Change is Possible

Something that I really felt strongly this week is that because of the

atonement that Christ performed for us, we can change. As seemingly
stuck in old habits as we might think we are, there is nothing that
Christ can't, if we let Him, change and make into a beautiful work of
art. I've seen it in my life, on my mission, and in the lives of
others. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, and they are helping us
become the best people we can become.
 
Some delicious food that my companion Elder S. made

















Scripture of the week is Isaiah 53:3-5, "He is despised and rejected
of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it
were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed."
 
Kanji of the week: 気象学 pronounced "key-show-gah-coo" and means meteorology
 
Monday was busy just because it was my first in Odate. We had fun, and
in the evening we did lots of housing.
 
Tuesday we had service, which was drying old people's hair and serving
them drinks. It was fun. The rest of the day was spent finding.
 




Hamburgers at a restaurant after district meeting 

Wednesday we went to visit a less active, and he was nice, but a
little hard to talk to. Then we went and had a lesson with an
investigator, and he was really good. He's progressing, and he's said
he recognizes a change in himself since starting to meet with the
missionaries. We did some more finding, and then went to a members
house for family home evening. He's a great member, and has a great
testimony. English class was fun too, and we had lots of people come.
 
Thursday we had weekly planning, and did lots of finding before going
to an investigator's house and having a great lesson with him. He is
really close to accepting the church, and we're doing all we can to
help him.
 
Friday we went up to Hirosaki for district meeting. It was fun, and I
learned a lot. We got back, finished studies, and then went to find
more investigators. We did find one, and she seemed like a very
genuinely interested person. But, since she's a woman, we passed her
to the sisters to teach. After that we went to another investigator's
house and had a great lesson with him too. He's really accepting what
we are teaching, and is a really nice man.
 
One of MANY dog statues in Odate

Saturday we went to find more investigators, and we succeeded again!
We went housing in two areas, but after no success in those areas, we
went to a new area. On the way there we stopped to high school kids,
and talked about the purpose of life, God, and taught them how to
pray. We have another appointment with them this week. Then we got
another investigator when we were housing. It was really awesome.
English class is twice a week here in Odate, and so we had that then.
It was fun, but not too many people came this time.
 
Sunday was great, and I loved the chance to partake of sacrament. I
also got to see some members from Hachinohe, who came because it was
branch conference. A lot of our day was spent in meetings and other
things with counselor duties, and also studies. We tried to have a
lesson with an investigator, but he wasn't home, despite making an
appointment. We housed near by, and got to talk with some people, but
not too many people were interested.
 
That's my week. Hope you didn't die reading all this! I love you all!
 
Love,
 
Elder
 長老

Elder C. is holding up a snack called Takenoko, a mushroom looking snack with a cookie base and chocolate top.

There is a big debate between these and "Kinoko" (chocolate covered cookies shaped like bamboo shoot tops that 

look like pine cones) which is similar to, if not more fierce than Coke versus Pepsi in
America.