A dangerous man....

Well, sometimes the spirit leads you to interesting feelings. I'm so glad Randy followed and listened to the spirit although it may seem insignificant to everyone else, but listening and following the promptings may have saved him some trouble. I'm sure he was never really in any danger I do still think that maybe...just maybe...the Lord was telling him and his companion to just stay away and be extra careful. You will have to read on to see what I mean.

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

Forecast: Rainy, rainy, rainy, with sunshine in the soul.

It rained almost everyday this week. Monday, Tuesday, Friday,
Saturday, and even today. That forced me to buy a new Rain suit
because the one I had from last year didn`t work at all :( I got
entirely soaked. But despite the rain I`m happy enough!

Well, Last Monday we met with a less active member from a neighboring
branch that currently has no missionaries in it. This man was actually
fairly dangerous to be with. A) He was slightly crazy, B) He was once
a member of the Omu Shinri church that gassed the Tokyo Subway about
15 years ago. I wasn`t quite understanding what was going on with the
conversation but Elder Young was kind of nervous and freaked out
throughout the meeting. Then he told me after who the Omu Shinri
people were. Yea, the guy didn`t know how to use an indoor voice, and
we were in Walmart (yes Japan has walmart, it`s called Seiyu and
runned by a church member). Kind of awkward and not a good image for
missionaries when someone is saying that they were once a member of a
new outlawed religion that murdered a lot of people.

Sooo, included in that I had dream that night where I got kidnapped,
it was very vivid and woke me up at 1 AM. I couldn`t fall back asleep
and said a quick prayer, "If this is a warning let me know, if not
make this feeling go away." After a moment it didn`t so I got up and
made sure the door was locked and laid back down and said the same
prayer again, same thing, I got up but the extra latch on the door
laid down and said the same prayer again. This time my paranoia went
away instantly. So now I lock, and latch the door everynight. You can
call it Paranoia, but I call it extra safety percautions. (Note: The
police station is right in front of our apartment.)

Let`s see..... Tuesday we found a new investigator, Sugitani. The
neighbor of a member who we started meeting at Eikaiwa. We taught her
again on Thursday, her only problem is that she thinks too much
(hmmm.... Kind of like me) and has trouble accepting some the things
we teach. She also talks a lot, but she`s a very nice person and lots
of fun.

Wednesday I had loads of fun teaching Eikaiwa. Thursday we found
another investigator, another Eikaiwa student. Kobayashi, and she is a
pure golden investigator, I was thoroughly nervous throughout the
lesson and messed up horribly as I taught xD, but she was listening
the whole time and enjoyed it. Despite my major mistakes. She even
came to church on Sunday.

Friday.... ummm.... O yea, we road around with a member and visited a
whole bunch of Less-active members.

Saturday we were supposed to go hiking but because it rained it was
cancelled and instead we did a practice lesson with a member (Which
went pretty well) and then visited a Less-active that lived about a
half hour away. It was raining so hard that even though I had my Rain
jacket and hood on I still needed window wipers for my glasses to see.
Tacked on an extra 15 min. because of heavy rains and when the Less
active opened the door he just laughed at us as we asked if we could
have a towel, and take off our socks so we don`t get his house all
wet. Yea that was fun. Then after that we visited a members house,
again through the rain, and they had a Home Stay College student over
for the day from Korea. He`s studying Japanese in a nearby College and
stops at other houses every once in a while I think. I`m not sure how
it works exactly. But that was fun.

Sunday was great. Kobayashi came to church and all of the young
single adults were right there and quickly became her friend. After
church we attended ward council meeting which was basically a comical
party. People were telling jokes left and right as we planned and
conversed. After that had another lesson with a member than had dinner
at another members house before we ended the night.

This morning we got up at 5 AM and went to Seminary to help the
youth, a couple of which are less active but still go to seminary for
some reason or another. We taught the story of Joseph Smith and
testified and also heard a wonderful tesimony from the teacher and a
couple of the youth. Then we rode over here and it started raining,
which sucked because I Don`t have my rain suit. I hope it isn`t
raining anymore when I leave.



Elder Tateishi`s Gospel Message of the Week

Lately we have been teaching the first lesson quite a bit, whether
in actual lessons or simply practicing with members or like today,
simply testifying of the Restoration to help strengthen them. Today`s
message will be very simple and brief. Nothing more than a testimony
of the Restoration.

In 1820, a 14 year old boy entered into a grove of trees in Palmayra,
New York. He was seeking Truth. He was seeking to know God and to know
the will of God. That spring morning he knelt down in prayer and asked
to know the truth. As soon as he had prayed a pillar of light
descended and he saw two personages within. God the Eternal Father,
and the Savior Jesus Christ. From then on he was called as a prophet
to restore the true church of Christ. To bring back what had been lost
for more than 1500 years.

I know that Joseph Smith, that 14 year old boy truly saw God and
Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and
restored this church, the True Church of Christ. I know that Christ
lives, and is the very head of his church and guides it. He is my
Saviour, my Redeemer. In his holy name I bear witness. Amen.

With much Love,

Elder Randall KK Tateishi