Email August 13, 2018

Email August 13, 2018 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Hey Everyone!

            This week was awesome! On Tuesday, we finally were able to meet with Rosemarie, the lady from the Philippines, and it went really well! We taught her at a member's house and she became friends with the members really fast. She had a really strong desire to find God's true church, she loves the Bible, and she's starting to read the Book of Mormon. The biggest obstacle will be her Japanese husband who apparently hates religion, but we'll do what we can and trust the Lord to do the rest. Not only that, but Yuu Kun came to church! He's been coming to English class for a little while and we had taught him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. I was so excited when he came! He has also read up to Jacob in the Book of Mormon! We did a short lesson on the Plan of Salvation after church and invited him to be baptized and he said he would! We don't have a date yet because he's going to be in Muroran for a few weeks but it shouldn't be long after he gets back. So that was a huge miracle!

            We also had a pretty fun experience yesterday. We went to visit and do a practice lesson with a member yesterday, and his 92 year old mother also lives with him, which we didn't realize. She's also a member but can't come to church very often because she's pretty frail. But she's the sweetest little lady! Her hearing is really bad, so we taught the lesson really simply and my companion wrote what we said on his tablet so she could read it. I'm glad he's good at kanji. She was really grateful for the chance to hear the lesson and her smile just made me feel great. Sometimes it's the little things that really help you feel the joy of missionary work.

            We also had zone conference this week which was amazing as usual! We talked a lot about unity and becoming one, which is so important for us as a mission and for all members of the church. In the scriptures, whenever it talks about the people being one, great miracles happen. Christ said to be one, and if we are not one we are not His. If we are one, we can also be one with the Spirit, who is one with Christ and Heavenly Father. That's the only way we can do God's work. I'm excited to see even more miracles as we become more one as a mission, as companionship, and more one with the members. We also talked a lot about how to help baptisms go well and be as great of an experience as possible for everyone involved, because as a mission we've been having a lot of baptisms lately and we're expecting more in the future. God is blessing Hokkaido and Japan! I'm so grateful to be a part of it! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Burton