Monday, January 29, 2018

January 22, 2018--Blizzards and Birthday Cakes

こんにちは!元気??

We haven't been able to contact O san at all, it's like he just dropped off the face of the earth! But we have been contacting K san through LINE. She had been too busy for us to come back yet, thenmy LINE died this week so we haven't been able to contact her for a little bit. But we are hoping to get her to the church this week and introduce her to the sisters so she can really start progressing. I think she will progress pretty quickly once we are able to get everything lined up. H san is doing well! He took us out to Tonkatsu for his last lesson with Watanabe Choro. He had been reading from the Book of Mormon but still stays it's just hard to understand so he gives up. We read 3 Nephi 11 together and talked about how to understand the voice of the Lord, we really need to open our ears and apply ourselves. And because God loves us, He is willing to repeating his messages to us when we need it.

This week went by so fast I don't even remember most of what else that happened. But here are a couple highlights that I do remember...

I had splits with Nathan Choro on Wednesday!! It was great to be with my very first comp once again. We spent a lot of the day knocking on doors, but it was a good time. Practicing finding my grit haha :)

While we were studying at the church, the phone rang--it was a lady who wanted to meet with missionaries as soon as possible! We told her we were at the church now, so she hopped on her moped and came straight to the church. She needed some help with her daughter who is in the hospital (who used to be an investigator like 20 years ago). We talked with her for a bit, and then luckily there were a few members in the church, too, so we were able to introduce her to them and get her the help she needed! We put her in contact with the members and the sister missionaries so hopefully this was the start of her investigating the church a little more!

The next day was Sekiguchi Shimai's birthday so we made her a cake! It was a work of art. We put whipped cream all around it and I had a little pink chocolate tube that I used to decorate the whipped cream. I tried to draw her name in chocolate but it wasn't exactly a fine-tip marker so the Kanji was pretty messy, I tried to correct it with a toothpick but the chocolate kept hardening too fast, so in the end it was legible but looked like it was drawn by a 5-year old. But when we delivered it in the morning and sang to her, she actually teared up! Success! :)

We had a lesson over LINE with T san, our investigator who is 20.He wants to be baptized but he doesn't think he can stop drinking! He tells us he doesn't even like saké, but that he can't refuse his friends and family when they offer him drinks and even pressure him to drink. Our lesson ended with him telling us that he wants to get baptized eventually, but that he wants to wait a couple years until he is done with college and his friends don't pressure him to drink anymore. We are trying to help him see that it won't get any easier to keep God's commandments just by spending a few years breaking them...we know it will only get harder, and Satan will take every inch of ground can get. So we're hoping to try and strengthen his testimony and resolve to follow God. He wants to keep meeting and taking lessons so I have confidence that he will let the spirit change his heart :) Teaching him especially has helped me realize how we learn as much and maybe more than those we teach, just like you were saying you have felt with relief society. Heavenly Father is teaching me so much by allowing me to have these opportunities to teach his other children! Now I have a better idea of what I will do if any of kids ever have problems with alcohol or bad friends haha.

We had FHE with two recent converts and the Yoshimura Family last night! They invited us over for some delicious curry and rice. We talked about the two RCs' experiences with how being a member of the church had blessed their lives, and it was really amazing to see how many blessings the 2 of them had seen and how much they loved and appreciated being a member of this church. It really is such a huge blessing that we sometimes take for granted, especially if we are born in the church. But as I told someone recently, every good thing in my life has come because I follow Jesus Christ and am a member of His church. Literally every good thing. My family relationships, friendships, school opportunities, even this opportunity to live in Japan right now wouldn't be mine if I was not part of this church. How grateful I am to have had the privilege of knowing this church and this gospel for so much of my life! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints truly is His church.

I love you so much Momma! Thank you for being you!
いつも愛しているよ!
パスケット長老
Elder Paskett





1-2 - splits w Bunderson Choro:
1: our new friend O and 2: Tonkatsu!
3-4 - Yamagata Zone Conference
4: costco pizza lunch (ft. the Zone Leaders and APs, 3 of whom are
going home next week)
5 - District p-day!







Ice Skating for District P-day!





More ice skating




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