Melton-Japan-Mission

Missionary work can be difficult. Elder Holland has said that as missionaries we deal with a person's salvation and it was meant to be hard. Our mission president referred to the parable of the sower of seeds found in Mathew 13:3-9, 18-23. The bottom line is that we sow seeds and it is up to the person how it is received. When the seed grows, there is joy. On a recent community street cleaning there were two different missionaries on exchange in our district. As we were walking down the street and picking up debris, one of the persons from Atsugi that was helping, started talking to a visiting Elder saying he was wanting to find the local church and attend. That was really cool. Brian has been responding by email to the Atsugi Public Affairs Officer to get us signed up for these clean ups and it is great to get the exposure.  On American holidays like Memorial Day, the military facilities have the day off and people go out and explore Japan. That gives us Military Relations mission...

"Gospel teaching is universal and important. Truly, no greater responsibility can rest upon any one of us than to be a teacher of God's children. Our Savior's occupation was that of a teacher. He was the Master Teacher, and He invites each of us to follow Him in that great service." (Dallin H. Oaks, Oct. 1999) During these last two weeks we have been impressed by the aspect of teaching others and allowing ourselves to be open to the teachings of others. We continually find that as we teach others, we also gain greater knowledge and wisdom. Joseph Smith taught that "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection" (D&C 130:18). A couple of weeks ago, we were blessed to teach early morning seminary for two days.  Elder Melton taught a lesson on D&C 45 about seeing the signs preceding the Savior's Second Coming and finding peace during these time. Sister Melton taught D&C 46 on creating a ...

 There is always change going on everywhere. It can be the seasons or meeting new people. That makes life an adventure. Admiring the beauty along the way is a blessing. Recently, was transfers for the missionaries and we have two new Sisters and one new Elder in the Atsugi district. We look forward to working with them. Although it is always hard to see someone leave, it is a growing experience for all. A brother from the Yamato (Japanese) Ward, Brother Sakuma, helped us with translation when we went to the Kanagawa Driving Center. We paid for and took a written test. It is usually a four hour experience when going to the driving center and Brother Sakuma was kind enough to endure it with us. The test is 10  true or false questions which were fairly easy. We wait for the results and then get a QR code to schedule the practical driving test which is two months out. (Figuring out the scheduling is another couple of days experience.) As we waited our turn to take the test he trea...

The past couple of weeks have been a uniquely spiritual time, while at the same time very busy and exciting. On the one hand we listened to all the sessions of General Conference and celebrating Holy Week for the past several days. On the other hand we have kept very busy with the missionary work in serving others. Because of the time differences, watching the conference at the times they are actually held is a little more difficult, so everyone has a little more flexibility.  With many events and activities filling our time, we found the best way was to watch the sessions of the conference every evening when we returned to our apartment at the end of the day. Over five days we watched each session, and found that it gave us more time to discuss and think deeply about the messages we received from our church leaders. With this time of reflection, while also being in the Lords service, we found the conference to be more meaningful and spiritually uplifting. The following week we ent...