4/11/2016
Heaven is cheering us on!
How is everyone doing? I am so glad to be able to write to you this week about the things that I have learned from conference. I was not able to watch conference until this last weekend, but I learned from all of the speakers. I feel like watching conference as a missionary puts a whole different perspective on what the speakers are talking about. Something different about this conference is that I want to be able to do what Elder Holland has asked us to by remembering the revelation that I have received from conference. I hope that conference went well for you all. Let us try to remember the things that we have learned as we go throughout our daily lives.
I enjoyed all of the talks from conference, but one that stuck out to me was the talk given by Kevin R. Duncan. He talked a lot about the savior's atonement, forgiveness, mercy, and justice. As I have been reading through the Book of Mormon noticing more things about the atonement, the talks in conference just helped me create an even better image of what the atonement truly is. It is something that we cannot comprehend in this life, but we can feel it take affect in our daily lives. Over the time I have spent serving others on my mission I have acquired such a love for these people. I have come to realize that each one of these people are truly my brothers and sisters. I want them to be able to have the blessings of this gospel that I so deeply cherish myself. Even though I love these people so much, I know that Heavenly Father loves them even more. He truly does see each of us as precious in his eyes. I know that because he was willing to send his son to earth, knowing what he would go through, to die for each one of us. How great is our Heavenly Father's love!
One thing that came as no surprise during conference was that Elder Holland spoke last. He gave such a powerful talk you could just feel the spirit pierce your soul. It was the same feeling as Nephi describes in the Book of Mormon. 3 Nephi 11:3 "...notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn." The spirit was so strong during his talk. You can just feel the power of his words. I loved this quote from his talk, "The first and great commandment is to love God, and the first great truth is that God loves us." It is so simple yet so powerful. I am grateful for Elder Holland's powerful words and I will never forget them. I loved how he told us that "Heaven is cheering us on." God sees our potential and he wants us so bad to be able to reach it. He is there to help us reach our true potential.
Well conference was truly incredible. I hope that each one of us can remember these powerful talks given from the leaders of the church. I know that as we strive to remember we will be blessed in our lives.
My Ponderizing scripture for this week was Alma 41:8. I have developed such a love for the scriptures on my mission. Please continue to read and try to ponderize the scriptures. They are truly God's word. They were meant for us today.
I also wanted to say that is incredible that you got to meet Watanabe Shimai and her new husband! They are so awesome! I got to talk to her a few times in my last ward in Fushimi. They are so nice and such good people. I was shocked to see that you had met with them in America. Hopefully they are doing well.
Questions:
1. We did not see the little deer in the parks, but I have heard of other missionaries seeing deer in the parks.
2. We like to cook pretty simple stuff. We cook curry, nabe, ramen, mabodofu, and tempura. Philburn choro is a pretty good cook, so it is fun. I haven't seen too many stores that are as big and have such a variety of items as Walmart. There are a lot of different stores here, but I haven't really seen anything like Walmart yet.
3. The people of Uwajima are different than in my last couple of areas. They still have the same kind heart and strong spirit, but most of the people here are older. They also speak a different dialect here. They use different words in different parts of the mission. For example, normally people will say "tabete kudasai" which means please eat; however, in Uwajima they say "tabesaya" which means the same thing. They have various different words that mean the same thing, but are different in different areas. The members are always willing to get up and share their testimonies. Hearing them bear testimony is such an amazing experience. They all have such strong faith. There is about 30 ish active members in this branch; however, there is about 250 or so members in the area. So over 200 members are less active... Pretty crazy right?
4. They people bow all the time. I have picked it up myself. They do a lot of different gestures that are pretty funny, that I am sure I will bring back to America with me. You guys will probably think I am really strange for doing it to. They don't hug very much. Some members in my last areas do, but the older people here are too old for it haha. Shaking hands is very normal in Japan I feel like. So yes they do that. We take our shoes off every time we enter the church (the church in Uwajima is special, all the other churches you don't have to take your shoes off) or if we go inside someone's house or even our own house then you have to take your shoes off. I actually like it better because it seems to keep from getting things dirty. My shoes are holding up pretty well. Thanks.
5. District meetings are fun. I love talking together with the district and learning about how we can make our missionary work more effective. We met with president Welch for interviews the week before last. It went very well.
6. I loved conference. I hope I can never forget it. I know that probably everyone else will say the same, but I have to admit that my favorite talk was Elder Holland's.
7. They do have Mother's Day and I think Father's Day, but I am not sure. Mother's Day is on a different day in Japan.
8. My clothes have held up fairly well. The tide pens have worked great to get out some stains. I used to iron my clothes fairly frequently, but I don't much anymore. They are holding up well. I have used the first aid kit a few times. That has helped. I think about the same stuff you sent me with would be good for Logan. I would recommend not getting him a jacket though. He can probably get that in his area where he serves. Also the bag that I came out with wasn't the greatest, so maybe a little more sturdy and not as big bag.
Thanks everyone for your love and support. Let us always remember this last conference. I love you all and always remember that Heaven is cheering you on,
Elder Hirschi
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