Monday, June 27, 2016

JT - I feel like a pioneer (kind of). Walking for days!

Dear Everyone,

Well, I am pretty exhausted this week. With many different circumstances occurring, my companion and I walked instead of biked for most of this past week. Also, we had quite a bit of success while walking the first day, so we decided to do it some more. It was a pretty good week, but my legs are feeling it. In total, we had to have walked upwards of 16 miles the whole week. I guess when I write that down, it doesn't seem like that much, but it feels like a lot... Anyways, we had a few experiences this week that were awesome and some that were not so awesome.

We went to try to talk to a less active member who was on our records. We went to the house, but a different guy answered and said that this person was never part of any church. Well, we get to talking, and he just keeps talking and talking. (He is an old Japanese man, so when they talk, they don't stop. And I can only understand maybe 60% of it.) He talks about how he doesn't believe in God and he doesn't understand how anyone could believe in something they can't see.  We basically told him, "we can't force you to believe, but we invite you to hear. We know for ourselves that this is true. After you hear us, then you can decide for yourself if it's good or not." He understood that and, well, we have another lesson with him today! We'll see how that goes.

Another really cool experience was Thursday night, after Eikaiwa. We have a student who found out through the Internet that we had an English class and came for the first time a month and a half ago. He actually has interest in the historical aspect of Christianity and so, just about every week after Eikaiwa, we talk about religion with him. He rented a bunch of different books about Christianity at a library and says he wants to study those. For the past month, we've been trying super hard for him to accept and read the Book of Mormon. Every time, he would think about it and say he's super busy, he wants to read the library books first and he would not accept the Book of Mormon. Every week until last week. We taught a powerful lesson on the power and importance of scriptures and he finally agreed to taking the Book of Mormon and reading at least a verse everyday. Hopefully he will do so and his heart will be softened and he will convert. Way cool miracle!

My companion and I recently watched "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration". If you haven't watched that yet, I invite you to watch that as a family or by yourself. It is an amazing movie about our beloved Prophet Joseph Smith. It was the first time I've watched it and my testimony of the restoration was strengthened so much. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that the true gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through him. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Reading the Book of Mormon after watching that movie was one of the most spiritual confirmations I have had. Because of Joseph Smith, we have this beautiful gospel, this church, and the Book of Mormon. I know it's true.

I hope you all have a great week! I passed my 22 month mark last week, and I can't believe how fast time is going. I don't have a lot of time left, so I am going to give my absolute best. These exhausting weeks are good. Miracles will happen soon. Have a good week, keep smiling and give 'em Heaven. "The church is true, get married in the temple and have an awesome day!" -Brother Frost.

Love,
Elder Lamoreaux ラムロー長老
Japan Kobe Mission 日本神戸伝道部

   
All day, every day!
Kokan in Tsuyama with Elder Anthony.  We ran into a beautiful Japanese garden.  All that green is Lily pads on a lake.  Super pretty!


We found dinosaurs

Our district!  Acting out the story of Momotaro.
 As a district, we decided to perform a play of the story of Momotaro. This is a famous Japanese story that came from Okayama! It's all in Japanese, so you probably won't understand. Basically, there was a grandma and a grandpa who didn't have any kids. One day, the grandma saw a giant peach floating down the river. They brought the peach home and as they cut it open, a baby popped out! They named him Momotaro. Later he grew up and he went on an adventure to destroy the "Oni" or demon. Along the way, he meets a dog, a monkey and a bird and together they fight the Oni. In our story, we teach the Oni about God and he gets baptized. Super fun!



Subway!!!  Not like America... Give me an American sandwich please!

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