51st week in Japan
7/31/2016
心の変化 (A Change of Heart)

Dear Family and Friends,

Lately while I have been going throughout my days trying to serve those around me I have been thinking about what a great opportunity I have to serve the Lord. I love being in the service of God and trying my best to always put his will first. I have really come to recognize that no matter who I go out to serve, no matter how young or old they are, no matter what problems they may have in life, they are all my brothers and sisters and they need this gospel. It is such an important responsibility to share the gospel with those around us.

A while back President Welch came up with a new vision. He wanted us to teach 20 lessons every week. With this new vision in mind we have been going out every day to teach as many people as possible. One thing that has always been on my mind since we have been trying to teach these 20 lessons is that sometimes I feel as though I was just trying to teach 20 lessons every week and I wasn't focused on the people. My last few transfers I have really come to learn how it is so important to keep my focus on the people. In order to do so I must have charity and try my best to see those around me as God sees them. God sees these people, each and every one of them, as his children with great potential. They all have the potential to become like he is one day. I think that it is so important to keep this in mind( as we go out to work each day.

Through applying this principle into my life as a missionary, I have come to develop a sincere love for the people around me. I love these people. I want them to be able to have the happiness that I have grown up with and had throughout my life. There is no greater joy in the world than the joy that is found through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that through living the gospel of Jesus Christ we can one day return to live with our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He has atoned for us and through using and relying on the infinite power of the atonement we can overcome our trials in this life. We can repent. We can receive forgiveness and be cleansed from our sins. Nobody is perfect in this life, but through Christ we can be made clean. I love this gospel. I know it is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Questions:

1. Yes, we have district meeting every Friday. We will have ZTM (zone training meeting ) next Friday. We had interviews with President Welch last Tuesday. It is always a powerful and spiritually uplifting experience to meet with the mission president one-on-one.

2. The Leaders in our ward are amazing. The bishop is very hard working and we have built a very good relationship. There is about 30-35 people who come to church every week here in Katsura.

3. I haven't had time to go see many places yet in the new area. They did not have fireworks at the festivals that were here. I am not sure why.

4. I saw Boetcher choro again recently which was awesome because I haven't seen him in forever. That was great! There is only one zone in Kyoto.

5. There are a lot of similar words in Japanese and English because they took a lot of words from the English language. I feel alright about the language, but I know that I will never be fluent in the language. It is just one of those languages that if you are not a native it is very difficult to become fluent. I do like learning the language a lot though.

6. I have not given a talk in church yet. I did a little self-introduction on the first Sunday here, but it was only like 5 minutes.

7. We have a few pretty fun investigators here. Yes, we teach English in every area.

8. I am okay. You don't need to worry about sending me anything. Thanks tons.

Love you all so much. The church is true everyone! Have a great week!

Elder Hirschi

Elder Hirschi