Dear Friends and Family

howdy dowdy everyone. well transfer call came already! Elder loosli got called to go to Koga. Its way too sad. we got along really well. Actually one of my favorite transfers too and it was the fastest six weeks ive had!

My new companion is Elder Chumwangwapee. He is from Thailand and is the first missionary from Thailand in Japan! Kinda funny. Elder Abe (my trainer) was the first Finnish missionary from Finland too haha. now I have a companion who is the first missionary from Thailand.

I am his follow-up trainer and He has been a missionary for a month and a half (right now). Hes a real good guy. He got baptized less than two years ago and sent his mission papers in after nine months he was baptized.
Right now he cant quite speak English or Japanese, my assignment is to help him with the language and just love the crap out of him. Hes real smart too, he;ll get the hang of it. Its my responsibility to help him strengthen his faih and knowledge too. He already knows enough though haha.

 

The mission is giong good. Im learning daily and pulling through

well Im doing good. my health is doing ok right now so there. Im super pumped to be Elder Chum's companion too so ill be alright.

I wonder how all of you are doing?

 

I heard the Utah Jazz just got its death sentence.

coach is out!? Williams is out!?  wow. game over

 

Another sad news. I heard my patriarch Brother Park passed away.

Im sure he is working hard for the lord in the other side of the vail.

 

 he really was called by god. really.  the day i got my patriartical blessing, i was not in a good mood that day. In fact i got into a argument with Mom or Dad that day brfore i have met with him. well, i was not in a good mood at all because of that.

when we got to his house to receive my Patriartical Blessing, he asked me couple of questions. i remember what questions he asked me (About how im doing, how do i enjoy school etc just really regular stuff) he was really nice. smiling and everything. But i was not in a good mood so i i answered his questions just a simple yes or no. you know buaisou ni (translate that).

but his patriartical blessing. his revelation of me was perfect. he knew things about me that was impossible for anyone else to know, other than heavenly father of cource. and the spirit was there. Much of the patricartical blessings have been fufilled . I have personally seen the miracles and prophesies being fufilled.

 

This church is true. Look into it more carefully, study it. Even for people that are second or third Generation members of the church, should study it more carefully. This church weighs all on the Book of Mormon. If it is true, Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet in this last dispensation, and the comforting message of the plan of salvation is true and the priesthood is restored and we now know the purpose of life and what we need to do to go back to our heavenly father in the celestial kingdom.

it all comes down to the book of Mormon.

 

i know the Book of mormon is true. I know everyone in this world can know it to be true too. and everyone can come closer to got by reading it.

so test it, experiment it. act on it. god will answer the truth if you really show him that you want it.

 

alright. got  to go! see ya!

 

write me----!

 

Elder young

Dear family and friends

Greetings from the swamps of Saitama prefecture! hows it going people? The land of samurai has been good! the whether is starting to warm up, the spring is almost here and the cheery blossom season is coming close. in front of our apartment there is a river giong across the road and on each side of the river there is a line of cherry blossom trees. I hear its really beautiful when it blooms. imagine that! relatively warm day, a cool wind, your just standing there by the river under the tree just reflecting on life and what you did during the mission to change peoples lives. ohhh yeah baby! maybe throw in some memories of pre-mission!? those endless days where i played video games with mitch or the days of doing exciting fun things with Ethan and Andre and Jon and Justin.

yeah.... definately throw those in there.

my companion elder loosli says im way too quite. Actually he just doesnt stop talking haha. I just like to think everynow and then hahaha. cant think and reflect on things and talk about how handsome Elder Loosli is at the same time! I love the guy dont get me wrong. he and i will be laughing at this when we read this after the mission.

 

well this transfer has gone way fast. light speed. cant believe its already the last week. it was crazy fast. I been a missionary for more than 7 months too. the months are adding up fast! well time goes fast i guess. hmmm yeah unless i see the planner or my journal i just cant remember what i have been doing this past  two weeks.

nothing too much to write this week. i actually got to go so this was just like a fast and short mail thing.

alrighty love you everyone. write me sometime.

 

see yaaaa

Dear Friends and Family.

Hey everyone.
Well my birthday was yesterday.... Weird. we didnt do anything special to celebrate. oh yeah i dont think ive told you about my new companion. His name is Elder Chadwick Loosli. he is from Utah and lived in Orem. went to Timpview High school. He is one of the most sarcastic fello I have ever encountered in my life. funny dude. We get along just fine and he is super genki.
So my Birthday, yeeeah nothing special actually. by the end of the day i forgot it was my birthday anyway hahaha. i was dead tired so.
so this past couple of weeks has been super hard on me actually. I dont know whats up, but it sure feels like the symptoms of Epstein barr is showing again haha. so this past couple of weeks has been super hard. The number one thing that bugs me about is I cant think clearly... hmmmm yeah theres just nothing i can do about this. i feel bad for elder Loosli because i feel like im holding him back. he doesnt think that at all(since he definitely knows im not feeling normal haha) but it definitely bugs me because i feel like its holding me back from doing all that i can do.
So yeah thats been a killer.

well let me tell you how it has been here. The ward is super great. unlike last week, I got to greet and remember a lot of peoples names and faces so that's good. 
oh man... i dont remember what i did this week..
According to my planner, i did a lot of stuff haha
oh yeah so let me share with you one particular day that i had last week. it was January 28th, Friday. We had a 3 Zone conference here in Urawa. Elder Loosli and I walked into the church, said hey to fellow missionaries and etc. then I see Elder Seinsburry (From Payson Utah) (AP right now) and hes just staring at me with his big smile on his face! I instantly knew he was going to ask me to translate during the training, so without him even asking me I was like ; Alright sure+ At the same time I realized my MTC companion Elder Andrus(also fluent in both and last time we switched in the morning and in the afternoon) was not here! he obviously transferred out of these zones and I did not see any other missionaries who can do translation. *Dang* i thought. I was feeling super exhausted as it is because of, or most likely because of the symptoms of Epstein barr. I translated for about 4 to 5 hours with a lunch break in the middle. After the 3 zone conference was over, i was just beat! like I really ran out of energy and all of my will power. so it was all over and i hear this announcement. * everyone go to the first rooms you went to with your zones and have a zone meeting of your own there.*. Shoot. another hour or so of translating. Funny thing, I was half out of conscious so i didnt even translate half of it... i think... i actually dont really remember too much hahaha. I do remember this though. when i was trying to put my focus in and translate, i couldn't... I just couldn't translate i was too exhausted. This is the cool part though. at one point i started to translate very accurately word by word with the same pace as the speaker was speaking. I definately felt the gift of tongues which was bestowed on me when i was set apart as a missionary. I could just kinda feel the spirit guiding me...kinda hard to explain. But it definitely was a cool feel. 
After the whole Zone Conference and saying our farewell to president and sister Albrecht and other missionaries, Elder Williams (Sandy Utah) asked me if Ive received a blessing yet. I answered him * Ummmmm i dont think so?* so we decided that to give me a blessing haha. 
We went into a separate room and Elder Williams did the annointing, and as elder williams, loosli, cambel laid their hands upon my head, I felt the spirit welling up inside me stronger than i have ever felt before.  
 What a powerful manifestation of the power of the priesthood and the gifts which heavenly father has made available for us today. 

Well i got to go.

I know the power of the priesthood is real and for that i know this church is true.

seeya

write me when you have time eh? i want to hear from everyone

love 
Elder Young

6 months!

Dear Friends and Family.

 

HeyEveryone.　

Its been six months ever since i left on my mission. Well I transfered out of Mito! and now I am in Saitama ken Kawagoe.

Onto the swamps of Saitama!

Well a lot happened this last week and i dont know what to start out with.

there was a baptism for one of my investigators the last day i was in Mito! so that was awesome. Her name is Gi san, she is 20, chinese, halarious. Im really happy that she accepted the gospel and was baptized into the church. her parents in china are against her joining the church so it was indeed a big step for her.

let me tell you a little story about how she got to know the missionaries and how she accepted the baptismal invitation and her baptism.

I first met her in a lunch gathering at sister chens house (at the time she was not yet baptized) and there I met gi san. her friends counted total in four (including her) and all of them coulndnt quite speak japanese! or english! so most of the time elder Abe and I were just purely confused in what they were talking about. But the first encounter in that lunch gathering was very fun.

She seldom participated in lessons that we were giving to sister chen and came to church with her every now and then. I could tell she was feeling something... she was attentive and even though she coulndt really understand japanese, she was always asking questions. Thank goodness for brother matsuyama who could speak chinese.

I did have hope for her because as i said she was very attentive and raising her hands for questions and clarification. As Elder richard G Scott taught, raising your hand is an indication to the holy ghost you are prepared to learn.

now time has moved on, sister chen was baptize and we dicided to focus teaching her other friends more. the discussions went well, she was doing all the commitments we were extending.Elder Abe and i felt that we should extend her a baptismal invitation. she accepted and we had a date on 12/19/2010.

we had more discussions and the date approached, however, she was still 19 and she needed to get permission from her parents in china. making a long story short, she couldnt get the permission from her parents and now was uncertain to be baptized even if she turned 20. who could blame her? she did express her support and love from family and friends are very important for her.

christmas came and newyears came. by then Elder Abe has already returned to his home country Finland and i was with my new companion Elder Lewis. for about 15 days we seldom had contacts with her. But we encouraged her, helped her, and taught her. 

Finally passing the christmas newyear after newyear party fever, we had an appointment to teach her. I was very excited for this meeting and have been thinking about what subject to teach her.

Back around christmas, I made a solem determination to make myself more a consecrated missionary in order to be more effective missionary to the lord. Because of that, I feel that i have been more sensitive to recongnizing promptings of the spirit.

The day of teaching gi san, in the morning and as i was taking a shower, I had the impression to teach her about Joseph Smith.

In our personal study time and our companion study time and our language study time we prepared the lesson for gi san and we were ready to teach her.

We had a joint, takeda shimai, and sister chen, and her other friend chuo san come to the discussion.

we began the discussion and taught her about joseph smith (we have taught her about joseph smith long ago, but she was not quite yet investigating the church yet, so we re-taught her)

the lesson went well, now it was out time to bare our testimony about Joseph Smith. My companion first bore his testimony, then sister takeda bore her testimony. After her testimony i was going to bare my testimony, the following experience was one of the most profound moments in my mission, or even my life.

The spirit was already there for the sincere testimonies that Elder Lewis and Sister Takeda made, and I gave the strongest spiritfilled testimony that i have never bore in my life. Once I said `I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet` I felt a burning within me, and i knew that the holy ghost was testifying to me that what just came out of my lips were true. And i knew the spirit was testifying to Gi san too. Then I extended a invitation to be baptized.

she looked at me for a little bit and then turned to sister chen and chuo san and started speaking in chinese for a sec. her friend chuo san actually encouraged her to accept it too haha.

after a little chat amongst them, gi san turned to me and said ` I want to` I said great. Then I added `will you be baptized next sunday?`(which was about 9 days later) she was suprised of how soon it was, but she accepted to be baptized the following week and how greatfully, she was baptized and confirmed the following week at church. The last day I was in Mito.

 

I think about this and Had i not put forth my self to be more consecrated and move forward with faith, I dont know if this would have happend. As I briefly said, this whole lesson was based off of promptings and impressions that we received.

 

what a profound experience it was for me to bare a testimony like the one I gave, and to know that I know joseph smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

I left Mito now, and i am in a new area now. I hope to be more obedient and continue to keep a humble heart, and qualify for the companionship of the holy ghost and be an effective servant of the lord.

 

well i got to go.

Love you all.

a short message

Dear Family and friends.
My forth transfer is almost over. It’s gone really fast again! Goodness.
It’s already mid January and I’m almost 20... Shoot.
Don’t have too much time to write this week, but a short message.
Lately in my life there have been passings of people close in my life.
It seems people I know and dear to me are dying every single week
nowadays, including my grandmother. In back home Utah I express my
love and condolences to the Long family. While I mourn for those that
have passed away, at the same time I rejoice for the plan of
salvation. Especially knowing that I know the Plan of Salvation to be
true, brings good comfort and allows me to move forward with faith.
 On another topic, I’m doing well here in Japan. I’m pretty sure I’ll
be going to some other area next transfer. It’s been almost 6 months
in mito!!
This Sunday there may be one, maybe two baptisms this Sunday. Gi san
and rie chan.
Alrighty got to go, see ya

Elder Young

Dear Friends and Family.

 

HeyEveryone.　its been six months ever since i left on my mission. Well I transfered out of Mito! and now I am in Saitama ken Kawagoe.

Onto the swamps of Saitama!

Well geez a lot happened this last week and i dont know what to start out with.

there was a baptism for one of my investigators the last day i was in Mito! so that was awesome. Her name is Gi san, she is 20, chinese, halarious. Im really happy that she accepted the gospel and was baptized into the church. her parents in china are against her joining the church so it was indeed a big step for her.

let me tell you a little story about how she got to know the missionaries and how she accepted the baptismal invitation and her baptism.

I first met her in a lunch gathering at sister chens house (at the time she was not yet baptized) and there I met gi san. her friends counted total in four (including her) and all of them coulndnt quite speak japanese! or english! so most of the time elder Abe and I were just purely confused in what they were talking about. But the first encounter in that lunch gathering was very fun.

She seldom participated in lessons that we were giving to sister chen and came to church with her every now and then. I could tell she was feeling something... she was attentive and even though she coulndt really understand japanese, she was always asking questions. Thank goodness for brother matsuyama who could speak chinese.

I did have hope for her because as i said she was very attentive and raising her hands for questions and clarification. As Elder richard G Scott taught, raising your hand is an indication to the holy ghost you are prepared to learn.

now time has moved on, sister chen was baptize and we dicided to focus teaching her other friends more. the discussions went well, she was doing all the commitments we were extending.Elder Abe and i felt that we should extend her a baptismal invitation. she accepted and we had a date on 12/19/2010.

we had more discussions and the date approached, however, she was still 19 and she needed to get permission from her parents in china. making a long story short, she couldnt get the permission from her parents and now was uncertain to be baptized even if she turned 20. who could blame her? she did express her support and love from family and friends are very important for her.

christmas came and newyears came. by then Elder Abe has already returned to his home country Finland and i was with my new companion Elder Lewis. for about 15 days we seldom had contacts with her. But we encouraged her, helped her, and taught her. 

Finally passing the christmas newyear after newyear party fever, we had an appointment to teach her. I was very excited for this meeting and have been thinking about what subject to teach her.

Back around christmas, I made a solem determination to make myself more a consecrated missionary in order to be more effective missionary to the lord. Because of that, I feel that i have been more sensitive to recongnizing promptings of the spirit.

The day of teaching gi san, in the morning and as i was taking a shower, I had the impression to teach her about Joseph Smith.

In our personal study time and our companion study time and our language study time we prepared the lesson for gi san and we were ready to teach her.

We had a joint, takeda shimai, and sister chen, and her other friend chuo san come to the discussion.

we began the discussion and taught her about joseph smith (we have taught her about joseph smith long ago, but she was not quite yet investigating the church yet, so we re-taught her)

the lesson went well, now it was out time to bare our testimony about Joseph Smith. My companion first bore his testimony, then sister takeda bore her testimony. After her testimony i was going to bare my testimony, the following experience was one of the most profound moments in my mission, or even my life.

The spirit was already there for the sincere testimonies that Elder Lewis and Sister Takeda made, and I gave the strongest spiritfilled testimony that i have never bore in my life. Once I said `I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet` I felt a burning within me, and i knew that the holy ghost was testifying to me that what just came out of my lips were true. And i knew the spirit was testifying to Gi san too. Then I extended a invitation to be baptized.

she looked at me for a little bit and then turned to sister chen and chuo san and started speaking in chinese for a sec. her friend chuo san actually encouraged her to accept it too haha.

after a little chat amongst them, gi san turned to me and said ` I want to` I said great. Then I added `will you be baptized next sunday?`(which was about 9 days later) she was suprised of how soon it was, but she accepted to be baptized the following week and how greatfully, she was baptized and confirmed the following week at church. The last day I was in Mito.

 

I think about this and Had i not put forth my self to be more consecrated and move forward with faith, I dont know if this would have happend. As I briefly said, this whole lesson was based off of promptings and impressions that we received.

 

what a profound experience it was for me to bare a testimony like the one I gave, and to know that I know joseph smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

I left Mito now, and i am in a new area now. I hope to be more obedient and continue to keep a humble heart, and qualify for the companionship of the holy ghost and be an effective servant of the lord.

 

well i got to go.

Love you all.

Dear Family and friends.
My forth transfer is almost over. It’s gone really fast again! Geewiz.
It’s already mid January and I’m almost 20... Shoot.
Don’t have too much time to write this week, but a short message.
Lately in my life there have been passings of people close in my life.
It seems people I know and dear to me are dying every single week
nowadays, including my grandmother. In back home Utah I express my
love and condolences to the Long family. While I mourn for those that
have passed away, at the same time I rejoice for the plan of
salvation. Especially knowing that I know the Plan of Salvation to be
true, brings good comfort and allows me to move forward with faith.
 On another topic, I’m doing well here in Japan. I’m pretty sure I’ll
be going to some other area next transfer. It’s been almost 6 months
in mito!!
This Sunday there may be one, maybe two baptisms this Sunday. Gi san
and rie chan.
Alrighty got to go, see ya

Elder young

Dear Family and Friends

Hey how’s it going. It’s the 22nd of December and once a stormy
morning is now sunny blue sky in a matter of an hour. Well anyway, I’m
doing fine in good old Mito. There was a Baptism last Sunday! Good
news. He is 54 years old. He has rectum cancer and lives freakishly
far away from church; I think it takes hour and half to get to the
church. (Yes it does.) For those of you who know nothing of this
cancer, well, don’t get it. It sucks. This cancer gets up in the `3
cancers I do not want to get` Rectum cancer, pancreatic cancer and
testicular cancer. .. Oh and I also don’t want bone cancer and
liver... geez. Cancer sucks! Don’t get them! :(

Yes yes anyway. last Sunday was neat because Brother Ojima was
baptized and confirmed but also I was the one who first engaged him to
meet and do the discussions with Elder Abe and I (he was a eikaiwa
student; Mormon English class).
So a thought comes again: what if I never made the choice to come out
on a mission? the obvious fact was that brother Ojima would have never
known about the gospel of Jesus Christ and make the dramatic change in
his life. I remember one time Elder Abe and I taught him about the
Word of Wisdom and he committed. However our next lesson (we were on
our way to church) we saw him waiting for us in front of the church
but he was smoking!
       We dramatically acted disappointed in front of him (well I mean we
were) and talked about it. I asked him to hand over his cigarettes and
his lighter and he willingly did so. The funny thing was I did not
know where Elder Abe put away the cigarettes and the lighter until I
found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in my backpack the next day.
Hahaha

Well how is everyone doing? Christmas is coming and I hope everyone is
in the spirit of giving and or putting their mission papers in (I
speak to some). I got a letter from my Moms visiting teacher the other
day, which contained a Christmas poem for missionaries and money and a
letter, Bless her heart. Well my Christmas season has been really
great so far. Only one more Christmas as a missionary after this one.

There was an All Missionary Christmas party just the day before at the
mission home. The spirit of Christmas was there and I really enjoyed
the time conversing with other missionaries as well. There was a flag
that President Albrecht made.  It said * We Are One with the Father
the Son and the Holy Ghost in the Doctrine of Christ* All missionaries
who would teach this doctrine were asked to come up and sign your name
on it. We all did. The flag color is orange and as the missionaries
were signing the flag, sister Hobbes( I think) later said. *as
everyone was facing down signing their signatures on the flag, the
light was reflecting off the flag and it looked as though everyone’s
face were shining as they were signing it.* I thought that was neat.
Well got to go!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Elder Young

Dear Family and Friends.
The 3ｒ　　transfer came to an end and Elder Abe went home. Good
missionary he was. He taught me many things ... many things. I
appreciate his service and his companionship with me to God.
In another news. My new companions name is Elder Lewis. He is Georgia
and came to the field three months ago. We actually entered into the
MTC on the same date and were MTC companions for couple of days. I was
in the MTC for 3 weeks and he was there for 8 weeks. So I am a 4
Transfer and he is a 3 Transfer and we are a really young
companionship, but if we are obedient to the lord we will see ton of
miracles.
Well… for some reason I don’t really have the urge to write anything
this week hahaha.
Mmm well yeah. I wonder how the NBA standings are right now hahaha.
Its weird not to think about missionary work right now haha.
If you write me, I will write back. It might take me a bit of time,
but as long as you write me I will write back. I might not write to
anyone if you don’t write me haha. Eventually I will write back lol
Ummm … wow P-day is weird.
Oh yeeeeah Im totally learning Portuguese right now hahaha. Man it’s
gonna be interesting. I just hope I start seeing Brazilians or someone
that speaks it haha, test that baby out!
Ohhh right now we have two people planning on getting baptized on the
19th!  Gotta work hard and make sure that happens.
Oh goodness. im just way too distracted right now. Im gonna roll. See ya love ya
Elder Young

Dear Family and Friends

Well it’s been two weeks or so. 


Hmmm geez I forgot what I did
haha. Let me check on my planner real quick
ok couple of things I really enjoyed in this past three weeks or so,
our whole zone got together on P-day and had plenty of activity. The
sister missionaries made us a great meal and smoothies which were
quite delicious to the taste. The other Elders and I constructed
little soccer goal to play footsal in the gym. Way good. Really fun.
It was a fun time for me to associate and to get to know other
missionaries more in a personal level as well.

As of November, the Matsudo Zone missionaries were; Young, Abe,
Stewart, Darlington, Romer, Takae, Provost, Cooper, Reynolds and
Kojya. The sister Missionaries were KIra, Saeki, Inoue.

There will never be a gathering with the same group, so for future
kicks I figure I would mention the names of the group. It will most
likely give me a good nostalgic feeling when I reflect on these two
years after my mission.

well let’s see.... on Sunday the 21st Elder Abe and I went to Ushiku
to stay over the night for the 5 Zone conference that was going to
take place the next day. At the apartment two more other elders from
another area came to stay over the night as well. There I met with an
Elder who is from Brazil. His name was Elder Cretli (kuretori  roma
ji) and I enjoyed talking with that lad. Apparently there is a need
for Portuguese speakers because there are many Brazilians here in
Japan. SO... well my Finnish will be useless and will probably die
when Elder Abe goes home, so I decided to use my language time to
study Portuguese! Only If I receive permission from President Albrecht
though haha.　But man. Portuguese would be fun to learn haha. Falla!

In the actual day of Conference about 5 zones got together I think,
But four general authorities from the Seventy came. Elder Evans,
Aoyagi, Stevenson aaaaand....... freak
chey? tey?

Anyhow. Elder Evans gave us training all day. Which was crazy good.
You can just feel the spirit so strong when he talks. He is a Master
Teacher and a spiritual Giant.
Maybe next week I will gather all the notes that I took during the
conference and write couple of things that I thought was good. I would
like to share one quote with you that I heard and now Cherish.
*Today I will Obey and Tomorrow I will understand+ Marjorie Hinckley
I love this quote.
Well just to quickly wrap it up. I am really grateful that I am
serving a mission. I am really happy that I made the right choice. It
has been uplifting, joyful, and a giant spiritual experience. Ive
learned many things while out on a mission. I am grateful I have the
fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. and so grateful that I am
sharing it with others. I’ve seen it bless people’s lives and seen
many miracles. It has strengthened my faith and has given me witness.
I can only see this rest of the two years will continue to be a great
experience. I Know the church is true, I know our father in Heaven
lives, I Know Jesus Christ dies for us, and lives today. I Know Joseph
Smith restored the gospel, I Know President Thomas S. Monson is the
prophet of God in this latter-days.
The gospel uplifts us and gives a great joy and love! Haha
Alrighty. Got to roll.
Oh and gordo Utah Jazz Rocks.

228 = golden number

howdy everyone. 

its been a good week! it also felt super long though.
i feel like last sunday was two months ago.... this week has
been good though. im excited for  lot of things this month! 

can't believe it's already november. 

I know my buddy Ethan will be going to the MTC soon, i know my best bud is planning on putting his papers
in this month, i know this month is thanksgiving too haha. even though i forgot when it was haha. 

im steadlily forgetting english which is not good! but i started reading the scpirtures in both japanese and
english so that has been really good. in fact its shed more understanding in the scriptures for me.

In the tokyo mission, we have a goal to bring 228 people unto christ this year. in the mission, the last time 200 people came unto christ in one year was over 20 years ago. last frieday we had an all zone missionary conference and we talked about this goal for a while. after the conference, my zone went into a different room and talked about this goal and what we can do to accomplish it. it was evident that we needed to be humble and show faith and prepare ourselves to see miracles. I know the lord will help us.

The other day i just saw one. last sunday i saw a Big one. i see miracles all the time, i know elder abe and i could acheive the goals we have set for this translfer as long as we be obedient and give our availability to the lord. Japan is a very unique country, it has everything, including all the bad. which sustains the good thats in
this country. I know if we give all our best all things are possible. ive seen it, im seeing it all the time.

Elder Abe is going home at the end of this transfer. ill miss this guy. cant believe im in my thrid transfer already though. well i got to go! see you. love you all and write me when you have a chance

P.S todd or nate or dave. where is C-tina? what mission was it?

first baptism

Dear Family and Friends.

Hey everyone. this past week has been really good. It also felt very long
too, BUT it’s one of the best weeks that I’ve had as a missionary. I’m
still in good old Mito! My 3rd transfer in mito now. Still
with my trainer too! I hear being with the same companion in the same
area for three transfers is pretty rare.

Last Sunday (the 24th here) Chin-san got baptized!!! What a wonderful
thing that is. The best part is I found her too! And she asked me to
baptize her.

I am in deep gratitude that our Heavenly Father has trusted me and
Elder Abe to find her and teach her at this time of her life. I was
also in joy when our dear sister chin asked me to do the sacred
privilege of baptizing her last Sunday. 

In first Nephi   6, it says "and I was led by the Spirit, not knowing
beforehand the things which I should do."
When I read this, I thought that we all may not receive a really
strong feeling prompting from the spirit. As a missionary to the lord,
when we prepare well and just do the best we can to our ability, the
lord will set forth the people who are ready to hear the gospel. As we
show are availability to our Heavenly Father, he will make things
happen. That all is ever is. In missionary work we don’t convert
anyone, the spirit does. What we really are is just a guide for the
people to reach the doors of celestial kingdom.

Being a missionary is awesome. It’s so hard! But it has been a great
honor and a privilege to change people’s lives here is Mito. I have been
expressed many times by people that I have just changed their lives
it’s been humbling. Then again I’m not doing anything, other than what
the lord would have me do. I am just doing his work, and try to do his
will. Blessings just follow through obedience.

Other things this week, on Friday we got that call from the honbu that
we are not transferring. EVERYONE in the ward didn’t want us to
transfer, so the next day we had so many people ask us if we are
transferring or not haha. On Saturday, elder abe and I planned an
activity for the SA and the youth and did this thing called pizza
movie night. It was a success. Had them watch legacy while we make
pizza haha. We also had two part-member families and two non-members
come to the activity so it was really effective. Sunday was the sweet
baptism, and on Tuesday I spent like three hours doing translation
that the mission home asked me to do haha. I am extremely slow now. I
was so surprised (or mad at my self) for being so slow and taking a
long time haha.
Wednesday was eikaiwa (English conversation class) It turns out that I
am a really good teacher. All my students really love me. I think I
just make the class fun.
And today is a semi-P-Day for us! We are just doing e mail and we got
to go back to work. We got a lot of stuff to do. But that’s really
good!

Alrighty everyone. Write me when you have the chance! See ya
Love you all
Elder young