My Trainee, Elder Ricks

September 19, 2016

 Brother Riki, Elder Unsworth, Brother Oami, Elder Queiroz and Elder Higashi at the temple at night,  Just did baptisms for the dead.

Tokyo Temple at night.

Tokyo temple windows at night.

I think this is such a beautiful window!

Meet my new companion, Elder Ricks.
 Our picture with President and Sister Nagano.

Man do I feel short.
Elder Ricks, me, Elder Calhoun, and his new companion.

First lunch with new companion.  SUSHI!

Elder Ricks eating sushi!

Looks like he liked it!

Elder Ricks new bike.
The names are fitting, Elder Ricks "Giant" mine is a Chevy.

This is my favorite restaurant in town!!! :)

My restaurant, haha!

Tennis night with members

This is a shrine called Narita San. Really cool, however because of
the clouds it was hard to get clear good pictures. So we will go back
next week and get better pictures around the shrine. But here are some
of the pictures we took. 

A tag picture at the shrine.
Hello friends and family from around the world!  I just want to start
out by telling you all how much I love you and how much I love Japan.
There is no where else in the world I would want to be right now then
right here with my new companion.  That being said, let me introduce
you to my new companion!
So his name is Elder Ricks and he is from Snoqualmie Washington.  He
is so cool and way tall as you saw.  So fun story about him.  I went
to the mission home the night before to stay the night and Elder Ricks
came into the apartment to take a shower.  So I talked to him before I
was his trainer and got to know him and thought he was a really cool
guy.  I was kind of hoping that he was going to be my trainee.  He
reminds me a bit of Caleb Curtis.  He is honestly already one of my
best friends in the mission.  We are getting along perfectly and I
hope that we can stay together for a long time.  He likes camping,
hiking, skiing, and all kinds of out doors things.  Oh also, his great
great great great something Grandpa is the founder of Ricks college.
So that is pretty cool. I am excited to work with him for the rest of
this transfer and hopefully with the transfers to come.  He is just
funny and just like me.  It is perfect!  Oh he also likes ball room
dancing and he has done some theatre in his life, he is just a perfect
companion for me! Overall, he is one of my best friends already and I
am excited to see our relationship improve even more throughout this
whole transfer.  He is also a way hard worker and hasn't backed down
from anything I throw in his way, he is just a way hard working
missionary and here for the right reason.
So as for the temple, it was amazing!  We weren't the only people
there, there was actually a lot of people there and I saw a lot of my
friends there as well.  Well members that I know.  So we got there
with Oami and Riki and went in to do baptisms.  The font is really
pretty and it looks huge!  We did our the baptisms but the poor
Japanese people can't baptize the big Americans with out like emerging
their own body as well.  So there was this guy who was having a
problem doing it and it looked like he was baptizing like Alma the
whole time! Haha. He would pretty much go under the water as well.
Also there were so many times that Americans almost hit their head on
the edge of the font.  By the time I got in, I had a new guy who was a
bit bigger and it seemed like he had been doing this for awhile, so
mine was great!  Oami was like a rag doll.  He wouldn't stand up when
the man pulled him out of the water so the poor man had to use all his
strength to pull him up, it was pretty hilarious to watch.  Also
while we were in the temple a small earth quake happened and that was
cool to experience.  I just thought that the person who got baptized
was really happy to get baptized so it shook the earth!  But yeah,
baptisms were great and really fun! :)
The next big thing was definitely church.  So we went to normal church
in Narita but then I guess once a month they go to a branch in our
area and do sacrament meeting there.  So I went this time with elder
Ricks and I talked with the driver the whole way there in Japanese.
It was awesome!   But then we got there and really only 9 people were
at the meeting including us.  But it was still very fun and powerful.
They asked Elder Ricks and I to bless the sacrament.  That was a cool
experience to do that.  We then both gave talks and I was surprised
with how much I felt the spirit in my talk.  I just really feel like
this training responsibility has really helped my mission and has
helped me realize how good of a missionary I have become.  I love it!
We then had an Eikaiwa class afterwards and I wasn't sure if anyone
was going to show up.  We were in a community center and by the time
the class started, there was one person.  I was like, oh great.  But
then five minutes later there was 10 people in my class and I was
really happy.  However I didn't have any teaching materials because I
didn't know what they wanted me to teach.  So I tried to do what I
usually do in Eikaiwa at the church but it didn't work out.  It was a
lot harder than I thought, but the students still said they like it
and I got some of their contact information to invite them to come
back and take my class again.  Next time I go up there though, I am
taking the English text book!  It was a really fun time to spend up in
Kamisu and see what it is like when you get out of the big city and
travel along the country side in a car.  I defiantly wish I had a car!
 They are so nice! :) Overall, Sunday was a way fun day and I loved
going to the branch up in Kamisu. :)
Well it is now Pday and I am so excited to go and have some fun with
Elder ricks!!!  We are going to go to a huge shrine by our house and
just adventure around there and go inside the shops and everything, I
think he is going to love it.  Also, I have one exciting thing to tell
you All.  Elder Bednar is coming to my mission and giving a talk to
us.  We are having a mission conference with him!  I am so excited to
meet him and listen to him.  I think it is on October 18, so it is
about a month away but I am so excited to go!  It is in Tokyo right
next to the mission home.  It is going to be awesome.  The Tokyo south
missionaries are also coming to listen so I am way excited to see a
room full of missionaries and an Apostle of the Lord.  Really, this
transfer is going to be one of the best transfers of my life!  I love
is so far and I am exited for the future!
All I can say now is how lucky and how fun it is to have Elder Ricks
as a companion.  He is a blessing to my life and I feel like I have
been his friend my whole life.  We get along perfectly and we are kind
of like the same person, same personality, same jokes, same interests,
and same missionary.  I love Elder Ricks and it is going to be awesome
to work with him this transfer.  I love you all too and I hope you had
a great week.  Thanks for everyone who continues to help me and give
me encouragement, I love you all so much!  You are the best friends
anyone could ask for.  I hope you have a great week this week and
don't forget to look for the little blessings that enter your life
every day.  I love you and I will talk to you all next week! :)

Elder Unsworth