JT - "And at last I see the light!" -Tangled

Dear Everyone,

So, transfer calls came! Unfortunately, my companion Elder Van Cleave is gypsying (getting transferred after just one transfer in an area. Weird missionary lingo). He is transferring to Hanayashiki. But, I am staying in Maizuru!!!! So excited for that! My new companion is Elder McAurthur. I don't know who he is, but I will be his 2nd trainer. (How the mission works is that for a missionaries first two transfers, they are being trained. So me being this Elders 2nd trainer means that he is halfway done with being trained.) so I will finish up his training, which is going to be way fun! I am still DL, so I am excited to continue this. It will be a good transfer. よろし Van Cleave 長老！ it's been a great transfer!

Today, I want to share something very interesting that happened to me while studying this past week. I was trying to study for District Meeting, but I was pulling up a blank. We had to talk about how to help others have spiritual experiences, but I had no idea what to do. So, as I was sitting there, a song came into my mind which lyrics are "and at last I see the light, and it's like the fog is lifted." A random Disney love song came into my head for some reason. I was like "that was weird," then I actually thought of the lyrics. And then all of a sudden, it hit me like a sack of bricks. We need to help people have spiritual experiences that can connect to the Light of Christ that is already in them. I remembered President Packer's quote in PMG that says, "the missionary or teacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there. The gospel will have a familiar ‘ring’ to them." A light triggered in me and I found that this works perfectly with what I should do for this District Meeting. I realized that everyone has had the Light of Christ with them their whole lives. What we as missionaries need to do is help them realize and finally define those 'Light of Christ' feelings they've had. And it worked pretty well in DM on Friday. District meeting went really well. My whole district participated a lot which really brought the spirit and I was able to learn a lot. I think my district also learned a lot from the spirit that was there. I loved it! Well, there you have it. Revelation coming from a Tangled love song.

The District at a nice Japanese style restaurant! From back left to
right: Elder Van Cleave, Elder Tsuchiya, me, Elder Dale, Sister
Gibson, and taking the selfie, Sister Saijo.

Well, this week was pretty slow;not many things going on. But we had a couple of cool experiences! Our investigator who is set for baptism in two weeks isn't feeling very well, so we haven't been able to meet with her for a while. We were thinking about ways to help her, and we came up with the idea of cooking food for her family so that she won't have to. She is Filipina, so I tried making Lumpia for her. It worked out really well! I found some wrappers and I used ground beef, carrots, sprouts, and cabbage. However, I forgot one thing... Salt... So it was really bland, but still pretty good. It was my first time making it from scratch so give me a break ;). At any rate, it went well, she really appreciated it and I hope it makes her burden a little lighter. We also gave her a Tagalog Bible that finally came here from Tokyo. Afterwards, she sent us a text all in Tagalog thanking us for the stuff. I actually understood all of it! Tried answering back in Tagalog, but that was really hard. Anyways, I think things are still going good for her baptism in two weeks! Pray that she will overcome these pre-baptism trials!
 

Lumpia!!! (Elder Van Cleave helped me wrap some of them)

Also, in this branch, there are three main couples who come to church every week. They are all in their 40's ish, so not too old, but neither of them have children. I don't know the reasons why, but nonetheless, no kids. But, a few weeks ago, we received news that one of these couples finished the papers that allowed them to adopt a baby!! They picked their new baby up from a hospital in Tokyo a couple days ago. Yesterday, we were invited to go with the Branch President, his wife and our first councilor to go see their baby for the first time. It was a very special moment. This baby was born a month early, so she is tiny. She was born last month, but is still super small. They also allowed us to hold the baby (against the rules maybe??). Haha, it was such a cool experience and I am so excited for this couple. They looked so happy to finally have a child. I felt so privileged to be a part of this special moment.

Well, that's about it for this email. Lots of new stuff coming for next week! Missionary work ain't easy, but if you keep smiling and give 'em Heaven, it is the best thing you could possibly be doing! Love you all! Have a great week!

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

Holding the Baby!  So awesome!  She is so small!

Japanese restaurant.  A boiling pot of stuff!

I've been experimenting a lot with food recently!  It's been fun.  This is some pork and veggies mixed in a mix of Yakiniku and Sweet chili sauces.  It was yummy!