Happy leap year day!
Weather Report: On Monday, the ground had dried up almost to the point where the snow wasn't even noticeable. Then we woke up on Tuesday and it was back to normal with snow all over the place. Temperatures colder than last week, highs of 32 but usually in the 20's. Currently raining.
Highlight of the week: On Thursday night we took a bus down to Morioka! A place I haven't been to since July, for a mori mori taikai (big mission gathering.) Our zone gathered together with the Morioka zone for a training from Elder Choi of the Seventy and the north Asia area presidency. He is Korean and has one heck of a background- body guard, black belt tae kwon doe, a crazy successful business manager with tons of different titles and an ex-Korean soldier. But most importantly, he is one powerful servant of the Lord. He did two trainings for our mission and we were the second of the two. I heard it was tons different from the first meeting he had but awesome nonetheless. Shared a lot of experiences, had a lot of good jokes and my favorite part, he told it how it is. Simple, bold, to the point. Which made for intense moments but ya, overall just a powerhouse of motivation.
Three things the Spirit taught me during the conference:
1. "If you don't like it, like it." This was a phrase and example Elder Choi used time and time again that made for funny and bold statements. He talked about liking the grossest of Japanese food (for me, and the very example he used, NATTO- fermented soybeans. Healthy but not very appetizing). He said if we don't like the food or the culture of the people, even one small thing like natto, essentially how can we help the people and fulfill our missionary purpose? And then he said, if you don't like it, like it. Very interesting point. It's a fun phrase to use now in the apartment.
earnest
2. The importance of sincere prayer. We are promised God will hear and answer every earnest prayer. There's not really any point of praying if what you say in the prayer isn't from your heart!
3. The importance of being bold. Either the way he talked or what he talked about, he inspired a lot of us to be more bold. If we want something, we can have it. No circumstance, area, companion or people can prevent us from seeing a baptism every week. Or to apply to all of you, if there's something you want to achieve, do, accomplish, see, there's no one and no thing holding you back from achieving it. It is completely up to you. I still think some cases and situations are harder to do some things than others, but in the end I guess it's up to us and our attitudes! - Is basically what I got from it.
Also got the opportunity to teach a member yesterday from Tokyo. He visits up here in the Aomori Prefecture for work and likes to visit all the different branches. I had already met him once in Misawa and got to know him there and I saw him again yesterday at the Aomori branch! Anyway, Elder Kyle Dana, a childhood friend of mine, had served in this man's home Ward a few months back. This man looks up to Elder Dana and said he helped his family out a great deal and helped them out a lot. Our lesson we had yesterday was about the importance of expressing gratitude in our prayers. It was a spirit filled discussion and what we taught him and something he said elder Dana taught him linked together perfectly and helped solidify his personal testimony! God works is mysterious and unpredictable ways!
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