Monday, March 11, 2013

he said that I look like Clark Kent when I wear them

My last companion and I bought some date (fake) glasses for when blizzards come and he said that I look like Clark Kent when I wear them :P That`s the true missionary within haha.
I admit that there are sometimes on a mission where you think about good things you had at home and miss them. Life was great! and it`s still great here. Just a different kind of great. Coming home at the end of the day dead tired and satisfied looking back on all the good things and hard things that happened that day.

Sometimes it`s really easy to feel like nothing is happening just because it`s not happening the way you want it to, but I know that things are going how the Lord wants them to. The past couple weeks I`ve been feeling a little slower because of trying to do my best to be in unity with my companion and I can feel the Spirit much more when we`re in unity. There are so many different styles and so many different personalities and it`s a real learning experience trying to figure out the best way to work with them.
I love my companion though. He`s a really great Elder that has a lot of different ideas for what good dendo is and it`s a great experiencing helping each other meet our goals :) 

That`s one really nice thing I love about the Sapporo mission. When you get a companion you don`t have the problem of having a companion that doesn`t want to work. The only problem is that your companion wants to work in a different way than you, and if that`s the biggest problem in the mission I`ll take it happily haha. There are a lot of great missionaries here.

When I first left for my mission there were a lot of experiences that made me feel like my faith had grown weaker, but I slowly came to realize that It`s not that it`s become weaker, it`s just that I`m being put in different situations and environments where I`ve never tested my faith before. Because I`m in a new situation I just have to find out how to use my faith in that situation. It`s good to know that now because it`s a never ending process. I still face the same problems and different situations but I can look forward with more faith and hope knowing that I`m just learning and growing in a new environment.

That`s been an interesting thing for me this transfer. I feel like there have been a lot of tests and stuff, but I feel like I`m handling them in a very calm and organized and thoughtful manner. I`m still frustrated and confused every once and a while but I can work in the midst of my wondering. It`s like I`m more able to analyze why I`m feeling stress or worry and find how to overcome it the next time I`m faced with a similar trial. It`s good stuff :) 
I feel like I`ve gotten a lot more patient too. I`m really grateful for that :)

Well, as for this week, things have been pretty busy visiting investigators. Unfortunately, no one was home this week :P So kind of a slower week. Sunday was really busy though. We had a totsuzen (all of   a sudden) shokujikai (eat together party) after church because a recently baptized member (1 year ago) is moving to Nagoya (on the mainland of Japan). We`re going out to Eon (a shopping mall) to get PuriKura pictures (silly pictures you take in booths) with him today. We also met with two other investigators with interesting stories after church. 

One of the Lessons was a little rough and I didn`t know what to do when some tensions got high, but I said a little prayer in my heart that things would get better and I decided to bear testimony and the Spirit entered my heart and things in the situation got better :) The Lord is always there when we pray to him sincerely and ask for help.
Another cool experience happened just a couple days ago, but we made a plan for our day and it got thrown completely off schedule because our missionary coordinator asked for a Priesthood blessing. It was the first time I`ve given one in Japanese, but I felt the support of the Lord and the Love in the words I was given for our friend. There was a very special Spirit in the room and I felt very humbled knowing that God trusts me to hold and use His Holy Priesthood to bless a worried child of His. It was a wonderful opportunity. After that we all went to visit Ikuma Kun (our recently baptized friend) and had a good talk with him. Then my companion asked if we could visit an NA we hadn`t planned to and we decided to go. She was there! (which is rare for her) and we had a great talk and I knew that the Spirit had put it into the mind of my companion to go visit her :) It`s amazing just the small miracles that happen all the time :)

It was great hearing about home and such. I always get excited hearing about camp. I wish I could be there and here, but I know that`s not possible so I`ll enjoy my short time here and just enjoy camp when I get back :) It`s too bad for the struggles going on with the vote though. But Tell everyone at camp hi for me! Tell Daniel Congrats on the mission call! He`s gonna love it and learn so much! And tell Mary that if she wants to serve a mission she should come to Hokkaido :P And have fun :)
Good luck with things on the houses and with the family!

I got the pictures and the pants and I can`t stop looking over the pictures! It`s so fun to see how far everyone has come and how much they`ve grown! Let me know how the job finding and moving and stuff goes as well!            (not sure what her meant by this, we are not moving)
And thank you for your great example throughout my life. I find myself wondering all the time "ok...how would mom and dad do this" or "why did they react this way when I did this." All the time. It`s so wonderful having such wonderful examples in my life. I definitely need advice after the mission ;)

Alright, well I better go, but I love you and let everyone there know that I love them too! And tell Jessica that Ollie (her hedgehog) is cute! Thank you!!

Elder Mitchell Perry Sotto...Me! =D

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