Bye bye Koga...

Said goodbye to my home this week... It was the saddest thing in the world I didn't think I would get so close to these people. My last day we just went around visiting all the people I love! It was really spiritual and so fun! I cried in pretty much every goodbye and so did they. When we visited Shinji he gave me a paper that had the kanji for keep you in my heart and he talked about how I'm leaving but I'll never leave his heart. I talked about how he taught me so much and how he was the first person I met in Koga! We had lunch with Usui Kyodai and I gave him a little keychain of a pineapple and told him about my edamame and how that week I was working and praying for him that week. I shared some more things and the spirit was really strong he told me that this week he has had some tough stuff happen and he told me that I am the answer to his prayers. AHHHH I love Usui Kyodai! When saying bye to Mine the hair dresser guy he came and just was like ahhh why are you transfering! We had so much more to do! He made me a kanji calligraphy that means go your own way and he gave me some other stuff but it was chill because he was like we're going to see each other again so it's ok! Also went to go say bye to Kaneta, Horie the neighbor, and the Nakano family! that family is the best! I got to sing silent night for them before I left it was so great! I know I will always have a very special place in my heart for my first area. Koga was filled with trials and hardships but also filled with so much happiness and miracles. I grew more than I even knew I could. This little green bean is growin on up! 

My new area is pretty great! There's definitely more people to talk to then Koga and we aren't 10 kilos away from the eki and church! They are actually within walking distance which is crazy... Anyways my companion is Elder Kuwana from Hokkaido Japan! At first when it met him I was terrified it was going to so rough... I just got really bad vibes from him and felt like everything I said was way stupid. Our first days we didn't really talk to people too much for finding and I just felt like he hated me. But when we were heading home he said like I am so excited to work with you! The other day after a particularly frustrating evening he was like I had so much fun! I talked to him that night and he just told me he loves it but he has a hard time showing emotions. He says he likes me and I'm great it's just him that needs to work on showing that more. I WAS SO RELIEVED! After what I went through my first two transfers I couldn't do this! Our first couple days we didn't talk to many people and if we did it was about English class and pingpong. I asked him why he doesn't like talking to everyone and about church and he said that he believes we should talk to the people were led to and it's awkward to talk about church right off the bat. I told him that it's our purpose to be here and if we state it clearly we will give them the best chance to receive the gospel and the more people we talk to the more chances we have to help people. We want to be known as representatives of Christ not just people who teach English and play pingpong. We talked about it and he said we will work on it. Since it took a long time for my last companion to apply anything I thought it would be a really long time till we would improve but he studied about it in the morning and he was really excited and saw the meaning behind talking to everyone and stating our purpose. We talked to everyone the next day and we saw SOOO much success! It was so great it's cool to see that if we have the spirit we will see so much success! Our relationship got so much better too! It truly helped getting lost in the work and setting out to talk to all of gods children not just those we are led to! I am excited to see what this new area and companion and apartment brings me! It's been a blast so far I can't wait for more miracles and stuff to come! 

Tweets

MERI KURISUMASU!

My companion wants to learn English and I want to learn Japanese so we switch off what language we speak each day!

For our last kodomo eikaiwa (children's English class) they all sang to us and gave us cards they made! #scute

When I met my comp for the first time I acted like I didn't speak Japanese lol!

Met a guy at my stake conference in my old area I think I wrote about him a while back the one that went to north ridge! I happened to transfer where he lives! He walked into eikaiwa and was like ADACHI CHORO I'm so happy to hear you got transferred here! Also a family here is related to a family I love in Koga! #churchistrue #yukisisabeast #smallworld 

My apartment is the sickest thing in the world right now! #youalreadyknowthough #303 

My Mom came and bought us enough food to last the whole transfer! #missionmom #killinit 

I wrote this poems as kind of a Christmas gift to everyone since I don't have too much time to write letters and such! It actually took a long time because I wrote a couple lines every once and a while I started in November... But Merry Christmas from Elder Adachi!

Christmas Presence

It's that time of year again, it seems to come and go so fast

Trying to cherish every moment to make it last

You can feel it in the air everywhere you go

Or maybe it's just the cold and all that snow!

But it's different, life just gets better

Even bundled up under 10 coats to try to hide from the weather

Phones always going off with people to see

Looking everywhere for that perfect thing for under the tree

There's snow on the ground and lights everywhere

Children off of school not giving a care 

Family gets together to laugh and play

And "I don't have time" is something no one can say

It's the one time of year where everything stops

Time we get to spend with those we love a lot

This Christmas I'm away from all of this

Sometimes I get sad thinking of all that I will miss

But then I remember... I am not gone just to be away

I am here helping others so that someday...

Someday they might have this love I feel

Something that no one can take or steal 

Something that can't be bought at a store

Not just things... Something that means much more

I am here blessing others so that my family and friends will be blessed

If I work my hardest I know God will take care of the rest

This Christmas time make sure to look around

To cherish every sight, smell, and sound

Being away I start to realize what I took for granted

Like being in a place where only my eyes were slanted

Or being able to talk to family and friends for more than an hour

Or having just a second to stop and smell the flowers

But what I miss most are the little things

Like seeing the kids open presents and the joy that it brings

Like people wishing me "Merry Christmas!" Everywhere

Now I say it and people just stop and stare

I miss my family that I love the most

Even more than making an Instagram post

Thank you for being there every step of the way

I'm sorry I can only talk for 5 minutes on Pday

But family is always there both near and far

You can always feel them if they are in your heart

If there is one gift I want the most this year

And it won't be so hard to get so don't you fear

It is simple and sweet, not difficult to find at all

You won't have to spend any money or stand in line at the mall

The gift I want is for you to share love to those around

Keep your head up and smile, don't look at the ground

Say "Merry Christmas" where ever you go

And maybe just take a minute to shovel the neighbors snow

Go help those who maybe have a little less

And invite them over for dinner as a guest!

Remember that the gifts aren't as important as the giving 

Things will be forgotten but the feelings will keep living

The presents will be opened but the hearts will not close

Especially if loving others is what you chose

So spend more time and not so much cash

Because well.. It's free and the memories will always last

Enjoy each others presence and not just the gifts

Take a look around and find other hearts to lift

I know if you do this happy is all you will be

And the presence of Christmas will be all around you not just underneath the tree

I challenge you all look around and enjoy the presence of Christmas and really look to make someone's day this year. We have the opportunity to bless so many lives if we just take a minutes to give. Look for those presents you can give and the presence you can give as well I promise if you do that this will be a Christmas you won't forget. Love you all too much hope you all have a Merry Christmas! 

Love, Rice, and SANTA!!!! (Said like buddy the elf) 

Elder Asian Santa

Sakado?

I am 3 years old! Wow this transfer fleeeeeeeeew by! And I am so glad it did! Well... We got transfer calls this morning annnnnnddddd...... IM MOVING!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to Saitama ken to a place called Sakado! I was told it's the most beautiful place in the mission from what it sounds like it's exactly like Bountiful lots of mountains and snow! I am so stoked! My new companion is JAPANESE! Well this is the last email you'll receive from me in semi normal English because I'm going to be a JAPANESE MAN! I am too excited it's going to be so fun! I am actually really sad though because Koga is my family! I have grown so close to the members here and I have made some eternal friends! Yesterday at church I was talking to my favorite person Usui Kyodai and he said you are something special to me and I hope we can be friends long after your mission. It's definitely sad I didn't know I'd grow so close to the people here but with my message I am sharing goodbye is just see ga later cuz we are all going to be kickin it in the celestial kingdom someday! I know I was meant to come here to meet the people I did and learn the things I did I will always have a special place in my heart for Koga... This bean is now sprouting! 

Here's a little about my last week in Koga! 

The Indonesian man I talked about last week Dede, we met with him and it was a really cool experience! He was taking everything in so well and he was really excited to meet again. During the lesson he told us that in his religion most people don't want to learn anything about other religions but he is very interested in hearing and studying about ours. At the end when we taught him and invited him to pray he said he will try it. I told him if he wants he can even do it in Indonesian. We all bowed our heads and closed our eyes. I waited for a long time hoping he'd say something. I opened my eyes to see if I could encourage him or something I then saw him having his eyes closed and nodding his head and could tell he was praying silently. We stood there and waited for him to finish for a couple minutes. Then he looked up and said ok. The spirit was so strong! I didn't hear or know anything about what he prayed for but you could feel the spirit testify of his words even if they were silent and in another language. His desire to know and talk with Heavenly Father was amazing to see. I asked him how he felt and he said he felt peace. It was such a testimony builder to me that God is preparing people to receive this gospel. I know he came to Japan to work so we would meet at the eki when he had 50 minutes to spare before his bus came, I know he received help learning Japanese so he would understand our message and I know that his catholic friend who taught him church words was not a coincidence. He has been so prepared and I can't wait to see where he goes from here! 

We decided to go caroling one night.. Lemme tell you Japanese people do NOT understand the concept of caroling. We only got to sing to like one house! The rest just thought we were crazy and were like uhhh were busy or were ok. Sigh... It's makes me sad that Christmas is not a big thing in Japan. Even the ward members were like yeah we don't really exchange gifts or anything just for like little kids... It honestly got me pretty down. I miss the Christmas spirit and people saying Merry Christmas everywhere I go. I miss traditions and time with family and all the presence of Christmas... Well and the presents I guess! It really made me feel very grateful for what it's like back home and gave me new determination! By the time I'm done with you JAPAN YOU WILL LOVE CHRISTMAS! Haha

Pereras are doing good brother Perera knows a ton about Christianity so he gave us a list of questions he wants answered but we are trying to get him baptized before he leaves for Nepal for a month on the 21st so we need to teach him stuff! We got in a few arguments about things he really wants us to straight forward answer the questions and also he is under a lot of pressure with his business exporting bicycles and he got sick and is trying to quit smoking and drinking... So he's under a lot of pressure right now. I'm not sure how much I want to share about this but he kind of pulled us aside and talked to my comp about listening and how he needs to take into account how others are feeling. I think it really got to him and it helped hearing it from someone who is receiving the message not just me. He talked for a very long time for my comp about that then He then looked over at me and told me; I like him he takes 100% absorbs it all then he addresses it, he does not try to change the subject or worry about what he has to say. If I get angry he knows that and doesn't brush it aside he might get angry too but I like his character. I don't share this because I want to be like oh look at me I'm so great and stuff but to say that people appreciate authenticity. Before this experience I felt like they liked my comp a lot more than me and I just was kind of there and said stuff. Although I have gotten a little frustrated with him and we've had some strong talks he actually appreciated that. What I learned the most from this is that we must find out who we are teaching. We are not just teaching lessons we are teaching people and EVERYONE is different. People don't appreciate just a happy face and words... People appreciate character and authenticity it is the first step to receiving someone's trust.

In zone meeting the zone leaders talked about enjoying the call. They said that there are hard days and hard times but what will you remember about your mission. The most profound part of your that you will be talking of forever is not those hard times, those rejections, those tired moments, but it will be the people you helped. We will remember the people we helped bring to make that sacred covenant with God and make their lives and family lives and after lives happy. The same thing goes for this life. When we are in heaven we will not remember the hard ships, the sad times, the pain... We will be there with those people who we helped we will reunite again and see the fruits of our labors and know fully what we have done for others! 

We met with inose! Prob haven't met him in like a month or so but we watched the restoration video with him. He didn't have too much time to talk but when the video was over he turned to us and said. I feel a warm good feeling in y heart... What is that? Why do I feel that? It was such a cool moment! We talked about the spirit and how it bears truth and give us good feelings. I he is far from baptism but I know that his seed is slowly growing and hopefully I helped with it :) 

Challenge of the week! 

Have character! Sit down and think to yourself who you are who you really are. Character is what you do when you think no one is watching. Be authentic with everyone and be the real you! Because you are the best you that has and ever will live you are the best at it no one is better! So be you and be real! Love YOU! 

Tweets

How lucky am I to have something so great that makes saying goodbye so hard... 

There's a sister here who is from Australia... She played RUGBY! We deff talk about rugby every single time we see each Other! and we even bigger homies! #alldayidreamaboutrugby #washedup #rugbybringspeopletogether 

Well... My trainer finally put some Facebook time into our schedules so I could clean it up. So hopefully will be using Facebook soon if it gets cleared by some leaders... But I can't comment back or talk to anyone sooooo it's pre rough 

Japanese comp! Ahhh you already know I'm bout to be crazy good at Japanese! 

Saying bye to Koga is going to be the hardest thing ever... #kogaforlife 

Well here I starting a new chapter in my mission I can't wait and am so grateful once again for everyone support it means to the world to me! See you next week in SAKADO! 

Love, Rice, and SAKADO!

Elder Kengo James Adachi! 

Thanks for Giving :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving I know I did! I thought a lot about how blessed I am to have so many people in my life that mean so much to me. Not just a lot of people that mean a little or a few that mean a lot.. But I have so many that mean the world to me! Never for one second think you don't mean a ton to me because you do! Here's a little about what's went down this week! Sorry my stories never really continue we haven't really been working with people too consistently... But we will starting now! 

We got a call one night from someone named Perera who is from Sri Lanka. He told us his friend gave him his number and he really wanted to find a church for his family to be raised in. He said he saw people like us riding around. He told us that he was catholic but he doesn't have a church around here and he just really wants to find a good place and church to settle down. We met with him and his family and just had the coolest lesson the expectations were amazing and he just was so receptive and real to learning about how to better his family! It was weird teaching in English! I forgot so many words! Hahaha but it was super cool and was able to show him Lisa's I'm a Mormon video! I'm positive this is the answer to all our prayers we finally have someone we can be consistently working with that has very strong interest in getting baptized! We are going to meet with them twice a week and see so much potential! Ahhh I'm so excited! 

We are teaching this man named Horie that lives down the street from us. We met him housing like a month ago he was actually the first house we tried. When we rang the door bell they said sorry we already have a religion. In Japan they have these little talk boxes where they can see and talk to you like Skype. So we were like oh well we just have a short message to share and then she was like I'm sorry thank you though. As we were walking away a man opened the door. He told us to come in and we had a really good conversation. Since then we've been meeting once or twice a week. He doesn't really have any intention on joining our church or trying anything out but he does read what we give him. He doesn't pray because he feels like that's bad to pray to two gods... Which is good I respect that. I told him the last time we met that I was really happy with my life and religious beliefs before I become a member of this church. I asked him how he prays. He told me he reads from a book. I asked if he knows what he is praying for, he told me no. I asked him how he felt, he said pretty good I guess. I told him I used to do the same thing and it felt good but I felt like my hearts desires weren't being expressed. I prayed this way and I felt peace and comfort. Just hearing my words and getting all me feelings out brought me comfort. He still is unsure about it all but I think we got him thinking a little more. I told him if you really want to know the truth and have happiness just think about it this week and see if it's something you wanna try. 

We talked with Naoto Kyodai a less active member. Recently he's been progressing a ton and we have been working with him a lot. This time though he told us he thinks he wants to stop being a member. He wants to be free and he doesn't feel happiness or need gods love. He feels out of place and like he isn't even a member. I was able to talk to him a lot of the same feelings I had. I felt and still feel really out of place wherever I go. Being a convert its not exactly the same. Whenever anyone says we all know the story of.. Or we've been taught this since we were young I hate it because... Well I wasn't. After I told him how I felt starting out and how I feel now he began to start thinking and kept saying ok (In like a nodding ohhhh kinda way) I told him for me it's still not like I'm a member and I still feel weird about things all the time but I know God loves me and that's all that really matters in the end. I told him God knows us perfectly even if we don't think he's there he knows exactly how to help us. No one can tell you how you can feel that or who it feels because we are all different. He also said missionaries always just tell me to pray like it will fix everything. I told him it's because we always don't know how to help you but God does. It's like if your mom died and you needed help and comfort. You would call a friend whose mom also died so they can help you through it. Because they know exactly what you are going through. Jesus Christ knows EXACTLY how you feel he has been there before, he has felt those exact same feelings and knows how to help you. But first you have to call him and ask for his help. It kinda went from a disaster of a lesson to a really great one. I feel really blessed to be convert and to be different and not know everything because it helps so much with helping these people that are going through the same things I have and still am going through. 

We stopped into Mine sans salon and asked him if he'd come to English class with us! He drove us because it was raining a ton! He is so freaking awesome! He had a fun time! He has been like in relations withe missionaries for 30 years! He has so much love and it makes sense cuz he's so awesome. We talked about why he has never come to church he said because there are people who can only get their hair cut on Sunday's and so he has to be open. We talked with him more and I can't wait to meet with him more! 

I gave a training in district meeting about faith. We are doing a worldwide Christmas initiative called He is the Gift. You can go see the video now it's really good! It talks about how we need to discover, embrace, and share the gift. I gave a training on the first one discover the gift. I came up with a really cool thing for faith. F.A.I.T.H. Finding Answers In The Heart. I broke it down like this:

Finding- we are always finding people who will listen to our message and discover the gift. We also trying to find the faith in order to help and find these people. Also while we are finding there are people finding us they just don't know it

Answers- we answer lots of questions as missionaries and also ask lots of inspired questions to get people thinking. Also we can be answers to people's prayers if we have faith that we can find them. If we can always remember when we leave the apartment that we can be that answer and if we are praying to be that answer, God will lead us to those people if we keep that faith. 

In the heart: whenever we talk to people or go help people discover the gift we need to keep the spirit and faith in our hearts. And if we have that in our hearts and our true desire is to help people discover this gift we can help them discover answers in their hearts! 

I know as we go out everyday with that faith we will be able to see so many miracles and help people find answers in their hearts! 

Today we went to Nikko which is where the hear no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil money's come from it was so much fun and we got to go with one of my favorite members! Usui Kyodai and his father in law nishi Kyodai! It was so beautiful! 

Thanksgiving Challenge! 

Yeah.. Thanksgiving is over I'm aware.. BUT! Every year when I was home I send thankful texts the day after thanksgiving and I would say. I don't need just one day to be thankful for you! And then I would tell them why I'm thankful for them! We don't need just one day or one season to be thankful for each other. Be in the spirit of thanksgiving whenever and wherever you go! I promise you will be happier and you will bless others! So go tell someone you are thankful for them! And always be in the spirit of thanksgiving... Also always have that faith I was talking about!i am beyond thankful for each one of you and all you have done and continue to do for me! 

Tweetsssss

You can tell a lot about a person based on what they thought about the MTC food

I wonder what the neighbors think when we work out in the morning... I'm jumping on blocks, Elder Higbee is doing push ups and jump roping, Elder Myers is lifting rocks and Elder Adachis doing Kung fu! - Elder Killpack 

I made a mission parody for tangled when will my life begin its next level #stuffkjdoesonhisbike 

My bikes name is Carley Rae.... Cuz it's from Canada... #randomkjfacts #thoughtyououttaknow

We had Thanksgiving at the ADACHIS house! They are in our stake and they are like the nicest people in the whole world they feed us every zone meeting and fed us the most amazing thanksgiving lunch! It was a ton of fun! Also the first time I've ever had to turn around so much thinking someone was talking to me but they were talking to the other Adachis! #asianthanksgiving #myfamilyinjapan #nowerenotrelated 

Love you more than a lot of thing! Hope you all have a wonderful week and always live in the spirit of thanksgiving year round and make sure as we go into this Christmas season to think of others and how you make other people's lives a little better everyday. Put a little Christmas in someone's life everyday! Love you so much! 

Love, Stuffing, and PIKACHU! 

Kengo James Adachi... Elder... :)