Welcome Elder Law

June 26, 2016

Elder Unsworth and Elder Lin in front of their apartment in Togane.

Elder Unsworth and Elder Lin

Two nerdy missionaries!

One last picture.  Good-bye my friend!

Hello, Elder Law!

Trios with my two favorite missionaries!

Hello everyone from the far land of Japan! :)
I was reminded this morning that a year ago I was set apart as a
mission.  In fact, this last Sunday was the day that I gave my
farewell talk.  I can still remember the day very clearly.  I loved
seeing all my wonderful friends and family from the pulpit and I loved
the feelings that I had as I stood up there and bore my testimony.  My
testimony has changed so much, not in the things that I believe in,
but it has become so much stronger.  My testimony of eternal families
is still stronger then ever.  I love my family so much and I love that
I am out here to make families eternal.  I love sharing that truth
with people and I love seeing their faces light up!  I love sharing my
testimony with people and I love being able to do it in two languages
now.  My mission has blessed my life so much and I still have another
year of it.  I can't believe how fast the time has flown by and I know
that the next year will go just as fast.  So I am buckling down and
turning everything on full throttle.  I want this last half to be the
best half.  I really want to become the missionary that I know that I
can become and I also want to be able to help my investigators as much
as I can.
Talking about my investigators, they are doing amazing!  In fact, we
had five of them come to church this past week.  We had Nagashima,
Watanabe, Fang, Ishino, and Ogawa come to church.  There was so many
of them we didn't know what to do with them.  We were grabbing members
and pulling them here and there to get them next to the investigators.
We were running around like chickens with our heads chopped off, but
it all worked out.  Every one of our investigators loved church and
they said they want to come back again next week! :). The best part
was being able to teach all of them with a member with us.  The
members always bear such powerful testimonies of the things that we
teach and they really fellowship our investigators well.  The youth
for example fellowshipped Nagashima amazingly. They welcomed him into
their group and made him feel welcomed.  He told us that he loves
coming to church because it feels like he is hanging out with his
friends.  He loves being around the youth and learning with them.  It
is such an amazing blessing to have so many amazing members in this
Ward.  I truly am blessed to be in Togane.
But Nagashima is still looking good for the 24th and our other
investigators might be getting a baptismal date soon as well.  Elder
Law and I are working day in and day out with our investigators.
Usually I would end my day around 9 and start relaxing for the night.
But with Elder Law, we work until 10:25 because we need 5 minutes to
get ready for bed.  We are constantly talking with our investigators
and we are constantly thinking about what we can do for them.  It is
amazing.  We are doing so well as a companionship.  I love working
with Elder Law.  We are defiantly going to see many miracles in Togane
this transfer and I can't wait to tell you all about them! :)
But things in Togane are going well.  We have dropped a lot of our
investigators because they are not coming to church and don't really
want to.  If an investigator won't come to church, then they probably
won't be baptized.  So this transfer we are just really focusing on
the people who want to come to church and want to learn.  We know that
those are the prepared people who want to actually change their life's
and become better.  We went finding this week looking for people who
want to come to church and we found one new investigator!  This week,
we are going to do the same thing, and I know that we are going to
keep finding more and more people who want to come to church.  It is
so much fun to go out there and talk with you best friend about
something that you both love and enjoy.  I love this church so much
and I just want to help other people realize that this church could
help them find happiness.  You really can't find this much happiness
anywhere else but in this church.  It blesses your life more than
anything and it helps you become a better person.  I am so thankful
for all the love that I receive from my friends my family and of
course Heavenly Father.  I know that he is there and that he loves me.
He loves all of his children and he wants to see us happy.  He wants
to help us, and he wants us to come back home.  I am so grateful for
this gospel.  There really is nothing else on Earth like it.
I love you all so much and I can't believe I am already at my year
marker.  I know that this next year is going to be full of fun
adventures but also amazing miracles.  I love Japan and I love serving
the people here.  Here is to another year in the best mission in the
world.  I love Japan!  Thank you all for your love and support.  I
love you so much and I can't wait to hear from you! Go check out my
blog, my mom posted some awesome photos and also some new videos!  Go
check them out! :). If you need the address just let me know.  Love
you, talk to you next week! :)

Happy Father's Day

June 19, 2016

This was the morning when I went and played softball with the Ward.
Not too many members showed up but a couple did and it was way fun!

We work out hard!
 Always having fun in Togane.

This is a ducks egg with tofu.
 It was alright, but I don't know if I would want to eat it again...
 I think it was a bit spoiled!

Weekly Letter

What a beautiful Monday morning is it today!  My transfer call has

come in and Elder Lin is leaving!  He was an amazing companion but it

is time for him to go do better things in Tokyo!  That's right, he is

being transferred to the heart of Japan.  He is so lucky, my past two

companions have both been transferred to Tokyo.  Actually mention

Elder Chou, he will be Elder Lin's new companion! Haha. That was such

a cool announcement.  The two Taiwanese Missionaries in our mission

are going to become companions!  That is so cool.  He is going to love

it.  They are both in the English part of Tokyo, so they will be

teaching English lessons.  Elder Lin is excited but also a bit

nervous.  He will do great.  Well my new companions name is Elder Law.

He is from Hong Kong, China but I think he lived in America for a bit

of his life.  So his English is pretty good. However, I don't want to

speak English to him, I want to learn Japanese from him.  He is a way

good missionary and I am honored to be able to work with him this

coming transfer.  Also, fun fact about him.  He worked in Togane about

6 months ago, and now he is returning.  He saw two baptisms when he

was here and so I have a good feeling that we will see a baptism this

coming transfer!

Actually, talking about baptism, we were able to set a baptismal date

for our main investigator Nagashima!!!  I was so excited when he said

yes.  It is scheduled as of now for the 24th of July, so please pray

for him that he will be able to hit that date!  I am so excited for

him.  And if he can make that date, I will still be here!!!  Nagashima

is the man and I love teaching him.  This week we were also able to

teach Ishino and a couple of our other investigators.  I can proudly

say that my Japanese is good enough for me to go solo and be able to

teach a lesson in Japanese.  Granted, it is not perfect, but I can say

what I want to say and I can understand about 80% of what he tells me.

I love it.  My Japanese is progressing little by little, but I know

that if I keep working hard on it, it will be where I want it to be

someday! :)

Togane is doing amazing.  We are seeing so many miracles but the

miracle of this week was we had no down time.  We would go lesson to

lesson and maybe have a bit of finding in between.  There was never a

day where we would just sit around and relax.  We were constantly on

our bikes, in an investigators house, in a members house, or doing

something for someone.  At the end of the week, we were able to get 24

lessons! I know that seems small for a whole week, but that is big for

me!  I loved working my hardest and going to bed exhausted.  That

makes me feel like I gave it my all that day and worked my hardest.  I

love working in Togane so much! :)

This week we had Stake conference but it was way special!  It was all

of Japan's Stake conference.  So everyone got together and kind of did

something like general conference.  There was a broadcast from Salt

Lake to Japan for their conference.  Elder Bednar was there and spoke

to us.  There were also some other General Authorities there.  But it

was very special and I wish America would do something like that.  It

only happens once every two years.  But they talked about some really

good things and Ishino loved it! He came on a perfect day and he was

telling me that the things they talked about were very powerful and

good.  He loved church and I asked him if he would keep coming to

church and he said yes!  I love that man so much, he is doing great

now and I think we are going to meet with him a lot this coming week.

Especially because Elder Lin is leaving.  But I am sure he will be

okay with it.

All in all though, the mission is going amazing.  It is really hot out

side but that means there are people on the street to talk to!  I love

this work and I am so excited to work with Elder Law in Togane.  We

are going to kill it here!  This next transfer is going to be

legendary in Togane.  I am so excited.  But thank you to everyone who

still continues to show me love and encourages me to go forward.  One

of those men that I love so much is my Father.  I just want to say

Happy Father's Day dad, thank you for everything you have done for me

and thank you for being an amazing dad.  I look up to you so much and

I am proud to call you my dad.  He is the man I want to be when I grow

up.  I love you! :)

Well that's it for this week.  Thank you again for everything that you

do for me and don't for get to check out the amazing blog!  I hope

everything is going well with you and that you are enjoying the

wonderful weather outside.  I love you all so much and I will talk to

you again next week!  Take care, and have a wonderful Fathers Day! :)

Love you!!! :)

Elder Unsworth

Bird's eye view of Togane 

June 13, 2016

What are these two thinking up?

We got bored one day and figured out how to get on the roof of our building. 

We wanted to see if there was a light in the tower. 

 There is, but they are never on!

 I need to talk to the bishop and tell him to figure out how to turn the churches lights on at night.

It looks so scary without them on!

The green are some rice fields right there next to the church.
 It is a small rice field in our area! 

My apartment is right next to that tower.
 This is what the houses look like here.

This is kind of towards the city area. 
The mall is on the left and it has a pink roof kind of.
 Well a pink sign.
 It is pretty small though to see it.

Weekly letter

Hello wonderful friends and family!  This week was by far one of the
hardest weeks in Togane but it was also very rewarding.  This week we
had so many of our lessons fall through.  We would show up to people's
houses and they would tell us they don't have time for us, or they
wouldn't answer the door, or they would turn their lights off and
pretend they were not home....  But we had a lot of dropped lessons
this week. But the thing that I learned this week was how to be
humble.  I realized that it doesn't matter how many lessons you have
or how many people you have at church or really nothing really
matters.  What does matter is if you are helping your investigators.
If you help them just come a little bit closer to Christ then you will
be successful.  If you can help them realize that they need a savior.
I know that as my investigators read the Book of Mormon, pray, go to
church, and do many other things, they are coming closer to the
Savior.  It is so amazing to see my investigators grow and improve.
It is defiantly one of the greatest miracles I have seen.  But I would
like to share one miracle that happened this week!
This week, we went and had a lesson with Ishino. He is not doing so
well as far as physical stuff. His body is getting old and he is
starting to feel like an old man. It is getting to the point where he
doesn't want to meet with us because he hurts so much, or he is tired.
Well a cool thing that happened this lesson was the member we brought
with us. Togane ceases to amaze me. We were talking with Ishino and he
was telling us how his back really hurt. The member then told him to
lay down on the park bench and that he would fix his back. The member
use to be a chiropractor. He did some stuff on his back, and it kind
of worked. But Ishino said that his back still kind of hurt.  We then
taught our lesson and promised his some blessings, if he were to
follow Jesus Christ then He would help him become better. Ishino then
told us that he would try to follow the Savior and do what he asks of
him. After the lesson Ishino stood up and said his back was healed. It
didn't hurt him anymore. He turned to the member and was really
appreciative. The member then said, "it was a blessing from God". Man
that was a cool experience. Not only did a cool miracle happen, but
the member was humble enough to say it was from God and not from him.
I look up to him so much now.
The members in Togane are my favorite part about this area.  They are
amazing and I have learned so much from them.  This week, I learned
how to be humble and how to rely on and follow what God wants me to
do.  I realize that the things I want to do aren't always what he
wants me to do, so I need to sit back and try to realize what he wants
me to do.  As I listened to the Holy Ghost this week, I was led to a
couple of cool experiences where I met knew people, taught new
lessons, and was able to help someone come closer unto Christ.  It is
amazing how the Holy Ghost can help us in our life's and especially to
help the lives of others.  I am so blessed to be a part of a church
that has the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  It is defiantly one of Gods
greatest gifts to His children.
Another fun thing that happened this week was we had a party in Chiba.
Chiba is the zone leaders area.  But we went there and had an
international party.  We had two of our Eikaiwa students come and I
think they had a blast.  They were talking with other people and got
to know a lot of cool people.  We had a devotional and that was pretty
good.  We then did some Hawaiian dancing.  A sister from Chiba taught
us how to dance like a Hawaiian and boy were the Elders horrendous at
it!  But it was fun and it was fun to laugh at each other and just
have a good ol time.  After that we had a wonderful dinner and did
some chit chatting.  I was able to catch up with some of my mission
friends and also get to know some knew people as well!  But my
favorite part of the night was singing the National Anthem.  They had
every nation come up and sing their Anthem.  I heard so many wonderful
Anthems that night but when I got up there and sang Americas National
Anthem, I felt so patriotic!  I love America and I know that it is
truly the land of the free.  It was fun being up there with all my
mission buddies and singing.  It was an amazing night and I loved
being there with all my friends! :)
Overall this week was very stressful and very hard, but it was also
very rewarding.  I got knew strengths and I feel accomplished.  I know
that I am doing what my Heavenly Father wants me to be doing and I
know that this is where he wants me.  Next week is transfers!!!!  That
is so crazy, it came so fast.  I have a pretty good feeling that Elder
Lin will be leaving.  He has been in Togane for five transfers now so
he is most likely out of here.  But there is a possibility that he
could stay for one more!  Anyways, I will let you all know next week
what happens.  A good thing that happened this week is Nagashima.  He
has a lot of interest and I think he is going to be our key
investigator next transfer.  He is amazing and he is a miracle in
himself. I love teaching him and I love just talking with him.  He is
a bit younger than me, but I feel like I can relate to him so much.
He is defiantly one of my favorite people to be with and of course to
teach.  I am excited to teach him some more during this next week!
I love you all so much and I hope you have had an amazing week. Don't
forget to do the little things like reading and praying, and of course
going to church.  I know that if you do those things, you will feel
peace and joy in your life.  I love this church and I know that it is
Gods true church on this earth today.  This Gospel means everything to
me, that is why I am out here to share it with others.  I love you all
so much and I will talk to you again next week! :)

Elder Unsworth

Finding Friends

June 6, 2016

Meet our new friend, Mr. Crayfish!

Elder Lin wasn't too sure about our new friend.

I got up and personal with our new find!

This is the Karino family.
 Nagashima is the guy who Elder Lin has his
arm around!

Weekly letter

What a wonderful summer day it is today!  The sun is out, the wind is
blowing and it is just a fabulous day in Japan.  Well, I have had a lot
of progress this last week and I have a couple stories or experiences
I would like to share with you.  First off, let me just say how
amazing my companion is.  We have been working day in and day out and
we are dead tired by the night.  But we are seeing so much success in
our areas!  Let me start with this first story, We had a lesson with
our main investigator Ishino.  He was not doing well.   We rode up
with a member and Ishino kept telling us how much he hurt.  We all
looked at each other and knew what we had to do.  We taught Ishino
about the Priesthood and how we can give priesthood blessings.  After
teaching this principle we asked him if he would like to receive a
blessing.  He said he would, so we had the member give the blessing
and Elder Lin anointed the oil.  It was a really good blessing.  It
was kind of weird that we did it in the middle of a park and people
may have been watching us, but in the moment all I could think about
was Ishino and how I wanted this blessing to work.  I felt great peace
and definitely the Spirit.  I loved the feelings that I had and it
isn't too often that you feel the Spirit that strong that fast.  After
the blessing, we sat down and talked to him for a bit.  By the end of
our conversation, he said he was feeling better.  He could now walk
around and he said his side, and back didn't hurt as much anymore.  We
committed him to read his scriptures and pray to Heavenly Father for
more blessings and more help.  He left really happy and he seemed like
a new person.  That was a pretty cool miracle that we saw.  The power
of the Priesthood is real and it helps others more than anything on
this earth.
Seeing the priesthood bless someone's life was such a cool experience.
I loved seeing him become happy and healthy again.  The priesthood is
defiantly a sacred thing and it works, it blesses the lifes of others
and it is a gift from God.
My next story has to do with finding! So Friday was a huge miracle
day.  We had to go to Asahi to fix Elder Lins bike because of the
previous night.  On the way there, we talked to a guy and he had met
with the missionaries before but somehow lost contact but he wanted to
meet with us again.  So we got his contact information and set up a
time for us to meet.  So there is one new investigator!  We then got
his bike fixed and tried to go visit a member who lived kind of in
this random place we had never been before.  So we took this little
dirt road out to this area and when we got to the area where we
thought the house was, we couldn't find the house.  The map kept
taking us to the wrong area, or the people moved and their name wasn't
visible from their house.  Well we decided to keep looking around.
Just down the street, maybe three or four houses down, there was an
apartment.  We looked at each other and decided to go house it.  It
was kind of in the middle of the day, and we were really afraid that
no one would be home.  Well this is where the miracle comes in.  We
house the whole apartment which had maybe twenty to twenty five rooms
in it.  Out of that number we got six new Potential investigators.  We
got Six new numbers and out of those six, we got three return
appointments!  So for that day in total, we got four new
investigators!!!  It was such a cool miracle.  We were able to teach
most of them on the sport and explain who we are and what we teach
about.  Then from there, we were able to find out where most of their
interest was.  I loved how receptive they were to the Gospel.  I know
for a fact that the Lord had been preparing that place for us and he
led us there for a reason.  I don't think our map messed up, I think
it lead us to the place where we needed to go, the place that the Lord
had prepared for us!  It was such a cool thing to witness.  Each door
we knocked on, we had so much hope and faith that the person we were
going to talk to was going to be a golden investigator.  Because of
that, I think our mind set and our teaching ability was ready to go.
I know that this miracle would not had happened if Elder Lin did not
run over that glass the day before.  I think sometimes we look at
things like that as a "why me" but I think we need to look at it as a,
"what does the Lord want me to do?"  It was a way good day and we
defiantly went to bed tired that night.  We worked our little tails
off! Haha
And finally I have one last story I would like to share with you.  We
have a new investigator named Nagashima and we met him just last week
up in toke.  We asked him if he would come to church on Sunday and he
promised us he would come.  He came to church as promised and I think
he had a really fun time.  He liked sacrament meeting and he told me
that he had a very good warm feeling in his heart and in his head
during the meeting.  That was pretty cool!  But the best part is yet
to come!  During Sunday school we learned about the Spirit and how he
helps us and Nagashima really liked that but the coolest part was
priesthood.  I pretty much stayed with him all day long and went to
all the youth classes with him.  In Priesthood the teachers were going
over the "Fulfilling My Duty to God" book. The teachers then took it
as a teaching opportunity and it was one of the coolest meetings I
have ever been to.  Each kid went through and talked about what part
of the book they did that week and when something came up that
Nagashima didn't understand, the quorum as a whole would teach him.
They taught, Home Teaching, Testimony, Prayer, and the Holy Ghost.
All of those are big things to learn and yet they taught it together
as a whole.  It was very impressive.  The part that I liked the best
was the unity in the group.  They all worked together so that
Nagashima could understand what was going on.  I also liked how
Nagashima was not afraid to ask questions.  He is an amazing youth and
a perfect investigator.  I know the sprit has already touched his
heart because he has told me that it has.  I am so excited to teach
him.  After church, we sat down and had a small lesson about prayer.
We taught it very simply like always and he picked it up right away.
He was asking really good questions like, why do we fold our arms and
why do we close our eyes?  It was amazing!  At the end, he offered the
prayer and it was very sincere.  I am really looking forward to seeing
him progress in this Gospel.  Church was simply amazing and it really
gave me some ideas on how I want my quorum to be like when I return
home.  But I can also try and have that unity work in between my
companion and myself too.  There is a power when there is a unity.
This week we were defiantly blessed to have some amazing miracles in
my area.  We got new investigators, taught a new investigator, and saw
a miracle through a blessing.  It was definitely an amazing week.  I
hope that these miracles continue to happen and that I can continue to
see my area grow and change.  I love Togane so much and I am so
blessed to be here.  Thank you to everyone who writes me and let's me
know how they are doing.  I love you all so much and I love getting
your letters.  I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!  I miss
you all so much but I hope you look for miracles in your life.  Christ
lives, I know it, I have felt it, and I preach it.  This church is
true and this is a church of miracles.  I hope you all have a
wonderful week and don't forget to check out my blog, my pictures, and
send me pictures and emails!  I love you all so much! :). Take care
and talk to you next week! :)

Elder Unsworth