Curveball of the year

Friends and family!

  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Its definitely different over here in Japan, but the best part was being able to Skype home! That was so cool! I had a great time talking to my family. I can`t believe how much my little brothers are changing! I`m going to go home to two very different boys thats for sure. We had a great Christmas Conference as well and myself and the other Elders in the apartment did a skit and a song for the Talent Show, it was hilarious! 

  So I got some pretty surprising news on Saturday. The Assistants to the President called and asked me if I would transfer into the mission home in Kobe to be in charge of creating the new Missionary Portal for the upcoming Ipads. They asked if I had any experience with creating websites and stuff like that and told me I`d be leaving my area and starting today! Its going to be a different experience thats for sure. 

  We had a really cool experience going over to visit a former investigator to let her know I was transferring to Kobe. We dropped her about two months ago or so because she stopped coming to church and showing any interest because she volunteers at a hospital and she`s crazy busy this time of year. We`ve stopped by periodically over the last little while to invite her to church activities and stuff like that, but she`s been either not home or too busy. We got to talk to her for a little bit last night and gave her a short lesson on God. We told her what a blessing she would be as a member of the church because of her willingness to serve others and her talent with choir. We asked her very openly if she would join the church, and she didn`t say no! You have to start from somewhere. We explained a little about baptism and she said she would call our ward mission leader (her friend) and talk to him a little bit. It was way cool! The Lord knows who he needs in his church! 

  Well I don`t have a ton of time left today because I have to go. I love you all and I hope you have a happy new year! Hello 2015! My Goals for the year: Give it everything I have till I come home in August. Return with Honor. And get started on the next stage of my life! Its going to be a big year for sure. I`m so grateful for the gospel that I have in my life. I know the church is true. I know God lives and he has a plan for each of us, no matter how strange to us that plan may seem. I love you guys! Have a great week!

Elder Jeffrey M. Giles

Christ is the Reason, the Spirit is the key, and Joy is the Reward

Merry Christmas everyone!
メリ-クリスマス！

Its an awesome time of year. I`m not really a fan of the cold, but I
don`t mind it the weeks before Christmas. Even though Christmas isn`t
nearly as big in Japan as it is back at home, you can feel the Christmas
spirit in the air every now and again. Its a great time to be a missionary
and a servant of God.

We`re doing well and I feel like we have nothing, but good things to
come. As I get close to ending my fourth transfer here in the area I`ve
been thinking a lot about what condition I want to leave it in when its my
time to leave. As a missionary that has come into areas that haven`t been
taken care of that well, and into brand new areas, I know how important
that is. Its like my Mom always taught me, `You leave things better than
you find them, if you borrow something, return it in better condition than
it was before, if you go somewhere with someone, act your best and they
might invite you back.` Its amazing the teachings of my parents that have
continued to teach me on my mission. I don`t know what will happen next
transfer, but I know I will be at absolute peace with whatever happens
because I know the Lord will place us where he needs us in whatever
position he needs in order to further his work.` This is a little
portion of my letter to the President this week that I wanted to share.
Christmas time in the mission is the best! P.S: I love you mom ;)

I could go on and on about how grateful I am this year to be celebrating
the birth of the Savior as a missionary in Japan. I can`t believe the
blessings and gifts in my life that he has given me. I thought as I read
the Book of Mormon this morning in Japanese what an incredibly powerful
gift he has given me to get me to the point where I can read and speak a
little bit of the Japanese language.

I think of the circumstances of the Saviors birth as a true example to
all of us how we should view this mortal life. He was born in a stable in
Bethlehem. I don`t know if everyone realizes the fact that a stable is
nothing more than a barn. A barn. Forget the fact that its the Savior and
Redeemer of the World for a second and think of that, a baby was born in a
barn! His mother was young. I`m not exactly sure, but I`ve heard she was
only around 16 or 17 years of age. I can imagine Joseph, humbly viewing
this child that has just been brought into the world feeling the pressures
of becoming a Father and providing for this Son he now has. The nativity is
so special. The family is the focus just as it should be. I can`t imagine
what kind of people Mary and Joseph were to qualify as the parents of
Christ, but along the lines of what the Angel Gabriel said to Mary at the
Annunciation, I`m sure they were some of the choicest of spirits.

I know the Savior lives and he stands on the right hand of God the
Father. He lived as an example of what we are to be and died that we might
live again. His birth is something special that we must never forget,
especially this time of year. We celebrate Christmas for a reason, and that
reason is Christ. I love my Savior and Redeemer.

I hope you all have a great Christmas! A special shout out to my little
Sister, Alex, as well for turning 18 last week! I love you Sis! I`ll talk
to you all soon! Have a great week.

Elder Giles

Where the heck is Hurricane?? Hahaha I laughed so hard at this gem. Who would have ever thought?
​

The only direction is up

Hello friends and family!

  This week flew by, I`m shuffling through my planner because it all feels like a blur right now! I`m sure I`ve stressed it enough by now, but time moves way to fast! The work is going great and my companion, Elder P, and I are having a great time. We had some great experiences this week and we`re really looking forward to working a lot more with the Ward for the next little while.

  We met with Bishop S here in Takatsuki yesterday to discuss how we could better work with the ward to reach a goal of baptizing by the end of the year. Its difficult right now because we really don`t have a Ward Mission Plan. Our Bishop's vision the whole time I`ve been here has been just focusing on finding young people. We met yesterday after having planned some things to talk about with the Sisters, too. I provided Bishop with a copy of the Ward Mission Plan from chapter 13 of Preach My Gospel to give him a little bit of a start on what sort of concrete plan he should be creating. Really right now what he`s worrying about the most is the members. We have to strengthen the members first and he emphasized that a lot and we agree. He asked us to visit the members and share our experiences and testimonies with them and gave us a few names of members he wants us to focus on first. Its not a lot, but it`s a start. This ward will pick up. These people's hearts will change and we will do everything in our power in order to make that happen. We will baptize here.

  I feel like I`m growing more in the Spirit every day. I was thinking yesterday as we were running around having a really busy day what an amazing gift it is to be able to learn how you feel and recognize the Spirit. It really is such a small feeling, but wow is it powerful when it comes. It teaches us so much during the day and if we aren`t ready to see and feel that for ourselves, well we`ll miss out on it as easy as that. 

  We had a Sister missionary that finished her mission a few weeks ago come back and visit Takatsuki because she served here a few months ago. Her Mom and Sister came to pick her up and they`ve been touring the mission for the last two weeks or so. We were able to have dinner with them at a member's house last night and we had a really powerful experience and testimony meeting. The mother of that sister missionary has an amazing story, from being called here over twenty years ago and then having her call changed last minute, to having all of her money stolen a few weeks before they come to Japan to pick up their missionary. She was so great and the Spirit was so powerful. A special shout out to the M family from Provo, Utah! 

  The Church is truer than ever. I love being a missionary this time of year and declaring good tidings of peace about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he lives and that he is the Son of God. This is God's work and we`re nothing but mouth pieces. I won`t sugar coat how hard this is, but it`s so worth it in the end. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know its true and Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. Have a great week! I`ll see you soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

Elder Giles

How do I know he loves me?

Friends and Family,

  This last week has been pretty challenging! I`ve had a viral infection in my stomach for the last few weeks and it hasn`t been fun at all! I keep just trying to push through and work, the doctor says its just got to work its way through the system and I`ll be back to normal in no time at all. I know the Lord is mindful of us, `wanderers in a strange land` -Ammon. 

  Other than a little trial of sickness, the week was really good! The work continues to hasten and its good to be a part of it. We taught an awesome lesson to one of our investigators last week that really got him curious in the Book of Mormon. He`s showed signs of really wanting to know about the Gospel, but up until now he really hasn`t put forth a lot of effort or true desire to learn. We met with him at a McDonalds and just started talking about his beliefs in God. We listened to him for a good little while as he told us the differences in the God we believe in and the God he believes in. He told us that he believes that God is a spirit that is in each of us, guiding and protecting our lives. I told him how cool I thought that was and showed him Moroni 7:16 and explained how we believe much the same way. God is our Father in Heaven and he sends us the Spirit and the Light of Christ, which is given to every man, to guide us and help us know right from wrong. We then took him to two of my favorite parts in the Book of Mormon where some investigators thought that God was a `Great Spirit` as well. We read from Alma 18 where Ammon teaches Lamoni and from Alma 22 where Aaron teaches Lamoni`s father. We connected it back to him and explained that God is a man, glorified and perfected and we are created in his image. He was pretty blown away by that. He said at the end that he thought it was so crazy that his beliefs and our beliefs could be so close. My companion challenged him to start reading from the beginning of the Book of Mormon and told him he was going to call and see how it has been going on Wednesday night. We`re super excited to see how he goes! 

  I`m realizing as I get older in the mission just how much I learn from week to week. I guess I haven`t really had the chance to kind of look back, but I can really see how much I`m changing. They`re absolutely right when they say that person that will change the most on your mission is YOU. Its so true. I`m learning so much every day. I`ve really come to know and walk with my Savior here in Japan. I`ve come to the knowledge of my Redeemer in Kobe. It will always be a special place in my heart. It will be so difficult to leave one day. I know it might seem sometimes like we`re not doing much, but what I`ve seen and learned on my mission is that we truly have no idea the impact we can have, especially as members of the church. God can do a lot through us, as weak as we are. There`s never a time to be discouraged because the Lord truly is mindful of all of his children! He loves each and every one of us and knows us by name. How do I know the Lord loves me? He makes me do hard things. I love you all! I hope you all have a great week! If you haven`t seen `He is the Gift` go check it out, its pretty cool. I love you guys!

Elder Giles

This is an area close to the train station in Takatsuki where we serve every week, planting flowers and stuff like that. They put Christmas lights up every year and we were recognized by the Mayor for helping out! It was way cool!

He`s There.

Hello friends and family!!

 This week has been a good one! We got to head into the mission home for a
trainer/trainee conference with President W and he gave us Thanksgiving
lunch! It was awesome! Looks like I`m going to be getting another transfer
here in Takatsuki with Elder P. Its going to be great. Things are
really starting to look up and I`m excited I`ll have the chance now to play
the Angel Gabriel in the upcoming Christmas Pageant! Needless to say I`m
excited to be here for another one.

 This last week was a good one. We got a lot of things done and were able
to get some teaching opportunities in there. It was great. We even found a
guy up at a park that was about to go on a hike and he invited us to go
with him! We got a great look at Settsukyo Koen and the surrounding city
from the top of the mountains. We told him what we were doing and why we
came to Japan and even though he`s not that interested in the Gospel right
now, we`ve got our foot in the door for sure. His name was M S and
he was a great guy.

 We`re teaching a guy from Illinois right now and things went awesome with
him last week. We focused the whole lesson on just sharing our testimonies
as well as the member that came with us. Things went great. We challenged
him to start reading the Book of Mormon again and to mark, just like we
are, the names and titles of the Savior. He agreed and we`ll follow up on
it this week. The guy will make a great member of the church. It was pretty
funny because he brought out his `Mormon File` when we were there and it
was full of articles and all sorts of things on the church. He`s definitely
studied a lot and claims to be a very spiritual man.

 I had an amazing experience with prayer this last week. I`ve had a lot of
issues with sicknesses of all kinds this last transfer and I`ve been having
some stomach problems for the last 10 days or so. I was getting a little
nervous and with the stress that comes from living in an apartment with 4
Elders of all different colors, I was feeling a little helpless. I decided
I would kneel and pray out loud somewhere I could be secluded and alone
(the closet in the backroom). I prayed and it felt so much like a
conversation. I explained that I was scared something more might be wrong
with my body, that I wasn`t really sure what I was supposed to do as a
missionary right now and that I was just plain tired spiritually. I felt
prompted to ask if he was listening. The first time I did the smallest of
feelings came. I could feel it even though it was the smallest of small
feelings deep down. I asked again out loud, `Father, can you hear me?` and
when I asked that, the full force of what I can only describe as the powers
of Heaven and the love of our Eternal Father. It was amazing, you guys.
I`ve never felt it like that. He`s there. It brought me to tears and
eventually to weeping. He lives! I know it! He knows where each of the
elect are in our area right now. He could lead us to them at any time he
wanted, but he loves us a little more than that. How do I know he loves me?
He makes me do hard things. I know that`s true.

 The weather is finally going to take a turn south for the winter this
week with a chance of snow tomorrow. It looks like the cold his finally
here to stay in the land of sushi and rice! We expect nothing short of
miracles this week. I`m excited to see what happens! I know this is true.
I`ll say it over and over again because I know just that. Its true! I love
it! By the way I`m in Mosiah 5 so you`ve all got some catching up to do! I
love you all!

Elder Giles

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The flickering light

My beloved family and friends,

  Another week down and again, I`m losing my sense of time out here. It goes so fast. I blink and its Wednesday morning, blink again and we`re at Sports Night on Saturday, one more time and its Preparation Day again. Time goes by and I think I get older every day. It`s just nice being somewhere I know I`m making a difference, no matter how small that difference is. 

  I`ve learned a powerful lesson on following promptings from the Lord. We were biking home last night, actually we were going to visit a former investigator first, and then head back. As we were biking through town I noticed an apartment complex with a flickering light. I thought to myself that it was a little strange, but I brushed off the feeling that we should go check it out. I turned at the last moment wanting to show my full trust in the Lord. My companion and I prayed and we both felt like we should tract the floor with the flickering light. We started housing but to no avail. No one was interested. I tried to make each door approach something a little different and a little more powerful than the last. As we went along I found myself doubting a little bit. I felt that we weren`t actually going to find anyone there. As we went along we knocked on a particular door, A 307, to be exact. I introduced us and asked if we could share a message about our Heavenly Father and the purpose of life. He said he didn`t really have time right then so I asked if we could visit some other time (being persistent). He said he was pretty busy, but Sunday`s were his day off. I asked if we could come back and visit the following Sunday and he declined again. I asked the guy if he might share with me what his name was and he told us he wasn`t going to give his name to someone he didn`t know. I promptly responded with a self introduction of my own, which he basically responded to with, `I don`t care who you are.` I tried to tell him that our message is of great importance and it would bless his life and he quickly spat back with `I`m sorry, I have a life.` to which I immaturely responded with, `I have a life, too.` I didn`t feel good at all about it. On the way home my companion asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine and that I recognized what the Lord was trying to teach me. I needed to learn how to keep my emotions in check in the face of adversary.  We`re not confronted with a lot here in Japan, but it was definitely a good lesson to learn anyway. Even though I`m almost a year and a half out, the Lord still teaches me every day. Thats another thing Elder P and I talked about after that incident, we`re never done learning. Learning is a principle of Eternity. There is no Eternity without learning. Interesting isn`t it? Now I understand why the Brethren exhort us so much to obtain as much education as possible while on the Earth. It`ll be a nice headstart on the other side. I know I was supposed to follow that prompting. I know the Lord is there and he knows and loves each of us.

  We had the chance to go up to Kyoto twice last week, once for Preparation Day fun and another for Zone Conference. I love it in Kyoto. At Zone Conference we had a special gift from Sister W. The previous week they were touring Kyoto with all the Mission Presidents and wives from the Asia North Area and she managed to get a copy of `Meet the Mormons` from the Area President! It was so cool! So our mission is now probably the only one in the world that has seen it. It was super cool. It`s funny because the last three movies I`ve seen are, `Meet the Mormons`, `Ephraims Rescue`, and `The Testaments` in Japanese. Oh the life of a missionary. 

  Thank you all so much for your continuing love and support. I love you all! I know the church is true. It has been in every part of my life, even when I didn`t think it mattered all that much. I know Christ lives and he is at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Elder Jeffrey Maxwell Giles

Goals and Accountability

Hello friends and family!

  I went back to the doctor on Thursday and it looks like I`m back to normal! The kidney stones have made their exit and I`m back to about 90% (still dealing with a cold). I`m so thankful for all of your prayers and the love and support though. Kidney stones are definitely one of the worst things I`ve had to go through, but the Lord lifted and carried me for sure!

  My District Leader, Elder H, gave me the chance to teach a little bit of our District Meeting on Friday which was an awesome experience! I chose to teach a little bit about goal setting and accountability. In preparation for it I was reading a little bit from one of Elder Richard G. Scotts` book, 21 Principles. I think its the third principle when he talks about something like `in order to reach a goal never before attained, you must do something never before done.` I`ve based my life off of that, but in that chapter he talks a lot about how creativity and goals are related. It made me think about my own goals and the goals I need to set and how creative they are. I feel like everyone basically has the same goals right now as a mission, personal goals that is. I feel like we can all be a little bit more creative. For example I set a goal to do 10,000 push ups and 25,000 crunches by the end of my mission. Thats 42 push ups a day and 104 crunches! You better believe I`ll be working toward that. I made some really effective proselyting and language goals as well that have been really really awesome. Actually as an apartment, myself, Elder H, Elder A and Elder P, last night set the goal for each of us to do a 100 push ups a day this week! It`s going to be awesome. With the Book of Mormon I committed myself to finish it TWICE by the set date of February 28, 2015. I calculated that I have to read 10 pages a day and it will happen. That has been an awesome goal and I`m actually able to apply more of what I`m learning from the Book of Mormon into my days. As far as accountability goes its all pretty much summed up in D&C 58 26:33. We are to do many things of our own free will and choice and to account to the Lord on those actions always! I think I learned more from preparing and teaching this part of District Meeting than the District did though. Its been an awesome week. I think in the past when I used to think about goals I would get a little nervous at the thought of having to stretch and grow. Its amazing how a mission can change a mind and prepare someone that much more for the future. I`ve found as well that if we`re constantly trying to work towards something like a goal, anything uninteresting or boring is erased. Sometimes, after a few hours of getting rejected on the streets or in an apartment, it gets pretty lame, but if you always have a goal in the back of your mind, you`re that much more motivated to get out and DO! There`s a video that was shown to us by one of the other Elders in the apartment a few weeks ago that I believe really applies to just about whatever we want to do in life. I`m sure its pretty popular in the States, but if you haven`t seen it, look up `Welcome to the Grind` on youtube. 

  Fam, I`m doing awesome. In setting my goals this week I had to figure out exactly how many days I have left as a missionary. This really kind of sucked, but it put into perspective just how much time, or lack there of, I have left in the service of the Lord. Its something like 276 days. Ahhhh. Holy cow my mission has gone so fast. I love it. I want to do this forever. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. I know with 100% surety that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love missionary work. I love being in Takatsuki and working with the amazing people I get to work with here. I love you all. Thank you all again for all of your prayers and thoughts. It means so so much! Have a great week!

Elder Jeffrey Maxwell Giles