Can anyone read this?
Monday, May 24, 2010
Where's Waldo....
Randy is the sweetest son ever....Now that that is said, I got two emails this week from him. One was the "email that got away" and seemed never to be able to be sent. I was glad to have finally gotten it. I love that he prays about and thinks about everyone, especially family and friends.
He sounds like he is doing great and starting to grow up. I will include a couple pictures that he sent. The first one is so funny because he is with a bunch of Young Single Adults and he looks just like them, hence "Where's Waldo" He also is in a newspaper (I think)...I can't read Japanese, but I see his picture in it.
He has been able to have some good P-Days and has gotten to see some wonderful sights. I will just say that he will be a quarter of the way done with his mission in 2 weeks, meaning that he will have been out 6 months soon. How crazy is that! Time flies for sure....
Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, Mentors, and the Rest of the world
Well.... where to start. I guess I`ll start from Monday, after I emailed last week. We had loads of fun last P-day. We went to Arashiyama and visited the Monkey Park, where Elder Escalante got attacked by a Japanese Monkey. It was really cool, we saw lots of monkeys and had lots of fun. Afterwards we went and saw a Golden Bhuddist Shrine, it was interesting but it ended up taking the whole day, we barely had time to get home and do our shopping for the week. Hopefully these pictures will go through this time.
After that we just did a lot of tracting out here.
Tuesday we did a companionship exchange with the zone leaders. I went to Katsura again, this time with Elder Reading. We ended up riding our bikes ALL over Kyoto City. I got home that night and crashed. Wednesday went well, I can`t remember exactly what happened but it was good. Everyday is a good day here. Thursday we had one of the Assitants to the President follow us around must of the day. It was fun but slightly ineffective. Small Japanese people seeing three tall Americans is a fairly intimidating sight. Friday we had our district meeting which went well also. We got lost though trying to find where we were supposed to go. Walking around in extremely hot weather, 100% humidity and a fairly heavy backpack is not a pleasant thing to do. Afterwards we rode all the way across our area, going over a mountain. It was quite fun, other than almost collapsing from being utterly exhausted.
Saturday was a decent day, I can`t remember exactly what happened. Sunday though was awesome. I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting. It was about Christ`s Atonement, and you probably guessed it, it was pretty short. I`m still horrible at giving talks by the way, at least in Japanese. Afterwards we met with a young couple and invited them to come with us to a YSA activity. They had loads of fun and we played some games and left a small message. That is my week. Nothing horribly exciting yet. Zone Conference is coming up this Wednesday and next week marks the beginning of my 3rd month in Japan. Man Time is flying.
Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Moment of the Week
"Faith"
We have all heard the scriptures say "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of all things, but to hope for things which are not seen." With this scripture we could simply define faith as Hope. But it is different. "Hope is the anchor of the soul." Our Hope should be centered upon Christ, and our hope is in the resurrection with the opportunity to return to live with our Heavenly father again and receive the blessings of Exaltation. Our hopes should lie in the knowledge that death is not the end of this life nor is it something to be feared. If this is hope, than what is faith.
I always remember what a wise Stake President said to me during a few of my interviews. "Faith is action." It`s as simple as that. Faith is acting, is doing. We exercise faith when we act upon what we hope and what we know. We use our faith, show our faith, when we step into places where we have never trod before, hoping that the Lord Our God will guide our footsteps and lead us through.
Faith is always a principle of actions, for "Faith without works is Dead." In order to receive blessings, in order to grow stronger and to increase our faith, our knowledge, we must act. In Alma 32 he gives a little example on exersicing faith to those who do not believe, or do not have any knowledge of God. Alma says simply to them to try it. That if they have but even the smallest desire to believe, to know for themselves, that if they do not reject the words outright, and if they are patient and humble that they can come to know the truthfullness of this Gospel. He tells them to act, to try. But what is it that we need to try, we need to try and live the gospel. The Blessings will never come unless you willingly try to live the Gospel.
God is a God of Contracts. He only works through Contracts. If we do something, he will do something in return. As it is written "I the lord am bound when ye do what I say, but if ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." For a simple example, God has commanded all of us to pray with sincere hearts and we can know the truthfullness of this Gospel(Moroni 10:4-5). If we do not pray sincerely, if we do not sincerely ask for an answer and sincerely believe that we will receive an answer, we will not receive one.
Every single time God Makes a Promise he will keep that promise, so long as we uphold our end of the bargain. It is as simple as that, it is the most basic doctrine of the church. And as we fulfill our end of the bargain, the contract, as we obey the commandments we show our Faith. It is that simple. And as a Missionary it expresses it itself 1000 times. As I follow the rules pertaining to my physical health (going to sleep on time, exercising, waking up at the right time, eating right) I remain strong and healthy, I have few problems relating to my physical well being. As I follow rules pertaining to spiritual matters I retain the spirit, I am blessed and receive divine assistance in my work, I am strengthened beyond my own personal capabilities to do things that for me would be otherwise beyond my own capabilities to do. The easiest example is learning this Language. I have only studied Japanese for approximately 4.5 months, and now I can pretty much get around and do what is required. Where as in my first year of studying German I learned nothing. There are other things even beyond that, which I have witnessed and received. Through faith and action I have been blessed far more than I ever could have hoped for. Each and everyone of those blessings has been to help strengthen me, to help me grow, to be a better person. In these past 4 and a half months I have grown far more than I ever imagined, I`m a lot different than when I left. I still have 20 months to go before I return, and I will not stop growing and learning. How strong of a person I will be when I get back, I don`t know. But I do know that whatever happens I`ll be that much the better for having experienced it.
I end again by bearing my testimony. I know that this is the true Gospel of Christ, I know that this work is God`s work. I will always hold to the Promise I made with Elder Holland on the first day of my mission and say "Because of my mission, I will never ever, EVER, be the same." God lives, he loves us. May God bless you all in all your endeavors. Remember, pray often, seek his love, follow his words and you will feel his spirit. I end in the name of my Savior, my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.
A Friend, A Brother, A Son
Elder Randall KK Tateishi
Sunday, May 23, 2010
This is the email that got away....
This is the email that was never sent. We were supposed to get this email on May 2nd but he had some technical difficulties.
Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, Friends, And the rest of the world
First off, here are some pictures!! Hopefully Mother posts them, All of them. Starting from the first one, labeled as 0214: My bag of travelling skittles posted on the balcony of my apartment in Fushimi Japan. Traveling tropical Skittles will make an appearance in each area I serve. 0191 is the Baptism of Inokouishi Masaya-san (middle) and me and my companion Elder Mclaws. 0155 is on my first Preperation day. It`s with President McIntyre and a few others at Fushimi Inari. Lastly and my favorite is 0156 of the Beautiful Sakura that was in my area. It`s only a little glimpse at what it really was like. I`ll never forget Sakura! Anyway, I`ll be sending the whole SD Card home soon, so there will be even more pictures. Be warned of "The suffucation" (Japanese English makes me laugh)
Secondly I`ll go into how my week was. Costco was alright. I had real American Pizza, which I hadn`t eaten in a LONG time. Twas delicious. But other than that I didn`t buy anything, I didn`t really need anything. So I just followed my companion around the whole time and helped with stuff.
This week was really good. My studies were all pretty awesome and going out and dendoing was even more awesome. We`ve been jam packed with lessons this week so our dendo time was few and far between. I can hardly remember all the lessons we taught this week, ugh everything is starting to blur together time is moving so fast! I can`t believe that next week is transfer week already!?!?!?!? That`s 1/14 transfers. It seems I blink and there goes another day. I wish quite often that time would slow down just a little bit more.
We did another Companionship Exchange this week with Joyo. I went off to Joyo with Elder Neff, from Layton Utah. Twas funny because I found out that we had actually met before the mission! He was going to Dixie State as a VT major and I was a CS Major. Interesting how small the world is. Found out we had a lot in common and became really good friends during the short period of time we were together. It was a lot of fun. I stopped quite a few people and talked quite a bit. I love companionship exchanges almost as much as I love my Companion!
Thursday we went to a Flower field for a ward concert activity. It was fun talking with people and seeing an excellent few. Even more fun to get away from the city for just a little while. Afterwards we went out and only found one person. It was funny because we had actually gotten lost for a while and didn`t know where we were before we found him. But that one person just happened to say after we were just about done with the contact "This is what I`ve been looking for" We taught him on Saturday, and He has a baptismal date for May 29th. It`s just a goal right now, he wants to learn more and talk with Native Japanese Members about it first though. Amazing how the Lord places people in your path.
O yes! I was going to talk about food. What kind of food do I eat?
Well, for those of you who knew me before my mission I was about as picky as you can get. I hated vegetables and a lot of things. But I just changed my mind when I got to Japan and said: "If it`s placed in front of me, I`ll eat it, so long as it isn`t against the Word of Wisdom." I`ve stuck with that so far and It`s actually worked. Ate a little sardine that had been soaked in vinegar for who knows how many decades. Ate raw fish, raw bacon, Squid, Octopus, and things that I don`t even know what they were called. It`s all decent food, maybe not the best, but MEH!! I`ll eat it! I actually do like Onions now though, odd, because I hate cutting them. Note for those traveling to Japan: Mugi Cha= Wheat Tea (Drinkable, not against Word of Wisdom) It is not for those who are picky. It honestly tastes like someone took a whole bunch of unsalted saltine crackers and shoved them in a bottle of water. It`s an acquired taste which I`m still working on.
Ok! It`s about time for:
ELDER TATEISHI`S GOSPEL MOMENT!
Now I have learned a LOT of things in my short 4 months away from home. If I were to try writing all of them, or even half of them I wouldn`t quite have time to do my true work. So I`ll share a few, starting with my favorite.
"Prayer"
What is the power of prayer? Isn`t it just rambling a bunch of words to someone that you hope will hear you? No it`s not. True prayer is from the Heart! True prayer is conversing with someone who you know will hear you! God answers prayers! How true it is! If I were to answer the question: "What has helped you the most on your Mission?" I would answer without a single doubt in my mind, without any moment of hesitation: "Prayer!" You might already have expected this if you have read my earlier stories and Gospel Moments. But those prayers were only in my moments of despair and sorrow. I have learned since then that the greatest prayer ever to be offered is not the prayer when trapped within the depths of grief and pain and sorrow, but when one is truly happy and seeks to call out in great praise unto the Lord God! When one, simply asks the lord "Which dost thou want me to go?" How great is that joy! As it is commanded within the Scriptures "Pray always!" It does not have to be a long extended prayer, it can be as simple as a thought from the heart "Thank thee lord for this!" or "Please lend me thy strength!" I turn to D&C 4, the last verse. In English it Reads "Ask, and ye shall recieve. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen." In Japanese, of which I can quote the exact words but I know of the basic from, it reads "Kikinasai..... Motomenasai!" The post-fix of the words is "nasai" which in Japanase is a polite command form. It is used when the Lord gives unto his people a commandment. He says to all of us, "Ask, and ye shall recieve, Knock, and it shall be opened! Amen." He is telling all of us that we need to ask him, we need to seek after him. He has promised that as we do, we shall be answered and we shall find!
"The Holy Ghost"
A touching matter for me. I spent a long time wondering to myself. "What does the spirit feel like?" I always, with my wild imagination, pictured some voice whispering in my ear telling me what to do, or some deep and strong impression that sticks within the mind. O how I learned that those are only the most powerful of the manifistations of the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost is truly with you, He is a part of your very mind. The times that I have been guided by the Holy Ghost are when I let my mind flow, when, as I focus upon the gospel, ponder upon the scriptures I have read, or ponder upon what I should say next. In the end it`s always been things that I thought were my own thoughts. That`s how I write, I simply pour out what`s in my mind and in my heart and it fills the pages of my study Journal, fills the emails that I write.
"Meekness, Humility, Patience"
3 of the many Christlike attributes. But to me they have helped me a lot. Humility, being humble. It is so important to be humble. In Alma 32, Alma talks about how the poor among the Zoramites have been humbled by the lord, but one thing that stuck out to me was his words "But how much better is he that humbleth himself." I saw that and then thought about this scripture "But he that seeketh to exalt himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." But how does one `humble` himself. It`s hard, and not an easy thing to do to humble oneself. I cannot say that I am the best at humbling myself but here is how I try. When problems arise, when I begin to feel negative emotions and have negative thoughts about another person I pause. I think to myself "Why am I thinking that?" and "Is it something that I am doing wrong?" When my companion does something I dislike, or he annoys me I always pause and follow those thought processes. Most of the time I find that it is simply me LETTING myself be annoyed, or frustrated. The other way and probably the most effective is when I look to other people I first seek to find the good in them. I seek first to see what strengths they have and how I can learn from that. For being Humble is being teachable. Take every opportunity you have to learn and grow.
Remember Patience also. "With Patience ye shall possess your souls." In Luke it reads this, and in the footnotes it tells us that "possessing" your soul is to win mastery or self control of your souls. Be patient with yourself, and with those around you. Remember always that the people around you are Human beings just like you. They make mistakes, and many times they don`t even mean to offend you. I`ve heard it said "A fool is he that takes offense where none is given. A bigger fool is he that takes offense when it IS given." When someone tries to "push your buttons" and purposely pushes you towards the brink, think of this "Should I give him the satisfaction of winning?" At those times when someone really intends to offend you and you take offense think about this: You just gave away your agency, you gave them what they wanted and in the end they won. Do not give in. Either leave if possible or ignore them. If appropriate say something simple, calmly and gently. It`s not easy to do, but in the end they`ll lose.
"ARISE! Let us go hence!"
I end by quoting Jesus Christ in John 14:31. "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise! Let us go Hence!" When I found and read this scripture it struck me. Previously in the same Chapter, Christ Talks about those how love God, keep the commandments. And so he talks, but then he ends and says "ARISE! Let us go Hence!" I may write all I want, I may touch a heart or two with my words, but if one truly loves God and Christ he will grab onto these words and do more than speak, he will say "ARISE! Let us go Hence!" Followed immediately by acting. I have learned that talking can get you only so far. As Christ taught us the principles he followed afterwards by acting. He led the way, as an example to us. He showed us how. Will you follow in his footsteps? Will you be as Nephi, who said in his last words in the Book of Mormon, "Even as the Lord Commands, I MUST obey. Amen!"? I can honestly say that the best way to learn a principle is to live a principle. And so I end here, again bearing my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, that he Lives, that he is my saviour, my lord and my redeemer. Without him I am nothing and only upon his strength do I rely. "Even as the Lord Commands, I MUST obey." In his Sacred Name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Your Elder
Elder Randall K.K. Tateishi
Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, Friends, And the rest of the world
First off, here are some pictures!! Hopefully Mother posts them, All of them. Starting from the first one, labeled as 0214: My bag of travelling skittles posted on the balcony of my apartment in Fushimi Japan. Traveling tropical Skittles will make an appearance in each area I serve. 0191 is the Baptism of Inokouishi Masaya-san (middle) and me and my companion Elder Mclaws. 0155 is on my first Preperation day. It`s with President McIntyre and a few others at Fushimi Inari. Lastly and my favorite is 0156 of the Beautiful Sakura that was in my area. It`s only a little glimpse at what it really was like. I`ll never forget Sakura! Anyway, I`ll be sending the whole SD Card home soon, so there will be even more pictures. Be warned of "The suffucation" (Japanese English makes me laugh)
Secondly I`ll go into how my week was. Costco was alright. I had real American Pizza, which I hadn`t eaten in a LONG time. Twas delicious. But other than that I didn`t buy anything, I didn`t really need anything. So I just followed my companion around the whole time and helped with stuff.
This week was really good. My studies were all pretty awesome and going out and dendoing was even more awesome. We`ve been jam packed with lessons this week so our dendo time was few and far between. I can hardly remember all the lessons we taught this week, ugh everything is starting to blur together time is moving so fast! I can`t believe that next week is transfer week already!?!?!?!? That`s 1/14 transfers. It seems I blink and there goes another day. I wish quite often that time would slow down just a little bit more.
We did another Companionship Exchange this week with Joyo. I went off to Joyo with Elder Neff, from Layton Utah. Twas funny because I found out that we had actually met before the mission! He was going to Dixie State as a VT major and I was a CS Major. Interesting how small the world is. Found out we had a lot in common and became really good friends during the short period of time we were together. It was a lot of fun. I stopped quite a few people and talked quite a bit. I love companionship exchanges almost as much as I love my Companion!
Thursday we went to a Flower field for a ward concert activity. It was fun talking with people and seeing an excellent few. Even more fun to get away from the city for just a little while. Afterwards we went out and only found one person. It was funny because we had actually gotten lost for a while and didn`t know where we were before we found him. But that one person just happened to say after we were just about done with the contact "This is what I`ve been looking for" We taught him on Saturday, and He has a baptismal date for May 29th. It`s just a goal right now, he wants to learn more and talk with Native Japanese Members about it first though. Amazing how the Lord places people in your path.
O yes! I was going to talk about food. What kind of food do I eat?
Well, for those of you who knew me before my mission I was about as picky as you can get. I hated vegetables and a lot of things. But I just changed my mind when I got to Japan and said: "If it`s placed in front of me, I`ll eat it, so long as it isn`t against the Word of Wisdom." I`ve stuck with that so far and It`s actually worked. Ate a little sardine that had been soaked in vinegar for who knows how many decades. Ate raw fish, raw bacon, Squid, Octopus, and things that I don`t even know what they were called. It`s all decent food, maybe not the best, but MEH!! I`ll eat it! I actually do like Onions now though, odd, because I hate cutting them. Note for those traveling to Japan: Mugi Cha= Wheat Tea (Drinkable, not against Word of Wisdom) It is not for those who are picky. It honestly tastes like someone took a whole bunch of unsalted saltine crackers and shoved them in a bottle of water. It`s an acquired taste which I`m still working on.
Ok! It`s about time for:
ELDER TATEISHI`S GOSPEL MOMENT!
Now I have learned a LOT of things in my short 4 months away from home. If I were to try writing all of them, or even half of them I wouldn`t quite have time to do my true work. So I`ll share a few, starting with my favorite.
"Prayer"
What is the power of prayer? Isn`t it just rambling a bunch of words to someone that you hope will hear you? No it`s not. True prayer is from the Heart! True prayer is conversing with someone who you know will hear you! God answers prayers! How true it is! If I were to answer the question: "What has helped you the most on your Mission?" I would answer without a single doubt in my mind, without any moment of hesitation: "Prayer!" You might already have expected this if you have read my earlier stories and Gospel Moments. But those prayers were only in my moments of despair and sorrow. I have learned since then that the greatest prayer ever to be offered is not the prayer when trapped within the depths of grief and pain and sorrow, but when one is truly happy and seeks to call out in great praise unto the Lord God! When one, simply asks the lord "Which dost thou want me to go?" How great is that joy! As it is commanded within the Scriptures "Pray always!" It does not have to be a long extended prayer, it can be as simple as a thought from the heart "Thank thee lord for this!" or "Please lend me thy strength!" I turn to D&C 4, the last verse. In English it Reads "Ask, and ye shall recieve. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen." In Japanese, of which I can quote the exact words but I know of the basic from, it reads "Kikinasai..... Motomenasai!" The post-fix of the words is "nasai" which in Japanase is a polite command form. It is used when the Lord gives unto his people a commandment. He says to all of us, "Ask, and ye shall recieve, Knock, and it shall be opened! Amen." He is telling all of us that we need to ask him, we need to seek after him. He has promised that as we do, we shall be answered and we shall find!
"The Holy Ghost"
A touching matter for me. I spent a long time wondering to myself. "What does the spirit feel like?" I always, with my wild imagination, pictured some voice whispering in my ear telling me what to do, or some deep and strong impression that sticks within the mind. O how I learned that those are only the most powerful of the manifistations of the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost is truly with you, He is a part of your very mind. The times that I have been guided by the Holy Ghost are when I let my mind flow, when, as I focus upon the gospel, ponder upon the scriptures I have read, or ponder upon what I should say next. In the end it`s always been things that I thought were my own thoughts. That`s how I write, I simply pour out what`s in my mind and in my heart and it fills the pages of my study Journal, fills the emails that I write.
"Meekness, Humility, Patience"
3 of the many Christlike attributes. But to me they have helped me a lot. Humility, being humble. It is so important to be humble. In Alma 32, Alma talks about how the poor among the Zoramites have been humbled by the lord, but one thing that stuck out to me was his words "But how much better is he that humbleth himself." I saw that and then thought about this scripture "But he that seeketh to exalt himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." But how does one `humble` himself. It`s hard, and not an easy thing to do to humble oneself. I cannot say that I am the best at humbling myself but here is how I try. When problems arise, when I begin to feel negative emotions and have negative thoughts about another person I pause. I think to myself "Why am I thinking that?" and "Is it something that I am doing wrong?" When my companion does something I dislike, or he annoys me I always pause and follow those thought processes. Most of the time I find that it is simply me LETTING myself be annoyed, or frustrated. The other way and probably the most effective is when I look to other people I first seek to find the good in them. I seek first to see what strengths they have and how I can learn from that. For being Humble is being teachable. Take every opportunity you have to learn and grow.
Remember Patience also. "With Patience ye shall possess your souls." In Luke it reads this, and in the footnotes it tells us that "possessing" your soul is to win mastery or self control of your souls. Be patient with yourself, and with those around you. Remember always that the people around you are Human beings just like you. They make mistakes, and many times they don`t even mean to offend you. I`ve heard it said "A fool is he that takes offense where none is given. A bigger fool is he that takes offense when it IS given." When someone tries to "push your buttons" and purposely pushes you towards the brink, think of this "Should I give him the satisfaction of winning?" At those times when someone really intends to offend you and you take offense think about this: You just gave away your agency, you gave them what they wanted and in the end they won. Do not give in. Either leave if possible or ignore them. If appropriate say something simple, calmly and gently. It`s not easy to do, but in the end they`ll lose.
"ARISE! Let us go hence!"
I end by quoting Jesus Christ in John 14:31. "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise! Let us go Hence!" When I found and read this scripture it struck me. Previously in the same Chapter, Christ Talks about those how love God, keep the commandments. And so he talks, but then he ends and says "ARISE! Let us go Hence!" I may write all I want, I may touch a heart or two with my words, but if one truly loves God and Christ he will grab onto these words and do more than speak, he will say "ARISE! Let us go Hence!" Followed immediately by acting. I have learned that talking can get you only so far. As Christ taught us the principles he followed afterwards by acting. He led the way, as an example to us. He showed us how. Will you follow in his footsteps? Will you be as Nephi, who said in his last words in the Book of Mormon, "Even as the Lord Commands, I MUST obey. Amen!"? I can honestly say that the best way to learn a principle is to live a principle. And so I end here, again bearing my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, that he Lives, that he is my saviour, my lord and my redeemer. Without him I am nothing and only upon his strength do I rely. "Even as the Lord Commands, I MUST obey." In his Sacred Name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Your Elder
Elder Randall K.K. Tateishi
Monday, May 17, 2010
He remembered to press the SEND button.....
So email this week from Randy was again "awesome". What a spirit that child has. I can't stress enough about how amazing he is. Transfer week happened and he didn't have to move. He was ill for a day and life goes on. Now I just need him to send pictures so we can all see what/where he has been living and how life looks.
Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, And the rest of the world
Wellllllllllllllllllll........................... Transfers came and went, missionaries moved and people were found. Life goes on and the search continues.
As for me, and where I am? I`m happy to say I`m still in Fushimi and haven`t moved at all. The Only change I have is a new companion. Elder Mclaws went to Senri and became a Zone Leader. I on the other hand received a handy dandy new companion named Elder Escalante from California. We are near spitting images of each other. Big nerds and all. I`ll explain as we go on.
Wow. I actually have like 2 weeks to explain and not just 1. Let`s see where should I start. O yes. I apologize for the inconvenience of not sending the email 2 weeks ago. THAT WASN`T MY FAULT!! I indeed did press the send button but the email service decided it didn`t like me and didn`t send the email. So I resent it this week. If it doesn`t get there again I`m sorry It`s not my fault.
Anyway nothing extremely exciting happened over the past couple weeks besides transfers. And I have a horrible memory because things blur together far to easily when time seems to zoom past like a rocket ship in space accelerating at..... I`ll end my nerdy comment there.
Transfer day was on Thursday, I spent most of the day at Kyoto Eki waiting for my new companion and wandering around the station, which in all reality was more like a giant mall that just so HAPPENED to have a train station in the middle of it. The Japanese are so strange, It`s the equivalent of an airport with a giant mall in the middle of it. Anyway, Took some pictures and met my companion and headed back to the Apartment. We had 2 lessons that day and they went awesome, because I actually helped teach the lessons. I took a good half of the lesson as well. It`s always a boost to one`s confidence to be able to do something on your own.
Welll... the next couple days were exciting. I came down sick and so did my companion, I having it a little worse than my companion. We crashed at the apartment most of the day on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were not much better. We were both still a little sick and my allergies started to hit me. My nose was all stuffy and my eyes itched like no other. I was sneezing left and right but we had some more awesome lessons on those days.
Church on Sunday went well, I actually didn`t have to give my talk this week because they realized the bishop and called a new bishop in the ward. No it`s not me, it`s one of the members. Anyway we talked with quite a few people, had investigators come to church had a good time and taught another lesson that night that went awesome. Afterward we did a little bit of street contacting and I just happened to meet a Japanese man, that was probably drunk, wearing some strange hat and a sash around his neck with the words "I am God" written in English on one side and Japanese on the other. He tried to talk to me, but luckily I could truthfully say that "I Don`t understand what you are saying. I Don`t speak Japanese." The unlucky part of that was he attempted to speak English thereafter. I simply gave him a blank stare and looked for the nearest exit, the only problem was, my Companion was still in the Bathroom. Luckily the guy walked off after a moment. As we were walking later he was standing on a small wall with a megaphone and saying something. Then when we passed by he pointed at us and said "See other people like me that believe in Christ!" That didn`t quite help our streeting and contacting at all. I just kept reminding myself "He is still a Child of God, and hey... at least he Believes in Christ."
That was the extent of my excitement this week.
ELDER TATEISHI`S GOSPEL MOMENT OF THE WEEK!
"The Power of Christ"
There are kind of three parts to this topic. 1) The Resurrection, 2) The Cleansing Power of the Atonement, 3) The Enabling Power of Christ. I`ll tackle them in said order.
1) THE RESURRECTION (Pardon the spelling)
I label this one first because it is the first. What I mean is that the power of the resurrection is a free gift given to all men and women, whether they be good and righteous and wholesome, or evil, corrupt and defiled. It is the gift that each of us receives. It is a promise that God has granted unto all of us. After we die we do not need to fear death again, not physical death. We will each be raised again, at the appropriate time, to stand with perfect bodies before our God. Every one of us will. That is why this is first, because it is free, because each of us is given this freely, whether we believe or whether we disbelieve in God and Christ. It costs us Nothing.
2) The Cleansing Power of the Atonement
With The Atonement Christ gave us the opportunity to become clean. To be purified of sins and imperfections. Now this is necessary if we truly want to return to God. For as it is written in 3 Nephi 27, "Wherefore, no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God." We must clean, perfectly clean in order to return to our Father in Heaven and become exalted and stand beside him again.
Now as I said, the Cleansing Power of Christ is an opportunity, and not a Gift. We have to step forward and do something in order to become. We must act, we must have faith in order to access the Cleansing Power of the Atonement. We must acknowledge our faults, humble ourselves before God and truly Repent of our sins. We must not simply say "O father forgive me." We must truly forsake our sins and change ourselves. That is all repentance is, Change. Repentance is always striving to become better, pushing yourself to become more like Christ, to become perfect. To achieve the unachievable goal. Alone we are powerless to do this, which is why Christ suffered for us and Atoned for us. Through his actions we CAN achieve that unachievable goal, we CAN become perfect. BUT we must take advantage of that great Sacrifice and we must obey and follow the commandments of Christ, Otherwise he will not help, cannot help us.
Now, sometimes we don`t realize we`ve sinned. Sometimes our senses are dulled, our conscience subdued. We sometimes wonder within ourselves "What have I done wrong? I`m just fine." This is complacency again. We become accustomed to where we are, we think "Well I`m good enough. I`ve done enough. I don`t HAVE to do any more." That`s wrong, we can always repent, we can always do something just a little bit better, we can always grow.
Sometimes those sins we don`t realize are deeper and far more harming than we realize. I will use myself as an example. I was apathetic. For a long time I was apathetic, my emotions were dulled, my conscience subdued. I didn`t do anything outrageously evil or sinful I just didn`t do the things I should have been doing. It was a long time that I suffered that but mostly I simply thought within myself "There`s nothing wrong with me. I`m just fine, I don`t need to do anything more. I`m not a HORRIBLE person." But as I grew and developed (Just before my mission and in the MTC) I realized that I was missing so much more. It was then that I started to feel the guilt and sorrow of sin.
The Pain of Sin is sometimes unbearable, it falls upon you and weighs you down. I can say that mine hurt me but it was nothing in comparison to that of Alma the Younger. We read of his repentance in Alma 36. He said the pain and sorrow of his guilt was so heavy so horrible that he wished he could simply be banished from all existence both body and soul. Sin hurts, it is ugly and is destructive and when your senses are not so dulled that you do not recognize it it is unbearable. It is excruciating and seemingly impossible to overcome, impossible to bear. But with Christ nothing is impossible.
Each of us, through Christ`s atonement and sacrifice can be forgiven. Whatever we do short of outright denying the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is to say when one has a full and complete knowledge of the Godhead and then declining to accept the power of them, we can be forgiven. God Loves each and everyone of us, and all though he hates sin he is merciful and he provided away for us to become clean again. No matter how deep the stain, no matter how heavy the burden, no matter if it seems that the weight of the World is crushing down upon your shoulders, if we come unto Christ we can become clean, we can be helped. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I shall give ye rest. Take upon you my yoke, for it is light." Christ has already suffered the pains and punishments of Sin. We just need to take his "yoke" upon us and do our part, which is simple indeed. Follow Christ.
3) The enabling Power of the Atonement
I would simply refer you to the section in which I talked about "Walking on Water." And I will explain simply why I still have put this hear and will explain only briefly about it.
I put this last, because the Enabling power of the Atonement comes last, after we have had faith in Christ and his Atonement, After we have followed his Commandments and have been purified and cleaned it is not the end. We must still keep on going, we must Endure to the End. When we have been purified and cleaned it does not mean that life will be easier, it does not mean that we are given a free pass go card. If anything Life gets harder. But it`s for our gain.
As we continue through our trials and afflictions in our life we become stronger. It`s as simple as this. Take for example the muscles of your body. The sin ridden person is the one who is week, and is laden with fat. If one wants to become stronger he must first "burn off" the fat from his body before he can build his muscles. Usually it might start with the idea "I don`t like the way I look," and so in order to change that, a person must act, must do. As they begin to exersice and eat healthy, changing bad habits they burn off the fat. Once the fat is gone they still must continue to act, continue to keep those good habits or else they will build up fat once again. Now after that if one wants to become stronger he must increase the weights, or intensity of his exercise plan. It makes things harder, but in the end the muscles build and he becomes stronger and it is an ongoing process.
This is the Process of Life. Christ`s path is the Exercise plan, the Fat is sin, and the muscles are the strengths of our soul.
The only difference is, that Christ helps us overcome the trials and helps us have strength to do the impossible (refer to "Walking on Water")
That is this weeks Gospel Moment.
I end by testifying about Christ and his Atonement. I know without a doubt that Christ lives. I know that he suffered for me and suffered for my sins. He died for me, he suffered indescribable pains for me. O how glorious was that moment in Gethsemane. O how glorious was that moment when he Rose again. I Know and have have felt the power of the Atonement. All I can say is that it`s true, and I have felt the Joys and blessings of the Atonement. That`s why I`m in Japan. To share that Joy, to share that power with these people. I know God Loves me, I know we are ALL God`s children. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Your Elder
Elder Randall KK Tateishi.
Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, And the rest of the world
Wellllllllllllllllllll........................... Transfers came and went, missionaries moved and people were found. Life goes on and the search continues.
As for me, and where I am? I`m happy to say I`m still in Fushimi and haven`t moved at all. The Only change I have is a new companion. Elder Mclaws went to Senri and became a Zone Leader. I on the other hand received a handy dandy new companion named Elder Escalante from California. We are near spitting images of each other. Big nerds and all. I`ll explain as we go on.
Wow. I actually have like 2 weeks to explain and not just 1. Let`s see where should I start. O yes. I apologize for the inconvenience of not sending the email 2 weeks ago. THAT WASN`T MY FAULT!! I indeed did press the send button but the email service decided it didn`t like me and didn`t send the email. So I resent it this week. If it doesn`t get there again I`m sorry It`s not my fault.
Anyway nothing extremely exciting happened over the past couple weeks besides transfers. And I have a horrible memory because things blur together far to easily when time seems to zoom past like a rocket ship in space accelerating at..... I`ll end my nerdy comment there.
Transfer day was on Thursday, I spent most of the day at Kyoto Eki waiting for my new companion and wandering around the station, which in all reality was more like a giant mall that just so HAPPENED to have a train station in the middle of it. The Japanese are so strange, It`s the equivalent of an airport with a giant mall in the middle of it. Anyway, Took some pictures and met my companion and headed back to the Apartment. We had 2 lessons that day and they went awesome, because I actually helped teach the lessons. I took a good half of the lesson as well. It`s always a boost to one`s confidence to be able to do something on your own.
Welll... the next couple days were exciting. I came down sick and so did my companion, I having it a little worse than my companion. We crashed at the apartment most of the day on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were not much better. We were both still a little sick and my allergies started to hit me. My nose was all stuffy and my eyes itched like no other. I was sneezing left and right but we had some more awesome lessons on those days.
Church on Sunday went well, I actually didn`t have to give my talk this week because they realized the bishop and called a new bishop in the ward. No it`s not me, it`s one of the members. Anyway we talked with quite a few people, had investigators come to church had a good time and taught another lesson that night that went awesome. Afterward we did a little bit of street contacting and I just happened to meet a Japanese man, that was probably drunk, wearing some strange hat and a sash around his neck with the words "I am God" written in English on one side and Japanese on the other. He tried to talk to me, but luckily I could truthfully say that "I Don`t understand what you are saying. I Don`t speak Japanese." The unlucky part of that was he attempted to speak English thereafter. I simply gave him a blank stare and looked for the nearest exit, the only problem was, my Companion was still in the Bathroom. Luckily the guy walked off after a moment. As we were walking later he was standing on a small wall with a megaphone and saying something. Then when we passed by he pointed at us and said "See other people like me that believe in Christ!" That didn`t quite help our streeting and contacting at all. I just kept reminding myself "He is still a Child of God, and hey... at least he Believes in Christ."
That was the extent of my excitement this week.
ELDER TATEISHI`S GOSPEL MOMENT OF THE WEEK!
"The Power of Christ"
There are kind of three parts to this topic. 1) The Resurrection, 2) The Cleansing Power of the Atonement, 3) The Enabling Power of Christ. I`ll tackle them in said order.
1) THE RESURRECTION (Pardon the spelling)
I label this one first because it is the first. What I mean is that the power of the resurrection is a free gift given to all men and women, whether they be good and righteous and wholesome, or evil, corrupt and defiled. It is the gift that each of us receives. It is a promise that God has granted unto all of us. After we die we do not need to fear death again, not physical death. We will each be raised again, at the appropriate time, to stand with perfect bodies before our God. Every one of us will. That is why this is first, because it is free, because each of us is given this freely, whether we believe or whether we disbelieve in God and Christ. It costs us Nothing.
2) The Cleansing Power of the Atonement
With The Atonement Christ gave us the opportunity to become clean. To be purified of sins and imperfections. Now this is necessary if we truly want to return to God. For as it is written in 3 Nephi 27, "Wherefore, no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God." We must clean, perfectly clean in order to return to our Father in Heaven and become exalted and stand beside him again.
Now as I said, the Cleansing Power of Christ is an opportunity, and not a Gift. We have to step forward and do something in order to become. We must act, we must have faith in order to access the Cleansing Power of the Atonement. We must acknowledge our faults, humble ourselves before God and truly Repent of our sins. We must not simply say "O father forgive me." We must truly forsake our sins and change ourselves. That is all repentance is, Change. Repentance is always striving to become better, pushing yourself to become more like Christ, to become perfect. To achieve the unachievable goal. Alone we are powerless to do this, which is why Christ suffered for us and Atoned for us. Through his actions we CAN achieve that unachievable goal, we CAN become perfect. BUT we must take advantage of that great Sacrifice and we must obey and follow the commandments of Christ, Otherwise he will not help, cannot help us.
Now, sometimes we don`t realize we`ve sinned. Sometimes our senses are dulled, our conscience subdued. We sometimes wonder within ourselves "What have I done wrong? I`m just fine." This is complacency again. We become accustomed to where we are, we think "Well I`m good enough. I`ve done enough. I don`t HAVE to do any more." That`s wrong, we can always repent, we can always do something just a little bit better, we can always grow.
Sometimes those sins we don`t realize are deeper and far more harming than we realize. I will use myself as an example. I was apathetic. For a long time I was apathetic, my emotions were dulled, my conscience subdued. I didn`t do anything outrageously evil or sinful I just didn`t do the things I should have been doing. It was a long time that I suffered that but mostly I simply thought within myself "There`s nothing wrong with me. I`m just fine, I don`t need to do anything more. I`m not a HORRIBLE person." But as I grew and developed (Just before my mission and in the MTC) I realized that I was missing so much more. It was then that I started to feel the guilt and sorrow of sin.
The Pain of Sin is sometimes unbearable, it falls upon you and weighs you down. I can say that mine hurt me but it was nothing in comparison to that of Alma the Younger. We read of his repentance in Alma 36. He said the pain and sorrow of his guilt was so heavy so horrible that he wished he could simply be banished from all existence both body and soul. Sin hurts, it is ugly and is destructive and when your senses are not so dulled that you do not recognize it it is unbearable. It is excruciating and seemingly impossible to overcome, impossible to bear. But with Christ nothing is impossible.
Each of us, through Christ`s atonement and sacrifice can be forgiven. Whatever we do short of outright denying the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is to say when one has a full and complete knowledge of the Godhead and then declining to accept the power of them, we can be forgiven. God Loves each and everyone of us, and all though he hates sin he is merciful and he provided away for us to become clean again. No matter how deep the stain, no matter how heavy the burden, no matter if it seems that the weight of the World is crushing down upon your shoulders, if we come unto Christ we can become clean, we can be helped. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I shall give ye rest. Take upon you my yoke, for it is light." Christ has already suffered the pains and punishments of Sin. We just need to take his "yoke" upon us and do our part, which is simple indeed. Follow Christ.
3) The enabling Power of the Atonement
I would simply refer you to the section in which I talked about "Walking on Water." And I will explain simply why I still have put this hear and will explain only briefly about it.
I put this last, because the Enabling power of the Atonement comes last, after we have had faith in Christ and his Atonement, After we have followed his Commandments and have been purified and cleaned it is not the end. We must still keep on going, we must Endure to the End. When we have been purified and cleaned it does not mean that life will be easier, it does not mean that we are given a free pass go card. If anything Life gets harder. But it`s for our gain.
As we continue through our trials and afflictions in our life we become stronger. It`s as simple as this. Take for example the muscles of your body. The sin ridden person is the one who is week, and is laden with fat. If one wants to become stronger he must first "burn off" the fat from his body before he can build his muscles. Usually it might start with the idea "I don`t like the way I look," and so in order to change that, a person must act, must do. As they begin to exersice and eat healthy, changing bad habits they burn off the fat. Once the fat is gone they still must continue to act, continue to keep those good habits or else they will build up fat once again. Now after that if one wants to become stronger he must increase the weights, or intensity of his exercise plan. It makes things harder, but in the end the muscles build and he becomes stronger and it is an ongoing process.
This is the Process of Life. Christ`s path is the Exercise plan, the Fat is sin, and the muscles are the strengths of our soul.
The only difference is, that Christ helps us overcome the trials and helps us have strength to do the impossible (refer to "Walking on Water")
That is this weeks Gospel Moment.
I end by testifying about Christ and his Atonement. I know without a doubt that Christ lives. I know that he suffered for me and suffered for my sins. He died for me, he suffered indescribable pains for me. O how glorious was that moment in Gethsemane. O how glorious was that moment when he Rose again. I Know and have have felt the power of the Atonement. All I can say is that it`s true, and I have felt the Joys and blessings of the Atonement. That`s why I`m in Japan. To share that Joy, to share that power with these people. I know God Loves me, I know we are ALL God`s children. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Your Elder
Elder Randall KK Tateishi.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
HAHAHA!
I was so right....My son, who graduated from College with his AA in COMPUTER Science, before he graduated from high school forgot to press the "Send" button. That is why there was no letter from him last week. When he got a call from the Mission President asking "why didn't you email your mother" he realized what he had done. Of course, we had to give him a bad time about it and it turned out to be a funny part of the "bestest" phone call a mother could ever have.
Yes, we called Randy at 4pm Mother's day, which was 7am Monday for him. He is doing well and loving his mission and companion. He said his Japanese wasn't so good, but his companion (Elder McLaws) was yelling in the background that his Japanese was perfect and he shouldn't push himself so hard. He said that he is learning to cook and clean his own bathroom (which is something he never did at home). Go figure! He loves riding his bike all over and says that the scenery is unbelievable. Lots of hills and lots of people. Apparently there is no zoning codes (rice paddies, restaurants) in the middle of neighborhoods. We asked how the Japanese people were and if what they say about the Church being the same everywhere and I love his answer..."The Church is the same...The people of Japan are such polite people so you take the Church and add all its goodness and you have the church in Japan"...the people of Japan are so overly polite that they will never shut the door in your face and the members literally take the work and words of "love your neighbor" to the extreme. In his ward they have a missionary basket (only about 40 members) by the foyer and everyone brings food and goodies for the missionaries every Sunday. They love the missionaries so much and do anything they can to help out. I know that we and Randy has been blessed because of the members. I remember that when our family was young we constantly had the missionaries over for dinners and made sure they were fed and I think that this is a reward to doing that service.
Well, there should/will be 2 letters that Randy gets to send this next Sunday evening and I can't wait to read them. He is an awesome Missionary and I love him very much....
Zonell (the mom)
Yes, we called Randy at 4pm Mother's day, which was 7am Monday for him. He is doing well and loving his mission and companion. He said his Japanese wasn't so good, but his companion (Elder McLaws) was yelling in the background that his Japanese was perfect and he shouldn't push himself so hard. He said that he is learning to cook and clean his own bathroom (which is something he never did at home). Go figure! He loves riding his bike all over and says that the scenery is unbelievable. Lots of hills and lots of people. Apparently there is no zoning codes (rice paddies, restaurants) in the middle of neighborhoods. We asked how the Japanese people were and if what they say about the Church being the same everywhere and I love his answer..."The Church is the same...The people of Japan are such polite people so you take the Church and add all its goodness and you have the church in Japan"...the people of Japan are so overly polite that they will never shut the door in your face and the members literally take the work and words of "love your neighbor" to the extreme. In his ward they have a missionary basket (only about 40 members) by the foyer and everyone brings food and goodies for the missionaries every Sunday. They love the missionaries so much and do anything they can to help out. I know that we and Randy has been blessed because of the members. I remember that when our family was young we constantly had the missionaries over for dinners and made sure they were fed and I think that this is a reward to doing that service.
Well, there should/will be 2 letters that Randy gets to send this next Sunday evening and I can't wait to read them. He is an awesome Missionary and I love him very much....
Zonell (the mom)
Friday, May 7, 2010
No letter this week....
So for some reason or another Randy did not write us a letter. Although, I do have to say he sent one to his dad, it was very short but no different than any others that he has written to him. I think, in all honesty, that he goofed. I bet he forgot to press the send button. How dare he not write, so I am giving him the benefit of doubt and assuming that he wrote the letter but didn't press "SEND".
On the upside to all this, we get to call him on Mother's day at 4pm. (which will be 7am Monday for him). I'm a little excited about this prospect and even went to the Verizon store to get help with making an International call. (silly I know)
I will be reporting on Monday all that he says (I'm hoping my short timers doesn't set in and I forget) LOL Most of the family will be here for the phone call and we are hoping to include one of his big brothers in Seattle for the call. Whew, I hope I am not technologically disabled for this, it makes me quite nervous to think about it.
That's it for now.....See you on the flip side....
On the upside to all this, we get to call him on Mother's day at 4pm. (which will be 7am Monday for him). I'm a little excited about this prospect and even went to the Verizon store to get help with making an International call. (silly I know)
I will be reporting on Monday all that he says (I'm hoping my short timers doesn't set in and I forget) LOL Most of the family will be here for the phone call and we are hoping to include one of his big brothers in Seattle for the call. Whew, I hope I am not technologically disabled for this, it makes me quite nervous to think about it.
That's it for now.....See you on the flip side....
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