Elder Choro

This week was quite insightful. 

We were called on by the President to prepare some 'inspired questions' for a Taikai (big meeting... we'd probably say 'conference' in English).

We combine our Aomori (blue forest) Zone with Morioka (a helping of hill?) Zone, and headed to Morioka. 

We took the train down (I love the train) and it took two hours. I love the train. 

Every missionary's dream is just to sit down and have floods of people come to them. 

A train is a dream come true. Just sit down, people will sit by you- strike up a conversation, figure out when they're getting off, and plan the conversation accordingly. 

(The time that you should bring up the gospel is like the way a story plot goes in a movie. You've got a snappy intro, got a slow build up by talking normally to get them to see that you're human (and working in little bits to get them curious about the gospel), then at the climax you invite them to do something to bring them closer to Christ....  then based on how they take that determines the resolution. For a bad example, I talked with a very nice 60 year old mother and grandmother going to visit her grandchildren, she was willing to talk, but once I testified to her about the gospel and families, she wouldn't even take a pass-along card. 

The Taikai (big meeting) in Morioka was pretty great. Elder Whiting of the area presidency came, and just stood in front of all of the missionaries with his well worn scriptures and said in effect: "Let the questions begin." 

He only officially answered two questions, but in the process he answered I'm sure many more. 

Dear every teacher of doctrine in the world- It is impossible for you to teach directly to all of the needs of every student in your class (even if you've only got one). So long as you prayerfully prepare a lesson that invites the Spirit into the room, then the student's needs will be met. The beauty of the Spirit (as well as the gospel as a whole) is how individual it is. 

Dear every student of the gospel- You've got to do you part to listen to the Spirit. I've heard time and time again by different general authorities (at once again at the taikai) that we should take two different types of notes- first is the normal, just write down in effect what they say, and the second and far more important is the personal impressions from the Spirit, usually coming in the form of - you should do--- this.- . And mark the difference of the notes. Some said they write the Spirit on one half and the other on the other, and other people have said they write slanted with one and not with the other. I put a little star by the things the Spirit says. 

Then, we need to actually review the notes when we get home. I do it in the next day's personal study. (all of us as members of the church should be doing personal study every day) Then make goals and plans on how to apply the things the Spirit has told us. 

I don't think very many of the righteous members of the church intentionally ignore the promptings of the Spirit. The word remember is mentioned in the Book of Mormon more than 240 times. The Lord knows as well as we do, that we as human beings living with such a short sided perspective have the tendency to forget.  Spencer W. Kimall Daikancho said: 

"When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is?... Remember’ is the word.” 

. We cannot forget and unintentionally ignore the voice of the Lord. It telling the Lord that you don't think His advice is worth while. 

And where do we get His advice?

1. Daily Scripture Study

2. Daily Prayer (sincere)

3. Weekly Church Attendance 

The Big Three as they're called by many missionaries- are made for us to receive God's guidance and direction in what He want's us to do personally in our life. The constant revelation becomes the landmark that keeps us from our natural human tendency to wander in circles- https://www.lds.org/liahona/2013/06/walking-in-circles?lang=eng 

It was a good time. 

In Japan there are a lot of types of trains, but I'm going to run the risk of over symplfying and say there is only two. There are normal trains, and then there is the Shinkansen. The train that flys. Like literally floats off the ground. The lev. train. 

I've never ridden on it despite it's speed and usefulness.- It's too expensive so if we want to ride it, we've got to pay our personal money.... 

Before we were going to ride home, I was comparing the price of the Shinkansen with the price of the normal train back to Hachinohe... The Shinkansen only costed two dollars more....... I'll pay two dollars out of my pocket to fly across Japan. 

So we did it. 

We made the normal two hour trip in thirty minutes. 

The train was glorious. it was a beast that pulled up silently, like it was creeping up on the eki (train station). 

It was insane. It was like an airplane on the ground. There would be forests one second and tunnels the other. It was sweet. 

We got an extra hour and a half to dendo (do missionary work) for only two bucks. 

mand the computer is breaking down. stpupid vista

love ya

Loose yourself and you will find yourself

I  believe that sometimes we get so sucked up in life that we miss the beauty all around us. We often, zanennagara set limits on our happiness- We dream of going to far countries, when there are so many unexplored things right in front of us.

I've gotten pretty used to Japan, but today as I was riding on a huge bridge over a half-a-mile river, exchanging water for wind with the ocean, (I noticed... this verb applies to the previous stated sentence... like Japanese) -- the skies in Japan are beautiful. So clean.... I can write English well- but just believe me, it was beautiful. 

We've just gotta take some time, and hold a wonder in our heart for the world, as well everything around us. 

Japanese makes a ton of sense. 

We met a ton of foreigners this week- 

We went to a park to talk with people, and we met a man from Taiwan. We had no idea he wasn't Japanese, so we just started rattling off to him, and he had a way confused face on. He did his best to respond in Japanese, and I began to wonder if he had a mental impairment-, then he said in English- "Ya, I'm sorry. I don't really speak Japanese. I'm from Taiwan." 

So that was pretty great. I told him one of my friends went to Taiwan doing what we were doing- and I invited him to check it out. He seemed scared of us. 

We were later talking with an old woman, who's husband was out-cold on a bench. And then I felt someone tug at my sleeve. 

I turned around and there were two little 10 year old Japanese girls- 

"Hey... We need your help getting something at the playground... Will you come?" 

I let Jones Choro take the lady, and I ran to help the two. A zip-line was stuck in the middle. 

Instantly we were friends. Apparently one of the girls had actually come to the church last year for an activity. 

Just then, a...gaijin walked up out of nowhere and started talking to me in accented English. 

It was a fifty-sixty year old woman from Australia, and her husband showed up a few seconds later. 

It was so different... Not only having to try and do missionary work in English, but the culture, and the whole style of teaching is totally different. Instead of tackling the general Japanese disbelief in God, who in the world Christ is, or why we're even in Japan, they straight up ask- "How's the good word being received in Japan?" 

"It's moving along; though for some reason, Japanese people seem to have a general disinterest in God. Many have never pondered the questions we consider common place in the Western world: what happens after death, who is God, etc. But there are some people that miraculously show up and it feels as if they were born Christian, accepting Christ in an instant. But other than the members actually in the church, I've only met one quite like that." 

The man had some good ideas. "Well, you know, I was recently reading a book about Japanese religion, and I'd read that 90% of them are Shinto, and 70% are Buddhist. Which obviously explains quite a bit of the overlap. They think of religion as veggies as a supper market. They pick and choose their favorites. They're born Shinto, they get married Christian, and they die Buddhist." 

Of course, it was a zentaitekina (general) hanashi (talk).... I guess we'd say: Of course we were talking on a very general level, because they are always exceptions- 

We've been playing past general conferences and something that Elder Cook said in (in effect) the 2012 conference- that if you don't think you're sick then you won't listen to a doctor. 

The Japanese people are a deeply spiritual people- many of whom feel a deep connection with God and with their ancestors- but they don't know what they're missing. It like that one time I made the stupid decision to read a book instead of going to a Jazz game with Dad. 

I'm content with the book- I didn't know Dad and little brothers were in the Box pigging out on unlimited ice cream and pizza- having the time of their lives. 

The Japanese people don't know- and with the example right before me, it makes the statement in the D&C all the more powerful: It is impossible to be saved in ignorance. 

Nazekatoiuto, (lit. if you say 'why?') the gospel flows perfectly from a simple desire to faith, to action, do convents- but the root of the desire- knowledge, the opposite of ignorance, is necessary in order for that desire to exist.  

We went to Aomori and back twice this week, once in a train, once in a car. 

The train was sweet- not the fact that it was a train, but that it was a perfect opportunity to talk with people. 

They can run.... :) 

So we went George Albert Smith (daikancho) style and jumped around from person to person. 

They were all pretty normal contacts, but two funny ones stuck out to me: 

I was talking with one senior high school girl (from Misawa), who seemed as unafraid as ever- but as we'd talk she kept looking down the train randomly. I laughed when she asked: 

"That guy, down there." She said pointing to a Japanese Missionary from Okinawa. "Is he with you guys?" 

"Yep." 

"Is he gaijin?" 

"No, he's from Okinawa. He's 100% Japanese." 

"He's way attractive." 

I cracked up, and gave her hope by telling her he was only 19, and he actually was working in Misawa, where she lived- also that we had a free weekly English Class there were he would be there every week. She eagerly took the flyer. 

There's a saying that some missionary use jokingly "Flirt to convert". 

(Of course I talked to her about the gospel) 

Number two: 

I was talking to a girl next to me, and then a girl on the other side of her reached behind the other girl's back, with a handful of chips held out to me. 

I was a little confused but slightly happy at the same time- for I was a little hungry. 

The girl next to me and I continued our conversation for a little when the second girl reached behind the first again, but this time with a grape flavored candy. 

The girl next to me eventually got off the train, and the other one, just reached out with the whole bag of chips and told me to take it- I told her I was good, but she put it on the seat and slid it to me... then gave me another handful of candies.... 

I later came to realize that she was probably insane... She started humming and singing to herself and skipping around at the front of the train (she was like 16 or 17). Yep. ... Back to my discussion about how we keep getting food from people. 

It happened like two other times besides the before mentioned event, and it's always random people... .There's a scripture about how all missionaries are prophets and how if you feed a prophet you get blessed... Maybe they feel deep in their Spirit the natural truth of that...? 

But I mean that's cool. Getting chips from random people on the rain, and chocolate and rice crackers from others on the street. 

I actually speak this language... weird... The little girl's at the park came up to me and the two Australian people with a deck of cards, and asked the man: 

"Hey! Can I show you a magic trick?" 

I looked at him waiting him to answer her question, when he said in English. 

"Oh would you look at that, you've got a deck of cards!" 

They didn't understand anything. 

I explained, and started translating between both of them. It was pretty insane... 

Jones Choro and I are speaking really weird English. We were trying to figure out who gave the talk we listened to today- and we were staring at a picture of Elder Oaks, wondering if it was him. 

Then we both started saying. 

"Different," "Different" over and over again..... which when I realized cracked me up. They do that in Japanese, it means like "It's not that" or in this particular situation: "oh that wasn't him."

I'd end with something interesting- 

In the bible the Lord says that if we lose ourselves we'll find ourselves. Japanese people use the work suteru to describe losing yourself- which is the same verb as "to throw away" or "to dump" in the sense of a girlfriend- in order to lose more of ourselves to the Lord, we just need to dump away the thoughts of our self; throw away selfishness- forget ourselves so fully that we think no more on us than we do about that banana peal we chucked from breakfast this morning. 

Though, obviously it's necessary to work out our salvation and life, but we need to focus on others as well. 

Anywho- that's it for my poor thought for this week. 

Elder Wheelwright