A week in Asahikawa Japan

June 5, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you for all of your kind, heartfelt emails. You bring me so much
strength as a missionary. I am so full of joy to have this time to be
able to serve God. I have been thinking about that a lot lately. What
does this time mean? Am I using this time as fully as I can? Could I
be doing more? How can I more fully give all of my Heart, Might, Mind,
and Strength to the Lord? Sometimes it seems so easy to just let time
pass, and not be actively pursuing becoming a more consecrated
missionary. I know that as we consistently work hard to become a more
Christ-Like person, and become the person that we can become, that we
will look back and have become the person we envisioned. I have
recently learned that, A "to become list", is just as important as a
"to do list". Everyday we are continuously changing and becoming. But
what are we becoming? Are we moving closer, or farther from Christ?
Are we becoming the person that we envision ourselves becoming? I
challenge you to ask yourselves these questions, and ponder who you
are becoming, and make the changes necessary to align who you are
becoming, with who you want to become.

This week my companion had a really bad migraine, so we had to stay in
and let him sleep for a few hours during the week, but we still got a
lot done! This is an insert form my journal, about a really cool
experience I had this week! "...After that we went to Mitsuishi san's
Houseand I had a really amazing experience. We pinged on their door,
and we had an appointment, but after pinging twice and getting no
answer we didn't know what to do. We walked out and Scheidt choro
tried calling her. While he was calling her I was praying really hard
that we would be able to meet with her and share a message. Scheidt
choro said that we should pray, and then decide whether to ping again
or not, so I started praying, and right in the middle of my prayer the
phone rang, and it was her! She was just in the house, and here and
her husband hadn't heard the ping! I really felt my prayer was
answered, and it was a powerful testimony builder to me. God really
does care for us, and is there helping us do His work. We went in and
had a great time with them, and taught them the plan of Salvation."




Last Monday after we emailed you, we went to this cool recycle shop
and I bought a few movies that I love in America, that are in Japanese
and in English, to watch after the mission to keep the language up!
They are awesome! I got the Third Rocky movie, and it was a special
edition or something, so it came with Rocky's robe, and it is so
sick!!! (Pics below).


Yesterday we had the best goch of our lives!!! Best food ever! It was
so fun, and I ate so much!!! So much food, and it was so good. Fish,
shrimp, chicken, pork, it's hard to really comprehend in the picture.

I love this work, and I love being a missionary! Have a fantastic week!
Love, Elder Conover

The witness of an Apostle of Jesus Christ

May 30, 2016

Well Hello there Family and Friends!

  This week flew by so fast here in Asahikawa. We started off the week
by going to Bistari bistari (BEE-STA-DEE), and ended it by going there. That place is amazing, and we are a little bit addicted. It is a Nepalese Naan and curry place, that 

I've probably written about before. On 

Saturday it was Tabehodi which means all youcan eat, and so we pounded it way hard. It'sspecial festival time for them so they
had it all buffet style, and we got 

chocolate chip Naan, pumpkin naan, dried 

fruit naan, and of course our favorite 

CHEESE naan, and also regular Naan. They hadall of the curry out and also this amazing
yogurt thing, that I dipped the dessert naaninto, and really was quite a delight. They 

also had a salad that all of you salad 

lovers would have died for. The salad had 

Shrimp, and Grapes, and apples, and lettuce, and carrots, and other 

stuff too! I should have gotten better pics, but I'll send what I've got.
 
  But, moving on to things that matter more. Elder Cook, and Elder
Stevenson, and Elder Gong, of the presidency of the Seventy, came to
our mission on Thursday, so we had a mission conference with all of
the missionaries in our mission (that almost never happens, even
though we are a rather small mission), and we heard them and their
wives speak for 2 solid hours. This was one of the most powerful
spiritual experiences that I have had in my life. For the first time
really ever, I had really prepared and done everything that I could to
prepare myself to receive revelation, and learn what I needed to learn
learn from these speakers. My testimony about personal preparation to
receive the messages of Prophets when we get to here from them, was
greatly increased. It is so important to prepare. I felt many many
things, some of which are very sacred to me. My perspective was
changed, and I really felt the love of My Heavenly Father. I know that
Jesus Christ lives; but I had never felt Jesus Christ so close as I
did there. Not only does Jesus Christ live, but he is so very close to
us, and is right there with us, no matter what. The Apostle's
witnesses of the Savior strengthened my testimony tremendously, and
helped me recognize how real The Savior is. I also bear testimony that
The Savior lives. He loves you. He Knows you; and you can know Him,
through growing spiritually. The Atonement is the most significant
event to ever occur, and it is the most personal and selfless act of
pure love. He knows you. He has suffered all things for you. I know
Him. I know his love. I know my Savior. If you don't know your Savior,
I challenge you to get on your knees, and ask for an experience that
will help you to know your Savior. I promise that you can feel of his
love, and the sweetness of his Atoning sacrifice. You can receive
forgiveness, and support, love, and understanding, no matter what is
happening in your life.
  This quote from PMG, has been on my mind a lot lately. "As your
understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to
share the gospel will increase." Why is this? Because this is what our
gospel offers. There are many things that bring joy and reap great
rewards from membership in the Church, but the greatest blessing that
comes from being a member of the Church, is an understanding of the
greatest gift that man has and ever could be given. The Atonement of
Jesus Christ. The recognition of the Savior's ability to wash away
your sins. To have someone who knows perfectly what you are feeling,
and has gone through what you are going through, exactly and
perfectly. He suffered it so that we don't have to. The greater we
understand this gift, the greater our desire grows to share it,
because of the joy from and the love for this gift. The more we
understand and access the Atonement, the closer we will feel to our
Savior.
  "Our spiritual life is only as strong as our prayer life" -Elder
Kimball? This is a quote that my mission prep. Teacher at BYUI would
often quote. It has brought new meaning to my heart lately, as I have
been noticing my prayers, and how much I rely on Heavenly Father now,
compared to before the mission. It is so very true. Think about your
prayer life, and however strong that is, your spiritual life is surely
the same. Pray more deeply. Consult with your Heavenly Father about
everything, and seek to be in tune with the promptings of the spirit.
Through our prayers we show our Father in Heaven how much we trust
him, and how much faith we have in him. We can show him that we are
grateful for the gift of prayer by using it often. I think that it is
D&C that talks about "not wearying Heavenly Father with long, and
excessive words, but that we come to him often in prayer, meaningfully
instead" (It's something like that). It is so important that we always
ask for help. We show faith by looking to the Father and open up the
opportunity for him to bless and guide us. I invite you to work with
me on this, and try to more fully utilize the wonderful gift of
prayer.
 
I love you all, and can feel of your support and prayers. They mean so
much to me. Thank you. Thank you for your emails, and for the constant
love and encouragement. I am so grateful to know all of you. I feel so
blessed to be a Conover, to be from the Highland 22nd Ward, and to
have met and learned from each of you. You are a light to the world.
Let your light so shine.
 
Love,
コノバー長老
Elder Conover

I'm always getting paan here. Bakeries here are to die for.
Made French toast for the first time here!!! It was amazing!
This is plain naan, but it is also so good. コノバー・蝟償ｵ(ﾀ・楝・?ﾀｺ・蝟昭・閼偰ｷ)鹿蔗迪

God Answers Prayers.

May 23, 2016

My Dear friends and family,
Thank you so much for your constant  heartfelt letters, and support. I
can truly feel your support from homeand it helps me so much. This
week was a week full of many things. This work is so amazing, and I am
learning and growing so much each dayI would like to testify about
prayer. Yesterday before personal study, I really decided to test
God's promise to answer my prayers. Iprayed for a long time about many 

things, but I sincerely prayed asking2 specific questions. I tried to praywith the most real intent that I 

could possibly have,
and then I waited. I didn't feel 

anything really, so I asked that my
questions be answered as I studied 

the scriptures. I then started to
study and after studying for a while I got to the verse that answered
my question exactly, and was one of the strongest spiritual
experiences for me. I had never had an question that I needed
answered, answered so specifically and clearly through the Book of
Mormon, or through really anything. I can testify of the power of the
Book of Mormon to answer the questions that we bring to God. I know
that the Book of Mormon has specific power to answer our questions,
and to bring us closer to God. I know that God hears our prayers. I
know that we all can receive answers to our prayers according to our
faith. I have begun to love the Book of Mormon, and all church
literature far more than I could have ever imagined. I love the
doctrine of this church. I am so grateful to be able to have this time
to spend so much time studying, and learning about the gospel. This
work is truly amazing.
 This week there is not too much to talk about. We worked hard, 

and did a lot. Oh we went to a college and tried to find people to play

sports with, so that we could start a relationship before trying to
share the gospel, or to pass out English class flyers to people. We
are trying to find younger investigators as a whole mission, so this
is one idea that they've given us. But we were at the college, and it
was really the first time that I've really felt stared at. We were
walking around with our white shirts on, stopping people, and talking
to them, and then as we were talking to people, when anyone would walk
by, they would just blatantly stare at us! I could understand looking,
but they would keep looking even after they passed! It was really
interesting. Haha it was weird to be back at a college, but not be a
college student. It was good though! We only went for about 45
minutes, but we got 3 phone numbers from guys who want to play sports
together!! So that was exciting! It got way hot these past few days!
It is also more humid than Utah for sure, but not too bad. I ate Raman
for the first time here! It is a really common food here, but my
companion doesn't like it, so we haven't gone. This week we went with
a member, and we had him choose where to go for us, and he chose
Raman, so I finally got to try it!! It tasted so good!! In the picture
it doesn't look like there are any noodles, but underneath all of the
meat, there are a ton of normal Raman noodles.

^^^^This is one of my very favorite members. He is such a character. His name is Yokoi kyodai (Yo-ko-ee) (Brother Yokoi) He has a lot of money, and always dresses with a different G blazer and slacks. Him and his wife are so fun, and they feed us every fast Sunday in this area. He is a classic guy that tries to act grumpy, and not very happy, but then he'll just bust out this huge smile that he can't hold in, and it's the funniest thing ever! He usually is all shaved except for his mustache, but in these pics he has more of a beard. He is okay at English, and will sometimes say the funniest things ever in English when we are at his house. He has been to America a bunch! He loves nice things, and really liked my leather bag, and busted out this 300$ ball point pen, and talked to me about some of the many many nice things that he has. Lol. He always says that he's "Free", and that we still have to go to college, get married, get a job, and have kids, etc, before we will be retired, but that he is just "free"!! It is the funniest thing. Something that is cool is that he always goes to bed at 9 and wakes up at 5!! That is awesome to me, and I'm sure my family will really appreciate that. ;) He also goes biking everyday, and loves to talk about bikes. It's awesome. (He bust out his sunglasses when he was leaving, and so I had to take a pic. haha The work here is moving forward, and I can feel something big is going to happen here in Japan. The temple is getting a lot of Attention, and many non members are going to go to the open house from all over Hokkaido. This work is beautiful, and it is an honor to be able to feel and be a part of it. I am going to hit my 4 month mark in the mission this week! Crazy! Time flies. I love you all and hope that you are doing well. I know that the Savior loves you, and knows exactly what you are feeling, both in times of good and times of bad. Trust in him, and you can make it through anything. Love, $B%3%N%P!

Choices

May 16, 2016

Dear Family and Friends, 

First off My companion and I both stayed in Suehiro, but my first transfer in the mission officially ended! Crazy! I love this area though! 

I would like to give a little bit of a disclaimer at the heading of this letter. This letter is very positive, and may almost appear to make mission life look easy, or very fun, or very rewarding at all times. While this is sometimes true, it is definitely not true all the time. I have also had times of great discouragement, and frustration this week. I have felt rejected, and unsuccessful. I have questioned myself, and what I am doing. I have biked long days, and knocked on many doors. I have dealt with various physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual fears, and trials. It is not easy, and it is very hard. I am learning a language that is very difficult, and I am expected to do and be many things, BUT. I have overcome these obstacles, and I will overcome them again this next week, as they will surely come. I have overcome them by recognizing the love of my Savior, and utilizing the enabling power of the Atonement. 

Missionary life is a constant roller coaster between extreme joy, and somewhat extreme sadness, or discouragement, it is actually so interesting to pay attention to my emotions, and notice how back and forth they are! Haha. But fortunately, because of choosing to have a positive attitude, the lows pass really quickly, and the highs are long, and joyous. "I never said it would be easy, I said it would be worth it". -Unknown

Now please enjoy this letter:

Lately I have been studying a lot about a lot of things, and would like to share some things with you that I have found to be very intriguing, and spiritually rewarding. I will start by quoting a story from a talk: 

"My friend�fs father worked as a mechanic. His honest labor showed even in his carefully washed hands. One day someone at a temple told my friend�fs father he should clean his hands before serving there. Instead of being offended, this good man began to scrub the family dishes by hand with extra soapy water before attending the temple. He exemplifies those who �gascend into the hill of the Lord�h and �gstand in his holy place�h with the cleanest of hands and the purest of hearts." (Elder Gong's Talk)

This is an incredible example to me of Christ-like Humility. Imagine this man who has been diligently working as a car mechanic, and is righteously serving in the temple, he seems to have every right to take offense to the heartless comment given to him, and yet how does he take it? He not only CHOOSES to not take offense, but to take the comment sincerely, and do even more to keep his hands clean. Could we all be like this man in this situation? I do not know if I could. This is the Character of Christ. This is what it means to truly look outward, as the Savior did, when the world would tell him that he had every right to look inward. I would invite you all to ponder this powerful example of humility, and Christ-like behavior. When we choose to get offended, let us not think about how we are justified in our offense. I think we all can concur that this man in this situation could if in any, take offense justifiably. But that is not what it is about. We should choose to not take offense and to love no matter what. Jesus taught us a higher way of living, and he led the perfect example of how to do so. Let us all strive to be more humble, and to submit the times where we justifiably want to take offense to the Savior. 

"If we have unkind feelings, grudges, or resentments or if we have cause to ask forgiveness of others, now is the time to do so.

Our Savior declares: �gYea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

�gBehold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.�h

He testifies: �gI am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.�h" 

The next topic that I would like to discuss is: Choices. Elder Cook gave a beautiful talk called "Choose wisely". I would like to share some inspired and apostolic words of his with you:

Elder David A. Bednar recently cautioned members to be authentic in the use of social media. A prominent thought leader, Arthur C. Brooks, has emphasized this point. He observes that when using social media, we tend to broadcast the smiling details of our lives but not the hard times at school or work. We portray an incomplete life--sometimes in a self-aggrandizing or fake way. We share this life, and then we consume the �galmost exclusively �c fake lives of [our] social media �efriends.�f�h Brooks asserts, �gHow could it not make you feel worse to spend part of your time pretending to be happier than you are, and the other part of your time seeing how much happier others seem to be than you?�h 

Sometimes it feels like we are drowning in frivolous foolishness, nonsensical noise, and continuous contention. When we turn down the volume and examine the substance, there is very little that will assist us in our eternal quest toward righteous goals. One father wisely responds to his children with their numerous requests to participate in these distractions. He simply asks them, �gWill this make you a better person?�h 

I am very passionate about this topic. I believe that I have wasted far too much valuable time on things that did not help me on my eternal quest, and did not make me a better person. I regret the time that I have wasted in my life, and want to help as many people as I can to not waste time, the way that I, and many people have, and do. This is really very simple. Ask yourself that final question that that father asked his Children. "Will this make you a better person?" I challenge all of you to honestly ask yourself this question 10 times each day! Count! Set alarms on your phone, think about what you are doing, and ask what it is doing for you in achieving your long term goals? Ask yourself how it is making you a better person. Please do this. Through using your time more effectively to achieve your goals, and to become a better person, I promise, with the Apostle's, and the teachings of the church, that you will not only see far greater results, and progress towards the righteous things that you desire, but you will also be tremendously more happy, and will feel the joy of self-control, and self-mastery. You will feel accomplished, and purposeful.

This life is the time to prepare to meet God. We are a happy, joyous people. We appreciate a good sense of humor and treasure unstructured time with friends and family. But we need to recognize that there is a seriousness of purpose that must undergird our approach to life and all our choices. Distractions and rationalizations that limit progress are harmful enough, but when they diminish faith in Jesus Christ and His Church, they are tragic. 

Please consider the Apostle Elder Cook's words, and do what you can to eradicate unhealthy distractions out of your life, and replace them with soul enriching activities that are aligned with your eternal quest: To return to our Heavenly Father. I testify of the truthfulness of these things. I testify that this is the true church of Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that by and through the Book of Mormon, we can receive the Joy and comfort that we need in any circumstance. I know that God knows us. I know that he is always there for you and me no matter where we are at in life, and how we think he feels about us. He loves you, and he is waiting with open arms for you to let him in. I know that the prophets are called of God. I know that they are special witnesses of Jesus Christ. I know that they speak the will of The Father, and His Son Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Talks:

"Always Remember Him" -Elder Gong, of the Seventy

"Choose Wisely" -Elder Cook, Quorum of the twelve Apostles

As far as Japan experiences this week, I got my haircut last Monday night from one of our investigator's named Kitami San! It was let's just say one of the coolest, and best feeling experiences of my life! He took a really long time, meticulously cutting my hair very carefully. It was awesome. He is such a G. Finally, after I gave several suggestions, and of course was a little bit picky, he finished...the cutting at least...next he started talking to me about shampooing and what shampoos I wanted, and then he just started shampooing my hair, with this amazing mint shampoo that smelled so good. He shampooed it like two more times with different shampoos! It was amazing. After that we dried my hair. He then shaved my neck, and around my hair on thesides, the shaving cream felt so good! He massaged my neck and head and pressed these warm rags on my face, and shaved the rest of my face, and my eyebrows and forehead. He literally shaved my entire head. It was such a cool experience! I was so surprised by how refreshed and clean my face and head felt. Kitami san's haircuts are usually 2800 yenn, (about 30 dollars), but he told me that for foreigners he only charges 1200 yenn (12 dollars) so that got me pumped! It was such an incredible experience and it really took a lot of time, and really was worth a lot of money, so I gave him 1400 yenn which at first he literally would not accept, but then he went into the back and brought us out two American soda's and then was okay taking it. He is so nice. 

Not only did this haircut feel better than any in my life, I also like the way that it looks and feels better than any haircut I have ever had!!!

We also had some really amazing meals this week! We had yaki Niku three times this week! Yaki Niku is a "Korean Barbecue", it is basically as much meat as you want (All you can eat usually) and you just get it and you cook it yourself! One of the places was basically Takanos (I can't remember how to spell that), but cook it yourself! It was amazing! 

I also ate one of my new favorite bread here this last week, it was like a chocolate donut with crystalized cookie stuff around the outside, and chocolate cream on the inside. It was divine. I drank this soda called melon cream soda, and it was probably the best liquid that has ever been experienced by Elder Conover, or Matt, or Matthew. So that was amazing. Also I have a picture of another bread that I ate this weak that was also amazing. It was orange flavored. 

Yeah Huge right^. 

LEARN, LOVE, LAUGH

May 9, 2016

Dear Family and friends, 

This week has been wonderful! On Tuesday Yabutani Choro (Japanese) and I were on splits! He is from my doki (entered the mission on the same day as me!) and so I was pumped!! We were in my area, so I was sort of senior companion, but he knows Japanese perfectly, so it was more like 50/50. None of our usual investigators were home, but we had a good time finding people, because everyone was out barbecuing! We found a family! It is this really cute mom and dad, and their 16 year old girl! They are so awesome! I made a solid commitment with them for being able to meet with them next Tuesday and they agreed! It was so great! I really tried to develop a relationship first, and make them laugh, and have a good time with them first, before trying to get an appointment or teach any principles. I showed them my family, and asked them what age I looked like, and they said like 27 and 25 and 28 haha it was awesome, and then they were so shocked by how young my parents looked! They were all really fun! Yabutani Choro did a really good job explaining who we were, and how important our message is. I loved being companions with him, we worked really well together! 

On Thursday I was on splits with Yamaoka choro In shibetsu! (That area is about 2 hours away from ours, we took a cool train there!) In his area, We took a different train to this other area, and met this really awesome investigator named Sasaki San at this big grocery store! He really likes studying English, and he really had really cool style, even though he was very old. He lives alone, because his wife died, and seems a little lonely, but he really is so prepared to receive the Gospel. He bought us some super good paan from the bakery there! I love the paan here! It is so good. We walked back to his apartment, and he got our paan all laid out for us and this super good milk, and then said, "Inori masho ka?" (Should we pray?) That got me pumped!! We ate the paan and drank the entire carton of milk, shared a short message, and I helped him a lot with English. I wrote down how to pray in English, and I also wrote down an example prayer for him. But after we taught him, we were going to be late for the train back if we didn't run, so we had to book it! We ran pretty fast for most of the time, and it was sad how fast I got tired! But we made it to the train, and were super hot from running! After we got back to Shibetsu, we housed for a little bit, and I talked to Yamaoka choro about SYL, and about a lot of stuff regarding the way that everything works in the mission. He is awesome. He went sempai on transfer 4! That is so crazy to me! After we housed for like 10 minutes (No one answered), we went to this awesome restaurant called hillside cafe! The owner is an investigator, and loves the missionaries so much. She is awesome! We got some really good pizza, and then I got cordorva pasta that was soooo good! It was the first thing here that was like regular Italian food at home! It was very similar sauce to Alfredo sauce, and the Cordova meat was so good. I drank some great Ginger ale and then we ate a huge brownie sundae thing that was such a good dessert. It was seriously such a great Goch. (member/Investigator meal, usually free) After that we walked back to the apartment, and had a really good rest of the night with Yamaoka choro and Yabutani Choro. Splits was a really fun, great experience! 

The next day we traveled back to our area, and then studied and then went to lunch with Agaishi shimai, for Scheidt choro's birthday, at this place right across from co-op in Shunko. It was so good! I got this amazing steak meal, with squash and peppers too. It tasted so good. We went with the Shimaitachi, and with Saiki shimai, and sawakata (?) shimai, because they were on splits with our sisters. Those sisters are so awesome. It was a really fun time. After that we decided to go and visit Ishikawa San, and he let us teach him a little bit, and we had a good talk with him. Then we went to Tedayama kyodai, which was normal, he opened up a little bit more, showed us his Pokemon team on his Nintendo DS, but he still spoke less than 40 words while we were there probably. He is a really interesting cool guy though. Finally we taught Uchida kyodai again. He is so kind, and so great. I hope that he will be able to get the priesthood soon.

Yesterday I got to call my family!! It was so great to see them. I am so grateful for all of you, and especially for you Mom. I am so happy that we have a special day to recognize our Mother's. I have the best Mom in the world. After that we had stake conference! This was such a cool experience! I didn't understand really any of the talks, but it was really fun to be able to visit with and hangout with the members of our stake! And I met a lot more missionaries! All of the missionaries stood at the entrance to the church, and shook everyone's hands and welcomed them. It was really fun. This was the first time I really saw a good amount of little kids! Little kids are so cute here!! It was so fun! The minami de's brought a ton of food for all of the missionaries to eat, which was so nice. They are such nice people. During Stake conference it was really hard to not fall asleep, and it was so funny when Scheidt choro pointed out Reese choro's head bobbing, as he was fighting falling asleep. It was a real crack up. Omura shimai is 99% sure that she is transferring, so it was pretty sad talking to her, when we realized that we wouldn't be having any more goches, or activities together anymore, and it's sad actually! She is such a kind person, and I have really had a lot of fun with her. I'll always remember how she cried when she lost my family picture. I will miss her. After stake conference we came back and studied, and then went to visit some people, we had a really good time with Mitsuishi San! She is so nice, and I really feel that she is so prepared to receive the gospel. I hope that she will become less busy, and make more time for our message, the MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE OF HER LIFE. She made an appointment with us though, and made it a dinner appointment, so that was awesome! We gave her some homework, and she wanted to know what homework was in English, and so we told her, and while she was really having a hard time pronouncing it, her husband just busts up laughing out of nowhere in the background. It was the funniest thing ever! It is Crazy that transfers are this Thursday! 

That was this last week. Splits was an awesome experience. I am so grateful for other missionaries and their example's. I am learning so much everyday about what it means to truly be a member of the Church. I know that this church is true. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. It is of Jesus Christ: Our Savior. Through Jesus Christ, we can change and become better. What a great blessing. We must always be pressing forward, and trying to become greater disciples of Jesus Christ. I love learning about Christ. If you want to become more happy, strengthen your relationship in Christ. Learn to rely on the Savior, in all things. Use the Atonement, to repent, to forgive, and to receive the strength that you need. I know that because of the Sealing ordinance in the Temple, I can live forever with my family. This is the Plan of Happiness. "Wickedness never was happiness!!!" This is not an unhappy thing, this is the greatest thing, and it will bring you the greatest joy! But the joy is not cheap. All things that bring us true joy in life, have taken considerable work, haven't they? I would concur that they have. Salvation is the same way. It is the greatest joy that we can ever receive, therefore it also is going to take the most work. But we shouldn't be scared of work, Joy is the fruit of work, is it not! Let us not fear work, let us embrace work. Let us work hard to become better, to be more kind, to become more like Christ. Let us work hard to keep the commandments, and be more true to our covenant. Let us pray with "tremendous effort", let us do all things without the thought of it being easy. If we do not do hard things frequently then we should check ourselves, and ask ourselves if we are really happy; if we are really living life with a purpose. If you want something out of life, work hard and go and get it! "Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find". (That is the most reiterated scripture in the standard works.) It is true! Think about what you need, and want, and then follow those steps, and watch the Lord work miracles. Trust in the ability that God has to cause miracles to happen. They are not a Joke. LIVE LIFE MORE JOYFULLY. WORK MORE DILIGENTLY. LOVE MORE FULLY. I know that the Savior lives, I know that he loves us. I know that if He is our rock we can do all things. I know that this is His church. I love you all, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love, Elder Conover

Pics of the FHE AMAZING adventure!

What a Week!!

May 2, 2016

Dear Family and Friends, 

みなさんこんにちわ！元気ですか？わたしはほんとにしあわっせ。にほんじんひとびとはほんとにやさしです。いつもがんばるよ。

There's some fun Japanese for you. I am loving life here! This week was so awesome!! On Monday after I wrote to you, we had the amazing opportunity to go, with 2 members from our ward, Minami de shimai, and Sato Shimai, and 1 really nice member from another ward (Those two are two of my most favorite members), to a snow art museum!! It was so awesome!! Such a cool experience! I got tons of pics on my camera and everyone else did on their iPads, so I will send some, but they will just be the ones that the other missionaries took on their iPads. It was us, those members, and the sisters in our area. 

There was so much more, but I can only send so many pics. Remind me to talk about that when I go home. Scheidt choro got a flat tire the next day, and so we had some bike issues, and fortunately I could fix it, but really he needed a new tire, because the tire was completely worn through, so the next day, as I expected his tire became flat again. We were fortunate to be able to go to a bike shop near where we were, and get a new bike tire, with the help of a super awesome member! We taught some good lessons, and had a good rest of the week, and then on Saturday we had an FHE with the Tanaka's in our ward. They are so nice. They picked us up at 1 pm, and we also picked up on of the recent converts that we have been teaching, and who we are really good friends with, and then just drove for a while, into the mountains!! We ended up at a town that reminded me of Heber, Utah! Basically It was the coolest FHE of all time! We drove into the mountains, and saw some pretty scenery, I talked to Uchida kyodai, The recent convert a lot in the car, and he taught me a lot of Japanese! When we got to this smaller town we went in to this place and ate Lunch! The lunch was so good!! The restaurant was famous for their curry, so I got curry, and this chicken stuff with udong, (or whatever those noodles are called), and it was so oishie! After we ate we started to drive up this mountain, and there started to be more and more snow! We stopped at this place, and got out and walked a little bit, and then ran into this Blue Pond!! It was so cool, and so pretty!! 

 The pictures in the next email basically sum up the experience, but I ended up with over 100 photos in all! It was so awesome. So many awesome views and sceneries. God truly is amazing, and this world is truly beautiful. After that we got back, and had an appointment with Mitsuichi san! We went over to her house, and her and her husband let us in, and we talked with them for about an hour and a half! It was awesome! We talked a lot about a lot of fun stuff, and then about what we do as missionaries, and then talked to them about church, and what it was all about, and then I asked them if they would come to church the next day! He said that he golfs, but she said that she would come to sacrament meeting! And then yesterday she did come! She actually has a lot of people that she knows, and even friends in our ward! Tawaria San couldn't come to church because of his job, but we're hoping for next week that he can come again! 

I want you to all know that I know that this is the Lord's work. I am so grateful to be able to play a part in his plan for the people here. I used to think that I needed God's help here, but now I'm realizing that I am really just asking to be the kind of missionary that he allows to help him with His work. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that we can return to our Heavenly Father through him. I know that this Gospel is the only way to be truly happy. I know that being selfless and serving others is the most important thing that we can do here on Earth. God's first commandment is to love him, and then the second is to love our Neighbor, and when we love our neighbor we are really loving him. Make sure you are actually loving all those around you. If you have a hard time loving someone, pray to know how you can love them more. Pray for opportunities to express and show your love to those you love, (which should be everyone). I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that through that book, we can receive council in all things. I know that we have living Prophets, who tell us God's will. I know that if we will closely follow the Prophet's words we will never be lead astray. I know that Joseph Smith Restored the Gospel. I know that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that God and Jesus Christ loves each and everyone one of us, infinitely more than we can comprehend, and more personally than any of us will ever realize. I love you all, I am so grateful for your love and support. I know that this is God's work. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love, Elder Conover

Miracles

April 25, 2016

Dear family and friends,
This week has been a very faith strengthening week. It has been a week
of miracles. A week of faith. A week of love. I have learned more
about who God is and how He works. By small things great things are
brought to pass. I have realized what faith really is. I thought that
faith was something that I had, and I have tried really hard to have
faith, and I do have faith, but this week God showed me that He can do
anything. Nothing is impossible for God. I have learned to expect
God's help, and to expect his tender mercies, and miracles. This is
his work, I am his servant, He is not helping me, I am doing
everything I can to be worthy to help him. This is his work, and I am
so grateful to be able to be a small part of it. I know that this
church is true. I know that Christ lives, knows us and loves us. God
is so much more aware of and involved in everyone's life then I ever
realized before. He is always there, just waiting for us to recognize
Him, accept him, and follow him. People here have never heard about
Jesus Christ, but they have Christ's influence woven into their their
lives, and if you look close, you can see and feel how much Christ
loves each of his children.
 
Some very awesome things happened this last week. We have been meeting
every week since I got here with an Investigator named Tawaria san.
(San is like Mr, or Mrs. Here, and is what we call all of our
investigators) So the first week that I went to his house and taught
him, I walked in and thought it must be a joke that he was one of our
better investigators. His house was a tirade of cat hair, random stuff
scattered everywhere. He sat perched in a den with a computer monitor,
and a small TV on his left, and his laptop propped up by some hand
made mechanism to make it at an angle that he could be leaned back
into his pillows and still use it easily. We sat in there playing with
his cat, as he played various video games at once. His face was
gauntly white, his hair was long and messy, and his eyes were beady
and small. He was barely giving us the time of day for the first half
of the time that we were there, but then when we talked about sharing
a lesson, he turned everything off and looked at us. So that made me
happy! Lessons continued like that twice more, and then we invited him
to come to the church and letting us teach him a lesson there, and he
said oh okay. We invited an awesome member, who is a great man, who
already served his mission about 20 years ago, in THIS mission! But we
invited him to team up with us on the lesson.

  This lesson was this last Tuesday. We met them at the church, and
gave Tawaria san a tour of the church, which was very spiritual, and I
think really made him recognize the blessing of the Sacrament, and of
coming to church. We then taught him, and talked to him about coming
to church, and he was kind of frustrated, saying, "I want to come to
church, but I can't because of my work!" He works at this game center
and Sunday's are the busiest days of the week by far, and so he has
Monday's and Tuesday's off of work, and he says that there's no way
his boss would let him take off Sunday's. We kept talking to him, and
then I shared 1 Nephi 3:7 with him, and we bore testimony of God being
able to provide a way, and then I asked him if he would follow the
example of the savior receive baptism, and he said yes! It was
awesome! But that wasn't the miracle. We already knew that he wanted
to be baptized.

 We prayed really hard the whole rest of the week that Tawaria san
would basically quit his job, or that somehow he would be able to come
to church, but honestly I didn't really think that it would be this
Sunday. I believed that it could happen, but didn't really think so
soon. We had given him 6 sunday's before his baptismal date where he
could come to church, (Investigators have to come 3 times before they
can be baptized), and so he had to make it 3/6 to church to be able to
be baptized. The first week seemed to be one of the more unlikely
ones, thinking we'd have to make a plan with him to talk to his boss,
and try and work something out. BUT. We are NOT alone! This isn't even
our work! This is the Lord's work, and we get to help a little bit
with it. We got a call on Saturday evening while we were riding our
bikes from Tawaria san. He told us that for some reason that he
doesn't know his boss had called him and told him that he didn't need
to come in the next day, and so he could come to church!!! We were so
pumped! He asked when it was and such, and we told him about the 1
hour of sacrament meeting be the most important (It is the last hour
here) he said that okay he would come to that, but then we said oh but
it's all super good, and very valuable, and he's like, "Okay what do
you want me to do" and we said, "We wan't you to come to all three
hours", and he said okay! He came and had a wonderful time at church,
and met many people, and was welcomed by the ward in a very warm and
happy way. It was truly a miracle. Please pray for him, and his Job
that he will be able to continue to come to church.

 This week we also found 3 investigators!! We talked one of the
investigators that we haven't seen since we found her on my first
whole day here in this area in the field! We taught her the plan of
salvation, and she was so receptive and believing on our words! It was
so awesome! I was getting really pumped, because she also said that
she believes Jesus Christ Created the world! No one believes that
here! No one even usually knows Who Christ is! We testified to her,
and I though, I'm going to commit her to baptism. (Soft commitment) So
I said, "Through prayer, if you receive an answer from god about
whether or not our message is true, will you receive baptism?" At
first she was like, "oh..baptism," and was kind of worried, but then I
told her ONLY if she received an answer, and she thought for a second,
and then said YES! That got me pumped. This last week our
investigators progressed so much, and I really felt a change in the
area. I felt so much more love for everyone we saw, the church
members, our investigator's and everyone! It is so awesome! After we
taught her, (This was all on Saturday after Tawaria san called us
telling us he would come to church) we went to our favorite restaurant
for dinner, and then when we were leaving, the Manager Sumon, in that
picture behind me, (This is a nepalese restaurant that has been
started in Hokkaido and has all of these neponalese hilarious G's
working at them!) But as we were leaving all the patrons had basically
left, and he started asking us questions about our church, and about
how we pray and stuff! He told us that he prays everyday, and that he
really believes in Jesus Christ. He doesn't believe in "bothering God,
but just wants to give him thanks!" he's such a G! We taught him for
about 10 minutes, and then told him we'd talk more when we came back
next time! He's awesome! I want to talk to all those workers about the
church!

I talked to Sasaki Shimai a lot yesterday. She is such an awesome ward member! She is the sweetest lady, and makes me feel so happy. I felt so bad when we had to leave her house early the other day, she seemed so sad, and lonely! (we were still there for an hour!) But she seemed so happy with us there, I literally just wanted to stay there forever! But the first thing she said to me at church today, was that I needed to come visit again. It made my heart melt! She is so sincere, sweet, and Christlike. I can feel God's immense love for her. She is a great example. Sasaki Shimai: (She rides her bike to church and all around town!!

Hello Family and Friends!

April 18, 2016

I am almost out of time, so I am going to post a journal entry about
Japan, an then give my thoughts for you.
 
4/14/2016 Thursday
What a great day!!! We woke up and I did my classic Johnson Johnson
workout (it's an app that we can have that has work outs.) I've been
doing Johnson Johnson workouts for the last 8 exercise times and it's
been great! I did my language study plan really well today, which was
really beneficial! I need to be sure and review the stuff that I
learned throughout the day though. We just did the normal stuff and
then rode our bikes to asakaihawa for interviews with president
Nakatsuka! It was very cool to be able to see him, and be able to have
such a good interview with him. I really do love him so much. After my
interview with him, I sat in a room with Nakatsuka Shimai, and ate
food and talked to her. (That's got to be the first time I've been
alone with a girl for a very long time.)  Haha she's so awesome.
Then we rode back to our apartment, which by the way the ride to
asakaihawa is the most beautiful thing that I have experienced here in
Hokkaido thus far:

It was so beautiful! I want to fish in that river! I love being here. After we got back we went and visited some investigators in Nagayama, and then came back and finished DKK, and then we decided to make a run to Bistari Bistari!! We ate so much nan! haha it was so good. We pushed it one too many though, and got back a few minutes late. We called Johnson Choro, and told him that we were late, and he gave us a pretty hard time, and made us feel pretty bad. haha, I don't want to be late again..:/ When we got home from eating though there was a bag of Paan on our door, and we were like what! No way! We opened it and there was just a ton of way good paan from a bakery in it ! There was just this sweet note on it from Ishikawa kyodai! He is so nice. He felt bad because he had asked us to go to this hospital with him to give a blessing to a member's mom there, but then he asked her, and she said that she didn't want a lot of people coming, so he had to tell us never mind. It was so sweet to see how much he cared, and felt bad that he had to drop us. He is such a good person. He was a missionary in this mission! I want you all to know how much I love being a missionary. I love doing the work of the Lord. I love being able to have one focus, and that focus be the most important thing in this life. I love learning from theScriptures and from our prophets. I have learned of the importance of love, and of showing your love. I have learned how to make oragami hearts, and we give them to people to show our love, and it is so special. I challenge you all to find a way to show your love, and show your love daily. I am so grateful to be a member of the church. Here the Members are few, so I have a greater appreciation for the great blessing that it is to have the truth, and have the happiness from the gospel. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He has made a way for us to return Home. He paid the price, so that we don't have to. We can accept his sacrifice, and not have to pay the price, because he did. He paid the price with love. I love Jesus Christ. If you want to become happier, come to know your Savior, and you will, I can testify of that. If you want to be happier, learn to let go of yourself, and love others. Don't worry about yourself, worry about others, and you will be taken care of. I know that this is the way. The way is Christ. The way is love. And the way starts today. I believe in Christ. I know that he Lives. I love you all so much. 

love Elder Conover. 

Ps:
^^^^^^^This is one of my most favorite foods in Japan. Lemon Paan. It looks like it has stuff under it in this picture, but its just sitting on top of a bowl, the whole bowl is not filled