Week 92! Keep me coming!

This week was pretty amazing!  I feel like we are just doing the best
we can to see miracles here, and then as we do the miracles come!  We
were able to really teach a lot of people this week about the church,
as well as bring a lot of them to church!  We had 3 of the coolest
guys I've ever met come to church and they really liked it!  One of
them, his name is S____, he is from China and he is one of the chillest
guys I've met and is really interested in the church and what it is
all about.  He actually brought his friend to church and so we were
able to introduce them both to the church and we are planning on
meeting with them again to teach them more about why this church is so
important and about our special message that we share to other people!
We also had a member who we have been working with really closely
bring her friend to church and he is a way cool guy who has lots of
questions about religion and about the church.  I'm really excited to
see what happens with all of these people and I'm excited for them all
to progress to baptism!  I think that some amazing things are about to
happen here in Shibuya!

Something else that was great this week was that there was actually a
baptism in the english speaking ward on Sunday, and we knew both of
the investigators very well so it was very cool to have the chance to
attend. one of the recent converts brought two of her really good
friends, and they are actually Japanese and are really good guys.  We
talked to them and I actually had the chance to translate the meeting
for them because it was all in english.  It was really fun because
they had never been to church before, so I kind of just got to teach
them what I thought they needed, as well as translated what the
speaker was saying so I feel like all the speakers really spoke to
their needs;) haha but it ended up being really great and then we had
the chance to go back to one of the senior missionaries homes' and
have dinner with everyone as well as these two new guys, and we were
able to teach a really powerful restoration lesson.  Actually it was
kind of funny because we were kind of expecting to just share
something very simple and basic because it was their first day, but
one of the senior missionary sisters turned to me and said "elder
cottle teach them the first vision now." haha.  So, I had the chance
to kind of teach by myself for a few minutes about where the church
came from and who joseph smith was.  It went really well and the
spirit was definitely there in the room and we taught them and
challenged them to pray there on the spot and they did and it was
super powerful!  It was awesome to be a part of such an awesome
lesson, and we are going to have the chance to meet with them
hopefully this next wednesday and teach them more about the
restoration and about the church.

I really feel like this week, people were just kind of walking right
to us, and things were just happening for us.  We were able to talk to
so many people, and share so many messages this week, and I really
think that it was just because the Lord blessed us and guided his
prepared people to us.  I am grateful to be a missionary!  I feel
lucky and blessed to be a missionary right now at this time, and I
feel like there is just so much to be done it's crazy!  Excited to
have the chance to help people here in tokyo have the chance to accept
the gospel, and I really believe that there are tons of them here.
Thank you for all your awesome support!  I love you all and I'll talk
to you soon!

Love,
Logan

Tokyo Selfie!

Looking as Asian as I can with these two!

Getting some food. 

Week 91! Here we go.....

Hello Hello!

I am so sorry that I have not been very good at sending long emails
lately!  I have been struggling with time because we have just had so
many other things we are trying to accomplish on P-day that it has
been a little bit crazy, but today I have some solid time so I should
be able to give a good update about what has happened over the last
couple of weeks and what I have been doing here in Shibuya!

So lets start with last Sunday, the 15th with H________baptism!
What an amazing day.  I love this guy and it has been so fun to watch
him change into a solid church member.  I actually met Y____ for the
first time last year when I was here in Shibuya, and I had heard that
he used to meet with the missionaries, but that he was a little bit
crazy and just kind of hard to teach, so we actually never taught him
we were just really good friends with him and used to talk to him at
Eikaiwa.  Well when I came back to Shibuya, the Elders had been
teaching him since I left supposedly and he had progressed quite a
ways and at one point actually had a baptismal date, but wasn't able
to hit it and was just kind of stuck meeting with the missionaries but
not really making any progress.  When I got here I realized that he
actually really wanted to be baptized, but he was just going to take a
little bit of focus and pushing and he would be able to do it.  So, we
set a baptismal date for him as a goal and he started progressing
really fast.  He actually missed that baptismal date, but we reviewed
our goal and asked whether he actually wanted to be baptized or not
and he really said that he wanted to work hard for it.  So we set the
baptismal date for March 15th, and he was able to progress all the way
to his date!  It has been REMARKABLE to see the change that has
happened in his life, and to see just how he is really a completely
different person than he used to be.  The power of the atonement is
real!  The morning of the baptism, we had actually beforehand asked a
member to baptize Y_____because we wanted a member to have that good
relationship with him, but the morning of the member called and
cancelled with a family emergency!  I think the Lord knew what was
going to happen because I had just happened to pack my baptismal
clothes just in case the member needed some, and so I was ready to do
the baptism!  It was such a cool privilege for
me to be able to baptize such a good friend, and it was a day that I
will never forget!  I hope you all got the pictures last week, but it
was just so awesome to see him so happy.

The next big thing we had this week was Elder Nelson visiting Japan!
He actually came last Sunday and they did a big meeting with all of
the members all over Japan and it was a really cool opportunity
because they came to Hiroo which is the American ward, but it is
technically in our area so we were able to go with W____ and a Less
Active member named S_____.  Oh and W_____ brought his girlfriend
which was way cool!  We had the chance to go to one of the couple
missionary's home and have a taco party before which was way good, and
then we were able to walk over and listen to an apostle speak to us,
and to Japan.  It was quite an amazing meeting, and the big message
that I got all through out the meeting was how the work is really
being hastened here in Japan, and that there is a reason that in the
last month there have been 2 apostles that have come and visited
Tokyo.  Elder Nelson gave us some amazing counsel, as well and really
taught the members what to do when their friends ask them questions
about the church.  It was really cool to see the way that he would
answer to some of the questions that are commonly asked to members of
the church by their friends.  It's just amazing to feel the power and
the spirit when they are in the room with you.  Afterwards he and the
other general authorities there wanted to shake everyone's hands so we
were able to shake his hand after, and so was W_____,his girl, and
S______ which was the best part because they all felt it.

But, if Sunday wasn't enough, we were blessed to have another big
meeting with Elder Nelson on Wednesday in a 2 mission conference held
in Kichijoji church!  We got to shake his hand again and we were able
to have a 4-5 hr conference with him and with other general
authorities and we heard some amazing messages.  One of the big
messages, and big changes that is coming in the mission is that we
have new ipads coming out!  They are pushing a new wave out to a lot
of different missions around the world, and as part of that we will be
getting new ipads, and we will be changing some of the things from
what we are currently doing, and one of those is facebook.  I don't
know if you saw my post, but from here I won't be using Facebook as a
missionary for 6-12 weeks.  This is just part of this new program that
we are starting as missionaries to make sure that we have the basics
down with the Ipads and that we are on the same page with the rest of
the world.  So I'm sorry that I won't be posting anything on Facebook
for the next little while, but my guess is that it is going to be
closer to 6 weeks than 12, but we will see.   The conference with him
though was really amazing and I just feel like the mission is just
really ready to go and see some big miracles!  Those kind of meetings
are always just like really good pump up meetings which is way good.
Every so often you just need a pump up talk by a member of the quorum
of the twelve right? Haha I'm excited that general conference is
coming up and that we will have the opportunity to listen to all of
the apostles and leaders of the church.

Those were the big things that we had this last week!  I think I
already told you, but we had our transfer calls last week and Elder
Judd and I will be staying in Shibuya!  Because I only have 2 more
transfers left I think that I have a pretty high possibility of ending
my mission here which would be so cool!  I have come to love so many
of the members here and the area is just awesome.  It's definitely
some of the hardest dendo in all of Tokyo, because it is the biggest
and fastest, but it's so much fun.  I love being in the heart of the
city, and it's a blast to be doing with such a good missionary!  It
will be fun to continue to work with Elder Judd!  I feel like we are
just like brothers already, so it should be sweet just working way
hard this next transfer together to see more baptisms for this ward! I
really think that we could see a lot of them.  I'm grateful for all
the amazing support that I have back home!  Thank you all for what you
do for me!  Every week I always get great emails and I feel so much
support so thank you!  I love you all and I will talk to you soon!

Love,
Logan

Week 90!

My mother:)
1. HE WAS BAPTIZED! It went amazing and I will send pictures.
2. Logan applied for a leadership Ambassador Scholarship and they Skyped him in Japan for an interview. 

The interview went really good I think! I'm not sure when they will
let me know, but I definitely felt like I let them know who I was and
how I feel about leadership and about my future goals and dreams and
how they line up with this program and they were really cool.  I think
I nailed it;) we'll see.
3. I asked him if he has decided on a full ride academic scholarship at UVU or BYU, no scholarship. 

College...I don't know.  See what happens with the scholarship? I'm
still thinking...I don't want to mess it up...but I just feel like
free school is hard to pass up.  I feel like that is one of the big
stresses coming back into the real world is money, and getting on your
feet that way...and I think free school would be a huge advantage for
me...But I'm still praying cause I don't want to mess this up
haha...any other advice?
4. I asked him about possibly working at the MTC as a Japanese instructor. 

I would LOVE to work at the MTC, and you can actually do that as a
UVU student now, which is cool. I've heard that it's kind of tough to
get a job there, but I know some of the teachers for Japanese, and I
think I could get in...:) We will see.

Ryan Bell returned home this passed week and I was talking about it with Logan. 

I can't believe my bro is home....that blows my mind mom..Next week
Clint comes home, then Spenc will be coming home in May, and I'll be
coming home in June.  It's here mom...the last leg is here, and it is
definitely the fastest part, no doubt about it.  I am just trying to
get all that I can get done, done. I want to finish as hard as I possibly can.  Hope to see many more baptisms these next 2 transfers!

I told Logan that his current companion's mother found me in Facebook and ranting and raved about what an incredible leader Logan was to her son as his first trainer. 

that is so nice of his mom!! I feel lucky to be working with him he is a super good missionary and is working super hard.  It's fun to be working with a bro and just getting way tight and seeing sweet
miracles together.  he's an awesome missionary and will definitely be
a life long friend.  Yeah right, it reminds me of Elder Hall and I as well!  Funny how it's at the end of my mission that I'm having that...So fun though I love it.

We are preparing to move our family down to St. George for work and was discussing the change with Logan. Exciting with the house!! Ok cool It sounds like everything worked out
smoothly which is a huge blessing.  You can really tell that it is the Lord guiding us to St.george!  It is exciting.  I'm excited to get back and help with anything and come check it out!  Such exciting
things!

Thank you for your email mom:) I look forward to them every single
week and they never disappoint.:) Thank you for being amazing, and no
worries you can send that package any time:) haha love you!
Logan

Week 89! Can I get a sub?

Hello everyone!

This week was amazing!  There was so much stuff this week that was
just so good I don't really know where to begin, but we'll see what I
can do! This week was one of those weeks where we had tons of stuff
that we wanted to do, and tons of people we wanted to meet, and we
were just running all over the place trying to meet with as many
people as we could!  It really was one of those weeks where I felt
like I needed a sub!  Haha but it ended up being one of the greatest
weeks I've had in Shibuya because we were able to get Y_____all ready
for baptism!  He has had a baptismal date for next week for a while,
and we have been working hard with him to be able to hit that date,
and this week was the final week that would tell us whether he would
be able to do it or not..We met with him on Friday, and had a huge
lesson where we really followed up on all of the simple lessons and
really just wanted to make sure that he understands everything about
the church and the things that are in those first few lessons.  Of
course when we are baptized we don't have to know everything, but we
wanted to make sure that he was prepared and knew the things he did
need to know, and we reviewed everything and it was really good with
him.  Then the next day we met with him at the church with a member,
and he actually brought a friend of his to learn and she has tons of
interest in the church and wants to learn more about it which was a
huge miracle! Although it was our first time meeting her, she has
learned about the church before and kind of knew what we were talking
about already so it ended up being really good!  We were able to teach
both of them, and really prepare Y_____ for his baptismal interview on
Sunday.  We had the interview on Sunday, and he nailed it.  There
wasn't really any problems and he is just excited to have this chance
to be able to follow Jesus Christ more closely and become a member of
this church.  His baptism is this next Sunday!  I will take pictures,
but I ask for your prayers that everything will go smoothly this week
and that he will be able to be baptized!  I know that prayers really
do help, and I have felt the power of your prayers helping me in my
missionary work!

This week we were also able to meet with one of my favorite people in
all of japan! His name is S_____, and he is a member here in Shibuya
who hasn't been meeting with the missionaries for a while...There was
a miscommunication with us and him right when I got back to Shibuya
and he thought that we were putting him off and didn't want to meet
with him...Long story short he didn't want to meet us for a long time,
but this week as an apartment we decided one morning to go play
ultimate frisbee at a nearby park for work out, and we ran into S_____
on the street while he was walking his neighbors dog! He was happy to
see us, and we were able to meet with him later that day, and spend
time with him on Saturday as well! It was such a cool miracle to see
him in the morning, and then be able to meet with him and clear things
up and help him start making his way back to church.  I really want to
be able to meet with him a lot over the next couple of weeks and
really help him come back to Shibuya! We will see what we can do.

The last really cool thing that we did this week happened last night!
We got a call this week from Sister Ringwood, who is the Asia North
Area Seventies President's Wife, and she invited us to come over to
their house on Sunday to eat dinner with them. So last night we had
the chance to go to the Area President's house with W_____and it was
awesome.  The Ringwood's are such amazing people!  It was awesome to
get to talk with them, and get to just eat dinner with a general
authority!  The craziest part is that his wife Sister Ringwood is
actually Elder Nelson's daughter!  So it was a pretty awesome chance
to go, but the reason we got to go is because Elder Judd is actually
their next door neighbor back in Utah, and has known them like his
entire life!  So they invited him over, and lucky for me I'm his
companion so I got to tag a long;) haha but no it really was such a
neat experience and W_____ loved it.  It was so good for him to see
how some extremely strong members have found happiness in the church,
and how they know that the church is true!  We get to do some pretty
cool things as a missionary huh?!  It was definitely a highlight of
the week.

Thank you to everyone for all the support you give me!  The time is
going faster and faster, and it's crazy to me that this whole mission
thing comes to an end, but I'm grateful that I have the chance to
continue to serve, and I plan to serve as hard as I can until the very
end!  I love you and I will talk to you soon!

Love,
Logan

Week 88!

Dear Everyone!

This week was amazing! Elder Judd and I are working super hard in
Shibuya right now and we are seeing great things!  The work this week
was great, but the highlight of this week was definitely Elder Ballard
coming to the mission!  He had a devotional planned to be broadcast
from Utah to Japan, but they decided last minute to just come and meet
the missionaries and the members, and so we were able to have a 2
mission conference with him this last week!  It was such an incredible
experience!  Elder Ballard came with the presiding bishop, Bishop
Stephenson, and President Rasband of the Presidency of the first
quorum of the seventy.  Then we also had the area seventy presidency
here with us as well and there was just a lot of power in that
building!

So we had the conference and it was intense because President Budge
asked me a couple of weeks ago to say the opening prayer, and so I had
the chance to pray!  I won't lie I was pretty nervous because there
were a lot of amazing people sitting behind me, but I got up there and
said the prayer of my life!  I literally was guided by the spirit
because I didn't know what I should say before but I think it ended up
being good because after I finished Elder Ballard said,"Thank you
Elder." so that was awesome! After we got into things we had just an
amazing conference.  I love these kind of conferences because the
speakers don't have a talk written or anything like that but they
completely rely on the spirit and just kind of teach what they feel
everyone needs to learn.  So it's always really cool to see what they
have to say and how they are guided and how they really are so in tune
with the spirit.

The meeting was really just amazing. I felt like I learned so many
things.  Everyone who spoke seemed to really focus on the Restoration,
and teaching to people about the restoration as fast and as powerfully
as we can.  It was so cool to feel the spirit so strong as they all
testified personally of the reality of the restoration and how the
people in Japan need these truths that we hold.  It was definitely one
of those times where I felt my own testimony strengthened, and I feel
like that was just one of the huge blessings of this conference! It
helped us all to get excited about teaching all of Japan about the
restoration and about the church.

I know that this church is true!  It is such a blessing to be able to
share about it every day, and to tell people how it has blessed and
changed my life.  I have had the opportunity to see many of my friends
blessed with this gospel, and every time that I have seen their lives
improved and blessed by it, it has strengthened and blessed me.  Thank
you all for the amazing support that you give me.  I am grateful for
all of you! You are amazing and I will talk to you again soon!!

Love,
Logan

Baseball with Brother Sugiyama

We had the chance to take the sacrament to Brother Wajima!

We got fruit roll ups and tongue tattoos this week!

Saturday morning basketball!