March 30, 2015

Hey everybody! I hope your week went well! I love you all tons! This week was way good! I guess it hasn't actually been a full week since I last wrote, but it's definitely been busy!

Wednesday, we just shopped, cleaned and took naps cause we were super exhausted. Then we did a bunch of planning for our Zone since neither of us have been Zone Leaders yet... So we're kinda new to all of this...

Thursday we met with our investigator named O san who is in his 30's but works 15 hours a day 6 days a week at a soba restaurant which is absolutely insane! But he says he loves work, so I guess it's a good thing. But he's super interested in the Gospel and wants to know what God wants him to do, so we're helping him learn more, and try to get Sundays off to be able to come to church.

Friday was fun and we got to go to the O Family's house. We went and they fed us Yakiniku which is basically a Japanese BBQ which was great, and then we did a lesson Mogi(Role-Play) with them and it was good! We taught lesson 3 and they had some good questions and feedback so we could improve next time so it was really good!

Saturday while we were doing some service, we ran to a Home Improvement store and found our investigator O san. So we talked to him for a while which was good cause right now we're getting him passed to us by the Shimaitachi so it was a miracle we found him. Then we went inside the store, and the first worker we saw came up to us and asked if we were from BYU! So we said we weren't from BYU but I am going there after my mission and he said he went there for about 6 months a long time ago. As well as he said he knew that we were missionaries and it was really cool so we talked with him for a while! Service Blessings! ;) 

Sunday was great! We met this member who hadn't been to church for a while and talked to her for a while and she said that she'd been feeling like she needed to come to church recently and then we just showed up at her house! Then she asked how Dendo was and we said that some things are going to change with the iPads(her brother's serving in Nagoya so she knew a little bit about it) and she asked if there was anything she could do to help, and so she said she'd make a Mormon.org profile which will help missionaries a ton! So if you have time, please make a Mormon.org profile if you haven't already!

But those were the cool things from this week! Love you all tons, and I hope you have a good week this week!

Love,

Elder Bickel

March 25, 2015

Hey everybody! I hope you're all doing great! My week went super quickly even though it was a week and two or three days! This week was a little crazy as you could guess with transfers, and with me actually transferring this time...

Monday: We got F 長老's hair cut, as well as had our Zone Activity which was a curry making contest! I didn't have time to make any fabulous curry so we just watched, and ate everyone's curry! It was fun though cause it was just a party!

Tuesday: So we first had DTM and then the new Recorder, B 長老, got here and we started his training...

Wednesday: Not much happened today other than Elder Birch's training, and a way fun Eikaiwa!

Thursday: So today all the Returning missionaries came into Honbu to prep to go, and so I got to talk to all of them cause I had already finished basically all of the Recorder training I could. So that was fun, and then I did a little packing...

Friday: Today was fun cause we got to say hi to K 長老's parents who came to pick him up, and then got to prep for all the beans who came tonight! But that was the main gist of things.

Saturday: So when 10 new missionaries come, there ends up being a lot of people in Honbu with all of the Trainers, the Honbu staff and everybody else who's coming in and out, so it was a little crowded, but we got all of the beans trained and were having a fun time. Then we were planning on going to Sports night tonight for my last time, but we ended up not having enough time so we just went to the Arriving Missionary Testimony Meeting that was way cool! Almost everyone bore their testimonies and the spirit was super strong! I also finished the Shepherd and everything because we then had all of the information!

Sunday was good but sad cause I had to say goodbye to all of the members at church. But I was really glad I could say goodbye to them one last time. But we got to talk with everybody, as well as the many many missionaries who came for transfers/bean training so it was fun. Then we actually got to go to a member's house for Dinner! We were blessed enough to be able to go to the Takahashi family's house for dinner and it was a good time. We had some great talks about Christ, and just had a fun time with them. 

Monday was a little crazy cause we woke up at 4 to get all ready and go out to Atsubetsu to prep for the iPad Training meeting with Elder Evans from the Seventy, and Elder Aoyagi from the Asia North Area Presidency, and Elder Randall from the Missionary Department for the Church. The meeting was way good and pretty exciting! It seems as if I'll be getting my iPad next Saturday with all of the Zone Leaders at ML Kaigi (Mission Leader Council) so I'm excited! Then I met up with Elder S and we got all ready to go out to Shinoro which is a small suburb of Sapporo right on the edge. It's basically a neighborhood area filled with families, and we're hoping to find some good families to teach!

Tuesday we spent some time trying to figure out how things were going to go for the Zone and District since Elder S stayed this District's District Leader this transfer as well so it was a lot of planning. We also had Eikaiwa where we had around 7 people show up and it was a way fun time!

But that was the basics of the week! I love you all so much and am so thankful for you! I hope you have a great week, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Love,

Elder Bickel

March 15, 2015

Well hey everybody! I hope your weeks went well! Mine was very interesting! We had a bunch of stuff going on and had a fun time! So this week is technically transfer week, and the returning missionaries and incoming missionaries are coming this week, but the incoming are coming Friday night, and then we have transfers on Monday next week, so P-day will end up being on Wednesday! So when I don't email on Monday, just know, that's why! But I said it in my recording, but I'm transferring! It's been a while since I've had to transfer so it's kinda sad, cause I really love the ward, but I'm sure it'll be fun to be ZL in Shinoro with Elder Swenson. 

But I love you all lots! Talk to you soon!

Elder Bickel

Pictures from Facebook

March 1, 2015

Hey everybody! 

This week went way well! We've been having a ton of fun, and I'm all better from being sick! But here's how the week went!

Monday we went to Costco for shopping and for a fun P-day activity, and boy was it fun! It's weird to think that Costco would be a fun activity, but as we were heading out, the Nakatsuka's said they were going too and offered to bring us with them. So we got a ride all the way there (it took about 30-40 minutes by car) and then we got a ton of way good food that I haven't seen for over a year and a half! So that was super fun to shop there. But then on our way out, the Nakatsuka's offered to take our food back with them, so that we could eat at Costco (a 1/4 lb hot dog with sauerkraut and a big piece of pizza for under $5) and then mess around for P-day! So we didn't have to worry about anything really! Then we went to the Sapporo eki to mess around for a bit which ended up being way fun! Then we got back, and went to the Nakatsuka's for the big Family Home Evening! And boy was I glad I learned some hymns while taking piano cause they needed someone to play the opening and closing hymn, and no one else could do it. I really wished I'd practiced more, and had learned more, but being able to play a few really came in handy! THANKS MOM AND DAD! ;)

Tuesday was fun! Tuesday we had DTM which was fun! We got a workshop on Asking questions which was good! Then we went to sushi for lunch which is always good, and then had our usual work. I've been really trying to clean up a lot of stuff recently though, so Honbu is getting way clean! 

Wednesday- I don't quite remember what we did on Wednesday, but I do know we had Eikaiwa where we had more students than we've had in a long time! There were around 10-15 people there outside of missionaries and it went super well! Sadly I'm the only teacher recently cause the sisters are both Japanese, and the AP's are busy so it's just me, but it's been fun! It reminds me of when I was in Asahikawa and taught 2 Eikaiwa's a week by myself! Fun times!

Thursday I studied a lot about Christ. Not just Thursday, but recently I've been studying a lot about Christ and it's been way good! I really love Christ and am so thankful for all that he has done for me! He truly is amazing, and he lives, and loves each one of us so much! We can never 'repay' him but we can show him our love by following his teachings and keeping his commandments! let us all become more like Christ!

Friday was good! I got a bunch of missionaries' orders done which is good cause they'll be passed out either this week, or at the Transfer spot, but from here on out, I get more and more busy! Then we had a lesson with I San which was good! It's always fun to teach I San cause he really enjoys having us there. He's still not ready for Baptism, but he is progressing little by little and it's great to see the great effect that this gospel can have on people! 

Saturday was way fun! I basically made a word document that will help Elder F out a lot which is good cause he's super busy as the Commissarion. So it was fun! We also went to the Sports night, and had a fun time playing Basketball with everyone!

Sunday was great! I love Fast Sundays! At church I felt the Spirit really strongly, and Kaicho bore his testimony in church, and it was just great! We also got to strengthen our relationships with members so that was good! Then we went out and actually got to dendo for a while which was fun, and then we came home and made a super big dinner! We had T 長老 who worked at a KFC make us Fried Chicken, we also made a salad, fries from Costco, and big bowls of rice. Then for dessert we had this strawberry dessert and this chocolate cake that a member gave us! After eating it though I realized why over-eating is so bad for us, and why I haven't been eating like that recently! ;) So I don't think we'll be doing that again on Fast Sunday, or any day, but it was a good learning experience and it was pretty funny. 

But that was the week, thanks so much for all of your prayers and I love you so much! Talk to you soon!

Elder Bickel 

February 22, 2015

Hey everybody! 

I hope your week's are going well! Mine went great and we've been having a ton of fun recently!

We had a lesson with I san this week and there were some good points about it, and some not so good points about it. So I'll start with the good points. And then put the not so good point in, and then go back to the good points! ;) So he says he wants to get baptized at some point and really thinks it's needed. He also believes in God and the Spirit and knows what they feel like and understands them. He still doesn't quite believe in Christ and he wants to decide his own baptisimal date so that dropped, but he's still a strong investigator. Also he watched The Testaments with a member and enjoyed it and felt the Spirit. He's now reading the Book of Mormon for the second time, and is reading the bible as well! And basically from the lesson, we got a lot of direction on how to really help him, so it was good in the end. We prefer that he tells us the problems he's having than not saying anything so we can actually help him. 

We also have been getting a ton of stuff done here in Honbu. I've found that I basically know the Recorder job inside and out, so I'm making a few special projects to make it easier for future recorders and help the mission run better! So it's always fun to do stuff like that cause I feel like I'm helping things out more than usual. 

Recently in my study, I've been thinking about true happiness. You know, "what is it?" "How do I get it?" and stuff like that. And After thinking about it for a while and studying the scriptures, I've found that we really feel happy, really feel joy, after overcoming a trial in our lives. You've probably heard the whole, the deeper your sadness and pain, the greater your capacity for happiness and joy is. Well it's the same thing. So in order to truly feel happy we need trials to overcome. So in order to get trials, we need to pray to God for trials. So everyone says pray for trials. And I used to think "What? Why would I want to pray for trials? It just seems like the opposite thing of what I would want..." But now I realized, that if we pray for trials, we're praying for happiness. Not that trials are happy, but it gives us an opportunity to rely on God, overcome our trials, and increase our capacity for happiness which makes us even happier than we could imagine. So I thought that was interesting, and thought I should share. Just remember to enjoy the fun stuff that you've got while you have the trial. If you don't do that, you won't be happy. Not everything can be wrong at once. It's impossible because we have the true church in our lives. And that can never be wrong. 

Love you all lots! Have an amazing week, and I'll talk to you soon!

Elder Bickel





February 15, 2015

Hey everybody! 

This week went great over here, so I hope it went great over there as well! 

This week we had Zone Conference and Zone Training meeting! We had the medical missionaries from Tokyo come up and give their workshops which were the same as last year except for one change. The change was for the Mental Health workshop, he asked me to be this volunteer before it started. So he had me change my tie, and said he needed me to say a few things at various points and then he was going to bring me up to the front of the room, and cut my tie off. So I did what he told me and it worked way well! It was funny to see the look of surprise on everybody's face, so that was pretty fun! 

Zone Training Meeting we had a workshop on Obedience which was good. I've found that I really love talking about obedience. I've found a love for it that I feel will help me not only on the mission, but afterwards as well. :) 

We also got to go to the Yuki Matsuri (snow festival) on Tuesday which was way fun! We got to see some pretty good skiers and some amazing snow statues that were way cool! I have some pictures, but I'm going to have to send them next week cause I don't have my SD card with me. Sorry! 

Not much else happened this week, except for there was a Shokujikai(potluck lunch) after Church! I love the Shokujikai's cause they are super good and there's a ton of fun chats and great food! 

But that's basically what happened this week. I love you all tons! And I'll talk to you soon!

Love,

Elder Bickel 

February 9, 2015

Hey everybody! 

I hope your week was great! My week was crazy cause it was Transfer week! So Y 長老 transferred up to Wakkanai and my new companion is F 長老 who was just companions with D 長老 my MTC companion. Also he was Y 長老's MTC companion, so I thought that was kinda funny!

But this week, S 長老 also transferred out to Nemuro which is also super far away, so I quickly became the one who's been in honbu longest, but things still haven't fallen apart so I can tell God's helping a ton! ;) 

By the way! I san came to Church this week! He came for all 3 hours and wants to come again! So that was super good! Also Nakatsuka 会長's son came yesterday so he could see the Snow Festival, so I'll get to hang out with him a bit hopefully! He came around Christmas time when he was being released as a missionary from the Florida mission (which one, I don't know, but his English is super good) and we got to be good friends so I'm excited for that! But things here are going well! We had a fun time at sports night on Saturday, and we had meals with two members this week! Once on Friday, and one Yesterday! So that was way fun! I love the Kotoni ward a ton! They are all super nice and fun so it helps relieve the Honbu stress! ;) haha

Recently I've been studying about Nephi and I'm realizing more and more how good of an example he is. He not only was beat by his brothers and tied to a mast of a ship, but even after all of these super hard experiences he spent almost all of his time praising God, and thanking him for his blessings. Because of that, he was able to see a ton of miracles and he came into favor with God! I realized more that I need to spend less time asking for things, and more time thanking Him for all I've received. 

We really are all so blessed here and have so many things that we may not understand completely, but they too are blessings. We're not perfect, and we have a lot of mistakes, but God's not asking us to be perfect and many times he leaves us with those weaknesses so we can learn even more from them. 

Never lose hope, Never give up. All bad things have an end, because the Light will never die.

Love you all tons! Have a great week, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Love, 

Elder Bickel

February 2, 2015

Hey everybody! I love you all lots! I hope this week went well for all of you!! My week went great! It was a little crazy, but it was fun! But here's how it went!

Monday was fun! We played Jinroh as a district which was fun! Everyone had a great time, and it let me relax a little bit. Sadly everyone thought I was too good at hiding everything so they killed me off quick every time, but I took that as a sign of respect, not hate so it's ok! ;) haha then we went out and dendo-ed cause we didn't have an investigator who could come to the FHE at the Nakatsuka's so we didn't really have a purpose in going. So we went out and found some great people including this one person we were able to make an appointment with! So I'm pretty excited for that!

Tuesday we had DTM where I gave a workshop on how the Spirit is the key. It went well, so I was very thankful to God for that help. It's been crazy to me to see how much God helps his leaders recently. It's like I don't have to do much, cause I do what I can, and God does the rest, especially when I'm trying to do my duty as a District Leader, helping the other missionaries in my district. Then we went and taught I san and taught him most of Lesson 5 which has now been included in the Before Baptism lessons. But we talked about temples and Family History which he said he understood and it was great!

Wednesday we worked a bunch, and though I wanted to print the Shepherd, I wasn't able to because we had various things come up, including I still didn't have all the information I needed. Then I went to Eikaiwa and taught a lesson on Time... I thought it was a little ironic because transfers are coming up, as well as I have less than 6 months which people enjoy reminding me of so much... A mission truly is so fast...

Thursday was great! We went to a member's house and made Chinsuko which is an Okinawan cookie which Y 長老 makes all the time, which is super good! So we went and made it all together which was fun. Then we came back and I printed most of the Shepherds cause while things changed, I was able to get it to the point where I could print. 

Friday was also way fun, but super crazy! Basically people recently have been doing a bunch of stuff for college to get applied and all set up to go after the mission. However, I still hadn't gone on once to see if there was anything I needed to do. So I got permission from President to get on and do that, and since it's basically been 2 years since I did any of that stuff, I didn't remember my username or password, so I input the info and they gave it to me. But I went on, and it said I had to restart my application from the beginning, so I was freaking out. So then I was printing the Shepherds as well, and the printer basically broke, so my day was just going down the drain, way quickly! But there was nothing I could do for either, so I let it be for a little bit. So we went to teach I san again, and we finished lesson 5 as well as he said he'd come to church next Sunday! So we were super excited about that!

Saturday morning I ran downstairs really quick to make sure I could call the BYU records department before it closed for the day... I called and it turns out I have 2 accounts. One that had nothing on it at all, and another that was complete. So they gave me the username and password for that, and then I got it all taken care of so I can go to College! Then we also took care of various Honbu things, and then we went to the Sports night at Kotoni where we played Volleyball, and had fun with everybody!

Sunday was way good, just like all Fast Sunday's are... It was a little sad, cause it's the week of transfers so I didn't know if I was coming back or not. Then after church we went home and did our Honbu DKK which is where we plan the coming transfer week, as well as get our transfer calls and hear the mission's transfers. So just for all of you, I'm staying Recorder for another transfer, but don't tell anyone! ;) haha Then we went to a member's house and had dinner which was way good! But it was a great time!

But that was the week! It was super crazy, but it was fun! I hope you're all doing great! And I'll talk to you soon! Love you all lots!

Elder Bickel

January 26, 2015

Hey everybody! I hope your weeks went well! I love you all lots and you're in my prayers! This week was fun, and we got a lot of stuff done!

Monday we visited N san! We finally got to meet him again, and it went way well! He was super interested and was super nice, and we built our relationship up pretty well! He also gave us his number which was a big step!

Tuesday I did my DTM workshop on Love and how we can get our investigators to feel God's love, which was definitely the hardest workshop I've done so far, but it went well, so that was a blessing from God for sure! We also visited I san and started teaching him lesson 5 which is great cause he's on the backside of everything and will hopefully be baptized soon! So we're super excited about that! I also had an interview with Kaicho today which was way good! He talked a lot about the need to focus less on Administering and more on Ministering so that was way good! Through Administering we can help people's lives, but through Ministering we can change people's lives. Thought that was kinda cool and that I'd share.

Wednesday was good! M 長老 got his license! He's now allowed to drive which will help out the Honbu a ton! So that was great! What was funny though was when we went to the church for Eikaiwa, what is usually a 15 minute drive at most, turned into a 50 minute drive because of the snow, and traffic! So I'm glad that I'm not the one driving! ;)

Thursday was good! I had Splits with B 長老 which was way fun! We went to the hospital because he broke his finger playing basketball too! Luckily he doesn't have to do much with it, just be careful. Then we went home-teaching with a member which was really fun! He's a super smart guy!

Friday we visited I san again, and we reviewed the message of the restoration to make sure he gained his own testimony of the Book of Mormon to help him progress even more. It went super well and he said he'd come to church in February, as well as he's making a goal to gain that testimony within two weeks! So it was great!

Saturday we went to the Toyohira ward's Music night, where I recorded all of it, as well as Y 長老 played a bunch of them. So that was fun! Not much else happened that day though...

Sunday was a blast! We had a great time at church and were spiritually uplifted! I love church and the sacrament. It's amazing to think of all of the things that Christ has done for each one of us! Then we had DKK and got the week planned out! So it was fun! 

I love you all tons! Have a great week this week! Talk to you soon!

Elder Bickel

January 18, 2015

Hey everybody! I hope your weeks went well! Mine went great, but it was super busy and crazy!

On Monday, Y 長老 and M 長老 went out to Kitami to close the apartment down, so S 長老 and I were on splits since I had to do my DTM workshop on Tuesday. So we went to the Zone Activity which was a place called Round 1 where we played a bunch of different sports like Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, passed the frisbee, passed the football, hit some golf balls, and basically any other sports we wanted to play we could! So that was a way fun activity, and then we headed home, grabbed dinner, and then I worked more on the Shepherd since S 長老 had a bunch of AP work to do...

Tuesday: Today we had District Training Meeting where I did a workshop on Faith is Power. I showed the video of Namaan getting healed of his leprosy and talked about how it takes more than just one time. So then I related that to committing investigators and how we have to have faith that they will do our commitments so we need to keep on doing it. So that went pretty well I think, and then we went to a restaurant called Victoria, which has hamburgers, but no bun or anything like that. It's just the patties. So we ate there as a District, and then we went back and just did regular work. Also Y 長老 and M 長老 came back tonight!

Wednesday: So today I had splits with T 長老 who came this transfer. So he's on his first and is in the middle of training. But we had all of our study(it was nice to finally have language study time again), and then we went to dendo. We got lost for a bit, but we then housed and found some really nice people and got some Potential Investigators. Then we went to this kid's Eikaiwa class at the Moiwa Church, and even though there was supposed to be a member there to help out, the member didn't show, so we just taught it how we guessed it was supposed to go, and then made it work by ourselves! It was a little crazy, but it was fun! Then we ran over to the Eikaiwa at Kotoni, where we prepped it, and taught everybody and had a way good time!

Thursday: Today we had a pretty regular day of work, but for dendo we went to meet this investigator named W san who came to church last Sunday. But we went to visit him, and he talked to us for a tiny bit, but then he said he just wanted us to come back some other time to teach him the lessons, so it was a little strange, but that was ok. (It turns out he's a missionary for a Buddhist church, so he doesn't want to meet us anymore, but said if he wants to come to church, he'll come by himself... Sad, but it happens...). Then we went and housed a bit and found some cool people who will hopefully soon become investigators.

Friday: Today I had splits with W 長老 who was actually in my District in the MTC. So he's my Zone Leader right now, but is also in my district, so I got to go on splits with him. We worked in Moiwa again (it's more effective cause here in Honbu, we can't really go out and dendo in the afternoons so if we make appointments in the day, we can't go) and we ended up walking a lot. We didn't get lost, but the bus times didn't quite match our schedules so we walked about 23km in one day! It was pretty fun though, and we visited some referrals, a Non-Attending member, and found some really cool people while housing.

Saturday: Today was one of the worst days for a blizzard to come... We were moving the Higashi apartment. So basically last transfer so many Sisters left, so we had to close a bunch of areas. But since the Elder's apartment wasn't as nice, we moved them into the sister's apartments, but to finish it all up we had to go clean out the Elder's apartment, and then close it all down. So we went and were taking all the furniture and other stuff out of an apartment in a full-on blizzard. It was crazy! But I know we partook of a lot of your prayers and blessings cause we were safe the entire time, including driving in it, so thank you all so much! But we finally finished it up at about 3:30, had lunch, and then went back to Honbu, Cleaned out the car from all the trash they had there, and then went to the Kotoni Sports night where we played Volleyball which was way fun! We had about 4 youth there, including one less active one who is about 19/20 and the Bishop came and played with us too! So that was way fun, and then we went home.

Sunday: Today was good! Sadly no one came to church, but I ended up translating Getz 長老's lesson for Gospel Principles. So that was super hard, but it worked out ok luckily. ;) But church went well, I sat in on the High Priest's lesson for the last 10 minutes cause a member wanted me to translate for Getz 長老 even though he doesn't really need it that bad or particularly want it... ;) But then we went home, We had some spaghetti for lunch, and then did our weekly planning where we got some good stuff figured out for the week. Then we went to visit some investigators who were not able to meet, and we started housing. We found a few cool people, as well as talked to some drunk people which was pretty funny, and then came home so I could do reporting and we could have dinner which was way good! Y 長老 made this super good Okinawan dish which apparently is pretty easy, but hard...

Also I apparently lost my marbles, and am going crazy... I was sitting there getting ready to write in my journal last night while Y 長老 was practicing piano, and I ended up having a conversation with myself for 15 minutes in different accents... Then I realized how much time had passed and was very concerned for my mental welfare ;) haha! 

Well I love you all lots! Talk to you soon! Have a great week!

Elder Bickel 

January 11, 2015

Hey everybody! 

I hope you're all doing great! I'm doing well, having fun, and seeing miracles like having a new investigator come to church after he fell and hurt his leg, because it was healed when he woke up on Sunday morning! 

We've also had a lot of fun things like the Ward Mochi-tsuki(mochi making party) and dinner with members! But I talked about all that stuff in the recording so I'll just let you listen to that! 

I love you all tons, and I'll talk to you soon! Have a great week!

Elder Bickel

January 4, 2015

Hey everybody! Seems like I just sent a family email, and it's already P-day again! ;) Oh wait, it was just on Thursday! But a bunch of fun stuff happened since I last emailed, so I'll give you a little update.

So on Thursday we had a District Activity where we went to this Chocolate Factory called Shirokoibito koen, which reminded me so much of Willy Wonka(the old one). But it was actually a pretty cool place, and they gave us one of their specialty white chocolate cookie type things which was good! But I got a ton of pictures, so I'll try to send those to you. Then we went to the M Family's house for dinner with the Getz family(Elder and Sister Getz's son was there for the holidays) and we had this sushi type dinner! It was way fun and I ended up being the translator for the night, but it turned out alright! 

Friday we went to the Nakatsuka's house for lunch which Y 長老 made, which was famous Okinawa Soba! It was delicious! Then for dinner we went to the K family's house for dinner after cleaning for most of the day! K Kyoudai was way funny and we all had a lot of laughs!

Saturday we went to the O Family's house for lunch which was way fun, and they too made us laugh a lot! It was crazy cause we've been eating a ton of food, but then laughing too, so our stomachs hurt a little bit, but it was fun!  Then that evening we went to our investigator I san's (he's the one who has the baptisimal date) house where he and his friend were there and they had a bunch of questions that related to Lesson 1 so we retaught that, but when it got to the part about the Book of Mormon, our investigator(who's finished reading the Book of Mormon, and is reading the Japanese version of the Topical guide and Bible dictionary combined) then bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon to his friend so that was way cool!

Sunday was Fast Sunday as you know, and we had some way fun times at Church, and we did our weekly planning since we haven't had time any other day. And then for dinner we went to the M family's house for dinner and it was way fun! They fed us a ton of homemade gyoza and this way good soup and we all had some good times together!

But that's what's happened so far, and I love you all lots, and can't wait to talk to you soon! 

Love you!

Elder Bickel

December 31, 2014

Hey Everybody! 

Happy New Years! It's New Years Day here in Japan, but I know it's still the 31st in America. But because of the New Year, we had a little change in schedule, but I talk about that in my recording! But This week's been great! It was way fun to talk to my amazing family on Christmas, and we've had fun with some members! I hope you all have a great week, and I love you all!  Love,

Elder Bickel

December 15, 2015

Hey everybody! Thanks for all of your continued prayers. This week went way well and I was able to get a bunch of stuff done!

So I'm sure everybody's seen the new Christmas video by the church, but Kaicho got a call from Tokyo and they told him that they were making a special pass-along card for that video/Christmas and would be sending it to us within the week. So we got it on Friday, but the problem was, we needed to get it to all of the missionaries in the mission. The problem was there were 10000 cards. So we spent Friday trying to separate them to get some for each companionship, and then try to get them all sent out to everybody! So that was kinda crazy! But miraculously we got it all figured out and sent off cause Tokyo wants us to get them all out before Christmas!

Also this week we did a lot of music type stuff for members! On Thursday, we went to the O Family's house to do a little Christmas Concert, and Family night there which was way fun!  Then Friday night we went to the T family's house to do another Christmas Concert where we sang like 8 or nine planned songs, and then they asked us to sing a bunch of hymns on the spot which was way fun! But we also shared a little Christmas message there which was fun. Then Saturday, we went to the Primary party to sing, and do this little play thing where we told the Christmas story. Then we went from there, to an Old Folks Home to sing for some people there at the request of another member who works there. And then we also sang in church yesterday! 

Basically the past few days have reminded me a ton of my Senior year in High school with Ensemble going everywhere to sing. But it's been way fun. 

Also Transfers are this week, but instead of being on Thursday, it's on Wednesday, so it's pretty crazy! And I'll be staying here in Honbu as Recorder, and getting in a new District as their District Leader. :) So that'll be fun, but probably pretty hard, but God will help! But things have been way fun! 

I hope everyone's doing well! Love you tons!

Elder Bickel 

December 7, 2014

Hey everybody! 

I had a great week, and I hope all of you did too! December just started but time's flying quick and I know that before I know it, it'll be Christmas! What a joy it is to be able to have the opportunity to share the Gospel at this time of year! I love it! Well you're all in my prayers and I love you all tons!  

Love, Elder Bickel

November 16, 2014

Hey everybody! 

This week went great! We saw a few cool miracles and life here at the Honbu have been fun! Not too busy this week but it'll probably get more busy from here on out. ;)  I love you all, and I hope your weeks have been going well! I can't believe that this is my last P-day as a 19-year old missionary... Soon I'll be 20 and we all know there's no going back... ;)

Well, Love you lots!

Elder Bickel