Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
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
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
Monday, November 17, 2008
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
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
Monday, November 10, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
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
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
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