Week 24 - December 29, 2013

Hello hello hello! For all those of you really following up with my blog (apparently I have a blog. Thank you, Jordan Liau, for letting me know!), I am now pretty much at my 25% benchmark. Crazy, eh? Time flies, and it's only getting faster. My companion, Elder Scoville from California, says it like this. "There are 2 days in the week. P-day and everything else."

 

That sounds wamp (wanpaku. look it up. It's a good japanese word), but he's right. The time flies on wings of lightning. You cannot call it back. (that's a hymn, for those of you who don't know).  

 

Anyway, miracles! So first off, there's been a scripture sustaining me all through this week: Ether 12:27. This week I have seen so many of my weaknesses, I have almost been overwhelmed. Only the words, "If men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness" has given me a hope that I am drawing closer to the Savior instead of just failing Him over and over again. Honestly, this week there weren't many obvious miracles. I was disappointed, because we didn't get an amazing Christmas miracle that I wanted, which was a golden investigator all wrapped up and ready for baptism. It was a bit harder too, because the other companionship of Elders DID get such an investigator. Oh well. The church is still true.

 

That being said, I have been trying really hard as a trainer to help my new missionary have the faith to find and do missionary work. But, being very young myself, I am not experienced and I cannot lead him well. Again, the ONLY thing sustaining me is that I feel the Holy Ghost as I make decisions, and I know that the Lord will not fail me.

 

In fact, yesterday was a day themed around President Holland's talk, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." The Lord gently calmed my aching heart and told me He would provide. That day, we found and talked to 4 really solid people. 1 accepted an invitation to come to church and exchanged phone numbers. 1 said he was a christian and would come to church without the number. 1 said he believed what we said, but exercised his agency and chose not to listen. 1 chose not to listen, but took a Book of Mormon and is reading it (I pray). All in all? That took about 45 mintuse. It was amazing how the Lord gave unto us success.

 

Thank you for all your prayers. I hope you all had a good Christmas and have a New Year's resolution that will draw you closer to the savior. My resolution? BAPTISMS. Yeah. Japan'sa gonna be baptized.

 

I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 23 - December 22, 2013

Hello! Another week, another percent of my mission done! It's kind of scary, actually... I'm already almost halfway through transfer 3. For those of you praying and fasting for me, I invoke the blessings of heaven upon you all. These last few days and weeks I have felt the support of angels all around me, especially through stress and sadness. For example, this week we had a lesson with a man named Kentarou. Due to miscommunications, different expectations, and my failure to recognize his feelings, he was really hurt and offended by us. He left the lesson, telling us he had no intention of ever learning about Jesus Christ and that he thought the only way we would be his friend is if he learned about the gospel. This broke my heart, because that meant I had failed to do as Jesus would do: Love him unconditionally. Or at least, he didn't understand the connection between me wanting to share the gospel and him being my friend.

 

However, during the said lesson, as I was sorrowed and searching for a way to help him understand with the limited Japanese I had, I testified of Jesus Christ and felt the Holy Ghost powerfully teach with me. Whether or not it made a difference in Kentarou's life, I don't know yet. But, I do know this: Through my faith, my companion's faith, and the faith of my friends and family praying for me all around the world, I taught with the Holy Ghost and when I came before the Lord at the end of the day, I had no regrets. Sorrows? Yes. But no regrets.

 

It is interesting to me that we are to stand ready for the Lord to help us; that we should expect miracles, but not require them; that we should do all things cheerfully that lie within our power, then stand still, with the utmost assurance that God will provide.

 

Those are all scriptural references, by the way. Look them up! They're great. :D

 

Anyway, as interesting as faith and patience are in combination with each other, there will ALWAYS be miracles. For example, this week we had a baptism in Urayasu. For some reason, the lady being baptized picked me to do the ordinance. I was shocked and surprised, since I had met her once before. I felt grateful to HEavenly Father, because as a white washing companionship, we don't really have investigators very close to baptism yet, but the Lord still gave me the opportunity to be closely involved with the conversion of His wonderful daughter name Shouji Etsuko.

 

He is really wonderful.

 

Anyway, I pray you all have a wonderul Christmas! Thanks to all the ward that wrote me during the Christmas party! There's so much I wish to say to everyone, but just a few little shout-outs I have to do.

 

Brother Bishop? There's no snow here in Japan, but I still remember our camp-outs. Thanks for all you did for us!

 

Brother Stowell? You're right about the Japanese people. I love them very much.

 

Brother Sampson? Thank you for all you did to get that sent to me. I'm very happy the ward remembers me!

 

Thank you all!

 

Signing off for the penultimate week in 2013.

Week 22 - December 15, 2013

Hello! How is life? Mine is good. And hard. And good.

This week has been a pile up of insanity and miracles. And insane miracles.

So!

Last week, I guess I forgot to say that I will be working this transfer in Urayasu! My companion's name is Elder Scoville. He is kinda stupid. That's one of the things I'll learn about him.

...

Just kidding!

He is waaay awesome. He has a faith that I feel rivals the faith of the 2000 stripling warriors. Through his faith, we have seen so many miracles already.

For example, we both were getting ready to head out and proselyte for a bit. He turned to me and told me he was feeling the Holy Ghost way strong, that we'd find a new investigator.

so.

1st person we run into: lives in our building, studies Christianity, has a christian friend, and is ready to meet us tomorrow.

o.0 whoa. That was fast. I almost asked out loud, "What happened to the trial of our faith?" haha

Not that I'm complaining...

Anyway, please pray for hiraido-san. He is going to receive the gospel. I know it.

So! Love you all. Go forth and serve!

Elder Chun.

Week 21 - December 10, 2013

Hello everyone! Sorry this week is late. But! It is worth is.

1: Thank you for all your prayers! My friend Umemura Takuto got baptized this weekend and I was privileged enough to perform the baptism! The Holy Ghost was incredibly powerful and I am humbled to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. 

2: This week, I have come to learn even more that I can turn to Heavenly Father in ANY need. Two quick experiences. 1st off, I got transfer calls this week. Turns out I am transferring to a new area, and I will be white washing (both companions are new). It's scary, true, but I found that as I prayed and put my faith first, doubting my doubts as well, I always have a feeling of confidence and I know I am watched over by Him. 2nd, we were helping a sister missionary take apart her bike for transfers, and the bike was being stupid. It wouldn't cooperate and be taken apart, and time was running low. I realized that if we didn't have time to do this and pack, I wouldn't be able to email today. So, I offered up a prayer. I said,

"Heavenly Father. In order to make it to the rest of this day and to do the things I want to do, I need to be able to take apart this bike. Please give me the strength to take this bolt off of the wheel." I closed my prayer as appropriate, and sure enough, I got it off.

Small? I guess this might be easy to overlook. But to me, this is a huge miracle. It told me that not only will God give me the miracles that come from serving others, but that He loves ME and listens to ALL of my prayers, no matter how seemingly insignificant they are.

God loves each of us as individuals. He knows us all. I testify of this.

Thank you for your wonderful examples to me.

Elder Chun

Week 20 - December 2, 2013

Hey! Good news this week!!!

TAKUMI GOT BAPTiZED!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah. I'm way excited this week! Also, one of our investigators quit tobacco this week and is getting baptized this Saturday! His name is Umemura Takuto. Please pray for him. His friend, Mizoe Toyoyuki, is coming to the baptism too. His baptismal date is December 21st. Pray for him too, please.

So yeah. In case you didn't notice, miracles are happening in Japan. I don't even know what else to write.

Amen?

haha yeah.

Amen.

p.s. I was doing a sweets fast until our investigator gets baptized, so I get to eat sweets for the first time in 1.5 months this saturday! WHOOOT!

Week 19 - November 24, 2013

Sorry this is late and short. I have not a lot of time. Next week, I will try to be better, but it's temple P-day, so who knows?

Anyway, this week has been full of miracles, one of which was that I was talking to a friend from high school (musashi miyazawa) who is in the Tokyo south mission (2 mission conference). He told me he used his german in the field. I told him I had not yet, but wanted to. 10 minutes later, I met a German guy.

God is listening.

Love you all.

Elder Chun

Week 18 - November 17, 2013

Hello! Another week has gone by like lightning! Sadly, no baptisms this week, but the members in my area are on fire. We got about 10 referrals this week, 5 of which were from members. This means that no matter who comes in (as long as they remember they are missionaries) the ward will continue to have great success. Which is what really matters.

So this week was absolutely fantastic. There were several times when I didn't have the 伝道 fire, but I prayed for strength from Heavenly Father and I got it. 

Aaaah I love prayer. If there is one thing I have learned so far in my mission, it has been the power of prayer. That being said, even now I find myself slipping into routinely prayers, versus personal prayers. This is a problem, because if we approach Heavenly Father in a routine-like manner, why should we expect Him to approach us with personal attention and help?

Doesn't make sense, does it?

Anyway, I'm not sure what else to write. This week didn't have any "WHOAMYGOODNESSSTHATISANOBVIOUSMIRACLEEVERYONEWILLAPPRECIATE" moment, but I had daily miracles within my own soul as I tried to be like Jesus.

Yeah. That's about it. If anyone has any questions, you should write me! As the weeks blur by faster and faster, it's getting hard to remember things to write off the top of my head, so questions make writing easier.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 17 - November 10, 2013

Hey, everybody!

This week has been so much fun! I've had the opportunity of working closely with the Zone Leaders once again. This time, because it's not a 4 man, I'm doing a lot more of the planning, study, and travel that Zone Leaders do. This makes personal study time a bit scarce, but oh well. 神様の御心 (God's will). 

Miracles!

.......

I can't list them. They are way too many.

Ok. Here we go.

We were at a train station, and we started talking to this guy. Turns out, he is going to a Christian college. He has a copy of the doctrine of Christ in his backpack.

WHAT.

Yeah. We're going to hunt him down, baptize him, and rejoice.

There are many more examples. Japan is a land of Miracles.

I have a request, though. We are currently working together as a mission to achieve "white Christmas", which is receiving 1 baptism/area by Christmas. Could you all pray together for this? I trust the Lord will answer your prayers, because He answers mine.

This leads me to the main message I want to talk about this week: Prayer.

Prayer is a communication with God. We speak with Him, and He speaks with us. I love prayer. Prayer is one of my favorite things about revelation and this church. The concept that we can sit and talk with God makes me so happy. 

Recently, I have changed how I pray. 1st, I never ever say anything in a prayer I don't actually mean. This means that I have to sit and contemplate what I am saying. It makes prayer longer, but much more sincere. Next, after prayer, I sit for 10 seconds in silence and listen to the whisperings of the spirit. This shows the Lord we value any response He gives us.

And so He responds.

Finally, when I close my prayer in the Sacred Name of Jesus Christ, I remember. I remember what Jesus has done for ME. Not anyone else. For me specifically. I remember that He is MY savior. And I give Him a spiritual hug. 

I only say this because I remember that when I was at home, I thought my prayers were good. Here, I have learned they were rituals, not conversations. I would like to invite everyone to speak with God in the Sacred Name of Jesus Christ this week; Never say what you don't mean, and mean everything you say; remember.

I promise, you won't regret it.

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 16 - November 3, 2013

Hello, everyone! Here we are again. This time, it`s week 1 of transfer 2!

Scary, eh? Time is flying by like lightning. Especially in this new area. The ward here is crazy good. There area bout 180  members attending regularly, with 4 investigators that have baptismal dates, and a world of prepared people. The miracles here are unbelievable.

For example, on Saturday we went to a 2 hour Japanese class and got 4 new investigators. Then, we went back to church and had 2 progressing investigators (whom we were not expecting to come) come for lessons. Sunday, we had 2 members come up to us and set up appointments with their nonmember family and friends to get to know them and start to teach them. THen, we had 2 lessons at members` houses with progressing investigators. Today, we have another one. This week, we have 2 or 3 more. 

If you have non-member friends, there is nothing better than asking your missionaries to a dinner with them. It makes the missionaries happy, and it makes Heavenly Father happy. Honestly though, the difference I see between Niigata and Urawa is not the difference between missionaries, but the members.

Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

I think so.

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 15 - October 27, 2013

Dear everyone.

Big news first: Transfer one is over, and I am transfering. Yes, this means I am not going to see Takumi get baptized. True, I am a bit sad about that, but I am happy to know that one of my newest and most best friends is on the steady way to returning to Christ.

So this transfer has gone by like lightning. It amazes me how every single day simply vanishes without a trace. 1 transfer down, 15 to go, and still too much to do. Time runs out quick when you're struggling to learn haha

In terms of miracles this week, I have seen countless. Most of these miracles are the miracles that take place in my heart as I work. It's quite easy to get down at times because of the way things are in terms of my lack of skills, but I have felt utterly cared for and supported by an almighty God, so everything works out pretty well. I just feel like I'm not the right tool sometimes.

Ever heard the phrase, 'trying to perform heart surgery with a rubber mallet'? Yeah, well I feel like the Lord is performing Brain Surgery with a jackhammer as He is using me.

But hey. It's Heavenly Father. He can do it.

So yes. I just invite everyone to realize that regardless of our imperfections, the Lord has something planned for each of us to do in order to help His children.

Shall we not go on and find what He has in store for us?

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 14 - October 20, 2013

Hello, everyone! I'm sure you've all been anxiously waiting to hear the news about Takumi (last week's miracle). Well, turns out he wasn't interested....

Disappointing, right? Yeah. I know.

That's why I wanted to set it up so that you have even a better emotional YES when I say that he has a baptismal date! But it really is a sad story.

We met with him on Tuesday night. He came with us and we taught him the 1st lesson. For those who know, the 1st lesson's 1st point it "God is our Loving HEavenly Father". We talked to him about his family, and asked him if he had one.

He said no.

He told us about how he'd lost a lot of his Dad's money, so he'd been abandoned by them. Lost, scarred, and alone, he was wandering the streets of Niigata (my area) probably wondering if he had any worth; probably praying in his soul, without consciously knowing how, that he could experience the feeling of the prodigal son (like his email adress title) and return home, loved and secured.

That was when an awkward, bumbling foreigner that couldn't speak Japanese very well stopped him asking in chopped up Japanese if he was ok. Surprised, but still utterly hopeless, he responded, "no. I'm not." This awkward foreigner said something about religion and some sort of free class, but said to ignore that. The stranger gave a flyer with a phone number and a map to a church. He then ordered, quite impolitley, "Give me your number. I call later."

This hopeless young man, abandoned by family and aching for anything, gave out his number.

4 days later, he sat, learning about a boy called Joseph Smith, who had read the bible. This abandoned young man said that he, too, had read all of the New Testament in his life. Then, two strange foreigners and one stranger from Japan asked this poor young man if he would consider following Jesus Christ, and be accepted into His church.

Takumi said yes. And since Tuesday, he has become so much happier. He reads the Book of Mormon daily, and has read up to 2nd Nephi 9 (this was on Friday. I don't know how far he is now).

But, he's 19. In Japan, you can't get baptized without parental permission before the age of 20.

WHat do we do?

We had a member-present lesson with our Mission President this Saturday. In in, President Budge asked how old Takumi was, ready to break bad news.

Takumi said, "I turn 20 November 13th."

His baptismal date is on the 16th of November.

God is preparing people. This is my burning testimony. "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?" Every member a missionary, eh? Let's do this.

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 13 - October 13, 2013

Hello, everybody! How was conference? Is everyone happy? Does everyone have their Articles of Faith memorized? Is everyone doing missionary work? :D

 

Anyway, I had a miracle happen the other day. I was doing the flyer proselyting when this guy walked past. He looked rushed; sad; hurt; broken; off; something. I dunno how to exactly describe it. But immediately, I felt an overpowering and overwhelming love for him. I stopped him, and in broken Japanese asked him if he was ok. He said, "No, not really." I asked if there was anything I could help him with. "I'm going to work right now. I'm a bit busy." I said, "Give me your number. I will call and check on you tonight."

 

Yeah. Not the most smooth approach to someone. But hey, I haven't tried asking ANYONE for their number since probably January at BYU or so, and it didn't go much better.

 

But he gave me his number. I was honestly surprised. But I called that night, but he was at work. I called the next day, but he had work. I emailed him, "Hey, I just wanted to tell you about how prayer lets us get help from God."

It was at this point, with that much interaction and conversation between us, that he sends me an email saying, "Yestarday, I'm in sevent heaven. coz I'm abandon all hope, I was saved thanks to you. I wanna learn mormon. My dream is to travel the world. Is it possible for mormon to make my dream come true?" (word for word in english.

:D Not only that is possible, but so much more, my friend.

 

His name is Takumi. And he is just one of many people being prepared by Heavenly Father to receive the gospel. So let's all do missionary work together, eh? :D

 

Sincerely

Chun 長老

Week 12 - October 6, 2013

Hello! How are you all doing? I'd wish you to be as happy as me, but I know that's impossible. Sorry! haha :D

So. Miracles. They are everywhere. Before we left for Japan from the MTC, someone said a quote, "Thank the Lord at the end of the day for miracles you didn't see." I thought this was amazing. But I realized something new while in the field: "Thank the Lord for miracles you take for granted." This is how I came to that thought.

This Thursday, my trainers left for a conference. So it was me and another 3rd week missionary doing our very best to serve the Lord. Let me tell you: Our best isn't very good. Hard things happened, and one of our progressing investigators actually came to church and returned all of his materials. He'd been offended by something dumb, and used it as an excuse to cop out. I was lost and worried. The next day, as we woke up at 6 to work out with another Prog. Inv. I didn't want to go. I was tired; I was sore; I was scared. Yes. I confess that my heart was failing me. I didn't understand why I was out without trainers; why I was trying so hard, only to fail repeatedly. I had seen very little success in my weeks here. The rational part of my brain said, "Oi. You've been here for 3 weeks." But my emotional side was reigning. I was aching, uncertain of my own capacities to serve the Lord. I didn't doubt Him whatsoever. Never have, probably never will.

But I doubted myself.

After the work out, we came back and got ready for an exchange. While my companion was in the shower, I knelt down and prayed. I pleaded with Heavenly Father to change me to be something He could utilize. Then, I turned on Elder Holland's talk, "Lord, I believe". I was uplifted and strengthened. From that point, whenever I doubted myself, I fell on my faith first. I'd pray by starting with, "Heavenly Father, I know you to be the one who called me." And this would put things in perspective. I began to work more faithfully. Not harder; not longer. But I began to believe I could succeed. And I did.

Saturday, I was working hard at finding. My 4 man companionship was on 4 corners right in front of the train statioin, and we were talking to everyone. I ran into a kid called Kazuhiro. He is 17, and he listened. I told him that I speak WITH God every day. I told him that God is our Heavenly Father, who wants us to be happy. I told him that in order to talk to us, Heavenly Father uses Prophets. I told him about the 1st vision and the restoration. I gave him a book of mormon, and testified of it's truthfulness. I set up an appointment. And I felt wonderful afterwards.

My companions congratulated me afterwards for doing it by myself. But I squirmed at the compliment. I didn't do it by myself. THat was ALL Heavenly Father. Without Him, Kazuhiro wouldn't have been there. Without Him, I wouldn't have been there. Without Him, I wouldn't have been on a mission. Without Him, I wouldn't have had faith. Without Him, this world wouldn't exist. Without Him, I wouldn't exist. I began to thank the Lord for one of my greatest miracles I have always taken for granted: Me.

I encourage you all to do the same. Take a moment; think of who you are; find the Hand of the Lord that IS your life. Thank Him. Serve Him. There is NOTHING that brings more joy than that.

That is why I am happier than you all. Bahaha!

Sincerely,

Chun 長老

Week 11 - September 29, 2013

Editor's note:

So, since I'm not that emoticon savvy, I got some training. For all of you who would like some further education in this department as well, let me share my wisdom:

o.0  is a person who looks at you with this bewildered look on his/her face, while squinting one eye half shut, pulling the eye muscles into a semi-painful look and the other eye opened as wide as possible for bewilderment factor. If you try to follow this description in front of a mirror, you'll CLEARLY see, why o.0 is such an apparent emoticon!!! So onto Elder Chun's letter for the week, which includes said emoticon!

Oh I almost forgot - he also attached one photo of a Japanese house. His comment was: Japanese house! Way cool! Sky here? INCREDIBLE! (Enjoy the attachment and continue on to his letter)

OK! So first full week in Japan. Lots of experiences.

First and foremost, funny story: because my trainers are two district leaders, my friend from the MTC and I are occasionally on our own.

o.0?

It's a little sketchy, and I sometimes feel like I have NO clue what I am supposed to do. But it's a good learning experience.

Speaking of experineces, I got a revelation yesterday (Today for you) while at church. As I sat in sacrament meeting, trying to understand the people, I began falling asleep. So I did what my family used to do in Sacrament Meeting: write on my hand sentences and pretend like I was trying to guess what the word was (not with actual ink. Just rubbing). As I was doing this, I remembered my family. I was overcome with love for them, and I was immensely grateful to Heavenly Father for them. Then I realized that if I loved my family this much, being imperfect, how much more does Heavenly Father love ME? Not just me, but everyone?

Then the major revelation.

The people of Japan and this world are my family. I love them all as much as I love my parents and siblings. I want to share the gospel with them.

It was something I've always known intellectually. But yesterday, it hit me emotionally and spiritually. I look forward to havhing my love increase more and more.

Sincerely,

Elder Chun

Week 10 - September 22, 2013

Hello, everybody! Big news: I am in Japan. Yes. Indeed. The fact that my language comprehension dropped below 1% is sign enough of that hahaha :D

Anyway, I have 3 companions (one is a classmate of mine from the MTC and the other two are Zone Leaders). Our trainers are apparently the Goku and Vegeta of the mission. They each have legendary stats and do amazing things. Their names are Hall and Coleman 長老. The other companion is Allred 長老, who is kindsa like a Texan version of Christopher: Strong-bodied, strong-willed, and strong-spirited. I love all three of them and we are all ready to baptize all of Niigata (my first area). The members here are unbelievable kind and I love them already. But aside from that, not much to say.

I did have 2 good experiences teaching. The first was a lesson about the Adversary and the second was a lesson about Divine Help.

My first proselyting experience in Japan was with an Elder Fukino. Since my area is the furthest away from the mission home, I stayed an extra night (along with a few others) and we proselyted doing splits with some of the more seasoned missionaries. We taught a Napaalesian man named Hari who knows 4 languages (I'm dying trying to learn a third). It was his first lesson, and he had been found and given a Book of Mormon the day before. He didn't read english very fast (maybe like a 1st or 2nd grader speed), but he had read up to 1 Nephi 22 in a single night (dang. I am fluent in English and I've barely ever done that). As we taught him about the doctrine of Christ, a girl came up and began to listen to our conversation. At first, I was excited thinking we had been given another golden investigator. Then, turns out she was drunk and she totally ruined our lesson. We still got a soft baptismal commitment, but the spirit had left.

Proof to me of the authenticity of the Work of God.

Second experience was teaching a Jehovah's Witness couple. The husband (named Takashi) learned english in order to proselyte, kind of how we were learning Japanese to proselyte. We were on splits, so Elder Coleman and I were teaching them. We discussed their history, and they led us up to the great apostasy after the death of Christ's apostles. We then went into the restoration. I taught a bit about how Joseph Smith was searching for truth and read the bible in James 1:5. Takashi then quoted the scripture and his wife turned to it in about 3 seconds (dang). I was amazed at how wonderful these two are. Then, I recited the 1st vision in Japanese, and felt the power of the Holy Ghost with me as I testified. Afterwards, turns out that they aren't allowed to take the books of other religions, which is an obstacle, but we are allowed to read with them and teach them and share experiences (hahhaha we got them now!).

Anyway, I love you all!

God is great. He is wonderful. Thank Him for the miracles you see in your life as well as for the miracles you don't see.

-- Chun 長老

Week 9 - September 14, 2013

Ok. I have a ton to do and very little to say today. Sorry for those looking forward to a Corinthians-like epistle (I know how to say that in Japanese!)

I apologize for the miss-communications in terms of departure. I leave THIS Monday at 4:30 in the morning. ok. clarification done.

This week, I had a lot of miracles. My favorite (is that bad?) one was when I suddenly got quite sick. Right after gym time on Tuesday, I got horribly sick. I was achy; I was exhausted; and it was incredibly hard to concentrate. Granted, I had prayed and asked for more diligence, so I took this as an opportunity to develop it. That day, I got a blessing; in the blessing, I was told I'd recover and had some amazing things promised to me. I was very grateful to Heavenly Father for the priesthood. Anyway, next day I was pushing through everything. I didn't sleep well, but refused to sleep in class or during any study times. Others were a little distracted, but I wasn't going to excuse myself for my illness. I had too many examples of pure diligence in my life, from scriptures and personal experience. So, during lunch, I ate quickly and very little, and tried to take a nap to gain some strength back. I couldn't sleep, but just rested. I heard my district leader and my companion discussing that I had to rest. I laughed inside my head and said, "My brothers (referring to scriptural, divine, and earthly ones) went through much worse than this. I refuse to rest." Then, after lunch, we went to study.

I read Elder Uchtdorf's talk about slowing down, and doing the important things. This pricked my heart a little, because I was trying to stay the same pace while sick. But, I put that prick out of my mind and continued to study. As class began, and other companionships went into the other room to do the role-play, I turned to Elder Simmons (my companion) and asked what he wanted to do for companion study. He thought for a while, and suggested we go into a different room. We went, and he said he thought I should rest. I said I had been thinking about it, but didn't want to offend the Lord by telling Him, "Sorry. I'm a little sick, so I wanna sit out on the work of salvation." After we discussed, we followed the advice of Richard G. Scott and prayed for guidance in our decision. After, we discussed some more, and I felt impressed to follow upon the decision my companion made. He, of course, chose that I should rest for the rest of class and return for the devotional. I said, "Alright. Let's pray again and ask Heavenly Father if this is good. May I offer the prayer again?" He said, "If you so desire."

So I prayed. As I prayed, I was overwhelmed with utmost gratitude. Heavenly Father had heard a prayed I didn't dare let myself ask. Of course I wanted to rest. I was sick; I was exhausted; I could barely concentrate on anything in front of me; I was aching; and I had not slept. But because of those I look up to, I didn't ask if I could. I simply tried to push on harder. As I prayed, I thanked Him for His matchless and infinite love; I thanked Him for a companion sensitive enough to the spirit to realize I truly wanted to rest; I thanked Him for permission to be human; I thanked Him for Jesus Christ and His perfect example.

So yeah. It was amazing. I know Heavenly Father loves me, and I know He loves everyone just as much. So I have to go and teach them this Monday.

Waku waku desu.

Sincerely,

Elder Chun