猿も木から落ちる (Even Monkeys Fall From Trees)

This week was super fun but if I tried to tell you what was fun about it I’d probably just stare at you with a blank smile 🙂 I can’t wait to get out of the MTC! Can you believe it guys? Japan, just a week away. Japan is in a week! Woohoo! I am so happy about this information. Japan! Just a week away, oh wow. Can you believe it? Japan! Just in a week!

Our whole district was essentially (unofficially) confirmed to have our visas. So we’ll all be going to Japan the Tuesday after next week. I got a haircut, and we got new roommates.

Christ, in the New Testament, commands his followers to “deny oneself, take up His cross, and follow Him.” Yet at the same time, He says that His “yoke is easy, and His burden is light.” This paradoxical statement can be confusing: how can our burden be easy if we must carry the same cross He carried? This week, I’ve found special comfort in the story of the synagogue in which Jesus came to resurrect the daughter of the ruler. Although, from the house of the ruler of the synagogue, someone said, “Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?” Jesus overheard this, and spoke unto the ruler: “Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5). I truly believe that when we rely on Christ and His merits performed through the Atonement, our burdens are lifted and the task set in front of us is lifted as well. Sometimes however, I can find myself like Peter on the Sea of Galilee, walking on water, and then doubting the Lord’s abilities, crying for the Savior to come and save me. If I could hear the Savior today, I know he’d be saying the same thing: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:22-33).

We all have work to do. I will end this email early as there is nothing else of note to report. Take care this week! You can do it. I know it.

またね Elder Son

Google photos: photos.app.goo.gl/6PuTqiB3mvJD9Qex8