Week 53

A new transfer with Elder Jepsen!

By the way, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square just did a performance with The Piano Guys, I give a recommend ;). 

But wow, what a week! First I want to say that we are okay! Two Americans that have not been here for a while can survive! Not only have we survived, because we put our trust in Christ, we not only are still doing the work, but we are happy and we have peace. So let's get into this week!

District council went great other than the fact I got stuck in the train station haha. We had a transfer and usually you get off and then onto the local inbound train, but in this train station, the local train was on a different platform, so after figuring that out we finally got there haha. So we ended up being late, but it was a district council full of revelation and it went smoothly. I am the District Leader, but I have learned so much from all of the members of Ibaraki district. We talked about the great work we were doing and how to work with members, especially with Japanese help and such. 

We then had a pretty busy week with more lessons with Kataoka San and he still wants to go to Fushimi to receive baptism. So we had a little Zoom meeting with him and our mission president, President Halvorson. But we've been teaching him and really helping him build his faith. 

We had a cool experience with a worker at a bike shop. This past Monday we tried to buy a bike, but it took some time to find a bike and change the pedals and with the language, haha, we called Elder Matsumoto in the end and that helped, but we didn't have time to buy it, so we went Wednesday morning. And it actually went really smoothly, but then the same lady came out and started crying, it was so sudden, it was just so surprising. I asked the other worker and I guess she prepared phrases to accommodate our English and she felt bad it took so long to communicate with us last time, she didn't want that to happen with any future customers. So I guess it shocked her that we got the whole bike already and "did it by ourselves". She felt bad and we wrote her a note and talked with her a for a while after we bought the bike because she was crying and felt really bad. But we comforted her and got her LINE and have been staying in contact. Little tender mercies like that are always awesome :). 

We had a cool miracle Friday where we met another Christian out in the streets! She was feeding cats and we just started talking to her and she ended up coming to church! She was like, this was different, but I want my daughter to believe in Christ. So we'll stay in contact with her.

We then had another great Sabbath day and really just talked with the members and got to know them. We had a great meeting as well with our Bishop and our Ward Mission Leader about setting up Eikaiwa, exciting! 

I think so far that is it, just as I said in my year post, I hope these moments of conversion are life long, and well that's what makes it conversion, from the heart. I hope we can all become more converted in Christ and know of Him, Christ, not just about Him. I want for the rest of my life to put my trust in Christ and help others do the same. This life is about learning how to be like God. Learning to have those Christ-like attributes. Look in the Bible, Book of Mormon, Christ always focuses outwards. Never on Himself. So this week I challenge you (well whoever reads to the bottom that is haha) to look outwards and think of those that are not your friends and allies. I know everyone will have a great week! Stay safe and healthy and find the good in every day, love you all!

Elder Robertson

Week 52

New year, new beginnings 

Yes as the title says, this is the 52th email, 52 weeks of emails means 12 months, 12 months means 1 year! ありえない！Without a doubt, I add my testimony to millions of others that Christ lives and that He loves us so much he died for us.

So what did I do this past week?

Well I talked about it in my last email, focusing on others and really as I did that last week, my heart has been humbled and enlarged. I have been able to listen more to the people of Japan and to love them with a more Christ-like love. 

Another thing I've learned. Christ can change the parts of you that you thought were you. Not just the mistakes you know you make and you know you can change through Christ. The very fiber of who you are can change. And I've really been relying on the Lord and seeing change. 

And all of that last week, all of those realizations prepared me to train! Yep! I'm training a new American missionary and I've been here in Japan for 3 months. I was still scared and had lots of doubts. Elder Matsumoto and I talked about it and we agreed, there will be lots of できないこと, things I can't do. But Christ can do all things. So everyday I've been putting that trust into Him. And truly, there is nowhere else in the world where you can find so much peace. From the world's eyes, I'm done. "An American that has only been here for 3 months, training another American? Trying to help people who speak another language? They're not qualified!"

But the Lord has different requirements, that we serve with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. If we love God and keep His commandments. Love the people. You will see success. 

Anyways, on the same day, we did lots of in-person contacting which was fun and touching. We went up to Otsu and visited a family and had lunch with them and shared a message, they then drove us for 40 minutes to another family in the ward which was very nice of them, 彼らは本当に優しい方です. The first family was the Hasegawa's and the second the Hijioka family. It was fun and special to be in both of their homes. We had a touching moment at the Hijioka's home. They wanted us to play a Children's hymn, so I played  Baptism, which was fun and of course brought in the Spirit. And then Brother Hijioka requested "Family's can be Together Forever" and that was awesome. But the part that honestly makes me tear up thinking about it was that the keys were so dusty. No one has played that piano, brought music into their home, for a very long time. Being able to bring that music into their home was amazing. And more amazing, is the privilege to be a missionary and bring that special Spirit wherever we go. 

We then had a zoom lesson in the park lol. And then after getting to the train station that's when we learned that I was staying and training a new missionary and Elder Matsumoto is going to Uwajima! I was pretty sad. We did so many fun things together and made lots of memories together. Worked hard, prayed and fasted for people. Really we just loved the people and we supported each other. I'll miss him for sure. 

The next day we did more in-person visits which was fun and great Japanese practice! Haha those last couple days together I learned a lot from Elder Matsumoto. We had a lesson that night, but they forgot about it and really it was the hand of the Lord. Because of that cancellation, we were able to record this song together (down below!). It too is a great memory :).

We then had a chaotic but good last day together, had a good conversation with someone in a park and did a bunch of transfer stuff, haha still need to finish a lot of it. 

Then Saturday came! I was pretty nervous, so I got a blessing from Elder Matsumoto which helped a lot and then we started on our journey to Kobe! We left a little early from our apartment and ate at this little restaurant which was fun and just talked. We then got to the office and visited with the other missionaries that were training or picking up people. 

And then the time came! Elder Matsumoto actually got put with Elder Hiltscher! So that was a relief in a way and my new companion is Elder Jepsen! So excited! It'll be such a hard transfer, but we'll be able to see the Lord's hand that much clearly. Haha, Elder Matsumoto had a 6 hour bus ride with Elder Hiltscher so they had to leave basically right away. 

So Sunday was actually awesome! It's been crazy as I'm also DL and planning stuff for that and for my new companion. So my new companion is in training, but he got covid before leaving for Japan in the MTC, so he was reassigned for 5 weeks in California, so he's been first halved, but I call him my son. And I actually understood a lot more than what I thought, certainly, the Lord still brings miracles to those that believe! 

Last thought, treat everyday as your last day on earth or last day on your mission. You'll neve get it back. This goes along with what Elder Uchtdorf said once. If you want a good day, treat it like your life, do the most importants things, love God, love others, serve others, and it'll be a great day. Do that everyday of your life and you will have a life full of joy. 

A full glass of water is full because you filled it. Not here and there. So I challenge everyone to fill your day with good and to love God and others. Fill your "cup" everyday, everyday for the rest of your life. 

It was an amazing year and thanks to everyone for reading my emails and all the responses I've gotten, thanks for your prayers and fasting and your thoughts, truly I feel them.

Love you all!

ロバートソン長老

Week 51

We All Need Reminders

What a week! 

Let's start with miracles!

Elder McMaster and I went on exchanges and I guess some other missionaries I know from MTC and Gilbert also know him, so cool! Haha, the missionaries from Utah have all the connections ;). 

Anyways, we had exchanges and of course we were a bit nervous, two Americanjin going out in Japan trying to talk about the Gospel. We were a little nervous, but we just told ourselves and thought, what is there really to lose? Nothing! Why worry about what might happen. The worst that could happen is we have a good laugh with someone because they can't understand us. The Lord is on our side, why fear? We're only on our missions for 2 years, we need to try our best! So we did and had three great conversations. The first guy we just talked to and tried to get to the Gospel and kind of failed, but we kept going! We then talked to this other guy that played the ocarina! It was pretty cool to hear him play it, we then talked about Buddhism and what that meant to him. In the end he wasn't like "interested interested", but we brought in the Spirit and gave him a Japanese phamplet. That's what matters. But he wanted a picture with us lol, picture down below :).

We then talked to this third guy. Wow! We just stopped and just talked about the weather and he said he could speak English and so we talked about that for a bit and as we kept talking, wow, we realized that this was a cool guy! He composes ambient music on the piano and haha gave us his Spotify and then somehow we got to the topic that that day was his birthday! So we wished him happy birthday and then started talking of spiritual matters. He said he actually read the Bible because he wanted to find out "spiritual phenomenon's". So we talked about that and then read the Book of Mormon with him. We read Moroni 10:3-5 and wow what an experience. After we read, we didn't talk for a solid 10 seconds and he was like, "I just felt a solid peaceful feeling". And we were able to testify of the Holy Ghost and Book of Mormon. He said he was excited to start reading and yeah, quite an experience. 

One thing we learned from the exchange which was cool is that yes indeed, two Americanjin can do missionary work in Japan, even with our semi-ability in the language! We had faith and were willing and we saw miracles.

The night we came home from the exchanges we talked to this guy and I thought he was American, but he's from Denmark. He was really cool and we talked about life and what he wanted to do with the Japanese he is learning. We then talked about the Gospel and he was like "Yeah, I actually was raised in a very religious home, we went to church every week". I then asked if he liked that and he said yes! So we again read Moroni 10:3-5 and again, it was amazing. As we left we looked back and he was already reading. Wow! 

This Sunday I realized that I have been a little selfish recently. I have been focusing on myself, even when I thought I was still doing it for others. The language, talking to others, listening to other people, recently I've been thinking about myself more. And I wasn't happy. When you try to talk to people on the street and all you think is "Ahh, my Japanese is no good" or something of that nature, that's selfish, but it's hard to get away from that. But there's a really good youth song called "It's Not About You" and wow, what a great message it carries. So I've been really striving for that recently, really dedicating this time and for the rest of my life to the Lord. I've felt the other paths and so has everyone, and there is no joy there. So get on the Lord's path, the happy path, seriously. 

When an annoying situation happens, instead of thinking about yourself and how it affects you, think of the other person first. 

Love you all!

      Compressed fish, haha

Week 50

More Sushi in Fushimi

Haha, every week I write these letters I forget what happened during the week, so I guess I'll stop writi--- I'm joking! But haha seriously, I'm looking at my daily planner right now :). 

So this past week I've been really trying hard to use Hellotalk as a way to help people. You help them learn English and if they are interested in our message, amazing! If not, we still love to help them out with their English. On Monday we met up with someone from this app, Hellotalk, and we ate at a fun sushi place. The cheap sushi in Japan is still good, but of course, not amazing. It's called kaiten sushi and it's on the conveyor belts :). But we met this guy there and had a great conversation with him for about an hour or so. We kinda talked about us being missionaries and we started with a prayer which was cool, and we set up another time to talk in a week. What's also cool is that yesterday was the Church's 2022 Music Festival. The guy we were talking to from Hellotalk is studying in college to be a music teacher and he plays violin and some other instruments! So I told him about that and he said he would like to listen to it! Miracles! 

Wednesday and Thursday were fun as we went to Abeno (in Osaka) and had exchanges with our Zone Leader's. It was about an hour and a half travel and it was a great experience! And great news, 14 new missionaries are coming to the Kobe Mission! And for this mission, that's huge! But anyways, I went with Elder Whitlock and we taught a lesson in the 39th story of a skyscraper. Then we had two great OYM's with store owners (Open Your Mouth). There's a lot of street markets and because it was late, there weren't that many people, so we OYMed some business owners and that was neat. One of them actually said he already had a Book of Mormon and a Bible so that was cool! 

We also had another great experience with this guy in the park petting cats. Yep that's right. Anyways, there's this little park by our apartment with 3 resident cats and the locals love them. People will feed them and on their way home pet the cats! One guy was doing that and we asked him about the cats and proceeded to have a 40min conversation about the Gospel! He says he isn't very interested, we hear a lot of people say this "I would be interested, but Japan is Buddhist, so I can't". Anyways, but he still took a pamphlet and said we can talk again in the park. Haha, we totally got eaten alive by Mosquitoes. I only got like 20 on my hands and arms, but Elder Matsumoto got like 35 on just his elbow....

Kataoka San is progressing well! His heart has definitely changed and it's cool to see the knowledge he has already gained from daily scripture study. Please pray for him and the other people we are teaching! Really, the people of Japan are so ready for the Gospel and in some ways they aren't. But a vast majority of them I feel would join. It takes faith, but we've seen a lot of miracles here in Fushimi! And yeah, it's easy to read the words I'm writing and say "ahhh miracles don't happen, good things happen, but not miracles". God is a living God, one that speaks to ALL of His children today. I encourage you to pray and seek for those miracles, but those miracles happen after our faith. Miracles are signs for those people that have faith and continue onward. Faith precedes miracles, not the other way around. When Joshua was leading the 12 Tribes of Israel into the promised land, their feet were in the Jordan and THEN the water went out of the way, not the other way around. 

Just like that, choosing to be positive is the choice. And that's something I've been working on this past week, just simply be excited that I get to be a missionary and serve the people each day. The Gathering of Israel is the greatest work right now on the Earth. Prophets from the Book of Mormon and Bible both testify of it. Many prophecies have already been fulfilled. Israel is now a country, America and other nations are now trying their hardest to protect Israel and provide it with safety. Now, we are gathering all the tribes of Israel. Here's a scripture that describes Israel and what the Jews have experienced in the past 60 years, love and protection.

Isaiah 49:23

"23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."

Kings and queens shall nurse them, America, Britain, Canada, and other countries have fulfilled this. Look in the scriptures and you will see that it all revolves around the Lord's covenant people, the people of Israel. And we can be a part of it as well! So share the Gospel in simple ways this week and YOU are gathering Israel.

Hope you all have a great week and serve someone, it'll make your day, I promise!

Elder Robertson

(Haha enjoy the multitude of pictures, my phone is lagging bad haha)

For pday we went to Osaka Castle.

Had the best sushi in my life (legit street sushi ) 

And went to a crazy toy store with model cars! And this europlace with 13 Lamborghini's