week 14

Hello!

Ok, the weeks are just going by like crazy and today is transfer day! We haven't received our call to find out if we are staying in Saga or going somewhere else yet but we will be getting it sometime today. The next time I email, I could be in Saga or somewhere else on this wonderful island!

This week has been a lot of hard work. We haven't had many investigators so we have been focusing a lot on our finding efforts. We have talked to a lot of people this week! We met a woman this week who we have a return appointment with on Sunday. She was interested in our message and we talked to her for 20 minutes or so. We gave her a Book of Mormon; she was really excited to read it and told us that she would read it, mark what questions she had, and have them ready for when we come back! Some people are being prepared for this gospel and i'm excited to have the opportunity to be the Lord's tool in Japan.

This work is hard, and sometimes it's really hard, but in the grand scheme it is so worth it and I am happy and excited to be here. Thank you for everything and all the support!

Love, Brower Choro

Went to a museum park this week! It had old burial mounds and some cool buildings. Here are some pictures!

week 13

This week has been one to remember for sure!

I:m sorry I didn:t have much time to tell you about the baptism that we had last Saturday. Takahiro Menoru San got baptized and it was an amazing experience to be a part of. When I got to Saga, my companion and his old companion met him on the street and started to teach him. They taught him for about a month before I got here and we have been teaching him ever since I got here. He is so faithful and was so excited to be baptized. He was so prepared for this gospel and it was amazing to take part in watching him progress!

Unfortunately, he got a new job near Tokyo and moved yesterday. The timing was perfect though! We plan on staying in touch with him and helping to encourage him to continue to live this gospel.

On a different note, I had the best haircut of my life right after emailing last Monday. Japanese customer service is amazing and this haircut, if you were to get the same quality in america, would probably be at least a 50 dollar haircut. There was no hair out of place and they even strait razor-ed around my ears and the back of my neck for less than 15 dollars! It was amazing. Amazing enough to mention to everyone.

The picture that my companion gave to me was when I was having my worst day on the mission. I just felt so inadequate and un-successful and was not proud of myself and did not think that anyone could be proud of me. I struggled most of the day really bad. However, God was aware of my situation and changed my attitude and frame of mind really fast! Honestly, this worst day turned into the best day that I have had in Japan so far. In a nutshell, we went out to Dendo (do missionary work) and we met so many wonderful people and they were from all different places and they all spoke english! We met a man from mexico who wanted help learning Japanese so we told him to come to English class and we would have one of the Nihonjin elders help him. We shared a short message with him and he was interested and wanted to know more. Also, we talked to many more people who were generally interested in our message. And at the end of the night, the last people we talked to were from Egypt and wanted to know more about Christians and what we believe. They were really amazing happy people and it was his birthday and she just barely finished her last test for her Masters degree. The timing was perfect and we found an Arabic Book of Mormon for them and we plan on meeting with them this week. Also, we were going through our area book that day and decided to call a man that had met with missionaries a while ago and he said "Hey, long time no see! When can we meet? How about next monday at 10?" When does that ever happen?! It was an amazing day and it was a little testimony builder for me to have and as I keep trying my best, I know that God is proud of me for what I am doing here. My biggest weakness is that I forget these things.

Lastly, this morning was when our appointment was with that gentleman and when we showed up at the church, he was here and ready to learn! He had questions about resurrection and how we know and believe in Christ and this gospel specifically. He is self taught in English and loves to learn about Religion. He prayed during the lesson and we have future appointments set up with him. He was a wonderful man, please pray for Ted (Furukawa) San that he may feel that this is more than just an interesting subject to learn about but something that you can feel and know that it is true.

We have had some amazing experiences this week and we are striving to do our best so that they can continue.

Love you all!

Brower Choro

Sorry this one is so dark but this is a crazy tree that we saw that looks like it grew the wrong way

Saw this in the Liahona magazine and thought it was really funny. This is definitely what happened when the age change for sister missionaries happened!

And this is one of the funniest looking cars i:ve seen here. It:s a Toyota and looks so refined! I think the crazy old dalmatian lady drives one of these.

This is a picture of one of the hardiest breakfasts I have had here. This is a normal morning breakfast though besides the sweet roll. Delicious!

I found the culprit the other day! This is the cat that sits outside our apartment and just makes tons of scary noises... He is a nice cat but super annoying

This is a picture of some of the ward members here in Saga. In total, there are probably 30 or so members. They are all such wonderful people!!

This is a picture that my companion gave me on one of my worst days on the mission so far. Its really been a big help sitting on my desk because that is definitely how I feel sometimes!

The last one is a picture of what we did in the English class that I taught this week. We teach English every Wednesday and it is a lot of fun! Pronunciation is really hard for Japanese people but they do their best and English class is super fun!

Week 12

This week has been great and I really hope that these pictures work, they aren:t wanting to send. So, we had a baptism this week! Menoru san is now takahiro kyodai!! It was an amazing experience and I was so lucky to be a part of it. He is so great and he was so prepared to receive the gospel that we just had to help him. That Is what we are looking for is people like him. There are people who are prepared to hear this gospel and we are just here to help.

It:s been cold here... really cold. and windy... It:s not too fun but it:s not too terrible either. Can;t complain too much!! ha

The one thing that I have from this week is that everything in Japan makes a noise. I don:t think i said it last week but everything humms or buzzes or talks in a cute little japanese cartoony voice. It:s really so much sensory information that I can:t even handle it sometimes and I just need to put in some earplugs!

                                                                

                                                       Thanks Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd week in japan

Japan is great! This mission is great! That about sums it up. But to give you some details...

This is definitely the hardest thing that I have ever done. It surprises me how much our minds can learn! It is infinite! It may be a slow process... and sometime it seems like a really slow process... but we have the ability to learn and I am so thankful for that. I am learning a lot every single day and I am thankful for this experience.

One principle of this Gospel that really blew my mind this week was "as soon as you are selfish, you stop being grateful." We need to be grateful!! God has given us all and if we are selfish and stop being grateful for all that he has done for us, we begin to not lead happy lives. Be grateful! Pray to our Heavenly Father and tell him how grateful you are!

Now that that has been said, it is hard to be grateful. I had my worst day on the mission this week because I stopped being grateful. I was too worried about myself and I was getting caught up in how hard this experience is. Guess what, things are hard but God always provides a way for us to overcome the things that we are faced with. 2 Nephi 2:2. He consecrated our afflictions for our gain! Some people have more afflictions than others and you may continue to ask "why me." It is because you can handle it and you have something to learn! If we become grateful for our trials and all that we have been blessed with, life becomes so much more fun. God wants you to be happy and have fun. Stop feeling bad for yourself and do what you can and trust in God!

Now, with THAT said, some fun things that have been going on in Japan:

-Menoru San stopped smoking and is having his baptismal interview on Tuesday! We are getting things figured out for his baptism on Saturday! How awesome is that.

-I gave my first blessing of comfort to my companion this week. It was my first blessing I have given and... it was a really cool experience. It is so worth it to be worthy to exercise priesthood power

-People here in Japan are so self reliant. At the grocery stores, you buy how many bags you need for the groceries and you bag them yourself! They are also really clean and into recycling too. It's a fun culture change

Alright, I did terrible at taking pictures again this week but... here are a few!

That is my desk, it is where all the magic happens! And, btw, it is almost never that clean but... I tried to make it look nice for the picture

White chocolate kit kats?! Ya, delicious. They have really nice random treats here

We knocked This five story apartment and this was the view from the top floor. It kinda reminded me of Utah!

Just a funny picture of my companion through my waterbottle

Some peoples' lawns are their pride and joy here. This one was super nice! I love the trees here

And the last one is just a little ramen shop across the street from where we live. Other than that, things are going well. Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to do so and be grateful!

Brower Choro

1 week in japan

We've been working with an amazing investigator who needs some prayers. His name is Minoru San. He is so faithful and is progressing really well! He has a baptismal date for the first weekend in February and we know that Satan will work really hard on him now that he has found this gospel. Please pray for him that he may come to know that This Gospel is true!

We've also been working really hard with the members here in the ward and getting them involved in missionary work. We're making some final arrangements for an Open House that we will be holding in February where members can bring friends and they can here a few testimonies and learn a little bit more about what we believe and most importantly, the blessings we can receive from this gospel! We have high hopes for this and I'll let you know how it goes!

Other than that, we are working really hard and striving to be better missionaries every day! Japan is wonderful and I really do love being here and serving this people and bringing this awesome message to them. I can't wait for the adventures to be had in the time that I will be spending here.

Some observations:

-Chairs in Japan are just slighly shorter than normal american chairs so most times when I go to sit down I think i:m going to fall onto the floor!!

-Also, it:s so true; everyone wears masks! Whether they are sick or they don:t want to get sick, they all wear masks

-I have yet to get over how small the cars are here and for that matter, how goofy looking they are! I:ll send you some pictures next week of some that I have seen that are especially... special

The weather has been just fine. Not freezing but not really hot or anything. It has rained more than anything and that isn:t my favorite but there is no snow and it:s just... a wet winter!

-So, Saga doesn:t have much going for it from what I have observed and been told. I love it here don:t get me wrong but the only thing that it is known for is mudfish! Maybe look it up for me and send that to me in my next email. I:m curious as to what it actually looks like. They have a picture of it on all of the manhole covers

-One of the really neat things about where I am at is that basically on every street corner, there is a little shrine of somekind. And usually, they always have fresh flowers in little vases next to the rock sculpture or statue or whatever it is. When we went to the store, a lot of people were buying flowers and things and so it:s something that they do a lot I guess. I:m not sure if I can take pictures of some that I see but I:ll ask and if not, maybe you can look them up!

-A lot of people that we talk to are old. And when I mean old I mean like... 85+. These old people here never stop! They are riding bikes and doing stuff in the yard and they are so energetic! When we talk to them though... They always say that they are too old for religion and are going to die soon so what is the point... It's fun to talk to them though!

-I'm not much for the fancy toilets here but... one of the nice things is... heated seats!!! The one in our apartment is nice and toasty so it is never cold in the morning! Maybe you should look into something like that for the house because it really is glorious!

-Also, I don't know if you noticed but my name changed when I got to Japan! Instead of being Burowa Choro I am now Burawa Choro. It's kinda funny because people think that my name is furawa choro sometimes which is basically saying elder flower in english. Much clarification is needed and people get a little laugh every now and then.

Ya, I failed at taking pictures this week... I'm sorry! I'll try to do better next week! But, This is a picture of my nice little futon. I actually sleep really well which is awesome! Cause... There isn't much pad there! ha.

One thing that I have realized about this church is that there is never an equal trade between God and us. When we give something to God, he gives us something in return that is so much greater than what we gave. I know that that is true! So give up a little humility and time and kneel and pray for all that you have!

Until next week!

Love, Brower Choro

ブラワ