Spring Is In The Air

After the storms, comes the sun.
It is absolutely beautiful here in my little corner of Japan. The past had some rain that brought in a very nice warm front - and it`s perfect weather now.

Not too much of note happened this past week. We taught our investigator preparing for baptism, Satake Hiromitsu, about the Word of Wisdom. When he finally realized that he was unable to drink green tea any longer (they LOVE their green tea) he simply said, "Oh, I`m sorry. I didn`t know it was bad for me. I`ve been drinking it since I was little, but I`ll stop." He also told us about quitting smoking forty or more years ago. His humility continues to teach me more and more. That`s also been the best Word of Wisdom lesson I`ve ever heard of.

Satake Hiromitsu also revealed his former hobby of English. He told us about going to America about thrity years ago, and having a very hard time. Here, the bathrooms are called toilets. While he was in California, he was frantically asking everyone where the toilet was, but they kept directing him to "restrooms." I laughed at that for a while. He of course can`t speak any English except for one poem that he still faintly remembers. In the cutest old-man voice ever he says, "Blue as the sky, yellow as the dauphadiles, red as a rose." And that`s all he knows, but that makes me laugh as well. Maybe I`ll try to record it this week.

I am quite excited for this next sunday. I am going to sing! I`m going to be singing, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." I never claimed to have a great voice, but I finally found an arrangement that I can probably survive. This could be my last sunday as well, though I won`t know until tuesday of next week. I have come to love this ward, these dear children of God, so much. They are a small flock, but the Spirit is among them.

Mostly I just want to express how happy I am. I know that as soon as I feel this joy in my soul, that more trials are ahead, but they are always worth it. Through the toughest trials come the choicest blessings.

Some two thousand and seven years ago, at the time of our Savior`s birth, people were awfuly busy. So preoccupied with government and business, the inns were too full for Mary and Joseph. People were too busy to welcome the creator of worlds. The only ones who came were certain wise men, and certain shepards.

That we can find time in our own hectic and busy lives for He who always has time for us is my prayer.
Yours,
Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Japan Nagoya Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Riding the Bullet Train

It was the Best of Times.
This past week was one to remember. Never have I seen the Lord`s hand set forth in front of me so many times. Let`s start with Tuesday.

We met with our 93-year-old investigator, Satake Hiromitsu. We taught about faith, repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then, I challenged him to recieve baptism. He didn`t say anything.

He was actually distracted by the scripture I had just had him read, Alma 7:14-16. Finally, he looked up again and said the Japanese equivlent of "Sure."

Well, not exactly what I was hoping for, and so his son went on to explain. His son, a former bishop, explained that being baptized is a very signifigant and important covenant we make. To anyone who was have hearted, it would have scared them off. Then very directly, Satake Hiromitsu looked as his son and said, "I want to recieve baptism." His date is for April 14th. Never have I met a more humble man. He wants to do whatever his son and we ask him. Indeed, he is like unto King Lamoni`s Father who said that he would believe all the words of Aaron in Alma 22. It is always a spiritual experience to teach Brother Satake.

We left later that day from Toyota, the place where they make Toyota cars. It is close to Nagoya, and in preperation for a mission conference on wednesday, we stayed the night closer so as to make it on time.

What a crazy night!
So there were two Brazillian missionaries in that apartment, and then two americans. The Brazillians were out of control! At 10:15, they did something they called "Lamanite Wars." They turn off all the lights, grabbed toy swords, put on load `battle music` and proceeded to beat the snot out of each other. I was curled up in a ball in the corner, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Some recieve mission calls, but never quite become missionaries. Quite the first impression of Nagoyan missionaries.

Well, surviving (barely) tuesday night, we headed to Nagoya for the mission conference. We have 100 missionaries, and I only know 18 of them. Pres. Stevenson is amazing, and the spirit was strong all day. I don`t know why I am here, but I know it is for a reason.

Leaving Nagoya, Pres. Stevenson came up to our district and said, "Elders, in order for you to get home on time, you are going to have to take the Shinkansen." The Shinkansen is the bullet train. It was probably the most fun I have ever had on a train. It`s so fast. It cut our 4 hour journey down to just 45 minutes or so. I took lots of videos.

Well, the story actually goes on. We jumped on the first train available, which unfortunately was a super-express that didn`t stop in Shizuoka where we lived, but kept going until Yokohama, right by Tokyo. So we had a little extra ride. We went WAY out of our missin boundries, about an hour by bullet train, and then jumped on another train and came back home. We probably would have made it home sooner on the regualr trains, but it was a lot more fun.

On the way back, I had an interesting experience. I was sitting next to this man that was typing away furiously on his laptop. It was probably close to 9:15 by now and I was tired. I was sick, tired, and didn`t want to talk to anyone. I read the scriptures.

I felt like I should lean over and talk to this man. I didn`t. I kept reading, giving a thousand excuses why I shouldn`t talk to him. Mostly I was too tired and thought I had earned a minute to just relax. I kept reading. The topic was the Holy Ghost. "Open your mouth and it will be filled, and I will give you utterance." I kept feeling impressed to talk to this man, but I had not the slightest idea of what to say. Finally, the speaker came on and announced the next stop as Atami. I swalloed my pride and fear of rejection, and leaned over. I asked in my tired Japanese, "Is Shin-Fuji after Atami?"
He replied, in fairly decent English, "Yeah, where are you going?"

So we talked. The Spirit gave me what to say. I didn`t want to bring up the gospel, I just felt that if I was supposed to talk about that, I would know how. I trusted the Spirit.

After talking about his job, family, and daily commute, he asked, "So are you a catholic church or a protestant church?"

What a joy it was, close to nine-thirty at night, in Japan, traveling hundreds of kilometers an hour in a bullet train, to share with him the message of the restoration. He recieved it well and then got off at his stop. I was left with a sure knowledge that the Lord directs this work and that the Spirit will surely give us the words we need in that very moment we have faith to open our mouths.

If this wasn`t the Lord`s work, if the message I share wasn`t absolutely true, I wouldn`t do it.

But it is. It is joyfully perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect.

The miracles continue - I only have enough time to describe a couple from tuesday and wednesday, but the week continued and climaxed yesterday with a powerful ward conference.

There is no greater joy than in assisting in the Lord`s work. Nor is there anything harder. But yet I am happy. Tired and happy. What is life good for but to be worn out in the service of others. That you may find the same joy is my prayer.

Your brother in the gospel,

Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Japan Nagoya Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Officially Transferred to Japan Nagoya Mission

Hello once again,

I have so much to write and not too much time, so here I go.

Well I am officially a Nagoyan missionary. I met President Stevenson and his wife last tuesday in Shizuoka. He is great, but he will never be my first mission president, Pres. Tucker. Oh well, Pres. Stevenson is still amazing. My interview was fun. All my interviews are usually the same - trying to understand my complex family. I`m just going to tell people to avoid the question of "how many brother and sisters do yo have?" or just make something up. Oh well, it`s fun.

The biggest difference between my old mission and Nagoya - lots more rules and lots more structure. Fun? Not really. But oh well, we`ll see what happens. There are lots of things to be done - maybe I can help.

The biggest new thing is we now count something called contacts. It`s how many people we offer to teach the gospel to, or have a chance to hear a lesson. This number can get pretty big, so that`s kind of fun. They even gave us clickers to carry around. That will be a fun new experience.

Elder Kruger and I have been having some fun. We think that Satake is about ready to get baptized. He is 93 years old. Sure, baptism is a life-long commitment, but we`re thinkin it might just be a couple months for him. :) Most of all, he is just like a child in humility. Somehow, he was able to find the basic truths of the gospel from wherever they came, and now, as he hears it in purity, he has no problem accepting it. He feels the spirit at church, what else could one ask for. The big question is whether I will transfer before or after. I hope after.

So this sunday was one to remember. The world and missions are divided up into areas in the church. The area my mission is in is the Asia north area, which includes all of Japan, Korea, and maybe more. The president of the entire area is a seventy named David F. Evans. He talked in general conference last may, I think. Well President Evans came to Shimizu for sacrament meeting yesterday. It was amazing.

He came early and talked to us for a while. He recounted how some 30 or so years ago, he too was a young missionary in Shizuoka, and that it was the hardest part of his mission. Nevertheless, he saw the greatest blessing from this area, as well.

Our ward mission leader, Brother Mitsuya, was a convert from Elder Evan`s work. Brother Mitsuya has been a bishop, served in the stake presidency, and now has a daughter on a mission to Fukuoka. What a reward.

In sacrament meeting, it was of course all in Japanese, but Pres. Evans gave most of his talk to Elder Kruger and I as missionaries. He asked us never to forget that "Through the hardest trials come the choicest blessings." He promised the ward that as they worked together with us, miracles would take place and the work would move forward. The Spirit was powerfully present as a special witness of Jesus Christ bore his testimony of Him who he served. I fought back tears the entire time.

Later that day, we had a very funny experience. We saw a big chevrolet truck, which is increadibly rare in Japan. I rode my bike quicker to catch up, and shouted to him that he had a nice truck. He replied, "Arigatoo, ganbate choro" which means, "Thanks, keep up the good work Elder"

This is very intersting, funny, odd, because he called me Elder. The title is very seldomly used even by members because it means a very old and wise person, and so they avoid it. To have a stranger, who somehow knew who we were, say Elder, or choro, was very interesting. He drove off and i just stopped looking kind of surprised. I justly attribute it to a tender mercy of the Lord. It raised our spirits and helped us to work hard all day.

Sometimes we just need someone, a stranger, to tell us to hang in there. I love compliments, because they show love. I try to tell people I love them through complimenting them. One things I do that`s rather silly, is that whenever I see someone wearing a hat, I tell them it looks good. "Suteki na boshi desu!" which means, nice hat, but not in a sarcastic way.

So there are many great things taking place. I am so excited and doing well. I hope everyone is doing well. My prayers are with you. I love you all.

Yours,
Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Japan Nagoya Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Latest Pictures - January/February 2007

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