Aug. 31, 2014

Quick Update On Egawa:
She really wants to change her life and be baptized. We have needed to work patiently with her and slowly, but she really is a joy to be around. She literally gives us food every day. Tons of it. We have to bike it all back to our apartment everyday, and we are constantly having to rearrange the fridge to fit it all. :) She is great.
She often says she hears voices, and before we began meeting with her she believed in a thing called "Yutaa", which is like a religion or belief that teaches that people can communicate with spirits and with God. That was kind of a worry this week, her baptism was delayed, but we think it will be OK. She is doing well.
The best thing about being a missionary is working hard, doing well, and coming home utterly exhausted because you worked as hard as you could all day. The worst is the times when I don't know what to do, or we get sick or something and have to spend time inside, not doing missionary work. I HATE that. I was sick yesterday... I swear, I cannot stand that feeling. Sometimes, all I have to go on is the knowledge that the Savior will pick up the slack, and that He knows my burdens and mistakes, and that is what keeps me moving.Jesus Christ is faithful to all of His promises and all that He has said. The blessings of Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, of the sacrament, of the Priesthood (and all that includes), and the blessings received in the Temple are so aparent in my life. He is merciful to the overcoming of all of our weakness if we will turn to Him. I know that those blessings are absolutely, truly, real.
Love to all,

 Elder Bevan

This is zone p-day... with real live American style Hamburgers!

                                      This is also zone p-day, feeding each other M&M's with chopsticks

Staying Focused on the Work

This week I have been thinking a bit about goals, and since it is a big part of our lives I guess I'll write about how the Lord helped us to achieve these goals this week. I really feel like they have helped me to focus on what I ought to focus on and given me something to work for. What a blessing it has been!

The first goal on our weekly list is baptisms and confirmations for the week, usually it is empty.

The second is baptismal dates, our goal for last week was one, and it was filled! Sister Egawa Etsuko finally decided that she wanted to be baptized! We have met with her almost daily for a long time now, and she has been such a blessing to us. Even before this week we had decided on a date that we thought she could make. We set that date with her on Wednesday (for this coming Sunday) and went over the baptismal interview questions with her. I think that she is ready! We do have a little bit to teach her but that will be Ok I think. One of her big hurtles has been coming to church and she committed to keeping the Sabbath day holy by Saturday, and kept that commitment yesterday. 

That is the third goal: sacrament-meeting attendance. This week our goal was two, and it was also filled. Sister Egawa and Brother Sato were the ones who came. Sato was the boy (he is nineteen) that came last week in the rain. He kept his promise and came again this week. It was wonderful. He could even stay for the full three hours! They were both taken care of by wonderful members.

The fourth goal is lessons taught with members present. We have wonderful members that help us so much but I think mostly by my fault as a senior companion we did not fill this goal. We will need to be working hard to get that goal from now on. I think it is important for the progression of those we teach. 

Our goal for other lessons taught was filled.

We are working on others, things like referrals and new investigators and such. We need to work hard for these things and we are so blessed to see success!

I think that making and filling goals is one of the biggest lessons I have learned on my mission. It is a great blessing to see the Lord help us to fill them. I am grateful that He does so. I am so grateful to See the Lord's hand in this work. I know that this is His church. It is His gospel. I have asked and received that answer. What a blessing that is!  I love this work!

Love to all,

Don't be afraid to write! :)

Elder Bevan :)

Food is fine. Sister Egawa has just given us so much food that we cannot keep up with her :) Church members don't really feed us. 

We get about 280$ a month. Money is fine. 

Thanks for caring! 

Japanese  school is year round, but they do get a summer break... i'm not really sure about schools here, their school system is completely different than ours. 

Love you! 

Us "young" missionaries in Nago

We see miracle everyday. We are not very good teachers and we are not good at Japanese, and Elder Robinson and I are still pretty young in the mission (between us we don't even have ten transfers total, sixteen transfers is a two year mission), but we still see miracles.  This week we got all of our goals for lessons taught, sacrament meeting attendances, new investigators, and member involvement visits. One of the investigators that came to church we met on the street. He said he had interest in religion (what!), we shared the first vision and invited him to church. He said he would, and true to his word he came in the pouring rain. Wearing a white shirt and tie none the less! The other investigator was Egawa Etsuko, who we have been working with for maybe a month or more now. (She has been basically our main source of food since we met her. She never sends us away without some food.) What a blessing! We have wanted her to come for so long! It is so wonderful to see the Lord working in us to fill our goals. I feel like if we can keep up the good work and continue to rely on Him we will see success. 

It is pretty hard on Elder Robinson, the little things that get at all of us sometimes are hard for Him. We have been working hard though and he is improving dramatically. His Language has gone from un-understandable to passable (a huge jump). He has improved in so many ways. It is so good to work with him and see him work so hard on things. I love all of my companions, and couldn't be happier :) 

I love the Mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is the work of Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Savior.

With love to all,

Elder Bevan

Aug. 11, 2014 Joy

This week was pretty boring by way of things to report. I and Elder Robinson are getting a feel for how we will work together, and so things are coming along, well. 

I think the one small thing that I want to share, is our experience with the Nakasone Family. We barely got to talk to them this week but the little we did was wonderful, the family is reading the book of Mormon and it looks like we will be able to meet twice a week for at least this week. After we talked to them I was walking on cloud nine. It was a late appointment, and I looked up into the stars with great gratitude fro such a great blessing. I was blessed to know that I would have great joy and happiness on my mission. That night was one of those times. 

Thanks for all of your prayers. I am so grateful that I came from such a good home. I know this is the Savior's  true Church.

With all love,

Elder Bevan 

reply

Thanks mom great to hear from everyone! I got your package and loved it. Tell Dad thanks for the present. It was really "natukashi" -nostalgic?- Yes I got her letter tell her i'll try and write today. 

Thank everyone for writing to me!

2 Man Nago!

Last Tuesday was transfer calls, and since there was a big chance of someone leaving we all decided to go to Nago's famous Aquarium. It was a very long bike ride, we took at least an hour and a half of riding to get there. Just before we got to the gate of the Aquarium we got a call from Kaicho (usually it is not the mission president who calls, we were all excited). He told us that Nago was becoming a 2man area, that I and Elder Robinson were going to be companions, that Elder Conlon (our district leader would be sent to Yamaguchi, and that Elder Malen would be going to Hiroshima as a district leader. None of us expected that anyone would really leave so it was quite a surprise. 

Elder Robinson is now on his fourth transfer. He is the oldest of three boys, plays violin VERY well, and is talented in many other ways. I have had the chance to work with him before now, so that is a blessing. It should be a good transfer. 

The Aquarium was awesome. If I am not wrong, it is the 2nd largest in the world. It has three whale sharks. It is Awesome!

Before we came all the way back Elder Malen and I went to try and meet the same person that we did the other week, but still could not find her. Along the way there was a less active, so we had set up and appointment. When we got there, we were set down at a table until Sister Uechi could make it back. When she did , we had a good talk, and then, miracle of miracles; her friend, (who we had coincidentally met two weeks before, in that far corner of the island, when we had been doing the very same thing) came in. It turned into a lesson, and sister Uechi was testifying and the whole sha-bang! 

What a great last day with Elder Malen. We worked hard and saw miracles. I hope I keep it up with Elder Robinson this transfer. 

I Love This Work! I know that this is The Church of God, His kingdom on the Earth. I am excited to keep going!

This is from Elder Conlon, our last p-day, on the way to the Aquarium. E. Conlon is the one on the ground.

With all love, Elder Bevan