April 11th, 2016

Hey everyone,

I am very reflective right now. I think it is due to the fact that one year has passed since I left on my mission. I did not think so much experience and change could be packed into one year. Another reason I have such strong cause to think stems from seeing the last two sessions of conference this past Saturday.  What a powerful thing conference is.  And what a wampaku (rebellious--unruly) little brat I was for not appreciating it more when I was home.  Oh well, focus on the future.

I was touched by one of my favorite men in the world, President Uchtdorf both times he spoke and of course the last speaker, Elder Holland, really left me with some strong impressions.  As I look back on the year I have had in the service of the lord I am amazed at how this work has changed ME.  Many of you do not know the extent to which my soul was hurt and bruised before I left.  To put things bluntly, hope in my own future was left wanting, and true happiness and joy was almost unknown to me. I left for Japan with doubts, fears, and worries of all kinds one year ago.  The difference in who I was then, and who I was watching conference three days ago was astounding to me.  The only way changes like that could come upon a human being is if there was some Divine intervention by powers not understood or comprehendible to human minds. The miracle of the atonement and all it can do for a person has truly been revealed to me while out here.

As I sat and heard Elder Holland talk about the greatest commandment of all time, and then the greatest TRUTH of all time, I was reminded of a song you all know.  Leading up to conference the song 'Amazing Grace' was brought to the forefront of my mind time and again.  As I listened to Elder Holland I began to understand why. 

Amazing grace - grace of God, of Christ, the love with which they lift us higher.. 

How sweet the sound - sound of the gospel that sweetly and soothingly heals broken pieces of hearts and souls...

That saved a wretch like me - I TRULY was a wretch for much of my life. Unhappy with myself and In a constant state of despair and anxiety about the future, but how thankful I am that even someone as wretched as me can be lifted higher and healed by the grace and love of God and his son...

I once was lost - in every sense of the word lost from truths I had not seemed to grasp the importance of, lost in my desires, my relationships, my emotions and thoughts, devoid of things like confidence and self respect

But now am found - knowing who I am and what I am doing, the person who GOD wants me to be is slowly being found, joy is being found, love is being discovered, hope is flowing into my life from all directions...

Was blind but now I see - could not comprehend a world outside of the one I was stuck in, unwilling and devoid of desire to discover a world better than the one I was used to, but having reached out for the grace that is so sweet to the wounded soul and the sorrowing mind, I have felt, accepted, and now see the world through the eyes of the Savior.  One filled with hope and love and peace in all times that come with a fallen and imperfect world.

My heart, with all of its scars, calluses, bruises, and open wounds has been plunged into the sweet healing balm of Gilead that is the gospel and atonement of Jesus Christ and love and grace which accompany them. The simplest way I can put is that I have been healed, and I continue to heal day by day.  As I sought to find love for people I can't understand, and serve the way God would have me, and ever so slowly began to align my will with His, a transformation has taken place in me that I cannot seem to explain.  The gospel is true.  It has changed me forever, and it can change anyone willing to experiment on the word.  I can't tell you why but I felt like sharing that with all of you today.

This week we had some wonderful opportunities laid in front of us by the Lord.  We met three new investigators. One is from Nigeria, one is from Niger, and one is Japanese. 

Tuesday we found out the college kid we invited to be baptized did not want to learn anymore and decided to bike off to a far place we hadn't worked in yet.  While there we ran into a man named Isaac.  He is twenty two, Christian, and at the mention of prophets immediately became interested. He is very devout in his current faith, but is more than willing to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us. A very kind, special man.  He speaks Japanese best so we still teach him in Nihongo, but he is from Niger.

Thursday it rained so we went through the six hundred names we have in our phone to whittle them down. We got to a man named Adebayo.  He is from Nigeria and invited us over to see him and his family that same day.  He met missionaries a while ago, but got lost in transfers and accepted our invitation about coming to church and reading about the restoration.  He called his family into the living room to pray with us before leaving.  Sunday he came to church.  He got lost on his way so we missed sacrament meeting while finding him, but we met and were able to teach him about the restoration during sacrament.  He was very appreciative and said that of all churches he has been to he has never had people sit down with him and teach like we did. He also said he feels a lot like Joseph and lacking all kinds of knowledge.  Golden.  We will meet him next Sunday to and invite the whole family to learn.

Friday Elder Harrison woke up and couldn't see.  I guess some scar tissue in his eyes got irritated.  We went to the hospital again and I got to learn all kinds of new vocabulary for the ophthalmologist, hahaha.  I know Japanese health care too well...  He is on the mend but our day was shot with helping him out since he literally was blind for two days.  That makes visit number five for me to the hospital in the last two and a half transfers.  We had ten minutes so we said a prayer and walked to a seven eleven store.  On the way we stopped a kid who's mother is Protestant who also perked right up at the mention of prophets.  We will meet him and Isaac tomorrow to teach more.

Also our Korean investigator Kim is progressing slowly.  Slowly because his work is nuts, but he keeps all commitments in between visits and is acting as much as he needs to in order to receive a confirmation.  Pray for him!

That's all, everyone is healthy now so hopefully it stays that way.  Love you all, I cannot tell you how grateful I am for my mission. I don't want to come back.

Elder Viehweg

Napping with notebooks

With Banks and Gator

Adebayo and his daughter