Elder Blake Ovard: Another Week flew by!

I can`t believe another week has already come to a close. They`re flying by!!! And we`re starting to see all sorts of success here in Nagaoka :) It has really been an awesome week that I believe will lead into an even better week. We are working hard to find new people as well as strenghten the members here and are being blessed because of it. We spent a lot of time on bikes this past week visiting people (it takes a little bit longer in the snow!), so we didn`t necessarily find `tons` of people, but the people we did find were strong and full of potential. I am confident that we will have new investigators this week and hopefully even a few coming to church!

One of our investigators, Hasebe, had an uncle pass away this past week. She returned home for funeral services to southern Japan for the week so we unfortunately weren`t able to meet. Definitely will this week though! We did find a new investigator named Isono, however. She is a young mom with 2 kids and divorced. She is a nurse and works the late night shifts making things extrememly difficult for her and her family. Thankfully grandma lives close to help out ;). We found her over a month ago and have been meeting from time to time. She may not have the most interest right now but is very sweet and will listen to what we have to say. Due to past experiences and with all the terrible things going on in the world right now, she doesn`t believe in God. At all. It`s quite sad. She doesn`t seem to have much hope. We testified with all we had that God is there, loves her, and wants to help her. When we asked her what she would like from God, she looked at a cute picture of her family and began to cry as she said, `To live happily with my family`. I felt so much love for her and wanted to do anything I could to help!! Bless her heart. We have what she needs, she just doesn`t know it yet. Her kids are ages 10 and 3. They actually remind me a lot of the Kawamura family in Morioka! :)

It was quite an exciting evening Saurday night. I mailed one of our english class students to see if he wanted to meet up sometime Sunday. The previous night I had talked with him over the phone and invited him to come to church but he humbly refused. In his mail, however, he said, `I changed my mind. I want to come to church. What time does it start?` Haha I couldn`t believe it!! Getting investigators to church has been difficult and I knew it was an answer to prayers. I gave the branch president a call to inform him of the good news. He then passed the phone over to his wife. She explained to us that somebody had called wanting to learn about the church and would be giving us a call in the near future. A self-referral! Ha. Then I got a call from another missionary asking me if I recieved anything in the mail from the mission home. I replied with a `no`, and he began to relate to me that we would be having a Mission Conference in Sendai on the 24th of February. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Donald Hallstram, and Elder Aoyagi will be making a visit to the mission!!!! Hahaha I couldn`t believe it!! So much good news all in just a matter of minutes. So I am more than happy to say that I will have a very special 2 year anniversary :) Even if the kid didn`t end up coming to church. Haha. But one recent convert brought her husband so it worked out alright anyways ;) ha.

The mish is full experiences, ups and downs, and miracles. I`m grateful for all I have been blessed with during my time here. I`m grateful for all of you and your love and support. I love you. Have a nice week! Take Care.

Elder Ovard