Email from Ebetsu!

Email April 29, 2018 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Had a bad street contact this week...

Hey Everyone!

     I got transferred! I'm now in Ebetsu, and we're opening a new area! So Ebetsu is going from 2 elders in this area to 4, so my companion and I are starting with no investigators or anything, I'm excited! We'll get to do a lot of finding this transfer, it should be fun. My companion is Elder Hastings, he's from Midvale, Utah, and he's awesome! He's my age, he ran cross country and track in high school (he's a lot faster than me) and he's an awesome missionary. He's only one transfer above me and he was just made senpai(senior companion) but he's already way good at Japanese and at following the Spirit and he's a really great companion. I can already tell this is going to be an awesome transfer, I'm excited to see a lot of miracles. I was a little sad to leave Hakodate, the people there are so great, and the flowers were just starting to bloom when I left, but Ebetsu is going to be great. The members are really nice, there's a few colleges in the area so there's a lot of young people to talk to, and we're going to see miracles this transfer.

     So my bad street contact was not with someone on the street, it was with the street haha. I crashed on my bike and got some scrapes on my face and hands, but no broken bones or anything really serious so that's a big blessing. My companion helped me get all cleaned up and stuff but when the bishop of the ward here saw me he insisted I go to the hospital. So a member drove us to the hospital, but in Japan going to the hospital is a lot more normal than in America, it doesn't mean you're super seriously injured like when you go to the hospital in America. So at the hospital they put some bandages on that makes it look worse than it actually is, and they're really annoying, but I'm totally ok. People look at me kinda funny when I talk with them on the street haha, but it gives me something to talk about, so it's not too bad. The fork on my bike is a bit bent, we're going to try and fix it but we'll see how it goes. Anyway, besides all that, this week was awesome! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Burton

Spring Flowers in Hakodate

Photos from Hakodate

I found a really big tree on the way up Mt. Hakodate. It reminded me of camp:)

Music Night!

Email April 22, 2018

Email April 22, 2018 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Hey Everyone!

                  This week was great! To start it off we had zone conference, which is always awesome! The biggest thing I got out of it is how important it is to remember why we're out here. Sometimes it can get easy in the day to day life of a missionary to get into a routine and not think about why, but if we're here because we love the Savior and we always keep that in our minds, we can find a lot more joy in the work and have the Spirit more. And that applies in life too, everything you do, if you always keep in mind your love for the Savior it's impossible to go down the wrong path. That needs to be the motive for everything we do. Love for the Savior will lead us to keep His commandments, repent, and serve his children, all of which will help us to love Him even more, creating an upward spiral until eventually we become like Him.

                  In other news, I finally got a bike! I was able to buy one online through a member so it was a good price for a good bike. It's a green and black mountain bike with disk brakes and it's working fine so far so hopefully it'll stay that way haha. The other exciting thing that happened this week was our music night! We have an English student who plays the shamise, which is a traditional Japanese instrument with three strings, so we decided to have a music night where she and other people who wanted to participate or watch could come. And it was a huge success! There were around 40 people there, most were members, but quite a few English students and investigators came too so it was awesome! We had a few different performances, all the missionaries sang, my companion played the guitar, I played the violin, one of the sister missionaries played the flute, our student played the shamise, a member played the piano and a couple of friends of that member played the nico, another Japanese instrument with two strings. It was so much fun! Earlier in the week we also helped a member with her garden, it was way fun, it reminded me of working in the garden with my family in the spring. We also had dinner with some members yesterday and got them excited about doing missionary work! And we were taken to a steak restaurant by some investigators! It was awesome! It was very rare(they don't know how to cook meat in Japan haha) but still good. And last of all, we get transfer calls tomorrow! I've been in Hakodate for two transfers so I feel like I have a pretty even chance of either staying or going, so I don't know what's going to happen. I'll let you all know next week! I know whatever happens though will be what the Lord wants for me and I'll do my best to do His will where ever I am. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Burton

Photos from Hakodate

Me, my companion, and Kaon Kun, one of the cutest three year old in Japan!    

FHE with the Fujii family! 

Takoyaki!