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!