Warming Up!!!

It`s been another awesome and unbelievably fast week out here in the mission field. It is getting so hot!! There wasn`t a ton of rain this past week but now that I say that it will probably dump all week so I better watch out haha. It`s way nice to be able to go out there in the short sleeve white shirt without a jacket though. I`ll take this anyday over that winter weather. I`m sure everybody is pretty excited to get in the swimming pool right about this time. Did you know that there aren`t too many pools here in Japan? There isn`t too much space for them so I think they have to go to a public place and I haven`t even seen too many of those. Bummer huh?!



We`ve had our fair share of ups and downs this past week but overall it has still been full of miracles. We had exchanges this week with a couple Elders from Kitakami which also went really well. We have been working really hard with Kawamura Rika and her son Yugo to get them ready for their baptism which was scheduled for this upcoming Saturday but unfortunately it will have to be postponed for another couple weeks. First of all, Rika has been in very bad physical condition as of late and is now in the hospital. She has been meeting with her doctor and he finally told her it would be best to rest in the hospital for a few days. She has had terrible headaches and I think has been pretty stressed out with different things. She also smoked some cigarrettes which is another reason her baptism will have to be postponed. She wants to quit though and even feels like entering the hospital might be Heavenly Father`s way of helping her quit. She has the desire, understands the importance of baptism, and wants to do it. I know she can and that she will!! :) While on splits with Elder Watanabe we were able to go visit her before she went into the hospital. We gave her a Priesthood blessing. It was awesome!! As for now we`re gonna pray for her and be patient with the Lord`s timing. We did schedule another date for the 25th of this month :)


Her son, Yugo, is doing awesome!! I think he was a little sad about his mom but we called him Saturday evening to see if he was gonna come to church and he was all over it haha. He made plans to have his grandpa bring him over. We arrived at the church Sunday morning around 9:00 a.m. for a meeting with the mission leader and he had already showed up!! Haha he was in the sacrament room reading his scripts and when he saw us he ran up and gave us a big hug. He was so happy. We taught him simply the Plan of Salvation before church started. This kid is amazing. Oh ya I almost forgot!! Earlier in the week we had a lesson planned with he and his mom but she had something come up and wasn`t able to make it. He was pretty discouraged. He called us later in the day and asked if he could just meet with us by himself. Of course!! We made plans to pick him up and go to the church. We watched the `Restoration` video. He loved it and the spirit was strong. He asked about baptism afterwards and we were able to make a date with him. He is scheduled to be baptized with his mom on the 25th :)


We have found a lot of good people this past week and are gonna try to get them progressing this week. We have been so blessed. I have an amazing companion. And the other 2 missionaries we`re living with are awesome too. I feel so blessed to be living with 3 wonderful Japanese Elders who do so many nice things for me. There haven`t really been any issues between us as far as culture goes and what not. They make me lots of good food and I`m pretty much satisfied from there. Haha just kidding. But they do throw down some good meals :) The mission is full of opportunities of a lifetime. I`m thankful for what my Heavenly Father has given me. I love you all!!!


Elder Ovard