WOW 7 MONTHS

February 1, 2016

A cool park in my area

Selfie of two goofy missionaries!

Celestial Bright!

P-day Ramen

I love these Elders!!!
I cant believe it is already February!  It feels just like the other
day I was in Kasukabe celebrating Christmas!  Where does all the time
go?  As a missionary, time is so weird.  The days feel so long and it
feels like you hardly get to sleep at nights but when you think back
on all the stuff you have done, time goes fast!  I feel like I was
also just at the MTC last week.  It is amazing!
Well this week actually was a bit rough when it comes to missionary
work.  We did so much finding.  We tried our hardest to get some
lessons in with some investigators and they either wouldn't answer the
phone or they canceled on us.  It was a bit hard but we tried our
hardest to stay positive and work our way through it.  There were some
ups and some downs but by the end of the week, we were on an up.  One
day we were just having one bad thing happen after another.  Our
appointments canceled on us, finding was rough and it seemed like no
one wanted to talk to us.  It was hard to stay positive.  At those
moments, it is the best time to pray.  That night, I went through my
day and I though about what I could do better.  I remember praying to
the Lord and asking him to help me.  I wanted to be able to start
meeting with people and teach them about our church.  I wanted to help
people and I wanted to be able to serve those around me.  Well the
next day was church and I think the Lord heard my prayer. When I got
to church I was talking to the members and saying hi, out of now where
I heard "Hey I am here".  To my surprise in walked a guy that we met
on the train about a week and a half ago.  His name is Peter and he is
half Japanese and half American.  I was so surprised to see him.  He
said he was sorry that he couldn't come to Futsal yesterday so he
wanted to make it up by coming to church.  It was so cool to see him
there!  It is amazing how the Lord blesses you when you work hard.
Here I was thinking that we were not going to have anyone at church
today and then the lord blesses us with two investigators at the
church.  One brand new investigator that we have never met before!  It
was so cool.  During the whole meeting I was explaining stuff to
Peter.  He loved being there and he thought it was pretty interesting.
But today was kind of a weird Sunday meeting.  We had a presentation
about the Area Plan after sacrament meeting.  I explained to him that
this usually doesn't happen but he went a long with it.  Then as we
are watching this video about the area plan, this Aname movie starts
playing on it.  It was church related but I feel like it drove the
spirit away.  It made the movie fun and entertaining but it was hard
to feel the spirit during the meeting.  I was trying to figure out how
to explain to him that we don't usually come to church to watch Aneme
movies.   But at the end of the video the area Presidency spoke and I
felt the spirit come back in the room.  It was a very interesting
meeting.  I explained to him who Heavenly Father is and why we want to
return back to live with him.  We then had a normal lesson in a
classroom and we talked about the Spirit.  He had a bunch of questions
about it.  He like learning about it I think.  At the end of class we
had a fire drill.  That's right a fire drill.  I couldn't believe all
the random stuff that was going on that day.  He came on such a weird
day to come but at the end of the day he said he liked it and he was
happy he came.  The members were amazing to him and really nice.  He
said he loves them.  We then had a lesson after church with him and
discussed some of the things that was taught that day.  We had a
member present with us and he helped out a lot.  We testified of the
Holy Ghost and taught a bit about the Book of Mormon.  We then asked
him if he had interest in learning more and he said kind of.  Thats
better than nothing!  So we gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to
read it and he said yes! He is going to read the introduction and then
we will talk about it on Saturday when he comes to our Futsal
activity. It was an amazing miracle and I was so happy to see Peter
come to Church.  He was amazing and I hope he comes again next week.
He is a really awesome guy and an answer to my prayers.  That was just
the beginning.  At the end of the day, we were doing some finding and
I just wanted to go home.  I was tired and my feet hurt.  We talked to
some really cool Americans and Canadians but they didnt have too much
interest in the Gospel.  Well on our way home we stopped this one guy
on a bike and he had a lot of interest.  He spoke perfect English and
that made me so happy.  When people speak English I feel like it is a
whole new game.  I can teach them things that I have been learning my
whole life and a language doesn't have to be a barrier anymore.  We
taught him on the spot about our church and the Book of Mormon.  It
was awesome!  He took the Book of Mormon and he said we can meet up
again sometime in the future.  I was so happy.  When he was getting
ready to leave, I asked him where he was going.  He said he was going
to the Book store to buy some new books to read.  I then said "You
didn't think you were going to get a free book did you?" hahaha I
thought I was so funny.  But he laughed and said he looks forward to
seeing us again.  This was a huge answer to my prayers.
Something interesting that happened this week was we got an email from
the Mission President saying that we are no longer aloud to use one of
our name tags.  So there is this name tag that every missionary uses.
It has their name in English and Japanese.  It is very convenient for
when you introduce yourself and they also just look really cool.  Well
it turns out missions have been buying those name tags from people who
are not authorized to make those name tags.  So they are copy righted.
Salt Lake city just found out about the name tags and they told all
the mission presidents in the world to discontinue the use of those
name tags.  They are trying to figure out a way that we can order new
ones from Salt Lake but from now on, we have to use our MTC tags that
just have our name either in English or Japanese.  It was crazy news!
But hopefully we can get some new name tags soon.  haha
Besides that, not a lot happened this week.  We mostly did finding.
Talking with new people on the street is always fun.  It is a great
way to practice you Japanese and a great way to share the Gospel with
others.  Hopefully next week we can start to get more lessons in! haha
 Another fun thing that happened is I got to go on Exchanges with
Elder Hansen who is a really good friend of mine in the Mission.  I
love him and I love working with him.  We had so much fun and it was a
blast working with him.  I am going to miss him a lot when he goes
home next transfer.  He is a great friend!
Well that is my week.  Lots of finding, a cool miracle that happened
on sunday, and a fun exchange with a good friend.  I hope you all had
a good week too!  Thank you for all your love and support.  I love my
mission so much and I am grateful for all the experience I have gained
since I have been here.  I love being out here and I know that the
Savior blesses me and my family every day.  I love doing his work.
Missions are amazing!  I love you all so much!  Take care and have an
amazing week! Talk to you next week!  :)

Love,
Elder Unsworth

Fun P-Day

January 25, 2016

This Indian statue would be great for my dad!!

Cool shrine in front of a guys house we were visiting

Ramen with Brother Masuda.  Man I love that guy!

This week has been full of spiritual and uplifting things!  This week

we had a mission conference that was world wide.  Elder Anderson,

Elder Bednar, and Elder Oaks spoke. There were also some other people

from the missionary council that spoke. It was so good. I felt the

spirit so much. It felt like another General Conference. They spoke

about how we can have the spirit more in our teachings but the big

focus was repentance. They said we need to teach repentance more. The

main theme was "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts". It was a

really powerful message. I loved all of their talks. Another thing

they talked about was testifying of the savior. At the end of all

their talks they testified of the savior and they told us we were

called to do the same thing. We need to testify of Him everywhere you

go. It made me realize what I needed to change. I testify a lot about

the Book of Mormon but I think I need to testify more of Jesus Christ.

That is the reason why I am out here and I am doing his work. I am

going to try and build my testimony of him in Japanese. I can say it

in English but I think if I can build it in Japanese it will help me

have the spirit more in my life and it will also he,p my Japanese! :)

By the end of the conference I had a huge list of things I need to do.

Fun fact, there are 75,000 missionaries in the world right now. I

thought that was pretty cool. But yeah, the conference was really

spiritual and I loved it. I wish they would happen more often. One of

those haven't happened in forever. I think the last one was 10+ years

ago. So it was really cool to be apart of it.

Another really cool thing that happened this week is we worked a lot

with the members.  We worked with Brother Masuda who is my favorite

member here!  He loves working with the missionaries.  We met early in

the morning to go finding with him and he stayed with us till late in

the night.  Probably my favorite thing to do with him was talking.  I

loved talking with members because they help me with my Japanese so

much.  Brother Masuda speaks a little English so I can talk to him and

ask a couple of questons so that he can understand how to help my

Japanese.  But he is awesome when it comes to help.  He corrects you

if you say it wrong and when you say things right he makes you feel

like a million bucks.  He is amazing.  We talked to a lot of people

that day.  Later that night we had a lesson and it was in Chinese,

Japanese and English!  I had to through some English sentences in

there because Japanese is hard!  And our investigator understood all

those languages so it was good! But we talked about the Book of Mormon

and I think it went very well.  I love sharing my testimony of the

Book of Mormon and the Savior.  I know that he lives and loves us.  I

know we can learn about him through the Book of Mormon.  I love the

feelings I get when I read the Book of Mormon and I love the feelings

I get when I share my testimony.  I know this church is true and I

know that Jesus is the Christ.

Another cool thing that happened this week was Fukuda. We went and did

some finding and as we were walking down the street there was no one.

I had no idea why we were going down this street and I wanted to go

back home where it was nice and warm.  I was so cold and my toes were

ready to fall off!  But right when I was about to turn back I looked

up and saw this boy walking towards us.  I knew we had to talk to him!

 I went into my missionary mode and tried to become his friend right

off the bat.  With younger people I like to speak to them in English

because they usually like it and will try to talk back to me.  Well I

hit it off with Fukuda and we became really good friends.  Then came

out the Gospel questions.  Do you Believe in Christ, do you want to

learn about God, and do you like religion?  He said yes to all of the

questions.  He has been wanting to learn more about religion and he

believes in God.  It was so cool!  We even talked about the Book of

Mormon and he took one!  He told us he would read it and he is looking

forward to meeting with us again!  He was an answer to our prayers.  I

am looking forward to meeting with him again and sharing the gospel

with him! :)

Thank you all for your wonderful examples to me.  I love hearing from

you and I love sharing my spiritual experiences with you.  I hope you

feel the spirit when I share them with you and I hope that you are

finding ways to have the spirit be in your life.  I love you all so

much.  Take care and have an amazing week.  Know that your Savior

loves you and watches over you every day.  He wants to help you, you

just have to let him help you.  Don't forget to look at my Blog and

see all the wonderful pictures posted on it.  I love you all!!!!  Take

care and talk to you again next week! :)

Elder Unsworth

Matsudo

January 18, 2016

SNOW!!!

First snowfall in Matsudo.

Two happy Missionaries!

Time out for Ramen.  Yum, my favorite!

 My Church in Matsudo

This church is 5 stories high

Front doors to the church

Playing basketball on the 5th floor of the church.


> Wow this has been a really good week!  It has been full of lesson and
> lots and lots of fun!  So this week we actually had three lesson in
> Chinese!  I dont know about you, but I have no idea how to speak or
> understand Chinese!  Lets just say, I felt like I was back from the
> MTC and that I was learning a new language.  hahaha The lessons went
> well though and one of the investigators is looking forward to meeting
> with us again.  He was amazing.  He showed so much interest in the
> Gospel and he wants to learn so much more about it.  He especially
> wants to learn how to pray.  That is what our next lesson is going to
> be about!  Elder Chou is amazing and he is an amazing companion.  I
> have learned so much from him and he continues to show so much love to
> me.  He loves to talk to everyone on the street and even though my
> Japanese is fluent and it is really hard for me to talk to people, he
> shows a lot of patience towards me and helps me along the way.  He has
> never complained about my Japanese and he continues to encourage me.
> He is amazing and I love him so much! :)
> This week we also had some sport nights and it did a toll on my body.
> It has been a long time since I have played sports and keeping up with
> all the in shape people put a toll on my body.  But it was so much
> fun.  Next time I am going to have to take it a bit more easier
> because my muscles were so sore the next day!  I wish I could have
> slept in! haha
> The members here are great.  They have shown so much love towards me
> and continue to help me with my Japanese.  I am trying to talk with as
> many members as I can because I think that is the best way to practice
> your Japanese.  But man is it hard.  I know that through the Lord I
> can learn this language.  He has blessed me so much and he continues
> to bless me everyday.  I love this Gospel so much.  It is amazing!
> Last week when I went to the temple it was a really good experience.
> I felt the spirit a lot and I felt a lot of peace and comfort.  It
> recharged me and got me ready to go another transfer.  I am so
> thankful for the Temple and the blessings it give me in my life.  But
> I think they are going to close it down soon for refurbishments.  So
> this will probably be the last time I get to go on my mission.  Sad
> huh.  I guess I am blessed to go at least 3 times! :)  I love the
> temple so much! :)
> As it goes for weather in Japan today was crazy.  Last night it snowed
> so there was snow all over the ground when we woke up and went biking.
> It was scary because the wind was also blowing really hard and it
> almost pushed me off my bike.  We went to buy umbrellas and Elder Chou
> bought one for like a four year old.  It was funny watching him try
> and keep himself dry.  Half way to our destination, he gave up and let
> the rain pour on him.  I was smart and got a really big umbrella.  Not
> smart, the wind picked me up and spun me around.  I never though an
> umbrella would pick me up!  Man I need to start gaining some weight on
> these bones!  Not!!!!  I dont want to get fat on my mission! hahaha
> But fun fact, I have grown a little bit on my mission.  My MTC
> Companion Elder Watabe pointed that out to me.  I wondered why my
> pants felt shorted and my long sleeve shirt didnt go down to my wrist
> anymore....  Well life is good and luckily my clothes still fit enough
> to pass as a missionary! haha
> This week we also had Zone Conference and that was really good.  Lots
> of fun trainings on finding and how to be a better missionary.  I
> always love those meetings because I get to see everyone from my zone.
> I love my zone so much.  They are amazing.  It is full of old friends,
> companions, and friends to come.  I love Matsudo so much.
> Probably one of the best things I love about my mission is how much I
> can focus on the Savior.  I love reading the Book of Mormon and Jesus
> the Christ.  They are amazing books and if you havent read them and
> want to come to know Christ better, read them.  I am currently in 2
> Nephi in the Isaiah Chapters and they are way hard to understand!  But
> I have learned so much from them and I continue to learn from them
> every day.  One thing that I learned is that we need to rely on the
> Savior.  He came to this earth, performed the Atonement and wants us
> to rely on him.  Through him all is possible.  My Japanese has become
> so much better now that I have recognized that I cant do it by myself.
> Through prayer and trust in the Lord my Japanese has improved
> immensely.  I love the Savior so much and I have felt His love so
> much.  I love my mission, I love the Scriptures, and I love the
> Savior.
> Well time is cut short today.  Sorry that this email is kind of short,
> but know that I love you all so much.  I love hearing from you and I
> hope you are going online and seeing my blog.  My mom has been doing
> an awesome job with it and she just updated it.  She put some new
> photos on it!  I love you all so much and I hope you are doing well.
> Take care and have a safe week.  Cant wait to hear from you next week!
> あいしています!!!!!!!!
>
> Elder Unsworth

 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