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!