Elder Tolen's Adventures in the Japan, Tokyo South Mission: Week 39 [48]: Summer Festival

This week was so busy! It was insane! First, it started off by me going on Splits with my zone leader, Elder Seiboch! That was a blast! We didn't get to do much proselyting because he had to do a baptismal interview for an area about an hour away by train, but I was able to learn a lot from him! After that, an investigator that has been in the Philippines for the past month came back! He is 16, and is completely fluent in English. It's awesome! He is such a great kid; he wants to spend all day with us, so we just take him with us while we do missionary work! And it's great, because he isn't Mormon, but loves to help people, and help them find the joys that come from knowing that there is a God! It's a blast!

After that, we had a Summer Festival! It was a blast! We do volunteer work for this one place, and they invited us to help them! So we were able to volunteer at the Summer Festival! It was so much fun! I'll be sure to include pictures! After that, we had a lesson with one of our investigators! Usually I haven't been there to teach him before, because we like to have a Japanese Elder there, because he uses really hard Japanese, but we couldn't do it this time, so the two American Elders decided to take on the challenge! And it was so amazing! It was a very successful lesson! Usually, he is very against hearing anything that we have to say, because he has gotten into a lot of "Anti-Mormon" material, so I don't know what it was, but I was able to show him that I was willing to hear him out, so he was willing to listen to us! And now he is reading the Book of Mormon! It is so great! I don't know what it is, but I'm just way happy! Takao is such a great area, and I've already seen so many miracle from finding and teaching. It's given me a boost to continue to push hard! It's the best!

Well, I've had some questions that were wondering what my Daily Grind is like, so I figured I would tell you my schedule!

6:30: Arise and Shine!
6:30-7:00: Get fit! Exercise!
7:00-8:00: Prepare for the day!
8:00-9:00: Personal Study! I've been studying "Charity" recently. It's a great topic. I would highly recommend it.
9:00-10:00: Companion Study!
10:00-11:00: Language Study! Gotta learn that Japanese.
11:00-12:00: Lunch!
12:00-9:00: This part of the day is always changing! But usually involves teaching, and or finding.

Dad! The Japanese is coming great! It's definitely been hard, but it's coming! A member told me the other day that I have the most Japanese-sounding Japanese out of any not-Japanese missionary he has ever met. So that was pretty nice. It still has its challenges, but it is definitely getting better. My current companion's Japanese is great! He is way good! My current companion is Elder Burton! He is from Lehi! He is 21, and went to BYU for a while, and he is pretty good at a video game called "League of Legends." He is way good at soccer too! So that's a lot of fun! He is really good at making jokes in Japanese, but his puns in English are also quite good. He is a great guy! I like him a lot.

Mom! I got the package! Thank you! I love me some good old Mac and Cheese. You don't really need to send a box [an empty package with the instructions; I (mom) empty the boxes into individual baggies to save weight and space when I ship)]. I know how to make it better than I know how to speak Japanese. :) haha.

Well, I would like to end on a more spiritual note.

As I said before, I am currently studying Charity. So, to do that, I followed Elder Bednar's counsel. I took a soft cover copy of the Book of Mormon, wrote my question about Charity, color coded my marks so I know why I marked things, then I just started going. I've been doing this for about a week. And I'm at about 1 Nephi 3. I have found something I can relate to Charity in almost every verse of scripture that I have read. The thing that has stuck out to me the most is how charitable the Lord has been to us. All of the things he has prepared just for each of us, individually. He took to the time to plan out each and every one of our lives, with a very particular sense to detail. "If you ever feel alone, or unloved, you never are... The Lord has promised Angles on your left and on your right to bear you up, and the Lord always keeps his word." -President Henry B. Eyring

I love you guys! I think about you every day! I pray for you every single night! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Tolen