YSA Dendo Day - Letter to Dad - 28 September, 2015

Hey Dad!

I am glad to hear that things are going well with the business, even if they can be busy and hectic at times! If it wasn't crazy, you wouldn't appreciate the breaks as much! :) haha I can definitely say that as a missionary I love sleeping a lot more than I did in high school. You just go 100 miles an hour all day and then come home and crash. That is something that I hope I can continue to do when I get home and when I get a job and go to school. If I can keep the same work habits that I gained as a missionary than things will work out so much better in the long run.  I sure do love working, though!

Crazy enough, I even went jogging in the morning! Haha I have gone walking every morning because Elder Loi-on had a hurt back, but this morning we did a light jog. It felt so good, actually. Probably because we went crazy slow, but it made me wonder what I could do if I actually pushed myself. Sadly, since I have moved, doing P90X3 has become impossible. Not only do I not have the correct equipment, there just is not enough room to do it in the entire apartment. But, it is okay. I can still do P90X abs and work on push ups and things like that to tone my arms. Nothing to get big, obviously, since I would need a little more time and equipment to do that. But it is still good. :)

So, one of the big things that we did this past week was that we went and we Dendo'ed (Dendo is missionary work/proselyting if I have not explained that before) with the young single adults in the area. I will send a picture later. I got to go out with a person named Kusume Kyodai, and Elder Kinjo is the other missionary that we went with! He actually came with me from the MTC, and he is a fantastic teacher! I love him so much. He is so nice.

One thing that it made me think about a lot is how to get other people fired up for missionary work. It is something Elder Loi-on and I have thought about a lot lately, and I am honestly still trying to figure it out. The other day I studied in personal study on what I could do to help this zone, which isn't particularly struggling, but to just get them really fired and working as hard as they can. I was trying to think of people in the book of Mormon who had the same problem, and I

immediately thought about Alma the younger when he goes to all of the churches throughout the land and tries to help them refocus on really living the gospel. Which led to me reading Alma 5! What an incredible chapter. I suggest that you read it and do all that you can to apply it into your own life, even if it doesn't specifically have to do with spiritual things, the questions can relate a lot to our own visions and dreams for life.

You are in an exciting part of your career/life, dad! Don't ever forget what is important. Also, don't ever lose the fire that you have for working hard and realizing your dreams! I know that you can do it as you continue to rely on the Lord. :) I love you so much and I look up to you so much!

Love, Elder Livingston

Kanagawa - Letter to Mom - 28 September, 2015

Dear Mom,

Hey! I am glad that I got to hear from you. How are you feeling? Dad indicated in his letter that you haven't been feeling the best, and you did send a shorter email than usual so....what's up? ;) haha are you sick and you just won't tell?? ;) haha don't try to sneak it past me mom! I would love to hear all that is going on. How are Britta and Quinci doing? Oh, hey, when does Brandon get home? I know it is super soon, I just don't know the day. :)

Well, you want to know about Kanagawa, huh? So, it is just north of Yokohama, which means I love it!! I don't know why, but Yokohama just feels like home. If we came to Japan someday, that is what I would want to see first. :) I love this city. Fun fact. A place called Minato Mirai (look it up ;D haha) is actually where they film a lot to most of the scenes in movies that are "Tokyo" because it is a lot more open and prettier than Tokyo is. :) haha anyway, it is a lot different from Kichijoji. The biggest difference being....the hills. There is an anatomical difference between missionaries residing inside and outside of Yokohama. It is called, "Yokohama Thunder Thighs." Haha but really, you get a lot tougher legs coming to Yokohama because there are tons of hills. There is quite a bit of industry, but also a lot of housing. Due to the fact that I am still a zone leader (another question down! ;D) we haven't been able to do a whole ton of stuff in our actual area

because we have been super busy going here and there. We have to go the district meeting in Kawasaki, as well, but that was fun. Yep, Kawasaki is a real place, and it is the area with the most people in our mission! (About one and a half million people in their area) I love it here. We have a small house/apartment thing. It is connected to the side of a member's house. They built it so that the missionaries could go and live there. And it is great! :) everything is super narrow though. One of the biggest revelation that I had is that the reason houses are so small in Japan is.....no halls! They basically don't have halls, just doors opening to rooms. It makes it super compact and efficient, but I like halls better. :) haha

As for my companion, his name is Elder Loi-on. Elder Driscoll and I both left, but to different places. Elder Loi-on is from Hawaii, and he is a really bold direct missionary. I love working with him. It is great to be here in the Yokohama North Zone, and I love this mission. One person that we have been working with is a man named N. He is a really nice retired old man so we have met him every single day since I have been in this area. He is so prepared, and loves learning. Please pray for him! :)

Let's see....what else...I am living in an apartment with a Japanese person again! :) It is great. I love using Japanese more. Oh, Jenna asked last week, I think, how much I spoke English versus Japanese, and the answer is if there is a Japanese person in the room I speak 90% Japanese, and if there isn't I speak 90% English....roughly haha :) I need to use it more, but at the same time communicating with English is quicker and more effective if you are both English

Speakers. I am working hard on continuing to expand my language skills. If I stick to the plan I have now I will learn 4,000 more words and 2,000 more characters by the end of my mission. :) Then I could actually read basically anything! There are about 1,800 used characters....or so. So that is the plan! That would help a lot with college and things like that.

Well, I left my keyboard in Kichijoji on accident so my messages may be a little bit shorter than usual today. My letters are coming along well though! It is hard because I can only write on P-day and we have other things we have to do. But I am over halfway done!

I love you, Mom! I hope that things are going well. I miss you and I pray for you. Please let me know if there is anything that I can get for you! Oh, that reminds me, what does everyone want for Christmas?? I have some ideas, but I want to hear what you want. :)

I love you!

Elder Livingston

Pictures this week - 21 September, 2015

Elders Driscoll and Livingston weeding at the bishop's home.

Stake Blitz - Book of Mormon

Ueki Kyodai

Testimony - Letter to Dad - 21 September, 2015

Hey Dad,

Well, this week I pretty much told all of the juicy stuff to mom, so I just want to share a quick testimony with you.

Dad, I know that this gospel is true. I know that the Lord is in charge of this work. He called a 14 year old boy, and he qualified him to restore the fulness of the truth to the Earth. I testify that He will qualify us with the same priesthood power. I know that this is possible because of His son Jesus Christ. I love Christ with all of my heart, and I trust Him more than anyone else. I know that He died on the cross for us, and that because He suffered for our sins, we can overcome our weaknesses. Because we are children of God, we do not need to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We have the ability to change. That is something that was connected with agency. Agency is the power not only to change, but to improve or to regress. We have to choose. Stagnant is not a part of the equation of heaven.  Look forward to trials, because they bring growth. I know that the Lord is in charge of everything, and I want you to always know that

too. I love you so so much, and I hope you have a fantastic week. I have to go and meet an investigator now, but send some questions that I can answer in an email next week!! I love you!! :)

Love, Elder Livingston

The Biggest Surprise of My Life - Letter to Mom - 21 September, 2015

Dear Mom,

Well, this is going to be a crazy email. So, uh, buckle up and have fun!!

Let's start off with the stake blitz. This has been over a month in the making, and it was super good. We wanted to have a blitz completely centered on the Book of Mormon, so we invited President Wada to come and to give a training to both of the zones in the Musashino stake and then we would go and try to give out as many copies of the Book of Mormon as possible. It was so fun. President Wada came and talked about a lot of good things, focusing a lot on helping people overcome the problem of opposed parents/spouses. It was super good, and something that we have trying to work on a lot with the people that are getting close to baptism here. We then went out and we had three blitzes. It was great. A blitz is where you go on two or three splits for about an hour each, and just learn lots of different teaching and finding styles. It was really good, and super fun. I am so glad that we did it. We, in the end, handed out 71 copies of the Book of Mormon and got to talk to over 200 people. It was so great. I loved it. I love talking to people on the street and seeing the different personalities that everybody has. It was a great blitz, and I learned a lot.

That brings us to Saturday. I am going to title Saturday the most incredibly surprising day of my life. So, we went to go to Fuchu District meeting, and it went as good as usual, but there was something special that everyone was waiting for. It was......

Transfer Calls!!!

So, here is the deal. I am transferring! I am going to Kanagawa. Now, if you look that up you are going to find that it is not only a prefecture, but also a city, I believe. I will be living close to the station called, Higashihakuraku or 東白楽 in Japanese. I am super excited. If you notice, it is about two stations away from Yokohama. I am so stoked for that! I love that. I love Yokohama so much. It is really what I call home in Japan. I don't know why! haha I didn't even live that close to it before in Hodogaya, but it just feels like my home. But, then there was a shocker in the call too.

Elder Driscoll is tranferring.

So, let me explain. There is something called white washing. That is when both of the people in a companionship get transferred. Usually it is because people are not communicating with President Wada, they are disobedient, or the area is dead and not doing anything.

We sent emails every week. We were obedient. Our area was the busiest area in the entire mission (by far).

So, what happened? We were so confused. I just saw all of our work, all of the things that we had built in our area, start to fall apart. I came super close to crying in district meeting. I didn't know what to do. What was going to happen to the people that we were meeting with? Were they going to be okay? How would they transition so suddenly? How was the ward going to take it? It was a really hard moment. Interestingly enough, just before opening the email that had the call, I felt super good about the coming transfer and the Holy Ghost really confirmed to me that it was going to work out. So, I just decided to trust. We called President and found out that he just felt the zone leaders needed to switch areas back to Kunitachi where they were before, and so he was whitewashing. It didn't have to do with us being bad or disobedient, or our area or anything. He told us the missionaries that were coming in and I was thrilled to learn who they were. They are absolutely incredible missionaries and I am so excited to work with them in transferring all of the people over to them. I

know that the Lord provides a way for everything to be okay, even when it feels or seems like our world is falling apart. Don't worry if hard things happen. The Lord is in charge. I love you so much, and I pray for you.

Speaking of you, how are you feeling? I am sad that Quinci is still sick, but I know that the Lord will help her in His own timing. Trust Him. I can never say that enough. Trust the Lord. I know that all things are in His hands. I love you and I thank you for all that you have done for me. You have changed my life over and over and over again!! Talk to you in 96 days, mom!! ;D haha

Love, Elder Livingston

P.S. I will send those letters soon!!

A True Leader - Letter to Dad - 14 September, 2015

Hey Dad!!

How are you doing? I hope that things are going well with your business. It sounds like they are!! I will praying that the bids go well and that you will be able to get the support that you need for your company from the other companies that you are looking to work with. I am so proud of you for all that you are doing and for all of the hard work that you are putting in. I know that the Lord is taking care of  you and that He is going to continue to help you as long as you continue to look and rely on Him. When the going gets a little bit easier don't forget to rely on him just as much as before! I love you!!

So, the temple today was absolutely amazing. They actually ended up switching the entire session into English because there were so many English speakers there today, even without the missionaries there. On top of that there were a TON of missionaries there today. It was great. I love the celestial room there. I love the Tokyo Temple. It will always hold a very special place in my heart. Today was particularly good. President Wada came too! And that is what I want to talk about.

President Wada is such a christ-like leader. It always astounds me just how amazing he is at leading the missionaries in this mission. I have one example from today. He walked into the Celestial Room and immediately started to walk around and give every single person a hug one at a time. I just stood and watched what happened in the room, on his face, and on the face of his missionaries. It was incredible, Dad. I have never seen anything quite like it. It seemed like a small snapshot of what Christ will do when we meet him. He walked around, had a big smile on his face, and everyone just waited for him, patiently, but obviously excited to be with him, and gave him a huge hug. I looked at the love in the eyes of the missionaries, and it blew me away. What had this man done to show them that he loved them so much that they began to love him back. They trusted him deeply. I do too. And I watched that. I learned so much from that small experience today.

A leader ministers to each and every person that he or she is to lead individually. That is how a true leader leads. That is how Christ leads. He takes time for everyone. He shows them that he loves them so so so much. And they feel that. A true leader is someone that leads through love, not fear. I have learned that from President Wada so much. It is something that is debated a lot in the academic world, but definitely not in the Lord's plan. I love that so so much.

Another thing that I learned a lot at the temple today was the fact that I am a son of God. That brings so much comfort and helps me a ton. That means that I can change. That means that I can overcome my weaknesses. I love that. It also means that I have the ability to become like God, a joint heir with Christ. That is such an enabling fact. I love it.

I also learned a lot about Satan today. I almost started crying actually. I don't often think about the fact that he was our brother, and I thought about that today, and the fact that he fell. It made me extremely sad. I wish that he would not have rebelled as he did. It makes me want to proclaim as Isaiah did, "How are thou fallen, O Lucifer..." It is, when you think about it, the most heartbreaking story in all of history.

I hope that things continue to go well for you and for your business. I love you so much, Dad!! I can't wait to hear all about your week! Let me know how things go this week! :)

Love, Elder Livingston

P.S. Concerning my birthday and things like that.......my needs are okay right now. I have access to anything pretty easily living in Tokyo. :) haha As for things I miss and want.......Doritos would be nice. haha :) They don't have the same ones here in Japan. Just the normal red ones. And anything that I want?? Hmm....that's a hard one. I am not sure what I could use that much. The only thing that I had thought about was a Nike+ watch but that doesn't do a whole ton without the app, huh? Does it? If it does, then I would love that! haha But other than that I don't really have anything that I need. :)

Not that I can think of off the top of my head, at least! Thanks for everything! I love you so so so much!

The G Family - Letter to Mom - 14 September, 2015

Dear Mom,

How are you doing? How is your health holding up? I am sad to hear about Quinci, but I know that the Lord has the highest, best plan for her. Don't worry. All things are in His hands. I know that for a fact. :)

Also, just so you know, I have written you a letter (a VERY late birthday letter), but haven't been able to send it because I am going to just write everyone who has had birthdays recently a letter and then send it. It may take me a week or two to finish, so the letter may come nearer to my birthday, but it is coming! I have a good letter for Quinci in there too. Let her know that I love her and I would love to hear from her. :)

This past week was fantastic! As far as the weather, we have had a TON of rain, but no flooding in the part of Tokyo where I am. I have been drenched for days in a row though. Haha it was really really fun. :) We got to bike in the rain a lot, and it gets to the point where you don't care anymore, so you start riding through puddles and just splashing because it is fun. Haha I loved it. But, other than that the weather this week has actually been really good.

So, just to dive right into things, I got to go to the temple today! I learned some amazing things about leadership, and serving the Lord, but I will share those in the letter that I write to Dad. I want to talk in this one about the people that we met this last week.

First up we had Y. Things are going well with him, and we had H come to the lesson with us. It was so good. He was really able to help Y and address his needs. I loved to see the power of the members in missionary work. The success of this work really is on the members. Missionaries can not do it alone. As a missionary I feel like the flagship of an army, but the flagship doesn't win battles alone. It needs the support of the entire army, or it won't work. Missionary work is the same. Help the missionaries. But, back to the lesson,

Y has a girlfriend who is really against the church, and churches in general, and doesn't know what to do. They are pretty serious, and so he asked H what he would do. He said that if you really are going to think about getting married, you have to be able to talk. If she wasn't even willing to talk about it with him, then maybe it wasn't the person he should marry, because the lack of communication would be a problem that extended far beyond religion. I thought about

that a lot, and how that fits all relationships. I am so grateful that you and dad talked so much, and that you showed us just how important it was for you two to have time alone talking. :) That is one thing I love a lot about Jenna too. :) we can just talk and talk and talk for hours on end, and it has been and will continue to be a huge blessing in our relationship, I know it. I am so grateful that H was able to express that to Y!

The next person that I want to talk about is the G family. Haha Brother G has been less active for a while and his wife is a non-member. We had planned a few weeks back to visit him, and it took us over a week to make it to his house. The Lord made sure we went on the right day. :) he talked to us and we said we would love to come back and have family home evening with him. He said that would be okay. Three days ago we went to his house to talk with him and his wife. (His kids were at various activities). It was a great conversation, and she really opened up to us. And the best part is, she has a ton of interest! We are going to work with reactivating and helping this family work toward being sealed in the temple! Please pray for them and for us as we teach them. I know that the Lord is going to help us, but we could use all of the faith that you can muster. :) haha

Those were the two lessons that were the highlight of the week! While O was not able to be baptized (his family is very very against it) he did end up coming to church! That was another huge miracle, and we are so grateful for that. The Lord blessed us so much in that way. I know that he will be baptized someday, we just have to trust the Lord's timing.

Tell the whole fam that I love them!! I miss you and can't wait to see you again, but I know that this time away is important too. I can't wait to hear from you soon! I love you! Oh! And let me know what I put in the time capsule! Haha

Love, Elder Livingston