God is Good

Life just couldn`t be better. Well, if they had mexican food in Japan, it perhaps could be - but I`ll stick with my declaration that life is good. Elder Pratt and I have just been seeing some great things here Nagano.

This past tuesday - a sister from our branch in matsumoto passed away - and her funeral was held on Thursday at the church. Okay, so that doesn`t sound liek good news at all, but let me continue. She was 67 and it was rather sudden that she passed away. For ten years or so, she hadn`t come to church at all, up until two years ago. Two years ago, an older couple served as missionaries in Matsumoto and were able to bring her back to church. For the last two years, up until she went to the hospitol, she was a faithful saint. What a blessing that she lived faithfully to the end - that she came back.

Her son is not a member, but her brother is, and it was a very spiritual funeral as her brother, and the branch leadership all talked of her and about the resurrection. Particulary moving were the hymns in which the Spirit was impressive.

Particularly interesting was how the branch came together for the funeral. Quite a few members who had stayed away from the church for one reason or another, came to the sisters funeral. It was very good to see them.

Above all, I am profoundly grateful for the resurrection brought to pass by Christ`s infinite atonement.

On Friday, we travelled down to nagoya once more for a mission conference with Elder Yamashita of the area prescidency. That train ride gets shorter every week - though it`s still four hours round-trip. The conference was good. I particularly liked the way he stated one iten of advice - "Keep your apartment clean - keep youreself clean." I think I might try and teach my kids a variation - "Keep your room clean - keep yourself clean." Of course, let`s be honest, my room was never clean until I had to live with a roomate.

Our investigators are all doing pretty well. Elder Pratt and i cooked mashed potatoes this past week - the first time I`ve had since I left America. They were heavenly. My health is good. Japanese is coming along. Really, life is as pleasant as spring. It`s also cooling off nicely here - fall is a wonderful season.

I hope you too can enjoy the gifts we`ve been given. Truly, God is good. May he bless you.

Always,

Elder Alexander Todd Fuller
Japan Nagoya Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints