Fun P-Day

January 25, 2016

This Indian statue would be great for my dad!!

Cool shrine in front of a guys house we were visiting

Ramen with Brother Masuda.  Man I love that guy!

This week has been full of spiritual and uplifting things!  This week

we had a mission conference that was world wide.  Elder Anderson,

Elder Bednar, and Elder Oaks spoke. There were also some other people

from the missionary council that spoke. It was so good. I felt the

spirit so much. It felt like another General Conference. They spoke

about how we can have the spirit more in our teachings but the big

focus was repentance. They said we need to teach repentance more. The

main theme was "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts". It was a

really powerful message. I loved all of their talks. Another thing

they talked about was testifying of the savior. At the end of all

their talks they testified of the savior and they told us we were

called to do the same thing. We need to testify of Him everywhere you

go. It made me realize what I needed to change. I testify a lot about

the Book of Mormon but I think I need to testify more of Jesus Christ.

That is the reason why I am out here and I am doing his work. I am

going to try and build my testimony of him in Japanese. I can say it

in English but I think if I can build it in Japanese it will help me

have the spirit more in my life and it will also he,p my Japanese! :)

By the end of the conference I had a huge list of things I need to do.

Fun fact, there are 75,000 missionaries in the world right now. I

thought that was pretty cool. But yeah, the conference was really

spiritual and I loved it. I wish they would happen more often. One of

those haven't happened in forever. I think the last one was 10+ years

ago. So it was really cool to be apart of it.

Another really cool thing that happened this week is we worked a lot

with the members.  We worked with Brother Masuda who is my favorite

member here!  He loves working with the missionaries.  We met early in

the morning to go finding with him and he stayed with us till late in

the night.  Probably my favorite thing to do with him was talking.  I

loved talking with members because they help me with my Japanese so

much.  Brother Masuda speaks a little English so I can talk to him and

ask a couple of questons so that he can understand how to help my

Japanese.  But he is awesome when it comes to help.  He corrects you

if you say it wrong and when you say things right he makes you feel

like a million bucks.  He is amazing.  We talked to a lot of people

that day.  Later that night we had a lesson and it was in Chinese,

Japanese and English!  I had to through some English sentences in

there because Japanese is hard!  And our investigator understood all

those languages so it was good! But we talked about the Book of Mormon

and I think it went very well.  I love sharing my testimony of the

Book of Mormon and the Savior.  I know that he lives and loves us.  I

know we can learn about him through the Book of Mormon.  I love the

feelings I get when I read the Book of Mormon and I love the feelings

I get when I share my testimony.  I know this church is true and I

know that Jesus is the Christ.

Another cool thing that happened this week was Fukuda. We went and did

some finding and as we were walking down the street there was no one.

I had no idea why we were going down this street and I wanted to go

back home where it was nice and warm.  I was so cold and my toes were

ready to fall off!  But right when I was about to turn back I looked

up and saw this boy walking towards us.  I knew we had to talk to him!

 I went into my missionary mode and tried to become his friend right

off the bat.  With younger people I like to speak to them in English

because they usually like it and will try to talk back to me.  Well I

hit it off with Fukuda and we became really good friends.  Then came

out the Gospel questions.  Do you Believe in Christ, do you want to

learn about God, and do you like religion?  He said yes to all of the

questions.  He has been wanting to learn more about religion and he

believes in God.  It was so cool!  We even talked about the Book of

Mormon and he took one!  He told us he would read it and he is looking

forward to meeting with us again!  He was an answer to our prayers.  I

am looking forward to meeting with him again and sharing the gospel

with him! :)

Thank you all for your wonderful examples to me.  I love hearing from

you and I love sharing my spiritual experiences with you.  I hope you

feel the spirit when I share them with you and I hope that you are

finding ways to have the spirit be in your life.  I love you all so

much.  Take care and have an amazing week.  Know that your Savior

loves you and watches over you every day.  He wants to help you, you

just have to let him help you.  Don't forget to look at my Blog and

see all the wonderful pictures posted on it.  I love you all!!!!  Take

care and talk to you again next week! :)

Elder Unsworth

Matsudo

January 18, 2016

SNOW!!!

First snowfall in Matsudo.

Two happy Missionaries!

Time out for Ramen.  Yum, my favorite!

 My Church in Matsudo

This church is 5 stories high

Front doors to the church

Playing basketball on the 5th floor of the church.


> Wow this has been a really good week!  It has been full of lesson and
> lots and lots of fun!  So this week we actually had three lesson in
> Chinese!  I dont know about you, but I have no idea how to speak or
> understand Chinese!  Lets just say, I felt like I was back from the
> MTC and that I was learning a new language.  hahaha The lessons went
> well though and one of the investigators is looking forward to meeting
> with us again.  He was amazing.  He showed so much interest in the
> Gospel and he wants to learn so much more about it.  He especially
> wants to learn how to pray.  That is what our next lesson is going to
> be about!  Elder Chou is amazing and he is an amazing companion.  I
> have learned so much from him and he continues to show so much love to
> me.  He loves to talk to everyone on the street and even though my
> Japanese is fluent and it is really hard for me to talk to people, he
> shows a lot of patience towards me and helps me along the way.  He has
> never complained about my Japanese and he continues to encourage me.
> He is amazing and I love him so much! :)
> This week we also had some sport nights and it did a toll on my body.
> It has been a long time since I have played sports and keeping up with
> all the in shape people put a toll on my body.  But it was so much
> fun.  Next time I am going to have to take it a bit more easier
> because my muscles were so sore the next day!  I wish I could have
> slept in! haha
> The members here are great.  They have shown so much love towards me
> and continue to help me with my Japanese.  I am trying to talk with as
> many members as I can because I think that is the best way to practice
> your Japanese.  But man is it hard.  I know that through the Lord I
> can learn this language.  He has blessed me so much and he continues
> to bless me everyday.  I love this Gospel so much.  It is amazing!
> Last week when I went to the temple it was a really good experience.
> I felt the spirit a lot and I felt a lot of peace and comfort.  It
> recharged me and got me ready to go another transfer.  I am so
> thankful for the Temple and the blessings it give me in my life.  But
> I think they are going to close it down soon for refurbishments.  So
> this will probably be the last time I get to go on my mission.  Sad
> huh.  I guess I am blessed to go at least 3 times! :)  I love the
> temple so much! :)
> As it goes for weather in Japan today was crazy.  Last night it snowed
> so there was snow all over the ground when we woke up and went biking.
> It was scary because the wind was also blowing really hard and it
> almost pushed me off my bike.  We went to buy umbrellas and Elder Chou
> bought one for like a four year old.  It was funny watching him try
> and keep himself dry.  Half way to our destination, he gave up and let
> the rain pour on him.  I was smart and got a really big umbrella.  Not
> smart, the wind picked me up and spun me around.  I never though an
> umbrella would pick me up!  Man I need to start gaining some weight on
> these bones!  Not!!!!  I dont want to get fat on my mission! hahaha
> But fun fact, I have grown a little bit on my mission.  My MTC
> Companion Elder Watabe pointed that out to me.  I wondered why my
> pants felt shorted and my long sleeve shirt didnt go down to my wrist
> anymore....  Well life is good and luckily my clothes still fit enough
> to pass as a missionary! haha
> This week we also had Zone Conference and that was really good.  Lots
> of fun trainings on finding and how to be a better missionary.  I
> always love those meetings because I get to see everyone from my zone.
> I love my zone so much.  They are amazing.  It is full of old friends,
> companions, and friends to come.  I love Matsudo so much.
> Probably one of the best things I love about my mission is how much I
> can focus on the Savior.  I love reading the Book of Mormon and Jesus
> the Christ.  They are amazing books and if you havent read them and
> want to come to know Christ better, read them.  I am currently in 2
> Nephi in the Isaiah Chapters and they are way hard to understand!  But
> I have learned so much from them and I continue to learn from them
> every day.  One thing that I learned is that we need to rely on the
> Savior.  He came to this earth, performed the Atonement and wants us
> to rely on him.  Through him all is possible.  My Japanese has become
> so much better now that I have recognized that I cant do it by myself.
> Through prayer and trust in the Lord my Japanese has improved
> immensely.  I love the Savior so much and I have felt His love so
> much.  I love my mission, I love the Scriptures, and I love the
> Savior.
> Well time is cut short today.  Sorry that this email is kind of short,
> but know that I love you all so much.  I love hearing from you and I
> hope you are going online and seeing my blog.  My mom has been doing
> an awesome job with it and she just updated it.  She put some new
> photos on it!  I love you all so much and I hope you are doing well.
> Take care and have a safe week.  Cant wait to hear from you next week!
> あいしています!!!!!!!!
>
> Elder Unsworth

 New Companion, New Area!

January 11, 2016

My new companion, Elder Chou.

 

I love to go to the temple!

Getting ready to help make mochi

Look at my form!  Perfect

Right in the center of the rice!

One more good swing!

Elder Chou turn...

 Hello family and friends! 

 I have made it safely to Matsudo and it is

amazing here!  The church looks like a castle and it is five stories

tall!  It is the biggest church in my mission and it has about 280

members who come to church regularly. It is amazing. The top floor is

a basketball court!  I love it. It has been awhile since I have played

some basketball so now I can shape up my skills. Haha. The members

here are amazing. They are so nice and a lot of them speak a bit of

English. It is so handy because if I can't say something in Japanese I

can say it to them in English. It is great!  There is one member who's

name is Masuda and he is amazing. He taught some lessons with us and

he is a master teacher. He knows the scriptures very well and he shows

so much love to everyone around him. He also knows how to teach very

hard principles very simply. He is amazing and I love him so much.

Well I bet you are wondering a bit about my new companion. His name is

Elder Chou.  He is from Taiwan and he speaks pretty good English!  So

that is good! :)  We speak a lot of English to each other and a lot of

Japanese too.  I have a feeling this transfer is going to be a really

good one for me and my Japanese.  Elder Chou is on his 10th transfer

so he is pretty good at Japanese and he is a really happy person.  He

always has a smile on his face and he is always trying his hardest.

One thing that is crazy about him is he loves to talk to people.  It

doesn't matter if we are in a hurry or on our bikes, he loves to stop

and talk to people.  My first day with him was kind of hard because I

am use to going from place to place with talking to a few people.

Elder Chou likes to stop and talk with everyone.  I think that is

pretty good because you never know who is going to accept the Gospel.

We also have handed out a couple of Book of Mormons this past week.

It is really good.  He shows so much love towards everyone around him.

He is a way good missionary and I hope that I can learn a lot of

things from him.

Leaving Kasukabe was kind of hard because the members were so kind to

me and showed so much love towards me. They are amazing!  I am looking

forward to making new friends and making strong relationships in

Matsudo. It is such a loving Ward.  I think the hardest part about a

mission is building a relationship with someone and then having to

leave them. It was really hard leaving my family at the MTC but I know

I will get to see them again. The people in Japan, I may never see

them again. It is amazing how much love you grow for the people around

you. My mission has strengthened my love for others so much. I love my

mission so much.

So it has been an interesting week. Elder Chou likes to do some

lessons in Chinese. I thought Japanese was hard. I thought that I

would be able to pick out some words. Nope....  All foreign to me.

Those lessons are kind of hard because I can't follow along at all and

I have no idea what to say. But I try my hardest and it usually works

out okay. I think this transfer is going to be very good for my

Japanese. I've noticed what I need to do to improve it and become a

better teacher. So hopefully this transfer I can rely on the Ward

members, my companion, zone leaders, district leaders, and the Lord to

help me learn Japanese. I am going to work really hard this transfer

to push myself and become better in Japanese.

I just want to let you all know how much I love you. I am so blessed

to have so many loving friends and family members. I miss you all so

much. You mean so much to me and I love the memories we have together.

You all have treated me with so much love and respect, I love you!  I

hope everything is going well with you back home. I have learned so

much on my mission so far and one thing that stands out the most is

how much the Lord and Heavenly Father loves us. I know that he loves

us because I have felt it and I have seen it through others. I know

that when we have a hard time in our lives we can rely on the lord and

he will bless us. He wants to help us, we just have to let him. Rely

on the lord and he will bless you. My life has changed so much now

that I rely on him everyday. He blesses me, guides me, and walks

beside me. How true is the primary song, "Teach me to walk in the

light". If we rely on the Lord, pray, and read the scriptures, he will

lead, guide, and walk beside us. He wants to help us become better

people and strengthen us. We just have to let him in. I know this

church is true and I know that without the Savior, learning Japanese

would be impossible for me. The Savior  has blessed me so much in my

life. I have amazing friend and an amazing family who loves and cares

for me. I love you all so much and I hope you know that. Rely on the

Lord, he will bless you. I hope you all have an amazing week!  I can't

wait to hear from you again next week. I love you! :)

Love,

Elder Unsworth

Happy New Year

January 4, 2016 

Happy New Year, 2016!  (Read our hands)

Cheers to a new year and great friends!

Good drinking buddies!

Dinner at the Marutanis

Traditional Japanese meal

Birthday cake, Oh my gosh, YUM!

Zone P-Day so much fun.

Oh what a happy missionary!

One great zone!

This week has been full of so many fun things! It was a very relazing
week but we got a lot of things done.  As you all know from last week
I told you I got a new Companion.  His name is Elder King and he is
awesome!  I really like that guy and I love talking with him.  He is
so funny and we got along great!  But sadly I got my transfer call
this morning and I am out of Kasukabe.  I am now heading towards
Matsudo.  I am so excited!  All I have heard is good things about
Matsudo.  First off, the church has five stories and it looks like a
castle.  On the top floor there is a basketball court.  I am so
excited to go there.  My new companions name is Elder Chang.  He is
from China I think and he speaks a little bit of English.  This should
be a really fun exchange.  I am so excited.  I am also moving to a
four man apartment which will make things really fun.  I leave on
Wednesday and it should be loads of fun! I am going to miss Kasukabe a
lot though.  I really have grown to love the people here and I am
going to miss them a lot.
This week was a Holliday for Japan so we didnt get a lot of time for
finding.  But we had a lot of time with the members.  We had a dinner
appointment pretty much every day!  When Elder King got here we only
had to cook in our apartment once for the four days he was here.  It
was awesome!  We went to one family who fed us a traditional Japanese
dinner thing with lots of fish and rice and weird stuff.  There was
one thing that was a bean and it had gold on it.  So I have officially
eaten gold now!  That was fun! haha  Our next dinner appointment was
with a family named the Hosoya family.  They fed us some traditional
Japanese food as well and it was really good.  That day was also ELder
Kings birthday so they made him a cake!  It was really good!  That
family is so nice to us.  We shared a message with them and it was
really powerful.  I love working in a trio because there are more
people to testify and teach.  It is a really powerful teaching tool I
think.  I wish it would have happened earlier in the transfer because
I love being with Elder King and Elder Calhoun.  They are amazing
missionaries.  We then also had a dinner appointment with the
Marutanis and they fed us really well.  They were sad because we told
them one of us was leaving.  They are such a nice family.  I love them
so much.  We also shared a message with them and the spirit was so
strong.  I love bringing the spirit into peoples homes and seeing
their eyes light up.  It is the best feeling in the world.
One day the streets were really dangerous because it was New Years so
the missionaries couldn't go out.  So we read the Book of Mormon all
day long.  I started at 8 and ended at 12 noon.  It was awesome.  I
got from the introduction to 2 Nephi.  It was awesome.  I loved
reading the Book of Mormon.  But at 12 we had a lunch appointment so
we had to stop reading and then we had a dinner appointment later that
night so we didn't get a lot of reading.  I really wish we could have
read all day.  I love the Book of Mormon.
I would like to challenge you all to read the Book of Mormon this
year.  If you do not have a New Years Resolution you can have the Book
of Mormon be it.  It brings so much joy to my life and I am so happy
after I am done reading it.  I know you will also be happy if you read
it.  God loves us and he wants us to learn about his son Jesus Christ.
You can learn about him in the Book of Mormon.  Please read it if you
havent read it yet!  It is an amazing book.  Even if you have read it,
read it again, you will not regret it, I guarantee it! :)
Thank you all for your love and support.  I love hearing from you.  I
hope you all had an amazing New year and you continue to have fun!  I
think this year is going to be a really good year!  Lets try our
hardest to make this year a good one and strive to always be happy.
If you put your will to the Saviors will you will be happy.  Learn of
him and you will be happy.  I love the Savior and I know he loves me,
he loves you too.  Have a great week and make a New Year Resolution!
Love you! :)

Elder Unsworth