Watch out Japan!

The Fukuoka Zone

Elder Sherrill received his License! 

I would like to start off this email with some good news and that is that I passed my driving test this past week!! I was so excited! This was my fifth time taking the test so I guess you could say it's been a work in progress haha. But anyways I passed it so now I don't have to worry about it anymore. The only thing I need to worry about now are all the crazy, narrow roads of Japan. After I passed at the DMV I drove home (about an hour drive) and that was really weird. I was really nervous to begin with and I felt kind of paranoid but after the first 30 or so minutes I kind of got back into the hang of it. Driving on the left side of the road isn't all that weird, I think the hardest thing to adjust to is the steering wheel being on the right side instead of the left. But nevertheless it's not all too different and I'm just excited I have the opportunity to drive in Japan where not many people get the chance too!

This past week flew by just like ever other week has in the mission and especially in the mission home. At the start of the week we had our MLC (Mission Leadership Council) here in Fukuoka below the temple and it went really well! Elder Strickland and I gave a training on
focusing our minds and thoughts on the Savior, Jesus Christ as well as opening our mouths to everyone. I was definitely a little nervous to give the training but I received the help I needed and the spirit was strongly present so we thought it went fairly well. This week all the Zone leaders will take it back to their zones and teach all the things taught at MLC from Kaicho, shimai, and us so I guess we won't see how good our training was until we see how well it is accepted and put into practice in the mission haha. But I have no doubt everyone will put everything we taught into good use because this mission has the best missionaries in the world!

I really am so grateful for the chance I have to serve here in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. Being here among the Japanese people is such an amazing blessing and probably one I won't fully appreciate until I leave. Serving with so many good examples and being able to devote all your time and talents to this work is unlike anything I even imagined a mission would be like. Sometimes my companion and I will talk about some things we have learned while we have been out and every time I just get more and more surprised at how much a mission helps you learn and prepares you for everything you will ever have to face afterwards. One thing that I have to come to know a lot more fully on my mission is how mindful Heavenly Father is of me individually. Everything that happens, all the trials and the success I have seen so far and will
end up experiencing I can see how they shape us into the person He wants us to become. I love my Father in Heaven and I'm so thankful I have this chance to be here and to labor with these amazing people in Japan!

One quick thing... it is Mother's Day! ... I wanted to just give a quick shout out to the most amazing mom there is! My wonderful mother, Sarah Jean Sherrill. Throughout my life I have learned more from her than from any other person I know, she is constantly trying to help me and make sure I have what I need in my life to ensure my happiness. She has taught me how to be kind, patient, caring, and always work hard. I have learned so much from her example and I just want to say how much I love her. I will always be grateful for all the sacrifices she has made for me and my brothers. A large reason I feel I was prepared to serve a mission and start serving other people was from all the many things I learned from her. I love you mom! I'm excited to talk with you soon!

Love,

Elder Sherrill

Elder Barker and Elder Dibble 

Minh from Vietnam!

Transfers and Trainings!

View from the Zoo

Hello friends and family! This week was probably the busiest I have had on the mission so far! This week we had transfers as a mission. Elder Strickland and I were able to call all the companionships in the mission (we have 194 missionaries currently) and give them there transfer calls, it was a blast! Most everyone was really excited about where they were going so it was cool to be apart of that.

As well as giving people there transfer calls this week we were able to participate in all the new missionary and returning missionary activities. It was a little over a year ago when I stepped off the plan to be in Fukuoka Japan for the first time. At that time I was able to meet President and Sister Egan for the first time and the office elders at the airport. This week, the role was switched I was able to pick up the 8 arriving missionaries at the airport! After we pick them up we take them back to the mission home, we do a little orientation or welcome to the mission training. It felt so weird being with all these new missionaries because I remembered what it felt like when I had first got to Japan.

After their orientation we had another training and this was for all the new trainers. It was technically the first training elder Strickland and I gave together and I think it went pretty good. We will be giving lots of trainings together so this was just the first of many. But I really enjoy teaching with him because I feel like we have similar teaching styles. After that training we had the opportunity to be with the returning missionaries that were going home and it was a little weird to see all these missionaries who would be home in only a matter of a few days. It was kind of cool to see the difference between new missionaries and missionaries who have finished
and become a lot more spiritually mature. This last group of missionaries that went home was actually all the sisters that came out with me to Japan! So it was kind of cool since I knew most of them. Only one elder went home in the last group but I didn't really know him all too well.

This next week we have a lot planned so I'm really excited for it! We have our Mission Leadership Conference here in a couple days and then Elder Strickland and I will begin our companion exchanges will all the Zone leaders in the mission, I'm way pumped for it! We always see so many miracles on Junkais (companion exchanges) so I'm excited to se what's in store.

That's about it for this week. There was a million and one other things that happened but that about all I have time for, I love you all! Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Sherrill

The Miyazaki couple!

Driving in Japan is Difficult

What a Week! This week was busy as usual and I took my driving test! A couple times actually, and I failed so far both times.. it's a pretty strict test. Working in the mission office you are required to get a Japanese drivers license since we use vehicles often to transport missionaries and go to trainings and such. Driving here is pretty intense since the roads are all so narrow and windy. It's pretty similar to Europe in the fact that you drive on the left side of the road and all the vehicles have the steering wheel on the right side of the car. It's a little tricky to get used to but it's not as difficult as you'd think it would be. I think the hardest part is just getting used to driving again after not doing so for over a year and a half! But anyways, I will pass this next week! So far in the office some elders have had to take it as many as 13 times.. there has only been 2 elders so far that have ever gotten it in their first 3 try's. Usually people pass around their 4th or 5th time so we'll see how long it takes me.

Since going to the DMV takes a lot of time all the other time we had mainly went into making and reserving travel plans for this upcoming weeks transfers. There is a lot more work involved in preparing for transfers than I had previously thought. I thought they all kind of just happened and went smoothly but come to find out there is quite a bit of preparation that goes on and we are the ones that get to do it! It has been pretty fun to learn all the new things that accompany

working in the mission home. In doing so I realize just how much effort, time, and especially money go into missionary work. It's a sobering thought to think just how far a length we will go to bring Heavenly Father's children back to him. It provides a lot more clarity to the scripture, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God".

Just because we are so busy with office work and transfers though doesn't mean we don't make time for dendo! We are always looking for ways to share the gospel, especially since our time is so much more limited now. My current companion, Elder Strickland is the best example of "open your mouth" I have ever seen. Whether we be stopping to get a quick bite to eat, standing in line at the DMV, or even waiting outside the church for an appointment, he is always opening his mouth and talking to everyone that passes by. This last week we saw just how important that principle is as we met a man at the DMV who is from Indonesia, has been studying Christianity and wants to learn more of Christian churches and which one seems right for him, talk about a perfect find! As we were sitting down later talking to him he asked us before we even brought it up, "so would it be okay if I went to your church? Where is it at?" I wish you could have seen the look on our faces. He was probably surprised why our mouths were open in shock, because as a missionary here, you seldom ever hear something like that come out of someone's mouth as you talk to them about the church. We of course exchanged information, talked with him for a while and he and his girlfriend are coming to church this Sunday! This happened just yesterday so I attribute me failing the test and having

to come back all part of the plan Heavenly Father set up for us to meet him haha.

That about sums it up for this week! I love working here in the Japan Fukuoka Mission! Being here and working with all these amazing missionaries is such a great blessing and I am learning more than I ever imagined I would. I'm unbelievably blessed to be a missionary during this great time, there is much work to do and I'm excited to see what I can to do help be a part of it. I love you all! Have a great week and pray that I will pass my driving test this week haha.

Love,

シェリル長老

Hello from Fukuoka!

The Assistants to the President 

Well I have a little bit of news for everyone, I transferred up to Fukuoka this week! Transfers still aren't for about a week or so but I was emergency transferred up here to get trained on my new position in the mission. I have been called to work in the Mission Home as an Assistant to the President. It sounds really fancy but really it just means I develop trainings for the mission and go around giving advice, looking for ways the mission can improve, and serving others. I was pretty nervous when the call was extended to me because I felt like there was much stepping up to be done on my part, however just like before I know the Lord is always mindful of us and always willing to help us and qualify us wherever we have been called to labor. 

View from new apartment!

Our mission home is located directly beneath the Fukuoka Temple. So not only do I get to see the temple daily now, I pretty much get to live and work right beneath it! Along with being so close to the temple as an a Assistant you get to work very closely with President and sister Egan which is probably what I am most excited about. They are the two hardest working missionaries in the mission. The experience and knowledge they have are just unparalleled. I feel like every time I sit down with them there is something new I learn. So needless to say I'm excited to work with them. Right now my current companion is Elder Strickland, who will be moving from the Junior AP (Assistant to the President) to the Senior AP as I finish my training. The current Senior AP and the one training me right now is none other than my beloved old companion Elder Colton! I was so excited when I found out I would get to work with him closely and be his companion as well for a couple more weeks until he transfers out somewhere in the mission field.

Also, some of you may be wondering why I am emailing on Saturday instead of Monday and that is because all the elders that work in Honbu (the mission home) have  P-day on Saturday instead of Monday. So you can expect emails from me on this day in the future. Today for our P-Day we don't have much planned other than a couple lessons and a couple errands we need to run. We just recently started the whole transfer process in which we as Assistants and President Egan sit down and discuss the mission and all the missionaries. We then counsel and pray about which missionaries to move where and for who to do what. We have been doing it for the past couple of days now and it has been such an interesting and strengthening spiritual experience. Deciding transfers not only effects the missionaries but it affects the people in that area they have been called to serve. So in other words, it's kind of a big deal. However, as AP's we do not make any of the final decisions, we just counsel and pray with President Egan and he is the one who makes the decisions. Today we will be using a majority of our time to finish up the transfer process for this next transfer. 

I was a little sad to leave Okinawa since I had been there so long but I am beyond excited for this new call to work in Fukuoka. All the lessons I learn here I know will help prepare me for so many things that lay ahead. Being called here was such a humbling experience and I know I will have to rely on my Heavenly Father more than every before as I seek to serve others and do His will. One scripture I really liked and kept sticking out to me this past week is found in 2 Timothy 1:7, it reads, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Even though I feel a little inadequate for the calling I have before me, I know Heavenly Father will help me become so much of a better missionary and person than I could ever become without Him. For His love and mercy I am so grateful. 

I love you all and wish you a wonderful week! 

Elder Sherrill 

Okinawa Missionary Zone P-Day

The Office Elders in the Honbu (Mission Home)

Zone Leader Tradition Picture

The Prince of Peace

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter Sunday! 

Yesterday for Easter we were able to go to a dinner with an American family on the Air Force Base. When they invited us over they encouraged us to bring any of our Japanese investigators even though they couldn't speak any Japanese (just to help them have an Easter experience). It went really well! We invited our investigator Yuudai and a recent convert who is also 19 came along too and they both really liked it. It was a little fun because for sharing the message we had to hop in and out of Japanese for the investigator but then also for the family. Sister Jensen (the mother of the family) bore her testimony on Jesus Christ being the light of the world and how he helps us when we are in dark places and while we translated it, it seemed to have really resonated with Yuudai. He also invited his girlfriend who just moved to Fukuoka to visit with the missionaries too! He isn't even a member yet and is already doing missionary work haha. 

This past week has involved lots of training. Lots of training received from mission leaders and I also had the opportunity to give some of it as well. On Friday we had our Zone Conference so we received training from the Mission President and his wife as well as from the AP's. The training Elder Barker and I gave went fairly well (or so we think, you might have to ask someone who watched it). We discussed how we could determine Investigators needs and help best overcome them. We had a demonstration we did which involved tying our Mission President up so we all thought that was pretty fun. The next day on Saturday we have interviews with our Mission President and I was able to train for that as well and I focused my training on the Book of Mormon. I shared some personal experiences I have had with the Book of a Mormon and how my thoughts were concerning it as an investigator and now as a missionary. I'm really thankful I had the blessing to be introduced to this gospel right before a mission because I feel like it helps me as I try and teach/relate to investigators. I know it is true. It is the foundation of my testimony that Jesus Christ lives and loves us.

With it being the Easter Season and all, I wanted to share a video that the church has recently released. It is titled the Prince of Peace (one of the various titles Jesus Christ holds). In the video it talks about how in this life we can receive peace from the Savior Jesus Christ. Throughout my mission and even before hand I have always drawn from the peace that Jesus Christ so freely offers. I'm still very young and haven't experienced very much in life yet but I do know that we all struggle and we all have difficulties. Jesus Christ is there to help you, He wants to. To end off I'd like to share one of my favorite scriptures found in John, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I love the Easter season! I hope you all had a great time with family and enjoy this upcoming week! 

Easter Video - https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_SU_9-4-2017_dMIS_fMORG_xLIDyL1-A_

Love, 

Elder Sherrill 

Conference Weekend

This past week for all of us missionaries and members in Japan we had the opportunity to watch the church's General Conference. For those of you that don't know what that is, it is a bi-annual conference in which all members of the church (and non members) are invited to watch and listen to the leaders of the church. It is presided over by the Prophet, President Monson. As well as having the rest of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with a host of other church leaders. As you can  imagine it is an amazing opportunity to watch this conference and hear from the mouth of Prophets and Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

There were a couple talks I really enjoyed and I'll add them to the bottom so you guys can give them a look if you'd like! This week other than having conference there wasn't a whole lot that happened out of the ordinary. Elder Barker and I had to plan for an upcoming training we have this week and then we also went out to have missionary exchanges in an area a little south of us. We went there and my companion for the day was Elder Stucki, since he is injured we had to stay at the church all day, but fortunately they had set up some lessons for us to teach! It went really well too because a couple of the people we taught became new investigators, then there was this one guy who went off on how the whole world is brainwashed including us and him so that was a pretty funny lesson haha. 

Our main investigator right now, Yuudai is doing pretty good. We met with him just last night, gave him a church tour and focused especially on the baptismal font and he chapel. He really liked it, and actually this next week he is coming to a meal for Easter Sunday with an American family so that will be way cool. His English isn't to bad and he is excited to practice with more Americans. 

But anyways, we are about to go to a castle down in Naha today so I don't have much time. One thing I would like to share though before I end this is just how grateful I am for modern day Prophets and Apostles. We are so blessed to be able to hear from them so often. They are so guided with the counsel they give us. I know as we prayerfully consider the things they tell us we can become more and more like our perfect example, Jesus Christ. I know He lives and He loves us all. 

Have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Sherrill 

PS, here are a couple of the talks I enjoyed! Please give me a read! 

Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear - https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/perfect-love-casteth-out-fear?lang=eng

Walk With Me - https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/walk-with-me?lang=eng

The Greatest Among You - https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-greatest-among-you?lang=eng

The Beautiful Island of Okinawa

The weather has started to "warm up"! Kind of hard to say that since it never really got cold here haha. However the weather is absolutely beautiful here! Sometimes when we are out proselyting and knocking on doors it almost feels like I'm on vacation with the great weather, ocean breeze, and the view of palm trees/sea in the distance. I truly am blessed to have this opportunity to serve here in Okinawa. 

This past week was yet another amazing one! Our zone has started to turn around and see a lot more success which is awesome. My companion elder Woodhouse and I are have started to really work together well which I'm grateful for, it's always nice to have a companion that works hard and you get along with. 

Over the course of this last week we found a couple new people that seem pretty prepared to hear the message of the gospel which is really exciting. One of our strongest investigators though just moved up to Tokyo for college (he was 19) which was a real bummer. However we met up with his friend who is also 19, became good friends with him too and are now teaching him! He doesn't leave until next year but has a really busy schedule so hopefully we can work some things out. 

Other than a few lessons we had a couple service activities which was way fun! For any of you that don't know, doing service is Japan is pretty hard to come by so we don't really get the chance very often. However, we got to help one member move into a new house, and help another member with some yard work out on their Ocean view property. So needless to say it was a really good time. Elder Barker and I had the task of cutting down a bunch of little trees by his house obstructing his view of the ocean. His chainsaw ended up breaking before we even used it so we had to use little hand saws the whole time but we had a fun time. 

Overall the week went really well, I am excited for Easter coming up and for the chance to watch General Conference next week! The mission is such a great time to learn and grow. We have a few trainings coming up which might be a little stressful but I'm excited for all the things I will learn! I hope everyone enjoyed Conference and had a great week! Love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Sherrill