SNOW!

Splits with Kamae Choro from the Okayama ward

Konnichiwa!!

I can't believe another week has already passed. It's been such a week
of small, unexpected miracles. I love being a missionary. I'm having
the time of my life!

MIRACLE NUMBER 1:
I got a call from Bishop Baba earlier this week to let me know that a
American less active member that Deschamps choro, the bishop and I had
been working with was going to church again in a Ward up in Tokyo.
This brother that we were working with was struggling with the church
a little bit, but through transferring his records quickly  when he
moved to Tokyo from Okayama, the Bishop there was able to get in
contact with him and he decided to come back to church. The other
miracle inside this is that the brother moved into the only Ward in
Tokyo with an American bishop. WOOHOO! MIRACLES!!

MIRACLE NUMBER 2: We had splits with the zone leaders up in Yonago and
we made it home without freezing to death. (It was snowing the whole
time we were up there, with blizzard warnings.)

MIRACLE 3: While sitting on a packed bus on the way from Yonago, my
companion started up a conversation with the guy sitting next to him.
(He was sitting in the row in front of me.) They started talking about
the gospel and Wilkinson choro was awesome and doing his best to teach
the man about what we believe! He got stuck a little bit when talking
about the atonement, so I leaned forward in my seat and simply
explained what the atonement is. When I sat back in my seat again as
they continued, the lady that was sitting next to me looked at me and
said "are you Jesus Christ's missionaries?" I laughed about it a sec
and said, "Yes we sure are!"  She explained to me that she heard what
we were talking about when I explained the Atonement to the man in
front of me, and that she thought it was amazing. She said "I have
lots of interest in learning, can you teach me?" I was about blown
away. For the next hour of the bus ride, we talked about the
restoration, Book of Mormon, prayer, and the plan of salvation. She
had so many good questions and just kept asking for more. The coolest
part about this is that she lives in Matsue! (One of my last areas) So
I was able to explain to her where the church was, and exchange
information with her so that she can meet with the missionaries up
there. MIRACLE!!

There are about 10 more miracles that I could talk about from this
week, including going out to the middle of no where on splits with
kamae choro and finding lots of new people to teach, as well as
finding a great new investigator here in Okayama nishi. But I don't
want to bore you all with that, and this email is getting super long
anyways!

Lastly, On Wednesday we had a big conference where president Whiting
from the area presidency came and spoke to all of us. We talked a lot
about the spirit and how we need to learn how to follow it. One thing
that he said that really hit me is that "Heavenly Father cannot steer
a parked car."  We can't just sit and wait for answers to come to us.
We need to be actively searching and taking steps into the dark! The
Lord won't let us take too many steps in the wrong direction without
redirecting our path. But we need to show our faith and act in order
to receive answers.

After the conference, I was able to get interviewed by President
Whiting. It was such a spiritual experience. I could really feel the
love that he has for the savior, and the love he has for missionary
work. It was a great time to receive some one on one council from one
of the lords servants. He helped me to see more of a vision of what
kind of missionary I want to be, and how I can better help the Okayama
nishi Ward.


I love being a missionary, if you can't tell. I love having the
opportunity to teach about our Savior everyday, and learning more
about him. And I love the Okayama nishi Ward. I'm excited for the
miracles to come.

Sorry this is so long today! I love you all more than Wilkinson choro
loves airplanes! Stay warm!

Eruda Ebanzu


The Okayama District