8 Pages Long (Just Me and my Family)

VaLeNtiNeS DaY!!!

2012-02-14T11:25:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to all of those in my life whom I love so very dearly!!"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives." C.S. Lewis

"will this work ever end? No."

2012-02-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!!!Whew!!! Finally they are engaged! I am super excited and super weired out that it is actually happening, kind of the same way it was with Dallin and Jaclyn. Congraulations!! Sorry I won't be there but not like Matt will notice anyways, we all know how much McKenna pulls his focus when she is in the room. ;oD I hope Matt gets a job at the MTC because then it would be easier for me to get my dream job of working there when I get back! I didnt know that Abby was taking AP Government! That just makes me smile to think of her learning all of that stuff I love. Sounds like things are going to be pretty busy from here on out until the end of the school year. Love hearing about Church ball and to hear that Tory is following in his big brothers footsteps of missing a couple of layups here and there. ;o) Glad you will get to see Marissa when you head out there in April. That puts a smile on my face. :oD Thanks for sending the pics of her to me Mom, she looks like she is just having a ball and I absolutely loved the one of her and that little old Grandma! Funny that Sister Mitchell commented on my gestures because I am pretty sure that I am getting weirder and weirder every day. Over the past couple of weeks I have seriously had some of the biggest struggles communicating in English. You guys are just going to laugh at me so much. I would say that I recovered from the hours of walking in the snow, except that we had a blizzard that lasted about 4 days here this past week. The people here said that it is one of the worst they have had in a long time. There is snow up taller than me in some places and the wind got up to about 60 miles per hour. It was way fun but really cold. We have officially been not able to use the bikes in this weather so we have been on foot, sometimes just trudging for hours in the snow. But, it is all fun stuff and even though it is pretty miserable in the moment, these things will make the greatest memories. Even though we had a ton of snow, it was still a week with a ton of joy and a ton of miracles. We have been working with this woman named Niki and one of the challenges she had was praying the correct way. She felt like if she just thought about something it had the same affect as prayer. Last week we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and testified very boldly to her that what we are saying isn't just a message that has good ideas, it is either true or it is wrong. We told her the way to know that would be to ask God directly and a long story short, she prayed by saying out loud "Heavenly Father...in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." It was a huge, tiny step for her and was a great uplift to us. We had another great experience with an investigator stuggling with a lot of problems in his life and so we talked about Alma 33:23 and promised him that God would help him in his trials and lighten his burdens if he would but seriously show his faith by keeping our commitments with all of his heart. He then promised us that he would get on his knees and pray out loud to God about all of his stresses and problems after we left. Then, finally, I think I mentioned it a couple of weeks about about an investigator who has been an investigator for 3 years or so and he tried to come to church but got lost. Remember? He came yesterday!! It was so awesome and after working so hard with him it was the greatest blessing to see someone show their faith and come to church. There were so many miracles in the work this past week that made it a joy even though the weather was crazy. Also, the sister missionaries investigator, his name is Ishi. I have been able to teach him about 3 times and gotten to know him a lot as he has come to church and learned and he is getting baptised next sunday. When he was asked who he wanted to baptise him, he said that he would like me to do it. I was so happy I just couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was just a crazy week this past week. How could I even sum it up? I think the sum up of my week came when I was saying my prayer to end my fast yesterday. As I was praying I was thinking about fasting and the meaning and symbolism of it in our lives. I thought back on how I was really hungry that day and there were times where I saw food and wanted to eat it, but how I just held it in and waited. That is pretty significant to our lives I think. How many times do we want something now or desire for something that we need to control ourselves or hold off on? It happens all the time. I guess what I felt as I prayed that night is that I really want to have a bunch of investigators who are just itching to be baptised. I really want to teach a family because I have yet to teach one family on my mission. I really want a lot of things and some things I just may not be able to get, but that is where the lesson is to be learned. I took a lot of power out of that fast, just being patient for that 24 hours, and we can take power in life by controling, waiting, and prioritizing. If we wait and put ourselves on the Lord's time and on the Lord's schedule, great power, great joy, and great growth will ALWAYS follow closely behind. I have felt that this week seeing so many joyful moments. I testify of the truthfullness of this work. It is Gods work on the earth. The prophet John Taylor said that the idea of the death of the prophet Joseph Smith destroying the church was proposterous. He said, "will the work end? No!" almost 200 years later, how that statement rings true as the truth spreads all around the earth. I love you all and know that our Father in Heaven loves you too. Have a great week everybody!!Love always, Elder Page

This month is such a special one its birthday time for you...

2012-02-05T16:13:00.001-08:00

The birthday boys!!! Saturday was Dallin's 23rd birthday. I can not believe how quickly the years have gone by. He is still working away at UNC, he'll be a senior next year!!! Tomorrow is Steve's birthday # 48. (He definately doesn't look it) I hope you know how much I love you both and that I am so happy that you are some of the greatest men in my life. Happy Birthday to you both!

9 Pages Long...

2012-02-03T19:41:00.001-08:00

Well it looks like we will be adding another "Page" to our book!!!! Matthew & Mckenna are engaged!!!! We are very happy for them. Mckenna welcome to the Page Family (although we feel like you have been a member for a while now) We love you both soo much and wish you many eternities of happiness :)

The Adventures of Page Choro

2012-01-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!!!So we had the transfer announcement today. I have known since Friday though about my fate because Elder Lay spent about 4 days with me last week. So the big surprising news is that............I am not transfering!!!! :o) I was super excited and super shocked to be honest. Lay Choro said that about 80% of the Mission thought that I was going to be moved back towards Sendai, but it is not so! I am super excited because I really love this area and the members and my companion and so I am stoked to have that a little longer. But, things last week were super busy and I am super duper exhausted. I felt like a Zone Leader again last week. So in last weeks email I only told you about 1 of the assignemts from president, but it turns out the second one came out last week too and I was super busy. The other assignment was a refferal pick-up in a different city. The person who refered the name knows me from my old area and they told President that they wanted me to go and contact the referal so I had to travel to a city about 2 hours away to pick up the referal. That wasnt even the craziest part though. It was in a city called Joetsu and it has the worst weather in the whole mission probably. We went there right before a 4 day long blizzard. There was snow up to my chest. Riding bikes was impossible and so we had to walk 3 hours to the referals house and three hours back, all through about 3-4 feet of snow. Then when we tried to go home the next day our train was delayed, and then cancelled, so we had to take a train that was running to another city 2 hours away, and then from that city try and get home. We finally made it but all in all it took us about 6 hours to get home. The next day we had a leadership training meeting which lasted about 7 hours and took up most of that day. The next day we had a blizzard here and couldnt use the bikes and so we were on foot again all day. Then came the Sado Island assignemnt with Elder Lay. That was truly a great time. It was so good to be with Elder Lay again, he is probably my best friend I have made on the mission so far and we had a great time. We had to get up at 4:15 in the morning and got on the boat for a three hour ride to the island. The boat was pretty nice and big and had an interior and stuff, but the wind and waves were very big and very strong. It was pretty fun. When we got there it was a 45 minute bus ride to the church on the other side of the island. Church was 6 people and the speakers were Lay Choro and I. It was just like a little family inside of a little shack for church. I have pictures that I will send soon, but it was a super awesome experience. Then after that it was an hour drive to the very northern tip of the island where the Branch President lives. The roads where convered in snow and ice and the highway ran along the edges of mountains and cliffs the whole way. We got to meet the less active son and we hit it off. He is such a great kid and the time we got to spend with that family was a precious experience. It is hard for those members out there. They are all alone and just do all they can to follow Jesus Christ, their Savior. After we visited the family it was another hour drive back to the boat and they the boat ride back. In all our day lasted from 4:15 and we got back at 10:30 last night. I am pretty worn out. It really was an adventure of a week and I learned so much about perserverance, faith, and the value of our lives. I know it is a curveball pulling back to this, but I am glad that you liked the pictures and videos. I am glad that I look happy because I really am. I feel super old now as a missionary. Everybody just comes out and tells me I am on the downslope now and trust me, I can feel how slippery the slide is. It is so fast. I had the intention of writing letters to Jordan, Dad, and Dalling today for their birthdays but I just dont have any time!!! We had an appointment with a member today and it took a long time. I am super super sorry and It is really pathetic but I wanted you guys to know that I am thinking about you always. I think about Jordan and how we a literally brothers. (I always think of you in your Suspenders!!) Dallin, everybody always says when they look at my pictures that you and I look the most alike, so I am always reminded of Mister Best Looking back home! Dad, do I even need to say anything? $$$$$$$ Thats all I've got. I love you three so so much and you truly are three of the most important people in my life! Happy happy Birthday!! I will pray for Grandma. Tell her that I love her for me Mom. This weeks email is super long and super adventurous so I hope you like it. I guess at the end of such a crazy week the thing that I have felt in my heart more than anything else is this: 2 Nephi 29:7. The Lord remembers all of his people. That is something that I truly have learned through my own eyes and experience. God Lives. He is our Father and he watches over us always. Jesus is the Christ and I cant give any better reason than that I feel it in my heart. Have a wonderful week everybody!! I love you so much Mom!!! Love always,Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Decorated for Christmas

2012-01-27T07:47:00.001-08:00

Winter's in Japan

2012-01-27T07:41:00.001-08:00

So cold in Japan...My mission's awesome!!!!

2012-01-27T07:40:00.001-08:00

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2012-01-27T07:38:00.001-08:00

Page Choro's new exercise program

2012-01-27T07:36:00.001-08:00

Page Choro

2012-01-27T07:29:00.001-08:00

2012-01-23T05:57:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!Mom, thanks so much for the email this week! It was super long and informative and I loved reading it! I have a big smile on my face. It seems like in every email now a days that somebody somewhere has gotten married or had another baby!! I didnt even know that Elder Hutchens was married! I am expecting the ball to drop on Matt and Mckenna every week now!! Matt, just get on with it!!! The suspense is killing me over here!! :oD That is super cool about Tyler and his wife! Yeah, I have thought a lot more recently about what to do and with my Japanese I think that International Business might be a good way to go. We'll see I guess! It is crazy how fast time goes and how soon I will have to actually make those decisions. Thanks for giving me a little update on the election! Everybody over here talks about it and it kills me!!! Since the Packers are gone I would, if it wasnt too much trouble, love it if Dad would send me Primary updates, especially with Super Tuesday coming up so soon. That would just rest my mind so much rather than hear a bunch of Japanese people just tell me that "he is doing good." :oD I am doing really good though. To be honest it was a little bit of a stressful week and I am pretty worn out, but still going along just fine. A couple of business like Items, the health card, did you guys switch from Wells fargo? That is the only card I have so should I get ride of that one? Let me know please! Also, something that Dad wont like to hear, my camera is broken. It broke today for no reason. I just turned it on and the lens started freaking out. I took it to the store and they said they couldn't do anything about it. I am going to try a couple more things but, what do you think? Does your clumsy son merit enough to get a third camera on the mission? :o) I am so so so sorry. This camera is super great and it just messed up!! Thanks for all of the pictures of Marissa Mom. they are great! She looks like she is having so much fun, and I like that white watch she has! She looks so pretty like usual! One thing I thought about this week was Conner and Richard. I havent heard ANYTHING from or about them in a long long time. Do you have an address or something for them? I would love love love to hear about from them. Other than that, this past week was busy. We spent 3 days this week out of our area on a split with our District Leader. We got to play futsal one more time this past week which put a smile on my face of course. I got to teach a lesson in English to a woman living here that is a part of Unification Church. Lets just say I am glad that I was raised in the south where I have opened my Bible many a time. :o) We were able to testify of the truth of Jesus Christ written in the Bible and testify that there is more in the Book of Mormon and it was a powerful experience. Sunday was pretty tough though. We had an investigator that we have been trying to get to church for 3 months come, but he got lost somehow and couldnt make it to church!! Then our investigator, Akira, that is almost ready to be baptised, he had some setbacks with the Word of Wisdom this past week and his date for now is gone which was really discouraging. Then, transfers are this next week and EVERYBODY thinks I am transfering and so people tell me "bye bye!" like a joke all the time and I dont really like it that much. Whether I transfer or not we don't know and even if I was I still have another week and so there is no reason to think about it. It just makes it difficult to focus and causes stress. Ask Dad, Dallin, and Matt, they will understand that kind of stress I think. As for those special assignments from President, the big one is this coming Sunday. I get to go with Elder Lay to visit Sado. It is the Island off the the West coast of Japan and there is a small branch of about 5 members there. There are no missionaries there and there havent been for years, but President wants me and Lay Choro to go because the Branch Presidents son is less active and so we are getting assigned on a special reactivation mission. Pretty cool huh. Crazy part is is that it is a 2.5 hour ferry ride at 6:00 am over the windy, wavy, Sea of Japan. If I die Mom, I love you, and if I die, know Marissa that you were the one I wanted to Marry. ;oD hahaha I will be fine, but they did say it was dangerous. ;o) We have a leadership training this coming week which will keep things busy. Guess what, in three days is my hump day. Crazy huh? This week I start the terrible and gruelling count down. Sheesh. Fast. You guys have a tape and a memory card on there way and I finished another memory card today. Elder Sanders makes me take tons and tons of pictures. :oD To wrap up this letter I just want to tell everybody the reality of the power of Prayer. I can testify that if you spent time on your knees, you heart will change. I have tried to commit myself that anytime I am feeling annoyed or stressed or prideful, to get on my knees that very instant and pray for those feelings to leave my heart. I promise that it works and that there is great great power in kneeling humbly before our Father in Heaven. His grace is sufficient to make weak things become strong unto us. I know that to be true and it can be done through Prayer. I know the gospel is true and it will do nothing but better your life and the lives of any who take part in it. I love you all so so so much. Have a great week!! Love Always,Elder Page

Lots of miracles, big and small...

2012-01-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

Hey Mamma!! It was great to hear all about the Temple and stuff this week. I think that is the one thing I would change about this mission is I wish we had a temple. I guess that is my responsibility huh? ;o) Interesting the hear about Mormon.org because I havent even seen it. We dont use it and havent been told anything about it. They probably dont have it in Japanese. I dont know, but it all sounds super fun and effective! I had a great week. Things are just going well. We were blessed with a lot of miracles big and small. We have one investigator, his name is Isogawa Akira and he is almost ready for Baptism. He is a really really great guy who has been looking for truth his whole life and now that he has found it he is working hard to change his life. It is amazing to see. Sanders Choro and I were also blessed this week to, well, it is kind of a long story, but the shorter version is that Elder Sanders and I got to play in a Futsal Tournament this past week and this coming week. :oD There is an investigator who is on a team and a long story short President told us to go ahead and we played futsal. SUPER FUN!!! It felt SOOOOOOO good to play again and I honestly didnt lose...well, maybe I lost half a step in the past year, but I was still the same! In the second game they wouldnt let Elder Sanders and I play together because they said we were too good! hahaha It was a lot of fun and way funny to just play soccer with Japanese people. These people are so funny! Woke up and was pretty sore though thats for sure. ;o) There is snow on the ground pretty much 24\7 nowadays. It is cold. I dont really like it anymore. Have I mentioned that there is Zero centralized heating in Japan? Way good stuff. hahaha But, at least I am not Jordan puking out my lungs every couple of weeks from some crazy jungle sickness!! hahaha That is definetly something to be grateful for! Things are just kind of going though. Hump day is coming up and then the terrible change from "count up" to "count down" begins. Whew. You will be glad to hear that I am finally up to 100 health an I am warm most of the time. It was Elder Sanders, Elder Shaw, AND Elder Ikeda`s birthdays this past week. They are the other three missionaries here in Niigata so we were busy with Birthday stuff too. It was a good week even though I dont have much to tell. I have gotten a couple of Special Assignments from President that I will tell you about as they come about in the next couple of weeks, but for now this is about all I have. I am going to finish a tape and send that off with a memory card this week so I hope you enjoy that! Just something that I learned this week that really punched into my heart was something that Brigham Young taught. He said, "Think of this brethren and sisters. Write it down that you may refresh your memories with it, carry it with you and look at it often; If I judge my brethren and sisters, unless I judge them by the revelation of Christ, I have not the spirit of Christ; If I had I would judge no man." He went on to say "The interest of our brethren is our own interest, or you can never be saved in the Celestial Kingdom of God." I know these principles to be true. It is something that I am striving for and that we could all do better on. Lets all just try and look at EVERYBODY we meet and look at them in the way that God sees them, as his precious children. Take people as they are and understand them as they are and I can promise that as we do so, we will feel the love of Christ in our lives. Dont judge others. If we could see through the eyes of everybody we judged then we would never do it. Christ taught to Love one Another and for that teaching I am so very grateful. You guys are all a great example to me of these principles, especially you Mom and Dad. You two literally are the greatest and I love you so much. Mom thanks for the family card and the Beautiful Picture of Marissa in her apron. I loved it! One last thing, Dallin H. Oaks is coming to the Sendai Mission next month. :oD Way excited. Well, have a great great week everybody!!! I love you all so much!! Love always, Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

It's Friday the 13th!!! Some of you proabably look at this day to stay in,yikes, its bad luck! Not me! I have even had horrible things happen on Friday the 13th. I remember specifically, it was my junior year of high school, I was out with friends. We were in the parking lot talking getting ready to get into our cars to head home. As I was getting into my car, the friend I was with, still talking to someone, close the door on my face as I was getting in, chipping the 2 front teeth in my mouth. But! I love the number 13 and I don't mind it being on a friday either! My first date with Steve was on the 13th, we married on the 13th, it became our kids favorite number as well. So I always look forward to a date on "Friday the 13th". You make your own luck and you find the positive in any situation or event right, so go ahead, go outdoors, have that night out. It will be ok.

Page Choro has been pretty sick

2012-01-09T05:46:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!!I have had a very good week this week...well kind of. :o) So do you remember when last week I said I was on the tail end of that sickness? Yeah, it picked up again and lasted me up till...well...I havent quite shaken it off yet. Last week Sister Rasmussen ordered me to stay in the Apartment and rest but lets just say that was BRUTAL!! Sitting in the apartment is so boring. So the next day we just started working again. hahaha Sister Rasmussen said that I was stubborn but she said she knew I wouldnt stay inside. She is awesome and just like a Mom to me so you dont have to worry Mamma! Abby is just getting so grown up it is crazy!! Great to hear about Grandma Lucy's work getting done, but on the other hand, not excited to hear about Grandma Peggy. I will put prayer up for her. :o) Things here are going really really well though! Despite the cold and the rain and snow we are seeing a ton of Miracles! We have a really solid group of 8 or 9 investigators and two came to church on Sunday which is one quick way to a smile on my face! We are going to try and make some baptismal dates in the next week or so. I cut Elder Sanders hair and he cut mine last week. :oD Everybody was way surprised because our hair looks pretty good! I will get some pictures to you on a memory card as soon as I finish a tape. Elder Sanders is singing for the tape right now as I write this. :O) Dad would be proud to hear that I played a little basketball today on PDay. I have actually had a lot of opportunities to play basketball on my mission, while the soccer chances have been rare. I have improved a lot so Dad better be careful! hahaha I guess I better be careful if he gets a hip replacement! :oD I am struggling this week with interesting things to write. I got a package from Marissa with a tape and pictures and stuff so I was pretty dang happy. Have you seen her new hair yet? Whew!!!! She is so beautiful whew!!!! Anyways, I also got a little package from Jordan which was funny, it had a hat in it that the Japanese people laugh at. :oD He sounds like he is doing great with his new companion. Well, the week really wasnt that exciting, but I did have a lot of wonderful experiences. One was with a new investigator named Akira. We taught him lesson one and he really had a great experience. He said a prayer at the end and he said in the prayer how he didnt understand that much of the doctrine, but that there was just something about what he heard that felt like coming home. It was an amazing experience and it was a testimony to me that everyone on earth has heard this before. This message is truth before this world and now and I am so priviliged to be able to share it with people full time for these two years. This work is God's work and this church is his church. I know it. I love you all! Have a wonderful week everybody!!Love always,Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Phone Calls, Christmas & Weddings

2012-01-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

It was a very busy December for us this year, and here it is already January 2012. I am just going to post pictures.Christmas gatherings @ Grandma Peggy's and Grandma Myra's, Gingerbread building with friends, Christmas eve Brunch, Christmas Day, and a beautiful wedding. But I do have to say this was a very memorable Christmas. It was sooo wonderful having Matthew, Dallin & Jaclyn home with us this year!!!! Our first one with them in a long time. Our phone call with Page Choro, did not disappoint! He sounded wonderful! We are so glad that he is doing so well and is so happy serving the Lord and the Japanese people. Our nephew Tyler and his sweet wife Savannah got married on New Years Eve. Congratulations you two! We know that 2012 will bring many challenges as well as many blessings, we are ready for them. Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Birthday Elder Smethurst!

2012-01-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

Today is Elder Smethurst birthday. Happy 21st Elder! Just want you to know how much we love you and wish you much joy and happiness in the new year!

Matthew's back @ BYU!

2012-01-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

Well Matthew is back out at school and all settled in thanks to Dad. They have had a great time together this last week. I am so glad that Steve went out with him to have some one on one time with him. Mckenna has been a huge help also, she is filling in for me :) giving guidance on the apartment and other things. Thanks so much Mckenna! Love you. While there they have gotten to catch up with some great friends and meet new ones, Alicia, Aubrey, Carlos and Vicki!

Thanks to Alcides and Julianna for having them over for dinner. Steve is always in heaven when he can go back to his mission :) And to all my boys (RM's) love you all but thanks so much to Nolan, Carson and Stephen for meeting up with Matt and Steve while they were there. What a sweet reunion! Love you guys! I know it has been and nice trip but I am ready for my sweetie pie to come home. Matthew good luck in school, may the Lord watch over you while you are so very far away! Work hard and have fun!!!! Mckenna make sure he has fun! Love you both! Have a great semester....and most of all enjoy dating and living close to each other!

A New Year for Page Choro

2012-01-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!!Hahaha Good job with the Japanese mom!! You will have no problem getting around when we come back here to visit one day! ;o) Yes I know Elder Bellows. He is a in the Sapporo Mission and I met him while I was serving up there. Really good guy and really funny. I heard from Dad all about his and Matt and Mckenna's little adventure out there this past week. Sounds like it was pretty fun filled, whether it was meeting Alcides or people peacing to Vegas or Hair catching on fire. Matt better be careful, all that fun might hurt him!! ;o) I am glad you got to talk to Marissa before she left. She is going to have so much fun there! I will be honest though, something about her going to Ecuador just makes her feel even farther! So excited for Zach Ward and also for Tommy!!! That is super duper exciting and I cant wait to hear! Come on Zach, Japan Sendai is definitely the place for you!!! I got some gloves Mom so you dont have to worry about it. They arent perfect but they work. Worse than the cold here is just the raining/snowing every single day, it makes it impossible to stay dry, and thus impossible to stay warm. I finished another memory card that is full of Christmas stuff and a whole bunch of funny videos. I will send it off in the next couple of weeks, but first I am going to finish a tape for you guys and send that too. :o) Things with me are going good though. The truth is that I got really sick and had a kind of miserable New Year. I am on the tail end of it now, but I was sick for about 4 days. Just the normal, crazy coughing and blowing of the nose every minute kind of thing. Everybody said I looked so pitiful. I feel much better today though. Despite being sick, the new year was very busy. We did our cleaning for that entire day, the next day, President had us read the book of 3 Nephi and make new years goals which turned out to be a great experience for me. Then yesterday we got to go to a Japanese Shrine and participate a little in all of the New Years Celebration. It was really fun and I got a lot of fun pictures. I am kind of a weird out of body mindset almost. I can hardly believe that I have been gone a year, but at the same time, I feel like I have been a missionary my whole life! I have learned so so much on my mission so far and one of the things I thought about a lot during the New Year was how I can better become like my Savior. With that in mind, there was nothing better I could have done than read 3 Nephi which has the words right out of Christ's mouth on the pages. There were two things that really popped out of the page into my heart, one of which was 3 Nephi 12:42. Go grab your scriptures and read it. And when you have a moment, dont just read it, ponder about what Jesus is saying to us. I cant even tell you what it means because I believe that Christ is speaking to all of us in a very individual way. We all know in our hearts how we can listen to and hearken to the words of Christ in this scripture in our own individual lives. Something that I know and that I can testify to is that when we live by this verse, when we live by the example of Jesus Christ, we WILL have the fullness of joy. We can have heaven on earth, Zion in our homes and families. The way this verse is written in Japanese uses the wording of $B$7$J$5$$!# (B Which reads "shinasai" which means "DO IT!" Christ did not offer this up to us as a suggestion to try out in our lives, living according to this principle is a commandment. I would challenge you to take a little bit of time to read, ponder, and pray about this scripture and how you can better follow this commandment in your life. Mom, you are such an amazing example of following this teaching, thank you for your amazing example to me and to all you associate with. I had a wonderful New Year and I hope yours was and is amazing as well. I love you Mamma!! I love you all and I hope you have a great week! I will talk to you guys next week!! Remember that "He does not believe that does not live according to his belief."Love always,Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Merry Christmas from Elder Page & Happy Birthday Zachary!!

2011-12-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my baby is 20 years old! I am running out of teenagers :) Zachary we hope that you are having a wonderful birthday this year! Make sure you use all the fun things in your package to celebrate your big day. We love you soooo much, just one more to celebrate so far away!!!! HaPpY BiRtHdAy SwEeT bOy!!!Dear Family,Merry Christmas Everybody! From over here on the opposite side of the world, I couldn't be more grateful for the wonderful family that I have been blessed with. I love you all so very much. I miss you more than you know. Not only am I away from family in large part I am away from Christmas. If you walked around here you would 100% not be able to tell it is Christmas. I hope this package will bring a little spark of Christmas to you all. I guess I need to explain everyone's presents. I guess I will start with Matt's present. SO first I got you what is called a (sorry I can't type the symbols that he wrote) It is pronounced D0akaten...have you figured it out yet? It is a door curtain. :) Japanese is a pretty funny language. They have them all over the place in Japan so I figured I would give a little bit of Japan to you. I also got you sli;;ers. Those are the pretty typical slippers that you put on when you take off your shoes and come into the house. Enjoy, they are way comfy. Then I got you a cool pair of socks! I love you Matt! Have a very Merry Christmas. Next, I got Abby a pair of socks too. Because I know she loves them. THen I got her and Tory Japanese door curtains too. I hope you like them! :) Lets see, Dallin and Jaclyn's the worst ever. I struggled to find something so all there is is a hand towel. I was told that it is like a famous hand towel...I would feel bad except that President Uchtdorf said "we cannot bring the gift of perfection" in his Christmas talk so it swept away my guilt. ;) I love you two!!! Dad, I got you a very Japanese tie. They are all thin like this and the purple is totally you. You better wear it to church is all I am saying. Remember, you are a bishop, you're not the pope ;) I love you Dad. Mom, I could not find you a nativity, but I have this wreath thing I will tell you the behind it. So last week we had a Christmas Music Fireside. I was calling around and inviting members and making sure they remembered. As I was flipping through the members record, I came across a really old, tiny lady that lives all alone named Sister Ishida. Knowing that she was so old and fragile, I almost skipped her and moved on, but I remembered that NOBODY should be alone on Christmas. I called her and asked her if she was coming. She went on to explain to me that she would love to go but that the walk to the church would be just too much on her old body. Feeling her desire to not be alone during this christmas time, I hung up the phone and immediately called other members to work out someone to go to her house and pick her up by car. We worked it all out and nobody was left out. The next sunday, as people crowded into the hall before church, I heard a lettle old ravaged voice calling out, "Page Choro! Page Choro! Where is Page Choro?!" Then, came little old sister Ishida carrying a box in her left hand and her cane in her right. She called me over to her side and quickly opened up the box. Inside the box was this wreath. She said to me, "it isn't much and you probably don't need it, but this is the only thing I have to me that means christmas. Thank you so much for calling me the other day. Thank you so much. I want you to have this." She rewrapped the box and put it in my hands as I stood there stunned. She walked away before I could get out a word of gratitude. One of the most special Christmas moments I have ever had. As I thought about what happened between me, a 19 year old American boy from NC and an 87 year old single woman from Niigata Japan, of course there was only one thing that came to mind. What brought us together? Two totally otherwise unrelated existences turned christmas upside down for me. It is Jesus Christ. It is the love that he showed. It is the peace that He offers our Savior Jesus Christ brings different worlds together in a spirit of love and hope. When the Angel appeared to the Shepherds in Luke 2, verse 10 reads, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL people." If there is one thing I have learned this Christmas, it is that this great joy is to ALL people. Even worlds apart, when time and distance separates us, Jesus Christ unites us. His love brings us together. His hope gives us a smile on our face and a bright, beautiful sunrise on the morrow. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ was born, lived and died, and lives again for us. I know that through him ALL people can rejoice. Christ is our Lord. Praise his name forever. I love you all so much. I love you from head to toe, from good ole Steve, to Mamma Page, to Dallin (in Tory's Dallliin! Voice) to Jaclyn (in Tory's Jaccclllyn voice!) to Matty Patty, to Abby Bell, and even down to Tor, my forever buddy. I love you and miss you this Christmas. Even though I will miss the gingerbread houses, and presents and the Polar Express, I am with you this Christmas, I love you all, I love my forever family!!! Merry Christmas!Love you son and brotherElder Zachary Taylor Page

Having a COLD winter in Nigata Japan

2011-12-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Mom, I had a good week last week. We saw a lot of miracles and we were able to find 3 new investigators. It is really nice to see the work pick up after about a month of slow success. The weather is really really bad here. I found out this week that the worst winter in Japan is actually found in Niigata prefecture where I am!! Yay! It has been snowing for about 4 days straight off and on. It makes riding a bike pretty rough. I am soaking wet all the time to the point that we dont even try to keep ourselves too dry anymore. hahaha :o) I got my birthday card from the ward this week which put a big ole smile on my face. I also got a letter from about 3 months ago from Carlos and Landon. It came all beat up and it had paper taped to it that said it was shipped to Jamaica instead...yeah. I wanted to thank Dad so much for all of the Packer updates he gives me every week. I really do love reading them, especially when they are going to win another superbowl!!! They better not just be good while I am gone and then be done when I get back!!! ;o) Another thing that I mentioned before Mom is that I do want to vote and I know all of that stuff is coming up. Can you please look into that for me a little bit. I am sorry you are way busy and I dont want to disrupt the Christmas time, but if you could do that it would be great! Thanks! Lets see, I have all of the stuff as far as calling goes next week. So you guys will call my phone directly at 10 pm your time on Christmas Eve. I am sorry for the late hour but that is the way we have been told to do it. So call me 10 pm NC time. That should bring you right through to my cell phone. In this bad weather I had two whipouts this week. One on foot where I slipped going down the steps and 100% landed on my back, and another about 10 minutes ago where I slipped on the snow on my bike and ate it. I love it. Hopefully you guys get all of your Christmas stuff this coming week. I have learned something interesting this week. A lot of times missionaries on the mission say that the Mission Christmas is the best ever. Although it is really wonderful and I have truly had a lot of wonderful experiences, it isnt true. I miss my family. Christmas just isnt the same without family. I miss you guys. I love you all so much, I hope everything is ok and you are just super busy. I will talk to you guys on Sunday(your saturday!). I love you guys! Now I am going to go build a snowman. :oD Have a great week and a wonderful Christmas! Love always,Elder Zachary Taylor Page

I've never felt this cold before...

2011-12-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!!So just to go ahead and put this out there first, calling will happen on my Christmas Day, which will mean your Christmas Eve. President has laid it out there cut and dry for us so we dont have a ton of manuvering room. We will have around 40 minutes only to talk and I will tell you the exact stuff next week, but you will have to call me just like last time, and it will probably be late over there because we have church over here. I will let you know how to call and all of those specifics next week. Alrighty then, Sounds great that you guys had the Whites over for dinner with you all. Sounds like quite the gathering! Haven't gotten your package yet but I have gotten four others! I got two from MJ, one from Papa Lindsey and Grandma Myra, and one from a family in my old area. I have been so spoiled. Also, at our Zone Conference last week I received my letter with letters from all of you and Mckenna and Mj in it. It just warmed my heart up so much. Thank you so much for that Christmas gift. I wish I had more interesting stuff to tell you than I think I have! haha We had a really good week. We visited a lot of members and did our best to bring some sort of Christmas spirit to this country! We sang and bore testimony of Jesus Christ to members and so many members were so happy to have us come over. The weather last week was rediculous. I tell you, I have never been so wanting a car in my entire life. The wind was blowing at like 40 mph, it was about 0 degrees celcius, and there was hail coming down for like 3 straight days. Lets just say that I never want to ride a bike again. ;oD It was fun though because as we trucked through the Abyss, Elder Sanders and I sang "I had the time of my life, and I've never felt this cold before..." Elder Sanders just helped me remember another story. We were housing and he just asked this woman through the door if we could sing for her. There was a 5 second pause and then she said, go ahead. We sang Angels We have Heard on High. When we finished there was another 10 second awkward pause and then he asked her if she heard. Another awkward 5 seconds later she just says through the door, Go home. It was pretty funny. Just remembered another story. Elder Sanders and I roasted Marshmellows with Chopsticks over our heater in our room. That was pretty ghetto. :oD I am sending off your guys christmas package today so I hope that you get it and like what you get. I tried really hard! We had a Christmas activity on Saturday. Elder Sanders and I sang Walking in a Winter Wonderland and then I dressed up for the Branch Santa Claus. Elder Sanders was my reindeer. :o) It was really fun and you will get pictures of that at some point. Service is all done until the spring. It is just too cold to keep going so we won't be traveling very much anymore. We found an investigator this week, but we aren't sure if he is quite ok yet. He called himself a Samurai and whipped two knives out of his bag. :oD Lets just say we still have faith and are going to keep searching hard. Well, This email was all over the place and I am sorry but I got to go. Mom, I still want to read Jordans emails every week so please make sure you forward those to me please. :oD The church is true. I know it even more as this christmas time roles around and we feel the love of our Savior Jesus Christ even stronger. Everybody enjoy the holidays and if there is one thing I would have you remember, it is the words of President Monson, "We are illuminated by Christmas when we start thinking about people instead of things." I know this to be true. The people around us are the most important. I may get all the things in a package, but it just isn't illuminating when you dont have the people on the other end. Remember how very blessed we are. I love you all so much. Have a great week!!!Love always, Elder Zachary Taylor Page

2011-12-05T06:40:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Japan :/ ?

2011-12-05T05:46:00.001-08:00

Hello Mom, and Everybody!Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!! I feel like I can say it now because it is December, my favorite month of the year!!! I cant wait to watch the Christmas Devotional, we get to see it next week because I am living in the land where to sun starts shining when yours hasn't gone down yet! Feels weird that it is my birthday again. I still remember when you surprised me with Jordan and Kirby and them last year. That was just the greatest ever! Now I am just getting old...I never thought about not being a teenager anymore!! I dont care if I dont get much Mom, when have I ever cared! I am just glad to be able to have Christmas with my...oh wait, I wont be with my family!!! ;o) I am just kidding, it will be a great Christmas. That is crazy about the tree falling!! I dont even want to know which ornaments broke, that is just too crazy! I have never heard about an oragami nativity scenes, but I am going to one last place today to finish the Christmas shopping so I will give it one last search! Stinks that you havent talked to Marissa in so long...I bet I havent in longer!! haha :o) I have no idea for a present, I dont know what she needs because I havent heard from her in so long. I am still trying to work my brain enough to get her something good. Maybe you could make her something mom, like an apron or something. She might need something like that in Ecuador babysitting all those kids for 3 months. You are the most creative person I know Mom!! You will figure something out. Heard about Christopher and that was great to hear. I will remember Matt in my prayers. I will get pictures back out there for Christmas because I just finished up another Memory card. 400 pictures/videos coming your way! Service is going good. Yeah there has been a lot of progress in the past 8 months. I can hardly imagine it could ever all get cleaned up but its going along. I dont know how sweet my face is anymore coming to the rice capital of the world over hear but you will get some pictures. :) Did I tell you that Niigata Rice is actually the best rice in the world? Well...it is. :) Glad to hear things are going good. Dad keeps giving me the BYU and Packers updates which I love to death, thanks Dad!! The Packers are doing so good! Things here are going alright. Things arent really picking up, but we are still working hard. We are hitting really hard on Christmas Missionary Work. Elder Sanders plays the guitar super super well so we are going to sing for a lot of people this week. People just havent been listening very well in this city. :) No worries though because the Lord will keep providing us with little miracles to keep our chins up. So it is weird to not really have a Christmas season. Nobody really does much at all here. Some stores put up a tree but that is about it. Kind of sad and lonely because you know how much I love Christmas! We had a specialized training last week about Budgeting from President. A lot of missionaries have no idea how to handle there money and run out all the time. It just made me really grateful for Dad teaching us so well how to weight our pockets. I have about 3 months supply of money in my account so Dad did really well. :o) Also on that day I got to have an interview with President that went really well. We talked for about 45 minutes about a bunch of different stuff. I talked to him a little about when to go home, it pretty much comes down to Jan 3 or Feb 14. We talked about school and needing something to do but also needing to see family and stuff. He gave me his opinion, but what do you and Dad think? President is an amazing guy that I love very much. Well, I am running low on time. I have to go finish shopping for Matt and Marissa. :oD Something interesting I learned this week was about the principle of prayer and faith. In the New Testiment, Christ taught that if we have faith, nothing doubting, and we can command a mountain into the sea. I thought about that principle a lot and applied it to my prayers. I recieved answers that I had been searching for for weeks. I know that God answers prayers. Sometimes we have to be patient, but they will come. Sometimes I wish that they came with better timing because if they did I wouldnt have messed up as much, but we learn from our mistakes. God Lives, Jesus is the Christ. I love you Mom. I love our family, I love Marissa. :oD Have a great week!!! Love always,Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Happy First Anniversary!

2011-11-29T07:10:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it!!!! Dallin & Jaclyn celebrated their first anniversary on the 26th! It has been the fastest year ever! I pray that the years are kind to them and that every year is the best year yet! We love you both so much! Happy Anniversary!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T07:05:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving we went to the Jenkins/Monroe side to celebrate. It was so great seeing cousins, Aunts and Uncles that I have not seen in a while. It was so wonderful having so many there. All of moms sisters and her brother were there, which is a blessing considering many have been sick recently. What a great family to come from. I am sure that Grandpa and Grandma, Uncles Norman and Gilbert, other aunts, uncles and cousins were all smiling down on us as we all laughed and caught up on our lives with eachother. What a truly blessed Thanksgiving it was.

Another day of service

2011-11-29T06:54:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! As usual it sounds like things are just a going along back home. I will just go ahead and throw this out there at the beginning, the idea of Abby dating an RM is just what you would say in Japanese as "kimochi warui." I can't even believe my little sister is so grown up!! Thanksgiving sounds like it was great. We didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, we just worked through the day and I only remembered it because of this email!! Dallin and Jaclyn hit a one year mark, that is just crazy fast. Christmas tree...that one might be hard Mom, I don't know where I could find one! I looked for your Nativity scene and asked tons of people but I don't think they even have a normal Nativity scene in this country. I am trying to get stuff for christmas but there is just no time! We have to go up to Sendai again this week so my email will be short because we have to catch a 5 hour bus! Way funny story about the runway at Carolina Mall. You and Zach are right, I am pretty sure that I would have walked down it. ;) Things here are going pretty good. The work picked up just a tiny tiny bit this week. We didn't really, well, we are still just rocking the pavement searching all the time and it is pretty tiring, but we saw a lot of small miracles that just keep us knowing that something will happen. I am sitting here right now and just trying to think of something interesting to write. We worked really hard this week but it was all just pretty much the same old, well, you know, just doing the work. It hailed this week. I will tell you what, riding a bike in the freezing cold with hail falling is not safe or fun. I am way way excited to see a picture of Marissa's hair! I always always told her that she looked so beautiful in her senior photo where her hair was shorter! I can 110% guraentee that she just looks phenominal!!! whew, it has been a really fast 2 months, but it has felt like forever since I have gotten a letter from her! Well, this email might be my shortest one yet and I am so sorry, but I have to go! I will give you guys a good one next week! I love you all. This gospel is true. I can promise that. I love you Mama, this past week in Sunday school I was asked what is the greatest comfort in the world to me and I said my Mama's hugs. :o) I love you!! Talk to you next week!Love always,Elder Page

It's getting cold in Nigata

2011-11-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hello Mama,
I am not sure what it was but I really enjoyed todays email. There is just so much going on back home that is exciting!! Thanks for letting me know about my name being Matt. Just so you and Dad know, I took out probably about $150 for now to do some Christmas shopping from my personal funds. Just a heads up on the bank account!! :) I will look for a navity for you Mom. I dont know if I can promise one but I will do my best. I know Abby is stressing but she is just the greatest Mom, is there really a chance that she wont get in? Just have her send a picture with the application and if the guy that reads her application is a guy she will get in for sure. Gosh my little sister is too pretty for her own good. Great to hear about Grandma doing better. I am glad to hear what you had to say about dating when I get home. It is reassuring to have your Mothers support. It just feels right if Mom says its right. :)
Wow, the Guffys. It has been a long time. I had to think a little bit the remember who they were. But, dont worry, I remembered. Luke is headed to Utah, sweet. I thought he would have gone already. I heard about Katie Nanto, that is sweet, heading to Washington.
Just a couple of things. I know you are almost done with my package, but if you had some more room in there, I thought today that Some nice maple brown sugar oatmeal would be nice. Dont really have that here. Also, some Christmas music like Josh Groban Christmas or Motab is alright to listen to. Also Mom, if you can email me how you make your homemade pizza. Everybody wants me to make American pizza but you know me, I don:t know how!!! ;)
Something cool that happend this week was that I got a letter from Sapporo. A woman named Yuzuka, I am sure I mentioned her in one of my first emails back in May or April, I taught her a lot in Sapporo. Well, I got a letter this week telling me that she had FINALLY gotten baptised!! I was so shocked but so excited because we had worked so hard with her! So that was a great experience.
My son is great! He is just growing up so fast! hahaha Elder Sanders really is the greatest. He makes me laugh all the time and just works really hard. The work still really hasnt taken off yet, still kind of hitting nothing but the pavement everyday, but it will get better. I like life as a trainer way better than Zone Leader! I am not nearly as busy! All I have to worry about is my son and my area! I love it!! Also, Elder Sanders cut my hair for me today and it looks pretty good! The weather here is way terrible. It rains almost every day and it is so so so cold. Niigata is know for its winters, the worst winters in Japan. Awesome huh. Everyday rain and sleet and just pure joy!! It will make for a fun winter. Well, I dont have a lot of time left, but I want to end with my testimony. I had an experience this week with Elder Sanders that made me think. Several years ago Elder Anderson gave a talk called "You Know Enough" or something like that. I dont even remember it that well, but this week Elder Sanders said something that made me think about the title. He was having a hard day and he said that he didnt really know a lot about the Gospel because he is a convert. All I said to him was "Dont worry, you know enough. I promise you know enough." Sometimes we may not know all the answers in life. Sometimes things will happen that make you unsure if you can. But what I have learned is that if you have a testimony in your heart of the Savior Jesus Christs Atonement, you know enough. Our faith in Christ is enough for us to do anything. Having crazy Dad like scripture knowledge is important and to learn is vital, but If you feel the truth in your heart, it is enough. Hold to that truth in your heart when the winds blow and it will be enough.
I love you Mom, and I love you all. Have a wonderful week!!! From your Son who is gradually becoming odd because of Japanese culture,
much love,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page :o)

Things are going well with Elder Page

2011-11-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!!!
So today I dont have a lot of time to email. We have service up in Sendai tomorrow and so we have to hope on a 5 hour bus in the next little bit here. I will try to get in all that I can though. Things are going really really great!!! I love being a trainer! His name is Elder Sanders and he is from Spokane Washington. He is really tall and 22 years old and just a way studly looking guy. He has a pretty long story but he is a convert to the church of about two years ago! He has a strong testimony and a great desire to serve the Lord. He is still learning a lot but is making way fast progress. It is kind of funny to think that that was me just 8 months ago! It always brings me a smile to think about how terrible I must have been at Japanese. :o) The language is hard for him but I make sure that it doesnt get him down too much. He really is a great guy and I am so happy to be companions with someone so willing to work. The work is hard right now because we just white-washed in with nothing really to work with. But, there is a good feel about it and things will pick up pretty quick I think. The branch here is about 50 people so it is pretty big comparitively. I was asked to bless the sacrament yesterday which was, surprisingly enough, the first time I have blessed the Sacrament in Japanese. It was a pretty cool experience as I felt the power of that Sacrament prayer in another language. It just brought chills to my spine. :o) Something else interesting that happend this week was that I ripped my pants a little bit!! Mama, you would have been so proud of me because I whipped out the sewing kit for the first time on my mission!! I am pretty sure I messed up somewhere but the whole is fixed and my pants are holding together!!! :o) Speaking of pants, that is something I wouldnt mind for christmas. another pair of black slacks would be nice. Just like the calvin cline ones you got me before. They are just more fitting and less bagy and I have definitely come to like that way more. I have lost some weight recently so hopefully as it gets colder, and therefore the covers get harder to throw off, I can keep up the excersize. Oh Marissa...its a little tough not getting anything from her Mom. I just have no idea what is going on in her life and stuff so it just makes me sigh sometimes. Mom, make sure she is making time to have fun and date people please. I just dont want her to regret anything. Congrats to Tory on the Eagle; of course Abigal looks beautiful, its abby; great to hear grandma is out of the hospital and I am glad my letter made her laugh. Things are going good Mom. I am good. I am a little scared at how fast this is all going. I am going to hit a year in 2 seconds. I have fallen in love with this county and this work and the members. Leaving my last area a couple members came to see me off at the bus stop and they all started crying. Whew, tough sometimes. Well, thats all the time I have for today. I love you to death Mama. I have a dream about just cuddling up by the fire talking to you last night. We were laughing about Dad. haha Tell everybody i said hey and that I love them and that I think of them often. I really am starting to believe I will be home before I know it. Its way fast. I love you Mom, talk to you next week!!
Love your Son,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Happy 85th Birthday Mom!

2011-11-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

Mom, I can not believe that you are 85, I am so happy that I got your genes...hopefully I will look younger than I am for the rest of my life ;) You are the best Mom, just want you to know that I love you soooo much and I wish you the best birthday ever. I know it is not how you wanted to spend your birthday, but you just work on getting better and we will celebrate at a later date....PROMISE!
Thanks for being the best mom ever! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I LOVE YOU!

2011-11-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Elder Page is getting transfered to Niigata...

2011-11-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

Hello Mom and Everyone!!!
Well it is that time again! Another transfer gone and this time I am not making it through untouched. I am getting transfered. I will get to that after I reply a little to your email. I have been thinking about Grandma. I had a wonderful experience this week, a tender mercey from the Lord. I was thinking about Grandma when I felt prompted very quietly to ask one of the Sister missionaries about how her family was. I followed and asked. She then went on to tell me that in that very moment that I asked her she was worrying about her own grandma because she was in the hospital. We were able to talk and pray together for our grandmothers and it was a blessing to me. Another strength to my testimony of following the guidance of the Spirit, even when the promptings are small and simple.
I love hearing about Tommy and how much he is growing. I feel the spirit swell up in my chest every time I hear about his zeal for the gospel and his desire to serve. I know he can provide service in this work somehow. I hope Dad and President Baker can figure it out.
They have a holiday here called Gratitude Day and it is the day before Thanksgiving. I don't know what they do, but I doubt we will be getting a big ole' Mashed potatoes and Turkey dinner! :o)
I have lost about 10 pounds in the past couple weeks! I have been working out a lot better and I am getting back to the old me. I actually have been thinking a lot about how much I miss soccer and how I want it to be a part of my life while I can. I am pretty sure that I am going to do all I can to give BYU soccer a run when I get home. I will have to work hard to stay in shape and I don't know how I would do it, but for now I am going to do it.
Anyways, so, The news from my end of the tunnel. I am transfering!! Pretty crazy. I have been here in Kamisugi since June, about five or six months! I will be going to a city called Niigata. It is in the southwest part of the mission, and the 2nd biggest city in the mission. I have been relieved of my Zone Leader responsibilities! President called me this morning and asked me to become a Trainer. So, on Wednesday I will be going with my new missionary down to Niigata(5hours bus ride) and whitewashing the area!! :o) I am pretty excited about it all, but it just feels weird. I have just been here for so long and gotten to know everyone so well. On Sunday everybody at church was telling me how much they didn't want me to go. From the oldest grandpa to the little primary kids, everybody was praying that I wouldn't get transfered. It is so sad when you do your best in an area and just fall in love with it and then have to leave. Mom, the longer I am here, the more my desire to come back grows. I just can't imagine not being with these people again. haha One really funny story. Takeshi, my very first investigator who accepted the gospel and was baptized, he told me on Sunday something really funny. The translation is funny but this is what he said, "In order for the members of the Kamisugi Ward to recieve salvation, you have to stay here." hahaha He loves me a little to much. ;o) It is really sad, but I have already started packing my bags and am getting ready to go. It will be way different. No splits every week, no trainings, so meetings to travel to, just me and my "bean chan." That is what the new missionaries are called. It has been a transfer of learning for me. I have spent a lot of time studying and even more time on my knees, but all things have come together for my good. I know, even more than I did six weeks ago, that this church, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is real. It is true. It is something that can be carved into your heart through the trail of faith. The Lord will always be by our side. I know it. It will be a busy week getting settled in with my new missionary, but from here on out, I should be a little less busy. :o) Do you hear that Marissa?!?! I think I can do a little better with making you smile for a little while here. :o) I miss you all. I love you all. I pray for and think of you often. Lets just be honest to Mom, I want a letter from Matt!!! I want to here from him about everything! I love you Mama, have a great week.
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Our Abigail

2011-11-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do a little spot light on Abby today. I have watched her over the last few weeks, do nothing but homework, and realized that she has missed out on some really great family time because of it. Abby is a great student of learning. She really does enjoy school, but some days I am very tempted to tell her to put down the books andgo have some fun. I have to admit I will be very happy when this semester of school is over for her, having two englishes classes is about to do her in. She will be graduating this year, another senior. We are going to miss having her around next summer, but I know, if she gets into BYU she will be living her dream,and that makes me very happy. I am going to miss my girl. I really don't think that I can prepare myself for that day, just saying! I may just have to make a few trips to Utah next year to see her and Matt. I am so glad that her big brother will be out there with her to show her the ropes. I love you Abigail and I am so proud of the young woman that you are becoming.

A night at the Temple

2011-11-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

Elder Zachary Page just trucking along...

2011-11-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!
Once again it sounds like you guys had a pretty busy week! People giving talks, Dad doing his thing and punching everybody with the spirit, Missionaries doing good, engagements ending and more missionaries going, Halloween, Portugese, and openhouses!!! Geez I feel bad when I write because I feel like I have nothing interesting to say!!
Typical Marissa to just be dang amazing and do something like send you cookies right? :oD
By the way, I got your package!! Thank you so much!! I have been giving a lot of the Warheads away for three reasons, one is because I am trying to get back into pre-mission shape, two I am trying to be more charitable in all that I do, and three, Japanese people have no idea what hits them when they pop a Warhead in their mouth!!! It is pretty funny...probably a thing you have to see to think is funny I guess. :)
But yes, Yesterday I decided that I am pathetically out of shape. So a lady in my Ward, her name is Sister Yoshida. She is a about a 38 year old single woman that loves to try and flirt with the American missionaries. Yesterday at church she taught me a knew word she learned in English..."six-pack." Then she asked me if I had one...I was so ashamed at my former abs, now mission-baby, that I decided right then that I am getting back into shape.
That was super cool to hear about Dad teaching in Portugese. I hope that I can do that when I get back. I have been falling in love with this language. It is kind of a cool feeling to be pretty much fluent in another language. :o) I am definitely think I want to use Japanese in my Job one day.
I am thinking and praying for Grandma. Tell her I love her for me mom and that I am thinking of her.
So other than a firm conviction about excersize, I am just trucking along. Had another busy week last week I travelded out of my area three times this week so it was more than enough to keep me busy. Something kind of interesting is this Japanese band called Bless4 came and did a fireside here yesterday. They are 4 siblings and they sing in English and Japanese. I actually way like them. You should look them up on Itunes and see if you can find any of there stuff. We got to talk to them and stuff because they are my age. That was pretty cool. Things are about the same as they have been all transfer, but I recieved a ton of strength and support this past week. I could feel my Savior stronger than ever. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. They do help, I can promise you that. I wish we were teaching some people who were progressing, but it is a little hard right now and we don't have any investigators. We are working hard to find someone though and it will pick up soon I think. There is one funny story...I guess it is kind of funny. Well, it isn't very funny but it is a story. So because my Japanese is pretty dec, everywhere I go I get assigned to translate. On sunday, there were three Americans that aren't members at church. They had come to volunteer and so a member came up to me, gave me a squashed Baby Ruth bar and asked me to translate for them. One of the talks started talking about what he was learning in his physics class...it was fun. By the end of that sacrament meeting I was more tired then when I walked in. hahahaha :o) I love this work. The more I am working and the longer I am here, the more I fall in love with the badge.
Still trying to figure out why the Lord had to assign me all over the world before getting me here, but I am doing my best to serve him. This gospel is true. I know it. We can't do much on our own, but with Father and our Brother Jesus Christ by our sides, our burden is made light. If we come unto him, he will take our burden and his yoke is easy. I love you all so much. Next week is transfers so I will be emailing a different day I think. I might transfer. I have been in Kamisugi since May. I love it here and dont want to leave, but if I get transfered I think I will be ok with a new comp and new area and less travel. :o) Have a great week!!!
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Matthew Page is finally home!

2011-10-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Words can not express the joy of having a missionary return home, so I won't even try. The pictures speak for themselves. It has been a whirlwind week, we have been sooo very busy. Steve has been out of town and all I want to do is sit down and talk to Matthew about his experiences, but Steve is not here and I don't want him to have to repeat everything. But he has Grown sooo very much, you see it immediately. He is slowly adjusting to life outside the mission. And it truly is an adjustment. But I look forward to the days ahead just being with him. I find myself just staring and him and smiling...I could not be happier.

Elder Page is missing all the excitement at home...

2011-10-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!
Wow, it is beyond crazy to me to picture you all with Matthew. To be totally honest it makes me feel a little left out of the family, but, it is ok because I am proud to be able to say that my homecoming will be the biggest!! First time the whole family will be together in a long long time when I get back. :o) I am fine though so don't worry. Glad things have been exciting and busy as usual.
Thanks for throwing in the Liverpool update Mama. :oD Pray for Ben, if he looked terrified at his farewell, the first part of the MTC is going to be pretty dang hard. He and Ryan will do just great though. It is crazy to even think that we are all going to be missionaries after just growing up together.
Crazy Abby will be in College when I get back! Our family Christmas gift exchange is growing!! We now have Jacs and McKenna to throw into the name pile (might as well throw Marissa in there too!). I got Elder Smethurst letter but I just have been trying to get letters out to people with not a lot of time. It is still sitting on my desk to reply to.
I got to do a split with Elder Lay this week and it was so nice! I miss him but luckily as the Zone Leader I have communication with him all the time. Elder Ellis wrote Kirby because I made him. hahaha you never know!! Other than that, this week was a little stressful to be honest. My face has even broken out with Acne after way clearing up the last few months. The work has hit a stall here in the past three weeks. As a leader it puts pressure on you when your numbers tank. I am learning about communication and talking through things that is for sure. I am trying to do what you said though and just love the guy to death!! It is tiring but as I am loving him to death, it keeps things together alright. More than anything, like usual I am just tired, and this week we have two splits again and so it won't slow down, but I have obtained a firm testimony that the Lord will sustain us if we rely on him. I have a little less time than usual today so I have to go, but know that I love you all so much. Don't worry about me, enjoy your time with Matthew, just do me a favor and remember me in your prayers.
Because of my Savior, there is never any reason to worry. Doubt and fear are eternally opposed to faith!! I have faith in My Savior and this work and in all of you. The hope of the gospel can bring you through anything. That is something that I can promise. A favor mom, you may have already done it, but, the music from conference would be really nice. I love you all, have a wonderful week!!! I would love to hear from Matt a little more personally about how he is doing!!! hint hint!
Love Always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Page gets conference a week late...

2011-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last night while emailing Elder Page, we happen to be on at the same time (me later than usual and him earlier than usual) PERFECT :) Any way it was sooooo fun to chat with him a while. It made him seem so much closer than he is. While emailing he was experiencing a pretty big earth quake. He says that they happen all the time, but this one made him a little anxious because it was so big, but all is well, and he is fine. I love that boy, he is always so very sweet to his mother :) He is growing so much and so fast. I can not believe he has been gone almost 9 months, its crazy how time really messes with me.

Hello Everybody!!!
Well where to start with this past week. One, I read Matt's last email and...wow...that is just crazy. Mom, you are probably going crazy with excitment! I dont even really know what to say about it. I thought a lot this week about my service as a missionary this week. It was a great time to do so figuring that conference was coming up on us this past weekend. I thought a lot about my service I have given as I am coming up quickly to a year on my mission. I can understand Matthew so well at this point. You do wonder about what you have been able to give and if the Lord accepts what you have to give.
Like Matt, this weekend at conference I recieved assurances through the spirit that this was God's work and that I truly am his servant. I have come to love this black nametag!!
You guys are probably going to have a crazy busy week with Matt coming home! Anyways, I will get on to more detail about my week. First of all, I am pretty sick. Not sure what it is or how I caught it but it seems like it just has to do with the combination of the changing weather and that I am tired and honestly, a little stressed. This week there was just a lot going on and I got less sleep that normal. We had a tsunami cleanup thing that I had to get up at 4 in the morning for, and then the next morning I had to get up and go straight to a Zone Leader Council, then we had to give a training the next morning, and then a huge Area/Zone Planning meeting that took 6 hours! Now, it may sound like I am whining (well, I am a little bit :)) but all of that led up to general conference. I absolutely loved so much! I could go on about how much I loved and learned, but based on the week I had I wanted to talk just a little about President Henry B Eyring's talk in Priesthood Session of conference and Elder Robert D Hales talk on Sunday morning. The combination of these two talks was enough to fill up my gasoline tank for another 6 months. President Eyring talked about how we have been prepared by our Heavenly Father to fullfill our priesthood assignments. He spoke of how the Lord will offer us opportunities to work and if we take them in stride then we grow. I have really felt that message in my heart recently. He said that The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood truly means to form a habit of working past the point when others would have taken a rest. Then comes the connection to Elder Hales talk. He spoke of principles like trusting in the Lord and patience and waiting. Through developing those traits we are fullfilling our Life's purpose. There have been times on my mission when I have wondered why I have been put in certain circumstances or why things happend to me this way, but Elder Hales said that we will find it hard sometimes to understand the will of the Lord; it is often given to us line of upon line. We must learn to wait on the Lord and maintain hope in his promises. The combination of these two talks taught me so much about how to live, how to serve a mission, and just more about my individual purpose in this life. Sometimes we may wonder about what the Lord is doing, but I have learned from experiences in my life that he ALWAYS knows. He is always giving us opportunities to take opposition and make it for our good. Life just requires hope. A hope in all things. Hope truly has become my favorite gopsel principle. It provideds an axis, and ancor for our lives. If we have hope in all things, truly everything, then our lives are on a foundation that cannot falter. As we all try to fullfill the many responisibilites that the Lord has placed before us, let us ALWAYS have hope in him. Trust in him. Have faith in his purposes for us. In so doing, we find the fullest measure of peace and joy that this mortal life has to offer. I know that The Book of Mormon is the true word of God. Like I have said before, it is either true or it isnt. If you care enough to really want to know, read it, you will find out that it is true. It teaches us about Jesus Christ. It gives us guidance, peace, and hope in our day. It is true. I know it is and I know that every single person can know for themselves. But, you have to try. I love you all so so much. I feel your prayers on weeks like last week, I will feel them this week as I have another week of 4 days of splits. Everybody have a wonderful week.
Have a wonderful dream week mom where Matty Patty comes home. :oD I love you Mom, tell Marissa that I love her like usual. :oD
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Zachary Page learns a new lesson...

2011-10-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

As a parent it is sometimes enjoyable to watch your children learn a few new lessons in life, lessons that really are not new at all, they are just suddenly appreciated.

Hello Everyone!!!!
Another week into the mission that has just gone so fast!! It killed me to hear all about conference from all of you guys!!! I am so excited for it but we don't get to hear it until this coming weekened. Can I just say perfect timing! It always just feels like right when you start to run out of gas and you really really need a boost that General Conference comes around! I can tell you that the timing couldn't be more perfect. Way to go with cooking the meat in soap Mom!! I cant wait to start singing songs about you and $teve!! hahaha Well, we went through transfers this week and it has been pretty interesting. Ellis Choro and Lay Choro are gone and the feel is way different around here. My new Japanese companion, Elder Watanabe, is good. We are still in the feeling it out stage and getting to know eachother still and figuring out how to do things the best and work together. It is going to be a good time working with him.
With the start of the new transfer and the new month, we are busy as every getting planned for upcoming trainings, splits, and meetings. This week alone is pretty crazy! This week we have Zone Leader Council again(it comes and goes so fast!). Then the next day we have to give a training on the Book of Mormon. The mission has obviously helped me grow in tons of ways, but something I have come to learn in my heart recently is about one of the aspects of the love of a parent. I don't think I will ever fully appreciate the parents that you and Dad were to me mom. You both loved me and raised me better than anyone could ever have and I am growing to appreciate that more. As a Zone Leader, we are always working for our zone, for our missionaries. We do all that we can to help them see success and to show them our love and support and just to make their missions a joy. Parenting is kind of the same, you bust bottom for your kids so that they can see success and joy. Sometimes you just feel flat out tired and even sometimes you complain, but I have come to taste of the joy that comes through that kind of service. You develope and love of the people you serve. You want to serve them more and you want to see smiles on their faces and excitement in their voices. I have come to be able to see that joy in my mission recently. I am grateful for you and Dad bustn' bottom for all of us kids, and I have come to see how much you truly love all of us even more. You can't even describe it can you mom? :o) As I keep going through life, I hope to better understand why my you and Dad did so much for Me, Dallin, Matt, Abbs, and Tory. I think about it sometimes. The soccer games, the dinners, the campouts, the homework, the trips, the staying up late watching movies when I just know you want to get some sleep. I think I am coming to better understand that love and I can't thank you and Dad enough for it Mom. I love you so much Mama, and Dad, you guys truly are, along with every other butt bustn' parent, the biggest blessing in the world to your families. This coming time is going to be a big growing time for me I feel. I don't know if she told you or not Mom, but Marissa is not going to write me for 3 months. I am going to learn from my exprience with my companion. I am going to grow in patience and humilty from the experiences on the horizon for me and I worried about it a lot this week. I had a wonderful experience before Elder Ellis left. I asked him to give me a blessing and in the blessing he said, "Be Still." I have thought a lot about those words a lot. "Be Still my soul, the lord is on thy side. With Patience bear, thy cross of grief or pain." I know with all of my heart that my Savior Jesus Christ is with me. He is on my side. Whatever our cross may be, no matter when, with patience bear it and all will be well. I am truly grateful to Elder Ellis and him being inspired to tell me to Be Still. This gospel is true. God Lives. Jesus is the Christ. I am going to just have another busy week ahead and it will be P-Day again and time will just keep flying by me. Justein Wilson, Marissa's sister wrote me this week and she said, "You can't wear the black name tag forever." I am so grateful for her words to me in reminding me how truly special this opportunity to serve is. I love you all so much. Mom, I love you so much. I miss you. Have a wonderful week and everybody please put a smile on your face. Live is so much more sweet with a smile!!
I love you!!
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Matthew Pages Last letter....hope you have a tissue!

2011-10-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

It is a funny thing as a parent of a missionary. They leave home for two years and you are sad and happy at the same time. You miss them but know that what lies ahead for them is so worth the small sacrifice of time that you are apart. And then when it is time for them to come home, you feel the same thing all over again, happy and sad at the same time. You want them home but at the same time you miss all the blessings that have been coming over the last two years that they have been gone. What a wonderful experience it continues to be for me as a missionary mom, to have had two come home from serving the Lord, one still serving and more to go, and the blessing of loving so many more who have come to us from all over to serve us here in NC. I LOVE MISSIONARIES! The blessings are endless!!!! I am so greatful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows what we need so much more than we do and gives us opportunities to serve and sacrifice for others that they too maybe able to receive all that He hath. This gospel is true and for it I am so thankful.

Dear Family,

I never thought that I would be sitting down to write my last letter to you all. It still doesn't seem like I'm going home yet. The fact that I will be seeing you all next week still hasn't hit me :)

This last week was good. Conference was really good. It was so powerful & I really enjoyed priesthood session. I don't know who the speaker was because we only had audio in Willcox because the satelite wasn't working. He spoke about returned missionaries I felt that that talk was just for me & it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Also earlier that week I had the opportunity to go to the temple for the last time. It was a really sweet experience for me. I felt so much peace inside & as I sat in the Celestial Room I had a lot of time to reflect. I just thought back on the past two years. I prayed to feel that confirmation that my service was acceptable before the Lord. I felt peace, but not really the feeling I was looking for. I felt a little worried, but then realized I probably wouldn't feel it because I'm not done. :) I will work hard this last week. The temple is such a blessing I pray I will always strive to stay worthy to go.

I was sick on Sunday so I stayed @ the Bushman's & Elder Stringer went out with a member to visit people and attend conference with our investigators. It was just a 24 hour bug, but it wasn't fun. I'm fine now.

Well, other than not much for now. Anything I forgot to tell you all I will just cover it in our extremely long talks that I'm sure we will have :) It will be weird not to be looking forward to checking the mail like I have for the past 2 years.:)

I have loved the Bushmans alot. :) They are so nice and they are a family I would love to keep in touch with. :)

Elder Stringer is great as well. He's a solid missionary & I have no doubts about him taking the area. He will do great things.

In my last words to you all as a missionary in the field, I want to share my testimony. I know that God is so mindful and loving as our Father. He has a plan that is perfect and for our eternal happiness-through Jesus Christ this is possible. He is our Savior. I have felt despair and doubt from sin and mistakes. I've felt I couldn't go another day with the pain and burden. As I go to the Savior I receive peace and hope that all is not lost. We can be clean. We can be like Him and through applying His Doctrine we can know Him. When I stumble and fall and desperately reach out to Him and find that He was already there waiting, patient, reaching desperately for me too. :)

I have so many weaknesses and faults, but through Christ He makes my small efforts miraculous. I know that I have been called by Him to serve. I know I have been a small part in his Plan and that I was sent to Arizona to reach and touch lives. I have been simply the tool. I love the people here. They will always have a place in my heart. :)

I know that Joesph Smith was a prophet that restored the fulness of Christ Gospel. I have shared Joseph's account hundreds of times and I feel the spirit testify every time. It is true. He saw God and Jesus Christ. Through Priesthood Authority saving ordinances like baptism, can now be performed for our salvation. Our family can be eternal as we live the doctrines of the Gospel.:)

The Book of Mormon is scripture. I know it is true! I have read it many times and I find peace and strength from its words. I have prayed about the book and know it is from God. It contains power of testimonies of prophets of the Savior Jesus Christ. Through that book anyone may gain a testimony of this work. I've seen it!

The spirit testifies of these things and I pray I can live worthy of these blessings of knowledge. Not only can I have a testimony of them, but that I may be converted and act according to them.

I am a missionary of Jesus Christ! I am called of God! My authority is above that of the kings of the earth! By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ! He is my Master and He has chosen me to represent Him! To stand in His place, to say and do what He himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me! My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts, My words are His words and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done. To say what He wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter-day work! HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING!!!!!

I love my Savior and pray I may always be worthy to be called His servant. His representative. His missionary. His Friend! :)

I love you all so much! Thank you for your countless letters, packages, messages, and prayers. They helped me more than you know! I can't wait to see you all soon and give you all big hugs! :) Have a great week!!!

See you next week!

Love,

Your Son & Missionary,

Elder Matthew Page

Me & Abigail having some fun!

2011-10-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

We decided to do a fun deed! We can't say to who and where or when, we don't want to incriminate ourselves :) But it was so much fun, sneaking around in the dark! Happy Halloween!

Last week in the mission...

2011-10-03T11:20:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone,
Well, this past week went by pretty fast. We are just trucking along. More like me just trucking along. I'm not going to lie, I'm getting just a little anxious about going home. I feel like I'm in limbo. I want to just focus, but with coming home right in my face it's hard, and nobody forgets to remind me! :) Also I've realized one thing I will not miss is as a district leader makin calls at night.
This week one thing that as fun was that we helped a member out at a rodeo he was putting on! :) It was fun to watch. We helped at the end with taking the lassos off the calfs and also at the end we were rounding up the cattle. Elder Fredrickson and Elder Evans were crazy. Tey tried to ride the cattle and ELder Fredrickson landed in a big pile of poop! :0 It was a cool experience. Also the Brushman's were having family over this week so they took us out to breakfast on saturday and after we did a corn maze. It was lots of fun.
Other than that it has been pretty mellow. Me and Elder Stringer get along really well. It's been fun working together.
Tomorrow we are going to the temple. This will be my last one. I was lucky to be able to go one more time before I leave.
I'm glad th hear that things are good at home. I'm glad that things have kind of calmed down for a little while. I'm glad to hear that McKenna is doing well and that you are checking up on her. I'm so excited for her to come down.
I'm excited to see you all!!!! I hope you have a great week and enjoy General Conference. I know I will. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. You are always there for me. I will be susre to send off one more letter next week. Can you believe that I only have onemore letter to write! :)
I love you all and I will see you soon! :)
Love
Elder Page

Wow the lessons our kids learn...

2011-10-03T11:15:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!!
Another week into the mission that has just gone so fast!! It killed me to hear all about conference from all of you guys!!! I am so excited for it but we don't get to hear it until this coming weekened. Can I just say perfect timing! It always just feels like right when you start to run out of gas and you really really need a boost that General Conference comes around! I can tell you that the timing couldn't be more perfect. Way to go with cooking the meat in soap Mom!! I cant wait to start singing songs about you and $teve!! hahaha Well, we went through transfers this week and it has been pretty interesting. Ellis Choro and Lay Choro are gone and the feel is way different around here. My new Japanese companion, Elder Watanabe, is good. We are still in the feeling it out stage and getting to know eachother still and figuring out how to do things the best and work together. It is going to be a good time working with him. With the start of the new transfer and the new month, we are busy as every getting planned for upcoming trainings, splits, and meetings. This week alone is pretty crazy! This week we have Zone Leader Council again(it comes and goes so fast!). Then the next day we have to give a training on the Book of Mormon. The mission has obviously helped me grow in tons of ways, but something I have come to learn in my heart recently is about one of the aspects of the love of a parent. I don't think I will ever fully appreciate the parents that you and Dad were to me mom. You both loved me and raised me better than anyone could ever have and I am growing to appreciate that more. As a Zone Leader, we are always working for our zone, for our missionaries. We do all that we can to help them see success and to show them our love and support and just to make their missions a joy. Parenting is kind of the same, you bust bottom for your kids so that they can see success and joy. Sometimes you just feel flat out tired and even sometimes you complain, but I have come to taste of the joy that comes through that kind of service. You develope and love of the people you serve. You want to serve them more and you want to see smiles on their faces and excitement in their voices. I have come to be able to see that joy in my mission recently. I am grateful for you and Dad bustn' bottom for all of us kids, and I have come to see how much you truly love all of us even more. You can't even describe it can you mom? :o) As I keep going through life, I hope to better understand why my you and Dad did so much for Me, Dallin, Matt, Abbs, and Tory. I think about it sometimes. The soccer games, the dinners, the campouts, the homework, the trips, the staying up late watching movies when I just know you want to get some sleep. I think I am coming to better understand that love and I can't thank you and Dad enough for it Mom. I love you so much Mama, and Dad, you guys truly are, along with every other butt bustn' parent, the biggest blessing in the world to your families. This coming time is going to be a big growing time for me I feel. I don't know if she told you or not Mom, but Marissa is not going to write me for 3 months. I am going to learn from my exprience with my companion. I am going to grow in patience and humilty from the experiences on the horizon for me and I worried about it a lot this week. I had a wonderful experience before Elder Ellis left. I asked him to give me a blessing and in the blessing he said, "Be Still." I have thought a lot about those words a lot. "Be Still my soul, the lord is on thy side. With Patience bear, thy cross of grief or pain." I know with all of my heart that my Savior Jesus Christ is with me. He is on my side. Whatever our cross may be, no matter when, with patience bear it and all will be well. I am truly grateful to Elder Ellis and him being inspired to tell me to Be Still. This gospel is true. God Lives. Jesus is the Christ. I am going to just have another busy week ahead and it will be P-Day again and time will just keep flying by me. Justein Wilson, Marissa's sister wrote me this week and she said, "You can't wear the black name tag forever." I am so grateful for her words to me in reminding me how truly special this opportunity to serve is. I love you all so much. Mom, I love you so much. I miss you. Have a wonderful week and everybody please put a smile on your face.
Life is so much more sweet with a smile!!
I love you!!
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Wow the lessons our kids learn...

2011-10-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

TrAnsFeRs...

2011-09-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!!!
Ok, so I know that I said I would be emailing on Wednesday, but things this week have been way crazy. So I don't really know where to start...I guess I will just answer your question, no I am not transfering this transfer. However, it is super sad and terrible to tell, but Elder Lay is transfering. I don't know if I have expressed it enough in my emails, but I dang love Elder Lay. We were like the greatest team ever and him getting transfered was a big surprise. President called us yesterday and he told us that one of us would be affected by the transfer and that it would be Elder Lay. President has picked Elder Lay to be his next Assistant. I totally saw that coming sometime because Elder Lay is super awesome and I knew he would be an AP sometime but it was pretty unexpected for now. So, Lay Choro transfers tonight up to the mission home and I don't get my new companion until Thursday. More sad news, Elder Ellis is transfering too. He is heading all the way north to be Zone Leader up there. So, my two brothers are getting taken from me in one week!!! It is way sad and I hate to see them go but we are definitely going to be friends after the mission so it is ok.
So, I am now the Senior Zone Leader of the Sendai Zone. My companion is Elder Watanabe. He is a Japanese missionary and we will be the zone leaders together. I am excited for a lot of reasons but it will just be great even though I hate to see Elder Lay go. Plus, now that I have a Japanese companion my Japanese will get even better which I am excited about. When President called me he told me he was trusting me to take control and to lead this zone and it is slightly scary. Lay Choro and I had a lot of plans and we worked so good together, things will shift a little bit as a new missionary with new ideas comes in. Please pray for me that I will be able to fullfill my responsibility in the Lords service because I am going to be honest, I am a little anxious/worried.
I will remember Gordan and Eula for sure. Tell them I love them and I still think of Gordan's laugh and Eula's sweet potato pie and just smile. :)
The weather is definitely cooling down around here. We have switched back to long sleeves now. It is really beautiful here when the sun sets down over the city. It is a view that I hope you guys get to come experience with me again some day!
All of our investigators are doing good. We are working really hard to keep them focused on reading the Book of Mormon and praying every day. We have seen blessings from people reading that book. I can testify that The Book of Mormon is true. It has truly become an ancor and an axis to my life and I know that peace and happiness comes through reading it. By the way, we had a baptism last week of that girl I found, Mei. She had a wonderful baptism and is very happy right now. It was wonderful to see my second baptism with Lay Choro.
Dallin sent me the sports update, thank you so much Dallin!!! That was way refreshing to see! :) hahaha
I decided that I am just going to tell everybody a funny story that hopefully will make you all smile. So, in Japan, we do member lessons all the time. The members need a lot of support so every sunday after church we teach this one member named Brother Abe. We always give him commitments to do every week and he always tries to hide from us after church. He really needs the support and help through the lessons and commitments, so Elder Lay and I always find him and trap him and teach him. However, this past week, he ran into the church library and locked us out. We told him we would wait for him outside the door. We stood there laughing for about 2 minutes when all the sudden we see Brother Abe running outside. He had climbed out of this tiny little window in the back corner of the room and escaped!! However, he left his wallet in the library. So, we took his wallet (which had about 3000 dollars of money in it) and we just waited. When he realized that we had his wallet, he just gave in and walked into a room and we taught him about better understanding the Book of Mormon. Now...I know that is probably a terrible image of missionaries and church in Japan, but I promise that it was a very spiritual experience when he sat down and just did a lesson with us. :o) hahaha
Anyways, I don't really know what else to say. I have a good bit of time today but I kind of ran out. Tell Brian that I love him. He has nothing to feel down about. We all love him and the Lord will find other ways for him to bless lives if he will seek out those paths. The will of God will never take us where the grace of God will not protect us. I know that to be true. I love you all so much. Things will be pretty busy as usual from here on out but remember that I love you all and pray for you often!!!
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Less than 3 weeks...

2011-09-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to update you for this past week. IT was a good week :) The first part of the week was good. We had P-day. Then on Tuesday I was on exchanges with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Adams in his area down in Sunsites & El Frita (good luck finding that on a map) It was fun though. There are so many nice people in these small towns. Faithful members who just want to do good.
Towards the end of the week was the best part. On Friday I headed to Tucson for a district leader meeting with another missionary. We got done around 1:30, so...I decided to swing be the Institute on the way back :) When I walked in I got a huge hug from Elder Densley! :) I think he misses me. It was so good to see old members. Sister Nyemeyer in the front desk, Sarah W. :) also a girl I was teaching named Emma who is doing awesome! It felt so good! I love these people so much and they made me a better missionary. The work there has taken off which I'm happy about. It's sad I'm not there to see it, but I'm glad that Elder Densley is seeing it. I couldn't stay long so we headed home. Luckly, me and Elder Stringer came back the next day!!! :) I was so blessed to be able to go back and baptize Sarah Declay! RIght when I walked in she ran and gave me a huge hug! She looked so happy! She was just glowing! It was so great to see the members too! :) When the baptismal service started and then we went into the font I felt the Spirit so strong. A peace came over me and joy to see her take this step.
I also got to see old missionaries in my last district. Elders Hansen & Pierce. Theya re both good. Just being in Tucson is weird after being in tiny little Willcox :)
The work is still slow right now. The rest of the district is doing well. It's good to see miracles happening in the work. Just trying to keep that drive all the way til the end!!! :) The mission is definately hard!!!!!!! There are times that you want to go and that you can't keep going, BUT as you push through the Lord shows His tender mercies. I have been watched over and blessed as a missionary. He is mindful of me as He is with all His children :)
I love you all!!!!! Can't wait to see you. I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Page

Elder Zachary Page on his 5th transfer...

2011-09-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!!!
Sorry about the change up in P-Day this week! I had to do a YSA Missionary Activity yesterday so we got to switch our PDay. Just a heads up two, next week is transfers again so Pday will be on Wednesday. It doesn't look like I am transfering. Kaicho looks like he might be keeping Elder Lay and I together as the ZL's towards the end of the year. If that is the case, hopefully I will be alive by the end of the year. haha ;o) I am just kidding, I will be totally fine! Things have been going super good recently. But first, sounds like things are going well at home! I agree Mom, I do have something being great to look forward too in being able to spend eternity with a best friend. Something funny Ellis Choro said this week, he said, "Man, if on the mission we get assigned some random guy and we have to live with him all the time and learn to love hime, being married to some girl you love and get to choose yourself is going to be great!" hahaha I agree. Hahaha Mom, I don't even know what I will say to you guys in Japanese at Christmas! It is way hard if you don't have anyone to talk to! I can't wait either, conference is here again! Things go so fast don't they! The work is good right now. Elder Lay have been working really hard and seeing a lot of miracles. We have a baptism this week with a girl that I found about a month and a half ago. Her name is Mae and she is great! We have another Baptisimal Date with a 19 year old kid named Naoto. Me and Elder Lay have been working hard with him and he still has a ways to go but he is doing good. We also are teaching a Girl named Hidemi. She as been an English Class student for a year and a half but she has never had interest in the Missionary Lesson. I ran into her on the street last week and starting talking to her and really digging into why she hasn't and I pretty much talked her into hearing the lessons. We taught her yesterday and it was one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. We will continue to teach her and hopefully she will allow the message to work in her heart. Other than our investigators and area, last week was way way busy. We were on splits for 5 days last week and I am pretty tired, but I love the opportunity to work with all of the other missionaries. Our zone got a little bigger recently and now we have a total of about 25 missionaries we are over now....its big. Everyone is excited for next week because we have 6 new missionaries coming in. One thing I was thinking about recently and it really isn't a big deal, but if someone could give me an English Premier League update from the end of last season till now, that would be nice. I heard BYU got spanked but you guys got to keep me up on my Packers. :o) Well, I don't have much more time, I got to get going, but things are good. I can't believe next week is already 5 transfers, it is going by and I am trying to take advantage of every moment I have. I have felt the Atonement in my life in a new way recently. The burden of various responsibilities, worries about other missionaries and investigators, and being super tired has brought me to my knees for long periods every night. I have come to the Lord and saught out his comfort to help me move forward when I was not sure how I could do it alone. I testify that the Savior will always take our burden from us. He will never make us walk on our own. I know that my Savior lives. He is by my side and even at times carrying me along. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I am sorry if you write me and and you don't get a letter back, I am doing my very best! I truly do appreciate it so very much. I know this church is God's true church on the earth. I love you Mom, have a great week!
Love Always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Weddings always bring people together :)

2011-09-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Stephanie and Landon on their marriage. We enjoyed being with family this weekend. I had so many more pictures but it is not letting me download them...hum!!! I'll try to post them seperate.

RS CaMpOuT

2011-09-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

In Willcox AZ, working hard and will be home next month!

2011-09-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
It was great to get your letter here in my new area :)SO about the flight plans, I'll call and ask if they have sent it again to you all. I hope you get them soon. That's crazy that you have the time that I get in :) If I get in @ 4:25 will I be realeased that night by President Baker?
SO I'll speak on the 30th? I guess that's alright. That is quiet a while later but oh well. Whatever works :0 So Leslie is getting married right when I get home? That's pretty cool. Sounds like everything just seems busy that weekend I get home. No worries! I'll just be happy to be home :)
I'm excited for Zach and Abby, I am sure they will both get into BYU. I'm glad Dallin & Jacs are good. They are coming up for my farewell right! I'm excited to see TOry play soccer when I get back. I'm sure he is so different. I can see physically, but I'm sure he's grown up all around. That's cool Abby is working in the office :) I would love to go back and visit her in the office and to see everyone.
I got the B-Day package!!!! :) Thank you so much!!!! I did get my running shoes. They are really great! Thanks!!! I saw that you got me junk food anyways ;) I'll try to take more pictures. I've be pretty bad:/
So updates with me. SO as you know I'm in WIllcox AZ. Its a tiny town. Not as small as Fabens! We live with a member which is something new to me. They are the Bushmans & they are super nice! They have a really nice house!!! Like really nice! Its kind of weird to live here after so much time in old, nasty apartments. They are really nice about us just feeling at home. They let us borrow food so I'm eating alot better. I'm getting off the cereal diet.:)
My companion is ELder Stringer from San Antonio TX. He's a nice guy & loves to exercise like me!!!!! I finally got a companion who works out with me!
Small world though, Elder Stringer's best friend @ BYU was Elder Jordan's brother. (my MTC comp.)Crazy huh! Also we visited a less active who has family in El Paso in my old ward. I knew them!
So there are two wards here and we cover 2nd ward. They don't have a spanish branch, but expect the spanish members to go to the english wards. I'm the only spanish missionary in Willcox so I'll be pretty much on my own with teaching them.
THe people here are really nice and just old country folks :) It kind of reminds me of Caswell. The is a little slow, but we have to start somewhere. It's been kind of a hard week because we don't know anyone or how to get around yet, but were getting there.
Thanks for the Chili's cards, but there is no Chilis around here, so I'll probably just save them for a date with me & Mckenna.
I miss my old area, but I will try to do my best here. We are a brand new Zone, so wer are all kind of getting the hang of it.
Well, I love you all! I hope you have a great week! I'll write next week , &&&&& I'll see you next month!!!!!
Love Elder Page

Happy Birthday Matthew

2011-09-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves Matthew!!! Hope you have the best birthday! What a joy you have been to everyone that knows you. So glad that 21 years ago we were bless with your sweet smile. Love you!!!

2011-09-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last transfer to WIllcox AZ

2011-09-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hey mom
Just as a heads up, I got transfered. I am really upset that I am leaving. To leave with 6 weeks left is draining. I just feel disappointed with the area picking up and with working all summer to just leave. I will miss so much the members here! I want so badly to keep in touch with some of them. With working in the singles wards, these members actually become friends. :) I will miss them, but Elder Densely will do great and get to see lots of success in the coming weeks. I will miss him too. :)
Well, Im going to Willcox, small town, still english (This is the last nail in my spanish speaking coffin). I am opening up a brand new area in a brand new zone. I am the district leader and my companion has only been out for 6 weeks. Needless to say I will have my hands full. I hope I have the spirits to keep on working, to learn, set up, and work an area to just leave it in 6 weeks. This is not the way I pictured finishing my mission. Oh, well there is no reason in complaining about it. Just put my head down and run to the end. Sorry if I sound whiney. I just thought I would let you know how I feel about it instead of sugar coating it and just say,"I am excited for this new adventure". :/ I hope you all are doing great and please pray for me, especially in the coming weeks.
Love you all and I will talk to you soon.
Elder Matt Page

3096 N. Circle 1 Rd.
Wilcox, AZ 85643

here is my new address so I'll keep a look out :) Love you all! :)

matt

A message if Hope :)

2011-09-05T07:39:00.001-07:00

Hello Everybody!!
It was great to get to hear from you this week! Geez!! The weeks just go too fast sometimes! I will reply to your email first and then I will let you know how I am doing. I am so excited for Matt opening up that new area!!! Right now Elder Lay and I are working with President on opening up another area after the earthquake and it is an exciting thing. I guarantee that his President put Matt in there for his last transfer to start it off right. It is really hard to open an area so Matt is the perfect missionary for the job! It is all so exciting! I am also so excited for Michael leaving! He will do so great! I will do my best to get time to write a letter to the primary. I am not going to lie Mom, making time to write letters is way hard. I have been struggling to communicate well with Marissa lately. I will do my best but it is pretty hard with so many things to do. Today I just started my PDay and it is 6:00. We had things to do and phone calls to make up until six at night. I would love to get some jerky with something that granola! Just the fact that the recipe is Marissa's makes it so much better!! You have no idea Mom, just seeing her name typed in an email is refreshing. I am so tired that a spare second to think about Marissa is so nice. :o) There was a typhoon this week, but Elder Lay and I were all the way on the other side of the mission doing work then so we were totally fine. I love getting hand written mail so much! Speaking of, I got the package this week!!! Thank you so so so much! I absolutely loved it so much and it made my day. The candy doesn't help because I am still getting fat, but it was so delicious! :) The shirt was sweet and the tape was awesome. However, the tape didn't have much on it. I don't know if it messed up or something, but I only got to listen to Jordan and Kirby and Kyle (which was hilarious by the way) and Abby and You. Maybe that was all, but thank you so much!! I loved the package! I have a couple things that I would like in a package but in the moment I can't remember all of them. I have them written down but the only thing I can remember in the moment is two CDs by a guy named Alex Boye. They are called The Spirit and Be Still My Soul. They are awesome and I would love them. Also one called Nearer, which we might have on our computer. Those would be great! The other stuff I will let you know next week! So this week was probably the busiest week of my mission so far. We only spent about a day and a half in our own area! We had a service activity, another Zone Leader Council, and Splits on the other side of the mission! Needless to say I am quite tired, but I am great!! Things right now are pretty good, the weather is starting to cool down so it is a little less...in this moment I can only think in Japanese so I can't think of the english word for it, but it is getting nicer. Communicating in English is getting a little hard which sounds totally crazy, but my brain is slowly thinking all the time in Japanese. I guess it is a good thing now, but when I come home you guys are going to think I am pretty weird! :) That is exciting to hear that McKenna is coming down to NC a week after Matt comes home! I guarantee that he LOVES that. I also promise you that Marissa has already thought about that so many times so make sure she doesn't get too ahead of herself. ;o) hahaha The work right now in our area is a little slow but it is just because we have been so busy we haven't had a lot of time to do work in our area. Things will pick up though. :) Something short I wanted to share to end is something that an elder named Aiura Choro. He is a Japanese Elder that paid me an interesting compliment last week that got me thinking. He told me that my Funiki (it is a Japanese word that kind of means your aura or atmosphere or countenance, hard to translate) is hope. He told me that the way I communicate and carry myself just brings hope to people. It was a very nice and interesting compliment, but it got me thinking about the gospel and the word hope. I always try to show the gospel as a missionary and that elder helped me see that the gospel can be shown in a hope too. Right now in this country there are people without hope, and through this gospel, you can find hope. I am so grateful for the hope I find in Jesus Christ, the hope I find in the Plan of Salvation, the Hope I find in Family. All of this hope stems from this wonderful gospel. I testify that among so many other things that this gospel is, this gospel is a gospel of hope. Through the gospel, you can find hope in ALL things. I testify that to all of you in the Name of Jesus Christ. I hope you have a wonderful week! I love you all so so so much and I can't wait to hear from you next week! I love you mom. I think of you and your hugs so often.
Until next week!
I love you!
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Page has a baptism

2011-08-29T02:34:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!!!
I hope you are all doing great! This week flew by like I can't believe again! It feels weird to be sitting hear typing another email already! I am so glad to hear about Ben going to the temple! Things are just changing and everybody is leaving so fast! I did write him letter last week so he should get it around Wednesday I think. The Matt comes home countdown is crazy fast! This month of August went by SOOO fast! Haven't gotten a package but I will be looking for it!! Thanks as always Mama! Things this week have been crazy fast and busy, and for the next month it will do nothing but pick up. Last week we were traveling and did a split with the new missionary that came in and his trainer. The new missionary is very raw and a little timid but he will make a great missionary as he goes along. We are traveling a lot right now. We are traveling all over the mission over the next 5 weeks doing splits and doing training. Along with that, we have 3 days of service, then we have Zone Leader Council this week as well. Next week we have a big Zone Conference and then another Stake Dendo meeting the week after that! September is going to just fly by. This week was a little hard as far as missionary work in our own area is concerned. Every single one of our investigators dropped us except Takeshi's sister, and we gave her to the sister missionaries. So we have ZERO investigators. We had three straight days of about 7 hours of finding! :oD But, we have a good attitude and we are happy and things are good. I don't really have too many details to tell about stuff. Things are just pretty normal and busy. This is just one of those weeks mom, I don't have much to tell. It is pretty crazy how just things blur together and everything just becomes...schedulized? Is that a word? One funny thing, a guy from Californina came to church on Sunday and I had to translate for him. It amazed me how hard it was to think in English at church again after so long! Other than that, I hate to leave this email so short and uninteresting, but I am just going to send some pictures and wrap it up for this week. I hope everybody is doing great and is doing well as school and things get going again. I love you guys so much. This gospel is true and I am so grateful that we have this truth that allows us to be together forever. Until next week!
I love you!
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

2011-08-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!!!!
I am so sorry! Today will not be a very long email at all because i dont have a lot of time!!!! Today and these past couple days were way super busy! I am glad that you enjoyed getting all of the pictures!! I didn't write anything down for this one, but I send Marissa a tape and on the tape I explained the pictures! If you want to know what they mean, just get on skype with her and you guys can go through it on the tape! I am sorry, last week before I sent her her package I was scrambling and I didn't have time to write them all! yes, my hair was very appauling, but it has recovered. I have had a couple of funny/sketchy experiences with aisian girls but for the most part I am alright. :) I will remember Abby in my prayers,but I doubt she has anything to worry about. :oD AAHHH! Thanks for sending me a package, but if it isn't to much of a headache, I need a couple of things, well pictures of me. We have this new type of missionary activity we are doing and I need pictures of me as a young kid/soccer/junior marshall/etc. I am sorry for it being a pain, I just need them for this thing we are doing. We are really trying to change the missionary we do a little bit here. We are trying to do it through "referals" we have been doing a lot of activities and stuff like that with a lot of members and nonmembers there. That way, we can have and be teaching people with strong relationships with members. It is pretty tiring because right now the missionaries are planning everything! Hopefully we can pass it off to the ward in time. The baptism was great! I got him down and baptised in one try!!! Better than I can say for Zach!! hahaha :oD It was a great experience for everybody that came, especially his sister! We are still teaching her and she is our best prospect for a baptism soon. I wish that I could reply to everything better, but I have no time! Great to hear about Matt coming home, I am so excited for you guys! Dallin switching his major, I like it! I got the letter with Jordan's email, great to hear about him but it is too bad about his finger! Typical Jordan, District Leader. :oD He is going to do great, no doubt. Brian too! Ahh!!! Everybody is going! I wrote Ben a letter today so I will get that off tomorrow! Mom, I have no idea about anything for christmas or birthday! Absoulutely no clue! Just something that makes me think of the most important people in my life, so anyhting is great! These past couple of days have been really really busy and some ups and downs. We had a great baptism, but we also had several investigators tell us that they can't meet with us anymore. One told me, we got really close, that he would be my friend forever, but that he couldnt meet with us. It has been pretty crazy. Things with Elder Lay and I as Zone Leader are pretty busy too. We have a big Zone Conference with the Area Seventy, Elder Aoyagi, coming. We are also going to be traveling all over the mission every week for the next 6 weeks spliting with missionaries! Keep me us in your prayers so I don't just fall over in the middle of walking!! :oD Hahaha I am doing great though! I am happy and the work is great! i will send pictures of the baptism probably next week! I love you guys so so so so so so so so so much!!!! Give Marissa my Love as always and know that I always think of you and am praying for you. This gospel is true. I know that God is with his missionaries. I guarentee that this work is not possible to a normal human. The Lord Sustains his servants in his work. I love this gospel. It is true happiness and joy. Have a wonderful Week everybody!!!!!
Love Always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page!!!

46 days :)

2011-08-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
Thanks so much for the letters last week! Letters really mean alot to me, that you take the time to sit down and write me. It's going to be weird when I come home and I won't anticipate the mail this way ever again...I think :)
I feel like I've been relatively good about writing every week. You guys have been great! Thanks so much for the beach pictures! It looked like it was tons of fun with everone. Mckenna looked cute :) especially in that Uof A shirt!
I'm glad that you don't have to worry about signing up for classes for me and that I can help with all of that at home. If you could look for somewhere to live close to Mckenna that would be awesome! I'm just a little excited about the idea of finally being about to live near her :)
Yeah, I've been thinking about studying Physical Therapy for a whil and then I found out Dallin is going into that! I guess he can show me the ropes when I get back. That would be fun to work with Dallin :)
I'm glad that you and Dad had a great anniversary. That sounds good about new clothes! I'm sure all the stuff I had before got swipped :)
That's cool Elder Straw's homecoming is comoing up. Me and him became good friends. There are so many people I want to keep in touch with.
I'm glad TOry is enjoying soccer. I loved High School soccer! I miss those days. I'm ecited to be able to come home and see him play.
That sounds good about you and Abby's workout! I'm still struggling to stay somewhat healthy and keep the punds off. I hate how I got the weight gain in my face. I'm going to try to make an extra big push this last transfer. SO for my Birthday don't send me candy :) Also transfers are not this week but next week, so I will let you now what happens. I hope I just stay and finish here, but we'll see.
SO this past week for me was good. It also had some tough stuff. We had Zone Conference on Friday, which was good It was my last one!!! CRAZY! ALways good to see Elder Kindsey. He's going to Weber State for school. He wants to study PT too! Also saw Elder Bellows. He's good! Saw Elder Rhett too. We had fun talking about Carolina!
We also had kind of a bummer thing happen. One of our investigators named Sarah who has a baptism date for the 17th is moving out of our area! It's really sad for me to see her go because I've been working with her since I got here. She has come so far and right when she gets a date she moves. SHe is struggling too with her mom wheo is not supportive andt all. I want to see her be happy and I have come the care about her alot!!! She's even engaged to a member now! I have been blessed to be a part of her journey and all the people I have taught! It's true you love those you serve. I never thought I would say it after two summers in this place, but I LOVE TUCSON! and the people here! :)
I'm blessed! I just have to say that. :) I hope you all have a great week! Good luck with school starting and I will update you all next week of the transfers
Love,
Matt

Elder Page has 56 days left!

2011-08-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
Thank you so much for the letters this week. Thanks for the post card from the beach too. I think you sent the same one last year too :)
I loved seeing pictures and hearing about the beach. I can't wait for the pictures and tape from it. Those are my favorite!
I'm glad to hear that TOry is doing well with soccer. I can't wait to be able to play in the alumni game too! I have not gotten to play hardly at all out here :( Everyone wants to play basketball...lame!(no offense Dad)
SO to answer some questions. with the running shoes, I could just try to find some out here if that would be easier. I am 8.5 though if you want to send me some. I'm ok to wait too. My shoes are a little worn and hurt my feet alittle. I've been running alot!:) I've been trying to keep my waist size down.
I also was wondering if you could send more differin. This is the last one from my mission.
Mckenna told me about how she will probably be staying home in the fall for her surgery. I guess I will carry her around.:) I told her that I will miss her cute little feet, but I'm sure her new feet will be cute too!
With a roommate out @ BYU I don't think E. Kindsey will be going to BYU.:( I'm not picky with roommates. I would like to live somewhere relatively close to Mckenna while I'm there. That will be nice after 5 years :) Again I'm not very picky after living w/companions I've learned to be able to get along w/ most people. (As long as they are somewhat clean)
So things here are doing good. Tis past week we were able to go to the temple. IT was a great experience to go. This was probably my last time.:( Ican't wait to be able to go more often when I'm home. There is so much peace in the temple.
We have two investigators getting baptised on the 13th! It will be so great. Their names are Josh & Ellie. Both super great & super prepared. It will be a double special day with it being you and Dad's Anniversary. :) Know I will be thinking about you both. Thank you for your love & Selflessness you show as an example to me in your marriage :) I hope to be able to be like you both and have the same joy & blessings in my own marriage. I hope you both have a great day!
I got your package!!! I love it! Thank you I'm going to have to work off all the cookies and bread! I love the tape and pictures. It was so good to hear all of you. I have got to send this letter off. I will update you all next week
Love you all!!! Things are getting really busy with school getting ready to start.
Love you all
Love Matt

Elder Page stays in Kamisugi

2011-08-17T11:56:00.001-07:00

Hello Everybody!!
Sorry about the curve ball this week! It is transfers this week and I forgot to let you know about the switched P-Day last week. Well, like I said, transfers...and...........I am staying in Kamisugi!!! YEAH!!!!!!! I was so excited that I heard that I get to stay. I was pretty nervous that I was going to get transfered and we all thought they were going to fix last transfers mix up and bring in somebody older, but Kaicho said that there was nothing to fix. He said we are doing an excellent job as zone leaders even though I am young and so I won't be leaving and we are staying as the zone leaders. I was really relieved to get to stay in Kamisugi because if I got transfered I was going to miss Takeshi's baptism. Speaking of, he is getting baptized on Saturday and I have to tell you a couple of stories about him. The first, we were making plans for his baptism, like who he wanted to speak and what not, somebody asked him who he wanted to baptize him. He asked if it was his choice and we told him yes. He then got the biggest smile on his face and said, "Ok, then I want Page Choro to do it!" Mom, you have no idea how happy I was. I am not even going to try to describe how happy I am because I can do it! His baptism is Saturday at 6 and I am so excited. Even better, we met with him and his younger sister, who is 22, to tell her all about his baptism and stuff. We ended up teaching her lesson 1 and she wants to hear the message. She is coming to the baptism and to church on Sunday and it is just amazing! Things have been pretty hard recently with investigators not progressing and some even just disappearing, but hopefully everything goes right this weekend and I get to see my first Baptism!! I will for sure take pictures and let you know how it goes! Other than that, things with me have been pretty dang busy! We had our monthly zone leader council with Kaicho, then we had another meeting with us, the APs, Kaicho, and the Stake President. Oh, sorry, Kaicho means President if you didn't know. Then we have been busy working everything out for transfers tomorrow. The mission just doesn't slow down! I can hardly believe my 4th transfer is starting already! Mom, that is 1/4 of the transfers!
I have thought a lot about how Matt is coming home and how crazy that is! I was thinking, it has been so long since I have seen Matt! That is so exciting for everybody. So what do you think Mom, am I probably going to miss the next Page family Wedding? :oD I am glad to hear about you and Abby working out so well, I have to be honest, I am probably moving the opposite way as you. :oD I am trying to keep it together for Marissa's sake at least! I want Zach to come home to her not...The Santa Clause reference..."Stung by a bee? A big bee" Zach. :) Thanks for letting me know all about Tory and Soccer, I love hearing it! Hard realizing how I don't play but I love hearing about him! Kirby wrote me and told me that he is huge! He looks like he has gotten even bigger in all the pictures. By the way Mom, I have gotten all your letters and pictures, Marissa's too. Two things, one, Abby is too pretty for HER own good so she should just never talk to boys again. Two, Marissa sent me pictures and She is way to pretty for MY own good so she should never talk to boys again...unless they speak Japanese and are from North Carolina. :oD I have just felt a ton of gratitude for all of my girls these past couple of weeks! Mamma, Abbs, and MJ just blow my mind away! You guys are the greatest!
Oh, one more thing, I don't know if I am allowed to activate my new card because that would require me to call outside of the country. Could you guys just activate it for me? If not just let me know and I will ask about making that call. Thank you! :) One funny thing that happend this week. You remember how with Alcides, me and dad and Tory and him would always say, "Bons Velos Tempos." The good old times right? I figured out how to say that in Japanese this week! I used it and just laughed at myself! :) Tell tory that the way you say it in Japanese is just this, good luck saying it right, "Natsukashi!" That was a good happy thought of home and family this week.
I want you guys to know that I thought about you and Dad on Your anniversary! I hope it was great, and considering you both went off on eachother in your individual emails, I am guessing it was great and that you are deeply in love as usual. You never know, a couple of years from now, there could be another anniversary on August 13th. You never know!?!?! :oD
Well, that is about all I have for this week! I have seen miracles this week in the mission, just as I have seen every week. As the weeks go by I come to know more and more that this is God's work and his glory. We are working here not just to bring about good things and help people, we are "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." This gospel is the road that leads to eternal life; eternal happiness. I know that to be true with all of my heart. My promise is that if you learn, study the Book of Mormon, ponder in your hearts the message that it contains, and then ask God, you can know that it is true and that this is God's Church. I love you all so much! Keep me in your prayers as I remember you.
Just to make everybody laugh, I am going to poke fun at Dad Mom. Get Tory to give Dad a good ole' spanking for me. Then, when Dad tells him to stop, tell him, "Dad, your the bishop you aren't the pope!" And then everyone will laugh as Dad reads this and says, "Hey, I don't know if I like that." :oD I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week and I will email you on Monday!!
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Alumni weekend!

2011-08-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Alumni weekend. Dallin & Jaclyn came home for the weekend. As always it was so great having them here. They brought the newest member of the Page family...Abe. He is a cutie! Dallin and Jaclyn are the greatest family. I am so proud of them and all that they have accomplished together. Love you both!

Soon to be Elder Armstrong...

2011-08-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Temple with Gina and Michael Armstrong. We were so happy that they asked us to go with them. It was a beautiful day for everyone. Michael will be leaving for his mission Sept 14th to Portland Oregon.

(Elder) Spencer Perkins

2011-08-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

Spencer Perkins and his new bride Mandi, his dad, Step mom and step brothers all came to NC for a visit. It was nice to see him again and sooo happy. He has a great family, so nice to meet them. A big thank you to Jim and his sweet wife for treating us all to dinner. Hope you had a great visit in NC.

Elder Z Page

2011-08-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

I hate that I have no pictures to put up. I told him I wanted pictures!!
Hello Everyone!
Glad to hear that you guys had another wonderful week! That is pretty crazy that they did the Alumni game in the gym, that must have been way different. I will write Ben. I will just make time.
Great to hear you had a great day with Michael at the Temple. It is really great to hear about everybody coming out into the service of Heavenly Father. This work truly does change other peoples lives and shapes us into the people Heavenly Father wants us to be. I am so excited for Michael to serve in Oregon and Ben to serve in Las Vegas. I have no doubt they will do great work there!
Not going to lie, one of my favorite things to read in an email is that you guys have skyped with my Marissa. :) I agree that she is a keeper. But, you know Mom, you always told us that you would know we loved a girl when we found one just like you. (****NOTE FROM ME I DON"T RECALL EVER TELLING MY BOYS THAT! JUST SAYING!!) And well, I love my Mamma so much I found a girl like her. :oD
I will get to a letter Mom, and some pictures will come your way soon. I am sorry that I haven't been doing very good! I will get to that.
Crazy to think that Elder Perkins is married! I remember a couple weeks before I left I went to Statesville for transfers and I met him and his family and now he is married!
I am so proud to hear about Tory! He is going to have such a great year playing! I always really liked Phil so I am excited for him to have a great season. I am afraid by the time I get home and we all play in that Alumni game I will have lost my touch. I haven't played soccer since Sapporo! I really hate not being able to play, and I am scared I am just going to lose it by the time I get home.
You asked how my language is going? I honestly don't really know how to answer that question. It is hard to gage it. I can get along by myself almost entirely now. I dont have to think to much when I speak anymore. Still obviously a lot of vocab I am not familiar with, but i don't have any trouble anymore. I guess we will just have to find out at Christmas, have Sister Mitchell there when I call and we can talk for you!! :)
The work is still going pretty good. We have hit another bump in the road. Neither of our baptisms this week are going to happen. Takeshi was doing wonderful and set to be baptised, but the day of his baptismal interview Satan hit him with a hard temptation and now he has to wait a little longer to get ready to be baptized. It is a bump, but he is still working hard to get baptized on 8/20. Please pray for him, he is having some trouble with smoking. We have been doing a lot of different things and working hard these past couple weeks.
I have been spending all day today puting all the pieces for Marissa's birthday package together. Hopefully she likes it!
It has been SOO hot here this week so everyday is dying in 100% humidity and heat! Makes me excited for the winter!
I was laughing the other day because it is pretty hard sometimes to do things in English! I pictured me coming home and having some serious issues during my homecoming talk trying to speak in English! This coming week is going to be pretty busy. Lay Choro and I have to spend a day at the Mission Home for ZL Council, and then we have service again this week, and before I know it it will be P-Day again! Weeks are starting to breeze by and I can feel things pick up and up. I can hardly believe I will be on my 4th transfer in a week and a half!! There are only 16 transfers! I am trying to think of things to say but I don't really know what to report! I remember all those times Dallin and Matt would write and not say much and now I understand! Every day we are finding and teaching people...and...well that is a mission!! :oD How is Jordan doing? That is something I have been thinking about a ton, I want to hear about how he is doing. Please let me know!
Well, I guess that is it for this week, I will finish by bearing my testimony. Ether 12:27-28 talks about we have weaknesses to make us humble and to bring us unto the Savior. I want to testify that in our weakness, we can find true strength is our Savior. A mission is something that you just absolutely can't do on your own. On a mission the Lord teaches us to come unto him in humility so that he can show us miracles. Those miracles aren't just ones we can see, he will cause miracles of change within us, the power to change our natures. This is God's true gospel. I know it with all of my heart. If we follow faithfully and humbly, we will never be lead to roads we cannot walk, bridges we cannot cross, or mountains we cannot climb. The path of a disciple of Jesus Christ is a path that is narrow and long, but the only path that will take you to eternal happiness with our Father in Heaven. I testify that it is a path worth taking. I love you all so much!! I hope you are all doing well and have joy in every day of your lives! Until next week, I love you!!
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Page nears the end

2011-07-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Thank you so much for your love and letters. I love to hear how everything is going with you all. It sounds like you are really enjoying your summer. I'm glad that you are getting so much time together.
It sounds like Zach is doing well in Japan. I'm glad he met Sis. R :) She is really sweet. I'm glad Zach W. is doing well too! That would be awesome if he went to BYU Law school :) He is such an example to me.
Things with me are alright. THis week we finally met the new mission pres. The Kilpacks are great:) Thare are super nice & seem really excited about the work.
Elder Densley is recovering well. He's really postive about everything. With him being sick I've had time to do alot of reflecting. Now that I'm coming to the end I've been having a lot of thoughts about the last 2 years. Have I done enough? Have I grown? Have I become Who I need to be? I've found that with the excitement of coming home comes fears of all that lies ahead, school, work, marriage. Am I ready for all of that...am I ready to leave my mission? I feel so torn and confused.
Keep me in your prayers, I need them more than ever.
I read in Alma 42. I felt really connected to Alma's son. I've made mistakes & sinned & felt that there was no hope for me. Inadequecy comes alot as a missionary. I read the last verse and felt peace from Alma vs. 27 all are invited to receive the waters of life. We are not compelled! Agency allows freedon to chose. I've felt that in inviting others to drink from the living water of Christ. We will never thirst as we go to him. We fall and slip. We constantly sin and mess up. It would seem all hope is lost in the unpayable demands of justice. We cry within ourselves, " I don't have the means to pay the debt" We feel sorrow. From this pain comes the desire to repent. I'm so grateful for the sorrow I feel that pushes me to my knees. Humility, how much I need more of it. Pride continually seems to creep into my life in all forms. How can I call others to come to Christ when I still am so far from being perfect as He is? I am a sinner and feel as Nephi encompassed by the sins that so easily beset me. The last verse made me feel Christ's love for me. With my sin and mistakes. The Savior says, "stand, go, thrust in the sickle, they sins are forgiven you.
I know that peace and true joy can only be found in Christ. He is mindful of ALL his children. He is our Savior. It's true! We have hope. He is the rock of our salvation. I am in awe at his perfect nature and love for all and that we can know and understand who he truly is and He is through the gospel.
I love you all You have helped me be more like my Savior through your examples. I am so undeserving of the blessins that have been piled at my feet. I am grateful!
Have a great week:)
Love
Elder Page

Page Choro

2011-07-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,
ok so I am very sorry this email will be very unimformative and short, but this week has been one of the busiest weeks of the mission so far and I only have like 15 minutes until I have to be home. So just to recap the week very briefly...We made two baptisimal dates this week! Both were miracles. The first miracle is named Mariko. She is in her early 20s and we broke her phone and then made a baptisimal date! Long story but she could possibly be my first baptism in about a month. But, if not her, we met a guy last night named Takeshi. We met him on the street, took him back to the church, we taught a great lesson, he said he wants to change his life and we made a baptismal date!! It was a great week, but way busy! The Sendai Zone is by far the biggest zone in the mission with around 20 missionaries, and so being a Zone Leader is way busy! We went on two splits this week with the APs and a District leader. Me and Lay Choro are really working hard to lift up the zone and help everybody out. Lay Choro is a great example to me and I have learned so much from his leadership. Tell his Mom that she raised one heck of a son! :) We had a big Ward party today with a couple of Investigators there. Us Elders planned the party so it was really fun and...well...American! We had a water balloon fight, a hoola hoop contest (which I definitely failed at), and a food eating contest! It was way fun and a good experience for everybody. I also got my haircut today by a sister missionary named Sister Kumagai. Mom, when I thought it couldn't get worse than that one time the guard fell off...I was wrong. :) I will send you pictures soon. Lets just say that I hope people focus on my Smile!!!! I am sorry this email has been so super short! I got a letter out to Marissa today and I relayed a very special experience, one of the greatest of my life, to her in that letter. When she gets the letter she can read it to you guys, Ok? I am so sorry!! I feel super bad that you don't really know a lot! Just know that I am really trying to work my heart out! I am trying to be the very best missionary I can. I love you all so much. I know that this church is true. There is no doubt. I promise you all again that God Lives, Jesus is the Christ, We can know eternal truth perfectly through the Holy Spirit of God. You guys are all the best. Mamma, I love ya! The most exciting thing I can imagine about going home is getting a big Mamma hug again! There are a couple other things but that is first! ;)
I love you all!!! Have a great week!!
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Choose to Bloom where you are planted!

2011-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!!
Well, where to start on the past few days! Since I don't have too too much to just tell you as far as things going on, I will tell you about a wonderful learning experience that I had. So I am going to put it straight, the past three days were terrible for missionary work. It started with one bad evening and then it carried over into the next days. It is way hot and humid here, and we spent all day out in the heat, and nobody would even stop to talk to us. All day people rode by on there bikes and turn their shoulders as they walked by. Coming off of a week of seeing a lot of miracles and good experiences, it was a long fall into this period of hard rejection. With the drop into this hard time, I began to lose patience. I listened to people tell me they didn't need this message over and over again and it drove me up the wall. I began to be impatient and wouldn't even be happy when I would try and talk to people. I made the mistake of letting my faith in miracles go. I walked into every contact believing that they would just ignore me, and so that is just what I got. I began to recognize me own discouragement and impatience as last evening drew to a close. Last night, I hit the bottom and fell on my knees in prayer. I came to my Father and told him exactly what I was feeling. I cried and felt his assurance that if I would pick my head up, he would give me ways to lift me up. So as I went to sleep last night, I still felt down, but decided that things would get better. The morning was the same and I felt pretty lowly. I decided that would write in my journal, and as I wrote, I began to feel the love of my Saviorin my heart. Moments later, Elder Ellis and Elder Lay came home from shopping and they had bought me some Melon Pan (my favorite bread) to cheer me up. I felt there love and my mood gradually began to be lifted. As soon as I decided that I could feel joy, the Lord began to bless me with his tender mercies. Through his spirit my change of attitude and heart was completed as I received a talk from my Dear Marissa. Her sending that talk to me was inspired of the Holy Ghost and brought that smile back to my face. The talk was all about discouragement and at the end it says, "I can choose to bloom wherever I am planted, whenever the season, whatever the challenges." I know that the Lord answers our prayers. I have learned this week that he will try our faith. If we keep faith in him through all things and do not droop in discouragement, he will keep his promise to us that "the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him (Mosiah 29:20)." Through this experience I have better learned how to trust in my Savior through all trails on the mission and in life. My sincere and solomn promise to all of you is that Jesus Christ lives. He paid the ultimate sacrafice so that through all pain we can be lifted up. Jesus Christ truly hath decended below all men so that he might lift up even the most lowly soul. I am so priviledged to be able to serve him and to be his tool to lift up those souls who will humble themselves and let him heal them. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It was brought back to this earth throught the prophet Joseph Smith. He truly did translate golden plates, given to him by an angel, into the Book of Mormon. Eleven witnesses testified to their death that they had seen the plates, handled them, and that they were an ancienct record.
My testimony is with their's. The Book of Mormon is true. It is the word of God. Read it and you can know without a doubt that it is Gods word, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. If the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and this church is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is the Keystone. If you want to know if this gospel is true, read that Book. It is everything and I know that when you read, you will know with no doubt that it is true, and therefore,that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all so very much. Everyone have a wonderful week. Until next week everyone please remember me in your prayers.
Love you all,
Elder Zachary Page

Just a few :) pictures of Elder Smethurst...

2011-07-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

I was looking thru the blog and realized I had not been putting pictures up of the missionaries. I was putting the on FB but not on here. After 8 1/2 months with us we had to say goodbye to Elder Smethurst, who had become family to us. It was hard to just put up a few pictures. Good luck in your new area, the people will love you! Probably not as much as we do ;) Can't wait to see you again! Love you to the moon and back :) Saying goodbye was hard, we sure will miss him.

He became one of my boys

Visiting some of our members with us

On exchanges with Elder Howell

His new companion Elder Wells

These 2 grew to love each other

End of P-day & dinner with us

One of the many devotionals

The Concord Elders joined in on P-days :)

His new companion Elder Petersen

Happy Birthday!!!

Celebrating his 20th birthday!

Christmas Elder Smethurst Skyping his family....It was so fun meeting them.

Some of my favorite people all atogether

Already feeling like family :)

Elder Smethurst & Elder Fuller

Christmas with the Pages, decorating the tree.

His first haircut with me...seems so long ago.

Time is flying by in Sendai

2011-07-06T07:48:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!!
Sorry about the fake out in Emailing again, this week was the normal transfer week so we had p-day on Wednesday, but next week it will be on Monday so be expecting it then! :) Speaking of transfers, there is a transfer from within the threesome this week...I am now companions with Elder Lay. Elder Ellis will still be in Kamisugi with us, but another Elder from another area is coming in to make it 4 elders here. He is a japanese Elder named Mizoguchi. So, we will still be with Elder Ellis, but we aren't companions, just me and Elder Lay now. I am pretty happy because I like them both a ton and I was worried that we would get separated. There is another change though, President Rasmussen changed the organization of the mission a little bit and now every area only has 1 zone leader. That zone leader is Elder Lay so now I am still with the Zone leader.
Anyways, past all of that news, no Mom, i haven't gotten your letter yet but I am sure it will come soon. We did celebrate the Fourth of July though...kind of. We ate steak for dinner and I wore my American Hater Blockers during dinner. :) Also, this super nice member of the ward made us a cake and brought it to us and said in English, Happy Fourth!!! It was super nice and was nice of her to do for us. That is so exciting about Jordan going to the Temple this week!! I am super excited for him! And you are right, he will be gone before he knows it, that last month is just a blurr to me now it was so fast. I have been thinking about him a lot lately with him leaving and stuff. He is going to do so well and see so many baptisms it is going to be great. There is a guy from Peru here for business that is coming to the ward here till he goes home. He comes to church every single week and he doesnt understand anything, it is amazing to see somebody keep there covenants like that. I was talking to him a little bit and he just said that the church is Peru is amazing right now. Growing so fast and the people are becoming 2nd and third generation and the strength of the members is increasing. Jordan will see so many miracles there.
Speaking of Matthew, I talked to Sister Rasmussen about Matt when I met her. She said that he was one of the most kind, humble, soft loving people she has ever seen and an absolutely amazing missionary. I told her that she was definitely talking about my brother. It is crazy how fast it goes. In a couple weeks I hit 6 months and then in a couple months Matt is home! Crazy!!
I have learned so much and grown more than I have grown in the entire mission in this last transfer alone. I have had some important lessons to learn and I had to fall down and get a little scrapped up to learn a couple of them. I am so grateful to Elder Lay and Elder Ellis because they have been great. My Japanese have at least tripled in this transfer too in no small part because of them. Everything in this language is really starting to click and sometimes it drives me crazy because I can't think in English sometimes!! :o) We had a very very blessed week this week. We had three days in a row where we set a baptismal date each day and we found a lot of people. I hope you all truly understand that miracles happen every single day. We have been praying so much and working so hard to find people who will receive this message and we are finding them. Also, we found out yesterday that we will have the opportunity to do Service in earthquake&tsunami affected areas every other week now which is a great blessing and opportunity.
This is the Lord's church. Through a prophet, Jesus Christ restored his 100% truth to the earth, and he is leading that church through a prophet today. Something that I have been seeing in missionary work and that I have been able to apply to myself is that Heavenly Father is so willing to give us answers to anything. The trick that I have really learned is that we have to sincerely want them, sincerely seek them, and then have a sincere desire to act on that answer, no matter what it is. It is Moroni's promise in the Book of Mormon. We are totally capable to receive all things, but we must yield our wills and give up our pride in order to fully unlock the windows of Heaven. I testify that the windows of Heaven are open. God speaks to us all individually and through his prophet. We can all know perfectly what we should do, but first we must act. Jesus stands at the door ready to enter, but he can't come into our hearts and into our lives unless we open the door. I love this gospel, it has allowed me to have the faith to overcome all and to have a sure knowledge of my plan. I know where we are from, why we are here, and where we are going perfectly because of this truth we have been given.
I Love you all so much. Everybody have a wonderful week and remember everyday that this is a happy gospel. Show that happiness every day, live this gospel (Mosiah 2:41).
Love always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Page sweating it out in Tucson

2011-06-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

Elder Page says "it is getting so hot in Tucson, and there is no where to escape the heat. We had our last Zone Conference with President and Sister Walker this past week. It was a powerful meeting and I gave them BOTH hugs @ the end. I really am going to miss them, but hope to keep in touch.:) I'll let you know how the new President will be. I'm sure he'll be great!" The rest of his letter was full of questions for us. He sends his love to all and says thank you for everyones love and letters. We are so excited that Matthew has less than 4 months left! I can not wait to give that boy a huge long hug and kiss, and to just see his sweet smile!

Elder Page in Sendai

2011-06-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

Service in Sendai, check out the hat Marissa :)

Hello Everybody!!

It has been a crazy 4 days since I transfered here to Kamisugi! The past few days have consisted of a CRAZY busy schedule!

We have been in a lot of meetings with people in the ward here trying to make sure our missionary efforts are well coordinated because there are 3 sister missionaries too. The ward here is really big for Japan, it is well over 100 people! This past sunday was Stake Conference and so members from Tohoku came to Kamisugi. President Tateoka leaves on Wednesday and so he spoke at the Conference. It is pretty crazy that President Rassmensun is coming tomorrow night! It is going to be a crazy week or so with us working on the transition and stuff. The missionary work is way different here and everything just feels way more busy! I don't really have a whole lot of things to tell this week other than a pretty funny story that I will tell quickly. We met a black guy in Japan! He was from New York City and his name was "King." He was a little off his rocker to say the least but his little bike and he stopped to talk to us. He started telling us that he tried to get the police in New York to kill him by breaking into someones apartment naked. Apparently when the police came in, he yelled at them to shoot him,but they just tackled him instead. He said that when they tackled him he felt Gods love and as soon as he was released from prison he came to Japan because God called him here. To make the rest of this long story short, he told us that he has learned that God is in the palm of our hands and we just need to have One Love!!! He chose Ellis Choro as his son, gave him his email, and told Ellis choro to email him 10 years to the day from then. It was pretty crazy. Needless to say we went to a park after that and prayed together so that we could stop laughing and regain the spirit. :) I felt my first earthquake this week! It wasn't big but it was pretty cool because the house was rocking! We have a couple of investigators from China that we are teaching in English so that feels pretty nice! Other than that, it has just been a very fast and very short 4 days! Just a couple of things, Hailey Shubert has written me a couple times and I want to write her back but I am not sure how to get a letter to her or what the address is, so if you could do that for me that would be great! Also, we want to try and and implement Family Missionary Plans for the members here and I remember we had a sheet for that back home, if you could send one to me that would be great! Also, one more quick thing Mamma,and you can consult Papa about this, there is this really sweet place here in Kamisugi called "The Super Suit." You get a totally personally designed, taylored, name embroydered suit for 100 bucks. It is a pretty sweet deal. It really isn't a huge huge deal, but if that is in the budget, it would be pretty sweet! ;oD
Alright, from that I don't have too much else, just to end with my testimony. This church is God's true, restored church on earth. I know that Jesus Christ leads this church today. He is my Savior and Redeemer. Through his redeeming power,we can be together forever with those we love. Mom, I love you so much. I miss you and your hugs so much, you have no idea! Yesterday I hit 5 months and I can hardly believe it! It feels so fast. Tell everyone in the family that I love them. Give Marissa my love as usual. Have a wonderful week Momma! And dont feel bad about not emailing me this week, I know you will feel a little bad, but don't worry, P-Days come and go so fast and next week will be here in 2 seconds. I love you all!!!
Love Always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Page getting ready for a move.

2011-06-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!!!

Sorry Mom that I didnt email on time this week, it has been a crazy day and my P-Day got switched from Monday to Wednesday this week! I will tell you all about why after I reply to all the great news I gotin the email! First of all, tell Tyler I said CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Who knows how many weddings I will miss while I am gone but I am super happy for him, that is so awesome!!! Secondly, Michael and Ben got their calls!!! Portland and Vegas, something about that is so fitting for them! Wish them luck from me and I will try to get a letter out to them pretty soon here. It is way way hard to find time to do anything on P-Day mom!!! I have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to even get letters out to Marissa ever couple of weeks!! Speaking of letters, you need to figure out what the deal is with Kirby! I havent heard from her since the MTC and I don't have an address for her, I want to hear from her! So great to hear about the Baptism you had back home, she sounds like a wonderful girl! It is wonderful to see the work move forward there! The news about Elder Smethurst is pretty sad, but there is ZERO doubt in my mind that he will see us many many times again! The news about Papa Curry is pretty sad, it is hard because I can't be there for the funeral and everything, we all had some way wonderful memories with that Old Guy!! Mom, you better keep Smores truckin for the next year and a half!! I got to see that old cat again!!! :) I got my package last week and it was so great!!! We have pretty much eaten up all the food now and we greatly enjoyed it, especially the beef jerkey! Sounds like everything is just going great with you guys and that is wonderful to hear!!

Alright, now to update you on me for the past few weeks! Buckle yourseatbelt, a lot has happend. :) You wanted to know about the day ofservice we had in Sendai, well, we had another one last week, but thistime, KSL, the Utah news channel, they came and did a story about us missionaries. They did a whole story while we did service and everything so tell MJ and everybody out there in Utah to be watching for it pretty soon, i was definitely in it! But, for the service we helped clean out and fix up a couple of peoples houses. We had to rip up all of the floors and scoop out a bunch of mud and sludge from under the houses and bag it all up and then we had to help put some peoples houses back together!! This one ladys porch lifted up and moved out of place during the tsunami and we carried the whole huge porch for her and got it back into place!! Doing that service was away wonderful experience both times. Mom, they took us out to the coastline where things were absolutely destroyed. It was probably the saddest thing I have ever seen. It really was totally wiped out. I took a bunch of pictures and stuff so I will try to email some this week or next.

I crashed on my bike again, but this time I didn't get hurt at all. We were running really late to an appointment so we were going way way fast to try and get there and this high school kid came out from around the corner like 2 feet in front of me. I slammed on the brakes but I was too close and totally hit the kid and his bike.I had a couple of bumps and scratches but i was totally ok! :)

The work here has been pretty slow like usual, but that hasn't really slowed us down and we have been going and going. Because the work has been slow and we have three people, in order to talk to as many people as possible, we have been splitting up. The other two will walk on one side of the street and I will walk on the other by myself so we can talk to everybody! It has been pretty crazy but it helped out our numbers a ton and my Japanese has improved a ton this transfer! Elder Ellis and Elder Lay as companions really has been so good for me. They push me and it has really helped me grow a lot. Like usual, in a couple weeks you run into and talk to some crazy people out here. One guy I was talking to went off about how he wanted to USA to go back to the 13 colonies!! Dont even think about asking me why...I have no stinking idea. haha :)

I had to practice teaching this past weekone on one with the Mission President...I was way nervous Mom!! I know, its me and I dont get nervous (except when it comes to Marissa) ever!! But I was a wreck! I taught lesson one though and he said I did well.Ok, now for all the crazy news. So to start off, I will go to lastweek. President Rasmessun is coming in at the end of next week, so we heard(bc of the ZLs) that this week they were going to do some ET(emergency transfers) to way shift things up before the new pres.Up till now, all of the areas in Sendai have been closed because of damage and stuff, but the news was that they were going to move the ZLs into Sendai so that the new mission president could work moreclosely with them. So for several days, we have unofficially knownthat Elder Lay and Elder Ellis were transfering away into Sendai this week while I would stay in Tsuruoka and be ther Area Senior(which justmeans that I have been in the area longer). It was kind of sad because I really love Elder Lay and Elder Ellis and they were leaving. That was the reason that P-Day got switched to today so that they could pack. So this morning we go the Official phone call from President Tateoka about them transfering into Sendai. We have it on speaker phone and he says, "Is everybody there? Ok, so the three of you will be tranfering into Kamisugi(Sendai)." We were just dead shocked, it was quiet and I said, "did you say three?" He said,"Yeah, we are going to whitewash Tsuruoka. I want you to keep working with the Zone Leaders. So get your bags packed you leave tomorrowmorning." It was way crazy! We spent all morning packing everything up to go. I have only been here for four weeks and now I am moving into Kamisugi with the Zone Leaders. So just so you know how crazy this is, Kamisugi is the most populated area in the whole mission.The whole area is the heart of Sendai. Literally, the crowded streets and tall buildings is the whole area. It is a huge shock to all of us, but I am way excited I get to keep working with them and in the most populated area of the mission! So, from that, a couple things will happen. I will be way closer to the new mission president because we will be right there in Sendai with him. The type of missionary work will go from having to knock on doors everyday to just talking to people on the street all day every day. It is going to be way different then little ol Tsuruoka, but it is going to help me grow so much.

Alright, from that, that is pretty much all the big news I have for everybody now. I am sorry I havent been in good touch with email and stuff, it is just way busy and I dont have a lot of time to write anybody. It will be different in Kamisugi, I will have easy access to email so I should be able to email every week at least alittle.

To end this email I want to leave everybody with something I have been pondering a lot about. This past week, I finished the Book of Mormon after studying it for about 4 months. I sat pondering a lot about the pages that I had soaked up and let sink into my heart and mind. We share with a lot of people on the street here theIntroduction to the Book of Mormon. We read with them the last twoparagraphs. It reads..."We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and thenask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book istrue...Those who gain a divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus is the Christ the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lords Kingdom once again on the earth..." I have pondered those words deeply in my heart. They have brought me an everlasting assurance, and at the same time, a great desire for those I know and love to follow this divine path the knowledge found in these shortlines of the Introduction. I dont know who all reads these emails when my Mom post them up or sends them out, but I have challenged everyone over and over again to try the experiement. Find out for yourself. If you have gained a knowledge, gain it again, rekindle the fire in your heart. I testify at the end of this email that if youwill read the Book of Mormon with a full willingness of heart, and ask God if it is true, no matter who, no matter what, no matter the situation, God will tell you in great power that these words are his words. The book is true. I know it, and people reject me about it every day, but it is Gods word revealed through his prophet, JosephSmith. Christ taught, "Ask, and it shall be given you;seek, and yeshall find;knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh recieveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." I promise that that is true. No one will open a door that we don't knock on, but if we do knock, the doors of knowledge will be opened unto us.

I love you all so so much. Sorry about falling so behind with emails and stuff, I will try to do better! :)

I love you Mom, I miss you so much and I cant wait to just get a wonderful big, mom hug from you again!

Have a great week! Tell Marissa I love her as usual!

Till next week,

Love,

Elder Zachary Taylor Page

We love you Grandpa Curry!

2011-06-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

We are sad to say good bye to Grandpa Curry, he passed away today just a few weeks short of 102. We were so good to have had a sweet visit with him last week. We spent time doing just what he loved doing and that was talking and quoting his funny famous sayings. I love him just like my own grandpa, he was my grandpa! My grandparents passed away while I was young, so I got to love Steve's. We will so miss him when we visit at Grandma's house, but we were all so blessed to have had him in our lives for so long. We love you Grandpa, hope you are enjoying being with your sweet heart Daisy, We will see you again!

A very sad goodbye to Elder Smethurst!

2011-06-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

We had to finally say goodbye to one of our missionaries. Elder Smethurst has been with us for over 8 mths, and we have all grown very attached to him. There are that handfull of missionaries that come and you grow to love and they just still your heart, he is definately one of them, he is added to a list of others, they all know who they are :) I truly hope that we get to see him again and I get to give him that big hug FINALLY!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T09:10:00.001-07:00

To the greatest Dad's in my life...Happy Father's Day to all of you! We love you and are so happy that you are such a huge part of us!

Elder Page experienced another Baptism

2011-06-07T04:19:00.000-07:00

P-day playing golf

Elder Bellows and Elder Page

Hey Everyone,

First of all the baptism was so great! Ainslee is an awesome girl and will do great. Her family came who are not members and I felt they had a good experience.
Other than that the week has been pretty uneventful. Campus is just tough right now with not as many people around. We are trying to find others ways to find.
We have one investigator right now Gregario. He's a good guy He is really quiet. He came to church the other day. It was a lot to take in, but I felt like he enjoyed it. He's looking fro the good & truth and we are just helping him recognize it in the church :) We'll be updating you on him in the coming weeks.
Transfers are Sunday night. WE'll see if I stay another or if Elder Bellos stays. I think one of us will leave. It's about a 50/50 shot. I don't mind either way. It is getting hot here. It got over 100 this week, so if I moved it would be nice to possibly get out of Tucson :) We'll wee I do love the singles wards.
I've been working on trying to watch what I eat & running everyday :) It's an uphill battle, but It's been alright.
It sounds like everything at home is good. I'm glad school is almost done. This summer will be a fun one for you guys. I'm glad that Zach is finally settled in his mission. He sounds like he is doing so good. He's going to be a powerful missionary.
I love and miss you all. Have a great week. I'll let you know about transfers, until then.
I love you guys!
Love.
Matt

Finally from Sendai...

2011-06-07T03:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!!
I am sorry about all of the suspense the past couple weeks!! I wanted to email really bad, but we have just been super busy! Plus the only place we have to email is way far away from anywhere so it is a treck on our bikes to get out here! Wow, there is a lot that has happened in a couple weeks! Where to start, I guess I will reply to stuff first. It was wonderful to see that picture of Matt and President Rassmensuen, you can definitely get the feel of change in the air here as we get ready to switch mission presidents. It could be way different, I have seen that already as I have switched from Sapporo to Sendai, different presidents will recieve their own specific revelation on where to take the work in their missions. I am excited to meet him!
It is great to hear how wonderful all of the missionary work is going in Kannapolis and with Matt! It is the most joyful work in the world and I am so grateful you guys at home do so much for us missionaries!!
Dallin and Jacs got a cat!! That is super awesome!!! There are a lot of cats around here and I see them all the time and miss Daisy and Smores!
By this point everybodys summer has probably started, that should be way fun! Keep me updated on all the fun things you do!!
You are totally right Mom, Marissa keeps herself so busy! She told me she just took on another job! Do me a favor and you make sure that girl is having fun!! :) I think a great way for her to do that would be to go to the beach with you all!! If she puts up a fight about it, just tell her that she didnt regret it the first time, how could she possibly go wrong going again! :)
Derek came to town, all the Caswell crew came! You guys are just having so much fun!! I miss all those guys a lot. Especially Jordan, that boy is my brotha!! I am getting super excited for him to get out there and to start feeling this amazing joy of missionary work! Make him send me a letter Mom. ;)
I loved hearing about your wonderful Sacrament Meeting with all of your testimonies. I miss hearing my family bear their testimonies, that is something I cant wait to experience again. Tell Tory to give Austin a big ole` hug for me and then tell him I said to do all he has to do to make sure he gets on a mission! I can`t wait to hear about Michael!! That is super exciting!
I haven't gotten my package but I cant wait!! I hope it wasnt too expensive! I saw a picture of Mitt Romney in someones newspaper and I figured that was what it was. Lets hope this round goes better! Without Mike Huckleberry Fin he might have a better chance! ;) I hope I get to hear this $teve rap! That would crack me up! How is Mrs Benaduce, did she read that book, I havent had any time to write her! Tell her Hello! I havent had time to write anybody!
Most days we just work through P-Day because here people are off a lot on Monday! You have to do what you have to do to get the work done, especially here in Tsuruoka! And on that note, I guess I will just move on to me!
Things are going well. We came here to Sendai two weeks ago on an 8 hour train ride from Sapporo! We took the train under the ocean, it was pretty cool! Week had a mission conference and then did service in Sendai. It was a great experience, some of the devastation was pretty bad but we helped out a couple of familys with their homes, or with what was left with them. Since then we have just worked out hearts out. Here in Tsuruoka the work has been pretty slow, we worked super hard last week but put up really low numbers which was tough. We have a lot of faith and confidence that the work will pick up though if we just keep going hard everyday. The branch has about 40 people in it and to be honest, they just seem like a tired branch; not much fire in their testimonies or zeal for missionary work! But we are trying to get them going! In Testimony meeting it was super dead and nobody was getting up, so I got up and starred down the branch and challenged them all to get up and "bear witness of what you know to be true." I sat down and waiting and was looking people right in the eyes until they finally got up and did so. It was pretty funny, but all three of us are doing all we can.
My companions are great! I love them so much and we get along really well. One funny story and then I have to go, dont have a lot of time! The other day we were walking past a park and there were a bunch of 9 10 and 15 year olds playing soccer in the park. I hopped the fense and starting playing with them and they freaked out and started calling me pro! When we left 5 minutes later, they followed us all the way to the church!! We showed them the church and told them all a little bit about who Jesus Christ was and gave them pamphlets! It was kind of weird, but a miracle to help lift our spirits none the less.
There are a TON of teenage girls in Tsuruoka and they freaking love us! All the missionaries tease me that I can contact any teenage girl because of the "Page Choro Smile Power." hahaha It is pretty funny! Tell Marissa not to worry, nobody here is even close to as amazing as her...or it might just have to do with the fact that I cant understand what they are saying! ;) Mom, let her know I sent her a letter this week and that I love her to death!
I wish I had more time but I will let you know more next week! I have to go now, hopefully we will get to email next week! I love you all so so much! This gospel is true! Jesus Christ is our Redeemer! It is my privilidge to share that truth with the Japanese people and I love it! Remember every single day how blessed we are to have this amazing knowlege of Gods Plan of True Happiness for us! Our families truly can be eternal! There is no doubt in my mind of this sure knowledge! If you dont know it, try the experiement. Test it. I promise you from the bottom of my heart that God will show you with Power and Great Glory that this is his church and that he speaks through a prophet today!
I love you all and I cant wait to hear from you again!!
Till next week or whenever!
With all of my Love,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

The Lord's tender mercies...

2011-05-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Well this past week went by pretty uneventfully. We have been working on finding. We with the help of U-3 are going thru the ward directory, and cleaning out old names and finding out who is staying for the summer. The University 3rd ward is pretty slim but the 5th ward stayed intact for the most part.
On monday we went golfing with our WML from the 5th ward. Elder Bellows loves golf and so does our WML so I decided to be a good sport and play. As you all know the extent of my golf experience is an intense round of Putt-Putt. We played 18 holes on a real course & needles to say I was pretty bad. I only lost like 10 balls :) I did make a few good hits, but overall it was really bad. Elder Bellows loved it alot so I'm glad we went.
On Wednesday we had a big missionary meeting with all the missionaries in Tucson. It was a good meeting. President is making a big push for this month. By the end of the month we will be hearing from President Kilpack (our new mission pres.) He sounds like a great guy.
Afterwards we all went to CiCi's & it made me sick. Buffets are just bad news & missionaries always seem to find their way to them. We got Golden Corral on thursday and now Elder Bellows is sick from it. He lied in bed on sat. & was just feeling awful.
We are getting the last few things squared away fro Ainslee's baptism on the 28th. She is doing great. I'll be sure to send pictures...I'm over due!
Zach's email was pretty funn. Im' not going to lie that there is more where that came from. I can't count how many times I've come home at night just stuffed.
We've been fasting this week to find people. On sunday we found two peopl. One was a referal that ended up coming to church and the other was a guy who just randomly walked into the institute building. Both seem great and want to learn more. That definately was a tender mercy from the Lord :)
I love you all & I'll update you next week.
Love,
Matt

A message from President & Sister Daniels

2011-05-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

I received another email from President and Sister Daniels today, they sent a short message and a few pictures. I truly appreciate all they did for Elder Page while he was there. I am sure that we will meet them someday in the future.

Dear Page Family,

We wanted to thank you for sharing your son with us in the Japan Sapporo Mission. He is an amazing missionary and you can justifiably be proud of him. Although our time together was short, he and the other Sendai missionaries left an imprint on our mission and our mission is better as a result of their contribution. Thank you for raising such a wonderful son and helping him prepare to serve this mission. We appreciate your love and sacrifice and pray for you and your son as he continues to labor in Sendai. Our mission comes to a close at the end of this month and we will be moving back to Mapleton, Utah. We hope we will have the chance to meet you someday.

Love,

President and Sister Daniels @ the Airport leaving for Sendai
Elder Page with Sister Daniels, the cutting of the tie.

Another picture from morning sports with Sister Daniels.

Tie cutting ceremony & Golfing in Japan

2011-05-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

Sister Daniels collects a tie from every missionary in the mission. Since Elder Page and many others were heading back to Sendai she had a tie cutting ceremony for them....Sayonaro Sapporo!

Elder Page & Elder Clinton had a morning with Pres. & Sis. Daniels and the sisters. They have morning sports. On this morning it was golf. He looks great!

Elder Matthew Page with Pres. & Sis. Rasmussen

2011-05-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

Matthew sent us this picture with Pres. & Sis. Rasmussen the incoming president of the Sendai Japan mission. Matthew see Sister Rasmussen everyday on campus. She works in the institute building at the U of A. Can't help but smile, what a very small world!

AZ Campus is quiet

2011-05-23T02:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty slow week with Finals and graduation here. Everyone is heading back home and its just hard trying to transition. We have been trying to stay busy.

We did have Dominic's baptism on Saturday. It went great. He is such a good guy. Elder Bellows baptized him. It was his first one.:) It is such a great feeling when you see someone you have taught choose to be baptized. He is going home for the summer up in Gilbert, we'll hopefully be able to keep in touch.

It is getting hotter down here. I will definately be using the sunscreen more this summer!!!

On saturday we went to a service project at the post office and helped with a food drive so that was great to be able to do.

Hopefully things will pick up and we will be able to stay busy this week. Thanks for all you do, the letters, the prayers and all the support.

I love you all

Elder Matt Page

Elder Page Leaves Wednesday for Sendai, sad goodbye!

2011-05-23T02:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!!!
Thanks so much for your email mom! I am super excited to get your letter and Marissa's once I get to Sendai on Wednesday! It has most definitely been a crazy week to say the least! You are right on Mom, the news that Marissa may be coming to the beach with you guys is AMAZING news!!! :oD That smile is a little too small compared to the one on my face right now! My week has been very good but so very fast. I guess I will just start from Thursday, our zone had a specialized Training meeting at the Mission Home with President Daniels, there were two zones there and about 50 missionaries. I kind of knew it was coming because of last weeks email, but he Talked to us all and announced that all of the Sendai missionaries would be heading back on Wednesday. It was quite the shock to all of us, including President Daniels. To be totally honest, It is extremely bittersweet. I am super excited to go to Sendai because it was where I was called and everything, but this is my first mission and President Daniels has done so much for me and Elder Clinton is awesome! I know that it is the Lord's will, but I will tell you, when you work so hard in an area and you come to love a ward and your invesigators, its super hard to just...you know...leave. We are leaving on Wednesday though and it should be a crazy couple of days. I got a call from President Tateoka today and he told us our areas and companions. I am going to be serving in an area called Tsuruoka, it is on the far side of Honshu from Sendai but in the south of the mission. One interesting twist is that I am going to be in a threesome again! I will be paired with the Zone Leaders and their names are Elder Lay and Elder Ellis. I don't know Elder Ellis, but I know Elder Lay pretty well and he is awesome so I am really excited! On Friday we all get to go to Sendai and spend the day doing cleanup and stuff from the tsunami! I am pretty excited about that. My last week in Sapporo though has been full of ups and downs as far as the work is concerned. For whatever reason, our investigators that were super solid got flaky this week and their baptisimal dates fell through. It is tough because we worked so hard and prayed so much for them, but ultimately, everyone has their own agency and they must choose on their own. However, we had two miracles yesterday that I would like to share, the first is with a guy named Okada-san. Elder Clinton and I were standing outside the church building waiting for people to come in to church. This tiny little man in his 40's comes up behind us and asked us, "Is this Matsujitsu Seito Iesu Kirisuto Kyokai (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)?" We just a little confused said yeah it is. He asked if he could come to church and we said of course. We asked him if he had met the missionaries before and this is what happend. He pulled a Morumon Ke (The super old translation of the Book of Mormon in Japanese, now we have the Morumon Sho) out of his bag and says roughly, "I met the missionaries 21 years ago and they gave me this book. I have read this book and prayed for the past 21 years and I want to join this church." We probably looked like we had jus been slapped. We didn't really know what to say. We went on to ask him why he didn't join the church all these years, he said that he had some little concerns back then, but that through the Holy Ghost, the Lord had told him that he needed to join his church. We asked him why he thought our church was the true church and he responded that It is the only church that is lead by God through his Holy Spirit. We were so dumbfounded. We gave him a Morumon Sho, sat down with him, set a baptisimal date and that was it. He is getting baptised in two weeks from yesterday. Crazy huh!!! I will miss it, but It is none the less a miracle that one of Gods children is returning to his fold!!
The other miracle was very close to my heart. This transfer we have been meeting with this inactive family called the Henmi's. It is a mom and her two young sons. Her husband beat her and they have been hiding from him for years. They won't go to church because she has Post Tramatic Stress Disorder and is constantly paranoid that if they go to church her husband will find her. We have been doing these little FHE with them every single week doing little activities like puting on the Armor of God (you will get pictures of that eventually) and just stuff like that. This week, my last Sunday, the family came to Church!!!! We were so so shocked we had to double take when we saw them!! Seeing them back to church was the most amazing feeling!! There was so much joy in my heart to see them there! They gave me this Lavendar Doll with a little message on it. She said that the doll was given to her by her father before he died and now she was giving it to me because of all I had done for her family. I came so close to breaking down in tears I was so happy. Marissa will smile at this, but she wrote to me on the message, "Elder Page, your smile with mend the broken hearts of the people of Sendai..." There is a very special feeling to being a missionary. You truly can change peoples lives forever and that is an amazing thing. I know that this is The true gospel of Jesus Christ and that this gospel, when we choose to live it every day, will transform us into someone we could not be on our own. Leaving is hard, but I know that no matter where I go, if I am obedient and work my hardest, I will be blessed with Miracles every day. Never forget that you all are an everyday miracle to me. As long as you are in my life, I will see miracles every single moment. Mom, I love you and miss you so much, more than anything in the whole wide world I wish that every day I could have you there to make me give you a goodnight huge and kiss again! I love you all so much! I can't wait to let you know next week about all that happens when I get to Sendai! Until then, everybody have a wonderful week!! I love you all an I keep you in my prayers always!

Love Always, Elder Zachary Taylor Page

yippee!, a semester is over and summer terms begin!

2011-05-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Dallin's school year is up @ UNC, now summer term begins...GO DALLIN YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Elders sent lots of love and smiles through the phone!

2011-05-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

It was so fun talking to Matthew last night! You could just feel his smile warming you through the phone. (How does he do that) He is enjoying where he is. President is going to try to get him back in a spanish area before he comes home. He'll probably only have one more area before he comes home. 5 months is so crazy. He says he is in that stage where it is hard to remember life before the mission. Steve always says you begin measuring life before and after the mission. It was so nice to hear his cheerful voice and sweet laugh. He sends his love to everyone and says he will see everyone soon.

Zachary was doing great as well. He is going through alot of adjustments right now, and it is very hard not knowing the language very well yet, but one day I know he will just suddenly understand, be brave and have heart, we love you and the Lord is aware of you and He is always there with you. He had some pretty funny stories to tell us. I will let him share them to everyone some day. I know I loved it when Dallin came home and he would share all of his funny experiences with us. He would have us all in stitches laughing so hard. He is a great story teller, his kids are in for a treat :) It was one of the best mothers days I can remember! Loved having all of my family on skype or the phone all at once atleast for a couple of minutes as Zach and Matt's calls over lapped just a little. So Matthew got to say Hello to Zach. It brought tears to my eyes feeling them all so close even though we were all miles apart! I guess I just need to be patient, we will all be together again some day, and I know the time will pass quickly. I love my children, all the ones I gave birth to and all the many others I did not. Being a mom to so many wonderful people is such a blessing. I love you all thank you so much for your love as well. Till we all meet again together....

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

2011-05-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

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

Happy Mother's Day to two great women

2011-05-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and Mother in Law. How blessed I am to have such great women who I call mothers in my life. Thanks mom for all you have done for so many, not just me, but to siblings, grandchildren, friends and many others. I love you and I am so blessed to call you Mom!. Myra thank you for all you have done to help me feel loved and appreciated. What a wonderful example you have been in raising such a wonderful son who I get to call my sweetheart. I love you.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Elder M. Page

2011-05-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

How was your week? Mine was alright. We got a lot of potential baptisms and 2 investigators with Baptismal dates :) We are making progress. We are working really hard. Things here with finals coming up everyone is really busy with school. I'm not sure what will happen in about a month from now when shcool is done, but there will still be Elders on campus. I hope I stay one more trasfer because we have two people so far getting baptised next month. (He did not get transfered!) I really like working the University.

How was Abby's dance thing? I am sure she did awesome! Did you get to speak with Zach the other day when he left for Japan? DId he get to speak any Japaneses to you all? I'm sure he's super excited to finally get out there and start working. He will be just like I was going out and just a few weeks later he gets to talk to everyone at home again.

For Mother's Day just let me know when you want me to call. I will give Zach first priority & dibbs because, well he is in an extremely different time zone.

Other than that I am just trucking along. We had intervies the other day with President. I enjoy interviews with President Walker. He is a great man and he loves us and loves the Lord. I will miss him when he is gone. I will miss Sister Walker too :) I'm sure the new Mission President will be good too!

Keep praying for me. Pray I won't get completely roasted this summer :) I'll try to use more sun screen. Last summer as you could see I was turned into a giant lobster.

I love and miss you all! We will talk soon!

Love ,

Matt

Elder Z PAGE

2011-05-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well Mom, to start this email off I will just tell you that the address is just the mission home address. They Have every letter come through the mission home to make misdirected mail at tranfers easier. So it is just the mission home address:
Japan Sapporo Mission
24-1-25 Kita 2-jo Nishi
Chuo-ku, Sapporo-Shi
Hokkaido 064-0822

So there you go! :) Sorry about that! Yeah, I had a pretty interesting week, but first, I want to reply to your email. Actually, first of all....HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you so much and you are the most beautiful, wonderful sister ever!!! Really, I love you so much!!! I am glad you enjoyed the beach, and I thought that you would think the tape was funny. Sorry it wasn't a little better, I will try to do better next time. :)

I am excited about calling on Sunday as well! Apparently, President Daniels is one of the strictest mission presidents in the world when it comes to the time you are on the phone. We get one call of exactly one hour or less. You need to call us at OUR 9:15 in the morning on MONDAY, so it will be your guys sunday night. It is pretty weird how it works and we don't have a ton of time, Hope that all makes sense! Can't wait! :)

I do remember you all in every prayer I say so don't worry about that!!! This week was full of ups and downs. I did have to go to the hospital and everything, but everything was ok. I did have to stay in the apartment for two days with no going out, and that was extremely hard. I studied a lot of things, but it just allowed for too much down time and it was very tough. I met with President Daniels and spoke with him after those tough days and I felt much better. He really is an amazing man, and he cares about me so much and so specifically, even though I just met him. We finally moved into our own apartment this past week as well. We went from this super small apartment with 6 elders, to this really nice/big apartment with just Elder Clinton and I. It is pretty nice. :) I do miss having more Elders around though. That was tough too because we spent a lot of time moving in and moving furniture and stuff (Got a taste of how you felt during your mission Dallin :) ) When we did have time to do some Dendo (Proselyting) this week, it was hard. We had a couple investigators, who were working for baptism, drop us and say they weren't interesting anymore. It was pretty hard because we see them progress and we know they have felt the spirit, and then they still turn it down. However, we still did see miracles every single day. We contacted a couple guys that could grow into really good investigators. It has been pretty funny at times because the Japanese people are pretty funny. They are too nice to just tell you straight up that they aren't interested, so they will do anything possible to dodge you. On the streets, you have no idea how many times people's family call them on the phone right as we walk buy. :) Houses are even funnier, it is hard to get people to come to the door because EVERYONE has these little intercoms, but then, when we do get them to the door, they will lie and say they have guest over, meanwhile, the old man is standing there in his pajamas! It is hard to be denied when this message means so much to me, but if I had to get denied, the Japanese do it in funny ways to make a laugh out of it. This week I was listening to the song "Love is Spoken Here" and something hit me really hard. The most important thing about, not only our life on this earth, but for our eternal life, is eternal families. I am so grateful for my family and I would do absolutely anything to assure that I have that. It isn't easy by any means, and sometimes it may be very painful, but it is more than worth it to make sure we do everything we can to obtain that priceless gift. I ate some pretty weird stuff for the first time at a members house. Don't know what it was called, and I am not going to be too graphic, but lets just say it was some sort of fish, its eyes we firmly intact, it wasn't cooked, and it wasn't a good experience. :) This week had a lot of tears and a lot of growth and I have never come closer to my Savior, and my need for him, ever in my whole life. I love you all so much, Mom, Dad, Dallin, Jaclyn, Matt, Abby, Tory, Marissa, and all you others who you know who you are. You are the most important things in my life and I love you all through thick an thin. No matter what happens or how hard life gets for you, I will love and support you unconditionally in your trails and troubles. Remember me in your prayers this week and in the coming weeks so much, I need them! :)

Have a wonderful week everybody!!!!

Love Always,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Happy Birthday Jaclyn!

2011-05-01T06:29:00.002-07:00

Jaclyn dear we need to take some recent pictures!!! But this one is still beautiful! Have a wonderful birthday sweet girl! We are so happy to have another daughter and that it is you! We hope that your day is full of wishes that come true! Happy Birthday Jaclyn, we love you!!!!

One wish that came true....;)

Happy 17th Birthday to Abigail!!!

2011-05-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

Today is your 17th birthday! This was a very fast year! I hope they all don't go by this quickly! Abigail what a joy you are to so many. I hope all that joy is returned to you on your big day! Continue in your journey of becoming that young woman that your Heavenly Father desires you to be. We couldn't be more proud. Happy Birthday "cupcake" we all love you!

HaPpY 17tH BiRtHdAy!!!!

First week in the field

2011-04-25T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!!!
Sooooo, I don't even know where to start! This was one of the fastest weeks of my whole life and at the same time, sooo many things happend! I guess I will start out with a laugh for everybody. So first of all, my area is Shiroishi right, so we don't have an apartment currently, so the past week and until we find out otherwise, we are living in a different area called Atsubetsu. We are in a tiny little apartment with 6 of us! Elder Clinton and I are living out of our suitecases and it is just...its pretty crammed to say the least. This morning for p-day, three of us went to play some ping pong at the church in Atsubetsu, so since i don't have a bike i just borrowed another elders. So, within the first 5 minutes of riding bikes on the mission I ate some serious dirt! hahaha There are these stairs we have to go way up and then way down to get over the train tracks. In the middle of the stairs there is a ramp for bikes to be WALKED up and down. So we RODE up the stairs on the ramp just fine...it was going down the 80 steps that was the interesting part. It rained yesterday so the ramp was a little wet. The other two elders got down just fine so I thought I would be ok...I was wrong. I started going down and picked up maybe 20 mph of speed really fast! I made the mistake of trying to ease on the REAR brakes to slow down and with the wet surface, the back tire very quickly flew out from under me. My bike went flying and I, first hit really hard, and then rolled down about 15 feet of stairs. It was super graceful you know? :) You all know me, and so naturally, I just got up, picked up the bike and we went to the church to play some ping pong. I have a couple bumps and bruised but I will be fine, so don't worry! :) Leave it to me to have the quickest missionary bike accident ever! :)
The week went by pretty fast. You are right, Elder Clinton is a really hard worker and we really thrashed Shiroishi this past week. I will share just a couple little experiences and things. I really have seen miracles every single day. We contacted over 100 people last week and taught over a dozen lessons. Elder Clinton's Japanese is super good which is great because this language is way way crazy. I try really hard and I follow some things, but the only thing I can really do that is effective is just bare testimony. I can tell you that in teaching, the spirit really is the most important thing because people just don't care if you are just spitting info at them. The thing is with the Japanese people is that people here just havent felt the spirit before for the most part, so if we can invite the spirit and they soften there hearts enough to feel it, they feel a way they have never felt before. That happend several times this week and it is a truly amazing thing to see. We worked really hard and on Sunday we got 3 investigators to church which was awesome! One woman named Yuzuka came when she told us she couldn't because of work!
On Sunday Night, right before we were about to go home we hit a guy that could be gold!! We contacted him on the street. He was just walking along smoking a cigarrette and we asked him if he knew who we were. He said, "I have seen you before, people are always trying to ignore you." Elder Clinton asked him if he was one of the people that would just try to ignore us and he said no! We got to talking to him and he is 20 years old and both of his parents have died. We asked him if he believed there was a God and he said yes. We asked him why and he said that it is because he feels like he has felt his parents helping him since he died. We talked to him about the Plan of Salvation and showed him the pamphlet. He said that it was such a good thing, we asked if he wanted to learn more about it and he said yes! We are meeting with him tonight and I just pray he will show up!! I told him that I know this message is interesting and new, but that if he will recieve it that it will bless his life and bring him shinjitsu na shiawase...true happiness. We told him he can see his parents again and he said thankyou. It was an amazing experience, one of those experiences I was talking about where the people just feel something they have never felt before.
I know that the Lord led us to him, and that every other contact that listened and rejected us allowed us to meet him at that exact moment. The Lord blesses us all with miracles every single day if we but open our hearts to see them. This has been a really really tough week. This language is really hard and not being able to express yourself is truly a monumental challenge. When I sat in church on Sunday, in a small little group of 20 or so people, the church became true to me in a whole new dimension. I really need your prayers and support, more than ever in my life I am having to rely on my faith in my Savior Jesus Christ. I know he lives, I know that he will be on my right hand and on my left. Something that Marissa pointed out to me in one of my letters has become so true to me here, this gospel doesn't make life easy by any means, but it sure does make it easier. I testify that that is true. I love you all so much and think of and pray for you every day. Marissa, A letter is on its way so we will see how long it takes to get there! :) Thanks for all the bike stuff and money mom and dad, hopefully when I get my own bike I won't wipe out on it! Just a little funny note here before I wrap it up, I am already trademark here as the missionary that waves at everybody. :) Waving is not a Japanese thing for sure, so I always just smile super big and give everybody a nice white boy wave. You should imagine the faces of the little Japanese people when a tall Gaijin(foreiner) just smiles and waves at them and says hello. :) Thank you all for being such a joy and support in my life. I truly do love you so much and I hope I make you proud! If I need anything I will let you know, but for now, I really just need your prayers and faith please!

I love you!
Elder Zachary Taylor Page...Z-Train ;)

Messages to my missionaries

2011-04-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

私はあなたにエルダーページを愛してなど非常に誇りに思っています！
My Message to Elder Zachary Page

Te quiero élder Page y estoy muy orgullosa de ti!
My Message to Elder Matthew Page

SO I am in Japan!!

2011-04-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

Elders Vilchis & Page both now serving in Japan Kobe & Sapporo Hello everybody!

So I am in Japan!! I don't even know really where to start to be honest. It is all REALLY surreal and REALLY over my head. By the time we got to Sapporo I had gone on three flights traveling something like 36 hours! I am sure I am jetlagged somehow, but today I have just been going at it. It has been a little slow because we just sat through orientation stuff but it has still been great. I have my trainer and am assigned to my first area...his name Elder Clinton and he is from New Jersey. He is a convert to the church of just the past couple years. When President Daniels announced him as my companion he jumped out of his seat and yelled "Yay!l" as he ran to me. Haha He seems like a super nice guy and I don't think I will have any problems getting along with him. We already talked a bit and he is a really nice guy, and he is like six foot four so he makes me look tiny!!! We are assigned to Shiroishi, which is just an area inside o Sapporo itself. Both of my MTC comps Benson and Kendall are getting sent way far outside of Sapporo so I am the only Gaijin(foreigner) staying in Sapporo of the new missionaries. So much has happened and I don't even know where to start!! :) The weather here is super beautiful and when they say that Japan is super organized and clean, it is so true! It really doesn't look too different from the US other than the fact that everything is written in Japanese...and everybody is short and Asian...and they drive on the left side of the road...and everybody looks at you like you are a crazy white boy yelling "Konichiwa!" at them. :) Hahaha Daniels Kaicho teased me a little for ALWAYS just smiling at nothing. Today for lunch they took us to this Japanese restaurant and it was SOOOO good! I am definitely going to like (most) of this food! :) I really struggle with Chop sticks too. A lot of the Nihongin were laughing at me. But, they did say that by the end of the meal I had gotten so much better and that I learn fast. :) hmm, lets see, oh yeah, in my area right now there isn't an apartment! So the deal is for now that we are going to be living in the adjacent area and we will just commute to our area and work straight until it is time to come home. President and Sister Daniels really are amazing and I love them so much already, so you really have nothing to worry about mom, they will take care of me. :) Everything really is just going over my head honestly. From the sound of things it sounds like the Sapporo assignment won't be permanent and that the Sendai elders will be going back, but I am not sure obviously. Whatever the Lord wants, I am just geared to go!! President Daniels has a really awesome study program working here so I can't wait to dive into that. The Japanese is super crazy and I am POSITIVE that it will be a couple months full of headaches, but I can't wait! Well, I guess for now I will wrap it up. We have 30 minutes till dinner so I am going to go outside and do the Dendo(proselyte)!!!! I am super excited and I can't wait to talk to you in a few weeks. Tell Marissa to not worry, Now, she is the most beautiful girl I know on TWO continents! :oD I love you all and know that you are in all of my prayers and thoughts! Till next Monday!!

Love Your son, friend, and Z-Train,

Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elder Matthew Page sweating it out in AZ

2011-04-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

While Elder Zachary Page will be freezing in Japan, Elder Matthew Page is sweating it out in Arizona! It is starting to get very warm there already. Matthew is dreading the summer heat! ( Remembering last year) He is working himself to death. They are finding new investigators, finally a little harvesting :) He is doing great! Would love to hear from everyone, and he loves pictures! Remember his mission home address has changed. Go to the blog on the right side it is updated.

Elder Zachary Page finally found a place to serve...:)

2011-04-10T08:53:00.001-07:00

Wednesday evening we heard from Elder Page. He was calling to let us know that he has been giving a new assignment to Sapporo Japan. He is so excited to be able to go to Japan and serve the Lord's children. They call themselves the FROZEN CHOSEN. He will be leaving on April 18th so we will get to hear from him again...can't wait! As far as I know his mission home address is : Elder Zachary Page Japan Sapporo Mission Kita 2 jo Nishi 24 Chome 1-25, Chuo-Ku Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido 064-0822 Japan If for some reason this changes I will let you know

Still all dressed up with no place to go :)

2011-04-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

I'm going here there or somewhere in between :)

Hey Everybody,

So here is the two big items of news..................I still don't know where I am going!!!!!!!

Item Number two............My MTC departure has been delayed till April the 18th! :) hahahaha I don't really even know what to say except that maybe I should have expected it! haha :) The brethren need another week to asses the situation and figure out what to do with us so they delayed us while they try to figure out.

So Mom, this is not my last p-day and I will get to email you from here again! Also, MJ, and JDog, in my letters i obviously thought I was leaving so you guys should definitely write me again next week so that way I get another letter! :) Thanks! It is crazy, Every single Japanese Elder is delayed till then!

I am excited for the tape, mine is almost done and I will get that out to you asap! So awesome that Derek is coming out there and that he saw Marissa! She is doing great in her letters and I know that she loves to talk to you guys so that is a good idea.

Conference was sooooo amazing!!! I think that it comes to you totally differently as a missionary to be honest. I can't even pick one favorite! I really really loved Elder Oaks talk where he talked about "Overriding Desires" though. The most simple concept ever, but if we could all correctly apply that, we would never sin! I also really really liked Elder Nelson's talk, but they were all so good!! That is so so crazy that next conference Matt will be home and I will have already been gone 9 months!!! Man, time is just flying by!!

I had a pretty quick week as usual. The mission and the work blurr together like you wouldn't believe. Last wednesday I got to host new missionaries and that was pretty cool. It was pretty weird being on the other end of standing on that curb. There were a lot of sad goodbyes and that was a weird flashback moment. I honestly don't even remember much that happend this week! When you have been sitting in the same classroom studying for almost 3 months you just don't even know what goes on sometimes. The district has grown really close in our time here and I think some of us are even a little relieved at an extra week so that we can prolonge the goodbyes. Elder Tukukino and I have grown partucularly close. He is from Australia and I think I have him convinced to come to BYU after the mission and live with me that first Winter semester back...hopefully that first semester is all the time I will need a roommate. ;o) hahaha

Alright, for this weeks challenge I have a couple things again, but i know that all who do these challenges will be blessed. I know that they really are given by the spirit. I don't know if any of you noticed, but I am pretty sure most if not ALL of my challenges were addressed in some way at conference. Some very specifically and others subjectively. It was a great blessing to me to see that these challenges are inspired and that they have purpose and meaning if you take the little amount of time to do them. This week I felt prompted to issue a challenge concerning the Holy Ghost. Study in Preach my Gospel on Page 18, and the first half of 19 about Learning by the Spirit, and Living what you learn. After you have studied that, read the very short tidbit on Page 104 called "Witness of Christ." After that, flip to page 101 and read the big quote by Elder Dallin H. Oaks on that page. I am not going to spoon feed you on this one this week. :) I want you all to study those three things and ponder how they relate and what we learn about the Book of Mormon and Feeling the Holy Ghost constantly in our lives. I know that as you do this this week you will better understand the Spirit of God and how it can work through all of us. You will be blessed to know how you can better invite and maintain that spirit in your lives. Also, the new mormon message this week is amazing and all should watch that and share it with others. I know with all of my soul that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ leads this church, his church on the earth today. We Do have a prophet of God to lead us. What an amazing blessing that is to us in our lives to hear his word and follow his guidance. It is the only sure way that we can know we are living exactly the way that God wants us to live. I know that as we follow Thomas S Monson and hearken to his council, we will NEVER go astray from the narrow path that God has set for us. I know that as we follow that path faithfully, we will return to our father above, with our families, forever and ever. I love you all so so much. You are the greatest and most important blessings to me in my life. Do what is necessary to keep yourselves clean and pure, so that one day we can all return TOGETHER to our Father above.

Have a wonderful week and I hope to hear from you all. I will let you know where I am going as soon as I can find out myself, but for now, expect my email from the MTC next week!

Love always, Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Elements are right for the work to take off...

2011-03-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Elder Page's son and Grandson

(Meaning he trained Elder Carter and now Elder Carter is trainin the other missionary)

Matthew got a new companion last week Elder Bellows from Rigby Idaho. He is very quiet and timid, but Matthew is helping him come out a little bit. "I remember how hard it was in the beginning. I can tell he gets stressed easily. I just hope he feels like he has a friend in me."

It was a pretty slow week. It has been spring break on campus, so the work has been slow, but lots of time to train.. "Things are going well with the members. I feel the members are beginning to get behind us. We are having a ward fast for missionary work. All the elements are right to let the work tak off. Pray and fast that we will be guided to those that are ready. And pray for my companion that he can have his mouth opened to talk to people."

He is coming up on his 6th month mark, he's not counting I AM! :)

Hope you will take the time to write him a note.

I'll Go Where you want Me to Go Dear Lord...

2011-03-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!!!

Thanks so much for my email mom!!! I loved it! I can't believe tory and Dad got seats right behind the player bench!!!! That is so so cool!!

So the deal on Sapporo has again changed!! It is crazy how they don't know what to do with us!!!! As it stands now we have zero idea where we are going. Honestly, I have a feeling it might be stateside but I honestly dont know. We will howerever find out where this friday or saturday for sure so next week it should be locked in on a location!

It is less than two weeks here now and it is crazy!!! Really bittersweet to be honest, I have come to truly love the MTC and my district has become like my family, but I am excited to get out somewhere and actually start sharing this wonderful message!!!

I honestly don't know how they work calling while in Japan with the international distance and the dramatic time difference, I will see if I can figure it out but I bet it varies by mission, besides Mamma, I might not even be heading there quite yet!! But, I hope you guys are excited for a call in just a couple weeks when I head to the airport!! That will be exciting and I can speak a little japanese for you for the first time.

We got the cookies and we loved them so so so much!! Thank you! Surprise us for the last week, we love them all! Also, I have been working on a tape and I am almost done with it.

I have had a great week!! All of the native Japanese Missionaries came in this week and it has been really fun getting to talk to all of them! it is helping our Japanese a ton!! I showed them all pics of Marissa and Abbs and they went off about how they were daiutsukushi (So Beautiful!!). :oD The week just kind of sped along, really in the swing of things. Heard about BYU losing and all that jaz and it really has just cruised this week. Some of the Native Japanese told me what the Kanji meaning of our name Page is, it is read as Peace Samurai!! pretty cool huh!!!

I have been studying a lot in the Book of Mormon and this week I cruised through from Alma 30- Alma 50 and learned so so so much. That is where the chuck of my weekly challenge is coming from this week! I want you all to study the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement. I have learned so much and really grown to know the sacrafice of my Savior for me. My gratitude is beyond words. I know that he lived and died for me, and all of us. He was innocently betrayed by a friend and arrested, beaten and scourged by the romans, crucified by his own people, and most inportantly, knelt in the mount of olives and took upon us our every pain, sorrow, and sin. I know it with all my heart and so this week I want you all to take the time to show appreciation for what our Savior has done and study this mighty plan and Atonement. Some great places to start are Alma chapters 34, 36 and in 2 Nephi Chapter 2. I know and promise you all that as you do this and you diligently study these doctrines this week, that your love and relationship with the savior will be strengthend beyond that which we can fully fatham. We must all face the sometimes painful law of justice, but because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we don't have to face it alone. If we turn to him with faith and repentance, he will stand by us with infinite mercy as we face the law of justice for our mistakes. I know these things are true, and I am so grateful that I have been given that Mercy from my Savior and Redeemer, Even Jesus Christ.

I love you all so so much. I pray for and think about you often. As I learn more about this true and perfect gospel, the more my love for you all grows. The more that love grows, the more I desire for you to ALL feel the matchless joy that comes from learning and applying the doctrines of Jesus Christ. Alma taught in Alma 32 that if we try the experiment, then we can know for ourselves. Try the experiement, live this gospel and I know with all of my soul that you will taste the Sweetness thereof, and you will never want to be without that feeling and without that true knowledge ever again. Everybody, have a wonderful week!! My heart is with you and may the Lord bless you in all that you do. Press Forward with a steadfastness in Christ and you will find joy, this I promise you.

Love, Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Weeks winding down in MTC

2011-03-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!
Thanks so much for the email mom, it is great to hear how things are going back home. It is good to hear about Prom and everything, Marissa said that Abby was so excited for it and I am sure going with Garrison made it all the better. And duh she was the prettiest girl there!!! That's my girl!!!! I got my tape player in the mail and have already started on a tape, it is about 20 mintues long right now, just introducing everybody and stuff. It feels weird to talk to a tape, but once you get past the intial awkwardness it is really fun!! I will send you a cassette soon, You should tell Marissa to get one so that you guys can send it to her when you are done!! :)
Anyways, my week has been crazy. It was totally solid and stuff, but it was CRAZY! Both of my companions got ill, Kendall had insomnia and is on medication, and Benson got the Flu and had to go into Missionary quarentine! We didn't see him for almost three days. So my companions were sick and so they were constantly in and out of isolation and i spent a chunk of the week with Elder Tukukino and Elder Maris in a threesome with them. Tukukino is a great bud to me and so is Maris so that was great.
A crazy awesome story, on Thursday, my companions were out of commision and so i was with Tuk and Maris, we have the TRC that day and so i planned to teach the Plan of Salvation with them all day. Ten minutes before we teach Elder Kendall came out of isolation and we had to teach with ZERO planning. It was pretty scary and VERY humbling to go into a japanese lesson with no prep. We said a prayer and went in there fully on faith and it went so well!! For the second week in a row I have turned my heart over to the spirit while teaching and I have recieved the gift of tongues! My teacher said he was very impressed with how well we spoke and i know it was because we opened our mouths with faith and the Lord filled them. The spirit is an amazing thing and I know that if we have that power with us then we can do whatever the Lord requires.
Also, on Saturday, Benson had to pic up medicine from the Rite Aid in Provo so I got the rid in a Van out side the MTC! It was really weird to be honest, after 9 weeks of seeing nothing of the outside world, driving right past my old apartment was pretty crazy.
About Japan, we still don't know. Plans have changed since last week. We are no longer going to Tokyo like they told us. There is a lot of talk about moving us to other japanese missions and even of us temporarily going stateside, but nobody really knows. When we find out for sure i will let you know, it should be by next week. At this point, after going through 3 different mission assignments for Tulsa, to Sendai, to Tokyo, to wherever, I am just singing the Song, "I'll go where you want me to go!" :) haha I have faith that the Lord will get me everywhere he needs me to be so I am not worrying about it at all! :o
Mom, we used the squirt guns today on my P-Day! It was pretty funny and i felt like a little kid, which was pretty refreshing amongst all the crazyness last week.
My challenge this week is to study the Book of Mormon, all of you, every single day this week. STUDY it. The converting power of the Book of Mormon only comes when it is read and studied. So this week that is what I want you all to do, study that miraculous book every day. And I want you to start by reading Moroni 7, which is one of the greatest sermons about how to live and find joy in all scripture. Study particularly verse 13 (Good things are inspired of God), verses 26 and 33 (With true and full faith ANYTHING is possible through Christ), and verses 41-46 (the doctrine of Faith, Hope, and Charity). I promise that as you pray and study this chapter, and the scriptures this week, you will find yourself filled with spiritual Power. The Lord promises us that as we study his word we will find peace and strength, and if there is one thing I know it is that God ALWAYS keeps his promises. Of that truth we can always rely.
Well everybody, I love you all so very much, i think of you and pray for you all every single day. Momma, my district said yesterday, "Mamma Page, Send us some cookies!" I think there favorite was the butterscoties. :)
I hope and pray that you all have a wonderful week! I promise that if you build your life on the sure foundation that is Jesus Christ, every day of your life will be filled with a joy that cannot be taken from you. I will let you know about where I am going and when as soon as I can. I love you all, every single person who reads these words has my love and faith, Press Forward always and have Faith and I promise that all will be well, in good times and in hard.
Till next week!!
Love,
Elder Zachary Taylor Page

Prom

2011-03-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

Lets see how many proms have we attended....I think this was number 6. I am so happy that our kids don't mind when we chaperone, besides I get to take lots of pictures :) It was another fun night, Abigail had a wonderful night with her friend Garrison and a few more from school and church. I am so glad that the do this for the youth. Everyone gets to experience PROM and in a good enviornment. Next year Tory will be going...yikes I can not believe that! I guess that means we have 4 more to go. I am going to miss doing this with my kids. I was talking to a friend and I told her I wished that they did something fun like this for adults, I mean how often do you get to go dancing!