If I could give you any words of wisdom it would be this. Believe that God has all power....

I wish I could have been there with you dad!(hike to a lake) That was such a great time we had :) I really enjoyed the advice and the talks. I felt like I should start opening up to you and mom more during my senior year and Im glad I did.

How did your knees handle the hike by the way?

I also miss the late night talks we used to have about everything and anything. I still remember the time I got my Patriarchal Blessing from President Klomp. After that is when my real drive to go on a mission came. I really felt Gods love and I wanted to share it.

 

See! God does answer prayers! :P thats a pretty funny story.(DAD prayed the other day that somehow he would be able to make budget this year at camp.  It’s always pretty hard.  Well, last Sunday night, Camp Bradley in Stanley was evacuated due to a fire and he got 50 of their campers.  That added about $15,000 to the bottom line!  Didn’t do Bradley any good, but his prayer was answered . . . .)   Im always amazed at how the Lord does answer prayers though. Everything works out perfectly to benefit us the most.

 

It`s so weird that all of my friends right now are out around the world serving in the greatest and one of the most challenging works in the world. Its a wonderful thing :) I`m excited for what the future brings!

 

Questions:

 

My new ward is amaazing! They`re the best I`ve seen yet. theyre so nice and a lot speak english and theyre very willing to help. Were actually getting goched (fed) tonight.

 

I love it here so much. Im still in the city, but its much much smaller and the ocean is close by and its just a nice place. Everyone calls it the retirement home of the mission haha.

There are 4 of us in the apartment and theyre all great. One of them has insomnia so its a little harder to get to bed on time haha. Its also a little hard for them to get up sometimes so I find myself running in place alone quite a bit, but theyre trying their hardest. Great elders. The insomniac is really crazy skilled as well. The best in the mission at japanese from what I hear and see. Tonight we`re going to have 12 people in the apartment for Zone Conference tomorrow though so that will be really fun!

 

This week has been a rollercoaster. I got really stressed because of a number of things going on in the apartment and all the change going on around me and such and so we had an apartment inventory to sort things out. Very tough, but it worked out great. The rest of this week has been great though. We had 2 people come to church yesterday which was great! One is a little odd so our team up on wednesday is going to tell us if he`s seishin byo (mentally ill) after the lesson.

 

But guess what! My investigator in Oodori got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I heard the news I felt very humbled and very grateful. He got baptized a week ago :) And Im very excited for him. Theres a lot of stuff I want to say and tell you and everyone, but right now I should be going. Lots to do, lots to see! I can`t wait till Christmas so I can tell you all in person!...well sort of :P

 

I do have a little advice I could use. My companion is a little scared of streeting and I`m doing my best to help him learn to be bold. I`ve tried loving approaches and kibishi (strict) approaches but he`s just very scared of talking to people. He`s a great teacher and very bold when he knows people but just meeting new people can be hard for him. How can I help him come out of his shell? I feel like I`ve tried it all and its been pretty tough streeting by myself (especially because my langauge abilities are still small). I`m trying my best to show love, but I could use some more advice if you have any! Thank you!

 

I love you all so much! I`m excited for the time I can tell you about all the miracles the Lord is giving me in person. Until then, Kyotsukete! (Take care!)

 

If I could give you any words of wisdom it would be this. Believe that God has all power and is working to help us grow at every turn. Look to grow and Believe. Don`t fear. Just Believe. And go forward with faith. Hymn 81 is my favorite for that reason. I feel upbeat and ready to go forward and face the world. So to all who read this, Just Believe. All else will come from that :)

Thank you so much mother and father. I love you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

Bye Bye!!!!!!!!!!