I told you so....

Strong words I know, but needless important. Once upon a time, a mother told her son to be prepared to be in a Branch Presidency, play the piano and lead music. The son didn't listen and believe and so he went forth into the kingdom unprepared for things to come. One day he was sent to a far off land in a valley by the ocean, where fish abound and green lands appear out of nowhere. One day he was made a counselor in a Branch Presidency then asked to lead music and asked to speak in Sacrament meeting, not once but twice in one day. Moral of this story "listen to your mother" she know everything.

Sorry, but I have to laugh and I believe Randy has a great sense of humor and is laughing right along with me. He has been transferred to a small town in Japan on the ocean. I will just let you read his letter because he describes it much better than I do.

Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, Friends, Mentors, and all you other people.

Well This week I have quite a bit to say. I`ll just go in order of date, starting from Monday Last week till today.

Last week Monday after Email, me and Elder Escalante went out to Kyoto mall and did some shopping for him. I didn`t have much money so I didn`t do much shopping. Just a lot of walking. It was fun actually, we talked a lot and had some good laughs. Other than that we didn`t do much on Preperation Day.

Tuesday we Got transfer calls, I got transferred. So I spent the day packing and getting ready to head out. Wednesday we had some time to go out and do some proselyting but not much happened. Just a lot of walking, and a lot of biking. That night we had Eikaiwa, which I failed to attend because I was busy running around on splits trying to get my bags sent off to my new area. By the time Eikaiwa was finished we had both my bags sent off and everything ready to get my bike sent off. I then said my goodbyes, sadly to all of my Eikaiwa buddies and also Masaya, the recent convert. It was a little sad, but no tears were shed. We all knew it would happen eventually and that the Lord was calling me where he needed me.

Thursday Transfers began. I was told that my new area would be pretty far away, but I didn`t expect it to be THIS far away. We started out from Kyoto at 9 am, and hit the main Transfer Hub in Osaka. I met with a lot of the missionaries that came with me from the MTC, and got to say hi to them and see how they were doing. It was lots of fun because I could actually talk to them a little bit. Then we left there and headed off to my new area, I still hadn`t met my new companion yet. At around 12:30 we hit Wakayama, where I met with my new companion, Elder Mizuguchi, a native Japanese Missionary who speaks no English. We ate Lunch and left Wakayam at around 1:30. We then proceeded to have another 6 hours on a train to my new area.

Mother.... You once told me that I would be sent somewhere where no one could play the piano, where I`d be the branch President and I would basically be doing everything for the ward. I hate Mother`s intuition. I`m in Shingu right now, Before Hiroshima entered the mission it was the FURTHEST place away from the Mission home in the entire mission. I spent a total of 10 hours and $50 to get from Fushimi to Shingu. I wish you good luck finding it on the map! Well At least I`m not the Branch President, I`m just the Clerk. I was the 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency before one of the members recieved the Melchezidich priesthood.

Now Let`s begin the Adventures in Shingu!

Friday we attempted Weekly planning meeting.... Attempted is the keyword here. I speak very little japanese, my companion speaks no english. We didn`t get much done. I met with most of the ward members that night. 4 out of the 5 that come to the regular sacrament meeting session, and out of 8 of the active members. Yes, count them, -8- members in the Branch, excluding the missionaries. The Church consists of 3 rooms, The sacrament room, a little bigger than the average living room, the Branch President`s office, and a small class room. The Church is approximately 10 feet below the Missionary Apartment. Yes We live ontop of the Church.

So I spent Friday listening to people talk in a language that I can barely understand, speaking even faster than people in Fushimi spoke, and speaking almost as fast as the speed of Light. Most of the time I simply stared blankly trying to understand what sounds like a machine gun firing at full speed. I think I would have better luck trying to translate Binary.......

Saturday was about the same as Friday, except we went to a nursing home and I got to listen to old people language. Which in Japan is practically an entirely different language because of the whole politeness factors and impolite and yadayadayada. I Understood nothing while I was there. Afterwards we did a little proselyting in the rain, which consisted of me knocking on doors, having them slammed in my face... and not because I`m a missionary, but because I speak to slow. On the way home my brakes slipped and I ran into a wall on my bike. Luckily I`m alright and so is my bike. The only thing that happened was the chain came off and I had to put it back on. In the process I stabbed myself on the gears and got my hands covered in grease. Fun fun fun. That night we met with the members again and had a little lesson.

Sunday was fun. The stake president came down because one of the members was recieving the Melchezidich Priesthood. Please note, that there are actually 2 sacrament meetings for the same Branch, because there are so few people we can be flexible, there is the main sacrament meeting at 12 and then one at 7 at night. The one at night is a short sacrament meeting and the Sacrament meeting at 12 is followed by Gospel Doctrines. Note there is no Priesthood or Relief Society Class because the Branch is so small. During Church I conducted the music, gave two talks, one in the morning session of Sacrament, which I hda been prepared for and ready to do, and one at the evening session which I was unprepared and unready to do, because I didn`t know that I was giving a talk at that time. Well we had a total of 6 members come to church, 3 in the morning session, 1 in the evening session, and 2 that walked in during Gospel Doctrine class, seperately. I heard the sacrament prayers given 4 times that day. Spent most of the day talking with the members, finally starting to understand what was being said, since my mind is now adjusting the hyperspeed rate at which these people talk.

So let me describe Shingu.... Think of Washington State... Outside of Seattle.... Lots of Trees.... LOTS of Trees.... LOTS OF TREES.... On the coast of Hawaii and about twice as hot as Hawaii. Welcome to Shingu, where the people eat Whale, Dolphin, Squid, Octopus, and all other sorts of animals. I`m waiting for someone to tell me that they eat Dogs and Cats too... Lol No I haven`t eaten Whale or Dolphin yet, keyword YET. But yes they do eat Whale and Dolphin.

Today was kind of dull, we did shopping, I cleaned, I read, I napped. My companion gutted and cleaned a fish in front of me while I was eating lunch. He happened to land a small piece in my bowl of rice. YUMMY!! Sashimi!(Sarcasm)

Don`t get me wrong. I actually love it here in Shingu already. The ward members are awesome and the scenery is beautiful. The language barrier is just another challange that I am confident that I can overcome. Here in Shingu I will speak nothing but japanese, and according to what I`ve seen most people are here for 3 or 4 transfers. So I guess I`ll settle in and get to work. I have a lot of Japanese to learn, but it`ll come, with patient Study and practice it will come.

Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Moment of the Week

This will be another short message.

"Cheerfully enduring."

In the past 3 days I`ve learned a LOT more about what patience really is, and what it really means to Patiently and Cheerfully Endure. We all have times where we are suddenly thrown about by unexpected changes and challenges that are heaped upon us without a moments notice. Work suddenly picks up and becomes extremely busy, or some unexpected family emergency appears, there are countless scenarios that happen to all of us. But what is the key thing that we should do?

"Whatever you do... Don`t Panic." It`s quite that simple. Take a quick pause, take a breath and calm down. Not easy to do when it all happens at once. Just take a little bit of time, and think about what you`re going to do. Trust me, whatever you think, you do have time to pause and think. Situations in which a decision must be made instantly are very few and far between, and even those you can afford yourself a few minutes to think about what you want to do. But when you do think, whatever you do don`t frett over the "What if this happens?" or "What if that Happens?" There are always a Thousand "If"s that could appear and push yourself into second guessing yourself and end up making the wrong decision. I Call it "The Death of a Thousand Ifs." Patience is the key.

As you come to a decision, or an idea of what you can do, immediately start working on carrying out your plans. Do what you can there and then to correct problems or to calm yourself down. Dive into the plan as soon as possible and get to work. Lastly, and most importantly is do all of this with a smile on your face. The greatest thing I`ve learned so far on my mission was this: "Carry your own weather." Pick your own attitude, choose to be happy, it really is within your power. Too help you do this I shall quote my favorite scripture, graciously pointed out to me by my Mother and Father.

D&C 123:17 "Therefore, my dearly beloved brethern, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, and then we may stand still and wait to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

Always remember that wherever you are, whenever, whatever, no matter what that you are NEVER alone. God is with you, he walks beside you when the sun shines bright, he supports you when the winds howl, and try to pull you down, and when those winds tear you down, He`s the one carrying you onwards. If anything, the best thing to do, is to say a small prayer in your heart, and remember, the words of Christ. "Peace be unto you."

Your Son, Brother, Friend, Student, Mentor, Missionary

Elder Randall KK Tateishi