Adam's e-mail from March 23, 2105

Tonight Kellen Moore was our fireside speaker for the 

1^st and the barber Valley Ward youth fireside. He was sharing some personal insights that he has learned through sports on how to navigate through life experiences and find success.

 ​  Here were  some of the things that he talked about

1. The importance of surrounding ourselves with good people. He said that friends are like an elevator and will either take you up or down with them.  He also quoted a college football coach who was talking about the importance of being a good team player, who said, "if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far go together."

2.  Be in the here and now. If you are in school give you your 100% effort to school. Don't be imagining what others are doing someplace else.

3.  Prepare well for your future and then be patient with yourself during the process of becoming what you aspire to be.

4.  He joked and said that we might think that NFL stands for national football league, but those who are playing in it referred to it as "not for long".  He said that most people make it for just a few years even with a long career in the NFL, they are done in their 30s if they are lucky and so they need to have something else to transition to. A coach told him to not to be a "one trick pony".  Develop many interests and talents and don't put all your eggs in one basket.

5.  Part of being patient is not giving up Quinn success doesn't come immediately. There is a lot of negativity around us and many people telling us we can't succeed. We cannot allow ourselves to give up because of others negativity or our own negativity.He read an article written by the coach of the University of Oregon describing the ideal quarterback. The qualities outlined were completely different from what Kellen was.  He wasn't deterred by that though, and he realized that he only needed to find one university that said yes to him and there might be many who would say no.  He also said do not be afraid to fail. Those who become successful have to try and do something at least 10,000 times before they become truly great at something.

6.  He also said that being able to put behind you mistakes or failures is essential to being able to succeed in the future. If he had an interception in a game, he would have to quickly put that behind him  and not assume that it would happen again, but go forward as if it had never happened.

7.  He also talked about the importance of being mentally and spiritually strong and making prayer a daily part of life.  He said that he and his wife regularly pray together and counsel with heavenly father on their decisions.

Dear Family,

I'm going to have to use those tips from Kellen Moore over here in
Japan as well! They won't know who he is, but that's ok, the message
will still be powerful!

​My companion and  I are getting much better as a companionship, and weeven had some cool experiences where our thoughts have been basically
the same. We still have different ideas about many things, but

 ​ we have managed to find similarities all he same! He loves soccer as well,
which has led to some great opportunities the last few weeks! We
actually spent about and hour and a  ​half  playing soccer with some kids
at a nearby park today! At first, they were kind of shy and hesitant,
but soon opened up when they saw that we were sincere and were wanting
to help  ​them  have a good time. Ulterior motives will always fail, no
matter how good your intentions are, which is still something I'm
working on.

​I​ t is possible to have fun and let out tension without being
disobedient so we're starting to have a great time as companions.
We are actually planning a music night for
members and English class students to come and share their musical
talents and bring friends to as well. One thing our mission and
President Wada has focused on is the need for activities 

 ​to be ​ based on the level of interest of our friends. Paul compared it to milk and meat. Many of our friends are not ready for the big, meaty (albeit delicious) steaks of the gospel, but first need to be  ​introduced to the gospel through  the milk of activities and inspirational scriptures, stories, friends, etc. Many people have been ignored or left behind because they simply weren't ready for the meat of the gospel. Always invite and give them a choice, but we have to start from their level.

This week we heard from Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles and Elder Evans of the Seventy about becoming masters of
technology and resetting our lives and   ​we got to shake 

 their hands (that's two apostles in one month!) . I gave a training at Zone Conference, went to Kamakura, saw a baptism, and many other things as well!
What I learned this week came as I studied 1 Nephi 8, Lehi's Dream and

 ​ I ​reflect​ed ​ on our purpose as missionaries and as disciples of Christ.
Everyone in this world is on a journey to the tree of life, or the
love of God. Much like a big backpacking trip or scout outing. We set
out with a goal in mind, but for one reason or another, problems
arise. Some want to stop and rest, some get distracted and wander off,
some see other groups partying and having fun and ignore the counsel
of their leaders. As missionaries and as disciples of Christ, our role
is to do our best to help those people back on the path, to strengthen
their faith, to give them a helping hand, and sometimes to be a little
blunt with them about what is right and wrong.
It can be frustrating, tiring, discouraging at times, but rewarding
and worth all the effort. We get out what we put in and usually we get
even more as well.

Love, love, love,
The missionary who is growing little by little,
Elder Christensen