This letter is a history of the events that have taken place this last
week!!' Very crazy!! It is dated so you can kind of have a better
understanding of what happened and when!
11/30/2016 Wednesday
Today was a very special day on my mission. I was able to teach an
awesome Ekaiwa class with my homie Bede choro! I made the theme
"Fear", and got really pumped about helping people be able to overcome
their fear of failure. It felt really good, especially since it was
almost all girls in the class! Haha. It was great because,
ゆきなちゃん、ひまわりちゃん、ごと姉妹 and, 森兄弟 were all there!! It was a really great
class to be able to talk about that stuff with. I committed them all
to make a plan as to where they see themselves in 1 year, 5 years, and
10 years. But then to think about how fear would get in the way of
them getting to where they want to be, and make a plan to overcome
that fear. Also in this plan to plan for failures!! I created a quote
that I will probably use from now on! "Don't plan for perfection, plan
for progression."
But the real best part of the day is what happened after we finished
teaching class. Himawari chan. Okay so a brief background about her.
She is 16 years old, and met the missionaries in another area in
August, we met her at the end of September, when she came to our
church with her best friend who is a member. After church that day,
her friend called our ward mission leader, Brother Masashi, and told
him that Himawari chan wanted to take the lessons from the cool, イケメン
foreigner that she had met at church. That ended up being me, so then
Akamatsu choro and I were able to teach her! We taught her once with
the sisters, and then Sister Koyama got injured biking, so for the
next month and a half, Akamatsu and I taught her the lessons, and we
had many very special and spiritual experiences together. Himawari
chan has strengthened my faith, in a way that I didn't think was
possible. Her sincere faith, despite having any background in
Christianity, or religion at all, is very admirable and inspiring to
me. It is so beautiful to watch a person come to know for themselves
that this church is true. She truly has learned from the Holy Ghost,
and only from the Holy Ghost, has she been able to find faith, and
believe in the Gospel. After the Sister's got better, and transfers
happened, we were able to teach her with the Sister's for the past 5
weeks, but the sister's kind of became a little bit more in charge, so
we had to trust in them, and the timing that they moved things in.
Last week, they made a new baptismal date for December 11th because
she still did not have her parent's permission. The transfer date is
on the 8th, and so it was sad that she would not be baptized before
then, because Oshiro Shimai is finishing her mission, and I will also
most likely transfer, and so that was sad, but I knew that she would
still get baptized, as long as she got permission from her parents, so
I was okay with it, but then this last Saturday, I just felt like I
should text her.
So I texted her on Saturday, and asked her if she had the confidence
to ask her Mom if she could be baptized, and she said yes! I asked her
if she would ask her Mom that night if she could be baptized, and she
said yes! So she did ask her Mom, and as a total miracle, her mom said
yes!!! She said, "I don't understand it all, but if that's what you
want to do, then I will let you." Best thing ever!! Then Himawari chan
came to church the next day, and I talked with her, and told her that
she could get baptized before Sister Oshiro finishes, and also before
I possibly transfer, and she wanted to do it sooner! But we still had
the problem of her dad. She still needed to talk to her dad, but she
doesn't talk to her dad a lot, so this was really hard for her. Nobody
really said anything to her, but then we got a text Sunday night,
saying that she had asked her dad, and that her dad said it was okay
too!!!! Total miracle!!! It was still up in the air though if we could
make a date work before the transfer, but when Himawari chan came to
our English class on Wednesday, the sister's and I talked with her,
and we were able to work out Sunday night for her to be baptized!! She
was so excited, and we were so excited, and it was just awesome! They
kept on talking about details for a little bit, and I talked to some
other people at English class. Then Himawari chan came up to me, and
said the most rewarding thing that I have heard on my mission. "Will
you baptize me?" It was such a special moment. I felt very humbled,
and very very grateful to God. God is so kind, and is such a God of
miracles.
4 days later...(In the last four days we had a thousand different
problems with both Himawari chan and the other Investigator,
Tsuchitoriba San, who was also hopefully being baptized on this coming
Sunday..but in the end they were both able to pass their interviews,
and the bishop and one of the awesome return missionary sisters in our
ward were able to meet Himawari chan's parents, and everything was
confirmed, and all of the problems were resolved.)
Sunday 12/4/2016
Today was the best day of my mission so far!!! Himawari chan was able
to be baptized, after all. We got to the church at 5:50, and did all
the rest of the preparations, and practiced the song that we were
singing as missionaries. "I'll be with you my friend". Then Himawari
chan and Tsuchitoriba San got to the church, and the sister's took
them to change, Bede choro (Such a homie!!! So happy to have had the
last three transfers in the same area and apartment as him! I am
really hoping that we transfer to the same area this next transfer,
even though the chances are not too high...) But Bede choro and I went
and got changed, and then we sat with them up on the stand, and Oshiro
Shimai gave a really great talk about the Holy Ghost. Himawari chan's
parents came!! With her 10 year old little brother!! It was so special
to have them there, and such a surprise to everyone, including
himawari chan, that they actually came, but truly such a miracle. We
then all went to the font, and Bede choro asked who was going first,
and Tsuchitoriba San just said, "Me." Which was so awesome, because
she is usually the most quiet, and passive person, so it is so awesome
when she makes a strong decision. So Bede choro went first, and did a
really great job. It was very special. Then Himawari chan and I went
into the font, and I asked for the order of her full name like 3
times, because I didn't want to mess it up, but it was a little
awkward, because everyone saw, and kind of laughed, but it was such a
happy moment, that nothing mattered. Her parents were less than 5 feet
from me, right in the front watching the baptism, which made me a
little bit nervous, considering that they had only just barely even
approved for her to be baptized, probably not really even
understanding exactly what baptism means, but the ordinance went well.
It was so special to be able to baptize her. She has grown so much,
and is truly converted, such a special day in her life. She wants to
go to byu Hawaii, and will probably serve a mission too, so that is so
awesome!! After the baptism, we all got changed, and then got back
into the chapel, where Tsuchitoriba San, and Himawari chan both gave
beautiful testimonies. It was one of the most powerful moments on my
mission. To have Himawari chan, who I had just had the opportunity to
baptize, bear such a strong testimony of God, and of Jesus Christ. It
truly strengthened my testimony, and I am so grateful to God, for the
blessing of being able to be a part of this special day.
Also a story about Tsuchitoriba San, Graham choro and Bede choro's
investigator.
She was found 5 weeks ago, and was able to be baptized very quickly,
which is such an awesome thing, especially since nobody thinks that
that is possible, and that it always just takes time, in Japan. But a
couple weeks ago (I hadn't had time to write it when it happened and
had forgotten since, but it was a very defining moment for me on my
mission, so I will share it now.) Graham choro asked us if we would
teach Tsuchitoriba San the Atonement with them, because he had a good
example that he wanted to use. This was on Tuesday night, 2 weeks ago.
I said okay, and so we went to the lesson, and Graham choro explained
the Tatoe that we were going to do, to Tsuchitoriba San. Satou choro
(My companion) was going to represent us, in this life. Bede choro
would represent Satan, and Tsuchitoriba San would represent God. Satou
choro had to not blink for 30 seconds in order to return to live with
God. So Satou choro was able to do that, and he returned to God. But
it is not actually that easy. Satan does not want us to return to God,
and so Satan makes it so that we are tempted to blink. This next time,
Bede choro came in, and snapped at Satou choro's eyes, and blew on
him, ect, and Satou choro blinked 6 times. The price that had to be
paid was 10 push ups per blink. Satou choro had to do 60 push ups to
make it back to Heavenly Father. Satou choro started doing push ups,
and he couldn't make it past 26. Then Graham choro pulled me in and
said that I represented Jesus Christ, and he explained that Jesus
Christ takes our punishment upon himself, and saves us, so that we can
still return to God.
I got down and started doing push ups...I had already done 50 push ups
that morning, and I have not done push ups all at once in a set over
30 in a long time, and so I was a little bit worried. In this example
breaks were not allowed, it had to all be at once, I could not get off
of my hands and feet. I started going, and got to 25. Then I started
doing push-ups 2 by 2. (Form had to stay perfect too, Jesus Christ did
not cheat, suffering the Atonement.) I had an occasional 3, but mostly
did the push ups 2 by 2, for the next 10 minutes. Tsuchitoriba San was
in charge of counting, and when I got to 50, and looked like I was
going to die, with my arms shaking and head bulging, she said that
that was enough, right? It was okay, I could stop. Graham choro looked
at her with tears in his eyes, and shook his head. The price had to be
paid, and it had to be paid in full. (I didn't actually see this
happen, I was a little preoccupied by that one number; 60.) I prayed
harder than I ever have, to have the strength to be able to make it to
60. I thought about Christ, and was able to see a glimpse of how much
he suffered, how incomprehensible his pain must have been, and I
learned what Jesus Christ's Atonement truly means for each and every
one of us, perfectly and individually. I pressed forward with nothing
left but faith, and with my arms as shaky as you can get, I almost
fell on 56, but I barely pulled back up, and then continued and
strained through the end. I thought I might fall coming up on that
final push up, but I somehow was able to very slowly push through and
make it all the way up. I went over and plopped down into one of the
chairs, and we all sat in silence. After a good minute and a half, I
got up, and walked over to Satou choro and said, pointing tot where I
had just done the push ups, "Because I love him. Christ suffered for
us, because he loves us. Without any motive less powerful than love, I
would not have been able to do all of those push ups. But I thought
about Christ, and what He suffered for me because of his love, and I
was able to do it. I know that Christ was able to accomplish the
Atonement, because of his amazing love for us." Then everyone else
bore testimony to her of the reality and power of the Atonement.
Graham choro and I grew a lot closer from that experience. We saw a
glimpse of what it is like to be eternal beings, and to be able to use
the power of faith to accomplish things that seem out of reach. I know
that God lives. I know it with all my heart. I know that Christ is
our Savior. They are waiting with open arms. Let us come to them.
Love, Elder Conover
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