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Monday, January 19, 2015

Magic Towel!! - Letter to Mom - 11 January, 2015

Hey, mom! :) I am so so glad to hear that you are doing well and that you are recovering. That really is a relief to me. I  have prayed for you so much, and I will continue to pray for you. You are the most incredible mom in the universe!! :) Definitely the best mom that I have ever had. ;D haha

So, you know that miracle with the batteries? It may have been one upped this past week. Last Monday I commented to Elder Tolen on the scarcity of towels in our apartment, and how I thought that we needed to go and get some more. We did not end up getting any that day, however, so we mostly forgot it. The next day during study I here something thud in our mailbox at our door (for fliers and stuff) and I go over to find a package. It looks like a Happy New Year kind of package. :) So I open it up, and guess what was inside? A towel. :) haha A perfectly good brand new towel!! I love the little miracles, and just how evident it is that the Lord is in our lives. :) I promise that He is in yours and that if you take the time to look you will see so many more little miracles than you actually thought were occurring in your life. So take some time, and look.

Also, this week was transfer calls!! So, just so that you know, how that works is they call everyone in the mission on Monday to tell them where they are transferring, etc. and then everybody transfers on Thursday! So, this time they actually called early so everybody knew last night where they were going. :) I am . . .*drum roll*....staying in Hodogaya!!! haha This will be four transfers in Hodogaya, and about 6 months. :) Almost. haha AND....Elder Tolen is staying my companion!! :) I also get to stay district leader. However, one of the other Elders is transferring out, and we are so excited to welcome a Japanese Elder into the District! :) I am so so excited to finally have a 日本人 (Japanese Person) in our district. It is going to help our Japanese speaking ability tremendously.

Also, this past week Elder Tolen and I made it a goal to try and get one good picture a day while we are out and about. So, this week we have some much better pictures. I hope that you are continuing to try and make the scripture study that you have meaningful. That is so so important. :) Also, read Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel and see how many connections you can find between the Christ-like Attributes. It is incredible. I did it for a training that I gave at district meeting and was in awe at just how many I found. After you have found them in the book, draw each word (faith, hope, etc.) and then connect lines between them. It was incredible to see just how many connect in the end. I didn't realize just how many connect until after I drew the picture. :) Try it!! It would be a really good Family Home Evening activity.

Another miracle I saw last week was last Monday night we were doing some phone calls to people in our phone that old missionaries had found, and we did not know who they were. Elder Tolen is on the phone (as a frame of reference, Japanese over the phone is way harder than Japanese normally) and this guy tells him that he has never met missionaries, and he has never been to English class. At this point Elder Tolen looks at me and whispers "What do I say??" You have to understand. At this point we have no idea how we have this man's number. :) haha So I told him to just go for it, and he asked the man if he wanted to meet! The man said yes, and we set up a time to meet in front of the ticket gate in Yokohama (Out of our area, but the Zone Leaders let us go to meet him). We went there Wednesday to meet and . . .he didn't show up. However, we saw this white guy (first of all, this is a rarity in Japan haha) walk up and look at the sign above the ticket gate, and then down at a paper, and then at the ticket machine, and back at the paper. Elder Tolen said, "Let's go help him right now!" and starts running over there. So I head after him, and we meet Tom, the English Teaching Canadian. He is super cool. We had a really good conversation, and helped him get a ticket, when it turns out we were heading to the same station to go back to Hodogaya! So we rode with him on the train back and had a super good conversation about the Plan of Salvation. We ended up giving him our phone number and he said that maybe he could call sometime and we could study the Bible! We have not heard from him yet, but it was incredible to see how many little things the Lord allowed to happen to set up that meeting in Yokohama with one of His lost children, to not only provide a good experience with the church, but to get him pointed in the right direction.

The miracles that we can see in the world are SOOO huge! There are so many miracles, and I am grateful for the miracles in my life. I am so grateful for the miracle that you have been for me, mom! :) I love you so so much. I miss you a lot, too, but I know that the Lord will continue to take care of you as I try to serve Him the best that I can out here on my mission. I know that the Lord is with you at all times, and in all things.

I love you so much, mom. Hang in there, even when the days are long and hard! Read Mosiah 24 on those days. :) It is such an incredible chapter about trials. I love you!! <3

Love, Elder Livingston

P.S. Get feeling well soon! I am praying for you!! :) <3

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