I'm freezing cold. Whose idea was it to make winter sooo cold?
So now I am cold. If you have never ever heard of Nagano you either, have no interest in winter sports or were born after 1998. But Nagano is where the 1998 Winter Olympics were held. It is way awesome. I really want to go skiing, but you know that’s not particularly allowed for us missionaries. But, it’s all good. Anyways, on to the weekly wrap up. Monday ~ Last day in Ise and it was awesome. So to start it off we emailed a bit, then I headed out to get a haircut and then went home to meet up with a less active, turned active member, who would take us to meet my dad’s friend Sister Miyagawa from Osaka. We had lunch with her and then just a really long talk and just caught up. [Sister Miyagawa is a lady who my dad taught the gospel to while on his mission in Osaka 25 years ago. Her and her son, Hide, was baptized.] From there we went back to the church to play some ping pong. After that, we went out to an Italian restaurant and met up with some members for a bye-bye party. Kind of sad, but it was way fun. And then while we were preparing for bed, the same less active that we reactivated came by and gave us chocolates and scarves. It was way nice. We then all hit the sack. Tuesday ~ I woke up at 5 AM, showered and then did some last minute packing and another sweep to make sure I had everything. Then I headed out and was on my train by 6:11 AM and then headed to Nagano. I almost missed my train when I transferred in Nagoya, but barely made it and it was all good. The rest was a long train to Nagano which was way pretty with lots of snow. Anyways, I finally made it safe and sound. Once I found my companion, we went grocery shopping and all the good prep stuff. Then after unpacking, we went to Eikaiwa which was way fun to teach. That was pretty much the end of our night, and I was way tied from the trip. Wednesday ~ This was my first full day in the freezing city of Nagano. We had service in the afternoon and after that we came home changed and went out to start the OYM (Open Your Mouth) fun, meaning I got to talk to people who were not visiting the world’s largest Shinto shrine, like back in Ise. After a while of that we went and visited a PI (investigator) and talked to him and set an appointment up for this week. Way awesome. So he and his wife will listen to the lessons. It should be way awesome. After that we stopped at a small place to for some quick food and then we talked to more people as we made our way home. Thursday ~ Started the day off with a mougi, role play, lesson with a member. After that we headed out to meet a random guy that called us on the phone, but he canceled and rescheduled for this coming Tuesday. Our next appointment canceled too, so we went OYM’ing again, trying to find people. We were both feeling pretty hungry, so I introduced Elder Nelson to Sukiya, which is gyudon, that being meat cooked with onions in sauce on rice. We each ate a huge bowl of it and it was way funny. After that we went and did more OYM and while doing that I was getting random texts from lots of people and I was setting up appointments like a mad man. That was awesome. Also while OYM’ing we met a guy from Tokyo who was way cool and spoke fluent English. He also had lived in Washington, Nelson’s home state, and they had a good talk about that. When asked his name, he said, "My name is Yoshi. Like Mario!" and we all had a good laugh. Then we actually had to book it home before curfew, what a way funny night. Friday ~ So we had an apartment check which we passed and then we went to the church to try to go through the entire less active list and get them into our iPads, so they would be easily accessible, easier said than done. As we are working at the church, a member calls and says they would like to take us out to lunch at an all you can eat place. Awesome, you never turn that down. So we loaded up in his car and went out to eat, where I got to talk to him, because I strategically sat down right next to him. We got well acquainted and he is a way nice guy. Hi name is Ezaki and he loves to take missionaries out to dendo and visit less actives. Way awesome. After that we had two lessons which both went well. The first one we taught about God and our relationship and it was well received and then we taught about Christ's gospel to the next guy. It was a good way to cap off our night. Saturday ~ So after a good set of studies it was off to the church to continue our less active record work. Then after I had had enough of that, we went to do more OYM and meet up with an investigator. He was way awesome, and he is now thinking about being baptized. Then we hit the streets for some more, can guess what? If you guessed OYM, then you were right. It was way fun and we met a lot of people. We had a few hard rejections, but some good talks too. We then ran home to make it in on time. Sunday ~ It was the first Sunday in a while that I haven't been on the stand the whole time, so that was nice. We then had a good set of meetings and then branch council. After a real long time we finally made it home, but not before I made an appointment with the branch president. At home we made some food and then some cookies for the branch president and his wife. Then we went and delivered them to him and his family and had a good time. They really enjoyed the cookies and then we just talked and did a small lesson. After that we caught the train home and that ended our week. So that’s it for me, “Frozen but Chosen” to serve the Lord in Nagano. Hope y'all had a good week. And if you wonder why I say “y'all” over “you all”, it’s because the first one is easier not because I'm from Texas. Love Elder Williams 愛している ウィリアムズ長老
0 Comments
I'm free! Free falling!
So yeah I'll explain the beginning later, but other than that it's been a great week. So I'll start the weekly wrap up. It'll probably be pretty short, compared to usual. But that's ok. Monday ~ It started out by getting a flat tire and then fixing it. Then we got all the shopping done. Soccer got canceled because the field was wet. So instead, we went home and made cookies for members. Tuesday ~ We had morning service and it was all good and then we headed out to teach some lessons. After our lessons were done, we went housing. We ended up having a lot of good talks with lots of interesting peeps, but no big takers again. Wednesday ~ We had the morning Eikaiwa at the hotel and then after that we came home, made a big lunch, and baked some more cookies. Then we went and delivered them to all the people. We talked with the son of the member who is in the hospital and he was doing well and was really glad to get some cookies, 6 just for himself I think. We then did some more contacting and then rushed to the church to setup for Eikaiwa, because the other elders were going to be late. Thursday ~ The morning was filled with planning, of course, and then lots of toutsuzen (quick unplanned) visits with people which turned out way good. We saw pretty much everyone we wanted to see. Then we went to Japanese class and had a good time there and met up with some old friends. But then we had to rush home to try and make it on time. Friday ~ So we had DTM (district training meeting) and it was good and then we went home for lunch. After we headed out and went looking for a member, but to no avail. So we went and visited another investigator and had a good talk. They got all worried about transfers, but I tried to be all calm. I knew Ishii Kaicho, the president, wanted to transfer me, but I didn't know when so I was starting to get some jitters. Later we had kids Eikaiwa and then I had a branch presidency meeting which always goes long, and that was our night. Saturday ~ So that morning the transfer announcements came and I got released from being a Branch President and I am shipping out to the frozen north, Nagano city. It's going to be cold. If you don't know where Nagano is, just look up the 1998 Winter Olympics. Yeah, we're toing to Nagano so it should be a cool area. Anyway, that was the big news and the rest of the morning was letting people know and stuff like that. Then one member came by and gave us some presents. Then another came by and picked us all up and we went on a long excursion with him. He took us to a really good restaurant and then to a place that overlooks all of Ise. It was way cool, but the lighting was not good for any pictures, lame. After that there were more visits, we were showing the guy who will be taking over our investigators where they are all live and taking the opportunity to introduce him to them all. After that we went home and had a good night’s rest. Sunday ~ I conducted for the last Sunday and bore my testimony which was way emotional. Everyone looked like they wanted me to stay, so it was kind of sad, but it had to happen sometime. After church we went out and did some more introductions of the new elder and then we went home and started packing. It is crazy. After a couple hours, I finally got all my stuff packed and ready to go. Then we broke our fast and ate a huge dinner. And that was pretty much my week. Hope y’all had a good week too. Talk to you guys next time from Nagano, the frozen north. Love, Elder Williams 愛する、 ウィリアムズ長老 |
MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
July 2017
Categories |