11/28 Tuesday.
Today was zone conference. It went really well, but it would have been better for translating if I had had more sleep.
Zone conference looked like this.
Health-Sister McClure
Consecration-Turning your will over to God’s will- President McClure.
Passion-Find passion in missionary work and about becoming a consecrated missionary. -Elder Conover.
Making and setting Goals-Elder Sato
Goals being God’s command, and then God providing a way for us to accomplish the thing which he hath commanded. We just have to find out what God’s command is for our area. -Elder Conover
Finding segment- Elder Sato
“Things that we will no longer do as a mission when finding” -Elder Conover. (Basically robotic, and repetitive things got destroyed, and also all of the excuses for public places and not talking to the opposite gender, yeah we got rid of all of those, so now missionaries know that they are expected to talk to everyone at all times, and they won’t ever use the same basic approach ever again. Start a conversation like a human being, and lead directly from that to a gospel principle, and then to your purpose, as they as you questions and you have a human interaction.)
Finding Statistics, and new standard of excellence for daily contacts.
-President McClure
Working with members, mini segment-President McClure.
This was pretty much the layout for the zone conferences.
On Tuesday there was no one that could really translate, so I had to translate everything, and even when I talked I translated part of what I said, although one of the Japanese elders was able to mostly translate what I said. I guess that President McClure’s English is especially hard for Japanese to understand, let alone translate. But it was too bad, because after having stayed up late, and with it being the first zone conference, therefore the first time actually experiencing it, my translation wasn’t very good. Hopefully the Japanese still got the main parts. ;/
After Zone conference we got back and I was able to have a really good conversation with Miki san on the phone. She has progressed so much it is so awesome. We were able to set up a video appointment for tomorrow, so that should be really good. Starting at 7pm we met with President and were supposed to plan mission leadership council meeting, but we ended up talking more about addictions and the law of chastity, and he taught us a lot about what bishops and stake presidents experience and help with. President McClure is such a good man. I am so grateful for the Spirit and the blessing of being cleansed each week as I take the sacrament, and to be able to continually be better. Then we ended up reviewing zone conference, and were able to adjust some things, which really should help us, moving forward.
11/29 Wednesday
Today we went up to Asahikawa, called yui chan and Miki san and had an awesome lesson on video call with Hayashi Shimai on as well! Technology is so cool! We were able to have a team up online lesson while we were in a city two hours away! Oh, by the way it was fun to drive President and sister McClure here from Sapporo. For our lesson we taught this time to Yui chan the message of the restoration, which was so awesome because she is so believing and has such a strong faith. After the lesson we were able to go out to eat with one of my favorite less actives that I worked with in my first area, Suehiro! I haven’t seen her in almost a year and a half! It was so awesome to talk with her, and really have a fully natural and easy conversation with her, compared to back when I first knew her. Great tender mercy. She took us to a really nice Yaki niku place, and it was a really nice meal that she was so nice to treat us to. I love japan, and I love these people. I really love this less active. She really needs to soften her heart and forgive the people at church who were wrong to her, continue to read the Book of Mormon and strengthen her testimony again.
After that we went back to the church and held a meeting with the zone leaders and the district leaders from Asahikawa zone. We talked about a lot of things. We discussed the tools that they have in order to help their missionaries, and we talked about taking accountability for the zone or the district, and really trying to influence in a way that there is progress and that missionaries are improving and progressing. We talked about leading in the Savior’s way and the importance of the Spirit. We talked about not letting a meeting ever be led on accident. Meetings should be planned by the spirit, and prayers and hymns should be selected by the person assigned to run the meeting, and they should pick who prays and what hymns are sung, prayerfully. It was a really fun meeting, and we are excited for a great zone conference tomorrow, keep the fingers crossed.
11/30 Thursday
Today’s zone conference went really well!! It was a lot better than I expected it to be, because it went a lot better then the one in Atsubetsu on Tuesday. The zone was so responsive, and we were able to be in a smaller room and make it more of a close kind of environment, which really helped with the things that I was talking about. At the beginning of the morning, we had a pretty intense message from Miki san about her husband waking her up at 4:30 AM and asking her to not get baptized and to stop, and promise not to get baptized until he was content. She sent a message to us, and also a message in the group with a bunch of the members. As zone conference was going on I occasionally checked my iPad, and I didn’t have time to read, but I could just see the many messages going back and forth from the members and Miki san over this situation. The members are SO awesome!! We finished zone conference, and as we were driving home in a huge blizzard, I made some calls, and President dropped us off at eikaiwa so that we wouldn’t be too late, so that we could talk to the yoneta’s at Eikawa. The Father, Masahiro, was very stiff, and had a huge wall with us, so it was hard to get through to him much tonight. Hopefully he will soften up more. We came back and had about half an hour to talk about and plan Mission Leadership council, which wasn’t very much time, so good thing President is the runner of that meeting. Haha. President is so awesome. We got home exhausted and slept great tonight.
12/1 Friday
Today was MLC, it went well, and was good to be with the leaders in the mission. I have developed some wonderful relationships with different missionaries on my mission, that I will always be grateful for.
Translating this meeting was a little bit simpler, because it was more of a conversation, and so a little bit more time that people are thinking, and more natural language, vs. a prepared presentation. Miki san said that yui chan was sick and asked what a priesthood blessing was! Such an awesome question! I was on splits with Elder Fukino after the leadership meeting, and so we had a good conversation with Miki on the phone, and were able to teach and really have a great learning experience with her about her and her conversion. Then we went and visited two members, who were both home and we were able to teach lessons to. The Kishi family, and the kobayashi family. Great members, with such cute little kids. From there we went to the food court and found a couple new investigators with pretty good potential. Elder Fukino taught me a lot. He is a convert and is 24 years old. He converted when he was 22. He is so happy and fun, and full of love. He really cares about the people and is an amazing example. It was great to really have an exchange that helped me to think and reflect more about what kind of feeling I have toward my work, and how I talk to and show love to people.
12/2 Saturday
Today there was this awesome concert that the youth in the ward put on with lots of music. We were able to bring a less active member, and it was really good for him. It is basically just an all music performance, that is really uplifting and spiritual. I loved it. Such pretty music and such great talent.
12/3 Sunday
Today the whole yoneta family came to church!! It was so great!! The husband came because determined to understand what kind of crazy things we do, and to actually experience for himself what this church thing actually was. At this point he had looked up things on the internet, and had run into some of the common complaints that people make about the church, confirming his uneasiness towards religion. He participated well in gospel principles, but the tension was still pretty high. We then went and had a little meeting with the bishop, Elder Satou, Masahiro and I, in the bishop’s office. It was really really intense. We started hearing his questions, and then ended up just asking if we could explain some things before hearing all of his concerns. We were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation, and then answered a couple of his questions. It went well, and he feels a little bit satisfied, but I don’t think the “mountain of questions” that he said he had on Thursday are all answered/resolved yet. After that we rejoined with the members, and finally masahiro’s walls seemed to be down and he was finally having fun and relaxing. This afternoon we had interviews with President McClure, which was really awesome. He told me that I am not normal, in a really complimentary way. I am grateful for the opportunity to grow and learn, here in Japan.
After that we went to the Nishihara family’s house with the Yoneta’s and had an awesome Curry no yube (Family home evening, but with curry for dinner.) a lot of people came, and it was really good for everyone. Masahiro was so much more relaxed, and you could see that a lot of his troubles had been appeased.
12/4 Monday
Today was a crazy day. We went to Odori and met a lot of the old awesome missionaries, Elder Akamatsu Elder Graham, some of the sisters that are going home, and we kind of shopped, and then there was a zone activity, but we just saw the lights and then came back,and went to volleyball with the moms that we play volleyball with occasionally. It was really fun to be with some of my great mission buddies.
I know that serving a mission has been the greatest blessing of my life. I am so happy to be here in Japan and working to help people to come unto Christ. I know that prayer is real. I know that God loves us.
I love you and am so grateful for you and all the support and love that you have for me.
Love, Elder Conover
コノバー長老
Elder Conover
Elder Conover
Photos:
1. Right out side of the mission office.
2. Driving President and Sister McClure to Zone conference in Asahikawa.
3. A few of the amazing members helping with the yoneta’s.
4. We helped set up this nativity.
5. This family was so cute and nice. We started talking to them while we were getting lunch, and the mom all of a sudden just picked up her baby, and went to pass him to me to hold him!! It was really cool! Unfortunately I had to explain to her that we can’t hold babies during this time as a missionary here. She seemed okay with that, but it was so nice that she was willing to just let me hold her baby all of a sudden like that. I love babies.
6. The yoneta’s at the temple; representing the time when they will be sealed together in the temple. Please pray for them!
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