Week 19: "Yea, I know that I am nothing"

Hey Everyone!!

This week was a week of miracles. So prepare to have your minds exploded with awesomeness.

First, Brother H. So, last week, we set a soft baptismal date - namely, when you get your answer, will you be baptized? And eventually, he said yes. This week, he came to church, and this was the conversation after church:

Me: "So how was Church today?"

Brother H. : "Pretty good. The people are very friendly. There is a warm atmosphere at the church."

"Oh! That is awesome! Any questions or thoughts on the meetings today?"

"I guess I have one. How can I join your church?"

"Umm... (I almost literally asked him to say that again - it caught me a little off guard) that would be through baptism."

"Ah! I remember! We talked about that! So, when can I be baptized?"

And that lead into our lesson topic perfectly - the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Since then, I have heard him testify of the good feelings and peace that come from reading the Book of Mormon, and already heard him tell me about his experiences asking God for direction and help in his life. Certainly, this is one of those that was kept from the truth only because he knew not where to find it! It's crazy to me that we stopped this man on the street just a couple of weeks ago, and now he is just so excited about everything that has to do with the church!

Next, we met another investigator with a lot of potential! We were on our way to teach a bible class (we teach that weekly), and we didn't have too much time, so though both of us (I and my companion) felt that we should talk to him, we brushed it off, with the excuse that we were running late. We walked past him quickly on the way to the church, and he ran to catch up with us, and said "Hey! I keep seeing people like you around the streets! Could you tell me a little about your church?" We then gave him a quick church tour, and exchanged information so that we could meet again. I'm excited to see how it goes with Brother R! And if nothing else, it definitely renewed my conviction of talking to everyone!

Now, these two investigators are both looking pretty awesome, but the thing is, it never seems to be something that we do that works the magic. In Brother H.'s case, we weren't even smart enough to get contact information on the first contact. With Brother R., we didn't even open our mouths! As a companionship, we talk to SOO many people - but the contacts that seem to "go well" - when we can understand the Japanese, when we try to get contact information, or set return appointments, when we open our mouths, when we get a conversation going about the Gospel - have not yet been fruitful. Whenever an investigator has had the least bit of potential, our initial contact has always started with some sort of blunder, with my Japanese or otherwise. And it has made something very clear to me here - I am not the one doing the work. The Lord is. Certainly, I have to be trying my best, but without the Lord behind me, I could do nothing. I feel very much like Ammon when he said, "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." It is awing to think of the Eternal changes that we are seeing in people's lives, and humbling to realize how it is really done by the Lord!

So here is my challenge for the week. Put the Lord first. Rely on Him. Even if life is busy, or putting Him first is difficult, go to the temple; make time for scripture study; make time for prayer. You will be amazed at the blessings that flow as you strive to make time for Him first! He can do so much more with our lives than we can - I've seen it this week, as I've seen it many times before!

Stay AWESOME!!!

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

My companion and I by the Christmas display by the temple.

Me, looking snazzy in the park near the temple!

Tokyo Temple!

Some weird fish thing we found today.

Week 18: Something to Consider

Hey Everyone!!!

This week was way interesting. Just lots of new things and such.

First off, Brother S. entered the hospital! Please pray for him!! We weren't able to contact him this week. :P

Next, I went to MLC this week - Mission Leadership Council. I'm not a mission leader, but I did get to take notes on the meeting. It was interesting to see what happens more "behind the scenes." So I basically just wrote down everything that was said, and now my notes are being sent out to the leaders of the mission... so hopefully I didn't mis-translate anything (good chunks of the meeting were in Japanese).

We starting visiting people in the ward this week as well! The Bishop, some less actives, and some strong members too - we should have started doing it earlier!! So... if you go on a mission, work with the members!! Way more effective than just streeting all day. Plus, you can still talk to people all along the way.

Aside from that, we had some good finding time! Or as I call it in my planner 金人を見つける時間 - or time for finding golden people. And we found some great people!

We met two that were pretty awesome.

First, we met someone that walked up to us on the street and said he was interested! He said he wanted to learn how and why we pray, and we said we could do that. He gave us contact info, and we should meet again soon.

The second went like this:

(me, probably awkwardly staring, trying to figure out why this person looked familiar, feeling like I should talk to them)

"Hey! We met before, didn't we!" (Brother H.)

"Oh, yes, we did!" (me, realizing this is someone we met earlier, but weren't able to get contact info from)

"It is pretty incredible that we met twice in Tokyo, isn't it?"

"yeah. It is."

It then continued, he apologized for not contacting us, saying he was busy. We got his contact info, and he said he wanted to meet!

But so do a lot of people - however, I called him yesterday (Sunday), and!!!! He didn't pick up. Then he called me back and said that he wanted to meet today (Monday)! We met, and he told us that he wanted to start coming to our church activities, particularly on Sunday. We told him that that would be great!

After we gave him a brief tour of the church, taught him the restoration, and committed him to Baptism. He said no.

However, we talked about it some more, and (this is the best part), he said YES! He should be baptized on the 20th of next month.

So... he is pretty golden. :)

Now, I want you to consider the chances - us, out of crowds of millions of people, in the city of Tokyo, meeting the same person twice. Almost zero right? And not to mention, at totally different times in totally different places! We could not have met him again if we had not followed the Spirit!

To me, this is one of many pieces of convincing evidence that this is the true church on the earth! However, I want you to consider a few other things as well:

Could a young man, Joseph Smith, write a book, such as the Book of Mormon, with minimal education? Could he find people who would be willing to tell the world they had seen the plates and become the three and eight witnesses? Could he start this church, and this great work, which now spreads across the entire work? Could he have done these things if it were not true?

Not likely. But would that same young man endure persecutions, and later die, for such things if they were not true?

Almost impossible. And consider this: would I be in Japan declaring it to everyone I can, if I did not KNOW it was true? No.

If none of this is evidence enough that the Gospel is true, I add my testimony that I know that Jesus is the Christ - that He died for you and me. And He restored the Gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God, and this IS God's true church on the earth. Through it, we can live happily with our families now and eternally.

This is the happy and true message that I share! And the best part is that no one has to take my word for it - nor any of the evidences I have given. You can know for yourself!

So this week, consider what the Gospel means to you, consider what it would mean if it were true (and I testify that it is!), and how AWESOME that is!

Have a fantastic week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder O'Reilly

P.S. P day next week is Wednesday. I'm going to the temple. :)

Went to sushi! My comp ate 30 plates!

This is what I made as Tech Staff... there is a Japanese version as well.

Week 17: Cloud 12

Hey Everyone!

So first off, not too much time to write this week. We had zone p-day today. I'll write you all next week! I promise! Sorry!

Now, Investigators.

Brother S. is still doing AWESOME! We asked him to read Alma 7 on Wednesday, and when we met with him again on Saturday, he apologized for "not reading it all." When we asked where he read to, he said 22. We were like, verse 22? that's pretty good, and then he said no, chapter 22. Oh. Is that all? haha. And we come to find out that he had read several other church materials as well (while he is eating breakfast and things, he just reads pamphlets and learns more about the church).

So that pretty much sums up Brother S. He is SO willing to do anything we ask, and he grasps concepts so quickly. He should be baptized on the 22 of this month. He's already keeping all the commandments, he has faith, and he loves EVERYTHING about the church, including the word of wisdom (he proudly tells pretty much every member that he meets that he has been keeping it for the last four years), the Spirit, the missionaries, the members, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He is as golden as they get.

As for Brother M, the other man we met, we haven't met with him again yet. He is, after all, a single father trying to work and take care of his son. He's just been busy. His baptismal date is for the middle of next month, though that might have to change if we aren't able to meet with him. Still excited to see him start progressing, though!

As for other investigators, we taught a few this week with pretty different backgrounds.

The first, Brother J. He is an American that moved to Japan to teach, translate, and finish his book on the Bible, specifically the book of Revelations. So he could ask some pretty deep questions. To get in the door, we had a "pie off," and he can make some pretty incredible pie. So that was definitely a bonus!

The first thing he said when we began to teach was that he would never convert. He had several concerns with our church, and he said that he's just a little too old for that  (he's maybe in his mid 40's? Not that old). However, as we began to talk with him, we were able to resolve every concern that he brought up. We definitely felt the Spirit directing what we say, and we definitely saw the results of the promise, "you shall not be confounded before men." It's not like we know everything, or even very much, but we had the Spirit, and let me tell you, that is enough!

Anyways, he said that he enjoyed the discussion, and that we should do it again sometime, only as a "Christmas Goodies Off." Unfortunately, like all of Japan, he is pretty busy, and he doesn't think he can meet with us again before then. But he does want to meet again, and hopefully from there we can set expectations to teach him!

We taught another man yesterday directly after the second sacrament meeting of the day (did I tell you that I usually attend two wards? We have a YSA ward and a regular ward here in Nakano). It was a last minute referral, and a very interesting lesson. I'm not sure if we told him more about our religion, or if we learned more about his. Every time we brought up a principle, he contradicted it with his version of the principle. In the end, we just testified about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and challenged him to read and find out for himself which was true. That pretty much ended the argument, but I'm not sure whether or not he will be progressing in the future. We'll have to find out the next time we meet with him.

However, one question he asked me really stuck with me. "You're only 19! And you're not paid! What motivates you to be here?" It was an awesome opportunity to share my testimony of Jesus Christ and the blessings of the Gospel.

As I thought about what motivates me, and a talk I had read earlier, Elder Uchtdorf's talk Forget-me-not (AWESOME talk), I thought of the why of missionary work. While the "what" and the "how" of missionary work didn't really change a lot from the experience, I fully agree with Elder Uchtdorf when he said "the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the 'why.'" There are a lot of things we do in the church, and with out the why, they can become just another thing to do on an already never ending list.

But in reality, it doesn't have to be that way. As I thought about this question, as I thought about the why of what I am doing, I thought of how God is our loving Heavenly Father, and these are my brothers and sisters, whether or not they accept it; I thought of how Christ Atoned for each of them, and how each of them is precious to Him; I thought of the ways the Gospel had blessed my life, my family, and changed everything in what I do, and what it could do for others.

Now, what I did from there was not all that different. I still talked to everyone. The majority were still not too interested, but some how, the same activities changed from something that I had to do (granted, I still did them happily), to something I got to do. I felt like I was on cloud 12, and that as long as I was doing my best, that stayed.

So this week, as you make time for studying the scriptures, praying, temple work, family time, school, and many other AWESOME things (maybe even missionary work!), realize what you have! The time that we get to do things is often limited, and life is too short to miss enjoying any of it.

So come and join me on cloud 12 this week!

Hope to see you all there!

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

One of the guys we taught!

President Whiting Conference (found on mission blog)
(back row, left side)

Zone Conference (found on facebook)
 (middle row)

Week 16: The Unexpected Answer

Hey Everyone!

First, thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I loved all the notes and emails - I'm sorry I can't respond to them all today. Sorry. :P

Anyways... This week was crazy. Flat out insane.

It started out with the mission website totally breaking - all the sudden, none of the pages were connecting as they should. Basically, we couldn't navigate the page at all. And then we tried to fix it - and the page went down entirely.

We spent pretty much every free moment working on that from Monday until Thursday, when we were finally able to find and fix the problem. So we were basically stuck around the office 24/7 for those days.

However, we still set our goals high, and prayed (and fasted a bit, too) for miracles. When we did this, I was honestly thinking that that would mean that the web page would be fixed quickly, and we would be able to resume normal work. However, I find more and more that prayers are answered in unexpected and incredible ways, that are beyond my own wisdom or even imagination. Looking back on it, the broken web page was, in itself, a large part of the miracle, even if I didn't see it in the moment.

The first miracle came on Wednesday. A less active member, Brother T. came to the church, which just so happens to be right next to the office, with a friend in the middle of the day. We were there at a time when no other missionary would have been available, but we took a break to go say hi.

It turned out that he brought a friend to play badminton, so we played them, and then "taught"  a message. And by taught, I mean we watched the less active teach and testify about the Plan of Salvation to his non-member friend. The Spirit was SO present, and we set a baptismal date with his friend! We are hoping that this will be the beginning of a great opportunity for both Brother T. and Brother M., his friend.

Then, Thursday, right as we were fixing up the last bits of the problem, we got a call on the office phone. No one else was in the office, and it would have gone unanswered.

When we picked up the phone, we "met," in a way, Brother S. He is as golden as investigators get.

He had met with missionaries 4 or 5 years back, and therefore had a really old flier. Most of the numbers no longer worked, but one had stayed the same - the office number. For some unknown reason, the missionaries stopped visiting him, but to explain how much of a golden investigator he is, I'll give a brief summary of the conversation
(translated):

"Hello! Tokyo Mission mission home!"

"Hello this is Brother S! Is this the missionaries?"

"Yes!"

"I haven't seen the missionaries in a while, and I'm starting to be a little worried - but I'm still keeping all the commandments!"

"Oh really! Do you want to be baptized?"

"Yes!"

And then we went on from there to see where he lived to send the missionaries, only to find out he lives in our area! We met with him, and we challenged him to read from the Book of Mormon and Pray, he informed us that he was already doing so everyday! When we taught him, he showed that he still remembered a good portion of the lessons, and said that he believed it. When we set a baptismal date, he readily accepted.

Now, this flier that he had had several numbers on it - he had tried the others several times, with no luck. For some reason, he decided to try our number one more time, and we were there fixing the website.

So this was the unexpected answer. It was not the answer I wanted, or expected. I wanted Him to just come in and fix everything. But it didn't work that way. It came in the answer of hold on a little longer, keep going, and things will work out the way they are meant to. Understanding of the answer did not come immediately, and at first, things were a little frustrating. But in hindsight, God's way was by far superior to mine. Not only did we find the greatest golden investigators in the world, but I think I learned some, too. Sometimes it is hard to see things the way God does, and be patient enough to receive His answers, but it is always the best way in the end.

So God really does answer prayers, even if it is not in the way we want or expect!

So trust Him this week!

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Elder O'Reilly lives on the 2nd floor of the white building in the background.
 (I think... I found it on google maps)

Me, messing around with the jack-o-lantern I got in my package. :)

District Lunch!

Week 15: When You are Asked to Build a Boat

Hey Everyone!!!

So, in one word, this week was CRAZY! I was transferred to Tech Staff, as I told you last week, but I DO still have an area, despite my concerns last week. There is a limit to 3 hours in the office each day, and we always shoot for as little office time as possible. However, transfer week is the busiest week for Tech Staff, and sticking to the 3 hour limit isn't always possible when there are deadlines, especially when both of us don't have too much experience working with the systems.

As far as telling you what I do as Tech Staff, I do a lot of phone support, a little bit of programming and such, and then a good amount of random errands. Every task we work on is a little different, but to give you a few ideas, we have: downloaded lists of missionaries and info and ran scripts on them to turn them into google contacts (and fixed some bugs on the script while we were at it), showed couple missionaries how to use Gmail and open files on their computer, and brought iPads with ruined screens to be fixed. SO... yeah. Basically any random task that has anything to do with technology - even if it is just "go find my camera. I think I left it somewhere in the office."

Now, my companion. His name is Elder Harrison. He is a massage therapist, has a little bit of tech experience, and about 7 months of missionary experience. Neither of us speak perfect Japanese, nor do we know the best ways to dendo... but we're both willing to try our best and work hard, so things should work out. Hopefully. And we get along super well, so it's been pretty fun. We basically just run around on the street and try to get people to talk to us. We've had a few stop that seemed that they might have interest, and they said they would come to eikaiwa, or call us later, etc, but none that have been willing to give out contact info... so not sure how that will go.

Currently, we have 3 "investigators." I haven't met any of them yet, and their interest still seems a little shaky when I hear about them. Hopefully I will be able to tell you more about them next week.

I have to say, it is really weird being transferred. It feels like I am starting all over. My last area started out this way - with a few investigators that haven't been met with recently, not knowing many church members (my companion has only spent a transfer here, and it was mostly spent doing a mission tour doing trainings - luckily I don't have to do that - so he doesn't know too many members either), and only really teaching 1 or 2 lessons a week. I still miss all the people I met and taught back in Urawa, but I'm excited to see this area become stronger, too.

The main difference, however, is that last time I just followed Elder Abo's lead. This time, when we plan and things, Elder Harrison is still learning as well, so I have to contribute some ideas. When we talk to people, there are times that he doesn't understand and there are times when I don't understand (they seem to be about equal), so we both have to take the lead occasionally.

I have to admit, that at times, this can seem overwhelming, even impossible. We don't know what we are doing, our time is limited, and our language skills more limited, but we are expected to run an area! However, as I thought about my situation, I thought again back to Nephi, about when he was asked to build a boat. I love his response - "whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten?" He didn't even know how to build a boat, but his first response wasn't "Wait, are you sure?" or "really, me?" or any other form of doubt, it was, "let's get started." So we decided to start in a similar way. We frequently pray and ask how we should spend our time, where we should go, etc. And like Nephi, we aren't told how to do it all at once, we have to go to the Lord frequently, so that "the Lord [can] show [us] from time to time after what manner [we] should work the timbers of the [area]." Sometimes, this is frustrating. I feel like I don't know how things are going to work out, and indeed, I don't. I don't have the big picture, or all of the skills to do what needs to be done, but in the moments of frustration and worry, I simply have to choose to trust in the One who holds the future, even though I may not know what the future holds.

So when you are asked to build a boat, whatever your boat may be, remember on Whom you can lean for support! "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?"

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Bro. F, Abo Chourou, and I, sharing an inside joke and taking a pic on
my last night there.

My new companion and I at the Ikebukero Pokemon center.
My companion is pretty into Pokemon... haha.

A little more info about his area:

We have 6 Elders in the apartment. The Assistants, the Tech staff (me), and the Recorder/commissariat.

My companion is from Pine Valley, UT. He's been out 7 months - transfer 5 (I'm transfer 3). We get along! We both just want to dendo all day. :)

YES! There are Japanese Elders in the apartment, and I will frequently force my companion to speak Japanese with me. And I'm always asking the Japanese Elders questions. Hopefully I don't annoy them... :P

I live next to the Honbu! It is where you send the mail. :) It is a two story office building practically connected to the honbu - I live on the Second floor.

I got a letter and a package for my birthday this week. :) THANKS!!! Me and my companion LOVE it! And I was able to give Elder Abo his present from it before I left... it got here before the letter. :) I also got a small package from the Haleys! I will send a thank you, but make sure to tell them thank you in person for me!!! I and all the Elders LOVED what she sent! :)

Love you,

Elder O'Reilly

Week 14: The Time for Preparation

Hello everyone!!!

This last little bit has been short since I wrote, but it's definitely been eventful.

First of all, I'm transferring. I'm really going to miss the people here, and it's going to be weird having a new companion. :P I'm going to be saying a lot of goodbyes tomorrow. But my next "area" should be
awesome, too!

I'm being transferred to... Tech Staff! Yep. They have those in this mission. So I will be fixing bugs, making blog posts, and helping people fix their iPads and such. Generally, Tech Staff doesn't get a lot of proselyting time - in fact, the name of my area was literally "Tech Staff." I think it is in Nakano, though, in case you were wondering. I will be living next door to the Mission President. Mostly works like a desk job, so that will be interesting... I'll tell you more about it next week. It should be good. :)

So... moving backwards... on Sunday, we had FOUR dinner appointments in this area, and two companionships... so every missionary went on splits to an appointment. Which means I had to go alone with a recent convert! I'm not going to lie, I was super nervous... but it was actually way cool. This family just happened to be the first family I ever visited in this area, and last time I went, I understood nothing of what was going on. This time, going alone, I had to hold a conversation, and share a message. I actually didn't have too much of a problem holding a natural conversation in Japanese, and the message went decently well. It was a great opportunity to see how much I've learned here, especially because they kept commenting on how much I had learned since the last time I had visited. haha. :P Anyways, just a cool coincidence - I went there for my second and last Sundays.

Then, definitely as the highlight of the week, I gave my first Priesthood blessing. We stopped in on a member to see how they were doing, and found out that their son was sick. I suggested he receive a Priesthood blessing, and he gladly accepted. His father is still a prospective Elder, so Elder Abo and I gave the blessing... and as a great trainer does, he let me take the lead on the blessing.

The moment he told me I was giving it (which came as a great surprise to me), a flood of memories came back. I thought of all the blessings my father had given me, and a sudden weight of responsibility hit me. I didn't think that I could do anything like what he did - his blessings were always inspired, always exactly what I needed to hear - but I did my best. And as I laid my hands on his head, all the worries went away. I don't think I was able to perfectly have and follow the Spirit, but I feel that at least a portion of my words were inspired (and he's better now, so it worked, right? ;)  ).

My big take away from the experience came as a quote from President Thomas S. Monson that came to my mind. "When the time for performance arrives, the time for preparation is past." Honestly, there is no way I could have known that I was going to give a blessing - and I think a lot of awesome opportunities to be the Lord's hands are the same way -  but preparation is definitely required. As I walked away from that experience, I had a new drive to have and recognize the Spirit, to really have the character required to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

No, none of us will be perfectly prepared, but that is my challenge for the week. At some point, the Lord calls each of us to a work - and it will probably be a lot bigger than a simple Priesthood blessing (not that those aren't to be taken seriously as well) - and we have to be ready. There is no time to waste - the Lord is hastening His work! God knows that we aren't perfect, but He also knows that we can try our best, so that is what He expects. So this week, 頑張って下さい！ (Try your best!)

Have a fantastic week!

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

Me, on my bike, in front of a rainbow, in my rain gear. Yep.

The new missionary I went on splits with a while back.
It was way weird... we got dendod by missionaries for a Buddhist denomination...
and neither of us really understood what was going on. HaHa

The apartment I'm leaving :P