Growth...

It is hard to comprehend the amount of growth that Randy has had during his first year of his mission. He really has grown up to be a fine man. (wow, kind of scary calling him a man)....he is and always be my baby....He has agonized and wondered and tried to change and make himself a better person and needless to say it has worked. When he sets his mind on doing something he completes it. Now this is not to say he doesn't have to work on himself anymore, it just means he has the confidence to accept change and to work on things to make a better life for himself. I am so proud of my young son. I'm proud of his growth. I'm proud to be his mother....but most of all I'm proud that he has made decisions that have led him to be the greatest person that he could be.....

Re: Happy New Year!‏


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

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! (And happy Birthday Dad!)

The irony of it all. Mum sent me a package almost 3 WEEKS ago and I still haven`t gotten it. Yes it`s ironic because at the Christmas Conference for the mission they had me read a story about a missionary in Austrualia who didn`t get his package from his family for Christmas. Guess since it was getting shipped over Christmas it just got delayed.

Anyway, it`s been 2 weeks since I`ve written an email and this is the first email of the year!!! Exciting isn`t it.

Let`s see what happened in the past few weeks. We`ve been knocking on a lot of doors, all around the place, having fun talking with plenty of different people. I can`t remember much before Christmas though X.x.

Christmas eve rolled around and we all went to Himeji and had a little party there and went carolling. Hung out with my district, opened presents and just had fun in general. Than came back and wrote some letters, which I fail at writing. Got Gypsy`s letter sent off, wrote Whitney, and now on my list is George, Ian, Grandma Sadie and Whitney again. I think I`m forgetting people though.

Then the Sunday after Christmas we had a random investigator show up at church. That was awesome. We had actually planned to meet him after church, but he ended up coming halfway through sacrament meeting to tell us he couldn`t make the appointment. So I just invited him in and he came. It was awesome.

Monday rolled around again, and it was very strange because it wasn`t a P-day. I can`t even remember what we did that day, knocked on many doors. Tuesday was much of the same, and wednesday we visited the Bishop`s house and ate dinner with him. Thursday we met with a guy named Bruce, well his real name is Aoki, but he picked up the name Bruce when he went to Austraulia for a while from his friends. Showed him the Restoration video and asked him if anyone else might be interested in listening to our message. He then referred his wife, which we were planning to ask about specifically afterwards.

Friday we met with a Less active and taught him the plan of Salvation again, that was lots of fun. Then we just planned for the next week for the rest of the day, then at night we wandered around by the Train Station(eki) it was literally like a Ghost Town. There was no one in sight. But that`s Japanese New Year`s, everyone at home partying.

Saturday we had a big Missionary Sports Taikai(can`t think of the english word) I played some volleyball, got smashed in the face by a spike and knocked over (It`s always my face). Then watched the first movie I`ve seen for almost a year, Kung Fu Panda, in Japanese, with English subtitles. Was hilarious. Then played Dodgeball and just generally had fun hanging out with everyone. ALL of my old companions were there, Mclaws, Escalante, Mizuguchi, Shinozaki, Camacho, and Cannon. It was actually pretty good seeing all of them again.

Sunday was fast sunday, we planned for the baptism we`re going to have next week. I recieved an assignment to give a talk next week Sunday on Following the Lord. That`ll probably be next weeks message. You know me, procrastinating and all, probably won`t write it till Sunday morning. xD. JK. Sunday day we did some more housing, not all that bad, didn`t get yelled at at least. Everyone was just busy and had guests over because of the New years. Then at night we visited a members house and had fun with them.

Then this morning we got up at 5 AM, and went with all the youth and some of the other members to go on the yearly hike up a nearby Mountain. I don`t know the name of it. We started the hike at about 6:30, and we were at the top by just after 7. We took the fast route with most of the youth, it was very steep and rocky. But we made it to the top in time to see the sun rise. It was a beautiful sight, looking out over Kakogawa. I could see to Akashi bridge and even beyond that to Sennan. Which was slightly funny because I remember looking out from the porch in our Apartment in Sennan and seeing that Mountain, Never thought I`d actually climb it.

Then we came back and ate breakfast with the Youth before we came home and cleaned the apartment, and now I`m here. writing emails. Surprisingly, I only have 1 email I have to write this week. O well.

Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Message of the Week! 2011, Issue #1

One week from now and I will have been a missionary for an entire year. 10 days from now and It`ll have been 1 year since I last saw Mom and Dad when they kicked me out of the car in front of the MTC almost 4 hours early and ran off to go help Mike and Jessica move into their house in California. Too think, that at this time an entire year ago, I was sitting at home, in St. George, like a sack of potatoes, probably unshaven and unkempt. You`re stereotypical jobless man living in his Parent`s Basement. Lol, funny image.

Now I`m over 5000 miles away from home, in a cold apartment, speaking an entirely different language, reading characters that are so foreign that I can`t use the term "It`s as hard as reading Japanese" anymore. I`m out and about all day everyday, riding bikes, wandering streets, trying not to overstuff myself at members houses, and listening to old men talk in a language that is supposed to be the one that I`m speaking but sounds more like Chinese too me. I`m fit, I can cook, I can speak Japanese, I can preach the gospel, and I can testify of it`s truthfullness. In 1 Year I`ve changed a lot.

This last year has been a growing year for me. One year ago I had one single goal. It was probably the simplest goal I`ve ever made. "Change." I entered into the MTC with a single thought, a single purpose and I believe I overdid it a little bit, But that purpose was to lose myself. To get rid of the old me. I would probably have never admitted it before but I didn`t like who I was before. There were many parts that I saw in myself that just horrified me. So I went to throw it ALL out. Now that wasn`t a perfect goal, because it did end up bringing a load of trouble down the road. I`ve come to decide that the main reason why I had such a horrible time my 3rd and 4th transfer was because I wasn`t being MYSELF.

Most of you will probably remember that. Lol, I certainly do. Those were the hardest times of my mission, when I always felt that I was being abandoned, as if God was just knocking me down everytime I tried to get back up. Of course that wasn`t true at all. It was me that was kicking myself down all the time. I was always thinking that everything I did was wrong, My companions were always right, and then when I felt angry, mad, or annoyed, I just beat myself up even more saying, "I shouldn`t feel this way at all!" I would say I lost myself a bit too much over those two transfers.

Then I got put with Elder Camacho, and he taught me to just be myself again. Something I should have remembered from Elder Escalante. I found out that just as important as serving the Lord, is being YOU while you do it. Each of us, was born a child of God, given attributes, talents and abilities. He`s asked us to use them, to use them for righteousness and bring about good in this world. To some is given the ability to Sing, to play an instrument, to create masterful pieces of Art, to others is given Athletics or Smarts, to some is given a gentle smile, a warm welcome, or just a friendly attitude. Whatever it is, we all have our talents and abilities.

In the New Testament, Christ gives us the parable of the Pounds. Where a Lord gave unto one servant 10 ounds, another 5, and another 1. The Lord then left into a far land and when he returned he asked what his servants had done with their Pounds. Two of them had doubled what they were given, but the third, the servant with only 1 pound had made nothing, had hid it in the ground fearing that he would lose it. When the Lord heard this he took away that single pound and gave it to the one that had 10 pounds saying "That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him." I would add also to that quote, "That unto every one which hath AND USETH shall be given: and from him that hath not AND DOETH NOT, even that he hath shall be taken away from him."

When we seek to hide what he have, whether it is because we are embarassed, or afraid, we will use it. It`s simple, when you don`t practice playing the piano, you`ll forget it, when you don`t practice throwing a football, you`ll lose it, when you don`t continue to study Math, You`ll forget it. But when you use it, when you strive to improve yourself you`ll grow, you`ll get better, and you`ll get stronger. As we grow and as we strive to improve, if we try to use our talents to serve the Lord he will amplifiy and edify our talents and abilities. I have a talent of learning, God has amplified that talent with me learning Japanese, he has added onto the things that I have strived to gain, he has helped me to learn one of the most difficult languages in the world. I could not have done it without his help. When I really started to grow with my Japanese was when I had to use it, when I tried to take those steps forward despite my fear of messing up.

I have another talent, a gift given from God, the ability to teach the Gospel. One that admitedly I`ve been slacking on. I was always afraid, that I`d mess up, always afraid I`d say the wrong thing, but as I`ve stepped up, taken the lead as a Senior Companion and have been teaching the Gospel to these people I`ve noticed that I CAN do it. I stepped past my fears of making mistakes and found that I`m a lot better than I thought I was.

So what do I say, DON`T BE AFRAID!! Be yourself, and give that self to the Lord. He will take what you give him and mold into something that you could never become on your own. The master artist, the master sculptor will take you and correct the flaws within you. He will guide you to improve your talents, to grow and become stronger. His loving hands will mold you into perfection while still allowing you to be you. Do not be afraid that coming unto him will make you someone you don`t want to be, he will never do that. We are the wood and he is the master carpenter, following the grains of the wood to make a wonderful piece of art. We are the stone and he is the sculptor, we already have shape and he simply brings out what he knows we can become.

I Know that I am who I am today because of God. Because he has guided me to where I am today. He has lovingly and carefully worked me into what he knows I can become, and he still is. I`m stubborn, I know that, which is probably why it`s going to be a very long process. But he is carefully working me into what I need to be. I try to follow him, to do what he asks, to use what he has given me, and step by step I grow and I improve. This year, I have gained confidence, in myself, in the Spirit, in God. My faith has grown, and with it my Testimony. My heart has opened and I have recieved. In giving myself I have only recieved.

I know God lives and guides me. As this new year has just begun I have recommited myself to serving him, I will do even better this year than last year. I love you all, and I do miss all of you. But even though you are all 5000 miles away, I still keep you close in my prayers. I share this message, in the spirit of Love, and in the name of Christ, Amen.

Elder Randall KK Tateishi