Elder Tolen's Adventures in the Japan, Tokyo South Mission: Week 76 [85]: Back to Back Splits

Monday, May 16, 2016

This week I don't have too much time! Again! We went and hiked Mt. Takao, again! But it took a lot longer than we thought, so this week's email will be pretty short as well! Sorry! I promise next time I'll write a nice long email!

To summarize, I had the opportunity to go on splits twice this week! I didn't get to spend too much time in my own area! It was an interesting experience!

For the first exchange, I went to an area called Yakota! It's a military base, and that was an interesting experience! We did everything in English--a pretty stark contrast to my current area! But we saw some great miracles. I have two that I would really like to share. The first one actually occurred right after we arrived in the area. We started walking by this school for Chinese people, and started talking to this group of guys, and one of them says he was born in California near L.A., but after saying that, he started to walk away, but I said, "Hey! I was born around there too!" I have never seen somebody so excited to hear that! He was ecstatic! We taught him a lesson right there, he took a Book of Mormon, and agreed to meet again! What a great way to start an exchange!

Then later that night, we had a lesson with one of their investigators who has really been struggling lately, but during that lesson, the Spirit was so strong, and she actually accepted the invitation to be baptized! It was an absolutely amazing experience!

After that, we had district meeting, and then I went over to Kunitachi for exchanges with the zone leaders! That was also a great experience. We were able to see a lot of tender mercies there as well. The Lord is truly hastening this work, and I am so thankful for the small role that the Lord has given me to play. I know that we each have individual roles, and different parts to play, but there isn't a single part that is more important that any of the others. I know that's true!

I hope you all have an absolutely fantastic week! I love you all!

Elder Tolen