Dear Mom,
How's everything going? Is life treating you well? I missed your email this week, hopefully everything ok! How goes moving preparations?
So right now I'm under the Fukuoka temple. It's so pretty here in Fukuoka and the temple just makes everything so much more beautiful. Yesterday, we went out with a member in Chukushino and some other missionaries for all you can eat shabu shabu so we didn't have time to email yesterday. I think we're going to start emailing on tuesday mornings now, just for a heads up! But anywho, the food was so good. And the member who paid for us was hilarious. He told us that we can get "fat for free" whenever we want because he had so much help from members on his mission. So I got fat for free yesterday.
So recently we've been meeting with a recent convert who is from Jamaica. He married a Japanese girl and they moved to Japan and he is so out of place here. Him and his wife are going through some hard times right now and are living separated with a 1 year old baby living with the mom. He got baptized and came unto Christ to fix his life and he's on the right track, but he still needs help. Are there any scriptures that come to mind? If you could give me any advice, that'd be wonderful.
Sorry this is so short, we're about to head out for district meeting. I love you. Tell everyone I love them and tell Matthew and Miles I wrote and sent letters!
Love,
Robert
Friday, February 4, 2011
January 26, 2011
Dear Mom/Family,
Here`s the big news...I transferred! I`m in my second area now with my third companion and it is great! And SOOO cold! My goodness, I had a short sleeve shirt on under my suit coat when I left Okinawa and when I arrived in Fukuoka I knew I was in trouble. my usual evening dendo dress is my garments, a white shirt, a sweater, my suit coat and a big jackets. That`s a ton of layers! I feel like a girl when I go to get dressed (at least I don`t need to accessorize!). Sorry mom, no offense...it`s difficult for this boy. So anywho, I`m in Iizuka with Elder Ainge and it is so awesome here. The branch is 19 active members but we are in a building that is 3 stories tall and so beautiful. I`ll take a picture of it and send it to you guys sometime soon but I`m pretty sure it`s bigger than the one in Gilbert. So our job right now is to fill this building! It`s quite a task, but the Lord has prepared a way for us! The branch president here is the dad of one of my MTC friends, which is so cool. He is way genki and he instantly loved me, I`m excited to be here!
Wow, good Subway story. I`m hungry! I`d watch out for fingers in my food here if there weren`t so many other things to watch out for! haha just kidding, the food here is great. I actually was introduced to a new drink which became my favorite drink! IT is Panacake drink. Tastes like pancakes. And it`s so good on a cold day. It comes from the vending machine way hot and so it keeps me warm in the special way only Pancake Drink can. I will be sure to send the family some to try in my next package back home. You`ll have to heat it up though!
That`s so cool that Miles blessed the sacrament for the first time! I think on my first time I messed up...hopefully he did better than I did! Man, I just tried typing that sentence as fast as I could and it was way fast! I think I`m going to start typing as fast as I can for the rest of my mission so all my emails will be longer! Anywho, I`m way happy for Miles that he was able to bless the sacrament. I`m sure Matthew is excited for the day when he gets to do it too!
I`ve started emailing Parker which is way good. He`s such a stud and I know he`s going to tear it up in France. He told me that the people who drive buses there were on strike so he and his companion are having to walk everywhere. I thought that was pretty funny. I don`t think strikes are possible here in Japan. There are always a hundred people to fill the position if someone doesn`t like it or doesn`t want to do it.
Well mom, I love you very much! I love the family and I`m excited to share with you what`s going on here. I sent dad an email that tells a little bit more about Iizuka, hopefully he shares! Take it easy!
Love,
Robert
Here`s the big news...I transferred! I`m in my second area now with my third companion and it is great! And SOOO cold! My goodness, I had a short sleeve shirt on under my suit coat when I left Okinawa and when I arrived in Fukuoka I knew I was in trouble. my usual evening dendo dress is my garments, a white shirt, a sweater, my suit coat and a big jackets. That`s a ton of layers! I feel like a girl when I go to get dressed (at least I don`t need to accessorize!). Sorry mom, no offense...it`s difficult for this boy. So anywho, I`m in Iizuka with Elder Ainge and it is so awesome here. The branch is 19 active members but we are in a building that is 3 stories tall and so beautiful. I`ll take a picture of it and send it to you guys sometime soon but I`m pretty sure it`s bigger than the one in Gilbert. So our job right now is to fill this building! It`s quite a task, but the Lord has prepared a way for us! The branch president here is the dad of one of my MTC friends, which is so cool. He is way genki and he instantly loved me, I`m excited to be here!
Wow, good Subway story. I`m hungry! I`d watch out for fingers in my food here if there weren`t so many other things to watch out for! haha just kidding, the food here is great. I actually was introduced to a new drink which became my favorite drink! IT is Panacake drink. Tastes like pancakes. And it`s so good on a cold day. It comes from the vending machine way hot and so it keeps me warm in the special way only Pancake Drink can. I will be sure to send the family some to try in my next package back home. You`ll have to heat it up though!
That`s so cool that Miles blessed the sacrament for the first time! I think on my first time I messed up...hopefully he did better than I did! Man, I just tried typing that sentence as fast as I could and it was way fast! I think I`m going to start typing as fast as I can for the rest of my mission so all my emails will be longer! Anywho, I`m way happy for Miles that he was able to bless the sacrament. I`m sure Matthew is excited for the day when he gets to do it too!
I`ve started emailing Parker which is way good. He`s such a stud and I know he`s going to tear it up in France. He told me that the people who drive buses there were on strike so he and his companion are having to walk everywhere. I thought that was pretty funny. I don`t think strikes are possible here in Japan. There are always a hundred people to fill the position if someone doesn`t like it or doesn`t want to do it.
Well mom, I love you very much! I love the family and I`m excited to share with you what`s going on here. I sent dad an email that tells a little bit more about Iizuka, hopefully he shares! Take it easy!
Love,
Robert
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Dear Mom January 2011
Dear Mom,
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed my getting pooped on by the bird story. It's definitely an experience I won't soon forget. As a missionary, I'm always looking to the heavens for help and now I have another reason to look skyward! Thanks again for the wonderful Christmas call. Being able to hear my family and everyone's voices was wonderful. Everyone seemed very happy and it sounds like Miles and Matthew are both maturing (increasing in wisdom and stature). Man, I might start doing that unintentionally more often. Elder Hardy was telling me that missionaries often make references to scriptures unintentionally. That was right after he said that the laundry was as white as Angel Moroni! Haha, good times. Anywho, thank you for the phone call and the letters. It's always comforting to know that everyone at home is doing well. I really liked the experience you had of doing that exercise of picturing some place peaceful and envisioning meeting the Savior. I'm going to have to give that a try!
I love you mom. I hope you always know that and know that I'm praying for you.
Love, Robert
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed my getting pooped on by the bird story. It's definitely an experience I won't soon forget. As a missionary, I'm always looking to the heavens for help and now I have another reason to look skyward! Thanks again for the wonderful Christmas call. Being able to hear my family and everyone's voices was wonderful. Everyone seemed very happy and it sounds like Miles and Matthew are both maturing (increasing in wisdom and stature). Man, I might start doing that unintentionally more often. Elder Hardy was telling me that missionaries often make references to scriptures unintentionally. That was right after he said that the laundry was as white as Angel Moroni! Haha, good times. Anywho, thank you for the phone call and the letters. It's always comforting to know that everyone at home is doing well. I really liked the experience you had of doing that exercise of picturing some place peaceful and envisioning meeting the Savior. I'm going to have to give that a try!
I love you mom. I hope you always know that and know that I'm praying for you.
Love, Robert
Monday, January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011
Dear Mom/Family,
Thank you so much for the wonderful pictures and the email! I died laughing when I saw the first picture of Matthew doing who knows what. Probably blowing out candels but it looked like he was a martian brain sucking alien. A good impression of the guy from Rocketman, if I must say. It was also good to know that Miles uses the black vans (shoes)! I miss those shoes...and Miles too :p
Dad would make a great ward mission leader! Man, That`s awesome that that`s his new calling. Dad, keep up the good work. Otsukaresama! Right now we are actually working in 2 areas because there were more returning missionaries then arriving missionaries last transfer.
Baptism stats. I think in Fukuoka there are 110 missionaries (10 of whom are senior couples who do office work and such) and there were 180 baptisms or so last year. It was up like 30 baptisms from the year before so that was great and we already have a good start on this year. France definitely sounds like a tough place at the moment. I`m sure Parker`s going to help it improve! Speaking of which, if you could email me his mission address, that`d be great!
It`s cool that you are reading the New Testament. I`m going through it everyday as well and I`m really enjoying the parables more than I ever did. Oh and I found an interesting scripture. Ephesians 4:4-6. There is one Spirit, One Lord, and One God. 1+1+1 equals 3! So anyone who says the Godhead is one person should read this scripture. It`s in the Bible. It also says there is one baptism meaning there are a lot of churches that are wrong. Only one can be right, and I bear my testimony to you and to everyone that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the one true Church. It is called after the name of Christ and in His name we exercise His priesthood to do His will. I love you all. Keep praying for me. I pray for all of you everyday.
Love,
Robert
Thank you so much for the wonderful pictures and the email! I died laughing when I saw the first picture of Matthew doing who knows what. Probably blowing out candels but it looked like he was a martian brain sucking alien. A good impression of the guy from Rocketman, if I must say. It was also good to know that Miles uses the black vans (shoes)! I miss those shoes...and Miles too :p
Dad would make a great ward mission leader! Man, That`s awesome that that`s his new calling. Dad, keep up the good work. Otsukaresama! Right now we are actually working in 2 areas because there were more returning missionaries then arriving missionaries last transfer.
Baptism stats. I think in Fukuoka there are 110 missionaries (10 of whom are senior couples who do office work and such) and there were 180 baptisms or so last year. It was up like 30 baptisms from the year before so that was great and we already have a good start on this year. France definitely sounds like a tough place at the moment. I`m sure Parker`s going to help it improve! Speaking of which, if you could email me his mission address, that`d be great!
It`s cool that you are reading the New Testament. I`m going through it everyday as well and I`m really enjoying the parables more than I ever did. Oh and I found an interesting scripture. Ephesians 4:4-6. There is one Spirit, One Lord, and One God. 1+1+1 equals 3! So anyone who says the Godhead is one person should read this scripture. It`s in the Bible. It also says there is one baptism meaning there are a lot of churches that are wrong. Only one can be right, and I bear my testimony to you and to everyone that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the one true Church. It is called after the name of Christ and in His name we exercise His priesthood to do His will. I love you all. Keep praying for me. I pray for all of you everyday.
Love,
Robert
Sunday, January 2, 2011
To Mom
Dear Mom,
I`m glad to hear that Christmas went well. I like what President Laney said about not spending a lot of money for Christmas...I got you all presents that aren`t the most pricey...but they`ll make you laugh and feel loved. It was so good being able to talk to you and everyone as well. I constantly pray for Pepa, that he`ll accept the gospel...in Dad`s email, he said that Pepa was touched so that was so good to hear. I`ll have to write him a letter sometime soon.
Miles is a stud, I think that`s funny that he complimented you and dad on your gospel knowledge. You and dad always have good insights...thank you so much for what you said about faith. I have been recently studying faith. The way we show it is by our actions and I know that as a missionary, that means I have to obey all the rules! Way good.
Sorry this is short, I love you mom. Have a fantastic week!
Robert
I`m glad to hear that Christmas went well. I like what President Laney said about not spending a lot of money for Christmas...I got you all presents that aren`t the most pricey...but they`ll make you laugh and feel loved. It was so good being able to talk to you and everyone as well. I constantly pray for Pepa, that he`ll accept the gospel...in Dad`s email, he said that Pepa was touched so that was so good to hear. I`ll have to write him a letter sometime soon.
Miles is a stud, I think that`s funny that he complimented you and dad on your gospel knowledge. You and dad always have good insights...thank you so much for what you said about faith. I have been recently studying faith. The way we show it is by our actions and I know that as a missionary, that means I have to obey all the rules! Way good.
Sorry this is short, I love you mom. Have a fantastic week!
Robert
To Dad
Dear Dad,
It was such a blessing to be able to talk to you and the family on Christmas. I definitely was uplifted myself and I`m looking forward to future calls. Thank you for what you said about your investigator and how he was baptized later. I know that this boy is going to be baptized. I know that his mom is going to be baptized. It`s going to take some time for the mom to get over her fear of commitment to a religion but I am confident she will. I was bummed because I would to have loved to baptize someone on Christmas but you know, I`ll be just as happy if someone else does it.
That`s good to know that Kyle is doing well. The Utah mission doesn`t seem to appealing at first, but it is wildly successful. A friend of my trainer got back from his mission recently from Provo, Utah...a place where you think everyone would be LDS...and he had 57 baptisms. Not too shabby. Haha, so I`m sure Kyle is going to do great things in Salt Lake City.
Thank you for bearing your witness of the Savior. I know that when I testify to people of Jesus Christ, that I am telling them of their Lord and their way back to heaven. The prepared people will listen. I know they are here. We just need to have enough faith to be led to them.
I hope all is going well at home. I pray for you everyday. I love you dad.
Robert
It was such a blessing to be able to talk to you and the family on Christmas. I definitely was uplifted myself and I`m looking forward to future calls. Thank you for what you said about your investigator and how he was baptized later. I know that this boy is going to be baptized. I know that his mom is going to be baptized. It`s going to take some time for the mom to get over her fear of commitment to a religion but I am confident she will. I was bummed because I would to have loved to baptize someone on Christmas but you know, I`ll be just as happy if someone else does it.
That`s good to know that Kyle is doing well. The Utah mission doesn`t seem to appealing at first, but it is wildly successful. A friend of my trainer got back from his mission recently from Provo, Utah...a place where you think everyone would be LDS...and he had 57 baptisms. Not too shabby. Haha, so I`m sure Kyle is going to do great things in Salt Lake City.
Thank you for bearing your witness of the Savior. I know that when I testify to people of Jesus Christ, that I am telling them of their Lord and their way back to heaven. The prepared people will listen. I know they are here. We just need to have enough faith to be led to them.
I hope all is going well at home. I pray for you everyday. I love you dad.
Robert
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