Email March 11, 2018

Email March 11,  2018 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Last week's email

I'm sorry I thought I sent this email last week but I guess I didn't hit send. 

ごめんなさい！

Hey everyone!

     This week was awesome! One thing in particular was amazing. So we have an investigator named Ren who we've been teaching online. I've actually never met him, and my companion only met him once on the street over a month ago. But we've been teaching him and he prayed and he believes what we're teaching is true! But that's not all, we also sent him a PDF version of the Book of Mormon because he couldn't download the app for some reason, and HE READ IT IN 2 DAYS! The entire Book of Mormon! And he believes it's true! We were so surprised when he told us he had read the whole thing, we almost couldn't believe it. We still haven't been able to meet with him in person, but he's going to come to church on Sunday. I'm so excited to meet him! He's definitely going to get baptized, it's just a matter of time. Besides that, not a ton happened this week. It was a little bit of a slower week but that miracle definitely made up for it. We helped the other missionaries in our district teach their investigators English which was fun. Right now we're on our way to Muroran for zone conference, I'm way excited. Being down in Hakodate feels more isolated than Eniwa, where we got to go to the temple once a transfer and FHE at the mission home once a month, so it'll be good to see the mission president and his wife again. Zone conference is also really motivating and uplifting so it'll be great. Tomorrow I'll have been on my mission for 6 months! It's gone by so fast! It's been an amazing 6 months though, and I'm excited for the next year and a half. I've seen a lot of miracles and felt a lot of joy as I've strived to help people come closer to Christ. My testimony has grown so so much. I know this is God's work and his true church. I'm so grateful to get to be a part of it. I love you all, keep doing what's right! have a great week!

Love,

Elder Burton

Hey everyone!

     Sorry I just sent last week's email, somehow I didn't press send. But the investigator Ren who read the Book of Mormon in two days wants to get baptized! So we set a date for April 7, but that weekend is conference in Japan which we didn't realize so we might have to change it but we'll see. But the frustrating thing is that we still haven't been able to meet with him in person. He was going to come to church yesterday but he ended up not being able to, and I think that was the most disappointment I've felt yet on my mission. We can't figure out why it's so hard for him to meet, but we're trying to help him in any way we can. We'll just have to see what happens. He's got so much faith, but there's something holding him back that we need to figure out. Anyway, besides that, it was a great week! On Thursday we went to this English class that one of our English students goes to, it was really interesting. The students were about 10 older, mostly retired people who go to speak English because they don't have anything else to do haha. They asked us a bunch of questions about our opinions about politics in America, but we basically just tried to stay neutral and said we don't really know much about what's going on in America, which is true. On Friday I went on exchanges with my district leader Elder Nagashima, that was fun. We met a man who raises racing pigeons which was pretty cool, he wasn't interested in the gospel though but he might come to Eikaiwa. Zone conference was awesome, we focused a lot on improving our teaching skills and never giving up hope, even when you don't see the results of you efforts. Sister McClure showed a video about a man who planted a bunch of bamboo seeds and then watered them for 5 years with no result, based on what he'd heard about how it would become 90 foot tall bamboo. He almost gave up hope, because he saw no growth for 5 years, but then one day some sprouts poked out of the earth. In the next 6 weeks the bamboo grew to 90 feet tall, fulfilling everything he'd heard and all his dreams. During the 5 years, roots were growing and spreading under the ground, he couldn't see it but it was providing the foundation for the rapid growth later. So they compared that to Japan, and how even though we haven't seen a ton of growth for a long time, if we don't give up hope, we'll see a miracle that will blow us all away. We just have to keep working hard and be patient. And I think that principle applies in life as well, there will always be a reward beyond what we can imagine if we just keep our hope amd don't give up, even when it feels like there's no result from our diligence. I love you all, don't give up hope! It will all be worth it in the end. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Burton