. So the next day as we were eating lunch Bailey got a call and said it was for me and that it was someone I gave our number to yesterday.  For the life of me I could not think of who, then she said thanks for the letter.  I remembered and she said she had time for us today if we could come. So we got very excited and went shortly there after and when we met her and started to get to know her she told us that she doesn't believe in God and that she is Drinking beer and Coffee. SO we asked her why she doesn't believe in God and she says because I have terrible health problems that make it so I have to go to the hospital once a week. She said if there was a God he wouldn't do such a thing, that she would be healed. Now my first thought was obviously she isn't going to get better if she isn't keeping the commandments, but we knew that telling her that would just make her mad.  We bore testimony of God and that he gives us trials so that we can become stronger. And she still wasn't too happy and told us to leave.  We asked her if we could do anything for her and she surprisingly said yes.  Because of her health problems she can't really weed her flower beds, so she asked us to.  We set up an appointment to do that. 

So our next appointment with her we pulled her weeds and had fun doing it. If there is one thing I took from this is my testimony being  strengthened by Service.  After pulling her weeds she was a completely different person she thanked us and gave us fruit and all sorts of food and asked for some of the members numbers to talk to them. It was really awesome and she asked us to please come back any time and talk with her.  She told us to make sure to call because she doesn't always hear her doorbell. It was amazing.

I thought about her questions, and why she doesnt beleive in God and why do bad things happen. Which I think is a very frequently asked question.  So in my personal study I looked at this deeper. And as I thought about this less Active person I was drawn to faith because she isn't keeping the commandments. I was reading in Ether Chapter 12 which is awesome for faith.  In Ether it is written that is only until after the trial of our faith that we will see miracles. So she and everyone must show their faith before we can recieve the miracle.  For the Hoshi family, they are stuck at the wall of faith where either they can choose to show faith in Jesus Christ and be baptized and hope for a miracle that God will soften Tatsuyas parents hearts or not. Maybe that isn't the miracle God has in store for them but I know that when we show our faith without doubting is when God will provide us with the miracles.

Now what about people who do good things, keep the commandments, yet still have trials and sorrows? As I was reading in first Nephi I realized how many trials Nephi and his family went through.  Although Nephi was a great young man, keeping the commandments and he was put through a lot. As I read this I looked to my Book of Mormon study guide book.  I read a talk that stated even though we may be living the commandments and choosing the right, because God loves us so much he wants us to grow and learn so that we can become more like him.  So sometimes we are given trials not to hurt us, but because God loves us and wants us to learn something. So when our trial has ended we can thank God and cherish the things we have learned and seen how our testimony has grown.

I forgot to tell you all, but I got to play the piano in a big concert.  I had been practicing for a very short time but Bailey Choro was on the guitar and a members husband played the saxophone.  We played "Isn't she Lovely", by Stevie Wonder. Got to play it in front of all the branches in Koriyama zone and President Rasmussen because it was his farewell party. It was way fun. And we got to work closely with this members husband who is hilarious. Probably my favorite Nihonjin in Japan. He still hasn't been baptized because he can't give up smoking.  I swear everyone in Japan smokes. They have cigarette vending machines everywhere! But I loved working with him.We call him Haga Papa.

This week my companion and I decided to ride our bikes to a really far place because we were recommended to visit a less active who lived out there.  Apparently they were quite the family. The husband was a Branch President and also served on the Koriyama zone presidency. We decided to go and visit him so we rode our bikes out there and I had no idea where I was going.  I was surprised bailey Choro even trusted me but I just followed the road signs and we magically got there. It was probably one of the most pretty bike rides I have ever been on in Japan.  As we got there the phone died, so we had no way of finding the address. We walked into a business and asked a lady and she was really weird with us and kept on asking why we were looking for this neighborhood.  So we explained who we were and she was still super weird with us and pretended like she didn't know and told us to talk to the police. So we left that place with no help.  Then we found the City Hall and went in and asked for help from the man working there. He was super nice.  He pulled out google maps and printed out a really nice directions paper and was super friendly.  He asked who it was we were visiting and said that he knew them a little bit. Then he asked why we were visiting them and we told him they are friends.  He said, oh cool, I will give them a call.  He called them and obviously they weren't expecting us and so he hung up and asked us again why we were visiting them.  We told him that we were missionaries and they were members. So then he looked at us and says, "So you want to go bug them, I see".  I kindly said, yes we are going to visit him and his family and see if we can't help him out with service or anything and make sure he and his family are happy. Then the man took the nice maps and directions and threw them away and wasn't as nice anymore.  He said, "yep, well I think you're good to leave now". So we got out of that joint fast.  Luckily from just looking at the map for a short time, we were able to understand where he lived. We visited him and he was way nice and gave us stuff to take home.  We talked about scriptures and everything, but we felt like we had to get out of there fast.  We were pretty sure the cops were after us, which sadly has happened recently in our mission because people think that we are like spies our something.

Anyways, today I had a member take me and my companion and bought us 3 new pairs of pants, 2 shirts, and a neck tie. It was probably the nicest thing that I have had happen on the mission. I will be forever grateful for her.  She will be going on mission shortly with her husband to Germany. I am very excited for them. Her husband is German so they move back and forth every year from Germany to Japan. They have decided to serve a mission.

Thank you so much I love you all and I pray for you everyday. Hope everything is going well,

Till next week.

Elder Nebeker

Prayer Can Bring About Change

Hello family! it has been such a fast week and I feel like I just barely talked to you on Christmas! can't believe it's almost been 6 months since then!  Me and my companion, (Elder Bailey) are trying to work something out so that we can skype and it will probably be on Monday.  We have to go to Koriyama this Sunday so it will be on Mothers Day in America! Works out just perfect!

 

We will probably do it at a members house, the Saito`s, so you might get contact from them (maybe). But I'm thinking that our 9:00 am should work fine it just depends on when Elder Baileys parents call too. So I gave them your email so that you can stay in contact with them. They will probably email you I imagine.

 

So this week was a very cool week,

 

This week we haven't been able to use the church,  because they are making an addition which includes an elavator so the old and wise folks can get to the sacrament room. So we found a park instead and have been teaching there at the park.  I really enjoyed it and will be sad not to teach there as much.  There were frogs in the pond though that were really loud which I won't miss. We mostly taught Tatsuya there because we are preparing him to receive the priesthood. He understands the Gospel really well and was definitely prepared by God to hear the message. He and my companion are teaching me how to play a little bit of guitar so that will be fun if I ever get good at it.

 

During one of our lessons with Tatsuya we were teaching about eternal marriage. He is a person who doesn't have too many questions, but during this lesson he looks at us and asks, "I understand that this is important but how do I find my future wife?" We were stuck... Didn't know how to answer that one. So I told him I have four older sisters and if there is one thing I learned is that by being a gentleman and trying to become like Christ will probably help you find your wife. Unfortunately I couldn't promise him he would find his wife.....

 

This week we also got to meet with my favorite man Tom.  We talked about the atonement with him and he had a a cool question about whether Jesus Christ had suffered for our sins collectively or individually.  It was really fun to talk to him about that then he told us that he wants us to meet with his wife and friends and talk about our message. (SCORE!) SO we set a next appointment with him to meet them on Saturday.

 

So on Saturday, we showed up at Toms art studio and walked upstairs to his room.  His wife was there and unfortunately we couldn't meet with his friends. So we got to teach him and his wife, which I think was probably better. My companion brought his guitar to play some songs and we could sing along so we played hotel of california and Tom sang his heart out not knowing a single lyric except for "sweet Hotel of California" It was awesome. I laughed pretty good, and his wife took videos. Then after that and eating a small meal with them, we asked if it would be alright to share a message.  They said yes, and so we told them that we always like to start out with a prayer.  We prayed, and right after the prayer we looked up and his wife was in tears. She really enjoyed the fact that we pray. So we talked about our message and taught her the plan of salvation and parts of the restoration and she had so many sincere questions. I felt so much joy being with them that day and being able to talk to them about our message. The funny part is when we are talking about how God loves Yoko san( Toms wife) and she is crying and Tom stands up and lights a cigar and says, " I just think it is a good opportunity for my wife to learn about Christ."  I thought it was pretty funny. But she was so awesome. She cried again during the closing prayer with us. She and Tom said that they would come to church the next day.

 

So they came to church and I was way happy but sacrament meeting was a little bit hard for Yoko san to understand because she doesnt come from a Christian background or know essentially anything. But they stayed after for Gospel Doctrine class which was awesome because the topic just happened to land on prayer that day. As we were talking about prayer and why it is important she cried and the teacher stopped and asked, "Are you okay?" She said yes, and in a soft voice asked "Can you really change and be a better person through prayer?"  We all went around the room and confirmed to her that she can and we all got to bear testimony on prayer to her. It was so awesome.

 

She lives in Shirakawa though which is 70Km away and currently no missionaries are there.  We only get to see her 2 times a month at most because of her job. She had the same heart surgery as mom did too.  She was born with similar things as mom, so I felt like there was a little connection there.

 

Oh there was so much to say this week I just don't have too much time on the computer today, but there was a lot of fun things that we did at service and other things.

 

I love you all and I will talk to you next week!

 

Love,

 

Elder Nebeker