week 36

This week, I have been thinking about the simplicity of the gospel a lot... This is one thing that I have had the opportunity to learn on my mission and I am so thankful for it. I can talk and talk and talk and have deep conversations with people about religion in English but when it comes to Japanese, it is the simple statements and testimonies that are the most powerful. This gospel is simple! And because I have come to this realization, my favorite scripture is Mosiah 4:9. It is a straightforward, fearless verse but it has so much meaning. God is our Heavenly Father and because he loves us, he has given us a way to return to him. It is that simple. If we follow what he has given us, prophets, scriptures, etc., we will receive all of the blessings that he has promised to us. All that we have to do is "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

So, this has been on my mind this week and I ended up talking in Sacrament Meeting about it! That went well but... I was asked to speak for a long time because, I thought, there were only two speakers that day. The first speaker went. 5 minutes. I had... 25 or so minutes to fill and so when it got to be about 10:45, I wrapped up and sat down. Turns out someone was talking after that AND they had a special music number planned. There was some interesting miscommunication but it turned out alright! They probably won't ask me to talk again for a while... ;)

This week, we worked really hard. We had a challenge to fulfill that we received from our district leader and... it seemed impossible in this small, countryside Yatsushiro! But, we tried our best and had one of the most tiring, best weeks so far. Hard work is the best remedy!

Because we were working hard, we were blessed and guided this week! One specific experience happened yesterday. We took the wrong path which took us to a dead end. We started turning around but saw an apartment and decided to see if anyone was home. In that apartment, we talked to Yone San and had a wonderful conversation with him about God's love and how he guides us. By the end, he was excited to receive a Book of Mormon and had a desire to learn more about it. I can promise you that it wasn't by chance and that we were guided to him that day and that he heard the message that he needed to hear that day. We have high hopes for him and hope that through his reading of the Book of Mormon, he can know that this message is true.

I'm grateful to be here and know that I must work hard! I'm not perfect but i plan to try my best!

Brower Chourou