Thank you for everyone's e-mails. It is always fun to read them. Please tell JD that I am proud of him and that I am excited for him to go through the temple. It is a great blessing. And the Bountiful Temple is a great choice. :D Jen just so you know I wasn't able to see the videios that you sent me. I saw the one with Sean on his walker (sooo cute) but the ones of Jackson being sedated I couldn't see. I don't know why. Maybe if you try sending it again. がんばって！ I am happy to hear that you got the package I sent and that everyone loved their gifts, especially you Mom. I am glad you liked that plate. I thought it was really pretty. :D And in answer to your question about that dvd I would love for you to send it to me.
You may have seen the pictures already so you can guess what I did this last week. Yep, I cut my hair. My two companions convinced me to do it and they like this style a lot better then when I had longer hair. What do you think? It is starting to grow on me and I do like it. It is just very different and takes different preperation so it can still be wierd sometimes. But please tell me your honest opinion. ok!!
This last week was really busy and I won't be able to tell you everything because I don't have much time. I love being in Utsunomiya because we are always busy and always have people to meet. So to tell you all of my experiences would take a long time. But I will do my best to tell you what I can.
Last Wednesday I played a really fun game called Indiaka. It looks and acts like volleyball but the ball thing they use is different and it comes from Germany I think. But we played with a member and some non members and it was sooo much fun!!! Ahh I miss sports. I miss softball. They have it every wednesday so when we can go we do. A less active member is in charge of it so we go to build a relationship with her. After that we met a potential investigator who is very close to becoming a investigator. We went and had lunch with her and she has the cutest year and a half year old named seka. She is sooo sweet and has interest in learning more. We gave a Family Proclamation to wolrd pamphlet. I am so looking forward to meeting her again and maybe then she can become an investigator. :D
Thursday we met with Yamazaki shimai who is the wife of one of our investigators and she herself has been a less active since she was a teenager. They are such a cute family and we had a great visit with her about how her example can help her family. She also gave us some more information about her husband and probably why he is always refusing to be baptzied. His mom doesn't know anything about the church and just any church image scares some Japanese people so his mom really doesn't want him to be baptized. That was a big new insight and a miracle. We taught Brother Yamazaki on Sunday about the priesthood and the spirit was sooo strong. It was my first time teaching him and it was sooo much fun. I feel like real soon he will be ready to receive baptism. That is my hope and my prayer.
After the visit with her we went to meet these two 19 year old girls who are sooooo much fun and we had so much fun with them. We shared with them Sister Daltons talk Remember who you are, and taught them how they are princesses and daughters of God. It was an AMAZING lesson and the feeling I had while teaching them was just amazing. I saw them more through Heaven's eyes but I also saw myself more through Heaven's eyes. And we asked them how they felt after hearing our message and one of them said that she had a mysterious feeling so we explained how that was Heavenly Father's love. We asked them if they wanted to learn more and they said that they did so they are now two new investigators. Great right!!! So much fun.
I really do love Utsunomiya so much. We are meeting with amazing people and I love that we are always teaching. I felt the spirit working through me so much this transfer and helping me so many times when I literally have no words to say but I trust in the promise of just opening my mouth to teach and the Lord has blessed me. There are no words to describe that feeling. It's just...ugh...amazing!!!
Friday was also a great day because we had a zone conference and President and Sister Budge came and we had some training. The training from Sister Budge and one of my zone leaders-Elder Hornor-really hit me to the heart. They talked about grace and hope and it was exactly what I needed to hear. They talked about how when we say "I can't do this..." it is putting down the atonement. Showing that you don't trust in the power of it. Of course we can't do anything. But that is why we have the atonement. It was good reminder. I love those trainings. I feel them helping me not just become a better missionary but a much better person. :D
And so just everyone knows I did survive my talk on Sunday. Thank you for all of your prayers. I sure felt them. Well I wish I could tell you more about the other people I met and taught but I don't have time.
