Tokyo Japan Week 77

Elder Higashi and me with Tsukushi

Hello Amazing Family!

Wow, it's been such a cool, pretty fast week! It was pretty sad saying goodbye to Elder Higashi just after one transfer, but I know he's going to go see so much success in his new area. He's such a great missionary, and I'm so thankful to have had the chance to work with him for those short 6 weeks. He really taught me so much! But Urayasu is looking so awesome, and I'm so excited to be working with Elder Templin! He's a really awesome companion, and Heavenly Father has already blessed us so much with so many awesome miracles. This week we had the chance to meet with so many cool people, and the ward member work is looking super great!

My awesome new companion!

It sounds like everyone is doing so great, and that really makes me so happy! I pray for you guys by name everyday, and I'm so thankful for all of the amazing miracles Heavenly Father is sending to our family. I'm so excited to keep working hard and with faith each day, and really give this work my whole effort so we can continue to see so many cool blessings. :) Again just want to say thank you guys so much for all of the continual outpouring of love and kindness you all share with me. I love you guys so much! I'm loving being a missionary with all of my heart, and I'm so excited for the awesome reunion in June. :) This week I found out that Annie Warr and my roommate Jordan returned from their missions! It completely blew my mind, but left me with such a strong desire to keep working with my whole focus and effort everyday. I love being a missionary so much!

Our new investigator Kenta!

So there's two really amazing miracles I wanted to share this week, and the first one is about my awesome best friend Brother Shohei Yoshida! So he came down this past week to Tokyo for a Michael buble concert (haha) and he decided to come visit me in Urayasu! We had a really awesome lunch and just caught up about Oyama, and just how awesome it is that we've become friends here in Japan! He explained that when he was living in Oyama he was having a pretty hard time, but he's so thankful to Elder Howard and I, and he said he'll never forget those good times. Shohei really has become my true brother, and I'm so so so thankful to have met him here in Tokyo Japan. He's changed my life so much, and I'm so thankful to call him my friend. It turns out he's going to be going to his missionary's wedding in Utah in May, and we're gonna hang out together in June! He's staying there for a couple months, and he's already making some plans for what we're gonna do with Elder Howard, haha. It really reminded me that this time serving as a missionary is not forever unfortunately, but the memories, and more importantly the friends we make will last forever. I'm forever thankful that the lord called me to this portion of the world, and I'm so thankful for this chance to continue striving to help His children. Dang, it's going to be SO HARD saying goodbye to Shohei though when he goes back to Japan in June! But I'm just thankful to have that dude as an eternal friend. :)

Sushi with Tsukushi!

The second amazing miracle was with the Mikami kids! This past Saturday during our exercise class with Brother Illyä, Yuriya and Kasumi randomly showed up to the church. It turns out that their mom and dad were fighting pretty bad, and they just wanted to come to the church to feel happy. I felt so thankful to share a message about prayer with Elder Templin and Brother Illyä, and then pick them up some little candy and treats. They came to church on Sunday, and little Kasumi sat by me and just held my finger during the meeting. She's only about 4 years old, and I just felt so thankful to be a representative of Christ's and Heavenly Father's love while serving as a missionary. I love those little kids so much, and although them receiving baptism might be pretty hard right now, I know that Heavenly Father will provide a way if it is His will. But for now, I'm just way thankful to be able to share that love that Heavenly Father has for them, and I'm so thankful for these little kids. :)

With Shohei

Elder Higashi and I are sad to be separated

But anyways it's been a really awesome week! Heavenly Father is good, and truly loves us all so much. Although my time serving as a missionary is winding down, I'm so excited to give my full effort this final 4 months, and then return with honor and continually strive to be the son and priesthood holder the Lord wants me to be. I love serving as a missionary with all of my heart, and I'm so excited to keep going forward with faith! Thank you guys so much for all of the love and kindness, I hope you all have an amazing week! The gospel is true, the book is blue, and God loves you!!

Love,
Elder Justesen