12/29/08 Email Message to Kendall

Kendall!,

Hows my favorite almost 15 year old sister? Wow I cant believe you are almost 15! I remember when you werent even a whole day old yet. I remember being 4 years old, going to the hospital not knowing what to expect; I was even a little nervous. But then I remember sitting down in a big soft chair and Dad putting you in my arms. You were so cute and tiny - I remember thinking I had never seen a baby so cute before. I wanted to just sit there all day cuddled up with my new little sister. That is definitely one of my most precious memories. And now here you are getting ready to turn 15 years old on me - thats incredible.

Im sorry I didnt get to talk to you more on Christmas. I wish I had an hour with each family member. How is everything? How was your Christmas? I hope it was awesome and that you got a lot of cool presents. What was your favorite gift? I hope you had fun with the family! Are you excited to go back to school? How is school by the way? Are you liking 9th grade? Whats your favorite part so far? and if you want you can tell me your least favorite part too. Do you like seminary with Sister Mitchell? I hope you are having a great time in her class. She is awesome! After you are done with her seminary class, you will spend the rest of high school wishing you could go back. So enjoy it while you have it! I hope life is good! I hope you are doing all you want to and having fun doing it. I miss you so much! You are growing up so fast! Next year youll be driving already! I guess youll just have to take me out for a drive when I get home - deal?

I think about you all the time - I wish I could talk to you more often. But I hope all is well!

I love you so much! You are awesome!

Much Love,

Elder Brendan Kingsford

I have never seen her so happy before

12/22/08 Email Message

Family,

Im glad to hear Kimberly and the baby are alright. That must have been really scary - but Im glad everything is alright. They are both in my prayers. Im looking forward to meeting my little nephew in a couple of years!

I just wanted to let you know about Su san. She was baptized on Saturday afternoon and confirmed on Sunday during sacrament meeting. It was so cool! I felt so lucky to get to baptize her and share that experience with her. Im sure she will remember that day for the rest of her life. Afterwards she kept saying how happy she was. I have never seen her so happy before. She was just beaming all night long. It was soo cool. The spirit at her baptism kai (baptism meeting) was incredible. It was very simple and sweet. It reminded me of the way I used to feel sometimes while I was in primary. I remember when I was a sunbeam there used to be a picture on the wall of Jesus and all the little children crowded around Him. I would always grab the seat with the best view of that picture. I used to look at it all the time and I would picture myself as one of those children and wonder what it would be like to be that close to Him and to feel his arms around me. At those times I would be so concentrated on my imagination of that, that it would feel like nothing else mattered. It was like all that existed in the world was me and the love of Jesus. Its been a long time since I was a Sunbeam, but on Saturday I had that same feeling again. While Su san and I were sitting there in our baptism whites getting ready to enter the water, I felt like all that mattered in the world was the love of Jesus. And the funny thing is that is probably the truth. Sometimes I get so preoccupied with all that is going on in life that I forget to think of what is really important. I forget that it really is all about Jesus. Its funny how easy it was to know that when I was a sunbeam. How could I have been so much smarter as a 4 year old than I am now? I guess Ill be working my entire life to be as good as I was when I was 4.

I love you all! Im looking forward to calling you on Christmas. I think Im going to call at 9 am my time. Ill let you know if anything changes between now and then. I love you and I hope you all have a great Christmas together! Talk to you soon!

Much Love,

Elder Brendan Kingsford

Su San is getting baptized this Saturday!

12/15/ Email Message

Mom,

I am so happy the Choir Concert was so good. It is so cool that Mike and Laurie went. What an amazing setting to experience the spirit of Christmas. Im happy for them and for Little Michael, Im sure the spirit of the nativity made a great impression on his little heart. I love that festival.

Too bad it didnt snow! Snow in Alabama is always fun - we definitely dont get enough of it. Hopefully, Kendall will get snow sometime this year. Funny thing is I bet it is colder in Alabama than it is in Nagaoka right now. Its been surprisingly warm so far. It was really cold for a week, but ever since then its been pretty warm. We havent seen snow since that one day we were dendoing [proselyting] in it. Not that Im complaining - Id prefer it never snowed again. Dendoing in the snow is not exactly my favorite thing in the world.

One sad thing about the warm weather is it detracts even more from the Christmas season. Christmas in Japan just isnt quite the same. Its a little sad to know we are ten days away from Christmas because it just doesnt feel like Christmas at all. But it is better when we are with the church members. Yesterday we watched the Christmas devotional with our district and then we went caroling with the missionaries in our zone and some members. It was cool - it created a little bit of the Christmas spirit, but I still miss Christmas in America.

However, Su San is getting baptized this Saturday! She asked me to baptize her too so that should be pretty exciting. Everyone is so excited for her. The branch members love her and she loves them. She is going to fit right into the church I think. She will be a great member. So cool!

Im just as surprised as Elder Rowley is [at how fast ime is passing]! A couple days ago I was wearing the tie he and his companion gave me and I was looking at the notes they wrote me on it. I was blown away that they gave me that tie over six months ago. It doesnt feel like Im already a fourth of the way through my mission. I seriously dont know where the last six months went.

I still dont even know what Im doing! I feel like I just wake up, go to work and the Lord does the rest. Even with all my shortcomings the work gets done. Everyone tells me that feeling never goes away. You never feel quite adequate. But still the work gets done. Pretty amazing!

Im looking forward to calling everyone next week! I think dads plan sounds good, but Ill let you know more specifically when the time gets closer. I love you! I miss you and the family so much, especially now around the Christmas season. I hope you all have a great holiday together and really enjoy the season. Just know Im thinking about you and love you all so much!

Merry Chrsitmas!

Much Love,

Elder Kingsford

She has chosen to change her life so much already

12/9/08 Email Message

Dad,

Dont you love the Alabama weather? I dont think theres anything else like a clear fall morning in the Tennessee Valley. We are so blessed to live there. When we first moved there I remember I was having kind of a rough time with the move. But I remember every once in a while when we were alone together you would point out some of the amazing blessings we got from living there. You used to say it was like we were living in heaven. At first I thought you were just saying things to get me to cheer up, but after a while I started to agree with you. Now my vision of heaven looks an awful lot like an autumn morning in North Alabama.

Im glad to hear the holidays are as exciting as ever. Im also glad you all had a good Thanksgiving with Aunt Tracy. Theres nothing like spending the Holidays with family. Im excited to hear how the Stake Choir performance goes. Hopefully Ill be able to make it to one of those again sometime. That choir is amazing, and I love seeing Mom perform. I hope she has a good time.

Things here are going good. We are busy preparing for Sue sans baptism next Saturday. I am so excited for her! Its amazing that someone can find the gospel and in a little over two months be baptized into the Church. The faith and trust it takes to do that is incredible. She has chosen to change her life so much already. She has quit smoking and drinking, she has given up tea and coffee, she reads her scriptures everyday, she comes to church every sunday, and she prays to Heavenly Father every day even though 3 months ago she didnt even know who He was. And she has chosen to do all of that simply because she felt the Spirit and feels that it is right. That is a miracle! Its been an amazing process to witness first hand and a joy to take part in. It really has been incredible. Ill be sure to let you know how the baptism goes next week.

Also, Christmas is in a couple weeks and that means I get to call home in a couple weeks! But I was thinking it would be a good idea to coordinate that with each other. What time should I call? I think the plan is to call you and then hang up and have you call me back. But just let me know when the best time to call is. Just remember I am 14 hours ahead of you.

I love you! I hope you have a good time preparing for Christmas and I hope the family has a great holiday season!

Much Love,

Elder Kingsford

The gospel is all about families

12/1/08 EmailMessage

Family,

Wow Thanksgiving sounds like it was fun! I was a little sad I was missing out on it again this year, but Im glad you all had so much fun. My companion and I had white rice and seaweed for dinner. It was pretty sad. But the good news is Im only going to miss one more, and then hopefully Ill be at home for the next one.

Mom, in your email you said you didnt know how I was handling everything so well without your help, and to be honest I dont know either. My long phone calls with you are probably the thing I miss the most. I guess Ive just learned to replace those with long talks with Heavenly Father. But things are great here!

Last week we set a baptism date with Sue san! Shes getting baptized on December 20! We are so excited for her. She is sooo cool! I think shes going to be a great member. I feel priveleged to have been able to teach her and help her learn about the gospel. Im so happy that she has chosen to get baptized. Last month our Mission Pesident challenged us all to help someone enjoy a white Christmas at the baptismal font this year - Im glad we are going to be able to meet that challenge.

Also we met with that family from Myanmar on Sunday and they seem great. We sat down and taught the whole family - the mom, the dad, and the two kids - and it went really well. They were so happy to talk about the gospel. They were especially excited about the news of a living prophet of God. Im excited to see what comes out of this. The gospel is all about families, so the chance to teach a whole family about the blessings of the gospel is really exciting.

I love my mission. Im having a great time. There is a new challenge for me to overcome everyday and as a result I have to depend on God a little bit more each day. Its definitely a humbling experience, but its wonderful at the same time. Im so excited to see what is waiting for me during the rest of my mission. Every day is an adventure.

I love you! I miss you all so much, especially during the holiday season. But I hope you all have a great time together and enjoy the holidays. I love you!

Much Love,

Elder Kingsford

P.S. - dad, all the apartments have a cd player.

11/11/08 Letter Home

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Approved music list

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If you would like to send Elder Kingsford music as a gift, he'd like anything boxed in green

The Rising Sun Newsletter, Volume II, 11/17/08

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Photos from Nagaoka

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We could have easily just gone home early for the day.

11/24/08 Email Message

Family,

You got to stay in the Opryland Hotel? That is so cool. I think that would be fun to go there together after I get back. I’m glad Kendall’s dance team did well. I hope she had fun, too. That’s the most important part really.

Also, I didn’t really realize Thanksgiving was this week until Dad mentioned it in his email. Its hard to believe. I swear I was just at uncle Brian’s house spending thanksgiving with him and going to see the lights at temple square. Its almost like the whole year in between that thanksgiving and this one didn’t even happen. Crazy.

But I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving together. It sounds like its going to be a packed house this year - sounds so fun. Ill try not to think about Moms sweet potato casserole, but I cant make any promises. Say hi to everyone for me - especially Aunt Tracy! I hope she has a fun time in Alabama. Make sure you tell her hi for me. Let her know I love her.

On Thursday it snowed for the first time here and it was pretty rough. It was FREEZING cold, snowing, raining, hailing, and lightning. But we were still outside walking around talking to everyone who would talk to us. We didn’t really have much success because the weather was so terrible and no one wanted to stop and listen to a couple of gaijins [foreigners] talking about God. And then it started to get dark and the temperature really plunged. I don’t think my feet have ever been that cold. It was miserable. But we still had a couple hours to work so we just kept going. In an attempt to get out of the cold for a while we decided to house a huge apartment complex near where we were streeting. We climbed the 8 stories to the top and began to work our way down. Everyone kekkoed [declined] us. But then we went to the last door on the last floor that we were going to house. And the woman that answered invited us in! We found out she is Christian and she is from Myanmar. She has two kids that read the bible everyday and are looking for a church to go to. Her Japanese is not good at all, but her English is just good enough to understand most of what we said. At some points her children had to translate some of the more difficult concepts for her. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and about modern day prophets. They were way excited and seem way nice. We are going back this Sunday to teach them more. It was awesome!

We could have easily just gone home early for the day. We were cold, wet, and miserable and anything else sounded better than dendoing [proselyting]. But we knew it wasn’t about us - it was about doing our job. And because we kept going we found this awesome family. So cool!

But that’s about it for me. I love you and miss all of you so much! Have a happy thanksgiving!

Much Love,

Elder Kingsford

I know I'll get the language down eventually, but right now it's still a work in progress

11/17/08 Email Message

Family,

So Kimberly is having a boy huh? How cool is that? Im going to have a nephew? Haha thats hard to believe. But I hope Asher is healthy and happy! Hes in my prayers.

Everyone sounds so busy and happy. Im so glad. It really makes it much easier here when I can think of my happy family back home and how well they are doing. What a blessing!

So I didnt get transfered! And I still have the same senior companion - going on three transfers together. Im excited to stay in Nagaoka. Its awesome here. Yesterday we had two investigators come to church - it was awesome. We had a primary program in sacrament meeting and all the kids were so cute. Also, my companion and I both gave little talks about missionary work. It was cool.

Things are going good. Im staying busy and working hard. I know Ill get the language down eventually, but right now its still a work in progress. But im improving so thats a good sign.

Also, I had a nasty crash on my bike this week. It was late at night and we were heading home from our last appointment. We cut through a parking lot and I jumped the curb at the edge of the lot. I had no idea there was a ditch right on the other side. haha actually, i saw it coming from like 5 seconds out but all i could do was watch myself go over the curb and into the ditch. My bike got stuck in the ditch and I got launched from my seat. I didnt get hurt and my bike wasnt damaged, so in the end it was just really funny.

But thats it from me. I love you and I miss you. I was happy to hear about little Asher. Congratulations Kimberly and Austin! I love you all.

Much Love,
Elder Kingsford

I'm Here for My Friends

11/10/08 Email Message

Family,

Life is good right now. We are really busy today so I dont have much time to type. But life is good. The investigator that came to church last week (sue san) is awesome. We havent taught her the word of wisdom yet, but she hasnt smoked since last sunday because she feels like its the right thing to do. I love meeting with her and teaching her the gospel. We meet about three times a week so we actually see her a lot. Also she came to church last saturday before Eikaiwa [english class] to meet with us and have lunch. Then she stayed for Eikaiwa and then stayed for another hour after Eikaiwa to help clean up and hang out with Yoriko shimai. I think she will definitely be baptized. I probably wont be here to see it, but that doesnt matter. I just feel blessed to have been able to find her and teach her. During one of her lessons last week I had the coolest experience. We were teaching her the Plan of Salvation for the first time. In the middle of our lesson the thought popped into my mind that I probably knew Sue san long before we actually knocked on her door a few weeks ago.

In the MTC they told us that we will have that feeling sometimes. We were called to go on a mission long before we even came to Earth. We made promises to our friends that we would keep ourselves worthy to go on a mission so that we could find them and bring them into the fold. Im not on a mission for myself, Im here for them. Im here for my friends. While we were teaching Sue san I had the coolest feeling that she was one of those people I was supposed to come on a mission for. It was awesome!

Things like that happen all the time. Being a missionary is a crazy thing. I was reading "Finding Happiness" by Elder Ballard the other day and theres a section in there about missionary work. He said that young men often go on a mission figuring they are paying the Lord back for all He has done for them over the first twenty years of their life. But sooner or later they all find out that you can never do more for the Lord than He can do for you. Its so true! All the work Im doing and all the difficulties Im going through are far outweighed by the blessings Ive received. Even though I miss my home, I wouldnt trade this experience for anything!

I miss you all so much. I love you and I think about you all the time. Being a missionary has made me love and appreciate my family more than I ever have before. I dont think I could ever have possibly been blessed with a better family than the one I have. I guess Im pretty spoiled when it comes to my family. Thank you so much for being such an amazing family. I love you!
-Elder Kingsford

P.S.- I got the package with my jacket and jerky. Thank you so much!


11/4/08 Email Message

Family

Wow it sounds like BAMA is tearin it up. It would be so cool to see them win it all this year. It looks like Saban has worked miracles in such a short amount of time. How exciting! Haha I bet Austin is livin it up!

Thats cool that Mom and Dad got to get away for the weekend. I hope it was relaxing - hopefully you got to recharge and get ready for the holidays. Also Im a loser son. Not only did I forget to send dad a card for his birthday, I didnt even send him an email. I have no excuses :( Sorry! But Happy Birthday Dad!! I hope it was great this year!

Halloween was pretty fun here. All the missionaries from our zone came and helped us set up for our ward halloween party. We made a haunted house, an awesome alien pinata, a few carnival games and a bunch of treats. Also Elder Gross's mom is visting her mom in Japan and she brought tons of candy from america and a bunch of decorations for us to use. It was great! 10 investigators came and they had a great time. The haunted house was legitimately scary and the pinata filled with american candy was a huge hit (no pun intended). All the members told us it was the best church party theyve ever had. And the best part about it was one of the investigators that came to the party came to church the next day! So cool! For that reason alone Id say our party was a HUGE success.

Other than that things are going great here. We are teaching people every day and little by little we are helping people come closer to their Savior. My Japanese is improving slowly but surely. My faith is growing bit by bit. Things just keep getting better and better. But transfers are next week again and I think Ill probably get transferred. We will see where I end up. Hopefully it is somewhere nice. Change is kind of exciting, but I really like Nagaoka. I wish I could stay another transfer. But we will see.

Thats about it for me. I love you all so much and I miss you like crazy. I hope all continues to go well. Love You!!

Much Love,

Elder Kingsford

Because she said all the members were so nice

11/2/08
Email Message to Kimberly

Kimberly,

They kind of celebrate Halloween in Japan. They have parties and stuff, but nobody goes trick or treating or anyhting like that. We had a party at the church though and it was awesome. All the missionaries in our zone came down for the weekend and helped us set up for it. We made a haunted house, an tight alien pinata, a fishing for candy game, a huge ball throwing game (we made a huge cardboard wall and drew pictures all over it with holes in it to throw the ball through) and a balloon popping game (we taped a billion balloons on a huge piece of cardboard and had people through darts at it).

Also, my companions mom came to Japan to visit her mom and she brought a huge load of american candy with her for us to use. It was awesome. 10 of our investigators came and they had a great time. And then the next day (yesterday) one of them came to church because she said all the members were so nice. So cool!

Wow Im excited to find out about your baby. Haha it will be nice to start using a name in my prayers instead of Kimberly no okachan (kimberlys baby). How fun!

Its not too cold here yet. Its chilly, but not too bad. It was much, much colder in provo this time last year. I hear it doesnt really start to get cold here until december. Haha which is good because I think I can wait.

And people still bathe the way dad remembers. At least the Japanese people do. The bath tubs are really tiny but super deep. You cant lay down in them at all, but you can sit up in them and the water still covers you. We dont use ours at all though. In fact we took it out and put it on our balcony to make a bigger shower. American missionaries dont take baths - that would be weird.

I love you! Im glad life is going so good right now. I miss you! Tell austin and the baby I said hi!

Love, Elder Kingsford

Many of them don't even know they've been asked to share it

10/27/08 Email Message

Family,

Stake Conference sounds like it was a blast. Its so good to hear how well the missionaries are doing in Alabama. Im happy that they are taking care of the area I love so much. I pray for them all the time and I pray for the people of Alabama that their hearts will be opened to the gospel. I think its so cool that the missionaries are teaching congregations of people. Im reading in Alma right now and I just finished reading about Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. There are times when they spoke to multitudes of people and converted thousands of them at a time. That kind of sounds like whats going on in Alabama right now. So cool!

We just had our district conference last weekend too. It was really good. The theme was on member missionary work. Apparently member missionary work in our area is almost non existent. Almost all of our members are converts and therefore havent had a life time of preparation to learn how to share the gospel. Many of them dont even know theyve been asked to share it. So our mission has made it a goal to really focus getting our members involved in the work. If we are successful I think the possibilities are endless. Haha the highlight of the conference was the talk by our mission president. He had everyone in the congregation turn to their neighbor and practice inviting their friend to a church activity. Then he had them turn to their other neighbor and practice giving out a pass a long card. It was hilarious. Many of our members are pretty reserved so it was funny to see them forced to open their mouths and share their feelings. But it was also really good. It made them realize how easy it is to share the gospel. Just open your mouth! Thats all it takes. Im excited to see if conference pumps up the members in our area.

How is member work going in Madison? Are the members helping out the missionaries? Are they keeping them busy with referrals? That would be awesome if they were. It would be awesome if every member could get excited about missionary work. Especially in Madison. Its such a good area to share the gospel. Im excited to move back to the south and be a member missionary. Its gonna be great!

Well thats about all I have. I hope all is well! I love you all so much and I miss you tons! I pray for you all the time!

Love, Elder Kingsford

With the help from Heavenly Father I can be the missionary I need to be

10/21/08 Email Message

Family!,

Sounds like everything is going great! Im glad Kendall had such a good time at homecoming. I love high school! I hope kendall likes it as much as I did. Its cool that she has such a big group of good kids to hang out with. That helps a lot. Im hoping to see those pictures soon!

Everything here is going great. I got to see General Conference a couple weekends ago and it was amazing! I just sat there riveted to the screen all weekend. Our church is so cool! I especially liked the story President Monson told in the Priesthood session about learning Japanese in the MTC. Haha all of us missionaries got a good laugh out of that one. And I realized some things that have helped me out a lot with my mission. I realized that Ive been so preoccupied with worrying about the language that Ive neglected other things that are more important. The language is just one part of becoming a good missionary. And in my opinion its not even the most important. I realized that if I went home today I would not be satisfied with the missionary that Ive been. And thats not good. So I made a goal to become better. When I got home from conference I sat down and prayerfully considered all the things I could do better. I wrote them all down and posted them up on my wall. When I looked at them I realized that a lot of them seemed impossible for me to do. For example waking up at exactly 6 30 and staying coherent the entire morning. That is something I have never been able to do. Ever. In my entire life. But its something I need to do to be the missionary I want to become and the missionary the Lord expects me to be. And I realized that for me that probably is impossible. But for God its not. If I rely on Him He will keep me awake in the morning. With His help I can become the missionary I want to be. Under my own power I probably cant progress very much from the point Im at now. But with the help from Heavenly Father I can be the missionary I need to be. Ever since that realization Ive been able to accomplish my goals. Its been really hard at times, but as I keep relying on the Lord I keep finding that little bit of extra strength I didnt know I had. Its been an awesome experience.

I love you! I miss you so much, and I hope to hear from you soon!

She looked up and said she felt like that chapter was written for her

10/13/08 Email Message

Family,
Hows it going?! It sounds like the WDC trip was a blast. Im so happy for you. What was your favorite parts? Let me know!

Things here are going good. We continue to add to our teaching pool everyday. Weve found a couple of cool young married couples and theyve been really fun to teach. We also have one investigator that weve been working a lot with lately. Her name is Kei san. Shes chinese and shes here for school but she is great at Japanese and English. Which is nice because Im able to help out more in the lessons with my English skills ;). Three weeks ago she hated the Book of Mormon. She refused to read it. She goes to the Jehovas Witness church so theyve filled her with a lot of negative images of the BOM. But for some reason she kept meeting with us and talking about the gospel with us. Then last week we decided to just read it with her during our lesson. We read 2 Nephi 29. Its the chapter where God puts forth the purpose of the BOM and warns all those who claim all we need is a Bible. After we read it she looked up and said she felt like that chapter was written for her. I bore my testimony that the entire book was written for her. And then we read more verses in the Book of Mormon that can apply to her life. At the end of our lesson she told us she believes the BOM is Gods word. And then she asked us if we could teach her friends! Haha well duh! We would love to teach her friends! At the end she prayed for us that God would help us find more lost sheep to bring back to the fold. It was awesome!

It was so cool to see someone realize the power of the Book of Mormon for the first time. It was amazing to see how all she needed to read was one chapter to feel the blessings that come the Book of Mormon. It was definitely a testimony building experience not only for her, but for me too.

Im loving it here. We have such a good time everyday and I am learning so much all the time. I feel so blessed to be on a mission and serving the Lord all the time. So cool!

I love you! I think of you all the time and thank God for giving me such an amazing family everyday.

Talk to you next week!

Now after she prays she goes right to sleep

10/6/08 Email Message

Family!,

Wow D.C.! Ive always wanted to go there. I bet its so cool. The first thing I would want to do there is tour the Smithsonian. Let me know what you think the coolest thing is or what your favorite part of the trip is. Also, Dad let me know what you think of General Patreaus. Im jealous of you that you get to hear him speak.

Haha yeah Yoriko Shimai wrote me a letter about her conversation with you and snuck it into my bicycle helmet with a piece of candy while I was in a meeting after church. She is so cool. She is our best friend here - we love her. Also, our branch is amazing. Yesterday they gave us the biggest food basket I have ever seen. We dont have to go shopping at all this week now! They are so cool.

Im excited for General Conference this weekend. The broadcast is delayed one week to Japan, so we wont see it until this Saturday and Sunday. But Gross Choro and I are going to spend the weekend in our Zone Leaders area and watch Conference with them. Im super excited.

Also this week was great. We had a cool experience with one of our investigators this week. Her name is Yuko San and we met her streeting a few weeks back. She wasnt really interested at first, but we set up an appointment to teach her. The first time we went to her house she was really busy, but we asked her what we could do to help her. Turns out her dog really needed to go on a walk - so we took her out for a trip around the neighborhood. Then last week Yuko San called us and said she needed someone to talk to. We met her at the church and visited with her for a while. Its turns out she has had a pretty hard life. She has survived a stroke, lymphnode cancer, and breast cancer. But now because of all her medical bills she has really bad money problems. She has been really worried about her life and very stressed from all her problems. We taught her about Christ and how His atonement can help her life. We shared with her the miracle of the Restoration and how it can bless her. At the end we prayed together. I said the prayer, but it was very simple. When I finished I looked up and she was crying. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read the Introduction before our next meeting. Two days later we met her again. She had read up to Alma 40! She said she didnt understand it all of course, but when she reads it it calms her down and she feels peaceful. Also she prays at night now too. She couldnt sleep very well before apparently, but now after she prays she goes right to sleep. She said she believes in Jesus Christ and knows he lived. She feels like God led us to her to help her life. It was so cool! Gross Choro and I just sat there in awe while she bore her testimony of the gospel. She just learned about it two days ago, but she already knows its true! The gospel is true! Its power is real. Im not just fooling myself or making things up. Other people feel it too! Yuko San has felt for herself the power of Christs love. In just two days her life is so much better than it was before. How amazing is that! I love being a missionary.

Im so glad that I get to have these experiences. Im helping people help their lives. And I get to see the gospel work in peoples hearts. Not only that, I get to feel it in mine too. I know I am here to help other people, but I feel like I get more benefit out of this than anyone else. I almost feel slefish sometimes because of the gifts Im getting from this. Im supposed to be giving gifts - not taking them! I guess thats how the mission works though. So cool! I love you all so much! Im glad you are having so much fun in D.C. Tell me all about it! I miss you! Ai shite imasu!
Love, Elder Kingsford

P.S. - Also, if you ever want to send me anything CDs would be nice. I can listen to anything with a church music label on it - including EFY, Mindy Gledhill, Kenneth Cope, and John Schmidt. Word on the street is classical music will be approved soon too! Haha thats sure gotten everyone excited ;-)

Who else gets that kind of opportunity?

10/1/08 Email Message

Family!,

You are going to Washington D.C.? How fun is that! Why are you going? Take lots of pictures and let me know how its going. I bet its going to be beautiful.

Transfer calls were today and I found out im staying in Nagaoka! WooHoo! Im excited. I love it here and did not want to leave. So it looks like Im going to get at least 6 more weeks here. Im so glad.

I love the mission, by the way. Last week we went to a special conference with Evans Kaicho our area president. It was so cool. He spoke to us practically all day. I took 6 pages of notes! The spirit was so strong the whole time. I felt so blessed to just sit there and soak up the words of a general authority. Who else gets that kind of opportunity? I love being a missionary. Japan is a hard place to be. Its hard to give up everything I care about for two years to come to a completely foreign country and work so hard all the time. Its harder than I imagined. Much harder. But its amazing! I love everything about it. I wouldnt give this up for anything. Not even for a chance to watch Alabama and Byu win a BCS game. (which is going to happen by the way) Im so glad Im here and Im so grateful for the experience. Its incredible.

I love you! I Miss all of you so much and I wish I could be with you to tell you all the cool things that i have experienced. But I know there is much more to come. I cant wait to sit down with you all and share my mission with you in person! I love you all so much, and Im glad you are doing so well.
Love, Elder Kingsford

P.S. - Kendall I got the albums! thanks so much. They are awesome. My companions were impressed with them, and they were shocked that my sister would make me something so cool. they said their sisters would never do something like that for them. well duh! they obviously dont have as cool of a sister as i do! I love you! Thanks again!

I'm hoping I don't get transferred

9/24/08 Email Message

Family,

Hey! Sorry but I have even less time this week. Im typing this at an eki [train station] in Niigata city on my way to Zone Taikai in Koriyama. Our area president Evans Kaicho is speaking to us tomorrow.

I am doing good here. We are having a great time dendoing [proselyting] in Nagaoka. Transfers are next week and Im hoping I dont get transferred. We are SO busy and are doing so well. I also dont want to leave my trainer, Elder Gross. He is awesome. Its a great luxury to have someone who is fluent in both languages. I learn so much from him all the time. We are up to 23 investigators. When I got here we had 2. We also have 7 progressing investigators. Its awesome! We are to the point where we have to squeeze in finding time between all the lessons we are teaching. We are hoping to extend some baptism commitments soon. Im so excited! I wish I had more time to tell you some stories from this last week, but Ill include it in next weeks email.

This week Ill want to talk a little about the branch members here. They are awesome. There are an average of 35 members every week in sacrament. Some of them travel for more than an hour to get there. One sister walks an hour and a half. They are all so nice. All of them are converts of course except for the children. The primary consists of about 8 kids - 5 of which are from one family. The youngest boy in that family is named Takahiro and he is my favorite member. He is two years old and he is the cutest little kid i have ever met. In sacrament meeting he always climbs off his chair and kneels on the ground during prayers. It is so cute. Hopefully I can send you a picture of him soon. Also there is Yoriko Shimai. She is so cool. She loves the missionaries and takes care of us like she is our mom. She got baptized in december of last year but she is so strong in the church. She calls us every night to check in on us and see how we are doing. I love her! Weve gotten three of our kyudoshas [investigators] through her too so she is also an amazing member missionary. I hope I stay here!

Anyways thats about all the time that I have. I wish I had an hour more to tell you about all thats going on, but next week will have to do. I will also send a letter home soon. Love you! Miss you! Talk to you next week!

ps- Wow if alabama and byu keep this up they could see each other in a bowl game this year. how cool would that be!

Even though I can't understand Japanese, I can understand the Spirit when He talks to me.

9/17/08 Email Message

Family!, Hows it going?! I love sitting down at the computer and reading all of your messages. My last week in the MTC I read a little talk President Hinckley gave about his expectations of missionaries. In it he said one of the greatest things about a mission is it enhances a young mans appreciation for his parents and deepens his love for his family. That is so true! Every day I have a moment that makes me smile because I realize just how much I love my family. If thats all I gained from my mission I think it would be worth it.

So fall is finding its way into Huntsville huh. That is so cool. I love Alabama in the fall! Nothing beats seeing the trees change colors and watching the Tide play SEC football. Im glad to hear they are doing good so far. And BYU beat UCLA 59 - 0!! Thats hilarious. Everything sounds like it is going so well. Im glad everyone is so happy and enjoying life so much.

As far as things in Japan are going - its awesome! This really has been an amazing transfer. We found 6 more investigators since I emailed last week. And we are teaching a lot. We have a handful of people that are progressing and another handful that is close. We are really blessed right now. But the story I want to share isnt about our area. Last week I went on splits in another area called Joetsu. The last half of the day I went out with an Elder that has been out for a year but is still struggling with the language. We were out housing, but about an hour into it I started to get really discouraged. I felt like we were wasting our time. No one wanted to listen to two American guys who were preaching about God but couldnt really even speak Japanese. I started to really get a bad attitude. But I realized that wasnt how I should be behaving, so I said a prayer and asked God to help us. I asked him to help me calm down and to help us just do the best we could. The very next house we knocked at, a lady answered the door. She was extremely nice and extremely patient with us. At one point I asked her if she believes in God. When she answered I couldnt understand the words she said but somehow I knew the meaning. The spirit told me to testify that God is always there. Even though our lives are hard sometimes God is always there watching and he wants to help us. She looked at me and smiled really big. I asked her if she wanted to hear more of our message at another time and she said she would! It was awesome. She was the first investigator i had picked up on my own. It was soo amazing. I know God is there. I know he answers prayers. Even though I cant understand Japanese I can understand the spirit when He talks to me. This really is Gods work and this is His church. I know it now more than I have ever known it in my life. Im so grateful for the oppurtunity to be here and to strengthen my testimony. I learn things here that I would never learn any other way. It is awesome!

Once again I love you all so much! Im glad everything is going so well. I miss you! Talk to you soon.

Love, Elder Kingsford

P.S. - Go Cougars!

9/10/08 Email Message

Family!,
I thought it might be easier to send one big email this time so here it goes! Hows it going?! Its weird that the letter took so long to get to you. Mom said it took 12 days. Thats weird. I got the wikipedia article Dad sent me yesterday, but im not sure how long it took to get here. Hopefully letters will be faster in the future.


Im glad to hear everything is going so well back home! Kimberly saw her baby! How cool is that! I bet its going to be the cutest little baby. I cant wait to see pictures! And your reading the New Testament? I love the New Tesatament. I dont really get the chance to read it much right now though because our mission has a goal to finish the Book of Mormon by Christmas. As we read, we summarize each chapter in our study journals and analyze specific points that stick out to us. Its way cool, but very time consuming so I dont have much time to read much of anything else.


As far as the food goes, its alright. Its good but it seems like everything tastes pretty much the same. They dont really have much of a selection here. You can either have some kind of noodle dish or some kind of rice dish. Haha apparently there are different kinds of each but I cant really tell. And they have this drink here that everyone loves to serve us. Its basically wheat tea. They call it Mugi cha - I call it tobacco water. But i drink it anyways because its cold. Haha maybe Ill get used to it.


As far as things here, they are going much, much better. Its weird to me that I got so homesick. I was not expecting it at all so it really caught me by surprise. But Im totally over it now. I still miss home and everything, but it doesnt effect me like it used to. I know God is helping me to focus on the work - I can feel His helping hand everyday.


I had a great experience last week. On tuesday I went on splits with one of my zone leaders. He is going home after this transfer so we are basically on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. I learned a lot from his insights and experience so it was a great oppurtunity. We went dendoing [proselyting] from 1 - 8pm. It was super hot and super humid all day long. We must have knocked on 1000 doors and talked to hundreds of people. Not a single person had any interest. It sounds like it should have been terrible, but the funniest thing was it was amazing. The more I bore my testimony and tried to introduce Jesus to these people that had absolutely no interest, the more confident I became in my beliefs. Every time someone kekkoed [declined]me, my testimony grew a littlemore. It got to the point were I was walking as fast as I could to each house so I could have the oppurtunity to bear another little testimony. It was awesome! Ever since that experience, Ive been having a great time. We work hard everyday but we still have fun doing it.


We also have 10 investigators! We found an apartment complex that we call China Town. Everyone that lives there is a Chinese immigrant, but they all speak great Japanese so we are able to communicate really easily with them. It seems like every person we talk to there wants to listen to our message. We found 2 of our strongest investigators there. They are both 20 year old college students and they are both always so excited to meet with us. One of them read half of the book of mormon in a week! The other one told us he feels like Jesus is his destiny. It was so cool. They have never even heard about God before so its amazing to see how excited they get to learn more about him. Im really excited to see them progress.


Its so cool to be here in Japan. Everyday something happens that makes me realize just how amazing it is that Im actually here. Usually its something that seems insignificant, but its huge to me. Like a couple days ago we were out housing and it started to pour rain. We had two more hours to be out so we just kept knocking doors. Near the end I was completely drenched and super tired. On the way home we walked by a little house that had a little rock garden out front with a little statue in the middle of it. The garden was covered with bright green moss and the way the rain was falling off the statue into a little fish pond in front of it made it look like a postcard of Japan. It was so beautiful. I said a little prayer of thanks for the oppurtunity to be on a mission in Japan, and the for the blessing I got from being completely drenched and super tired.


Thanks for all your prayers. They have helped so much. I love you all and I miss you. Talk to you next week!
Love Elder Kingsford

9/3/08 Email Message to Mom

Mom, Haha Im glad you liked rocky so much. Hes a smart dog - he definitely chose the right person to suck up to ;-). Haha I guess he knows whats good for him. And Kendall is freaking awesome. That is so cool that she did so well. I am so happy for her. I hope she has tons of fun; shes going to love it. Things have started to get a lot better here. Ive started to get over the culture shock and get used to being a missionary. Every day I notice little things that Im grateful for that Ive never really recognized before. Im grateful to be a part of something so amazing. Ive wanted to be a missionary my whole life and now I really am one. Its a good feeling. No matter how hard it may be sometimes (especially at the beginning) I know Im doing the right thing and I know its worth it. I miss you! I love hearing from you - it makes my week! Im glad to hear everything is going so well. I love you!!

9/3/08 Email Message to Dad

Dad,
Hows it going! Things have definitely started to get better around here. Its hard, but Im having a good time. Im just working hard and learning a little bit more every day. I feel more useful than i did last week so thats definitely a good sign. And everyday something happens that makes me realize how grateful i am to be on a mission. its hard but i know its worth it.
About the address - i think it would be easiest to just send everything to the honbu [mission home]. I was told that that is the simplest and most sure way to get mail to me. And actually I did get that package you sent me. It was there waiting for me when I first got to the honbu. Thanks so much.
Oh and the Kanji for Nagoaka means long hill. The first character is the same as the first character in Choro and it means long. The second character can either mean city or hill - in this instance its hill. So Nagaoka means long hill. Pretty cool huh?
Im so proud of Kendall! She is just amazing. She is definitely the coolest little sister ever. She is awesome!
I hope you have fun with Tyler and Emily - they are so cool. Make sure to tell them I said Hi!
I love you and I miss you! I think about you all the time. I think its so cool that we get to share this experience together. Even though your mission was a different time than mine, somehow i still feel like we are serving it together sometimes. That has been a great support to me. Thanks so much for being such a great example. Talk to you next week!

Elder Kingsford's First Area

Nagaoka, Japan - on the western coast of the main island



The City of Nagaoka, Japan

Physical characteristics
Area
840.88 km2 (324.67 sq mi)
Population (as of July 1, 2006)
Total 282,829
Density
336.35 /km² (871 /sq mi)
Location
37°26′N 138°50′E / 37.433, 138.833Coordinates: 37°26′N 138°50′E / 37.433, 138.833



Nagaoka (長岡市, Nagaoka-shi?) is a city located in the central part of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture, behind the capital city of Niigata. Nagaoka is located at longitude 138° E and latitude 37° N.

[edit] Geography
Nagaoka is located in the center of Niigata prefecture and the surrounding Chūetsu region. It is 80 minutes from Tokyo by way of the Joetsu Shinkansen or 3 hours on the Kan-Etsu Expressway. Nagaoka was an inland city until January 1, 2006 when the city merged with four municipalities-two were touching the Sea of Japan. The current Nagaoka now touches the Sea of Japan on the north and after the merger, it is still considered a strategic traffic point in the region. The Shinano River flows through it from south to north and industrial development occurs on both banks of the river. The Higashiyama mountain range lies to the east.
[edit] History
The Tokugawa shogunate appointed Naoyori Hori lord of Nagaoka-han in 1616. Hori established the castle town of Nagaoka and built a castle in the Zaôdô area on the Shinano River. However, this area was prone to flooding and a new castle was built at the site of present-day Nagaoka Station by 1617.
Nagaoka flourished as a castle town under the reign of the 13 generations of the Makino clan of the Edo period. In the Boshin War of 1868 during the Meiji Restoration, clan military general Tsuginosuke Kawai lead the forces of Nagaoka against the Meiji Government. Nagaoka was defeated and the city was reduced to rubble. A gift of one hundred sacks of rice from a neighboring province was sold to finance a new school during the reconstruction of Nagaoka, from which the anecdote of Kome Hyappyo was born.
The town of Nagaoka and surrounding clan holdings became part of Kashiwazaki Prefecture (now Niigata Prefecture) at the beginning of the Meiji period. The modern municipality of Nagaoka was established on April 1, 1906.

8/27/08 Email Message to Mom

Mom, Haha yeah i havent been biking much. My bike gets here in three weeks and Ill pay for it then. We walk everywhere - but it hasnt been too hot. I only have like 5 more minutes left to type but I want to let you know I love you! Things were really rough the first few days and I was really depressed. I was praying alot and reading the scriptures as much as possible. Then i pulled out your last letter to me and started reading it. All of a sudden a huge sense of comfort washed over me. You are the best mom i could ask for. all i have is good memories of you. I love you so much. I miss you and i think of you everyday. Im writing more in my letter home but i sent dad a more specific account of whats been happening here. I just wanted you to know how much i love you! talk to you soon!

8/27/08 Email Message to Dad

Dad!,
So im in Japan now and its crazy! My first area is Nagaoka, its on the West coast. Its a great area. I have two companions - Elder Scobbe and Elder Gross. Elder Scobee was actually one of my sempai in the MTC and Elder Gross is my trainer. Last transfer he was one of the APs. Hes awesome. Hes half Japanese so he is bilingual.
The first few days I was here i hated it! It was sooo hard. I couldnt say anything I wanted to, had no idea what anyone was saying to me, and everything was completely different. My apartment has no AC, its teeny tiny, and its only meant to house two companions so we are extremely pressed for space. I was so depressed for about three days. I literally felt like I had been dropped off on an alien planet where all the aliens were doing a bad job of imitating America. I couldnt relate to anything. But through ALOT of prayer and reading the scriptures i got through the initial shock. One time I was reading the scriptures and it hit me that all i have to do is the little bit that I can and be obedient. It doesnt matter that I cant say everything i want to say. I just have to get up every morning and go to work. thats all the lord expects of me right now. that was a huge confort to me. so ever since then ive just been studying really hard and doing the little part that i can. its been much much better since then.
i wish i had more time to write - once again i only have 30 minutes. but ill write more in my letter home! I love you and i miss you. knowing that you went through all the same things im going through right now is a huge blessing for me. thank you for being such a good example for me and a great dad! i love you!

MTC Pics

8/19/08 Email Message to Mom

Hows it going?!, So I got to Japan last night and I still don't really believe it. I already have some stories I want to tell, but I have p-day tomorrow so I'll just throw you another email then. I am so happy to be here, its amazing! My mission president is awesome and the missionaries I've met so far have been way cool. I'm doing great, and it's super hot and humid so I feel like I'm home again. I love you and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Elder Kingsford Mission Newsletter, Issue 1

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Click on newletter to enlarge.

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12 August 2008 Email Message to Dad

Dad,
Well this is my last P-day at the MTC. Pretty weird. I feel like this is my mission. I've been called to serve a mission at the Provo MTC. I'm going to sit in a classroom and learn Japanese for two years and then I'm going to go home. Even though we have our flight plans now it still doesn't feel real. I'm sure it wont hit me until I'm actually standing in Japan.

Speaking of flight plans, I finally know my itinerary. I leave the MTC Monday the 18th at 5:00 a.m. They drive us to the airport where we wait until our plane takes off at 8:25. We have a layover at LAX from 9:30 to 11:30 (11:30 to 1:30 Alabama time). I'll be able to call home while we are waiting at LAX. Which I have to buy a calling card for - they sell them at the MTC bookstore for $5. And then after that I fly to Tokyo and then from Tokyo to Sendai. We land in Sendai at 6:45 p.m. the next day.

And then I think we spend a couple of days in the mission home having orientation and stuff. After that they assign me to my trainer and then I'm off to preach the gospel for two years. Wow I can't even believe it. I'm so excited!

Cub bear leader? That is awesome. What age group is that again? 9 year olds? That sounds like a lot of fun. Keep me updated on all the cool stuff yall do.

Did you go to Nauvoo already? If I remember right I thuoght Mom said the wedding was this last weekend. Let me know how that went. I bet it was awesome! Uncle Thane's family is so cool. And Nauvoo is such an amazing place.

It's funny that you made a blog for me. I was just thinking about that yesterday and I was going to ask you to make one for me. I guess great minds think alike ;-). I think that will be a great way for people to see how I'm doing. Maybe my friends will be able to check it and stuff. It would be a good missionary tool.

Well I've gotta get my last MTC haircut, but I still have some time to get back on here today. If you want to write me back I'll be able to get back on and read it. I love you and I miss you! I hope I hear from you soon. Ai shite imasu!

Elder Brendan Kingsford

8/5/08 Email message to Mom

Mom, The Book of Mormon Read-a-thon sounds exciting. I hope it goes well, and I'm sure it will. Let me know how it goes. Good luck, and have fun.

Kendall starts school already?! That's ridiculous. And she's only going for one day the first week? Haha lucky.

Nauvoo is going to be so much fun. Its funny how a tiny little town like that can be so cool. And having all the family there for such an exciting occasion should make it even better.

Dad sent me an email from Austin announcing Rocky's arrival into the family. Haha Austin's so funny. I can't wait to see pictures of him. Hopefully Kimberly sends me some soon. Kimberly said Austin was so excited to get Rocky. Which is funny because when they first got married I specifically remember him saying he didn't want to get a dog. I think Merritt has really made a good impression on him. Haha its funny how much he loves Merritt. I'm glad he can have a dog of his own to love now too. Afterall evey boy needs a dog ;-)

I have less than two weeks left here. We get our flight plans this Friday, so I'll have my exact itinerary pretty soon. My expected departure date is August 18 which is a week from this Monday. Pretty weird. I'll be sure to give you all the details next week.

Yeah I thought those pictures were cool too. Some of the missionaries in my district have cameras that have that effect built into them. They can set it to only record only the certain color that they want to focus on. Its pretty cool.

Oh and yes I did get some letters from your Laurels. Lets see, Aly, Ashley, and Chelsea have all written me. And Michelle Dyer writes me every week. Haha and its funny because they all mention parts of my letters in their letters to me. I'm glad you found some of my letters helpful. I'm glad they could do a small part to help out the young women. In addition to a letter I'm also sending a package home this week. So be expecting something soon!

I love you, and I miss you. Hope to hear from you soon!

Ai shite imasu!, Elder Kingsford

Photos of Elder Kingsford's MTC District

Email to Mom - 15 July 2005

Haha (affectionate term for Mom - not to be confused with a laugh ;-)),

Im excited for my care package! I got a huge load of mail this last week and things are looking up for this week too. How cool! Lol and I was wondering why you haven't written a hand written letter yet. I should have known it was the stationary holding you back.

I'm so excited for the ward. I pray for the work in Alabama every day. I just have a feeling things are going well there. Is the ward growing through baptisms or just move ins? I'd be interested to know. I'm hoping by the time I get back I'll be coming home to the Madison stake. How cool would that be!

Our lesson went great on thursday. Every week we have a 15 minute language exercise before our lesson and then we have a 35 minute lesson. This week both were entirely Nihongo de. So we spoke Japanese for basically an hour straight. It was amazing. I was so pumped when I got out of there - I wanted to go straight from the TRC to Japan.

Lol the MTC barbers cut my hair. They basically cut everyones hair the same way. Haha lets just say it wasn't pretty. I have to get another one right before I leave for Japan too, I'm not looking forward to it.

Yeah my ankle is feeling better. I have a cool brace for it for when I play sports and work out. However, last week i was playing basketball again and I dislocated me thumb. It sounded awful when it snapped - I thought I broke it. I figure someone is trying to tell me to stop playing basketball. So for now on I'll just stick to volleyball and running.

We get our kohai tomorrow. So weird! Time is flying by. I can hardly believe it. Next thing I know I'll be on the plane to Nihon. By the way I have exciting news. Apparently I get to call home the day I fly to Japan. We are supposed to call our families during one of our layovers. I'll be getting my flightplans in a couple weeks. When I find out the itinerary I'll let you know.

I hope you have a lot of fun in Nauvoo! I love Nauvoo. It's such a cool place. Make sure you let me know what the plays are like. I hear they are cool. I miss you. I hope you have fun with Cassie - don't stay too busy.

Ai shite imasu!

P.S. - I've run into a bit of a problem. I have to shave everyday and apparently my skin isn't a big fan. I get pretty bad razor burn from my blades. One of the Elders in my district had the same problem so he bought an electric shaver in the bookstore. I tried it out a couple times and it's pretty nice. The problem is it costs 50 bucks. What do you think? Should I buy it?