10/27/08 Email Message
Family,
Stake Conference sounds like it was a blast. Its so good to hear how well the missionaries are doing in Alabama. Im happy that they are taking care of the area I love so much. I pray for them all the time and I pray for the people of Alabama that their hearts will be opened to the gospel. I think its so cool that the missionaries are teaching congregations of people. Im reading in Alma right now and I just finished reading about Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. There are times when they spoke to multitudes of people and converted thousands of them at a time. That kind of sounds like whats going on in Alabama right now. So cool!
We just had our district conference last weekend too. It was really good. The theme was on member missionary work. Apparently member missionary work in our area is almost non existent. Almost all of our members are converts and therefore havent had a life time of preparation to learn how to share the gospel. Many of them dont even know theyve been asked to share it. So our mission has made it a goal to really focus getting our members involved in the work. If we are successful I think the possibilities are endless. Haha the highlight of the conference was the talk by our mission president. He had everyone in the congregation turn to their neighbor and practice inviting their friend to a church activity. Then he had them turn to their other neighbor and practice giving out a pass a long card. It was hilarious. Many of our members are pretty reserved so it was funny to see them forced to open their mouths and share their feelings. But it was also really good. It made them realize how easy it is to share the gospel. Just open your mouth! Thats all it takes. Im excited to see if conference pumps up the members in our area.
How is member work going in Madison? Are the members helping out the missionaries? Are they keeping them busy with referrals? That would be awesome if they were. It would be awesome if every member could get excited about missionary work. Especially in Madison. Its such a good area to share the gospel. Im excited to move back to the south and be a member missionary. Its gonna be great!
Well thats about all I have. I hope all is well! I love you all so much and I miss you tons! I pray for you all the time!
Love, Elder Kingsford
Monday, October 27, 2008
With the help from Heavenly Father I can be the missionary I need to be
10/21/08 Email Message
Family!,
Sounds like everything is going great! Im glad Kendall had such a good time at homecoming. I love high school! I hope kendall likes it as much as I did. Its cool that she has such a big group of good kids to hang out with. That helps a lot. Im hoping to see those pictures soon!
Everything here is going great. I got to see General Conference a couple weekends ago and it was amazing! I just sat there riveted to the screen all weekend. Our church is so cool! I especially liked the story President Monson told in the Priesthood session about learning Japanese in the MTC. Haha all of us missionaries got a good laugh out of that one. And I realized some things that have helped me out a lot with my mission. I realized that Ive been so preoccupied with worrying about the language that Ive neglected other things that are more important. The language is just one part of becoming a good missionary. And in my opinion its not even the most important. I realized that if I went home today I would not be satisfied with the missionary that Ive been. And thats not good. So I made a goal to become better. When I got home from conference I sat down and prayerfully considered all the things I could do better. I wrote them all down and posted them up on my wall. When I looked at them I realized that a lot of them seemed impossible for me to do. For example waking up at exactly 6 30 and staying coherent the entire morning. That is something I have never been able to do. Ever. In my entire life. But its something I need to do to be the missionary I want to become and the missionary the Lord expects me to be. And I realized that for me that probably is impossible. But for God its not. If I rely on Him He will keep me awake in the morning. With His help I can become the missionary I want to be. Under my own power I probably cant progress very much from the point Im at now. But with the help from Heavenly Father I can be the missionary I need to be. Ever since that realization Ive been able to accomplish my goals. Its been really hard at times, but as I keep relying on the Lord I keep finding that little bit of extra strength I didnt know I had. Its been an awesome experience.
I love you! I miss you so much, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Family!,
Sounds like everything is going great! Im glad Kendall had such a good time at homecoming. I love high school! I hope kendall likes it as much as I did. Its cool that she has such a big group of good kids to hang out with. That helps a lot. Im hoping to see those pictures soon!
Everything here is going great. I got to see General Conference a couple weekends ago and it was amazing! I just sat there riveted to the screen all weekend. Our church is so cool! I especially liked the story President Monson told in the Priesthood session about learning Japanese in the MTC. Haha all of us missionaries got a good laugh out of that one. And I realized some things that have helped me out a lot with my mission. I realized that Ive been so preoccupied with worrying about the language that Ive neglected other things that are more important. The language is just one part of becoming a good missionary. And in my opinion its not even the most important. I realized that if I went home today I would not be satisfied with the missionary that Ive been. And thats not good. So I made a goal to become better. When I got home from conference I sat down and prayerfully considered all the things I could do better. I wrote them all down and posted them up on my wall. When I looked at them I realized that a lot of them seemed impossible for me to do. For example waking up at exactly 6 30 and staying coherent the entire morning. That is something I have never been able to do. Ever. In my entire life. But its something I need to do to be the missionary I want to become and the missionary the Lord expects me to be. And I realized that for me that probably is impossible. But for God its not. If I rely on Him He will keep me awake in the morning. With His help I can become the missionary I want to be. Under my own power I probably cant progress very much from the point Im at now. But with the help from Heavenly Father I can be the missionary I need to be. Ever since that realization Ive been able to accomplish my goals. Its been really hard at times, but as I keep relying on the Lord I keep finding that little bit of extra strength I didnt know I had. Its been an awesome experience.
I love you! I miss you so much, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Monday, October 13, 2008
She looked up and said she felt like that chapter was written for her
10/13/08 Email Message
Family,
Hows it going?! It sounds like the WDC trip was a blast. Im so happy for you. What was your favorite parts? Let me know!
Things here are going good. We continue to add to our teaching pool everyday. Weve found a couple of cool young married couples and theyve been really fun to teach. We also have one investigator that weve been working a lot with lately. Her name is Kei san. Shes chinese and shes here for school but she is great at Japanese and English. Which is nice because Im able to help out more in the lessons with my English skills ;). Three weeks ago she hated the Book of Mormon. She refused to read it. She goes to the Jehovas Witness church so theyve filled her with a lot of negative images of the BOM. But for some reason she kept meeting with us and talking about the gospel with us. Then last week we decided to just read it with her during our lesson. We read 2 Nephi 29. Its the chapter where God puts forth the purpose of the BOM and warns all those who claim all we need is a Bible. After we read it she looked up and said she felt like that chapter was written for her. I bore my testimony that the entire book was written for her. And then we read more verses in the Book of Mormon that can apply to her life. At the end of our lesson she told us she believes the BOM is Gods word. And then she asked us if we could teach her friends! Haha well duh! We would love to teach her friends! At the end she prayed for us that God would help us find more lost sheep to bring back to the fold. It was awesome!
It was so cool to see someone realize the power of the Book of Mormon for the first time. It was amazing to see how all she needed to read was one chapter to feel the blessings that come the Book of Mormon. It was definitely a testimony building experience not only for her, but for me too.
Im loving it here. We have such a good time everyday and I am learning so much all the time. I feel so blessed to be on a mission and serving the Lord all the time. So cool!
I love you! I think of you all the time and thank God for giving me such an amazing family everyday.
Talk to you next week!
Family,
Hows it going?! It sounds like the WDC trip was a blast. Im so happy for you. What was your favorite parts? Let me know!
Things here are going good. We continue to add to our teaching pool everyday. Weve found a couple of cool young married couples and theyve been really fun to teach. We also have one investigator that weve been working a lot with lately. Her name is Kei san. Shes chinese and shes here for school but she is great at Japanese and English. Which is nice because Im able to help out more in the lessons with my English skills ;). Three weeks ago she hated the Book of Mormon. She refused to read it. She goes to the Jehovas Witness church so theyve filled her with a lot of negative images of the BOM. But for some reason she kept meeting with us and talking about the gospel with us. Then last week we decided to just read it with her during our lesson. We read 2 Nephi 29. Its the chapter where God puts forth the purpose of the BOM and warns all those who claim all we need is a Bible. After we read it she looked up and said she felt like that chapter was written for her. I bore my testimony that the entire book was written for her. And then we read more verses in the Book of Mormon that can apply to her life. At the end of our lesson she told us she believes the BOM is Gods word. And then she asked us if we could teach her friends! Haha well duh! We would love to teach her friends! At the end she prayed for us that God would help us find more lost sheep to bring back to the fold. It was awesome!
It was so cool to see someone realize the power of the Book of Mormon for the first time. It was amazing to see how all she needed to read was one chapter to feel the blessings that come the Book of Mormon. It was definitely a testimony building experience not only for her, but for me too.
Im loving it here. We have such a good time everyday and I am learning so much all the time. I feel so blessed to be on a mission and serving the Lord all the time. So cool!
I love you! I think of you all the time and thank God for giving me such an amazing family everyday.
Talk to you next week!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Now after she prays she goes right to sleep
10/6/08 Email Message
Family!,
Wow D.C.! Ive always wanted to go there. I bet its so cool. The first thing I would want to do there is tour the Smithsonian. Let me know what you think the coolest thing is or what your favorite part of the trip is. Also, Dad let me know what you think of General Patreaus. Im jealous of you that you get to hear him speak.
Haha yeah Yoriko Shimai wrote me a letter about her conversation with you and snuck it into my bicycle helmet with a piece of candy while I was in a meeting after church. She is so cool. She is our best friend here - we love her. Also, our branch is amazing. Yesterday they gave us the biggest food basket I have ever seen. We dont have to go shopping at all this week now! They are so cool.
Im excited for General Conference this weekend. The broadcast is delayed one week to Japan, so we wont see it until this Saturday and Sunday. But Gross Choro and I are going to spend the weekend in our Zone Leaders area and watch Conference with them. Im super excited.
Also this week was great. We had a cool experience with one of our investigators this week. Her name is Yuko San and we met her streeting a few weeks back. She wasnt really interested at first, but we set up an appointment to teach her. The first time we went to her house she was really busy, but we asked her what we could do to help her. Turns out her dog really needed to go on a walk - so we took her out for a trip around the neighborhood. Then last week Yuko San called us and said she needed someone to talk to. We met her at the church and visited with her for a while. Its turns out she has had a pretty hard life. She has survived a stroke, lymphnode cancer, and breast cancer. But now because of all her medical bills she has really bad money problems. She has been really worried about her life and very stressed from all her problems. We taught her about Christ and how His atonement can help her life. We shared with her the miracle of the Restoration and how it can bless her. At the end we prayed together. I said the prayer, but it was very simple. When I finished I looked up and she was crying. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read the Introduction before our next meeting. Two days later we met her again. She had read up to Alma 40! She said she didnt understand it all of course, but when she reads it it calms her down and she feels peaceful. Also she prays at night now too. She couldnt sleep very well before apparently, but now after she prays she goes right to sleep. She said she believes in Jesus Christ and knows he lived. She feels like God led us to her to help her life. It was so cool! Gross Choro and I just sat there in awe while she bore her testimony of the gospel. She just learned about it two days ago, but she already knows its true! The gospel is true! Its power is real. Im not just fooling myself or making things up. Other people feel it too! Yuko San has felt for herself the power of Christs love. In just two days her life is so much better than it was before. How amazing is that! I love being a missionary.
Im so glad that I get to have these experiences. Im helping people help their lives. And I get to see the gospel work in peoples hearts. Not only that, I get to feel it in mine too. I know I am here to help other people, but I feel like I get more benefit out of this than anyone else. I almost feel slefish sometimes because of the gifts Im getting from this. Im supposed to be giving gifts - not taking them! I guess thats how the mission works though. So cool! I love you all so much! Im glad you are having so much fun in D.C. Tell me all about it! I miss you! Ai shite imasu!
Love, Elder Kingsford
P.S. - Also, if you ever want to send me anything CDs would be nice. I can listen to anything with a church music label on it - including EFY, Mindy Gledhill, Kenneth Cope, and John Schmidt. Word on the street is classical music will be approved soon too! Haha thats sure gotten everyone excited ;-)
Family!,
Wow D.C.! Ive always wanted to go there. I bet its so cool. The first thing I would want to do there is tour the Smithsonian. Let me know what you think the coolest thing is or what your favorite part of the trip is. Also, Dad let me know what you think of General Patreaus. Im jealous of you that you get to hear him speak.
Haha yeah Yoriko Shimai wrote me a letter about her conversation with you and snuck it into my bicycle helmet with a piece of candy while I was in a meeting after church. She is so cool. She is our best friend here - we love her. Also, our branch is amazing. Yesterday they gave us the biggest food basket I have ever seen. We dont have to go shopping at all this week now! They are so cool.
Im excited for General Conference this weekend. The broadcast is delayed one week to Japan, so we wont see it until this Saturday and Sunday. But Gross Choro and I are going to spend the weekend in our Zone Leaders area and watch Conference with them. Im super excited.
Also this week was great. We had a cool experience with one of our investigators this week. Her name is Yuko San and we met her streeting a few weeks back. She wasnt really interested at first, but we set up an appointment to teach her. The first time we went to her house she was really busy, but we asked her what we could do to help her. Turns out her dog really needed to go on a walk - so we took her out for a trip around the neighborhood. Then last week Yuko San called us and said she needed someone to talk to. We met her at the church and visited with her for a while. Its turns out she has had a pretty hard life. She has survived a stroke, lymphnode cancer, and breast cancer. But now because of all her medical bills she has really bad money problems. She has been really worried about her life and very stressed from all her problems. We taught her about Christ and how His atonement can help her life. We shared with her the miracle of the Restoration and how it can bless her. At the end we prayed together. I said the prayer, but it was very simple. When I finished I looked up and she was crying. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read the Introduction before our next meeting. Two days later we met her again. She had read up to Alma 40! She said she didnt understand it all of course, but when she reads it it calms her down and she feels peaceful. Also she prays at night now too. She couldnt sleep very well before apparently, but now after she prays she goes right to sleep. She said she believes in Jesus Christ and knows he lived. She feels like God led us to her to help her life. It was so cool! Gross Choro and I just sat there in awe while she bore her testimony of the gospel. She just learned about it two days ago, but she already knows its true! The gospel is true! Its power is real. Im not just fooling myself or making things up. Other people feel it too! Yuko San has felt for herself the power of Christs love. In just two days her life is so much better than it was before. How amazing is that! I love being a missionary.
Im so glad that I get to have these experiences. Im helping people help their lives. And I get to see the gospel work in peoples hearts. Not only that, I get to feel it in mine too. I know I am here to help other people, but I feel like I get more benefit out of this than anyone else. I almost feel slefish sometimes because of the gifts Im getting from this. Im supposed to be giving gifts - not taking them! I guess thats how the mission works though. So cool! I love you all so much! Im glad you are having so much fun in D.C. Tell me all about it! I miss you! Ai shite imasu!
Love, Elder Kingsford
P.S. - Also, if you ever want to send me anything CDs would be nice. I can listen to anything with a church music label on it - including EFY, Mindy Gledhill, Kenneth Cope, and John Schmidt. Word on the street is classical music will be approved soon too! Haha thats sure gotten everyone excited ;-)
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Who else gets that kind of opportunity?
10/1/08 Email Message
Family!,
You are going to Washington D.C.? How fun is that! Why are you going? Take lots of pictures and let me know how its going. I bet its going to be beautiful.
Transfer calls were today and I found out im staying in Nagaoka! WooHoo! Im excited. I love it here and did not want to leave. So it looks like Im going to get at least 6 more weeks here. Im so glad.
I love the mission, by the way. Last week we went to a special conference with Evans Kaicho our area president. It was so cool. He spoke to us practically all day. I took 6 pages of notes! The spirit was so strong the whole time. I felt so blessed to just sit there and soak up the words of a general authority. Who else gets that kind of opportunity? I love being a missionary. Japan is a hard place to be. Its hard to give up everything I care about for two years to come to a completely foreign country and work so hard all the time. Its harder than I imagined. Much harder. But its amazing! I love everything about it. I wouldnt give this up for anything. Not even for a chance to watch Alabama and Byu win a BCS game. (which is going to happen by the way) Im so glad Im here and Im so grateful for the experience. Its incredible.
I love you! I Miss all of you so much and I wish I could be with you to tell you all the cool things that i have experienced. But I know there is much more to come. I cant wait to sit down with you all and share my mission with you in person! I love you all so much, and Im glad you are doing so well.
Love, Elder Kingsford
P.S. - Kendall I got the albums! thanks so much. They are awesome. My companions were impressed with them, and they were shocked that my sister would make me something so cool. they said their sisters would never do something like that for them. well duh! they obviously dont have as cool of a sister as i do! I love you! Thanks again!
Family!,
You are going to Washington D.C.? How fun is that! Why are you going? Take lots of pictures and let me know how its going. I bet its going to be beautiful.
Transfer calls were today and I found out im staying in Nagaoka! WooHoo! Im excited. I love it here and did not want to leave. So it looks like Im going to get at least 6 more weeks here. Im so glad.
I love the mission, by the way. Last week we went to a special conference with Evans Kaicho our area president. It was so cool. He spoke to us practically all day. I took 6 pages of notes! The spirit was so strong the whole time. I felt so blessed to just sit there and soak up the words of a general authority. Who else gets that kind of opportunity? I love being a missionary. Japan is a hard place to be. Its hard to give up everything I care about for two years to come to a completely foreign country and work so hard all the time. Its harder than I imagined. Much harder. But its amazing! I love everything about it. I wouldnt give this up for anything. Not even for a chance to watch Alabama and Byu win a BCS game. (which is going to happen by the way) Im so glad Im here and Im so grateful for the experience. Its incredible.
I love you! I Miss all of you so much and I wish I could be with you to tell you all the cool things that i have experienced. But I know there is much more to come. I cant wait to sit down with you all and share my mission with you in person! I love you all so much, and Im glad you are doing so well.
Love, Elder Kingsford
P.S. - Kendall I got the albums! thanks so much. They are awesome. My companions were impressed with them, and they were shocked that my sister would make me something so cool. they said their sisters would never do something like that for them. well duh! they obviously dont have as cool of a sister as i do! I love you! Thanks again!
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