Farewell US

November 16, 2013

Well everyone, it is finally here, I finally get to leave to Japan on Monday. I am so so excited!  Packing actually felt a little weird today, almost as if the MTC had become my new home. Weird right :D  Earlier this week, me and my companion got released as zone leaders, and I really had mixed feelings about it.  I miss being a leader and being able to help all of the new missionaries, but I quickly realized that I didn't have to stop helping them just because it wasn't my calling anymore.  I have also had a lot more time to study, which has been really amazing.  I progressed so very much this week, and I am pumped to see how much Nihongo I really know.  Something super sad that I realized this week is that I am not going to be able to go to the temple anymore... That breaks my heart; the Temple has been the only real place of refuge from life for me while I have been here at the temple, and any letters help ;)  One thing that I have learned from the MTC is that the power from personal study is like the most amazing thing. I treasure that time so very much. I know that when we take time to come closer to Christ through reading and deeply pondering and desiring to learn, God will guide us in ways we could never imagine.  Oh, I forgot to tell you, Elder L. Tom Perry came this last Tuesday to talk to us, and wow that was so very amazing. There are two main things that I learned from him the first is that we have the opportunity to actually develop Godlike attributes while we are here on the Earth. This is made possible through our loving Savior Jesus Christ. The other was taught me through the Spirit; humility is a characteristic with which, if we master, we can gain way to the hearts of others.  Man, I have enjoyed learning Japanese and the Gospel so very much. Japanese is probably the funnest thing in the world to learn :D (other than the Gospel of course). So funny thing happened the other day. My Brazilian roommate wanted to get a gift for his girlfriend, so after finding the perfect thing he goes to the checkout and everyone just stares at him.  You might ask why... he set down a blouse and a skirt to buy them.  He quickly clarified that they were a gift. Later I found out how much he spent, a whopping $80 dollars, so I asked what the special occasion was. There was none. All I could say was, "Siedschlag Choro" You must be in love.  He has just made my time so fun here at the MTC and is actually going to the same mission as me, unlike my roommate. Anyways, he is also a really good sport, so he can handle jokes well.  Anyways so yesterday I was reading the Fall in True to the Faith when a thought came to my head that that I thought was really interesting and want to share with everyone .  The thought that came to my head was that Heavenly Father knows every sin we are going to commit, so does he make it possible that we can benefit from every single one of them in some way?  I think so.  A prime example of this is the Fall. God knew Eve would give into temptation, and thus made that part of his plan of Salvation so that all man  could be benefited and be tested.  Granted, they were still punished, which will happen to all who sin, but through Christ's Atonement we have the opportunity to repent, learn from the experience, and actually come closer to Heavenly Father and Christ.  Well you don't have to believe me, but I just wanted to share it with you and keep in mind, I am not saying sin is good. By all means it is a terrible thing that can drag us down to hell if we let it, but because we are members of Christ's true church we can always return to Him. Anyways, I love all of you so very much and I hope you are doing well!

     -Elder Bedard

From Lis: Take a moment and send our Elder Bedard a welcome to Japan or farewell US email/letter!

NEW Address:

Elder Abraham Nephi Bedard

Japan Nagoya Mission 

1-304 Itakadai, Meitou-ku, 

Nagoya-shi, Aichi

465-0028

JAPAN 

Email Address:

abraham.bedard@myldsmail.net

Attached Photos

Me and one of my two teachers. He is so amazing, fun,
and inspirational. I love him!

Me and Alec Smith. 

Me and Alec Smith. It has been so nice to spend time 
with one of my friends from before the MTC.

The member volunteers that we have taught throughout our stay here.  Normally you only teach a member once the whole time you are here, but we taught these people several times each and those were some of the most amazing experiences I had here.  Brother Kowalski is the taller American and he was having a really tough time with something going on with his daughter and we were actually able to help him get through it and give him advice and comfort him through the Spirit.  He told us what a literal miracle it has been for him to have had a relationship with us and be taught by us.  Brother Nagano is just super amazing and such a Spiritual guy.  He helped us a ton with our Japanese and actually told us the last time we taught him that we have "the glow" and both me and my companion were like what? :D It was such a cool thing to do here.  The other ladies are just as amazing and are their wives.

All the elders in my class with Bingham Sensei.