Hey Everybody!!!

 

I love you all so much!!! I got to baptize K** yesterday!!!!! It was amazing!!!!!!!!!! I will send tons of pictures. I had to baptize him twice because I left out a word haha but it went great. He was so happy and is in Togane and will be a great member out there now. It was so fulfilling to see his smiling face.

 

I have so much more fire in me right now to Dendo (do missionary work) because it is awesome to see that happen for people. I was so happy. We almost didn't make it too!?? We missed a train and were going to be too late for me to see it, let alone do the baptism. I was so sad. I was like noooooo. This is not happening. We have to go but one of the awesome Togane members was kind enough to pick us up at another station and drive us. It  was so nice and we were able to go. :)) It was amazing and I really know baptism is so important. :)

We also saw a miracle while passing out Eikaiwa (English Class) fliers at a station close to the beach. We finished passing them out and as we were walking to our bikes we saw a guy from Africa. We walked up to him and he asked if we were missionaries and turns out he was a member in Nigeria!?!? He is less active obviously now though. He said he was a member. He gave us his contact information and it went great so hopefully we can meet him this week.

Elder Sakamoto and I have been working hard in the heat haha. It is soooo hot. It is really just so  humid?!?! You have no idea. It is ok though and I kind of just don't care now haha.  It is all worth it. Lately a lot of people have been more receptive because they feel sorry for us and give us drinks and stuff haha. It has gone well.

Oh yeah, yesterday we met a guy and started walking with him. He is an old investigator. For a school report he had to explain Japanese culture in English to a gaijin (Foreigner).  I felt kind of used haha but we were walking and were on our way to a restaruant. We didn't know that. It was Sunday so we had to stop and teach him about keeping the Sabbath day holy. It went really well and even though he was disappointed he learned a more valuable lesson and I bet his teacher will give him more time. It felt great though to not give in and stand up for what we knew was best.

 

I love you all so much and want you all to know that you are the best!!! Your emails were great and lifted me up so much! Thanks for the advice and have a great week!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Mason Proctor

 

 

I really do love you guys so much. You are the greatest family and friends in the world and I always love getting your emails and feeling the love from you.

 

This morning we went to the beach and cleaned it up as a service project. It was already pretty clean but it went really well and at the end we had a bunch of trash. We were able to say good morning to a lot of people and they got introduced to the church that way too so that was good.

 

We are still meeting with L--. He is doing well and a super nice guy. Last week we talked with him and were able to talk about baptism. We talked with a guy named E--- on Tuesday. This guy is really cool. He is older and is pretty wealthy I think, haha - he has an awesome apartment. He speaks English pretty well too. He had cancer but has been using his own formula to get rid of it and is having some success. He knows about science and stuff. He has all the data and stuff and is planning on introducing the formula this month. I'm very curious to see what happens, haha. He also is a published author and he gave us a couple of his books:) pretty cool huh.

 

We played basketball with a friend this week  and it was pretty fun. Pretty much no one had played before I think so they were pretty excited to watch a foreigner who had touched a basketball before haha. They literally hadn't played before I think haha.

 

The ward here is really nice. Like I said last week, the ward mission leaders are American but completely fluent. It is fun watching our meetings go half Japanese and English the whole time - haha.

 

Having Elder Sakamoto as my companion is helping a ton. I really enjoy having him as a companion. He is a nice guy and is Japanese so my language skills are being helped a lot. I feel a lot more comfortable and feel like I can help people a lot better.

 

I finished reaading the Book of Mormon this week again. I prayed about it and Moroni 10:32-33 really stuck out to me. I learned so much how because of Christ we have hope and can improve. I have grown closer to God and learned who Christ is because of the Bible and the Book of Mormon so I really have come to know that the both scriptures are God's word. I love you all so much and please keep reading daily. I dont want to sound mean but there is no excuse not to!!!!:) I love you so much!!!!!!! have a great week!!!!!!!

I love you guys!!!!!!

Love,
プロクター長老

 

 

OK, so I am now in Chiba, Japan. It still isn't as big as Tokyo, only a bit over 1 million, but now I am in an area that looks like I thought my mission would before I came out, haha. I have been in rural or country places all up until now.

 

It was cool the other day we came back from eating at a member's house. His name is A.. and his goal is to make the missionaries throw up I think, haha. He is from Nepal but speaks English and Japanese. He fed us so much! There is a Costco in Chiba and he uses it. We get to too:)) but anyways, he fed us so much and I couldn't eat it all. On the way back we were late and had to ride our bikes super fast to make it to the next appointment. It was pretty cool riding my bike through down town Chiba. Its a really cool urban atmosphere. There are apartment complexes everywhere that are humongous. It's really cool.

 

We had an earthquake and the Typhoon didn't hit us at all. The earthquake was weak so nothing happened - haha. We just heard the siren and were all prepared for a huge earthquake but it was tiny.

 

The ward here is cool because half of the members are from America pretty much. Well, four I guess haha. They have Japanese wives and move back and forth between America and Japan sometimes. They are completely fluent in both. Pretty cool. One is from Houston and he knew Nacogdoches so that was super cool. He is our ward mission leader.

 

My new companion is awesome. He is 25 and was a chiropractor before he left for his mission. He plans to go back to his job when his mission is complete. He is way older and mature but it is cool having someone to learn from even more. He is awesome though. We speak only Japanese and it has helped SOOO much in just the last few days. It's nice hearing perfect Japanese all day. When you are with American missionaries all day they speak white people Japanese and it's not as good practice haha.

 

Our investigators are great. One is from Peru and speaks Spanish and Japanese. We are meeting him today and he is close to baptism. I haven't met everyone else yet but we will see:))

 

I love you all so much. I read your emails and wow are they fun to read:))) I loved the picture of you guys at 4th of July. I love you all so much!!!!

 

My testimony is really growing. Rely on God, be patient, and all will be ok. Also, make sure Sacrament is a spiritual experience and not just a habit. I love you so much!!!!!

Love,
Elder Proctor

 

 

Hey everybody!!!!! We had a lot of things going on this week! First, we went on exchanges with the assistants to the president of the mission. It was really cool. We found a guy named K***. He is 19 and has traveled a lot. He had a heart transplant and the heart he got is from an American so he literally is American at heart -  haha. He loves America stuff. He also has been to NASA so we were able to talk about that haha, so cool. He came to church this week and before church we gave him a tour. We got to the baptismal font and taught him about baptism. We talked about the blessings and things and he said he wants forgiveness. One thing led to another and now he is going to be baptized at the end of this month haha:)) So cool.

 

We were able to find two new investigators yesterday night by housing (tracting). We are seeing tons of miracles this week. Also, I was super sick on Friday and Saturday. I couldn't sleep all Friday night because of a massive headache and just my whole body felt terrible. I finally saw one of the other Elders wake up and he gave me a blessing at like 3 am. I immediately was able to finally calm down and sleep. The next day I just slept all day. I couldn't do anything. It was the first time in almost a year that I have napped haha it was weird. I got better Saturday though. Blessings really have power to them.

 

We also used the letter Garrett sent in T***'s lesson. It went great and it really touched him. It was perfect for him. He is still doing great.

 

Next crazy piece of news is I am already transfering?!?!? To Chiba! It's a big city. After only five weeks here!??! It was a super short transfer. They are usually 6 weeks. But yea, I'm gone, haha I'm going to be one of the Zone Leaders in Chiba with my new companion, Elder Sakamoto. He is Nionjin (Japanese) and I am so excited. He has been here a lot longer too so he can teach me a lot. Plus, I am so excited to just speak Japanese. I have never had this chance before and I am so excited to take it. I love you all so much. Thanks for being so perfect!!!!!!

Love,
Elder Proctor

 

 

Still in Japan - haha  - so the baptism did not turn out. He is still trying to develop more faith (aren't we all though, right?). The miracle so far is that he has quit smoking. We taught him the stop smoking program and he pretty much did NONE of it - haha - but we did give him a blessing and he hasn't smoked since!! Miracle!

 

Some cool news is a friend that I met in Sanjo ended up completing the lessons and he got baptized!!! I was not able to say really much to him because I couldn't at that time (my Japanese wasn't very good) - haha - but he is now a member of the church. SO cool.

 

We had a pretty normal but funny week. Yesterday I rode a "mama chotty" that is the name of the cheap hoopty bikes everyone, and I mean everyone, rides in Japan. My back wheel completely broke on my regular bike during church yesterday. I think it got hit - haha - (like a hit and run) so I had to ride a broken old leftover mama chotty all the way to the next town. Our old apartment town. It was terrible. I will send a picture. I was drenched at the end. It hurt - haha - Elder Pelfrey rode it the way back. It was crazy. It's like 2 or 3 miles or somthing haha on a bike with a broken wheel. I got my bike with the new wheel today so that's good. The wheel finally came in and we went and got it fixed. So thats the funny story.

 

Also we saw a little concert an Eikaiwa (English) student put on and I will send the video. It's pretty good, she does very well and sings beautifully - her accent is very Japanese - haha.

 

 

She did a great job!!

 

One of our investigators that we are eating with tonight is looking really good. He keeps telling us all the stories of how God is helping him in his life. He is doing awesome and is just a cool guy. He is 24 and I'll send a picture.

 

Tomorrow we have Zone conference and I have an assignment to train in it. It is for two zones combined so wish me luck!!!!

 

I really learned this week to be patient. Even though we may feel inadequate or unable to control everything, if we just rely on God, pray, read, and do our best, it'll all work out. I know that Christ is our Savior too. Your emails are great. I loved them so much and I look forward to them every week.

 

One more miracle. The guy actually dropped us the other day but its still a miracle. It's crazy. This guy N-- was found months ago. The missionary gave him only the missionaries' number but that was it. He never turned up or anything. Well, before I came here the guy gets a call from someone and they invited him to church. He shows up and the missionaries were shocked! They asked and he said your preacher called me. He said I needed to go to church. The missionaries are the only one with his number and no one knows who called. We think it was an angel - haha - pretty cool miracle huh. He wants to take a break now. We told him about that and he met with us again but he wanted to take a break now. It'll be ok but I just htought you'd like that miracle.

 

Thanks for being an awesome family and friends at home. I love you all so much!!!!!!!! Have a great week!!!!

Love,
プロクター長老