Week 66 [75]: The Healing Clay

Monday, March 6, 2016

Hello!

This week we got transfer emails!

I'm going to be staying in Fuchu! I'll be getting a new companion. His name is Elder Ishikawa. He has been out in the field for about 10 months, and he is Japanese, and actually, I've lived with Elder Ishikawa before! We lived together in Takao, so I already know him! It should be great! But, the only problem is he speaks Japanese, and we live in a two man apartment. So I won't be speaking any English this transfer! That's going to be a lot of fun, but the grammar in my emails home will probably start to deteriorate... Sorry Mom!

Other than that this week we have been super busy! We had a music night here on Saturday, and I got to play the drum set with a little band we created, and make some really cool renditions of primary songs! It was a ton of fun, but we were also singing in about 6 other songs, so we have been rehearsing all week. It's been busy! But the music night turned out to be a success! A ton of people came, and a couple of our investigators came and were able to take some big steps in their progression towards Christ! I know that the Holy Ghost works through the power of music. Music really has an influence with your sensitivity to the Spirit.

We've been able to see a lot of miracles this week, and accomplish a lot! This week, I would like to share a short spiritual thought from the New Testament. It comes from John 9. In John chapter 9 we learn of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. His apostles asked Jesus why this man was blind. They wondered if it was because of his own sins, or possibly the sins of his parents. Christ answered them and said, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

We can learn a lot from that line right there: "But that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

I think we can kind of change the wording here a little bit and liken it to ourselves: "But that the works of God should be made manifest unto him."

In every single one of our lives, we have times where we may feel "blind"--times when our trials seem to have no cause, and no visible end. It's in these time we have to remember that all trials have one general purpose, and that's to make the works of God visible unto us. Now, we have to ask ourselves, "How?"

The blind man didn't get his sight back just because he wanted to see again. And he definitely did not get his sight back through his own power. Now, let's read a little further:

"When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."

First Jesus had to anoint his eyes with clay. Now if you think about it, clay isn't the cleanest of things, and I'm sure it wasn't comfortable to the blind man to have that put on his face. But because of it, he was able to overcome his trial.

Sometimes, in our trials, we encounter times when we think things can't get any worse, and then sometimes, they still do get worse. Sometimes, putting the clay on our eyes will make things worse. It will make things harder, and it will definitely make you feel a little uncomfortable. The clay that I am referring to is the power of the Atonement. Something I didn't recognize from this story is that before Jesus put the clay of the blind man/s face, he had to touch it. He had to experience it. He literally had to feel it. And in case you didn't catch the change, I'm not just talking about clay anymore. He has to feel every piece of "clay" he gives us. He knows what it takes to overcome our challenges in this life, and sometimes, it just takes a different kind of challenge. I know that this is true.

I would just like to add my testimony to the countless others that have gone before me. I know Christ lives, and He loves each of us. He cares about us, and only wants what's best for us. This life has been created so that each one of us can reach our highest potential. I know this is true. Keep pressing forward, and keep daring to dream. I'm a firm believer that God doesn't give us desires and dreams that we can't aspire to. We can obtain anything the Lord needs us to. Keep persevering. Christ will always be there with you. I know that this is true!

I hope you all have a great week! I love each and every one of you! Keep flying, and dare to dream on!

Elder Tolen

Photo after Music Night

The Most Vacant Place I Have Ever Seen in Tokyo!

 

Week 65 [74]: Bye Bye, Sister Samurai!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

This week, as you can see, Sister Samurai left! If you didn't know her, she was one of the sisters in my district, but her real mission call was to California, so she was just here waiting for her Visa, but she got it, and she left today after going to the temple! She is going to be a fantastic missionary in California. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to learn for her this last transfer. In her place a new sister, Sister Neff, will be joining the district for the last week and a half before transfer day! That's insane! It's already transfer day! I can't believe it. I swear we just had transfers.

This week was pretty intense. We were running all over the place! There was so many things to do! The sisters had another baptism, so there was preparations made for that, and then we have a music night this Saturday that we are preparing for that I have to play the drum set for, so that will be exciting as well! There is a ton of preparation going into this music night, so I think it will turn out fantastic.

This week I also had the opportunity to go on splits with our Zone Leaders, so that was a lot of fun. Those two are fantastic missionaries. I respect each of them so much. They do so much for this zone, it's incredible. We had to end our splits a little bit early though, because we had zone meeting that day, and Elder Brown and I were giving a training.

Recently, I have been studying the books of Samuel in the Old Testament. I have learned quite a bit from it. Recently I read the story of David and Goliath. There is so much in that story that I had never recognized before. I really tried to make myself David. I tried to feel as he would feel, and think like he would think in thi situation. And I was terrified. Goliath comes in and demands a duel, because in ancient times, in order to avoid a gratuitous amount of casualties, opposing forces would pick champions, someone to represent their side, and they would pit their champions against each other, and whichever team's champion came out victorious was declared the winner.

So the Philistines chose Goliath and demanded a duel, and so for four days Israel searched for a champion, but to no avail. They couldn't find a single man who would be able to give Goliath a run for his money. King Saul was stuck. Around this time, David's mother sent him off to the war camp to give his brothers some food. David, upon seeing the situation decided to fight Goliath. Saul, who by this point was out of options, decided that there is no other way. He chose David as his champion.

He starts to place armor upon David, but David says that since the armor has not yet been proved, he cannot wear it. This was really interesting to me. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that maybe the armor had not been approved. God had not approved the armor. Sometimes, God asks us to do things that seem ridiculous, or maybe even impossible, like to take the 10ft tall Goliath on in hand-to-hand combat alone, with no visible means of protection, and in David's case, a weapon that seems pretty ill-fitted for the task at hand. So David, with a sling in one hand, and a staff in the other, accepts the challenge laid by Goliath. Now we have to realize that if he loses, that it doesn't only affect him, but his entire country looses their freedom. So David, with this burden on his shoulders, approaches Goliath. And we all know how the story ends.

I'm out of time, but what I'm trying to say is that no matter how impossible a situation may seem, or no matter how unprepared you may feel, the Lord will always be there with you. The Lord will prepare you. He will qualify you for his work.

I love you. Keep pressing forward. Don't be afraid of failure, because you will miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Keep living, and journey on.

Elder Tolen

Cleaning the Baptism Font

On Splits with Elder Christensen at a Member's House

Week 64 [73]: Onward, Ever Onward!

Monday, February 21, 2016

This week was fantastic! I'll summarize some of the highlights here pretty fast.

First! We had district meeting, and on the way back to the church to prepare district meeting Elder Brown and I both felt like we needed to go down a different road, so we started, and almost made it to the church, and we were wondering why the Spirit had led us down this road. And right as I was thinking that, I said hello to a man with headphones in. I guess he didn't hear me, because he didn't react, but in Japan it isn't too uncommon for people to ignore your existence in order to avoid you, so I thought he might be doing that. But as we kept walking, Elder a Brown tried once more, and got his attention, and it turns out, he has interest! We walked with him to the church and gave him a quick tour, and we were able to exchange contact information. It was a great faith-building experience for me.

Another experience we had was we were finally able to get an investigator we have been working with for a long time now to come to church! And! He had a great experience. He is literally a genius, and he is working for the Japanese equivalent to NASA, so it was great to work with him. We extended a baptismal date to him, but he doesn't think he's ready quite yet, so we will continue to work with him and help him increase his faith.

In today's letter, I would like to share a story that I received from a fellow servant in the Lord's vineyard. I think it's fiction, but it gets the point across nonetheless:

Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are then God is evil." The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course," replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name — Albert Einstein

God is always with us. He loves us and supports us. Evil is made by man. Evil is a choice. And every man has a choice. Like it says, "Evil is simply the absence of God." God did not create evil. We are all here for a purpose, and Lord has given us our agency as a tool that we can use to find it. Agency isn't inherently evil, but it can be used in the wrong way. We always need to make sure that we stay focused on what matters most in the eternal perspective of things. Always remember who we are, and what we stand for, so that when the time comes, we too can "return with honor."

This Gospel is true. And I know it is with all of my heart. Every single one of you is an inspiration to me. I am so grateful for all of your wonderful examples to me, especially when my faith was lacking, and wasn't enough to support its own weight. I hope all of you have a fantastic week. You mean more to me than you can imagine. Keep pressing forward. Go to the edge, because that's where the miracles are waiting.

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。

Elder Brown Eating Ramen

Fuchu District Meeting

Week 63 [72]: Hastening, Not Maintaining

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Hey! So the server was down this last Monday, so we all obtained permission to resend our weekly emails! So here it is!

Well, this week has been filled with many different experiences! It's been great. This week I've experienced weather that freezes you in your tracks, and I've also experienced weather that deserves short-sleeves! It was quite interesting.

This week we have been teaching like crazy. Elder Brown had an investigator that lives in a different area, but he hasn't met with missionaries in over a year and a half, at least until last week! We were able to meet him, get some Ramen, and teach him the restoration! It was a fantastic lesson, and he said he wants to meet again soon. He is basically fluent in English! So that is always a lot of fun. He is very prepared, and I'm excited to see how he progresses.

In some other news, we had a lesson with one of our recent converts, and it was great. He really opened up to us, and gave us some of his thoughts and struggles, and we were able to help him find some peace in this turmoil.

This week, something I've really been trying to focus on is hastening, not maintaining, the work of Salvation. That was something President Whiting was really stressing at the conference, that as the Lord's servants, we should never settle for just maintaining the work in an area, but rather really strive to hasten it. As we demonstrate our faith to the Lord, He will provide more opportunities for us to serve His children, but in order for Him to do that, He needs to know that He can trust us with the prepared children. Why would the Lord trust us with the big things, if we aren't even taking care of the small things? My testimony of this has grown exponentially over the course of my mission. I have personally seen the difference it makes in someone's life.

This last week, I was studying in the book of Jonah. I have really grown to love the Old Testament. It is such a rich source of knowledge. But anyways, at the end of the book of Jonah, he leaves the belly of the great fish, and begins to preach unto the people, and he tells them that if they don't repent, money will be destroyed. The people, after hearing this, have their hearts softened, and the entire city begins to fast and repent, and the Lord forgives them of their iniquities. This upsets Jonah, because he just told them they would all be destroyed, so now he thinks God has made him look like a liar. So Jonah goes outside of town, and sets up a little place where he can rest for a bit. During the day, there is a large gourd above his head, blocking the sun, and he really appreciates the gourd, but that night, as he slept, a worm destroyed the gourd, so when Jonah awoke and saw the gourd, he became angry. Then, in Jonah 4:9-11 the Lord gives him this counsel:

9  And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

This story really helped me realize the importance of keeping things in perspective. Sometimes, I think I'm a lot like Jonah, because I have many times where I get frustrated, or I get down about something, but when we look at things from an eternal perspective, we begin to grasp why things happen. All things have meaning. There isn't anything in this life without it. Sometimes we just won't recognize it right away, and sometimes, we might not even recognize it in this life, but I can promise you that it does have meaning.

I love each and every on of you! Keep pressing forward, because the Lord is right there pushing with you! You're all amazing!

Elder Tolen

FHE in the Fuchu Single Adult Ward!

A Lesson at the Hasegawa Family's House!

Week 62 [71]: Baptisms, and President Whiting

Monday, February 8, 2016

This week has been crazy busy. The sister here in Fuchu have been working remarkably hard, and this week, they had two baptisms! It was crazy! I've never been so busy in my entire life! We are busy from the second we wake up until the the second we hit the bed. I'm exhausted, but I've never felt more satisfied in my life.

We have been able to see so many miracles this past week. This week, we had a conference with the area president, President Whiting of the seventy. That was an amazing experience. I learned so much from him. I was able to receive a lot of personal revelation in order to help me progress. I learned that I should not be afraid of finding my limits. I shouldn't fear reaching the edge of my capabilities, because that's when we let the Lord take over. It's only once we reach the edge of our boundaries that we can progress forward. In order to improve, we need to push to that edge, then rely only the Lord. I've realized that over my mission I've been so scared of pushing myself because I've been terrified of finding out that my best wasn't enough, and at the conference I realized that I was completely wrong. It when we do our best, that the Lord can help us obtain our full potential, because in all honesty, from an eternal perspective, our best will not ever help us obtain salvation. At least, not on its own. It is through the power of Christ that we can progress,and it's through our faith in him that we grow.

Today while studying in the Old Testament, I was reading the book of Nehemiah (which I had forgotten was a book in the bible until this morning), and I was able to read chapters 1-8. In these chapters, it covers Nehemiah leading the construction of a wall. I was pondering it, and I was trying to figure out why this wall was so important. I then began to liken the wall to faith, and the thing the wall was protecting was our testimony. We have to continually have our guards round about protecting our faith from things seeking to destroy it, but simultaneously constructing the wall, because even the best of guards get tired, and that wall needs to be there in order to protect our testimony. And then, once our wall is sure, and our faith is stable, we start to gain more knowledge. We start to increase the substance of our testimony, and we begin to thrive. We begin to grow in ways we can never imagine, but it is only through hard work, and determination. I would highly recommend reading those chapters, because I couldn't cover everything that I wanted to in a small email, and there is just so much great spiritual feasting to be had in those chapters.

Using this revelation, I was able to come up with a theme for our district this transfer. The theme is "Strive." We are going to strive to be our best selves, and reach our full potential as servants of the Lord.

It was a great week. I'm loving every second of the time the Lord has allotted me in this vineyard. There isn't anywhere I would rather be.

I love all of you, and I pray for you all continually.

Elder Tolen

Awesome Hats Elder Tolen Made to Reflect District Theme

District Theme Hats:  "Strive"

Photos from Baptism

Photos from Baptism

Week 61 [70]: Fuchu!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Well everyone, this email will be pretty short! I don't have much to report on!

Elder Brown is an amazing companion. I'm so glad we get to be companions. We live in a two man, which I have never done, so I didn' know what to expect, but it is fantastic. What's also weird is that we sleep on beds in this apartment! I haven't slept on a bed since I left the MTC. I didn't realize how much I actually missed beds.

Being a district leader is stressful, but there are only four members in the district, so there aren't too many stats that I need to round up.


Recently we have been working really hard on finding, and it has been great! We have seen so much success. I have one interesting story I would like to share about our Chinese investigator named Tom. I had never met him, and Elder Brown had just met him one time when they found him last week, so we decided to set up a dinner appointment with him, and then, after dinner, go to the church and teach him a lesson with a member. So we ate dinner at this awesome Ramen shop, and we actually taught him right there in the restaurant, and we were able to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. It went remarkably well. After that, we get a call from the sisters asking us where we were, and we found out that we had a meal at a member's house that night, but we didn't know about it because a member told a missionary that transferred out, and unfortunately he never passed that message along (haha). So we rushed over to the member's house, still with Tom, and ate another dinner. It was an awesome experience. Tom is such a funny guy. We were able to set up an appointment with him next Saturday as well, so that will be great.

Other than that, we have just been finding our own rhythm out here in Fuchu. It has been fantastic. I love Elder Brown; he is so great, and is helping me so much. I know that the Lord will always help us if we rely on him! That's my testimony!

I love you all!

Talk to you next week,

Elder Tolen

Elders Tolen and Brown with "Tom"

Teaching some Hospital Workers in Takao

Week 60 [69]: Transfer Time!

Monday, January 25, 2016

Hey everyone! As you guessed, we got our transfer emails. And there is some big changes. I'm moving! I'm going to be transferring to Fuchu (府中), and I will be serving as District Leader and my companion will be Elder Brown! I knew Elder Brown before he came to the mission! In fact, we went to the same school! So I am very excited for this transfer. I think we will see many miracles from it. I am really sad about having to leave Takao. I've been here for so long, I feel like it has become my home Ward. So it has been really hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I know that the Lord needs me to tend to another portion of his vineyard.

This week was pretty slow. My companions have been out of commission this week, so I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to call people, or cleaning. It's been worth it though. Tonight we have an appointment with the stake president. I really do love this man. He found out I was transferring, and the first thing he did was give me a huge hug. He really treats me like one of his sons. This man has really helped me through some of the roughest times of my mission.

This week my scripture I've been ponderizing is from Matthew 21:19-21:

19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

I've really been pondering about faith. Over the course of my mission, I have realized just how important faith really is. Miracles cannot occur if faith is lacking, but even the smallest amount of faith can move mountains. Even just the desire to have faith is enough. Everything we do, every action we make, every step we take, should help us increase our faith. This life is hard, and is full of trails of faith, but faith isn't something gained easily. Faith is earned. It reminded me of a quote from Mohamed Ali that says, "Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."  Faith isn't supposed to come easily. Nothing good should. But when we finally earn our faith, there is nothing sweeter on this Earth. That I can testify of. I know what it's like to be on both sides of the line, and I know which side I would choose. But we have to constantly be increasing our faith. Faith is something that can easily be lost. And it can be lost through very small things. I have watched investigators and members out here lose their faith, and it never happens all at once. Be watchful. Be mindful. Satan is always a stone's throw away, and he wants you, so my challenge to you all is to show him what it means to really be a disciple of Christ.

I love you all so much! Thank you for all of the support! Keep being amazing.

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。

 

The Machida West Zone!