I apologize!

Sorry I haven't posted this letter sooner, I was on a cruise for the week and didn't get Randy's email in time. I got it and love it! I will just go ahead and post it now and make more comments on the next email that comes.

Dear Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters, Family, Friends, Mentors, and Readers

This week has had its ups and downs, the highs and lows, but I`ll start with the good and end with the good, leaving the bad mingled in the middle where hopefully its badness will be smothered out by the good news around it!

I`ll start on Monday. Monday was beautiful. We went to Kyoto Station and ate at an all you can eat buffet with our dear friend Brother Doke, who likes to spoil us rotten by taking us out and stuffing us like pigs. Bless the old man`s heart, He loves the missionaries so much and does so much to help them. Afterwards we simply wrote letters and took a nap.

Tuesday was an interesting day. But it was an awesome day. If you look at the two pictures, The first is that of a boy walking up a hill in a quiet neighborhood. You might be able to see that it was a nice day outside with the sun shining brightly and overall it was a beautiful day. BUT look at the second picture. That`s rain by the way, falling extremely hard. Yea, that was the same day within about 15 min. of each other. Welcome to Japan.

Now the story behind the pictures. We were out housing, not the usual apartment housing, but actual house housing. Traditional Home and all. It was bright and beautiful with only a few clouds in the sky, but with about 15 min. clouds came rolling in and rain began pouring down. We didn`t have umbrellas with us or our rain suits, just long sleeve white shirts and our dress slacks. Within about a minute of the rain starting to pour down we were drenched to the bone. Like literally I could not have jumped into a pool of water and gotten more wet. Yet still we housed for another hour or so in the rain. We had quite a few people give us strange looks, but I never quite figured that one out. It was an unsuccessful day with finding but it was successful for us in the fact that niether rain nor storm could stop us from being happy. We returned home, showered, changed, took a quick nap and headed out, rain gear and all awaiting the heavy rain. But, the sun was shining again and the clouds had passed, laughing along with us.

Wednesday was in stark contrast to Tuesday though. It was bright, sunny, hot, and humid. The rays of the sun seem to beat down on me and, for me personally it was a miserable day. I had lost all will power to do anything. It wasn`t that I didn`t want to do anything, I simply couldn`t push myself to DO anything. I was tired, mentally, emotionally, physically. I was just drained, and my mind wandered upon negative topics. I felt inadequate and weak. I`ll explain more in my gospel message about this, and how I overcame it.

Thursday awas slightly better, I went out determined to redeem myself from yesterday, and did so slightly. I worked for the little time that we had before we did our weekly planning and had District Meeting. That Night we started companionship exchanges with Joyo, just south of Fushimi, and I went with Elder Suzuki(native Japanese, speaking only Japanese) to Joyo.

Friday I simply followed Elder Suzuki around, not able to do much simply because I couldn`t say anything in Japanese and Elder Suzuki could. It was entertaining though while we went housing. I can do Housing quite a bit, but everytime I rang the doorbell no one answered the door, where as Elder Suzuki got all the people.

Saturday... I can`t really remember what happened Saturday..... Wow, everything blurs together way to much.

Sunday was a bittersweet day. Yamashita came to Church again, and had a wonderful experience, filled with the spirit. He Loves church, and although he`s too busy to attend all of Church he said He`ll come whenever he can to sacrament meeting.

We were scheduled to have a baptism this coming week on the 13th, but it fell through on Sunday. While we were teaching him(Yuta) the Ten Commandments, he looked at the simple one of "Thou shalt not bear False Witness." He agreed to keep the commandments, and to strive to live them, but he said that because of that, he couldn`t be baptized. He doesn`t belief in God yet, or Christ. Bless his big heart. He loves the church, he loves the people, he loves what we teach, but he just can`t believe yet. He wants to, but he just hasn`t found out for himself yet, and therefore he does not want to lie when he is asked to testify. He will still come to church and all the activities, he simply said, he needs more time. He`ll be baptized, now is just not his time.

We also had a third investigator come to Church, Kenji, who I haven`t seen in quite a while because he`s been busy and so have we. He came late, towards the end of church and me and our Ward Mission leader shuffled into another room and taught him the plan of Salvation quickly. He loved it, and he has strong faith, he told us how has felt the Holy Ghost already in his life as he`s read the Book of Mormon. We plan to meet with him again, and teach him more, hopefully getting him baptized soon.

ELDER TATEISHI`S GOSPEL MOMENT OF THE WEEK!

"Endure to the End."

We often hear this phrase repeated multiple times at church. "Endure to the End!" It is the fifth and final point in the simplified explanation of the Gospel of Christ. It is repeated in D&C 123:17. It is repeated throughout the scriptures in different ways, and it is a motto held tightly to by the youth of the church worldwide. But what does it mean to Endure to the End? What does it mean to Endure?

As a Missionary, I go about and I promise happiness to those who participate in this wonderful Gospel. I go about and teach of Joy, of Purity, of Eternal and True Happiness. I teach people that when they follow the commandments of God, when they live the word of God, that they will recieve blessings untold, that they will grow and become strong and wonderful happy people. All of it is true, we do recieve wonderful blessings of Happiness, Joy, and Purity, as we strive to live according to God`s Commandments. We grow, we become strong, we love, and we find ourselves and our own strengths from within.

But just because we recieve these blessings, just because I promise happiness and Joy does not mean that we will not face Trials and Tribulations. The Greatest of us all, the man who`s joy exceeded all, who followed with perfection the commandments of God, suffered the most grueling and difficult trials and tribulations of us all. Christ, who did all that God ever asked him to do, suffered both mentally, emotionally, physically, and Spirtually, to a point where he as the scriptures report "His sweat, as were great drops of blood," "Which caused me, to bleed from every pour." Yet still he suffered more, It is written that after he had died upon the Cross a Roman Soldier Pierced his side and heart with a spear and it was reported that Blood and water poured out. It is a peculiar thing to see both blood and water pour out of a wound, and the cause of such a thing I cannot explain to the fullest due to my lack of knowledge on the subject. But Suffice to say that according to modern medical knowledge such a thing is caused be the literal breaking of a heart (Note "Jesus the Christ" By James E. Talmage, At the end of the Chapter expounding upon Christ`s crucifiction.). Christ literally died of a broken heart, of intense mental, emotional, and spiritual stress. He died of a broken heart, not from his physical sufferings upon the Cross.

Joseph Smith, who rejoiced in the gospel and restored the Gospel of Christ to its final and greatest glory, suffered great things at the hand of persecutors. He was Tarred and feathered, mocked and spit upon, incarcerated and beat many times before he finally died a Martyr at Carthage Jail, sealing his testimony of this gospel with his blood.

I could go on, and list many others who have suffered as they preached and taught about Joy, about Happiness. From Abel, to Daniel in the Den of Lions, To Abinadi burned at the stake, to Paul and Peter and the other apostles of old who died as Martyrs to the cause of love. To the members of the church both old and new who suffered the persecutions of hateful men. Countless people have suffered because they believed, and because they sought to follow the Commandments of the Lord. But that is not what I wish to dwell upon. In these latter days, hardly are we ever called upon to suffer persecution from wicked men. Never are we called to be recieved as Martrys into heaven. The worst we recieve is a hateful or spiteful word, as our sufferings from exterior causes.

My point is this, although we follow what is right, although we stand upright before our God and King, although we obey the commandments to the best of our abilities, trials do not go away. We still have our problems, we are still numbered among the Human race, we are still imperfect, both body and soul. I am Missionary, I can honestly say that I strive to do my best to obey the commandments, to set myself aside from the world and stand as a witness of Christ and testify of his work and glory, I am still imperfect, I am far from perfect, and thus I still have my troubles and my trials. There are days were I am simply tired, I am exhausted both physically and mentally and emotionally and spiritually. When the weight and continued stress upon body and soul of working to push forward and do this work comes crushing down upon me. When I am weak and let thoughts of doubt, or inadequacy slip into my mind and weigh me down, when I see disappointment after disappointment sink into my heart. These are days when I lose my willpower, my abilty to push myself, to do do things any more than walking and speaking as little as possible.

Everyone has their days when they are down. Everyone has a time when things come crashing down upon their shoulders. But what do we do when this happens? Some say: "Why me?" others whine and groan, and complain. I personally will sometimes wallow in my thoughts, simply letting them stir within my heart and mind. But what do we do?

The simplest answer I have is endure. It is commonly said in a less polite manner: "Bad things Happen." Things fall upon us when we least expect it. Sometimes it`s simply a "bad day" where are minds and emotions are simply filled with negativity, or other times it`s when some physical, mental or emotional problem suddenly falls upon you such as an unexpected death, an accident, or the discovery of a friends betrayel, or the feelings of inadequacy or depression. They happen even to the best of us all. But again here is the solution, the magical solution spoken so majestically and splendidly by Joseph Smith, during the trials of the early Persecution of the Modern Church.

"Therefore Dearly Beloved Brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power. Then we may stand still and wait to see the salvation of God and his arm to be revealed."

There are two parts to this scripture. First, "let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power." Note what I accented in the first section, three words that I believe are important to note. First "Cheerfully", second "All" and lastly "Power." We must first look upon our trials and tribulations with a postive cheerful attitude, it is not easy sometimes but it`s one thing that will help beyond almost all the others. I love the phrase "carry your own wheather." Each of us is an agent unto ourselves, WE choose how WE react to situations, wether interior or exterior influences press upon us we still have our agency to choose for ourselves. WE choose to view something with offense, WE choose to view something negatively or positively, and when we ALLOW other things to press upon us negatively we willingly give up our agency to pressures and influences of exterior forces. Remember, CHOOSE to be postivie, CHOOSE to be happy, even in the face of trial. Second, "all". We must do all that we can to solve are problems. We must push forward and give our all in overcoming our situations, wether it simply be changing our attitude or confronting the exterior force that pushes upon us or changing our inner selves to remove that negative force. We must first give it our all in rooting out our own problems. The Third, "Power", is a warning. We must "do all things that lie in our power." Do not try to push yourselves beyond your capabilities. In Mosiah we read "It is not requisite that a man runs faster than he has strength." I will tell you that I have long hated the word "potential" because of its implied meaning of future possibilty and not present attainment. Many times I have heard people tell me, "you have so much potential." Yet I cringe at the word, because I want that potential NOW, I want to be what everyone else sees as a possibility, but I cannot skip the process of Growth. I have quite often been `chomping at the bit` trying to push myself to be my potential at that exact moment, trying to jump past all the growth and ignoring my weaknesses along the way, and then I fail, unable to complete or attain what I was hoping to be and I come crashing down. Patience is the key to the last word. Do what lies within your power to do, push yourself hard, but don`t push yourself beyond what you have strength, even if what you can do is not sufficient, for this brings us to our second part of the scripture.

"Then may we stand still and wait to see the salvation of God and his arm to be revealed." If we do all that lies in our power, with a cheerful heart and having faith in God he will do the rest. It`s as simple as that. Have faith, be patient, work hard and you will overcome any obstacle in your path. Wether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual you can overcome that problem. I have seen it in my own life, and experienced how it works many times. In the past week I simply had to come the the acceptance that right now I am not the greatest speaker of this language, right now I`m not the best at talking with people at speaking to others and opening up. I had to realize that I don`t have that capability at this moment, But I still needed to this work lacking those skills. I came to the conclusion that although I don`t have the skills right now, I need to keep trying to talk, keep trying to understand, keep trying to work. I needed to watch, to learn, to practice, and to grow slowly and that eventually it will come. I saw the blessing of my endurance on Sunday, when I sat and taught Kenji, without my companion and with just me and the Ward Mission Leader. I was the lone person in the room that spoke english, and yet I understood most of what was said, I took it patiently, accepting the fact that I didn`t understand what exactly was happening, and when they asked me questions I slowly, carefully, in broken Japanese reiterated their question to confirm what they were saying and then I spoke, I answered and I testified. I taught, I spoke, interacted, even with my lack of skill in the language, or my lack of knowledge in teaching. I simply did, and the power of the Spirit of God ended by sealing my testimony upon his Heart. He felt the spirit, I felt the spirit, and I endured.

Remember my Brothers and Sisters, that even in the deepest pit of despair, even when locked within the gaping jaws of steel that is sin and sorrow and despair, God and Christ are with you. Upon the Cross Christ uttered these words "My God, My God, Why Hast thou forsaken me." At that moment God withdrew his presence from his beloved son, Christ at that moment, was completely and utterly alone. Christ walked that lonely path, he suffered the pains and afflictions of all both mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional. He Knows your pains, he knows your sorrows, he knows your Grief. In Alma 7 It reads that he suffered these things that he might know how to succor his people. He suffered the worst the human mind could imagine and more so that you don`t have to. O Remember this, let it guide you, let it help you. Have Faith! God is on your side! He stands with open arms, waiting simply for us to come to him, and when we do he will rejoice, and all the angels of heaven along with him. Remember the Story of the Prodigal Son. Each of us has been the Prodigal Son to one degree or another, each of us is imperfect, each of us because of our own actions will suffer painful consequences of varying degrees, and for each of us the Father waits, with open heart, with loving eyes, and patient mind. Just take the steps, and follow him, he is waiting for you, not you for him.

I stand as a clear witness of this truth. I have felt God`s loving arms around me many times. I was once lost, but now am found. I once stumbled alone shrugging away the calls of a loving Father, but now I have stumbled back into his arms. He healed my wounds, he washed the tears from my eyes, he mended my tattered clothes and sated my hungers and thirst. He set me back upon my feet and with a loving smile he helped me on my way. He lives, what more need I say than this! He lives... He loves me.. He sent his only begotten son to die for me. Christ lives too! Standing beside the father, a loving brother, willing to help us and guide us on our way. He lets us lean upon his shoulder in our weakened state as he carries us back to the Father. The Holy Ghost as well! He whispers softly in our ears, although unable to do more than speak he encourages us, he uplifts us. He tells to us that the Son is coming, that he is there. He reminds us that our Father Cares. Thus Stand the Godhead, all three are one in purpose, but each with a different role. So in prayer, through the son we come to the father and through the spirit doth the father speak to us. And thus I say unto you, they live, they love, they guide, they teach. In the most sacred name of my Savior, my Redeemer, My Lord, The Son of God, Jesus Christ. Amen.

With Love unto all
Elder Randall KK Tateishi