8/22/2016 Highlight: watching Sapporo Temple dedication via broadcast

Minnasan konnichiwa,

This week is transfer week again and I am going to.... Actually, we still don't know yet, but I guess since we haven't gotten a call yet no news is good news, right? These last 6 weeks have absolutely flown by, I can't believe how fast it went. This past week was especially quick, most likely because we had quite a few events/activities all throughout the last few days.

It started on Wednesday, when we had missionary exchanges with the other Elders in our District. I was with Elder Nohagi, our district leader, and it was so much fun. I learned so much from him, and probably bombarded him with questions about everything. He was so patient with me, answering every question I had, whether it was about Japanese, missionary work, or just normal everyday life. My favorite part of being with him was just seeing how much he loves and cares about the people that he is around. With every single person we stopped to talk to, he took the time to make them feel important, asking about things they value and sincerely listening. There is definitely a lot I can do to improve in that area.

On Thursday, we went with a member, Takada kyodai, to go visit other members that haven't come to church in a long time. We were able to visit Komiyama kyodai, who is always friendly, but usually doesn't want to talk about church or the Book of Mormon. This time as we talked, though, he brought up the Book of Mormon himself. He said that from our visits he had started to want to read it a little, so he had read a few of the verses we had recommended to him. It wasn't a dramatic change, but it made me so happy to hear that he had chosen to read from the Book of Mormon like we had invited him to do so many times. It was proof to me that the Spirit can work wonders on the hearts of men, changing our wants and desires if we choose just to take small actions.

Saturday was filled with more activities, first with a ping pong party at the church. Not too many people showed up, but we were still able to have a fun time playing singles, doubles, tournaments, and any other ping pong games we could think of. Then later that night we got to watch the cultural celebration for the temple that is being dedicated in Sapporo. It was broadcasted over satellite, and we were able to watch it at the church in Kurashiki. The youth did an amazing job with various cultural dances, and a re-enactment of the history of the church in Sapporo. It was really fun to watch, and I felt the Spirit so strongly as they talked about the sacrifices made by those people to build the church to the point that they have a temple.

Then on Sunday we had probably the highlight of the week. We watched the dedication of the Sapporo temple, again by satellite. There were a lot of great talks, but it was really just great to feel
the peace and blessings that only come with temples. Since we don't have a temple in our mission, we don't have any opportunities to go during our two years here, but I am so excited to go to the temple
once I get home. This temple dedication just reminded me of that even more. I love the talk on temples, "See Yourself in the Temple", from the last General Conference, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to prepare to enter the temple, or even just to experience more of the blessings of the temple, to read this talk. I know that through temples we can receive the necessary ordinances to seal our families together, enabling us to be with those we love forever. I am so thankful for my family as well, they really are the best! Love you all so much!

Winegar長老より

Seto Ohashi (a really big bridge)

 Viewed Sapporo Temple dedication from mission office.

Dinner with Ootsuki kyodai