Week 68! It's about Molmon

Hello!

This was one of the most amazing weeks I have seen here in Nagaoka, and all over the Zone there we huge miracles!  I couldn't believe all of the things we kept hearing in the calls every night, and then what happened yesterday at church really just finished it off to be one of the best weeks this Zone has ever seen.  

Coming off a great Zone Meeting last week, we trained a lot about expectations, finding, setting expectations with our investigators, and baptism.  From that we set some really amazing goals for church attendance, but not only for investigators but in order to focus on the whole work of salvation, we want to focus on bringing investigators, recent converts, and less actives, so we put them in the goal!  Then, we followed up really closely with the missionaries every day on who was coming to church, and who they had planned on coming, and we saw a huge miracle here.  Between the 3 areas up here and 16 missionaries, we had 23 investigators attend church this week!  We also had 4 Recent Converts attend the meeting, and 4 Less actives! There was a total of 31 people who came to church in the Zone who are either new members, or don't usually come to church!  It was an amazing miracle this week, and it was just so great to see and hear about so many people coming to church!  Here in Nagaoka we also had a pretty amazing miracle!  We usually have maybe 32 people attend sacrament on a good Sunday, but this last week we had 45 people in sacrament, with 2 Less actives, 2 recent converts, and 11 Investigators! It was remarkable to see that as we worked our hardest to align ourselves with God, and with a goal that he had in mind for us, that we were able to do it. We are even more excited because out of the 7 investigators who came from our companionship, 2 of them have baptismal dates, and the others will have them this next week!  Really excited to see what is going to happen this next transfer, we are hoping to have a baptism every single week!  The sisters have one planned for next week, and we have a date now for the 12th so we will see!  That would be so good for the branch and the members to be able to really catch the missionary spirit and have a little more desire to have their friends taught!  

Another big thing that happened this week was that we had our transfer calls come in!  They were actually this morning, but I was really nervous because I really wanted to stay!  I guess God does listen to our prayers, because it looks like I will be here one more transfer in Nagaoka which I am so excited for!  Elder Wheatley and I are really really excited to have the chance to work another transfer here together again.  We really feel like we have been able to get into a really good rhythm together and we have really started seeing some amazing things.  We feel like we will be able to go right into this next transfer not really missing a beat, and be able to continue working with this branch out here to see amazing things happen!  I am also super grateful for the chance I have to work with Elder Wheatley.  I really feel like I have been able to learn so much from him, and have really been able to grow a lot just by being his companion!  We get along great, and I feel really lucky to have him as a companion!

This week I think one thing that I learned was to more fully rely on and trust in the Savior.  This week was really one of the best weeks that we have ever had, but we had to work our butts off to see it all happen.  There were times where I wasn't sure if everything was going to work out how we had hoped and planned it would, but everything this week really did just seem to come right together and work!  I realized that God does listen to our prayers, and that he wants to bless us we just have to ask him, and then be patient and have the faith that he will help us.  I saw that this week!  There were things that weren't in our control, but it was able to happen because the Lord heard our prayer and helped us.  What a blessing to have Him on our side always! I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do for me!  Have an amazing week this week and I will talk to you soon!!

Love,

Logan

 "We had a lot of people come to church today, and after we had lunch!

We played a little basketball with K___and his friends. 

Week 67!

Hello everyone!

Excited to be writing you this week! There were some really amazing things that happened in Nagaoka this week and it's so fun to be working here! We have had a very busy week this week, but the most busy part of the week was getting H_______ready for baptism this Sunday! There have been so many miracles with him in order to get ready for baptism, and it was just amazing to see it all come together yesterday! This week we met with him on Wednesday but because he lives so far away that was going to be the last time we met with him in person until his baptism! But we had expectations to talk on the phone every night and there was no problems. Well we talked to him for a second Thursday night, but Friday night and Saturday morning we couldn't get a hold of him and we were starting to get worried! We were in the car heading to his house with N______when he called us back and told us that he had just been really busy and he was sorry he couldn't answer when we called.  It was great to see that the lord was protecting him even when we couldn't be there, and that he was still ready to be baptized.  He arrived to the church at 8:30 in the morning and we were able to get him ready and we had a great baptismal service. The service was really well done, and everything went very smoothly which was great. We were able to baptize him and it was such a great baptism! After he bore an incredibly strong testimony and while he was up there I couldn't help but thinking that someday he is going to be a great church leader! He really has that feel to him, and has such great faith already it's amazing. He is a part of the family here in Nagaoka now and we are so excited to continue to work with him and strengthen him as a new member! He also was able to get confirmed in sacrament meeting, and has already had his interview i with N______for the priesthood next week! 

Other than H_______ being baptized we were able to have our zone Meeting this week and that went really well! We changed our vision here in the Zone from really focusing on unity to focusing on the work of salvation, and making sure that we are spending all of our time to help the work of salvation progress.  I love how we have made this switch into really focusing on the work of salvation because this is what really matters. If we always have the work of salvation on our minds, and always want to work to help that cause, then we will be fulfilling our purpose. If we stop and ask ourselves at random times throughout the day, "is this activity helping the work of salvation progress?" then we will be able to see how effectively we really are spending our time. Something else that we focused a lot on in this meeting was the expectations that we have here in japan. Do we have the expectations to find prepared people who will be baptized this transfer or the next? We talked about how God loves all of his children even the people in Japan and he wants them to receive the blessings of the gospel as well. I think that it was really good for the missionaries here to kind of reset those expectations, and build that faith. After we had great trainings on finding and on setting expectations with those that we are teaching. The meeting went really well and I think we are going to see some amazing things happening in the zone! We set some great church goals together, and we have a good follow up plan so we are excited to see where this next transfer takes us!

The last big thing we had this week was two separate exchanges, one with the Joetsu elders, and one with the Sanjo A elders. Both of the exchanges were really good and it was great to be able to work with those missionaries. We actually weren't planning on going on exchanges with Joetsu, but we had heard lately that the Elders there were having a little bit of a hard time down in Joetsu kind of with the area, and so Elder Wheatley and I decided to go spend a day down there out of our area with both of them to kind of see how things are going and help them get excited again. We had a great day with them, teaching 6 total lessons and finding 2 new investigators as well as a couple really great PI's. The elders were really excited about it and I really think that the exchange made a big difference for them. I got to work with Elder Ishikawa and he is a really good missionary. He is a really good teacher, and I am super excited to see where he goes in his mission because he is going to do great things! 

We also had exchanges with Sanjo A elders and that went really good too! I got to go back to my very first area where I was exactly a year ago which was pretty crazy, but things are going great in the area and they are looking to have a baptism possible this Saturday!   The best part about that is it is a kid that I taught when I was in Sanjo! It was a kid that we found and he is looking really good to be baptized! So it was great because I got to talk to him yesterday about baptism and things and it was a lot of fun because I could actually speak to him unlike before! He really has changed a lot after meeting with the missionaries for so long, so I will take pictures when he gets baptized! 

This week was just super busy but really really good! It was amazing to see Brother H______get baptized, and just see how happy he was after he came out of the water! He just turned to me and gave me the biggest hug right after he came out of the water with the biggest smile I have ever seen on him, then after he got the Holy Ghost it was even bigger. It was cool to see because when I was there with him it just helped me remember why we are all here, and why we do what we do as missionaries. That smile is what it is all about. I am so excited to get to work with him while he is a recent convert, and just be friends for life and to the eternities! He is the man I love him so much. I will send pictures!  I love you all! I know that this church is true, and that we really are able to gain the most happiness when we follow Him. Have a good week and I'll talk to you soon!

Love,

Logan

Sent from my iPad

Week 66! I am cat.

This was a great week this week!  We saw some amazing things this week
and it is just way cool to see how things are really picking up here!
I feel like from when I got up here in Nagaoka Zone and now is a
totally different Zone!  We are seeing amazing things right now and I
really think it is just because we have such amazing missionaries
here, and of course the fact that The Lord is on our side.

Yeah so the zone is doing really great now, and it is really fun to
see all the miracles that are happening here in the Nagaoka!  Right
now in the Zone we currently have 9 baptismal dates which is amazing!
We are really seeing the work being hastened out here, and we are so
excited to see where things go as we start this Christmas season.
There are 3 baptismal dates in Nagaoka for the last 2 weeks of
September, so things are looking really good for Nagaoka!  Also Sanjo
made a baptismal date with a long time investigator for this month on
the 28th and so it looks like Sanjo will have a baptism in just 2
weeks!  It has been so amazing to watch all the miracles happening
around the zone, and just being able to see how God is working on the
hearts of his people here in Nagaoka Zone. The missionaries here in
Nagaoka are now thinking about how we want to be the highest baptizing
area in the mission.  At the end of this month, there will have been 5
baptisms here, and there are more dates in October!  Excited to see
where things go.

Sunday, H_______had his baptismal interview and he passed with
flying colors!  He is really excited to be baptized this next week,
and we were able to get the baptismal record filled out and it is all
ready to be signed and shipped off next week!  We are really excited
for him because I know that he is really going to be a huge strength
to the branch here.  He has amazing faith and is really solid and just
already has great friends in the ward and everything with him has just
gone perfect.  We will be in close contact with him this week and make
sure that he is looking good, but we are really excited for him!  It
has been so fun to have had the chance with H_______to work with him
from the very beginning.  He has just progressed so fast to baptism,
and his service is already planned and ready and it's going to be
great!  Please pray for him to be able to get to his baptismal date
with no problems and that he will be able to be baptized this next
week!  I know you all have been praying for him already, and we have
really been able to see the effects of those prayers so thank you! God
really does work through small and simple means, and as people pray in
faith for something, uniting together in prayer you really can see
amazing miracles!  I see it everyday.  I love you all talk to you soon
have a good week!

Love,
Logan

Sent from my iPad

Welcome to the Third 1/52nd Annual Breakfast Party of the Elders of Nagaoka!

Pizza! We never have pizza!

Me and Elder Wheatley

Week 65!

Hello Hello!  This week in Nagaoka we saw some amazing things and I am
so excited for all of the miracles that we are seeing right now!

Our area right now is really just exploding and we are really excited
to see where everyone goes over the next transfer.  The people have
been building up, and now we have a really strong teaching pool with
really strong progressing investigators and some really solid
baptismal dates! The big baptismal date right now for us is H_____
and he is doing great.  Right now he is in the process of getting a
new job, and his money is a little low because he hasn't had one for a
few months, so he wasn't going to be able to make the 45 minute car
ride into Nagaoka from Kashiwazaki this week for church.  We called
our ward mission leader and asked him what advice he had, and he told
us that there are some members that could maybe give him a ride to
church because they should be coming as well.  N______ called a less
active member who lived there, and she wasn't planning on coming, but
decided that she should come and that she could bring H_______!  It
was a huge miracle because he has been to church for the last 2 weeks,
and is just making huge progress towards his baptism.  After church we
taught him the word of wisdom, and we knew that this was going to be a
hard one for him considering he had cigarettes in his front pocket
when we were teaching him, but it went really well.  He understood why
we had the commandment, and he knows it's going to be hard but he
wants to follow it.  We took his cigarettes from him right there and
committed him to throwing anything away that reminded him of smoking
or anything like that.  We followed up with him last night and he said
that he went home and cleaned his apartment and threw all that stuff
away.  He is still looking really good for baptism on the 21st and he
is going to be an amazing addition to the branch here in Nagaoka!

Elder Wheatley and I are having a great time working together and I
have been really impressed by how much desire he has!  He is a really
good missionary and I feel like I am learning a lot from him, and I am
excited to continue to learn more from him!  We have been friends in
the mission for a long time, ever since we were first up here together
as transfer 1 missionaries, so it is fun to work with someone who is
such a great friend!  We are working really hard, and seeing great
miracles because of it!  It's amazing what The Lord can do if you
trust him and give it your all. But this really has been one of the
funnest transfers I have had already, and we are only a couple of
weeks in! We work super good together, and we both just have a really
good sense of how to work hard and how to play hard.  It has been fun
to see so many amazing miracles already together, but also have so
much fun doing it.  I definitely feel like that is the way that
missionaries are supposed to do it.  This week Elder Wheatley and I
trained in one of the district meetings on attitude, and a few Zone
Conferences ago President Budge showed us a really cool quote on
attitude.  The first quote he showed had ATTITUDE written really big
on the top and then underneath said, "Don't walk as if know the world,
walk as if you rule the world." He talked about how sometimes we get
this idea that attitude is really cocky and arrogant.  He changed the
words to, "Don't walk as if you rule the world, walk as if you know
WHO rules the world." We used that quote for our  training and just
helped the missionaries realize that we have to have good attitudes
and be happy while we are doing the work otherwise nobody is going to
want what we have.  Elder Wheatley is really teaching me how to have
an even better attitude so I am excited to keep learning from him!

One other really cool person that we are working with right now is a
member named Brother Y______.  He is a member, but has been less active
for years but he really is the man.  Unfortunately I don't have a
picture with him yet, but I'll take one this week so you can know who
he is but he is one of the kindest people I have ever met in my whole
life.  He owns a restaurant, and so when we visit him he always brings
us a big drink and all this candy and just gives it to us he is the
man.  His story is kind of crazy, because he was baptized years ago
here i Nagaoka, and then moved down to Tokyo and actually ended up
getting into the mafia and went to prison for 8 yrs. While he was
there, he read the Book of Mormon a lot, but once he was out he didn't
feel like he could go back to church.  He ended up coming back to
Nagaoka and starting up this restaurant and actually Elder Wheatley
last year when he was on exchanges here found him and found out that
he was a member and the missionaries started working with him again.
He has only been to church once or twice since then, and hasn't really
made much progress but he really likes Elder Wheatley and I, and he is
actually reading the Book of Mormon and praying daily right now, which
he hasn't been doing for a really long time!  We are really excited
for him because he is definitely one of those people that once he
comes back he is just going to be rock solid and isn't going to go
anywhere.  We are excited to keep working with him this week, and I
will let you know what happens next week! Hopefully he will come to
church this next week.  Pray for him!

Well that is pretty much the big stuff for this week..Things are going
really good!  Thank you for all you do for me!  I look up to each of
you so much and I am so lucky to have so many people that I love
supporting me every week!  Have an amazing week and I will talk to you
soon!

Love
Logan


Sent from my iPad

Week 64!

ok this week was amazing! wow i have absolutely no time but I will be
fast and share the big miracles!

this week we were finally able to meet up with H_______ again on
Friday and it was a great meeting.  he drove us around and took us to
this really cool park, and it is amazing to me how prepared his is.
we talked basically the entire time about the gospel, and he believes
basically everything that we believe it's amazing.  We talked about a
lot of things with him, but when it was time we invited him to be
baptized on the 21st of next month and he said, "I will be baptized.
YES." It was amazing! we set really good expectations that he needs to
come to church and we need to teach a lot before that, but that we
just want to help him be ready by that date and he just kept saying
thank you thank you yes please help me.  It was really just the
perfect lesson with him.  Then he came to church this week and it was
great with him.  We had great lessons with him, and reviewed his date
and he told us that he isn't going to focus on anything but being
baptized! He is SO PREPARED! he really just realizes that he needs the
Savior in his life to help him because he isn't perfect.  we are going
to be meeting him tomorrow, and I am just so grateful to have the
opportunity to teach him.  PLEASE keep him in his prayers that he will
be able to progress towards his date well. we are really excited for
him and he is going to be an amazing addition to the branch out here.

I just want you all to know i love this work! i am so grateful for the
amazing people i get to meet, and how their faith literally
strengthens me as a missionary, as well as strengthens my faith. i am
blessed to be here in japan, and blessed to be in the tokyo mission! I
love you all so much! i'm amazed every week by the things you are
doing! keep it up! i will talk to you alll soon!

love
logan

Sent from my iPad

Monday Breakfast of pancakes on the patio. 

Continues to play soccer.