"A lot of things happen these couple of weeks, and I had opportunity to share the gospel, work with missionaries, and so on. What I've done is really small things, but it was big things for others. I felt the spirit so strong when I served for others. I've never felt like this way before.
I went to Kyoto to visit my friend, he introduced his missionary friends to me, and we worked together; we went from door to door to share the gospel.(It was a really bad rain, and no one listened to or accepted us.) It was really good experience for me because I could learn how hard being missionary was. Last week, I went back to Okinawa because my grandma had got hospitalized; she has cancer and her condition is really bad. According to doctor, my grandma doesn't have much time to live, and we should be prepared. My family was really depressed and stressed out. I'm ok so far because I know no matter how bad things happen, our Heavenly Farther always help us and prepare a way. But my family didn't know that, and I think they felt like they were in a hopless place. They needed hope and somebody to lean on, so I tried everything that I could do such as teaching the gospel, sharing some scripture, and taking them to the church with me. After that, they felt better; that made me happy. I asked Okinawan missionaries to help my my family. My mom called me a few days ago, and she said that she was going to take a missionary lesson this Sunday. I believe everything is gonna be alright. Through these experiences, I realize that there are a lot of people who need the gospel around the world. I wanna help them, and I know I can do it if I go on a mission. My grandma always told me when I was little "Do what is right, not what is easy." One of my missionary friends who I met in Kyoto said exactly same thing when I asked his advice on going on a mission. That words helped me to decide. I know going on a mission definitely isn't easy; it is really hard, but it's right thing. The blessings from the Lord are so great, for both me and my family. I know I will never regret what I decided! This is why I choose to serve."
Man I can stand behind every single thing he just said. It's amazing that his future and maybe his current family's lives as well as those he has an impact on now will be completely changed by his decisions to follow Christ. God does amazing things through our imperfect and small actions. I'm so thankful I could be an instrument for God to perform such an amazing miracle. We can all learn from Motoki. Never be scared to share the blessings of Christ's gospel.
Ok another big miracle... Keisuke from Hachioji got baptized!! He asked me to give the talk and I was a little worried if I would be able to go, but we managed to get our investigator Kurenuma to come which allowed us to go and for him to have an awesome experience. I gave the talk and it actually went really well! Keisuke shared his thoughts to everyone afterwords and talked about how his mother passed away and he felt really guilty that he hadn't been a good son. He has always wondered if there is anything he can do to make up for it. He found it. I think he will be headed to the temple soon to receive baptism for his mother. What a glorious moment that will be for him to be reunited with her :)
Kurenuma offered to say the prayer so that we can go home safely. In the prayer he asked for help from Heavenly Father that he can also be baptized. He isn't ready to set a date but he is looking way solid! :)
I wanna end with something I quoted in my talk at Keisuke's baptism that applies to all of you! Love you all so much! ❤️
"Christ promises to forgive our sins on the condition that we accept Him by exercising faith in Him, repenting, receiving baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and striving faithfully to keep His commandments to the end of our lives. Through continuing repentance, we may obtain forgiveness and be cleansed of our sins by the power of the Holy Ghost. We are relieved of the burden of guilt and shame, and through Jesus Christ we become worthy to return to the presence of God."
1. Dat Baptism Tho 👌🏼
2. Haha Keisuke looks so small next to us!
3. Wait, maybe he's just small...
4. Haha love him <3 Kurenuma is on the far left
5. The aftermath from a service project we did at a members house last week
6. Number 2
7. On dat preppy weed pickin swag lol
8. Probably the most unhealthy ramen I've had, that's butter haha
9. Haha Elder Elsmore hates being touched.
10. Guess some drunk driver hot this pole, wiring in Japan is done so terribly, look how messy that is. They just took the pole out and let all the wires hang haha
11. Gotta love Chinese food
12. Mochi ice cream
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