Challenging new companion

Hi family,

Remember I told you our mission made a New Year's video to send to all the stakes in our mission? The link is here: http://youtu.be/UM-C4LuKX3w We're singing our mission theme song "United in So Great a Cause" written by our mission president's wife. Our missionaries are all a bunch of goofballs.

 

Well, this week like last week has been really tough. My companion is a huge disappointment. She's Japanese and on her last transfer so I expected to be able to learn from all her mission experience, but when we go out to do missionary work she doesn't want to talk to anyone. Most of our investigators have either dropped us or are sick, so we spend almost every day finding, i.e. street contacting and ringing doorbells. We haven't even gotten anyone's phone number this whole transfer, and since I'm the only one talking to people I feel like it's a personal failure of mine. I'm not sure what to do for my companion since she only has three weeks left. I still have six months left, but I feel this urgency to get something done, to actually accomplish something so I feel like I've actually done something worthwhile. My hardest days are when things don't go right, and I've had a lot of those lately.

 

But the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and so is His church, and so is the cause I'm out here for. It's in my blood, did you know that? God picked the tribe of Ephraim specifically to prepare the world for Christ's second coming, and I'm trying to do my tiny part to make the country of Japan a little more ready. I sure appreciate all your prayers, and I'm praying for you too every day.

 

If you have some free time this week (or even if you don't, it's worth the watch), President Uchtdorf spoke at a Church Education System devotional last week about what truth is and how we can recognize it. He's hilarious and smart and in tune with the will of God. We're blessed to have the scriptures, but we're also blessed to have a living prophet and apostles. Here's the link on lds.org: http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/ces-devotionals/2013/01?lang=eng&vid=2093631404001

 

I love you all!

Long Shimai