April 17, 2017--Happy Easter!!

To the most awesome Momma in the whole world,

A couple stories from this week...
We were trying to follow-up on some PIs one day when we ran into a few people from Vietnam! They spoke very little Japanese, but we managed to communicate. Apparently there are 12 of them that work together and live in nearby apartments in Yokote. We have like 5 PIs in that neighborhood, and it's where the branch mission leader and his wife live too, so it's perfect. We ordered some Vietnamese Book of Mormons and gave 2 of them out yesterday. We have an app called Drill that we use for language study, it has key sentences for each principle in PMG. I downloaded Vietnamese in Drill and we taught them a lesson by just playing the audio for different key sentences, awesome right? Sometimes God gives you the gift of tongues, sometimes He gives you an iPad.

We had a few great lessons with K--he has been just eating up the Book of Mormon and understands it so well. He compared Nephi and Laban to him and his boss--he said his boss is pretty lazy and doesn't like to help the people under him. K told us jokingly that he would totally be willing to chop off his head if God told him to. Haha. At least, we assumed he was joking.

He has been understanding the doctrine so well, the trouble right now is helping him to see that it applies to his life individually. We've been working through some basic commitments though and he has been making huge progress. He wasn't sure at first if he was ready to try praying or not, but the spirit convinced him to. He took a few minutes until he had thought of a few things to say in his prayer, then gave a beautiful, sincere, prayer. We visited him on Saturday and invited him to church. Usually he parties super late on Saturday nights, so we were thinking that would be the main obstacle, but as we talked with him, it came out that he actually just hates crowded places (which was funny because we started sacrament meeting with only 4 people, including us). He told us that he doesn't even go to movies or baseball games or anything like that because too many people are gathered in one place. He said between that and the fact that he doesn't like singing, he didn't really want
to come to church. It was so interesting because he is a super chill, fun, laid-back 29 year-old who is still 22 on the inside, and we would never have guessed that crowded places were not his forte. But I guess it just goes to show that you can never really assume what investigators' concerns are/will be. We offered to give him a tour of the building as a nice middle ground, and he accepted our offer. We walked around with just the 3 of us and sang some hymns and did a lesson in the church. He was bouncing around the idea of coming next week, so I think it's just a matter of time at this point.

We did a lesson with our Chinese investigator, I Shimai, and 2 Sisters from the branch taught with us, which was great. By the end it turned into some solid Sister-Sister bonding, which I think was more important than anything we could have taught.

On Sunday night, we were biking along and I saw this light on at a 2nd story apartment. I felt like we needed to stop by, so we parked our bikes, rang their doorbell and met a guy who was shirtless and only opened his door a tiny crack. He was willing to listen, so we talked with him for a while, but he wasn't interested and wouldn't take any chirashi or anything. That was disappointing, especially since I thought that it was a spiritual impression to knock on that door, and I felt like we had just wasted 15 minutes of our precious Sunday evening proselyting time. But, as we were walking out to our bikes, someone pulled up in his car to the same apartment building. We said hi as he was walking from his car to his apartment, and he was really friendly. We found out his name is R and he is 25, we became friends right away. It was Easter, so we shared an Easter video with him and asked him what he thought about Jesus Christ. He didn't know anything about Christ, he didn't even know it was Easter. We testified that we can find true happiness and peace through Jesus Christ, and he said his life is already fine. But we told him that even if he's already happy, he can find even more happiness--true joy. His life might be a piece of cake right now, but the gospel can be like frosting on the cake. I'm not totally sure if he was pricked in his heart or if he just thought we were funny, but he agreed to let us come by and share our message with him!

This was the first week of the new transfer so our district has changed--my new district leader is Elder Mimaki, we are good buds from Aomori! We were in the same apartment for a transfer, it was way good to see him again. In our district, there are now 3 Elders who are fluent in Japanese. Two are Nihonjin and one is a Brazilian but he grew up in Japan. Then there are 3 American Elders and 2 American Sisters. Our district is so solid! We are expecting some sweet miracles this transfer.

 Love you so much Momma!! Thanks for everything you do!!!
XOXOXoxooxoxXOXOXOXoxoxoxXOXOxoxoxXOXOXOXOxoxoox
パスケット長老
Elder Paskett

Us with our new homies from Vietnam!

April 10, 2017--Countdown to Easter

My beautiful mom,

Yeah things are great here! That is surprising it wasn't the same in Fukuoka back in the day...I mean, they have a temple there! I'm pretty sure Sendai is on the slower of the Japan missions too. I think part of it may be a cultural loosening, I think that is especially true among the smart phone and internet generation. Also, I think preach my
gospel has a lot to do with it as well. He Lord is hastening His work!

Yeah it was a bummer Y had to move away, the Akita missionaries haven't been able to meet with him yet. But, we'll try and introduce them to him this week when we go up for DTM.

It's been a way busy week! We had exchanges twice, with the DL on Tuesday and then with the ZLs on Friday. That meant that I took a train to Akita and back on Wednesday morning, then again on Thursday morning, then we took a Shink to Morioka Thursday night, and had to get up at 3:30 in the morning on Saturday to take the 5:20 train back to Yokote in time to show general conference. It was an exhausting week haha but so good.

I Shimai and S Kyodai both came to conference on Saturday, it was so good! At the very beginning, the motab was singing and I Shimai was totally in tears, the spirit was so strong. And we hadn't even gotten into any of the talks yet! I Shimai stayed for both sessions on Saturday and had originally told us she wasn't able to come to the Sunday ones, but she ended up cancelling her Sunday plans so that she could come watch!! It was so great. And we had branch members there on Sunday so she was able to sit by our branch mission leader's wife and they are good friends now! S Kyodai came up to us after and was like, "hey, that lady, I, is Chinese. She seems to really like this stuff. You should teach her." We decided that that would be a good idea.

On Saturday night, we went over to T K's (a less-active member) apartment to watch the priesthood session with him. He didn't smoke at all during conference even though he really wanted to! Afterwards, we had a very interesting conversation with him. He said he likes us as friends, but he is no longer interested in Christ and the church because he hates one of the missionaries who taught him. He said that whenever he wouldn't keep commitments like reading the Book of Mormon, he would just tell him "yome!" and he just didn't feel any love from him. Always just ordering him to do things, without any praise for things done well. I'm confident that he'll be able to forgive and come through eventually, but it would have been so much easier to have just kept him active and feeling loved in the first place. It makes me want to make sure I always show love to investigators as I am helping them to keep commitments and progress!

Saw so many other miracles this week that I dont have time to write about...on splits in Morioka, we just happened to ask for directions from a guy who got a Book of Mormon from missionaries a year ago and is now interested in learning more. We stopped by K san's house and taught him about reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, and he asked us why he needs to pray about it, because he already believes it is true! On Saturday night, we weren't sure when our train was leaving, but the road blocker arms at the RR crossing came down right as we were passing by, giving us a warning that the train was coming and giving us just enough time to run to the Eki and catch the last train (that would get us home in time) seconds before it left!

Things are going great here, I hope you are Genki and having fun with the wedding prep!! Make sure and keep that cardboard cutout polished and shiny ;) I love you so much!!
--
パスケット長老
Elder Paskett

Nice sunset out on the tanbo

Splits with my man Elder Cannon

lunch at ドジャース ft. Ki's crazy face and a random photobomber

The Squad

Homies from Israel!

General Conference + pancakes

"Hawk-wing" san

This is what happens when you have to wake up at 3:30 ↑↓

April 3, 2017--Living the dream!

This week...

We had a lesson with a new investigator named Ig. She was actually an investigator last year, but was dropped, then this last week she gave us a call, wanting to meet. She is Chinese but has been living in Japan for about 20 years. We read from the Book of Mormon together, we would read in English and she would read in Chinese, then we would talk about it in Japanese. As we talked about praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true, she told us that she has felt the Holy Ghost before. She also has a testimony of the power of prayer from when her younger sister (who is Christian) prayed for her to recover from an illness, and she did. It seems like she will progress very well, her only concern is that she doesn't want to be pressured to join the church. When we asked if we could call her Ig Shimai (sister), before she said yes, she checked to make sure that it didn't mean she was  committing to join the church. But since she already knows what the spirit feels like, I think that she will be able to overcome her concerns pretty quickly.

Y moved to Akita this week! That was so sad. But we had the best lesson with him on Saturday--we talked about repentance and what it means for his life. We went through all the baptismal questions, the only thing he wasn't sure about is if there is a prophet on the earth today. We invited him to watch general conference this next week, and promised him that when President Monson speaks, he would feel the spirit and know for himself that President Monson is God's prophet. We were seriously floored by the strength of his testimony! He is so great, and honestly ready for baptism. He is starting college at AIU in Akita this week, and he said it would be nice to start off college with a seiyaku and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The only problem is still just that his parents want him to wait. Luckily, we were able to meet his step-dad (who is a Buddhist monk) on Saturday! Y invited us over to his house, and his step-dad gave us a little tour of their o-tera. We asked a lot of questions and were able to learn a lot. It was actually really interesting. At one point we saw a picture of a man who was glowing, and he had just died. All the people were gathered around weeping, and the animals and the earth and angels were weeping as well. He told us that it was Buddha, and that he died, but he lives on, through his philosophies. But we were both like...wow this is definitely Jesus right here. Also the top 3 Kamisama's were in gold, with one at the top and 2 by his sides, like counselors in a presidency or something That was so good, and I think it was great for his Dad to see that Mormons are nice people and respectful of other religions. Hopefully that will help soften his heart to let Y be baptized.

My favorite part of the tour was when Y's step-dad was telling us the story of one of the Kamis who used to eat children, but then recognized his wickedness and changed his life to start protecting children instead. Then Y whispered to us, "repentance."  We went out to Yakisoba with him and then said goodbye--luckily, we go to Akita at least once a week so he said that we should go to lunch sometime when we're there!

We spent some time on Saturday chilling with T, a less-active member. He is trying to quit smoking and start keeping the commandments, and we made some huge progress on Saturday. Mostly thanks to Elder Haskins' knowledge of death metal music, we were really able to talk to him and strengthen our relationship with him. We had a good time and he wants to keep meeting with us consistently. He agreed to cut his cigarette usage in half, from 20 a day to just 10. He said he would come to church the next day, but then when church started at 10:00 he wasn't there. We were pretty disappointed, but about 10 minutes into the meeting, we saw him walk in with another member! He sat down and stayed for all of church, it was great.

We did some hisashiburi ni housing this week, and we have been visiting some long-time PIs more consistently, things are really starting to pick up! We're doing great in Yokote, and hoping that we can have this next transfer together too.

Thanks for all you do! Love you!!
パスケット長老
Elder Paskett

Otera tour with Y and his dad

chilling with T

District P-day

March 27, 2017--From your 19-year-old son

Riding the shinkansen

Hello to the most wonderful and ichiban subarashii mother of them all,

We have been so busy! The highlight of this week was with S Kyoudai--the last 2 weeks, he has working little by little to keep the word of wisdom. He has been cutting down his coffee intake, and he was having us check his box of cigarettes each time we came over. On Sunday, we came over, and he had smoked one after a hard conversation with his brother, who is opposed to the church. But, S decided right there that he was ready to start keeping the Word of Wisdom entirely. He gave us his coffee and tea and cigarettes, and we watched in wonder as he dumped all of his alcohol down the sink. He had probably 10 bottles of various drinks, some of them unopened, but he dumped all of them down the sink without a moment's hesitation. He was truly willing to give up his sins to know God. Alma 22:15. He just dumped them right down the sink. Do we sometimes hesitate to give up what God requires of us? Once S knew what he needed to do and was committed to do it, he was 100% on board. I admire his strength and faith!

We left together, he drove off to go buy himself some soda to replace his alcohol, and we biked off holding a pack of cigarettes, a bag of coffee, and 10 empty booze bottles. Hopefully no one thought too much about the white guy wearing Christ's name on his chest holding a 3 liter bottle of Jack Daniel's. We're not sure if we threw them away in the right place but we got rid of them as soon as we could. 







We had a hard week with Sh Kyoudai, with some really good spiritual moments, but ending with him pounding his fists on the table and telling us, in English, "I REJECT YOUR CHURCH." That was rough, and we are sad that he is missing out on so much happiness that the gospel could bring. But, we ended on a good note, and he at least knows that we are his friends.

New friend K

We have an awesome new friend named K, Barton Choro and I found him tracting, then Haskins Choro and I went to follow up this week. He totally listened to our message and accepted a Book of Mormon, he thinks Christianity is very interesting, but doesn't really understand that it applies to him yet. He told us he thinks we are funny and wants to hang out with us, so we went to ramen Saturday night and had a good time. He is 29 years old, and basically his life is working, working out, playing video games, and partying. He may be the most chill Nihonjin I have ever met. He didn't come to church this week because he was up until 5 playing video games with his online friends, but he wants to come eventually.

Birthday cake from I-san

Bday pancakes

On my birthday on Wednesday Haskins Choro made me pancakes in the morning and I-san brought a cake to Eikaiwa (I'll send some pics), it was wonderful! Feeling loved.



In other news, we ran into a very suteki young man from Osaka, he is a professional photographer and he was so friendly. I guess the Osaka rumors are true. We talked for a while and he took a Book of Mormon and gave him a mormon.org card, so we are praying that some Osaka missionaries will be getting a self-referral pretty soon :)

On Sunday night we were in exactly the right places at exactly the right times, to run into S san (the guy who hit me with a car) and then later Kn, our investigator who has been too busy to meet recently. We caught them both as they were returning home to their apartments, so we got to talk for a little bit. S san asked if I was doing ok, and said that he is sorry he hasn't been able to come to church yet, but said that he will come if he has a Sunday where he doesn't have work! And we were able to follow up on Kn's Book of Mormon reading, and he told us he wants to take us out to eat again sometime.

Things are going great here in Yokote, thanks for all the love and the prayers!

Love you! Thanks for all you do!
XOXOXoxoxoxoxOXOXoxoxoXOXOxXOXOXOxooxoxoXOXOXxoxoxoxo
パスケット長老
Elder Paskett

Zone Conference

With I-san

Random high schoolers on the street

T & R at the batting cages

New friend T

R and us

Sh and S at church

M, new Eikaiwa student

This is what happens when your comp's last area had a Costco!

Haircuts

Haircuts

Lunch at I-san's

March 20, 2017--Toilet dendo, hooked on Motab, and other stories

First off, thanks so much for the package! And shout out to the Clarks for the birthday package too, that was a total surprise and so nice! Feeling so loved :)

Saying goodbye to Barton Choro was so sad! I miss that guy. At the honbu, I slept in (until 6:30) but he left at 6:00 so I didn't get to give him a goodbye hug! Sad day.

On our last day, we had a nice lesson with R, then Smith Kaicho and Shimai picked us up from Yokote and drove us back up to Sendai, where we had our interviews. That was the best interview I've had yet--I can't really explain it, but the mood was just different. We talked like father and son, I really felt his love for me and for this work. I left feeling so much more energized and motivated!

The next morning, I met up with Haskins Choro in downtown Sendai and we took a bus back to Yokote. We have only had like 3 days together so far but things have been going so great!

We picked up an old investigator named T. He is in high school and is good friends with R because they're in the English club together. We met with him, and he is looking for more direction in his life as well as to develop more self-control. He is such a great kid, he warmed up to us really fast. I can already tell that he is the kind of person who will be sensitive to the spirit.

Su and Sh have come leaps and bounds the past few days! Saturday and Sunday were saturated with miracles, mostly involving the 2 of them. I read in PMG in chapter 11 about helping investigators keep commitments--it says that we should be making daily contact with our investigators, and stop by for short visits in between our scheduled lessons. I realized that we had a lot of room for improvement there, so we have been trying to make more frequent contact with our Qs and it has worked wonders! Yet another confirmation that the Lord's way is always the best way.

We stopped by Sh's house on Saturday, and he invited us right in and was his normal friendly self. About 5 minutes into the conversation, he told us he didn't want to go to church the next day. We said "ok," but kept teaching about God and the restoration. Then, suddenly, he told us "I will go to church tomorrow." We told him that was great! Eventually we got on the topic of prayer, he told us he would come to church but he didn't want to pray. We said "ok," but talked about God and His love for us. Then, again, in the middle of the conversation, he suddenly said "ok I will pray. But I don't want to get baptized," and motioned sprinkling water on his head. We hadn't mentioned anything about baptism before. We said "ok," and he finished our lesson with a beautiful prayer. The spirit was seriously whispering in his ear that entire lesson, it was amazing! We stopped by his house after church on Sunday, and he said he definitely wants to come again next week.

We had a lesson with Su on Friday, he is really starting to understand who God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and prophets are. Truly comprehending those fundamentals has made everything else just come together so well in his mind. He came to church on Sunday, and we asked if we could stop by later that day, but he said he had some errands and stuff so he probably didn't have time. After visiting Sh's house, we were riding past Su's apartment, and Haskins Choro said he really had to pee. So, we had the idea to ask Su if we could use his restroom. Su was surprised to see us, but of course happy to let Haskins Choro use his restroom. While he was peeing, we talked and he told us he was cooking some dinner, I commented on how delicious it looked, and he offered to share it with us. He said the おでん would take about 45 minutes until it was done, and asked us if we had time to stay. We said ok, then sat down and talked for 2 hours. Toilet dendo for the win. The spirit was so strong! He had such good questions, and as we were talking about faith and Ether 12:6, he asked us, "but, how can I show my faith to Jesus?" I could've cried. We told him, "by obeying the commandments." He got out a piece of paper to write down what the commandments are so he could keep them. We reviewed the few we had already covered, and he just kept asking if there were any other commandments. We ended up teaching almost all of them right there, it was amazing. His perspective about commandments really humbled me--God's commandments are not restrictive or bothersome, but an amazing opportunity to show our love and faith to God and Christ. At the end, we somehow got talking about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and we showed him the website to listen to their songs. We left, and before we had even exited the apartment building, we heard him blasting Motab loud enough to hear in the hallway. We are just waiting for his neighbors to refer themselves now.

Sunday night, it was 8:45, and we had planned to visit the F's. We were about 15 minutes away from the apartment. The F's were about 15 minutes away, but in opposite direction. I told Elder Haskins, "well, if we go to the F's, we will probably get there right around 9:00. We don't have an appointment, and if they are not home, we will end up being fujuujun and get home around 9:20. And, we still have to report numbers to the DL at some point before 9:00." We both just thought about it for about 10 seconds, and we both just knew we were supposed to go the F's. We took off on our bikes, and the DL called while I was riding, so I managed to do all of houkoku while en route to the F's, then we arrived at 8:58. R chan answered the door, so we talked with her and shared a scripture. She is 10 years old and was baptized about a year and a half ago, she was so happy to see us. After we said good night, she came back and opened the door to wave good bye again, twice. She waved us all the way to our bikes, then we took off and made it home at 9:30 on the dot.

I miss Barton Choro, but Haskins Choro and I are working very well together, so that is good. I was inspired by Elder Clark in Chile and we have started setting some crazy high goals! I am loving the work and things are just wonderful here in Yokote!

Thanks for all you do! Love you so much!!!
パスケット長老
Elder Paskett

Teaching Eikaiwa with Elder Barton

Haircut from I san

With Elder Haskins