Dear Mom,
Transfer calls came and went! Sorry for not letting you know last week! Elder F is a fireball from Brigham City, Utah and has spent his whole mission up till now in F, but joined me in T to bring the gospel to everyone here! He's still 19, but is on transfer 12. He wants to become a Psychiatrist and wants to study at Utah State University after his mission.
He is the youngest in his family, and actually, his dad served in the Tokyo South Mission 35 years ago! Can you guess what his favorite sport is?
Those are two of the people who we are meeting with about 3 times a week to teach! The sisters here in Kunitachi actually teach the mother, who is 80 years old, separately for some "woman to woman" lessons, which seems to be working. When Elder D and I taught them together, she didn't seem to understand very well and her retention of information wasn't very good, but now she is flying! The sisters have given her the Liahona magazine and the children's Book of Mormon, complete with pictures. I wouldn't have thought that it would make too big of a difference to use the children's book versus the real thing when teaching, but it did!
She has slowly been developing her faith that there is a God in heaven, who is our Father, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior, and she has said several times that she does believe, but that acting on that belief isn't as simple of a choice.
Sister T, one of the Sister Missionaries and a Japanese sister, has really been able to help resolve the concerns she does have to help her build confidence. Resolving the concerns of others is an exhausting endeavor since there always seems to be more no matter many you solve. Plus, more often resurface when you thought you had solved them. There has come new meaning into the phrase "Charity suffereth long" (Moroni 7:45), but oh, how terrible I still am at being charitable.
Thankfully, I haven't had to correct people many times, and actually, all of the missionaries here are trustworthy people that have a determination keep the commandments and remain worthy to enter the temple of God. There are a surprising amount of temptations here in Japan that could threaten anyone, not just a missionary, to violate temple covenants or loosen their standards, but the missionaries and members stay faithful. The only corrections I've had to make have come when a standard just needed to be clarified so that there was no misunderstanding.
Having entered the 14th transfer on my mission, I'm seeing more and more of the faces I know returning back home and going onward and upward to bigger and better things, but it is incredible how the mission is progressing as a whole. Under the leadership of President W as he was inspired of God, the missionaries here have grown in their ability to powerfully testify of the divinity of the Savior Jesus Christ and the reality of the Restoration of the His Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith in whatever language they may be speaking.
I too know that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, the Savior prophesied of by ancient prophets, and I will put my entire reputation, all that I am, as little as that might be, on that testimony, which I know by the power of the Holy Ghost.
I love you all!
Elder Christensen
Sister K came to Japan with me, and is already going home!
No comments:
Post a Comment