Hello awesome family! It's been another really great week here in Tsukuba, and I'm so thankful to be a missionary this week! As well... Happy Father's Day in the great state of California!!! Sounds like you guys are having a really great time in Utah, but I just wanted to tell Dad happy Father's Day! During church yesterday the primary children sang some of those classic primary Father's Day songs, and it really made me feel so thankful to have been blessed with such an amazing father. Thanks so much for everything you've done for me, and for always being such an amazing example in my life. You've really blessed my life, and really shaped so much of who I am everyday, and I'm so thankful for all those times you've made that time to be with me, and just spend some time. There really is so much power in just making some time for someone just to let them know you love and care for them, and I'll always remember that about Dad. I can't count how many times he would finish a phone call, and I'd hear, "Dev! Let's go throw the ball!" Or go grab some Arby's, haha. Although it was just little moments here in there, they really blessed my life so much, and Dad really is that amazing example of someone who will always make time for you. Love you so much Pops, and I'm so thankful to have an amazing Father like you. You've set that example of the priesthood bearer I hope to be like, and especially the type of father I know I want to become. Thanks so much Pops, love you a ton. :)
This week was pretty great! A couple struggles, but that's missionary life. I'm really so thankful for some of those tougher times that really bring us to the depths of humility, and give us that chance to more fully rely on the Savior Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful to be here in Tokyo Japan, and I'm so thankful for the people the Lord has blessed me with being able to teach at this time in my life. I love this Gospel, and I know that it is the true and everlasting Gospel on the earth, and I'm so thankful to have had this chance the past year to share this good news with all of those around me. At mission leadership council we discussed the need to have more focus on less active work, and my testimony has been so strengthened in that importance. Just as we rejoice and feel that great excitement over someone new who enters the Gospel, it's so important that we never forget about those that may have wavered on the path a bit. it's been so cool this past week to have that stronger focus on less active, and I'm so thankful for this chance to help the great people here in the Tsukuba area. I love being a missionary with all my heart, and I'm so thankful for all of the blessings The Lord has given me here in Japan.
This week was pretty great though! We're working really closely with some great people, and the Lord has really blessed us with so many wonderful people to teach here in Tsukuba. I'm really so thankful to be here for the fourth transfer, and it's been so cool to have this area feel so much like home. I'll be pretty bummed when the time comes to leave, but I feel pretty ready for that new area feel again, and that excitement in learning about the ward, people, and investigators. It's been such a blast being here, and I'm so excited to just keep going forward with faith here in the area! Tyler, I've been learning a little bit of Portuguese from my awesome companion Elder Jacox! He just arrived here from the Brazilian Branch here in Tokyo, and he's helping our investigator so much here from Mozambique. I have a question for you though! So Vundo our investigator is reading the Book of Mormon, and he's been raised in the Catholic Church his whole life, and he has really such strong faith. He believes the restoration might be true, but he's a little hesitant about receiving baptism because he was baptized when he was younger, and he's having a hard time realizing that he needs that baptism from the proper authority and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Serving in Japan, we don't have this problem too often because we're not in a Christian country, but I know you probably has this situation many times in Brazil, and I was hoping for some advice! What do you think we should teach and explain to help him see and feel that he needs to receive baptism from the proper authority? Thanks so much, voce e muito bom! Eu nao falo Portuguese mais tranquilo. Haha, thanks so much man, te amo!
But all together it was such an awesome week, and I'm so excited to go forward with this next week, and just keep making the most of every day here as a missionary. Elder Jacox is such an awesome companion, and he's brought so much of that fun loving attitude back in my missionary life, and I'm so excited to work hard with him! Also, Mom I received that AWESOME package! Thank you so much! I really love the shorts, CD, shirt, and especially the super stylin' neck tie! I really love them so much, thank you so much! I'm so excited for the next package, and again thank you so much for sending so many packages! It really brought me so much happiness to feel of that love from home, and it keeps me going with all I have. I love this Gospel so much, and I'm so thankful for the fact that through the Gospel we can have that strong family faith. It's blessed my life so much, and I'm so thankful for such an awesome family. :) also! So funny crazy story, I had a massive bug get stuck in my ear this week! Sorry no pictures because he went in too far, but I had to wash him out, and it was a way intense evening! Nothing like feeling a bug buzz around in your head. ;) it was way funny to call the mission doctor, and he thought it was pretty funny, and we made some great jokes about it! Haha, we concluded we baptized the bug in my ear, and it's all good now, haha. Mission life right! Also, this week I reached 71 Kilos, which apparently is about 156 pounds, which is the lightest I've been since 15! It's been so awesome losing some of that heavy weight, and now I'm actually a Japanese medium/large. Which is way small!
All in all, I'm just really thankful for all of the blessings The Lord has given me in this short time of being a missionary. It's really changed my life so much, and made me into someone I never thought I could be. It's changed my way of seeing things, and it's helped me so much to see that we are all brothers and sisters here on this earth, and it's helped me to see the incredible potential of all those around us. I read the Elder Ballard CES devotional from May, and it was so awesome hearing his advice as we keep going forward into this time of so many resources to share the Gospel. It's been so cool to be using Facebook as a tool to help the gospel go forward, and we saw some really amazing miracles this week with Facebook! I'm so excited to go forward with faith, and give this work my all! I love you all so much, and I'm so thankful for all of the kindness and love you always share with me. Thanks so much, and please know I pray for you all everyday, and please know I'm so thankful for all you do for me. :) have an awesome week, the gospel is true, the book is blue, and God loves you!!
Love,
Elder Justesen
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