Beware of Dogs!

Oh my gosh....Randy is so back in the swing of things. He has his humor back and his love of missionary life back. I love how he writes and describes everything. Ok, the Beware of the Dogs portion of the letter was hilarious. I sent him a "Missionary" pillowcase that has rules and cautions for missionaries and one of them is "Beware of Dogs". I can't believe he got bit, but such is life for a missionary. Again I am so proud of him and his willingness to serve. His love of the Gospel grows and grows everyday and I can see it through his letters. I love him so much and am very happy for him. Stress is gone and he can en"joy" life again.

Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, and Friends

Well another excellent week has rolled past, and I`m still alive and kicking. Me and Elder Kamacho, now nicknamed as "Fillipine-san" or "Otomodachi-san," have been tearing it up here in Sennan. This week has been like walking from the pitch black of a moonless cloudy night, into the bright morning sun. We have done a lot of biking and riding around, lots of exploring, lots of talking, and even more importantly, lots of teaching. I guess I just got so used to seeing almost no results for the past 3 months that I had hardly noticed what was going on. Now this week I`ve been filled with adventure and filled with things to do.

Last week Monday we wandered around the mall, which by the way is absolutely huge, that is about 10 min. from our apartment. Then went and visited our investigator, whose dog decided to bite my hand. x.x I should read my pillow case more often. ("Beware of Dogs.")

Tuesday I gave a blessing, in Japanese, that was an amazing experience, being guided in what to say. The words I spoke, were not mine. Then that night I went to a small, "cram school" as they call it, to help someone teach English. Basically I answered Questions that the students had about me, America, and learning a new language. The most frequently asked question was, "Do you like Sushi?"

Wednesday I taught English at the church, and I can`t really remember what else happened, but we were busy, I remember that.

Thursday Morning, we woke up and looked outside, it was just a little cloudy and fairly windy, and we were like "Ok, It might rain today." About 30 min. later a mini typhoon flew over us, and it started pouring down rain, and the wind howled and thunder was roaring loudly. 20 min. later it was all gone, just as we were getting ready to leave for District Meeting.

Thursday, I got to pull weeds for a few hours, the same "cram school" students came and helped. If you`ve ever walked into a jungle, that would be very similar to the yard we were working on. Thick weeds covering the ground, and lots of annoying vines. Ended up doing it by hand and just pulling them out of the ground. Found out that it was actually a very small Sweet Potato Garden, and there ended up being a lot of Sweet Potatos that we found. During the whole process we found a giant centipede. When we found it, we said "O hey look at that huge centipede." All the kids up and ran like the wind, even the teacher ran away. Me and my companion picked up sticks and tried to kill it, but it wouldn`t die, until I grabbed a kama and cut it in half. Even then it was still twitching. No one would even go close to the area where we found it.

Had a barbeque with everyone there, and recieved a whole bunch of letters from all the students, thanking me for going in that one day. Had lots of fun, and talked with lots of people.

Friday and Saturday were filled with appointments, and Sunday we had church. All in all it was an awesome entertaining week. Found another giant mall in our area, that took us about an hour just to walk through, only getting distracted once by a lego store. It was lots of fun.

Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Message of the Week

"Men are that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25

I could just leave it at that, and be happy with it. But I`ll expound upon it very simply and quickly.

When you read the scriptures, you`ll find these words written frequently "Be of Good Cheer." It`s what God frequently tells his people. In Japanese it is rendered "Genki o Dashinasai!" With the same meaning, except I like Japanese more since it includes the command form "nasai." It feels more like a commandment than just words of comfort. Yes, we`re commanded to be happy, I`ll take that as one of my favorite commandments.

Everyone will have times when they are down, when they are unhappy and sad, when the entire world seems to press down upon them. Let me be the first to tell you that Missionaries are no exception to the world. We too have our down times, we too have our times of trouble. But, just take it as it comes. Let the Lord guide you, be patient in your trials, and have hope! Remember just have Hope.

I just remembered that I had taught about Hope a few days ago to somebody. She asked me about hope and so I replied, "Hope is knowing that although times are hard now, that although everything hurts or seems so horrible right now, that someday, whether it be tomorrow, next week, next year, or the next life, we WILL have rest. When we have faith in the Atonement of Christ, we have a bright hope that all our trials and tribulations will not last forever," Our relief might not come when we think we need it the most, our day of rest may not come when we think we can`t make it any further, but it WILL come. Then, when we reach that point, and look back at the mountain we have climbed, we will see the blessings that have come from following the Lord`s will, and waiting upon his time.

So just have Hope, in the brightest day, or the darkest night, have hope! The day will come when we shall rest again in the presence of the Lord.

I say these things in the name of my savior, my redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Which Much Love,

Elder Randall KK Tateishi

Excuse me...but have you seen....

My Son Randy, lately, also known as Panda Bear, Elder Tateishi, Tateishi Choro? He stands about 6' tall has brown hair, brown eyes and wears glasses? He has a huge smile that is infectious and kind of talks loud and laughs even louder. He can come up behind his mother and give her a hug and a kiss and tells her he loves her all the time, at any given moment. He is a little on the serious side of life, but knows that he can still have fun like drinking hot chocolate out of a cookie and singing songs with his companion and a sock puppet. He left on his mission in January of 2010 and is due to return 2 years later. He used to write fun letters about life and experiences but as of lately, he is missing. He has had a couple of companions that, well lets say, suck. His dad and I are concerned and were wondering if you could find him and bring the old Randy back. Remind him that he is to be cheerful and enjoy life and his mission. Remind him that he is loved by his Heavenly Father and perfectionism is not attainable in this life, just a goal that we may never achieve until the after life, but we are to strive to do our best. Remind him he doesn't need to beat himself up over little things and that it's, OK. We sure miss him and would love to read his awesome letters again.

Ok, Randy has been located and is back in the full swing of things. We sure miss him, but are happy to say, HE CAN WRITE EVERY WEEK AGAIN! So here is the joy of another letter from him. (the above paragraph about looking for Randy was my opening remarks to him in the email I sent him this week)

Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, Friends, Mentors, and everyone who reads this Letter,

Probably should just leave it at "Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, and Family." We`re all family in some way or another.

Anyway. This week has been a great and fantastic week. Transfer calls came in on Tuesday and my companion got shipped off to Omihachiman. So we spent Tuesday and Wednesday packing and visiting people, preparing for him to leave. So not much happened for that part of the week. Although I did have an interesting visit to one of the Member`s house. We sat and talked about looking at your strengths, your talents and gifts. I said simply "Well I`m organized and clean in the Apartment." He laughed and said, "What does that have to do with Dendo?" I paused, and couldn`t really think of anything (Another negative sign about my self esteem) He laughed again and smiled saying "You know Elder Tateishi, you have a good `Aura.` Your Friendly, your kind, your `soft` so to say." Well that made me feel better. I had never thought of myself that way.

So after that we got up at 4 AM on thursday to get to Osaka on time for transfers. We arrived at 6:30, 30 min. early and nobody was there. Stood around for a little while, and waited until people started showing up at about 10 after 7. I was in Osaka until about 11:00 when my new companion showed up. While waiting we proselyted a little bit, I was paired up with one of my MTC buddies who went to Hiroshima and we had lots of fun wandering the streets, having no idea where we were. 11:00 rolled around and I met my new companion, Elder Kamacho.

Elder Kamacho, is from Okinawa, but he is Phillipino. As in, he was born in the Phillipines, is a Citizen of the Phillipines, but doesn`t speak Tagolog or English, and speaks nothing but Japanese. Yes, kind of strange, and I thought my heritage was strange enough for Japanese people to understand. When the members first met him they weren`t sure about how much Japanese he could speak and kept asking "So you can speak Japanese alright then?" My Companion`s reply, "I don`t speak any other language THAN Japanese."

The Past few days we`ve been having a lot of fun, getting along very well and are really good friends now. We`re working hard and getting things moving along here in Sennan. He is learning English, and so in the apartment we try to speak English, and out on the street we speak Japanese. It`s lots of fun, and My Japanese is coming along at a phenomenal rate. Though I swear I don`t do anything to learn it. It`s simply osmosis(SP?) and the "Gift of Tongues." My study consists of reading the Book of Mormon for 10 min and another 10 Min, in Preach My Gospel, all in Japanese, and then I spend 10 min. flipping through words that I don`t end up using throughout the day. Yep, it`s Osmosis and the Gift of Tongues.

I`ve been somewhat promoted so to say, I`m Area Senior, meaning I`ve been in the area the longest, but I`m not the Senior Companion. All I do is act as the guide until my companion knows the people and the area. But I`ve actually ended up doing a lot more talking than I expected, I wield the almightly Cell Phone and carry the keys, yes I hold the power! Had fun at Church conducting the Meeting between the Ward leaders and the missionaries, explaining what we did throughout the week and what we needed help with. So It`s been an excellent week, with a lot of growing and a lot of fun.

Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Message of the Week.

Yes, It`s Weekly again!

Ok this week I want to pick out a scripture from the Book of Mormon.

Mosiah 4:27
"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."

This is something I`ve learned this past transfer as I watched not only me, but my companion wear out and drift away a little bit. When you spend every day riding your bike as fast as you can, rushing from place to place, always fretting about what needs to be done immediately or what we should have said or done, you start to not have fun, and then you start to not want to work, and then you just don`t work effectively.

I had my companion blow up on me a couple times because he was so stressed, that even the smallest things that I did, or moreso that I DIDN`T do, would get him angry. In fact we parted ways on less than good terms.

But then I got my new companion, Elder Kamacho, and he shared that same scripture with me the very first day. Since then I Haven`t been fretting about things, although I am still beating myself up a little bit mainly in a joking manner, but the jokes are a bit bitter and in the back of my mind they are a bit true. I should probably stop that.

"All things must be done in wisdom and order." Patience is the key to all of this. Things may not happen immediately, results may not come in the moment after or even in a week or 2 weeks or even in a month. I pause and I look back at where I was almost 9 months ago and see the huge progress I have made. Along the way most of the time I didn`t feel like I was going anywhere, that I wasn`t progressing very fast at all, but when you look back, and you see how much of the mountain you`ve climbed, the progress is amazing.

Take for example my Japanese. Out of all the things that I have worried about on my mission, the one thing that has never been among them is my Langauge skill. I never worried about speaking Japanese, at least not all that much, I never got up early to study or stayed up late to study, on occasion I would take 10 or 20 min during lunch or p-day to study a little bit but nothing more. Throughout the whole process I have felt as if my Japanese was not progressing very fast, that it was moving along at a crawl, but here I stand, and look back, now My Japanese is of sufficient skill that I could probably live in Japan on my own with only a few minor problems.

That`s what I`ve learned, be patient, ESPECIALLY with yourself. Don`t worry about what`s going to happen next, don`t fret about this and that, don`t think about the "O I should have done this..." or the "I Could have done that.." Just take things one at a time, put one foot in front of the other, and follow the path that has been laid before you, God will guide you, and in the end you`ll find yourself exactly where you wanted to be, Eternal Life held in your own hands.

Live, Love, Smile, and be happy. God didn`t send us here to be sad and suffer through life with heads hanging down and trudging along. He Sent us here to grow and find happiness. Men are that they might have joy. In the famous words of Bob Marley, "Don`t worry! Be Happy!"

Lol. So far my mission has been a roller coaster ride, filled with ups and downs rolls and turns. But with each time you`re knocked down a peg or two you learn something new. There have been times where I wondered if God was simply trying to see how many times he could knock me down before I simply gave up, but then I learned how stubborn and stupid I had been in thinking that. It`s a humbling experience being a missionary, you learn that you do almost nothing in this work. I walk the streets, I ride my bike, I open my mouth. The Lord Guides my bike, places my feet upon the path, and places the words in my mouth. The only thing he asks me to do, is watch, learn, be worthy, and work. One thing that has really changed in my way of thinking is this: Alma 26:12

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we [will perform] in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

I know I`m weak, I know that I`m imperfect, that I am nothing, but I know also that if I rely on God, rely on the power of the Atonement, he will do the things that I can`t. So why worry about it. "You raise me up, so I can stand on Mountains. You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas. You Raise me up, to more than I can be." I could quote line after line of songs and scriptures that repeat the same thing. Rely on the Lord, rely on God, and in the end you will be far better off.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With much Love,

Elder Randall KK Tateishi

Sept. 12th Letter

Dear Mother, Father, Sisters, Brothers, Family, Friends, and everyone else.

It`s been two weeks since I last emailed. But not very much has happened in those two weeks. I have taught homeless people, helped to comfort a man striken with Parkinson`s Disease, I have worked with mentally handicapped people and I have cut grass with a kama for a member who could not do it himself. I have worked with countless other people as well.

I`m not even sure what to write, but I think that this will quickly lead over into my Spiritual message. I`ll start with the fun things that I`ve done in the past couple weeks.

We had Zone Conference a couple weeks ago, it was a lot of fun filled with a lot of practice and wonderful testimonies and training. I really could feel the spirit throughout the conference and I learned much from those around me.

Last week Monday one of the members took us to a driving range, where I totally and miserably sucked at hitting the golf ball more than 10 meters, yes I`m using meters! It was lots of fun, took a video of me hitting a golf ball, luckily it wasn`t a fail it.

Ok This will cross over into my Spiritual message now.

Elder Tateishi`s Biweekly Spiritual Message

Of late I have been again studying the great Christlike Attribute of Charity, that purest Love of Christ. In fact I studied it this morning, and I pondered it, and I have thought about these past couple weeks, about the people I have worked with, about the lives that I have seen.

Let me start first with Miyagawa. Miyagawa is 30 years old, recently he lost his job, and his only family(his sister) will not support him or take him in or help him at all. He lives along the beach, picking up cans to sell for recyclying, barely scraping together $10 to $20 every week. He sleeps on a bench along the beach, dirty, unkempt and alone. We have brought him food a couple of times, to help him, we have given him a Book of Mormon to read and we have taught him how to pray. Every time we meet him, although his circumstances are poor he does not listen that intently to what we say. I think to myself, "Poor man... if only you would listen, what you hold in your hands (That book of Mormon) is more precious than food, or clothing, is far more valuable than job or money."

The next is Murakawa. He is 41 years old, he is schitzofrenic, and recovering. He is a heavy smoker, and was once a professional surfer. When he was 25 he went to Australia and there he was heavy into drugs and alcohol and many other things before his mind collapsed and he became schitzofrenic. Now he no longer surfs and simply seeks for friends. Because of his mental illness he is much like a young teenager, very talkative and carefree, all he wants to do is play. He called me this morning just to say hi and wanted us to go over to his place again on saturday. I think about him, and I wonder... "The Gospel I hold, if only he would listen, could help him more than he realizes. He could find a friend far better than any he has ever had."

Then there was Shinji, who we met once on the street. 30 years old, he is depressed and deeply stressed. I remember in that simple conversation looking into his eyes and even though I heard him laugh, I saw no light in his eyes, nothing but coldness, a lack of hope, a deep sadness.

The last, and personally the one I Love the most is Nakanishi. He is 50 years old, almost the same age as my Father. He is stricken with Parkinson`s Disease, and lives alone, Divorced I belief, and his daughter long gone and out of his life. He has no job, living off of welfare because of his illness and he smokes heavily. Whenever we go over to his house I watch him, I watch him struggle for breath because of how horrible his lungs are, I watch him shake uncontrollably because of his illness. I look into his eyes and I see sadness and sorrow. When one looks around at his frail, meager bookcase one can see dozens of books about happiness. He has lost all hope of quitting smoking, and almost all hope of finding happiness. I look into his eyes and I ask myself deep inside. "What I hold can bring him happiness, what I teach can bring light unto his life. God is here, he Loves, he cares."

What does all this have to do with anything? In the past 8 months I have entered into multiple lives. I have seen so many different people live there lives. I have seen so much. But it has reminded me that what I have is precious. That the way I have lived my life, that the beliefs and faith that I have held do are right. How much sorrow I have avoided because I followed God! How much Pain I missed because I listened to Christ! I know where I would be without the Gospel, I know I would be nowhere. I am nothing without this hope that I hold. I am useless without my faith. But even more than that, I am nothing without love. I am nothing without Charity. If I had true charity I would have spoken to those people and would not have simply thought! if I had true Love I would have boldy proclaimed to them that Christ can heal their lives! O what wretched man am I!

This all comes down to Love and Charity, this work, this world, this life. The greatest commandmant ever given was "To Love the Lord thy God, and the second like unto it. Love thy Neighbor as Thyself." No matter who you are, no matter what you have ever obtained, without love you are nothing. We are all Brothers and Sisters, one family of God, all Children of a Loving Heavenly Father. Then what stops us from loving our Siblings? Fear stops me, I know that. My faith is weak, for I fear that I will make mistakes. But I do know this, and I know where my faith is strong. I know that God Loves me personally. That although I am weak, although I make countless mistakes he still loves me. I know he Loves everyone else just the same, from the lowest of the lowest, to the highest of the highest. From Nakanishi to Christ himself. He loves them all the same.

I pray that I can be filled with that same Love, that I can be filled with a love to overcome all fear, that will not fail me. I work on it, and although I may not have it now... Although I may not obtain it in it`s perfection, even but a small taste, a small fraction of that love would suffice for me.

I say this in the spirit of Love, and in the Name of Christ, Amen.

With much Love

Elder Randall KK Tateishi