Excerpt from a email home: Dated 12 October 2014

Thursday

Had a lesson with A. He did not want to meet at the church building so we had dinner at a restaurant. At first the music was loud and distracting. He had told us that when he watched The Good Samaritan video online [MormonChannel] and while attending a Christian Church, he felt something and wanted to know what it was and why he was felling it.  In response we taught The Plan of Salvation. While teaching the music seemed to disappear and the three of us focused on the lesson and the light of truth.

lds.org

TONIGHT! Christmas Devotional Broadcast from Salt Lake City

mormonchannel.org/christmas-devotional

LDS Teachings: Lehi's Dream

http://ldsmag.com/ldsmag/medicine/080501tree.html

In The Book of Mormon we read the dream of the prophet Lehi as retold by his son, Nephi.  The story is famous in the church.  It is represented in music, entire speeches, Sunday School lessons, fine art, and children's story books (Children's narrated and illustrated story of Lehi's Dream).  Particular phrases are used by Mormons: "Hold to the rod," "the straight and narrow path," and the "tree of life."

lds.org

Reference to the iron rod is use most as part of a sentence which is both instruction and a plea; "Hold to the Iron Rod."  The Iron Rod is the scriptures. 

Scriptures are declarations and explanations of God's love for us and a record of His commandments.  They teach of redemption and eternal life. 

Scriptures stories are motivators to keep the commandments. They give us examples of people(s) living the commandments and their deliverance/blessings or not living the commandments and their destruction/misery. 

Mormon scriptures are The Holy Bible (King James Version), The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.  These four books of scripture are called, "the four standard works."

Letter Home to her youngest brother: Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost

This last Sunday (27 October) we had a Baptism!  It was at 9 in the morning - 1 hour before church.

It was so fun to see how happy N. was. She is 18 years old. She works at a member's kindergarten - one which she attended herself!  This kindergarten is an "American" kindergarten in which, from my understanding, the teachers teach English and they celebrate American holidays, like Halloween.  The family that owns the school- the father is American, the mother Japanese. N. is engaged to the man who baptized her. He is the son of the family that owns the school!

During the baptismal service I remembered your baptismal service and how you wanted songs sung with gusto.  That was so fun!


[A baptismal service is a church meeting where hymns are sung, prayers are offered and talks given as well as the actual baptism.  The person being baptized (who must be at least 8 years of age and know what they are doing) and the man baptizing her are dressed in white.  Mormons baptize by immersion by those who have the authority to do so. The authority we claim is the same priesthood authority John the Baptist had when he baptized the Savior.]


During Sacrament meeting N. received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. You can follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost in good times and in bad.  You have this gift! It is an amazing gift. 


[The Gift of the Holy Ghost is a blessing given by members of the priesthood. The person receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost sits in a chair and the men place their hands on the person's head.  By the authority of the priesthood and acting for God, they bestow this gift. This is also the Mormon confirmation - after this is done, the person is a member of the church.   The Gift of the Holy Ghost is truly a gift.  When you receive this gift you have the opportunity to have constant and consistent comforting confirmation of what is right and what is wrong.  It will warn you, strengthen you, and help you feel the love of God.]

Letter Home: A 'teaser' to her younger brother about a story in The Book of Mormon

"Guess what this summary is about:

"Their liberty, families, lives are at stake. Their numbers are few. There are forces surrounding  their land and dissensions within.  One group cannot take up arms. Young men take their place."

-----

It is the Book of Mormon story of a military leader named Helaman and 2,000 soldiers.  The soldiers were the children of a former blood thirsty people who had converted to Christianity and literally buried their weapons of war. [There were many groups of peoples and cultures on the American continent and some of the groups are referred to by name in the scriptural passages found in the book of Alma chapter 24.]

The people promised God they would not take up arms against others ever again.  Another group of people asked them to come and live in their land and they would protect them.  Helaman was one of these people.

When they found themselves in the situation Sister Breksa described above, their sons went to war, for they had not made that promise.  The Lord promised them that they would all return. And while some were injured, all returned.

This is a very well liked and famous story to Mormons.  Mormons treat Helaman and the young warriors as scriptural heroes.

Below is a depiction of the Army of Helaman (verses Alma 53:10-23) marching to fight. 

by Arnold Friberg

Below is a link to see a painting depicting Helaman addressing his soldiers after the great war. Helaman regarded his soldiers as his sons.

Helaman Addressing His Soldiers After the War

Japanese: Good Morning

Good Morning!

In Japanese "good morning" 
is
Ohayo gozaimasu.

and is pronounced:

"Ohio-go-zie-mas" 

Want to know how it is truly pronounced in Japanese?  What I call 'real Japanese' - 

The link below is a video on how to say:

おはよございます

http://www.ryandurkin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/two-people-speaking.gif Page 1 of 1 

Japan: 富士山, Fujisan

An excellent video of climbing Mt. Fuji:

Climbing Mt. Fuji

"Mount Fuji (富士山, Fujisan) is with 3776 meters Japan's highest mountain. It is not surprising that the nearly perfectly shaped volcano has been worshiped as a sacred mountain and experienced big popularity among artists and common people throughout the centuries." National Geographic Kids video about Mt. Fuji.

"Mount Fuji is an active volcano, which most recently erupted in 1708. It stands on the border betweenYamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures and can be seen from Tokyo and Yokohama on clear days."

Sister Breksa climbed Mt. Fuji in 2009.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2172.html

Letter Home: On her first week in Okinawa

I lead talking about and giving a Book of Mormon yesterday to a young woman we met on the street as we were going to visit [another person interested in our message].

On Tuesday [morning when we planed what we were going to do that day] I felt like we should [go door-to-door in] a certain area. We did.

Afterwards I felt like we accomplished what we needed to accomplish, but did not know what. I felt good about what we did. Wednesday night a man called and said that he read the flier we had placed in his mailbox and we scheduled an appointment the next day.

This lesson went really well. We asked him if this message was true, would he get baptized? He said yes.  We scheduled an appointment of which he dropped. We planned to visit him at his place the next day. We called and said we would be at his place around 6:30. We got there around 6:40. But he was not there. We left notes and have yet been able to reach him. We will see how this goes.

Letter Home: On purchasing a bike

My bike was a miracle. All the bikes are imported and stores are waiting for the 2014 models. 

But the store we went to had a Giant, which is brand the mission asks us to buy. It was not too expensive and in a medium, my size. Perfect!  

Now I just need to get a basket.... some day.

Japan: Kamakura Daibutsu

"The Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu) is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha, which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. With a height of 13.35 meters (or about 44 feet which is the same height at the columns on the Lincoln Memorial), it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan, surpassed only by the statue in Nara's Todaiji Temple.

"The statue was cast in1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall. However, the temple buildings were destroyed multiple times by typhoons and a tidal wave in the 14th and 15th centuries. So, since 1495, the Buddha has been standing in the open air."

(http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3100.html)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Kamakura_Daibutsu_rear.jpg

VIDEO: Closer Look -- Daibutsu