Monday, October 18, 2010

Hey Friends and Family!

I hope everyone is doing well! Things are still good here in Nagasaki. We had a pretty busy week with having a meeting in Fukuoka on Tuesday. It was a great meeting though. It was really cool because I was really able to evaluate myself as a missionary and teacher now and find the things I need to improve. It was humbling to recognize so many haha! But, I am really excited to apply those things and see miracles! A cool finding miracle we had this week was a Chinese college student named qinxin. We were riding down the street and I saw a guy that I thought I had met before so we stopped and he remembered me. The last time I saw him was over 3 months ago. And I never got his number or anything. As we were talking he mentioned that lately he had been thinking about it and he wants to go to church and see what it`s like! Way cool. We are looking forward to sharing the gospel with him. He is a way nice guy and loves American Hip-Hop. Also, another funny story was when we were on the street. We stopped a guy and talked to him a little bit about church and asked him if he would like to meet us again and he said really loudly, "YES!". Then we said would you like to come to church and he said "YES!". We were way surprised. Then we said great, why would you like to come to church and he had a hilarious response. He said, "I saw the movie "Yes man" recently!" So, he said he has been trying to apply it in his life! So, Elder Martinez and I are very grateful to Jim Carrey for helping us find a new investigator haha! Well, other than that, this week we talk some awesome people like Katayama san, a great guy named Kawasaki san that lives in a different area, and Takahira san! Katayama san is genuinely getting to the point where even though he is in a realy tough spot he can still be happy. It is so amazing to see his progress. We set a new baptismal date with him for 12/19. Please pray that we can work out the issues with the Branch President and help him be baptized on that day and confirmed the next day. Kawasaki lives in Isahaya`s area but was in Nagasaki for the day and gave us a phone call. So we met him at the peace park and taught him about the restoration. He just met the missionaries recently and he has zero religious background. He does believe that God is there but that is about all he knows. But he was one of the best people I have ever taught. He had such a soft heart. He was so willing to accept the things of God. It really taught me a lesson about the importance of a soft heart. No matter how much you know, without softening your heart you cannot accept and follow Jesus Christ. No matter how little you know, with a soft heart accepting Jesus Christ is not only possible but natural. I`m grateful for the opportunity I had to teach him and learn that lesson. Lastly, on Sunday night we went over to Takahira san`s house and ate dinner with him family. We played guitar, had fun, and shared a lesson. I love the family atmosphere. The family atmosphere is truly the best for learning and living the gospel. It was so fun to laugh with them as a family. Oh ya and on Sunday I had a talk in Sacrament meeting. I talked about "What would Jesus Do?" and how being a good example is an essential part of missionary work. Overall, this was a great week. I hope your week next week is a great one. I love you all soooo much! Stay safe and happy!

Stubbs choro