Week 53 - 08/19/18 - Group Email

This past week was awesome!! We had a huge mission conference combined with the Tokyo mission so I got to see my boy Elder Hoj and a bunch of other dudes from the MTC. It was really fun to catch up and see all of them again. We also got to hear from Elder Stevenson from the quorum of the 12, Bishop Dean M. Davies, and Elder Gay so it was fun day! I also hit my year mark this past Thursday so I'm officially on the downhill ⛰️🤙

We saw a miracle with our investigator Fillipe this week! So last week my comp and Elder Peet were able to set a baptismal date with him for the 25th of August. Well this week we had a lesson with him on Wednesday and he said he doesn't think he wants to do that date anymore. He brought up the same concern that he's had for awhile about talking to his family in Brazil in person before he gets baptized before they are all very religious. We just simply shared the blessings that he can receive through baptism and committed him to pray about it and see if he should wait or call his family instead and go ahead with the baptism. On Friday morning I messaged him and asked if he prayed and he replied "I prayed, I called my family, I will baptize."!!! That was definitely one of the best messages I've gotten! We then had a lesson that night and figured out all the specifics and set up an interview which he passed the next day! So it is looking like we will almost for sure have his baptism this Saturday and I'm so excited for him! 

After one of Fillipe's lessons he took us to a little Brazilian shop by his apartment and we got to eat some Brazilian and Peruvian food. It was  super good and nice for a change from Japanese food. 

I was able to give my first blessing in Japanese to a member this week! After english class he was asked me for a blessing due to some back pain that he had. It was a cool experience and the spirit was definitely present! 

Another highlight from this week was that I met another Elder in my mission, Elder Lindhart from Denmark who is also into trail/ultra running!!! He ran the Bear 100 and Squaw 50 right before he left so he is a beast. It's not common at all to find people my age doing the same stuff so I was extremely happy to meet him. It was funny, actually the day before an Elder told me about him then the next day I ran into him on the train. What are the odds. I'm just hoping we become comps eventually because that would be a good time! 

That's about it for this week, Church is true! 

ディーン長老