Weston - Pictures!

I figured out how to send pictures Finally!!!! Hope you enjoy them:) I started taking a lot of pictures after my SD card got lost so I would have a lot to send to you when I figured it out:) 

   Nothing too crazy happened this week. We're having a really hard time finding investigators that are home. I think we stopped by every investigator at least twice this week to see if they were home for a lesson. It would be so much easier if they all just had cell phones! A lot of our investigators can't afford it. So we have to set appointments after each visit and hope that they remember, which most the time they don't. It wasn't only the investigators that were missing its everyone! We would tract five or six homes and no one would answer the door. Then we would find someone that was home and go like another three or four houses again until the next person. It was pretty frustrating. We tracted for about 11 and a half hours this week and most of that was in 3 degrees our less weather :) Thursday was the coldest. Our car measured it at about 1 degree but that's not including wind chill. With wind chill we were told it was about -20 degrees. 

    That day I wore thermal Garments, Under armor, 2 pairs of regular socks, 2 pairs of wool socks, 2 pairs of pants, my white shirt and tie, 2 sweaters, one large coat, hat and 2 pairs of gloves. I also carried 2 feet warmers and 2 hand warmers. And I was still freezing:) In the least sarcastic way possible I'm here to tell you it was awesome:) It felt good:)

    We may have not met as many people this week but the people who we did meet understood that our message was important because we fought the miserable cold so that we could share our testimonies with them and tell them that the same church Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth was back on the earth Restored through a prophet named Joseph Smith.

Love,

Elder Lamoreaux

 Elders Barney, Lamoreaux and Mayberry

 Enroll your child (of God) today!

JT - Early Mail

Hey this is way early because we are going to go to Kyoto again today. I'm not sure how long this will be so bear with me. This week was Oshogatsu, Japanese New Year. We had at least one meal with a member everyday, so that was awesome. On Oshogatsu, many Japanese families are all together and they celebrate with lots of food and spending time with family. And so yeah, we had tons of food. I'll try sending pictures but it will probably have to do it next week. I didn't know I could eat so much food in my life. Before the mission, if you thought I eat a lot, wow that changed because I eat so much more now. On Friday, we had a lot of food with our Branch President and then 3 hours later, had more food with a recent convert. She also kept giving us more despite what we say. I was almost about to explode with how much I ate. Then the next day, we had two more big meals. Needless to say, I was very grateful for the members and their time and efforts, but at the same time, I felt like they were wanting to kill us with how much food they gave. So the food they gave us were a bunch of kind of appetizer size food which all symbolize some kind of luck for the next year. For example, we had some fish egg things and they symbolize fertility for the new year. There were a ton and I can't remember what else. There was a lot of different seafood and vegetables. It was an awesome experience and I tried a ton of food that I am not sure any of you would ever want to try, but it was all good.

2014 was a great year. So much change happened in this year and it flew by. I graduated high school, had the best summer of my life, got my mission call and left on my mission to serve the Lord in Kobe Japan. I think 2014 is a year that I will never, ever forget. Thank you 2014. Now for an even better 2015!

On New Year's Day, during personal study, we got a call from some guy who said he wanted to meet at the church at 10:00. He said his name, but we didn't recognize it. We looked in the Area Book and saw that he was an investigator who was dropped about a year and a half ago. So we got pretty excited as you would expect. So we went to the Church and he came. He brought a basketball wanting to play, but we don't have a hoop, so he just wanted to pass the ball out in the parking lot. After about 5 minutes of that, we convinced him to go into the church to teach a lesson. We were teaching about God, because he believes in like 800 gods or something. I think he said that he thinks he is a dragon too? Not sure, but it is possible. Then in the middle of the lesson, he got up and was leaving. He said that he would be back, he is just picking up a friend. So he left and after about 10 minutes, he came back with a friend on the back of his scooter. So we all went inside and we talked to the friend. He said that he has no interest in religion at all. He was primarily Buddhist, but not very firm in what he believes. We were talking and he said that his son passed away suddenly at 21 years old. He was devastated by that. He said that he doesn't care about money anymore or anything else like that. (apparently he is way rich.) We asked him, "How would you feel if you could see your son again?" He said "I would give anything to see him again." So we talked to him about the Plan of Salvation and that he will see his son again. He loved that idea. His attitude changed from no interest at all, to very very interested. We committed him to go to church, but he didn't come yesterday, which was kind of sad, but hopefully we will meet again and he can progress in the gospel. And if not, we planted the seed in him and maybe he can have hope in this life that he can see his son again.

Well that's about it for this week. I ate a ton of food for Oshogatsu. Maybe gained a few pounds, but Fast Sunday i think paid off for that. It was a good week. I love you all, I hope you will have fun with school, work and that this new year will be a good one for you!

Love,

Elder Lamoreaux

JT - Christmas - A Spiritual time of year

Merry Chirstmas!

The finished Christmas tree from the Primary. Thank you Timpanogos Park 4th Ward Primary!

Dear Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Here in Japan, we were invited over to Kobe to have a "Christmas Taikai" (meeting) where we played some sports, then had Costco hot dogs for lunch (Yes, exactly the same as in Utah, It was great!) Then there was a talent show. After that, President Welch and Sister Welch shared messages that were awesome. After that, it was about 5:00 so we took the bus back to Nishiwaki. It was great to spend Christmas with the other missionaries and with President and Sister Welch. Very Grateful.

Met up with my MTC companions Elder Ross and Elder Madruga.

The next day, we were able to Skype our families. That was such a good thing for me. I loved it. 40 minutes is way to short though. I wish I would've been allowed more time, but I am very grateful for the time I had. I can't believe we can easily, for free, talk and see others from the exact opposite side of the world instantly with clear video as well. It is awesome!

Pictures from calling home

That day was a great day, but at the same time a little disappointing. So first let me say, about a month ago, we were asked to find revelation for how many baptisms we as a zone could have before the end of the year. We came up with the number 9. So the year is winding down, only 1 sunday left, and we needed many baptisms. So our focus was on one of our investigators specifically, because he has heard most of the lessons and has been to church enough to be baptized, but he says that his family is against him being baptized. So after calling our families, we got to work on preparing a lesson for that investigator. We got many Book of Mormon Scriptures that related to baptism and we incorporated it into our lesson. The lesson happened and it went almost perfectly. He said that he wanted to be baptized. He wants to we could tell. Then we asked if he would be baptized that Sunday, two days from then. He was worried about his mom not wanting him to. We tried to comfort him in that fact. I shared Isaiah 41:10 and 13. "Fear not, I am with thee" He loved that. We then asked him to call his mom right then, bear his testimony and his desires to be baptized and we promised that the Lord will soften her heart and he will be baptized on Sunday. So, after praying together, he got his cell phone and called his mom. Ring..... Ring..... Ring...... no answer. Then he tried again. Ring.... Ring... (at this point I am praying so hard that she would answer) Ring..... No answer again. So we asked him to talk to his mom that night and he said that he would. That lesson was the most spiritual lesson I think I've had on my mission so far. It was a battle of testifying and scripture and pleading and it was great. We were so excited and I was on a spiritual high for the rest of the day. We were confident that he would talk to his mom and that he would be baptized in two days. So the rest of the day, we were looking at the phone for emails from him and praying constantly that he would have the courage to do it. But eventually he didn't have the courage. I was very disappointed, but I guess it was okay. He will still be baptized, just not before the end of the year. I guess I was more interested in getting him baptized before the end of the year than for him actually being ready to be baptized. He will be baptized, I know that, but it will be in the Lord's time and when he feels ready to talk to his mom about it. It might not be when I am still in this area, but I am confident that it will happen, on the Lord's timing. Despite the slight disappointment, I learned a lot, and had a very spiritual lesson in which I am grateful for.

Well that was the bulk of the week. Christmas was great, a little different, but great. Oh I forgot to mention that one of the Sister's investigators got baptized yesterday. it was so great to see my first baptism in Japan. He was so happy and I was able to be a part of the circle during his confirmation. The joy and excitement he had was contagious and I have so much love for that man. He was at the church at 7:00 just waiting in the parking lot. Me and Harris Choro were there at 7:30 to fill up the font, and he was so excited and nervous that he came so much earlier than he was supposed to. I loved that. He's not even my investigator but I am so happy for him. Anyway, It was a great week. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your holiday with New Year's coming up. Stay safe and have fun!

Love,

Elder Lamoreaux

The man that was baptized yesterday. It was a great day

Food at the Branch's Christmas party on the 23rd. Japan knows how to do parties.

They even had a Turkey!

The missionaries

Decorations at the party.

We were Santa san's reindeer this year

The Branch had a big play prepared and it was awesome, even though I couldn't understand most of it

Christmas Eve dinner at the Branch President's house

One of our friends had a concert and we went. It was really fun

I left cookies and milk out for Santa.

JT - Merry Christmas

Here is the last 5 minutes or so of our Christmas Skype with JT.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Japan!!!

JT - Nothing too new this week.

Dear family and friends,

This week is Christmas! I hope you all have fun plans and if not, you are planning to relax for the holiday. I think Christmas will be a lot different this year because 1) I am in Japan and 2) I'm not with my family and friends. But it is a small sacrifice compared to what the Savior did for all of us. He is the real meaning of Christmas. If you haven't already seen the Christmas video that the church has put up, please watch it! The reason for the season is truly the gift that Heavenly Father gave the world and that is His Son, Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Because of him, we can all live again. I hope you remember that it isn't about all the fancy new toys that you get, or the things you could have, but it is about the Birth of Jesus Christ. He is the gift. Watch the short video. It is really good.

http://youtu.be/uzjFEMmM0Xs

Anyway, nothing much has happened this past week. We had the first snow in Nishiwaki this week. It was like less than an inch, but it is still snow. It was gone by the time we went out to work, but we still had some. However, in the other areas in our zone, they had much more snow, like 6 inches so I am pretty grateful for being in Nishiwaki. :)

We had Zone Training Meeting on Friday and it was really awesome. I learned a lot about the mission work. It is God's work. He is always preparing people to meet us. We are not finding them. We are the lost ones and God is leading them to us. WE need to have faith and believe that miracles can happen because they will. Ether 12 talks about how miracles do not increase one's faith. Miracles come after your faith. Faith is such an important principle and it is also really complicated, but just trust in the Lord and everything will work out.

Well that's really about it. Have a great Christmas holiday and remember the reason for the season!

Love, 

Elder Lamoreaux

We went to someone's house and they showed us their garden. So pretty

More of the garden

Harris Choro and I and the Recent convert who took us to this house.

We tried on Japanese Kimonos at that house. They are really cool, I want one.

More from inside the house

Elder Monson on a Kokan (companion exchange)

More of Elder Monson..

"Cabbage. Main dish isn't it?" on a bike.... ?

What was the church thinking, this is creepy!

"Don't throw the rubbish". Don't know why I thought that was funny

Zach - One month

Hey everyone, its been a month, and ive already learned so much. My teaching is getting so much better. Im learning so much about the gospel, and its amazing. Again, so little time... But Always turn to the savior, in times of good and bad, He is always waiting for us. I love you guys so much, miss you all, and pray for you guys all the time.

First pic is me and my companion, second is just a great bathroom selfie, and the last should be me and my latino district leader

Love from Chile,

Elder Lamoreaux

 

 

Weston - A Man of Very Few Words

So transfers are tomorrow and we have some pretty crazy changes:) Our area is being combined with a different area and we're getting a car so we can cover it all. Dang! I was losing so much weight! My companion is going home the week after Christmas so tomorrow they are making us a trio with another missionary until Elder Mayberry leaves. We taught the gun lady again twice this week because it got a little warmer and I think she trusts us more now because she comes out of her house onto her porch and leaves the gun inside  She's actually a pretty cool investigator. The sister missionaries in the west area had a baptism yesterday and I was a witness 
Love Always,
Elder Lamoreaux