Everywhere I Go, Sweet Blessings Follow

Grady and a couple of young people he met on a bus.

August 1, 2010
Hey everyone! Sounds like all is going well in Idaho. It is sad to hear about Grandpa but it sounds like he is doing better. In Japan they just let people in Grandpa's shape walk around and have the family take care of them. It is pretty wild. I like what Olivia learned at Girl's Camp. Pres. McIntyre talked about that about 4 months ago at a mission conference. He told us all to " make our own weather". It really helped me try to live that way. You guys asked last week how Pres. and Sister McIntyre are. Pres. McIntyre is way bold and cares about people a lot. He has a funny sense of humor. He has a good balance of laying down the hammer when we need a little repremanding and being way spiritual at the same time. I like him a lot. Sister McIntyre is way funny! She is way nice and I have talked to her a lot on my mission. When we get interviewed by Pres. she goes over some other things with each companionship. These little meetings are probably supposed to last about 15 to 30 minutes but I am always with her for about an hour. We just talk and talk. She is way cool. Do you remember my second companion Budge? Well he is my Zone leader and yesterday we were on an exchange. It was just like old times but we could communicate with people a little better and have both learned a lot of good life lessons. I'll tell you about a cool experience we had together yesterday with the Ise family. Budge came to Niihama to interview them for the baptism next week. They are both struggling with the Word of wisdom so we were both praying hard. About a week ago I felt prompted to call Budge and tell him that he would play an important role in their conversion. He and I had no idea why, but we found out yesterday. Yesterday at church we had a lesson with the Ise family where they expressed why they wanted to be baptized. The mom, Eri San, said that she was doing it for her kids and so that she could be "saved" and have eternal life. When she said this I knew that she was ready for baptism. I felt the spirit probably one of the strongest times of my life. After Eri went it was Riyuji's turn. He said he was getting baptized not only for his family but for himself too. He said I want eternal life. These were some of the most pure humble reasons for baptism that I have heard. They are getting baptized on the 15th now. I am way excited for them. I know that you pray for my investigators everyday but they really need help with the word of wisdom. Oh. and the prompting I had was real. Budge testified about why he knew the church was true and why he was a missionary. He really gave credit to his parents for teaching him the gospel. The spirit was way strong because this couple was seeing living evidence of what teaching the gospel in the home can do. They really needed to hear Budge's testimony. I am also very thankful for my parents. If you wouldn't have taught me the gospel I don't know where I would be. I love it here! It seems like everywhere I go, sweet blessings follow. That is about all I've got this week. I'll try to send some pictures today. Niihama is beautiful like Maizuru. Well, I love the mission and I really feel like this is where I am supposed to be. I love you all and till next week!