Shimonoseki

Shimonoseki is such a cool place. On Sunday we had four investigators come to our little branch and it was such a neat experience. The members here really love missionaries too and most of our food in our apartment is from one sister alone. The dendo (missionary work) is hard. The weather is wet. The legs are tired. The brain is exhausted. The mouth is smiling. I LOVE EVERY SECOND HERE. I know that I`m supposed to be in Japan and while we haven`t gotten any return appointments while I`ve been here, they will come. 

While we were out dendoing we just happened to turn the corner onto this older Japanese lady who loves English and therefore loved us and loves anything that makes people want to become better people and love everyone and it turns out she had received a Book of Mormon twenty or so years ago and while she doesn`t care for taking lessons we decided whenever we are in that area in Shin Shimonoseki that we are going to stop by her place. 

We also both felt like we need to walk a certain way down here in regular Shimonoseki and Flippo Chourou (my awesome companion who I couldn`t have asked for a better companion and President Egan is definitely inspired by the Spirit) remembered where a house was with a potential investigator and while he wasn`t home right then, we stopped by again later and his parents weren`t home (which was good because they don`t like Christianity because of Jehovah`s Witnesses) and he is interested in our message and we are going to return back a lot and we think he will get baptized and join. We could tell in his eyes because they`d light up and he was actually paying attention, not just listening. 

Miracles happen every day and whenever they do, we get out. By that we mean that whenever the spirit tells us to go somewhere we do, and when we find that person the spirit was telling us to find, we teach, and after we teach, we leave and follow the spirit wherever it tells us. It`s amazing because we are pretty much solidly unified wherever we go and whatever we do without talking to each other. We plan and think about the same area which is awesome and we know that we are going to find more people that are willing to hear the gospel. It`s definitely hard though, however, once we find our first return appointment and investigator together we are going to be so happy. The people are awesome. The members are awesome. Everything about Japan is awesome and we are going to find people and bring them closer to Christ. 

I love it here and I love every single one of you and you all have impacted my life in some way or another. Thank you all!

Elder Tschirki

Me and Barker Chourou at the Fukuoka Temple

Me and Flippo (bubbly face) Colton (Back left) and Madsen Chourou (back right).

My mat!!

And a couple pics of Shimonoseki 下関。

I'm in Japan

Hey we landed in Japan and the Mission President and his wife are the nicest people I ever met and as soon as we get off of the plane they shake our hands and know us all by name and it:s so exciting and I find out where I*m going tonight and my P Day is on Monday so I can email you all then and they*re just making us email home really quick and honestly the humidity isn:t too bad, it feels nice so far and it:s fun and I had so many people staring at me in the Tokyo and Fukuoka airport and that:s all I can say right now and I promise my punctuation is good but this keyboard is kind of messed up. Life is awesome here and I can:t wait to find out where I:m going!

Love y:all

Elder Tschirki

Flight Plans

As y'all can probably tell, we got our flight plans this week! We leave at 3:30 AM on Monday the 21, and leave SLC at 9:00 AM and go to San Fran to Tokyo to Fukuoka. It's like 20 hours total of flying time, which for my first time flying that I can remember is so so so long but I'm so so so ワクワク(excited). I'll be in Japan in four days! Anyways, this week we had an interesting experience. Sister Rosemary Wixom, the General Primary President (and more now if you've been keeping up with Church news, it was a HUGE thing to have her come) came and spoke on Tuesday and she starts out her talk by saying, "I know you all are a little disappointed because you wanted a General Authority or Quorum of the Twelve to come and speak to you and you got the Primary President instead but I hope I can teach through the Spirit tonight" and I felt like that was directly addressed to ME because when I found it it was her I was kind of just like "UGH. If it's like conference she'll say something about her granddaughters and flowers and cookies and divine worth like they always talk about in conference and we're 70% men and we want to hear about cool things and get chastised at by Elder Bednar (if you're going on a mission, watch Character of Christ when you get to the MTC and you'll know)." BUT, it was my favourite devotional I've ever been a part of and I can't tell you how many Elders and Sisters I saw crying at the end of it because it was SO POWERFUL and I'm teary a little bit just thinking about it because the Spirit is so strong even right now. The best part was since I always sit on the second row and 'camp out' for good seats, I got to shake her hand afterwards and say thank you and she was just radiating spirituality and the love of Christ and just by talking to her makes you want to be a better person; a more Christlike person and it leaves you with no doubt in your mind that this Church is true. It leaves you with no doubt that Christ's church is built on love of everybody and mankind. It's built on compassion, caring, and service, and she is the definition of that. SO, I challenge you all to serve somebody completely selflessly everyday and help and love everybody. That means everybody. Christ has said multiple times that we must forgive 70x7 and forgive everybody and not hold grudges, for if we don't forgive others, that is the greater sin and we will be judged accordingly. So love everybody! Care for everybody! This is going to sound SO stereotypical Christian, but in everything you do just ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" and you'll never have to think about your conviction to the Lord. You'll never not know what to do. You'll never not receive guidance and help if you just remember that simple question. "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Or as He says when He came to the Americas after His resurrection, "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in Heaven, or as I am perfect." 

I'm just so pumped to be a missionary and represent the Lord in everything that I do. I know that this is only two years worth and I've already learned so much and I want and need to learn more. It's kind of a sad experience that this is my last few days in America for the next couple of years (that was sarcastic, it's not sad at all) and I know that through me, the Lord will bless so many people's lives and that I'll make the best friends I've ever had on my mission and help bring people closer to Christ, to His one church, His one faith, His one doctrine. 

Everybody, please read the Book of Mormon everyday. Write down feelings and impressions you get. Everything good comes from God. You will, I promise you that you will, receive so much guidance and love and know that the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book and that it's Christ's pure doctrine and humbly shows people the way to return to God. Just reading it regularly and humbly will make you feel it's power and truth. There's no other way of describing. I know if you study it, you will know for yourself. If you don't read it, which I can't force you to but oh do I wish I could, you won't know for yourself that this is Christ's church. That's about as simple as it gets. It's either one way or it's not. After studying from the book and praying about it, you'll know what I'm talking about. I know you will. 

Everybody, I love you all so much and you've all impacted me in ways that I wish I could describe but I would need 900 P-Days to do that! Do P-Day email hours rollover? ;) Keep on keeping on! And what my Branch Presidency always says (I'm not a fan haha but it's okay) is "Give 'Em Heaven!" 

愛しています！

シャーキー長老

Pics

Me doing service with Jess' sick glasses. She's one of the custodial employees in 18M where we always have service and she's so cool.

Me, Chadwick, Olsen, and Sherman Chourou outside when it was pouring rain and hailing. It was like we had jumped into a pool, no lie. I look fat in this picture.

 Post rain. Just to prove that I'm not fat...

 The Elders in my zone all making faces that Budge Kyoudai makes aka his anime faces.

I love Talking to Real Japanese People

This week we had new Japanese sisters come in and they leave the same day as us and so what did we do, we talked to them, A LOT. We had one in our room all day on Tuesday and so we got to know her and she's so funny and we talked like all day long in Japanese and it was fabulous, and she tried speaking some English and she was trying to make fun of the most American accents she could (like when Americans say banirra instead of vanilla) and we were all in tears. At dinner she wanted to try some cornbread and we were like okay and as soon as she put it in her eyes got huge and she covered her mouth and said  ”なに！” meaning "What is this?" and she thought it was the most disgusting thing she ever ate. That night we went to the Tuesday devotional and there was another Japanese sister that looked a little bit down because she didn't know English and the people she was with didn't know much Japanese so communication wasn't really happening so Sherman Chourou and I talked to her for a solid 30 minutes and just really got to know her and about her life and it made a big difference because we were trying to make her laugh and all of that and she seemed a lot happier afterwards which is what going on a mission is all about. Service. Plus, it's just so cool that I can hold at least a small conversation with Japanese people and talk to them and I'm just so so so so excited to be in Japan in a week and a half!!!!!

That night, Bishop Causse, one of the Presiding Bishopric came and spoke, and we spoke about how we need to be obedient and bold and if we aren't bold as missionaries then people won't be super affected by our message and told the story of an English woman going to school to become a preacher in the Church of England and her husband was atheist and the missionaries taught her and asked her to 1. read the Book of Mormon, 2. Pray about it, 3. Come to church, 4. Be baptized and 5. For referrals (these are the five commitments we should leave every lesson he said and I'm going to do that) and so she went to Church and was contentious the whole time and argued with everybody so she ended contact with the missionaries until a couple of days later she called them and said she read the entire Book of Mormon, prayed about it, knows it's true and wants to be baptized and her husband when he found out wanted to be separated but she knew that it was true so she kept with baptism and her whole family ended up joining the church because those missionaries were bold and left bold commitments and now her life is changed. He then shared this scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 "26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." Missionaries don't have much worldly experience. We may not know the ins and outs of the Bible. We may not be the smartest people and we make mistakes. But God uses us to spread His message and we can "confound the wise" by remaining humble and sincere in our message. I 100% believe that.

Everybody. Read the Book of Mormon. Start today and read straight through, a little bit everyday. I promise that if you do this, you will know for yourself the truthfulness of the book. You will know that it IS God's words. You will gain a greater understanding of Christ and His Gospel. I promise you. Never stop reading that book. Man can draw closer to God by abiding by the precepts in that book than by any other method on the planet. I beg and plead with you to read it. Study it. Pray about it. Live it. Be humble. Be Christlike. Serve others. Live what you believe and know to be true. Paul said (I forgot the reference) "Can we continue in sin and expect to be saved through mercy? God forbid!" or something along those lines. The Gospel is about continually improving your life to become as Christlike as you can be. As we become Christlike, we will turn outwards and help other people when the natural man would turn inwards. After Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for the sins, burdens, pains, addictions (more on that in a few), and everything completely and utterly alone and bled from every pore, no doubt He, being God, was exhausted beyond anything anyone could possibly fathom; it would have killed anybody else. Peter then cuts off a guard's ear and Christ turns out and heals that superficial wound. On the cross, while dying, he comforts His mother and leaves her with John the Beloved. He asks the Father to forgive the crucifiers of their sins. He looks at the men next to Him and tells them that they'll be with Him in Paradise. While He was dying for the world, He still never looked inward and He kept serving those around Him! I promise that as you read the Book of Mormon and pray for that desire to develop the Character of Christ, that you will, but it's a process and it's hard but it's so worth it and if we do develop that character, which is charity, there is no way we can be found unworthy at the last day. Please do it!

Friends, family. Today, go to LDS.org and start watching the Addiction Recovery videos. They are so powerful and helped me understand the Atonement so much more. I know that God loves everybody, even those that we look down upon, because He has a perfect love and understanding of everybody. I want to develop that love and serve the Nihonjins as selflessly and as Christlike as I can and I know that if I put my faith in Christ and work that He'll help me. He promises us that He will.

Everyone I love you all so much!!! I miss you but I miss Japan more and I haven't been there yet! Read the Book of Mormon! Pray about it! You'll know it's true! I'm not just wasting two years in Japan because it's cool (even though Japan is SO COOL) but because I know that this message is Christ's message and changes lives everyday. It's changed mine and will change yours if you put in the effort for it. Please do it. I love you all and that's why I want you to.

I love you all!

Elder Tschirki

 

Drew and Elder Ben Jenson (great friends from home who grew up together)

 

Me and Brother Liddiard in our branch presidency. He's one of the funniest guys I've met and he was a Hollywood makeup artist and worked with Robert Redford countless times and is like, best friends with him and he's worked with Sylvester Stallone and mouthed off to him. He's so funny and sweet!

 

Me and Budge Kyoudai who just got back from Fukuoka two months ago and is my teacher here and I've learned so much from him. He's a spiritual giant that watches Naruto (every Japan RM does apparently, so Mom go buy every Naruto for me!) and I respect this man so much. I've learned so much about Japanese and Christ's atonement and Christlike attributes from him and if you end up going to Japan on your mission and meet Budge Kyoudai, you are SO LUCKY. Plus ladies, he's single!

Nekochan

みんあさん！おはようございます！

Everything's been awesome here. Sherman Chourou and I played in another Sunday night devotional and we played A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and it was SO GOOD. We also wore matching ties. Everybody said it was the best musical number they've heard here (it's Marshall Macdonald's arrangement if you're wondering but with viola instead of a cello) and Sister Bertasso, one of the MTC First Ladies said that since we have three weeks left she would like to use us again so maybe we'll audition again our last week. You know, only having the music three days before auditioning and then performing in less than a week is kind of hard but it helps when you play through the spirit because it will always help you. ANYWAYS, when Sister Dahlquist and her husband speak they cried and said that music is such a blessing and that it always brings the spirit and that the people in Japan have been prepared and are waiting for us and that that principle applies to everybody on their missions. Everybody, no matter where you go, have people that are prepared and are being prepared for you.God works in mysterious ways! Speaking of that, one my teachers Bingham Kyoudai told us a story about how when he was a District Leader in Japan and they had a meeting in a chapel and a little lady walks in and they kind of chat and she had had a Book of Mormon and it had part of the address to the church in it, the other half got ripped out, but she read the book and prayed and knew that it was true (she just found it one day) and has spent years trying to find which church it belonged to and she got baptized two weeks after that or something. God really does prepare people!

Tuesday night, Elder Oaks came and he spoke to us a lot about the PMG and all that, woo hoo. However, what stood out the most is when he said something like the most important part about repentance is taking the Sacrament and renewing your covenants and actually owning up to it. If you don't love the commandments, you won't follow them. If you don't truly love God, you won't follow him. You can't serve two masters because you'll hate the one and love the other or despise the one and cling to the other or something cool like that. It's so true! Sometimes (all the time) I wonder why people intentionally do things that they know goes against God and what He has taught because that's just a big slap in the face to God and it's like saying, "I mostly love you but right now I don't and I don't know why I am going against you but I am and I know I'll feel bad and guilt later and I don't want to but I'm going to keep doing this even though I know the negative outcomes." Now that doesn't really make much sense, so why do we do it? I don't know! HOWEVER, I DO know that if we do our best to follow God's commandments and repent when we don't and take the Sacrament weekly (The only ordinance we take multiple times throughout our lives) then we WILL receive blessings. 100% of the time we will. "I the Lord, God, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say ye shall have no promise" or something like that is 100% true, 100% of the time.

I was thinking about how blessed I am here at the MTC. I get to strengthen myself physically, mentally and especially spiritually everyday, more so than the kids that are here for a week. I get to create some of the strongest friendships I've ever had here and see all of my fellow Brothers in Christ from school and the rest of God's wonderful army of missionaries. I have gotten to play in two Sunday devotionals with Sherman Chourou. Not many people ever get to play in multiple. I've had the opportunity to hear from TWO members of the Quorum of the Twelve, including the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Nelson. That in and of itself is an amazing occurrence! Many members of the Seventy have come too. All of these just go to show how much God loves me, but more importantly how much God loves His missionaries that He will send Special witnesses of Jesus Christ, living prophets and apostles, to come and strengthen and edify us in order to better teach His gospel to His children. Life is so amazing and I love it SO MUCH!

 み んあさん、愛しています！神様はあなたを愛しています！イエスーキリストの福音は真実ので、神様は自分のすべての子供がこの福音を受けてがほしいです。か れは私たちに預言者やせいてんやモルモン書をくださいます。イエスーキリストは私たちの罪をゆるすことができます。でも、私たちは悔い改めるひつようがあ ります。イエスーキリストにようて天のお父様のみもとにもどることができます。

よし。

シャーキー長老。

Pics:

Our Shimais and me

 

Me and Sherman Chourou on sunday with our matching ties before the Devotional and my pocket is big because I'm cool and use a pocket protector.

Our Class mascot, Nekochan. And also we have a praying mantis I guess too. Or an Inoteiru Mantesu Chan （いのているマンテスちゃん。）