Tokyo Japan Week 84

Exchanges with Elder Webb!

Hello Amazing Family! I can't believe it's going to be April! This week has really gone by so so fast, but Heavenly Father has truly been sending down so many amazing miracles, and it's been such a great week. Throughout this week I've definitely felt the Lord's love for His children, and I'm so thankful to be serving here in Tokyo, Japan at this time. I love serving as a missionary with all of my heart, and I'm so thankful to keep going forward with faith!

I hope you guys all had an amazing week! Lexa, I really hope you had an amazing birthday, I definitely put a ton of time in that rap video, haha. ;) I made sure to sing a little song for you, and I was so excited to think that the next one I'll for sure be there! Thank you again so much for being such an awesome sister to me, and such a great example to me of great faith. I know it was such a big act of faith to move out of Utah to go to California, but I'm so happy to see how much Heavenly Father is sending down so many blessings, and I'm so thankful and happy you are doing so great in the Bay Area. You are awesome, I'm so happy you had a great birthday!

Making pancakes!

This week was overall so awesome! We saw one INCREDIBLE thing that I'm so excited to share! So, here we go. We were having a great Saturday, and we had a first lesson with our new investigator Shouta! We had finished showing him around the church, and we had such a great lesson on the Restoration and were able to give him a Book of Mormon! It was so great, and we felt really excited, and Shouta left to get some food at a nearby 7-11. So while he was there he was carrying the Book of Mormon, and this young college girl from Mongolia runs up to him and says, "Where did you get that book? Where is the church?" And so he brought her to the church! Miraculously Elder Templin and I were just about to walk out of the church, and they walked up! So the young girl, Yuri, had arrived in Japan 4 days earlier, having been baptized in Mongolia just few months ago, and was looking all over for the closest church. She was having a hard time finding it, but she was so thankful to find it, and was able to come the next day and had such a wonderful time. She had her Mongolian triple combination in hand, and had her pictures from her baptism in her hand as well. The sisters are now meeting with her, and it turns out she's planning to serve a mission, and she was so happy to know that the temple was so close to her now. They don't have a temple in Mongolia, but now she'll be able to prepare, and move forward with those needed ordinances. :) It was such an amazing miracle, and just confirmed to me the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and how they can truly bring us to Christ. Even someone who had just received it, was able to guide a wonderful young sister safely to the church. So awesome! It made me feel such a feeling of thankfulness and the love of God, and how much He will do to guide us to Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel is true. :)

Urayasu District Meeting

As well throughout this week, Heavenly Father really blessed me with another amazing miracle. This past week I had a chance to go on a exchange with Elder Webb, the Zone Leader in our zone, and we had such an amazing time! We had a great exchange together, and Heavenly Father blessed us so much with so many great miracles. Elder Webb has always been a great friend, and when he was district leader in Saitama, I was his Zone Leader in Urawa. We did many exchanges together, and he's really taught me so much as a missionary. When he was in Saitama, they had a really rough time, and were always focusing on showing love and helping as best we could. During the exchange we sat down for the exchange review, and he asked me for some advice on what missionaries should focus on, and just any thing I'd like to share about what I've been learning on my mission. I started to talk about the things I felt I've learned are so important as a missionary, and I couldn't help getting a little emotional talking to him! Pretty unmanly I guess, haha. But it just started to strike home all of the wonderful things my mission has taught me, and how much it's changed me as a person. At the end Elder Webb thanked me for what I said, and told me he feels the mission has been influenced a lot by me. Although I feel that is pretty far from the truth, his words really hit me hard, and I felt so thankful for the time I have here in Tokyo Japan. I love being here with all of my heart, and I'm so excited to go forward with faith!

With the Cautivo family

I'm so happy to hear everyone is doing so great, and I hope you have an amazing conference weekend this coming week! Japan will receive the translation the next week, so I'll have to do my best not to watch conference in the internet early, haha. Again I just want to say thank you all so much for your amazing kindness, love, and continually showing me the example of what I want to be in my life. I'm doing all I can in my power to stay focused on these last few months as a missionary in Tokyo, and I'm so thankful for the blessings Heavenly Father keeps sending our way. I love this work so much, and especially around this Easter season, I'm especially thankful to the atonement of Jesus Christ. His love is eternal, and His grace is sufficient for all of us. I know that He lives, and I have felt His influence in my life and especially in the lives of others while serving here in Japan. I love this work so much! I'm always praying for you guys, have an amazing week!! Much love.

Love,
Elder Justesen

P.S. To Virginia! I'm so happy to see you in a couple months! Thank you for being such an amazing second grandma to me, and always being so kind. Your charity and faith is amazing, and really a powerful example to me! I hope to marry a woman as spunky and full of faith as you! See you soon! :)

Tokyo Japan Week 83

So cool to have an Apostle of the Lord come twice! Hey amazing family! It's been another really amazing week, and I'm so thankful for the chance to be serving here in Urayasu! Elder Templin has been such an amazing companion, and the Lord has really blessed us so much this past week with many incredible miracles! I love serving as a missionary with all of my heart, and I'm so thankful and excited to keep working with all effort and faith, and strive to be the missionary and servant and son that the Lord wants me to be. I'm so thankful for the love and kindness He has abundantly shown me as a missionary, and I'm so excited to keep going forward. Such a cool week. :)

So just with the title, Elder Nelson came and visited the Tokyo Missions this past week! We had another two mission conference, and it was so amazing to hear the words of a living Apostle of the Lord. I had many different questions prepared when I went in, and all of the speakers answered many questions I had, and it was so incredible to feel the Spirit in that meeting. Elder Nelson spoke with Elder Evans and Elder Whiting, and it was just overall an amazing meeting. We focused a lot on the coming advancements of technology in missionary work, and Elder Evans gave such an incredible talk on why the missionaries are receiving this technology now in the mission field. He told us how it is to prepare us to return from our missions, and actively use technology for good, and now how to stay clear of the evils of pornography and time wasting on these great devices. What was so cool though was there was a shift in the meeting theme, and all of the speakers spoke so much on the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the gift it gives us to reset and restart our lives. Elder Evans and Elder Whiting were very plain with us and explained that they knew that many of us may have had run ins with pornography or others sins in the past, and urged us to take that day, and use it as a day to always remember as a day we commit to reset and restart from the pasts we may have had, and choose to more fully follow God and Jesus Christ. As they spoke those words, I really began to feel the Spirit so strongly, and felt so thankful how my mission has given me so many chances to change and reset from the past I had. I'm so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and for the infinite love an mercy He extends to us as we have faith in Him and follow His Gospel. I committed to reset, restart, and continue on the path of this great Gospel, and seek more fully to follow. I love being a missionary so much, and I'm so thankful to have an apostle of the lord come and visit us!

But it sounds as though everyone is doing so great! I'm still keeping Grandpa in my prayers, so I hope everything is going okay with him! I know Heavenly Father is ever with him, and what happens will be according to His will.

As well I just want to again say thank you all so much for your incredible kindness, and the love you guys always show me through all of the great emails! They really help me so so much, and give me that strong desire to keep working hard, and serve with all of my heart. I'm so thankful for all of the blessings Heavenly Father has been sending to our family, and I know that as we continue to do what's right, and actively seek to follow the Spirit everyday, Heavenly Father will guide us to those things that are most important for our life. I'm getting pretty stoked for Tyler's wedding coming up in June!! Everyone talks about how awesome Kaitlin is, and I'm getting so pumped to meet her! Haha, tell her I say hello and I'm way excited to welcome here to the family! As well Alex seems way way funny, and I'm sure he's such an awesome guy as well! I'm excited to follow up on these things on the next call in May, haha. ;)

As well Whit, I want to say thank you so much for the incredible example you show to me! I'm so so excited to hear about all of the cool things you are doing with the Fight the New Drug company. I'm so proud of you in joining in on that cause, and I know that the photos you're taking for them really so add to that power of the campaign, and it's such a positive influence of good. Thank you so much for all you do for me, and I'm way proud of you! I know that as soon as that timing is right, Heavenly Father is going to show you that young guy who is worthy of you, and will treat you as the daughter of God you are. :) Just keep patient, and keep your eyes open! Haha, but not TOO wide, or you might  scare the fellas. ;)

And Mom and Dad! Today I had a really amazing compliment from a ward member, and I wanted to share with you! They asked me to pass the sacrament this Sunday, and I was so stoked to help out, but after the service he told he me he was really happy with how I passed the sacrament, and smiled as I passed, and I told him it was something I learned from my amazing parents! I love you guys so much. :) Heavenly Father really did send me to the most awesome family, and I'm so thankful to be your son. I'm really sorry for all the times I didn't act the way I really should have. My mission has really been teaching me so much about the importance of cherishing families, and I'm so thankful for the amazing family I have. I love you guys so much!

But anyways, the work goes on!! I'm so excited to give every effort in these last months of my mission, and I'm so thankful for the amazing chance heavenly father has allowed me to have, to come here to Tokyo, fall in love with the people here, and have my life changed. I'm so thankful for the love of the gospel that this time serving has given me. I love being a missionary so much, and I'm so excited to go forward with faith! Love you guys all so much, have an amazing week!!

Much Love,
Elder Justesen

Tokyo Japan Week 82

 

Hello Amazing Family! It's been another really amazing week, and today we received our transfer calls! I am staying with Elder Templin for another transfer! So excited to be staying in Urayasu, and I'm so excited to keep working with faith and striving to give every effort going into this final months of my mission. Today starts the last 12 weeks of my mission, so it's definitely pretty staggering, but I'm so excited to go forward with faith! I think Dad put it perfectly when we talked about the emotions he felt near the end of his mission. It seems so scary, but I'm so thankful for all of the amazing miracles that have happened, and I'm so excited to go forward with faith and keep striving to be the servant and missionary the Lord wants me to be. As well this transfer, I've been made a District Leader! I haven't been a district leader since Maebashi, so I'm so excited to jump back in strive to really work hard for the district! I think being a District Leader was one of my favorite responsibilities, and I was so bummed it was only for one transfer, so this coming transfer is looking pretty amazing!

First off I want to say I will for sure put Grandpa in my prayers! That is so surprising, I'll be for sure praying for him. Please keep me updated on everything that is going on with him. I always wish we had been a little closer, but I'm so thankful for the kindness and the love he's shown me in serving in Japan, and it's been fun talking to people about how my grandpa visited many times here in Japan. He's a great example of hard work, and I'm praying he will make a quick recovery.

But everything is sounding really great with you guys! I'm so thankful for the amazing blessings that Heavenly Father is sending our family's way, and I'm so thankful for the cool things coming up in the future! Tyler, I'm super stoked for your wedding! Kaitlin sounds so great, and I'm so pumped to meet her! If you guys join the call in May, I really hope I can talk to her for a little bit! She seems super great, but I'm not surprised because she's marrying you! We met a new young investigator today, and she's from Peru! She was so excited when I told her that my Dad and brother both served in South America, and your awesome example has been really applied in my life, and I'm so thankful to you. Love you brother! As well Alexa, you need to tell me more about Alex! Haha, the Christmas card only shows so much. ;) But he seems way awesome as well, and I'm so excited to meet him! Thank you so much for your incredible email last week, it really boosted my spirits so much, and I'm so thankful to you! As well Whitney, you are an amazing example to me of going for what we want in life, and just shooting for our dreams. You've taught me that with faith, work, and laughter, we can do and become anything we desire. I'm so stoked to always hear of all of the great trips you are heading off! My sister is a world traveler, and I love it! I met a young college student this week with a Canon XD, and we had a great time talking about, well YOUR photography! It was way cool! As well Mom and Dad, I just want to say thank you all so much for the wonderful upbringing you gave me in my youth. I'm forever thankful to the sacrifices and kindness you always showed, and the memories I will never forget. This past week, my companion and I were called up randomly to teach the English gospel doctrines class in our ward! I was pretty nervous, haha. Gospel Principles is basically what missionaries teach everyday, but that was pretty next level! Haha, but I just thought about my awesome Dad, and tried to teach just like him! Sure enough, I cracked jokes, we taught simply and powerfully, and did all I could to teach with the Spirit. Overall it was such a great time, and it was a great Sunday! Thanks Pops. :)

This past week Heavenly Father has really blessed our companionship, and I really felt so many personal blessings this past week. This past week I was feeling a little bummed about some things, and just about how sometimes it can be pretty hard being a missionary in Japan. You may not teach as many lessons, see as many baptisms, or feel like you really are making a difference at times, but I wanna testify that I was taught this week that those things are not important, that Heavenly Father loves us, and grants us the miracles and blessings that are expedient for us. This week I received a message from a recent convert in Urawa, Brother Han Bing, and he was telling me of how he baptized a young Chinese women today in the ward, and he was so happy and thankful to hold the priesthood at this time in his life. At that same time I received an email from Sister Chika from the Narita ward, and she's happily attending the temple for baptisms this week, and planning on receiving her endowment in the coming months. As well I received another email from another recent convert in Urawa named Futoshi, and he expressed his thanks of sharing the gospel with him, and he's happily helping the elders there in fellowshipping one of their other investigators. The feeling I felt was incredible, and I realized that although it can be difficult serving as a missionary in Japan, it is the most incredible, most rewarding place to serve. At least to me. ;) I know that Heavenly Father has given me just enough each day to keep moving forward, and now it's been such an incredible thing to see the miracles continually growing. 

I'm so thankful to be serving as a missionary, and I'm so excited to keep going forward with faith and serve with all my heart. I'm so excited to go forward with faith these next 12 weeks, and continually strive to follow the Spirit in all things we do. Last night as well we saw such an amazing miracle! We were riding our bikes home, and we rode by this young man sitting smoking, and as we rode away we felt a really strong impression to go and talk to him. We quickly rose back to say hello, and it turns out he's from the Philippines, and was baptized when he was 8 into our church! He hasn't been to church in over 10 years or so, but he was really happy to talk with us, and said we could come visit his family this coming week. It's amazing to be a missionary, and I'm so excited to go forward with faith! Just want to thank you guys so much for all of the kindness and love you always show me, and I'm so excited to keep working hard! Have an amazing week, I love you guys! The book is blue, he gospel is true, and God loves you!

Love,
Elder Justesen

Tokyo Japan Week 81

Going into March! Hello Awesome Family! It's been another really awesome week here in Urayasu! It's so cool to see spring starting to come here in Japan, and I'm so excited for my second round of cherry blossom season! It's seriously the most beautiful time of the year, and it's so cool to see everyone hurry outside to check them out, take their families to the park, and just go enjoy the nature! It really makes me feel so so thankful to be serving in a country as amazing as Japan, and for the chance to be here during this way beautiful time. I love serving as a missionary so much! Heavenly Father has really blessed us so much this past week, and it's such a blast working with Elder Templin. He's really teaching me so much about humility, and the incredible importance of staying true to the call Heavenly Father has given us to serve as missionaries. He's a way awesome companion!

But just some quick things I wanted to report on! I received a really amazing email from Elder Burgin, and he said for sure he'd really love to refer me to work at the MTC! He said he has some pretty great connections, so it's really starting to look possible that I'll be working there in the summer! It was such a cool miracle, and me feel so thankful to the really amazing friends and brothers Heavenly Father has blessed me with on my mission. Elder Burgin is such an awesome brother, and he really blessed and changed my life in so many ways. He really was such an awesome example of faith, diligence, and just really loving the people. He's now married, and apparently was just called as the ward mission leader in his ward! He's such a great example to me, and I'm super thankful that he and I might be able to work with him at the MTC! It's still up to Heavenly Father, but I'm praying really hard everyday that it will be able to happen! :) Mostly because of another really amazing thing that happened this week...Brother Shohei Yoshida has decided to serve a mission! He's working on talking with his family, but he had such a cool experience up in Kyoto where he's living, and he said he really feels he wants to serve. He called me on the phone the other night to tell me, and we had such a great talk, and both ended up crying on the call, haha. He's just such an awesome friend and brother to me, and I just felt so thankful to know him, and for all of the kindness and love he's shown me as a missionary. When I arrived in the field, he had just been baptized, but now he's making that next step and moving towards heading towards the mission field himself. It made me feel so thankful for the chance to be here in Japan, and especially thankful to that emergency transfer call that sent me to Oyama to meet Shohei. I love being a missionary so much!

Well it sounds like everyone is doing so great, and I'm so thankful for all of the amazing miracles that are happening in the family! It always makes me feel so happy to see and hear about all of the amazing things happening in your guys' lives! It's been so cool to see while serving here in Japan the amazing miracles, blessings, and awesome things you guys are all doing. I just want to say thanks so much for the incredible examples that you guys really do set for me, and all the continuous love you send my way. I'm so thankful to you guys, and I really hope to become a person like you guys. :) Also! Alexa I'm so so sorry I didn't mention anything about all the help you did for me getting me into Santa Barbara! I feel so so bad, I'm way sorry. But I just want to say thank you so much for helping me out so much, I'm so stoked to live where you once lived! I remember when we went outside and played catch out there, and I really wanted to live in a cool place like that! Also, life goal achieved with living in "Santa Barbara" Haha. ;) thank you so much again! Also Mom, I think I should be all good for sending things! I'm planning on giving the Mikami kids the snowglobe, and it should be all good! Thank you so much though for asking, if anything comes up I'll be sure to let you know! Thank you again so much for all of the love and kindness you always show me, it really does help and make me feel so so stoked to keep working harder as a missionary.

But anyways! All is going well, and I'm so thankful and excited to be serving as a missionary! We just got back from grabbing some lunch with Shohei at Costco, and it was just a way awesome to see him again, and really helped me feel so excited to keep working hard, and continue to strive to give my whole heart and soul to this amazing work. It's completely changed, and is continually changing my life, and I'm so thankful for all of the amazing things that have been blessed in my life since serving. I'm so excited to give these next 3 months every effort, and then go into that next stage of life, and continually strive to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Have an amazing week, I love you guys so so much!!

P.S. The car sounds super cool! Also, I really plan on riding a bike as well (something I've really come to love since coming to Japan) and it will be so great to drive again! Haha.

Love,
Elder Justesen

Tokyo Japan Week 80

Hello Amazing Family! Wow, I can't believe it's already March! February really flew by so so fast, it seems so crazy! So sorry that today's email will be a little shorter, so much to do today with very little time, haha. But it's been such a cool week! Heavenly Father is really blessing us so much every day, and I'm so thankful to be serving as a missionary at this time. It seems so crazy now to think that I've been a missionary for about 21 months, but it makes me feel so excited and thankful to the next three months I have to serve the Lord. I just want to say thank you so much to you guys for the incredible (seriously incredible) love and kindness you always share with me. I always just feel so much kindness in each email I read, and I'm so thankful for the amazing family I was blessed to be apart of. Last night we had family home evening over at the Bishop's home, and it was so much fun to participate in the activity! It actually reminded me so much of our own family home evenings, and it brought back so many amazing memories. As well it really hit me how strongly I want to raise a strong family in the Gospel as well. :) I love being a missionary!

It sounds like everyone is doing so great! It's so cool to see all the awesome photos, and see everything you guys are up to! I'm so excited to meet Kaitlin! She seems way awesome, and I'm way excited to welcome her into the family! Way to go Tyler, so happy for you! As well Mom and Dad, it makes me so so happy to see how much Heavenly Father is blessing us with the Costa Vida restaurants! I'm always praying for you guys! :) As well Whitney and Alexa, it's so awesome hearing all the fun things you are up to! Whit it really sounds like the photography is really taking off, and I'm so excited to see all the amazing things you are going to do. I actually knew about Fight the New Drug before my mission, they are so awesome! They have such a cool cause, and I'm so stoked to hear you're helping with it! Way proud of you. :)

Well the work is going forward, and I'm so excited to keep serving as a missionary! The Mikami kids and Watanabe are both looking so great, and progressing in the gospel. We've had a lot of great member present lessons recently, and it's been so cool to work alongside the great members of Urayasu, and just feel that joy of the work together. As well this week we met up with Brother Suita again! We had a great time talking about seminary stories, as his parents were both seminary teachers as well. We had a really awesome time talking about the Book of Mormon, and just the blessings of the gospel. Apparently the stake president here in Tokyo would like to come with us next time we visit him, and the whole ward is ready to help him return to activity. He's such an awesome friend, and I feel so thankful to have made contact with him!

But all in all the work is really amazing, and I'm so thankful to be a missionary at this time. I'm doing all I can to not think too much about home, but I've been taking some time lately to do some deep reflecting on what my mission is teaching me, what it taught me, and what I hope it will continue to teach me in the future. I learned best how to ponder from Dad on those Sunday mornings in the big chair back in Draper. ;) But recently while thinking, I felt such a strong feeling of thankfulness to the testimony that my mission has given me. It's given me a strong desire to continue faithful in this Gospel, and work hard with all diligence to be more of the missionary and servant that the Lord the wants me to be. It's given me a knowledge that with faith and love, we can truly change from the people we used to be, and with the Savior start a new chapter and phase of our lives. No matter the mistakes, or the place we are coming from, we can change, and move forward on a brighter path. I'm so thankful for the love that my mission has given me, and I'm so thankful to keep working with all faith and go forward with all effort! I'm so thankful to be a missionary! Again thank you guys so much for everything, I love you all so much! Have an awesome week!

Love,
Elder Justesen