It is the greatest feeling ever to teach a family...

Hey Everybody!!! I loved seeing pics of all of you guys!!! It is super creepy to see how much all of everybody has grown up. Seriously, it was a weird thing to behold. That girl had her hand on Tory's stomach mom!!! Is that now weird??? ;o) Hold on for the ride Dad, it is the last one you got to go through!!! hahaha I will definitely be thinking of Dad as he goes to his surgury tomorrow!! Speaking of hospitals though, I went today!!! A couple of days ago I got hit by a car while I was riding my bike!!! :o) Dont worry, it wasn't that bad! A guy just wasnt looking as he pulled out and t-boned me. It hurt and I have needing a little fixing on my bike, but I am alright so there is no need to worry. I went to the hospital but just a bandage and I am ok! :oD To be honest, this past week had a lot going on. We had an activity where we build a putt putt course inside the church and played putt putt for the activity. It was super fun and I have some pictures that I will send you guys at some point. We have been doing a ton of finding recently, right? Some days we were even just finding for 8 hours. But, the Lord blessed us with two miracles this past week that have really strengthened my testimony in the work. One was just a man who called us up and told us that he had received a flier and had interest in learning about our church. We were able to meet with him and had a great Lesson 1. We were able to extend the baptismal commitment and he said that if it is true he will be baptized. His name is Ishizuka-san. So, I am excited to see where that goes. The other one was pretty amazing too. A while back I told you we had the chance to play soccer with a guy right? Well we always thought that he was only interested in using us to win his soccer games because he never really broke on hearing the gospel. Well, we were housing the other day and he pulled up behind us in his car. Apparently he lived close by and so he took us to his house in his car. He introduced us to his family of 3, Him, his wife, and his 11 year old daughter. To make a long story a little shorter, they offered us tea and so we got to teach about the Word of Wisdom which went really well. We also got to tell a lot about why we had come on our missions and how we were so good at japanese. Then finally we talked about families and they told us very openly that they dont ever spend time and fun together as a family. We were able to introduce Family Home Evening and they invited us over next time for dinner and a family home evening. :o) Mom, it is the first time I have ever had the opportunity to be in the home of a non-member FAMILY and teach them the gospel on my entire mission. It is the greatest feeling ever to teach a family!!! I am super excited and hope that we are able to continue teaching them. It is amazing how the Lord lays a path before us. It has happend a thousand times on my mission, but the Lord let us be in the right place at the perfect time so that he could see us from his car and invite us to his home. I just really know that this gospel and that the work is true. Sometimes we see it in the smallest of miracles, but if we will look in our everyday lives, there are evidences that God is watching over us everywhere. Thank you Mom for always praying for my happiness. I dont think you realize how much that means to me to hear you say that. Just knowing that no matter where I am or the road I choose, you are always petitioning the Lord to make it the best for me. I love you so much for that, Mom. Keep $teve taken real good care of after his surgury, ok? I will be praying for him. :oD I love you Dad!!! Have a wonderful week everyone!! I love you! Love always, Elder Page

Guess who is 16 today?

I can't believe that my baby is 16 today. I remember so clearly taking him to Zach's first grade class to Show & Tell :) He is definately the icing on top of our family. The family would not be the same without him. Tory I hope that you have a wonderful day. Remember that we love you so much, and are thrilled with the wonderful young man your are becoming. Happy Birthday!!!

Elder Page

Hey Everybody!! Sounds like usual that everything over there is really busy and fun, which I love to hear. :o) Prom looks like it was super fun and everybody looks so good! I have to be honest, the only thing that shocked me more than how pretty Abby looked was how weirdly manly Vishal Looked!!!!! Oh my gosh that boy became a man!!! I just remember him as this puny little Indian kid that Abby would sit with at lunch. Wow, he is a man. Anyways, glad to hear that everything else is going well. Dad in Provo, You staying with the Wilson's next month, and Tory's Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday buddy!!!!! I miss you and hope you have tons of fun dating and all that jazz. But, remember what I said, always always always follow Mom's advice. Trust me. She is always knowing the right thing to say. :oD Mom, something else I could use if you could manage it is a new CD holder book thing. I have accumulated more cd's than my little book can handle and a new one would be nice, but you cant really find those things anymore with IPods and stuff can you? I got my package this past week and i loved it mom!! Thanks always for sending me my favorite stuff like warheads and granola. However mom, the best part of that package was by far your letter. Thanks so much. You are one amazing mom and you always know the perfect thing to say. :o) I have been bragging about you and just how awesome of a mom you are all week. :o) I love you so much mom! I had a pretty normal week though. Just doing all we can to move the work forward even just a little. We dont really have very many people to be teaching right now. It has been a little rough and doing a lot of finding. Almost all day every day, but it is easy to keep your spirits up and have fun because my companion has so much energy. He helps me a lot. :o) I guess just two highlights from the week. One, we got to go to a J-League soccer game. There is a team in Niigata and we got permission to go with an investigator on Saturday. That was fun and I will send pictures at some point. One more is about that Sister, the one I wrote about last week who has recently come back to church, Sister Kobayashi. We had another lesson with her this past week and it was super awesome. We talked to her about The Plan of Salvation and it was pretty cool. She brought up Being sealed to her family in the Temple and stuff. As we taught, she told us that she was so relieved. She told us that she could have hope about her family and life after death again. It was very powerful and made my entire week. Just like she is coming to know again as we teach her, I truly do believe that this gospel is true. I believe it from the bottom of my heart. That conviction is very personal, and yet something that has pierced the hearts of millions around this world. I testify that when we seek, we do find. When we ask, we do receive. I believe that and I have based my life on it, on the truth of our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ. I love you family, and I love you all who give me so much support and love. It does help. Know that all of your support helps. Have a great week and keep a smile on your face everybody, that will make the biggest difference in your life!! :oD Till next week!!! Love always, Elder Page

PRoM! Making great memories with great friends

Prom this year was so much fun! We had a fabulous dinner here at the house with them all. Thanks to Kristi Gardiner, Sharmyn Mitchell, Karen Gehrig, and Donna Blake,it all came together perfectly! All the girls looked beautiful and the guys sooo handsome. I had so many pictures, but here are just a few.

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The Comforter, who's role is to testify of truth to our hearts

Hello Everyone!! Wow, :o) I am so glad that your friends had such a wonderful experience at church. I hope that more than anything, they remember the way they felt. They were touched by the Holy Spirit of God, the Comforter, who's role is to testify of truth to our hearts. That feeling that they had will be more valuable to them than anything else they will learn or experience. I have seen in my experience that the most amazing thing that anyone can experience is a testimony of the Spirit. Being here in Japan, almost everybody has no idea who Jesus Christ or God is. People often have a very difficult time understanding at first, but when people feel the Holy Ghost, that lack of understanding is taken away by a feeling of power and reassurance that what they are hearing is ringing true inside of them. I loved to hear about Conner popping up on BYU TV! That is so funny and I can totally picture Conner saying that on TV. I am so glad I was blessed with the chance to be his roommate when I was at school. Abby!!! You will meet so many new friends like him at BYU and I am so excited you get to go there with me!!!!! :o) I hope you guys have a wonderful time at Prom this coming week. That was always one of my favorite times of the year, dressing up in a suit and stuff. hahaha Now I feel uncomfortable when I am out of a suit!! Funny how things just turn around on you like that!! ;oD I had a pretty good week. Oh yeah, I forgot!!! I got transfer calls this morning!!! Totally forgot. I guess I forgot because NOTHING IS CHANGING!!!!!!! I couldn't even believe it. It is the most rare thing ever! I have never heard of a Trainer being with his son for 4 transfers ever. But, this morning we got called at 6:30 and he told us we were going to remain together. Elder Ikeda, one of the six missionaries in Niigata is transfering, but other than that, we are all staying the same here. I am pretty happy about it because I am way loving everything right now. :oD At least six more weeks with the things the way they are. This past week was pretty busy though. We had a big Area training with an Area Seventy, Nishihara Choro, and that was a cool experience. They talked a lot about the new church handbook and applying it better in our wards and branches. I got to go to Sado, the tiny little island branch again this past Sunday. As always that was fun and a great experience. You know that Bookmark you gave me, the one that says "Pray Always and I will pour out my spirit upon you." I spoke about prayer and the spirit to the branch and then I gave that to them as a present to put up in the church so that they can always remember it. They were really appreciative of it and they said to say thanks to my family. :o) We had the opportunity to teach a sister who has been coming back to church recently. She has been inactive for so many years that we have been teaching to help her recall all of the church teachings and stuff. This past week I had the opportunity of sharing the Joseph Smith experience with her and when I said the first vision. She is actually Filipino and so we teach her in English, so it was the first time on my whole mission that I have said the First Vision in English. It was a wonderful experience and she started crying. She told us that as she was listening she just felt all that she had learned when she was younger was coming back to her. Through tears she just told us, "It is true, it is all true." It was an awesome experience and it reminded me as well that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God. I know it because the Spirit has born a witness to my heart that I truly believe is true. I have faith that this church was restored through the priesthood power that was brought back to the earth through Joseph. Yesterday was the One year anniversary of the Eastern Japan Earthquake. They had a moment of silence across the country for about a minute. During that time I felt something very special. As I looked around at the people around me praying to something or someone, I felt the truth of the existence of our Heavenly Father. People, no matter where you are from or who you are feel something is there. They bowed their heads and closed their eyes and prayed to something that most of them didn't even understand. But, the fact that it was in their nature, that it was reactionary for them to bow their heads in reverence and offer up a plea to something they couldn't see. bore witness in my heart of the truth of our God. He lives and watches over us. He is eager to speak to us if we will but open up that line of communication. If we seek in faith, I testify that we will find. I hope everyone has a great week!! I love you all so much. Thank you for being such wonderful and shining examples of truth and righteousness. It will be time to see you again before we know it! Have a great week everyone! Keep smiling!!! :oD Love, Elder Page Ps, mom, I could use some toothpaste and a new toothbrush in that package. Also, some icing would be nice if you could fit it in. I made some really delicious bread spread with some of it last time. :oD Other than that I think I am fine!! love you!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday Steve made me birthday cupcakes from scratch!!!! Wow, they were delicious, and I did not have to make them, that is even better. Looking forward to a great day with some friends and family.

Often he will guide us by and through those around us...

Page Choro at a baptism, and with companion Elder Sanders.

Hello Mama Page, Thank you for your email. It was wonderful and it was not boring in the slightest bit. :o) It was perfect! Mom, Happy Birthday!!!! Dont worry Mom, I didnt have a very interesting week either. It just came and went in about 2 seconds. :o) This is the last week before transfers, so next email we will find out what happens to me! I hope I get to stay, but things just come and go so fast now, I know that even if I stay, I will be gone before I know it. I cant believe it is March! Heard about Tory and everybody in the Basketball tournament, way to go winning a game like that!! I miss playing sports so I always love to hear about you guys having fun. :o) Tory is going to be 16 and dating so soon and that is just strange to me. Tory, a word of advice, whatever the next three years of your life brings, always always always listen to the advice/council of Mom and Dad. They are right. hahaha :o) You are probably laughing at me saying that aren't you Mom and Dad? ;o) Mom, if you want Dad to go to Brazil, like I do, the quickest way to get him there is to go there with him. He will for sure go there if you go with him. I know you have a lot of stuff to do, but this is a one time offer. As a person serving a mission right now, I can tell you Dads feelings that he doesn't want to go if you aren't by his side. I wouldn't want to go without my eternal companion either! As for a package for March, I dont really have anything I NEED I dont think. If I can think of something I will for sure tell you, but I think I am ok for now. Mom, thank you so much for sending me the pictures of Marissa. Lets just say that they brought a big ole smile to my face. :oD I was so happy. :oD To be honest, I am quite jealous of that little boy. The work is going alright. Just keep cruising along and trying to find investigators. Read all of the emails from Chris and Jordan and it just sounds like things are going great for them. It is still crazy to me how we are all just all over the place now! I wish I had more to tell you about my week, but things just have begun to blur into an image that is getting harder and harder to pick details out! Marissa, I got your Valentines Package a while back! Thank you so much for that and all that you do for me! :o) Mom, I also got a letter from you this past week, thank so much!! Although not much interesting happened this week, there is something that I could just feel. I could just feel the peace of consciousness that comes from the truth. It is obviously a hard thing to express, but just think about it, tough things happen in life! They happen in big and small ways to big and small people. We will eventually all have to face the test of life that sometimes will drive us to a feeling of nothing, or sometimes literally nothing. Something that I drew much peace out of this past week is the promise of the Lord given in Alma, "I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trails, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." I know that to be true. God will always be our support, and if we will, in our times of trial, seek to recognize that support, we will feel it in our life and it will bring great joy to our soul. We can take joy in life just from the reassurance that, even if our current situation isn't particularly difficult, when those times come, as surly they will come, that we will be ready and watched over if we will trust. I know that to be true and I felt it so much this past week. I testify that God will give us guidance and direction in life through many means. Often he will guide us by and through those around us. Seek to recognize and show gratitude for those blessings in our lives. I know that my Redeemer lives. That is something that we can count on. I love you guys so much. Time is just a going along and before I know it I will be there in good ole North Carolina! Have a great week!! Smile to those we meet, it helps! :o) Love always, Elder Page

Congratulations Garrison!

Congratulations Garrison on winning your 3rd State 3-A Wrestling title. Glad that we could be there to support you and cheer you on! Now on to Northwestern!!!!

Recognize the bigger picture...

Hello Everybody!! It is so awesome to hear about Elder Ward's call! Elder Ward, that sounds way cool. :o) Congratulations Zach!! Sounds like typical Garrison taking down that guy in 44 seconds at the state tournament. So much for being able to fend off guys from your little sister right? ;o) That is exciting that you guys had stake conference. I dont know if I mentioned it to you guys before, but last week we had a conference as well, but I will tell you about that in just a minute. I got my valentines package mom, thanks very much. The little Nerf guns have been a hit and made us laugh more than once. Thank you so much. So crazy to hear all about people every week becoming Elders and going on missions and things! Life is just a going along huh?!?! You mentioned Elder Newton, I actually know Elder Newton very well. He was in the group right before me in the MTC and is a missionary in Sapporo. I got to see him all the time when I was up there. Pretty small world huh? Thanks always for the emails Mom, they are always a good smile at the end of a week. I had a pretty busy week. I went up to Sendai for the first time in about 4 1/2 months. We had a mission conference this past week because Elder Dallin H Oaks, and Elder Hollstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy came to the mission. That is what all the pictures are, they were pictures from the conference. I was chatting with Elder Oaks for about 4 minutes. :o) Pretty cool huh? :oD While we were up there, I was in my old area, Kamisugi and so a couple of the members heard I was going to be coming and surprised me at the church right after the conference was over. Sister Sato, she made me homemade bread and she was so happy to see me she started crying. It was a happy experience that just made my desire to come back to Japan after the mission even stronger. It was really weird to be back in my old area because it just made the mission feel like it is going even faster. I am now quite significantly over a year and I can feel it go faster and faster every day. I wish things would happen with nicer pace, but things just dont slow down for me at all!! It is a long story but something else that is cool that happened this week was that I got to go and meet with some Japanese Government representatives and discuss the religious freedom of a member that isnt able to come to church because of his work. That was pretty cool. Elder Sanders just said that I looked way cool because I was so authoritative but still polite to the people. hahaha The mission for sure brings you some crazy experiences! I am going to get to go back to the island, Sado, again in a couple weeks to keep helping that Less Active so that is exciting. There is just a little longer left in this transfer and then it is probably time for me and Elder Sanders to be separated, so it will be interesting to see what will happen to us. Something else that happened recently is an Elder that I am really close to that was writing a girl got dear johned. The girl he was writing was super diligent at writing him and he only has 3 months left on his mission and she just dropped him. Pretty rough huh? That is a pretty interesting thing to see up close. Kind of humbling and just makes me want to strengthen my foundation on the mission and the work so that no matter what happens as far as anything is concerned, when there are hard times, I will work hard and give me all. I learned so much from the conference with Elder Oaks. I want to just share a little with you to wrap up this email. He spoke without any paper or notes and so it was super interesting. He spoke a lot about how it is one year after the earthquake. There was a lot spoken about how we should look back with respect, but to look forward with faith. Our purpose is to show people the road, and it isn't just a road to cheer people up, it is a road to lead people back to God. It is a road of Everlasting and certain security in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord has a certain pattern that he provides for us that turns disaster and terrible things into something that will bring about his sacred purposes. I know that to be the case. I have seen that principle demonstrated on a huge scale, like the earthquake that shook this country, and I have seen it on the smallest individual scale inside my own heart. We will all go through times in our lives, whether it is united with the pain of millions of others like a natural disaster, or whether it is the pain within the individual heart that is so personal and private that other people couldn't even tell. Death, loss, loneliness, lack of growth or success, feeling of no worth, or failure, we all experience these things in our life. The miracle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that these things will make the difference in the bigger picture of life. Keep going. Recognize the bigger picture. Remember who we are and our utmost significance. Just smile. If we do so, we will see the miracles and the works of God come into our lives in big and small ways. I know this gospel is true. When we understand what it is all about, it will change everything about everyday of our lives. I love you all so much. I miss you Mom. Time is going so fast and I will be with you before you know it! Thanks for all your support and love.

Page Choro attended a conference with Elder Oaks,

Keep being the greatest family and friends ever!!! Love Elder Page

Garrison White @ States

I am just super happy!

Page Choro, teaching English. He has done this every week his whole mission. I think it is funny they are teaching today through music, Help! From the Beatles :) Hello Everybody!!!! Thanks for the email Mom! This week was super exciting and a lot of things to smile about! I am super happy to hear about Abby getting into BYU!! It will be super weird to go back to school and have my brother and sister there! I am super excited! I am so anxious to hear about Zach's mission call!! It was killing me all week and I had a dream one night he came to Japan! Prom is super exciting! It is still crazy to think about how I used to go to those dances. Mom, it is crazy to me. My life has just moved on and changed so much. I mean, I am in Japan right now! It is a very humbling thought that fills me with gratitude for the many blessings in my life that I have had. That is really crazy that they wont let you go though. I dont like that. I havent gotten the Valentines Package from you yet, but I am sure it will be here this week. I have only gotten 2 letters in the last two week which has been the driest spell of my mission. Just one from you and one from Sister Mitchell. Thanks you two!! I love getting your letters. Tell sister Mitchell that I loved her letter and going to do all I can to be the kind of missionary that she described in her letter. Having less than a year left on my mission has not been a good feeling for me. I let it stress me out a little this week and it tired me out. I have been quite exhauseted, but today I had a great experience in personal study and I feel better, but I am worried that this is going to be the fasted 11 months ever. We already have transfers again in 2 and a half weeks. Last week we had another blizzard!! That is about enough said about that. We had interviews with President this past week which went well. He had some strong challenges for me that he wanted me to improve on and to help those working with me. He is a great man. I am so lucky to have come to this mission to work with him. I also got to talk to Sister Rasmussen a lot which of course was a pleasure. Mom, no worries, she is 100% my substitute Mom until I get you back. She is the bomb. :o) Other than that the past days have just cruised by just like the past 13 months have. I heard about Dad's hip surgery and that is super exciting and kind of a thing to be anxious about. I will be sure to pray for him with that coming up. I know that I have said something about it so many times in recent weeks, but it is something that I feel so strongly about. I want to say one more time that I have a testimony that God knows his flock and he cares about his sheep individually. I have known that in many different ways recently, but I knew it this week because that one sheep was me. I really was having a stressful time and worrying about a lot of things, but I felt my Savior's love as I felt him come after my wavering heart and bring it back into his shelter. I know that the shelter of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is adequate to protect from any storm. In a personal storm, and in the storms of others around me, I have seen the Savior of the World Jesus Christ calm the waves and raise his voice to say, "Peace, be still." I am so grateful for that. Please keep me in your prayers always as I do my best to be an instrument to bring others around me unto Christ. I am really trying my best at what i am doing and I am so thankful to you Mom and Dad for showing me how to put my heart into what I do. I feel my Saviors love and it IS a love he will freely give to those who seek it. It is like a pay phone, we can talk as long as we want if we just keep doing our part to put money in. Just keep putting money in our spiritual pay phones by study, prayer, and service and God will never cut the line on us. I love you guys so so much. Love, Elder Zachary Page

Lets start counting up...

Hello Everybody! Sorry for the late email this week! There was no access to the computer on Monday and so we had to push it till a day we could do it. I dont have much time at all though because today isn't P-Day so I will just give you guys the quick heads up. Last week was a crazy week. Super busy and lots of crazy stuff happened. We had the baptism on Sunday which was an awesome experience of course. Ishi will make a great priesthood holder. There was another blizzard last week and we were trucking around in about a meter of snow at least. It was really fun. There was an earthquake last week here too. We were in the middle of a lesson when the alarm went off on our phone and then about 3 seconds later the church started shaking up pretty good for about 15 seconds. It was a pretty scary moment but it didnt get too big so it was alright. It was really just a crazy week with lots going on. I was called on twice to give a priesthood blessing suddenly which, in another language, is always a cool experience. Had a wonderful experience with a member who was baptised about three years ago. We have been working with him alot and he is going to the temple this week to get his endowment. In our last lesson he had teared up eyes as he told me that it was because of me that he was able to get ready to go. I dont know exactly what I did, but it was a very touching and happy experience on the mission. It isn't just about converts I guess, huh. :o) You find much joy in members and other missionaries as well. Marissa looks as beautiful as ever in her pics, thanks so much. We had another crazy day of miracles last week, but the story is too long, so we took a video explaining it all and when I send me next memory card home you can hear the story. It is kind of long so sorry about that when you have to watch it. :o) That is about all I have for this week. Out of time, but I will email next Monday so I will hear from you soon. People keep saying stuff about Romney but they dont ever tell me anything specific! Dont leave me in the dark please. :o) I know I am a nerd. Have a great week everybody!!! I love you and miss you!! AHHH!!! This countdown is going to be brutal. Lets just keep counting up ok? I am on month 13 of the mission...:o) I love you!!! Love, Elder Page