Tokyo Japan Week 47

Oki's baptsim!

Hello amazing family! Aw man, now because of Mom's recent email, I'm feeling you all are noticing my vain repetitions... Way sorry my English is slowly slipping! Haha, but I'm so STOKED to write about some of the great miracles of this week! Including the results of this morning's transfer call.

P Day fun in Costco

Bomb PB&J

So! I've been transferred out of Tsukuba! It was pretty intense to get that call this morning, because I've really loved Tsukuba so much, and I really feel like I've grown and learned so much here, but I'm really so excited for this next chance to learn and grow in the great area of Urawa! I'll now be moving to Saitama prefecture, which is really close to Tokyo, so I'm slowly moving closer and closer to straight up Tokyo! I'm really so excited because I get the awesome opportunity to be a Zone Leader again down here in Saitama. :) I'm so excited to have this chance again, and I'm so pumped to get to work down there! I'll be moving out of Tsukuba on Thursday, and all day it's been feeling like I'm prepping to leave home for college or something, haha. Tsukuba has really become so much like home to me, and I'm so thankful to all of the wonderful people that have blessed my life so much here. Today we had an amazing lesson with Brother Bel, and he was pretty sad to hear I was moving, but we had such a great lesson with him on the love that Christ brings to our life, and he's now almost all done with the Book of Mormon. Because there isn't a translation of the Nepalese Book of Mormon, he's been reading in Hindi, which is a lot like reading the Spanish Book of Mormon being a Portuguese speaker. It takes a little bit more time and effort, but he's loving it so much, and his faith and kindness has really blessed and changed my life so much. Elder Jacox went to the bathroom for a bit, and Brother Bel and I were just talking, and all of a sudden he looks at me and says, "Justesen chourou to atta node, hontou ni ureshii desu." Which means, "because I met you, I'm really so happy." And it really hit my heart so hard, and just made me feel so thankful to be missionary in a country as amazing as Japan. Brother Bel really is a pioneer for the church in Nepal, but he's blessed my life so much, and I'm so excited for him in the future. It was such an awesome P-day today. :) I'm so bummed to leave Elder Jacox, he's really been such an amazing companion! He's really blessed my life so much, and he was just so great at working hard while still having that really funny attitude, which really made this transfer so awesome. Hopefully we'll hang out lots more post mission, but it's really been such an awesome time with him, I'm seriously gonna miss this guy!

Church with Cho

Church with Dhani

Lunch with Youhei

This week the Lord has really blessed us so much, and it's just been so awesome. Being a missionary has many different challenges and at times we are brought pretty low, but today and throughout this week I've just been feeling so grateful to be a missionary, and just for the incredible blessings the Lord has given me in this short time. He's given me so much love and grace, so often at times I really feel like I don't deserve it, but it really just fills me with that sense of Heavenly Father's personal and truly deep love He has for all of us. This short time has changed my life so much, and I'm so thankful to be serving in Tokyo Japan. My last trainer Elder Howard is heading home this week, but he was able to see such an amazing miracle his last Sunday in Japan! Remember that old man who gave me the guitar back in my second transfer? Well, turns out the elders there have been teaching him, and he decided to be baptized last week! It was such a great service, and I felt so blessed to be apart of teaching him. :) It's been so amazing to see this transfer multiple friends from past areas finally making those important first steps in receiving this great gospel, and making those important steps in following their Heavenly Father. I have one amazing miracle that happened this past week! So last transfer, during our zone P-day Elder Sakamoto and I were able to meet this incredibly nice guy from Kenya, and we discussed some of those basic principles of the gospel, and he seemed so excited to hear more! I remember that day because I was feeling so sick when I was having that fever, but I really wanted to talk to him, and we had a really awesome conversation. We were able to refer him over to the elders in Matsudo which is where he is living, and I learned this week he's decided to be baptized in the next coming weeks! It's been such an amazing miracle, and it's made just so thankful for all of the little miracles that the Lord grants us everyday. It's just been a pretty awesome week. :)

Church with Tomohisha and Daiki

Brother Orlando's baptism

Tsuchiura

Mito elders

Well it sounds like you guys are all doing so amazing, and thank you so much for all of the wonderful pictures! It looks like you all had an awesome time down in San Francisco, and I'm so excited for next year when we'll all be back together! It's going to be so awesome, but it was such a great last Fourth of July in Japan! It didn't really hit me that it was the last until the evening, but it was really so great. Just want to say I love you guys so much, and I'm so thankful for all of the missionary work you're all doing! Seriously, I was so STOKED while reading Mom's email about all of the missionary opportunities she and Dad are taking, and it just made me feel thankful to have such awesome parents. Thank you so much for always raising me with that example of sharing the gospel at all times, and know it's really blessed and shaped my life so much. Lex as well thank you so much! I know that as you keep befriending the missionary's investigators, you'll truly be such an amazing blessing to them, and The Lord will bless you so much as you continue to strive to help his children. Whit as well, I'm so thankful for the missionary work you do with your photography, I know that you're showing that example of believing in God enriches our lives. As well Tyler, thanks so much for all you do, man. I really love you so much, and I'm so thankful for the awesome example you set for me in being a missionary. I'll always remember that attitude you had of being a clutch player, and it's really helped me so much to think of what you would do in a certain situation. I'm still learning little bits of Portuguese everyday, and it's so awesome! Haha, such a gnarly language. :)

Well know I love you all so much, and I'm so thankful for the love and kindness and especially the prayers. They really lift me up so much every day, and I'm so thankful to my awesome family. :) I really love you all so much, and I continue to pray for you all every day and evening by name. I'm so stoked to go forward into this next transfer and go have a blast in Urawa!! I know if I continue to rely on the Lord in all things, actively use the gift of the Atonement, and keep a great attitude, it's going to be so great and life changing. I love you guys so much, have an amazing week!! The gospel is true, the book is blue, and God loves you!

Love,
Elder Justesen