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!

Week 39: Prayer Works!

Hello Everyone!

This week was crazy! To be honest, it was so jam packed that it feels like I was writing home yesterday... The speed at which time flies scares me a bit!

Anyways... Some of the stuff we did this week...

First, we are teaching a man from France! He seems pretty interested, but as a college student learning Japanese, he is pretty busy. It's way crazy to have to practice some of my French again... Sometimes Japanese words come out, and sometimes it comes out in Japanese grammar... Which does not work at all en Français. Haha.

Aside from that, it was transfer week, so I had a chance to work with younger missionaries, and work with older missionaries as well (we became the companionship for the random odds and ends that did not have a companion while their companions were transferring). In short, got some good feed back, and was able to help a "younger" missionary (he has 5 or so years on me, but recently came to the field) set plans for Japanese study and learn some new teaching skills. Helping other missionaries is probably one of my favorite things to do - and it is a good motivator, because without striving yourself, you really can't help anybody.

Well, aside from that, we started visiting a long list of less actives. Most of them were converts in their teens, and are now in their 70's, so most say something like "what church?" Or "oh. I'm Buddhist now." And then there are some that moved. So we basically just talk to everyone on the way to make it effective.

Most people we talked to weren't interested. However, while we were biking home yesterday, it just struck me - if God wanted to put someone in my path he could. So, I prayed that a prepared person would be put in my path, and, the next person we talked to was a couple that wants to learn about how families can be eternal! Hopefully we can meet with them again soon! So, prayer works! It gives us direction, help, strength, and blessings, so make sure you pray over EVERYTHING you do this week (Alma 37:37). It works. I promise.

Stay Awesome!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

This is my "I don't think I have taken a pic in 2 weeks" face. Haha.
Oops. I'll have to ask the other Elders in the apartment for some good
pics. :P I'll take some today after we email, Mom. Don't worry. I
promise. Haha.

Week 38: Happy Easter!

Hello Everyone!

SOOO much happened this week, I don't even know where to start!

I guess the first thing is, one of the people we started working with wants to be baptized! First he wants to make sure our church is the true church, but I really don't feel like he will have too much of a problem with that. He moves to Shibuya for school on Thursday, but I'm still excited for him, especially since I know some of the Elders in Shibuya.

Up through the week, he read various parts of the Book of Mormon with us and on his own, along with reading a pamphlet to prepare for each lesson. He basically just asked us questions about the deeper stuff he didn't understand - like about the fall of Adam and Eve, etc.

Then, during one of our lessons, we felt prompted to ask him to read 1 Nephi 3-4, where Laban is killed by Nephi. He asked a TON of questions about it in the next lesson... But the chapters really caught his interest, and he ended up committing himself to reading the whole Book of Mormon! God really knows His children a lot better than I do - I would have never assigned that chapter, but reading the whole Book of Mormon, and getting his own personal concerns out with us before hand, will definitely help his progress! I'm glad I am not alone in this work!

As for the other people we met with, one seems pretty interested, but is sucked up in gambling, and I am not sure we will be able to meet... The others were just a little curious in who we were, or coming and seeing church once, etc. I think bringing someone to church still helped us gain the trust of the members though and we found some more PI's, so things are starting to get moving. In addition, the man that came to church has a professor who studies with professors at BYU, and said that he loves the Mormon people! We got his contact info, and we will see how that goes this week!

Well... It was fun teaching so many people this week... got me pumped to find some people this upcoming week!

Yes, Mom, I have played the piano while I've been out. I actually just played the piano in a talent show yesterday! I will find you there my friend. I also played at a funeral, and a few times during Priesthood and such.

One of my favorite things to do this week was testify of Christ and tell people what Easter is - most people haven't even heard of it here! I am glad to know I have a Savior, someone who makes up for my short comings everyday, and loves, cares, and plans carefully for each of us!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder O'Reilly

No pics this week, but here is a video of the end of the last District Meeting - three of these missionaries go home this transfer, and they wanted a recording of us singing the old mission song, so here it is!
The missionaries going home are the Elder in only a white shirt (no jacket or sweater) and the two sisters in the center of the Sisters, if that makes sense.

Week 37: The Arm of Flesh

Hello Everyone!!!!

This week was incredible. We found SO many people to teach this week - to the extent, that we can't fit in all our appointments tomorrow. And then from Wednesday we become a threesome companionship with the Zone
Leaders because one of them is going home for school (one week before the end of the transfer). They also have a lot of teaching appointments... So our week will probably be filled with teaching this week!

Now, if I were to say the main difference that happened this week, it would be the difference between relying on ourselves and relying on God instead. When we started this transfer, we were so confident that we knew what we were doing. We were told by our leaders that talking to 100 people would find us 1 new investigator, and out of 10 new investigators, one would be prepared enough to be baptized, so we went out and talked to a lot of people - and saw no success.

This week, instead of focusing on just what we thought we should do - going to people filled places and stopping everyone - we really prayed about what He would have us do. As we sought His will, we didn't talk to as many people, but we found more people that listened! In one day, we found 4 people that wanted to hear more! One is particularly interested in baptism, one is interested in learning how to use the Atonement, one wants to hear about the Book of Mormon, and one is just curious in who we are. And those are just the people we found in one day! Plus, everyone that dropped off the map before I got here started calling us and wanting to meet. It was as if someone just came and lit our area on fire!

One experience that stands out to me in particular was on Thursday. We were looking for some less actives with little success - the addresses have like no pattern in Japan, and not even Google maps can get it right. We realized that with the time we spent lost, we wouldn't have enough time to complete all our plans, so we prayed to seek direction. Previously, perhaps we would have just shot out to work and find people, but, we felt that we should just get back to the apartment a little early. Such a thought would have never come to me, but the first kid we talked to was interested in learning about Christ!

So, if I learned one thing this week, it was not to rely on the arm of the flesh. I did everything in my power for 4 weeks, and then we strove to do it God's way for one day and had more success then all the rest of the transfer combined. God is certainly a God of miracles, and can do His own work if we will let Him! So seek His direction
through prayer this week, and then really listen for His direction! I can promise that He is waiting to bless you, you just have to let Him!

Stay Awesome!!!!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

When I looked up Thomas's address on google, look what I found... haha!

Eating Ramen as an apartment. Ramen is SOOO good in Japan.

Played frisbee and soccer in the rain with the YSA and the 1 youth in the ward :)

Week 36: A Better Way

Hello everyone!

Well... If I were to sum up my week briefly, we talked to A LOT of people! Always way fun. Wave down a bike and say, "Excuse me! Excuse me! We're teaching people about how they can become happier and find peace through Jesus Christ, are you interested?" And we found some people that said yes this week! So, we have a couple appointments, and we'll see how they go.

As for teaching this week, we decided to drop the last person we were really meeting regularly... He didn't want to accept anything besides the bible, so there just wasn't much we could do. Man. I wish I could just make people see this the way I see things! But I guess it doesn't work that way. God wants people to walk by faith, because that is the way people grow.

That can be pretty easy to forget sometimes - even when we do have the Gospel. To be honest, I asked myself a few times this week, how come I can't find people to teach? Couldn't following the Spirit be easier? Why can't I just know exactly where I should go, what I should do, and what I should say? But, walking by faith, not knowledge, is what makes people grow. When I think of the Saviors example - His wisdom as He taught the woman caught in adultery, His love as He forgave the Jews as He suffered on the cross, His strength as He performed the Atonement, His humility as He said Thy will be done - I feel grateful for the opportunity to grow. Even though sometimes I want the easy way, when God grants me a glimpse of His way, I am grateful that He knows a better way. I hope that some day it will lead me to do, serve, and love as He did!

Loving everyday of this awesome work!
Love you all!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

The Beach! Niigata is the most beautiful place in the world!

My companion being a beast... he ripped his pants making this picture...haha.

Me, trying to be as cool as my companion.

Selfie with a dolphin! Went to the aquarium as a zone today.

Some questions answered for Mom this week:

Q. How is the language coming along? 

A. When I try hard and I'm not tired, it comes very naturally, and it is actually pretty fun. Listening, especially to old people can still be pretty tricky. :/ Praying for the gift of tongues definitely helps though! :)

Q. Do you feel like you can understand more now? 

A. Depends on the topic. I can talk about the Gospel and understand most of what is going on, particularly when reading the Book of Mormon. Airplanes? Wedding photography? Other random topics that come up as we talk to people? Not so much. Don't have enough vocab for that yet...

Q. How are you doing with your companion? And all your apartment-mates? Are you all getting along well?

A.  Elder O'Connor is pretty laid back, fun, and super hard working guy. All the Elders in my apartment are good missionaries. The other companionship are the zone leaders.

Q. I'm glad you are being so greatly taken care of in the food department by the kind members there! How are you liking the food? Do you like everything? Have you found anything that you don't like? 

A. LOVE the food! I LOVE everything. There are some things that took longer to love, like Nato, but I actually plan on having that tonight for dinner in my apartment. It is a good, healthy, cheap meal.

Wow! Lots of questions! Haha. I'm doing good, Mom. :)

Week 35: Slippery Ground

Hello everyone!

So... This week we met with a few investigators! It was the weirdest thing. Both of them had a background with the bible.... I've never had to teach out of the Bible! Certainly a test of my scriptural knowledge. More than that, learning to rely more on the Spirit to guide me to scriptures that I definitely could not remember otherwise.

One of them came from New Zealand. He has been meeting with the missionaries for a while, but loves the bible and isn't super interested in the Book of Mormon, though he is willing to read if we assign something. Best part is that he wants to be baptized! Unfortunately, he doesn't want to join a church. He feels it would separate him from other people of other religions. He pulled out the part of the Bible where Christ says those that aren't against us are for us, and basically said any Christian church is ok. Not sure how to help him see that there is truly one faith and one baptism... (Yes, I tried showing him that scripture).

The other has already been baptized, but not into our church, obviously. He doesn't see why he needs to be baptized again. He wasn't happy when I told him that his previous missionaries didn't have the priesthood, but we'll work with him to start reading the Book of Mormon. He's busy with work and school, but hopefully he can find
enough time to get an answer.

Now, the one thing that stood out to me from my study today was the importance of building on a firm foundation. I read from 3 Nephi 11 (in Japanese during language study, and I actually understood it decently!). It talks about how if we don't build on a firm foundation, when the floods come we will be washed away.

Later today, we were playing frisbee in the park (yes, Mom, I actually started taking p-days. And it does feel pretty good. I guess I have realized the importance of actually relaxing for a bit - especially when you have a companion. Haha). It rained this morning, so the ground could be pretty slippery. This was fine, as we were just standing and throwing the frisbee back and forth. However, I can't throw a frisbee to save my life, and my companion had to make a quick move to catch the frisbee... Which you can't do on slippery ground. He quickly fell and was unable to catch the frisbee.

Now, my companion is fine, and in reality, it was still plenty of fun. We moved to drier ground and continued. However, I was thinking that it is the same in life. Sometimes, we tell ourselves that we don't need a firm foundation. We choose to stand on slippery ground - after all, throwing a frisbee back and forth isn't that hard, right? But when the smallest thing happens, we fall. This is why even in good times, we MUST stand on good ground. You never know when I could be the one throwing the frisbee. ;) There is only way to guarantee no falls, and that is building our life, desires, and happiness on our Savior Jesus Christ.

So build on Christ this week!
Stay Awesome!
Elder O'Reilly

Visited this man this week! He is a rice farmer and has a HUGE 100
year old house!

This shrine thing is IN his house!!!

Niigata Zone Conference
(taken from facebook... the mission president's wife is so great to
post pictures and videos... I love to hear them sing! -- Thomas's mom)