November 10, 2013

Dear Family,

It has been another great week we got to meet with many of our investigators. It had been awhile for some because they had been super busy with work. They are still all doing well. We are just trying to do our best to teach with the Spirit. We are praying for each of the investigators here so they will be able to gain their own testimony. 

We also went on a companion exchange with the missionaries down in Ishigaki. So Elder Jameson and I got on a plane and flew down. We were there for a couple of days helping them with their work. It was a lot of fun but also it has been kind of hot during the middle of the day. I sometimes can`t believe it is November because of the heat. I`m just glad we are not sweating as much anymore. 

On the exchange we were able to find a couple of new investigators for them. I was with Elder Vance who is on his first transfer but the last door we knocked on was answered by an American. He invited us in and had a lot of questions.  Being familiar with the Catholic church and other protestant religions he wondered what was so different about the Mormon church. For me it was kind of weird teaching in English this time. There have been other times where teaching in English was fine. However the lesson still went pretty well and he seemed like he had been in the process of being prepared to hear the gospel. 

We are looking forward to another week and we hope that we will be able to help as many people as we can everyday. I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

November 3, 2013

Dear Family,

Well it has been another fantastic week. Last Tuesday we had a companion exchange with the other Elders here on the island with us. I worked with Elder Nakabe again.  It had been a while but it was amazing to see how much he has progressed in just a short amount of time. Elder Jameson went with Elder Nara and even though they are just on their 2nd transfer it sounded like they had a great day. 

Then we also had our Halloween Party mixed with our English class.  It was a lot of fun. We had two investigators come with their kids. I felt like it was a good turn out and of course the kids enjoyed the candy. 

After Halloween we flew up to Naha for zone conference. It was a great meeting.  President and Sister Gustafson talked about the Atonement and the enabling power that comes from it. Zone conference is always a great spiritual boost. I also completed the lesson mastery program so at zone conference they rewarded me with a small Preach My Gospel and a Japan Fukuoka Mission pin. I was so happy to finally get it finished because I had been working on it for a long time. 

After that we came back to Miyako and had a good rest of the week finding. Our investigators are still doing super well. One investigator is a less active member`s mom. Right now we are hoping that they will both be able to come to church. We will keep doing our best. I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

P.S. I have been terrible with birthdays but wish Daniel and everyone else I missed a Happy Birthday including Hunter because I know her birthday is coming up as well.

More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures, thanks to Elder Jameson's mom who shared them.  Miyakojima really does look like a beautiful place just as Joseph has said.

October 28, 2013

Dear Family,

Well it sounds like everything has been going super well back home and that everyone is having a good time. The weather has been cooling down here which makes it nice riding around. This last week it was super windy because of typhoons that were close by. However I think typhoon season should be ending within the next few weeks. 

We had another great week though teaching investigators. We have one investigator that is basically a member and loves the gospel there are just a couple of things in the way before she can be baptized. I`m sure that she will be a great strength to the branch and receive baptism some day. 

We had a great adventure with a less active and reactive member last week. They took us fishing and to other places on the island.(I`ll attach some pictures) It was a lot of fun and Miyakojima is small but super beautiful. 

This last week we spent some time preparing for our Halloween Party. We have invited a bunch of investigators with their kids. Right now we are just hoping to have a good turn out. 

This last week we also went to meet a less active to find out that no one was home. As we were leaving the mom returned home and started talking with us. She thanked us for always helping her son. As we talked we brought up the gospel and plan of salvation and how much these things have helped us. After that she accepted an invitation to actually have us come back and continue teaching her. So we are looking forward to meeting her again. 

We have so much next week that I`m looking forward to like Halloween and Zone Conference. Well I love you all so much and am grateful for your prayers.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

P.S. The first picture is of delicious tofu balls that the couple missionaries made for us that we just ate a couple seconds ago.

October 21, 2013

Dear Family,

Well the weather her in Miyako is pretty nice now. Some days it is kind of hot but for the most part it is really nice being outside all of the time. 

This last week has been great. We have 3 progressing investigators right now. We hope that we will be able to help them overcome any challenges that they face. They all seem to have a desire to learn more and draw closer to Heavenly Father. I always look forward to meeting with each of them. 

This last week we also met one of the less actives here for the first time. It has been a year and a half since the last time he met the missionaries. He seemed really happy to see us and invited us in. It was nice getting to know him and his dad who used to be a former investigator. The visit was a lot of fun and we look forward to meeting them again. 

We have been doing a lot of finding this week as well. Yesterday was amazing.  We found and talked to so many people who seem to have interest. So now we have some good potential investigators. Everything seems to keep going well. 

Elder Jameson and I get along great we are always laughing and just having a good time. He is also doing an awesome job with Japanese and is working super hard to get it down. I think we will have another great transfer. I love you all so much.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

P.S. The fish and sugar cane was pretty good.

October 14, 2013

Dear Family,

Well there were no changes in transfers. So Elder Jameson and I can keep pressing forward here. We finally got to see general conference the other day which was just amazing. I love general conference and always leave with a determination to become a better member/missionary. There is always so much to learn but learning is something that I have really come to enjoy. 

I guess the big news of last week was really general conference and transfers. Our progressing investigator went up to another island but attended the first session of conference and said it was wonderful. We are pretty sure that she will be ready to receive baptism in the upcoming week. She seems like a perfect member already so I`m sure that she would be a big strength to the branch. We are super excited to keep working with her.

Right now we are hoping that we can find some more people who are being prepared as well. Oh your story about the dogs reminded me of a experience that Elder Jameson and I have almost every week. One of our investigator's apartment building has a dog that always seems to chase Elder Jameson while he rides his bike. The dog does not pay attention to me, just Elder Jameson. The other set of missionaries here call me the dog master and Elder Jameson the cat master. So that is something just kind of random and fun. Anyways I love you all so much and am grateful for all of your prayers and support.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

P.S. Here is a picture when we went fishing with a recently reactived member and me eating that fish and some sugar cane.

October 7, 2013 - Typhoons and Transfers

Dear Family,

Well this last week has been great and kind of crazy. So as for the title of this e-mail we had a big typhoon a couple of days ago which lasted from Saturday until Sunday afternoon. Our church was canceled which was unfortunate because I was ready to march through the strong wind and rain just so we could go. The typhoon was quite the adventure. The wind was super noisy and halfway through the power and everything went out so it was pitch black but we did have our flashlights. We spent the night singing hymns in the dark because there wasn`t much else we could do. 

Other than the typhoon we are still meeting with our golden investigator. Today we have a lesson with her as well. We are down to just the last couple of lessons and hope that she will keep on progressing. So far it seems that she will be getting baptized on the 26th. In our last lesson we gave her a prayer rock as a reminder to pray and read everyday. She already believes this is all true and we keep praying that everything will continue to go well. It is amazing how many people are being prepared to receive the gospel. 

In just a few hours we will probably be getting our transfer calls. So we will see if we are staying or going. However I`m really looking forward to general conference this next week. 

I just thought of another story I wanted to share. We met with another investigator who read the plan of salvation pamphlet we hand out to so many people. When we asked how the pamphlet was she told us that while reading about life after death she felt this warm feeling  like opening up inside of her. We recognized that she had felt the influence of the Holy Ghost and so we explained its purpose and how it helps each of us. She told us that she wants to come to church and wants to pray so she can feel that Spirit more in her life. 

This is not our work but the work of the Lord. I`m so grateful to be able to here on a mission and see the hand of the Lord in the lives of people we meet. I love you all so very much and am grateful for all of your support.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

Joseph's District when they met for interviews 

with President Gustafson.