Elder Tolen's Adventures in the Japan, Tokyo South Mission: Week 57 [66]: Deep Cleaning and Finding Miracles!

Tuesday, Jan. 5 2016

Hello! This week has been quite busy! Because it's a new year, the mission president told everyone that it is time to do our yearly deep cleaning, and so that has been the main focus of this week! It's hard to believe how much can build up in an Elder's apartment over the period of a year. We are making it look beautiful.

So this week, I had the opportunity to give a training at District Meeting, and it was on how to introduce Jesus Christ while finding. Personally, I've been trying to improve this concept for a little while because Christ is the center of our message, so I've been trying to find ways to introduce the concept of a Savior to a people with no concept of God. People don't really understand why we needed a savior, or what role Jesus Christ actually played in our lives. So after I had been told I would be giving this training, I began pondering on how I could make this a meaningful training. One night while I was pondering, we were handing out flyers for English class, and it was about time to go home, so the other Elders started walking towards me, but I felt like I wasn't finished. I just knew that I needed to talk to someone. So as the other Elders were walking towards me, I saw a man, and I offered him a flyer and wished him a happy new year. He didn't take the flyer, and didn't stop walking, but said thanks. I don't know why, but I knew I needed to talk to him, so I asked him if he liked English, and by this point he was probably 10ft away. He stopped walking and said that he is pretty fond of it. Not wanting to lose an opportunity, I quickly walked over to him before he could change his mind, and shook his hand.

We talked for awhile, and eventually led into what we believe because I'm a missionary. Of course. And we started talking about New Year resolutions, and I asked him if he had any, and he told me no, and asked if I had any, and I was able to tell him that I wanted to be more like Christ. And from that simple discussion I was able to teach him, very simply, who Christ was, and why I want to be like him. We were able to exchange contact info, and he said he wanted to meet again. Just another miracle to strengthen my testimony of finding prepared people. And because of his experience, I was able to completely change my outlook on the training, which really helped me out!

I really do love this Gospel. It has helped me through my hardest times, and whenever I need support, I know who I can turn to. I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Elder Tolen

希望を持ち続けてください。旅を続けてください。