66th Week in Japan, 74 Weeks

Transfer Calls Again!

Well this week has been a week I will never forget. So many things
happened that I cannot explain over email. If you wish to know these
things, please call me after the mission. But I will talk about the
other stuff I can explain.

This week was the last full week of the transfer and we had 12
referrals to visit NA's and other people. So we focused in on that and
tried to get them all contacted before the end of the week. We went
searching, and searching, and pinging, and pinged all of the houses,
but not one person was home. So we still have 12 referrals as of right
now;( But we were running around and had lots of fun.

Monday-We went to Round 1(Sports Arena)  with Brother Momose and
played indoor volleyball that night.

Tuesday- Went to Matsuriya, ate a lot of sushi, and had to teach a
girl at Eikaiwa how touching missionaries is bad.

Wednesday- Gave a picture of Christ to Gina. After that we met with 1
NA, Brother Tabata, and learned how he was baptized and why he stopped
coming to church.

Thursday- Watched Legacy for the first time with an investigator in
Japanese. Seeing American made movies in Japanese first is weird.

Friday-While we were looking for an NA, we ran into a member, Brother
Komori, and he decided to feed us dinner that night!

Saturday- We had Mission Leader Council (M.L. 会議) and that took all
day. We talked all about how the mission is, what President
Nakatsuka's plan for the mission is, and how we can start to do
missionary work more like Christ did it, teaching people one by one.

Sunday-Had a great time at church, found out that the members really
do love us, and talked for a long time. Then that night I got my
transfer call to go to Kitahiroshima(北広島) with Elder Nakashima as Zone
Leaders. Doki Zone Leaders! (We were in the same MTC District).

Elder Bickel is still DL and he is going to get a new missionary and train him!

So yes the work moving forward and we will be using the Area Book
application from now on, which means we will be inputing all of the
files from the paper area book onto the I-Pads...fun, fun, fun.

64th Week in Japan, 72 Weeks

Allergies are no fun!

Yeah this week we had some time to dendo in our area and saw lots of
good results from that!

Monday- We went to Sapporo Eki to buy watches, and I found a nice one,
bought it, 2 hours later I realized the time was off, so we happened
to be going there the next day and tried to get it fixed. They said it
was going to take like 3 weeks to send it into the watch company and 3
weeks to get it back...so I will be returning it today.

Tuesday- We went to Atsubetsu for Elder Karaka's first District
Training meeting. It is really interesting to see how other districts
are. I have been in a District of only Sister missionaries for 3
transfers now. Atsubetsu district is only Elders...it definitely is a
different atmosphere.

Wednesday- We went out to Toubetsu, which is the end of our area, and
at a 7-11 a Philippine woman started to talk to us in English. She was
suprised to see us so far out in the country side. She then said that
she was a Catholic, but hadn't gone to church in 18 years. On top of
that she wants us to meet her daughters...so we will be very careful
on how we approach our lessons with them:) Next we met with Araki san
and made a baptismal date with him! He is going to be baptized on June
21st and we are really pumped. Then we visited Bishop and got a bunch
of NA referrals from him to help strengthen the ward!

Thursday- We had FHE with a member family, an NA, and an Investigator.
It was really fun. And I really regret not getting a picture with the
family because the baby in that family is so adorable. If you could
see her, you would know why I love Japan.

Friday- Every Friday we meet with Nakazawa san. But recently he hasn't
been keeping a lot of our commitments and goes off on side tangents.
So we were going to ask him about baptism and see if he really was
wanting to change and come unto Christ, but he saw where the
conversation was going and kind of (conversationally speaking) ran
away from it. So we will just bring it up next week. Next Elder Bickel
went to the dentist to get some of his teeth worked on. While he was
in the back, I dendo'ed some Grandmas in the waiting room. They
thought I was adorable and started to tell all of the office ladies.
So I gave them a Mormon.org card with my name and number and told them
we should talk some time;)

Saturday-I got a new disc brake put on my back tire because my other
one was bent from it being shipped. Next we went to go and contact
some of those referrals from the Bishop, but to no avail. After that I
had the privilege to attend my first member baptism in Japan. It was a
good reminder of what my baptism was like when I was 8.

Sunday- We sat in on a 1hr and 30min fireside about the Sapporo
Temple. The construction manager came and talked to us for a while. It
was really long.

Yeah this week was busy and next week will be even busier! Yay! A busy
missionary is a happy missionary!

60th Week in Japan, 68 Weeks

I like good weather.

Hey I am not AP! hahaha!

So now that I know for sure I am not AP I am pretty sure that I will
be staying here with Elder Bickel as a ZL/DL. That phone call will
come on tuesday. This week was really busy. We had to go into town a
few times this week for various events. We had interviews with
President Nakatsuka, a music night in Atsubetsu,  and I actually got
to go and visit the Nagano family, the family that I taught when I was
in Moiwa! That was a blast! I actually was able to speak to everyone
in Japanese! It was the coolest thing ever!

On Thursday I got to go on splits with Elder Johnson from Higashi area
and that was a blast! The weather was so warm, we regretted wearing
sweaters. (Yes the weather is actually getting nice now! Short sleeve
white T's will be coming soon!)

On Sunday we got a referral! YESSSS! She is awesome! She has read the
Bible, has come to church a couple of times, and wants to learn more!
How awesome is that! We are going to get her baptized!

The things that I learned this week:
1. If you are coming to Japan on your mission, do not get a large size
bike. They do not have bags for them.
2. Trust in the Holy Ghost. I knew I would not become AP because the
Holy Ghost told me I would not!
3. If you do not have a good relationship with your companion, others
can see and feel that. Including investigators.
4. Listening is really important. If you don't listen to others, how
do you expect to help them?!
5. Rules are cool. They are just hard to follow sometimes.
6. Prayer is for us. God doesn't need to hear our prayers to know what
we are doing, or to know what we need, God needs to hear our prayers
so that he can bless us. When we pray, it does more good for us than
we know.

Ok Talk to all you peoples later!
Elder Swenson

Elder Swenson with Elder Bickel

58th Week in Japan, 66 Weeks

Apple Probs

Dear friends and family,
        I am sorry to make this announcement, but I cannot send mail by
groups in any easy form as of right now so starting from next week I
will just be emailing my family until I can find out how to use this
foreign apple product.

        Ummm this week was super duper busy! We had splits with the AP's, ZTM
which included two workshops and I-Pad training, with General
Conference on top of that! No time for dendo!  But when I did go on
splits I got to meet 2 of my old investigators in Moiwa! Oono san and
Tomita san! It was really cool to see them and see that they are still
awesome!

        I got my bike back on Wednesday and it was a mess. I haven't seen it
for 5 transfers and unfortunately, I regret buying a good bike.
Because the shipping company refused to ship our bikes for a while, we
had to leave them in the area we were in, if we transferred from that
area. So I left my bike in Takikawa, it got used for a bit when I was
in Kushiro and got put in storage.  When I got it back, it wasn't in
the best condition, and now I have to go get it fixed. So 2 Nephi 9:51
is true. If you are thinking about buying something nice, think twice.
And pray.

57th Week in Japan, 65 Weeks

Sent from my iPad!

Hey everyone! As you can now see I am emailing from my I-Pad! Because
I am a Zone Leader, we got ours ahead of time;] They are pretty
awesome! Except for the fact that I cannot make a group right now in
my email list so if I forgot someone, I repent now.

This week we basically had no time to dendo! We had to go to the
mission office for Zone Leader Training and for an all day leader
meeting, where Costco Pizza was served;) with I-Pads! Right now we are
still in Phase 1 of the program so we haven't really been able to use
them in dendo a whole lot yet, but when we move into phase 2 it is
going to be awesome!

This week we will be having a Zone Training meeting where we will
have to teach everyone how to program their I-Pads...in english and
Japanese...no fun. But everyone is going to be really happy! We also
get our bikes this week! YEAH! I hate walking everywhere! Plus trains
are super expensive on P-Day, so I am pretty pumped!

On Wednesday I got to go on splits with my MTC companion and my son!
They are in a 3 man companionship so I got to go on splits with both
of them which is super rare! So that was a blast! I definitely
realized that the way we talk, dress, and appear makes a huge
difference when we dendo.

Saturday we met a guy who is completely fluent in English, but he has
only been out of the country for 2 weeks. We thought he was american.
So we invited him to come to Eikaiwa and talk with a bunch of gaijin
missionaries! He said "can I also here about your guy's church as
well?" We were so pumped! Until we found out that he lives in another
area...but we were still pumped for those missionaries!

Well just to let you all know, I can read emails any time during the
week, but I can only reply on P-Day. So send me all the emails you
want! HAHAHA!(not a joke).  Ok love you all and Find Christ!

Mission Leadership Training Meeting

IPad selfie ;)

56th Week in Japan, 64 Weeks

Transfers and I Pads!

Hey everyone!

So I am staying in Shinoro and my new companion is Elder Bickel! We are whitewashing Zone Leaders in Shinoro now. ( That means that they moved the area where the ZL`s are and both of the ZL`s changed). Plus I am still District leader. So this transfer is a little busy. On top of that we are getting Ipads. Next week on Saturday. That is going to also make things super busy and easy at the same time. I think it is a good thing so that I dont wan paku! (naughty boy). 

Today time is short so I will summarize.

Got I Pad training by the top guys in the church. It was so so good. The approach with using technology in missionary work is so good. This should really help us to become better people. Plus we can be more effective in our planning and studying as well as our ability to talk to people. I cant wait! 

I found a sweet star wars towel that was cheap.

My trainer went home. (That is some weird kimochi(feelings))

And I freakin love missionary work! 

Got to teach a members son, who is getting ready to be baptized, about the Restoration! 

Ok I love you peoples and follow Christ!

Elder Swenson

I found a sweet star wars towel that was cheap.

Got to teach a members son, who is getting ready to be baptized, 

about the Restoration!  

 My new companion is Elder Bickel! 

55th Week in Japan, 63 Weeks

Hey guys no time today!

I flippin Love my companion and this district! 

This week while I was on splits with the ZLs, President Nakatsuka called me and said he wanted to dendo with us. I guess he had an assignment to go out with the missionaries and he dreamed that he should go to Shinoro, so he came and did all of our dendo that we do! I was so nervous!:0 But it was a blast! 

Tomorrow we have transfer calls and next monday we will have Ipad training! Yahoo! That means next week on Wednesday will be Pday. So do not freak out if you do not see an email from me. 

Love changes peoples lives. So share it with others!

Ok sorry love you guys! 

I got some waffles! That is rare in Japan.