メリークリスマス！

Looks like they had a few snacks to enjoy! Olsen Choro, Whitrod Choro in back and Earl Choro in the front. Mendoza Choro took this picture)

December 21, 2014

Hey everybody!

First off, I`ll start with what`s probably most important to my family! I`ll be calling via Skype at about 9:30 AM on December 26, Japan time. That should be about 6:30 PM on Christmas Day in Utah. We`ll be using Whitrod Choro`s account, and he`ll have his mom kind of set things up with you. Try to think of questions before hand because we`re limited to 40 minutes this time! If you have anything that you know you`re going to ask me, please send it today so I have time to think about it properly!

Anyways, this week was pretty good! We welcomed Elder Mendoza to the mission and are now enjoying an all gaijin district. It`s weird having three `older` missionaries along with a new one, but it`s been interesting for sure. Unfortunately, he came on a very snowy day, one of the worst here in Yonezawa, so that`s been his introduction to the mission so far.

We had our branch Christmas party this week! At first, we were worried that it wouldn`t turn out very well because no one showed up on time for the event. Twenty minutes after it was supposed to start, we decided that we had enough people to begin the festivities. We started with a `shuwa` chorus, which went pretty badly because Olsen Choro couldn`t stop laughing during the song. It was, admittedly, pretty silly for us to `sing` a random hymn (I Know My Father Lives) during a Christmas party, but one member really wanted to do it, so it wasn`t a failure at least. Eventually, enough people made it to the party, including three of our investigators!

Speaking of which, they`re doing pretty well! "Suki"-san is closer to following the Word of Wisdom and her son told us that he received an answer to his prayer and that he wants to get baptized! He just has to wait a few months until he turns eight. "Hikari"-san is awesome, and her Santa costumed baby was the star of the party. She asks great questions during lessons and she really wants to know who and what God really is. We`re teaching her again today before she heads back to Tochigi for the holidays. Also, I was bold with "Tomoko"-san during yesterday`s lesson. In the Ward Newsletter, I read about Paige in Argentina who had an investigator who was in a similar situation to "Tomoko"-san. She had the investigator read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and pray about whether to get baptized on one of three specific dates. I felt strongly that I should do the same thing with "Tomoko"-san. It was rather intense, because he`s worried about getting into a church that`s not true and having no way to get out, even though he thinks that our church is probably the most correct. He refused the commitment at first, but I told him that I felt strongly that this would be the way that he would get his answer. He told us just before he left home that he would do what we asked, even though he has doubts. I was so happy, but now we just have the wait until we meet again to see whether he gets the answer that he`s desiring. Pray for him!

Anyhow, that`s about it! We can talk a lot on `Christmas`, so be prepared with stuff to say and ask!

愛しています！