The Best 2 Years: Elder Jace Thompson in Omaha/Japan

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting on Wednesday, we had another amazing P day! We went up the mountains yet again and had another campfire! This time, we brought the sisters because they were so jealous from last time we went... We also brought up stuff to make s'mores and had an absolute feast up there😆😆

At night, we had English class, which was super fun, and we were able to have a fun lesson with everyone and play some fun games! My amazing comp also had made a birthday cake for me since we had time in the morning and we ate it at the end of the day... IT WAS SO GOOD😆😆😆

Thursday was crazy!! we went to Fukushima 姉妹 house and we had lunch with her and she always makes the best food! She was so kind and had bought me a few things for my birthday. 😆😁There was another member, Kawashima 姉妹, and she came and delivered a little cake for me for my birthday too😆 This Ward has the best members of all time! 😆😆

After that, we went home, did some studying, and got ready to go to dinner with Mari! She also wanted to take me out to dinner for a little late birthday gift. However, me and Elder Wynn could not have expected where we went to dinner... She took us to, debatably, the nicest place in our city and paid for a 7 course meal for me and Elder Wynn😱😱😱 I have flicks of everything that I ate at the restaurant so go check it out on the album. She also gave me a birthday cake as well as some other really good desserts to take home. But after we finished eating, I also wanted to give her a gift, and so I gave her a Book of Mormon. We told her that she should read it and that it could help her in her life, but she definitely seemed a little overwhelmed when she saw it. But we had high hopes that she would still find some time to read it and enjoy it😁😁

Friday, we had song practice in the morning, English Class in the afternoon, and then we went to lunch with our friend Naoki! 😁 After that, we went home and did some pretty basic missionary things and then went to English class again to end the day! 😁

Saturday, we made donuts with the elders Quorum as well as helped the primary kids make some very delicious cakes. We then got kind of caught up at the church talking with members and different things, and so that let us straight into our Sports night. That was really fun, we had some of our friends come and played lots of different basketball and soccer games with them! 😁😁

Sunday, we were pretty busy as usual. We went to church, and then right after, had song practice and talked with members, which took our time to eat lunch... 😅😆 We then went to a retirement home with a bunch of Ward members and sang Christmas carols for all of the cute old people in there! 😁😁 after that, we came home, had lots of different calls and meetings with missionaries and did our studies, and finished the day! At the end of the day, we got a text from Mari saying that she read the Book of Mormon and that she felt relaxed and peaceful when she read it!!😁 Huge Miracle that she read the Book Of Mormon!! Hopefully, we will be able to start doing some more formal lessons with her!!

Spiritual Thought:

2 Nephi 25:26

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

We are Christians. We want the whole world to know that we are. Sometimes we are accused of not being Christians, but such is not the case. In the words of the great prophet Nephi, “… we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” We look to Christ as the Author and Finisher of our faith He is our Redeemer.

In the meridian of time, his church was established upon a foundation of apostles and prophets, holy men whom he knew in the flesh while he walked upon the earth. They received his teachings. He ordained them and gave them authority to act for him in all things with respect to the salvation of mankind. He knew he was not going to remain upon the earth for very long, for he so stated: “… the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

—Hartman Rector, Jr.

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

That's all, folks.

Best birthday ever....

Flick with all of the missionaries in Okayama (plus one youth 🤣)

Decorating the church Christmas tree😁😁

English class! 😆😁

Lunch at Fukushima 姉妹 house

More birthday presents from Fukushima 姉妹

Flicks of the food 🤤😆😆

Dog #90 got some new faces...

Back up the mountain.... 😆😆😆

This is what it's all about... 😁😁

The cake my comp made... 😆😆

🔥🔥

Crazy dinner with Mari!!! 😱😱😆

Round 1...

Round 2...

Round 3...

The best part.....

🔥🔥🔥

Round 5... The balls are filled with octopus

Round 6...

Round 7 dessert....

The cake Mari got me😆😁😁

And the desserts.... It is daifuku filled with various fruits 😆😁

The cake from kawashima 姉妹😆😁

Flick of the missionaries and Chika

Nagata会長 and the ward missionaries!

More flicks with everyone!

Absolutely love this kid....

Awesome birthday surprise from the Maki家族

Freaky flick...

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Sorry, this email is long and rushed😅😅

Starting with monday, we had one of the greatest P days of all time. We had district p-day, and we all went to a spot called round one, which we went to last transfer for district P day as well. It's the place that has bowling, a batting cage, sports, an arcade, and a drink bar for the whole day! We had an absolute party, and the one kid from the US who came to church and ate with us on Sunday, Alex, also came with us. We also brought our friend Chika and we all had such a fun time together! 😆😆😆 I also went off in bowling and had the greatest game of my entire life. I bowled a 179, which is so much better than I could have ever possibly imagined😆😆🤣

Tuesday, we started with District Council as usual, which was really great and kind of sad because it was going to be our last District Council of the transfer. After that, we did some song practice with the ward practicing for Christmas concert that we have later in December and then we went to another member's house for lunch. We went with the other two Elders that are also in our apartment, and it was super great. She is super awesome and makes some of the best food ever, and she made some very delicious curry for us! 😆😆 on our way back, all four of we're biking back when Elder Rowberry, the one who just got to Japan this transfer, wasn't paying attention when we all stopped and ran into the back of Elder Wynn's bike, he slammed on his brakes at the last second, and went up and over the handlebars and his bike got thrown into the road. And right as the bike got thrown into the road, a massive dump truck came and crushed his bike....And I mean CRUSHED his bike. So we called the police, got everything figured out, and walked home, and that was the end of the day for us. And, at the end of the day, we got transfer news, and Elder Wynn and I found that we are both going to be staying here in okayama!! We couldn't be more excited, and we are so happy that we get to stay for another transfer in okayama and work together!

Wednesday was another very phenomenal day. We were able to meet with our friend from the mafia, Sunami さん. We knew that he was moving apartments, and so us and another member came and helped him move as much as we could. We ended up having a really great conversation with him, and we got on the topic of a board game in Japan called igo. this game is one of the oldest games in the entire world that is still played and he was explaining it and I decided that I was going to try and learn how to play it so we could play together. After expressing my interest, he got very, very excited and said he wanted to have us come over every single day, kind of like we used to. Which made us super happy, and we couldn't be more excited because we have another chance to keep teaching our favorite friend! We also met up with the new friend at a cafe and then taught English class to finish the night.

Thursday was a very, very special day. After lunch and all of our studies for the day, my best friend, mima, who was baptized in my last area in Osaka, came and visited, and we were able to meet up! We went out to dinner together and had a real great time catching up. it was so great to see him again! He also knew that my birthday was coming up, and got me a very nice gift, which was so awesome, and I am so grateful for him. It was so unbelievably great to see him again, and he just recently got set apart as a ward missionary in Osaka, and he couldn't be more ecstatic. It's so cool seeing him progress through the church and seeing the blessings that he's been able to receive and the happiness that it brings him!

Friday, we were able to do more service at the community center near our house. after that we had a pretty normal morning and afternoon and then at the end of the day, lots of missionaries from around our area came and we practiced for the Christmas concert. We had the Christmas concert at the very next day, and so we definitely needed to practice the songs and see where we could improve, and we had about 40 missionaries or so there. It was great to catch up with a lot of missionaries who I haven't been able to see for a long time, and it was another really great night!

Saturday, we had our Christmas concert and it went so well! we had lots of members and friends who came and watched us sing, and after we sang, we had a very big feast with all of everyone that was there and played lots of different games for Christmas. And another one of my friends, kai, from Osaka also came and visited for the concert. he also knew that it was my birthday and gave me more very very, nice presents and gifts, including a very nice pair of Chopsticks which have my name engraved! He is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and it was so good to see him again and catch up. Again it was a super super fun day but very, very busy after the concert ended we had to clean up and then we started sports night. It was really great and one of our friends from last week, ayaka, came and she had such a great time and we are hoping that she will want to keep coming and keep meeting with us!!

Sunday was my birthday!! it was hands down one of, if not the best, birthdays that I've ever had, and I was able to have such a great day. I got so many different presents and congratulations from all of the members and I was able to celebrate with all of them all day, which was so nice. It's so nice to be in a place filled with people who love me and all of the missionaries and who want to do everything that they can for them. it made it a very, very special birthday that I will never forget.

Sorry, we have a long email today because so much happened, and we also had a long week because of transfers period. So, on monday, we had a pretty normal day since me and Elder Wynn are staying for the transfer. But we were able to meet with Sunami and he was so kind and taught me more about the rules of the board game I'm trying to learn and gave me lots of resources to practice on my own. Those resources, include a bunch of books about how to play the game and different professionals and the strategies they use, as well as an entire board and set of marbles for me to play and practice on my own and with others in the apartment! He really is so kind and is so giving, and I feel bad taking the stuff home, but he won't let me leave his apartment unless I take it with me🤣🤣

Tuesday, we went to Kobe for MLC again, and we spent pretty much the entire day in Kobe. It was really fun, but we want to just stay in Okayama now.🤣🤣 We love Okayama so much and have been spending so much time in Kobe lately and we want to just stay in our area and work here🤣🤣

Alright, sorry for the very, very long email. It was a long week, and stuff happened almost every day, and it made for such a great week.😆😆

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

That's all, folks.