The ZL gig is going well, nothing too exciting. I just feel a little pressure because every time I go on splits I'm self-conscious about being a really good example and trying to make sure it is a good experience. We also found out we only have to give one short training at zone conference, we have 15 minutes and the conference is 7 hours
long, so our job is way easy. I thought we would be running it a lot more but it sounds like it is mostly the APs and mission president that run it.
We had an interesting experience on Friday with a guy named S--he likes talking, and really likes to ask us weird questions that are pretty irrational but he kind of just wants to prove us wrong. Which isn't bad necessarily, the problem is that he doesn't really like to listen to our answers to his questions. He asked us some questions about why God would let big fish eat little fish--if he cares about all His creations, why wouldn't he protect the little
fish? And if we claim to love and accept all people, why would we defend ourselves from someone attacking us? Stuff like that that is really just silly. But, he had a couple questions that were actually really good--like, why is there so much suffering in this life? If God's desire is for us to be happy, why would he let us suffer? I pulled out a Book of Mormon to answer his question, and right away he said, "no, no, I don't need your book. I'm good." I continued to
pull it out but he insisted that he had no interest in the Book. Elder Strate just said simply, "we can't answer your question without using this book." So he agreed to let us read to him from it. We read about the Fall of Adam and men having joy, and opposition in all things. After we finished reading, the conversation was just quiet, a stark
contrast to the previous 10 minutes of debating and arguing. The spirit was there, and touched his heart. Unfortunately, he still didn't want a copy of the Book of Mormon. But, that lesson made me realize that sometimes, the only reasons we don't get answers to our questions are because we don't really want to hear
them. Sometimes we are prone to think that God isn't answering our prayers, but in reality it may be just that we are not listening. For S san, his answer was in the Book of Mormon. But at first, he was reluctant to even let us open it. It wasn't until after he listened that he realized it was the answer he was looking for. I hope I always have the patience to listen for my answers!
I know God answers prayers! I love God and I love these people here in Kitakami. Livin' the dream :)
Thanks for all you do! Love you so so so so so much!!!
XoxoxXoXoxoxoXoxOxoxoxOXoxoxOx
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パスケット長老
Elder Paskett
Pics:
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| My personal glamor team ft. Elders Satou, Paskett, Mimaki, Dance, and Miyagi |
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| halfway through my eyebrow makeover |
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| Birthday breakfast for Garaycochea Choro |
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| splits with Elder Strate |
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| a random costume parade... |
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