My time with Elder Taylor and Shibuya are almost at an end

Tsukagoshi San is pretty much set for baptism and President Nagano played a vital role in that by simply telling me to keep teaching him.  With Tsukagoshi San I was just really distressed by some things someone had over-critically said about him, so I sent you a kinda panicked email.  He came to church again and is doing well!  

My main man Tsukagoshi San (wearing cool shades)

Hasegawa San wasn't able to meet last week, but he's staying in touch.  Xia is doing SO good!  He went to the Chinese movie night that Elder Cho and Elder Lin held and really enjoys it and is learning to love the scriptures.  He's so funny!  All of our meetings with him he gets so excited to see us.  I'm so fortunate to be able to make so many timeless friends while I'm out here. :)

Yeah, this transfer FLEW by.  My time with Elder Taylor and in Shibuya are almost to an end.  That's another 4th of my mission.  I owe so much to this wonderful area.  I've always dreamed of living in Tokyo and now I've been here and it's changed my life in so many ways.  I've learned so much this transfer.  I've been so blessed with a companion who's so similar to me in good ways and so different in good ways.  We're able to teach each other every single day.

I love the story of the Brother of Jared! One of my favorite analogies is that of how we bring God our very best even if it's just a handful of rocks, and he makes something extraordinary out of it.  Before my mission that phrase always sounded pretty far fetched: I believed it, i just didn't really know how it worked.  But I've seen God taking our little efforts (like starting a group discussion class) and making it extraordinary (many people bring several new friends who are interested in investigating the gospel).

This week we had the Little Witness concert on Saturday night.  It's the semi-annual choir concert that the Tokyo Institute does.  In Narita, I had a buddy named brother Miyata who wanted to go so bad and was asking everyone with a car to take him. (He's my good friend on crutches who only has a small senior kart to get around.) Anyway, the concert was phenomenal because the topic was missionary work and it was a story about these two Elders out working hard contacting people!  One of them has yet to serve a mission, but is waiting for his call right now!  His family is entirely less active, but his testimony was so powerful that he just radiated with the spirit during and after when we talked to him.  He testified that he knows they will come back to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and everyone was crying.  The songs they sang were wonderful.  And then you'll never imagine who I got a picture with afterword!!!!

I miss Narita so bad!!  Seeing the members makes me so happy!  Another member, Sister Chika, was in the choir and bore an amazing testimony too, being a recent convert.

I love this work and I am so blessed to be here.  I think every young man and woman should serve a mission.

Also, if you didn't already know, today was temple P-Day, so... That's why my email is late :) In the temple, I felt so strongly that God is patient and knows our weaknesses and is healing them.  Even if it takes time.  God is not bound by time, for him it's just another ointment in his celestial first-aid kit.  I think it's pretty much all purpose for mortals, because he uses it a lot. ;)

But for real, I'm gaining a powerful testimony of patience and hope.  Elder Taylor and I have mini devotional a every night together and he taught me yesterday that hope is the fuel that we need in order to access the atonement.  And with that hope that we can conquer anything with his help, we automatically have faith that we can overcome anything, and that faith brings God's power.  If anyone reading this doesn't know how to access the atonement, start with hope.

Start by knowing that God can and will fix you.

This next week I have no idea what will happen with transfers, but it's going to be crazy!  Wherever I go next, I know I will love it just as much as my beloved Narita and Shibuya!

We had dinner with Koji for the last time before I see him in America! 

These Pringles scream Megan and Chelsey and Rachel, so I took a pic :)

Love you mama! :D Love you dada!  I wish I could write you two a lot more... Someday I'll text and snapchat you every day!  but right now, it's game time. がんばりましょう！

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

ELDER KIDO!! (Elder Gonzales's companion!!)

Godzilla stepped in on my pic at the mall...