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