Another week in Maizuru!

Summer Matsuri! (Festival)

So many people!  This is Matsuri.  They have mini shops and festival games and food stands all lined up in front of the Japanese shrine.  It was pretty fun to go there.

Some of the kids were amazed by my iPad...

Filipino Night 

Pig eats for Sisig :) 

Sisig

Sinigang!

Yummy!!  Reminded me of home!

This is what the Japanese people depict as the Judgement. The guy at the desk is supposedly Jesus Christ or the one who judges. The mirror on the bottom left replays your works in this life. The good people go up to the peaceful place and the bad people are punished. Very similar to the interpretation in Dante's Inferno where people are punished according to the specific sins that they would commit. Pretty interesting.

 Amanohashidatte! 天橋立

This place is so beautiful and pretty famous as well.  Search

"Ama no Hashidatte" on Google and I think you can see what it is better than I can explain it.

Ama no Hashidatte is a 4 kilometer land bridge which connects two peninsulas together.  It is so beautiful and we were able to go on a perfect day.

My favorite.  Man riding a Turtle

Surprise!  We are riding a lift up to a view point where you can see a great view of Amanohashidatte. 

At the top of the view point.

We walked all the way across.  It is so cool!

Here is our Branch President who so kindly took us here this morning.

Living the missionary life!  Solo.............. :( 

This is a very famous pose to do in this place. Look at the view between your legs. Don't ask me why...

Here is a sign that explains!

You can take a cable car instead of the lift.

 The down trip!

Now we are taking the boat back!!

Seagull selfie

It feels like I am flying with the birds!  The seagulls are very hungry so they follow the boat and everyone throws bread and crackers at them and they catch it!  It is so fun and they are right in front of you.  I could've easily touched one.  Awesome!!

Dear Everyone,

So I basically talked about all the things that happened this week in my pictures... Other than those things, there isn't much else to talk about haha. The Filipino food activity was so awesome! The food reminded me of home and everyone who came loved it as well. Also, today is a holiday in Japan, so our branch president took us to a famous place in our area called Ama no Hashidatte. It was super awesome with surprise lift rides and a boat ride. Check out the pictures that I sent.

So I will share something from my studies this week. I read an article in the Liahona that talked about the need for enduring to the end, especially when you have hard trials. It took me to D&C 121, 122 and 123, where Joseph Smith has been in prison for a few months and he prays to Heavenly Father asking why. Why did he have to suffer like this, why did all these hard things have to happen to his people, the righteous followers of Christ. This is what the Lord says to him in 121:7-8 "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." Then he elaborates in 122:6-9. The Lord talks about all these horrible, extremely hard things that could happen in life and then says "know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" Then he promises this in 123:17 "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." We are given trials for a reason. God knows us each so much. He knows are weaknesses, our strengths, our joys and our sorrows. He also knows what we can potentially become. Because of that, we experience trials and hardships. Only through overcoming those trials can we become who God wants us to become. Trials give us experiences that will help us later on in life. We need to always see the bigger picture and remember that we are destined to inherit all that God hath. Again, that is the beauty of the Gospel; getting up every time we fall. God is walking with us each step of the way. Sometimes, he is carrying us. Trust him in all things, even or especially in trials, and all will work out for your good. I know that is true.

Love you all! Sorry for the short email. Look for the pictures I send. Have an amazing week!

Love,
Elder Lamoreaux

Heat, Humidity, Sweat and Primary!

Dear Everyone,

Holy Hannah it is hot! This is like nothing I have experienced before (well, maybe when I was in the Philippines, but that was 10 years ago..) it is insane! Super, insanely humid. Like, I walk out of the Air Con room, (Japan doesn't have central air and our apartment only has one room with an Air Con) and I am already dripping in sweat. Then, when I walk outside, the heat of the sun beats upon you and it just feels like you are walking in your own pool of sweat. I already sweat a ton as it is, so yeah.... It's gross. But yeah, incredibly hot, super humid, all around not comfortable for Elder Lamoreaux.  Anyway, that's the setting for my life right now. Yay Japan summer! (People say that it isn't even summer yet. It's just gonna get hotter...)

So, besides the weather, this has been a very good week. We have tried to meet with all of our investigators and we were able to teach almost all of them. Many of them have great potential and they are all amazing. I have very good feelings about a lot of them and I have faith that they can progress far. I think the best part about being a missionary is being able to testify about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is easy, I know how to say it in Japanese, and each time I share my heartfelt testimony, I feel the Spirit confirm to me the truthfulness of it and it strengthens my testimony at the same time. And, with all these investigators that we are working with, we have more opportunities to do that. I love it! Also, the best way to touch a person's heart is by allowing the Spirit to touch their heart by bearing sincere, simple testimony with them rather than long, filled with doctrine lessons that we all sometimes do. The gospel is supposed to be easy to understand, and it is. The gospel is plain and simple and beautiful. Remember that. Also, try to share your testimony with others. As you do, your testimony will grow, and you can be an influence to those around you. You will notice an increase of spirituality and you will appreciate the simple truths that the gospel is filled with. That is one thing that I learned this week.

So, because there is only one Primary child in this little Maizuru branch, the missionaries are asked to join her in Primary at church!  The first time I have been in primary since i was 12! It was a blast!  That little girl is such an angel, and she is half-Filipino (yeah represent!). This was so awesome, at the start, the primary teacher wanted to play a game, so we were asked to split up into teams. The 8 year old said, "ハーフ チーム！" (half team!!) And so she and I were on a team. We already have the Half-Filipino bond! She is awesome! After that, we sang a bunch of Primary songs in Japanese. That was so fun! I always love singing Primary songs like "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", and "The Family is of God". They are so simple, so beautiful and perfectly illustrate the thing I was talking about in the last paragraph. Also, I could understand the Japanese used in the primary songs, so it had more of an effect on me. That was such a fun experience and it seems like that will be a weekly thing. It was so fun!

I am so excited for this area. There are going to be miracles here and this work is going to hasten. I love it! This was such a good week and I am so excited for what ever else this area is going to throw at me.  I love you all! This church is true. Joseph Smith truly saw Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ lives and he is our Savior.  We can overcome absolutely anything if we rely on Him and the power of his

atonement. Have a great week everyone! 愛しています！

Love,
Elder Lamoreaux
ラムロー長老
日本神戸伝道部
末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会
福知山地方部舞鶴支部


Playing with kids! 

This is a pretty cool story. On Wednesday, we went to visit one of the investigators that we haven't met before. We went over to her house and talked for a while. Then she said, "hey, there is a person who lives down the street who went to school in Ireland and is really good at English. You should go visit her!" So we followed this investigator to the person's house and then the investigator had to leave to go take care of her kids. So, we rang the doorbell and the person wasn't there. So then, we started to head back when this group of 5 ish kids come running over to us wanting to play. Apparently these kids have been playing with the missionaries every Wednesday for the past little while because they knew the names of the missionaries who were here last transfer. They love the missionaries! So, had the investigator not have pointed in the direction of this lady's house, we would not have been able to play with the kids. We would've never known. I thought that was some awesome direction from Heavenly Father. These kids were so fun too!

 this one is my favorite :)

Family Home Evening

Darn... It's blurry... So, every Monday night, we have Family Home Evening with the Branch President and his wife (they are so amazing), and the recent convert/investigator Family. We made sushi and had such a fun time. This 8 year old girl (the only Primary kid in the branch) is so fun and such a great member. I am amazed every time. It was so, so fun.

Thankful for Temple Covenants!

So here's another story for you. See that picture? Those are my pants. That is where my upper thigh is; very very ripped and torn in two places. What the heck happened you may ask. Well, here you go. So we were riding our bikes at around 12:00 one afternoon. We were riding back to the apartment to eat some lunch. As we were riding, I was deep in thought and there was a river right next to us. I love water and fish and whatnot, so I was looking into the water looking for fish. All this while I was riding my bike pretty fast. Well, as other times when you are driving distracted, you don't see what is right ahead of you. I ran head on into a waist high pole, like one of those things that separate the sidewalk and the car lanes. I flipped over my bike, landed pretty softly on the ground on my back. I popped right back up though. I examined myself, made sure nothing bad happened and I was great. I was bleeding from a cut on my thumb, had a few scratches and bruises, but I was great; no pain at all. So, we kept going, kind of slowly, back home. As I got off my bike, I looked down to my pants and I can see the white of my garments... (A little embarrassing, but hey, who hasn't ripped their pants? It's life.) This huge rip was right on my thigh as you can see on the picture. I kind of sat back and marveled. My leg could have been ripped up just like my pants were. That pole ripped right through the pants like a knife through soft butter. I am so grateful for the temple covenants and for the protection, the literal physical protection that they bring. My leg could have been severely damaged. I know that the Lord is looking out for each and every one of you and as you make covenants with him, he will bless you with protection and with happiness.

It's like coming back home...

Dear Everyone,

Transfers happened and I am now in Maizuru! First, I'll give an overview of my past week.

Monday I found out that I was transferring, so that day was filled with packing and saying goodbye to some of the people in Kitarokko. Tuesday and Wednesday was much of the same. Saying goodbye to the people in Kitarokko wasn't as hard as it was when I left Nishiwaki, but I still hate goodbyes. I am grateful for Facebook though because now I can be connected with these wonderful people even though I am not with them. Technology is great!

Last time teaching this Less Active member. He is super awesome!

Here is a video of my Eikaiwa (English class) student

Yeah...... He is so funny and so innocent.

So Thursday was transfer day. We did something different for transfers this time because the bike policy for the mission has changed. We now have to take our bike with us wherever we transfer, because the bike that we have now is now our bike for our whole mission. So, going throughout the trains and the crowds of people in Japan while carrying your bike in a bike bag was めちゃたいへん！！ (very uncomfortable, annoying, terrible? Is that the translation?) anyways, I was able to talk to all my missionary buddies, which is always great. After that, I met my new companion and we headed on our way to Maizuru. We went with the Nishiwaki missionaries because to get to Maizuru, we go through Nishiwaki. So, I was able to go back to my bean area!! It was super weird. It felt like I never even left. It felt like my last two and a half months was a dream. We got to the trainstation in Nishiwaki and had to wait another hour for our train to leave. A couple Nishiwaki members came to the trainstation to pick up their missionaries and I was able to talk to them for a little while! Man, I didn't know how much I missed Nishiwaki. They (the members) said that my Japanese got really good. ( I don't believe them but...) after that, we still had time before our train left, so we walked to a nearby Ramen shop where I would eat all the time (the one with all the fried chicken in my prior pictures). I was so thankful for that tender mercy of coming back to Nishiwaki. I needed it, and it reminded me that this mission is supposed to feel like that. It is hard to describe the feelings, but I just love that place so much and being able to be there for just one hour was a miracle. Truly a tender mercy. It was super crazy to go through places that I thought I would never go through again, for example the Nishiwaki train, the Ramen shop, the Fukuchiyama trainstation. It feels like I never even left. Kitarokko was just a weird dream it feels like haha.

I went back to Nishiwaki

 We eventually got to Maizuru and it was dark, so I got settled in to my new apartment. The next day, we went to the church to do weekly planning. The church...... When I saw it, I was shocked. It is located on the 2nd floor of an apartment building! It has two rooms, one for sacrament, one for classes. Wow. I think it is so awesome. This branch averages around 15-20 members at church every week. Only one primary kid, a recent convert who I will talk about later. No youth. So, so different than anything I have experienced before. I'll talk about my experience with church in a little bit. First off is our weekly planning session. This area used to have two companionships, but this transfer, they dropped the other elders, so we inherited their investigators. We now have 15 progressing investigators! Wow, I thought. Most of them seem like they have a lot of potential. A few of them have been taught most of the lessons and are just needing more desire and more belief.

So more on the investigators. It seems like there are quite a few families who are being taught. I am so excited for that! I have never taught a family before, so this is really exciting for me. Let's get back to those recent converts. The father was baptized in January and his daughter was baptized when she turned 8 in March I think. Their mother isn't baptized yet, but will totally be baptized soon. She just needs a little bit more desire to be baptized. She already goes to church and everyone loves her, she is basically a member already, but just needs to get in the water still. What makes things even better is that she (the mom) is Filipino!!! Their 8 year old daughter is like me, half Filipino! We already have that kind of bond! This is an awesome family. At church yesterday, the 8 year old was leading the music! She loves church! Also, it was fast and testimony meeting and there were, including the missionaries, 17 people total. Surprisingly, there wasn't any silences in the Testimony meeting. However, after the closing prayer, the 8 year old was crying. I was thinking "Oh no, why is she crying? That's not good." Apparently she was crying because she didn't have time to go up and bear her testimony. What in the world? Who is this angel? I am blown away by her. The first thing she said to me when I talked to her and introduced myself was "I am 1/2 Filipino too! I got baptized when I turned 8!" It was so awesome. I wish I had this kind of testimony that she has. I am truly excited to get to know these people better. I am confident that her mom will get baptized really soon.

At church yesterday, a member from Nishiwaki came and visited and it was so great to be able to talk to her again. I am home. I truly feel like this is the best place for me to be in. I don't know why, but I feel so much love for this Fukuchiyama District! I feel like I just woke up from a weird dream called Kitarokko. I feel like I never even left this place. It is really weird!!

Anyway, that was the bulk of my week. Be sure to look at the pictures I sent too. I will close with a scripture that I have shared before, but looking back at my stay in Kitarokko, I think it is the biggest thing I learned. It is 2 Nephi 4:34. "O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm." Trust in the Lord in all things. If you do that, everything will work out. The blessings will come.  Sometimes Heavenly Father needs us to wait and learn from our experiences and our trials. Eventually, if we do it well and always trust in God, he will form us into someone who we can't even imagine. I know that is true. Have a great week everyone!

Love,
Elder Lamoreaux
ラムロー長老

The Church in Maizuru (what that's not a church!) yes, yes it is...

The beauty of Maizuru.  So green everywhere!

(Click on picture to enlarge) 

 

  

Here's my 4th of July