Monday, February 3rd, 2014

Dear Family, 

This week was a great week for sure.  For the most part, all we did was teach people and hang out with church officials from Salt lake.  

We went around to all of the zones in the mission and gave everyone their iPads and did a bunch of trainings.  A man named Brother Richard Heaton, who is the director of the MTC and basically wrote the PMG, as well as the Portfolio Manager of the MTC, Ron Stuts, and the IT director for the Presiding Bishops office in Tokyo came along with us to all of the trainings.  We were able to ask them a ton of questions concerning the iPads and raise our concerns with some of the security systems and things like that.  Brother Heaton and President Wada are good friends and Brother Heaton actually served a mission in Japan many years ago.  At one point, I was able to sit down with him one on one and we had lunch together.  We talked about my mission and some cool experiences and he asked me what I planned on doing after I got back.  I told him that I have thought about applying to work at the MTC and he recommended me to try and do so.  They need good teachers and although I didn't really get any time to teach with Brother Heaton, he was pleased with how we handled the trainings.  He is a great man who had a lot of good advice and shared a lot of good council with concerning how to train missionaries and how to continue the growth of the mission.  Last week we had 4 baptisms as a mission and this week we had 6.  Things are starting to pick up around here and the mission is lengthening its stride.  

Toru went out of town to Nagoya for some job interviews and he is still there. However, we have been able to teach him over the phone and he is doing very well. Also, Kazuya came to church on Sunday and we were able to get to know him and his situation a lot better.  Basically, the missionaries he has met with up to this point haven't really done a good job teaching him so we need to start from square one with him.  But he is doing very good as well in his learning and understanding the gospel.  

I just heard that the Seahawks won the Superbowl!!!!!  President Wada put some sushi on the Broncos so now he has to take his son out to sushi.  He was disappointed but he'll get over it, haha.  

My companion only has 11 more days until he goes home, so basically we have been dendoing way hard wherever we go and eating out at all the good places in the western Tokyo area.  In fact, after this we are going to an all you can eat pizza place that is right down the street with some investigators for P-day.  

On Sunday I got to participate in a Coordinating Council Meeting prep with Elder Kusume of the Seventy.  It was just him and president, his executive secretary, and us assistants.  We went over the status of our mission, the vision from here on, and how each stake and stake president is doing (not that I really know that or anything, haha).  Elder Kusume is quite a character, a way funny guy.  He taught us from the scriptures about the gift of discernment and how we can use that to astound our investigators and help them feel the power of God.  In order to discern their needs, we have to fellowship them and get to the core of their hearts, then with love we help them overcome their concerns, through which they can then feel the love of God and convert and be happy.  

Also, I was able to help Aki get confirmed in Sacrament meeting yesterday. She is going to go back to Mongolia in a few weeks for a month or so and it will be a big defining moment for her for sure because it will be the first time that she will be open with people from her own country about her being Christian.  Her boyfriend got mad at her the other day cause she got baptized before he did when he was the one that had interest in the first place :)  Unfortunately, the closest church to her house in Mongolia is like 4 hours away so she is just going to have to start a branch is her home town or something.  

I hope everyone is having a fun time over there at the game!  My BYU registration is going good, President Wada took care of the endorsements already.  I am going to go get a haircut after this and make sure that I keep my hair to the BYU standards.;) 

I love you all very much and give my regards to Grandma and Grandpa and the family! 

愛していうますよ！

クランドル長老より