The Holy Sabbath

This week we taught an investigator who is named Nakayama. He is
Japanese, but he is so good at English usually we just call him his
English name, Alex.

He is a 30 year old classic happy surfer guy. He always has a huge
smile on his face and is full of laughs. He is also really spiritual
and really wants gods power and help in his life to protect him from
the temptations he faces.

Anyways this week he told us he would come to church finally after we
had invited him a few times. So on Thursday we met him with a member
and taught him about keeping the sabbath day holy so that this
upcoming Sunday could really uplift him and help him progress towards
baptism.

It was an amazing lesson, not really because of us, but because of
Alex. have never in my whole mission seen someone who wanted to keep
the sabbath day holy so much! He had such a huge desire to make that
day a really special day to come closer to God and to feel his love in
his life.

We told him about the different blessings of the sabbath day and what
kind of activities on the sabbath day help us obtain them, and then we
read a quote from Elder Nelson at the last general conference which
said

" I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the
Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With
that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don'ts. When
I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate
for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, What sign do I want to give
to God? That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal
clear." -Elder Russel M Nelson

And then Alex amazed us by saying,

"I write down what I am grateful for every night, but so basically the
sabbath day is taking that gratitude and not just saying it but
showing it by your actions too!"

He was spot on! In my life before the mission I wasn't always the best
at following the sabbath day, I usually avoided things I knew I
shouldn't do, but I still often was focused on myself. Now however I
see that the sabbath is this beautiful day to give back to the Savior
as thanks for what He did for us. When I return home the sabbath will
be my day to really be a missionary again, to be a completely
consecrated disciple of Christ. The sabbath truly is a delight!

I am so grateful for our loving Heavenly Father who has given us these
commandments this roadmap to guide us I our lives. Isn't he great?

Love,

Elder Walton
Okinawa Japan

Photo: my previous zone leader (who also went to timpview) who had
returned a year earlier came back to my current area to visit the
members here,