Week 45: New Companion!

Hello   Everyone!!!

I got to meet my new companion!!!!! HE IS AWESOME!!!! We have a lot in common. SO we have a lot of "fights". They go like this -

"No. I get to do the dishes. YOU got to do them last time!"

Or "Wait. You have to let me serve you, too. Isn't that part of the Gospel?"

Or "So... What should we do with our p-day?" "No no no - YOU get to choose!"

So you can say we get along pretty well. :)

This week has been fantastic. Just serving my companion, and working hard with him. He basically just wants to be an obedient, PMG missionary that does his best. So I learn from him. And It's great speaking Japanese all the time. :) I've had to translate a few times for different meetings and things as well... It was super fun! I even got one of those mics, and all the Japanese people had earpieces to hear what I was saying. Pretty legit, but pretty crazy. Realized that my Japanese still has some room for improvement.

Then, we had a CRAZY busy week! So many appointments! It was hard to even make time for dinner and such... But then all our appointments fell through. Like, literally all but one. And the investigator dropped us in the lesson. I'm laughing about it, but I'm a little worried for my companion. He's good though. And we'll see some miracles this week!

So... We unfortunately don't always get to pick our circumstances. But that isn't the point. Perhaps I don't get to pick if I am Alma or Abinidai (both served in the same city, one was burned at the stake, and saw 0 baptisms, and the other saw 450 baptisms shortly after), but we DO get to pick if we do the will of God or not! And when we do the will of God, we are happy. I can say that, because I've honestly never felt so rejected - but I've also never felt so happy!

So keep the commandments - in this there is safety and peace!

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Arriving missionaries and trainers

Elder Okano, Elder O'Reilly, Pres. & Sis. Nagano

Elder Okano is from Sapporo, but he went to school in Okinawa, most north and
south points respectively. We get along GREAT! He just wants to be a
good, obedient, hard working missionary. We spend good chunks of our
time serving each other. I also feel like we have pretty similar
personalities. Haha.

Niigata Zone (with Elder O'Connor)

Niigata Yamashita Conference... lunch

Elder Abo (Thomas' trainer) is home!

Week 44: His Ways

Hello Everyone!!

This week was incredible!!! Also, I will be trained by a new missionary starting Wednesday! Can't wait for all the great things I will learn!

First, Brother G is doing great!! We taught him the rest of the plan of Salvation, and he committed to do the big three - pray, read scriptures, and come to church! He should come this week, and we should meet him again tomorrow! Also, the family man, Brother S, will be the first investigator I meet with my new companion RIGHT after we get off the bus on Wednesday. Like, it will be a rush to get there! I hope we don't miss it!

Alright. Actually have a couple cool stories this week.

First, yesterday, we were about to go out finding (sorry to my family who already heard this story over SKYPE), and after we prayed to seek direction, we both felt that we should visit an investigator, Brother B, instead.

This is Brother B!

We had never been to his home before, but the sisters in our area housed into him recently, and gave us his address.

We got to the address, and realized we didn't know the apartment number! We figured that if we were supposed to visit him, he would be home, and only one apartment fit that description. So, we knocked... And it was his home! Unfortunately, he wasn't home, but his friend was.

My purpose in visiting was to give Bro B a French Book of Mormon. So... I introduced the Book of Mormon to his friend, Bro A, in a mix of broken French, Japanese, English. Haha. I'm surprised he understood! But he said that he wanted to read the book, so we gave it to him. He said he wanted to learn more, so we set up an appointment for next Sunday. I'll be brushing up on my French this week!

Other cool story happened today. We were on our way back from groceries. There were a lot of people out, and we didn't have a lot of time, so we couldn't talk to everybody - I hate passing people on the street, but sometimes you have to. However, I felt that I should talk with one boy. I stopped, told him who we were, and he said, "Oh, Christians? I'm a Boy Scout, and I'm working on my Christianity badge!" I didn't know that was a thing, but I fully support it. We plan on meeting him later this week! He is also interested in taking Eiken - an English test for Junior High students. We just so happened to have started a free course on that last Friday, so we should be able to meet with him pretty often. God works miracles if we will let Him!

So... Rely on the Spirit this week. Be willing to change your plans for His plans. Remember what He said, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Look to Him, and He will bless you beyond what you could imagine!

Stay Awesome!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Brother Tsukano - an awesome member of the branch that fellowships investigators really well,
and even goes out to find less actives homes with us!
He was converted just eight years ago -- AWESOME man! :)

These crepes were delicious!!! And buy one get one free... Apparently.
Ate one, and then they called us back and gave us one for free.
I won't complain. :)

Mother's Day Call 2016

Just after dinner, waiting for Thomas to Skype!

We were so excited to get to Skype Elder O'Reilly for Mother's Day! He looked and sounded great! It was fun to hear him talk to his brother, Skeets in Japanese (who was on the phone in California). And to hear his testimony of our Savior!

All gathered around, taking pictures and videos, laughing and crying

Looking great!

So good to hear his laugh!

Week 43: A Perfect Brightness of Hope

Hello everyone!

This week was GREAT!!! First, quick update on some people.

Bro. G - have to push his date back a week. He will be in Joetsu the day we original set. But we had a golden lesson with him! He prayed at the end of the lesson that he would be able to become a good person through coming to our church. I think we can help him. :)

Bro. S - He cancelled on us this week due to work. He is busy, but AWESOME. We will meet him again after Eikaiwa (English Class) Next week (the 11), which is actually after Transfers. We'll see what happens.

Bro. H - He was out of town last week. He'll come back this week, so hopefully we can teach him the restoration!

So... Those are some of the main people we are working with this week. Also trying to get some Less Active YSA to come back... The ward is pretty old right now, so we are focusing on the youth. Everyone is important, but if we don't get some young people soon, the ward will be gone in 10 to 20 years, so we are working on it. Haha Had a pretty serious discussion about that with the Branch President this week, and hopefully we can get some things moving!

Now, this week I went back to the basics. This scripture really struck me. "Faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work." I have focused on every section of this verse before, to prepare myself for the work, except for hope.

I think that subconsciously I felt that I didn't really need hope. I thought that holding out and enduring to the end was enough. But it isn't. God meant for us to be happy, now and always. Plus, without hope, faith becomes weak. They are very interrelated.

Now, it is easy to say, when I get out of the apartment in the morning, oh, yes, I will do the work of the Lord today. I will see success. I will hold to hope.

But then you get rejected 100 times in a row. Yes, I love talking to people, but there are times when I wonder, is this really doing something?

So, because this Hope is one of the 5 essentials to missionary work (and life), I thought about how I can always have this hope. And Aaron's council came to my mind.

"If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest."

I had never realized this before, but sincere prayer combined with repentance is the way to hope. Not just from most of our mistakes - but ALL.

SO... I've been trying it. No, I'm not perfect, but I tell God that I will give up my every weakness if He'll remind me, help me, strengthen me. And there is still A LOT to change - but one thing has already changed. As I rely more fully and give a better all each day, a great hope fills EVERYTHING! I've begun to realize, again, for the first
time, that God has a perfect plan for everyone, He is in control, and our happiness is His goal. So there is no need for worry, fear, sadness, or disappointment - and getting rid of those things makes space for confidence, faith, joy, and the strength to get through our day to day things. So join me this week! Try it - give Him your all!

Stay Awesome, and hold to hope!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Having fun on p-day!

Hair cuts!

Week 42: Tender Mercies

Hello everyone!!!

So... This week, we got to meet with Bro G again! We met him again on Tuesday and set a baptismal date for the twenty second of May. He is busy, and it is hard to meet, but hopefully we'll be able to help him work towards that goal!

We were also able to meet with the family man, Brother S. He was SUPER open with us for a first meeting, telling us about how he wants to strengthen his family relationships, and how he is looking for the truth. He is a perfect example of those who are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it! We meet with him again tomorrow after Eikaiwa (English Conversation Class). I'm excited! 

I realized that I haven't talked about what I do on a regular basis much. Usually, we go around visiting various less actives and talking to EVERYONE on the way. Someone asked me if our street contacting is natural... Well, if people are few enough, sometimes we cross the street and stop our bikes just to talk to someone. It feels natural to me, but I don't think it feels natural to them. Haha. I'll let you judge.

Then, when we get to the less actives house, we ask for the person, and usually they don't want to meet with us, or a relative answers the door and says that the said person is no longer interested and we leave a note, or some of them have even passed away. Most of the records we are going through are people that were baptized 40-60 years ago, and most do not have the Priesthood (meaning that they became less active pretty quickly)... But the ward wants us to visit everybody on the list and see how they are doing, so we'll do it! It is a long list, so it will take us a while. We found 2 or 3 people that have some chance of coming back that we are working with, so hopefully something comes of it!

After visiting the less active, we house around the area a bit (we don't do too much housing - most people have a camera in front of their house, so they just see that they don't know us, and we don't get to talk to too many people that way, so not my favorite way to find new people),  and head to the next appointment or less active. It's fun to always have a place to work towards, and keeps us moving around our area.

As we were doing that this week, we also found Brother H. - someone that home stayed in America many years ago! He came to church this week, and enjoyed it. We plan on having our first lesson with him next week, as he is going out of town.

Anyways, that was our week! I can see the Lord's hand in our work everyday! I hope that each of you remembers to look for the little tender mercies that God is putting in each of your lives everyday!

Stay Awesome!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Sister Horii is awesome and makes delicious lunches every Sunday.
Gives us more time to Dendo, and look at that double stacked sandwich! Heaven :-)

The family man! :) Brother S.

Bunch of Elders coming to our area for Zone P-Day!

Week 41: "Coincidences"

Hello Everyone!!!

So... First, I've heard a lot about some earthquake this week... I didn't feel anything. Sorry. Haha. :P I was asked about that, but sorry. Nothing exciting.

But there were some AWESOME miracles this week!!!

First, we had splits on Thursday. Splits always have great miracles. We had just a few hours left at the end of the day to eat dinner and go finding. So... We were talking to people as we looked for a place to eat, and found Suzuki (Super common last name in Japan)! He wanted to learn more about the life of Christ, so we set up an appointment for last Sunday. He just moved into the area, and didn't have a phone yet, so no contact info, but still awesome!

Then, on our way back to the apartment, there was a man randomly doing handstands in front of the station. Of course we talked to him, and he had met missionaries in a different area before! He has never been to church before, but we exchanged phone numbers, and set up a time to talk with him tonight, actually, so I will tell you how that goes next week!

On Sunday, as we went to go meet up with Suzuki, we ran into Brother I - a former investigator that we have actually never met up with before. Elder O'Connor had talked to him on the phone before, but recently, we haven't even been able to do that. We found out that he has a 10 am-10 pm job, which is why we haven't been able to contact him - most of our contacting time ends up between those hours. We "coincidently" met up with him on the same corner that he had originally met the missionaries on. We set up an appointment to meet, and talked with him as we walked because he was going to the same place we were going to meet Suzuki. He seems to love missionaries, and we are excited to help him start progressing in the Gospel!

Then, we waited for Suzuki... He didn't show up, but we started talking to people in the area. Lots of people were passing us on the street, but then we felt we should talk to just one in particular, Bro. F. He is a High School student, and up to learn more, so we exchanged phone numbers, and hopefully he can meet next week (this week is pretty busy).

On the way back from the area, we met up with another new investigator - Brother G. We briefly introduced who we were, the restoration, and asked him if he would let us teach him more at another time. He told us he was pretty busy - but that he had time then and there. Turns out that he had asked for today off in particular to participate in his hobby - some sort of group dance. They were going to dance in the park, but due to the weather, it was cancelled. So, it happened to be his only day off in a long time, and his plans had just been cancelled. When we met him he was wondering what he would do for the next hour or so, and, as he likes talking about religion, he readily accepted our invitation to meet.

As we walked to find a place to sit down, we talked about his background in religion - he had been part of a different religion when he was younger, but never really like it; then he commented that he had almost started studying one religion almost a year ago, but got busy. It took him a minute to find the name, but then he said - "yes, It was the Mormons!" We explained that that was a nickname for our church, and we laughed about the "coincidence."

We found a place to sit, and taught him the Restoration. When we told him about how he could pray and find out for himself, just like Joseph Smith, he said, "Wait. So you're telling me that Joseph Smith wasn't special - that I can ask God, too?!?" He sounded rather surprised and excited - the reaction that I wish everyone had when they learn something so AWESOME! Of course, we explained that he probably wouldn't see God in his answer, but that he certainly could. He was astounded, and readily set up an appointment to meet with us again on Tuesday, before work.

So... Basically, this week, we found more new investigators than we have worked with in the last few weeks... Awesome? YES!!! It seemed like we were just seeing "coincidence" after "coincidence" - or, from a better perspective, miracle after miracle, following the perfect plan of a loving Heavenly Father.

It is awesome to get to be a part of this great work! When I left on my mission, I believed in the Restoration, I believed this church to be true. But, being a part of this, seeing the Gospel change lives, and seeing miracles on a daily basis, has changed everything. I don't know exactly when it happened, but belief changed to knowledge - I hope you all know that to me, the Restoration is a fact! As such, nothing could be more important than this Gospel - it changes lives, not just the first time, but everyday that we strive to live it. So take advantage of the most precious knowledge this world has to offer! "Please open your heart to the Book of Mormon, again, for the first time. Please pray with real intent, again, for the first time." (Elder Gong, general conference) Those simple things have the power to change our lives every day, if we will let them!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder O'Reilly

Splits! Also, that piece of chicken cost like $10. And was super small. Haha

Cooking pancakes for our "PP" (Pancakes & Ping Pong) Party that happens every other week.
There are Oreo chunks in that pancake batter. You should try it. It's delicious! :)

Week 40: Just do it!

Hello everyone!

Hmm... This last week is a blur in my mind right now, but in the next few minutes I have, I will sum up a few of the miracles.

First, we did meet with the Professor this week. He really likes Mormons, and he said that he will try reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, so we're excited about him. I'll keep you posted on his progress. He is busy though, so I don't think we will be able to meet him this week... :P

Second, on the way to meeting with him, we were on a SUPER high. We could feel the Spirit well, and it was easier than ever to talk to EVERYONE. We testified of the living Christ, and how He could bless our lives, and make our families Eternal (definitely the greatest part of the good news!). When we came to a stop light, I was looking around me - it was a busy street corner, but even so, I was pretty certain I had talked to all of the people around me. After a few seconds of silence, someone walked up from behind me, and commented on my message. He asked what I was doing, and wanted to hear more! I had seen him at the beginning of that street, but due to circumstance, hadn't been able to tell him more than "good morning", and ask him how he was doing. Apparently, from there, though he had disappeared from my sight, he had been walking behind me for much of the way, and
probably heard us testify (and get rejected) 8 or 9 times, and basically set up his appointment with us! We will meet with him not this week, but the next... And looking at his Facebook, he Looks like he is a super cool dad, so I am excited for the opportunity to teach a family! I think the first visit will just be him, but hopefully it leads to more than that!

General Conference was awesome! It was like 10 hours of straight revelation! Favorite talk? I liked the one
on Fathers, I LOVED Elder Hollands, and I liked Ryan's favorite, too. My favorite theme from Conference though was pray frequently and sincerely (which made me particularly like the talk about doing it again -for the first time) and for EVERYTHING - especially to repent and to receive revelation. I don't know if that was actually said in
the talks, or just in my thoughts, but it really stood out to me how because the Holy Ghost is the purifier, revelation will come as we repent. Even good men need to strive to be better in order to have the Holy Ghost with them in a powerful, revelatory way.

We saw lots of other miracles, and got to see some pretty beautiful flowers. Unfortunately, I am just about out of time, but I want to join with the church leaders in saying that families can be Eternal! That is the greatest message we have for the world! That is why the Gospel is restored, that is why I go around like crazy talking to EVERYBODY - because I know it, and everyone will be blessed by knowing it. Nothing could be more essential to me than living so that I can be with my family for Eternity. That is why we must make the harder right instead of the easier wrong. So keep the end in mind - and just do it!

Love you all!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Sakura! (Cherry Blossoms)

We talked to people as they looked at the beautiful flowers!

Closer to the flowers just so you get how awesome Sakura really is!