Elder Ethan Swenson . . . . . . . . Japan Sapporo Mission: January 30, 2014

Heyo! so i apologize now for my grammatical errors.

So questions to be answered.

Yes i got my card.

Yes my companion is the brown guy with glasses.

Yes my nihongo is getting a lot better.

The time is starting to fly by so much faster.

I also have no microwave nor fridge. And no time.

Yes I love the pictures! And if you could somehow get some from echo lake that would be awesome for some of my lessons. Tony, bro angle, bro paul or the young men should have lots of them. I wanna say most of mine are in my old camera which should be in my nightstand. Thanks for the canned food and you can send more but yes please do not get great value brand:) and i will only need two cans.

So this week started off pretty bad. Last thursday night i blew up at my companion lost my temp., emily can give you details, and we had a huge arguement. Fortunately with the help of our district leader, and the lord, we quickly got things worked out and everything is much better between us. oh i also just met another Elder Swenson right now from cali. Pretty sweet.

Slowly but surely the week got better. Our lessons got better, and the spirit was with us more often. I still get a little homesick at meals but not as bad as i used to. The food is still terrible and for Dad's satisfaction I have gained 4 pounds. whether is be muscle or fat i have no clue. but probably fat.

So on Sunday I got a strong prompting from the Holy Spirit. One of my leaders was talking to me in an interview and I need to tell you guys especially Emily Katie and Kara about what I have learned here.

I cannot stress enough about how important prayer and scripture study are. One of the biggest spiritual truths that I have learned here is that nothing will convert the people of the world except the Spirit. And the spirit testifies of truth. And the truth it will testify of is the Doctrine of Christ, which is basically the 4th article of faith plus endure to the end. Please read your scriptures everyday. Study them. Especially the Book of Mormon. Nothing will bring more comfort, peace, and safety than this. I cannot tell you how disapointed i was with myself when I learned this. I could have had all of these wonderful spiritual truths when I needed them most. Doing this in connection with Prayer is also essential. Pour your heart out to your heavenly father. He will hear and answer your prayers. I cant tell you how many of mine he has answered just while I have been here at the prison. Ooops:) He has blessed me with peace, confidence, knowledge, the gift of the interpretation of toungues, and health. Please do this at least for yourselves.

I have to go right now I might be able to email one more time later today but if not I love you all and miss you dearly. Ai shite masu.

Swenson Choro