Elder Giles

Elder Giles
Mission Photos

Sunday, August 3, 2014

大阪の北 North of Osaka!

Hello friends and family! 

  Well just like you read last week, I`ve transferred to a new area. I`m really excited to be in a fresh new place though! It was a lot harder to leave Sakai than I thought it would be. Saying goodbye to my good friend, Yuki, was really really tough, but I know he`ll be just fine and I`ll see him again soon. I really did love the people in that area. What a blessing it was to serve there. I`m figuring out more and more as I get older how much the Lord really does bless us every day. Not a single thing we have is ours. I think thats why I love Mosiah 2:21 so much. Not one thing that happens throughout the day is because of any power that I have. The Lord gives it all to me. For that I am humbled and grateful.

  When I got here I was greeted with a little bit of a luke warm feeling from the Ward and the Bishop. There just isn`t a lot happening here right now and I think the Ward is going through a really hard time with members going inactive. My companion didn`t seem to enthusiastic about the way things are going here either. Needless to say I know there is a reason I was sent here. The Ward really needs something and I`m really excited to receive revelation about what that is. The Elders in our mission just got the green light to include less actives in our numbers so I`m really excited about that. Its time to go to work and save some souls and Establish a Church. 

  I really love where I am right now though because of the awesome church building we have. Its seriously bigger than my chapel back in North Salt Lake. It has a full court basketball court, too, so we can have a basketball activity every week! We share the building with the Ibaraki Ward as well and all of their members are really strong and really active so I`m really excited about getting to know some of them as well. Overall I think this is going to be a really, really interesting transfer. It will definitely be a test of what I`m made of thats for sure. As if training didn`t do that enough :). 

  My new companion is a really good guy. He`s Elder F from Eden, Utah and I was his Zone Leader in the MTC a year ago! It`s really funny talking about that with him. We get along fine and I`m really excited to get to work with him for a little while. We`ve definitely got our hands full here, but we`ve been instructed by the Brethren to balance everything as missionaries so thats really what I plan on doing. Finding, teaching, baptizing, retaining, and rescuing. I can`t wait to build up a ward!

  I should have more to talk about next week. I get to go up to Kyoto pretty soon and I`m really excited about that! I`ve wanted to go to Kyoto ever since I got to Japan and I`m finally sooo close! I know this church is true. This truly is God`s church on the Earth today. I`m so grateful to be apart of the work I`m engaged in now. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Jeffrey Maxwell Giles

Y gave me an Argentina soccer jersey!

Marcello, my brazilian investigator in Sakai

My english class students in Sakai!

My son and I doing service for a member on my last day.

The Sakai missionaries at the home of the Komatsu family on our last day!




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