Week 27 Marugame: Transfers!

hello everyone!

i am no longer in my bean area (first area) of tottori! i got

transfered to the beautiful island of shikoku in the marugame area! i

was SO sad to leave the people of tottori that i have grown tO lOve sO

much, but it is so amazing here! the branch is just straight amazing!

i just got here and i've already seen so many miracles and met sO many

awesome peOple and i love the people sO much already! including my new

companion elder anderson who is part japanese and speaks pretty much

fluent japanese so hopefully together we can clean up my rough

japanese!

then this sunday i got to gO to church and meet the branch. the whole

branch is just unreal and they are so willing tO help the missionaries

out with their dendO! i can not wait to work with them more in helping

people be brought unto christ. alsO at church i had an opportunity tO

meet jesus (as in the spanish pronunciation. as cool as that would

have been I did not in fact meet the savior at church, even though

this is probably one of his favorite branches On earth). he is another

One of our prOgressing investigators. we taught him the gospel of

christ with a cOuple other members. he took it super well and by the

end of the lesson he seemed really Opened to the idea of baptism and

understOOd the doctrine of repentance really well. i cOuld definitely

see him being baptized very sOOn.

then another one of the really cool things that happened this weekend

was we actually had the OppOrtunity to give a blessing to One of the

sisters' investigators who was strugling with back pain and wanted a

blessing tO help him feel better. elder anderson and i gave him a

blessing and right after he had a look of complete wOnder on his face.

he tOld us that as soon as we started the blessing he felt a power

come from our hands and gO throughout his whole body. he looked like

he couldn't believe it as he told us how his back didn't hurt anymore.

it was so cOOl and such a testimony Of the true power of the

priesthood and how it is used tO bless the lives of all of god's

children who will excersise faith in Him. this week was so crAzy but

so amazing! i love this new branch so much and i have been nonstoP

smiling ever since i arrived in marugame. i love this gosPel so much

and i love being a missionarY! the church is true! love you all have a

great week!

アルレッド長老

Elder Anderson (far left), Jheff the coolest member ever (center), and

our investigators Angela and Jesus (Angela (left), Jesus (far right))

My new companion!

Week 26 Tottori: There is Sunshine in my Soul

じゅんびの日ですね、

this week was Lots of fun! we had another ztm and we got to start

following the new mission schedule. so far it actually isn't toO

different from the old one but now we go out a little earlier each day

so that is fun! this saturday actually we went out early and the

weather was so amazing. there wasn't a cloud in the sky (which is

almost unheard of here in tottori) and the temperature was so much

warmer. we were riding across the bridge over the river on our way to

the train station to go do some streeting and I looked over at the

japanese countryside. it was so beautiful that i thought to my self,

"man, this is quite the world that our heaVenly father has crEated for

his children." suddenly i felt a lOve like i haveN't fElt in a long

time. i felt a piece of that immeasurable love that our father in

heaven has for each of us, and why he had made such a beautiful earth

for us to live on. i then felt how much love he had for the people of

this city in japan. i felt A sudden urgency to help these people kNow

that they are children of a lOving god as well and THat they too can

feel of this immense love. i committed with all my heart to testify of

him and his son jesus christ as much as i can. i know that we have a

father in heaven that loves us. and because of that we are never

alone. he has given his son so that we can receive strength beyond

what we could even imagine. and although i am weak and i make mistakes

left and right, i can draw strength from the atonement of christ. i

love my savior and my father in heavEn, and it is such a privilege to

be able to work alongside them in their vineyard, furthering the work

of salvation. i love this gospel so much and i love each of you. thank

you for suppoRting me in my mission.

頑張りましょう！

アルレッド長老

Here are the awesome missionaries of our ZTM