We had a transfer!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great week. We had transfers this week, so that has a great, crazy week. There have been so many miracles that have happened!

First things first, I saw Elder De Andrade this week! He is serving in the same zone as I am, so I was able to see him at Stake Conference. He's looking good! It's was so great to see him, for only a couple
minutes, but it was so good! We didn't take any pictures or anything 😁. But! I'll see him again when I visit his district meeting this week, so I'll take a photo then (⌒▽⌒)

We had a really cool miracle one transfer day this week. While we were waiting for an Elder to arrive in the area, we were working around the train station, and this lady walks up to us and starts talking. She told us she had a friend who goes to church in another area of our mission. We walked and talked with her, and she said that she had time right then, and wanted to learn about church. We called the Sister missionaries, and they were was close by, so they met her at the church and shared with her about the church. It was such a cool way to see how God guides us and helps His children.

We had Stake Conference this week. It was way good! There were a lot of good parts, but my favorite part was the last speaker. He spoke about several different things, but some of the highlights were about our attitudes. He said that smiling and laughing are both signs of feeling the Spirit. I personally don't believe the Spirit will ever make you feel down on yourself, or make you feel worthless. Now, that doesn't mean we won't have trials, or we won't feel sadness. But, as we rely on the Lord and trust in Him, we will be able to feel peace in our decisions and be able to smile. The other thing he shared was simply that it's better to look up. Look up to the Lord, and rely on Him. Look up and smile!

I love you all so much! Thank you for all the support and love and care that I can feel from you. You are all such good examples to me and I'm so blessed to have you in my life. I love you all! Keep up the smile and laughter!

Elder Nelson

Elder Jennings (my new companion) and three kids we met on the street

It rained yesterday.

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great day! I didn't have a chance to send out an email yesterday because there was a typhoon that blew through town, and we all had to stay inside all day. Seriously, it was raining so hard over here, I just couldn't believe it. But, regardless, we were able to get a lot of cleaning done around the apartment, which is really nice *\(^o^)/*

We got to watch the Sapporo Temple dedication this week. It was so awesome, I love temples. President Nelson spoke at and dedicated the temple. It was a wonderful Spiritual experience. I could just feel again and again how big of a blessing it is to have temples on the earth, and I know that there are going to be so many blessing poured out because of the new temple here. The Lord is mindful of all of His children!

We got transfer calls this week! I'm going to be staying in Hachioji, but my companion will be leaving. I'm going to miss Elder Spackman, we've seen a lot of miracles together and gotten a lot of work down. My new companion is going to be Elder Jennings. He is a way fun guy, and I know I'm going to be able to learn a lot from him during this next transfer!

We are still working with our boy Tou San. He is progressing way well right now. He came to one of our lessons, and was like, "Hey, I wanna repent. How do you do that?" Haha yes! It's such a pleasure to work with him, he's so humble and he is really in tune with the Spirit as we teach. Tou is the best!

We have a new investigator named Keisuke, and we were able to have a great member present lesson with our recent convert, Shintaro. We taught about faith, repentance, and baptism. We asked Keisuke what kind of blessings he wanted to receive from God, and he said he just wanted to feel Gods love, since he doesn't think he's ever felt that before. But, I can promise him and everyone else out there that God does love you. He loves you so much.

I love you all tons! Have a great week!
Elder Nelson

Some cool kids who we had lunch and a lesson with. They are way tall for a Japanese person.

Got to meet this great guy while knockin on some doors during an exchange

This is Hachioji Station. I love this place.

♪（ｖ＾＿＾）ｖ

Hello, my friends and family! I hope you had a great week. It's been great here, we've been way busy and seen a ton of miracles!

We had lunch with a guy named Ebi this week. He wanted to go out to lunch together, and so we went with him. As we were walking towards lunch, he told us he had already made a reservation for where we were going to eat. Yeah, a reservation. We went into this really expensive looking hotel, and into an even more expensive looking restaurant. He said, "We have the buffet, so go for it." And we did. At the end of the meal and our conversation, he wouldn't let us pay for it or anything. We didn't see the receipt, but I can guess that it was a nice little bundle. I now know what it's like to eat like a rich person. *\(^o^)/*

We're working with a guy named Tou right now. He moved here from China about 3 years ago, and he speaks pretty good Japanese. What's really nice is that there is a recent convert in the ward who got baptized about 3 months ago who is fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and English, so he is helping us out a ton. But! Tou is literally the best. He pulled an all nighter so he could read the pamphlets we gave him and this Book of Mormon. That night, as it was getting early late, he said that he just felt like he needed to pray. So, he prayed. And he said that the indescribable feeling came to his heart. He said it felt like there was nothing else there except for God and himself. In that moment, he felt close to God, and it left him with the biggest feeling of peace. God loves all of His children. Turn to Him in prayer, and He will bless you and love you with the tenderness of loving parent. I know that He loves you all.

I hope you all have a great week, and I hope you know I love you all! Thank you for all your support and love, you're the best! Love you!

Elder Nelson

At lunch with our boy, Ebi.

Yes! I have a subject!

Hello everyone! I can't believe another week has already gone by! It's was a great one, but it just went by so fast!

On Wednesday, we discovered a problem in our apartment. We had been noticing some small flies around the apartment recently, but hadn't thought to much of it. We got some flies traps, and thought we were safe. Nope. We emptied out our trash one day, and noticed here was something in the bottom on the trash can. Elder Spackman figured out they were little eggs, and we bag an looking around more carefully. We started seeing tiny maggots around the trash can, and a bookshelf. We move the shelf to find just big nest of the little nasties. So, naturally, we did what anyone would do. Just like in Sodom and Gomorra, we rained down fire on their cities. An hour later, no more flies.

We had a way cool miracle this week. We had a meal with a member at 5:30 in the evening, and we were trying our hardest to get some of our investigators there. But, no matter what we did, we had no one. But, we start messaging some potential investigators, specifically one named Jack. His real name is Tou, but his American name is Jack. We met Jack on the first day of the transfer a couple weeks ago, and until then, he had been way standoffish. Like, he pretty much straight up told us he didn't want to hear our message. But! We hit I'm up anyways. Well, we message him, and he calls us back right as we enter the church. Jack speaks Chinese, and so we throw him over to a member named Choyo, we just goes off in Chinese to him. Choyo finished his conversation, and hangs up. All he says to us at that point is, "Got him!" Jack ended up coming to the meal and just loved it. On the way
there and back, him and Choyo became really good friends. We were able to give him a Chinese Book of Mormon, and set up another lesson with him. It was such a testament to me of just how much God knows His children, and how He knows exactly what needs to happen for His children's happiness. I know this is the Lord's work!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Nelson

Some cool kids we met recently while on splits with Elder Perez

This thing walked past our apartment. There was a huge festival that went on over the weekend that just had everyone going nuts.

It's a Tuesday, so you know what that means!

Hello everyone! A lot happened this week, but I don't have a lot of time to write about it! Isn't that just the best :)

We had a baptism this week! Our friend Shintaro San got baptized Sunday morning before church. It was great! Shintaro has a pretty miraculous conversion story, of how he first came to meet the missionaries until he started taking lessons and then until his baptism. I'm so glad that I got to be a part of that experience and see him grow!

We had splits with the Assistants! It was way great, we worked so hard and saw a ton of miracles. I was really tired by the end of the day, which just means that it was a great day.

We went to the temple! I got to do the whole session in Japanese this week for the first time. It was such a special experience. I absolutely love the temple and the blessings that it brings. I can't think of any better place to try and draw closer to a God, to learn who He is, and to try and become like Him and His Son. I am so grateful that I have had the chance to attend the temple so frequently on my mission. Never take a chance to attend the House of the Lord for granted. Love every chance you get!

I love you all! I know this message is short, but I'm doing well! This has been a great week. I'm happy, and I am so grateful for all your prayers and support. Have a great week! Also, shout out to my mom! She had a birthday, so if you see her, give her a hug for me!

Elder Nelson

Our man, Shintaro! 

Two kids from Osaka that each took a Book of Mormon.