Melton-Japan-Mission

As we get older we notice even more the value of the time we have here each day. Not just on the mission but in all things. The Lord gave a commandment to the elders in Jackson County that can also apply to us in all parts of the world. That is: "Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known". Time to prepare is good and the training we receive is valuable. Zone Conference was an opportunity for zone leaders to teach about faith and hope in regards to companionships. They referred to Sariah in the wilderness and how she did not understand the visions of her husband and why their sons had to return to Jerusalem. When she had humility then she understood better. Sister Tueller spoke of preparing members to help and spread the invitation to go forth and invite. President Tueller spoke of the meaning of diligence. It is being valiant and consistent. He also referred to President Oaks talk on Good, Better and Best. He encourages the...

"The basic gospel law is free agency and eternal development. To force us to be careful or righteous would be to nullify that fundamental law and make growth impossible...If we looked at morality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the pre-mortal past past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective" (Elder Spencer W. Kimball, Tragedy or Destiny , BYU Devotional 1955).  This last Sunday Elder Melton gave a Sacrament Talk on Opposition and Free Agency. Over the last couple of weeks, we have become a little more aware of how free agency plays such a critical role in our lives. We have thought about how God created "both things to act and things to be acted upon" (2 Nephi 2:14). We continually see how this plays out here in our mission, with our families, within the church, and with friends back home. S...

In Japan New Years is a big deal. They prepare their homes by deep cleaning showing a fresh start for the year. Most businesses close early and there is no activity for a couple of days. Some go to Shrines or temples in homage but mostly it is very quiet in a sacred way. No fireworks in Tokyo but bells are rung at midnight. With the New Year there are opportunities to start fresh again, to improve ourselves and have a better outlook on our lives. It sounds a lot like repentance. That is another type of new beginning. Japanese New Year's wreath outside of Post Office We put together gift bags for our apartment building between Christmas and New Years. There are eight floors so we made 30 packages of banana breads or other treats. Depending on the timing, we labelled them either Merry Christmas or Happy New Year in Japanese and English with our name. We simply placed them outside of each door. Since we are the only foreigners in the building, it was not difficult to identify us. One ...

We were surprised when we first arrived here how many foreigners with different languages there are here in Japan. They come from Brazil, the Philippines, and parts of Africa. Many of our younger missionaries are Filipino or Brazilian. so, as we have been going through the Christmas Season, it is interesting to see how these diverse cultures view Christmas. Many coming from areas of the world seem to have a good understanding of the Holiday and what it represents. The Japanese, a very non-Christian country, still have an appreciation of the season and recognize it at least as a world-wide holiday, and capture many of the commercial practices of decorations, Santa, and Christmas Trees; though the 25th is still a normal work day for almost all of them. Yet at the same time, we have given out baked breads as gifts to neighboring apartments, and they have all been gracious and understanding of the significance of the holiday to us. Two Santas Comparing Notes During this period we served fo...