Lots of biking this week

April 25, 2016

This was from our hike.  The church is kind of on the left.  The red
tower thing is right next to our apartments.  So that is how close our
house is to our church.  It is way nice!  Our apartment is the brown L
looking building next to the tower.  Pretty city! :)

This is brother Yarita. 
Elder Munro made a Weird face.... Dork.

Again with Elder Munro...  The dork...
But this was a cool shrine we found!

Way to go Elder Munro.  Finally a good picture of us.

This tree was hollow in the middle and still alive!  It was way cool.
Elder Gibson standing by it.

We got these fans from Brother Yarita.
 We put them in our helmets and
thought it looked pretty cool! 
People looked at us kind of weird.. 
But it was fun! Haha

Hello everyone!  So first off, sorry I am writing on the wrong day.  I

had something come up on my normal pday and after everything was done

we made some phone calls and got it changed to Tuesday, instead of

Monday.  But next week it should go back to normal time.  Sorry for

all the confusion.

But I am doing great!  The Togane area is doing amazing and the

members are the best part.  I have been thinking a lot recently about

what I need to be doing in this area and the thought came that I need

to work more with the members.  So that is what I did this week.  Man

was it fun.  We had dinner with some members the other day and it was

so much fun.  I don't know how, but I was able to talk with them and

understand them!  I know I always say this, but I think my Japanese is

getting better each week!  I love the feelings I get when I am able to

speak with people and understand them.  Sometimes I feel like I am

still an elementary school kid because of how I talk, but at the same

time I am okay with it because I am able to talk with people! :). The

members in this Ward are amazing.  They love the missionaries and they

want to help us in any way that they can.  One funny thing that

happened was we were having meeting with the bishop and his wife and

we talked about how we wanted to do like a barbecue party.  THe

bishops wife sat up and said that would be a great idea!  Why not this

Saturday.  This Friday we have a sports party already planned....

These members are willing to do anything for us.  They want to see new

members and new faces coming to church.  They are willing to do one

party after another so then we can have more people come to church.

It is great.  But we told her that that is a bit soon for the party so

we moved it to a couple weeks away.  Over all, if you ask these

members to do anything for you, they will do it.  They love the

missionaries, the missionaries love them, it is a great relationship.

That is my most favorite thing about this area.

This week we also did a lot of finding and we were able to find one

new investigator!  He is from China and only speaks Chinese, so that

will be Elder Lin teaching him.  But we also found another

investigator who came to church last week and we found out he is

fluent in English!  So yay!  I can teach someone in English now!!!  It

was an amazing week for investigators and I feel like we are finally

seeing some blessings from all the finding we have been doing.

There is one thing I would like to share with everyone.  This week I

was in a meeting and someone read this poem to us.

"After All We Can Do" -Author Unknown

I'd been in that hole for a very long time.

In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.

the shaft was above me; I could see it quite clear,

But there's no way I ever could reach it from here.

Nor could I remember the world way up there,

So I lost all my hope and gave into despair

I knew nothing but darkness, the floors, and the walls,

when from off in the distance I heard someone call,

"Get up! Get ready!" There's nothing the matter!

Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder."

This had never occurred to me, had not crossed my mind,

So I started to stack all the stones I could find.

When I ran out of stones, the old sticks were my goal,

For some way or another I'd get out of that hole.

So I soon had a ladder that was really quite tall,

And I thought, "I'll soon leave this place once and for all!"

Then I climbed up my ladder, It was no easy chore-

For from lifting those boulders my shoulders were sore.

So I worked and I climbed and at last had to stop,

For my ladder stopped short-some ten feet from the top.

I climbed back down the ladder and felt all around,

But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.

I went back to my ladder and started to cry.

I'd done all I could do; I gave my best try.

But in spite of my work, In this hole I must die,

And all I could do was to sit and think, "why?"

was my ladder too short? Or my hole much too deep?

Then from way up on high came a voice: "do not weep."

And then hope, love, and faith entered my chest,

As the voice said to me that I'd done my best.

He said, "Nothings the matter. There's no reason to mope.

Just climb up your ladder; I'll throw down my rope.

You have worked very hard, and your labor's been rough,

But the ladder you've built is at last tall enough."

I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord.

When I stood at the top, there stood the Lord.

I've never been happier; my struggle was done.

I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son

I fell to the ground; his feet did I kiss.

I cried, "What can I do to repay thee for this?"

He looked all around Him- there were holes in the ground.

They had people inside, and were seen all around.

There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark, and deep.

Then the Lord turned to me and He said "Feed my sheep."

Then He went on His way to help other lost souls.

And I got right to work, calling down to the holes,

"Get up! Get ready! There's nothing the matter!

Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder."

It was now my turn to spread the good word

The most glorious message that man ever heard.

that there's One who is willing to save one and all,

And we've got to be ready when He gives the call.

He'll pull us all out of the hole that we're in,

And save all our souls from death and from sin.

So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope:

Just build up your ladder; He'll throw down His rope.

This poem is so powerful to me.  I know that as we give it our all, we

still won't be able to save ourselves from our "holes".  It is not

until we rely on the saving "rope" or the saving atonement of our

Savior Jesus Christ that we can be rescued from our "Holes".  I know

that I am on my mission to save people from their holes.  I am here to

tell them to get up, build their ladders and try to make their way to

the top.  It is not until they put forth their effort that they are

able to be saved by Christ.  He loves us and he wants to save us.  He

has the tools necessary to save us, we just need to put our trust and

our faith in him.  We also have to put for our effort.  I know that as

we rely on the Savior and as we follow his example and teachings, he

will not let us fall back down into our holes.  He will save us and he

will keep us next to him.  I know that he lives and I know that he

loves us.  I have seen it in my life and the lives of others.  I am

here in Japan to spread the good word, to help others, and to bring

them back to Christ.  I love this work.  How grateful I am to be out

here to help other people and save them.  I love this Gospel with all

my heart, it means the world to me.  I love the Savior and His atoning

sacrifice for us.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  I know this church

is true and I know that it is Jesus Christ's true church.

I love you all so much.  I hope you enjoyed this little poem and this

weekly email from me.  I love you and I can't wait to hear from you

again next week.  You are all amazing and you all have a special place

in my heart.  Take care and talk to you next week! :)

Elder Unsworth

Temple Day

Temple Day

April 18, 2016

Elder Lin and I at the temple.

Apartment buddies at the temple!
Elder Gibson, Elder Munro, Me, Elder Lin.

This was probably one of the coolest pictures of the week.
 I got to have all three of my companions in one picture!  Cool huh?  I was so
happy to see all of them! :)
Elder Chou, Elder Lin, Elder Calhoun, and me!!! :)

This is the busiest intersection in the world. 
So many people.  It is
called Shibuya.

The second Happiest Place in the world,
Disney Japan!!

Another picture of Disney!

What a week it has been in Togane!  Today we had a wonderful day at

the temple.  It is honestly one of my favorite places on this earth.

I love it there so much.  It is so peaceful and relaxing.  I always

learn something knew when I go there.  I especially loved being there

with all my companions and mission buddies.  They are the best! :).

This week we did so much finding and we have talked to every person

that we can possibly find!  But still no knew investigators.  I think

I found out the secret to this new area.  I went to a Zone meeting on

Thursday and there was a training done on Members.  I found out that

maybe Elder Lin and I are focusing too much on the people of Togane

and not the members of Togane.  So from now on we plan on visiting at

least one member a day and getting to know them.  I think that through

the members we are going to find our new investigator.  A good example

of this is what happened the other day.

On Monday, yesterday, I had a wonderful exchange with my District

leader.  Elder Munro is an amazing missionary.  He is just a transfer

a head of me and we work together so well.  Anyways, we had our day

planned out and we didn't really have any time for finding.  We had a

bunch of appointments and we needed to visit people one after another.

Anyways we decided to just talk to people on the way from appointment

to appointment.  Usually in Togane we get to talk to about 20-25

people a day.  We decided to show some faith and set a goal to talk to

50 people.  We thought that this was a crazy goal but we showed our

faith and then left it in our Heavenly Fathers hands.  Well I can

proudly say that we worked our little tails off.  We talked to every

person we could find and wasn't late to one single appointment.  At

the end of the day, we looked down at our little counter and we had 49

meaningful contacts.  We had about 5 minutes left to get to our house

before curfew was up.  We said a prayer and then got on our bikes and

traveled home.  It was 8:55 at night, I don't know about you, but in

Togane, there is no one on the streets that late.  And if they are,

they don't want to talk to two scary foreigners riding bikes down a

dark scary street.  Well right before we turned into our apartment,

there standing on the side of the road was a man by himself.  We ran

to him with a smile on our face and introduced who we were.  It was a

miracle that we were able to get our 50 meaningful contacts by the end

of the night.  It strengthened my testimony that if you put froth your

faith and work hard to achieve it, the Lord will bless you and you

will see miracles.  I know that our God is a God of miracles and he

wants to bless us every day, we just need to show forth our faith.  I

learned so much from this exchange with Elder Munro.  He helped me

become a better missionary, he helped me recognize how much I have

changed since the MTC, and he helped me strengthen my faith.  I know

that with faith, nothing is impossible.  There is a quote that I love

from President Thomas S. Monson, he says, "The future is only as

bright as your faith."  How true are these words?  This phrase has

been my motivator on my mission.  It pushes me to put forth my faith

and to rely on the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that he loves

us and I know that through him, our futures will become bright.

I love this church so much.  It has blessed my life and it has blessed

the life of those around me.  My purpose and my desire is to share the

light of Christ with everyone.  To bring them closer to him and to

exercise faith in him.  I know that through Christ, anything is

possible.  I love him so much and I am eternally grateful for him.  I

am blessed to have such a wonderful family and wonderful friends like

you.  I love you all so much and I hope you know that.  Missions are

definitely hard, but as you show forth your faith and you work hard,

things become easier.  You are able to achieve the goals that you make

and become a better missionary by the end of the day.  Who knows,

maybe by the end of this transfer, I will be able to get to talk to

100 people in a day.  I just want you all to know that I love you so

much.  I miss you and wish the best for you.  I hope everything is

going well in the area that you are living and that you are enjoying

your time with family and friends.  Lately there was an earth quake in

Japan.  Luckily it was not near me and no damage came to my area, but

the are that it did damage, damaged it pretty bad.  All the church

members and missionaries are accounted for and safe, so that is good.

But those missionaries down there are now probably going to be turned

into service missionaries.  I am so grateful that this mission I am on

is not just a preaching one, it is a serving one as well.  Again, I

love this church and because of this church I have become the man I am

today.  I have no idea where I would be with out this church.  It is

my everything and it means the world to me.

Again I express my love to you and wish you to have an amazing week.

I love hearing from you all.  I love you so much and can't wait to

hear from you again next week.  If you haven't sent me a letter in

awhile, send one, I love hearing from you!  I will try to respond when

I can, but always know that I love you! :)

Take care and talk to you next week! :)

Elder Unsworth

Togane and Choshi

April 11, 2016

Our church looks exactly like Matsudo except this one is only three
floors. The inside also is a bit different. But it is still way
pretty!

Exchanges

Elder Gibson and I

We decided that we would ride 30 miles to  Choshi.
Tired but we made it!!!

A cool shrine we found.

Me in front of shrine.

Buddha Unsworth 

Cool fireworks that we saw!

Fireworks over the lake!

Well hello everyone!  I am doing great down here in the wonderful city
of Togane!  The people here are way friendly and recently we had a
festival.  If you go look at my blog you will see some awesome
pictures of me and some beautiful Sakura trees.  The Sakura tree is
Japan's national tree and it is beautiful.  The other day they were
having a festival with fireworks and food and all this wonderful
things.  As we went there to watch the fireworks with our
investigator, all I could think about was how amazing God is to make
all these wonderful things.  He truly is amazing.
One way that he shows his love for us is through his chosen servants.
This week we got to watch General Conference and man was it amazing.
I loved hearing the voices of the Apostles and the Prophet.  They are
amazing men and they definitely spoke the words of God.  It is amazing
how much I felt the spirit as I listened to them.  They talked about
things we need to improve and they also taught us about how much God
loves us.  I know for a fact that the things that they taught about
were what our loving Heavenly Father wanted us to hear.  I am so
blessed to be in a time where I can simply listen to Conference on my
iPad.  One of my favorite things to do is listen to at least one talk
a day.  It gives you a spiritual reachargement and  and it helps you
go about your day doing good. I love listening to the Apostles and
following their guidance.  Needless to say, this past conference was
simply amazing.  The Spirit was so strong and the talks were amazing.
I hope you all listened to them and took notes!  If not, get on gospel
library and go watch, listen, or read them!  They will help you out so
much, and they are fun to read! :)
Here is a fun thing that happened this past week! :)
Tuesday was my exchange with Elder Gibson.  He is in my apartment with
me and he is the short blonde hair guy.  He is from St. George and he
is so much fun to be with.  He is a transfer four so his Japanese and
my Japanese put together makes a good missionary who can speak! Haha
Well for our exchange we got the bright idea to travel 30 miles one
way!  I am not going to lie, it was kind of a waste of time, but it
was so much fun.  We traveled next to the coast line the whole way
there and the water was amazing.  It looked so pretty and the waves
were so big.  I wish I could go swimming in it.  As we were traveling
along the road this man came out of his apartment and said hello to
us.  We slammed on our brakes and then went and talked to him.  He was
kind of crazy.  I think he knew who we were and what our religion
believes in.  Because he invited us into his house and we talked about
religion for awhile.  He then made us some tea and we tried to tell
him that we can't drink it.  He then said, "Oh go ahead, no one is
watching."  All I could think was, thanks Satan!  Well some how we got
out of his house and back on the road.  We might stop by his house
again sometime in the future, but it is so far away.  We traveled and
we got about 2-3 miles to our destination when the mountains hit.  The
whole time it was really flat and nice, but when the mountains hit, it
was horrible.  Some how we got through it.  But when we got to the
train station, we noticed that Elder Gibsons bike got a flat.  We had
no idea what to do.  So I went to the police station and talked to
them for awhile.  After having five cops help us, one tourist guide,
and some other people, we decided to leave the bikes there and take
the train home.  We decided to go do some finding.  So we walked
around the street and we were able to pump up Elder Gibsons tire.  It
wasn't a fast leak, but there is no way we could go 30 miles on it.
So we were driving around town and I ran into this old man.  I asked
him if there was a place around here that we could eat at because we
were way hungry.  He told us he would lead the way to his favorite
restaurant. We hopped on our bikes and followed him.  I was having a
great time talking with the guy and then to my surprise I turn around
and Elder Gibson was running with his bike.  I was like, "get on your
bike you ding dong."  He then showed me that his back tire was all the
way flat.  He ran over a staple in the road and it took out his back
tire.  So now he has both of his tires flat.  Boy was it a fun
exchange.  We had dinner, laughed, and became really good friends.  He
is an awesome missionary and I love being in the same apartment as
him.  And I love being in the apartment with the three best
missionaries in this mission.  They all are amazing and I love them so
much! :)
Well, life in old Togane is going well.  We have been meeting with
investigators, finding and working really hard.  Today we actually
found a new investigator and hopefully he will come to the sports day
this week!  As for my Japanese, it is also improving.  I can notice an
improvement each day, but please continue to pray for me!  That would
be a huge help.  I am so grateful for all your wonderful prayers and
your amazing support.  I love you all so much and I hope you know
that.
One thing that is cool about my new area is the amount of Chinese
people that are living here.  There are so many of them, and I think
all of our investigators are Chinese.  But we are still looking for
new Japanese people! :)
Well I want you all to know that I love you and that the work is still
going on.  Everything is moving a long perfectly and this area is
seeing many miracles.  I know that as we keep working hard and put our
trust in the Lord, he will bless us.  He will bring the people who are
ready to us and they will be prepared to hear the Gospel.  I love this
church so much and I know with out a doubt that it is true.  That
Jesus Christ lives and that we all have a loving Heavenly Father.
This is the message I want to share with everyone, and this is the
message I hope you know it true.  I love you all, and I will talk to
you again next week.  By the way next week is temple P-day so I will be
emailing on Monday, your time.  Love you, have an amazing week! :)

Elder Unsworth

Good-Bye Matsudo

Hello Togane

April 4, 2016

Saying good-bye to people in Matsudo.
Ola

This is Ayumu.

I worked a lot with this man.   His name is Nakanishi.
He was a great man! He helped with Umehara.

I felt the Spirit so many time when I was with this gentleman.
I love him and what he stands for.

A party for some people who were singing.
It was fun but we were only able to stay for a few minutes.

This is the Kuwahara family.  I love them so much.
They were always so nice to me.

One last dinner together.
 I am so lucky to have served with these elders!

One more photo of us all.

A group of kids!

I worked a lot with this man.  His name is Nakanishi.
  He was a great man!  He helped a lot with Umehara.

Last visit with Masuda.  I love this guy so much.

Last picture together in front of our apartment.

Sakura blossoms

A recent convert.  His name is Li.

Apartment Elders in Togane
Elder Munro (Australia) Elder Gibson (St. George, Utah)
Me (WVC, Utah), and Elder Lin (Taiwan).

The beauty of Japan!

Elder Lin, my new companion.

Add caption

Silly elders in front of a cool temple.

A way neat shrine.  It is so pretty.

One handsome Elder.

Love our red lips!

Lake Hakkaku.  God sure did make a beautiful place.


Hello wonderful people all around the world!  I just want you to know
that I am doing well in my new area!  I am in the wonderful place
called Togane.  I just realized that maybe some of you can't read or
say the places I have been in or the people I meet....  So this is how
you say Togane, tōganê.  I think that is how you say it...  Haha but
anyways, I am loving it here.  This area is amazing and to top it off,
I have the best companion in this world!  His name is Elder Lin and he
is amazing.  He works hard, laughs, has fun, and knows how to make me
happy.  He is literally already one of my best friends and we haven't
even been together for a week.  He is amazing and I love him so much.
Elder Lin is from Taiwan and he speaks fluent English.  Every so often
he will ask me how to say things, but he is way good.  I hope one day
my Japanese can be as good as his English.  I don't know how some of
these missionaries can learn three languages at the same time.  They
are amazing.  Elder lin is just all around an amazing missionary.  He
is on his twelfth transfer and I am learning so much from him.
The thing I like most about this area is how different it is from my
other area.  The church actually looks exactly the same, minus two
floors.  But the area is way different.  There are tons of rice fields
and tons of mountains.  I had to bike up the mountains the other day,
and man was that a work out.  I love it though.  I am out here to work
and I am out here to spread the good word.  If I have to travel up a
mountain to reach someone who wants to learn, then it is worth it.
Also, there are tons of rice fields.  So many...  But they are way
cool to ride through and look at.  I am loving my new area so much,
the people out here are way nice and they always stop to talk to me.
I love them so much.  I just love being on a mission in Japan! :)
So something that I have learned this week is to start off new.  There
were some hard things that happened back in Matusdo and I feel like I
needed a restart.  I needed to start off new.  Well I was able to do
that in Togane.  I got a new area, a new apartment, and a new
companion.  All of these things have blessed me so much.  I have
realized how much this transfer has been a blessing to me and how much
I have grown from it.  I know that the lord sent me here for a reason
and I think it was to restart.  Since I have been here, I have thrown
away my fears and have fun on my mission, along with my companion.
Ever since then, I have talked to more people, I always have a smile
on my face when I go out and do some finding, and I love those around
me so much more.  I am way excited to keep serving in Togane and to
make new memories here.  Sometimes you have to start off fresh so that
you can receive new blessings or look at life a different way.  I know
that sometimes it is hard to "restart" in life.  But as the new Easter
video states, Because of Christ, I have found new life.  I know that
this is true.  If we rely on the Savior and do what he asks of us, we
can "find our new life".  We can become the people he wants us to
become and enjoy our life's more.  He knows what is best for us.  So
sometime, we have to leave our old life's and find the new one through
Christ.  I know that this is true and I hope you all do the same thing
and rely on the savior to help you.  I know he will help you because
he has helped me so much.  I love you all and I hope you have an
amazing week.  I hope you enjoyed conference.  I am looking forward to
seeing it next week!  I love you all and I can't wait to hear from
you.  Check out my blog to see some awesome photos of me and the
Japanese cherry blossom tree.  Love you!  Talk to you next week! :)

Elder Unsworth