Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Its nice to just be a missionary.
2/24/09 Email Message
Family,
Well it sounds like everyone is busy as usual, but I guess that is what makes life fun right? The cradle looks like it is going to be awesome Dad. Im excited to see the final product. Also, I cant believe Ashers big day is so close. Its kind of surreal actually. I cant even imagine what is going through Kimberly's mind. What an amazing moment in life!
Dad I cant believe that blood type thing has made news in America. Haha I have heard a lot about that over here. We have an Eikaiwa [english class] student who swears by it. He loves to write letters in English and then have us edit them for him. Ive helped him edit 4 or 5 letters about that dumb blood type horoscope. I think its pretty hilarious. Only in Japan would that be considered legitimate. The people here are so funny like that. They love weird gossip and urban legends.
Kendall that is exciting that you are getting your patriarchal blessing. I love my blessing. When I am feeling down or looking for strength I always go to my patriarchal blessing. There have been so many times on my mission where my blessing has given me inspiration or sparked a chain of thoughts that has led to the answer Im looking for. Im glad you are preparing for yours now too.
Theres not much news from this week. The weather has been kind of bad, but thats ok. It hasnt hindered us from helping our investigators progress in the gospel. Yesterday I realized how funny it is that all my biggest worries our about my investigators. What should we teach them? what do they need the most? how can we help them strengthen their testimony? Those are the kind of questions that are bouncing around my head all day. I dont have much time to worry about much else. Pretty much everything we do is done in order to help someone else. And its a good feeling. Its nice to just focus on helping other people and fulfilling my calling. Its nice to just be a missionary.
I love you! Im glad everyone is doing so well! I miss you; I hope to hear from you soon!
Much Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Family,
Well it sounds like everyone is busy as usual, but I guess that is what makes life fun right? The cradle looks like it is going to be awesome Dad. Im excited to see the final product. Also, I cant believe Ashers big day is so close. Its kind of surreal actually. I cant even imagine what is going through Kimberly's mind. What an amazing moment in life!
Dad I cant believe that blood type thing has made news in America. Haha I have heard a lot about that over here. We have an Eikaiwa [english class] student who swears by it. He loves to write letters in English and then have us edit them for him. Ive helped him edit 4 or 5 letters about that dumb blood type horoscope. I think its pretty hilarious. Only in Japan would that be considered legitimate. The people here are so funny like that. They love weird gossip and urban legends.
Kendall that is exciting that you are getting your patriarchal blessing. I love my blessing. When I am feeling down or looking for strength I always go to my patriarchal blessing. There have been so many times on my mission where my blessing has given me inspiration or sparked a chain of thoughts that has led to the answer Im looking for. Im glad you are preparing for yours now too.
Theres not much news from this week. The weather has been kind of bad, but thats ok. It hasnt hindered us from helping our investigators progress in the gospel. Yesterday I realized how funny it is that all my biggest worries our about my investigators. What should we teach them? what do they need the most? how can we help them strengthen their testimony? Those are the kind of questions that are bouncing around my head all day. I dont have much time to worry about much else. Pretty much everything we do is done in order to help someone else. And its a good feeling. Its nice to just focus on helping other people and fulfilling my calling. Its nice to just be a missionary.
I love you! Im glad everyone is doing so well! I miss you; I hope to hear from you soon!
Much Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Monday, February 16, 2009
The church is the same everywhere you go
2/16/09 Email Message
Mom,
I'm glad to hear things have loosened up over there! Maybe the "stuffy" label will have to come off now after all ;)
The party looks like it was a blast! Kendall looked so cute - and I especially loved Jims Nemo -that boy has no shame - I love it! Can you tell him I said hi?
Thats cool that you talked to Tommy's sister. I actually like his little sisters a lot, both of them were always so nice to us when we came over and invaded their house all those times. In fact I love his whole family. They are amazing people. I hope you said hi for me!
Im really glad Kendall posted those on Facebook for me. She is such a great little sister. I was really wanting my friends to see what Ive been up to and enjoy my experiences with me. Im also glad you all enjoyed them so much. I take my camera with me everywhere I go - mainly because I know it will make my Mom happy to see what Im doing ;) And Im really happy Ive made that a habit. There were so many moments I captured on that camera that I will be forever grateful for preserving. Im excited to tell you all the little stories behind all of them!
And I love how my friends were quick to jump all over me when they thought I was breaking the rules. Its good to know they are there to keep me in line. But just to clear the record I never get on any sites that arent church owned (no matter how tempting it may be).
Are you still thinking about coming out to get me next year? That would be cool if you did. One of the dying [going home] missionaries came to church with his parents a few weeks ago and I talked to them about what they had to go through to get it done. They said it was actually really simple. They just called Church Travel Department and they took care of almost all of it. And they didnt even have to commit until about 4 months before hand. So you have a lot of time to figure that out.
Things are going good here though. We had one of our Mongolian friends come to church for the first time on Sunday. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, so it was a great oppurtunity to teach and bear my testimony for him. Also, the man that is in charge of translating the Japanese Book of Mormon came and spoke to us. I got to talk to him after sacrament meeting which was an awesome oppurtunity. He was probably the smartest man I have ever met. Its funny how many incredibly talented people there are in the church.
I have a little bit of a funny story. For a long time I was so shell shocked about being in Japan that I didnt really take the time to notice much around me. But now that things have calmed down a lot and my Japanese has improved enough to understand people, Im able to notice a lot more. Yesterday I realized that the church is the same everywhere you go - even in Japan. There is the one huge family that always gets to church earlier than everyone else so they can get "their spot" in sacrament. There are the deacons that dont quite know how to tie a tie, there are the little kids that can only be kept quite through bribes of Cheerios and there is the one old man who gets up and tells crazy stories in testimony meeting. All the stereotypes are found even in a branch of 35 people in the middle of Nowhere Japan. When that realization hit me I couldnt help but smile. Maybe thats just more proof that this church is true ;) But I love you and I miss you like crazy.
Im glad everything is going so well. I hope to hear from you soon!
You are the best mother I could have ever asked for. God sure knew what He was doing when he put me with you :)
SO Much Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Mom,
I'm glad to hear things have loosened up over there! Maybe the "stuffy" label will have to come off now after all ;)
The party looks like it was a blast! Kendall looked so cute - and I especially loved Jims Nemo -that boy has no shame - I love it! Can you tell him I said hi?
Thats cool that you talked to Tommy's sister. I actually like his little sisters a lot, both of them were always so nice to us when we came over and invaded their house all those times. In fact I love his whole family. They are amazing people. I hope you said hi for me!
Im really glad Kendall posted those on Facebook for me. She is such a great little sister. I was really wanting my friends to see what Ive been up to and enjoy my experiences with me. Im also glad you all enjoyed them so much. I take my camera with me everywhere I go - mainly because I know it will make my Mom happy to see what Im doing ;) And Im really happy Ive made that a habit. There were so many moments I captured on that camera that I will be forever grateful for preserving. Im excited to tell you all the little stories behind all of them!
And I love how my friends were quick to jump all over me when they thought I was breaking the rules. Its good to know they are there to keep me in line. But just to clear the record I never get on any sites that arent church owned (no matter how tempting it may be).
Are you still thinking about coming out to get me next year? That would be cool if you did. One of the dying [going home] missionaries came to church with his parents a few weeks ago and I talked to them about what they had to go through to get it done. They said it was actually really simple. They just called Church Travel Department and they took care of almost all of it. And they didnt even have to commit until about 4 months before hand. So you have a lot of time to figure that out.
Things are going good here though. We had one of our Mongolian friends come to church for the first time on Sunday. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, so it was a great oppurtunity to teach and bear my testimony for him. Also, the man that is in charge of translating the Japanese Book of Mormon came and spoke to us. I got to talk to him after sacrament meeting which was an awesome oppurtunity. He was probably the smartest man I have ever met. Its funny how many incredibly talented people there are in the church.
I have a little bit of a funny story. For a long time I was so shell shocked about being in Japan that I didnt really take the time to notice much around me. But now that things have calmed down a lot and my Japanese has improved enough to understand people, Im able to notice a lot more. Yesterday I realized that the church is the same everywhere you go - even in Japan. There is the one huge family that always gets to church earlier than everyone else so they can get "their spot" in sacrament. There are the deacons that dont quite know how to tie a tie, there are the little kids that can only be kept quite through bribes of Cheerios and there is the one old man who gets up and tells crazy stories in testimony meeting. All the stereotypes are found even in a branch of 35 people in the middle of Nowhere Japan. When that realization hit me I couldnt help but smile. Maybe thats just more proof that this church is true ;) But I love you and I miss you like crazy.
Im glad everything is going so well. I hope to hear from you soon!
You are the best mother I could have ever asked for. God sure knew what He was doing when he put me with you :)
SO Much Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Monday, February 9, 2009
It smells like a mixture of dirt and stir fry
2/9/09 Email Message
Hey Dad,
Wow it sounds like you went all out for Kendalls party this year. Was it fun to see her have such a good time? I bet she was just living it up. How cool for her.
Also, Im glad Rocky is such a good dog. I always kind of liked boxers. I know nothing will ever top merritt, but maybe a boxer is a good second choice. Its funny to hear that Kimberly looks pregnant. Haha I cant really picture what she looks like...I wish I could be there to see her. What an exciting time! 7 more weeks and mom and you are going to be grandma and grandpa kingsford. Im sure mom cant wait to start spoiling Asher. He is definitely one lucky little boy. Hes going to have awesome grandparents.
Make sure you send me some pics of his cradle, Im pretty excited to see what kind of magic you whip up with your new tools. I can accept attachments on this email too, so you can just attach pics to your emails if you want.
And I love the Path Between the Seas. David McCullough is an amazing writer. The way he makes history seem so real and so exciting is pretty incredible. Its pretty crazy that a historical non fiction book about a big ditch can be such a great read. Have you read my whole collection now?
This last week was pretty cool for me. We had transfers again, but Im still in Nagaoka. That means Im now going on 5 transfers in my bean area. Its pretty rare to be in an area for such a long time. But I consider myself pretty lucky. We spent a lot of time last week working with Su sans friends. We played some basketball with them, went out to eat with a few of them, had dinner at su sans house with a couple of them, and now we have 2 more mongolians that are excited about Jesus and the Book of Mormon. Su san just makes dendo fun.
I love the mission right now. Yesterday we were riding home for the night and we were coming down this big hill on the way home. The wind was chilly and the air was crisp. It smelled like Japan. Do you remember how that smells? To me it smells like a mixture of dirt and stir fry. I love it. We were flying down the hill (we had a dinner appointement at su sans that went kind of late) and I just felt like a missionary of the Lord. It was an awesome feeling. I am a missionary of Jesus Christ preaching His gospel in Japan. How cool is that! Thank you so much for preparing me for this opportunity. Im so happy that you worked so hard to inspire me to go on a mission. Thank you so much for being such a great dad!
I love you!
Your Son,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Hey Dad,
Wow it sounds like you went all out for Kendalls party this year. Was it fun to see her have such a good time? I bet she was just living it up. How cool for her.
Also, Im glad Rocky is such a good dog. I always kind of liked boxers. I know nothing will ever top merritt, but maybe a boxer is a good second choice. Its funny to hear that Kimberly looks pregnant. Haha I cant really picture what she looks like...I wish I could be there to see her. What an exciting time! 7 more weeks and mom and you are going to be grandma and grandpa kingsford. Im sure mom cant wait to start spoiling Asher. He is definitely one lucky little boy. Hes going to have awesome grandparents.
Make sure you send me some pics of his cradle, Im pretty excited to see what kind of magic you whip up with your new tools. I can accept attachments on this email too, so you can just attach pics to your emails if you want.
And I love the Path Between the Seas. David McCullough is an amazing writer. The way he makes history seem so real and so exciting is pretty incredible. Its pretty crazy that a historical non fiction book about a big ditch can be such a great read. Have you read my whole collection now?
This last week was pretty cool for me. We had transfers again, but Im still in Nagaoka. That means Im now going on 5 transfers in my bean area. Its pretty rare to be in an area for such a long time. But I consider myself pretty lucky. We spent a lot of time last week working with Su sans friends. We played some basketball with them, went out to eat with a few of them, had dinner at su sans house with a couple of them, and now we have 2 more mongolians that are excited about Jesus and the Book of Mormon. Su san just makes dendo fun.
I love the mission right now. Yesterday we were riding home for the night and we were coming down this big hill on the way home. The wind was chilly and the air was crisp. It smelled like Japan. Do you remember how that smells? To me it smells like a mixture of dirt and stir fry. I love it. We were flying down the hill (we had a dinner appointement at su sans that went kind of late) and I just felt like a missionary of the Lord. It was an awesome feeling. I am a missionary of Jesus Christ preaching His gospel in Japan. How cool is that! Thank you so much for preparing me for this opportunity. Im so happy that you worked so hard to inspire me to go on a mission. Thank you so much for being such a great dad!
I love you!
Your Son,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Monday, February 2, 2009
That is my testimony. That is my sword.
2/2/09 Email Message
Konnichiwa!!
Hows is everything going with my favorite family in the world? It sounds like everyone is having fun and enjoying life. Im glad to hear it!
This week was pretty eventful for us. On Friday Elder Stevenson from the Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to our mission. It was so fun to sit and listen to him and his wife speak to us. I learned a lot from what they said and even more from the spirit in the room. One of the most powerful topics Elder Stevenson spoke about was the sword of the Spirit. He told us as missionaries, our most powerful tool is our testimonies. Our testimony is literally the sword that we bring to every lesson and every encounter. He then used a lesson on the Word of Wisdom to demonstrate the difference between a lesson without a testimony and a lesson with one. He said the exact same things in both lessons, but in the second one he bore a simple, incredibly powerful testimony. The spirit was so strong, that it literally felt like all the little doubts and questions that were in my mind were pierced with a sword. That little demonstration taught me so much about the power of a testimony. It is the source of our strength and the foundation of our faith. It is the most powerful we posess.
After church on sunday, an old investigator (his name is Kobayashi) who I have never met called us and told us he wanted to meet. He came to church and met us and Yoriko Shimai. He started to talk about how he met the missionaries in the past and has heard all the lessons. He thinks everything about the church is good, but it is just really hard for him to believe in God. He had a list of reasons why he doubts the existence of God. We tried to answer each one individually, but I could just feel like it wasnt working. I couldnt feel the spirit at all - it felt like we were just wasting our time. In the middle of the lesson I said a little silent prayer so I could receive guidance on what to say. And then I remembered Elder Stevensons lesson. And thats when I knew it was time to pull out the sword. I opened the scriptures to Mosiah 2:41[* ](one of my favorites), read it out loud, and then began to bear testimony of God. I have never felt more sure about my testimony than I did at that moment. I have never felt so strongly about my own words than I did at that time. When I was done bearing testimony I felt a prompting to do something I would have never done on my own.
I had never met, talked to, or known anything about Kobayashi san before that lesson. I didnt know anything about him at all. But as I sat there I could clearly feel the spirit telling me what to do - so I followed. I asked Kobayashi san if he would commit to baptism right then. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said yes. I was shocked! I didnt even know who this man was, but I had just committed him to be baptized. It was the strangest experience I have had so far. It was like the moment I began to bear testimony, the spirit took out His sword and destroyed all doubts Kobayashi san could possibly have. It was amazing! I wish you could have been there to see it. I know God is real. I know Christ is our savior and I know this is his church. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is true! That is my testimony. That is my sword.
Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
[*Mosiah 2:41 - And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. ]
Konnichiwa!!
Hows is everything going with my favorite family in the world? It sounds like everyone is having fun and enjoying life. Im glad to hear it!
This week was pretty eventful for us. On Friday Elder Stevenson from the Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to our mission. It was so fun to sit and listen to him and his wife speak to us. I learned a lot from what they said and even more from the spirit in the room. One of the most powerful topics Elder Stevenson spoke about was the sword of the Spirit. He told us as missionaries, our most powerful tool is our testimonies. Our testimony is literally the sword that we bring to every lesson and every encounter. He then used a lesson on the Word of Wisdom to demonstrate the difference between a lesson without a testimony and a lesson with one. He said the exact same things in both lessons, but in the second one he bore a simple, incredibly powerful testimony. The spirit was so strong, that it literally felt like all the little doubts and questions that were in my mind were pierced with a sword. That little demonstration taught me so much about the power of a testimony. It is the source of our strength and the foundation of our faith. It is the most powerful we posess.
After church on sunday, an old investigator (his name is Kobayashi) who I have never met called us and told us he wanted to meet. He came to church and met us and Yoriko Shimai. He started to talk about how he met the missionaries in the past and has heard all the lessons. He thinks everything about the church is good, but it is just really hard for him to believe in God. He had a list of reasons why he doubts the existence of God. We tried to answer each one individually, but I could just feel like it wasnt working. I couldnt feel the spirit at all - it felt like we were just wasting our time. In the middle of the lesson I said a little silent prayer so I could receive guidance on what to say. And then I remembered Elder Stevensons lesson. And thats when I knew it was time to pull out the sword. I opened the scriptures to Mosiah 2:41[* ](one of my favorites), read it out loud, and then began to bear testimony of God. I have never felt more sure about my testimony than I did at that moment. I have never felt so strongly about my own words than I did at that time. When I was done bearing testimony I felt a prompting to do something I would have never done on my own.
I had never met, talked to, or known anything about Kobayashi san before that lesson. I didnt know anything about him at all. But as I sat there I could clearly feel the spirit telling me what to do - so I followed. I asked Kobayashi san if he would commit to baptism right then. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said yes. I was shocked! I didnt even know who this man was, but I had just committed him to be baptized. It was the strangest experience I have had so far. It was like the moment I began to bear testimony, the spirit took out His sword and destroyed all doubts Kobayashi san could possibly have. It was amazing! I wish you could have been there to see it. I know God is real. I know Christ is our savior and I know this is his church. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is true! That is my testimony. That is my sword.
Love,
Elder Brendan Kingsford
[*Mosiah 2:41 - And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. ]
Monday, January 26, 2009
If they receive an answer, they want to set a date this week!
1/26/09 Email Message
Family,
こんいちわ! (Konnichiwa!) Hows it going? I dont really know what to talk about in this email because Im not really sure this last week even happened. It went by sooo fast.
Oh! There is one thing that is pretty exciting. Do you remember a long time ago I told you about that family from Myanmar? Well we have been teaching them a lot lately and they have come to church a few times. They have a lot of interest (especially their two kids) and they really like meeting with us and talking about the gospel. The lessons are kind of difficult because the Church actually does not print the Book of Mormon in Myanmar and as far as we know the Church doesnt even have a presence in Myanmar. However, we were able to get a hold of a gospel principles book and a joseph smith pamphlet in Myanmar. Those have been a lot of help with the parents. The children speak great Japanese so they are fine. They attend church and learn a lot from the teachers there and they are able to read from the Book of Mormon in Japanese. The parents speak decent English and basically no Japanese. So we've been teaching them a lot out of the gospel priniciples book and from an english book of mormon and a Myanmar bible. Sometimes, if the parents dont understand our english we have to say it in Japanese to the kids and then they translate it into Myanmar for their parents. It gets pretty crazy sometimes with three different languages going at the same time, but somehow it works. On Saturday the family committed to pray together about baptism. If they receive an answer, they want to set a date this week! Its pretty exciting. Ill give you an update on that next week.
But thats about all the time I have left. I love you all and think about you all the time. I hope all is well! Tell Merritt I said hi! Do you think she will remember me when I go home?
I love you!
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Family,
こんいちわ! (Konnichiwa!) Hows it going? I dont really know what to talk about in this email because Im not really sure this last week even happened. It went by sooo fast.
Oh! There is one thing that is pretty exciting. Do you remember a long time ago I told you about that family from Myanmar? Well we have been teaching them a lot lately and they have come to church a few times. They have a lot of interest (especially their two kids) and they really like meeting with us and talking about the gospel. The lessons are kind of difficult because the Church actually does not print the Book of Mormon in Myanmar and as far as we know the Church doesnt even have a presence in Myanmar. However, we were able to get a hold of a gospel principles book and a joseph smith pamphlet in Myanmar. Those have been a lot of help with the parents. The children speak great Japanese so they are fine. They attend church and learn a lot from the teachers there and they are able to read from the Book of Mormon in Japanese. The parents speak decent English and basically no Japanese. So we've been teaching them a lot out of the gospel priniciples book and from an english book of mormon and a Myanmar bible. Sometimes, if the parents dont understand our english we have to say it in Japanese to the kids and then they translate it into Myanmar for their parents. It gets pretty crazy sometimes with three different languages going at the same time, but somehow it works. On Saturday the family committed to pray together about baptism. If they receive an answer, they want to set a date this week! Its pretty exciting. Ill give you an update on that next week.
But thats about all the time I have left. I love you all and think about you all the time. I hope all is well! Tell Merritt I said hi! Do you think she will remember me when I go home?
I love you!
Elder Brendan Kingsford
Saturday, January 24, 2009
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