Before I talk about my week though I want to give a shoutout to the most humble and hardworking man I know. Gary Spackman. The man I am now and man I want to be are hugely based of him. I feel as if I don't know him as well as I should because he refuses to put himself in the spotlight nor talk about himself despite how hard he works and how much he has sacrificed for me. So I feel the need to do it for him. I don't know how you do it dad, but I'm "glad my daddy."
I went on splits with my very first companion, Elder Nagano in Fujisawa. It was so fun, we went hard. I was too prideful when we were companions. Wish I would have respected him more. He is a great missionary. We had zone conference this week which was very spiritual and motivating. I have the sickest mission president and mom.
Alright so this week was seriously so dope. I hit 6 months which actually made the mission feel longer but that was a cool milestone. This week we had 2 lessons with Shimizu who is doing so good and on track to get baptized July 12. We discussed a lot of the commandments and he has no problems. He stopped doing stuff because missionaries in the past have told him he can't if he wants to join the church. You don't have to be perfect to get baptized but he is going above the standard. Man I love him. I gave a talk this last Sunday about charity and had him come up with me. I talked about how he is actually my teacher and I have learned so much about love as I have felt God's love for him. I had him share his testimony, I put him on the spot and he was really uncomfortable but then he bossed up and killed it! BOOM MIRACLE The ward was so supportive and complimentary. I think it really boasted his confidence in his testimony. I really hope I don't transfer.
Not just for Shimizu either though. So many miracles this week. My companion is driving me absolutely insane I'm not going to lie but we are seeing too many miracles to really care too much about that.
We met with Kobayashi after a while of not seeing him. He came to the church to have a mock sacrament meeting cause he has been hesitant to come to church. We challenged him to baptism and to our surprise he accepted for late August. He is just this old funny guy that I never saw actually doing the things we ask and coming closer to God. Still shocked. BOOM MIRACLE
We try to call as many friends as possible when we have time. We called our friend Akihiro who they haven't seen in forever. He is Filipino and in his earlier 20's, he speaks fluent English. He answered and said he has been reading the Book of Mormon but that it's hard in Japanese. Perfect excuse to meet. So this last Saturday we met to drop off an English one. He had said we could share a message. As we were inside sitting down about to start a girl comes home. He said "oh that's my wife." WHAT?! This dude is married? Then we figure out they have a 5 your old daughter.. again.. WHAT?! His wife must have had her at 16. Such a young and nice family. She joined us for the lesson, the Spirit was so strong, and I felt it guiding the conversation. There wasn't a time where I didn't know what to say. They loved the message and are reading and praying every day to know if the message is true. They are both totally chill with the idea of baptism. Next week we will hook them up with a date. BOOM HUGE MIRACLES!
Remember Naomasa, the guy that went to Purdue who also speaks English? We finally got ahold of him. He is so busy and it's worse now because he has a daughter in the hospital but he has been reading the Book of Mormon and asked us for some scriptures that would help him. We should meet with him in a couple weeks assuming his life gets back to normal and I don't transfer.. Really sad to hear about his daughter but BOOM MIRACLE.
We were knocking doors the other day. We met this kid our age and we asked what his hobby is. He said creating EDM (Electronic Dance Music). YEAH BOI! I haven't even met someone that knows "EDM" let alone makes it. He knows all my favorites Aviici, Calvin Harris, David Guetta... Even though his sister kept coming out and speaking for him saying they are Soku Gakai. He said he was interested... Ehhh I'll count it BOOM MIRACLE!
Not a lot we can do though because Soku Gakai is this super sketchy religion here where they pay off your debts when you join but don't let you leave or join any other religions...
All in all one of the sickest weeks ever. EXCEPT COCKROACHES.
I hate cockroaches they are the most vile, gross and disgusting creatures on earth. I know God is perfect but it had to be a mistake when He made cockroaches.. Our apartment is super old. We killed 12 of those guys in 4 days! We have traps set up but when we come home we sneak in and grab shoes, flip on the light and just go on a killing rampage. It's pretty fun haha. I killed 3 in a row and I was yelling at the top of my lungs just getting stoked-- I was on a killing spree. Though after words I realize how nasty it is our apartment is so infested.
This week I heard a stat that may/may not be true. While I was at USU I met a lot of guys who had served missions but definitely didn't act like it. I always thought, "how could you believe in something so firmly as to serve a two year mission simply for that purpose then throw it all away" sounds ridiculous right? Apparently not ridiculous enough. I heard that 50% of missionaries go inactive at least for a little after they get back home. Whether accurate or not there is a ridiculous amount falling away. I immediately thought of my friends. There are few in this world that I think consider friends to be family as much as I do. I love you all. Though I am specifically speaking to those of you considering, leaving on, currently serving on, or returned from missions (even if we are not friends, listen up). You have been the sickest examples for me and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I now have a responsibility to return the favor. Don't ever stop being an example. I will try my hardest to do the same. We all can endure if we help each other. Simply having a testimony in this world is just not good enough anymore NEVER forget how badly we need to constantly continue our conversion to Christ, NEVER forget the experiences, blessings and answers you have received and can continue to receive from God. If you asked your investigators to come closer to God to eventually endure to the end, no less is expected of you. I won't expect any less of you. Please do the same for me.
love you fam,
Spackman 長老
Pics
1. Our district took this picture for our "mission dad" and dads back home. Love ya
2. Elder Stevens lol I live with this kid.. I had a similar picture but my shirt was off and I already have wayy too many girls emailing me right now sooo...
3. We were watching some BYU devotional and found my twin singing. Though I am obviously far more attractive.. It's a little scary how identical we are....
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