Hey everyone!
First, I hope you all had an amazing Easter! It's always fun to
assemble with family, and more that anything, have the opportunity to
remember the resurrection of our Savior. Truly, through His life and
sacrifice, death has no bounds, and the grave no sting. It is because
of Him, and the merciful plan created by our Father in Heaven, that we
can find hope and joy in this life, even when we find ourselves
journeying deep in the valley of darkness and despair. As I'm sure the
apostles have testified throughout General Conference, I would like to
add my voice in declaring that Jesus of Nazareth did rise from the
grave that first Easter morning, and does indeed live to this day,
lifting us up from every fall we have ever taken.
It's true no matter where you are, no matter who you are, and it's
something I've been able to see a lot of in Japan. Even if we just
look at this past week, the light is always at the end of the tunnel,
as long as you keep walking. Elder Smith and I met with Yamashiro and
Yuto, but had both of them fall through for coming to church again,
which always stings a bit. You spend so much time thinking about and
loving these people, only to watch what we know can help never
materialize. But even with that, as we dendoed that night, God was
guiding us. In one apartment, we met a self proclaimed 'prodigal
daughter', who was raised Christian, but experimenting and learning
from the world right now. How touching to know that God would reach
out to her, and that we were able to be those tools He used. Now she
knows, even a little more, that He does care for her, and always will.
The hope of the gospel is, of course, not something that just
magically materializes. To bounce back to Yuto, one of the commitments
we gave him was to not only read, but also take notes on the Book of
Mormon. When we came back, and he had done it, you could see that he
learned more. He was able to put another pebble towards the mountain
of faith that will help change our lives for good. In contrast, the
days people haven't read, they take a pebble away from that same
mountain. Small and simple, but it's how the gospel works. It's how
God works.
And with that, the last bit of small and simple news is that this will
be my last email from Ishigaki. On Thursday I fly out, leaving behind
Elder Smith, and will be starting in Tsuboi, an area in Kumamoto. It's
kinda near Omuta, from way back, and will be my first area of an
island in over a year! Pretty crazy, and scary! I've learned a lot
from the members down here, and so it's going to be hard to leave
them, especially Tagawa Kaicho, our branch president. Hard enough to
lose Ashimine Kaicho a few weeks ago, but now they are all gone. Both
of them taught me a lot about what it means to trust and respect, be
that other people or the Lord, so I look forward to keeping that skill
with me.
Lots of Love!
Elder Mitchell Woodhouse
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