Hello my
friends. I hear there are a lot of changes happening. It's interesting
to hear about these things as a missionary, because you know they are
happening, but you aren't there to experience it.
This week has been fantastic. I have my new companion, Elder Ishikawa, and he is great! We get along really well. Not being able to use English has started taking a toll on me, but it's all for the best! I love every second of it!
Other than that, we don't have much to report on this week, just had a lot of time to go out and find the Lord's elect, and let me tell you, there are quite a few prepared people out here in this portion of the vineyard. We've been able to find a lot of Potential Investigators, and teach quite a bit.
This week, I would like to share a spiritual thought about Easter. As we all know, Easter is approaching. I love Easter. It is the one holiday of the year that we get to focus on all that Christ did for us. Christ did more for us than we can even comprehend. The Atonement is the ultimate sacrifice, but I know personally, I sometimes forget all of the sacrifices He made for us up until the Atonement. Christ was a man despised and rejected of men. A man who was well acquainted with grief. Can you imagine what it would be like to spend a week being despised of men? Everywhere you turn, people cast you out? Now could you imagine living for 33 years like this? Yet, despite how others acted around Him, He knew his purpose. He didn't allow his circumstances to run His life. He showed us that our surroundings do not define who we are. We define who we are, no matter what the world is telling us.
Christ showed us what it truly means to hope. Over my mission, I have had a lot of different themes, and a lot of different quotes that I have shared, but that the one that means the most to me is the one I put at the end of every single on of my emails. In English it's, "Hope on. Journey on." Christ lived this. Everything He did, He did because He knew what it meant to have hope. Hope is a choice. We choose to hope. Hope doesn't come on its own. Hope isn't something you gain without action. Hope is something that we demonstrate. We gain hope by demonstrating hope, and, if put very simply, there is only one thing we need to hope for. We need to have hope that God will fulfill His promises to us.
I don't know if you have seen the new Easter video or not, but let me tell you, it is fantastic. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself so that you could have eternal joy. Because of Christ "... The grave hath no victory..." The grave cannot win. Because of Christ, that battle has already been decided. This life is not the end, and Christ is the reason. I have never been able to find more joy in something until this point in my life. I know that Christ lives, and to that, I raise my voice in praise. Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord. Because of Christ we need not fear. We need not doubt. Just hope on, and then keep pressing forward. I love you all! Thank you all so much for all that you do!
Elder Tolen
Sorry! No pictures this week!
希望を持ち続けてください。旅を続けてください。
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