Still got an email after talking to him the same day....:)

Hello Everybody!
So I don't have a ton of time to email this week because we have a lesson to go and do, but I guess that is ok because I talked to you all today! It was pretty awesome to be able to talk to you all and here how things are going for you. It is such a blessing to see how abunduntly those love are being blessed for me being here. This week was an amazing week full of miracles. We have a total of three people who are preparing to be baptized which brings so much joy. We met that man named Ikeda, he is 27 years old and just totally prepared to hear the gospel. People here in Japan are, for the most part, very set in their ways with Buddhism and they just dont care to even hear us out. To those people I want to use the words of Alma in Alma 32, "try the experiment!!!" Ikeda has opened his heart and done jus that and he already has a testimony that this message can change the lives of those who open their hearts to it.

That is what my message to you all is this week, since I don't have a bunch of just events to tell you about, I want to issue a sort of challenge to you today. The Lord says that we should offer up unto him "a broken heart and a contrite spirit." I want you all to read that and think about what exactly that means. It is far from easy to offer up something that is in itself hard to describe! :) I promise that as we come to understand more what that offereing means and how we can do it, our joy in life will increase. We will ever more increasingly see our need for our Savior Jesus Christ. Our lives will become more joyful as we will begin to see what things are of the utmost priority, and we will do all that is necessary to obtain those things that will be of the most eternal significance to us. I want you all to know that those things to me are you. You all are of the most important things to me in my life. There aren't a lot of things from this world that we will take with us hearafter, however, one of those things is you all. If we all live according to the happy teachings of the gospel, we can and will be together forever. Doing those things isn't always easy, but as our relization of eternal principles and desires increases, we will do anything to reach the peak of that mountain. We will find that we are able, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, to face any trial, gladen any sorrow, lift every hanging head, repent of any sin, and change any heart. I testify again that this gospel is a gospel of tranformation, but we must bring ourselves to Christ with that broken heart and contrite spirit so that he can shape and mold us. Our Father will sometimes require us to do very difficult things, and we will have fear and uncertainty, but I testify to you all that if we have faith and trust in God, and we yield to his will, and forget ourselves, we will be delivered. That is what the atonement of Jesus Christ is, it is the Power of God unto Deliverance.

Thank you all for being such a strength and joy to me. Tory, the Celtics will beat your little pretty boy heat; Abby, you are a beautiful and amazing girl and an amazing missionary already; Mom and Dad, you are the greatest Parents ever to exists, no bias; Dallin, thanks for being such an amazing example of strength and endurance through hard things; Jaclyn, I enjoyed very much talking to Marissa, thank you, she is quite amazing :); and to Marissa, I love you, end of story.

Have a wonderful week everybody and please remember me in your prayers as I remember you in mine!

Till next week,
Love Always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page