Leaving Hakodate and Hokkaido will be like leaving my home.

Dear Mom and Dad,

 

Wow...lots of fun stuff ahead! I`ll answer your questions first off.

 

I would love to have an open house party like thing! I think Sunday after church might be the best idea. I would be fine with Saturday if that works best for you though (friends open house confirmed for Sat Mar8 @ 2-4, everyone welcome to drop in fr MOM). I would like it if there was two maybe. One specifically for family(fam. dinner Sun Mar 9@5pm fr MOM) and the other for anyone (friends, family, etc.see above fr MOM). I also have some other things I`d like to do that I will list now. I hope it doesn`t cause too much stress for you!

 

I got a letter that said I should be released right when I get home (maybe a couple hours after). That same day would be the best. Could you schedule that with the Stake President?

 

I would like to go in and get a renewed drivers license as soon as possible (within a week if possible).

 

I think it`s a good idea to speak on the 9th right after I get back.(He WILL speak Mar 9 @  Bergeson BLDG @9am, frMOM)

 

I would like you to invite anyone and everyone who can come to my homecoming talk! It will be great missionary work! Please put that I will be speaking on facebook!

 

I would also like to go to the Boise temple as soon as possible (within a week if possible)...maybe on Saturday morning or something.

 

All the other stuff I think will be fine if we plan it when we get back. If you have anything else please let me know!

 

And now I`ll tell you a little bit about my week :)

 

It was great as always! I`ll be going up to Sapporo for the Music Fireside this saturday, so yesterday was my last day in the Hakodate ward! They let me have a 10 minute talk and it felt like my farewell talk when I left on my mission. Leaving Hakodate and Hokkaido will be like leaving my home. I truly love this place and this people and this land. This has become sacred ground for me. The Stake Presidency also came down and spoke. The President and first counciler were both in one of my previous wards and they are wonderful friends and said great things to me. I love this Sapporo-West Stake and want to help it grow for the rest of my life! I know I need to go back home though. Very bittersweet, but the sweet greatly outweighs the bitter :)

I`ll be back in my last ward in Sapporo for my last Sunday and get to testify there. I`m very excited :)

 

It`s amazing that I came to this land not knowing anyone, and I`m going to leave having many life long friends and memories that I will never forget. What a blessing it has been to be a servant of the Lord in this land of Hokkaido, Japan :) I`m excited to continue a different phase of my journey in life as well! So I`ll see you back home soon!

 

That`s all I can think to say this week. Thank you so much for you love and help and prayers! I love you soooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!

 

Have a great week!

 

Elder Mitchell Perry Sotto

Amazing! God`s plans are perfect! I love being a missionary!!!

Hello Family! So the things you sent me just now made me realize...I`m going to be home soon. I`m not really scared or worried or homesick. Just starting to actually realize that it`s going to happen.

 

I guess I`ll tell you quickly about how amazing my week was! So Saturday is the highlight. My convert`s 9 year old daugter got baptized! Yay!!! I`ll send you a picture next week. I forgot my camera :P It was crazy. She is usually really high tension and kind of mean to other people, but after she got baptized and bore her testimony there wasn`t a dry eye in the house. Her mother was bawling. It was amazing! Then after the meeting she went around giving everyone big hugs and she was just so happy! I was very shocked when she ran up to me and gave me a big hug (which is against missionary rules) and then a big kiss on the cheek (which is even more against missionary rules :P) but there was nothing I could do about it. And I have several witnesses that know that there is nothing I could do about it. so as we say in Japanese...Shiyou ga nai (Nothing you can do about it) :P It was truly the most amazing baptism I`ve ever been a part of though. The whole ward was in tears and my eyes even got a little watery. What a miracle. She wouldn`t let anyone else baptize her, and then God sent me back to Hakodate because he knew that. Amazing! God`s plans are perfect! I love being a missionary!!! And I don`t ever want to stop =D

 

My companion and I also were looking for a less active member`s house during the week and it turns out that the address was the Japanese Defense Force`s base...so...we went right up to the gate and asked if they knew who the person was :P It was kind of scary walking up to it, but they were very kind and helpful to us. I love Japanese people :)

 

Lastly, we had the music concert in Sapporo, and it was the most amazing one I`ve been to yet! It was fantastic! I can`t wait till the CD comes out! =D

 

Alright, well that`s about all for this week! I`ll make sure to get everything for school and stuff to you by next week! Thank you and I love you so much!!!

See you soon!

 

Me! (Elder Sotto)

--wash your hands,, drink lots of water, and don`t do stupid things

Ahh!!! 2 years has already passed! That`s crazy! I`m lucky I get to be out for 25 months though :) Ya!

 

Thanks for the travel information! I can understand that it could be distracting, but I think I`ll be fine :) I`m happy living here in Japan and I`m sure I`ll be happy when I get home as well, but I`m not going to let myself get distracted from the work of the Lord! I`ve only got a little time left and I`ve got to work my hardest everyday! But of course in a diligent manner :) I don`t want to be sick for a year like dad was. Although I might sleep for the first 3 days I`m back :P I`m excited to see you all again though!

 

I`m sorry you got food poisening! I guess that is one way to loose weight though! I think I`ve lost about 10-15 pounds on my mission...that`s not good :P But I`m eating a lot! It`s just that everyday is excercise. But I`m in good shape! That`s a plus :)

 

I got the package! sort of. It arrived at the Hakodate Sisters apartment I guess so I`ll get it today from them hopefully :)

 

So this week we got to go up to Sapporo for the Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival)! It was amazing as always :) I`m so lucky to be in Hokkaido :) I hope to be able to come back sometime too!

The next day we had a Zone Conference and heard workshops from the Mental and Physical Health officers for the North Asia area. Mental Health is always very interesting to me while physical health is like a repeat of stuff we`ve learned since 3rd grade--wash your hands, eat good food, drink lots of water, excercise, and don`t do stupid things :P It was all good to hear again though :)

 

We also have a baptism coming up this next Saturday (it`s my previous convert`s daughter). I`m so excited! But it`s going to be crazy! She wants to be baptized on her birthday (Feb. 15th) but we have a Music Fireside in Sapporo that day...so the plan right now is that we will do the baptism Saturday the 15th in the morning at 8:30 and then the members will drive us to the train station after that to catch a train to Sapporo at 10:30. We will be on the train for about 3 and a half hours and then we`ll arrive in Sapporo and start practicing music immediately until the concert at 6:30. It`ll be crazy but it should work out ok :)

I feel so incredibly blessed to be back in Hakodate though. The Lord has given me so many blessings and helped me to be a part of this great work in so many different ways, times and places. I have never been happier in my life! I`m so excited for all the adventures that lie ahead of me as well :)

 

I`m excited to come home and see you all, but until then I`ll pray for you and work my hardest here in this part of the vinyard that the Lord has entrusted to me. This is his work and I know that it will go according to His will. We are so lucky to be a part of this work :) I`m excited for the work I can do at home as well :)

 

Alright, well, I`ll talk to you later! Love you! Bye!!!

 

Elder Mitchell Perry Sotto

 

The song of the righteous really is a prayer unto God that brings the Spirit (D&C 25:12).

I hear that the world is pretty crazy right now, but I`m glad I still don`t have to think about it for a little while. Every once and a while you hear about things happening to America from people you meet on the street and then you can tell them that you know nothing at the moment about what`s going on! They are always surprised when we tell them we don`t watch TV or use computers or radio :)

Well I`ll tell you a little about my week now!

 

 This week we had several good things.

My companion slipped on the ice the other day! That in and of itself wasn`t that great, but because he slipped we took some time to wipe the snow off of him and while we were doing that a car pulled up in front of us to park but it got stuck in the snow so we ran to help and push it! Then afterwards my companion said "It`s a good thing I slipped or else we never would`ve been able to help that lady!" I love my companion! He`s so positive all the time! He`s a good old Idaho-an.

 

We were also able to meet another nice lady one night while we were walking home! She was out picking ice off her driveway so we went up and said "Can we help you out?" Most japanese people when you ask them just say "no no no! I`m old and this is my excercise!" but she said "Really?...Yes I would love your help!" So we picked her driveway, made an appointment to come back with the sister missionaries and went back and it turns out she`s willing to listen to the message! We have another meeting with her today.

We were able to sing some hymns with her while we were there too. She loves hymns!

 

That`s another great thing I`ve noticed this week. Music really brings the Spirit :) Singing with that nice lady and then singing last night at a member`s house I really felt the Spirit. The song of the righteous really is a prayer unto God that brings the Spirit (D&C 25:12).

 

We also had a Tacoyaki (cooked octopus) party at another investigators house. It was delicious!

 

And we met a less active member that is def the other day. We couldn`t talk to him at all the first time we went so I pulled out my planner (schedule) and pointed to a day and time when we wanted to come back and he put his thumb up. We went back prepared to communicate with him the next time. We brought a carry around white board and marker and eraser and talked to him through that. It was really interesting having such a silent conversation and telling someone that God loves them by writing it on a white board and smiling at them with my hand over my heart. Good experience =) We`re going  back with a member that can do some sign language on tuesday.

 

That`s all that I can remember for this week. By the way, if you could send that information about when I leave the Narita airport and stuff I would be very grateful! Just when you have time! I need to let that friend in Tokyo know if he can meet me there before I go.

 

Thank you so much! I love you and I pray for you! Keep hanging in their with work and life!

Talk to you next week!

 

Love your Son,

Elder Mitchell Perry Sotto