Happy New Years!!

Dear Family,

Well this last week has been good. However my companion and another Elder have been sick for most of the week. We were still able to go out and work for a couple of days. I also did a companion exchange with the other Elder who was not sick. 

It was a great Christmas season. During Christmas we also went caroling with some members. The Australian (Elder Poole) was dressed up like Santa. While we were going around we had a couple of kids ran up to us. They were super excited because they thought they found the real Santa. It was hilarious because they were running around trying to tell their friends. We had to hurry out of there before more came. 

As for New Years usually everyone gets together with family and has a party with a lot of food. They always seem to have mochi which is basically smashed up rice that becomes kind of gooey. Well today is transfer calls so we will find out if anything is going to change. Other than that there is not to much other news I can think of at the moment. I love you all and hope you have another great week. 

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

Christmas Day 2013

Note:  We talked with Joseph on Christmas Eve since that was Christmas Day in Japan.  It was great talking to him.  For those who haven't heard already, we've received his flight itinerary for his return home.  He will arrive in the evening on February 14 - Valentine's Day.

Dear Family,

Well it was nice talking with just a few hours ago. There is not a lot that I have to say. We had a fun Branch Christmas party and have been wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I love you all and hope you have a great Christmas.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

P.S. Here are a some pictures of my zone at Thanksgiving, the four of us at a samurai resturaunt, what my area looks like from a really tall building, and my district with their secret santa presents.

December 16, 2013

Dear Family,

I always enjoy this time of year and look forward to Christmas. We have been talking to everyone about the true meaning to Christmas. Most of the people we have talked to so far did not know that Christmas was connected with Jesus Christ. So we are hoping that we can bring many people closer to Christ during this season.  Right now we have a few really good investigators that all want to keep learning. So hopefully things continue to go well. 

I have a feeling that this next week is going to be busy. We have a Branch Christmas party this Saturday. The committee decided to make me the elf leader. So we are in charge of some of the entertainment and will probably do a couple of small skits. I`ll probably juggle and pantomime for everyone as well. It has been fun putting the party together because we have two investigators that are working with the members to put it together. It is going to be another full week. 

Last week went really well we did a lot of finding and just tried talking to as many people as possible. We are also doing a 12 days of Christmas for an investigator. We are going to be doing a small act of service or give a gift to them each day. 

I love you all so much and hope you all have a jolly Christmas!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

December 9, 2013

Dear Family,

 

It has been another really good week. We have an investigator we are meeting with about every other day who is really progressing. She seems like a member but still hasn`t received baptism. She does however help us in our missionary work. She invites a friend to come listen to the lessons with her. Now both of them are preparing for baptism at the end of this month. Last week we couldn`t find a member to joint for a lesson so we had to go to the park. At the park they had one of those hot springs you can put your feet into. So we decided to put our feet in. It was too hot to keep them in for very long but while we were there we talked to a man who was also there about the gospel. He was super nice and showed quite a bit of interest. He does live in another area but I was glad that we had the chance to share a message.  I`m so happy every time I have a chance to share the gospel which is why I think mission life is the best because we have those chances everyday all day. 

Well Christmas is in a couple of weeks and the mission office asked that we do our Christmas calls on Christmas so that would actually be Christmas Eve for you.  So this year I can`t use skype because our computer doesn`t have it so it will be just a normal phone call. By the way we got a second phone for our area because we have been super busy with phone calls between missionaries, members, and investigators. 

I love you all and keep you in my prayers. Have another good week!

 

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

December 3, 2013

Dear Family,

 

So yesterday our church computer was locked in a different room so we couldn`t e-mail. So I don`t have a lot of time to e-mail but I`ll do my best explaining what happened. 

So Elder Ramey is on his 7th transfer and he is from Idaho. He is also a power lifter and is convinced that I can gain ten pounds of muscle before the end of my mission. However he really likes to joke around and have a fun time. Then there is Elder Apina who I met in the MTC he only has a few weeks left and then he goes home to Hawaii. Elder Poole is the youngest and he is from Australia and they are both just a funny combo. So at the apartment we are always laughing. 

This last week I felt like we did a lot of planning and trainings. We had to go to Fukuoka and had a missionary council meeting with Pres. Gustafson. We also had to train everyone in the zone a few days ago. I feel like everything went really well. We talked a lot about being prepared and gaining confidence. 

We also have two great investigators who are preparing for baptism at the end of this month. So we are looking forward to that and helping them get to that point. By the way Yamaguchi is really cold and we should supposedly have a white Christmas this year. Well I`m running out of time. I love you all so much.

 

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

 

P.S. We had a big Thanksgiving lunch with our zone which was super delicious even though the food was mostly made by the Australian. (Who doesn`t celebrate thanksgiving)