Elder Conner Brown

Ebetsu Week 6

やった！

That's kind of the Japanese equivalent of someone saying "Yes!" or "Kaplack!". 

It's been a pretty good week this week. I'm writing this before calling, so we'll probably talk about a lot of this over the chat, but here's the gist:

 

Wednesday night: had sushi for dinner at a 100円 sushi place with a new investigator. He's kind of more interested in English, but we're gonna give him the 30 minute gospel-30 minute english program. We'll see if it sparks any interest. Anyhoo, that sushi gave me some really good gas, ill tell you that. Did some tracting, then had zone mogi (rollplay) over the phone. My partner was Funaki shimai (sister). She's nihonjin (native) and was super impressed with my Japanese.

 

Thursday: had a very effective weekly planning session. Lots of good people to talk about. Did some more finding that afternoon. 

 

Friday: Lot's of searching, little finding. Had the best katsu ever, though! There's a reason katsu in Japanese means "to win". It was nice and moist with egg cooked on top, some beef right next to it, and all on a nice bed of rice. Heavenly!

 

Saturday: Had pretty much our first real lesson today! Finally were able to meet kameoka きょうだい. We taught him lesson 1, about the restoration and stuff relating to it. He seems really interested, and he's been reading the book of mormon! We taught him how to pray and committed him to pray every time he reads in order to know the truthfulness of the book. One of our other possible investigators, yamamoto shimai, came to the halloween party tonight! She brought her middle school son and they had a blast! She wants to go to more activities and she also wants to do the 30-30 thing as well! The party itself was so much fun! It was so cute with games that we helped operate. Elder Dawdy and I dressed up in our kimonos like the picture I showed you. Elder Dawdy even taught me how to make origami shurikens, though they don't fly as well as Payton's cards.

 

The whole group.  The man in the fly costume is the bishop of the ward.

 

Playing a version of donuts on a string.  Pre-packaged snacks and treats on a string.  Conner was happy though, because the bag he snagged was actual donuts.

 

 

Sunday: church as usual. Had a lesson with Takahashi 兄弟. After that, we gave a report in ward council, then ate lunch and went to work. Elder Dawdy had a great conversation with this older man on the street and he set up a meeting appointment for Tuesday! Prayed for plenty of people to talk to and we did! Mostly no's, but you've got to have a certain number of no's to get to that yes, right?

 

We read about recognizing the promptings of the spirit in training today, and I thought about the importance of intent when we're seeking answers. We shouldn't just have a desire to receive those answers, but to act on the answer we receive. Joseph Smith went into the woods with a question and a purpose for the answer. God won't give us knowledge if we're just going to sit on it. I think that's important for all people, not just investigators, to know as they're seeking knowledge from the Lord.

 

Also transfer week, so we'll see how that goes.

 

愛しています！

ブラウン長老

Ebetsu Week 5

Hello there!

It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry i didn't have too much time today to talk, but here is my report to try and make up for it:

 

Monday (the 7th): after talking with you guys, my companion and I went ministering with the bishop. Still trying to get used to barley tea. I feel bad whenever i can't physically finish it. Elder Dawdy assured me I'd get used to it.

 

Tuesday: Zone Council Meeting. That was pretty fun. A couple people gawked that i was still wearing short sleeves even when it's chilly out. Pretty sure that's going to be my thing for the mission, like wearing shorts all through the winter back home.

 

Wednesday: went with the bishop to go deliver eikaiwa posters. While going around to a couple colleges, we came to a christian college the bishop says actively teaches their students to avoid our church, lol. Also, one of our investigators made the mistake of googling the church. He does agree some of the things online are kind of unfair, though. We encouraged him to keep reading the Book of Mormon until we can meet.

 

Thursday: Went on splits in Tomakomai. I sent a picture of the district and we we did splits with the other two elders. Good day of finding. Had Pepsi for the first time in like 13 weeks on the way over. It was kinda weird. Anyhoo. We tracted, ate, then played uno before going to sleep.

 

Friday: weekly planning session. Lots of dendo. Trying to learn a little kanji here and there. Every house has their family name on the front in kanji, so i just ask my companion what the different kanji mean as we're walking around. Helps keep my mind engaged. Also, quickly learning Japanese food has zero preservatives. Anything the members give us, we eat first just in case.

 

Saturday: watched general conference with some members. Then, Elder and Sister Fescher came and did a quick apartment inspection. Found a few things we need to clean up. We went and got a couple supplies. On the way back, one of the members called us and said one of our investigators was at the womens session for general conference! We got over there as quickly as we could by foot. Sounds like she had a great experience! Didn't understand too much, but there were great members there who talked and bonded with her! She'll probably come to the Halloween party, too. Great stuff!

 

Sunday: watched more general conference with the members. Did some finding. Not much to report.

 

Monday: more finding. Not much else.

 

Tuesday: DCM and eikaiwa. Tuesday is kinda hard to use for much dendo because of that.

 

Wednesday: had a great time at the temple this morning! It is a gorgeous temple, both inside and out. That picture I sent with the pond is part of the garden. Had a great time doing that. The district, minus one companionship, went to go eat. Four of us, including me, got some McDonalds (i miss the 4-for-4 already), while the other two got some real japanese food. 

 

I'll talk to you all Sunday! Have a great week!

愛しています！

ブラウン長老

 

 

 

 

 

You may have seen on the news this past weekend that Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan.  Conner was so far north he was completely safe and fine.  He only saw some mild rain and wind.  The mission president did send us an email before and after the storm, to let us know they were watching the weather.  Some of the missionaries in the most southern areas of the mission were instructed to download General Conference onto their tablets and stay indoors as much as possible all weekend.

Ebetsu - Week 4

Wednesday, Oct 2nd: Zone games were great. We played capture the flag and kickball. Afterwards, they did a bean shower. They sat me on a rock, then showered me with all sorts of treats. It was so nice! I'll add a pic of the treats.

One of the Mission APs, Elder Dawdy, Elder Brown

 

**Bean shower:  Apparently this is a tradition in the mission used for welcoming the new missionaries, a.k.a. "Green Beans".  Hence the name, "Bean Shower".  As Conner described, the unsuspecting Green Bean is seated on a chair (or a rock in this case), while the other Elders & Sisters surprise him with a shower of treats, food, and snacks that they drop into his lap.  

 

Thursday, Oct 3rd: Zone conference itself was good. I'm kinda with you both, mom and dad. The joy they focus on in these conferences is great and a nice break from routine, especially in a tough mission like this one. However, this energy is very temporal. The real joy and motivation that lasts the longest is through work. Like that one talk from general conference mom shared, joy is doing our best and knowing the lord accepts our efforts.

 

**Conner's comment stems from a video that we saw posted to the mission facebook page.  All of the missionaries were standing up, singing a peppy/cute song called "I've Got Joy in my Heart" with playful hand motions.  We have noticed that they use fun, joyful music a lot in the mission to encourage & motivate the missionaries.  Here is the comment that I sent him that he is referencing:  I just love that President & Sister McClure infuse so much JOY into missionary work.  I also think there should be much happiness & joy in serving the Lord.  That's why He sent us here right?  Men are that they might have joy.  And when YOU are joyful, that will radiate through your countenance and touch the people that you come in contact with.  They will want to know where your joy comes from.  The gospel & missionary work is not a drudgery ..... it is joyful.  We teach & preach that there is a plan of happiness, right?  But there is also plenty of hard work and maybe that joy isn't always felt as glee & excitement -- it's a feeling deep in your heart that comes from knowing you are serving the Lord and giving your all.  In general conference today there was a quote along these lines . . . "joy is enduring, and knowing that your efforts are accepted by the Lord."  I love that -- we do so much in keeping the commandments, serving others, holding to the rod & staying on the covenant path and it requires a lot of endurance.  Sometimes, we may wonder if our quiet efforts are being noticed.  But I love that we can KNOW that the Lord sees our efforts, He accepts our offering, and we can have peace & joy in knowing we are doing our part.

 

 

 

Performing another joyful song - "Dendo Makes Me Happy."  Dendo is the Japanese word for missionary work.

And one more "bean shower" -- a little bit smaller than the first one.

 

Friday: weekly planning session. visited with a member named 新田兄弟 (Nitta Kyoudai). Fun discussion/lesson. Went tracting around in the rain for a while. Other than that, not much happened.

 

Saturday: another rainy day. The APs passed over a woman named やまもとしまい(yamamoto shimai). We gave her a brief tour of the church building. Introduced her to some members. She's very interested in eikaiwa and wants to come to church sometime, but she has work (usual problem).

 

Sunday: downloaded some General Conference, went to church. After church, helped the ward pass out flyers for the Halloween party. After that, went with the ward mission leader to edit some eikaiwa posters. After that, walked forty minutes (because companion's bike brake is still broken) to a member's apartment because the ward missionary was worried about him. Found that nobody lives there. Weird. Especially since the ward missionary visited him literally that week and confirmed the correct address with us. Anyway, walked forty minutes back, tracting as many people as we found. Did some housing and scheduled an appointment with a guy for this next week. Should be fun.

 

Monday: made some french toast for breakfast with some bacon a member gave us last week. Super nice! Made our own syrup-like stuff with random stuff we found in the apartment: milk, honey, margarine, vanilla extract. Runny, but delicious. Then went and stocked up on food for the next two weeks. 

 

That's about it, for now. 

愛しています

ブラウン長老

 

We won't hear from Conner again for about 10 days as his typical Monday P-day is being moved back a couple days so they can attend the temple in Sapporo next week.  The temple is only open Wednesday - Saturday.

Ebetsu Week 3

Tuesday: pretty eventful. First, forgot my tie. And we were going to a zone Zoom conference thing. Second, we went to the bus station to head to あつべつ. We were there early, so I suggested we take the early bus while we were already there. So we sit down and a guy sits down next to us, then pulls out a Book of Mormon and starts reading. I almost freak out, but manage to discreetly get my fluent companion's attention so he could talk with him. Turns out, we might have given this guy that Book of Mormon that very first week i was here! We exchanged Line* and he seemed very interested in God and the Book of Mormon. (We later set an appointment for today, but it fell through, bummer). Third was the Zone Zoom conference thing. President McClure talked a while about the work and stuff. He also said that we aren't allowed to have dinner with members unless there is a nonmember present. So, if a member wants to have us over for dinner, they have to provide an investigator.

 

*Line is a texting app used in Japan

 

Wednesday: went home teaching with the bishop today, which was fun. They placed a plate of treats on the table for snacking on while we talked. Then, when we finished, they gave us all the remaining stuff. It was so nice!

 

Thursday: we tried to visit a less active who turned out not to be home, but on the way back, we met a guy who was pretty interested in religion who we exchanged Line with. Then, we met a woman who said she might come to church! (Didn't see her there, but still cool)

 

Friday: we did plenty of searching and also visited a couple members and a former investigator. Had indo-curry for dinner. Found out I'm not a fan of it. Pretty funny because apparently almost everyone in the mission loves it. 

 

Saturday: lots of searching. Little finding. The ward mission leader brought us pizza though.

 

Sunday: Elder Doumon of the Seventy came today. Got to shake his hand and talk with him, which was cool. Also, it was a fifth Sunday, and here in Ebetsu, fifth Sundays mean lunch after church. There was watermelon and sandwich stuff and pudding and muffins and grapes (they had seeds, but were still good).

 

Monday: spent a good portion of the day walking from bike shop to bike shop looking for brake parts for my companion. 

 

Tuesday: interviews with McClure 会長 which were good. They ran a little late getting us started, but it wasn't too bad. Then, we went to this awesome sushi place for lunch! Their shrimp sushi is to die for! And the way they serve it to you is awesome! 

 

愛しています

 

Conner is loving the new Book of Mormon videos.  The missionaries can only watch church-produced media.  Apparently the phrase "Nephi, I tried!" is becoming a favorite among the missionaries and good enough for Conner to meme it himself.  SYL stands for Speak Your Language, something that missionaries are encouraged to practice so they can become fluent in the language.  Conner was very excited this week that in their English classes, a Japanese attendee asked a question that he understood and he was able to respond with a correct & appropriate answer.

 

This week, Conner sent us pictures of the food he has been making in his apartment.

Ebetsu Week 2

Let's see...

This week we tried going to this college campus to see if we could find young people to teach. It felt kinda weird, though, because it's a Christian college. These students are already taking classes about religion. On the one hand, they've learned about Jesus Christ so we can talk to them about what they think of it, but on the other hand, it feels kinda awkward talking about the only true church.

On another note, we taught our first eikaiwa (english class). It was pretty fun making fun of the English language with Japanese people. It was especially fun going over syllables, and how longer words can have less syllables than shorter ones.

Overall, lots of streeting and housing. We also tried this one survey method, where we give people a survey about gospel related questions, then whichever question they're most interested in, we show them a sixty second gospel video on it. It made for some good conversations, but it didn't get very many people very fast.

Lot's of good conversations, but nobody yet who cares enough to take time. Just need to keep pushing aside tares so we can get to the wheat!

Hope you're all surviving in the heat back home! I'm glad to be needing a jacket right now.

P.S.  Almost forgot! There's this awesome talk I want to attach that I'm going to be reading a part of each day. It's called "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary". It's super inspiring!

***************************

A few other details that we gathered during our phone call .....

*The church is about a 5-10 minute bike ride from their apartment.  On Sunday they ate dinner with a family from church for the first time.  It was a 30 minute bike ride to their house.  Conner had been looking forward to the meal, as a chance to eat some authentic Japanese.  What they served surprised him!  Broccoli & chicken in a creamy sauce, pizza, meatloaf, and cheesecake!  Oh, and some string cheese on the side. :)

*His Preparation-day is Monday.  On this day they do their grocery shopping, laundry (luckily they have a washer/dryer in their apartment), calls & email, and teach an English class.  He has to go to the church to get Wifi to email and call us. With the 16 hour time difference that means we receive his calls on Sunday evening.

*They get around primarily on bikes.  But in the winter when there is so much snow & ice they do not ride bikes.  They will walk or possibly use public transportation.  He's not sure yet.

Ebetsu Week 1

First email from Japan! Finally here! Man, what a week!

President McClure and his wife are super awesome! They hooked us up with some great meals at the mission home. Also, Japan is ahead of America on so many levels. For instance:

1. The mission home has a toilet that opens as you approach it and has tons of buttons for various settings.
2. We went to this sushi joint where you order sushi on an ipad, and a train-like contraption brings it to you from the kitchen. (Side note, had some squid sushi, which was pretty epic)
3. Their buses and trains are always on time. The doors on the trains close quick and people are just expected to not waste time.

Also, the Japanese people are so nice! My companion and I parked our bikes next to a house with a garden and prepared to go tracting, when an old lady ran up to us. She was super excited and asked where we came from and what we were doing. Next thing we knew, she started picking all sorts of vegetables from her garden and gave them to us. It was so sweet! And the members in our ward have a basket they put food in each week for us. So nice!

It kind of throws me off that literally everything here is in kanji*. Guess I should learn a character or two. I'll start with understanding what people are saying, though.

*Japanese has 3 writing systems.  Kanji is the system of Japanese writing that uses Chinese characters

I can't wait to learn more about this awesome country/people!

Answering some of our questions ...

What is your apartment like?  Microwave?  Laundry? -- I sent some pics of the apartment. Yes it does have a Microwave and Laundry.

How do you get around your area?  Car? Bike? Public Transportation?  -- I have a bike I took from a dead missionary (not literal). It was free, it works, and I'm only using it a few months before winter kicks in anyway.

What is shopping like? -- Just started shopping today. It's pretty epic. We go to this mall for almost all our stuff. We take turns buying the essentials for the apartment, and then we each take care of our own breakfast.

Tell us about the first time you had a teaching appointment?  Did you understand anything?  Did they understand you? -- First time i taught something was to an old investigator who had a baptismal date and it fell through. I started talking to him and he understood, but he started going off on some tangent I didn't understand. Based on what my companion's told me, that's pretty normal for him. 

Tell us about the first time you went tracting and/or street contacting. -- We actually did it for about an hour around the temple area right after we met our companions. It was pretty cool, and a little rainy. We passed out a Book of Mormon to somebody. (Funny side note, so there's a Christian College near the temple and they apparently sold the church the land for the temple on one condition. Keep your missionaries out of our territory, lol).

Tell us about church, how many wards/branches do you cover?  How many members were there? -- One ward with about 30-40 people. Super nice people.

What day is preparation day?  What is that daily schedule like? -- Monday. We wake up, eat and stuff.  We go shopping and grab some lunch to go. Then, we go to the church and call/email. The rest of the day is kind of up to us until 6, when we get back to work. Today we have eikaiwa. (They teach English classes at the church)

Do you have any meal appointments with members? -- This Sunday, we have been invited to eat at a member's house. Though, I'm honestly just happy with the food basket the have for us. 

A Sapporo Stake Family History Fair was held on Monday.  Photos shared by the Mission.  We asked Conner what was the significance of the cat & dog mouth signs.  He says he has no idea.

Look for the photo-bomber