Monday, March 6, 2017

February 27, 2017: Packing up and moving on!✌🏻️πŸ˜₯


Well it's the end of a wonderful week and it was capped off by President Smith telling me that I've been transferred down to Iwaki which is the lowest part of the mission.  Iwaki  is called the Hawaii of Tohoku so it must be great there.   I've been called as a zone leader and will become companions with Elder Price from Gilbert Arizona. 

Elder Davies and I had the most successful Sunday of our missions.  First of all our miracle referral, Sister Inumaki, got baptized and she will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost next week.  She is awesome, a really pure person, it is unfortunate that I only meet and taught her for a week, but it's all about her getting the gift of the Holy Ghost.  She had some trouble at work and she burned her hand and face so when she got in the water it was a bit painful.  But when she went down and was baptized and come up out the water she said that all the pain had gone away and was feeling fresh and brand new!  She is already starting to see the blessings of following Christ.   After hearing that I wanted to get baptized again!  Haha. I am excited for her, she is a new member that is just blossoming.

Just before that, we had a lesson with President smith as the joint.  We taught the Lee family!  Brother Lee has been a investigator for a couple of weeks and come to church and everything.  This week finally his wife came to Japan and he brought her to church.  So she has a christian background (even though being from China) and has read Bible and everything!  It was like we were looking a big plate of tonkatsu we were licking our lips at the thought of teaching, but so was President Smith.  We start the lesson and Pres Smith starts talking about how he feels as if he has meet the Lees before this life.  That is exactly what Brother Lee was saying when he talked about goen (a Chinese Japanese phrase about meeting someone in the previous life and receiving luck from them and then eventually meeting them on the earth). We draw up the plan of salvation on the board and that is when President takes over!  Within the hour he teaches with power and uninterrupted knowledge the plan of salvation, the restoration, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  All of it all of it.  I was more than happy to take a back seat to this awesome lesson!  Elder Davies and I were the junior companions to President Smith the whole lesson πŸ˜‚.  But again, we were blessed to have the Lee family on the edge of their seats listening to all of that, feeling the spirit and accepting a date for baptism on the 6th of April.  It's a family!  Haha My last Sunday here we finally get a family!  I firmly believe they will get baptized down the road!  Ugh going to miss them!

Lastly through all the activity of baptism prep, Elder Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came to the mission and had a missionwide conference.  Its was again an δΈ€ζœŸδΈ€δΌšonce in a life time experience.

This man is intellectual, experienced and an incredibly special man.  I knew that before but it never set in until he spoke with his classical power and passion that can only be really felt in person.  He held a question and answer for the majority of the tour but at the end he talked about salvation.  Salvation is not easy, if it were easy the mission of church would have been a lot easier.  The road to salvation goes through the Garden of Gethsemane .  Christ opened the gate for us to gain salvation by suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and giving up the atoning sacrifice.  Salvation is knowing God and Christ.  The only way we can know him is by walking in his shoes, feeling what he felt, and knowing just a fraction of the pain that he felt.  It goes though the Garden and he showed us the way.  Now let's do our best and when we trip, stand back up and try again!!

I am sad to leave Furukawa but I am not craving sad hah because I know I accomplished the will of God in this area!  I love this place and want to come back sometime after the mission!  Love you all and have a good day!

Yes, I know I have forgotten a bunch of English.

 

Elder Halverson

ハルバソン長老~ζ—₯ζœ¬δ»™ε°δΌι“ιƒ¨
 




































 

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