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