Elder Oaks is the Man!!

Hey family and friends! It`s been another fantastic week in Japan and one I definitely won`t forget!! The mission conference with Elder Oaks, Elder Hallstrom, Elder Aoyagi, and their respective wives was awesome!! I couldn`t have asked for a better 2 year anniversary :) Elder Oaks is the man. We took a picture with him to start things off, then each missionary had the opportunity to shake his hand. It was the first time in my life I met an apostle of the Lord! He was way nice. He asked where I was from and when I told him , `Santa Clara, UT`, he began to tell me how he would be attending a stake conference there on the 18th of March. I told him that I had heard and was excited to see him there! Haha. He took another look at my name tag and told me to be sure to say hello and shake his hand at the stake conference as well :) It was a lot of fun! He has a really sweet wife too. She did speak a little Japanese and as a returned missionary from the Sendai mission it was fun to hear about her experience. Elder Hallstrom was a very nice guy as well, but not somebody I`d want to mess with. He is huge!! It was a fun-filled, more than spiritually uplifting experience. I am grateful for the guidance of living prophets. Elder Oaks talked a lot about the nature of God. I am excited to share more about it when I get home! Hard to believe and quite sad to think about, but I only have 2 weeks left :( I guess I`ll enjoy it while I still got it! We`ve got a good week planned ahead including a music fireside on Saturday evening. Should be fun! Thanks for everything everyone. I love you much. Take Care.



Elder Ovard

Miracles this week!

Hey everyone! I can`t believe another one has already passed by!! I hope your week went as well as mine did. It`s been a busy, fun-filled one that`s for sure :) And the snow keeps coming down!! Pretty crazy. There are times we wake up to a foot of fresh powder. On top of the 5 feet already piled up, that is!! We spent a few days in Niigata this week for interviews with President and splits with the zone leaders and due to heavy snow we weren`t able to ride the train back. We ended up taking the shinkansen (bullet train)!! We ended up making the hour and a half ride in twenty minutes, but also lost an extra 20 bucks out of the wallet. Not a bad experience though! I couldn`t help but to think, `The next time I`m on the shink I`ll be heading to Tokyo!`. As excited as I am, it`s really sad to think about. But we`ve got an awesome week ahead!!




Although our working time in Nagaoka was short, we saw miracles this week! We were able to see Yamamoto last week on P-Day, follow up with her, and get a return appointment. She`s been reading the Book of Mormon too!! :) We`re gonna go back this afternoon. We also found a new investigator from the area book named Wakai. She`s a middle aged lady who runs a shop not far from the train station. She`s really sweet and fun and has the potential of coming to church next week! After retuning from Niigata Saturday afternoon we began knocking on doors. We came across one really sweet woman and began to introduce ourselves. She was really nice and I had the feeling that we ought to push for an appointment with her. I did, and to our surprise, she asked if it was ok to meet at the church! She said an hour would be good haha. She said she was just going to listen, so we`ll see where things go. The appointment is for today, actually in just a couple hours! Her name is Emiko. We`ll pray for the best!



We`re off to Sendai this Thursday for our Mission Conference with Elder Oaks, Elder Hallstrom, and Elder Aoyagi. I can`t wait!! I`m so grateful for the opportunity I have to hear from special servants of the Lord before I return home. We are blessed with the guidance of living prophets!



This morning, for the first time in a long time I opened up my journal to the first part of my mission. It brought back so many good memories. I love my mission :). I`m grateful for the many learning experiences I`ve been given and for the many friends I`ve been able to make. I will never forget this time. Thank you for all your support. I love you all. Take Care.


Elder Ovard



Pics: Fireworks in the snow! It was quite the show. In August, Nagaoka has the biggest firework festival in Japan.

The Book of Mormon is True in Japanese Too!!!

Hey everyone! Happy Valentines Day! haha. We celebrate it here in Japan too, but it`s a little bit different. The ladies do the `treating` and the men just enjoy. Ha. Not bad huh?! The sisters in our branch were really nice and made all the guys homemade chocolates with nice notes. They gave them to us yesterday at church. Also, a less-active member who we have been working with since we got here also came to church!! So it wasn`t a bad day. I really like the members here in Nagaoka.




The snow is still crazy!!! With the exception of 15 minutes, it snowed for 3 days straight!! I couldn`t believe it. It just kept coming and coming. Today is sunny though :) Riding bikes has been quite tough and we were even slowed down for a day as my bike broke. The screw that holds the tire in and everything together snapped! It was really a bummer but thankfully we were able to get a hold of a bike that was left here by an older missionary. It definintely doesn`t ride like my GT though!;) Ha.



We weren`t able to meet with Yamamoto, our strong investigator from last week. She has been busy with different things. We were, however, able to find a new investigator in her area! Her name is Arai. She may not be the strongest, but we were able to teach her about the Restoration of the gospel and she accepted the commitment to pray. She`s a nice lady with a cute family of 3.



Yesterday was a special day for me and one I have been looking forward to for quite some time. I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese!!! It was quite the project requiring much dedication and perseverance. But I`m proud to say I got it done! :) I began my first transfer, nearly 21 months ago. Sure, there may have been a lot I wasn`t able to understand. But through the power of the Holy Ghost I was able to feel and know more now than before that the book is true!! I know it. It`s tru in both the English and Japanese languages;) Ha. I love the book! And for those of you who know me, I don`t say that about many books! I`m not the biggest `reader` in the world. But I can say with all my heart that I enjoy reading the Book of Mormon. It has been a great blessing to me on my mission and will continue to be throughout my life. It is my personal liahona. Through it I have drawn nearer to my Savior. And my testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith has been solidified because of it. I encourage us all to make the study of the Book of Mormon it a fundamental aspect of our lives.



I love you all!! I appreciate all your love and support. I look forward to seeing you in just a short month! Take care.



Elder Ovard

1- This is what we call `OOYUKI`!!

2- Helping a member with the snow

3- The cute little girl on my left made me chocolates! :)

LET IT SNOW!!!

Hey everyone!! :) How`s everything goin? You wouldn`t believe the weather we`ve been havin over here the past couple weeks. We`ve had sharp winds with tons of snow!! It`s pretty crazy. We`re still hittin the bikes however, or I guess I should say the bikes are starting to hit us! Ha my legs have never been so worn out my entire mission! Biking through the snow is quite the workout. And not having any brakes doesn`t help out either! Ha I had my brakes fixed just a couple weeks ago and they`ve already gone bad again. My boots have been doing the braking lately. Thankfully we`ve been blessed with safety thus far! ;)



It`s been a really awesome week!! We have had much success that is leading beautifully into the upcoming week as well. The biggest news is that we were able to come up with a new investigator!! Her name is Yamamoto Saiyaka. I actually found her on splits with the District Leader a couple weeks ago and Saunders Choro and I were able to meet and teach her a couple times this week. She is a single mom with a cute 4 year old girl (single moms seem to be the story of Nagaoka since we arrived) ha. But in any case, she is a fantastic investigator. She believes in God, just not a particular God. When her daughter was younger she had a skin sickness. They both would pray to God everyday asking to be healed, and eventually she was healed! They give thanks to God. We taught her about the Restoration and the correct way to pray. She soaked it all in and has been praying in the name of Jesus Christ! We also gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it. I have really high hopes for her and look forward to working with her in the future! We were also blessed to make appointments with others as well. We have a lot of potential for the upcoming week and will hopefully be teaching new people. :)


We had the opportunity to do a little snow shoveling for an older woman in the branch this week. I think she was a little surprised, however, to come out and see Saunders Choro and I standing on the roof! Haha. She hadn`t taken the snow off for a while and it definitley needed to be done! With the snow on the side of the house nearly piled up to the roof it didn`t take much to get up. We began to throw it off with our shovels. It was a little scary at times but her house wasn`t nearly as bad as most houses here. I worry about these people standing on their roofs at times. So between all the biking and snow shoveling we`ve definitley been getting our exercise in!


The work is going great. We`ve got an awesome branch and I love the people here. They are so good. I`m grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. It has blessed my life so much! I`m grateful for the Book of Mormon. I love reading it each day. Doing so has increased not only my knowledge, but my testimony as well. I`m grateful for the restored gospel and the goodness it brings to those who follow. I`m grateful for a living prophet who leads and guides us. I know this is the true church! Thank you all for your love and support. You are the best!! I love you all. Take Care.


Elder Ovard



1- shoveling snow off the house

2- Nagaoka!

3- small snow festival