So, I received an email this evening from Randy, (Sunday evening, which by the way is his Monday). He reports that everything is great, which I am very happy to see. I am so proud of Randy. He seems to have grown up so much. His attitude and learnings amaze me. I posted an email to him with 8 questions, to which he answered all of them. They are all pretty much self explanatory except for #5, which sadly enough I can't remember what I asked him, but he did answer positively "I will".
I think one of the most amazing things I learned about Randy through this letter is that he actually listened to me. I can be pretty forward with speaking with my children and sometimes (mostly all the time) they are "mother deaf", but Randy apparently actually took to heart what I was talking to him about. According to the words of my granddaughter Hannah "It makes my heart feel special" to know that he is learning. What a great role model he is for his Brothers and Sister and to me as well.
I hope you enjoy his letter as much as I did....
He is only allowed to email immediate family so if you want to write to Randy here is his address.
Elder Randall K. K. Tateishi
4-6-28 Shinohara Honmachi, Nada-ku
Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken Japan 657-0067
Japan Kobe Mission
Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, and everyone else who just happens to read this
First I`ll start with the good news. Our investigater Masay Inoshikoishi will be baptized on April 25th! Through much prayer, fasting, and faith he was able to obtain permission from his father to be baptized. It is so wonderful to see his excitement and see his testimony grow as he prepares to join into this church. He is such a strong young man and he will be blessed for his decision.
whoa mother slow down on the questions there!
1. I recieve $300 a month and it is adequate enough for me, just keep me updated on how much I have on my debit card and on my credit card ok.
2. The Foods good, I started a new policy. "Just eat it, if it`s against the Word of Wisdom my senior companion will tell me, if he doesn`t, God will forgive me for not knowing." I am eating my vegetables also mother, so don`t worry about that.
3. Yes I love my Companion, he is an excellent trainer and a man of great faith.
4. The language was hard at first, but I am starting to be able to understand more and more, I am speaking more and more. It`s slow but it`s coming thanks to the Lords help.
5. I will
6. Yes, but use regular mail, no UPS or FedEx
7. I survived riding up a mountain, I`m good.
8. I see miracles everyday, it`s cool enough for me.
ok about my days here in Fushimi Japan.
Life is good here in Japan, I spend most of the days riding around on a bicycle from place to place, talking to random people on the street, but most of the time hurrying off to a lesson so we can teach people. The contacting is the difficult part, most of the time my companion Elder Mclaws does most of the talking because I Don`t understand what`s going on or what`s being said, plus I`m usually scared out of my wits when trying to talk to a random stranger on a train. It was fun though because I initiated my first contact the other day on the way home from General Conference. There was a younger man standing alone on the train and my trainer said "All yours." I froze immediately, unable to say a word, or to speak to the man. But I sang a hymn in my mind. "Be still my Soul." Suddenly I took courage and initiated a conversation. I got a little ways into it talking about school and small talk, then my trainer took over because he knew more of what to say. It didn`t end in new investigator but it was one small step for me in growing up and becoming a better missionary. It was an excellent experience.
We usually run around trying to teach different people. Currently we have 3 progressing investigators one of which is Masaya who will get baptized on the 25th. The other is an old man 61 years old and working at an elementary school. He is so awesome and has faith, but he wants to move slowly because it is such a huge change for him. We also have Kenji, who we met on my second day in the field. He is a talker, and likes to talk a lot. He came to General Conference and felt the spirit. He feels that what we are doing and teaching is a good thing but he just doesn`t understand all the concepts, we`re trying to simplify and explain the doctrines more clearer but it is hard for me because I don`t speak Japanese very well.
Anyway life is amazing here and I love it, time flies to fast though, it feels like yesterday that I landed in Itami Airport exhausted and tired from a long flight. But now the work moves forward and I am growing and learning so much while I am here, I hope I can take to heart the words of Elder Holland when he spoke at our orientation about missionary work. "I will Never, Ever, be the same."
Alright it`s time for Elder Tateishi`s Spiritual message of the week! The topic today is actually 3 things. "Have No Regrets" "The Fool, the Good man, the Wise man, the Wisest Man" and "Build up Those around you"
Now these topics came to me from our Zone Conference we had last week with President McIntyre, the topic then was setting a mission statement about your goals for your mission and for your life. These are some of the thigns I came up for my mission statement
"Have No Regrets"
This comes from a fond memory from only about a month before my mission, if that. You probably remember me as the lazy kid that sat and did nothing all day, well that`s what I did then. One day mum came up to me and asked me "What are you doing to prepare Randy? I don`t see you doing anything, not reading your scriptures, or praying, nothing! You do this all the time and then you always look back and regret it." It sparked a thought in me then, just a small one, a feeling that I really needed to change what I was doing, it was slow at first but in the MTC it took off. Now the last thing she said stroke me "You always look back and regret it." She was right (mothers usually are). So I took that as my motto. "Live a life in which you will have no regrets" now that doesn`t mean "O I failed, o well I won`t regret it, or worry about it." No it means live in a way that you won`t be able to regret anything you`ve done. I`ll admit this, for over 7 years of my life I have regrets for things I did and even more so for things I DIDN`T do. That`s changed now, in the past 3 months I regret nothing. I`ve worked my hardest, I`ve done my best, that`s all I can do and that`s all I will do. So I say to you "Have No Regrets."
How do you do this? Well here is one saying that I have thought of lately to help and brings me to point 2 in my little message of the week.
"The fool is he that never learns, The good man learns from his own mistakes, The Wise man learns from the mistakes of others, The Wisest man learns from the SUCCESS and STRENGTH of others."
I have seen that when you don`t learn from anything you go nowhere, you don`t progress and in the end you flounder in misery and sorrow. I won`t dwell here any longer.
The Good man learns from his mistakes, he trips, he falls and then picks himself up and keeps going, avoiding the same mistakes he has made in the past. Most people are like this, learning and growing from their own experiences. But this is a dangerous way to go, for it requires falling a lot, and you end up getting scraped, bruised, beaten and battered by the many falls you encounter, and one fall may end up being your last.
The Wise man learns from the mistakes of others. This is a good way to learn, by watching and observing and seeing how others have fallen and learning to avoid the same mistakes that they have experienced. This was how I was for the most part, simply not doing what I had seen others do that caused hurt and pain. It`s a good way to learn but not the best.
The Wisest man learns from the SUCCESS and STRENGTHS of others.This does 2 things for a person. 1 it teaches a person how to Succeed and to be Strong instead of just not Failing or falling. 2 it teaches a person how to find the strengths of others and few the world in a postive way. When we see the success and strengths of others we see the good in each person, we can learn from everyone and find out the best way to progress. I say look at everyone around you, don`t look at their weaknesses, don`t look at their faults, but look at them and ask "What is some good thing this person does?" It may be small, it may not be much at all, but when you look ad find that something you will learn that you can love more people.
Lastly and not the least of all, and a motto I take upon myself
"Build those around you." A while ago I remember mom saying: "We raised you to be better than we were." That`s what I take to heart. In everything I do I try to think of a way that I can help someone else. When in the MTC I looked at the newest batch of Missionaries that were going to Japan and said: "How can I help them be better than I am?" It is a very simple thing, and although it might seem like putting yourself down it really isn`t. It inspires you to work harder and to set a better example. When we take upon ourselves this motto we see progression not just in ourselves but in the world around us. If we want the world to be better, if we want this church to be better than I say: "Let those that come after us be better than us!" It is a challange I issue to those that come next. "I Do what I can now. Now it is your turn to pick up where I left off." We build others by being an example to them, by lifting them up in word and in deed. I look now at Mother and Father and say with great Love "How much you have taught me, how well you have raised me." They placed my feet upon the staircase at a point almost as high as they were and said to me "It`s your turn to keep on going."
My mind goes to a quote from an old Movie
"This is what you`ve been trained to do, Now make us Proud." -Top Gun
What better way to make our parent`s proud than exceeding their expectations and soaring to heights that they couldn`t reach, for it is then that they can say "That is my son, How great is he." or "That is my daughter, how wonderful is she."
Take that step, follow the examples of those before us, aim for heights that they never achieved and in the end we honor them.
I`d like to say simply. "Mother, Father, I love you so dearly, you have taught me well and I will do my best to exceed your expectations for me."
With much love to all
Elder Randall K.K. Tateishi
P.S. I apologize if that was a little in excess, but it was just what came to mind at the time I wrote it. I`m trying now to follow what my heart tells me to do, because as you asked me once not long ago mother: "Where did that sweet boy, full of emotions go to?" I`m trying to find that again.
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