The Best 2 Years: Elder Jace Thompson in Omaha/Japan: the one where he went to the grave

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting on Tuesday , we had District P Day and went to Minoh Falls... Again! When Campbell and I went the first time, it was a ton of fun, so we thought to bring everyone this time. It was a really fun day!

Wednesday was a very special day... We started the day by going out to lunch with Mima, and right after, we jumped on a bus and headed to a graveyard with him. For a little background, Mima is so ready to get baptized, but he wanted to go to his grandparents' grave and tell them that he was becoming a Christian. He invited us to go with him, and we could not have been more ecstatic. When we arrived at the Grave, he told us about the things that they needed to do every time they visited. Such as cleaning the grave, changing the flowers, and replacing the candles. He was so happy that we were there and gave us the opportunity to do all of those things. It really opened my eyes to how important their ancestors are to them, and it gave me a newfound respect for graveyards, especially in Japan, and how sacred they are. He was unbelievably happy and took lots of pictures and videos so he could show his mom. She absolutely loved that we were there and supported Mima's decision to get baptized even though she is Buddhist. It was such a great experience for everyone.

Thursday, we went out to dinner with our friend Naoya again, and we've been able to have a few lessons with him over Zoom, so hopefully, things continue to go well!

Friday, we said goodbye to Elder Pascoal, one of the elders living with us, and said hello to Elder Hougaard! We also had ping pong night again, and it is slowly becoming bigger and bigger! It was such a good time and all of our friends are becoming friends, which is so cool to see! When we came home from ping pong night, we had a nice surprise waiting for us... Our air-conditioning unit had fallen off the wall, leaking at least a gallon of water and coolant directly onto my companions bed. Don't worry though, we got a tiny pot and put it underneath, which did almost nothing. I ended up making a tower out of random things we had around the house like chairs and stuff and was able to hold it up and stop it from dangling from the wall. That was a fun night...

Saturday, we had a guy come and fix the unit. It ended up not being too broken, and he mostly just had to remount it to the wall. That night, we had eikaiwa and we had lots of people come! It was as fun as always!

Sunday, we had Mima, Kai, and Ayane all come to church! It was so awesome, and it's so fun to talk with all of them! Our friends are the absolute best! We also had a big lesson with all of them which was super fun and then, because it was fast Sunday, I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and homemade ranch for the whole apartment. It was pretty good and I've really enjoyed cooking big meals on Fast Sunday.

Spiritual Thought:

2 Nephi 9:7

Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

"In preparatory times of the Old Testament, the practice of atonement was finite—meaning it had an end. It was a symbolic forecast of the definitive Atonement of Jesus the Christ. His Atonement is infinite—without an end. It was also infinite in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope—it was to be done once for all. And the mercy of the Atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him. It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension.

Jesus was the only one who could offer such an infinite atonement, since He was born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. Because of that unique birthright, Jesus was an infinite Being."

—Russell M. Nelson

Well, that's all I got this week! Feel free to email me!

That's all, folks.