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