Holy Hannah it is hot! This is like nothing I have experienced before (well, maybe when I was in the Philippines, but that was 10 years ago..) it is insane! Super, insanely humid. Like, I walk out of the Air Con room, (Japan doesn't have central air and our apartment only has one room with an Air Con) and I am already dripping in sweat. Then, when I walk outside, the heat of the sun beats upon you and it just feels like you are walking in your own pool of sweat. I already sweat a ton as it is, so yeah.... It's gross. But yeah, incredibly hot, super humid, all around not comfortable for Elder Lamoreaux. Anyway, that's the setting for my life right now. Yay Japan summer! (People say that it isn't even summer yet. It's just gonna get hotter...)
So, besides the weather, this has been a very good week. We have tried to meet with all of our investigators and we were able to teach almost all of them. Many of them have great potential and they are all amazing. I have very good feelings about a lot of them and I have faith that they can progress far. I think the best part about being a missionary is being able to testify about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is easy, I know how to say it in Japanese, and each time I share my heartfelt testimony, I feel the Spirit confirm to me the truthfulness of it and it strengthens my testimony at the same time. And, with all these investigators that we are working with, we have more opportunities to do that. I love it! Also, the best way to touch a person's heart is by allowing the Spirit to touch their heart by bearing sincere, simple testimony with them rather than long, filled with doctrine lessons that we all sometimes do. The gospel is supposed to be easy to understand, and it is. The gospel is plain and simple and beautiful. Remember that. Also, try to share your testimony with others. As you do, your testimony will grow, and you can be an influence to those around you. You will notice an increase of spirituality and you will appreciate the simple truths that the gospel is filled with. That is one thing that I learned this week.
So, because there is only one Primary child in this little Maizuru branch, the missionaries are asked to join her in Primary at church! The first time I have been in primary since i was 12! It was a blast! That little girl is such an angel, and she is half-Filipino (yeah represent!). This was so awesome, at the start, the primary teacher wanted to play a game, so we were asked to split up into teams. The 8 year old said, "ハーフ チーム！" (half team!!) And so she and I were on a team. We already have the Half-Filipino bond! She is awesome! After that, we sang a bunch of Primary songs in Japanese. That was so fun! I always love singing Primary songs like "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", and "The Family is of God". They are so simple, so beautiful and perfectly illustrate the thing I was talking about in the last paragraph. Also, I could understand the Japanese used in the primary songs, so it had more of an effect on me. That was such a fun experience and it seems like that will be a weekly thing. It was so fun!
I am so excited for this area. There are going to be miracles here and this work is going to hasten. I love it! This was such a good week and I am so excited for what ever else this area is going to throw at me. I love you all! This church is true. Joseph Smith truly saw Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ lives and he is our Savior. We can overcome absolutely anything if we rely on Him and the power of his
Love,
Elder Lamoreaux
ラムロー長老
日本神戸伝道部
末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会
福知山地方部舞鶴支部
Playing with kids!
This is a pretty cool story. On Wednesday, we went to visit one of the investigators that we haven't met before. We went over to her house and talked for a while. Then she said, "hey, there is a person who lives down the street who went to school in Ireland and is really good at English. You should go visit her!" So we followed this investigator to the person's house and then the investigator had to leave to go take care of her kids. So, we rang the doorbell and the person wasn't there. So then, we started to head back when this group of 5 ish kids come running over to us wanting to play. Apparently these kids have been playing with the missionaries every Wednesday for the past little while because they knew the names of the missionaries who were here last transfer. They love the missionaries! So, had the investigator not have pointed in the direction of this lady's house, we would not have been able to play with the kids. We would've never known. I thought that was some awesome direction from Heavenly Father. These kids were so fun too!
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| this one is my favorite :) |
Family Home Evening
Darn... It's blurry... So, every Monday night, we have Family Home Evening with the Branch President and his wife (they are so amazing), and the recent convert/investigator Family. We made sushi and had such a fun time. This 8 year old girl (the only Primary kid in the branch) is so fun and such a great member. I am amazed every time. It was so, so fun.
Thankful for Temple Covenants!
So here's another story for you. See that picture? Those are my pants. That is where my upper thigh is; very very ripped and torn in two places. What the heck happened you may ask. Well, here you go. So we were riding our bikes at around 12:00 one afternoon. We were riding back to the apartment to eat some lunch. As we were riding, I was deep in thought and there was a river right next to us. I love water and fish and whatnot, so I was looking into the water looking for fish. All this while I was riding my bike pretty fast. Well, as other times when you are driving distracted, you don't see what is right ahead of you. I ran head on into a waist high pole, like one of those things that separate the sidewalk and the car lanes. I flipped over my bike, landed pretty softly on the ground on my back. I popped right back up though. I examined myself, made sure nothing bad happened and I was great. I was bleeding from a cut on my thumb, had a few scratches and bruises, but I was great; no pain at all. So, we kept going, kind of slowly, back home. As I got off my bike, I looked down to my pants and I can see the white of my garments... (A little embarrassing, but hey, who hasn't ripped their pants? It's life.) This huge rip was right on my thigh as you can see on the picture. I kind of sat back and marveled. My leg could have been ripped up just like my pants were. That pole ripped right through the pants like a knife through soft butter. I am so grateful for the temple covenants and for the protection, the literal physical protection that they bring. My leg could have been severely damaged. I know that the Lord is looking out for each and every one of you and as you make covenants with him, he will bless you with protection and with happiness.
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