Hello Everyone!
It is good to be writing another email this week, even though I really
feel like I was just barely writing! That is always how the temple
P-Day's go because you take P-day a day late and then you feel like
you should be a day back but your already a day ahead to it feels
super fast! I know I wrote about the temple in my email last week, but
can I just say one more time how amazing it is! Huge blessing to be in
a mission in Japan with a temple, because right now there are only 2
in Japan right now! But they are working on the one up in Sapporo,
and it looks like they will be finishing that one up here this year!
Exciting things happening for the church here in Japan, and it's fun
to be a little part of it as a missionary serving here!
So this week was really good. Fast, like I already said, but good
because we were meeting lots of investigators and teaching which is
always great. I feel like right now we have a decent amount of people
that we can teach...maybe between 10-15 somewhere, and we are meeting
with them pretty frequently and it's been great to see some of them
start to progress! This week we had 3 people at church H____, Y____,
and S____, and all three of them really like the church and like the
meetings on Sunday. H____ is the 19 year old kid who is completely
ready to be baptized, but because he doesn't live in our boundaries it
has gotten a little tricky to figure out where to baptized him and how
to do it. He actually lives in a different Stake, so things get even
more tricky, but he was able to come to church this week and we kind
of figured out what he needs to do. We found out which church/ward he
should be going to and we have a member set up to go with him next
week to that ward so he has a friend and that member will kind of
introduce him to the missionaries down there and get him on track to
get baptized in the proper ward. The member is Brother Numakura, and
he has only been home from his mission for maybe 1 1/2 years and we
are really good friends. We were really tight before I left Shibuya,
and then once I came back it was awesome and he is just a really good
kid. So we are planning on him going down there with H____ to get
things worked out! It is a little sad that he won't be able to be
baptized in Shibuya, but awesome that we were able to help him
progress to baptism here and that we will still get to be a part of
his conversion!
This week we also had a ping pong night, but we only had two people
show up to play! One was S____S____, who is an investigator that we
found right when I got back into Shibuya and it was really good with
him! We got to play and he is a really funny guy, and it was good to
be able to just kind of hang out for a little bit and get to be better
friends with him. We also had one of my best friends in Shibuya, M____
who is a recent convert of just over a year and he is super solid.
M____is from China, but has been living in Tokyo for years now and is
fluent and works here. M____is like one of my brothers here in Tokyo
and he was able to get out of work and make it to ping pong which was
way fun with him. We were able to teach S_____with a member present
and just talked about how church is a great place for us to be and it
is kind of a chance for us every Sunday to "recharge" our spirits and
kind of get ready for the next week. S_____really liked it and
really wanted to come to church, but ended up not coming yesterday
which was too bad! But, he called us during sacrament meeting and
when I took the call he started talking to me about 洗礼(senrei) which
is a form of baptism that they have in Japan that everyone knows
baptism by, and said that he was really scared of it but that he
wanted to learn more about it to see whether he wanted it or not. We
actually hadn't even talked to him about baptism yet because we hadn't
really been able to have a great lesson about it, so we set up a time
to go and meet him at his apartment and teach him about baptism and
why it is not a scary thing. That lesson will be today at 6:00 so I'm
really excited to see how things go! I think that it will be a great
opportunity to set a baptismal date and get him progressing in the
right direction.
Other than that the only other big thing that we had this last week
was Church and it was great! I am working really hard this time
around to learn as many of the members names as I can so I can make
really good relations with them so they trust us, and give us food;)
haha but it's going really good and the members are starting to see
some of the great things the missionaries are doing! It was a really
great week here in Shibuya and I am shocked with how fast this
transfer has gone! This will be our last week in this transfer, and
then we will be starting the next, and getting into February! I can't
believe how fast it has gone, but it's fun when you are so busy that
time just goes this fast. I am excited for this next week because we
will have a conference with a member of the Area Presidency Elder
Aoyagi. He is from Japan, and I think that the conference is going to
be fantastic! Also we just got news the Elder Nielson from the Quorum
of the twelve is going to be meeting with us in March in a big 2
mission conference! Exciting things happening here in the Tokyo
mission! Thank you for all that you do! I love you and pray for you
every night! You are amazing support to me and I'm grateful to have
such amazing family and friends. Talk soon!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
Heyyoo!
It was a great week here in Tokyo this week! The weather has been
absolutely amazing, and we have been seeing a lot of miracles in this
area. It's really interesting coming back into an area that you
served in before, because there isn't that little learning curve that
you usually have when you transfer into an area. You just kind of
come back and get going right off the bat and it's been awesome. This
was a week where we were able to meet with a lot of our investigators,
and a lot of people were able to make great progress which is always
exciting in an area. I think after this week, we have 5-6 of our
investigators progressing, and many more on the way! It was one of
those weeks where things just kept going right, and we were really
just able to see God making things happen for us which was really cool
to see.
Something fun that we did this week was we had exchanges with the
other Shibuya Elders, and I was able to go with a Japanese Elder named
Elder Ogata. He is a way young missionary, but he is way excited and
really loves being a missionary. After our Zone meeting, a lot of the
Elders went to a place in Shibuya named Shakey's, which is a all you
can eat american style pizza place, and had kinda like "team lunch,"
which was way fun! It's always awesome to get to talk with all the
missionaries in your Zone and get to know everyone a little bit
better! But after that we were on exchanges, and because the Zone
meeting went long, we didn't have a lot of time, but we had maybe 45
minutes before we had to leave for our appointment in Shinjuku with
someone that Elder Suguwara and I found on the train a couple weeks
ago. We went out finding for those 45 minutes and found 3 new people!
One of them actually met the other elders at the church the next day
and is really interested in coming back and learning more, and we
actually have another appointment set up with him already and his
Grandmother is Christian. The last guy had tons of interest, but
because he is so busy he didn't know when he could meet, but we got
his phonenumber and we should be able to meet soon! It was fun to get
out and talk to some people because this transfer I haven't had many
opportunities to get out and just find for long periods of time, so it
was great getting out today. We finished the exchange with an awesome
lesson, and our investigator actually brought his friend who is from
Israel and he had tons of interest in the church and asked tons of
questions! We got his contact info and we are going to meet him next
week and talk more about the church!
Exchanges were great, and the work was great this week, but the
highlight up until now(i guess this technically counts as this week)
was that we had the temple today. Since I moved to Nagaoka and it is
too far, we don't have the chance to go to the temple up there, and
since I was up there for a while, the last time that I had been to the
temple was last May!!! It had been wayyy too long and so today it was
amazing to have the chance to go do a session with all of the Elders
in the mission and just to be able to get recharged! It was crazy
because I knew I wanted to go, but I didn't know just how much I had
missed it until I was done and had left the temple and just felt
recharged! The temple is an amazing place and it's such a blessing to
be serving in the temple area right now! Again! It's amazing to use
for missionary work, and it just feels good to be around the temple
stopping people and asking them if they know what that giant beautiful
white building is up the street. The best part about the day today
though was that a missionary who had served in Mito after I served
there told me that L____, a chinese man that Elder Allred and Elder
Nielson found and taught for a while in Mito is getting baptized in 2
weeks!! When I was in Mito, we set a date for him to be baptized on
the second lesson, and then he had a few problems with things back
home and he didn't end up getting baptized, but kept meeting with the
missionaries and wanted to keep going to church. Then I guess he
really opened up to the missionaries after they showed him a lot of
love for a while, and he decided that he wants to get baptized! So he
will be getting baptized on the 1st of February, and if there is
absolutely any way that I can get there
I am going to go! It is so cool to see people make those steps
towards God and make the choice to change their lives and follow him.
It has happened over and over on my mission as I watch my friends make
these steps, but really it is just a blessing for us as missionaries
to take part in these peoples conversion because it really strengthens
your own testimony! I'm grateful for the chance that I have been
given to serve here in the Japan Tokyo mission, and I am grateful that
I still have a long time to work here, to help many others come to the
waters of baptism! Thank you all for all your support, your prayers,
and your love! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing
week!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
Logan again did not get a big email off so here is his part of his personal letter to me. Dear amazing Mother!
The big city ROCKS! (He's in Shibuya again!)
1.) so New Years is Japan's biggest holiday? Do ya'll go out on New Years? You said you clean all day on New Year's Eve. Does everyone party and that's why you stay in?
1. Yeah it is crazy here. New years is bigger than christmas, and
everyone here just loves it and people will be saying "Oh happy new
year" all of January. It's a party haha but yeah we cleaned cause
it's kind of dangerous to be out and about...so we hang out inside for
a couple of days and it's fun!
2.) your companion was very quite and reserved. He probably thought I was a loud and crazy lunatic. Well, I am frankly. :)
2. Yes..he is quiet and reserved. It is a different experience than I
have had over the last little bit. He thought you were great, and
it's not that he is super shy, cause just us and in the apartment it's
fine, I just think that over skype and in English was kind of hard for
him. should be great.
3.) Are any of the other 6 companions in your house from Utah?
3. Yeah there are...actually only 2 from Utah, but we all get along
great. All of the missionaries are really really cool here, and I'm
sure I'll be hangin out with a lot of them in college when we go home. all the guys here are great. No we all dendo separately.
4.) do you go home during lunch to eat every day?
4. We study until lunch, eat and then we will go out and dendo!
5.) how's the work in the big city? Finding some new investigators?
5. Yeah the city is so much fun! I am always the big American who
yells at really well dressed cool looking japanese guys in english
and just talk to them in English for maybe the first couple minutes
until they are about to get frusturated cause they can't speak with
me, and then switch to japanese for them haha. yeah we are finding new
investigators alll over the place. Really cool to see how God is
helping us find his prepared children.
6.) when will ya'll be doing a temple trip? It must be exciting getting closer where you'll be able to go to the temple. I'd love to do a session there when we come.
6. temple will be towards the end of the transfer! yeah kind of crazy
how i haven't been for so long! kinda sad but it will be great to go
again. yeah we can hit a session when you come!! In fact...W_____
will possibly be going through the temple at around that time, and it
would be really cool to go through with him!! I'll talk to him about
it and see what he thinks!
Yeah...we did have some amazing talks some of those late nights after
I got home...I can't remember exactly, but I think that something
really important about teaching people is getting very personal, and making it feel like you aren't really teaching them. I remember lots of times where you or dad taught me how to do something and it was very clear how you wanted me to do it and whatever, but I think what
made those late night teaching moments so great was that we were just
talking together. It didn't feel like I was being taught a lesson or
anything, I felt like I was on even ground with you and that we were just friends it wasn't teacher and student and I think that is what makes the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher.
Obviously there are times where we have to be the teacher. But we can
always get more personal, and show more love while we teach. That is
something that I have learned on my mission, and that I am still
trying to improve everyday! we can teach better in any circumstance.
Things are great. Weird to see you standing next to Sister Snow when
I was just talking to her the other day! I'm sure that was fun to talk to her! Still weird that you are such good friends with that family, my mom makes friends everywhere she goes she's amazing. You would be an incredible missionary. Everything is going good! Thank you for all you do for me! You are amazing! I love you so much!
Have an amazing week and we will talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
Again no big email so here is his quick answers to my questions.
Dear mom,
Yeah the call was perfect thank you! Skype is an amazing thing! Yeah I
loved talking to your parents I thought it was great! It was fun to
get to see them and talk to them after so long!
1.) Mom wanted to know if you got her Christmas package? Did you like our package, although there wasn't a lot to open. :( sorry. Don't forget about your money you have in your account. :)
1. I did get her package and your package and they were both great!
Thank you for all that you do for me mom seriously you are amazing! I
know I have the money...I have a few things in mind that I want to
buy, but I am waiting until I find the perfect one otherwise I'm not
settling;)
2.) Your companion seems great. How are things coming with ya'll? Is it awesome having 8 of you together? What is a typical morning with all of you? Do you work out together? Eat together? Do you take turns cooking? Does your companion cook well? What are the names of all the elders in your house?
2. Yeah he is pretty good... We are becoming good friends, and I am just working to help him to become the best missionary he can be some day! Yeah it's
fun with 8 of us, but we actually usually cook separately because we
buy our food separately so it's just easier that way. But it's way
fun the mornings we work out from 6:30 to 7:00 and then we all just
take way fast showers, eat, and get ready for the day. It's fun
because you are always talking to someone so it's just a party. We
are cleaning our apartment this week on new years, and so I will send
you pictures of the house after we clean:)
3.) Is it quite a bit warmer in Shibuya? No Swims on the feet? :) biking?? Dendoing in the train stations?
3. MUCH warmer here in Shibuya and we bike everywhere which is like my
favorite part. I LOVE biking. I think I'm going to build my own bike
when I get home like one of the bikes they have here they are way
cool, and it's been fun to kind of start liking to bike more and more.
I like it mostly because it's just so fun in the city, but it's way
fun.
I will try to contact UVU and accept your scholarship for you since we.know your login and password. I'll let you know what we figured out next week.
Thank you for checking on that! I don't know if I am going to have
time today, but I am going to get it done this week( I have permission
from President Budge to just kind of get it done.) and so I will get
it done, and send it to you to check over! If you and dad, and maybe
even one other smart person could check them and make some small
changes to make it better if it needs it, then you can just send it
back this week and I will submit it!
Love you mom have a good week I will talk to you soon!!
Logan
This is Tokyo.
Playing bball!
