Saying goodbye is not easy, but it's beautiful!

HI! :D This week was great! We're having so many adventures every day! I'm doing way well, never been happier. I can't wait to see you either :) And ooh, the trip to California is gonna be SWEET!! Nothing could be better than hanging out with family!!

HOLY COW!!! SO MANY FAMILY WEDDINGS!!! AND I DIDN'T KNOW THAT CARSON'S BABY CAME!?!? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!?!?!?! HE'S A FATHER!?!?!?!?!?

Man, this week was crazy. That guy I mentioned, Takashi, resurfaced as an investigator after we ran into him at a festival. Well, we went and hiked a mountain together! And he bought us, "Oden" and Ramune! 

That was way fun!! It was also super effective as we built a strong relationship with him and he told us, "You can call me anytime. And I'll be at church on Sunday!"

Such a beautiful hike. I love mountains, and look forward to hiking with you, too! :)

Do you remember Sandy? (Maybe Mieko? She has a lot of names ;) The lady that Bu introduced us to. She's been progressing so fast towards baptism with her daughters. 

This week, we finally went to the beach for a BBQ like she's been trying to get us to do for the last 3 months  It was so much fun, and such a good experience for us and for Bu! :D Also, they are super rich and bought SO MUCH MEAT. It was one of the funnest dendo activities ever. They're gonna start working with her son in Niigata, who is awesome, so that was a way good step!

Miracle when we jumped out of the car, ran, and made our train less then 10 seconds before it left. He passed the Sacrament and it was so awesome!!! He also said the closing prayer this week and everyone congratulated him so much! 

As for our investigators, Okamura san is doing really well and has been hoping to get baptized this week. It's a little iffy because he had to leave church early this week and we weren't able to talk about some stuff that we needed to. Please pray for him!

Other than him, crazy story. This sisters got taken out of Sanjo randomly :( So we've taken over teaching Asako, which has actually been way good! She came to the aquarium too, and I talked with him during it. She's really opened up to me because I've known her for so long, and I learned some stuff about her family situation that other missionaries have never figured out. So, here's the thing. She has a really good chance of getting baptized this week on the first (her and Okamura's date,) and she even agreed to free her schedule at 3 o'clock so that she can make it. But she's in a way tough situation. i just need you to pray way hard for her and her family so that it can happen. Particularly, that her family will not reject her if she gets baptized. 

Mission school was amazing this week and last! It's really getting bigger. One day when we have 100 students, I'll say, "I was there when the first student came!" ;)

On the topic of the mission school, the people who hold it together are the Nakagawa's. In the last 8 months they have become my favorite family in the world. Honestly, they've just taken me right in and make me feel like a member of the family! They asked us to come over for one more dinner yesterday, and it was one of the funnest nights of my life! They understand my sense of humor, so all of us just laughed the entire time! It was such a blast. Sister Nakagawa basically my Japanese mom (I have like, 4 of those though ;) For one, if you were Japanese, then you would probably be Sister Nakagawa. You'll be best friends when you meet. She always compliments my ties at church and is super nice and worries about us and how the work is, and when I was sick she made us chicken noodle soup! She, and her children, also invite lots of people to come to church and mission school and are the reason why we have some new students! (Including a random person she gave a flyer to at the grocery store!) Anyway, her and everyone else were really excited that I said we were coming back and told me that you dad and grandma and grandpa and I HAVE to go back to their house! So plan on it :D Yuusuke is like my little bro, we've gotten so tight, and Miharu and Chiho are like my lil' sisters. Tatsuhiro and Rukia are also just my buddies, we're always playing together.

Miharu also loves to draw and so she drew a picture of me and they wrote a note on it! It was the best!!

I've been saying goodbye to everyone. Today I said goodbye to all of my fellow Niigata Zone missionaries :'( But we had an absolute blast at an aquarium... dang it, I love aquariums more than life itself. That was the funnest P-Day ever. It felt a lot like Sea World, just in Japan.... I love living life in Japanese!!

Ooh, thanks for the spiritually uplifting thought :) We say, "Saigo made taeshinobu" in Japanese, which means, "Endure to the end." But it kinda has a rough, almost "bite the bullet" connotation to it, so lots of good missionaries (including my trainer, Elder Hibino,) would switch it to, "Saigo made tanoshimu." Or, "Enjoy to the end." And that's exactly how it is! If the gospel is not working for us, we need to evaluate ourselves. Because the gospel IS joy. When we think about commandments, we must remember we're not here to be imprisoned by a strict regimen of restricting, back-breaking rules for a lifetime. God didn't send us to an Alcatraz! He sent us to one of his most masterfully crafted beautiful creations! We're supposed to learn how to follow his plans to find true joy. It's all about being happy.

I love you mama! :D I hope you're happy! I'm happy. I'll be way happy to see you too, soon.

These last few days in an area are the worst, but the best. I secretly love goodbyes, because it's through goodbyes that you realize how much you mean to another person. It sounds kinda sad, but I feel so much love from and for the people around me as we say our final words  Saying goodbye is not easy, but it's beautiful. I'll make the most of the rest of this time God has given me and enjoy it to its fullest. And I know I'll see all of them again, soon enough.

But you know what's even better than goodbyes? Being reunited. 

One more P-Day to go, talk to you next week!

With love,

    Elder Stout :D

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スタウト長老 ^o^