Christmas Time is the BEST!

Well, it has been a while.

I love being a missionary! Christmas time is the best! We get to talk

about the Birth of Christ with a holiday celebrated world wide to help

people think we aren't so weird. It's the coolest. God lives and we

can see his light and influence everyday if we look for it. So take a

look!

2018 is just around the corner and I'm excited to try new things and

change for the better.

Today's a new day.

Thanks,

Elder Frisch

New Year's Video 2017

Japanese Nagoya Missionary Nativity Christmas 2017

Link to Missionary Nativity

Dear mom,

I'm glad you got to see the nativity we did! It was pretty funny. Sister Ishii was just dying the whole time.

I like how Zack liked "Cheese".

This week went by so fast and I really don't even remember what happened. We did a bunch of special missions. Like driving 3 hours to pick up an elder and 3 hours back in the same day or going around delivering Christmas packages that came late or talking about transfers. Good stuff. I sent you a letter! I hope you get it soon.

How are you feeling?

Love you!

Love,

Eli

Koizumi is getting baptized!

Hey y'all!!!!

Koizumi went through the interview and passed! He'll be baptized a

member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on May 7th!

I'm so happy for him! More than 10 months into my mission and being

able to find someone and be with them through almost every step of the

way is a pretty cool experience. I still email Sato Shimai from when I

was with Elder Porter so she's cool too. I miss another baptism by a

week but it's alright. He's doing what he needs to. Here are some

pictures from eating lunch with him today.

Love,

Eli

Miracles are Good Things!

Hey everybody!

Life is good, the sun is up before 5:30 and Japan is a beautiful place. My companion and I are seeing miracles left and right and God is good to us. First off, we had two investigators come to church! Koizumi and Emiko. They are both super happy people who are looking for more in life. They both want to keep listening and are excited to come again! Earlier in the week we actually were able to go over to Koizumi's house and have a lesson in his house by his Buddha altar thing! I think maybe that's happened a hand full of times up until now so that was pretty cool. He bought a case for his scriptures and wants to get a bible so I'm super excited for him.

A cool miracle this week happened last Friday. We were leaving the apartment and my companion had the feeling that he should carry along a Portuguese Book of Mormon so he did and we went on our way, my bike tire was flat so we fixed it and figured it was for the better. By the end of the night not much had happened but walking away from one apartment I had a weird feeling like something was on my back and I should stop and stand still for ten seconds. So I did and then across the street around the corner comes a Brazilian man! I got my Brazilian companion and he talks to the guy and gives him a Book of Mormon and says we can meet again! The timing was perfect and we are happy. I'm learning more and more everyday about listening to the spirt. He's a real thing.

“I believe the test of a great man is humility. I do not mean by humility the doubt in one’s own personal power; but really, truly great men have the curious feeling that greatness is not in them but through them and they see the divine in every other human soul and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful.”

Not much to say about this one. Christ is the perfect example of this and I'm grateful for that.

Elder Frisch

Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter Everybody!

Easter is cool because its name in Japanese means something like “celebrating resurrection”. Jesus Christ overcame death so that we can also live again! I'm grateful for that. I was asked to do missionary work right after we wake up, so that has been nice. The mornings are beautiful and there are a ton of people to talk to. My miracle of the week was that we had an investigator come to church and another random guy who was looking for Jehovah Witnesses earlier in the week. He found our church, we invited him and he came! I was able to play some soccer with Japanese guys which was pretty fun, next to ping pong, soccer is their thing. A cool experience, my companion and I had one night we were supposed to meet a guy named Nishikawa but we weren't able to. With 7 minutes left at night we stopped in the street and prayed to be led to someone who would listen. We felt like we should take a round-about way home and ran into a college kid. It turns out his name was Nishikawa and he talked with us ! It was a miracle, I think. Anyways, life is good thanks everybody for the support and everything.

Here's a quote by a guy named Alexander Pope. He said

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

I've been realizing how Jesus Christ forgave all of us and this leaves us no room to not forgive everyone. I wish everyone a merry Easter and a safe week.

Elder Frisch

Happy 19th Birthday, Elder Eli Frisch!

Mayumi Dominguez is very kind and generous and sent me these photos of Eli on his birthday.  She provided the birthday cake crown and the sign.  Japanese members are amazing!

He's 19!

Birthday Videos!

Hello!

Hi Everyone!

God has been blessing my companion and I in so many ways that it's crazy. We had a guy come to church when he said he would! It was at the last five minutes but he came. I'm grateful for this Easter season to remember Christ and His sacrifice for each and every one of us. He lives and because he lives we can live again.

Here's a quote for the week.

The great poet Virgil said, “They conquer who believe they can.”

Just believe.

-Elder Frisch

There Seto N of Fun Stuff Here (Translation: There’s a Ton of Fun Stuff Here)

 I'm living in Seto, so, I tried to make my title work. Anyways, Japan is pretty awesome, the people are amazing and the weather is weathery! My cool experience of the week was meeting a lady at her door, she turned out to be Christian! She even had a favorite scripture (Romans 5). We talked a bit and she figured out we were Mormons and she goes in and gets her son. She says she doesn't want anything to do with us, but her son doesn't believe in Christ, so she wanted us to teach him. Well, we testified to him and his mom and shared our beliefs and things. The mom started tearing up and we could feel the spirit. We then we were able to give the son a Book of Mormon and his mom told him to read the whole thing (she wouldn't even read a verse though). It was pretty cool. Even though they didn't say we could come back, it was nice to have someone listen. Life's good, and God just wants us to be happier. I hope everyone has the greatest week. God lives.

Elder Frisch

This is Elder Reis from Brazil & Hiro.

This is with Hiro.

He hiked with us so I pretty much told him everything from the creation of the earth until the first vision. It was cool.

I love you guys.

Love,

Eli

Hey mom!

I'm trying. I'm only speaking Japanese to Elder Reis to help both of us out so that should be good. I'll buy lots of veggies. I woke up at four on the dot this morning without an alarm which was weird. I studied at 5am. President Ishi is pushing public works stuff, so I have to be able to talk with managers of businesses well enough to not think I'm just some crazy American. Elder Reis is pretty young still, so I will talk to the business people, so I've got to get better at Japanese. We have two companionships in the ward and the other guys are both Japanese. It's kind of tough because we pretty much get ignored, and I guess I get it, but I'll just keep doing my job.

I love you, too!

Love

Eli

Thanks! We can buy everything we need and the butter did good, the vanilla bag just broke. Then I was sort of dumb and just put the bag straight in the microwave to soften it a bit but forgot about it and it exploded, it's ok though. The batch made 16 of that size. It was perfect. We can get cheese. It just 7 dollars for a bag of shredded stuff. I am set for my birthday but thanks for asking! If anything some Japanese study books, but I can probably just buy those here. I do love quotes and poems and using them for district trainings, so maybe an awesome book of them. I don't think they don't like me, they just assume because I don't speak Japanese I can't do anything. They have a weird sense of humor that I'm still trying to figure out (they don't get sarcasm at all, unless they are ballers). And they like when you say thanks infinity times. I read the pop-up book, and I think they liked it. I just had to keep them from ripping it.

Thanks for everything mom! I love you!

Love,

Eli

The cookies were yummy! I made them for a planning meeting with the sisters.

I also made taco rice

Life is Good!

Elder Frisch & Elder Porter

Hello everybody!

Life is good! We taught our first lesson of the past six weeks yesterday and now I'm saying bye to my companion as he heads home to America. This week I learned a cool lesson about the Lords time in our lives and how it isn't always what we expect. One night we are knocking on doors and get a random phone call from a guy who wants to quit smoking and take the lessons. No work or effort on our part but just a blessing from God. After 5 and  a half weeks of relying too much on ourselves God blessed us. It was a pretty happy thing. Other than that the week went by quickly and I'm getting ready for my new companion. He's from Brazil and I'm excited to work with him. Missionary work is the best and you are all awesome.

Elder Frisch

Here are some adventure pictures.

Good morning mom!!!

Thanks for the email! I got your package this week! It was awesome. I felt cool because we missed it and I had to call the post office to get a redelivery. It all worked out. This past week was pretty cool.

We got a call out of nowhere from a guy who said that he wanted to quit smoking and to join the church. It was crazy! We went to visit and both had a pretty weird feeling, his mom was looking at us pretty weird and when we went to his room to talk there was so much smoke that you could barely breathe and we had to change out clothes when we got home. He said he'd smoke 5 less cigarettes a day and we'll meet him again next week. He might be a little crazy in the head so we will watch out. Some cherry blossoms are coming out, I don't have pictures yet but I'll get some. Life is good. Here are some pictures from last week. I love you!

Love,

Eli

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” -Viktor Frankl

Good morning!

I'm actually typing this up on train to Nakatsugawa for district activity! We are going to this little mountain village that's supposed to be like a mini Kyoto. Thanks for sending all of the emails and letters! I'm sending one your way today. How's everyone doing? Is Savanah's adaptation going well? Does she have a boyfriend yet? My companion goes home in a week so that's pretty funny.  We had burritos

at a members house the other night and she made homemade tortillas! It was like ichinenburi. 

Bad news... my bike pretty much exploded. I took it into the shop because I had a broken spoke and when I would crank up hills my tire would touch the arm supports. Well, it turns out, I had actually broken my back axle! Bummer..... they gave me a loaner bike while they fix it for me. 

Well, we are on our way back from our adventure and waiting for the train. It was pretty cool. Different from what I was expecting, but it was pretty cool. I'll attach pictures. The two guys who said they'd come to church this past week didn't show up and we still haven't taught any lessons, so that's tough, but there's this one Japanese guy named Mack, who we set up an appointment with us, but he called to cancel. The cool thing was that he called and didn't just bail out on us, we will probably be able to meet him some other time. Other than that, lots of talking to people and trying to visit less actives. Oh, I did get to do my exchange with the zone leaders and before that at Zone Conference I got to see sister Sato! It was fun to be able to understand some of what she is saying now, and she was impressed at how much I have improved. She's also seemed happy that her son has been going to church with her. My zone

leader Kokan was pretty cool. We went to ramen with this awesome member named Hisaka, who actually got some American sarcasm. I ripped a paper pretty badly to write a note for some one he was like, "what is this?" So I said I'm an artist and it's supposed to be Mount Fuji. He then proceeded to write about how well I ripped the paper on the note and had me sign it. It was pretty funny. Hahaha, I just realized I turn 19 in a month. I'm an old man. Oh ya, so we were riding down the street on another exchange but with Elder Souza and I see a guy walking with his kid on a tricycle but then I think hmmmm... that looks like a baboon, I must be going blind, but guess what..... it was a baboon! The guy had worked at the zoo for six years and then had adopted the monkey. In human age it was 85 or something (25 in legit real years). We also went to the Yamaguchis for dinner and my bike broke right before then, so I ended up needing to run/walk for 2 miles to get there on time. Also a random japan picture. I love you guys! Say hi to everyone for me!

Love,

Eli

Hi mom!

Thanks for the letter! We went on an adventure today! Lately I've been reading the conference talks from before you were born and they are pretty sweet. Lots of poems and stories.

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

-Viktor Frankl

Cool quote.

I love you.

Love,

Eli

Look Back and See How Far You've Come, Before You See How Far You've Left To Go.

Left to right: Elder Akagi, Elder Frisch, Elder Iwaasa, Elder Arscott

Hello!!!!

Transfer calls came in this week, and I am headed off to a place called Seto! Kanazawa was an awesome place, and I'm excited for the new adventures ahead of me. 

This last week was pretty miracle filled. We were able to meet our investigator, Kento, and give him a tour of the church. Afterwards, we started talking with him about God and Christ and he was asking tons of questions. We ended up talking about baptism and he was super interested. We invited him to baptism and he said he was thinking about it! He could tell it was a good thing, and I'm super pumped for him! We also had two former investigators show up to a Nabe party and they were still interested! Elder Akagi and I went knocking doors in some apartments by an army base thing and there were tons of kids playing outside. (A good sign). We ended up getting 6 families who said we could come back and share more of our awesome message with them! We even had kids trailing us by the end, helping us put stuff in mailboxes and ringing doorbells. 

We headed on a long trek to visit a far less active (ended up they had died 10 years ago). And ended up riding around 45 kilometers. We were riding on a road about 50 meters from the ocean for a while which was cool. I was able to bear my testimony for the last time in Kanazawa during church. Some wise man once told me to look back and see how far you've come before you see how far you've left to go. I've improved! Thanks everyone for the prayers! Have the best weeks!

-Elder Frisch

Hey Dad, Thanks for the e-mail!

P-day starts at 8am now, so we have a little more time. Transfer calls came this week and I'll be transferring! I'm headed to Seto (map attached, little red area) and I'll become a District Leader but I'll be a junior companion to an Elder who goes home in 6 weeks, so that'll be cool. I'll be able to learn a bunch. We will also be whitewashing the area. 

That will be exciting to see Savanah. Which airport is she flying into? Do you have any giant posters or other cool things for here? I wonder what will be weird for her? I guess she never left America. 

My English class students wanted to talk to me about (じゅの季�)gun control and global warming the other day, and then trump came up, and they all want my opinion. It's pretty fun. They tell me some pretty cool things are going on. 

Havasupai was a blast! Hopefully you'll be able to catch those reservations. I asked once and they do scouts by stakes so some areas have it but none that I've been in. Everyone is too busy. It's insane how nobody has anytime to do anything here sometimes. People fast the same I think. We fasted till 6:30pm last night because a member was going to feed us, so that was rough. We were housing and then had to ride the 5km to there house, but then we had taco rice, and it was all good. You guys should try taco rice. It's everything you put in tacos, but then just put it on rice. One cool thing in Japan is a Shokujikai, which is just a potluck after church and it's awesome. They also lock the doors during sacrament which is weird. I'll send some more later. I love you.

Love,

Eli

This is Shohei "Bobby" a funny kid who calls me Mikehr "it's like saying Michael but you can't say L's"

 

Here's me and Brother Miyahara the ward mission leader.

 I think my Japanese is getting somewhere. I've never been fond of studying, so that's rough. I learn best by hearing Japanese people say things and then trying to repeat them. I looked back at some stuff from the MTC and realized how much I've learned. It's pretty cool. I bet Nathaniel is a ninja at Chinese. Our family will be full of crazy languages from missions. I love you.

Love,

Eli

Sometimes God Requires Us to Walk by Faith Fully Relying on His Will to Make Us Great.

 Good Morning!!!!! And Night!!!!!

I hope that life is treating everyone alright. I don't have much to say, but here's something I really liked.

President Hugh B. Brown said, “Wherever in life great spiritual values

await man’s appropriation, only faith can appropriate them. Man cannot

live without faith, because in life’s adventure the central problem is

character-building--which is not a product of logic, but of faith in

ideals and sacrificial devotion to them.”

Sometimes God requires us to walk by faith fully relying on his will to make us great. This puts it better than I could put it.

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

        ‘Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

        And he replied, “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.

        That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.’”

I am grateful for the opportunity I've been blessed with to serve God's children in Japan. I know that I'm here for a reason and that we all have purpose and possibility in life. We can always find that in Christ.

Elder Frisch

 I forgot how much we play games in our family. Japan is all about technology. It makes me sick to see a lot of 40 year-old guys without jobs, living at home, playing video games, and watching cartoons. I'm glad we played games as a family to build good relationships. I'm doing good. We got dropped by two investigators, who I really liked, so that was tough.

That's so nice of you to visit the older people. One of my favorite things every week is visiting this old folks home. This one lady, named Nagasawa, is convinced that we met some other place before this and she is so funny.
I love you, too.
Love,
Eli

I'm pretending to eat Nakano Choro. He's an old guy missionary from Osaka.

Thanks for talking to me tonight. Thank you for your example and all

you have done for me.
I love you.
Love,
Eli

“You may have riches and wealth untold,

Baskets of jewels and caskets of gold,

But richer than I, you will never be

For I had a mother who read to me.”

Good morning everyone!
The snow has pretty much all melted and it's just raining now. Hail is just a normal thing here which is pretty goofy. Riding a bike in hail does feel not very good. We went to a family in the ward’s house for dinner last night, named the Kashiwa's. We had a tasty array of Japanese winter food like Oden and Shabu Shabu which are soup kind of deals. Super good. Here are some pictures. I love you guys, and say, “Hi!” to Savanah for me in a week!
I love you all!
Love,
Eli

The Honbu is where the mission president lives and the home base of the mission. Wow, right now I'm usually up around 6:15 exercise till 7 eat and get ready until 8 do companion, personal, and language study until 11, eat lunch, and get out at 12 and we have to be back at 9pm unless we have a member appointment. Here are pictures from this awesome sushi place we went to where we watched a guy make it. It came with the sushi, miso soup, egg stuff, tempura stuff, and a pudding dessert. Yum.

Off To The Races

This week flew by way fast but it was full of miracles. We ended up finding 4 investigators and had a less active lady come to church. I saw my first baptism in Japan this week! It may have been an 8 year old girl in the ward, but it was still cool. I've been in Japan for 5 months now! It feels pretty fast for me. Sorry, I'm not sure what else to say. Missionary work is missionary work. But it's the best work because it's God's work. 

Here's a quote from something I read recently that I really liked.

“Although I may not be my brother’s keeper, I am my brother’s brother,
and ‘because I have been given much, I too must give.’”

I always have to remind myself that these people that I'm here for are my long lost brothers and sisters. I've been blessed to have the gospel in my life, and I need to share it. I know the gospel will bring happiness into the lives of all those who accept it. Thanks everyone.
Elder Frisch

Sunday Church Program

I think it's partially in English because there's one girl in the ward from California who teaches English or for when there are visitors. I realize more and more how important English is as a language. It's used everywhere. I'm not sure why it's on the stamp. We were at a members house the other day and he said he was reading the Book of Mormon in English and he doesn't even speak English. He said it makes sense when he translates it from English more than the Japanese version. Specifically, he was talking about the tree of life vision. English really is the language of the restoration for a reason, I think. My testimony has grown more on the importance of relying on the spirit and acting on it. If I even have an inkling of a thought to knock on some door, I'll stop, and knock. Even if they aren't interested, I know that the time it took will put some prepared person in my path maybe 5 hours later. I know the spirit is prompting us all day. We just always need to be prepared and in the right attitude to accept it. I see President Ishi around every 6 weeks.

I love you,

Love Eli 

President Ishi is like a happy little Japanese man. He's about 5'2" and always smiling. His English is decent and he likes to tell stories. His mom was a convert, so he is pumped for missionary work. He likes to come up with little slogans, too.

Yes, everything has its purpose.

Navajo tacos.... I miss those. My meals are lots of curry, rice, stews, pasta, omelette, oatmeal, pancakes, yakisoba (like Chinese noodles) and stuff like that. That's cool that you already have someone new in the guest house. Savanah will be home so soon! That was fast. I have my boots that keep my feet dry but they aren't worn into, yet, so my feet get pretty sore. I'm pretty used to always being kind of wet. I've done my tissue magic, my red ball magic and some card magic. I really don't have time to practice the UFO trick, but maybe one day I will. Would you be able to send me a curry recipe you use with curry powder? We just buy the box of curry blocks.

I love you, too.

Sometimes Things Are Difficult, But You Can Always Make A Difference

Kenrokuen in the snow

Kenrokuen in the snow

Good morning!!!!!

It's been another classic week in this Japanese wilderness, and I'm doing all right. We started out with a English class student, named Nagase, calling out of nowhere and wanting to learn about the church. He's 81, so this is pretty rare for older Japanese people wanting to study religion. He listened and wants to talk again. This week was a lot of finding and knocking doors. Not anything too fancy. 

We did play Futsol this week, which is like soccer on a basketball court. That was pretty fun. I met this man yesterday, who talked with me for about 20 minutes about God. I did my best to testify that God loves him and we are all his children. Because he is our father we look like him and he wants us to come back to him. The Buddhist background of everyone here is an obstacle but obstacles are put in our way to make us stronger.

 On a clear day, rise and look around you,

And you’ll see who you are.

On a clear day, how it will astound you--

That the glow of your being outshines every star …

And on a clear day …

You can see forever and ever more.

-anonymous

Sometimes things are difficult but you can always make a difference.-Elder Frisch

Elder Frisch in Kenrokuen in the snow

Hey Mom and Dad,

Thanks for the email! I am doing great, and yes, I am staying warm enough. We don't have kerosene heaters, we just have these things that are their own little unit and blow hot air. I think it's gotten probably a couple below zero. I'm not sure. We have been getting more snow lately or it will snow during the day, but won't stick. My companion is a good kid. He's super quiet, and I think sometimes what we have to do as missionaries, like going up to random people, can be a little nerve racking for him. It's alright though. Senior companions make the plans for the day, lead throughout the day, talk to everyone and lead out on things and write the reports and things. I do say that I miss Arizona weather. I like it when it's hot because of the sun.  

That's crazy how Savanah will be home in 3 weeks! That passed pretty quick. It'll be funny to see how much the ward will have changed when I get home. I'm glad that dad is doing well at work. He has been working hard and it's paying off. I'm happy to see God blessing our family. Right now, I technically have no investigators.  I've really been working to find people, but nothing much has come up. We housed for 8 hours straight without dinner the other night in the snow, and didn't find anybody, so sometimes things like that are tough. We did see three miracles that help me to understand that this is God's work and not ours and we just need to be always working, so God can trust us whenever. First, I was praying the other night for God to put someone in my path to accept the gospel because the scriptures do say, "Ask and ye shall receive". So, in my head popped "Family Mart at 11:02" so, I fell asleep and woke up the next morning thinking the same thing. So, we headed out to Family Mart and what do you know, we stopped the guy walking in at 11:02 and we talked for a bit and he said that he'd like to hear more, so, we exchanged numbers and said we could meet again. Secondly, a guy from English class, who had said he didn't want to talk about religion because his family told him not to, called out of the blue, and said he wanted to talk again. We met, and he liked what we talked about, and he wants to talk again. Lastly, we met a guy named Sunata on the street, who called out of nowhere and invited us to his mochitsuki, but it was during church, so we couldn't come, but he will meet us today. So we have potentials. I love you mom and dad!

Love,

Eli

Goodnight, Mom, I love you!
Love,
Eli