MLC in Shibuya

元気よ！Week 2 was way good and way crazy! :D We had lots of meetings and prep and such, and the Lord consecrated our time with some AWESOME miracles.

Elder Frazier is so organized, considerate, way smart, and is always smiling!  He's an awesome companion to have, I'm so lucky.  Living with Elder Morris is hilarious!  We're brothers, but we've long-since overcome any clashing in our relationship, so it's just like living with a best friend.  On stressful nights, I just tell jokes and stories with him and all four of us have a good laugh and wind down well.  Elder Hugo is the sweetest district leader ever, always asking us how he can serve us.  OH!  And today is Elder Morris's birthday, so naturally we hung out and Elder Hugo served us by holding up the fan (JAPAN IS SO HOT AND HUMID.)

MAN!  I literally cannot picture in my mind that Josh is a return missionary.   (And I don't use the word "literally" lightly.) We're still supposed to be kids runnin' around in his sandbox!!  But I'm sure he was a great missionary.  That story was really powerful, thanks for sharing!  

Still haven't found many new people, but Fuji San is progressing SO well!  His testimony is beginning to form and he's understanding everything we teach so well.  He really really opened up this last week as we simply asked about him and focused on who he is and becoming actual friends.  Ward members have been amazing and so supportive, especially two of my new good friends brother Kawai and brother Inoe.  Anyway, as we've showed genuine interest in Fuji San, he's begun to pray daily, to come to church, to come to FHE, and we even went bowling together today! :D

And he smiled in the picture!  It's goofy of me, but he never smiled two weeks ago, and so this picture just makes me happy.

As a zone, we all counseled about goals for the transfer and got in a big circle and prayed, and didn't finish until we unanimously agreed on what we feel the Lord wants us to accomplish, and it was such a powerful experience.  Our zone is a family.  I've never felt so much unity in my mission, and I wish I could talk about every Elder on here, but I don't have that much time!  It's been amazing to meet with these people and see the crazy interesting miracles (such as one companionship fellowshipping 50 football players and becoming a part-time assistant coach on their team with permission from our mission president.  Another companionship taught a deaf man who's been investigating the church for decades.  And Elder Frazier and I have become good friends with a young man in our ward who before inviting us to lunch this week didn't like talking to missionaries at all.)

It's faith.  It's just faith.  Everyone has been exercising faith and the lord is blessing this area and these missionaries profoundly.

The hardcore version of our "ice cream party because everyone role-played in the zone and is getting way good at teaching" party.

The happy version.  We sent this one ;)

  

I love seeing pictures of the family :D I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!  I'm so grateful for our family. I can never say that enough.

Yes, we've been preparing for the Sapporo Temple dedication for months, all of the members are getting so excited and talk about it frequently! :) Lots of people have pictures of it as their wallpaper (well, mostly missionaries.) I'm so excited! :)

Oh!  Another thing that completely made my week.  We had Mission Leadership Counsel (MLC) at Shibuya, and so I got to return home a week after leaving.  It just felt right.  That city, particularly that area, will always hold a special place in my heart.  But not only that.  I was priveleged to meet so many of my best friends and mission heroes whom I look up to— I saw Elder Li, Elder Snyder, Elder Clark, and my MTC sisters, Sister Riggs and Sister Chinain!

It was such a highlight, I can't describe how happy I was to be there, nor how blessed I was to be untied with so many people I love in one joyous meeting :D Elder Li and I just talked and laughed and reminisced every free moment we had before, at lunch, and after.  I love that man!  Elder Clark and I had SO much to talk about, but not nearly enough time, so we kept it short.  The sisters are Sister Training Leaders in my home-town Chiba (where Narita is) and are of course doing mad work.  Man... I love being a missionary.

LOVE YOU!!! :)

スタウト長老 ^o^

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  Elder Stout! :D

Tonkatsu might be my favorite food in Japan... But maybe it's sushi!