So another week down and tons more to go. Missions seem like the 2 years will be a long time, but then you get into the thick of things and you feel like if you take one nap you might wake up and be in your closing interview holding your plane ticket home. But hey that's life. Anyways let’s begin.
Monday ~ So it was a p-day, so we cleaned and did stuff like that, then we played some sports. After all that was finished, we went and met with some investigators. It's was, as always, a good time. It was also kind of crazy because the next day we would be going to meet all the other missionaries for transfers and then from there head out for other things. But that was the next day. Tuesday ~ Woke up. Did some studies and then headed to Nagoya station to meet up with all the missionaries that were transferring. Anyways we had to make a quick escape because we had to go to trainers training. This is a special meeting for all the missionaries that will be receiving transfer one missionaries, “bean chans” or known to American missionaries as a “greenies”. Yep that's me out and about in Japan for like 7 months and they think I speak good enough Japanese to have someone that doesn't really speak and is just learning to do so. So yeah, it should be awesomely entertaining for the next while. So after that it was a crazy night as we had 3 extra elders in our apartment, so a total of 5 elders. Yep it was one giant sleep over till the next day when we would receive the new missionaries. Wednesday ~ We woke up did the studies then headed out early to go to the church where we would be picking up the new elders. And like all things in the church it started late. But hey that's life sometimes. So we did the ceremony of meeting your first comp and receiving your first area and I was assigned / blessed to receive Elder Pollister from Oahu, Hawaii. From there, we went to get all the money stuff taken care of and stuff like that. Then we came home caught him up to speed and then had Eikaiwa. Way cool. Anyways, our day was kind of done from there. Thursday ~ We woke up and did our studies, including our extra hour of study, then we went and bought Elder Pollister a new bike. It's always fun to try to communicate with people that speak over the top polite Japanese when we are just barely learning, but you know we worked it out and got it taken care of. From there we went and met with our recent convert and we worked our way through some more of the lessons. Then we hustled back to the church to have a meeting with Hayashi San who really wasn't progressing, like not even taking a Book of Mormon. But with some coaxing and telling him it was an act of faith, he said he would take it and read it. Like it was literally at a point in the lesson where we were going to drop him, but he looked at us and then it seemed to click and he said, "I will take the book." Anyways after that we went and had dinner and went out to talk to people and let Elder Pollister try his hand at it. It was awesome nobody wanted to meet again, but it's all good things will start to get rolling. And that was our night. Friday ~ It was a good morning as we completed all that we needed to do and then went to an appointment with an investigator. They weren't there, but it was all good. From there we went talking to people and it was way awesome. Finally we had a lesson with an investigator and he was really interested in the plan of salvation. It was a good lesson and he had some really good questions. We didn't finish the whole thing, so we will continue it later. After that we had splits with a member and me and Elder Pollister went to seminary, way fun. Pollister shared some nice thoughts. Some that had to be translated, by yours truly, and others in pretty good Japanese. Anyways he can only get better because we speak every day. By the end of our time together, he will be ready to roll. Saturday ~ After studies we hit the streets and were talking to lots of people and had a blast trying to get to a park, but when you talk with everybody on the streets you don't get places very fast, especially in a city. Anyways we went home grabbed our basketball stuff and went and played for a while. We then went to dinner with one of the guys and his brothers from basketball and started talking about going to church and stuff. It was awesome and by the end of the night we got him and his two brothers to say that they would come to church when Elder Lehman heads home. Anyways the guys at basketball are awesome and lots of them are boarder line investigators. But after that we rushed home so we wouldn't be late. Sunday ~ This was kind of a weird Sunday, but it was all good. We had Stake Conference in a different area so we came to the church about an hour earlier and the members were nice enough to give us and an investigator a ride to the other building. After Stake Conference we headed home, grabbed a quick snack and went to teach an investigator. Way awesome. We just taught him about the Ten Commandments and he said that would be no problem as he is already Christian. He happens to be Filipino. Then after that we rushed out to a LA (less active), but since he wasn't home we housed the area and found some really cool potential investigators. From there we tried setting up a Skype lesson at the church with an investigator, but it was a no go. And that was our night. From there we just went home. Well time for a spiritual note; this week it is prayer. Before transfer calls came I decided that my prayers weren't focused and kind of haphazard. I talked a lot and asked for a lot of things and said thanks a lot but it seemed to be lacking something. So I remembered that when I had a big focus in my prayers in the past I saw miracles and I felt the spirit more. So I decided to give focus to my prayers I would pick 3 things that I really wanted Gods help in. One of my three things was that I would become a trainer. For 2 weeks morning and night I would put all energy and soul into these 3 things. I still said other things and tried to not be repetitive but I focused on those three things, hard. Now I don't promise things will come in 2 weeks but for me they did and I became a trainer. It was an answer to a prayer. I still have the other 2 things I'm still praying for and now I pray to be a good trainer. Prayer works don't discount that fact. God will hear you and "if (you) ask not amiss" he will bless you. As always Love, Elder Williams 愛, ウィリアムズ長老
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Anyways, not much time, so here goes nothing.
Monday ~ We went and visited some investigators and had a good time watching Elder Hollland's talk again. It was so powerful even one of the investigators started to testify of its power. Anyways, it was way spiritual and way awesome. But that was the night. Tuesday ~ We had a Kokan (companion exchange). So it was way awesome, we found some way cool people and my bike continued its streak of Kokan bike problems. This time the seat snapped off. Don't worry; it was just a single bolt that broke so it was a pretty easy fix. Other than just killing it and finding two investigators our night was over and we ended it by eating at a Thai restaurant that was in its soft opening stages. It was quite awesome. Anyways learned a lot from the zone leader I was with. Wednesday ~ We ended the Kokan (exchange) and did weekly planning and then some housing. Not really a favorite of mine as I'd rather just talk to people on the street, but we do a little bit of everything to spread the word of God. After that it was Eikaiwa, which is always a blast. Thursday ~ Lots and lots of stuff happened. First we taught our recent convert, and then we went to a member’s house to visit. Then we went to meet another investigator but he wasn't home so we housed around his apartment and found a cool investigator. Then we had to call it a night and go home. Friday ~ Well not much happened. I planned a ton of stuff and then we went to our first appointment and we started teaching our investigator and what was supposed to be an hour meeting turned into a three hour long thing because my comp wanted to finish the whole lesson. Sometimes there is not enough time for those things. Anyways scrapped the plans by necessity and went to play soccer with some friends. It was an okay night for me, scored two and assisted one. Saturday ~ The day that most missionaries dread because it's transfer calls every six weeks. Anyways, since my companion pulled off a last minute three week extension we knew we would be together, but we didn't know who the other elder would be that would join us. Anyways, the news came and I am going to be a trainer now. I will be receiving a missionary straight from the MTC. Who is he? IDK. What's he look like? IDK. But I will train him and that will be so awesome. So after that we had a member appointment at lunch. Then we went to visit some people and then we went to basketball where we setup a giant meeting with all of us right before basketball next week. It’s going to be crazy. Sunday ~ I was supposed to talk in sacrament meeting, and totally forgot, so prepared in ten minutes. Apparently it was a good talk. Then after church we had a Japanese lesson, still working on that language thing. Then we went and visited our Pilipino investigator and his roommate, who is “semi-less” active. Anyways we had a good lesson. And that's the week. So today's quick snippet; Prayers are answered. I prayed for 2 weeks to be a trainer of a new missionary, when most people don't train when they are as young of a missionary as me. But I prayed anyways. And I prayed hard, really focusing in on this and guess what, God gave me the go ahead and trusted me enough to become a trainer. It's crazy, but hey I'll let you know how it goes. For pictures, check out the blog eldertaegwilliams.weebly.com. Later, Elder Williams ウィリアムズ長老 Hello everybody,
It's been one week and we find ourselves back doing some of the same things. Anyways for you people in America, you watched conference a whole week ago, but for those of us on time delay we didn't get it until this past week. So there will probably be references to talks and stuff. Anyways, let's begin . . . Monday ~ So we had p-day and stuff. Had a district activity and hung out with everybody. Then we did some shopping and cleaning up the apartment and emailed everybody. Then we went home to prepare to go out for the night. We did some record work and found a pretty promising record so we decided to go check it out and talk to people on the way there. No one was too promising from the street and when we knocked on the old investigator's door that wasn't very good either. We were pretty sure he was home, but ignoring us. It's all good. But that was our night. Tuesday ~ We had weekly planning because there would be no other time to do it during the week. So that was fun. We then went looking for an investigator that seemed to have disappeared, but we will find him sooner or later. After that we taught an investigator who has stopped progressing and it is kind of hard to teach him. He has learned all the lessons and likes them but is unwilling to ask to have Sunday's off, so he can come to church. Then we went to our recent convert’s house and taught a lesson. Kind of frustrating, because he seems to be content where he is at and we are trying to get him in gear and start moving again. Anyways, sometimes I feel some of the children of God could use a swift kick in the bum so they will start moving but the Lord doesn't work that way, most of the time. Anyways, we did some street contacting on the way home with not much success, and that was the day. Wednesday ~ So we went in the morning to Gokiso to meet the Elders to do a Kokan (exchange). On the way back we made a stop at the recent converts house to teach him again as he requested to be visited. Still trying to kick him to gear and it seems to be slowly, ever so slowly getting to him. Some things take time when I wish they would just go poof and change but that's not how God weeks all the time, so that's how it goes. But other than that it was a good lesson and then we went to go hunting for an investigator who had gone on vacation and we had lost contact. Anyways we found him and it was awesome. Taught about the Book of Mormon and gave him one. We even set up a next appointment for later in the week so more on that later. Then we had Eikaiwa, which is always fun. And that was the end of the night Thursday ~ It was still raining this morning and it continued all day. So after morning studies we went to Nagoya Train Station to end the Kokan (exchange). We all ate together, and then we went from the station to Yokkaichi, where the zone leaders are at, for the next Kokan (exchange) on the list. So while on the train I was talking to the zone leader and explained all we had to get done. It was quite a day planned and it started by again visiting the recent convert and explaining how the gospel is supposed to help us improve our lives and make us better people. It was pretty good. Then we went home dropped the Elder's stuff off and then headed out. We were headed to visit a less active and an investigator, but sometimes things happen. Like my tire got a puncture and I patched it but it still wasn't holding any air. So we went to a bike shop to see what the problem was and apparently there was another puncture that we didn't find and they took care of it and I bought some more patches. But because of all the time that that took we only had time to go meet the ward mission leader for DCS (Ward Mission Correlation) and report our efforts. And that was our night. Friday ~ So we had district meeting in the morning and that was, as always, a fun time. After that, we went out to lunch and headed back to our area. Then we went home and dropped off my companions stuff and went looking for more people. Later we returned to change and head out to play soccer. Man I love sports they are such an easy ice breaker. It opens people up really nicely. We got some people to come to Eikaiwa and listen to what we do as missionaries. And that was our day. Saturday ~ We watched General Conference and it was awesome. We even got some people to come to some sessions on this day. It was so good. But that was our entire day. Sunday ~ Again, we watched General Conference until late afternoon and it was awesome. We had a lesson with Jeff in the middle of sessions and he is progressing nicely towards baptism. Then after the sessions we went and taught the investigator we gave the Book of Mormon to. From there we visited two member families. After that we decided that food would be a good idea, since neither of us had eaten since breakfast and it was almost 8 PM. Yeah, I should have just fasted but you know sometimes that's how it roles. And that wraps up the week. And at the close of my conference weekend I would like to reiterate Elder Holland. Keep going, keep improving and keep pressing forward. There are always things for us to improve in and we can always improve and conference is meant to show us ways to improve and help our lives. It isn't meant to tear us down. Sometimes it may seem impossible but nothing is impossible for God so why should we doubt? Why should we fear? That's fit we shouldn't fear. Keep going people. Always remember who's on your side. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 Hello:
So for all of you reading this I am a bit sore and tired so there may not be a whole ton of detail in this letter, but you know that's what happens when you play 3 hours’ worth of basketball with investigators. I won't complain, as basketball is one of my passions, but more on that later in the weekly update. To start: Monday ~ We had P-day shopping and all that fun stuff. Then we just started calling lots and lots of people. But you see nobody answered. Then after that we went and visited an old investigator and he too stood us up. Like we could see him in his house, and he just kind of never came to the door. It was kind of lame, but hey that's sometimes life. Not too exciting of a day. Tuesday ~ Since right now in Japan the cherry blossoms, or Sakura, are blossoming we went to the park to get with all of the happy people in the park and enjoy the time with them. We talked with lots of cool people, but no one really wanted to meet again so it was kind of lame. Then while at the park our next appointment called and canceled on us, so we just took it as more time to try and find people. But you know try as hard as you might some days it just doesn't work out. But it was beautiful as there were lots to see. Not too many flowers but still good. Then we headed off to an appointment at the church, where we got stood up. So our plans weren't really working out so we decided to head to the institute class near Nagoya train station. Right when we arrived we got a call from our recent convert who lives close to the train station. He asked us to visit so we did. It was kind of interesting to see that God had all of our appointments cancel just to help out somebody else. Anyways after that we headed home. Wednesday ~ We had lunch at the park with some members and it was way awesome. We played with the kids and talked with them. It was fun. Then we headed to meet a less active and give him banana bread. He wasn't there, but it was ok we left the bread and a note. Then we headed home and had dinner and then a fun time at Eikaiwa. Not much else. Thursday ~ So we got tied up in the apartment with calling people. Then we had a lesson scheduled with an investigator, but he canceled. We also had one scheduled with our recent convert around the same time so we just went to his place early and had a good lesson. Then we sprinted back to the church, more like biked really fast, to be in time for a member appointment to teach how to make some desserts, Oreo balls. We had a good time and from there we headed home. Friday ~ We had DTM (District Training Meeting) in the morning and during DTM all of the phones started going crazy, which turned out it to be an earthquake alert. Yeah! But we were far enough away that nothing even happened. So if I had you worried just relax. Nothing happened at all. Then after DTM, I stayed in Gokiso on Kokan (exchange) and had a lot of fun there. Taught lots of people and actually found some good people too. It was all good. Saturday ~ We ended the Kokan (exchange) and we then headed out to try to get a member to come with us and some other members to see some Sakura (cherry blossoms) but it didn't work out, as he wasn't home and because the rest of the members were sisters, we were unable to go. But it's all good we went to a different park and met lots of other people who actually practically adopted us in to their family. Then after all of that, we went to basketball and talked and played and talked and then played some more. Lots of people actually have interest which is cool and we are ready to help them. Anyways that was our night. Sunday ~ It was a normal day of church as we have a translation delay. But it's all good. We will be watching General Conference next week. And during church we met with our investigator, Jeff, who said he is willing to be baptized. He is way cool. He is so spiritual and will soon realize this is the right church I hope. Anyways, after that we visited a less active and then we ended our night at home. So all in all the week was a good one. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 |
MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
July 2017
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