Video!

October 16, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope that you have a fantastic week! I love being a missionary, and
I know that this work is God's.

When life gets crazy, don't forget the basics.

October 9, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a great week of learning and growth. It is
definitely a different experience than normal missionary life being
here in the mission home. I have a really strong desire to be
effective, and to really do what the Lord wants us to do. General
Conference really helped me to refocus, and set my priorities
straight. Sometimes it can be easy with so much going on and with
sometimes less structure to forget about the most important basics. Or
maybe not forget, but not give them the necessary energy and
diligence. I am finding that as I really prioritize sleep, studying
and learning from the Book of Mormon, praying from my heart with real
diligence, and eating balanced and healthy meals, I can feel the calm
and at peace, even when there is stress and imperfections. I feel that
if I am strong in these simple and basic things, I have the strength
that I need for anything that could happen. I am able to trust in the
Lord, trust in you, trust in my companion, and trust in myself. I feel
balanced able to do what God wants me to do. This has helped me
greatly, and is really a great thing that I plan to remember and apply
for the rest of my life as well. Nothing can replace the basic daily
acts of faith that are so essential to our spirituality.


We have been working really well with the ward here are trying to find
some new people, and also help current people to get into the homes of
members and develop relationships that will bless them for the rest of
their lives.

So much has happened, and is happening that it's overwhelming to try
to explain, but General Conference was an especially big highlight. It
really helped me to recognize what I need, and what God wants and how
to help people that we were struggling with how to help. I love the
deep messages and thought out spiritual language. General conference
is truly a miracle every 6 months.


We had our monthly Missionary leadership council meeting and President
proposed that we take the Sacrament during our meeting, and so on
Thursday night Takamasa choro and I prepared the Sacrament, and
president asked that we bless it, which was a really wonderful
opportunity, because I haven't heard the Sacrament in English, and
haven't blessed the sacrament myself in English in a very long time.
President said that he would be the deacon and pass the Sacrament,
which was very powerful to witness. I felt my relationship to Jesus
Christ strengthen, and I know that Christ really did suffer for us. I
know that we can be made whole through Him. I know that because of
Jesus Christ, everything can work out. That is the hope that we offer
to the world. Please share this great hope with your friends, and with
your family whether they are members of the Church or not, just share
your testimony, lift, encourage, and seek for ways to bless the lives
of those around you and I promise that you will be so very happy. I
know that as we recognize that all things are from God, and through
Christ we will learn to Glorify Him and to be a pencil in His hand,
doing His work, because we choose to. I love you and ask that you
remember How much God loves you, no matter what.

Love,

Elder Conover


First members that we met from Toyohira!!! I love them!!
Second: mission leadership council pictures! So many wonderful friends.

New Assignment: Assistant to the President

October 2, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! I am sorry that I have not written well these last couple
weeks. SO much has been happening! I got food poisoning from eating
raw chicken last Saturday, and I experienced more pain from everything
that that caused than I can remember ever feeling before. It made me
really humble and really helped me to understand that God has all
power, and I am completely powerless without God. Everything that I am
is only because of God. I went to the bathroom about 35 times that
night. I also showered at least 5 times. I only could sleep for about
3 hours total, and that time was a miracle answer to my desperate
prayer.  On Sunday I was still suffering from having to go to the
bathroom every 15-20 minutes, and having sharp dagger like feelings as
I walk from the aftermath of having gone to the bathroom so many
times. I was sitting on the toilet of an awesome member's home that we
were eating dinner with, and my phone rang and it was President
McClure! He told me that he wanted me to become his new Assistant, and
talked to me for a while about that. I thought that if I were to be
called then it would be before 3pm, but he called me at 5:30, and so I
wasn't expecting it to come at all.


From that I packed got out the next day, Pday and we first went to an
all you can eat meat and salad bar place with our English class
student who is such a homie, but has no interest in the gospel
unfortunately. We ate some really good stuff there, but every time I
ate anything I had to go to the bathroom, and so I didn't have the
desire to eat to much, which is really too bad.

Then we went to the church got last things together, met a member who
came to say goodbye, and then I got on the train to come to Atsubetsu,
to the mission home. President McClure handed me the new transfer
schedule, and then we had a really fun family home evening with the
missionaries that could bring investigators in Sapporo. Elder Kikuchi
also came with the Yokoishi family, and so I was able to say goodbye
to the yokoishi family, and to some of the awesome kids in eniwa, so
that made me really happy. I love the yokoishi family, and especially
yokoishi papa so so much. I am so grateful for them and the joy that
their conversion has been to me. I can't wait for the mom and the
older two brothers to also get baptized, when they decide that they're
ready. Yokoishi mom is like a member, and comes to church every week,
so she will be baptized sooner or later.


Then on Tuesday I worked with Akamatsu choro and takamasa choro and we
did some training and ran som errands, called some members, and
visited an investigator family that Akamatsu choro wanted to say good
bye to. It was so fun.
On Tuesday night we went to the airport to pick up the new
missionaries! We were picking up 10 new missionaries, but they weren't
on the flight that they were supposed to be on, and so it was a major
struggle and stress, we prayed and were calling salt lake, and trying
to figure out what was happening, and then they came on the flight
that was an hour later. How that was just able to happen is something
that we still don't understand. We still went to go eat ramen with
them, and we ate this amazing katsu ramen. It was soo good. One of the
best ramen I've ever had in Japan. We had a fun ride in the car with
Akamatsu choro driving, me next to him, Takamasa choro back one and
then 5 new missionaries. We talked about what it means to be a
missionary, and asked them why they decided to come and it was really
awesome to listen to their testimonies and feel their faith.
That night we got them all into bed and then went home, and finally
were able to go to sleep.

Wednesday:
Today we ate an awesome French toast breakfast with the new
missionaries, and that was so fun! Then we had training during the
morning, and and we also got to give a little bit of training which
was really fun. I love working with new missionaries. We took the new
missionaries to their first sushi restaurant, and they loved it! It
was so fun. It is so awesome how new missionaries are so obsessed and
amazed by sushi here in Japan. It really is so good. I am going to
take more advantage of it, and eat it more before my time is up. Then
we went and took the new missionaries back to meet their trainers! It
was super fun watching them all meet their new companions and see
where they were going. It is so crazy that it was a year and a half
ago that I came to Japan and met my companion for the first time!
After they met their trainers everybody went proselyting for about an
hour and a half! Elder Takamasa and I also went out and were able to
give out 3 book of Mormons, find 3 new investigators, 3 phone numbers,
and 3 return appointments. It was so fun to feel the fire of the new
missionaries, and we also got so pumped and had really high faith and
a high goal to meet two people that we could make a return appointment
with, and God helped us to exceed that goal! Very great blessing. Then
we had more training from President, and talked about changing the
culture of our mission, which is really something that has been
changing a lot, especially with a new mission president. I have
learned a lot about choosing to be obedient, because I want to be
obedient, vs. being obedient because I have to be. The law of Moses
vs. the high law of Christ. It is really important that we obey
because we choose to.


That night we had a really good dinner and then a bit more training,
where we got to share our comments as well, so I talked about changing
the culture of the great missionaries in our mission, and not just the
lower end. Sometimes we don't think that we are a part of the problem,
but really we need to always be thinking about what God wants and how
his work can progress the most, and not ever think that we have it
figured it out, because whatever we have figured out, will always be
OUR way, which does not mean that it is God's way.
We had a really awesome testimony meeting where almost everybody bore
strong testimonies, and the spirit was so strong. I love missionaries.

Thursday was an awesome day. We ate breakfast with the trainers and
the new missionaries, which was so delicious again. The McClure's
bought the real maple syrup from Costco and so it was so amazing to
have that for the first time in forever!
Then after handling some business stuff the trainers and their new
companions started heading out to their areas.

The missionaries that were going home came in on Thursday afternoon,
and we had a really fun sukiyaki dinner, which is where you basically
cook steak in sauce with veggies, Japanese noodles, mushrooms, and
tofu all together. It is a very classy meal in Japan and pretty
expensive, so it was really fun and tasted so good! It was so fun to
be with my douki of sisters that I came to Japan with: Sister hirata
and kaiazaki! Then we had a wonderful testimony meeting with them, and
it was bitter sweet to think that they would soon no longer be
missionaries, but we are excited for them to move forward, and get
married and things like that! The sisters going home are age 26 and 28
or 29, so they are already farther along in life, and will do so many
awesome things in the world.

President pulled us over and told us about some of the things going on
in the mission, and it was a great learning experience. He talked
about how he has had people hate him before, and that unfortunately
that is always a part of leadership, someone will be unhappy, because
of something, and all you can do is validate their feelings, and hope
that they will forgive you, but you can't let it eat you up that they
may not like you, even if you feel like you didn't do anything unfair.
President McClure is so full of love, and it is such a blessing to
learn from him.

Friday we ate breakfast with the missionaries flying home, and then
sent them off to the airport, and finally the transfer week was over.
It was a great transfer week. Friday and Saturday I learned a lot, we
went to my beloved Toyohira to get my license translated to start the
process of me getting my Japanese license!



And I'll have to write about Saturday and Sunday in next weeks letter.

I am so grateful for you and your support!! I love you!

Random pics from the last couple weeks:
1. Awesome activity in Eniwa
2. Some of our friends at the festival.
3. Yesterday Elder Takamasa and I right before we got our haircuts.
4. An awesome karate video.