February 10, 2014

Dear Family,

Well this last week has been pretty good. We have been working and searching for some new investigators and finally found some. All of our investigators and members are doing great. It has been great working here in Yamaguchi. We have got a lot planned for these next few days that is going to keep us super busy. 

As far as news goes I was asked to speak in church last Sunday. It was pretty funny because this was the third Sunday in row I have given a talk. A few weeks ago I was assigned a talk to give about the Godhead and then last fast Sunday they found out I was going home soon so they asked me to bear my testimony thinking it was my last chance.  Then the other day a few of the speakers did not take very much time so they had a lot of time to fill and so then they asked me again to come up and talk about Baptism and the Sacrament. So that is kind of funny and then I know I have to give a talk next Sunday as well. So I`m hoping the fourth Sunday goes good as well. That is just something that the four of us have been laughing about recently. 

Well I`m excited to see you in a few days. Until then I`ll keep working hard. I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

P.S. I just want to ask and make sure that only family comes to the airport on Friday. Thanks. I Love You! 

February 4, 2014

Note:  Just a reminder that Joseph will be home next week and will be speaking in Sacrament Meeting on February 16 at 11:00  (at the Hunter Central Stake Center on 6000 West).

Dear Family,

Well last week was great.  We have been working super hard. We were able to find a new investigator.  The only downside is that he is going to the Philippines but we are planning to refer him to the missionaries over there. 

We also had a special conference the other day with Elder Aoyagi from the 70. It was awesome hearing him speak. There was a lot that I learned and other things that helped me remember some of my own personal experiences. I felt like it was a very spiritual meeting. The meeting was held in Hiroshima and I got to go back and spend the night in my old area. I saw so many missionaries that I knew,  a couple of which were in the MTC including my MTC companion. 

Everything has been going fantastic and I`m loving every single minute of mission life. I`m going to keep doing my best until the very end but I don`t think that will be the end. My mission will continue on throughout my life and I will still be a missionary. I hope to be like Paul "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."(Thanks Daniel for the great scripture.  At least I `m pretty sure it was the one on your mission plaque.) Anyways I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers of support.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

January 26, 2014

Note:  Joseph will be returning home on February 14 - Valentines Day.  He will be speaking in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, February 16 at 11:00 at the Hunter Central Stake Center (3930 South 6000 West, West Valley City)

Dear Family, 

Well it has been a really good week. We have been doing a lot of finding and keep meeting with all of our investigators. Some of them have been doing great and are beginning to progress. This last week we went on a couple of companion exchanges. We went to do some training for some of the new District Leaders, which was awesome.  I enjoy working with so many people and seeing their fire for the work. I also got to do a baptismal interview for another area's investigator. It was the first time I got to do a baptismal interview. It was a pretty cool experience.   Their investigator was super prepared and definitely ready for baptism. 

It is so much fun talking to people on the street because you meet some of the funniest people. Just everything about missionary work is awesome. One of our investigators went to Hawaii this week and was going to meet some missionaries that I worked with earlier so we made a little message for each of them. It is amazing how many friends I have made over the past couple of years. I love being a missionary and just want to keep sharing the gospel with as many people as I can. Thank you for all of your prayers. I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

January 20, 2014

Dear Family,

Well this last week has been pretty good. We have been out working as much as we can and trying to find those who are being prepared. We also had interviews with Pres. Gustafson this last week. During the interviews the AP`s had a training which was great. Elder Poole and I applied the stuff that they taught us and one day half of the people we talked to actually stopped and listened to a gospel message. Some of the other missionaries in our zone had similar experiences. 

The Branch here is also trying to think of ways to help us find more investigators. We have a few great investigators we're still working with. One has a hard time understanding but he feels like this is something he should believe in. Another wants to be baptized but her parents are against it so she is just waiting until she moves out. Then we have a family that says they have changed so much since meeting the missionaries. They said that the missionaries always bring this wonderful feeling and that this is the best church but that they don`t want to change right now. Everyone seems to have something that is holding them back but we are going to keep working with them and do our best to help them. Heavenly Father knows their needs and he has provided a way for them. I hope that we can work with the Spirit to help them see the way. 

Well that was the sum up for last week. I`m still enjoying mission life and love serving the Lord. I love you all so much and am grateful for your prayers.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

January 12, 2014

Dear Family,

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. I had a great birthday.  We all went out to eat but we spent the entire day on the street talking to everyone we saw.  It was a lot of fun and I just really enjoy talking to people. 

This week that was our main focus. However we also had some great visits with members. We also have some really awesome investigators. They all seem like they want to believe but are not sure on how they can. We are doing our best to explain things simply and helping them recognize the Spirit. We know that if they feel the power of the Holy Ghost they can come to know this message is true. I think that is something that will help them progress and come closer unto Christ. 

Last week we also went to Fukuoka for a leadership training and learned a lot of great things on setting goals and connecting with people that we meet.  Pres. Gustafson also talked to us about the Atonement and had a lot of neat insights. On Thursday we passed that training on to our zone I felt like it went well but President definitely gives it the best. 

I`m still doing my best and working as hard as I can everyday. I hope that things continue to go well and that we can keep seeing miracles. I love the Lord, this gospel, and this work. I love you all so very much and am grateful for your support and prayers. I hope you have another good week.

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

January 5, 2013

Dear Family,

Well this last week was New Years and transfer calls. So I now have a new companion who just happens to be the Australian (Elder Poole) who was here with me last transfer. It is fun working with him and I`m sure we will get a lot done. 

Another piece of news is that there are also two new Elders here with us. Elder Bush and Elder Rees who are both from Utah. The cool thing is that I knew Elder Bush from high school we had a few classes together and we`re both friends with Braden. I knew he was in the mission but didn`t meet up with him until now. We are actually both zone leaders and district leaders together but have different companions which is an interesting set up. So I feel like it is going to be a super fun transfer. 

For New Years we were invited over to a members house where we had a bunch of traditional Japanese New Years food which I thought was great. It has been a good week and we are still trying to find some new investigators. However everything is going good and we have good investigators we are working with. 

Well for some reason I always blank on what happened last week when I`m sitting in front of the computer. Anyways I love you all and hope you enjoy the New Year!

Love, Elder Joseph Gandy

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)

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.

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.