エルダーショー

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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.

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About

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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."

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9.20.2010 / 8:47 PM

I prefer BOIN best...

Hey everyone! Once again, I'll start with the pictures.

So... I was in desperate need of a haitut this last week. But! On Preperation Day, we couldn't find any place that could give me a haircut for less than 16 dollars. And I only had 10 dollars. So... I reluctantly took the old clippers that were in the apartment, meticulously cleaned them... And cut my own hair. Here are the pictures!

IMG_2246/2439/2440 - My head and haircut/ Sorry, I thought I had taken an actual picture of myself so you coul get the whole picture... But I guess I didn't because I don't have one on my camera right now. Sorry. You'll have to wait in suspense until next week!

IMG_2471 - This is a picture of my companion that I snapped just for kicks and giggles right before we left to e-mail.

IMG_2455 - Another comic. Enjoy!

Okay. So the end of this week was amazing! Probably the best few days I've had since coming to Japan. I don't have a lot of time, so I'll only cover the good stuff. First, we met with Chiba San again. He's been an investigator for a long time now. He's committed to a baptismal date before (if you recal) but he has never come to church before. So Elder Aiura and I had sort of gave him a break over the last week. But on Friday, we had another appointment with him. It was fantastic! The spirit was very strong, and at the end, on his own, Chiba San expressed that he "by all means wants to be baptized." It was very exciting. We told him that if he truly wants to be baptized, then he HAS to come to church. And so he came! YAY. It was very exciting. He had to leave 20 minutes into Priesthood meeting, but he stayed for nearly the full three hours. It was a great sacrament meeting and we are meeting with him again this week to thank him and most likely set up an actual baptism date. Assuming he is still keeping all of the commandments. At any rate, it's been very exciting.

One of our other investigators also came to Church. Kasahara san. Kasahara san is a... very old investigator who likes the missionaries more than the message. But, he does some sort of testimony and keeps all of the commandments EXCEPT the Word of Wisdom. He can't give up smoking. However, this last week we got him to commit to not smoking in the morning (better than nothing) and we got him to come to church. So we are excited for him.

Then the last and probably best thing that happened this week, is that President Tateoka came and visited the Furukawa branch this weekend! He spoke in church and it was great! The Branch cooked a big meal becauseas coming and it was delicious. It was an enthralling sunday, to say the list. After church, we had a training session with President and that was also extraordinarily grand. Afterwhich, he gave Elder Aiura and I each blessings. Thankfully he gave mine in English. It was great. He blessed me to be the means of saving many people in Furukawa based on my diligence. So that's my focus for this week! It's been a really great weekend for sure. I'm really started to enjoy myself, and Elder Aiura and I are getting along better than ever.

Also cool this week, I felt my first-ever earthquake. It was cool. I was just sitting then, and suddenly I felt really dizzy. Only I wasn't dizzy! The ground actually was moving! I was very surprised. But they are apparently pretty regular here in Japan... So no one else even really cared. But I thought it was awesome! Even if it made me feel a little sick.

Okay, well thatall the time I have for today. Thanks everyone for your love and support. I truly appreciate it ;) I know Jesus Christ is my Saviour, and am so glad for the opportunity I have to do his work in Japan. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, who translated the Book of Mormon through God's power. I implore you to study that Book. Joseph Smith said you can become closer to God by reading that book (and abiding by it's precepts) than by any other book. And he wasn't kidding! I know the book of mormon is the word of God. And the more we read it, the easier it becomes to read. So I implore everyone, please read it. And if you don't want to read it... Read it until you DO want to read it!

Thanks again.

--
Sincerely,
Mina o ai shite iru
Elder Shaw

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Address

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:

While at the MTC
Elder Brian Derek Shaw
Provo Missionary Training Center
MTC Mailbox # 89
JPN-SEN 0804
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

While in Japan
Elder Brian Derek Shaw
Japan Sendai Mission
3-1-5 Yagiyama Minami
Taihaku-Ku
Sendai-Shi, Miyagi
982-0807
Phone:81-22-245-8851