Sunset in Naha

So, first things first, I have to ask you for a favor. Our mission has asked every missionary to complete the "my family" pamphlet by September. We're starting to use them for family history. I'm sure you've seen it, but in order to fill it out, I need Kanji for all the names on Mom's side of the family and I also am going to need pictures of the grandparents. I need to get that packet filled out ASAP. If you could do that it would be really appreciated.

Anyway, I had a crazy week with almost no time for normal dendo. We were in Fukuoka last Sunday through Wednesday. It was the funnest time. Probably too much fun for missionaries.

Zone Leaders at the Fukuoka Temple

On P-day, after we emailed, we went back to the Honbu and asked what we could do for President and he gave us four tickets to the zoo across the street. He told us to have a good time and then at six go find some investigators for Fukuoka. So, we spent the day at the zoo and having fun around Fukuoka.

At the Zoo

It was SO much fun. Elder Chung is one of the Elders in Okinawa and I don't know if you remember him, but he's pretty much my best friend in the mission. I've really been able to work with him a lot and he's one of the funnest people I know.

On bikes in Fukuoka

A hot day in Fukuoka. Two of the bikes broke....so we had to walk back to the honbu.

That night, I had the chance to work with Elder Fender in Fukuoka and we had a really successful day. We found 3 new investigators that were all really solid. It was wonderful. The next day, we had an awesome training from President and the AP's and then we went home to Naha to prepare for two trainings for the Zone. It's been a lot of training here. It has gone really well though.

We weren't able to really teach any of our investigators this week. It was really slow, but we had a little bit of time to go finding and we found quite a few cool people. We found a cute old couple in a tiny apartment. The Husband was watching Sumo and told us to leave and that he didn't need our message, but the wife said she would love to hear the message. We were able to teach her a little and make a new appointment. She said that her husband was going to yell at her afterwards, but that it was ok. Haha, it was way funny because right after that, we said a prayer and we could hear them bickering. He was saying that they had their religion and she was saying that she wants to hear what we have to say and that we had such pure hearts and all this sweet stuff. Haha, I hope the next lesson goes ok.

Our Eikaiwa students

So, as you know, today is our transfer calls. I don't know what's going on yet, but I hope I stay. I really love this area and the people here. Of course I'll do whatever the Lord has in store for me. I just have come to really love these people.

Anyway, that was my week. It was a busy one. Maybe next week I'll be somewhere new. We'll see. I love you all and I'll talk to you all next week.

Love,

Elder Low

So, we had a pretty eventful week.  I got to go up to Fukuoka on Tuesday which was a blast.

Arriving at Hakata Station in Fukuoka

We stayed in the Fukuoka house (6 Elders in one house and then we added another five....It's pretty big) and I got to eat at McDonalds.....I had something called a "Hot and Groovy Burger"....I don't know about America but the Japanese Mac's are doing this vintage burger thing.......It was sooo good.

Then, the next morning, I went to the Fukuoka Stake center and had an interview with Elder Aoyagi of the First Quorum of the Seventy.....He is such a boss. He asked what the biggest struggles in my mission are right now and gave me some awesome advice. He committed me to finish the "Lesson Mastery" program. I'm finishing that up tonight. However, he promised that if I did it, people would listen to me. He asked me to say a prayer at the end of our interview and then he said, "Elder Low...I love you . You have such a light about you. You are a very special Missionary."  It was such a special experience.

Then we had a missionary conference with him. He's amazing. I was so pumped at the end of the conference and the Spirit was SOO strong.

Click on photo to enlarge.

 

On top of that, I got to see Elder Redd AND Elder Wirthlin. It was the first time we were all together. It was a blast. We ate lunch together. It felt kinda weird though.....haha, Elder Redd accidentally called me Randy. I love those Elders.

Elders Wirthlin, Low, and Redd

Well, after coming home from Fukuoka.....I got sick. Haha, it was a real bummer. I had to spend the day at the Apartment and I felt so bad for my two comps because they had to sit and stay with me. I also got to wear one of those masks all week.

I announced to the branch and Eikaiwa (English) class that I will probably transfer this week. They were all SOO upset. It was really hard to say goodbye to my Eikaiwa class. Haha, all the moms started crying. Most of our English class students are teenage boys and their parents. Apparently all these teenage boys talk about me a lot. Anyway, the parents want to change this whole "transfer" system because it is terrible.....It made me really sad that I'll probably leave them.

My Eikaiwa class.

Also, today I have a couple appointments with branch members so I can say goodbye....Haha, I haven't even got the call yet....I think  I'm out though.

Then yesterday, I got to go on splits with Elders Coelho and Malcom. We found two new investigators! It was miracle. We had a wonderful day and worked really really hard all day long.

It was a really good week. I guess I'll let you know how transfers go....but I think I'm out of here. I can't wait to find out!

I Love you all,
Elder Low

Hello everyone! So, I'm not sick this week. That's pretty good!

 

Here are some pics of my sick day last week.

(Click on any photo to enlarge.)

 

 

 

Haha, however, we did have a bit of a rough week. I'm super grateful for Elder Anderson though. He's super good at keeping up a good attitude. I think he wrote "Kekkou me" ("Tell me 'No Thanks'") on my forehead though.....cuz we are getting denied a lot. It's ok though. We still had a cool miracle this week.

We had the Halloween party this week and we were in charge of planning it with a newly married couple in the branch. It was a blast.....but it was busy. I am glad we don't have to do it again this week, because we didn't have a ton of time to work. We put up all the decorations and stuff the night before and had to shop for treats......(Yeah, I'm taking credit for some of the treats.....but most of the cool stuff was the members)

 

 

At the Halloween Party

 

 

Also, a cool little miracle: Elder Anderson and I found a less active member that had not met missionaries for around ten years. I think I wrote a little about her before. Anyway, we focused on her a lot because we felt like she was a pretty lonely lady. So, we asked her to come to the Halloween party....and she did! She brought her daughter and her friend and they had a blast. It was the best! She was so happy with the branch and she was glowing. I was so happy.

At the party, the branch asked the missionaries to sing a song as "mummies," but we didn't have lots of time to prep......so we sang three blind mice in a minor key....yeah. It was really sad.

 

 

But Okajima Kaicho (Branch President) was super happy that we got her there because he had never met her. He is actually really happy about all the stuff we're doing. He's the best.

Also, yesterday, I gave a talk on Sunday.....They asked me to talk about the word of wisdom. Oh, and they asked me about an hour before church started. Haha, it was a really awkward talk. The members came to me and told me it was cute.......usually not a good sign. hahaha.

Other than that, we haven't had a lot going on. I am loving being a district meeting and tomorrow we are going to Fukuoka for a zone conference. I'm super pumped!

 

Adding new furniture for our two new elders

 

 

Really though, even though I keep on getting denied....I'm having so much fun. I have never been so motivated to work hard. I worry about the young men in the 8th Ward sometimes. I hope they all get on a mission. I wish I had prepared for this more when I was a deacon or a priest. I always wanted to go, but I didn't realize how big of a deal it is. Some of the people out here have NEVER even thought about God. They don't have any of the amazing blessings we get from this church.

I guess I kinda took it for granted when I was at home. We really have the happiest lifestyle on this earth and it is because we are so blessed by a Heavenly Father who loves us. We have the WHOLE truth.

I love this work and I'm working hard.

 

 

A Japanese Graveyard

 

 

 

 

I love you all and miss you.

Elder Low

August 27, 2013 - Transfers this week...

So, I'm sorry, but I still don't know where I'm going....or if I'm going at all. I do know this though: The AP's called me the other day. (Elder Monson. He's the one who's related to the Baer family. He's a boss) He said, next transfer I'll be training......again. Haha, I'm only 5 transfers into the mission and president is making me trainer again. I'm kinda worried about it. I've been really stressed recently. I'm really upset that Elder Alger and I aren't going to be comps next transfer. He's an awesome missionary and I loved working with him. :)

 

Elder Alger hard at work. 

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

 

 

Now I'm all worried that they are going to give me a comp who is a picky eater or is hard to get along with. I think Elder Alger was pretty easy to train because He was such a great missionary and soooo easy to get along with.

 

Also, if I do transfer, I'm worried about Y-san. I guess that's something I need to get used to. I'm going to transfer many times in my mission. I can't stay in the same place forever, and I don't want to. I just hope that she keeps meeting with the missionaries. She's so close!

 

In other news, my zone leader Elder Hammond is the new AP. He's perfect for it too. I'm really excited for him. I'm a little bummed that he's not my zone leader anymore, but that's ok.

 

So, this week, there was this man who came to our church. He said he needed our help so we sat down with him. He then went on about how the Nuclear Powerplants in Japan are going to be the end of the world and how he needed our help to call New Zealand so he can immigrate there. He said we should leave Okinawa ASAP. We barely were able to teach him anything. He didn't really believe us because he said that if there was a god, we wouldn't have the nuclear problem. I felt really bad for him. I don't want to live a fearful life and I refuse to. I'm happy and I want to stay that way.

 

Also this week, some English Class students took us out to Yakiniku. It was the best. They are the sweetest people. We tried to share a small message, but they weren't super interested. They said they had their own ways of life. They were very sweet though.

 

Our English class students and their son.

 

And then there is L. She's the one I was talking about that said she can't be happy because her son is missing. She's getting worse every day. I asked her how she spends her days. She says she sits on Youtube and watches what a terrible world this is. Then she tried to show me and Elder Alger a video of people being burned alive in Kenya. I was freaking out. Haha, I just told her we couldn't watch but she kept trying to show us. I then started thinking about Mormon Messages. I asked her to look up Mountains to Climb. She stopped watching those horrifying videos and pulled it up. I think it really impacted her. I hope she sees that there are thousands of reasons to smile if she just lets herself. I assigned her to stop watching horrible videos that make her sad and she agreed. I hope she watches more Mormon Messages.

 

Our clean apartment. (Parents are stunned.)

 

 

That's all the news I have this week. I might have time to drop by the church and let you know where I'm going next transfer. If not, I'll let you know next week. Wherever I am, I'll do my best to work hard!

 

 

 

Elder Low

July 29, 2013 - Crazy week. Things are looking great!

 

I had a lot happen this week so listen in carefullly.

 

First, training the bean. I didn't realize how much I could have improved my relationship with my last two companions until now. Yes, I got along with them and I love them both....but Elder Alger and I have so much fun working. He's a blast. His Japanese needs work but I'm so grateful that he laughs off his mistakes and keeps pushing forward. He doesn't get discouraged very easily which makes me want to work with him more. This week gave him lots of chances to be angry but he was great. Here we go!

 

On Monday, we spent P-day going to Okinawa to buy him a bike. He's been using a bike that belongs to a missionary who went home before Christmas. It's a piece of Junk. So we took a bus to Okinawa. The stupid bus took 3 hours though. It's normally an hour and a half but it was super long on Monday for some reason.

 

We finally got there and met the Williams couple and bought Elder Alger the same bike that I have. It's a good one. The Williams then drove us back to Nago (which only took 45 minutes by car) and then we worked hard that night.

 

The next day at District meeting, we went out to eat with the district. When Elder Alger and I walked back to the church to get our bikes, Elder Alger's bike had been slashed. Yep, he had the front tire slashed the day after he bought it. So today, we have to go buy him a new tire. On top of that, Elder Alger doesn't have any rain gear.....and on Tuesday, we had a crazy surprise rainstorm. It was so bad that the upper part of my shirt got soaked. I had my rain suit and everything. The rain just leaked down my neck all day.

 

Keep in mind that Elder Alger was still pretty happy and pushing hard the whole time.

 

One Wednesday, we taught Y-san. She committed to come to church finally, but canceled on Saturday. I was super bummed. On top of that, she's going to be in Kin every day from today until the 14th so we can't meet her. I told her I was still going to call and make sure she's doing good......but I'm really concerned about her....She's still very optimistic and keeping other commitments so that's good.

 

On Thursday, Elder Alger and I went down to Futenma to meet the President for a training meeting. It was awesome. I love being with President. THEN, after that, President had to go meet with the Stake President of Ginowan Stake so he assigned Me to go with Sister Gustafson and the Williams couple to translate for them for the day. Sister Gustafson had to go talk to some of the sister missionaries in Okinawa and then I had to help her check into a hotel. That was SCARY. I don't know any hotel vocabulary. It went ok though. After that, the Williams took us back to Nago to meet President and our investigator M-san so that President could interview him one last time.

 

President showed up while we were teaching Eikaiwa. The Stake President drove him up to Nago. I went and grabbed M-san and showed President a room that he could interview M-san in. After that, I asked if the Stake President was going to sit in on the interview as well. Then President said, "No....you are".

 

I was kinda surprised. I had to leave Elder Alger to teach Eikaiwa which kinda scared him but he did fine. Miyagi was very open with President and at the end of the interview President turned to me and asked why we were still waiting for him. He's ready and anyone can see it.

 

So we'll have a baptism this week. :) As the President left, he shook my hand and told me that he was really impressed with me which made my Dendo Fire go through the roof. It was an excellent day.

 

That's the big stuff of our week though. I'm having a lot of fun with Elder Alger. Good things are happening. My biggest concern is Elder Alger's Japanese. But he'll learn. He always says, "I can't Sprekkin" (I don't know how to spell that exactly but....he's so fun).

 

A dang good bowl of Ramen. (Click on any photo to enlarge)

With Elder Alger

 

We'll keep working hard. I also bought a pair of machine washable pants and I LOVE them. :) I got the package from Clint. Thank you so so much.  :)

 

Thanks for sending the new tie.

We had the Nago festival which had lots of fireworks. It's kinda hard taking a picture of fireworks.....it's like taking a picture of a movie. Makes me miss 4th of July.

 

 

Love,

Elder Low