So, it happened. We finally baptized K san. It was absolutely amazing. I have never seen him smile so much in my life. He was laughing like crazy. The ward members welcomed him so quickly.

An Easter Celebration

There was only one problem.....there wasn't enough water in the font. HaHa, I literally had water up to just below the knee. We were very lucky that his whole body fit in the water. I basically laid him on the bottom of the font. All the missionaries in my zone say, "When Low baptizes....he gets LOW".....It was kinda funny......but also really close to being a problem. I'm just happy that he's part of the ward now. We lost him during church yesterday. He was having too much fun with the members. It was fantastic.

Also, Yesterday, I was assigned EVERYTHING. Right before Sacrament, they asked me to play piano for Sacrament meeting. That was fun. Luckily the songs were not too difficult. Then, the sister missionaries forgot that they had the lesson in Gospel Principles and made other plans...so I got to teach Gospel Principles....AND THEN the entire Elders Quorum presidency didn't show up....so I taught Elders Quorum as well. Haha, it was good Japanese practice though.

One more awesome miracle. Elder Wells and I were weekly planning and we realized that we don't really have many strong investigators. So, we went into the area book to look for some previous investigators that might be strong. There was nothing. Nobody that we could visit that sounded good. Then a thought came to my mind. Do you all remember Y san in Nago? She was the investigator that had cancer.....well, I thought I'd ask the Ginowan zone how she was doing. They said she was dropped because she could never meet......but they said that maybe I should give her a call. I was the last person to teach her. So I did. She answered and started crying. She was so excited to talk to me. I asked her how she was doing and she said she's been in the hospital since I left, but that everything was going to be done this next month.

She's almost completely done with Cancer.....and then get this. She said, "So, you haven't really sent me something to read since you left Nago".......I was a little surprised. Then she said, "My Book of Mormon is still sitting in my bag everyday....I've been reading lots....I have lots to tell you about." So, guess who we'll be teaching again!! I'm pretty excited for her. She's so prepared!

As far as dendo goes, we are having lots of fun. Rainy season is coming up here pretty soon.....so I'm a little nervous. But it will all be good. Also, I met a trans-sexual Satan worshiping woman with facial hair. She was American and read my name tag. Then she started yelling at me and at the end of her rant, she said "Hail Satan!" and stormed off......So that was really weird. I meet lots of weird peeps! Also, I saw the flower helmet guy again! He waved at said good luck! I was happy.

Other than that, I'm just having a lot of fun out here. I know that God is proud of his missionaries and I feel his love every day. This is the best job ever......and Fukuoka mission is the best ;)

Mom, I hope you get to see this on Tuesday.

I love you all and I can't wait to report the miracles that will come in the following week!

Elder Low

 

 

 

One crazy thing that happened this week: K san had his interview....and he will be baptized this next Saturday! I'm so excited for him. He's a completely different person. It was awesome to see him at General Conference yesterday. He was blown away and was smiling and getting along with the ward. I just look back to when I first met him and remember that this is the same man who wanted to kill himself. People can deny our faith and our Church, but this gospel changed his life. He is not the same person anymore. I'm just really happy and he's such a great guy.

 

Also this week, We had interviews with President. It's always nice to be with President. I also got to work with the AP'S......Elder Dolbin is one of them. He was my MTC comp. And the other one is Elder Coelho from Nagasaki. They are two of my favorite people in the mission. They are both such amazing men. It was great to work with both of them. I got to spend the whole day working with Elder Dolbin. It's so crazy to see how much both of us grew. He's a powerhouse missionary. 

 

Watching General Conference. Elders Dolbin and Coelho are to my right.

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

 

It felt so good to be with him again. We were such a great team in the MTC and we still worked way well  together even now. We found a couple new investigators. It was a party.

 

Now, I'm about to tell you about the most exciting part of my week....before I do, I'm a little scared to tell you about it because you will all think, "Oh....well, he's still a child. Still the same punk from before", but this new thing is so effective. It's called "Sumairu" dendo. (Smile). Here's what it is: we walk around Naha with a sign that says "Sumairu! We are mormons!" and we contact people like that. We just say "Sumairu!" and then start sharing a testimony right there! Also, we walk around with a ukulele and sing hymns to people. We introduced the idea to Kaicho (President) and he told us to give it a go.....and it's super effective. People love it! Even if they don't take the message, they walk away with a smile on their face....and they won't forget it. So next time they meet missionaries, they will remember the happy people on the street. We reported how it works to Kaicho and he got so excited he said he wants to come Dendo WITH US! Haha, It was so much fun. Obviously, we are being careful to still represent the Savior in all we do......but It's been Really good. Example: I saw this guy and he was smiling SUPER big, but tried to ignore me. So! I asked him "Why are you smiling so big?" and he just kinda shrugged his shoulders....but kept this HUGE smile. He didn't stand a chance against a couple of Americans with a Ukulele singing "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today". So I told him "How about you come over here and I'll tell you why I'm smiling". His name is N and we are meeting him tonight! :)

 

I'm getting super close to Kaicho (President). He calls me pretty often now. He said he wants to try something in Naha called a Dendo board. Naha is just so busy that he wants to get all the missionaries in the same place doing it the way the Dan Jones did it. Haha, it's super scary, but I'm up to try anything. I love trying new ways to teach people.

 

Saying goodbye to returning missionaries at the airport

 

 

Anyway, I'm out of time. I'm having so much fun and I'm loving this gospel more than I ever have in my entire life. It really does make the world of a difference to dive into the word of God and feel the spirit and see it change lives.

 

I Love you all,

Elder Low

So, another great week. I was super busy all week long. Haha, it was pretty crazy. Last time I emailed you, I was just preparing to head off to Fukuoka. So, yes. I went all the way to Fukuoka again on Monday, and then came back on Tuesday afternoon. It was pretty ridiculous. We had a great meeting with President and the AP's and then he kicked all the Okinawa missionaries out before the closing song and prayer because we had a plane to catch.

It was kinda crazy. We were super behind and the Recorder and the MSM were driving us to the airport. They had to stop at a Family Mart so that they could buy the tickets and we were super behind and they just kinda strolled into the Family mart. The Recorder made sure to button up his jacket. Haha, I was losing it. We were supposed to be at our gate in 3 minutes and we were ten minutes from the airport by car and the Recorder was making sure he looked like a gentleman as he walked into the store. We were all yelling from the car "RUN" but I don't know if he was super urgent. Haha, he's a great guy though. Luckily our plane was delayed so we were able to board.

Then the next day, Elder Dursteler and I had to plan for the two training meetings this week. I didn't get a ton of time with my actual companion, but we spent our time together really well. We were able to find a new investigator that we are meeting on Tuesday that was pretty solid. Also, we had TONS of fun finding.....which weird because finding can get REALLY boring sometimes. It can also be really fun, but I'm talking CRAZY fun. Here's an example:

We met one of the craziest people I have ever met. She seemed like any other lady you would contact into. Haha, she was asking questions about God and the Book of Mormon and everything. I was about to hand her the book when she asked about the second coming of Christ. I responded with the doctrinal answer. We are preparing for the day that Christ will return.....but she believed something else. "He already came" she said. I was a little confused. Then she reported that He had been killed again. Killed on the cross once. Then He came back to the Earth and was killed....again. I asked where and she said in America. BUT here's where it gets interesting. A third and final god will once again come to the earth. Except for the this god is a woman. She was very sure to make sure we knew that the third god was a woman. She said that one this woman would come to the earth, she would purify the earth and make it a place of love and joy.....and here's the best part. She hands us her flyer.

I looked at the flyer and tried SO hard not to laugh. This third and final God was preparing the earth with the help from someone from the spirit world......Walt Disney. Yes, this Flyer said in big letters "God's Disneyland" and the flyer described how we would all get to live together on the Earth with Walt Disney once more in an eternal Disneyland.

I got a kick out of this lady and I figured dad would like it too. :)

In more serious business, K san was unable to come to church again. However, we got a new ward mission leader who seems like he will really help us out. Our last mission leader didn't want members picking up K san because he thought that he needed a way to get there by himself without our help. BUT our new leader says that we should drive him to church so he can be there. I totally agree. This new mission leader is named Sakihara Tomoaki. He just returned from the Sapporo mission. Apparently, he was an AP there and the mission president emailed the bishop of our ward and told him that Elder Sakihara was the best missionary in his mission.....so this guy knows his stuff really really well. I'm really excited for him.

Also, I spent twenty dollars on mints and gum for K san to quit smoking. It was totally worth it. He was laughing and throwing the mints and gum in the air maniacally. He was so excited and has completely quit smoking and drinking. It's been a miracle. Now we are just trying to get him set on getting to church. He's really excited for General Conference so that's exciting.

Other than that, I saw Jon's Mormon Message video. (See it Here) Freaking drugs. Shoulda left the party. You know better.

Well, we'll let you know how this next week goes. It seems like it's going to be a great week. Also, president just made a goal that every companionship in the mission makes a baptismal date by Easter. I'm super set on it.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

So, this week was transfer week and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Wells. He's a pretty young missionary, but I like him a lot. Pretty quiet, but has a great heart. The poor guy was stuck with one of the most difficult missionaries in the mission last transfer and was about ready to kill himself. Things are quite different than with Elder Dursteler. He was pretty amazing. Still is. It's nice that he's still in my apartment. Also, he and I are going to Fukuoka tonight to be trained by president.....flying again. This is so much fun! But yeah. It's pretty great stuff.

Elder Wells and I have been really focused on helping K san. He's so close to Baptism, but he's been really struggling with smoking. He hasn't smoked for more than a week, but that's because he has no money to use. He's afraid that when he gets money, he will smoke again because he REALLY wants to smoke. Well, the other problem we were facing was that he couldn't get to church on his own. He has no way to get himself there....so we gave him enough money to use the monorail.....and he didn't show...

I was so worried that he had bought some cigarettes, but when we went to visit him, he had just slept in. He had the money in a little case and said that he was not going to spend it on anything, but getting himself to church. So, I'm really grateful that he's showing so much faith. Unfortunately, he didn't get to church, but his conversion is still coming little by little.

Other than that, we have really just been settling in to being new companions.

We are finding out that the biggest issue with some obedience issues is that some missionaries are not focused on the mission. They aren't focused on the people. President just shut down music in the mission and said if it isn't Motab or EFY it's not ok because people were listening to normal music like Pompeii by Bastille.....Yeah. I wasn't even home when that song came out, but everyone in the mission "Justified" it for some reason. It was pretty bad. So, now we are working with some disobedience out here. So that's a thing. Something that Elder Dursteler does not do well with. He gets pretty mad when there are disobedience issues. It's scary. Haha, It's really easy to be obedient around him. Not that I had a problem before.

So that's what's going on. I'm really happy and I love this ward so much. Things are pretty stress free. My biggest concern is what tie I'm going to wear to Fukuoka tomorrow. (BTW thanks for the package. I just barely got it!)

I love you all and we'll keep killing it out here,

Elder Low

As you know, today is transfer day. Sorry I didn't warn you earlier this week. I'm staying. No surprise there.....BUT, here is one interesting change about this week: Elder Dursteler is still the other Zone leader.....but he's not going to be my companion. I am now with Elder Wells. Poor guy wasn't on the Christmas card......so you can't look him up that way. Hahaha, the honbu kinda forgot about him for the christmas card. BUT he's a great guy. He has an interesting personality. He doesn't smile a lot, but I think he's a really happy guy. HAha, just kinda a tough guy. I'm really excited though.

Also, in other news, we're still working with K san......and he quit smoking. He's only quit for 6 days....but that's still pretty good. We're really excited for him. He started showering and dressing nicely every day.. Also, he doesn't have any suicidal thoughts anymore. It's amazing to see the difference. You can see how much this gospel has already blessed his life. We're coming quickly up on his baptismal date. We're going to have to see him just about every single day from here on out. His date is the 6th of April.

I don't really know what else to tell you. I'm going to try sending pictures through the computer today, but we'll see what happens.

I'm really excited for this next transfer. We're going to be seeing tons of miracles. I can't wait.

.....until then, we have a lot of stuff we have to accomplish. We have to go to the airport and help all the new elders come in and all the old elders go out. Then we get to fly to Fukuoka again....I don't know. It's kinda nice. I get to feel like a really rich guy. The honbu pays for me to go to Fukuoka and back....It's a pretty pricey ticket.....I'm really lucky.

I love the pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's new rooms. Made me laugh a little bit. Grandpa really likes his guns....Kinda a scary room. ;)

Anyway, I don't really have much else to say. I'm still just pushing along. We'll see how this picture thing works out. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Low

Still being a missionary. Still loving it. Elder Dursteler and I had a pretty good week. A couple of disappointments, but nothing too bad. Pretty standard. Here are the highlights of the week:

We had Zone Conference on Thursday. It was pretty nuts. We had 6 elders staying in our apartment. Two AP's and the Elders from Ishigaki.....It was kinda crazy. Not a lot of room in a missionary apartment with four guys.....adding six was a little much. It was good though. Then we had zone conference....haha, and I kinda got sick. Not super sick, but I had a crazy head ache and I've had a pretty annoying cold recently. Not a bad one to keep me inside all the time.....just a little annoying. It was a really good conference though. I love getting to see president and I feel like he really trusts me.....But I was pretty quiet on that day.

Zone Conference. Click to enlarge.

Our investigator U san came to church yesterday......Haha, he's 22.....and he really likes this 19 year old girl in our ward. He told us that earlier in the week and we didn't take it super seriously.....Then he came to church with this bag full of presents.....Haha, he kept asking where she was and when he finally found her, he asked her to sit by him.....she said no. THEN in sunday school he was telling us, "I think after church, I'm going to confess my love to her".....She denied him again and he was really disappointed.....but he's coming to church next week!!

Also, we have been working really hard with K san....... We really focused on testifying on how he can overcome all things because the Savior overcame all things. If he relies on the Atonement, he can quit smoking. This week, we are going to really follow up with him to make sure he's doing the basic things.

We also had a dinner appointment with one of our new investigators. His name is T....actually, he brought his wife too. We had a really awesome talk about the Book of Mormon and how it has blessed our lives. They seemed pretty interested and in the end they took a book.

Other than that, our week was pretty normal. Lots of hard work. Falling asleep REALLY fast at 10:30. It's really nice being able to sleep so easily when you work so hard. I'm doing great....still trying to figure out pictures...are you getting them yet?

Love,

Elder Low

I had quite a week. Let me just jump in.

We had an appointment with our baptismal date investigator this last Thursday. I feel like he is becoming more and more happy. BUT we had a happening...

We went to his house to teach him the end of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The whole enduring to the end and obedience part. It was going really well. We had a member there and everything. His apartment is kinda a mess, but that's not really a problem. The problem was this. Suddenly in the middle of the lesson, his eyes widened and he turned around as if he heard someone in the room. We stopped teaching. He looked back at us looking really confused.

We started asking if something was wrong and if he was ok......he just kinda sat there and shivered as if he was freezing. Then he started shaking. Not violently, but enough. Like he was cold. We asked again, "What's wrong?" and nothing. His eyes were still wide as if he was freaking out about something and he didn't say anything. Then it got freaky.

His wide eyes slowly rolled to the back of his head. He twisted his head to the side and tightened every single muscle in his body and let out a pained scream. It was really long and freaky. Then he fell out of his chair and started swinging at the air in front of him. Our member ran and grabbed him while Elder Dursteller and I called the cops. He started foaming at the mouth and continued to shake. Now, he was shaking pretty violently. Then he stopped completely as if he was dead. No breathing. Nothing. Our member started checking pulse and stuff and then he let out a huge gasp of air and said "I don't want to die".

Long story short, the ambulance came and he was just sitting there and was really freaked out. They took him to the hospital for a day and then he came home. We went and talked to him and he said that he doesn't remember any of it. He said he heard something weird and then all of the sudden, he was in the hospital. He will know what the cause was on Thursday.....we are pretty freaked out. It was probably the scariest moment of my mission.....and I've had pretty freaky moments.

Speaking of which, We just had 2 pretty big earthquakes. One was in the middle of the night. We all woke up and everything was shaking like crazy. I hear it was a 6.5. It was pretty scary.

Also, big news! I get to go to Miyako on Wednesday! I'm super excited and I'll finally get to meet the missionaries there!

Other than that, Elder Dursteller and I are working SO hard. We found 4 new investigators this week. Things are going better than they ever have on my mission. We are just moving so quickly and we don't have any problems in the ward or in the area.

Quick fun story: there is a professional chef in our ward and he wanted to welcome me to the ward.....with something called wasabi baptism. It's just a sushi roll with TONS of wasabi. Everyone in Naha does it....IT hurt SO bad. It was awful.

Anyway, I'm sorry about photos. I don't have a place to get wi-fi here so I might need to send them through the computer. We'll see.

Love You,

Elder Low