Week 48

Blur, travels, and fishing 

Another week, that has just flown by, wow!

So our friend that we've been talking about is really progressing! We've had 4 lessons this past week and he's been really progressing. We put him on a baptism date for the 31st, but it'll probably move as he wants to take it a tad slower. So we'll probably move it to August or September or October. Depending on the speed (which is still fast) and how he takes the commandments. But we'll be teaching the commandments this week and we have some awesome members helping us with that lesson!

On Wednesday we rode our bikes for 50 min to another part of our area and went streeting for a bit. It was a bit rough, some spiritual stupor. A lady was referred to us from a member in Tokyo, but we can't do "housing", as in we can't knock on any new door, but it's a little more strict here in Kobe and from what I gathered we need to know them, before we knock. So we just wrote a letter and our phone number, but we are going to go back and see what happens and ask our president if we can knock. Afterwards we went streeting, usually I feel that I have a pretty clear idea of who to talk to and where to go, but on that day, nothing. But after a couple minutes of thinking Elder Matsumoto felt a certain way so we walked and met a guy that talked with us for about 20min and we gave him a Book of Mormon! He studies a lot and said that he would read it. Miracles!

Then on Thursday we had Zone Taikai (Zone Conference). We left at 7:50 and got to Kobe at 10:02. We talked with Elder Jones (New AP, was in our District, great guy!) and a couple others and then it started! We had lots of great training and had a bento box for lunch, it was a hamburger, but with no bun... Anyways :), probably the biggest thing I took away from it was something that President Halvorson said, "Don't let Japanese be a barrier, you weren't called to Japan because of your language ability, but rather your power in speaking the higher language of the Spirit." Something like that :). 

A scripture he shared 2 Nephi 3:19, "20 And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words."

Afterwards President Halvorson and I talked and he pointed something interesting out. All the bad people and Anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon spoke the language well and spoke many flattering words. But the Lord's servants often had issues speaking with confidence or had trouble speaking. President Halvorson said "You're in good company Elder Robertson". And Christ suffered for all of our sins, so if you're ever feeling down or going through a trial remember that Christ experienced the same thing, your "thing", you're in good company. Do that, and you will feel peace, pray for His Grace in your life!

So the Bishop of our other ward, Otsu ward, invited us to their youth activity! We went an hour by train up to Lake Biwa or in Japanese, Biwako. It was super fun and we fished with the youth and talked with them and the YSA. We also met more members which is nice as it's hard to meet with Otsu members. 

Today, we're going to The Kyoto Railway Museum which should be interesting and Toji! Toji is a famous 5 storied pagoda.  

And as always, feel free to shoot me an email, I would love to hear from you! Love you guys and have a safe and a fun week!

Pictures!

Japan has these really good jelly drinks. They're jello inside! I saw a super cool old European car, a Supra, and a Skyline. And we went to a Honda motorcycle shop and saw some Kei cars! 

Week 47

Week 47! This is the Lords work! Kyoto Craziness! 

Well, I tried a plastic trombone at a music store so now I'm late, so sorry for the short email! 

But something cool happened that helped me recognize that this is the Lord's work! We went to another ward called Otsu to attend a baptism of a kid named Kiyotaka. It was great and we then got a text from our other ward, Fushimi. They said someone came to church and wants to learn more! So literally an hour later we met him. We taught him for an hour and now we are teaching him in 10 minutes! Haha, but he said he wants to learn everyday and that he wants to get baptized! What! So cool!

One more thing, the Lord is the Master of the vineyard, this is His Work! Miracles are always happening, even if we don't personally see them. So this week have faith in those miracles you can't see and as you do that, you will be able to recognize the effects of those miracles in your day to day lives! 

We went to Kyoto which was super cool, and Elder Matsumoto was sadly sick last week, but he's doing a lot better! We explored Kyoto and went up Kyoto Tower which was awesome, went to this crazy tech store, and a music store. 

Again, sorry about the short email, I'll be writing in the morning next week! Love you all!

Elder Robertson

Week 46

New Transfer! Gilbert Reflection

So transfers happened last week and we got 5 new missionaries! And I stayed in Fushimi! It doesn't feel like a whole transfer happened in Japan yet, probably because I was at the Honbu (office) for a whole month! So we`ve really only been in Fushimi for 2 and a half weeks. 

But our district, the Kyoto District, was split and Elder Matsumoto is the District Leader now. So now we are taking care of some extra things! 

This week we had lots of great lessons, a lady that we are helping is on date for July 24th, but because of the strong Japanese family culture and respecting the Family`s choice over individual choice, sometimes it can be hard to get permission. And the lady we are helping is 26! There`s nothing stopping her, technically speaking, but the culture is there. And haha, culture is massive! So she is having some family problems, but we talked with her and we fasted for her which was a neat experience. 

Some improvements in Japanese that I`ve seen recently is that I can message people on my own which is very important in a mission where we do lots of online work! Haha, texting in Japanese as a missionary is more manageable than speaking for sure, so it`s been nice to be able to write texts as well while Elder Matsumoto is trying to do something, instead of him literally writing all the texts haha. 

Haha, this past week was just a lot of nice work! It`s different from Gilbert as we do a lot more online work. I love in-person things, but I`m starting to learn why tech work works in Japan. Plus, if we want to visit a friend, instead of spending an hour and a half biking or 50min train ride trying to get there, we can have a zoom meeting. So really the only travel commitment is more for our friends and trying to get them to church in person. And we have been doing streeting and it`s more of a tool. And it`s like that in Gilbert as well, but you use it more often, but in Japan, it might be more effective on that day, in that time, to do Facebook ad responding, or make bunch of calls. What`s cool is listening to the Spirit and being flexible and going streeting on the spot. 

I`ve been thinking a lot about Gilbert and the ways it prepared me for Japan. And I can say without a doubt, that I needed Gilbert. I learned so many good skills and had so many great examples of missionaries that loved the Lord, and learned how to truly have meaningful contact with our Heavenly Father. Gilbert really did change my life for the better and the people I met and the missionaries I met will be my friends for the rest of my life! And that just put into perspective that God loves me so much that He timed COVID and my birth and when I was going on a mission, so that I would be reassigned to Gilbert and by revelation, the Apostles reassigned me to Gilbert and Japan. Revelation is here on the earth! God loves me so much that he shut down the world so I could learn everything I learned in Gilbert. Wow! That was a special moment for sure. 

Those moments happen everyday, God wants you to become like Him. Wouldn't He give you what you exactly needed then? I love the scripture that says basically, if imperfect parents know how to give a good gift to their children, then wouldn't our perfect lovingly Heavenly Father know what is perfect for us? So look back on your life and express gratitude to your Heavenly Father! I promise that you will see His hand!

Today, we are planning on going to Kiyomizu, a famous Buddhist shrine and there is this AE86 car place that has a parking lot full of them haha, so that'll be awesome! I'll send some pictures later. Have a safe week and I love you all!

ロバートソン長老

Week 45

First Member Meal!

Haha, like usually, I'm rushed with my email! 

Some cool experiences! 

-We've been talking to a lady who wants to be baptized but has some questions about certain things, so we've been teaching her through videos! She's really liked them and is full of questions! 

- A lady called us for two hours about an English question. She obviously knew that we were missionaries and she knew some of our terminology such as "wards" and she also knew that we don't drink green tea. So she asked her question and then we had a deep cultural conversation about the differences in English and Japanese, but not only the language differences, but the American and Japanese culture. We talked about showing respect and how we do that in our languages and how we show humility as well. Super cool! She then asked if her calligraphy business would do well with Americans and I was like sure! I didn't know this would be turning into a life help thing haha. But then we taught her our purpose as missionaries and that was also really cool! She was like, "wouldn't your boss be angry at you if you worked all your mission and didn't increase membership?" And I explained that yes we love it when people make the choice to be baptized, that is what we're helping people to do, but our ultimate purpose is to help others come unto Christ. And honestly that might look different for some people. And really if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wants more members it could do so many different things. They could change the meetings to be more fun, they could change all the rules to make it "less strict", but this is the True Church on the earth! And Christ will work his mightiest miracles through the weak and lowly of heart. 

So if you are struggling with something, remember that often that area is where we can depend on Christ and see even more growth and trust gained rather than something we feel confident in. 

Something else that was awesome was that they streamed the Tokyo Temple Rededication! It was an amazing experience and it was cool to hear Elder Stevenson of the 12 Apostles speak in Japanese! 

Haha, when I called my family on this pday it was our family reunion and I don't think many missionaries can ever say they "visited a family reunion on their mission" ;). 

I gotta run, but I love you all!

Haha just joking,  we missed our train! I'll explain the title ;). On Saturday night we went to our first member dinner here! This was Elder Matsumoto's first member dinner and he's been here for 15 months! But it was amazing! It was a 52min bike ride and we walked around and talked with some people. Then we went to dinner! We had Tonkatsu (fried pork) and wow! We had a great spiritual message as well. Probably the most hilarious thing was that she was the Relief Society President and that means she is the leader of the women's group in our "ward" or church congregation, the Fushimi Ward. And we and her and her husband, both are 50 years and more, had a deep conversation about anime and specifically their favorite ジブリ movies, for us Americans, Gibily (maybe??). But it was just a funny situation to me. Because first off, they're old, but not only that, she's the Relief Society President! Haha so funny :).

K, I actually have to go now, have a safe and blessed week!