Loving God

Alex said that for their district p-day activity yesterday (Monday in Japan), they went to an owl bar where you pay to get in and get unlimited drinks and "all you can pet and hold owls". I've never heard of such a thing. He was excited about it and even said. "I love owls!" 

He even sent a short video, but I

I was reading "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage the other day, and he talked about the first great commandment, to love God with all
your heart, might, mind, and strength. He said that this one
commandment encompasses all the commandments, for if you love God, you
will do what He asks. It also implies that you don't do it just to do
it. As I've heard it explained before, the commandment includes the
inward hear and mind, not just the outward might and strength. The
more we learn about the true nature of God, the more we will come to
love Him, for He is truly a perfect Father, full of love, mercy, and
patience. My invitation to you all is to learn to love God with all
your heart, might, mind, and strength.

Scripture of the week is Mathew 22:36-39, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Kanji of the week is: 臨死体験 pronounced "reen-shee-tai-ken" and means near death experience. For those who might worry: no, I didn't have a near death experience this week.

Monday was as all Monday's go, and we mostly just relaxed in the
apartment during the preparation day part of it. In the evening, it
was too wet for us to use our bikes, so we walked around and tried to find someone interested at home. There were some that were, but
everyone was busy, and couldn't make any promises. We also tried to visit an investigator, but he had just gotten home from grocery
shopping. We did make a visit for that Thursday though.

Tuesday we had service, as usual, and that was fun. We then went to try and visit some potential investigators, and to house, but not much came of it. Shortly after starting our departure from the area, it started raining, and rained for the rest of the day. We felt like we
should go visit a less active member, so we walked there, but the wife didn't want us to come over anymore. We then houses in the area for a bit, but nothing else really happened.

Wednesday was also rainy, off an on all day. We walked over to visit a less active, and had a good talk with him about family history. Then we went and had a lesson with a different investigator. It was a good lesson, but he's been struggling with commitments as of late. We'll keep helping him though. After that we did most of weekly planning, and went to a members house for family home evening. That was also fun, as it always is. Then we had English class, which was about the same as every week since I've come to Japan.

Thursday we went to Hirosaki in the morning, and had splits. I was in Hirosaki with Elder S. We had a lesson with a less active
member, which went really well, and tried to visit some potential
investigators, which were all not home. Not much else to say about
splits.

Friday we had zone training meeting, which is always a great spiritual experience. Afterwards, we had lunch made for us by the Shortleff's, a couple missionary for military relations. Because they have access to cheap American food, we had taco salad, and it was super delicious. Those back home won't fully understand why, since it seems so normal, but it was a commodity here. I love Japanese food, its delicious, but it was good to have American food again. We then finished weekly while waiting for our train, went home, and tried to find again, with not too much luck. We did meet a really nice family, who have meet with missionaries in the past. We're going to try and start something up with them soon.

Saturday was a lot of finding, with not too many things happening in that time. It was a good day though. We had English class in the
evening, and afterwards went to dinner with a student. He took us to a famous restaurant throughout Japan, although I can't remember the name. They are mainly famous for their Oyakodon, which is a dish consisting of chicken and eggs (scrambled, for lack of a better term) on top of rice. It was delicious! He's such a nice guy.

Sunday was pretty busy, we met with an investigator family of the
sisters' to help build more of s relationship, and have them come to
church. The wife taught us origami, and the husband entertained us
with his humor. The rest of they day was finding, and that was good, although not too much to report.

That's my week! I hope you all got something out of it, and remember to learn to love God, because there is so much to love!

Love,

Elder 
 長老