A Sunday Miracle - Letter to Dad - 5 July, 2015

Hey Dad! :)

Well, as you saw in my email to mom, we were able to receive one referral from Roger, our investigator. That is pretty rare. We don't get that many referrals in our mission. But, Sunday was even better! :) <3 There is a member in our ward named Nasu kyodai. He is super cool. He is the person in the ward who is the most fired up to do missionary work. He has had some way hard trials in his life, and so he is one of the most purely good people in the world. Last week he was talking to one of his friends and then just suddenly said, "Hey, will you come to church?" And his friend said, "Okay." And that was the end of the conversation. But his friend came! He was late, so he didn't make it to sacrament meeting, but Nasu kyodai called me out from after sacrament meeting, and introduced me to him. We then got to go to Gospel Doctrine's class with him, and then during the priesthood hour we taught him a lesson (normally that is not what you want to do, but in our ward on Fast Sunday in place of the first forty minutes of priesthood there are a bunch of committees, so we did it during that time). He accepted everything super well, and loved it. He is so open, and you could tell that his heart was really touched by the method. At the end we asked him to pray, and taught him how, and he said that he would. Normally people in Japan are a little bit too shy to pray there first time, but he just dove right in and said one of the best prayers that I have ever heard. He prayed that we could become perfect like Jesus Christ (and today was one of the first days that he really learned about him) and come closer to him and to God. It was great. And he is going to come to all of church next week. :)

How was Disneyland this week? Oh! You said that they have a new World of Color show! How was that? What was it like? Are they still going to show the old one every now and again? Which one do you like better? Was it crazy crowded there? What rides were closed? How was the weather? I could go on with questions for a long time when it comes to Disneyland. :) I'll be honest, I am way excited to go back and ride Small World and actually understand the warning that it says in Japanese. :) haha

It's weird how a part of your heart loves to grow a completely separate world from where you grew up so much. I love home so so much. But I have thought a couple times about what I want to have accomplished when I leave, and I have thought a couple times about what it will feel like to get on the plane, and I know that I am going to cry. I love the people here so much. It is crazy. They are so great. They have such good morals, and such good core values. Sometimes they just completely ignore us, and they always ignore God, for the most part, but they are His kids too, and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to take the gospel to them. I am so excited to see just how many people that I can build friendships with here. Some of my best friends are here, and I am so grateful to have met them. Do you remember Suzuki Choro? I got to see him today. He is the best. I can honestly say that he is my best Japanese friend in the whole world. He is so great. I am so grateful for the things that I learn from the Japanese people each and everyday that I am here. :)

I love you so much, Dad! Hey, someday will you take us to Germany, so that you can show us all around your mission? :) I would love that! Thanks for everything, Dad! I love you!

Love, Elder Livingston


Note: Some names may have been changed for privacy.