Super Saiyan

Yep it's been 9 months but feels like yesterday but also a lifetime ago. Life's fun. Oh I'm staying here another transfer with elder Woolston #putinwork. 

This last week was good. Nothing super outstanding happened. One of our investigators Shigeta, who studies religions, said that he thinks that the church is small because it's kind of strict and people don't really want to join because there's a lot of rules. I was thinking about that, and you know what? It's true! Following Gods commandments are hard! He has high standards! He has the commandments so he can find his elect! Oh also, Shigeta wants to teach me and Elder Woolston some Soka Gakkai (a sect of Buddhism) mantras and prayers. He believes that religion needs to work together and find peace and world harmony. That's not wrong either. Do I want to learn Buddhist prayers? Actually yes, it sounds way cool. Will I as a missionary? I'm not sure. If I keep praying to God will it be okay? I'm not sure. I don't know what to do there so like help me out here. If I let this guy teach me a Buddhist prayer is that wrong? I have no idea really so yeah. He's way cool though and was an elementary teacher so he explains things very clearly and easily because he normally uses a massive vocabulary and knows more religious words than we do as missionaries and we know a lot. 

It's been getting really hot as in sometimes you have to come home and change your pants at dinner because your bum sweats a lot. It's humid and my hair is getting kind of curly. 

OH, I got to speak in sacrament meeting, play the organ (I play every week here on Amami) and teach Sunday school class on Sunday. The talk was really good and Japanesd wasn't a problem. I actually wrote it all in Japanese and just the ideas, not like a script. That was fun. But that's not what I'm going to talk about. 

What I feel like I should talk about is that God really truly answers our prayers and we can receive solid answers and guidance from our Heavenly Father. The formula is simple.

1. Have a question. (Joseph Smith did.)

2. Ponder it.

3. Pray with a very specific question and with real intent to act upon the answer. Pray with a pen in one hand and a paper or book in the other and show God that you're ready to write down the revelation that you receive. 

4. Listen. If nothing comes, ponder and read. 

5. Thank god again in prayer.

6. Act on what you learn.

Now to tie it all around, the mission has helped me figure this out. This is what I figured out works for me and I've gained a strong testimony that answers to prayers are very literal and guiding. This last week I had a question about how to not let setbacks determine who I am and how the best way to overcome temporary problems and setbacks are in regards to becoming a disciple of Christ. I prayed about it and almost instantly the thought came into my head to "read an Elder Bednar talk from 2007." I thought to myself, okay, there's like two so I'll figure it out. If it was just me making it up, well, that's dumb. I'm not going to come up with something like that out of nowhere. I'm usually thinking about Godzilla and Indo curry. So I acted on it and I read the first one, Ye Must Be Born Again from the April Conference. There, I found my answer.

"The spiritual rebirth described in this verse typically does not occur quickly or all at once; it is an ongoing process--not a single event. Line upon line and precept upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God. This phase of the transformation process requires time, persistence, and patience."

Conversion and becoming a disciple isn't a one time action! You don't get on Jesus' level of righteousness after one choice! But rather, it comes from a lifetime of choices that build up to what you want to be. In order to become something great, you have to set goals, be accountable, and work diligently for it. It takes time! Patience! Persistence! I found my answer! It's something I always knew but never really had applied. The gospel is about changing people from their natural, fallen state into Godly men and women. Its wonderful! So there's my lesson of the week. Prayer is real and I've had a number of other experiences like this too on my mission. God's there and loves each of us! 

Anyways I love you all! 

Elder Tschirki

I'm Super Saiyan (Dragonball Z) oh and I don't use hair product, the humidity is doing great things for my hair straight up.

 

We found a crab in the street and brought it home and put it in our mailbox for the other elders to come home to.