The Petition

Dear Loved Ones,

This week was a powerful turning point for the rest of my mission and maybe even my life. This last week we had a mission tour by Elder Whiting from the Seventy so we had to take a 2 hour train up to Fukuoka to get there. We had been asked by Elder Whiting to come prepared with questions for the conference so during the train ride I was pondering my mission and what I needed to ask.

While I was pondering I realized that though I thankfully still had time, I still wasn't where I wanted to be by the end of my mission. I felt like there was this person Heavenly Father wanted me to become that I hadn't measured up to. I felt like I could almost see this glorious glowing light of what I could become, but I wasn't there. As I sat there on that train I felt a desire to rise up and become that person, become that missionary who has given their whole heart to the work. 

During the Whiting conference, and afterwards as I talked about it I got powerful revelation for exactly what the Lord wanted me to do. I realized that the past several months I had been trying so hard to improve myself, to become better by focusing on this plan or on that goal, but I always felt like I had been falling short, like there was something missing, and I wasn't sure what it was. 

I remembered a past self I once was on the mission over a year ago, I remembered this powerful light I had had and this focus on other people I had had, I was young, but there was this...something ...that I felt I was missing now. 

During the conference Elder Whiting spoke of a petition with God. Something where you don't just ask God for a gift, but you tell him what you will do with it. "If you ask me if you can borrow my car I'm going to ask you what you will do with it, if you want to go as fast as you can you aren't getting it! But if you tell me you need to go give a blessing to a sick person who had been in an accident I'm giving my keys"

We petition God for the best gift and then tell him what we will do with that gift, what are we going to do for Him. 

So I pondered about these things and what I was missing. I realized that these last few months I had been focused not so much on others, but trying to change myself. I seemed to think it was me that changes me instead of the atonement. But I felt this promise from Heavenly Father that if I gave my all for Him then He would change me and bring me to that light I wanted to be essentially, 

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

So the next morning I kneeled down and I made that petition, I prayed with all my heart that God would make me through the atonement that person He wanted me to be, to bring me to that light, and I promised that if He did that from here on out I would  forget about improving myself, forget whether I was doing good or bad, forget myself, and simply give my 100% to loving and serving his children and doing His work. I trust that He will make me who I want to be, I just need to forget myself, and give my all to Him. 

This 100% consecration to God is really the only way to true light and happiness, whether it's on the mission or at home. This is where I want to be, the rest of my life.

Love,

Elder Walton

Faith and the Weak

This week I have been thinking a lot about faith. It seems like something so simple, but the more I understand it, the more it sinks deeper and deeper into my soul.


This last week me and my companion were out finding one day, and it was just a struggle, we talked to tons of people, not really anyone wanted to listen, we were having some struggles teaching on the street in unity and it was just not our day. We finished the afternoon without much success and went back for dinner.


At night while we were biking to an area we had felt the night before we were supposed to go to, I realized that that day I just hadn't been finding with much faith. I at least had enough to get out there and try, but as I talked with people I didn't really have faith that they would really make it. I also realized that though I had tried hard to just have faith, my own efforts didn't get me the faith I needed.


I remembered a quote in PMG, "christlike attributes are a gift from God" and I realized that faith is the same, it is a gift from God, not something we try really hard and comes into us or will ourselves into having. So I started praying while I was biking to have the faith I needed to do God's will.


We get to the area we had planned and start housing, after the first house we see a man walking down the street and we call out to him, and start walking and talking with him. Turns out he is fluent in english and really nice! We walk with him quite a ways into a completely different neighborhood than we had planned on going, all the while thinking "Yes! This is the guy!"


But then unfortunately at the end he tells us he isn't interested. A little bit bummed out we now have to decide what to do next. At that moment I felt this feeling "You aren't here by chance, you're here for a reason." And I realized maybe God meant for us to be led by this guy to this place.


So we start talking to people and inviting them. Unfortunately we hit some pretty strong opposition, the first house was a women not so pleased to see us telling us that it was late and we should go home and everyone around here is just old people anyways.


But there is always opposition right before the miracles, so we knew we were getting close. We pressed on talking to several not so interested people until we come to a 4 way intesection. We felt like we should turn left and house there. The first or second house a woman comes out there is a feeling, she feels kind and different than the others around here. She tells us to wait a second and she goes to get someone.


Me and Elder Redd look at each other "She's the one! We both are thinking" She came out again with her husband. Who was also way cool! We told them what we were doing and a little about our message about eternal families. We invited them to meet again, and they seemed slightly interested, but not ready to commit to meet. Sometimes in this moment I might have given up then, but I felt this faith that really wasn't my own, but was really divine help from Heavenly Father give me the love and boldness I needed to be persistent.


I told them how I looked at curry before I came to Japan and I thought it looked gross I didn't want to try it, but then when I did I realized it was actually delicious and I loved it! It's the same with them! You have to at least try this message once to see, then if you still don't agree well that's your choice, but you have to at least give it a chance! And we invited them again. This time to our surprise they said yes and gave us a specific time and day. It's pretty rare we are ever able to get a return appointment with both parents of a family and for it to feel that solid. We truly felt God guided us and gave us the faith we needed to help them.


The most amazing almost mysterious part of it all was the name of the guy we talked and walked with over to that area. His name was Keiji, which in japanese means revelation.


We were truly guided by "revelation"


I have felt so much weakness and unconfidence this last week, yet still God has used me in so many ways, and we have seen more miracles even then when I was confident. It's so amazing how he uses the weak things of the world.


Love you all,


Elder Walton


Pictures:


This week we did Japanese Calligraphy! It was super fun, and really difficult. What I learned to write for mine is that orange one, it says in japanese. Sukui no Waza, which means "the work of salvation" in Japanese. It is a reminder to me that my whole life's purpose is to do the work of salvation.

Revelation and Roller Coasters

Hello loved ones!


On Friday on splits me and my companion talked to a man introduced ourselves and asked his name, he then said. "I'm James Bond." and invited himself to church. He came and had a wonderful time.


This week the investigator the other elder's taught and I interviewed, Brother Matsukuma got baptized! He is a 20 year old college student and he has a really strong testimony that the book of Mormon is true and that this is the true church. He is truly amazing! It was such a privilege to inverview him. The night before the interview I was praying and asking Heavenly Father what he wanted me to share with him, and I felt like Matsukuma needed to realize how important he would be for the Lord's work. I shared the scripture in John where Christ turns to Peter and says, "Peter, Satan hath desire to have thee and sift thee as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren." And both of us felt the spirit strongly as we applied that to him.


Another amazing miracle was on Thursday during companionship inventory, me and my companion were telling each other how amazing we were, and then when I it came to how we could improve, I just felt this feeling that we both have such an amazing potential that we both aren't reaching up to.


We both started talking and suddenly revelation started flooding down to us. I remembered how in my past Dr Fullmer had these amazingly high expectations that we then rose to, and when we didn't rise to them, he didn't accept it until we did. I never felt gloomy or depressed about myself, but just a desire to rise to those amazing heights.


We decided then on to rise to those high potentials personally and not accept anything less. And also we got tons of other revelation related to that. The most amazing thing is that after this went to go to another area to fix some problems and work with them and help the work be hastened and it turned out that all the tools, everything and every principle we needed to accomplish it we had recieved the night before in that revelation. It was amazing! I felt more spirit and excitement and fire then I had in so much of my mission!


Unfortunately I think after such a spiritual high and fire, the next day I felt exhausted, and the one after gloomy and down despite how much I tried to rise up and be happy. But today I feel good again! Life has so many roller coasters and challenges. But I know they are all for our good and we will be grateful for all of them someday.


So why not just be grateful for them now?


Love you all,
Elder Walton


-Glorious to preach the gospel
-Sasebo Sunrise
-One way ticket to Obama.