Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Good Outweighs the Bad

Sunny yet freezing!

This week was awesome though. To start things off on the best note, Elder Ahuna and I were blessed to find someone new to teach! We met him at the train station a while ago, and left him our number (unable to get his number from him), and he actually called us a little while later. We ended up meeting with him for lunch, and got a feel for his religious background and interests. 

His name is Y, from Morocco. Speaks French, Spanish, English, and Japanese (we talk to him in English). He was raised as a Muslim, and he has a very firm belief in the existence of God as the Creator of the universe and our Heavenly Father. He is also very open about religion and straight up told us that he would follow any religion that could prove itself to be correct. He loves talking about this stuff and was very excited to meet with us again. 

To put it in a nutshell: this guy is hands-down totally prepared to receive the gospel. We`re building a great friendship with him. We`re actually meeting with him again today to give him a tour of the church building and teach him the Restoration in about 2 hours from now. Awesome!

with Y from Morroco
In spite of this and other awesome stuff, this week also had a lot of disappointments. Most of our lessons were cancelled, and it seemed that there was an unusually large amount of people who were not interested and who seemed to reject our message. It was somewhat of a trying week in these ways. But the good things definitely outweigh the bad. So it`s all good.

Elder A and I also got plagued with some more sickness this week, woooo! Elder A came down with a terrible fever and I came down with a rather nasty cold, thus confining us to the apartment for a couple days. 

But something very special happened, something that really strengthened my faith. On Saturday night, as Elder A`s fever seemed to be getting worse and making him weaker, I prayed very fervently that Heavenly Father would completely take the fever away from him by the time he woke up in the morning so that we could get back to work serving as full-time missionaries instead being stuck in the apartment. 

We were happy to see that in the morning when he woke up, the fever was indeed completely gone. It may seem rather small, but to me it was another confirmation to my steadily growing testimony of the reality of the existence of a loving and tender Father in Heaven. Anyone could convincingly say that the lifting of my companion`s fever was probably natural, and that it would`ve happened anyway regardless of whether or not I had prayed about it. Quite honestly, before I came on my mission, I may have believed that myself. 

But this felt different. 

As I`ve come here to Japan with the purpose of teaching others about Jesus Christ, and in the process tried to draw closer to my Heavenly Father as well, I have started to gain the testimony that many everyday occurrences that we have in our lives are not mere coincidences or products of a natural world. The Spirit bore witness to me that this was indeed an answer to my prayer, and it was something that I needed. My faith was starting to face some struggles and subtle creepings of doubt this week due to various discouragements, and this small yet personally significant experience was what I needed.

I testify to everyone reading this message that we have a very real Eternal Father who dwells in the celestial worlds, who created each of us, and who takes an active interest in the lives of each and every one of his precious children. You are important to Him. He wants you back. If you are ever faced with feelings of doubt as to whether He is actually there, or is really listening to you, I promise that He is. I urge you to get down on your knees and pray and ask to feel His love. I know that you will.

This concept of a God as our Heavenly Father is truly much more than just a mere religion or church teaching. This is a part of our lives. If we can learn to pattern our lives in such a way as to live for more than just going to church every once in a while or simply "going through the motions," but rather that we may come to realize that God is a part of our everyday lives and the actual perpetuator of our existence, and the source of all our breath, and life, and everything we do...then I believe with firm conviction that we will see a distinct and lasting change in the way we view this mortal life and the way we view ourselves. This change will enlighten us with a new understanding and fuel us with profound and radiant happiness in day to day living.

we keep teaching
I love you all! Thank you for all of your support and love. It truly does help me.

Peace and love,
Elder Naylor

ネイラー長老 

1 comment:

  1. Wow! What a powerful testimony! Thank you Elder Naylor! We love you!

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