This past week has been one that I will never forget. Last email I talked about the "sheep number" and how we weren`t able to finish receiving the number of elect in our area, Akashi. Well, it`s been done. We got together as a district on Tuesday morning at the church to try for a second time.
We started off the same way but decided that in order to be unified we all had to stay in the same room. We all gathered in the chapel and then found our own little corner for our personal prayers. The spirit was strong yet again. The Lord was speaking to us by the way of the Holy Ghost. After about an hour we all gathered together again to reveal our numbers.
We were ALL over the place! We had numbers from 12 to 95. It was crazy. We had to try again. After another hour in sincere prayer we gathered again. This time we shared some scriptures and things that had helped us in the past to receive revelation (Alma 26:22, etc.) The Spirit was so incredibly strong. We revealed our numbers again. We were SOOO close! This time the number was between 20 and 30. Time to go back to work.
I started to second guess myself and I felt a little uneasy while in my prayers this third time, then, Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8 came to my mind. `My son, peace be unto thy soul...` I knew that the revelation would come to me by way of peaceful feelings. I prayed hard for the number. Harder than any other prayer before. I felt a peaceful feeling that the number was between 25 and 30. Oh man, God was talking to me directly! Finally, I decided it was either 27 or 28. I couldn`t discern between the two for the life of me. I was exhausted. We came together as a district again. We revealed the numbers. 7 of us had number 27, 1 of us had number 28. I bet you can guess who that one person was... I prayed hard again. It only took about ten more minutes before I was absolutely sure it was 27. We came together for a final time. Sure enough, our elect number was 27. It had been revealed and we were unified. 8 people, 1 number, 27 people in Akashi RIGHT now, prepared to hear the gospel. It was the most incredible experience of my life.
This work is real. God speaks, he lives and so does his son. After a combined 7 hours of sincere prayer, we, the Akashi District, had been revealed the number of souls in Akashi. I can`t get over how great the experience was. The rest of my week was fantastic. Any fear of contacting people or knocking on a door are long gone. I`m a disciple of Jesus Christ and I know what my purpose is. I`m here in Japan to bring people home. This place is on the verge of exploding with baptisms! The people are changing. The Lord is gathering his elect. It`s a privilege to be a part of the work.
The ward here is great, so great in fact, they gave me my first assignment to speak in sacrement this week! I can`t wait to see how that goes over... Wish me luck! I`m glad to hear that everything at home is going well. I love you all! Have a great week!
Giles 長老
The Bridge
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. Or nicknamed The Pearl Bridge.
Me eating Sukiya. A bowl of meat and rice that weighs about 5 lbs.
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