Every investigator needs a best friend

Today was interesting.  It was our p-day, but we had a lesson planned like every three hours.  It didn’t really feel like a p-day.  Two of them fell through, but because they fell through less than an hour before they started, it really threw off our day.  But we met an awesome new guy named Seisukei, and he wears a really cool hat.  I decided I want one of those hats.  Japanese style is just really cool. 

Tsukagoshi San is so cool.  I wish all of you could meet him, because you would all love him so much.  He’s the nicest guy.  Two days ago we went over all of the baptismal interview questions with him, and there was like one topic we hadn’t quite covered, but other than that, the rest of them, he was just like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”  Only he said more than that.  He is almost ready for baptism.  He is so awesome.  He knows that God is there for him.  He knows that God is his father, and he believes in Jesus Christ and the Atonement, and he wants to change his life.  We are expecting him to be baptized in the next two-ish weeks.  He could be baptized sooner, but the ward mission leader and the bishop feel like they want to get to know him a little bit better. 

The next one is Shingo.  This week we had a lesson with him at the ward mission leader, Hamada Kyodai’s house.  They bought us this super good traditional Japanese food.  It was AWESOME!  It’s called kamameshi.  Shingo got along so well with the family.  They plan to go to dinner and stuff. 

We’ve really been trying to find our investigators real friends in the church.  In Preach My Gospel, it talks a lot about the transition from being a non-member to being a member of the church.  The church has its own culture.  Like there are so many little things that people have no idea what we are talking about if they haven’t been a member.  Every investigator needs a best friend.  They don’t just need people to say “hi” to them and sit with them once a week.  They need a real friend in the church.  So we’re working on that now.  It’s something I didn’t understand until now.  So my challenge to everyone reading this letter, befriend your ward’s missionaries’ investigators.  Be their real friends.

We met Daiichi by his house.  Normally we just do Skype lessons, but we got to meet him.  It was awesome!  Daichi is going to be one of my bros, even after my mission.  I’m going to write him and stuff.  Hopefully I will be able to come hang out with him.   He is awesome. 

We are trying to be exactly obedient, and it’s been good.  So I started a goal journal.  I want to do it for 55 weeks, for a full year.  Every week I write focuses, things I need to improve, like obedience or like my relationship with my companion or developing a particular Christ-like attribute.  I write those focuses and then goals attached to them.  I have four sections: 1) Spiritual, 2) Physical health, 3) Personal quirks and things I am working on, and 4) Japanese (it’s coming).  It’s been awesome.  I’ve done it for three weeks so far, and I feel so much progress.  I’m starting to see how many goals I make and don’t follow through with.  I think that’s been the biggest thing.  So this week I’m working on diligence, following through with the things I set. 

I’ve learned that I love to cook.  Sister Nagano gave us a bunch of recipes, and I’ve started to try and make them.  And while I’m not a great cook yet, I do love it!  It’s a lot of fun. 

I’m so excited to Skype next month.  I miss you all so much and I love you!

Friends, I love all of you.  Family, I love you so much.   And Mama & Dada, I love you the most.  And also, Grandpa and Grandma, I love you the most.  That’s why I bought this:

Bye bye!  Take care!  Have a good week!

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

General Conference

I remembered just the other day that we have Mother's Day coming up pretty soon here and we'll be able to Skype again!! :)

Today Elder Li said, "Wait, hold up!  Is it the 11th?" "Um... yeah, it is!" "That means I've been a missionary for 5 months!!  WOW." I can't believe how fast my mission is whisking by.  When I counted on my hands for like 3 minutes (it's been a while since I was in a math class,) I realized, "It's been 9 months and 11 days since I've been a missionary!" Pretty soon it will have been a full year since I left, but I honestly, no joke, still feel like I just barely got into the field.

So, things continue to go pretty well!  This week was fairly rough in one way: we've had to drop almost half of our investigators because they just don't answer phone calls.   But I know that we found them for a reason.  I'm confident that one day in the future, various missionaries will call each and every one of their phone numbers and they will all have been ready to accept the invitation, which Jesus Christ extends to all people to learn of Him and become truly happy.  It was an honor being lead to them and to try to strengthen them to the best of our abilities!

OH!  Just a random little thing: I like natto now!  (The nasty looking slimy fermented beans in a little Styrofoam cup with mustard!) I've started eating it almost every day.  It's super healthy and tastes really good once you get over the initial sliminess. Although, something I like a liiiiiiittle more than natto is the MARSHMALLOW MATEY'S A MEMBER GAVE US FROM THE US MILITARY BASE AROUND HERE!  I've eaten way too many of those in way to short a period of time, but sweet goodness American Cereal might be my favorite kind of food.  Also, it reminded me of how when us kids would go shopping with you we wouldn't get anything, but when we went with Dad, he'd always break down and buy us tons of cereal ;)

Cherry burger.  It tasted like America!

This lady knew Tim & LaNae!!  We met her at the temple on splits (this is me and district leader, Elder Morris.  Stout family, you may recognize him as the Elder Morris who went through the temple for the first time the same time as Todd did :D )

Sekuba is a young adult in our ward, he's awesome XD

The highlight of this week was definitely conference!  Tsukagoshi San was able to make it to two sessions and a pasta dinner after one of them! :D Despite General Conference being a little difficult for him to understand, he really liked it.  The Lord's blessing him as he does his best!!  We've pushed his baptismal date back a little bit so that he can internalize all the lessons and so that we can teach everything, but his desire is still strong.

The highlights of conference for me.... wow, I don't even know.  #1 highlight was just the way I felt throughout the whole thing.  General

Conference helps me to feel the spirit more than almost anything else, and I've truly come to love the words of our inspired prophets.  But, if I had to make a top 4 favorite moments and thoughts list....

1. Elder Holland's talked, particularly the idea that we get credit for trying.  I needed this talk as I'm sure so many others did.  I've felt so inadequate lately, but I know that it's in The Lord's plan that we're imperfect, and he doesn't expect us to get everything right the first time.  That was Satan's plan, one where we had no agency or happiness.  We need to mess up to learn how to be happy!

2. The miracles we heard about and the reality of the Priesthood which was attested to.  President Neilson's talk especially was so powerful for me.  Sometimes we forget of the reality of the power within this church.  We are so protected and have the ability to do everything The Lord requires at our hand IF we do our best to keep his commandments and don't get lazy.

3. President Uchtdorf tearing up immediately following the talk about service to those truly in need, our immigrant brethren and sisters. The talk made me think deeply, "Well, I don't know if I know any immigrants..." and then I saw the look on President Uchtdorf's face and I couldn't hold back tears myself.  We all know someone who began at the lowest point a person can be in this world and who is now a devoted servant of our Heavenly Father serving hundreds of thousands of His children.  I want to help them in every way that I can and I hope you do too!

4. President Monson's talk.  It sounded almost identical to a talk he's given before and it made me think really deeply why that was the message The Lord asked him to deliver.  It occurred to me that The Lord teaches line upon line and precept upon precept, and if we were ready for the next line, President Monson would have delivered it.  I wrote down the question in my notebook last week, "What lack I yet?" and one part of my answer was that I need to heed the words of our living prophet and take his simple powerful messages much more seriously.

All right, that's my time for today.  I love you so much and pray for you every day!  I hope everyone is well back home. :) Take care of each other!!

Love you so much!!

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

Sakura

MOSHI MOSHI!

Lately the sakura have been in full bloom, so don't worry: I've been taking lots of pictures and thinking of how much you loved them when you came here!  Japan is pink and white and beautiful!  Although it's interesting.  I feel like spring in America is a joyous time of season and the blooming flowers are symbols of happiness and sunshine and such.  Here, the blossoming sakura are more... mysterious?  Enigmatic... Maybe that's the right word.  I don't know, but it's a different kind of magical feeling from an American spring.  More mystical than magical.

So we found Tsukagoshi san!  We were afraid that his family would maybe be a little anti because they hung up the phone when we said who we were, but the other day we went to visit him and ran into some relatives (they all live together; it's "relatively" normal in Japan,) and they were so nice!  They don't share our beliefs, but they are very kind and we couldn't be more grateful.  He's looking forward to his baptismal date (April 16th, he remembered and was thinking about the date after we'd only mentioned it the lesson before,) with great anticipation, so please keep praying for him to be prepared by then! :)

Daichi fasted yesterday!!  He has so much faith.  He's praying for an answer, and working on actually reading the Book of Mormon daily ;) I don't blame him.  When you first start, it's gotta be extremely difficult to understand how a super strong and righteous man journeying from ancient Jerusalem all the way to America with his grumpy brothers has anything to do with us today.  But as he continues to read it, he's told us that slowly it's all making sense, and slowly he's coming to have a testimony!

We're still doing consistent Skype lessons, so please pray that we'll be able to meet him in person more.  It's so much easier to feel the spirit in person, although I am SO grateful for the wonderful blessing Skype is.

Shingo is doing great!  Right now he's praying about a baptismal date because he already knows these things to be true.  Please pray that he will receive that answer!  He's so funny, he speaks pretty good English but has a very quotable voice.  After most questions you ask, he sighs a good long sigh and says, "Weeeeeell, you know..."  It's the best, you know that fake Japanese accent Megan always used to do that didn't sound at all like a Japanese accent?  THAT'S HOW HE TALKS.  So good on you Megs, you totally got it spot on without even knowing you did.

Other than that, things are going great with Elder Li!  We have high hopes for this transfer, although sometimes when we work our hardest we see the fewest results.  I say "see" the fewest results because I know that no effort is wasted.  Every person we even just try to share the gospel with may turn into one of those people like Shingo (I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but) who told us, "Yeah, I talked to missionaries once.  I couldn't learn then, but now I want to!"

I believe it is that way with all the things we do in this life, especially in regards to trying to follow the Savior.  Sometimes we do our absolute best and make no progress at all.  However, no effort goes wasted.  I've heard a story and a quote that remind me of this principle:

1. The story of when a general authority visited his son one year into his mission.  The son said, "Dad, how do I grow spiritually?  I'm trying so hard and just haven't seen any progress." But in his father's eyes, he had changed immensely.

2. (Roughly quoted ;) "God entrusted us with every privilege he did for a reason.  He knew we would abuse what we've been given and sometimes take it for granted, yet he gave it to us because he knows what we could do with those privileges, those talents, if we never gave up.  He knows our potential."  That's why the Atonement gives us unlimited chances.  That's why it's an eternal sacrifice.  Cuz frankly, as humans, we need all the help we can get. ;)

I'm so jealous you got to go on a date with all those lil' guys (his nieces and nephew)!! I'm determined to be that awesome uncle that takes 'em out on dates all the time.  Especially the grills.  I won't take Hudzly on little dates.  I need to teach him Kung-Fu and Smash Bros just like the monks here in Japan teach their padawans.  But don't worry, our training sessions will be as frequent as the dates with the grills.  We just won't call them "dates."

I'm so grateful for this gospel and for my family!  I love you all so much.  I also talk about y'all all the time and show that picture of Mark's wedding every couple of days when it's applicable to telling someone about the joy of the gospel.  I think the greatest joy I've ever experienced and probably ever will experience (though I'm sure to a greater degree later on in life,) is that which comes from an Eternal Family.

スタウト長老! ^o^

Elder Stout! :D

P.S.  It rained a lot today and was super pretty! :)