New area and companion.

My new companion - Elder Adachi!

    This last week was an awesome week! I am in my new area with my new companion. He is so awesome! He is seriously hilarious. Elder Adachi! He is from Bountiful and is Japanese, but lived in Utah about his whole life so he is fluent in English and Japanese. I love my new area already and I love my ward. This area is much more countryside. There are not as many people out on the streets, but there is no snow and it is much warmer so I am fine with that! It's go nice that this is the first time in my mission where my area has had an actual Ward. It was so humbling to me to walk into sacrament meeting and just be so excited to see even just 100 of God's children coming to partake of the sacrament. I love this work!! I am loving this calling as district leader. I get to know these missionaries and learn from them so much. I also get to see my time at night disappear haha.  But best of all, we get to go to the temple this week which I didn't get to do in my first area because it was too far away.

     But, I am seeing that the Lord truly does not call the qualified, but qualify the called. I am learning so much and pushing myself to be a better example and to show more love. It has been humbling and sometimes hard to grow and become better, but that is the gospel. Change. It is growth. That is the message I strive to share every day here in Japan, and it is the message I want to share with you today. That message is "You can." The message of the gospel is "You can." Do not give in, give out, or give up. You can do it! If there is one thing I have learned on my mission is that we can do it. We can stand against the adversary in these latter days. We can overcome trial and sin. We can change. We can win! The Lord kept us close at his side to wait to send us down into the calamities we face today. We waited because He knew we could do it. He knew we could get up one more time than we would fall. Just get up. This is a new year. Please do not treat this year as just another lap on the same race. Do not take the same path. Make it new and full of hope. This year is its own race with exciting times ahead. With a Father on the sidelines watching us with hope and a Savior running with us every step of the way. Take the road less traveled in the world. No matter what road you take it will never be unpaved or untouched. There will always be one set of footsteps to follow, in every path we take. The Savior took them all. He knows them all. He knows us. Do we know Him? May we all strive to do so. May we let Him qualify us in our journey. May we lift our heads, face our Savior, walk the path, and let Him say "You Can!"

Have the best week ever!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken