The Mikan (Clementine) Of The Gospel
Hello Everyone!
How has your week been? I've heard that there was a ton of rain last
week. We had quite a bit as well so I guess we are in the same boat.
But you know what they say, April showers being May flowers. I wonder
if they have pretty flowers in May over here or if they are all gone
with the cherry blossoms.
This week wasn't very eventful lesson or teaching wise, actually it
was one of the slowest weeks on my mission, but we still had lots of
fun and had a great spiritually uplifting session of General
Conference. We had to take an hour and a half train ride to get to
the conference so it was really hard to get investigators there to
watch it. We watched it with everyone in mind though, so the next time
we meet them we will be sure to show them our favorite talks. What
was up with all the talks about getting married? It was so awkward
for me because I was sitting right next to the sister missionaries
when they talked about that. Lol Some of the Elders in my district
took the counsel very seriously though. Every week we do something
in the mission called a call-in-summary report. This is pretty much
where I call everyone in the district to see how they are doing and
then ask them for some of their personal goals so I can try to help
them. One of the Elders companionship goals was to get married within
6 weeks of getting home. This Elder goes back home in 2 months so I
guess I will have to follow up with that to see how it goes for him. Lol
We also had a zone meeting and a blitz in the Chosei area, the one
right below Togane in the district. I gave a training on
striving to be perfectly obedient because recently in the mission
people have been asking the question if 5 minutes really matter. Does it
really matter if we wake up 5 minutes late? Or does it really matter if
we take an extra 5 minutes of lunch? Well, I covered that and I hoped that
it was helpful. After that we went on a blitz which is where all the
missionaries in the zone go finding in one area for a few hours. I
was privileged to be pared up with a transfer 17 Japanese companion
for the blitz who will be returning home to Osaka in 2 weeks. His
name is Elder Kondo. He was such an awesome companion! We worked
together so well and had so much fun. But he taught me something very
important that I would like to share with you. (And it goes with the
title of the email.). Where he is from in Osaka, it is very famous for
one thing, mikans. Everyone in Japan has heard of the mikans of his
hometown. And he used this to his advantage in talking to people. He
would ask them if they had ever tasted a mikan from his hometown.
Most of them said no because they are really expensive. He told them
that he had and that they were amazing and the best thing that he had
ever tasted! He then told them about the gospel. He asked them if
they had ever tried to go to church before. Most of them said no. He
then told them that he had, and that he felt so much joy from the
church, and it was the best thing that he had ever tasted. After this
story he would relate the church to a mikan by saying that because he
had eaten one of the mikans before, he wanted to share it with
everyone, but not only that, because he had tasted the joy of the
gospel, he wanted even more to share that with everyone. It was just
a simple example but the Japanese people understood. They knew that
Elder Kondo wanted to just share the happiness that he had felt in the
gospel with them, and we were able to get some new investigators for
the Chosei area. It was so awesome to hear the gospel put like that.
I may have to use it sometime!
Well I think that's everything for this week. Thanks again for all of
your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it as always! Have a great
week everyone and I hope to talk to you soon!
Love you!
Eric Stevens
Sent from my iPad
(The General Conference Sermons that Eric enjoyed listening to can be found at:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/04?cid=HP_SU_4-5-2015_dPTH_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng)
How has your week been? I've heard that there was a ton of rain last
week. We had quite a bit as well so I guess we are in the same boat.
But you know what they say, April showers being May flowers. I wonder
if they have pretty flowers in May over here or if they are all gone
with the cherry blossoms.
This week wasn't very eventful lesson or teaching wise, actually it
was one of the slowest weeks on my mission, but we still had lots of
fun and had a great spiritually uplifting session of General
Conference. We had to take an hour and a half train ride to get to
the conference so it was really hard to get investigators there to
watch it. We watched it with everyone in mind though, so the next time
we meet them we will be sure to show them our favorite talks. What
was up with all the talks about getting married? It was so awkward
for me because I was sitting right next to the sister missionaries
when they talked about that. Lol Some of the Elders in my district
took the counsel very seriously though. Every week we do something
in the mission called a call-in-summary report. This is pretty much
where I call everyone in the district to see how they are doing and
then ask them for some of their personal goals so I can try to help
them. One of the Elders companionship goals was to get married within
6 weeks of getting home. This Elder goes back home in 2 months so I
guess I will have to follow up with that to see how it goes for him. Lol
We also had a zone meeting and a blitz in the Chosei area, the one
right below Togane in the district. I gave a training on
striving to be perfectly obedient because recently in the mission
people have been asking the question if 5 minutes really matter. Does it
really matter if we wake up 5 minutes late? Or does it really matter if
we take an extra 5 minutes of lunch? Well, I covered that and I hoped that
it was helpful. After that we went on a blitz which is where all the
missionaries in the zone go finding in one area for a few hours. I
was privileged to be pared up with a transfer 17 Japanese companion
for the blitz who will be returning home to Osaka in 2 weeks. His
name is Elder Kondo. He was such an awesome companion! We worked
together so well and had so much fun. But he taught me something very
important that I would like to share with you. (And it goes with the
title of the email.). Where he is from in Osaka, it is very famous for
one thing, mikans. Everyone in Japan has heard of the mikans of his
hometown. And he used this to his advantage in talking to people. He
would ask them if they had ever tasted a mikan from his hometown.
Most of them said no because they are really expensive. He told them
that he had and that they were amazing and the best thing that he had
ever tasted! He then told them about the gospel. He asked them if
they had ever tried to go to church before. Most of them said no. He
then told them that he had, and that he felt so much joy from the
church, and it was the best thing that he had ever tasted. After this
story he would relate the church to a mikan by saying that because he
had eaten one of the mikans before, he wanted to share it with
everyone, but not only that, because he had tasted the joy of the
gospel, he wanted even more to share that with everyone. It was just
a simple example but the Japanese people understood. They knew that
Elder Kondo wanted to just share the happiness that he had felt in the
gospel with them, and we were able to get some new investigators for
the Chosei area. It was so awesome to hear the gospel put like that.
I may have to use it sometime!
Well I think that's everything for this week. Thanks again for all of
your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it as always! Have a great
week everyone and I hope to talk to you soon!
Love you!
Eric Stevens
Sent from my iPad
(The General Conference Sermons that Eric enjoyed listening to can be found at:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/04?cid=HP_SU_4-5-2015_dPTH_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng)
Mikans From Osaka
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