Christmas

Wow Betsy. BETSY!!! Guys sorry I bawled the whole time talking to you.
I was really happy, I promise. :) That was so FUN, Michael it was so
nice to kinda almost finally meet you sorta. Mikell sent me a vid of
you guys kissing after the sealing so that was fun. And more pics! It
looked like such a perfect dream, so happy that you are so happy. I
bet the sealing was so special.
Don't have a ton of time today, it is compy's bday so some members are
taking us to Costco and sushi. Some quick deets I failed to mention on
skype:

Christmas Eve! The nicest less active you ever did meet invited the
missionaries and a couple members to go Christmas caroling at her
apartment complexES. (There were at least 6 bldgs) it was a blast. One
of the elders was dressed as Santa with a big bag of treats and we
were dressed as rain deer. Nomura Shimai had a huuuge list of people
to go carol to, so we'd sing a Christmas hymn, Santa would give a
treat, then we'd RUN to the next door and do it again. It was
hilarious and a perfect way to spend Christmas Eve. One lady opened
the door and just started sobbing! She couldn't even speak.
#seeyouagainsoon #wewillbringthewhitejumpsuit. Singing of the savior
and bringing a little light into their homes was the perfect way to
spread Christ's love. One of the members brought Christmas cake and
hot chocolate, cutest way to spend Christmas Eve!

Something I heard from another missionary: A successful missionary is
one who never settles. Is never content.
Change is not fun, but it's needed. So in dads words: buck up buck
squat and start changing. Our cute little companionship on a cute lil
Thursday afternoon doing a cute lil session of weekly planning, we
made a companionship goal to be 1) More diligent 2) More faithful. We
wanted to work on Christlike attributes, opened PMG and prayerfully
chose these two attributes of Christ. Guys don't just pick attributes
that you don't actually want to work on cuz we've been whipped in the
bum ever since choosing these- it's been a testimony builder to me
that God does not leave us helpless, and if we have true desires to
change, he will most definitely be the one to help us (or be the one
to whip your bum ;)) Had a mission phone conference where we were all
called to repentance. Japan has received new digital pamphlets, and we
haven't been using them as much as we should. We were challenged to
use them in every lesson, and keep inviting investigators to be
baptized in first or second lesson. Jshimai and I decided to be
faithful, diligent and obedient in this challenge. As we have been
working on it, we were blessed with huuuuuge miracles!!!!!!! We called
Hata San who had come to church last week and the Christmas party to
try to set up another appointment. She said "hey so. I read the Book
of Mormon. I didn't understand it and it was kind of boring, so can we
study together?" "Um. Yes. Yes definitely yes." "Also, will you be at
church on Sunday? Can I come again?" "..uhhh what? I mean yes yes
PLEASE yes." (And you hear the heavens shouting praises and singing
gloooooooorriaaa). So she came to church (walked 45 min in the cold to
get here!) and stayed all three hours. We had a lesson with her after
church where we reviewed the plan of salvation..she remembered
everything! Perfectly! We talked about our goal of the celestial
kingdom and the steps to get there. She names them off perfectly. We
used the pamphlet to explain baptism, showed her a video, and invited
her to be baptized. She SET HER OWN DATE, it was a Christmas miracle.
It was so fun for us to bear testimony to her, and rejoice with her
for making her way toward a relationship with God and her own
salvation! It was so neat!! Please keep her in your prayers. Praying
that we can work together to be more diligent and more faithful in
order to use the spirit to help others understand Jesus Christ.

I love you! So much! President Daniels sent an email, he and his wife
had a goal to have all of their children in the celestial room
together and they achieved that goal. How neat! He says, "I know this
vision is premature as you focus on your mission but I can promise you
that through faithful and diligent service, you are laying a
foundation for an eternal family. I will always be grateful for the
decision I made to serve a mission and my life continues to be blessed
as a result."

Faith and DILIGENCE :)