"Principle of Mutuality"

Hey, everyone!

Short update, because I have to dash!

This week has been an awesome one! It mostly consisted of biking everywhere and We worked hard and were able to find more people with interest in the Gospel! Success!

We had an awesome wedding reception of a couple in our ward as well! The church was filled to the brim with people, so we, the missionaries, had to go to the kitchen where all the hardworking members were preparing the cakes and treats (we helped them out by eating the leftovers). It was a great party! I was crowned with sunflowers and stuff, too!

Finally we had an amazing Stake Conference held in Shimogamo. I really liked elder Mains' talk where he talked about building Zion in our homes first, before building Zion in our wards. He talked about a "Principle of Mutuality". He explained that the world nowadays has the wrong mindset: "In order for me to win, the other has to lose". We should be careful to not let the traditions of the world intrude our homes and families, our little pieces of heaven, and apply what Christ taught instead: "In order for me to win, everyone else has to win first". If we're all turned outward, focusing on the welfare of others, the world will be a better place! Be selfless, like Christ!

Thanks for reading, friends and family! I love all of you! Have an amazing week!

~聖徒長老, Elder Santos

Good activities & Anti-Climatic Transfer

AS FOR LAST WEEK... 

...'t was a good one! We had a few really good activities throughout the week. We had a very good District Meeting, reviewing the Zone Training Meeting mentioned above and resolving a few questions concerning our iPads. I don't remember what inspired me during the meeting right now, but I have all my thoughts and ideas written down on good ol' paper! The very next day we had a Pizza Party. Everyone (members and non-members alike) was hyped up about the rumors of me making the best pizza in the universe. Because we announced the party way early (a month in advance), a lot of people were able to come (30 people came of which 6 were non-members). A lot of pizza, fellow-shipping, laughter, high-fives all around... We shared a message about the importance of resting from all your work and coming to church. A few non-members said they would come... if they weren't busy with meetings and work (dang it!). The next day we had a special musical number during Sacrament Meeting (an arrangement of hymn #99: "Nearer dear Savior to thee") done by us, the missionaries. I took care of the piano and the other missionaries sang like angels and stuff. I was super nervous. But it went super well and we even made a few members cry. I'm happy we were able to invite the Spirit and make that Sacrament Meeting an even more spiritual experience for everybody.

Also, transfer calls came in. I'm staying in Ootsu, HOORAY! Everyone in our appartment is staying, actually. It was a tiny bit anti-climactic, but I'm not complaining!

Thank you so much for reading, dearest people! You truly are a bunch of super-troopers! Have a super-week!

Lots o' super-love,

~聖徒長老, Elder Santos 

Family Skype

Hola, every-Juan!

Oh no! I forgot to do last week's e-mail update thingamajig!

THE WEEK BEFORE LAST WEEK...

... I skyped my dear family-peoples over in Deutschland. Everyone is super-genki I cried my eyeballs out like the man I am. Next, we had a pretty good BBQ activity organized by our ward, where we ate, drank and were merry! A few non-members came as fell and it seemed like they were having a really good time and were getting along really well with the members. We also had an amazing Zone Training Meeting about health, obedience and accountability. The homework we got to prepare for that meeting was to read the Missionary Handbook and to find out why we can or cannot do stuff. I really thought studying the Handbook was a cool idea; it really made me understand the rules and be more self-reliant in my judgment when it comes to missionary standards and conduct. Brilliant! Finally we had a good young men activity where we had a "yakisoba" (Japanese fried noodles) cook-off between two teams. We did rock-paper-scissors to pick a set amount of ingredients each of the teams could use, went to the supermarket and got the ingredients and started cooking. It was a lot of fun and we were able to become good buddies with the young men! Throughout the week we, the four elders in Ootsu, have been hard at work to organize a list of less active church members so that we can actually find them and help them out -- we'll be focusing on that this transfer.

Things Rolling in Ootsu

Hello once again, dear inhabitants of the lands across the seas!

Things have been rolling over here in Ootsu and we're starting to pick up some speed! We found a couple of new investigators last week! It took a lot of finding, but we did it! We have return appointments scheduled for this week! Not only that, but our other investigators are making progress as well! EXCITEMENT!!

We also helped one of our recent converts (a big friendly Brazilian) move out of his old apartment with the ward. It was something that needed to be done for a long time. The old apartment just caused him a lot of stress and made things with his wife and kid worse. His neighbors didn't cut him any slack either. But now he lives in a spectacular home and everyone's happy! The best part about all of this is that he went up to the stand on fast-Sunday and shared his testimony for the first time, in which he expressed love and gratitude for the whole ward! YOSH!

Then, we had a companion exchange on Thursday, in which I went over to Oumihachiman again (in order to teach some Brazilians). One of the Brazilian members invited us over for lunch and he brought a bunch of his Brazilian friends (who are all non-members) and we had a delicious feast of Brazilian goodness. We then taught one of the friends who had previously been to church and seemed to really like it. He had many questions that were left unanswered about the Bible and we helped him find answers to every single one of them. We testified to him that the Book of Mormon is the second testimony he needs to understand the word of God. He accepted to read it and said he would like to meet up again to hear more about our message! Initially, there would be the I'm-in-Ootsu-and-you're-in-Oumihachiman-problem, but we got permission from our zone leaders to teach through Skype!! I'll be Skyping with him and the other elders to help with Portuguese translation. I'm really excited!

This week's District Meeting was pretty good as well! I think I really like how our new District Leader does things around here. I always get a ton of inspiration from him. I also learned a lot from the exchange with him; a lot of notes taken. (Now, where did I leave those notes...)

Finally, we had the other elder's baptism on Sunday! It was really good! Ootsu has seen a lot of baptisms lately. Makes me want to work even harder and bring others to Christ!

It's been an awesome week! I'm really glad how everything turned out and I hope you've had an amazing week as well, everybody! See you next Monday

Tons of love,

~聖徒長老, Elder Santos

Oumihachiman Exchange & Tiny Bikes

Hello there, all of you!

This week has been ridiculously eventful!!

First, we had companion exchanges with the Oumihachiman elders. Because they have a lot of Brazilian investigators (almost all of their investigators are Brazilian), they arranged a lot of appointments for the exchange so that I could actually talk to these people and teach them. So, we are off to the first appointment... and it falls through. And so does the next one. And the next. Until all appointments fell through. Well, uh... that was awkward. But I'm really happy I got the opportunity to work with the other missionaries. It's always a good idea to get a different perspective on missionary work! (Plus, we got to ride these super tiny, amazing folding bikes! NO ONE WOULD PASS UP ON SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY!!)

The rest of that week consisted of high-speed, racing against the clock teaching record updating (or rather, moving them onto our iPads for that new app I was talking about). We also had a few appointments (made previously), but we had to keep meeting up with people to a minimum to crunch in some more record updating. We had a deadline to move the entire records (from when they first met the missionaries till today) of the people we're meeting with currently to the app before yesterday. All I want to say is that some of our investigators have been around for a pretty loooooooooong time. Yep. But I'm really looking forward to working with the app! It's got some really nifty features and makes keeping track of everything SO much easier!

This week has been real, it has been fun... and it has been real fun! Thank you so much for reading, everybody! I hope you have a marvelous week with marvelous weather like today over here in Ootsu! Ah... spring is here!

Includes but is not limited to lots of love,

~聖徒長老, Elder Santos

Filled to the brim!

Hello, everboody!

This week has been filled to the brim with going around talking to everyone on the streets, knocking on doors and scavenging through old records and notes about former investigators for gold. We found a former investigator who has potential to progress, but he's not doing so well right now. I hope that he accepts this wonderful message; it will help him overcome his problems for sure! 

We had an amazing district meeting -- probably my favorite so far. The district leader basically took some time to talk about our investigators (our district consist of 6 missionaries) and kind of brainstorm on ideas to help them in any way. We got a lot of neat ideas that we want to try out with our investigators, like singing hymns to start every lesson and including the ward more in kind of following up with the investigators (as fellow shipping; seeing how they're doing, if they need help). I'm also going to teach our ward Spanish, to show our Spanish speaking members and investigators how much we love and support them. It's going to be fun!

We also had the district leader over in our apartment during an exchange and he really helped me out when I needed it. Thank you so much for putting him as our District Leader, president! He's really helping me to overcome my weaknesses and to become a stronger missionary.

Not much else to update you on, I believe. Thank you so much for your time, dear readers! Have a marvelous week!

A whole lot of love,

~聖徒長老, Elder Santos

One more Round

Hello, 愛する皆さん！

I would like to use an example to describe my past week.

You see, every week is like a round in a boxing match. Once the bell sounds and the round starts, you're off to fight with every inch of strength your body possesses. After a certain amount of time, however, your body just can't keep up with the heavy exchange of punches and you need to take a break and catch your breath. Fortunately, after a few minutes of persevering in the ring, the bell sounds and you go to the corner of the ring, get a break, drink some water and receive some pep and advice from your coach to get your courage up.

For me, the past week was like a round in the ring. As I was exchanging punches with my everyday responsibilities and duties as any other missionary, a new transfer began, my trustworthy companion left and a fresh companion came in. From that point on I felt like my enemy was starting to overpower me -- I couldn't keep up with his punches and I was getting exhausted really quickly. I was left responsible for an area I have only been in for one transfer, not even knowing how to get from A to B, not even knowing where all of our investigators live properly. My stress piled up rapidly and just as I was about to say amen to my conscience and kiss the boxing-ring mat, the glorious chime of a bell filled the air and I was allowed to back off and slump into the corner of the ring for some needed rest. It was the General Conference. I had prayerfully prepared for the anticipated day, arming myself with specific question I had been seeking answers for. Just like in a boxing match, the break is short, but oh so sweet. To me, it felt like my coach knew exactly what I needed to hear; it felt like every talk in the Conference was directed to me and my concerns and questions. The words of the prophets gave me new-found hope and courage and reinvigorated me for the next round. I also got a few hints on how to take on my enemy; new insight and ideas to help my investigators come closer to Christ. 

I don't know why I had never appreciated these wonderful opportunities to receive counsel from living prophets, seers and revelators before. I'm truly grateful for our loving Heavenly Father, who calls worthy men to be His messengers and lead and guide His children. I'm also really grateful for the Holy Scriptures which contain the true word of God shared by prophets of old, still very applicable to this day and age, guiding us and comforting us through trials and hardships in our daily life. I really love the Book of Mormon and I really know it is the word of God.

I'm looking forward to applying everything I learned to my area and my investigators. I just want to bring them happiness and to experience the joy I've felt from this Gospel. I'm still learning and growing and I don't know everything. I still have questions and even doubts. But I know that this is true. I am glad that I decided to serve the Lord.

Aside from the General Conference, it's been really rainy in Ootsu lately, I have ruined my shoes and I have been working like a madman. Elder Kiki, my new companion, is a really cool guy from Washington and sings with the voice of angels. Pictures next week :P

Thank you so much for reading my super dramatic story, my friends. I hope you've all had an amazing week!! I will see you all next Monday, if ninjas don't kill me by then. Buh-bye!!

I really love all of you,

~聖徒長老, Elder Santos