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