Email December 9, 2018

Email December 9, 2018 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Hey Everyone!

                  This week was amazing! We had a few appointments fall through, but we also found a few new people and had some awesome miracles! One of the people we found was a 77 year old man named Oki San, and when we first met him he kind of started arguing about why God doesn't exist and it didn't seem like it would go anywhere but we ended up making an appointment with him for the next day. We met, and he had some weird questions about spirits and stuff, and still was very sure God was only in people's imaginations, but we told the the First Vision, briefly explained the plan of salvation, and gave him the Book of Mormon, and his whole attitude changed. He went from asking weird questions about talking to spirits to sincerely wondering what will happen to him after he dies, and he went from denying that God exists to really asking if God was there. It was really cool, I felt the Spirit guiding that lesson more than almost any lesson I've taught. So we set an appointment for the next day(he's retired and has plenty of time) but he didn't show up, probably because it was snowing pretty hard. But he also didn't answer his phone so I was worried we wouldn't see him again but he came to church right as it was ending, and we hadn't even invited him yet. So we had another lesson, and he said a prayer at the end, which was a big step, because he wasn't willing to do it before. We have another lesson this week so we're hoping to be able to set a baptismal date. It's really cool to see someone really change through the gospel.

                  We also had mission conference on Saturday! Elder Yamashita from the Seventy and his wife came and it was so great! He talked a lot about attitude, really believing in God and in yourself and believing you can have success, and being a happy missionary. He also talked a lot about working with members and less active members which is something I want to do better at. And really just showing love to everyone you meet in a variety of ways, through remembering names or hugs or praying for them or anything else. There were also a lot of suggestions about how to find and teach better so hopefully I'll be more effective going forward.

                  We also yesterday once again had someone just show up to church out of the blue! He had gone to church and Eikaiwa and events in Ebetsu about 8 years ago but didn't ever really take the lessons but he decided to come to church and I thought he was having a good experience, until right after the closing prayer of sacrament meeting, which is the last meeting in the ward I'm in for some reason. Right after that prayer Oki San showed up as I said before, and my companion and I turned away from Okazaki San, the man from Ebetsu, to greet Oki San, and when we turned back around 30 seconds later he was gone! We hadn't gotten a chance to exchange contact information or anything. I don't why he left so early, maybe he was just in a hurry, but I hope he comes again or contacts us so we can teach him, he seems really prepared. Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! Make sure to light your community this week, serve your neighbors and friends! Next week is temple P-day so I'll probably email on Wednesday! Love you all! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Burton