November 24, 2013

Dear Family,

Well last week was transfer week. I`m no longer in Miyako in fact I got sent up to Yamaguchi which happens to be one of the coldest places in the mission. Everything here is super pretty and I enjoy seeing mountains again. 

My new companion is Elder Ramey and he is from Idaho. Our apartment also has two other Elders as well. Elder Apina, the Hawaiian, and Elder Poole, the Australian. They are all super funny so I feel like it is going to be a fun transfer. Elder Ramey and I are the Zone leaders. We have 22 missionaries in our zone 12 are Elders and 10 are Sisters. Even with all of these missionaries we are one of the smallest zones in the mission. 

The Branch in Yamaguchi is great. I still don`t know a lot about the area but we have between 30 and 40 active members who all seem amazing. We also have some good investigators. Last week we invited a girl in our english class with her investigator friend to come to church together. Yesterday they both came and ended up knowing some of the other members in the branch that they were already good friends with. So that was awesome how things just seem to work out perfectly. It definitely is a testimony to me that so many people are being prepared in many different ways. Anyways I`m looking forward to this transfer. I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

November 18, 2013

Dear Family,

Well, if you are wondering why this is a day late it is because it is transfer week. We should be receiving our call in a few hours to see if anything is changing. 

Last week has been an amazing week.  So much happened. We were able to meet a lot of our investigators, even a couple that we haven`t seen in a while. I feel like all of them are doing great and would make great members. So I`m hoping that all will go well with them. 

Most of the less actives are doing great they just have a couple of things that keep getting in the way from them coming to church. I`m praying that a way or something might open up to help some of them come back. 

Yesterday the volunteer couple missionaries who were here also went home. It was a blast having them here for the last couple of months. They were a huge help and did a great job at helping strengthen the branch. 

We had an awesome experience on Sunday. We had just finished having a lunch at the church and got ready to head out and work. As we were about to leave, a former investigator that Elder Nakabe and I had started teaching came in. He told us that he wanted to be baptized and knew that this church was true after going to some of the other churches around here. The other Elders were able to set a baptism date for the 30th of this month. I was so happy to see him come back because he was super close to being baptized before but then dropped himself. I hope that he will be able to get baptized in just a couple of weeks and overcome any challenges he has. 

Everything has been going really well and I have enjoyed my life as a missionary. I feel like there are so many blessings I have received which I`m forever grateful for. This next transfer I have decided that my transfer theme is going to be "In the Strength of the Lord."  I know that with Him all things are possible which are according to His will. I love you all so much and am grateful for all of your prayers.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

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.