Dearest Mother,
Here in the land of the rising sun, well....I haven't seen the sun rise in a little while. :) haha It is pretty cloudy most days, but has been surprisingly not rainy, so that is good! I really enjoyed getting the survey, and I will respond to that soon. :) I am glad that you are working on the magazine, and I am super excited to see it this Christmas season. Are you getting ready for Christmas? Can you believe that it is already getting to be time for Christmas?? What an incredible time to share the gospel, right? Most people in Japan don't even know why Christmas exists! haha they think it is just a time to be with your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse and go on dates and eat fried chicken and Christmas cake.....don't ask me why they believe that, it doesn't make sense to me either.
So, as for the title of this email, I just thought it was funny because Elder Cook's name is Westly, so.....you know.....as you wish just happens to be something that is connected to that name! haha :) It has been a really good week with him. He is such a good missionary, exactly obedient, and I have loved working with him. I would love to share a couple of the miracles that are happening in our companionship and zone.
The first one is actually related to this past transfer a lot. We have struggled a lot recently to find new investigators, so Elder Cook and I have definitely been praying for that and doing all that we could to find people. This week at Eikaiwa Elder Cook and Elder Philips were assigned to teach bible class (a class that typically no one had attended). And someone showed up! His name is HS. He came in and started talking about how he had already read the bible, but that he was interested in learning about the mormon bible. He said that he wasn't Christian, because he wasn't baptized yet. Yet. That was the key word. Elder Cook had a great lesson with him and they got to read from 3 Nephi 11. In the end Elder Cook extended the baptismal invitation, and he said yes! We did not set a date with him yet, but he will be coming back into bible class next week, and I would not be surprised if he progressed very very quickly. :) It was one of the biggest miracles.
That was a great start to the transfer (that was our first day together), and since then we have just been doing all that we can to be super obedient and just work really hard. It has been really fun. :) It can be exhausting, for sure, to just come home at the end of the day and need to plan, and then call a ton of people, but it has been good. I was doing all of those things before, but for some reason now it all seems more rushed. That is something that I really want to get better at in the coming days and weeks. What have you done to keep it so that life does not feel rushed, even when it is busy? I know that can be really hard, but I know there is a way to do it, and I just want to figure it out. :) Also, we have been running! And a lot further and faster than I did with Elder Loi-on. We went on a 45 minute run the other day! haha well....a 30 minute run and then we got lost and it turned into a 45 minute run. :) haha It was really good though, and I feel so much better in the mornings if I run. i definitely want to run/workout in the morning when I get home.
One of the craziest miracles that I have heard about, though, is what has happened in Kawasaki. So, two of the Kawasaki Elders went and were knocking on doors. They happened to find this one Filipino girl by the name of M. They referred her to the sisters in Kawasaki, and ended up all going to visit her last week. And it was incredible. They had a really good lesson, and at the end of the lesson she prayed that she would be able to become a part of our church.......something that we can definitely help with. :) haha Then, they invited her to church and she said maybe. They didn't really know if she would come. And then she showed up....and brought her dad! It was an amazing miracle. And then as they were leaving she came up and expressed how she wanted to start meeting with the sisters every Tuesday and Friday, if that was okay with them. They just stood there in awe and said that would for sure be okay for them!
I know that the Lord is putting people in our path who are prepared. I know that there are those who are waiting, with bated breath, to hear of the Plan of Salvation and what it means for them and their families. These were just two of the examples. Never forget that Christ is a miracle worker. I hope that you can see that everyday in your life.
I love you so much and I pray for your health. I pray that as you are sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit you will know how to help the young women in the ward. Listen for the Holy Ghost. It is Him, not you, that will get in and change their hearts to become the women that they need to be in this world of upheaval and sin. I love you, Mom!!! I hope you are feeling a bit better than you were last week. :) Keep working hard and doing all that you can to listen to the Spirit, okay?? :)
Love,
Elder Livingston
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