Monday, May 24, 2010

Hey Friends and Family!

I hope everyone is doing well! We are doing great here in Kagoshima. We did some fun stuff this week and also had some stuff to overcome. We`ll start with some fun things. Every Friday we do a Preach My Gospel class for the young single adults in the branch that want to go on missions. It is really fun and it is super nostalgic because I think back to the MTC and can see how far the Lord has helped me come. It really shows me the power the Lord has to help us improve. Another fun thing was getting the footballs from Mom and Dad! We put them to use right away. On Saturday, Elder Haoka and I went out to a big local park with a bunch of people. He told me that most people had never even touched a football before. So, we went out there and when people started staring at us we invited them to come play. It was sooo much fun. They had no idea how to throw it! So we taught everyone how to throw and catch a football and I had them running slants, hitches, and fades. It was so fun. So, we would become good friends through football then tell them why we are here and give them English class flyers. We are also trying to set up a YSA football game that they can invite all their nonmember friends to. Needless to say, the football is a hit. Also, since I`ve been in this area I have had some way cool spirit led finding experiences. One time we were housing a building and I just did not want to be at that building. So, I looked off the balcony and saw a red building among all the building and decided I wanted to go there. So, we went there and the 1st door we knocked was a man who heard our message. We have taught him again since then and he is now an investigator. The Lord`s hand is truly in this work! And now on to the tough things. It has been raining a lot and really hard lately. Rainy season is coming through :( . Not a huge fan of the rain. But, I know that the Lord will bless us for working hard in the rain so we will keep working hard. But Yesterday on the way to church we were in a hurry so we only brought umbrellas...bad idea. We needed our rain suits. It was pouring rain, there was rain come in the form of waves while we were walking up the hill. It was crazy. Even though we had umbrellas, we were completely soaked. The weird part about here is that there is almost never lightning or thunder. Just rain, and lots of it. But I`m sure after this rainy season I will become dear friends with the rain. Well also another tough thing we are worried about is Katsuyuki kun. He has a baptismal date for next week but I really don`t think unless he makes big changes in attitude this week will be able to get baptized on Sunday. He is 10 years old and deep down we know he knows it is the right thing to do to be baptized. But his priorities (as a usual 10 year-olds priorities are) are really messed up. And the support from home is definitely not the best. The only member is his grandma. We really just want him to get baptized at the time it will mean the most to him and when he is ready. It is always so tough to say an investigator isn`t ready enough to be baptized. Because you want them to be ready sooo bad. But, we will pray about it a ton and figure out what the Lord wants us to do. But I truly am happy right now. Elder Haoka and I have an awesome relationship and we are wanting to serve the Lord, our God. The Lord can work miracles. Actually, The Lord is so good at working miracles he can take a weak, imperfect being like us and perform miracles. I see it in my life everyday here in Japan. The Lord uses the things He has given me to perform miracles. It is all His power, but we are the instrument. I love you all so much and appreciate the great influence you have all had on my life. I have learned from all of you and hope you are always learning from those around you. Have an awesome week and be safe!

Stubbs choro

p.s. The rain isn`t as bad as it sounds, it`s just incovenient. The real beasts are the hills!