Sunday, December 28, 2014
Best Christmas gift ever!!!
Sure loved our Skype time with Elder Cottle. We are so very proud of him. He is doing amazing things and he is so happy!!!
Week 79!
Short email today. I will add my questions and his answers. We talked on Christmas!
2. Yeah...I'll be doing that today!
3. It's a party being back in Shibuya I really do feel like i am back
home! I'm excited to continue to get to know Shibuya a lot better
and just see amazing miracles here!
4. I am not a Zone leader this transfer actually...I get to take a
break! It's actually really weird not having any responsibility right
now...but it's kind of nice! It will be a nice rest for me haha.
5. Yeah everyone was so excited yesterday it was so fun! the members
here are amazing and it's way fun to be back. they are all going to
love you when you come! Don't worry, they are all amazing in english
as well it's crazy;)
7. Yeah I am think we will skype on YOUR Christmas day starting at
4:30ish? I'll send you another email letting you know more details
later this week but it should be good!
I am looking for a nativity..but unfortunately here in japan it is
really sad but nearly everyone doesn't know the true meaning a
christmas and that it's about Jesus Christ...so they don't have much
stuff around...but I promise I am looking and if I see anything I will
buy it super fast!
thank you so much for the email mom. I love you! It's going to be
short today..but I will make sure that I have more time next
week...and I'm going to be seeing you this week so no worries! See you
soon! be checking your email to make sure that we are on the same page
for the call on YOUR christmas day, and we will see you soon! love
you!
logan
DID YOU MAKE THE TRANSFER OK?
Yes I made the move:)
1. YOU GOT A FULL RIDE MERIT SCHOLARSHIP TO UVU! SO PROUD OF YOU!
1. thats amazing! I'm so excited! yeah I think keeping my gpa above
a 3.5 isn't going to be a problem...haha thats awesome thank you for
all your doing! I will be on there later today taking care of that
other scholarship so I will accept! Thank you!
1. thats amazing! I'm so excited! yeah I think keeping my gpa above
a 3.5 isn't going to be a problem...haha thats awesome thank you for
all your doing! I will be on there later today taking care of that
other scholarship so I will accept! Thank you!
2. How's the leadership scholarship stuff going?
3. How are you liking being back in Shibuya? Are you in the same apartment you were in before? Is it only the two of you? Where is this Japanese companion from? How long has he been serving? Do you like him?
3. It's a party being back in Shibuya I really do feel like i am back
home! I'm excited to continue to get to know Shibuya a lot better
and just see amazing miracles here!
4.Are you still a Zone Leader with this companion?
4. I am not a Zone leader this transfer actually...I get to take a
break! It's actually really weird not having any responsibility right
now...but it's kind of nice! It will be a nice rest for me haha.
5. Do all the members in that ward remember you? How is everyone doing? I am sure they will spoil you once again! :)
5. Yeah everyone was so excited yesterday it was so fun! the members
here are amazing and it's way fun to be back. they are all going to
love you when you come! Don't worry, they are all amazing in english
as well it's crazy;)
6. Have you seen Sister Snow and her parents? How about Sister Christensen's? Megan Parr, Hannah Bonner, and the Whatcott girl are all home from their missions. They all look good.
6. I didn't see sister snows parents....but I'm sure that everyone
looks great!
looks great!
7. SO WHEN WILL YOU BE SKYPING US ON CHRISTMAS? :) I am thrilled to see and talk to you!! Yippee!! We will need your skype account so we can add you to ours.
7. Yeah I am think we will skype on YOUR Christmas day starting at
4:30ish? I'll send you another email letting you know more details
later this week but it should be good!
I am looking for a nativity..but unfortunately here in japan it is
really sad but nearly everyone doesn't know the true meaning a
christmas and that it's about Jesus Christ...so they don't have much
stuff around...but I promise I am looking and if I see anything I will
buy it super fast!
thank you so much for the email mom. I love you! It's going to be
short today..but I will make sure that I have more time next
week...and I'm going to be seeing you this week so no worries! See you
soon! be checking your email to make sure that we are on the same page
for the call on YOUR christmas day, and we will see you soon! love
you!
logan
On 2014/12/22, at 4:51, Comcast <camillecottle@comcast.net> wrote:
Hello son!!! Did you make the move? I can't imagine how much stuff you probably accumulated over the last 6 months in Nagoaka! Bittersweet I am sure.
1.) First and most importantly, you earned a full ride academic merit scholarship to UVU!!!! How very exciting! I didn't even do anything, it was just awarded to you and posted on your uv link I believe. If you can keep a 3.5 or higher the whole year, you'll probably get another year of scholarships they say. Very very cool. This doesn't even include your leadership scholarship if you get that. So very proud of your hard work!!!! You'll need to log on to your uv link and accept that you want the scholarship. I would do that this week. :)
2.) How is the leadership stuff going? Did it all make sense last week when I have tiny instructions? You have to click that you want to go for the leadership scholarship first and the mm hopefully it will redirect you to the link to fill out the application. Charm the socks off them in the application. :) let me know anything else we can do.
3.) How are you liking being back in Shibuya? Are you in the same apartment you were in before? Is it only the two of you? Where is this Japanese companion from? How long has he been serving? Do you like him?
4.) Are you still a Zone Leader with this companion?
5.) Do all the members in that ward remember you? How is everyone doing? I am sure they will spoil you once again! :)
6.) Have you seen Sister Snow and her parents? How about Sister Christensen's? Megan Parr, Hannah Bonner, and the Whatcott girl are all home from their missions. They all look good.
7.) SO WHEN WILL YOU BE SKYPING US ON CHRISTMAS? :) I am thrilled to see and talk to you!! Yippee!! We will need your skype account so we can add you to ours. Ours is jeff.cottle1
Let us know when and all the details. :)
Have you been able to find a nativity? I don't want to keep bugging you. :) It's ok if you cant find one as CHRISTMAS will be over and all that stuff will be out away for a season. Just let me know. Mom is giving me money for your Christmas and for the Nativity to put in your account if you find one. :)
So has it been pretty crazy moving? When did you arrive? I want LOTS of pictures. :)
I heard the sweetest thing from a friend at Walmart yesterday I had to share. She worked with me at Fox Hollow as my mentor. She asked about you in the line as we were checking out.(We're friends in Facebook). She said,"Often times I get actual goosebumps from the things he says and I don't even know him." It brought a tear to my eye. What a beacon of light you are to others, especially all my friends that aren't LDS. I don't share you letters very often, but I'll post a passage of your letters sometimes or the darling things you will post with a picture. I have had MANY MANY people comment on how incredible those are and how they feel the spirit as well as how HAPPY you look. This is such a payday for me. :) so wonderful. I can't wait to see and be a part of this next June!
Things are crazy this last week before Christmas. Were you able to pack the 25 days of Christ I sent you?? The tree? I can't imagine trying to get everything you own and acquired over 18 months into those suitcases. Wow. Where did Wheatley go???
I'm off for two weeks. Hallelujah. That's all I have to say. Hallelujah. Wow. Exhausting. :)
Dad and I are excited to have some relaxing time off with the boys. Eating, singing, and serving. We all went to see the Nutcracker last week. I had a student playing the main girl part, Clara. It was so fun and the Boys were troupers watching a ballet. :) would you have gone??? :)
Well can't wait to see your face. What a joy that will be for me. So excited for your future and schooling as well!! That is awesome. Make sure to accept it online. We can accept it for you if you can't or don't have time I think. Keep working on the application for leadership as well.
I want to hear my testimony that I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know he lives and that he was born in that stable with the shepherds. What a wonderful time of year to reflect on everything we have been given. I am grateful for your father and the incredible example he is to me every day, I am also so thankful that I have a missionary serving in the other side of the world. He's happy, and obedient. In super thankful for a senior who is so excited to get out on his mission and loves Heavenly Father, and a freshman who loves this gospel and stands as a firm and stalwart example to all his friends of who he is and what he believes. What else can I want? Have a merry Christmas! Talk this week!!
LOVE YOU!!!!!
Mamma
Sent from my iPhone!
3. It's a party being back in Shibuya I really do feel like i am back
home! I'm excited to continue to get to know Shibuya a lot better
and just see amazing miracles here!
4. I am not a Zone leader this transfer actually...I get to take a
break! It's actually really weird not having any responsibility right
now...but it's kind of nice! It will be a nice rest for me haha.
5. Yeah everyone was so excited yesterday it was so fun! the members
here are amazing and it's way fun to be back. they are all going to
love you when you come! Don't worry, they are all amazing in english
as well it's crazy;)
6. I didn't see sister snows parents....but I'm sure that everyone
looks great!
7. Yeah I am think we will skype on YOUR Christmas day starting at
4:30ish? I'll send you another email letting you know more details
later this week but it should be good!
I am looking for a nativity..but unfortunately here in japan it is
really sad but nearly everyone doesn't know the true meaning a
christmas and that it's about Jesus Christ...so they don't have much
stuff around...but I promise I am looking and if I see anything I will
buy it super fast!
thank you so much for the email mom. I love you! It's going to be
short today..but I will make sure that I have more time next
week...and I'm going to be seeing you this week so no worries! See you
soon! be checking your email to make sure that we are on the same page
for the call on YOUR christmas day, and we will see you soon! love
you!
logan
Sent from my iPad
3. It's a party being back in Shibuya I really do feel like i am back
home! I'm excited to continue to get to know Shibuya a lot better
and just see amazing miracles here!
4. I am not a Zone leader this transfer actually...I get to take a
break! It's actually really weird not having any responsibility right
now...but it's kind of nice! It will be a nice rest for me haha.
5. Yeah everyone was so excited yesterday it was so fun! the members
here are amazing and it's way fun to be back. they are all going to
love you when you come! Don't worry, they are all amazing in english
as well it's crazy;)
6. I didn't see sister snows parents....but I'm sure that everyone
looks great!
7. Yeah I am think we will skype on YOUR Christmas day starting at
4:30ish? I'll send you another email letting you know more details
later this week but it should be good!
I am looking for a nativity..but unfortunately here in japan it is
really sad but nearly everyone doesn't know the true meaning a
christmas and that it's about Jesus Christ...so they don't have much
stuff around...but I promise I am looking and if I see anything I will
buy it super fast!
thank you so much for the email mom. I love you! It's going to be
short today..but I will make sure that I have more time next
week...and I'm going to be seeing you this week so no worries! See you
soon! be checking your email to make sure that we are on the same page
for the call on YOUR christmas day, and we will see you soon! love
you!
logan
Sent from my iPad
On 2014/12/22, at 4:51, Comcast <camillecottle@comcast.net> wrote:
Hello son!!! Did you make the move? I can't imagine how much stuff you probably accumulated over the last 6 months in Nagoaka! Bittersweet I am sure.
1.) First and most importantly, you earned a full ride academic merit scholarship to UVU!!!! How very exciting! I didn't even do anything, it was just awarded to you and posted on your uv link I believe. If you can keep a 3.5 or higher the whole year, you'll probably get another year of scholarships they say. Very very cool. This doesn't even include your leadership scholarship if you get that. So very proud of your hard work!!!! You'll need to log on to your uv link and accept that you want the scholarship. I would do that this week. :)
2.) How is the leadership stuff going? Did it all make sense last week when I have tiny instructions? You have to click that you want to go for the leadership scholarship first and the mm hopefully it will redirect you to the link to fill out the application. Charm the socks off them in the application. :) let me know anything else we can do.
3.) How are you liking being back in Shibuya? Are you in the same apartment you were in before? Is it only the two of you? Where is this Japanese companion from? How long has he been serving? Do you like him?
4.) Are you still a Zone Leader with this companion?
5.) Do all the members in that ward remember you? How is everyone doing? I am sure they will spoil you once again! :)
6.) Have you seen Sister Snow and her parents? How about Sister Christensen's? Megan Parr, Hannah Bonner, and the Whatcott girl are all home from their missions. They all look good.
7.) SO WHEN WILL YOU BE SKYPING US ON CHRISTMAS? :) I am thrilled to see and talk to you!! Yippee!! We will need your skype account so we can add you to ours. Ours is jeff.cottle1
Let us know when and all the details. :)
Have you been able to find a nativity? I don't want to keep bugging you. :) It's ok if you cant find one as CHRISTMAS will be over and all that stuff will be out away for a season. Just let me know. Mom is giving me money for your Christmas and for the Nativity to put in your account if you find one. :)
So has it been pretty crazy moving? When did you arrive? I want LOTS of pictures. :)
I heard the sweetest thing from a friend at Walmart yesterday I had to share. She worked with me at Fox Hollow as my mentor. She asked about you in the line as we were checking out.(We're friends in Facebook). She said,"Often times I get actual goosebumps from the things he says and I don't even know him." It brought a tear to my eye. What a beacon of light you are to others, especially all my friends that aren't LDS. I don't share you letters very often, but I'll post a passage of your letters sometimes or the darling things you will post with a picture. I have had MANY MANY people comment on how incredible those are and how they feel the spirit as well as how HAPPY you look. This is such a payday for me. :) so wonderful. I can't wait to see and be a part of this next June!
Things are crazy this last week before Christmas. Were you able to pack the 25 days of Christ I sent you?? The tree? I can't imagine trying to get everything you own and acquired over 18 months into those suitcases. Wow. Where did Wheatley go???
I'm off for two weeks. Hallelujah. That's all I have to say. Hallelujah. Wow. Exhausting. :)
Dad and I are excited to have some relaxing time off with the boys. Eating, singing, and serving. We all went to see the Nutcracker last week. I had a student playing the main girl part, Clara. It was so fun and the Boys were troupers watching a ballet. :) would you have gone??? :)
Well can't wait to see your face. What a joy that will be for me. So excited for your future and schooling as well!! That is awesome. Make sure to accept it online. We can accept it for you if you can't or don't have time I think. Keep working on the application for leadership as well.
I want to hear my testimony that I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know he lives and that he was born in that stable with the shepherds. What a wonderful time of year to reflect on everything we have been given. I am grateful for your father and the incredible example he is to me every day, I am also so thankful that I have a missionary serving in the other side of the world. He's happy, and obedient. In super thankful for a senior who is so excited to get out on his mission and loves Heavenly Father, and a freshman who loves this gospel and stands as a firm and stalwart example to all his friends of who he is and what he believes. What else can I want? Have a merry Christmas! Talk this week!!
LOVE YOU!!!!!
Mamma
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Week 78! Miracle Week!
Heyyoo!
This has been amazing! We saw one of the biggest miracles I have seen
on my mission this week! We wanted to visit a less-active member on
Wednesday and had planned to go up there around 1. We got a call
during lunch from the assistant and he wanted to talk about the zone.
So we went over to the church to Skype with him. It pushed us back
about a half hour on our time so we really wanted to get up there. One
of the last things that the assistant said to us was that in Nagaoka,
our job was easy because all you have to do is talk to everyone. We
didn't know why he said that, but we started on our 15 minute bike
journey up to the less-active's house. On the way we got stopped at a
red light and saw this tall man walking across the street. He was
coming closer and we both called out to him. Normally we probably
wouldn't have because we were already late for this appointment, but
we remembered the assistant's advice (turns out it was revelation). So
we started talking with him and found out that he is from China, his
grandmother is Christian, and he has a lot of interest in Christ!
Recently because it is the Christmas season, we have been showing the
video He is the Gift, and the church has put the video out in all
languages, so we had it in Chinese! We talked about Christmas and
showed it to him. At the end we asked what he thought and he said, "I
loved it!" He really wanted to meet again and we set up to meet on
Saturday at 2. Later that night we realized that the Christmas Party
was Saturday at 5 and we would be practicing with the Branch at 2. So
we called him and switched it to 4. Fast forward to Saturday. We
played basketball with some investigators in the morning and were
planning on being to our apartment around 2 to change. The buses were
a little slow because of all the snow, so we got back around 2:30. We
got a message from Sun (this Chinese man) and he asked where we were!
He had miss understood that we changed it to 4, but we hurried to
where we were supposed to meet and walked with him to the church. He
hung out, got to know the members, and had a great time while we
practiced and hung out with him! We taught the Restoration with a
member before the Christmas Party started and at the end, his only
question was, "What does God want me to do?" The member answered
perfectly and said that first and foremost He wants us to return to
Him! And we learn how to do that at church! Sun asked us if he could
come to church the next day! He came and had a great time! He is
really prepared and we are excited for him! All-in-all he spent about 5 hours at the church on Saturday, 3 hours on Sunday, and loved every
minute of it! It was awesome!
Elder Wheatley and I are doing great. I have absolutely no
complaints! I have learned so much from him over the last 3 transfers
it has been a great experience. We have been able to get along
extremely well since day one, which has just made the dendo that much
better. We really never had to try and get used to each other, and
that just made it so good to be able to get right into the work and
continue to push it forward here in Nagaoka. We also saw another
miracle this week that is hopefully going to change the branch out
here. There is a recent convert here in Nagaoka named N______ who
was baptized with Sister Clark and Sister Hanashiro, and she has
amazing dendo fire and really wants to share the church with as many
people as she can. She is 17, and she has an older brother who is 19.
They are both full Brazilian, but have lived here their whole life and
speak Japanese perfectly. But ever since N_______was baptized, she
has been teaching her brother, B____, and has been trying to help him
come to church. He is a really shy guy, but she was able to bring him
to eikaiwa one day and we were able to meet him and just get to know
him and be his friend. After he met us, he started asking N_______
questions about the church and about temples and about lots of things.
So, she would teach him, but she wanted him to come to church and take
the lessons with us. We started messaging him, and this last week we
were able to set up and appointment to eat ramen with him and
N______. We met up, and things went really well! We just got to
know him a lot better, and then the church just came up naturally and
we talked about what we believe and how it makes us happy and he
thought everything was really good. We talked about temples and he
says that some day he would love to try and go inside. We talked
about how N______ had just entered the church after she learned
enough and said that he could do the same if he wanted to learn more.
He said that he has interest, and because he doesn't have a job right
now he has time to meet! We invited him to come to the Christmas
party, and he was able to come and have a great time. He is really
prepared and we see him with the potential of being baptized in
January! It would be amazing to have a brother and sister who are
strong and active in the church here in Nagaoka who are so young!
Exciting to see that there are so many people here who are prepared
and who have real potential! Excited to see how things go!
Another huge miracle that has been happening over the course of a few
weeks. We woke up on Sunday to a message on our phone from L____(the
Vietnamese guy). He said that he was going to try and come to church!
We messaged him, but got no reply. Around 9:00 he messaged back and
said that he had just missed the bus, but would be on the next bus and
would make it to the station at 10:30. He would be late for church,
but we were really excited still! We got it all planned out to leave
sacrament meeting early and go pick him up in the car with a member
because the snow was falling like crazy! We messaged us back and said
that the train was late and he would get there around 11:00 instead so
we waited, but it was later than he thought so he got there at 11:30.
Anyway, we picked him up and brought him back to the church. We were
able to participate in the last little bit of Gospel Principles and it
was all on the Spirit. We then did a lesson with him and a member from
Fiji that moved here recently. It was really good! He said the he was
never able to put a name on it before, but now he knows what the
Spirit feels like. He said that there have been times in his life
where he has felt to do something or not to do something and the good
or bad things have come from how he listened. It was amazing! He
shared the experience that he had on Sunday morning. He felt the
Spirit tell him to go to bed Saturday nightearly, but he ignored it
and played video games until late. He woke up Sunday morning at about
8:30, but felt tired and didn't want to go to church. When he closed
his eyes, he said that my face popped into his mind and said, "Sleep
is for the poor!" hahaha it was from an earlier lesson we had
previously, and I guess he remembered what I said! Haha we bore
testimony that it was the Spirit that brought that back to his
remembrance. In his prayer at the end he said that he was sorry for
"ignoring" Him (Heavenly Father), but he was going to do better from
now on and try to feel the Spirit as much as possible! His faith has
grown so much over the last few weeks! It is really awesome to
experience and be a part of! When we told him that we had transfer
calls the next day, he said that neither of us could leave because we
were his best friends! It felt really good for him to say that and it
has been fun to get to know him!
This week was also had a Christmas party here that was a tremendous
success. We started planning this party right after Halloween, and
really pushed that we wanted to have tons of people come, and for it
to be a great opportunity for members to Dendo their friends and
invite other people to the church. We worked really closely with the
branch here, and had the idea to do a play, and kind of reenact the
Nativity, and then have lots of musical numbers done by the branch and
by the missionaries. We got everything prepped, and this Saturday we
had the party and it was amazing! We ended up having a total of around
60 people who attended, and had maybe around 35-40 non members in
attendance! The party went great and every single person had a great
time and left with a smile on their face. It was great to see
everyone kind of catch the true meaning, and we finished the party by
watching He is the Gift which really just topped everything off really
well. It really felt amazing to see so many people in the church, and
helped me catch the vision of how many people God really wants
attending this building here in Nagaoka. It was an incredible
opportunity for so many people to come, and it really excited the
branch! They are getting ready to plan the next activity already!
This week has been amazing! As some of you may already know, this
will be my last week in Nagaoka because we got transfer calls and I
will be transferring! The crazy part is that I will be transferring
back to the area that I just came from! I served in Shibuya for 2
transfers earlier this year, and then transferred here and have spent
5 transfers here, and now I get to go back! Apparently there are
amazing things happening there, and I am so excited to have the chance
to serve back in the big city again! I loved Shibuya when I was there
last year with Elder Egbert, and I felt like I had to leave too soon,
so I am way excited to have the chance to go back and work there
again! I will also obviously have a new companion, and he is
Japanese! This will be my first Japanese companion, but I am way
excited for it! His name is Elder Suguwara, and he actually used to
be in my zone up here, he was trained in Sanjo actually! I'm excited
to get to work with him and excited to have the chance to speak a lot
more Japanese;) This transfer has been so much fun, and I can't
believe that it is already at an end! I am so excited to see all the
things that happen here in Nagaoka, because there are so many people
who are prepared to be baptized! I know that Nagaoka is always going
to have a special place in my heart, and the people that I got to meet
here are some of my best friends in Japan! It has been a blessing to
work here and I know that the Lord has some stuff He wants me to take
care of back in Shibuya! Thank you all for all your support! I am
sorry that this email is so long...but there were just too many
amazing things that happened this week! Love you and I will talk to
you soon!
Love,
Logan
My work out this morning, shoveling. Yeah that snow is past my
waist...haha this is on the top of our building!
Visiting a less active
We went to the N_______'s for dinner with our recent convert
h______k_____ and had a great Christmas dinner! Amazing family!
This has been amazing! We saw one of the biggest miracles I have seen
on my mission this week! We wanted to visit a less-active member on
Wednesday and had planned to go up there around 1. We got a call
during lunch from the assistant and he wanted to talk about the zone.
So we went over to the church to Skype with him. It pushed us back
about a half hour on our time so we really wanted to get up there. One
of the last things that the assistant said to us was that in Nagaoka,
our job was easy because all you have to do is talk to everyone. We
didn't know why he said that, but we started on our 15 minute bike
journey up to the less-active's house. On the way we got stopped at a
red light and saw this tall man walking across the street. He was
coming closer and we both called out to him. Normally we probably
wouldn't have because we were already late for this appointment, but
we remembered the assistant's advice (turns out it was revelation). So
we started talking with him and found out that he is from China, his
grandmother is Christian, and he has a lot of interest in Christ!
Recently because it is the Christmas season, we have been showing the
video He is the Gift, and the church has put the video out in all
languages, so we had it in Chinese! We talked about Christmas and
showed it to him. At the end we asked what he thought and he said, "I
loved it!" He really wanted to meet again and we set up to meet on
Saturday at 2. Later that night we realized that the Christmas Party
was Saturday at 5 and we would be practicing with the Branch at 2. So
we called him and switched it to 4. Fast forward to Saturday. We
played basketball with some investigators in the morning and were
planning on being to our apartment around 2 to change. The buses were
a little slow because of all the snow, so we got back around 2:30. We
got a message from Sun (this Chinese man) and he asked where we were!
He had miss understood that we changed it to 4, but we hurried to
where we were supposed to meet and walked with him to the church. He
hung out, got to know the members, and had a great time while we
practiced and hung out with him! We taught the Restoration with a
member before the Christmas Party started and at the end, his only
question was, "What does God want me to do?" The member answered
perfectly and said that first and foremost He wants us to return to
Him! And we learn how to do that at church! Sun asked us if he could
come to church the next day! He came and had a great time! He is
really prepared and we are excited for him! All-in-all he spent about 5 hours at the church on Saturday, 3 hours on Sunday, and loved every
minute of it! It was awesome!
Elder Wheatley and I are doing great. I have absolutely no
complaints! I have learned so much from him over the last 3 transfers
it has been a great experience. We have been able to get along
extremely well since day one, which has just made the dendo that much
better. We really never had to try and get used to each other, and
that just made it so good to be able to get right into the work and
continue to push it forward here in Nagaoka. We also saw another
miracle this week that is hopefully going to change the branch out
here. There is a recent convert here in Nagaoka named N______ who
was baptized with Sister Clark and Sister Hanashiro, and she has
amazing dendo fire and really wants to share the church with as many
people as she can. She is 17, and she has an older brother who is 19.
They are both full Brazilian, but have lived here their whole life and
speak Japanese perfectly. But ever since N_______was baptized, she
has been teaching her brother, B____, and has been trying to help him
come to church. He is a really shy guy, but she was able to bring him
to eikaiwa one day and we were able to meet him and just get to know
him and be his friend. After he met us, he started asking N_______
questions about the church and about temples and about lots of things.
So, she would teach him, but she wanted him to come to church and take
the lessons with us. We started messaging him, and this last week we
were able to set up and appointment to eat ramen with him and
N______. We met up, and things went really well! We just got to
know him a lot better, and then the church just came up naturally and
we talked about what we believe and how it makes us happy and he
thought everything was really good. We talked about temples and he
says that some day he would love to try and go inside. We talked
about how N______ had just entered the church after she learned
enough and said that he could do the same if he wanted to learn more.
He said that he has interest, and because he doesn't have a job right
now he has time to meet! We invited him to come to the Christmas
party, and he was able to come and have a great time. He is really
prepared and we see him with the potential of being baptized in
January! It would be amazing to have a brother and sister who are
strong and active in the church here in Nagaoka who are so young!
Exciting to see that there are so many people here who are prepared
and who have real potential! Excited to see how things go!
Another huge miracle that has been happening over the course of a few
weeks. We woke up on Sunday to a message on our phone from L____(the
Vietnamese guy). He said that he was going to try and come to church!
We messaged him, but got no reply. Around 9:00 he messaged back and
said that he had just missed the bus, but would be on the next bus and
would make it to the station at 10:30. He would be late for church,
but we were really excited still! We got it all planned out to leave
sacrament meeting early and go pick him up in the car with a member
because the snow was falling like crazy! We messaged us back and said
that the train was late and he would get there around 11:00 instead so
we waited, but it was later than he thought so he got there at 11:30.
Anyway, we picked him up and brought him back to the church. We were
able to participate in the last little bit of Gospel Principles and it
was all on the Spirit. We then did a lesson with him and a member from
Fiji that moved here recently. It was really good! He said the he was
never able to put a name on it before, but now he knows what the
Spirit feels like. He said that there have been times in his life
where he has felt to do something or not to do something and the good
or bad things have come from how he listened. It was amazing! He
shared the experience that he had on Sunday morning. He felt the
Spirit tell him to go to bed Saturday nightearly, but he ignored it
and played video games until late. He woke up Sunday morning at about
8:30, but felt tired and didn't want to go to church. When he closed
his eyes, he said that my face popped into his mind and said, "Sleep
is for the poor!" hahaha it was from an earlier lesson we had
previously, and I guess he remembered what I said! Haha we bore
testimony that it was the Spirit that brought that back to his
remembrance. In his prayer at the end he said that he was sorry for
"ignoring" Him (Heavenly Father), but he was going to do better from
now on and try to feel the Spirit as much as possible! His faith has
grown so much over the last few weeks! It is really awesome to
experience and be a part of! When we told him that we had transfer
calls the next day, he said that neither of us could leave because we
were his best friends! It felt really good for him to say that and it
has been fun to get to know him!
This week was also had a Christmas party here that was a tremendous
success. We started planning this party right after Halloween, and
really pushed that we wanted to have tons of people come, and for it
to be a great opportunity for members to Dendo their friends and
invite other people to the church. We worked really closely with the
branch here, and had the idea to do a play, and kind of reenact the
Nativity, and then have lots of musical numbers done by the branch and
by the missionaries. We got everything prepped, and this Saturday we
had the party and it was amazing! We ended up having a total of around
60 people who attended, and had maybe around 35-40 non members in
attendance! The party went great and every single person had a great
time and left with a smile on their face. It was great to see
everyone kind of catch the true meaning, and we finished the party by
watching He is the Gift which really just topped everything off really
well. It really felt amazing to see so many people in the church, and
helped me catch the vision of how many people God really wants
attending this building here in Nagaoka. It was an incredible
opportunity for so many people to come, and it really excited the
branch! They are getting ready to plan the next activity already!
This week has been amazing! As some of you may already know, this
will be my last week in Nagaoka because we got transfer calls and I
will be transferring! The crazy part is that I will be transferring
back to the area that I just came from! I served in Shibuya for 2
transfers earlier this year, and then transferred here and have spent
5 transfers here, and now I get to go back! Apparently there are
amazing things happening there, and I am so excited to have the chance
to serve back in the big city again! I loved Shibuya when I was there
last year with Elder Egbert, and I felt like I had to leave too soon,
so I am way excited to have the chance to go back and work there
again! I will also obviously have a new companion, and he is
Japanese! This will be my first Japanese companion, but I am way
excited for it! His name is Elder Suguwara, and he actually used to
be in my zone up here, he was trained in Sanjo actually! I'm excited
to get to work with him and excited to have the chance to speak a lot
more Japanese;) This transfer has been so much fun, and I can't
believe that it is already at an end! I am so excited to see all the
things that happen here in Nagaoka, because there are so many people
who are prepared to be baptized! I know that Nagaoka is always going
to have a special place in my heart, and the people that I got to meet
here are some of my best friends in Japan! It has been a blessing to
work here and I know that the Lord has some stuff He wants me to take
care of back in Shibuya! Thank you all for all your support! I am
sorry that this email is so long...but there were just too many
amazing things that happened this week! Love you and I will talk to
you soon!
Love,
Logan
This is something we are doing in the mission right now for
Christmas, so I thought I would send my picture home!
Christmas, so I thought I would send my picture home!
waist...haha this is on the top of our building!
h______k_____ and had a great Christmas dinner! Amazing family!
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Week 78! 雪だ！❄️⛄️
Hello!
This week has been an adventure! Friday morning there was a huge
clash of thunder, and instead of rain, snow started falling! And it
came down!! We had our Zone meeting that day which went great! But
after the meeting we went outside and there was probably 5-6 inches of
snow on the ground and it was still coming! It has been snowing on
and off all weekend and it is literally a winter wonderland here! I
will send lots of pictures, but it's unbelievable here! I know there
isn't any snow in Utah, but I think that is because we stole it
all...haha but it's been fun to work in! I have to say thanks to my
amazing mom for sending me those swims shoe cover things? Those have
SAVED me this week in the snow and are still saving me. They are
being well used! But it has been fun to be out working in the snow
and meeting lots of great people!
We were really busy this week! Like I said on Friday we had our Zone
Meeting and it went really good! While Elder Wheatley and I were
thinking about what we wanted to train about and we really felt like
working with the members is something that we can improve as a zone
here...so we spent the whole meeting talking about how we can better
serve with the members and how we can build their trust more and it
went really well! After that we had a christmas party with the zone
with lots of food and a white elephant exchange which was really fun!
We also had a big Christmas Concert this week in Niigata where all the
missionaries performed and it was really good! They video'd it so I
think that I will be able to get a copy of the whole thing and maybe
send it but it was way fun! We had Kent Derricot there who is a
member from utah who is really famous in japan and it was a great
concert! I took as many pictures as I could at all of this so I will
be sending those out but it was way fun to be with all the
missionaries and have a chance to celebrate christmas together!
Yesterday we also had our big Zone Conference with President and
Sister Budge and that was amazing. We talked all about Christmas and
the miracles we are working to see here! President Budge has amazing
faith and it was great to learn from him and the Assistants and learn
about how we can be better this Christmas season to see more miracles!
The spirit was really strong the whole meeting, and it was just a
huge blessing to learn there! Those kind of meetings always get you
really excited to get out there and go to work! It was an amazing
week and we were so busy! We had Zone conference yesterday, which is
why we have p day on tuesday but things are going so amazing! I
really feel the Lord preparing his people here in Japan for the
gospel, and its the most amazing opportunity to serve him during this
season! I love you all and I'm so grateful for your prayers and
support! Have an amazing week and I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
This week has been an adventure! Friday morning there was a huge
clash of thunder, and instead of rain, snow started falling! And it
came down!! We had our Zone meeting that day which went great! But
after the meeting we went outside and there was probably 5-6 inches of
snow on the ground and it was still coming! It has been snowing on
and off all weekend and it is literally a winter wonderland here! I
will send lots of pictures, but it's unbelievable here! I know there
isn't any snow in Utah, but I think that is because we stole it
all...haha but it's been fun to work in! I have to say thanks to my
amazing mom for sending me those swims shoe cover things? Those have
SAVED me this week in the snow and are still saving me. They are
being well used! But it has been fun to be out working in the snow
and meeting lots of great people!
We were really busy this week! Like I said on Friday we had our Zone
Meeting and it went really good! While Elder Wheatley and I were
thinking about what we wanted to train about and we really felt like
working with the members is something that we can improve as a zone
here...so we spent the whole meeting talking about how we can better
serve with the members and how we can build their trust more and it
went really well! After that we had a christmas party with the zone
with lots of food and a white elephant exchange which was really fun!
We also had a big Christmas Concert this week in Niigata where all the
missionaries performed and it was really good! They video'd it so I
think that I will be able to get a copy of the whole thing and maybe
send it but it was way fun! We had Kent Derricot there who is a
member from utah who is really famous in japan and it was a great
concert! I took as many pictures as I could at all of this so I will
be sending those out but it was way fun to be with all the
missionaries and have a chance to celebrate christmas together!
Yesterday we also had our big Zone Conference with President and
Sister Budge and that was amazing. We talked all about Christmas and
the miracles we are working to see here! President Budge has amazing
faith and it was great to learn from him and the Assistants and learn
about how we can be better this Christmas season to see more miracles!
The spirit was really strong the whole meeting, and it was just a
huge blessing to learn there! Those kind of meetings always get you
really excited to get out there and go to work! It was an amazing
week and we were so busy! We had Zone conference yesterday, which is
why we have p day on tuesday but things are going so amazing! I
really feel the Lord preparing his people here in Japan for the
gospel, and its the most amazing opportunity to serve him during this
season! I love you all and I'm so grateful for your prayers and
support! Have an amazing week and I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
It snowed a lot!
Me and Elder Wheatley on the roof and the snow!
Us with Kent Derricot at the Christmas Concert.
Riding in the snow!
Elder Egbert's last transfer.
Our zone at our Christmas party!
Monday, December 1, 2014
Week 77! Pictures and a big email?
Hello everyone!
Unfortunately today I have no time to write a big email, so I am going
to explain this week the best I can with pictures! Lots of great
things happened this week, but nothing outrageous or crazy out of the
ordinary unfortunately...this pictures kinda show some of the stuff we
did! I promise I will write a big good email this next week! Love you
all so much!
1. We had a ton of ice cream this week!
2. This week was thanksgiving! With the 4 of us we bought the closest
thing to america as we could...Big Macs! We ate that with a bunch of
other stuff and watched a movie for our thanksgiving! It was
definitely one to remember!
3. This week we went on a hunt Sunday morning to find kaosu, and we
ended up down by the river. It's amazing where you can end up!
Unfortunately today I have no time to write a big email, so I am going
to explain this week the best I can with pictures! Lots of great
things happened this week, but nothing outrageous or crazy out of the
ordinary unfortunately...this pictures kinda show some of the stuff we
did! I promise I will write a big good email this next week! Love you
all so much!
1. We had a ton of ice cream this week!
2. This week was thanksgiving! With the 4 of us we bought the closest
thing to america as we could...Big Macs! We ate that with a bunch of
other stuff and watched a movie for our thanksgiving! It was
definitely one to remember!
3. This week we went on a hunt Sunday morning to find kaosu, and we
ended up down by the river. It's amazing where you can end up!
Hey we took a more pictures this week!
Hope you don't mind...
1. This week we had exchanges and I met S______! Way nice man who
loves learning about the Book of Mormon!
2. We had district lunch in Joetsu! Always love the district lunches!
3. Then I had the chance to take a picture with the one and only K_____!
4. K_____ came to ping pong again this week and we drew some pictures
of each other haha.
1. This week we had exchanges and I met S______! Way nice man who
loves learning about the Book of Mormon!
2. We had district lunch in Joetsu! Always love the district lunches!
3. Then I had the chance to take a picture with the one and only K_____!
4. K_____ came to ping pong again this week and we drew some pictures
of each other haha.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Week 76! All I could write in a few minutes!
Hello everyone!
This was the week here in Nagaoka Zone! We were really needing a week like this one, and it was amazing to see the Lord helping all of the missionaries all over the zone see miracles that they needed to see! Almost every night on all of the calls this week we hear amazing miracles from the district leaders, and the faith in the zone has really jumped up to a new level and everyone is getting more and more excited. Right now every area has atleast one baptismal date before Christmas and all the dates look really strong! Yesterday there was a good number of the top ten that came to church, and things are really starting to heat up. This week you could really just feel the Lord's hand pushing us along and guiding us all in the things that we needed to be doing, it was amazing. We are excited to push forward into this next week!
Elder Wheatley and I are doing really good, and I feel like the area has some of the most potential it has ever had. We are teaching a lot of people right now, but we are really working to be finding on the way so that we can keep our pool fresh and keep things moving forward and that has been really good. The last couple of weeks we have just been extremely busy, and have been struggling to find time to find, but we put more focus on really trying to talk to as many people as we can each day and this week we were able to find 2 new solid investigators! I really like this new thing we are doing called Meaningful Contacts, and Lessons to a PI because it has helped us see personally how many people we really are trying to talk to each day. Basically a meaningful contact just is someone you gave a chance to hear your message, and lesson to a PI is to someone who might meet you again. But as we have been using those stats to help our area, we have been able to find more people and become more effective. Right now we have a couple of investigators who are very close to baptism, and it is just the point where we have to just hit that last solid lesson and they will be there, so we are working really hard for that. As we look at our own teaching pool, there really are probably 3-4 people who really have a huge chance of being baptized before Christmas, so we are just going to work and focus on those people this week!
This week there really wasn't anything crazy exciting, but it was just a really solid week! I feel like everyone in the zone and this mission are just super excited for the season, and things are just rolling so smoothly I am really excited to see all the miracles this Christmas season! Thank you for your support and all your prayers! I love you and I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
Monday, November 17, 2014
Week 75! また風を引きました！
Hello!
Another great week here in Nagaoka Zone! It was a good week up here, and it is exciting to be a part of so many good things that are happening! Right now things in Elder Wheatley and I's companionship are going really well. It's now our 3rd transfer together and it's amazing how effective we can be after being together so long! We really have come to know each other really well, and how to work with each other! We are really fulfilling all of our responsibilities as leaders effectively and allowing ourselves to continue to see success in our area. There is a great balance in the companionship and I feel really lucky to be serving with Elder Wheatley!
This Friday we had our Zone Meeting and it went really well. It's always exciting to have everyone gathered together as a Zone and to have the chance to learn from each other. The meeting went really well, and we put all of our focus on the Christmas goal, but more than that we focused on how we can accomplish it. I've really felt recently like everyone knows that we have this big goal, but the trick is helping the missionaries internalize the goal and then know what to do to accomplish it. We put a lot of focus on church and baptismal dates, as well as what happens once we set the baptismal date. We talked with everyone about how we can't just set the date, but we need to know that individual person's Road to Baptism, and get them working in that direction. I felt like the meeting went really well and he missionaries left excited to make some adjustments in their own Dendo and in their own areas!
After Zone meeting we went on exchanges with the Joetsu Elders A companionship Elder Hardin and Elder Hutchings. I had the chance to work with Elder Hutchings down in Joetsu and it was a great exchange. I while ago when I was back in Mito I had the chance to go on exchanges with Elder Hutchings when he was in Ushiku when we were younger missionaries, so it was great to get to go out with him again! Elder Hutchings is an amazing missionary and I really learned a lot from him. Something I noticed was just how hard of a worker he is. We were actually out in the pouring rain for the entire exchange, but it was great to have the chance to be working with a missionary who was dedicated to fulfilling his purpose! I got to hear about how Joetsu is going and it sounds like there are amazing things going on down there. I feel like as far as the Christmas Miracle, Joetsu has more people that can be there before Christmas, but those people need just a little more, and I think the missionaries are working hard to find and solve those problems.
Right now Elder Wheatley and I's big focus is to get the people that we are working with ready for baptism for this Christmas season. The Lord has given us a lot of people to work with, and we know that there are many of them prepared for baptism, so we really want to help them get there as soon as possible. We really think by showing that example and having baptisms here in Nagaoka, the Zone will continue to increase in faith and we will all be able to rejoice together in each others baptisms. Things are going way good right now and even though it's starting to get cold and thats not the funnest, I really feel like over the rest of this transfer there are going to be some amazing baptisms here in the Zone! Thank you all for all the amazing support you give me each week! You are amazing and I love each of you!
Talk to you soon!
Logan
Sent from my iPadTuesday, November 11, 2014
Week 74! 新潟大会！
Hello hello!
We had a great week here in Nagaoka this week and it has been a great week to start off the transfer! Elder Wheatley and I are extremely excited to have the chance to work together again and we recognize that this is an awesome opportunity to work together as a companionship for 3 transfers, and that it's an awesome opportunity to see a lot of miracles. This transfer was also really special because we only had one person out of the whole zone transfer, so we are excited that we get to work together for one more! I am really excited about all the things that are happening in the Nagaoka Zone right now, and I am extremely excited to see what happens this transfer!
On Wednesday we had two new missionaries come to Nagaoka! There is a couple that has been assigned to work here and we are way excited! So the Makise Couple made it to Nagaoka and Elder Wheatley and I were able to go and meet them! It was a great to get to welcome them to their new apartment, and help them bring up some of the things they had in the car. We were able to get to know them a little bit, and just share with them our excitement to work with them and kind of fill them in on some of the miracles that are happening in the Zone. They seem really excited to be here, and really seem to know how to dendo! I was really impressed when they had been home for only a few minutes after taking a long car ride up here, and just started talking about all the activities and things that they want to do with us here in Nagaoka. They were excited to hear about all the missionaries that are here, and were really excited to meet everyone at the Chihobu Takai. I really think that this couple is going to be a huge help here in Nagaoka, and up in Niigata as well because they have so much fire and are excited and ready to work.
So this week was really solid for the zone, and everyone seems to be excited for this next transfer. Everyone in the zone has set some really good goals, and this week was good for everyone to just kind of re settle in. We will be having our Zone meeting this next Friday and we are excited to put lots of focus on this Christmas goal and to get everyone excited to get their people ready for baptism. Right now in the Zone there are a good number of people that we already have who are really close to baptism, and some who are fairly new and are working their way up to it, so we are going to be talking a lot about the path to baptism and helping our friends be able to get to that point. We also want to put a big focus on baptismal dates in the zone and really get those up, because we know that our friends have to have baptismal dates before they can be baptized! It should be a great meeting and we are excited to meet together as a zone and learn from each other.
This weekend at the chihobu takai was great, and I really think it was good for the members. That love and forgiveness are so important, especially in small groups and branches here where you are always talking to every member often, if there are problems they will come up easily! I think that it was a great weekend for everyone and we all learned a lot! This week really has been a really good way to start off the transfer, and it was fun and exciting with everyone together over the weekend! We have some good things planned for this week, so I'm sure it's going to be a great week! I hope you all have an amazing week as well! I love you all and pray for you daily! You all are such a great support to me I'm so lucky. Talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
Monday, November 3, 2014
皆さん! Week 73!
This week was crazy, but it was a fun week. The first big thing that
happened was that we took a trip down to Tokyo! It was great what
happened was we had a big meeting with all of the zone leaders and
sister training leaders in Tokyo, but this time it was really special
because we got to have a tour of a really famous shrine in Japan
called the Meijijingu Shrine, which is located in downtown Tokyo.
President budge is actually good friends with one of the Shinto
priests there, and so he took us on a tour that most people never get
to go on! So on Wednesday we hopped on the bus and took a 5 hr ride
down to Tokyo, spent the night in the Honbu, and then got up and had
an amazing day at the shrine as a leadership group. I'll send
pictures, but it really was just an amazing day, and it is something
that I will remember forever. It was great because we were able to
learn more about Shinto, and what they believe, and so it really
helped me personally as a missionary on how I can better teach to the
japanese people. It was an amazing, short 2 day trip to Tokyo!
Then we had some amazing church miracles this week. There is a man
named K_____who we have been meeting with for a long time, and he has
never really made much progress, however this week we were able to get
a really good commitment from him that he would try and come, and that
we were going to meet him at a nearby grocery store in the morning and
then walk with him to church. We went to the grocery store in the
morning and he wasn't there, so we headed to the general location of
his house and started housing everyone. While we are housing we get a
call from a pay phone and it was him! He was at the grocery store but
had gotten there late! So we cruised back on our bikes and met him at
the grocery store, walked with him to the church and got to sit in
sacrament meeting with him! It was seriously amazing! He loved church
and really felt like it was a special place. He made huge progress
because of that and today in our lesson we started talking a lot more
seriously about baptism. Cool how the Lord really knows his children
and their needs and how to help them!
The last kind of important thing about this week was we had transfer
calls this morning...I have been here for 4 transfers which is a good
amount of time, and all though I didn't know for sure, I was pretty
positive that I was going to. However, God had different plans for me
because I am going to stay one more here in nagaoka! This will be
number 5 here which is actually really rare as a missionary to stay in
one area that long, at least in this mission, but I am way excited to
have the chance to continue to work with the people here! We were all
really shocked but actually in our entire zone, only one sister
transferred out! I think what is happening is president Budge is
really liking the way that nagaoka zone is looking right now, and
doesn't want to change much, especially during the Christmas season. I
think we are going to see some amazing things here in the zone this
transfer, I'm just way excited to be a part!
I love you all! I am so grateful for this church and the joy that it
brings me every day. This really is Gods true church on the earth
today! It's a blessing to be a part of the most important work this
world has ever seen. Thank you for your support, love, and prayers! I
will talk to you soon!
Love
Logan
Sent from my iPad
Monday, October 27, 2014
Week 72! Busy busy McGuu
Dear family!
Another great week! Things are going amazing here in Nagaoka and you can really feel the fire picking up. I know that we are going to see an amazing Christmas season here in Nagaoka with a lot of baptisms! We are already looking like we will be going "white" and I think that there are even more people ready to be baptized than just one in each area! Exciting. Things are happening all over the Tokyo Japan mission right now and it's so fun to see. With this big goal that we have, every single missionary in the mission is working every day to see miracles in their own areas, and we are seeing them! President Budge is helping the mission a lot by being engaged with all the missionaries and really inspiring everyone. I feel so lucky to be a missionary here! It is crazy to me how much President and Sister Budge do for us and how much they are always helping. It is definitely a huge blessing being able to serve with them! Actually this week we had the chance to have President Interviews here in Nagaoka and it was way good! We were able to have an interview with President Budge, as well as have a little talk with Sister Budge while we were waiting for our interviews which was way good! I really feel like every time I have an interview with President Budge I come out of it so much wiser! Haha but really he always gives such good advice and is just way relaxed about things. It's never a stress to have to talk to him but just something that we get to look forward to! It's a blessing to have such an amazing mission president!
So church this week in the Zone was really good! Right now we have a goal that is focusing on church, but not only investigators, but focuses on all of the work of salvation including Recent Converts and Less actives. This is a fun way to look at ALL of the people that God is working with, and to see all of the work that the missionaries are doing every day, because we get to hear about all the less actives and recent converts coming. This week there were tons of people at church, and all the missionaries were just really excited! I think that was probably the best part of the week was not only did we help a lot of people by helping them come to church this week, but the missionaries were all able to really feel the joy, and experience that happiness that comes when we help lots of people come to church. It was a great Sunday yesterday, and I think that everyone is really excited to work even harder this week and have an even better week next week. To be honest, church wasn't great here in Nagaoka, we didn't have very many people come which wasn't very fun..but we have awesome plans for next week and so we will be working really hard all week to have a huge week next Sunday! This week was a little bit frustrating when we didn't have a very good Sunday, and I was kind of sitting there thinking about why we weren't able to have very many people come and a thought came to my mind that was something one of my soccer coaches told me forever ago when I was super young, and something I have kind of kept my whole life and heard my whole life playing sports, but it was that when we lose a game we learn a lot more than when we win a game. It hit me pretty hard that maybe we didn't work as well as we should have this last week, and God was helping us learn so that we can be better missionaries and work better every week to get people to church. It was something that I don't think that I will be forgetting any time soon!
Something else we had this week was exchanges in Sanjo and I had the opportunity to work with a new missionary Elder Fryzel, and he is doing really really well. I am extremely impressed by the missionary that he is becoming. It's way fun to work with the new missionaries in the mission! It was also really really fun to work in Sanjo again and have the chance to be back in my first area! It's always really nostalgic and crazy, but it's fun to be back there. We also had another exchange this week and I got to go with another brand new missionary Elder Richards! Way fun to have that chance to learn from them, and really just grow from their faith! These new missionaries have such strong faith and really know that they can do anything with God's help which is so good. I am always trying to increase that faith, and it's nice to have younger missionaries help me out with that;)
This week was a learning week! I felt at times like we might not be able to get every thing that we had to get done done, but we did and it was because God was helping us! I'm really lucky to have Elder Wheatley with me working way hard and having fun while we do it. Something I have realized is that God needs us not only to be obedient and working hard, but that he needs us to do that with a smile on our face. If we don't have that, we can't fully show these people the blessing that the church is in our lives. Thank you all for always being so good to me! I have to give a special shout out to my amazing mother Mom I love you! Thank you again for the amazing birthday package! It was perfect thank you. I have an amazing family! Love you all so much have a great week I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
ps - this next week is transfer calls, so I will let you know whats going on!
Monday, October 20, 2014
Week 71! Can I get a hello with that?
Dear Everyone!
This has been a great week up here in Nagaoka Zone and great things are happening that are really exciting! It is so fun to see how the Lord is hastening his work, and how we are being blessed to just be a part of it! Things here in Nagaoka are going really well, and as a district here we have great unity and desire to improve and see many more baptisms here! Right now our district leader is doing a great job and is helping the district stay united and always trying to improve. It's fun to be in this District, because I really feel like there are no limits to what we can do! We have the Zone leaders, the Sister Training Leaders, and the District Leader and his companion all in one area, in one district and so it is just fun to see everyone doing so many amazing things! I think that President Budge really wants Nagaoka to be doing amazing things, so he has really put some amazing missionaries up here! It's fun to be able to work with such amazing missionaries so that I can improve and do better!
S this week was a thing called a "Daigaku Blitz," which daigaku in english is college! This week we decided as a mission that we would all go on last Friday to the college's around our area and just talk to everyone and try to find really prepared college students! It was a way fun idea, and it was a great way too make everyone in the mission excited! So we had the Daigaku blitz and we saw amazing things here in Nagaoka Zone! There are a couple of daigaku's here in Nagaoka, and then in Joetsu and Sanjo there were only fairly small ones, but it still worked out and we still saw tons of miracles. Here in Nagaoka, we didn't really have any huge miracles with daigakusei (college students) probably because there weren't any huge colleges around here to dendo very hard, but there were TONS of miracles on the way to the daigaku's and just because we had the blitz. I feel like that was the best part about the blitz was that it gave everyone here in Nagaoka something exciting to work really hard for. I know that I certainly felt like I was a part of something a lot bigger than just Elder Wheatley and I in Nagaoka. It was fun to think about all the missionaries in the mission working hard just like we were to see miracles, and with all that faith and excitement, we saw amazing things! I think that the blitz went extremely well and we are excited for the next one!
Right now in Elder Wheatley and I's companionship we are seeing a lot of exciting things. We have three investigators right now that are really progressing to baptism, H_____, Y____, and L____. We really want to try and see them baptized by the end of this transfer, and really believe that they are ready and can do it. Two of them have dates right now, and the other knows that he would be baptized if he found out that this church was right for him. I really have never seen another area this on fire before. Nagaoka is just seeing absolutely amazing things. There are people in every companionship who should be ready for baptism at least by next month and we know that there are more to come. Everyone is finding, inviting, and teaching, and when we can we are teaching with members and getting people to church. Everything is going so well right now. The missionaries here are all striving daily to be exactly obedient, and striving to be better personally so that they can see the miracles that they know God wants them to see. This Christmas season is exciting! You really can feel it in the air that there is something special coming. Right now we know that the mission has been a little slow getting off to this baptismal goal of 100, but I know that there is a reason that we as leaders felt the spirit in that meeting when we prayed together. The Lord wants this goal to happen, and He is going to strengthen and lift us up to be able to accomplish it!
This week was way good! Things are going good out here in Nagaoka and it's crazy that it is getting cold again! The transfer is coming to an end quickly! Thank you all for always being such a SUPER support to me and backing me up every step of the way as I'm out here. I love you all so much! Have a great week, and I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
Logan
Sent from my iPad
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