The adventures and misadventures of Elder Shaw as he teaches among the Japanese, and is no doubt taught in return.

Head to the 'Profile,' section to read more about who I am, and what I believe in. For more information on where I actually am, please click here.

The adventures and misadventures of Elder Shaw as he teaches among the Japanese, and is no doubt taught in return.

Head to the 'Profile,' section to read more about who I am, and what I believe in. For more information on where I actually am, please click here.

My name is Brian Shaw, though you can just call me エルダーショー (Elder Shaw). As of the 19th of May 2010, I have been rigorously engaged in serving the Lord by laboring to bring the Japanese people back to their savior, Jesus Christ; and I will continue to do so faithfully until the 19th of the same month in 2012.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I have an unshakable testimony that this church is of Christ. I know Christ lives, and I know he suffered for my sins, so that I could return to live with my Heavenly Father after this life. I know that Joseph Smith, the founder of this church in the latter days, was called of God to restore Christ's authority to this earth, and establish the covenants and ordinances that were lost long ago. I also know that Joseph Smith was given a set of gold plates to translate into scripture called the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

If you would like to know this just as I do, please click here, or click here for a free copy of the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 25:26
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Wow! I don't even know where to begin! Japan is... Increadible! There is no way that I can even begin to tell you everything! First of all, in Japan, phone booths don't have phones... They have computers. Weird eh? So right now I'm writing this from a phone booth... So I'll upload as many photos as I can and write as much as I can... But it's a little awkward so I probably will not write too much. Also, the keyboard in Japan is very... Interesting in type with. So that will also hinder my ability to write a nice, well thought out and poingant e-mail. On the bright side however, I have longer than 30 minutes! Although to be honest I probably won't use it.

At any rate... So my first area is called Furukawa which means "old river" in Japanese. My first companion (not inculding the MTC) is Elder Aiura. Who is Japanese. Let me tell you, it has been very interesting trying to communicate in Japan. Did I mention to you that I don't speak Japanese? And Elder Aiura's English is not much better. It has been a truly wonderful experience :)

I don't even know where to begin. Japan is amazing. It is so beautiful here! There are trees everywhere and rice fields left, right and center! Seriosuly, in the middle of the city (Furukawa has about 300 000 people) there will be a rice paddy! What's up with that? But seriously is so beautiful! Everything is amazing. Even the sidewalks are amazing... I'll have to take a picture sometime to show you... Sometimes the sidewalks are gigantic strips made entirely from Rubber! It's really cool. Granted, other times the sidewalks are barely big eough to fit a bike onto it, but for the most part, that's not a problem.

The food here has also been an interesting experience. I have yet to eat rice... Nah I'm just kidding! I've eaten rice at every meal. Including breakfast. It's weird. But the rice here is sooooooooooooooooooooooo)()090)9809 much better than the rice in Canada/America. I was like, "pff, how could it be so good?" But I've learned... It really is! Other than that, to be completely honest, I have no idea what I've eaten. Like seriously. No clue. Whatsoever. I don't understand Japanese well enough to know what they are telling me, and my companion can harrdly explain it to me.

At any rate, since arriving I've purchased a bike! It's great, however was annoyingly expensive. I've also purchased an electronic dictonary which is a life-saver, and I got a great deal on it! So that was a good bit of news. After sending this e-mail I'm also going to go shopping for the first time. Maybe I'll take pictures. Sometimes they get the English way wrong and it can be funny. Other times they get the English correct and then it's just lame.

On the missionary service side, so far I haven't done a whole lot. We are teaching this one investigator named Chiba San. He has a baptismal date, but at present isn't going to be able to make it because he can't stop drinking Sake, and won't come to church. At least I think that's the problem. All I pretty much do in Lessons is do my best to listen and understand (does not usually work) and then bear testimony when my companion looks at me. It's been a very humbling experience.

But do not worry! I'm not letting my lack of language learning get me down! Sure it's hard (impossibly hard... I truly cannot talk to anyone!) But I know as long as I keep working, all those hard things will become easy in time. God works like that I think. Stand up and face the hard times, and the good times come sooner rather than later. Plus, the only time I ever really think about how badly my Japanese sucks is when I stop working. So... Work! That's the motto I've taken on for now. There's an excellent quote from President Benson I'd like to share quick:

"I have often said the greatest secret to missionary work is work. Work, work work -- There is no satisfactory subsitute." Something like that. And it's directed to missionaries, but the message definitely applies to everyone! Whatever you're doing, wherever you are... The "secret" isn't really a secret at all: Just get to work.

Okay that's all for now. I love you all! Live deliberately!

Pictures:

2210 - First picture in Japan. That is my mission President.
2208 - This is a random picture in the MTC. I think it's great. I make a great nerd, don't I?
2212 - A picture of all the missionaries that came to Sendai with me and yeah...
2229 - A sweet Praying Mantis we found!
2215/2217 - Pictures of what Japan looks like. Taken while riding a bus
2221/2222/2223/2226 - My apartment.
2227/2228 - An example of those awesome rice paddies I was telling you about. Kbye!

PS. Sorry there is so few pictures... I tried to upload more but this computer sort of stinks... :/ Next time!

--
Sincerely,
エルダーショー
Elder Shaw

A list of my writings by their entry date:

05.25.2010

06.01.2010

06.04.2010

06.08.2010

06.15.2010

06.18.2010

06.22.2010

06.29.2010

07.02.2010

07.06.2010

07.13.2010

07.20.2010

07.21.2010

08.10.2010

08.12.2010

08.17.2010

08.25.2010

09.06.2010

09.15.2010

09.20.2010

09.28.2010

10.04.2010

11.01.2010

11.30.2010

12.24.2010

12.30.2010

01.22.2011

01.26.2011

03.02.2011

03.07.2011

03.14.2011

03.18.2011

04.25.2011

To my friends and family... Write me! And I promise I will write back as promptly as reasonable.

First, please do not contact me through e-mail. I have an e-mail, but have been told by my mission president not to read e-mails from anyone (not even family!). Sure, some other missions might do it differently, but for Sendai, I'm not supposed to read your e-mails. Just write me lots of letters instead!

And please direct all mail to this street address: