Merry Christmas! And stuff!

Traditional Japanese Christmas- KFC!

We got to Skype with Elder Adachi on December 23, which was Christmas eve in Japan. He is looking great and having a wonderful time on his mission. He now has a native Japanese companion, so he is loving that. His companion is a gymnast, so he did a backflip for us on camera! Wow!

"

A picture of a cat on a leash on a bike because you deserve happiness in your life"

Here is his Christmas email:

Hey everyone! Hope you had a magical CHRISTMAS! I hope it was filled with happy memories and time with family because that's what it's all about! Missed you all this week a ton but I felt your prayers super hard this week! Thank you so much for all your love and support! This is how my... Christmas? Went! Haha 

We visited a member in the hospital who got in a car crash and got pretty messed up. He can't move his arm and leg very well and some stuff got messed up with his head and such. His name is Hoshi Kyodai (brother Hoshi). We went to the hospital and when he came out on his wheelchair before we could even say hello he started crying. He just expressed how grateful he was that we would take the time to come and visit him and see how he was doing. He talked about how he just wanted to give up and the doctors said he'd never walk or move his arm ever again and he was in a really dark place. He said he heard the spirit tell him that he cannot give up, that he was saved because he had more work to do. He heard from the spirit that he would one day become a missionary. He says someday he wants to serve as a mission president or some sort of mission he knows that's the why we has saved and the spirit tells him everyday not to give up. He says there are a lot of times he wants to give up but he remembers the spirit and what it told him and he keeps going. He showed us how now he can start moving his arm and even walk a tiny bit. It was truly inspirational to see how even when the doctors say you won't be able to do something you do through God all things are possible. Before we left I asked if I could share one of my favorite scriptures and pray with him. I shared alma 26:27 talking about when they were going to quit the lord comforted them. He cried some more and I felt the spirit so strong. I think I really needed this I left thinking how blessed I really am. Sometimes we get way too caught up in what we don't have that we forget that we are so very blessed and all we have. Just having a body that allows me to walk, see, talk, hear is the biggest blessing. I think I forgot that I'm glad Hoshi Kyodai was put in my life to help remember it.

Got to talk with family this week! It was the weirdest thing in the world... Now I totally understand why we only get to talk to our families 2 times a year and 6 months apart...  You need 6 months to recover haha! It was way cool to be able to see everyone and hear everyone's voices though! I LOVE YOU GUYS! And it to meet BABY SIENNA! So cuuuute! It really put in to perspective why I am out here... I am here of course it bless the lives of others but I'm here becoming the best person I can be so my family and future family will be blessed. There is really no other way to learn the things I have been learning out here and I couldn't be more grateful. I trust in the lord that he is taking care of my family and friends! Love you!

So to answer a question that a lot of you have been asking... NO they do no celebrate Christmas in Japan! I knew it wasn't as big as america but I had NO CLUE it would be this bad! We went out for lunch to get KFC! (It's a big thing here for Christmas...) and I made it my mission to say Merry Christmas to everyone! I got maybe like 10 responses... It was the same as any other day and the Christmas spirit was... Not a thing. It was honestly getting me down but it was chill. We got invited to the Kimuras for dinner and it SAAAAAAAVED my Christmas! Just being in a home with a family and sharing time with good people was enough to make my Christmas this year amazing! 

We don't really have any investigators right now so we do alllllllooooot of finding. Like I thought we did finding a ton in my last area but it's nothing compared to how much we do here! One day we were finding for a long time just walking around and everyone kept rejecting us or saying the same things about how religion leads to war and Japanese people don't believe in God they believe in Buddha and just the usual stuff. On my mission so far I haven't really had any getting down on myself about getting rejected or not finding much success. Most of the stuff getting me down was companions and schedule and such. But for some reason this day it got to me pretty hard and it was so frustrating! I let myself think that I wasn't going to see hardly any success and that like what I've been told a lot " you'll have a good experience but you probably won't baptise much" I was really down by the end of the day we had like 6 hours of walking around trying to share with someone even a little bit of our message but no one talked to us for very long. As we were going back I thought of a simple word "Perhaps" now this word means a lot to me and has meant a lot to me on my mission especially. It actually talks about this word in the lorax by dr Seuss but anyways I thought of this simple word and I was comforted. In Alma 26:30 it says 

"and we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some."

Everyday I am working the hardest I can. Not to see a ton of baptisms or to convert everyone but that I MIGHT be the MEANS of saving SOME soul. I work so hard for the perhaps and how great will be my joy when that perhaps, that some soul receives eternal happiness! I got too caught up in the now this week and i forgot about that soul... That soul that I felt two years ago when I was driving home from school when I got my answer to come on a mission. The hours of finding, the work, the schedule, the rules, the companions, are all worth it because of that soul and I can't wait to see when that soul comes into my life and changes me forever. 

tweets

Said hello to a lady and she looked shocked and asked me why I said hi and I just said oh just wanted to! You look nice and she said ohhhh you made my day I'm 70 and no one ever says hi to me! #itsthelittlethings 

Shout out to the homie Betsy for getting her mission call to TOKYO JAPAN!!! #ホムグレン姉妹 #tokYO! #yospo #yoljo #webouttotearitup! 

Met fellow AGGIE!!!! He's in my ward!!!!! #UTAHSTATE #GOAGGIES!

There's a sister in my district who sounds EXACTLY like Marcel the shell! #wannaseemetrytoliftthis? #guesswhatiuseasabeanbag?

From all the food and candy we received for Christmas from everyone we are all going to die! #2boxesofbacon #100moonpies #foodfordays! #gonnadie! 

Met someone here who is really good friends with the Chidesters! #smallworld #chisaisekaidesune! #churchmakestheworldsmall 

Glad to hear home got a white Christmas! But... Now please pray for snow to come my way! #prayforsnow #snowway! 

Teaching slang to comp has to be one of the best things ever!!!! #youknowwhatimsayin #imdown #youreabeast! 

Challenge!

This week I want to challenge you to not worry about the day to day the little things that get to you, the little things you have to, the things that are weighing on your mind. Put those aside for a second and think about why you are doing the things you are doing! Think of who you are doing them for! Whenever I get down I think of you guys... Pretty much if you're reading this Thats you guys! I'm out here for you doing these things for you! Who are you doing e thugs you're doing for? I hope this makes sense... 

Love you all Merry Christmas and a happy new year ! Let's make this year the best 2015 it can be and not worry about the bad but only the good and why we are doing what we are doing! 

Love! Rice! And.... MOCHI! 

Love Elder KJ !