Sometimes Things Are Difficult, But You Can Always Make A Difference

Kenrokuen in the snow

Kenrokuen in the snow

Good morning!!!!!

It's been another classic week in this Japanese wilderness, and I'm doing all right. We started out with a English class student, named Nagase, calling out of nowhere and wanting to learn about the church. He's 81, so this is pretty rare for older Japanese people wanting to study religion. He listened and wants to talk again. This week was a lot of finding and knocking doors. Not anything too fancy. 

We did play Futsol this week, which is like soccer on a basketball court. That was pretty fun. I met this man yesterday, who talked with me for about 20 minutes about God. I did my best to testify that God loves him and we are all his children. Because he is our father we look like him and he wants us to come back to him. The Buddhist background of everyone here is an obstacle but obstacles are put in our way to make us stronger.

 On a clear day, rise and look around you,

And you’ll see who you are.

On a clear day, how it will astound you--

That the glow of your being outshines every star …

And on a clear day …

You can see forever and ever more.

-anonymous

Sometimes things are difficult but you can always make a difference.-Elder Frisch

Elder Frisch in Kenrokuen in the snow

Hey Mom and Dad,

Thanks for the email! I am doing great, and yes, I am staying warm enough. We don't have kerosene heaters, we just have these things that are their own little unit and blow hot air. I think it's gotten probably a couple below zero. I'm not sure. We have been getting more snow lately or it will snow during the day, but won't stick. My companion is a good kid. He's super quiet, and I think sometimes what we have to do as missionaries, like going up to random people, can be a little nerve racking for him. It's alright though. Senior companions make the plans for the day, lead throughout the day, talk to everyone and lead out on things and write the reports and things. I do say that I miss Arizona weather. I like it when it's hot because of the sun.  

That's crazy how Savanah will be home in 3 weeks! That passed pretty quick. It'll be funny to see how much the ward will have changed when I get home. I'm glad that dad is doing well at work. He has been working hard and it's paying off. I'm happy to see God blessing our family. Right now, I technically have no investigators.  I've really been working to find people, but nothing much has come up. We housed for 8 hours straight without dinner the other night in the snow, and didn't find anybody, so sometimes things like that are tough. We did see three miracles that help me to understand that this is God's work and not ours and we just need to be always working, so God can trust us whenever. First, I was praying the other night for God to put someone in my path to accept the gospel because the scriptures do say, "Ask and ye shall receive". So, in my head popped "Family Mart at 11:02" so, I fell asleep and woke up the next morning thinking the same thing. So, we headed out to Family Mart and what do you know, we stopped the guy walking in at 11:02 and we talked for a bit and he said that he'd like to hear more, so, we exchanged numbers and said we could meet again. Secondly, a guy from English class, who had said he didn't want to talk about religion because his family told him not to, called out of the blue, and said he wanted to talk again. We met, and he liked what we talked about, and he wants to talk again. Lastly, we met a guy named Sunata on the street, who called out of nowhere and invited us to his mochitsuki, but it was during church, so we couldn't come, but he will meet us today. So we have potentials. I love you mom and dad!

Love,

Eli

Goodnight, Mom, I love you!
Love,
Eli