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
