Hey Mom!!
First of all, I will be praying extra hard for you this week! Please please be safe, and let the other people in our family just take care of you. Even when it might be hard to just lay there, it also might be good for you. Just be patient with your body and it will all be okay. Honestly, I just laugh at how crazy you can be with your health problems sometimes! There is no end!! haha <3 :) You will be okay, mom. I promise. I know that the Lord has very specific plans for you and that you will continue to progress/begin to progress in a way that you have never seen before in your life. I promise you that. Trust the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. Be not afraid, only believe.
Well, to start out this week let us talk about the miracle of the batteries! haha So on New Years day (which is a much bigger deal in Japan than Christmas is) we decided that we wanted to meet with Norton san and have a little "Party" by watching the Testaments! haha So we emailed him (they email here like we text. It is kind of weird and a hard adjustment to get used to not calling it a text) and asked him if he could, and he said he would love too, but wondered if he could have the same member, Nakayama Shimai, come as well. We said that was fine, and we got to meet him! However, as we were setting up at the church with the TV and everything we realized we forgot the Testaments at the apartment! Miracle number one: They had a copy at the church! :) So that took care of that problem. However, there was the small language barrier (bahaha....small... ;D haha) between us and the investigators, so we needed to be able to set it up with the actual speaking in Japanese, and then with English subtitles. So, we needed the remote to work. However, upon inspecting the remote, not only were the batteries old, they had battery acid all over them. Not that conducive to ...well...working. :) And then Elder Tolen said, "Hey, I think I saw some batteries in the flower garden in front of the church!" So we went outside, and sure enough there were three batteries! The Lord knew that we forgetful missionaries would need some help, and for some reason prompted someone to dump their old batteries in the flower garden at the church. We only needed two of them to work, so we tried all three combinations, and the last one worked. It was such a huge miracle. We had a good time watching the movie, and while Norton san still has a hard time recognizing the feeling of the Spirit, he did say that he loved all of the things that Christ said in the video. It is so incredible to see him progressing. I love him and all of our investigators so so much.
In other news, because this last week was the New Year, everybody is super super super super super busy!!! Nobody could really meet us, except for Norton san. He is so awesome. But, because of the difficulty of meeting with people during the New Year time, members really reach out to missionaries, and we have had four meal appointments with members in the last three days. It has been amazing. We had some incredible food, everything from sukiyaki (really really good. You should look it up) to sushi, to meat loaf! haha It has been so great.
The point that I really want to emphasize in my letter home to you today, Mom, is the necessity and power that comes from personal study. Especially when you focus on other people. Mom, I promise that if you will devote the time that you are given or that you take for your personal study for the girls that you are supposed to lead in young womens you will inevitably find what you need to not only help them, but help our family and your own personal struggles. I have seen it so so frequently on my mission. Missions are not easy. Sometimes it can be extremely stressful. It is hard sometimes to not look at myself as such a young missionary with not much to offer in my position as district leader. Most people in my district have been on their missions for almost twice as long as me. Kind of crazy! haha But that is definitely not true. Every missionary from transfer one to transfer seventeen has so much to offer. It is incredible. I learn so much from Elder Tolen. He is such a great example to me of faith in the Lord. But this week as I have tried to study for other people, I have inevitably been edified as to how I can better improve my life and overcome the personal trials that I have. I am so so grateful for the opportunity that I have to study an hour every morning. Study the scriptures mom. Particularly the Book of Mormon. It is so powerful, and has the answer to all of the questions that you may be wondering, I promise. I love you so so much, mom!
Lastly, Just know that I am praying super hard for you, particularly this week. You are going to be blessed. I promise. This is a blessing in disguise. haha It has a pretty good disguise, huh? :) haha The Lord likes to do that to us. I know that trials that come in our life are there for a reason, and that the trials that you have are exactly what you need to refine you and make you the daughter of God that He needs you to be. You have a powerful testimony, Mom. I have felt it over and over again. Share it. :) I love you!! And thank you for sending me the email about the Blume's and Jenna! That was soo cool that she got to see them! I also loved that picture. <3 Speaking of which, send more pictures of our family too!! :) <3 <3 I love you!!
Love, Elder Livingston
リビングストン長老
Note: Some names may have changed to protect privacy
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