Week 41 [50]: The Apocolypse Is Nigh!

September 14, 2015

The title pretty much says it all! This last week has been crazy! So much stuff happening everywhere! It's a party! This week in Japan there have been earthquakes, landslides, typhoons, floods, and even volcanos erupting! Not to mention the weird disease I obtained on my face, which required a trip to the doctor! So needless to say, it has been quite a unique week.

But that doesn't mean we did not see miracles!!! Let's dive right in, shall we?

I'll start off with the miracle we were able to witness today! It involves a less-active we've been teaching. He is currently suffering from depression, and has had a lot of trials in his life, but Elder Burton and I have  been working very hard with him. We have not been seeing to much progress, but he wants to obtain hope more than anything! So in our last lesson when he told us that, I decided I needed to be more bold with him, because he has told us this before, and we tell him he needs to gain faith, and then he tells us, "Well I already have faith. I used to be a Stake President. I already believe everything." So, when I heard him say it this time, I don't know what changed, but I knew I would have to be a little bit more bold than I usually like being. So, I looked him in the eyes and said,"If you want hope, you need faith, and faith is a principle of action. If you really want to gain hope, what are you willing to do for it?" That's more or less the exact quote. It happened almost a week ago, so I forget exact phrases. Then the even more surprising part happened. Nothing. His attitude didn't change, he just continued talking, but I knew I said what I needed to say, and I witness the proof today.

Today, we received a call from him, and he said, "Thank you so much for always believing in me. I'm going to call the bishop right after this and set up an interview with him. Thank you for the advice." I have never been happier on a phone call. That made my life. My companion just started jumping around in the apartment! Literally! It was amazing.

Another miracle this week. We have been teaching a man who only wants to learn about the Gospel for educational purposes. Or so he said. He told us right from the beginning when we first met him that there was no way God existed. And slowly but surely I have witnessed this man change. He's not there yet, but he is on his way. Yesterday, during our lesson (we've been meeting with him for about 2 months now, every Sunday), he told us, if there is a God, I would want it to be a God like the one you are talking about right now. Coming from a man who said God could never exist, so it doesn't matter what He's like, this was a pretty big change.

This next Saturday I have to opportunity to baptize the sisters' investigator! So that is really exciting! It will be the first time I've baptized someone!

Well! That about wraps it up this week! Transfer emails are this Saturday, so I might have some big news next week! I love you all!

 

Elder Tolen

A Group of Kids Who Wanted to Play with Us!