Hello!!! 

I heard that Ohio State smashed Oregon in the National Championship Game this past week which was lovely news to start my email time off to. It sounds like everything is going well!!

So this past week was INCREDIBLE! And also super sad because half of my heart went back to America to be the best ward missionary ever. And also super exciting because my new companion is also incredible!!!!!!!!!!!! Her name is Sister Croft and is from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is a 6th transfer and is just super hard-working and has rock-solid faith. Her japanese is wayy good and I love her with all of my heart. We had a great week!! We found some really cool new investigators, one of whom is American and living here in Kobe because he married a japanese woman. His name is Mr. Hanks and Hunt shimai and I must have run into him 6 times on the same street in that short span of 6 weeks that she was here. The 3rd time or so we prepared a Book of Mormon to give to him and last time he gave us his address and email. And this week we visited him and learned that Heavenly Father has actually been guiding him a jillion times more than we thought and also that he is a secretly famous white man in the japanese television life. We brought up a famous quote of his during our ward coordination meeting and everyone freaked out. We're basically teaching a Will Smith. 

BUT! I wanted to share with you something I learned this past week from studying my Book of Mormon. I was reading in Alma 36 all about when the prophet, Alma, is retelling his conversion story to his son, Helaman. So Alma was being super rebellious and pulling a lot of people away from God when finally an angel appeared to him and commanded him to stop trying to destroy the church. And then Alma kind of fell into this coma of tasting the punishment of his sins. I'm just going to copy and paste what he says because it's incredible:

But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

 13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

 14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

 15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

 16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.

 17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

Now usually when I read this scripture the thought that comes to mind is ''wow that's incredible how much he was able to change because he repented. The light he must have felt, the relief on his shoulders and in his heart contrasts soo much with the darkness he felt as he said 'tormented by the pains of hell' or 'racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.' '' And it's true: repentance is real. Repentance really does allow us to be freed from the chains of hell and from feeling of the incomparable  dark hole in your heart. Repentance is a process and it can be painful but it is worth it because it allows you to receive forgiveness and eventually to inherit the Kingdom of God. 

But this week I thought of something a little bit different. When the feelings of being racked with torment and harrowed up with the memory of his sins is taken from him, where does it go? Does God just stop sprinkling fire and brimstone down upon him once he's decided he wants to change?   No. Whether or not it's Alma, someone has to receive that punishment because justice demands it. God is just. And God can't deny Himself. So those feelings of a soul being 'harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all [his] sins' were not just dissolved. Someone had to receive them. Someone had to suffer them. SomeOne took the inexplicable pains upon Himself so that we didn't have to suffer the everlasting chains of death. That someOne is Jesus Christ. That makes Him our Savior. I love this passage in Alma because he tastes a little bit of what the Savior did for each and every one of us, and for everyone that lives on this earth and has lived on this earth and will live on this earth. He did it because He loves you. And He'd do it again. And He did it willingly because He wants us to accept Him because He knows that that is the only way that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again and our families forever. He lives and He is guiding this work in Japan and all around the world. We can be relieved from our sins when we accept Him. He will pay the price for our sins if we follow Him. All He asks is that we keep His commandments. 

I love you all and I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love my Father in Heaven. I'm grateful for their everlasting love for me. I feel that love everyday when I read the Book of Mormon. It's unlike anything else. 

Have a great week! 

Love, Daniels shimai