Christmastime in Shimizu

Merry Christmas!!
Here in Shimizu, it certainly won`t be a white Christmas. Nevertheless, Japan is doing it`s very best do get ready for Santa Clause. When we talk to people on the street, we try to explain that Jesus Christ and Christmas are related. They have no idea! Christ in Japanese, borrowed from the Portugese who first came in contact with them several hundred years ago, is Kirisuto. However, they spell Christmas just like us and pronounce it the same. So they don`t see the connection at all. In addition, everyone just uses X-Mas now anyway. They would more likely link X-Mas with Malcolm X or the X-Men before Christ. So when we explain it, they are completely mesmorized. They asked how Santa got into the holiday...which we don`t have a great answer for really, but it is fun.

Even though the commercial side of Japan is trying really hard to make Christmas a big holiday, it still really isn`t. They don`t get work off or anything. To them, it`s a hyped up Flag Day which is a precurser to New Years. I haven`t yet experienced New Years, but it is supposed to be wild. Usually missionaries aren`t aloud to go out on that day because of the mass drunkedness. We`ll see what fun we`ll have though.

So lately we have been doing a new type of proselyting. Christmas Caroling!! It`s very, very fun. We stand outside of a trainstation by the city`s Christmas decoration and as a district sing hymns and songs in both Japanese and English. We then have someone standing in front handing out fliers for our free English Class or about our church. A comment on their christmas decorations. Shimizu seems to think Cinderella was a good theme for decorations this year. There is a carriage shaped like a pumkpin and everything that comes with that all lit up and sparkly. However, the rest of the decorations have nothing remotely to do with Christmas, except for a couple bells. It`s quite hilarious. So as we sing, we give out lots, and lots of fliers. Lots of people are taken back when they see us and many stand and clap for a while. It`s really fun, and sometimes, when we sing silent night or another hymn, you can tell that people walking by are feeling the Spirit which scuh songs bring. It is an amazing experience.

Yesterday I saw a salvation army lady outside of a store. I was amazed. Weent and talked to her for a while and she was increadibly nice. We became good friends. They don`t ring a bell though. They stand by a very nice fabric pot thing and talk into a microphone hooked up to an amp. Non-stop they talk and talk and thank people for when they donate...though very few do. It`s very interesting.

This morning, we got a phonecall from the 2nd councilor in the bishopric who is from Canada. He lives here with his Japanese wife with her parents who are farmers. He called and asked us to come over and help them put up four greenhouses. We of course said we would love to and he assured us it would only take about an hour or so and he would take us out to eat later this week. Well, we worked straight from 8:30am to 3:30 and finally finished everything. It was increadibly hard labor and I will be soar for several weeks. Nevertheless, it was very fun and we were able to leave a very good impression with her parents who aren`t members of our church unfortunately. They tried to pay us, quite a bit actually, but somehow we were able to explain what Christian service was. Kindess is our religion. It was foreign to them, but I think they realized towards the end that we`re just here to help.

Well the adventures just keep coming and it`s been great to serve here. I am doing very well and am excited for Christmas. I hope you all have a great week and a very merry Christmas.

Always,
Elder Alexander Todd Fuller

Shimizu is a Cool Place!

Hello from Shimizu Japan, part of Shizuoka I am doing very well. It`s actually relatively warmer down here than it was in Toyko. Maybe 50 Degrees, or something like that. We wear gloves and sweaters at night, but it really isn`t too bad. The weirdest thing is that japan doesn`t believe in something I`ve used my entire life: daylight savings time. I think the clocks are off by about 3 hours here. The sun rises around 3 or 4 am and sets by 5pm. It is very confusing. I think it is yet another joke on eveyone who doesn`t grow up in Japan.

Shimizu is a very different place, though I am starting to love it already. In my previous area, around 100 people came to church every sunday. This last sunday in Shimizu there were 28. A little smaller. The church is an old firestation so it has a giagantic garage. It`s nice though and the ward is very strong. Apparently there was a member who apostatisized a few years ago and offended a LOT of members, so the only ones left are the very strong members. It`s rather sad. Of 597 people on the ward list, 28 come to church. Kind of the story of Japan, but yet, it still is an amazing place. Church was fast and testimony meeting so I was the first one to talk. I introduced myself (lots of people know kansas city because of the Royals, how weird is that?) and then bore my testimony. I talked extensively about how the point of the gospel is happiness. The point of the church, the purpose of us as missionaries, even the very purpose of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is to make us happy. I shared one of my favorite scriptures, Mosiah 2:41 and then closed my comments. I sat down realizing that I had just talked for about 10 minutes straight, in Japanese, never struggling for a word once, and speaking my thoughts and feelings just as I would in English. I can never deny that I was blessed with the Gift of Tongues through the Holy Ghost. I am so increadibly blessed here.

The members who followed me were amazing. There was a recent convert who has only been a member for about a year, who got up and talked for her first time in church. She bore a powerful witness. There is a family whose father is Canadian and the mother is Japanese named the Palmers. They have three amazing kids. The Dad, who has very good Japanese and is in ward leadership aslo got up and talked for a bit. His Japanese was the only I understood all the way. Japanese is such fun, just like rocket science is fun. ANd advanced calculus.

So the ocean is gorgeous. We`ll be riding our bikes and I`ll look to my left and see deep blue for miles and miles. On my right are mountains and moutains and an ominous Mt. Fuji towering over the others. Mt> Fuji is amazing and majestic. It is increadibly tall and commanding. I`ll try to send some pictures home sometime of it, but it`s hard to describe just how noticable it is. When I first saw it I couldn`t look at anything else. It is quite a beauty of nature.

So there aren`t too many people that we teach right now. We have one very good investigator that is an older guy who really likes the church, but just doesn`t want to join yet. He`s through half of the Book of Mormon, Alma 46, and he`s still "50 \ 50" on whether it is the word of God or not. I am not sure how to help him see the how amazing the book is, but hopefully we`ll be able to do it.

Most of what we do is try to visit inactive members, especially since there are so many. This presents with it some very fun stories. There are lots of crazy people in life sometimes.

The biggest difference than Tokyo is that the streets have very few people on them so it`s a lot harder to teach lots of people. In Tokyo, you can just go to a train station and teach scores of people. Here, it`s a little more relying on the spirit and a lot more bike riding.

So Elder Doxey is a way cool guy. He has a sleeping disorder called narcolepsy which sounds a lot worse than it is. It just means he can fall asleep whenever he wants to and needs something to wake him up. For　me that means I have to wake him up periodically though our morning study and do a lot of stuff on my own. I don`t mind though, but is certainly is helping my self-discipline. If i want to sleep I can, but I try hard not too. I`ve never realized how tiring it is to have someone sleeping in the same room. It is so hard to stay awake. However, I have been doing well.

Elder Doxey also has some very, very cool CDs. He has a musical called "The Garden" which is a metaphorical musical about Christ`s atonement which is very good. He also has 16 lectures by Mariom G Romney on the Prophet Joseph Smith on Cds. I`ve only heard the first four -- we usually listen to them during dinner or something -- but they are amazing. There are so many things I learn about him and so many proofs that this man was a prophet of God. It is so fun to learn. The best are the stories that just show how human he really was and how he disregarded all the centuries of false traditions our society has. It is interesting because he was able to follow Christ`s example so well. It is another way to look at Christ by studying His chosen servant. And they`re funny at times too.

Overall I am doing really well. It`s fun to get reports of snow at home because I haven`t seen a single flake yet. I also don`t think I will this entire Christmas here in Shimizu.

The work is moving forward. There are many obstacles to spreading the gospel, but that is why it must be done. Satan is prevailing for a season and as Christ`s servants are sent forth to prepare the way, His arm is manifested in our daily lives. I see miracles. I see people`s lives touched. I see the Holy Spirit touch people`s hearts and I see that crucial moment where they have to make a decision. Many make the decision to ignore, but when I see the glimpse of fire in someone`s eyes because they accept and let in that powerful Spirit that testifies of our message, my heart also burns and I rejoice.

This is a work of miracles. Truly the greastest miracle in our lives is accepting the truth. I know I will see success as I continue to labor to help people, to make people happy.

In the end, everything is about happiness. Happiness comes through truth. As a Latter-Day Saint and a true seeker of The Way, The Truth and The Life, I seek to embrace every eternal truth. Confucious and Buddha were indeed inspired men who taught many principals that incorporated eternal truths. As we come to people`s houses and offer to add more truths which the restored Gospel of Jesus hrist holds, it is natural for them to reject us because outwardly we seem unfamilair. However, as I have found and learned, the good values that they all want to live by were and are taught by Christ and His servants the prophets. They only teach them better and purer with more. It is amazing when peope realize that. Religion isn`t just about God, it`s about all truth with the goal to bring happiness. That true happiness can come as we return home, with our Father who sent us here.

I love you all and hope you too find that happiness that transcends all limitations. I appreciate deeply your prayers and support.

Always,
Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Tokyo South Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
1-7-7 Higashi-Cho Kichijoji
Musashino-Shi Tokyo JAPAN
180-0002

Transferred to Shimizu!

Konnichiwa!
I got transferred to the other side of our mission! I am now in Shimizu
in Shizuoka-Ken. It is on the coast of Japan in a rather country area.
It`s completely different from Tokyo. It`s like moving from downtown
chicago to rural Kansas. My new companion is Elder Michael Doxey from
Bountiful Utah. He is a way awesome missionary and perhaps more
laid-back than me. He`s the district leader as well.

If you want to see my new apartment, the GPS coordinates are:
N 35 Degrees 01.042
E 138 Degrees 28.357

During transfers I got to see a bunch of the missionaries that I came to
Japan with, it was much fun.
Thanksgiving was awesome on the Fussa Air Force base. The Maughan
family had Elder Miller and I to dinner and we ate like kings. They
were very nice. It was very weird going on base because it is just like
America. There were Americans!! It scared me almost.

So there`s not a while lot to report on since I`ve only been here for a
day. I rode the trains for about 6 hours, carrying my bike all taken
apart and put in a bag. My shoulders are so soar. Transfering is not
fun. I did leave Hibarigaoka with 4-5 very strong investigators. I
won`t be able to see their baptisms probably, but it`s good just to know
I helped the work.

So the Shimizu ward is increadibly small. Apparently about 30 people
come to church. The ward list has about 600 people, but they are all
inactive. That`s sad. So, I figure if there ever was a ward that could
be doubled quickly, this is the place. Elder Doxey has an amazing
attitude. He said, " Sure it`s hard, but it`s kind of cool too. We`re
like the underdog." I loved that. We`re the underdog, so it`s going to
be fun.

Anyway, not a lot of time this week, sorry, but I am doing great and
love it here already. The coast is gorgeous and so are the mountains. I
haven`t seen mt. Fuji yet, but apparently I will soon.
Hope everyone is good at home, I love you all.

Always,

Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Tokyo South Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Last pictures from Hibarigaoka

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