Week 20: Remember These Things

Hey Everyone!!!

It's been forever since I've written you all!! haha

Actually, it's felt like a total of 2 seconds, and it's only been... 4 days? Ish? Yeah.

Anyways... the last few days have been awesome.

First... Brother H! He was golden as always. We called him Saturday to make sure he could come to church, and he told us he was working in the afternoon, so he couldn't come. He sounded SUPER disappointed, but he told us he would love to meet us in the morning - and when we told him that we had a sacrament meeting in the morning, he got SO excited! He is just so ready to receive the Gospel!

Then, today, we were planning on teaching him the first few commandments. Including the commandment "Pray Often." Before we started, he told us that he had a question - he was wondering if he could pray before he went to bed. After that, we were like, do we even need to teach him?!? And he said he still wants to be baptized. Way excited for him!

Biggest highlight is that we had part of a new family come to church! They are Chinese, so they didn't understand too much, and the wife didn't want to come, because she doesn't speak English or Japanese. However, this week was the Primary program - so they used simple Japanese (even I understood it!), and a lot of good singing. Their daughter, who is enrolled in a Japanese school, understood it I think. The father doesn't speak too much Japanese, but as I talked with the father of the family after church, he told me that while he didn't understand much of what was said, he loved the atmosphere at the church. And after church, he said he wanted to come back next week! Can't wait to see him progress with his family! So that is the F. Family.

As I've been seeing some of our investigators start to find the joy of the Gospel, I realized that these new investigators have a great excitement in the new light of the Gospel that I don't often see in most members. And as I studied Moroni 10 before offering this challenge to them, I noticed something there that I haven't noticed before. After Moroni "exhorts" us to "ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true," he also "exhort[s] [us] to remember these things."

So, today, my "exhortation" is simple. First, ask God if this is all true, having the intent to act, and a mind willing to receive. And I can promise you that He will answer you. I can promise you that He will answer you - even if you have already asked Him before. I can promise you that because I have asked Him many times, including today, and He has never ignored me. If you want a truly incredible experience, go through all the exhortations in Moroni 10, really go through and ponder them, and then ask God.

And then, don't forget; choose to remember. Remember the answer that God gives you, that the book is true. And then remember what that means! Families are eternal; God is your loving Heavenly Father; He wants to communicate with you, help you; you can receive personal revelation; Jesus Christ suffered for you, and understands you perfectly; God prepared a way for YOU to succeed and return to Him. Life can throw some crazy things at you, and it can be hard to remember - but if you ever forget, you can just get on your knees and ask again. He will ALWAYS answer you!

So remember this week how exciting and beautiful the Gospel is!

Hurrah for Israel!
Elder O'Reilly

At the temple with Elder Harrison (found on facebook)

Found this on facebook.
Sis. Nagano says "Thank you for your great service in Nakano and Mission Office!"

Went to the Zoo with a member and my companion!
There is a hippo in the background.... kind of.