Things Happen for a Reason

Grady with Moriya, an investigator that he taught in Osaka--

Grady and Elder Kudo with the sister missionaries in their district, at a member's house.

Beautiful Niihama!

President and Sister McIntyre with the new Niihama Branch President, Brother Aoba. His son just returned from serving a mission and is one of his counselors.

August 15, 2010

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the emails. My week was great! Before I forget how is Andrew Wardell doing? If you could I would like to write him a letter. Oh and the only thing that I need is Monkey but. I am almost out. I love that stuff. Well it sounds like everyone is having a great week. Ill answer some questions first. Yes my apartment has an air conditioning in the study/ sleeping room. If I slept in a room without an air conditioner, lets just say it would be disgusting. My apartment is on the second floor so it is pretty hot. Ya I am still in Niihama with Elder Kudo. About the picture thing. I cant go on that website but I think I might send home my camera cards from my old camera for you. It is kinda scary but I think it will be alright. Olivia, it sounds like you are pretty happy. Keep up the good work. Mom, I liked what you said about no matter how strange or random some things are, if they are helping someone we do them. I have felt this a lot on my mission. . These last two transfers have been a little different for me. Because Kudo is very honest, almost brutally honest sometimes I have realized that my Japanese skills aren't where they should be. He is very honest with me and I am learning a ton. He is a good teacher. My other Japanese companions weren't honest with me because they were way nice. I am learning a lot right now. For the first year of my mission I focused on trying to understand Japanese. I didn't really focus a ton on talking. It just came with talking to everyone about the gospel. But recently I have realized that my listening skills are better than my speaking skills. I have a long way to go but I am really trying to learn fast so I can express my feelings better. When this happens it will be easier for the people to feel the spirit. This week some pretty crazy things happened. The Ise family is doing well but is struggling with the Word of Wisdom. The other morning I got a call from a member and he was a little upset. He told me and Kudo to stop committing the Ise family to baptism. His idea is that when they are ready they will tell us. This member is a really great member and shares the gospel with people but has never read "Preach My Gospel". About 8 months ago the 12 apostles told all the missionaries to commit people to baptism almost always in the 1st lesson, and always by the second. The spirit is everything in teaching but the 12 were very direct with this statement. One apostle even said that baptism should be the most used commitment a missionary says. This was hard for me at first but I followed their counsel and miracles happened. I explained this to this member and he was still very set on his idea of helping others come closer to Christ. I am not perfect I make tons of mistakes but I follow the Apostles counsel. I am very optimistic on how the spirit can change people. I have seen this change in my life and tons of people in Japan. This week was definitely a week where I needed to stay positive. Things happen for a reason and I am excited to try to teach through the spirit everyday. I love you guys and your the best. Till next week/