Elder Travis John Bloomfield in Fukuoka, Japan: 27 April 2014

Hey whats up fam.?

So this week was interesting. First off we went to Naze for splits from Monday to Wednesday. In the space of maybe like 40 hours, I had 25 hours worth of boat riding. I'll send you a picture of what we slept on. It was basically just a big room with a bunch of futons. It was pretty fun. On the way to Naze I slept near an old man who judging by the amount of times he farted, I would say he was having stomach problems.

When we were in Naze we streeted into a German friend named Albert. We found out he was going to be riding the same boat as us to go back to Kagoshima and after we got on the boat he happened to be sleeping right next to papa. So we got to talk to him quite a bit and talk with him in the morning as well as we hung out on top of the boat just looking at the water. He is a doctor here in Japan for a science something meeting and never new the `Mormon community sends out their young all across the world.` he was a way cool guy. We gave him a Book of Mormon and hope to see him again someday.

Last week Uda san was pretty golden but this week it seems Satan had other plans. They said they wanted to find the truth and be baptized on the 25th of May. Sunday we told them sorry but we will not be back in Kagoshima until Wednesday, they told us well then you are coming over on Wednesday and we want to cook for you! When we called on Wednesday, Uda san told us from here on please do not visit anymore and don't tell us about Christianity. We were very confused on how the attitude and their feelings could change so fast. We were able to set up an appointment to visit them on Saturday and we found out while we were in Naze one of the members visited her and said some things that she should not have. We know the member had good intentions but because of some of the doctrine the member was trying to preach and a sickness Uda san has caught lately, they came to the conclusion that they must stick with their Buddhism roots, they hate Christianity, and don't want to hear us speak about it again. It was very unfortunate and we will continue to pray her heart can be softened.

Our other investigator with a baptismal date named Yumata san became difficult as well. He has sincere interest in the truth of our message but also is in a difficult financial situation and was hoping for help from us. When we explained to him with a member the policies of the church and how we would love to buy food for him and help him in what ways we can, but that we can not just give him money, he became surprisingly very angry and told us he doesn't want our help anymore. We will try and visit him again and see if we can come to an understanding with him but it seems his pride is keeping him from accepting the help the church has to offer and not just giving him money.

So, that was pretty wild. Sometimes we wonder why Satan has to be so strong in missionary work but it is eternal life I suppose. The atonement was never easy, so the missionary work shouldn't be either. It's a dang good thing it is fun though deshouuuu!! I find vast amounts of joy and happiness in the days where we have too much to do we can't even eat dinner and we come home exhausted and spent. There is no other work in the world where the more you work, the more you give up, the happier you are. Pretty neato aye?

The zone is genki (happy) and doing well. This week the challenge in our 6 week program was to focus on member present lessons and reaching Kaichos (Mission President) standards. Once again in those areas we saw ridiculous amazing miracles and the zone`s member present lessons this week doubled compared to the previous weeks averages.

Apparently for the rest of the summer the ash from the volcano is going to be wayyyy bad and I thought I understood when I walked out of the apartment and couldn't even see the concrete floor because it was filled with gray ash it was bad, but then this guy told us, "oh yeah today there wasn't much ash, it will get much much worse." So naturally, I'm way excited. It should be a good times wearing protective goggles for a few months.

Next week,

Elder Bloomfield