So another week came and went and I feel as if I just blinked. If this continues, I might just fall asleep one night and wake up with it being time for me to go home. That's crazy! Anyways let's rewind time and recap this last week.
Monday ~ We had district activity. We went to my favorite Brazilian store and bought some good food and drinks. Then we played soccer and I don't think I was ever on a losing team, even though I was not the most talented. But the two most talented decided to try and do 2 on 6 and learned that there is strength in numbers, especially on defense. After that we rushed home and went to a member appointment and that took the rest of the night because they live way far away. Tuesday ~ We only had one appointment but we took a long time getting there as we talked to everybody on the way there and back. It turned out way good, because 3 people gave us their addresses and said please come visit. Way nice. Then we went to prepare our investigator, Fabian, for his baptismal interview. After we finished his lesson we headed back and had dinner and then headed off to institute to help the mission prep class. And that was pretty much our day. Wednesday ~ So we again went to Fabians for his interview. It was a bit hard, as he is from Argentina, but he speaks a bit of English and Japanese. So the interview was in Japanese and apparently he didn't understand so we had to postpone one week, in order to get someone who speaks Spanish to do the interview. Anyways, this coming week he should be baptized. The day was focused on him, so not really much happened. That evening, we did have Eikaiwa, and we actually had enough to split into two classes - one intermediate and one advanced. I taught the advanced and Mihara Choro, after lots of complaining, agreed to teach the intermediate class. It was pretty cool because we taught families so we all showed family pictures. Thursday ~ We had ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) in Yokkaichi from 10 AM to around 3:30 PM. It was way long, but we learned a lot from the Kaicho (Mission President) and the AP’s. It was a good time. After that, I went to Gokiso on a Kokan (exchange) and had a good time teaching Eikaiwa again and helping their recent convert learn about the gospel. Friday ~ This morning was the end of the Kokan (exchange), but on the way to the train, we saw some guys playing football in the park so I kind of joined in - way fun. They were way hilarious. For one, pretty much anytime I go to talk to somebody they immediately think that I can't speak Japanese so they try really hard with their limited English, then I start speaking and they get way surprised and happy. These guys were exactly the same. But after the initial shock of "Wow! This big white boy speaks my language!" We tossed the ball around for a bit and then headed to catch the subway. We then dropped off all of my stuff and headed to a college to try and find some people. We ended up talking to this way cool guy and because he was training for track, we ended up having a foot race with him - way fun. That was our night. Saturday ~ So we started off the day doing an exercise/sports morning with the Shimai (Sisters) and their investigator and the investigator's brother. Then we headed out to go help a member move into their new apartment, but they were running late, so we went and taught a lesson to Ryo who has slowly been progressing. He's way awesome. After that the member called and said he really needed our help, so we rushed all the way to his apartment and helped him out. I ended up helping carrying in the fridge and laundry machine and everything else big. After we finished, he was so gracious and took me and Mihara Choro out to dinner. He took us to sushi, which is way dangerous as Mihara loves sushi. Within 10 minutes he had probably eaten like 10 plates and it only took that long because he had to order them. We limited him to 15 plates but it was all good. From there, the member gave us and our bikes a ride back to our apartment, in his moving van. Sunday ~ Normal Sunday, for the most part, we had church and an investigator there - way cool. Then that night we had a member appointment with member that owns their own Takoyaki shop. So we had takoyaki and okonomiyaki and agetako. And for people wanting to know what takoyaki is, it is little balls with a chunk of octopus in them. The balls are made from some type of special batter, but other than that I don't know much. The agetako is just deep fried takoyaki so not much difference just the outside is crunchy. And okonomiyaki’s are cabbage pancakes. After that we shared a message about family and headed home. So that is all for the week, no crazy insights, except for a small one from the March Ensign. The article was called "How could I not stay till the End". It is a way good article and it makes me realize how I could not do things for the lord when I am asked. No matter how hard they seem or how boring they are I can do them. Anyways that's all. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老
0 Comments
Goooooooood mornin' America!!!! (Please read in your best Robbin Williams voice)
Anyways it's probably not morning in America when you'll read this, but it was this morning when I wrote it, so oh well. So let's begin. Monday ~ P-day and some appointments, but nothing special. Met with Hayashi San and had a nice lesson. Got my bike worked on, as it needed some oil and the gears needed some work, but it turned out ok. All in all, not a bad P-day. Tuesday ~ We had a Kokan (splits) with the Elders from Gokiso. So I was working with Elder Krippen. He is one of the strictest missionaries I know, if not the most. He is so strict that sometimes it's almost hard to do missionary work. Kind of weird sounding, but I love this guy. He's way funny, but he takes exact obedience to the next level. How, I don't know. But anyways we went to check up on some people we housed into and they weren't there so we headed out to see our investigator Fabian, who requested a visit that morning. During our visit we taught tithing and he really enjoyed it, and he has come so far. He really enjoys the gospel. Anyways, the reason I said Krippen is really strict is because there was/still is a rule that you should talk to everyone you meet, but there are times where that isn't feasible. For example you’re running late or there's danger or something along those lines. So we were going to a member appointment and we were going to just barely get there in time, if we didn't talk to everyone along the way. And I told him that, but about half way there we were still stopping practically everyone. So I told him we had to go and go fast. Finally, he understood and we were a bit late but the members understood. Anyways, we were late, but we found a new investigator so it was ok. But apparently he felt kind of guilty. Anyways, it was a good day and it taught me to be a bit more diligent to try to talk to everyone. So that was our day. Wednesday ~ So we went to Nagoya station to end the Kokan and do a bit of music dendo with the Shimai. One of the Shimai can play the violin so we were going to street preform and then give everybody flyers and other stuff, but after one song we were shut down by the police. So we went to another spot, that they said was ok, and had a good time. And when the sister started playing “ O Come All Ye Faithful”, I hopped in and started singing. For those of you who know me, you guys know I can't sing, but it was still way fun. After that we had DKK, weekly planning meeting, and then Eikaiwa, which is always fun. And recently more and more people are coming which is way awesome. Anyways, fun time. Thursday ~ So we went to Yokkaichi, which is the Zone Leaders area, for another Kokan (split). Once there I picked up Elder John from Colorado, he is transfer 2 so he hasn't been here that long, but hey neither have I, and headed back to my area. Before heading out I smelled something way good so I had to find out what. It turned out to be a bakery that was way delicious. Anyways, once we made it back to Takabata we had a visit with a LA (less active) and we went to lunch and then after that we went to his apartment to have a lesson. And it was way awesome. His mom, who is not a member, listened in and eventually we started teaching her. It was way good and when we talked about the atonement she started crying and saying she wanted that in her life. So we will probably be teaching them both from now on. There is only one problem that I just learned about yesterday though. They technically live in another ward’s boundaries so it is kind of hard to get there and teach, but we will see what happens. After that we headed to the apartment to drop off Elder Johns things and head out to see another LA and on the way found 2 investigators. Once we got to our appointment, it turns out that this LA really likes American Football, and his favorite team just so happens to be the Denver Broncos. And there we were, me, a guy from Colorado, and this less active all talking football for a while, and then we transitioned into the gospel. All in all, a great night. We finished up the night with DCS with the mission leader and after that we headed home. Friday ~ We ended the Kokan (split) and then had DTM (District Training Meeting). After that we had lunch and then a lesson with Oguri Ryo San. Recently we hadn't met so it was kinda worrying us, but it turned out ok as it was just because his family was sick and he couldn't come. We had a really nice lesson and then a member appointment. After that we had an Eikaiwa activity, where we made pesto pasta and taught a bit of English. It was way awesome. All in all there were 24 people there. After that we cleaned up and headed home. Saturday ~ We finished cleaning the church in the morning and then from there we did studies and visited Fabian and we finished up teaching all the lessons and helped him out with stuff. After that we headed to Nagoya station to meet an investigator but he was a no show, so we went and visited a member named Mark Kyoudai (brother). He's from the Philippines so we chatted in English and it was way cool. While we were there it started to down pour, but we pushed forward and went all the way out to the outer most part of our area, about an hour bike ride, to visit the Hattori family. I wore my whole cappa, rain suit, so I was ok but my comp doesn't have pants so he was soaked. Once there, we went in and they were so kind and helped dry us off and fed us some way nice curry. We shared a message and they were way nice but because the church is so far they really don't want to come. Still have hope, but we are working on it. After the appointment the rain ended so we had a nice ride home. But we were way tired. Sunday ~ Just your average Sunday. Had church and ward council. From here we went to help Fabian as he is preparing to be baptized this coming Saturday. Anyways, not much really that crazy happened. Well that's all. No big spiritual thought or anything this week, but some life advice. Here goes nothing. In every relationship there will be things that people do that make you sad or annoy you and so on and so forth. But you should never let them fester. You should clean them out. They are like wounds to your soul, if you don't clean them out, they only get worse. When our body gets a cut we take care of it with cleaning agents and then protect it with a band aid or something. We need to do the same thing with the spiritual wounds. We need to clean them out by talking in a civil manner about the problem, and then we have to pray to God to forgive us for getting mad and to help us in our short comings. That is the band aid, prayer. Well that turned out to be a bit more spiritual than expected. Well that's all for this week. Love, Elder Williams 愛 ウィリアムズ長老 Hello everybody and welcome to another weekly report.
To start off, I know I'm in Japan but it was still welcome news to hear that my team the Broncos won the Super Bowl. I hope all of you enjoyed it and the time spent with family and friends. Any ways let's begin. Monday ~ We headed out to do some housing which was "successful". We found people that wouldn't mind us coming back, but a lot of them spoke little to no Japanese. We even housed into a preacher who used his daughter to translate between us and it was way interesting. He's probably the only guy worth revisiting, as he asked about what we believe about God and realized that our beliefs were similar to his and because of that we could come back and talk religion again. But other than that, everybody else was pretty bimio (sketchy) on whether they actually wanted to meet or not. Tuesday ~ So there was some miscommunication between us and an investigator, Shane, and we missed the appointment, but it was all good. We actually still got him to commit to come to church so it seemed like it turned out ok. It will definitely be interesting to teach him as he is from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and we have nothing in Burmese. Like zero, zip, zilch, nada. Wish us luck. After that we had our good friend Hayashi and he was way awesome. Still trying to come to church but he can't get work off yet. After that we went to institute to meet an investigator, but the investigator had a last minute "thing" and was unable to come. But institute was fun anyways and it was a mission prep class so the teacher was totally cool with having us there to help because you know, I do full time, what they’re learning in class. After that we were pretty much done for the day. Wednesday ~ So my comp still hadn't unpacked so once he did that we headed to a college and dendoed (tracted) there. It was way cold so no one was really there, but we did end up talking to this way cool guy who was interested in English at first and then we explained what other stuff we do. By the time we were done talking he left with a BoM (Book of Mormon), English class flyer, and probably a Mormon.org card. After that we went to meet with Fabian as he called that morning saying he wanted to meet. So we went and we taught about WoW (Word of Wisdom) and committed him to live it. He said the only thing that would be hard was coffee, but other than that he was cool. So we told him we would come back the next day and take all of his coffee and replace it with mugi cha, wheat tea, and hot coco. From there we rushed back to teach Eikaiwa (English Conversation Class). At Eikaiwa we have been talking about doing an American cooking class and the students are way excited. So we finally got permission and we told them we would start it up on the 19th. They were way excited and are planning on bringing their friends. Other than that, it was a normal Eikaiwa night. Thursday ~ We went back to Fabians and this time taught Law of Chastity and replaced all of his coffee. He said he would have no problems keeping the commandments including Law of Chastity and we were way proud. After that we went to the church and did weekly planning and dinner at home by that time we had to prepare for DCS and that was the day. Friday ~ We had DTM (District Training Meeting) and we were also kokaning (splits). So me and Elder Porter, an elder I know from the MTC were together. We talked to some way cool people, but nothing that turned into anything. I also took him to Kyūban Danchi (Nine super big apartment buildings all together) where he bought himself a Root Beer and a Coxinha, a delicious Brazilian food. And I bought him a Guarrana, delicious Brazilian drink. After trying to contact some people we had met before we decided to head home for dinner where I made Mexican food and Elder Porter was extremely happy. That night we decided to give indoor soccer one more try and it was way worth it, as we have people coming to Eikaiwa, and now that we are known and a part of the group, people like us and are a bit friendlier. Plus Elder Porter is a big soccer player/fan and he was dying to play. Any ways it was a way good night. Saturday ~ Kokan (splits) ended so it was me and Mihara Choro again and we headed to meet Fabian as he called and requested another visit. While headed there we met a way cool guy who has had Mormon friends and thinks their good people and wouldn't mind learning about their beliefs. So we will be meeting with him next week. Then while at Fabian's we are just finishing up all the lessons and he agreed to move up his baptismal date and he will now be baptized on the 28th of this month. He is way excited. And he is fulfilling all of the requirements for baptism. After that we headed out to visit some LA's (less actives) while it was pouring rain. Anyways this had some bad consequences for my comp the next day. Sunday ~ We had two people at church, Shane and Fabian. Both stayed the whole three hours and had a good time. They both will probably come back next week. Other than that not much else happened as I mentioned we spent a ton of time in the rain and my comp went down with a fever after church and was way lethargic so that was the end of our day. Now this is something new for me, but here's a small little thought. Since I have been out here and studied the atonement I've learned a lot. I used to think that whatever I did had a specific price that Christ had to pay and that he paid for all of whatever I had done and will do. Like I was an item that's salvation had to be bought. But I have recently learned differently from reading the Book of Mormon, specifically Alma 34 where Amulek's sermon is contained. In there he says in verses 15-16, “And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption." Christ sacrifice didn't just get the price exactly for everyone. He went above and beyond, and brought forth so much mercy not only does it pay for our sins but wipes out the demands of justice. He didn't just meet the demands he took justice's scale and over loaded it with so much mercy that no matter the price it has been paid. I've seen it work with investigators as they change their lives around. It is incredible. "Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me". Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 Soccer, biking, more soccer, more biking, and dendo
This week was another exciting week as a missionary. We biked, we played soccer, and we dendoed (tracted). Well there's the weekly report see you next time, Just Kidding. Let's start from where we left off. Monday ~ So after emailing we did the normal stuff like shopping, cleaning, etc. then that night we went to go visit a LA and either they weren't home, or they were asleep or we were in the wrong place. But after that we headed down towards the ocean because we figured there would be more people down that way and there were a few more people down that way. But then I realized that we were way close to another member’s house and we decided to try to visit them. And it worked out that they had gotten off work early and that they were home. It was way cool. Shared a good message with them and then we headed home because it was getting late. Tuesday ~ So the day before my shoulder bag's strap had ripped and I was going to have to buy a new bag but I decided to call the Shimai and see if either of them could fix it or if they knew a member who could help me out. And they said they would take a look at it to see what they could do. Well when we gave them the bag we also dropped off Oreo balls, a snack that I make to give to people like members. Then we headed out to visit an investigator who had been postponing his visit for at least a month by telling us each time we visit that it was "だめ" (pronounced da-me, means “no good”). So we headed over and this time we got on the door, but we were unable to stay and give the full message as he wants us to come back on a different day. After that we headed out to a nearby soccer facility to see if we could find some people but it was just a bunch of little kids, which was way cute but not allowed to proselyte to 8/9 year olds in less their parents are there. So we talked to some staff and they said that the adults who play would be there at night so we decided to make a return trip to see if it would be worth it to come there in the future. From there we raced home and handed out the rest of the Oreo balls to members we had had appointments with and a less active member who we want to have come back to church. After that we raced to the soccer place and were sadly disappointed that the guys there were way serious and only wanted to talk/play soccer so it wasn't very effective so we headed home and that was our day. Wednesday ~ So there is this famed place, at least in our records, called Kyūban Danchi, 9番団地, which literally means 9 danchi’s. Danchi’s are huge apartment buildings that have anywhere from 50 to 500 apartments per building or more, one we saw had 700. But anyways I have been unable to find this place because I can't read Japanese, but with my new Japanese companion we were able to find it and this place is huge and full of people. Lots of Brazilians and foreigners and lots with Christian backgrounds. It's kind of cool. They also have this way legit store that has all of my favorite Brazilian food and Mtn. Dew and Root Beer and other good stuff. We also found some way cool investigators from there and one said he would even try to come to church in two weeks. The thing that made my comp way happy was that we found some Brazilians to play soccer with. And they wanted to take us the next day. So we got some information about it but not really to specific but my comp was all for playing with Brazilians so we planed on it. From there we went and taught Hayashi San and he enjoyed his lesson and after that we had Eikaiwa, which I practically run by myself because my comp doesn't think he's good enough at English to teach, but he is so good. But after that we were done for the day. Thursday ~ One of the people, Shane who is from Myanmar(also known as Burma), we had found the day before at Kyūban Danchi wanted to meet this day so we had a good first lesson that covered everything from Word of Wisdom to prophets to the law of chastity to the restoration. It was all over the place but he kept asking questions that had to be answered by explaining other things. So it was a fun time and he wants to meet again and come to church especially because we said that church costs no money at all. After that we did weekly planning and had dinner. Then we headed out to meet our Brazilian friends who wanted to take us to soccer. Well there was some Mia communication as to where the place was and what time things would end and by the time we realized we were going to be leaving our area it was too late and we were out of area and stuck with no way back on time. So we called the zone leaders and apologized profusely and told them it got lost somewhere in translation, which it did in kind of a different way than usual. But they said be safe and return as soon as possible, which we did after some awesome indoor soccer. And we made some sweet friends who understand we are missionaries but also normal people. One kid was just happy to talk to an American, that's me, and ask his millions of questions about America. But all in all it was a good night. Friday ~ We had a few lessons, but I'll start with Takagi (one of our investigators). Last time we blew his mind with God and Jesus Christ and stuff. This time we proceeded a little slower and ended up taking like an hour and a half but now he knows who God is he understands what Christ did and comprehends the restoration and the role of prophets. Like I pulled out all the tatoes (object lessons) that I had and just rolled and it was very awesome. After that we had Ryo (another investigator) and as always we started with English because he wants to stay fluent. So we taught what I taught in Eikaiwa, which happened to be health and since he wanted to know about how his life would change if he were to be baptized we were planning on teaching commandments and the fact we taught about health flowed so naturally into talking about the Word of Wisdom. It was awesome. After we talked a bit about health we read D&C 89 together and I have little things that have pictures of what is good and bad and as we read what each thing I put its respective picture down on the table. He only has a problem with the strong drinks part of the Word of Wisdom but already follows the other parts. After that we had dinner and one of our friends, almost an investigator, told us of a place to play indoor soccer and that he would probably go there so we decided to go to and play with him. He never showed, but it was fun anyways and we talked to lots of people mostly about soccer, soccer, and more soccer, so not too effective. But I had fun, in the first game I played I scored twice and assisted once and that was all three of our goals. The rest of the night was a bit different as people started marking me harder, but I still scored once more and assisted once more for a total of 3 goals and 2 assists, so not too bad for three ten minute games. Anyways, it was getting late and cold so we went home. Saturday ~ It was way cold this day and as of lately people are getting the flu apparently. So to start of the day we went to visit our investigator Fabian but he was sick. Then we went and tried to go Dendo a college but everyone was in a test so it was against the rules to go in then just tried talking to people and everyone was either busy or way against the church one girl even came up to me as I was talking to her friend in a casual manner, like not even talking about the gospel yet, and told him that I was dangerous. And then she pointed at my tag, but right when he looked the wind, which is freezing cold, lifted my tie in front of it and she then proceeded to grab the tie push it to the side and just tap my awesome tag. She then repeated that I was dangerous. I asked how saying that I was a normal human and that I may be larger than them but I wasn't going to try and harm them but she was persistent and I wasn't going to get worked up about it so I said have a nice day and went on my way. After that we went and had dinner and headed out to visit a member. During the visit we shared a scripture and she was very touched by it as she has been struggling because her husband is slowly going LA (less active), and her sons aren't into church at all and she just needed some comfort. It was way awesome. From there we went back to Kyūban Danchi to thank the guys who took us to soccer but tell them we wouldn't be able to go next time. They were cool with it and thanked us for coming. While we were there we started talking to this group of obviously drunk guys and they told us to go inside the little restaurant to say hi to their friend, the owner. After that they asked if we wanted anything and neither of us had money with us so we said that we couldn't and they proceeded to sit us down and order us a Brazilian style burger that was way good. After that whole excursion we headed home. Sunday ~ So we had church as always and I know Fabian was sick and I thin Ryo got sick, or his one of his family members, because neither came to church. But we had a good meeting and after all of that we headed home broke our fast, ate food and then headed out to visit some members and a LA. We ended up only having time for the LA and a member. But it was all good. The member we visited hasn't come in a while, 2 weeks, and we learned that both her kids got the flu just a bit staggered so they haven't been able to come. After that we went and visited the LA family they had us in for some dinner, which was some noodle dish. After we started talking we learned that the dad served his mission in Osaka from, wait for it, 1989-1991, the same years as my dad. He was like, wait “what's your name again?” and I told him and he thought for a second and said the name was familiar and asked if I had a picture of my dad when he was young. I didn't but he definitely thinks he knows him. Wow small world but other than that not much else happened. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 Hey Everyone:
Here we go again. Another week down, and lots more to go. But this week was pretty cool. New comp, new less-actives, and new crazy stories all happened this week. So let's start with Tuesday. Tuesday ~ So this was the last morning with Elder Whited. After our study time we headed to Nagoya train station to meet up with all of the missionaries that were transferring. Because we were early we waited around a while till everyone arrived. And then after that everybody likes to talk and catch up with old friends and companions so it wasn't till about 1:30 did me and my new comp, Mihara Choro, and I head out and from there we went to lunch and then to an appointment but the investigator never showed but he did call to reschedule. After that my companion had recently been in a crash that destroyed his bike so we went to buy a new one. And then we went home to have his stuff dropped off and that was about it for the day. Wednesday ~ So because my new comp is Japanese we've been using a lot of Japanese in the apartment and I'm getting used to that. It's way good as he can correct my pronunciation and other mistakes. But he does speak perfect English so if I ever do have a problem communicating he can understand my English and he can speak it back to me. It's been pretty cool. After the mornings studies we got a call from a less active member that they wanted to go to lunch with us so we headed out to meet them and we had a good long meeting and got to know them pretty well. After that we had an appointment and the investigator didn't come. Kind of a disappointing start to the week, but we pressed forward. Then we had Eikaiwa. Nothing to crazy, just a fun night at Eikaiwa. Thursday ~ Today was when things started to pick up. We decided to go looking for some less-actives that I had recently found while looking through some old records. One of the less-active families just so happened to be the stake president's parents. Apparently we were very lucky because they were actually home. But anyways we talked for a long time and we learned that he thinks that he's graduated church and that he doesn't need it which is sad. He believes it all but feels as if he's done and finished. His wife still wants to go to church but because he doesn't go she doesn't go. After that long time, ~3 hours, we were hungry so we found a local ramen shop that was way cheap and way good. From there we talked to lots of people and visited one more less-active, but his dad answered and said come back later. His dad is kind of a funny/grumpy old guy but it's ok. After that we left him a note in the mailbox and returned home for the night. Friday ~ (side note for this day: all the activities mentioned below happened during a period of non-stop rain. It rained the entire day). Since we were in able to see the less active on Thursday night we headed back, partly because I left some stuff at the apartment complex but mostly because we wanted to visit. He was home and we had a nice chat with him and we figured out why he isn't coming to church. Apparently there's another religion that is being practiced in his complex and the preacher has banned any other religion. How I don't know but the less active is to scared to try and go to church because of this one guy. Kind of weird and creepy but we figured out which apartment this guy lives in so we may randomly house into him. We are going to do anything to help this less active even if it means some crazy preacher yells at us or I have to go all Moses and be like, "Let My People Go!" You know the usual missionary stuff to help people. From there we had a lesson with Ryo Oguri San and he is awesome and we had a member in the Ward Tachiai there and it was great, because concerns were cleared up and we now know where to focus in order to help him better. After that we had Hayashi San who is way cool, such a nice guy. After his lesson we played some ping pong with him and he really enjoyed himself. From there we went an visited the bishop and his family and had a good talk with them where they got to know Mihara Choro. It was way fun. From there we went home. Saturday ~ (and the rain continues to fall on this day. It stops around lunch time.) So both me and Mihara Choro love soccer so we decided that on the way to Fabian San's lesson we would look for a place to play. We found plenty of parks but we also found an indoor soccer place that is pretty cheap and way nice. So we may go check it out sometime to try and do some contacting through soccer, like if we win you take the lessons and if you win we meet up again stuff ;) kidding, but it is still going to be fun. After that we went to Fabian San's appointment. We had a really good lesson with him and he loves all the things about the gospel. He even loves coming to church. It is way nice to see that he is progressing towards being baptized. We may even be able to do it sooner than planned. After his lesson and on the way home, we saw some kids playing soccer in the park so we decided to go play with them. It was way fun and some good exercise. While playing the kids enjoyed themselves and they all wanted to take pictures with me, because you know I'm freakishly tall in Japan. Then as we were leaving some older people, who were also at the park, asked what we were doing and we explained that we are missionaries and stuff, but that one of our focuses is to help the community. It definitely gave the church a better image I think, as we had fun with a ton of kids and we weren't trying to indoctrinate them. We just invited them to Eikaiwa and stuff. I think those old people really like that. Anyways, after all of that we got a text from the member, where we were going to visit that night, and they said that we shouldn't eat dinner because we would be eating with them. It was way nice, but also a bit worrisome for those of us who are foreigners and we never know what to expect, but it was way good. And we had a good lesson and got to know the family pretty well. After our lesson we headed home, more like rushed home in order to be on time getting home. Sunday ~ We had church, and we had 2 investigators come, Fabian and Ryo. Then after sacrament meeting we had a good gospel principles class and it was nice to have those two learn about the gospel from someone other than me and my companion. After that we had a special third hour to talk about the wards mission goals and stuff, definitely a fun time. Then after church we had a member lesson. And then, as we were preparing to leave, Mihara Choro's friend, and first baptism, walked through the door. She was there to meet with the stake president for the final part of her temple recommend interviews. This thrilled Mihara Choro and he was definitely extremely happy. After that we went home to change and then we were off again to go to a member’s house. They too told us not to eat anything before coming because we would be eating okonomiyaki. But this was no regular okonomiyaki. Because first it was the okonomiyaki itself, then there was a layer of yakisoba noodles, and a layer of scrabbled eggs, and also a layer of meat and cheese and then covered in sauce. It was heavenly. And they just kept making more. They made so much that we had to take it home. After we had eaten and couldn't eat anymore we gave a lesson about the atonement and had a little testimony meeting. From there we headed home and the day was over. Anyways that was the week here in Japan. Hoped it was just as fun elsewhere, but I'm not sure that's possible because this is the life of a missionary of the Lord. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 こんにちは皆さん。皆元気ですか?始める前に私は「皆さんのお祈りに感謝している」と言いたかった。OK、始めましょう!もう一つ私たちは新しい同侶を貰いました。この同侶は日本人です。後でもと説明します。
Hello everybody. Everybody doing good? Before I start I want to say thank you for all of the prayers. Ok let's begin! By the way I received new companion. He is Japanese. More on this later. Monday ~ P-day stuff shopping exploring the city enjoying the snow while it lasted. You know some good stuff after that we didn't have any lessons so we went and did some street in and met some really cool people but none that were too interested in the gospel. But after that it was kind of a boring day. Tuesday ~ So we did our studies and then we ate a big curry lunch. It was quite delicious and filling. From there we decided to head out on foot to meet with an investigator at his home, but we left early enough that we would have time to talk to plenty of people. And on the way there I started talking to a guy and he was way nice. But about 2 min in he said something like, "Hey I'm headed to lunch and I don't have much time." So I just asked if we could go with him. Now I didn't warn my comp about this in he slightest so he was not prepared for lunch round 2. But we had a good conversation and talked about his life and what we are doing in Japan. It was way cool. And then when we got up to pay he beat me to the cash register and paid for mine and my comps lunch. And then he wouldn't let me give him any money. But it was a way chill time. After that we tried to setup another lunch appointment but he was like, "I'm way busy but I'll call if I ever want to go out again." After we said bye we left to our next appointment and we taught the restoration again with an emphasis on prayer. After that we committed him to be baptized and he said yes. Way cool experience. On the way back home we were stopped by a guy who had visited Salt Lake City and he was like, "Hey are you boys the Mormon missionaries." And we were like, "Yep that's us." He was way surprised and said that we were way rare and that he would like to meet again but for some reason he couldn't/wouldn't make time to meet again but he has our number. From there we went to one of our favorite roads to go streeting. There we OYMed these two kids and it was obvious they were coming home from baseball practice. And the next thing we know they are stopping their whole team as they walk by and by the time we said good bye we were talking to like 15 kids. At one point they were trying to show off and they made one of their friends do a back flip. Way funny night. But that ended our day. Wednesday ~ We had a lesson in the morning with an investigator and it was a way nice experience. After that we headed to Gokiso to meet up with our district leader and begin our Kokan. But to start it out our district leader decided to make us okonomiyaki, pancakes with cabbage in them is the best explanation I've got. But it was good. From there I took the other comp and we headed out and did a day of service. Where we dressed up in normal clothes and went around asking people if we could do stuff for them. And if they didn't want service we tried to give them the gospel. But a lot of the day was spent with people telling us they didn't need help or the gospel. But the one saving grace was in one appartment complex we found a family who said that they may have a bit of interest but the timing was bad. Any ways after that we went home made Mexican food and planned Eikaiwa. I decided to teach clothes and I brought tons of examples, jeans hats gloves etc. It was a big hit as we decided to make them do a relay race with getting dresses and undressed in the American sized clothes, just a quick fact they kept his their clothes on. Any ways way funny and we of course got a video of it. Thursday ~ The Kokan ended and we ended it at an aburasoba, literal translation-oil noodles, loose translation-delicious. And after that, we headed home and watched a 2 hour broadcast for missionaries and then did planning for the next week. After that we had to cancel an appointment with an investigator because he lives too far away and he made a way late appointment. Anyways he was way sad but we told him it was just our rules. But we went to DCS and reported to our ward mission leader what had happened since we last met. Friday ~ We had DTM (District Training Meeting) in Gokiso, I seem to have spent a lot of time traveling there, and afterwards we went together as a district to Indo-curry. That was way good. From there we rushed back to a lesson and we were a bit lucky as we were late and so was he, he got lost on the way to the church. But we then had a good lesson about who God and Jesus Christ are and it may have blown his mind just a bit. But he wants to meet again. So I'm happy. After that we had a member lesson where she taught us Japanese. She kinda started a bit too simple, I think, but you know it's never bad to review the basics. Also this day I decided to make Oreo balls for some of the members in the ward. Saturday ~ Busy busy busy. It was way fun. We had three lessons with investigators and two member lessons that night it was way crazy. But anyways to start the morning off we had transfer calls. And usually how it goes is they set aside an hour for them to call everyone and once they call everyone that is transferring they send out a text that says they are done. So you could sit there for an hour and not get anything and be extremely anxious the whole time, or you could get a call in the first 15 minutes. So we got called way quickly and when we were talking to the AP that called us he told us that Elder Whited was going to Ueda up in Nagano and that I would be receiving a new companion. His name is Elder Mihara. He's Japanese and he's from Sendai area, Japan. He seems like a way good guy and it will be tons of fun to live with a Japanese guy. Anyways from there we went to our first lesson of the day with Ryo. Way cool guy loves the church and has come to church twice. He is a bit hesitant about baptism as he wants to really make sure. So we focused on prayer and reading the scriptures and how they can help us receive answers. Then we went to Fabian's house. He recently decided he wanted to be baptized and he's been to church once before and loved it. We taught him the plan of salvation and he enjoyed himself. From there we rushed back to the church to teach Hayashi San. And we finished teaching plan of salvation and moved into the gospel of Christ. After that we visited a member to give her and her family some Oreo balls because it was her son’s birthday that week. This kid is kinda lonely and has some hard days but he seemed to be having a good time and enjoyed the present. This was also the first time I've met him as his mom is very protective of him when he's having bad days. After that we visited another member to give them Oreo balls for their birthday and also being out tachiais. They really enjoyed it and we left a short spiritual message. We then rushed home so Elder Whited could pack and I could write a talk for the next day. Not much else happened besides us running around like crazy. Sunday ~ So I gave a talk and Ryo came to church again. And we got to teach him another lesson asked how his prayers were going and he is slowly seeing that he wants this big ward family. Just still hesitant on the whole getting baptized thing. But we taught plan of salvation, I think I've taught that pretty much all week, and he liked it. After that we had another lesson with an investigator and we then went home so Elder Whited could finish packing. From there we went and visited a member who didn't come to church and told them Elder Whited was leaving. They were like that was way fast but not much else we could do. All in all, it was a good week. And that's all from here in the Japan Nagoya Mission. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 |
MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
July 2017
Categories |