Here are a few photos from Japan:

Brandon and his companion leading a workout for children.

Brandon in a Kendo outfit he will be bringing home.

 Brandon with one of the missionaries at the MTC,

prior to leaving for Japan.

Japan: Statues

This is David, Brandon's dad, and I am about to post the last couple of months worth of letters from Brandon.  I have been sending his messages to an email list, but that is not the best way to get his messages out to the world. So, here we go!


DEC 30th 2012:
This week was crazy, we were way busy XD It was great. We had a lunch FHE appointment with an investigator family, the Suzukis, and there we ate hand made sushi, and other unknown Japanese foods, then shared a message about Christmas and were off to see the wizard. On Tuesday we went to The daycare we volunteer at and had a Christmas party there, then went over to our best friend Maito Kyoudai's house, he is always with us, and always helping us. whenever we need a tachiai (A member to stand in on lessons when our investigator is a female) (The kanji for tachia mean standing overseer) he is there for us. Way cool kid, 18 years old and preparing for a mission. There we ate dinner with his family for Christmas and had fun playing uno with his family.

Wednesday we went with Ayako san to the Chiropractor and then went with her to the Old Folk's home and did slow aerobics with the people there. She gave me a copy of the music we are always using when we go there because she noticed that I liked the songs XD Way nice of her. Then later on she took us out to a place called the Melon Cafe, we have been there before, and Cathy san came too, and we did Eikaiwa for the two of them at the Cafe since the owner is our friend now.

On Friday we had District meeting at our church building and went and took pictures together as a district. Immediately after the District meeting we went to The Melon Cafe again for lunch with Ayako san again. After The cafe, we went back to the church and got things for the eikaiwa (English class) party that we planned, and got things all set up. 9 people came and there was plenty of food thanks to Ayako and her friends who each brought loads of food... It was crazy, then we all played uno and talked in English. It was a really good turnout.

On Saturday we had our kid's English class which was good as well, there we got pictures from The Suzuki family that she had taken when we went to their house for Lunch on Monday. Right after that we went to Morishita Shimai's house (Not the one with a bunch of cat's) and had lunch with her and her friend who is one of our investigators (Suganuma san) and we had a fantastic lesson on the plan of salvation. Following that we went to the OTHER Morishita Shimai's house (The one with a ton of cats) and went out to eat Tonkatsu with her and her husband. After the dinner we went back to their house and I taught English.

Sunday I taught the Gospel Principles class, and Elder Yoshizawa gave a talk about being grateful/thankful (The word in Japanese is Kansha, and it means both thankfulness and gratefulness). After Church I helped One of the members set up a new computer that they got for the church for doing Family History (It was terrible, I haven't touched a computer that slow in ages :O ). Then after all that we ate lunch with Ayako san, again! She brought a bunch of food to church and we all ate together in the kitchen. She explained why, saying that she feels like we are her sons, and wants to make sure we are eating healthy (She makes sure there are plenty of green objects inside the things she brings, it's scary O.o ). After church we again went to Morishita Shimai's house (The one with the cats) and we brought her the Sacrament and ate dinner (Curry) with her.

This morning (Monday) we got our Transfer calls, and I am staying here in Fukuroi, while Elder Yoshizawa is going to Ichinomiya in Nagoya. I will be getting a companion by the name of Ohara, he is half Japanese, and is fluent in both languages. So today will be spent packing up Elder Yoshizawa's stuff and making calls and whatnot. So yeah :D That was my week, I am doing great, Happy, healthy, and am having a wonderful time serving as a missionary.

Thank you guys for all the support and love you give me everyday. I Love you!

Love

Elder Hernandez
Hiru chourou
蛭長老

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DEC 23rd 2012
We got to talk with Brandon on Skype for a couple of hours! It was great. Scott, Melanie, Brittany, Linda, David, Grandma Nancy, Brooke, Steven, Aidan, and Jackson all got to see him and talk with him.  It was FaNtaStiC!!

We also got this message from him:
This week was pretty good, we had a companionship exchange on Tuesday, I finally went to Fujieda for the first time with Elder Beyeler, the District leader. we had a good time, biked around trying to visit people, but nobody was at home.

On Wednesday it was another very long day, the Companion exchange ended at 12, and then immediately after that I had to teach English, which went really good, Ayako and Cathy are both very awesome students. After that, ate some lunch at the apartment and headed off to Gakudou (The Daycare place we go to every Wednesday).

Thursday was our food shopping day/ weekly planning meeting/ English class, so that was a very packed day as always. Friday was probably the hardest day... We got presents for our English class kids, and wrapped them up and stuff, and while we were in the middle of doing that, the district showed up for District meeting. The meeting dragged onnn nand onnn because Only me and Elder Matsunaga (Subaru) were participating, so Elder Beyeler was trying to drag answers out of the others, it was a very long night... After DTM was over, Kouno Kyoudai came to pick us up for our lesson with Suganuma san at Morishita shimai's house.That lesson was rough. So the start was great, had normal conversation while eating the really good foodthat Morishita shimai prepared, after that was done we watched a movie called gozonji desuka (Did you know) which is a short ten minute video that introduces the church. After the video, she we asked what she thought and she mention Mit Romney and how he had a foul mouth during some televised talk with Obama and how she was shocked to find that he was a member. That got things off to a tough begining. Then she got onto the topic of war, and the member that brought us to the place started talking about the final war that will happen before Christ comes again, and She started talking about how she hates war. Meanwhile Elder Yoshizawa was trying to bring the topic back to te gospel, and morishita shimai was trying super hard to not break down and cry. It was ridiculous. Definitely the hardest lesson I have ever experienced so far. Things turned out in the end, but it was tough.

On Saturday we went with A member of the bishopric to go visit a less active, turns out the person didn't remember the church, and told us to leave because she was 'busy'. He took us out for lunch after that and we talked about a our plan for the Christmas party. Later that night we met with a different morishita Shimai, this time the one with the billion cats, and I corrected a bunch of English notes she had taken. Fun stuff.

Sunday was great, we had two investigators come to church, Miwa san and Nakahara san, and we had a great lesson in Gospel principles with just the two of them. After church was over there was a lunch party thingy that the Elders quorum was  running, and following that we had a lesson with Nakahara san. After the lesson we went to Morishita Shimai's house (Cat house) and brought her the sacrament and I corrected more English notes while we talked and translated. It was a lot of fun :D And Today we are going to get our hair cut right after this, so I actually have to skidattle now. I love you guys! I pray for you and hope you are doing well!

Love

Elder Hernandez
Hiru chourou
蛭長老
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DEC 9th 2012
Hey there family ;D How are things in good ol America? I hope you are all warm cuz I'm FREEZINGGGGGGGGG XD hahahah It's been really cold over here! Like 2 degrees Celsius cold, but despite it being this cold, there is NO SNOW >_> What a major let down lol.

This week was pretty slow, a lot of people we wanted to meet with weren't available to meet, so that was kind of a bummer.

Friday we went to Shizuoka for a zone training meeting, and while there one of the Sisters (Hunt Shimai, she has been in my district before) got a letter from a crazy member... It was really weird. The guy believes he is a dead president of America, and that Eisenhower talks to him and gives him advice. On top of that he thinks he is the Captain of The Arch Angels, and some other stuff. It was really trippy. Hunt Shimai got really upset, and we told her she needs to talk to the Bishop about it, and tell President Baird as well. Nutty right?

This week, our English class only had one person show up, Alvaro the practically fluent Brazilian who learned English from watching tv shows like Star Trek. That was fun talking to him and stuffs. I went to the Chiropractor on Thursday before The English class, we went with Ayako san who knew the owner, and the guy was really cool, super nice, and figured out things that were causing me problems (The way I walk on my left foot is messing with both my left knee and is jarring my back, so he showed me how to start walking, and gave me tips on how to keep good posture. So I will be walking carefully and trying the things he showed me. It was also really cool because he normally charges 7000en=around $80 but because he knew about missionaries from before, and because he knows Ayako, he bumped it down to 5000en=more like $60. Sweet! ). So got that looked at and I can go back one more time.

That's pretty much all for this week, like I said, a bit of a slow week, but at least I got to get the back looked at and moved around :D  I got a webcam for cheap so we can skype for Christmas, so I am looking forward to using it :D (It was $12) I realize that My pday is your Sunday, so I may end up Using my Sunday after church to call, that would mean Saturday for you guys, what do you think about that? That and What day do you want to do it? :DLemme know as soon as you get this please! I will be waiting :D

I love youuuuuu!!!

Elder Hernandez
Hiru Chourou
蛭長老
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DEC 2nd 2012
Hmmmmmmmmmm Monday was crazy wet last time, so we didn't get to do much for our pday XD pretty sad, but oh well. Tuesday we had two lessons and they were pretty fun, got to meet Koga Shimai (The Kendo lady :D ) and Miwa san (Our investigator) on \wednesday we had two lessons, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, the first lesson was Reading from the Book of Mormon and discussing what we learned, then the other lesson was English with Cathy and Ayako. Following that we went to Gakudou (The kid's daycare place). We were supposed to go to basketball, but the investigator wouldn't answer her phone, so we had to cancel.

Thursday morning we went with Ayako to an elementary school and did work outs with the kids and stuff. They all took a liking to me pretty fast, and Ayako had me teach the kids the Shuriken Ninja exercise XD it's my favorite work out. After that we went food shopping and planned for next week, and then had English class at night, where we had two new members (lately we have been getting new members like crazy, they come out of nowhere XD Friday we had DTM and We celebrated Elder Gish's birthday.

After DTM we went with Ayako to the Old Folks' home and did More Aerobics stuff. then at night we went and played Volleyball with her and her friends. Saturday we had Kid's English class and the kids were super rowdy... Tough stuff.

After Class was over we helped the church members set up for a special thanksgiving lunch for the sisters. (The Elders quorum prepared the food and everything) And then we served them food and stuff. later that day we went with Ayako to her friend's Melon Cafe, and we watched a guy sing and play guitar (He sang some English songs... I couldn't understand a word he said though XD ) then on the way home I talked to Ayako about eternal families, since she asked me about what would happen if I were to marry someone who wasn't a member, and I told her that I really want to be married for eternity, and explained what that was all about.

Sunday we had Church, I taught the Gospel Principles lesson on Fasting, and I also helped the Brazillian member Araujo bear his testimony. (He had me translate for him from Portuguese XD) then we went to Morishita Shimai's house and brought her the sacrament, and then had an English lesson.

Today is Pday and now we are going to go with Maito Kyoudai to some recycle shops and then to a family home evening followed by meeting with a less active member... and that is me right now XD Busy week. I love you guys and I will see you next week. Next week we need to plan what we will do for the Christmas Skype call :D

Muah!

Elder Hernandez
Hiru chourou
蛭長老
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NOV 18th 2012
Today was Transfer day, and Me and Elder Yoshizawa are still together. I am no longer the district leader, now Elder Beyeler is the DL in Fujieda. Fujieda had a transfer that surprised me, Elder James is leaving and Elder Subaru Matsunaga is coming to Fujieda to be with Elder Beyeler. Subaru is going to be in my District!!! Woot Wooot!!! Missions rock ;D In Hamamatsu, Elder Hilyard is leaving and is being replaced by Elder Gish, who will be Elder Hara's new companion. (The district as of now is, Me, Yoshizawa, Beyeler (DL), Matsunaga,  Hara (ZL), Gish (ZL) ). Sweet! Excited. Nice. :3

Tomorrow, even though we aren't transferring, The entire Mission is meeting in Meito (Nagoya) for a special conference that is supposed to be life changing (according to Elder Hilyard) so that will be interesting.

Okay so the Week!

This week was full, and we got a lot of teaching done. We also braced ourselves for the transfer by packing up some of our stuff ahead of time (BUuuuuTTttt We aren't leaving, so it was pointless XD We had heard that at least one person in every area would be transferring, but we were safe XD ) cool right?

On Sunday we had a really interesting day, Elder Aoyagi came to our Branch and gave a talk and then after sacrament meeting, he taught the entire branch from eleven o'clock all the way until two... Super Loooooong but it was awesome, Miwa san and Nakahara san, two of our investigators, came to church and participated and answered questions and stuff and basically felt like normal, super knowledgeable members... AWESOME! Then after that we all had a linger longer, following that, we taught a lesson to Nakahara san.... Sunday was exhausting XD.

anywho, because of the Transfer calls, I am out of time here at the Net place, so I will have to call it a day for now. I love you guys and I pray that you are doing well! I will be talking to you soon! How cool is that?? :D

Live long and Prosper -\V//     (That's supposed to be the hand sign... Fail.)

Elder Hernandez
Hiru Chourou
蛭長老

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NOV 11th 2012
My week was pretty snazzy, we met with a former investigator and he and his daughter became investigators again, so that was a really happy moment. (He talks a ton, and uses japanese that is hard for even my japanese companion to understand, so it looks to be a very interesting investigator XD ) We taught a lesson to Miwa san as well, and that went really well too. an Update, Miwa and Nakahara san are two of our investigators, Both of them want to be baptized, but the only thing holding them back right now is their families. So if we can convince the families to agree, we will be able to see two more people join the church! WOOT WOOT definitely something my companion and I are working and praying hard for.

On Friday we had Zone training meeting instead of normal district meeting, so we went up to Shizuoka zone and learned from the Zone leaders about opening our mouths. then we came back to our area and taught Koga Shimai (the one who gave me the Kendo stuff. ) and then we went for an hour long bike trip to visit a less active who turned out to not be home >_> (as seems to be normal for this guy <_< ) So that was a real let down. On Saturday we helped clean the church in the morning, and then taught kid's eikaiwa (We had a huge class this time around 11 kids came! ) that was a lot of fun, but really exhausting at the same time. Immediately following that we went with Kouno Kyoudai to a lunch appointment with a member and her friend who became an investigator last week, Suganuma san.

We had a four and a half hour lesson starting from the beginning, and answered her questions and stuff, and finally were able to give her a book of Mormon which she said she would read. SWEET! last time she refused to accept it, so this was a big improvement.

Following this meeting we went to search for another less active member that we had an appointment with, but were unable to contact or find his house because our info was wrong, so we couldn't even call him to ask where he lived <_< Fail! But He came to Church on Sunday and we were able to fix that. Miwa san came to church for the fourth time in a row, she hasn't missed a day yet! it's amazing! Later on Sunday we went to bring the Sacrament to Morishita Shimai, and we had a lesson, and then had an impromptu English lesson on the side... Pretty sweet ;D

And now it's Pday! Today we are going to go looking for some interesting shops, so I  will let you know if I find anything cool :P

That is all I have for now, I love you and miss you!

Muah!

Elder Hernandez
Hiru Chourou
蛭長老
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NOV 4th 2012
For the past week, we have been meeting with our investigator Ayako Yamaguchi a lot, and that has been really cool, she came to church Yesterday (This is the second time!! WooT) and she enjoyed herself. It was actually a really surprising turnout, we had three of our investigators come to church Yesterday! Nakahara san, Miwa san, and Ayako san. I taught the Gospel principles class in Japanese, and they were all there participating and asking questions. It was a blast.

OH yeah, on Tuesday we got our flu shots! XD I HATE needles... :3 buuuut this time around it wasn't so bad.

On Thursday we got a new Eikaiwa student (English Class) named Anna, She seems kind of shy, and has a very soft voice, but participated well. We got our new English teaching books from the honbu (mission home) and it has been interesting applying the new teaching methods. Definitely going to take some time getting used to it XD

Friday we celebrated Elder Beyeler's birthday at District meeting. Me and Elder Yoshizawa bought soda for everyone and a little cake that we all ate together. It was cozy :D Me and Yoshizawa got him a Chocolate bar shaped pen and a chocolate bar themed pocket sized calendar from the hyaku en store (The Dollar store). That night we also went and played Volleyball with Ayako san and a bunch of her friends. One of them said she lives really close to our church building, and that she would come to our Slow Aerobics event we were having on Saturday.

Saturday we had Kids Eikaiwa, and after that, Ayako san brought us home made lunch boxes out of the blue, it was amazing. We then did our Aerobics activity with her, and that friend who said she would come showed up with her baby. It was a small turnout, The friend and her baby, the family across the street (Three kids and the mom) and Koga Shimai (A member). It was small, but everyone had a lot of fun, so it was really nice. After that we surprised Ayako san by giving her a cake and a present, because her birthday was on the 29th of October and we hadn't known. She came to church the next day wearing the two rock bracelets I picked out for her from the dollar store (I chose a nice red bracelet and a Purple one as well) and it turns out those are her favorite colors (Who woulda guessed it XD )

Sunday was Fast and testimony meeting, and I bore my testimony about families, and how important it is that we be examples to them, and that one of the reasons I chose to go on a mission was because I saw how it had changed my Brothers. I talked about how The things that I have learned from church have helped me to be a better person and that without it I would be totally lost. Afterwards taught the Gospel Principles class, then had a Fulfillment and follow up meeting with the Branch President and two members (We call it F&F, basically what it is is getting referrals from members). then after that we taught a lesson to Nakahara san. following that we went home, did some personal study, and we both clonked out on the floor, waking up an hour later not knowing what had happened XD made dinner, broke our fasts, and then left to go to Morishita Shimai's house (She has a ton of Cats, and they are ridiculously adorable >_> ) we brought her the sacrament and talked for a while, thne came home and I had to do stats and call my district and stuffs. It was a busy Sunday for sure!

and Finally, Today we are getting Yoshizawa's hair cut, and doing normal Pday stuffs. later on we will be going to a Family home evening at The Suzuki family's house.

That's the haps over here.

I love you guys and I hope you are all doing well. Keep me updated on what's new and stuff okay?

Muah!

Elder Hernandez
Hiru Chourou
蛭長老
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OCT 28th 2012
I mentioned that we had our Halloween party on Saturday, it was lots of fun, and about 20 kids came, and they all enjoyed themselves. Surprisingly the people we thought WOULD come, Didn't and we ended up having a ton of people we had never seen before. Thankfully they were kids, and opened up to us without any hesitation XD in fact, within a couple of minutes of having met us for the first time, they were already climbing all over us and putting tons of bunny ears costumes and horns on my head XD my head was literally just a mass of bunny ears, horns, halos, pumpkin faces, and other such things XD Best party ever :P

Lets see, other stuff that happened this week... Well, this week was mostly focused on preparing and handing out flyers for the halloween party, so that was keeping us pretty busy.

OH, on Saturday we actually were super busy, So in the morning, we had kids English class where we had our investigator Ayako come along, and she taught the kids some radio exercises to some English songs. Then she took us to eat out. Following that we went with her to an Old Folks' home and helped Her out there, and then she took us to meet her friend at her friend's Cafe, after that she brought us back, and then we set up the last touches on the church for the party, To which Ayako came to with her son. So Basically this week was focused on Ayako san XD On Wednesday we also taught her English XD AHH! I just remembered that I forgot to bring the pictures she gave us of the Matsuri we went to with her two weeks ago >_> She said she will be putting together a cd of pictures for us, so I may just make a copy of that and send it to you guys :D

The other big thing that happened was On Sunday (Yesterday), we had Stake Conference in Hamamatsu. President Barid came with his wife, as well as the president of the Tokyo Temple and gave talks, it was really awesome, we had our investigator Miwa San there and she really liked the talks that were given, so it was even cooler having her there to listen.

Anywho, That is about all I got for this week, I love you guys and I am praying for you every day <3 Love you!!!

Elder Hernandez
Hiru Chourou
蛭長老

Hello everyone!

Okay, here's an update about  my lower back: as you may or may not know, three weeks ago I coughed and it threw my lower back out.  It's the same experience dad had with his disc herniation. Well, I am still taking the painkillers that they told me to take, and they still have no effect, My lower back still hurts (It feels like bone grating against bone, not a comfy feeling.) I am just waiting to run out of the pills which will indicate that it has been a month, and then I will be going back to the doctor.

Myself and Yoshizawa Chourou are getting along just fine, still working hard, and still having fun while doing so. If he transfers I don't know what I will do XD This week we have been teaching non stop, so we have been exhausted lately, but we are doing our best to stay on our toes. Basically we have appointments everyday every week, It's nuts XD

Oooh, Mom was playing the flute at church today?? It's been a while since I heard her play. I hope it went as well as I think it did...!

 

For breakfast today, I had rice with this ground beef powder stuff that you sprinkle on top of it for flavor XD tasteyyyyy? hahah. It's funny that dad and Steven had rice and beans and chicken! We were all on the same page.

Brittany told me she would be going back home for a while, so I guess you are all expecting her to land this week. I hope that you guys have fun having her back <3 It's been a while hasn't it? 

Brittany's Bday is coming up! Craziness, that means Your guys' birthdays are coming up as well! blaahhhhhhh 

Ok, soooo, Some awesome stuff happened this week. Last week, we had a lesson with a member, and she and I got to talking about interests and stuff, and I mentioned how I really like sword fighting and stuff like that, and mentioned how we always watched Akira Kurosawa films and stuff and I also mentioned the Kimono thing I got from Arisawa Kyoudai a while back. She said she used to do Kendo, and that she had to stop because she got to old and wasn't able to do it anymore, so she asked me if I wanted her old Gear, and I said, if she doesn't need it, then I would love them. So This week, She brought her old Kendo Gear, The Kimono top, the Awesome pants, and the Kendo sword (The gear is all dual gender, so there wasn't any worry of it being girl's clothes, the sword has a little pinkish sticker on it that says Women's kendo, that and all of the clothes have her name engraved on them, but That's a okay with me!) , and gave them to me. I have attached a picture of me wearing the new stuff, she and I are the same height and build, so it was a perfect fit... So stoked on life right now! This is like receiving an heirloom from a family member and I am very honored!

Another awesome thing that happened, two of our most progressing investigators have been coming to church actively now, and one of them stopped Smoking on her own, so we are really seeing the blessings that come from hard work and prayer. It has been a fantastic time working here with Yoshizawa Chourou. 

Another thing! I gave a talk Yesterday on the Holy Ghost, it was a lot of fun! Talking in Japanese is so much easier than giving a talk in English XD because if I mess up, I don't even know it! XD hahahah. (according to my companion I did well, I had had him check my talk the night before :D ) 

Oh! If you remember--- two weeks ago, There was a member who gave me some artwork that she did, Attached are photos of what she gave me. (these will be posted to Facebook by dad).

 

Blahhh!!! I love Japan. 

I love you guys and I hope you are all safe and happy and having a good time! 

 

Muah!!!!

 

Love

Elder Hernandez

Hiru Chouro 

蛭長老

July 29, 2012

So, I heard about the Shooting that had happened at the Batman movie opening in Colorado (from one of our english students). He said the guy was shooting a "machine gun," killed twelve, and injured a bunch, and then later on when the police found him he told them he was the Joker and offered up no resistance... Scary Stuff...

I hope the family is doing Great-- I heard from mom that you guys had fun with Grandma Nancy Glad to hear it!

I am way Jazzed for Scott and the new  Job! What is it that they have him doing?

I am Praying for you all everyday.

And as for Jackson, NO WAY.... He's already six months.... WHAT???? Where did all that time go????? ): I will be home and he'll already be a year and a half! that's nuts! Blaaaahhhh.... Oh well XD I can't wait to see him for the first time in person :D

Ok so this week was pretty Awesome. The highlight of my week happened just Yesterday (Sunday) and I will get to it in a sec.  So first, Tuesday -- AWESOME day -- We went with the little kids (that we volunteer for at the daycare place) on a field trip, and we got to participate in events and stuff, and we all made these handkerchiefs that we dyed and put cool stuff on (I forgot to snap a photo of it, but I will do that this week and send it your way :D )  and then we saw these huge beetles and got to hold them and stuff. Super fun!

lol, my Companion said something funny when he saw Brittany's picture in my album:

Koch Chourou: Brittany, You've definitely got some Moco latte in ya.

Me: You mean Hispanic?

Koch: THAT'S the Politically correct word I was looking for... Hispanic

 

Fun stuff XD

 

We played some basketball with some Japanese kids and an investigator on Wednesday and had some fun there. though the investigator injured her leg while playing. 

On Thursday we had a really cool lesson with our Investigator named Miwa, the thing about her is, the only way we get her at home is through revelation, because she still hasn't given us her real address, we go to her Son in law's house and find her there. 

Friday we had a family home evening with two of our investigators, but one is twelve and has a hard time focusing for long periods of time, and her dad likes to talk.... and his Japanese is super hard to understand XD but he was saying cool stuff like how he really respects us for being so young and coming out to serve, and how he despises those rich old men who say they believe in God but hoard their wealth and send their youth to go to war, and how it's the youth dying who truly believe. Cool stuff! 

Saturday was awesome, we had kids English class, and then we went to a festival with a member, and that was fun. The Japanese people really seem to like us Foreigners, They kept giving us free food and stuff, and even a group of 12 year old boys came over and gave me and my companion some hot dogs, but skipped over the two Japanese Missionaries who were sitting between us...

Finally, Sunday! A truly awesome day! I love Japan. On Sunday our ward mission-leader's wife gave a talk wearing a Kimono. It was awesome! then later that night we had a family home evening with two Brazilian members, but before we went there we decided to plan what we would say and what scriptures we would share, and I kept flipping to one specific scripture: Alma 36:27. It really struck me.  So we went to their place, talked and taught for a while, and then Brother Araujo started talking about his past--it was really intense--and I said, I have a scripture for you Right here, Right now -- and shared it with him.  It really affected him, and he got emotional and highlighted one line, and then asked if he could take a picture of us. Super spiritual experience and it was totally awesome (the word of the day is "Awesome").

 

Here is the text of Alma 36:27: "And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me." 

Anywho! I love you all, The Church is true, and We really do receive revelation. 

 

Elder Hernandez

Hiru chourou

蛭長老

July 20, 2012

 

Hello everyone!

 

I made it to my One year mark!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I have twelve months left in Japan XD this is weird lol. To celebrate, when I was on a Companion exchange with Elder Augusto this week, He brought along A member named Arisawa. This guy is amazing.... He has a website that you should check out (arisawagroup.co.jp) anyway, He and Augusto took me to a store, and while I was looking around they came back and found me, and had a bag with something in it, and after the day was over, Arisawa Dropped us back off at the apartment he handed me the bag and said Congratulations on one year and drove off. He got me a Yuukata ( A man's Kimono thing ) if you checked his website, you'll notice Diamonds. He sells them.... XD

Ok so my week:

Other than the awesome Gift from the second counsilor of Takaoka's ward, this week was pretty normal, we had our final district meeting together, (Because Elder Augusto and Sister Shaver are both going home.) and then on Sunday we had church, but left early so we could go to Takaoka's Baptism. Had the baptism, and then we stayed for a farewell lunch party/ congratulations baptism party with Takaoka. Then we went we them for the day, and some members took us all around and we took pictures and stuff and had a farewell Dinner parrty as well with them, stayed the night in Takaoka, and then helped elder Augusto get all his stuff together to leave. and now we have his companion with us. Then at ten today, we had transfer calls, and all three of us got some big news.

This was my guess for what was going to happen this transfer:

for Me: Transfer and become senior again

for Finlinson: stay in Toyama and become senior

For Iwata (Augusto's companion, and he was one of the Japanese Elders who came with me to Japan): Staying in Takaoka and getting a Brazillian companion.

What's REALLY Happening:

 me:

I'm transferring!!! XD I was right! lol I am going to a place called Fukuroi to follow up train an Elder Koch (Pronounced Cook). So today is going to be fulll of phone calls and packing for tomorrow when I have to leave Toyama. I am both sad and happy about this, seeing as the Cockroach problem here hasn't changed.

Elder Finlinson:

He's staying and becoming senior companion, not only that but he's also becoming a trainer

Elder Iwata:

He's staying In Takaoka, but he's getting Three companions, so they're going Yonnin (Four Person)

Crazy stuff huh?

Sooooo yeahhhh.... This is going to be interesting XD I get to go get used to another Companion! This will be my Sixteenth companion in one year of mission life XD Most Missionaries end their missions having had around 8-10 companions in all lol. I feel special XD

Due to having to pack I gotta go sooner than normal, so I love you!!! Live it up for me in good old California!

Elder Hernandez

Hiru Chourou

蛭長老

Hello everyone!

 

Ohhh man, Time sure is flying huh? in a little over a month I will have been serving a mission for a full year! That's ridiculous XD I can't really remember life before the Mission, I remember Friends, and family, but the other stuff just isn't there anymore XD kinda like a clean slate of life, and when I get home I get to write all over it again, except this time with a much more refined hand that knows what it wants to do on the paper.

Ahahahahaha XD that picture of Aidan is funny XD and the reason he's doing it is even funnier XD I TOTALLY agree with him, Beets are monster food ("because they look like owies") XD

Dad, did you guys record your academy graduation speech? and do you have it written down? cuz I wanna hear it :D

Oh man Dad, You and mom have lost a LOT of weight!  hahahah, you look like you are on the football team or something, Crazyness, and Mom looks like she is back in her Gypsy dance times :D you two look fantastic. 

Things over here are going great, My new Companion (My fifteenth one) Elder Finlinson, is really cool, he's super tall, has black hair, Glasses, and has Freckles like me! Hahaha, one of the other things that is cool about him, is the fact that he really wants to learn how to draw, so on our free time, when we have some (which seems like never...), I have been drawing him some how-to guides XD it's been awesome, because during the day, we do all of our Missionary work, and then we come home, report, and then I start showing him some tips and tricks and stuff, and it's actually been helping ME to get better at drawing too XD Win Win!!! so that's cool.

We have been teaching Yamamoto more, and we filled out the rest of her Baptismal record (with her), so now she has it all on record, and is ready for her Baptism on the 7th of July. all that is left to do is to teach her some more about the commandments, and then get her into an interview with the district leader, and she is ready!

 

I am super stoked on life right now :D my companion and I have been taking turns cooking food, so far we have made Chahan (Rice with eggs, greens and fried on a pan), spaghetti with alfredo sauce, pancakes, and a bunch of other stuff XD way good food :D I am still super Skinny though XD my weight has stayed at a consistant 65 kilos and I have a bit more muscle tone than before, since we work out every morning :3

Being the Senior Companion is kinda challenging, I have to be the one to come up with Ideas of who we can go visit, and I have to know how to get to those places as well, so that's a little tough, but nothing I can't handle :D it's fun out here, and I am having a great experience. So far No, no orange juice, and barely any ramen xD

Love,

Elder Hernandez

(Hiru Chourou)

Transfers and Companionships

Hello everyone!

It sounds like everyone had a pretty intense week! I had a pretty intense one too. I am sorry that I missed everyone together at home. I Wish I coulda said hello to all of you.... ohhhh welllll.

So, here is my crazy week:  Elder Rocha got transferred out of Toyohashi on Thursday, I got a temporary companion, then on Sunday went to church and had a less active member show up on their own to church which was pretty sweet Then we went to a place called hamamatsu (My temporary companion's area, his is name is Nelson), but he goes HOME tomorrow morning (Tuesday).

I then got two new companions, Elders Brown and Amussen, and went to a less active members house in a town called Hamamatsu, where I ended up Cooking Everything for everyone O_O ... it was pretty cool :D

Then we went to the Hamamatsu apartment, and my friend Dennis Kyoudai called me and asked if I was there in Hamamatsu yet, and I said I was, so he dropped by the apartment and gave us some cookies and milk :D

The next morning, (Today, Monday) Nelson Chourou and I woke up, got dressed, and went to Nagoya (A train ride that takes about an hour and a half) and there I got my next temporary Companion (Elder Johnson from my old Districts!)

At the moment we are together until tomorrow (Tuesday) where I will be getting two *new* companions who will come and stay with me in Toyohashi and they are: Elder Amussen :O and Elder Anderson :D

 

weird and confusing right? so now I have had three "Sannin Douryoutachis" out here (Three companionships in one area), and once again I will be the Area Senior here in Toyohashi.  At the next transfer, I am apparently being trained to be a Senior companion, so I will be a Senior Comp after 6 transfers out here in Japan. craaaazyyynessss.

This week has been reaaaallly hectic... .and Elder Rocha went to Fujieda, which is the first place he went to when he came to Japan lol. so he has only been in two places since he came to Japan, Fujieda, and Toyohashi, and now back to Toyohashi, and he's been out for a year XD it's crazyy.

 

So that was my week, and now I have **no time**, cuz we have to go to a lesson today because it was so busy with Transfers, and we don't really get a Pday (personal day off) on transfer days.   I will have to talk to you all Next week when things settle down.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week! Congrats on all the crazy cool stuf going on over there, minus the Steven leaving with the babies >_> lame! and Britt moving.  Scott needs to have kids!!!!  lol.

 

Dad, That picture you made of Chris is scary accurate! I just wish I could be there to meet in person... but oh well. I have learned that I will be missing a lot of things at home.  No worrrriiieesss, But omedetou gozaimasu minna san (Congratulations everyone!) 

 

Okay so take care, I love you, and I will "see you" next week, and next time there will be pictures! I promise! hahahah

 

Love

Hiru Chourou

Elder Hernandez

Okidokie!

Hiyas everybody :D I am still super stoked about Baby Jackson! I have a new Nephew!!! I sure hope I get to meet him when I come home! :D

 

Mom thank you for the wonderfull Poem that you sent me just a few minutes ago, I enjoyed reading it, and if I could I'd be hugging you right now <3

 

So! It's my Birthday soon! I'm turning 20! How crazy is that? I don't really feel older, in fact I feel quite youthful :P maybe it's just because I am not at the day yet XD

 

Scott And Melanie! Thank you for the letter Melanie, I was so shocked when it arrived XD I'm so glad that you and Scott had a blast and got to meet famous dudes lol, wish I could have joined you guys. Note to self- At comic con stick with Scott and Melanie for the good stuff XD

 

This week was pretty interesting, we met some realllllly weird people XD ok, not people, just the one, and I will describe him shortly, but first the normal stuff.

IT SNOWEDDD AGAIN :D That made me happy :D But today we just get rain and cold lol. sad panda? indeed.

 

We got to visit a few less active members recently who are really nice people, one of which is even able to speak English, and he totally reminds me of Jesse Romero!

 

Interesting fact: My companion totally reminds me/looks like (To me) Peter from Fringe! I was like.... you look kinda familiar.... PETER!!! XD

 

Ok, back to the weird dude:

We went to Church this fast Sunday, and when we got there, there was a man wearing a strange outfit and a Brown Cowboy hat. He was bald except that he wore Hair extensions that were Bronze colored. He was missing all of his upper teeth and had plenty of the bottom teeth missing as well. He had two cell phones, one for reading manga on it, and the other for calling people with. he wore a HUGE Jacket and had one of those hip pouches that he wore facing his front. Due to the lack of upper teeth, His Japanese was practically impossible for me to understand, and as it turns out, he had come to the Church to seek after a Job. apparently he had been to the church before, because the members said that he had come once before. I believe his name was Saeko or something similar to that. He seemed like, and interesting fellow, and as we were speaking to him, he fell asleep a couple times, and finally we had to get a member to come help us talk to this guy. we shared a message about the church, and said we would get in contact with him if any jobs worked their way to us.

 

This week's best investigator:

Oota San is a really nice old lady we met one night when Elder Rocha's tire had popped last month, she has come to church once now, and we have met with her for lunch twice and talked about the church. She is really sweet, and is wanting to learn more about the church, so we've been hunting for male church members to come with us to teach her (because we can't teach women alone) having a member present is called having a Tachiai which means an observer.

 

This week I picked up my pencil and started drawing again, and somehow I have improved in my artwork even though I haven't been able to draw very often. Count the little blessing Eh?

 

anyway, I gotta go now and write to President Baird about my week now <3 I love you all!

 

Lots of love from a country far from home <3

Elder Hernandez

Hiru Chourou

This week was kind of annoying to tell you the truth, I felt pretty abused XD I will esplaiin:

So we have an investigator who is in her forties, and we teach her English as well as the missionary lessons, anyway, so Starting Monday morning, she started texting us, but the texts were all directed at me, because she doesn't like talking to Rocha Chourou because he is Brazillian and doesn't speak perfect English (She said that to Him and Elder Curtis when we were on a Koukan) and so when she texted she was talking nonsense, and then asked who it was she was talking to, and we said it was Me, (Rocha and I texted her back together) and she started saying that she was glad I was there, and then proceeded to say some really really creepy stuff, so we didn't reply, and she sent us thirty seven more texts, and we were really bugged. The next day we didn't get any texts, but the day after, we got a bunch more, so the next day we went to Meito for interviews and brought it up to President Baird and the APs and they didn't really have any advice for us other than stop meeting with her. so, this week was full of trying to ignore creepy older lady....

 

This week we also got to meet up with a less active member Named Wendell, he is way cool, he is a biker, and has a crazy beard XD He is extremey nice, and loves the bible, but wasn't really sure why he got baptized ten years ago. He had gone inactive right after baptizm, and said he never really read the Book of Mormon, so we gave him one, and asked if he would read it, and said that if you read the Bible, you can see that it is a compilation of Prophets' Journals, and how God doesn't stop talking to people, and how people don't stop writing down what he has to say, and we explained that the book of mormon is Another record of God's people, and he said he would read it, and he said he would come to our sports night activity this next week :D

 

Another thing this week, we met a woman named Flor at a Hospital and taught a fantastic lesson, and then got to see her again this week, and Rocha Chourou was able to extend something called the Soft Yakusoku (Soft Promise) she says she will be baptized when she feels that it is true, she just didn't commit to a day. YAY!!!! it's Progress at least, She basically had a stroke a while ago, so she has to take pills and stuff, so she isn't to healthy at the moment, but she is reading the Book of Mormon, and is in Chapter 11 of First Nephi! She is the Bomb! ^_^

 

that's pretty much the highlights of my week, I am doing great I am feeling healthy and happy, so no worries there :D

 

Congrats Britt on Costa Rica XD I hope you are having a blast out there and staying safe :D I am glad there is someone out there just like me that you were able to make friends with :D just goes to show that I am Normal :P ... I think XD hahahah

 

Congrats dad and mom on losing 21 pounds each! that's fantastic!

 

And Mom thank you for the letters, The poems were gereat :D And thanks for telling me what you committed to doing on the Candyman Clown stuff, I can't wait to see all the awesomeness that you create!

 

JACE IS MOVING!????!?!?!?!?!?! Why is everyone Moving??? I don't get it! Stay there so I can see you all before you leave :(

 

Speaking of moving....we completed our move to the new area, the city of Toyohashi, and everything here is great.

 

anyway I love you guys and I hope you are having a great week <3 Muah!!!!!

 

Elder Hernandez

Hiru Chourou

I am having a great time out here in Japan, I feel like I have aged at least ten years XD so many experiences, so many people, so much stuff. Every success is so much better because of all the disappointments, and we have plenty of both. We may not have a single baptism to our names, but that's not the point. We've taught so many people about Christ, and it's the best experience seeing them react to him. Yeah many people cringe out here, and reject us, but at least they acknowledge who and what we represent. The Japanese people out here are starving for the Truth, they just don't realize that they can fill themselves up with what we have to share. We've met many people who are so nice and so generous, they're fantastic. 

One experience we had recently:

We met a family as we were biking home from the Store, Americans, and I saw them and turned to Duarte Chourou and said 'Hey Look! Gaijins! Let's go see where they're from!' when they saw us they were like 'hey look! it's the Missionaries!' we chatted for a good 15 minutes, they are from Utah, ( there were 4 of them, The Dad, The Mom, The Son, and The Daughter in law) The Dad and the Son both Served in Japan! In fact the Dad served in my area! That's why they were here, to visit the area and then go to a reunion Dinner with people they knew from the Mission. How unusual... We had a Dinner appointment scheduled that day at the same time... We got there and it was the same people XD We met the people we were having dinner with before we even knew we were meeting them XD It was way awesome! They are The Persells <--- I have NO Idea how to spell it XD it was awesome :D 

Another experience:

remember The couple we met who have a little daughter? (Jeana, Cezar and Jennifer). Well, Jeana Pretty much had a stroke, and half her body nearly got Paralyzed, so she is going to go back to Columbia until March to recover from this. She's going with her Daughter, but Cezar is staying in Japan, and working. We visited them and sat with Him for a while helping him cope. He is so sad right now, it's heartbreaking... He was telling us about how he was tired before, when he had to work before, and now he has to work Every single day Plus overtime for the next year and a half to pay for the plane tickets for Jeana and Jennifer to go back to Columbia. He's exhausted, depressed, and hurting.. We gave Jeana a Priesthood blessing, and helped them pack stuff up. Since Jeana is leaving this week (on the 8th) she can no longer be baptized on the 18th, and now that Cezar has to work everyday to pay for her to go, he can'T go to church, and so he can't get baptized that day either.

Yet another Experience!

Sergio, one of our Yakusokusha's (meaning the other person who committed to Baptism on the 18th) finally admitted to us that he wasn't ready, he realized that he was putting everything else before baptism, and he withdrew from the day. He told us he needs time to settle his life down before he can start seeing the missionaries again.

We went to the family we met, (Fabio and his family) and we helped him put together his Restaurant, and he is looking to open the restaurant on December 10th! so we're going to be going there often to help him reach his goal! They are super nice, and very generous.

One of the Elders in our District (Elder Matson) just turned twenty on Friday! so we celebrated by going to Pizza hut XD 

Oh! we taught a less active member, and we brought our Shibu Kaichyou (Branch President) with us, and had a fantastic lesson, where The Shibu did ALL the Talking XD he taught about eternal Marriage and other such things, and the next day (Sunday) She and her Husband came to church!!! It was way awesome! 

anyway... I think that's everything that happened this week XD I love you guys and I hope you are all staying happy and healthy!

ヒル長老

Elder Hernandez