29th week in Japan
2/28/2016
Knowledge of the Atonement

Dear Family and Friends,

I feel like this transfer just started, and yet it is already coming to an end. It is incredible to me how fast time flies by when you are in God's service. This transfer has been full of miracles. It has been full of some of the biggest ups in my mission, and at the same time some of the biggest downs; however, through relying on Christ I have found so much help in my daily missionary life. I have enjoyed being able to serve the people here in Uwajima so much. I have seen this work moving forward, and I know it will only continue to keep pressing forward from here.

In one of my previous emails I mentioned about the new Book of Mormon challenge that we are doing together as a mission. We are reading the Book of Mormon and highlighting anything that we find about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have already learned so much about Jesus Christ's atonement and it has only been a couple of weeks. Jesus Christ's atonement is something that we cannot comprehend everything about in this life, but as we grow to learn more and more about it we want to share the knowledge that we have gained with others. In PMG there is a passage that says "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase. You will feel, as Lehi did, the “great … importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth” (2 Nephi 2:8)." I have already come to recognize that I have gained a greater desire to share about Christ's atonement through reading this challenge.

Last week during district meeting we all talked about our favorite parts that we have learned about Christ's atonement so far. Elder Miyagi our zone leader shared with us 2 Nephi 2:4. "And thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory; wherefore, thou art blessed even as they unto whom he shall minister in the flesh; for the Spirit is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free." The footnote for the word free has written the word grace. This scripture has changed my perspective on how loving Jesus Christ was to perform the atonement. Because he was willing to go through more pain than any man can imagine we are able to be saved. Through the savior's grace salvation is literally made free. All we have to do is use the atonement of Christ.

I would like to invite all of you to continue to read from the Book of Mormon daily and look for Christ's atonement. I promise you that if you do you will find things that you have never thought of before. Lately I have been reading the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi, and they truly do become easier to understand when you look through them with a purpose in mind. 是非やてみてください(Zehi yate mite kudasai)。(sorry I don't really know how to say this in English other than "please try it and see.")

My Ponderizing scripture for this week was one of my all time favorite scriptures. D and C 18:10. The worth of souls is Great in the sight of God. I love this scripture because every single one of Heavenly Father's sons and daughters are precious in his eyes. Let's help these people who don't know about his gospel. He loves everyone of us.

Questions:

1. Next Monday we get transfer calls. I am fairly certain that I will be staying in Uwajima. I really doubt that I will be leaving. I do hope that I will stay here for a little while longer. I love these people. It is completely different from my last 2 areas, but I do love it here.

2. My favorite place in Japan I have been so far is probably Okayama Nishi 岡山西. I have loved all of my areas, but I feel like those people were like family. I miss that place a bunch.

3. I don't think the Japanese kids get a spring break. School is quite a bit different in Japan. I am pretty sure there is no St. Patrick's day either.

4. Uwajima has really good Mikans. Which is just like small oranges that are super easy to peel. Also my companion Tanaka 長老 is a pretty good cook, so we eat various things. We mostly just shop at cheap places. We don't have to buy too much because the members give us a lot of food. The place that we go to is called Giomu and it is not very far from our apartment. Maybe 10 to 15 minutes or so.

5. Getting used to missionary life and overcoming fear has probably been the toughest part of the mission so far. I feel like for the most part it hasn't been that difficult other than the language. I mean working all day every day, biking everywhere, and knocking on doors gets a little tiring, but you get used to it.

7. My clothes are holding up great thanks. Yes the apartment is getting cleaner. It wasn't as bad as Okayama Nishi so not too much too worry about haha.

Thanks for everything. I love you all and appreciate all of your love and support. Keep enduring to the end and have a great week!

Hirschi 長老