Thursday, January 30, 2014

Japanese people are some of the most wonderfully nice people I know!

Dear Father and Mother,
 
You got my flight plans! Wow...time sure does fly fast. I was able to stay in the Honbu (headquarters) with an elder returning home the next day this past thursday and it was fun talking to him. He didn`t seem phased at all. He was a very hard working elder and was a great example (he is the one who`s sister married into the Braden family). I`m excited for the day to come home, but I`m also excited for all the time I have left. I have truly come to love Hokkaido and I feel like I can say like Ammon "I might want to live here till the day I day" ;) It`s been a great experience and I`m excited for all the adventures I have to look forward to in the next month!
 
I`m sorry to hear things have been hard on you mom. I hope and pray that it will turn out for your good and that you`ll get better soon!
And I pray that you`ll be able to do your work with joy and hope too dad :) I know that you`re providing great experiences to many youth who need what you have to offer. I wish I had taken more advantage of the scouting program when I was young! Not many people in Japan do it so I see the difference in the youth, but I`m so excited for the growth of the church here in Japan especially dealing with the youth. I want to see Japan 30 years from now!
 
Well now for my week!
 
This week was good! Elder Bongioanni and I went up to Sapporo on the Transfer day because we also had singing practice for our Music Concert in February. We got to see lots of good missionary friends and now we`re back in good old Hakodate! 
And today we are just going to take it easy and do personal study and letter writing at the apartment. I`ve been reading the PMG (Preach My Gospel) in Japanese lately so I`ll probably do that. Then we`ll go out to do missionary work tonight! We`ll do some more exciting things in the coming weeks before I come home.
The Lights festival sounds fun! I`ll see if the district wants to go and do it as a group!
 
So I`m going to tell you that Japanese people are some of the most wonderfully nice people I know! We went to a less active member`s house last night to share a message with her and her not-yet-a-member husband and when we got there she had made a meal for us to eat! That happens so much here in Japan! You tell people you don`t need any food and they still make you lots and lots of food! :P A lot of times it can actually be a pain to get into the lesson from that, but you can`t help but be grateful for how loving and kind they are towards people they hardly know. Last night we did fine getting to the lesson and we told them about Joseph Smith and how the Book of Mormon came to be and it was wonderful :) They all promised to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and we`re going to see how that went when we call back tomorrow.
 
We were also able to meet an Old Investigator from when I was here a year and a half ago and unfortunately her feelings towards joining the church hadn`t changed, but it was nice to have another chance to bear testimony that God loves her and has many blessings prepared for her if she chooses to accept them.
It`s interesting how after time has passed people can change so much. One of my friends in my last area was not ready for the gospel 2 years ago when she met other missionaries but when we found her recently she was completely ready to accept it. I don`t know what changes happened, but everyone has their time and season to accept the gospel I guess. I feel like eventually this Old Investigator we met recently will accept the gospel someday :)
 
That`s all for my week, but I have a favor to ask. Do you know what day and time I get into the Narita Airport? There is a person I met here that lives in Tokyo and wants to see me off at the airport if he can. I don`t know if it`s possible but I told him I would let him know the time.
If you could send me that information that would be great! When I get to Narita and when the next plane is.
 
Alright, well I`ll talk to you later!
Love you!
 
Elder Sotto
 

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