Sometimes we have to try our best for a little while before we see any blessings.

I'm so excited for spring too!! I love the snow here and it's so pretty, but, I mean, it's so much easier to dendo in the sunshine... ま、しょがない. We're staying pretty healthy, our apartment is super cold though. Did I tell you that we have a hole in the wall? Have you heard a more stereotypical statement about a cold missionary apartment? 

Grandpa sent me a wonderful email and it made me so excited about Brother Maeda and the miracles that we're seeing with him. We haven't been able to meet with him since last week, but the ward is really surprised and happy to hear that we've been meeting him, and I think our good relationship is all thanks to grandpa's service here!

AWWWW my nieces are the cutest girls in the universe. Rachel, good work. ;) 

So, week before last Elder Stout and I were feeling like our area was doing absolutely amazing, and then this week hit. Within the first two days we felt as if our beloved Sanjo had violently shattered like a glass window falling out of it's 3rd-story frame onto concrete below.... ;)

In my weekly email to President Nagano, we asked if it would be best for the sisters to meet with Asako, or if we should just continue teaching her. We felt strongly that we should continue, but his response was that the spirit will be able to work through them just as well as us, and it's for the best that the new Sanjo Sisters begin teaching her. They also met Yui and hit it off really well, so they've taken over sharing with her the lessons. Then before the night was over, we had sent all of our area book lesson records to the sisters, and we will no longer be teaching Asako. On top of that, Bu San hadn't answered us in weeks and we were on the edge of dropping him, Mark was coming to mission school but we were starting to lose hope that he wanted to hear the lessons, and Toshiki was struggling really hard. The last straw was when we synced our records online, the system crashed and we lost all of our information. We lost records, phone numbers, and addresses for everyone. I read "No Investigators" and thought aloud to Elder Stout, "That's about how it feels."

And yet, Elder Stout and I didn't stop praying. We didn't stop trying! Every night we pray that Asako will feel God's love and have the courage to talk to her mom and be baptized, that Yui and Toshiki will be strengthened, that Mark will accept truths he's never heard in this life, and that Bu will just come back and tell us where he went.

I think the Lord was just waiting. Just a few more minutes. Just a few more prayers. Perhaps he wanted to see how much faith we really had, but at first nothing really happened. And then suddenly we met with Okamura san and he told us, "Yes, I believe the Book of Mormon is true! I believe in Christ, and when I read this, I feel like I'm reading his word. Let's meet again soon!" Our first big miracle was in the midst of our trials, he opened up and told us that he believes everything we've taught him about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. It was really refreshing and joyous to see someone with such simple strait forward faith, simply looking to please God.

And then at mission school. We waited. 7 o'clock rolled around, no Mark. 7:15, no Mark. 7:30, no Mark. 7:45...... still no Mark! I was about ready to give up when at 8:00, precisely 1 hour late, he came running through the door out of breath, "MAN! Can you help me with my math?!" Elder Stout and I beamed from ear to ear! He's just like I was ;) At the conclusion of the lesson, we shared with him a simple overview of the questions of the soul, which are answered by the Plan of Salvation: Where did I come from, why am I hear, where am I going? He explored with questions, and on Saturday we met and had a long lesson covering the Restoration/Plan of Salvation in their fullness and he told us, "I gotta know! I'm gonna find out. Ok... ok, thanks Stout!"

Yui told the sisters she's feeling very peaceful as she prays each night!!!! Soon, she'll be firm enough to strengthen Toshiki 24/7. :)

On Saturday, we made the trek through the snow and ice and pounded on Bu san's cold door one last time. And he friend answered! He told us to come back the next day and that something's been wrong with Bu's phone!! That night, we received 20 text messages from Bu.  YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!! YOUR PRAYERS ARE WORKING!!!!

He apologized and said that his girlfriend deleted our messages because she doesn't want him to study Christianity, but he said, "She's important, but so is Jesus Christ." And he let us over after we were finally able to get into contact. Yesterday we talked for a long while, today we skyped, and this next week we'll be able to do a phone lesson with a Myanmar member from Tokyo!!!! We are being richly blessed by the Lord!!

I've thought of my favorite poem frequently lately!

"To Dream the Impossible Dream,

To fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear the unbearable sorrow,

To RUN where the brave dare not go . . .

To try when your arms are too weary,

To reach the unreachable star!"

The Lord doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he sure expects us to try our best! And sometimes, we have to try our best for a little while before we see any blessings. That's called enduring to the end, and while it may be one of the hardest commandments, I testify that you see blessings when you keep it! If anyone reading this is struggling with a personal problem, just wait a little longer, the answer and promised blessings will come! :)

My thoughts came back to advice I received from Mark that helped him on his mission: Bite off more than you can chew. Basically do all you can and let the Lord work through you.

Mama, I love you so much!!!! :D Thanks for a fantastic email. Sorry mine was so long!! I got your CD and have listened to it everyday since. You and dad are the best and I love you tons!! Talk to you next week!!!!!!

Love,

    Elder Stout :D

          🇺🇸  •  🇯🇵

スタウト長老 ^o^

Our Mission is a 5-Star Rollercoaster

We're doing great! :D This last week was packed with miracles, you won't even believe it!  There were also some downs, and some in-betweens: our mission is a 5-Star Rollercoaster.

So, Ren Kun is back in Niigata, right?  Did I explain who he is? He's Toshiki's little bro who needed to go to Niigata tozuzen (all of a sudden.) That was really sad news at first, because he can't leave his area and go to church or meet with the missionaries down there.... But then, good news! He can skype virtually any day of the week!! So, from now on, we're going to be able to constantly Skype him every other day and make sure he's doing well, feeling loved, and staying spiritually nourished. He's doing great though, as we were reading together he told us to turn to his favorite verse: 2 Nephi 26:23 "For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in adarkness." WOW! What a kid... I'm still debating between my FAVORITE scripture, but... he's got his priorities strait. And so, even though Ren's in a tough place right now, we're helping him stay in the light. :)

His older brother, Toshiki, is also having a rough time. Today especially. He skyped us though, so... we know he wants to talk. And he keeps setting up about one lesson a week, but his baptism may be a little farther out than we had all hoped.

Here's where things get awesome:

There are Shimaitachi in Sanjo finally!! We have sister missionaries at long last!! The ward has been dying for them to come. No joke, at least once a week somebody has asked us when the sisters are coming back to this area since I've been here. I mean, they love the elders, but for some reason everyone loves the sisters even more. Anyway, they came, they gave great talk at church, and now the entire ward is on fire! "Dendo" fire.

When sisters come to an area, it's a good time to refer all of the female investigators to them because, frankly, it's just way easier for the sisters to teach them. In the case of Toshiki's girlfriend Yui, they hit it off super well and are now meeting frequently! :D We're still good friends, but I think the sisters will be amazing for her. So, we probably won't be teaching her much from now on. We're really sad about that, but seeing her and the sisters and sister Okuzawa walk out of the lesson all beaming, we couldn't be happier for her! The sisters are also teaching many of the ward members now, so Elder Stout and I have a bit more finding time!

Our next miracle's name is Brother Okamura! So, he happens to be an investigator of some time, but recently he's been "chanto" meeting with us. All of our lessons were good, but just a few hours ago, he told us he believes the church is true and same with the Book of Mormon. He said, "I've learned in recent years that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and when I read the scriptures, it just all sounds right." He just wants to keep coming! I think we'll hear more about whether or not he's going to become a member of our ward this Friday (as we ran out of time), but our hopes are very high!

Ok, here's one of my favorite ones of all time. Remember the miracle that happened with Brother Maeda? How we learned that he and grandpa knew each other? Well, we've become the best of friends. He's given us a lot of beautiful calligraphy to hang on our walls, pictures he's taken, mochi, rice balls, hot chocolate... honestly, we'll probably need to start rejecting his gifts before he gives us his whole house as a new missionary apartment. ;)

My mind is constantly brought back to the day that we first knocked on his door and he had a hard time talking to us much. He seemed happy enough that we bothered to stop by, but in no mood to really have a conversation. But now... well, he'll talk as long as we're willing to talk! :D "We must never forget that people can change." And what's more, the best way that we can help them is through simple love. However you can show them love.

Over 60 years ago, my grandpa's eyes saw a man about his same age, who is now a good friend of mine. They never knew each other's names, and they probably haven't seen each other since. But there was a specific day when they sat just one chair away from each other, and I was blessed to uncover that forgotten connection. It's so cool!

Mark is doing great!!! Oh no, I'm seriously running out of time, but I have to share this miracle real quick: We contacted Mark and he said he might not be able to come with us to the Nakagawa's house to do mission school (like, missionary English and math tutoring), he was with a friend and away from home. Well, when we arrived at the station, we ran into him! The crazy things is that he was far from home, at a super random time, and with his mom, and the odds of us running into him at this location were like... at least 1,500/1. MIRACLE. His mom gave us all a ride strait to the Nakagawa's and we had an amazing time! Everyone learned tons and laughed so much and we're going to do Mission School every Thursday night from now on!!!!! President Nagano has been strongly encouraging us to get it started, and it's a miracle that it's finally been established with 4 students!!! We're so happy we can't handle it. Also, I love the Nakagawa family. Our relationship is hilarious. I'll send a pic next week!!

And finally, I'm sorry, I don't have a picture for this one, but....

Asako Shimai. You asked how she responded to learning that we're staying here in Sanjo. We called her up on the phone:

"How were the transfers??"

"We have sisters coming!! Sister Griffin is coming, did you hear?? (Sister Griffin was one of her first missionaries who came back for her last transfer! We also served together in Urawa, way cool.)"

"Yes, she wrote me! I'm so excited! But what about you??"

"Sadly..... We're both staying!!"

We all laughed and then she got really serious and said, "I've been thinking more about baptism. Maybe... You two and Sister Griffin will be here, that's going to be so special. I've thought, maybe I want to get baptized sooner. Like, while you're all here."

And Elder Stout and I gave each other a hundred bajillion high fives. YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!! She's still nervous and not rock-solid positive, but we're doing everything we possibly can to help her have the faith to accomplish her goal. We're hoping for Febuary 25th. Please please please pray for our sister!! She already comes to church each week and has for a year, so she's pretty much a member.... ;)

I love you so much mama!! Talk to you again next week. Thanks so much for everything you do for me, I love you emails each week. You're the best! :) I miss you tons!!

本当に会いたいですよ！！

   Elder Stout :D

          🇺🇸  •  🇯🇵

スタウト長老 ^o^

6 more weeks together in Sanjo!

  Things continue to move crazy fast and be crazy fun! Alas, today was transfer calls. But Elder Stout and I knew exactly what was coming....... 

*insert old-fashion-wavy-blurry-transition-into-a-memory effect here*

We had interviews with President and Sister Nagano on this last Friday! Every time without fail, our interviews are the highlight of my week, at least. Sister Nagano sat me down and just asked all about Elder T. Stout and I, how things were going, how our health is, and all that good stuff. Also, she showed me her Christmas present from President Nagano... Haha, we chatted lots! She is one of the funniest people of all time.

Then President Nagano came in, and Elder T. Stout looked really happy, so I think it went way well! As always, I was a little nervous that he would either:

1) Need to call me to repentance

2) Tell me I'm not working hard enough

3) Do some other mean scary thing which he would actually never do and I need to stop worrying so much.

In his office, President sat me down and smiled with a wide grin, "Elder Stout, The Lord is kind."

He said he was very impressed and happy with how Elder Stout and I are working together, with the ward, and with our investigators. He paid specific attention to all of their progress, and also, "I'd like you two to finish your first '12 weeks' together (the standard training program for missionaries,) and seeing as you're only 9 weeks in, I guess you'll have to do a few extra weeks! We're praying for Asako. You might want to tell her that if she doesn't get baptized in the next 6 weeks however, you or your cousin won't be able to attend. I would really like to see you two attend her baptism, as well as Toshiki's, Yui's, and Bu's.  I know that you love them all very much. They all sound like they're doing well. The Lord is kind!

  "I've learned a lot this transfer. The two of you have the strongest companionship I have ever seen before. You know what that tells me? A companionship relationship is crucial to this work.

  "I can't promise anything, but I think you may be in Sanjo for some time. Like Ammon, perhaps until the day that you 'die.' " He winked!

I may have found my final area. Sanjo is certainly one of my favorite places in the world. I love this ward and have become really close with all of them. Our other friends are also people I hope to stay in contact my whole life, I'm so grateful for this wonderful experience!  Sanjo, what a special place! :)

While I still don't know what the Lord has in store, Elder Stout and I are thrilled to be together for another 6 weeks (probably the last,) and we're going to work and focus harder than ever before, you can count on it!!

Lunch with Ren!! He moved up to Niigata, but before he went, we had a way good time at an all you can eat place called "World Buffet."

First morning of snow!! Elder Stout was pretty sick this day, so luckily we weren't caught in the first storm of the year. We have been caught in several since ;) Those amazing boots you gave me are being put to good use!

Pretty snow near our house.

The snow in Sanjo at the bike parking for the train station.

Katsu Curry Ramen with Brother Tsuchida. It was wild. I couldn't finish it, but it was really good.

The Sanjoites are doing well!! Asako Shimai was really worried that one of us was going to leave. We haven't told her I'm staying yet, but we're excited to! I think it'll be good motivation for her to work hard at reading and praying and all the other simple things. OH! Actually, she just called. We'll call her back.

Brother Tsuchida is not a fan of selfies.... 

But Asako Shimai is!    

Toshiki and Yui were a little hard to meet with last week, but we're gonna have a big old family night with them tomorrow!! We're way excited. They were hoping to potentially get married this month or next, so we're going to talk about that. I'm really sorry we don't have much else to report...

Mark's back from Tokyo!! We're meeting with him too! He would have come to church yesterday except the snow was INSANE. It snowed a meter here. Like, 3 feet. Almost over night (over the course of two days.) It snows as I write....

Bu is doing fantastic, we actually told President Nagano about a Myanmar family friend that the Stout's knew when they lived in Japan, and turns out he knows him too!! And he's going to start helping us out with our lessons!!!! Miracles in Sanjo!!!!

 I love you! I miss you so much!

Cordially,

    Elder Stout :D

          🇺🇸  •  🇯🇵

スタウト長老 ^o^