April 10, 2011

Hello Minasan!!!

What a great conference weekend!! I loved conference this week. We also had a good week here besides conference too! As far as conference goes, I learned a lot! To be honest here, I learned a lot about after the mission things. Yea.... I learned about the importance to go to the temple often, one thing I loved, was to establish celestial traditions as a family. One I loved was M. Russel Ballard. I loved his story about finding the golden nuggets. Something I think a lot of people get there head rapped around is that the Spirit is a burning feeling. Testimonies come through great experiences. But its the small little nuggets that can make up a testimony too. And in the long run, sometimes those are worth more. Like Bednar also said, when the sun rises, you usually cant even tell when it reaches. Its so slow so sudden. A testimony is usually a gradual process, that you cant even notice the progression. Like sometimes building muscles is. A slow gradual progression. It requires dedication, and consistency. That is what enduring to the end is!

So this last week a sister named tamayo shimai got her mission call. She opened it up after sacrament meeting and both her mother and father came to see her open it. The father was way loving and nice, and we were able to set up an appointment to meet with him on Thursday. We did, and it went really well. He has already studied the Book of Mormon a lot, and really has a desire to change. We were able to set a baptismal date that night with him, and he was excited for it. He wanted his wife to also get baptized that day too, so were trying to work with that. But theres 4 living together. One daughter is up in Tokyo. The oldest is Tamayo, who was baptized some years ago. She also went to BYU, and did service at the MTC with the TRC center. Then the youngest Yuki, has a baptismal date for this Sunday. Then the father has a date for May 7, and hopefully we can get the mom on that day too. But its looking really good for that family. Its such a happy time for Tamayo Shimai. See what her example is doing to her family.

So last week I also called Ito Shimai from my last area. Even though there are no missionaries, she said she is going to get baptized in May!! The Ward missionaries, and everyone are working with her, and she has a date for some time in May! I was really happy to hear that. She just needs to get baptized. This is her 4th or 5th date, and it just needs to happen. But I really have faith it will.

Well I love Nagasaki. Really have no idea in the world how long I'm going to be here, but this is where the Lord has called me. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve, and I pray i can be the missionary my parents, friends, family, and especially the Lord expects me to be. Thanks for all the love and support!

Elder Stewart