That's what I told my companion. Then I taught him that we have the
other remote! It's only awkward if you make it awkward!
Heyo everybody!
We taught our Christian investigator again this week and it was pretty
bad, actually. He just talked for two hours and we just kinda sat
there and waited for an opening that never came. We're planning on
being bolder next time!
Weekly Questions!
How am I doing on my mission? How am I? What happened? Everything ok?
How was my week? How am I doing?
Wow, that was asked quite a bit! True, though, three of them were from
the same person. Sorry about that! I forgot to send that email when we
got WiFi! Don't kill me, please! But yeah, I'm doing great. Lots of
the same shtufts happens every week, but that's okay, right? Because
it's all good and great shtufts, so why not? I am enjoying myself
quite a bit here, although I've been thinking more about life and
shtufts recently and it's annoying 'cuz I've figured out that sarcasm
and cynicism can't get you through life by themselves, ne? Mainly
because Japanese people don't understand that here, but other than
that, it's been good!
How is the weather?
It's been raining off-and-on for the past two weeks and humid hot the
other days, but it's not too bad. It's better than Utah weather, at
the very least!
If I could be any kind of animal what would I be and why?
I would be a dragon 'cuz dragons are sick.
What animal would I say matches my personality best?
A crow. A Japanese crow. They are a bit different than regular 'cuz
they sound all epic, like they do in movies and shtufts, but they are
uber-stealth black birds of death that you only know are there if they
want you to. They also get to disregard the normal concepts of
gravity, which is pretty cool.
If I were to choose one for my companion, what animal would I choose
for him to be?
A gerbil 'cuz he has curly brown hair and he used to be chubby. And
no, I'm not being mean, I asked him about it!
Who is in my district and are they fun?
Mmm the Kamakura elders and the Hodogaya peeps. The only one of them
that I feel like mentioning is Elder Busteed. He is a straight up
hippy. It's great.
What is my plan for saving the world this week? (I dunno if the person
who asked this will even get to read this, but I might as well answer
anyways!)
Preach the gospel. Teach the good word. The method of that will be the
same as every day, probably. Study in the morning, walk to the massive
park 15 minutes from the station, walk around that for an hour and a
half, walk through the station to the driving school and beyond for
about an hour, then turn around, come back to the station and hand out
some fliers for English Class for about an hour, maybe street for a
bit more, then head home and eat and sleep, then do the same thing
every day with the exception of English Class, Game Night, weekly
planning and church.
What was the last movie I watched before I left for the mission?
I dunno... I was trying to remember that the other day, but I honestly
can't remember...
Do I remember when I was ordained (a priest)? Where and who was there?
Yeah I do! It was at the church in the bishop's office with all my
family and it was very crowded! It was great.
What do I think is the best way to teach something to someone?
Examples and analogies, but in the event that that doesn't work or you
can't give an example and you can't think of an analogy, if you can
listen to their thoughts on whatever it is, then link your
thought-process to theirs and show them your thoughts, that works
excellently. If you dunno how to do that, teach them a true principal
and let them govern themselves, at least as far as it only affects
them.
Have I thought about my companions and which color code they are?
Actually, no! I haven't thought of that... I dunno what Elder Bates
would be... a white-blue mix, prolly. I just think that everyone is
spirit sons and daughters of our loving Heavenly Father, and therefore
we are all awesome, ne? I meant that to sound kinda funny cliché but
now I read it again and it doesn't really have the feeling I was going
for... ah well...
The other day we were eating and I took a bit of my rice and Elder
Kennedy said "I'm sorry Elder Brooksby, but the was the smallest bite
I have ever seen anyone take out of anything in my entire life!" And I
hadn't swallowed it, so I counted the grains of rice in my mouth.
There were nine. I was surprised.
Random Story Time!
Elder Otsuka volunteered us to work at an old folks home every week
and we went for the first time this week, which was pretty fun. We
sang songs about bunnies and shtufts and I didn't do the actions
because I was trying to grab my camera, but I did sing the "Little
Bunny FuFu" with Sister Blake, which was pretty fun! Then they gave us
all postcards of bunnies. It was slightly strange, but hey, love is
great, right?
My favorite member wasn't at church this week 'cuz they were sick...
It kinda bummed me out... But I hear they are doing better, which is
great! That was actually kinda a cool story 'cuz on Sunday I was all
chillin' and feeling sorry for myself 'cuz I didn't have anyone to
talk to, but then I thought "Hey, what would Jesus do? He would prolly
pray for them." and at the time I didn't know they were sick, but when
I prayed I said "Help them to become healthy." without meaning to and
I was thinking "Huh, I guess they are sick!" afterwards, and it ended
up that they really were! Cool bit of revelation-prayer miracle there!
Love you alls!
Younger Elder Brooksby
Ps. Sorry I didn't write a Book of Brooksby chapter this week. The
reason for that is that I felt like someone needs a specific one, but
they can't get it until they ask. No idea what that means, but I'm
assuming the person with the hard thing or question will be able to
help me out here!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
The miracle phrase!
"I've always wanted to know more about you guys. Is there a Book about
Mormons?", a great thing to hear when you hardly ever get a chance to
give out the book about Mormons! Elder Bates just pulled it out and
said "Here it is. D'ya want it?" And the kid was like "What, really?
Thanks! I gotta go, but thanks for this!" And he's gonna get baptized.
We only talked for about 3 minutes.
Heyo, everybody!
Weekly Questions!
What is your opinion on writing missionaries?
Please do! They love letters! As far as reading emotional shtufts into
the fact that you are writing a missionary, I think that it means
almost nothing past the fact that you deem them worthy of a couple
minutes of your time each week. You could very well be anywhere from
counting down the days until they get home, you could just be bored,
or you could be grounded from everything except writing missionaries,
which would be odd.
What is your opinion on pets?
Pets are sweet. I like puppies and cats, but not dogs or kittens as
much. A caged pet is cool too, like a snake or a bird, or even a
tarantula if you wanted one. I also think that pets are also a great
way to give kids a responsibility that they really care for, instead
of one they just have to do before they can play, like chores.
How is life in Japan? How was my week? Did anything exciting happen?
These questions basically repeated each other, so I'm answering them
all at once. Life is great, having lots of fun and seeing miracles.
Some miracles are so small it's stunning, like this morning we were
gonna study a random talk in companion study, so we both searched the
word "dim" in the gospel library and both opened the exact same talk
out of the 200+ results. Others are more like the one for the title.
I spike my hair with gel when it is short, but when it starts to get
too long I have to use more gel to keep it up, which is the biggest
pain, especially when it's almost too long to spike but still too
short to leave down. It's kinda at that point right now, but I didn't
want to use a ton of gel, so I just used the normal amount today and
Elder Bates told me as we were leaving the church this morning "Hey
Elder Brooksby, your mating crest is drooping." And I thought it was
humorous.
Random Story Time!
We went to stake conference on Sunday and we were on the train back
when I got into a conversation with a couple on the train, which was
cool 'cuz most of the time you can only get one contact in a single
ride, but then they left and at the same station six teenagers got on
and we started talking to them, which got us way stoked 'cuz nobody
ever gets eight contacts in a single train ride. It was actually quite
the humorous conversation 'cuz Elder Bates was talking but he kept
running out of topics of conversation, so I started feeding him some
lines to keep it from getting awkward, but after a couple he said
"Hey, don't worry. I got this!" And he didn't have it, so I gave him
another line and he said "Shut up, Elder Brooksby!" And used the line.
Then Elder Kennedy got into it, but he was just trying to add to the
crazy, making him ask them who their favorite Dragonball Z character
was or if he could become a Saiyan, at which point Elder Kennedy and I
were dying of laughter and he said "I hate you guys...". Then we
arrived at our station and caught an entire baseball team and Elder
Bates had a high-five contest with one of them until their hands
turned red. It was epic and we got 18 contacts in under 30 minutes,
which was legendary, then proceeded to walk around for five hours and
only talk to one more person right at the end of the day. Still, a
great day.
We saved an old lady from a rat that ran into her store. We weren't
worried so much about the merchandise as we were about the old lady, I
just didn't want her to have a heart attack! But she survived and
loves us now, which is cool.
Loves to you all!
Younger Elder Brooksby
Mormons?", a great thing to hear when you hardly ever get a chance to
give out the book about Mormons! Elder Bates just pulled it out and
said "Here it is. D'ya want it?" And the kid was like "What, really?
Thanks! I gotta go, but thanks for this!" And he's gonna get baptized.
We only talked for about 3 minutes.
Heyo, everybody!
Weekly Questions!
What is your opinion on writing missionaries?
Please do! They love letters! As far as reading emotional shtufts into
the fact that you are writing a missionary, I think that it means
almost nothing past the fact that you deem them worthy of a couple
minutes of your time each week. You could very well be anywhere from
counting down the days until they get home, you could just be bored,
or you could be grounded from everything except writing missionaries,
which would be odd.
What is your opinion on pets?
Pets are sweet. I like puppies and cats, but not dogs or kittens as
much. A caged pet is cool too, like a snake or a bird, or even a
tarantula if you wanted one. I also think that pets are also a great
way to give kids a responsibility that they really care for, instead
of one they just have to do before they can play, like chores.
How is life in Japan? How was my week? Did anything exciting happen?
These questions basically repeated each other, so I'm answering them
all at once. Life is great, having lots of fun and seeing miracles.
Some miracles are so small it's stunning, like this morning we were
gonna study a random talk in companion study, so we both searched the
word "dim" in the gospel library and both opened the exact same talk
out of the 200+ results. Others are more like the one for the title.
I spike my hair with gel when it is short, but when it starts to get
too long I have to use more gel to keep it up, which is the biggest
pain, especially when it's almost too long to spike but still too
short to leave down. It's kinda at that point right now, but I didn't
want to use a ton of gel, so I just used the normal amount today and
Elder Bates told me as we were leaving the church this morning "Hey
Elder Brooksby, your mating crest is drooping." And I thought it was
humorous.
Random Story Time!
We went to stake conference on Sunday and we were on the train back
when I got into a conversation with a couple on the train, which was
cool 'cuz most of the time you can only get one contact in a single
ride, but then they left and at the same station six teenagers got on
and we started talking to them, which got us way stoked 'cuz nobody
ever gets eight contacts in a single train ride. It was actually quite
the humorous conversation 'cuz Elder Bates was talking but he kept
running out of topics of conversation, so I started feeding him some
lines to keep it from getting awkward, but after a couple he said
"Hey, don't worry. I got this!" And he didn't have it, so I gave him
another line and he said "Shut up, Elder Brooksby!" And used the line.
Then Elder Kennedy got into it, but he was just trying to add to the
crazy, making him ask them who their favorite Dragonball Z character
was or if he could become a Saiyan, at which point Elder Kennedy and I
were dying of laughter and he said "I hate you guys...". Then we
arrived at our station and caught an entire baseball team and Elder
Bates had a high-five contest with one of them until their hands
turned red. It was epic and we got 18 contacts in under 30 minutes,
which was legendary, then proceeded to walk around for five hours and
only talk to one more person right at the end of the day. Still, a
great day.
We saved an old lady from a rat that ran into her store. We weren't
worried so much about the merchandise as we were about the old lady, I
just didn't want her to have a heart attack! But she survived and
loves us now, which is cool.
Loves to you all!
Younger Elder Brooksby
The saddest title I have received...
I was called "Delicate" by an English class student when we were eating with him. It's not too bad, though, 'cuz in Japanese it doesn't have the same feeling and it's more of a complement, but still! "Pretty-boy", as in a guy who likes cooking and dancing and arranging flowers, is also a complement.
Konnichiwa, minasan!
Transfer calls today! This was the first time I've ever had a preference for them, which was to stay, but you will have to wait and see what happened! It's pretty wild, actually!
Weekly Questions!
Why am I so cute?
I would say I was born that way, but that wouldn't quite be true because I've been told it increases every day.
What color is my toothbrush?
Well sad thing is that I used the same toothbrush until it died, and that one was green, but my current one is blue. I've had it in a plastic bag since the MTC.
What did I eat for lunch today?
I got a bento or boxed lunch from a convenience store. It had four or five different types of sushi in it. I got a Sprite too.
Who is my favorite super hero and why?
Wolverine because he has unlimited defense and almost unlimited attack, so he can never die and can still get stuff done, but he's not all-powerful.
What do I want to say to my Dad for Father's day?
Happy Fathers Day! I didn't know you cared so much about me calling you Fatman that you felt the need to loose weight, but good job! Keep at it!
Do I like Grape Nuts with peanut butter? Do they have grape nuts there?
Mmm.... I haven't had it in a while, but I kinda remember it tasting like sand... And no, that's an American thing.
Has there been a kind of fruit there that I get to eat that isn't in America?
There's a melon that's just straight up called a melon that doesn't exist in America. It's a very interesting flavor and they use it in everything, but I don't think I've ever had it in the original form.
How's the weather?
It's gotten somewhat-hot-humid, but it's not too bad. He real problem is that because it's warm outside and these crazy Utah'ns can't stand it, they always set the temp. to 18 degrees Celsius, so it's way cold. I think that's 50 degrees Fahrenheit? I haven't used that in a while though...
What's been my biggest memory this week that I will probably remember for the rest of my life?
Ooohhh, that one is hard.... To answer, that is. I know what it is, but it's not something I'll just send in a mass email haha. Heck, I would hardly send it in a private e-mail to my older brother. If he asks after my mission about it and I really do remember, here may be a slight chance that I tell him about it, especially depending on the effects of said memory.
If you could be perfect at one Christlike attribute, what would it be and why?
Either faith or charity and love. I think that faith would be way epic and it kinda boosts all other attributes, but I've only recently realized how important charity and love are, and I've never been particularly good at it. It's like, faith gives you the ability to do things, but charity and love are the motivations to do them, ne? Which is better? Is one really better than the other?
Where is my camera?
It's in my bag? I don't use it a ton 'cuz I am really bad at taking pictures, but we went to the zoo today and I used it a lot there, at the request of my dear mother!
Yoshiyoshi! Good shtufts! I hardly ever feel tired anymore! It's only when the other elders mention it that I notice it, and physically I still am, but I am doing awesome right now!
Elder Otsuka said "I could do that! Oh dang, that one is on a whole other level. Dang, this girl has heavenly powers!" Whilst I was showing him pictures of the food sculptures that my crazy little sister has made. I wish I had asked her to do shtufts like that more often!
~~~~~~~~~~Transfer Updates!!!~~~~~~~~~~
1.Elder Kennedy stays!
2.Elder Otsuka stays for his fifth transfer here!
3.Elder Bates stays!
4.Sister Hokanson stays!
5.Sister Matsumoto goes to Shonan! Too bad...
6.She is being replaced by Sister Blake, who is second transfer and I don't think I've met her before.
7.Younger Elder Brooksby stays! Yoshiyoshi! Made my day!
That's not quite set in stone 'cuz President Wada is "a man who can receive revelation in four hours", as Elder Otsuka puts it.
Random Story Time!
Japanese people are crazy partiers! True, most of that is because they are "slightly" drunk and they don't party extremely often, but still, I think that they beat out America for craziness! We were invited to a festival by our English class student, the same one that called me delicate, so we went and I was amazed! Sadly, we had to leave somewhat early because we also had to make it to Game Night, but I wish I had had more time and freedom to just wander and meet people and play games and eat food and almost get run over by the crazy drunk guys who were carrying a shrine on their shoulders and shaking it up and down and chanting and walking down the street blowing whistles and shtufts. It was sweet.
Alright, I think that's about it! I'll throw In a bit of spiritual shtufts, just so you know I'm not just messing around here!
Alright, I think that's about it! I'll throw In a bit of spiritual shtufts, just so you know I'm not just messing around here!
Nowhere in ancient or modern scripture, at least as far as I'm aware, is perfection equated with being the best at everything. No, true perfection is doing everything you are capable of to the best of your abilities. There is no justified condemnation for failing a task because of a lack of knowledge or physical capability. In a way, those with a lack of those resources have that much more potential to achieve perfection.
Loves and pieces!!
Younger Elder Brooksby
Younger Elder Brooksby
"What do you think about these paragraphs?"
Two sentences later "'cause obviously we aren't X-Men!". The human
mind is a strange thing... Oddly enough, we were reading the intro to
the Book of Mormon.
Heyo, everybody! Whazzup???
Let's get started, shall we?
Weekly Questions!
How is life treating you?
Well, let's just say that if I were to die right this second and be
brought before God to be judged, I would be exited to go!
Any new things happening for you?
Yeah, new things from old stories. That's the best thing about
stories; they are hardly ever really over.
There weren't a ton of questions this week, but that's alright. It's a
forgivable sin.
Okay, one of the most randomly serious and potentially depressing
moments of my entire mission happened this week. It was way weird. I
asked a guy I had never met if he was going for a walk and he said (in
Japanese, obviously) "No, I was just going to buy something for myself
'cuz I live alone 'cuz my wife died this year. Bye bye!" And he walked
into his house. Hey, at least we know where he lives now!
I made a cool old-guy friend. We were walking down the street and saw
an old guy leading another blind old guy down the street, so as we
passed them I said "Hello!" And the non-blind old guy turned a bit and
said over his shoulder "It's nice to meet you!" And then I said over
my own shoulder "It's nice to meet you too!" And then he shouted back
"It's nice to meet you three!" And made Elder Bates and my day.
Energetic old guys, gotta love 'em!
Random Story Time!
The rainy season has entered with a bang! We have been soaked the past
5 days except yesterday which was a drizzle and today which was just
overcast. Anyways,(activate epic English mode) approximately four days
in the prior there were exceedingly copious amounts of precipitation,
and in correlation with that factor the frequency in which the group
of members of the human race toward which we exercised our greatest
efforts that we encountered had decreased significantly. Therefore,
the persons known as Elder Bates and Brooksby "the Amazing" thusly
found sufficient reason to bring forth their voices in hymning praises
to their God and king with a composition which has been known prior to
this moment by some as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", and while
thus engaged in this their march and song, came upon a signal of
electricity that is frequently used to signal motorized vehicles as
well as pedestrians in the fashion with which they might proceed to
maximize safety for all, and in this case their progression forward
was brought to a halt.
As this pair of sublime human specimens were thus in the action of
awaiting the re-direction of certain, aforementioned electronic
signals, a young man approached rapidly atop a self-propelled vehicle,
otherwise known as a bicycle, but sadly the young lad was lacking in
the necessary equipment for such an atmospheric disturbance as the one
which was currently in the heavens above that place, namely a long
metal rod containing approximately eight to sixteen ribs of metal with
either a plastic or woven substance acting as webs between the ribs,
known to the more frequent folk as an umbrella.
Upon beholding such an situation, Younger Elder Brooksby the Great
reacted quickly and preformed a minuscule but nonetheless heroic act
and provided a moments respite for the young lad by stretching forth
his arm and providing a glorious shelter for but a few moments, at the
cost of the shoulder of his left side being swiftly enriched with an
exorbitant amount of the tears of angels who wept to behold such an
scene.
After a small exchanging of words amongst the now fellow travelers,
the lad wiped the tears of his frustration and discontentment from
his eyes with a feeling of happiness and contentment, and swiftly, in
accordance with altering electric currents, the man rode into the
wetness of the dreary world, to continue his quest forever lightened.
We were teaching that Christian kid I mentioned earlier about the
restoration and plan of salvation, but for some reason while we were
going over the doctrinal differences that we would need to explain
'cuz we don't frequently teach Christians, somehow we completely
spaced the Trinity, so when we got to the picture of Joseph in the
garden we were both like, "Oh shoot." And it blew his mind. Coulda and
shoulda prepped better for that, but the spirit saved it, thank
goodness!
That's about it, I think! Hope you enjoyed the read!
Love!
Younger Elder Brooksby
mind is a strange thing... Oddly enough, we were reading the intro to
the Book of Mormon.
Heyo, everybody! Whazzup???
Let's get started, shall we?
Weekly Questions!
How is life treating you?
Well, let's just say that if I were to die right this second and be
brought before God to be judged, I would be exited to go!
Any new things happening for you?
Yeah, new things from old stories. That's the best thing about
stories; they are hardly ever really over.
There weren't a ton of questions this week, but that's alright. It's a
forgivable sin.
Okay, one of the most randomly serious and potentially depressing
moments of my entire mission happened this week. It was way weird. I
asked a guy I had never met if he was going for a walk and he said (in
Japanese, obviously) "No, I was just going to buy something for myself
'cuz I live alone 'cuz my wife died this year. Bye bye!" And he walked
into his house. Hey, at least we know where he lives now!
I made a cool old-guy friend. We were walking down the street and saw
an old guy leading another blind old guy down the street, so as we
passed them I said "Hello!" And the non-blind old guy turned a bit and
said over his shoulder "It's nice to meet you!" And then I said over
my own shoulder "It's nice to meet you too!" And then he shouted back
"It's nice to meet you three!" And made Elder Bates and my day.
Energetic old guys, gotta love 'em!
Random Story Time!
The rainy season has entered with a bang! We have been soaked the past
5 days except yesterday which was a drizzle and today which was just
overcast. Anyways,(activate epic English mode) approximately four days
in the prior there were exceedingly copious amounts of precipitation,
and in correlation with that factor the frequency in which the group
of members of the human race toward which we exercised our greatest
efforts that we encountered had decreased significantly. Therefore,
the persons known as Elder Bates and Brooksby "the Amazing" thusly
found sufficient reason to bring forth their voices in hymning praises
to their God and king with a composition which has been known prior to
this moment by some as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", and while
thus engaged in this their march and song, came upon a signal of
electricity that is frequently used to signal motorized vehicles as
well as pedestrians in the fashion with which they might proceed to
maximize safety for all, and in this case their progression forward
was brought to a halt.
As this pair of sublime human specimens were thus in the action of
awaiting the re-direction of certain, aforementioned electronic
signals, a young man approached rapidly atop a self-propelled vehicle,
otherwise known as a bicycle, but sadly the young lad was lacking in
the necessary equipment for such an atmospheric disturbance as the one
which was currently in the heavens above that place, namely a long
metal rod containing approximately eight to sixteen ribs of metal with
either a plastic or woven substance acting as webs between the ribs,
known to the more frequent folk as an umbrella.
Upon beholding such an situation, Younger Elder Brooksby the Great
reacted quickly and preformed a minuscule but nonetheless heroic act
and provided a moments respite for the young lad by stretching forth
his arm and providing a glorious shelter for but a few moments, at the
cost of the shoulder of his left side being swiftly enriched with an
exorbitant amount of the tears of angels who wept to behold such an
scene.
After a small exchanging of words amongst the now fellow travelers,
the lad wiped the tears of his frustration and discontentment from
his eyes with a feeling of happiness and contentment, and swiftly, in
accordance with altering electric currents, the man rode into the
wetness of the dreary world, to continue his quest forever lightened.
We were teaching that Christian kid I mentioned earlier about the
restoration and plan of salvation, but for some reason while we were
going over the doctrinal differences that we would need to explain
'cuz we don't frequently teach Christians, somehow we completely
spaced the Trinity, so when we got to the picture of Joseph in the
garden we were both like, "Oh shoot." And it blew his mind. Coulda and
shoulda prepped better for that, but the spirit saved it, thank
goodness!
That's about it, I think! Hope you enjoyed the read!
Love!
Younger Elder Brooksby
I met Abe Lincoln this week!
At least, he introduced himself as Abe Lincoln. His name really is
Abe, but it's pronounced Japanese style, ah-bei.
Heyo, everybody!
I had to write the beginning twice 'cuz I accidentally deleted my
email... Gah...
Weekly Questions!
How about me?
Twice asked, I'm only just too lazy to answer both separately, so I'm
doing good, or in fact better than good! I'm doing excellent!
What am I doing?
I am doing missionary work! We actually almost got one of our most
important and focused-on stats to average! 64/70, yosha! We had been
improving constantly from the beginning of the transfer, but it
already looks like we'll finally make it this week! I'm super exited
to do it, as weird as that is for me haha. Next week will be 100/70!
What do I remember about my baptism?
I remember standing with the other kids in front of the font while
somebody was talking or telling us what to do, but I don't really
remember a whole lot... I do remember taking some pictures and getting
a journal at the party afterwards.
How is English Class going?
It's going way good! President Wada came to our ward and cleared up
some misunderstandings, such as how, though we say English Class is a
proselyting tool, we don't intend to actively and aggressively
proselyte during English Class, or how it is a church, so we are asked
to pray to start and end all meetings if at all possible. It helped
the English Class, but I feel bad for having "fought" と言うか、disagreed
with our English Class coordinator. He really is an awesome guy who
was just a bit afraid of some things because of what had happened in
the past, so Elder Bates and I want to give him a candy bar or do some
kinda service for him to show him how much we really do appreciate
him. He has actually helped a lot with providing opportunities for
missionary work and such, and once he sees an idea that actually
works, he loves it. I kinda felt bad for making him seem to be
unfriendly when really we just weren't on track and honestly, we
weren't nearly as friendly to him as we should have been. That's an
example of what not to do!
Does my Mission President allow parents to come pick up missionaries?
Yupp. Free game, as far as I'm aware! I'll ask him sometime, though,
just to be safe.
One of our potential investigators is now finally an investigator!
Finally! He is a Christian, which is a bit of a problem 'cuz we aren't
trained with Christians in mind and I'm a bit out of practice, but it
will be a fun learning experience!
An odd feeling I just recently felt, but I don't want to leave this
area. It's way weird 'cuz for one, every other area I've been in I've
always felt like my work to do there was done just before I
transferred out, and two because I honestly quite hated it here my
first two transfers, but now I just feel like if I never had to leave
here I would be happy. I've met some awesome people here and I am
working on being remembered, and maybe one day I will be good enough
of a missionary that the members will actually remember my name!
That's the plan, anyways!
Random Story Time!
Please, allow me to share a story and a scripture to go along with it.
It begins at the beginning.... Of the transfer. Elder Bates had had
some errors with his debit card the prior transfer that caused him to
start the month with 100$ less, and Elder Kennedy had had several
doctors appointments(yes, someone else broke. Elder Bates got bad
hives on his legs, too. That's 10/11) as well as spent a transfer with
a returning missionary, which isn't the slightest bit friendly to
anyone's wallet. Anyways, I will now share the scripture that will
give you an idea of how scheming I am, but really how awesome of a guy
I really am.
1 Samuel 22:2-And every one that was in distress, and every one that
was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves
unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him
about four hundred men.
And thus a great army was gained over the course of but a few days.
And thus the army of Hodogaya did bring peace to the land and there
was much potential gold in the chambers of Elder Brooksby the Younger,
as well as an increase of friendship and reliance, one with another.
And thus the days of May did end with much rejoicing at the hand of
all parties, and forevermore was Younger Elder Brooksby considered a
king among them.
I went on splits with one of the zone leaders, who also happened to be
one of my former companions, Elder Fernelius, and he was hardcore
freaking out at how many random kids called out to us in 15 minutes of
walking in a certain area or our area. He said whoo, just felt an
earthquake! Anyways, he said "I swear, they must have posters of you
guys in their school that say to greet these foreign people, with a
picture of your faces on it!" It was entertaining.
Okay, we had an awesome idea just before this last weekly planning
session and I wanted to get some thoughts on it. So in Japanese wards
the membership is often quite a bit less than 50% active members, so
Elder Bates and I thought of this because of something Elder Nelson
said in the "Hastening the Work of Salvation" broadcast that we were
watching at the time. He said something along the lines of "You don't
feel that anyone is missing until you set a place for everyone that
should be there." So I was like, "Man, what if we set up a chair for
every member of our ward on a week one of us was talking in church,
then just say "Look behind you. These are all of your brothers and
sisters that should be here. We need your help to bring them back."
And be all epic." What do you guys think? I want some honest feedback
here!
Loves to you all! Peace!
Younger Elder Brooksby
Abe, but it's pronounced Japanese style, ah-bei.
Heyo, everybody!
I had to write the beginning twice 'cuz I accidentally deleted my
email... Gah...
Weekly Questions!
How about me?
Twice asked, I'm only just too lazy to answer both separately, so I'm
doing good, or in fact better than good! I'm doing excellent!
What am I doing?
I am doing missionary work! We actually almost got one of our most
important and focused-on stats to average! 64/70, yosha! We had been
improving constantly from the beginning of the transfer, but it
already looks like we'll finally make it this week! I'm super exited
to do it, as weird as that is for me haha. Next week will be 100/70!
What do I remember about my baptism?
I remember standing with the other kids in front of the font while
somebody was talking or telling us what to do, but I don't really
remember a whole lot... I do remember taking some pictures and getting
a journal at the party afterwards.
How is English Class going?
It's going way good! President Wada came to our ward and cleared up
some misunderstandings, such as how, though we say English Class is a
proselyting tool, we don't intend to actively and aggressively
proselyte during English Class, or how it is a church, so we are asked
to pray to start and end all meetings if at all possible. It helped
the English Class, but I feel bad for having "fought" と言うか、disagreed
with our English Class coordinator. He really is an awesome guy who
was just a bit afraid of some things because of what had happened in
the past, so Elder Bates and I want to give him a candy bar or do some
kinda service for him to show him how much we really do appreciate
him. He has actually helped a lot with providing opportunities for
missionary work and such, and once he sees an idea that actually
works, he loves it. I kinda felt bad for making him seem to be
unfriendly when really we just weren't on track and honestly, we
weren't nearly as friendly to him as we should have been. That's an
example of what not to do!
Does my Mission President allow parents to come pick up missionaries?
Yupp. Free game, as far as I'm aware! I'll ask him sometime, though,
just to be safe.
One of our potential investigators is now finally an investigator!
Finally! He is a Christian, which is a bit of a problem 'cuz we aren't
trained with Christians in mind and I'm a bit out of practice, but it
will be a fun learning experience!
An odd feeling I just recently felt, but I don't want to leave this
area. It's way weird 'cuz for one, every other area I've been in I've
always felt like my work to do there was done just before I
transferred out, and two because I honestly quite hated it here my
first two transfers, but now I just feel like if I never had to leave
here I would be happy. I've met some awesome people here and I am
working on being remembered, and maybe one day I will be good enough
of a missionary that the members will actually remember my name!
That's the plan, anyways!
Random Story Time!
Please, allow me to share a story and a scripture to go along with it.
It begins at the beginning.... Of the transfer. Elder Bates had had
some errors with his debit card the prior transfer that caused him to
start the month with 100$ less, and Elder Kennedy had had several
doctors appointments(yes, someone else broke. Elder Bates got bad
hives on his legs, too. That's 10/11) as well as spent a transfer with
a returning missionary, which isn't the slightest bit friendly to
anyone's wallet. Anyways, I will now share the scripture that will
give you an idea of how scheming I am, but really how awesome of a guy
I really am.
1 Samuel 22:2-And every one that was in distress, and every one that
was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves
unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him
about four hundred men.
And thus a great army was gained over the course of but a few days.
And thus the army of Hodogaya did bring peace to the land and there
was much potential gold in the chambers of Elder Brooksby the Younger,
as well as an increase of friendship and reliance, one with another.
And thus the days of May did end with much rejoicing at the hand of
all parties, and forevermore was Younger Elder Brooksby considered a
king among them.
I went on splits with one of the zone leaders, who also happened to be
one of my former companions, Elder Fernelius, and he was hardcore
freaking out at how many random kids called out to us in 15 minutes of
walking in a certain area or our area. He said whoo, just felt an
earthquake! Anyways, he said "I swear, they must have posters of you
guys in their school that say to greet these foreign people, with a
picture of your faces on it!" It was entertaining.
Okay, we had an awesome idea just before this last weekly planning
session and I wanted to get some thoughts on it. So in Japanese wards
the membership is often quite a bit less than 50% active members, so
Elder Bates and I thought of this because of something Elder Nelson
said in the "Hastening the Work of Salvation" broadcast that we were
watching at the time. He said something along the lines of "You don't
feel that anyone is missing until you set a place for everyone that
should be there." So I was like, "Man, what if we set up a chair for
every member of our ward on a week one of us was talking in church,
then just say "Look behind you. These are all of your brothers and
sisters that should be here. We need your help to bring them back."
And be all epic." What do you guys think? I want some honest feedback
here!
Loves to you all! Peace!
Younger Elder Brooksby
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