60th Week in Japan, 68 Weeks

I like good weather.

Hey I am not AP! hahaha!

So now that I know for sure I am not AP I am pretty sure that I will
be staying here with Elder Bickel as a ZL/DL. That phone call will
come on tuesday. This week was really busy. We had to go into town a
few times this week for various events. We had interviews with
President Nakatsuka, a music night in Atsubetsu,  and I actually got
to go and visit the Nagano family, the family that I taught when I was
in Moiwa! That was a blast! I actually was able to speak to everyone
in Japanese! It was the coolest thing ever!

On Thursday I got to go on splits with Elder Johnson from Higashi area
and that was a blast! The weather was so warm, we regretted wearing
sweaters. (Yes the weather is actually getting nice now! Short sleeve
white T's will be coming soon!)

On Sunday we got a referral! YESSSS! She is awesome! She has read the
Bible, has come to church a couple of times, and wants to learn more!
How awesome is that! We are going to get her baptized!

The things that I learned this week:
1. If you are coming to Japan on your mission, do not get a large size
bike. They do not have bags for them.
2. Trust in the Holy Ghost. I knew I would not become AP because the
Holy Ghost told me I would not!
3. If you do not have a good relationship with your companion, others
can see and feel that. Including investigators.
4. Listening is really important. If you don't listen to others, how
do you expect to help them?!
5. Rules are cool. They are just hard to follow sometimes.
6. Prayer is for us. God doesn't need to hear our prayers to know what
we are doing, or to know what we need, God needs to hear our prayers
so that he can bless us. When we pray, it does more good for us than
we know.

Ok Talk to all you peoples later!
Elder Swenson

Elder Swenson with Elder Bickel

58th Week in Japan, 66 Weeks

Apple Probs

Dear friends and family,
        I am sorry to make this announcement, but I cannot send mail by
groups in any easy form as of right now so starting from next week I
will just be emailing my family until I can find out how to use this
foreign apple product.

        Ummm this week was super duper busy! We had splits with the AP's, ZTM
which included two workshops and I-Pad training, with General
Conference on top of that! No time for dendo!  But when I did go on
splits I got to meet 2 of my old investigators in Moiwa! Oono san and
Tomita san! It was really cool to see them and see that they are still
awesome!

        I got my bike back on Wednesday and it was a mess. I haven't seen it
for 5 transfers and unfortunately, I regret buying a good bike.
Because the shipping company refused to ship our bikes for a while, we
had to leave them in the area we were in, if we transferred from that
area. So I left my bike in Takikawa, it got used for a bit when I was
in Kushiro and got put in storage.  When I got it back, it wasn't in
the best condition, and now I have to go get it fixed. So 2 Nephi 9:51
is true. If you are thinking about buying something nice, think twice.
And pray.

57th Week in Japan, 65 Weeks

Sent from my iPad!

Hey everyone! As you can now see I am emailing from my I-Pad! Because
I am a Zone Leader, we got ours ahead of time;] They are pretty
awesome! Except for the fact that I cannot make a group right now in
my email list so if I forgot someone, I repent now.

This week we basically had no time to dendo! We had to go to the
mission office for Zone Leader Training and for an all day leader
meeting, where Costco Pizza was served;) with I-Pads! Right now we are
still in Phase 1 of the program so we haven't really been able to use
them in dendo a whole lot yet, but when we move into phase 2 it is
going to be awesome!

This week we will be having a Zone Training meeting where we will
have to teach everyone how to program their I-Pads...in english and
Japanese...no fun. But everyone is going to be really happy! We also
get our bikes this week! YEAH! I hate walking everywhere! Plus trains
are super expensive on P-Day, so I am pretty pumped!

On Wednesday I got to go on splits with my MTC companion and my son!
They are in a 3 man companionship so I got to go on splits with both
of them which is super rare! So that was a blast! I definitely
realized that the way we talk, dress, and appear makes a huge
difference when we dendo.

Saturday we met a guy who is completely fluent in English, but he has
only been out of the country for 2 weeks. We thought he was american.
So we invited him to come to Eikaiwa and talk with a bunch of gaijin
missionaries! He said "can I also here about your guy's church as
well?" We were so pumped! Until we found out that he lives in another
area...but we were still pumped for those missionaries!

Well just to let you all know, I can read emails any time during the
week, but I can only reply on P-Day. So send me all the emails you
want! HAHAHA!(not a joke).  Ok love you all and Find Christ!

Mission Leadership Training Meeting

IPad selfie ;)