Yesterday marked my 2 full years as a full-time missionary for
the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Of course, I've still got a
few days left to bear my special testimony, travel, and meet some old friends.
But, 2 years. I can't believe it's already been 2 years.
This week we saw so many miracles and had countless bitter-sweet
farewells. Dang it, I wish I could send you all of the pictures I took, but in
preparation to return my iPad, I had to save them all on my flash drive, and
delete them. But don't worry, I got the most important one
from Elder Ulrich to send at the end of this email.
Saying goodbye to President Nakagawa, Brother Kumagai, and
Brother Tsuchida was heart wrenching. I've worked so closely with these amazing
men over the last several months that I feel like a member of a special
brotherhood. Saying goodbye to Sister Nakagawa and their kids was also so hard,
but so special. They said so many nice things about me, and when I told Sister
Nakagawa that she's been my Japanese mother while I've been in Sanjo (partly
because she reminds me so much of you! You're going to love her when you
finally meet! :) She got a little emotional and said, "Elder Stout, you
will always be my son!" Through the window we saw tons of rain just
dumping down because of the typhoon, and looking out at it, she also remarked,
"It's like Sanjo is crying to see you leave."
We got to visit Maeda Kyoudai one final time with Brother and
Sister Umeda. It was such a sweet meeting as Sister Maeda also joined us with
several cups of hot chocolate (despite the summer heat, but it was way good ;)
I had a chance to bear my Testimony to them and they were both silent for a
moment, and then said, "Thank you so much. Will you say the final prayer
for us?" I prayed that they would be protected by the Lord as they strived
to follow his will. The next day at church, I was waiting for Bu to come sit
next to me after he passed the sacrament, when suddenly Elder Ulrich (playing
the piano) got a wide-eyed look on his face, looking behind me. I whipped
around to see... Brother and Sister Maeda had dressed up in their best Sunday
clothes. After I bore my Testimony about hope, brother Maeda shook my hand and
said, "You're a good boy. That was a wonderful testimony, thank you."
It was such a special moment. He also said he's waiting for us and Grandma and Grandpa to come; they're really looking forward to it! :D
Miracle #1
Have I ever mentioned Mori Kyoudai? It's a long story. Most
missionaries stop knocking on a door if nobody answers after a while, but he
lives not 2 minutes from our apartment, and I've felt inspired to keep knocking
his door and writing him notes as if we're already friends on a weekly basis
for the last 8 months. I've done it almost every week I've been here, and he's
ignored me every single time, even though I can hear him in there. But I felt
like I should do it. Normally you don't want to bother people, you know? I've
never done it with another less active member. But I felt the spirit tell me to
do it. Like I said, I've never seen or had a conversation with this man.
The last time, this last Friday, I wrote him and said, "I
really want to meet you! Here's my name and my email address. Write me even
though I'm going to America soon. In all of these 8 months, I really wanted to
meet you Brother Mori! I don't know you, but I love you!"
And then, an hour and a half later, I got this message on
Facebook.
Miracle #2
All week, we were praying with all of our might for Asako and
for Okamura to get baptized. Asako was looking really good, but Okamura
randomly called us on Monday and said, "I can't meet at all until at the
earliest Friday. Sorry." So, basically there was no time to teach him what
we needed to for him to get baptized on Saturday. We were really bummed, but we
kept praying for both of them! Asako committed to talk to her mom on Wednesday.
She wasn't able to, so committed again Thursday, and Friday, but on Saturday
morning she said that she just couldn't bring herself to. The ENTIRE district
was praying for these two people and we felt strongly that they could be
baptized. On Friday night, we waited for Okamura to come to Ping Pong night,
but there was no sign of him. Suddenly we got a call, "Sorry, I can't make
it tonight." I was pretty broken up. I felt so strongly that they could
make it, that I had informed the Sanjo and Niigata wards to be prepared for a
baptism, and asked all of the missionaries to pray in every prayer for these
two.
Oops.
But first the trial of our faith, and THEN the miracle, right?
Okamura asked, on that call, "I can't come tonight, but,
we're meeting tomorrow right?"
"Um, well, about that...."
"For my baptism, right? I want to be baptized
tomorrow."
Well, we had the church, we had the members, we had the elders
who said they'd fill the font....... All we need now is the baptismal
interview. But.... why not?
"Ok, we need to meet tomorrow morning."
We met him in the morning, we practiced the interview in the
car-ride up with Brother Kumagai, we met President Nakagawa and his wife and
several other ward members, and Okamura Kyoudai walked into his interview at
2:30. And he passed. At 3:00, the service began.
It was an amazing day filled with miracles and the spirit. As we
stepped out of the font, I asked, "How do you feel?" And he was
speechless, "I feel so clean. I feel so warm." While he bore his
testimony at the pulpit to the small number of gathered saints, I had the
spirit confirm to me: The Lord opened the way for him and her to be
baptized. But he will not take away their agency.
Against all odds, the fervent prayers of one small district of
missionaries in Niigata Japan one crazy weekend were heard, and resulted in a
miracle. Of course, Asako Shimai was not baptized, and that was sad. But
Okamura kyoudai, who put forth all the faith he possessed, was able to overcome
every obstacle. I know that the Lord gives that power to each of us. Perhaps
some of our obstacles are obstacles of time and they take longer, but every
obstacle is conquerable if you have the Lord on your side.
This is the church of Jesus Christ! He is at the head, and he
guides his followers every step of the way. I know it because I've been guided
by him for so long now!
I love this work! And I love being a missionary! I'm grateful
that being a missionary is a life-long blessing and that I never have to stop!
:D I love sharing this gospel, and to all of my friends and family who read
these emails, I hope that you love it to! That's definitely the best way to
share the gospel anyway: Simply loving being a part of it.
I LOVE YOU MAMA!!!!! I can't wait to see you and the others too!
I hope you're ready to talk a lot! Because I'm
ready with a bajillion faith building stories, funny stories, crazy stories,
Japanese stories, stories about Elder T. Stout who nobody else has seen for
some time ;) and everything else in between!! I love you だよ〜！！
Elder Stout :D
🇺🇸 • 🇯🇵
スタウト長老 ^o^
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