Story time:

I don't know how many of my friends remember Holly Palmer, but for those who don't know her, she was a percussionist/clarinetist in the band with me my freshman year (she was a senior) and is the daughter of my Japanese teacher. She's in the Kobe mission right now (but I think she goes home soon). Anyway, this man is Brother Takahashi:

He was first taught by Sister Palmer in Kobe, and he moved here to Gamagori (ten minutes out of Okazaki) and was baptized a couple months later. This was a little over a year ago. A couple weeks ago, the other Elders in our apartment, Elder Naylor and Elder Charlton, were coming home after a pretty unsuccessful day and decided to talk to one last person before they came in. So at 9:20 they talked to a man named Tsuji walking down the street and he was super super interested. They set up an appointment on Saturday, but the lesson was pretty unsuccessful. They tried to answer his questions about God and religion but he didn't really understand and they walked out feeling like it didn't go so well. He did, however, agree to go to church the next day because he had nothing better to do. At church, he met Brother Takahashi and they immediately hit it off. Brother Takahashi came and helped out with the next lesson with Tsuji san, and was able to really answer his questions and help him to understand God and Christianity. After this lesson, Tsuji san started progressing like a mad man. On Wednesday the 16th Elder Naylor and Elder Charlton committed him to get baptized on the 28th. They met with him every day after that. I went on splits with them a couple of times to appointments with Tsuji san and the lessons would go something like this: we would tell him about a doctrine. He would ask why we have that doctrine. We would tell him. He would say that makes total sense and accept it 100%. We would then tell him about a commandment. He would spend the next hour complaining about how Japanese society doesn't agree with that but in the last ten minutes say he has no problem following it. It was pretty funny actually. He quickly gained a testimony of prayer when he prayed for help at work, got an answer almost immediately,and used that answer to fix his problem, which led to him not having to work overtime anymore, so he could meet with the missionaries every night. He really came a long way from when they first met him. He had just moved here to Okazaki, didn't have any friends, and really didn't have a very good life. But yesterday, this happened: 

When he bore his testimony after being baptized he was comfortable, cracking jokes at the pulpit, and just talking about how much the gospel has changed his life. And now he's got that ward family that has just been encompassing and accepting him and making him feel loved which is wonderful. And even thought we only met like 3 times and I couldn't communicate with him, apparently my bumbling and incompetent Japanese was so endearing to him that he wanted me to baptize him. So there you go. Left to right: Me, Elder Naylor, Brother Tsuji, and Elder Charlton. So that was my day yesterday. Thanks Holly! 

Other things that have happened this week;

We had a really fun ward talent show Saturday night. The members here are so funny, but the highlight was the bishop, who came out dressed in tight leather pants, a sparkly blouse, and a fedora, and sang a song to all the women in the ward. It was hilarious. The parts I could understand, anyway. Bishop Ammons, your fox suit was nice, but the bar has been raised. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture, because my picture was dead. Forgive me.

We also had a really cool experience at the beginning of the week. We decided to go visit a 17 year old recent convert, Karen, kind of randomly, and when we got there, her mom (not a member) answered the door. Now her mom is a Brazilian and so I couldn't understand any of the Portuguese, but afterward Elder Schmeil told me that Karen was being bullied pretty heavily at school and hadn't been to school in a week. So we got as many ward members and missionaries as we could to write her  notes and brought them to her with some candy or something and dropped them off. Those notes touched the mom so much, she told us that she could tell that people in this church were true followers of Christ and that she wanted to be a part of it. She set up an appointment with us for the next day her husband gets off work (because he apparently wants to hear the gospel too) and also gave us a referral. Pretty cool, huh? So don't forget the impact your example has. If we are members of a church that professes to follow Jesus Christ, you better darn well act like it, because if you don't people see that and it damages the reputation of the gospel, even thought it's because of imperfect followers. But if you act in a way fitting of a disciple of Christ, people really can see what the gospel is all about. Through the examples of members people can see how the gospel can change you for the better. 

We met a Chinese college student named Mac that is way interested in the church and agreed to meet us for lunch Saturday, but the appointment fell through when he texted us that morning saying "I drank too much sake last night and now I am not OK." As disappointing as it was it was also pretty funny. We may have some work to do with him. 

So that was my week. I've gotten a lot of culture questions so I will maybe write more about that next week. Anyway. Have a good week, all.

Love,

Elder Callahan

We go hard in weekly planning sessions. Also I may or may not have eaten all of that in an hour and a half and almost thrown up.

Yes, I took a picture of a manhole cover. Don't judge me.

When we have FHEs with less active members, sometimes this happens.

Hello everyone.

It`s been a pretty interesting week. We left on Monday at 3:30 in the morning, and spent  the next 17 hours flying. We stopped in Detroit, which was fun because that:s where we spent our ten hour layover when we went to Europe. So I got to see the rainbow tunnel again. Anyway, we got into Japan at about 4:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, Japan time. This was about an hour before we were supposed to arrive, so after struggling our way through customs, we walked out of the gate expecting the mission president welcome...and no one was there. 

Luckily, we were all so tired that it didn't even phase us, and we just sat down and waited. After about 15 minutes the APs and office staff showed up and we did the normal thing. Apparently that's the first time anyone has gotten in early before. So I guess we're special or something like that. We spent the night at the mission home (the location of the absolute softest beds in the Milky Way Galaxy) and the next morning we did our orientation meeting. In the afternoon, we got to meet our trainers. 

My trainer's name is Elder Schmeil (pronounced like smile but if you couldn't speak English). He's Brazilian, but his English is flawless, so we communicate fine. He's pretty much the nicest person I've every met, to the point of frustration. When we were traveling to our area he carried all my bags and wouldn't let me touch them the whole way there. He's way funny too. 

We're in Okazaki right now, which is a city east of Nagoya. It's definitely city, but not huge city like New York. There's also some nice countryside area that we visit every once in a while and that we pass through when taking the train to the other smaller towns in our area. I also hear there's a beach here but I haven't been to it yet. 

So we got to Okazaki in the afternoon on Wednesday, we planned, went out to eat, and then left to teach Eikaiwa, the English class program the Church here does. That went well except I was so tired I don't really remember anything. Friday we picked up an old bike a missionary had left at the church when he went home for me to use until I got my bike, and then made the hour or so ride out to that countryside area I mentioned before. 

That was an experience, let me tell you. And I don't think I would call it a good one either. Okazaki has a lot of hills. And when your bike can neither shift gears nor brake, it becomes a little difficult to get up and down those hills safely. Luckily I didn't die, but there were some close calls. 

We have 20 investigators right now, 7 of whom are progressing. Because Elder Schmeil is Brazilian, we have a lot of Portuguese/Spanish speaking investigators. In fact, it took me two full days here before I finally taught a lesson in Japanese. We probably taught six lessons before that. So that "Best Two Years" moment that people talk about, the "This isn't the language I learned in the MTC" moment? Mine was real. I may just come back fluent in Portuguese instead of Japanese. My job during those lessons is to just stand there, smile, and nod. It's fun though. 

One of our investigators is Fernando. He was very very interested, had all the lessons, kept all his commitments, but his wife was very scared of the church. All religion in general, actually. She didn't mind him taking the lessons, but because he worked every day except Sunday she wanted to spend time with him on Sunday, and wouldn't spend that time at Church. So he couldn't get baptized, even though he wanted to. But we found out yesterday that his wife has moved back to Brazil, and he:s going to join her after six months. So now he can come to church and be baptized. 

Another one of our investigators, Fukui, is interesting. Elder Schmeil has only been here for about 4 months, so while his Japanese is pretty impressive (especially for how long he's been here) there are still a lot of holes. Fukui is a seventeen year old high school student who speaks really really fast and with really really complicated Japanese. So neither I nor Elder Schmeil can understand anything he's saying. 

However, by some miracle, he's progressing and is still interested. When we taught him on Friday, it started raining, and as soon as we said Amen to our lesson there was a huge lighting bolt and the power went out in the church. Fukui didn't want to ride home in the rain, so we hung out in the church for like half an hour playing the piano and getting to know him as best we could. It was really fun actually. 

We also have an investigator named Shakespeare (well, he calls himself Shakespeare after Shakespeare in Love) who I actually haven't taught yet but I met at church. He's had all the lessons and has a testimony and comes to church all the time but he hasn't wanted to be baptized yet, and no one's really sure why.

 We also have two investigators, Tatiana and Marcos, who are way way interested and already seem like members (apparently when Elder Schmeil and his old companion first met them, Tatiana said "all these religions talk about God but their hearts are far from him.") but Marcos has Lukemia and since he just got done with Chemo, he can't leave his house because his immune system is so weak and can't come to church. So unless we get special permission, he can't be baptized for another 6 months which is way sad because they're so receptive and willing to learn about the gospel. 

Last night we and the sisters went to visit a less active family, the Ashikawas, who live half an hour away by train. They're a crazy Brazilian family who love the missionaries. The mom is a long time member and the dad is a non member. She was actually really really strong in the church but some things about Japanese culture had been rubbing her the wrong way for a long time and she felt like the Japanese members look down on the Brazilian members, and so she eventually went inactive, which is sad because she actually has a really strong testimony. She gives us referrals all the time and loves to help us whenever she can. It's really kind of a strange situation. 

Anyway, we went to her house to help make a cake for Tatiana and Marcos, because it's Tatiana's birthday today. One of the sisters kept the kids busy (those kids are absolutely insane. My ears were ringing when I left that tiny apartment. They were climbing all over us and everything else they could see. I can't even explain how crazy it was) while we helped with the cake. We ended up accidentally doing all of her dishes and cleaning her kitchen for her, which she really appreciated. We also brought her a bunch of letters from the ward telling her they missed her at church (she's only recently inactive and was slated to give a talk yesterday) so hopefully that helped her. 

I'm trying to think of other things that happened this week, because I know there were a lot but I really can't. The trains are fun. They're actually not very crowded, but we're kind in a less populated area. Also sometimes instead of crosswalks they have tunnels that go under the roads, and in the middle of the stairs down into the tunnels there are bike ramps, but they're really steep, and when I was using that run down bike I would go down on ramp and then up the other one and I almost died every time. 

The hills here are pretty rough to bike. Apparently this is one of the worst places in the mission for hills. The food is also pretty good. It actually took me three days to actually eat real japanese food. Before that I had Mexican, Chinese, and Thai. One thing about Japan that I've noticed: people aren't happy. The only people I ever see smile are Church members and kids. The adults don't smile. It's depressing. That's why we're here though. 

Anyway, that's it for this week. Maybe I'll have more exciting stories next week. 

Take care.

Elder Callahan

The view of Nishio, a neighboring city to Okazaki from Fernando's apartment

View from our room in the mission home

Elder Laird, our last laundry night

We have inspiring decorations in our apartment

Our wonderful teachers, Cook kyoudai (left) and Gregory kyoudai (right)

Elder Salisbury came in right before I left

Our district, branch presidency, and their wives

Elder Francis and I

Rainbow tunnel!

Look who lived in the same building as me.

So here we go. I have 3 days left in the good ol' United States of God Bless America. It went by fast. This week was really great. Let me explain.

No, there is too much. Let me sum up. (That's a quote, folks. First one to name it wins my undying and eternal friendship)

So we got our flight plans last Friday. That was a very exciting moment. Half our district is flying straight to Tokyo and the other half is flying to Detroit and then Nagoya. That was a bittersweet moment because our district has become very very close over the last 8 or so weeks (when you're with a group of people the entire day you have to choose to either become very close or be miserable the entire time. Luckily we chose the former) and we knew for sure we would have to go our separate ways a little before before we had hoped.

 

I'm excited to return to the Detroit airport, actually. It's where we flew through to get to Europe, and there's this cool rainbow tunnel that connects the two terminal buildings, pictures of which can be found on my Facebook page.

We've got a countdown on our board of days until we leave for Japan, hours until we leave to Japan, the number of meals left before we leave to Japan, and underneath it all we've taped a picture of Elder Holland who is saying "Gariben Jikan" or "Time to grind." I'll attach a picture below, I think it's pretty funny.

And I guess I have been "grinding." I've really tried to ramp up my study habits. I redid all my study plans, upped my goals and they're helping me learn way faster. Goals are powerful. On top of that, I do feel like the Lord has increased the amount of help He's giving me as I increase my own work ethic and work load, because I'm growing exponentially faster now than I was even a few weeks ago.

A couple things in no particular order:

Yesterday at dinner we had a cereal eating contest within our zone. I wasn't interested, got myself a chicken fried steak, ate that, then looked over and said, "Hey, I could do that." So when everyone was about five bowls and ten minutes in I jumped into the contest. I was eating way fast to catch up, and because we only had about ten minutes until class started.

 

I downed ten bowls of cereal in 8 minutes, everyone but one person tapped out, and I ended up losing by one bowl because I ran out of time. By the end we had a giant crowd around watching us go. It was way fun. I was eating so fast, though, that the cereal tore up the inside of my mouth and now my mouth hurts.

 

And now I feel like Uncle Rico because I can say "If I'd had two more minutes I coulda won that cereal contest." Coach shoulda put me in sooner. 

We had two great devotionals this week. The first one, by a Brother Holzapfel, a former mission president, about keeping a study journal. He talked about the miracles that come when you write to the Lord's personal revelations to you and learn to recognize a pattern. He said that when that happens, and you are able to know when the Lord is and isn't revealing things to you, then He can trust you with more important revelation, and that's when the big miracles happen.

 

And I don't think that's limited to missionaries. That's a fact that can apply to everyone. So keep a study journal! He ended by reading from D&C 128. That's a wonderful section. If you haven't read it lately go back and do so. The end is beautifully written and comes the closest that I've found to expressing how joyous and how happy the message we're sharing really is.

 

That's something I feel like I've been learning over and over this week. I guess it's something the Lord needs me to know before I get out there. But this message is happy. It's about joy. It's about hope. I wish I could adequately express what that means but my ability is poor. There is so much happiness to be found the in Gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel. That means good news. That's what we're doing, spreading good news that can change lives. I'm lucky to be a part of it.

I was also lucky to be a part of a very touching experience last night. We did TRC for our final time and we taught a wonderful older woman named Ikeda Shimai. She was great, very enthusiastic about the gospel, very kind, just an all around fantastic woman.

We shared our short lesson about the Book of Mormon (The same that we shared two weeks ago with Miura Kyoudai), talked about our experiences receiving revelation from the Book of Mormon and the scriptures associated with those experiences. We thought it was a good lesson, but nothing particularly special, until the end when she started crying.

She said she has 4 children, only one of whom is active (or a member, I wasn't sure. I still can't speak Japanese). You could tell how much she loved her children, and while she didn't come out and say this, but you could tell she was worried about them. She told us that the scriptures we had shared were what she's been looking for to comfort her and to help her children, and that while we were talking she had received personal revelation on what she could to to help her family. Now obviously this wasn't us.

The only thing we did was provide an atmosphere in which the Spirit could teach her personally, and I'm really grateful, and really lucky, that we were able to do that. I learned that when you get out of the way and let the Spirit teach, people learn a whole whole lot better, and learn better things. The phrase "be an instrument in the Lord's hands" is very very true.

Today we had a birthday party for one of the elders in our district, Mitchell 長老. It was fun, mostly because of the decorations. I'll attach a picture.  

On Friday or Saturday, I think, we went over to the classroom of Japanese missionaries (like from Japan) and hung out with them for a while. they did a dance from a popular kid's show over there, so we did the hokey pokey for them. I have a video but size limits won't let me send it. I have some pictures though which I'll attach below.

One more thing. If anyone would like to send me a letter or a package (unlikely, I know, but bear with me, I have to cover all my bases here) from here on out you should send it to my mission home at:

 

1-304 Iakadai, 

Meito-Ku, 

Nagoya-Shi,

Aichi 465-0028 Japan

 

I'm not sure if the line breaks are right so if you want to know for sure check my blog or my facebook page.

Speaking of that I'd love to hear from everybody. Even a short one sentence note would make make day, even through email. I get curious about what's happening back home even if it's boring. 

Other than that, I think that's just about it for this week. This is my last sign off from the United States of God Bless America. Take care.

Elder Callahan

The nihonjin dance.

Our countdown. The top box is how many days left, second is the countdown to Mitchell choro's birthday, third is days and hours until we leave, and on the bottom is Elder Holland saying "Gariben Jikan." On the right is how many meals we have left here.

Mitchell choro in his birthday suit.