Ok everyone:
So last I left off I was still in Fukuroi City. But now I'm in Takabata living it up in the big city of Nagoya. It's definitely a change in scenery for me, as the Japan that I had lived in was way way inaka (out in the country). But all is good when you're a missionary, because everywhere you get transferred there's other missionaries and a ward behind you. Anyways, on to the weekly wrap-up, coming to you from the city of Takabata: Monday ~ Let's just say that p-day was filled with me packing all of my stuff and shipping it off to Takabata. Then we headed out to ship off our Christmas gifts, so hopefully they have either arrived our will arrive soon. After that there wasn't much else, but we had an appointment with our ward mission leader for dinner at a tonkatsu (breaded meat dish) restaurant that night, and it was one a member had taken us to before so we knew how good it was. While we were there getting ready to eat a less active that we had been working with walked in and came to join us. It was quite a surprise as we had invited her but she had turned down the offer saying she had other plans. But come to find it was our Mission Leader's plan to surprise us, and it worked. And it was really cool. But after that we headed home to finish up everything. Tuesday ~ Well the day was finally here and it was the day to change companions. Coleman only rode with me till Hamamatsu because that's where his new companion was and the other elder was getting transferred, so we continued together with the Shimai (Sisters). It was definitely an emotional ride for the Shimai (Sisters), but for me I was on to a new adventure. So once we reached Nagoya Eki (train station) we met up with our new companions and talked with some other missionaries, but I was trying to get out of there quickly so we did. We then headed to our apartment, to wait for my bags to arrive. So while we were waiting I got briefed on the area and the past transfer had not been good at all. They had no investigators and the relationship was bad. So it was pretty much the beginning of Fukuroi all over again. But that's all good. So to start off we went looking for some less actives and talked to people along the way and met some really nice people. After that we headed to visit a member. Not much else happened that night. Wednesday ~ I started records work this day and calling tons of people to try to meet with them again. And if you think Japanese is hard to understand in person, over the phone it is near impossible. So it was an interesting time with my limited Japanese. After that went out to do some contacting and it was a good time. Next came Eikaiwa (English Class) where we taught directions to our class. To end the night we "kidnapped" one member of the class and took them somewhere and then had them call into the rest of the class and then direct them to where they were at. It was definitely funny to watch them take turns trying to understand where they were supposed to go. After that we headed home. Thursday ~ Because we didn't have any investigators we went looking for more less actives and people that were on the records that had no phone number or wouldn't answer. And while going about from place to place, we were street contacting. During that we met a guy who is fluent in English and has lived in Utah before and that he wants to come to our Christmas party and Eikaiwa class. It should be interesting to get to know him. Friday ~ Our district leader had learned of our limited teaching pool, and thus set up a super Kokan (splits) in which both he and his comp would come to our area to help us find people to teach. It was super nice of them and it was awesome. So to start the day we went and scouted out an area to do our "finding party". After we found the area we were all ready for them to come so they hopped on the subway and came to where we were at. It was good as some good contacts came out of it. After we finished up, we headed out to a member appointment but she wasn't home so we went tried contacting around her area. After that we headed home where I continued to call FI's and things were going well even to the point where one of them wanted to meet the next day. Just one problem she was a woman, so we asked the Shimai (Sisters) to come along with us and they did. Saturday ~ So we had that meeting with the Shimai and the investigator. And before that we ran into some people on the street that had a weird feeling when we met with them. The feeling lingered after we had met with them, and we decided to stop and pray. In that prayer I had a prompting to tell the spirit that was lingering to leave us and to never return and to no more harm anyone. So yeah we pretty much cast out a devil from our presence, so definitely an interesting start to our day. We then successfully passed off an investigator and we headed out to a meeting with a family in the ward. And this was quite a special family because the dad, just so happens to be the Stake President. It was awesome we did my favorite tatoe (object lesson) with them and they thought it was cool. And then we helped them clean the church and prepare it for Sunday. After that we went and visited some more members and talked with them. So it was a day full of member work. Sunday ~ Being a new missionary in a ward means that you will get the opportunity to speak the first week. It's pretty much a guarantee. But you know me, being me again, I didn't prepare anything. So I just introduced myself and bore my testimony. After church we had a lesson with a guy I found in the records. He came a bit late but it was all good. We had our ward mission leader tachiai (translate) for us and it was an awesome lesson. The spirit was super strong and we committed him to baptism. It was super awesome. From there we went home to make some dinner and then we went to visit less actives, but this time on foot. And that took the rest of the night. Well I came into an area with 0 investigators and now we have like 6 or so, and one of them has a baptismal date. I'm serving in a city, so there are lots of people and lots more members, so it's cool. My companion is cool but I have to kind of step up my game since we are both young missionaries. I may be taking a bigger part in lessons, more so than I used to. Everything else is great the apartment is clean and life in general is good. Well that was the week for us here. The little thought for this week is that Satan is real and has power, but the Lord’s power trumps all. Elder Williams ウィリアムズ長老
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こんにちは!皆さん元気ですか?
So this week was crazy lots has happened so let's start from the where we left off last time. Monday ~ Well that night all our appointments dropped so we he time to work with our new mission leader and plan for the ward and it was nice. But not much else happened. Tuesday ~ We went to Shizuoka City for a Christmas Conference with the AP's and the Senior Missionaries. It was nice and we got a lot of good training stuff some and other cool cooking tips. After that we went and visited a family, The Anma Family, and did a FHE with them and their daughters. The daughters are both in their 20's and we went out there with our branch president and it was awesome. Because their house is sooooo far away that's pretty much all we did that night. Wednesday ~ So we had language study with our mission leader and then we had a less active lesson. Which was cool cuz I was in charge of the lesson and it was good. His Japanese has been hard to understand in the past, but this time I could do it and it was awesome as we talked about the armor of God and how we need it. It was cool. After that we went and played with the kids at the daycare and then after that we headed to play basketball with an investigator. And after 2 transfers of not really playing ball I can say I've still got it. My range shot is a bit rusty, but it came back as I continued to play. And after that we went and visited our investigator Takano to help him keep the commandments better as he has to wait a while to get married. And then we returned home for the night and prepared for the next day. Thursday ~ Because the week before we had had so much success in Kakegawa City, we decided to go back and do it again and visit some less actives and an active member. All in all it was a good day we didn't find anybody new but the investigator was awesome and he said he was going to come to church. After the last visit, we had the craziest bike ride home to try to get to Eikaiwa on time. Since we were in the middle of nowhere and we were looking for the shortest way home we ended up going up part of a mountain through a tunnel and then into a blasted out cave tunnel thing. It was awesome and to top it all off when we came out the other side we were overlooking a lake and it was so beautiful. But because we were almost late we didn't take a picture. But we made it to Eikaiwa and taught self-introductions and then had them do "speed dating". It was funny and all in all a successful day. Friday ~ We had DTM (District Training Meeting) and it was fun. During DTM, we had the craziest rain. It was like a typhoon because there was so much rain and really strong winds. But it only lasted like 30 minutes. So by the time DTM ended, all was ok. From there we had a meeting to talk about volunteering as Santa at some elementary schools. From there we went searching for a less active, but didn't find them. After that we had transfer calls from the mission president. We got ours way quick, because Coleman went district leader. But right after that, the Mission President wanted to talk to me about what was going on and he told me that the stake had requested there be a Brazilian in Fukuroi so he was forced to transfer me to Takabata, where I will be co-senpai (co-senior companions) with a missionary who has been here just as long as I, so this should be fun. Apparently the Ishii Kaicho (Mission President) says that he trusts me enough to go anywhere and do what he needs me to do. On the other hand I think he's a bit crazy, but oh well I don't make the decisions. Anyway, Coleman and I are not as sad as the Shimai (Sisters) here, because they are also being split. The Shimai were awesome together and were best friends before the mission so it was really cool to work with them. I would send you a video, but they refuse to give me a video of the cry fest that happened. That was the end of our day. Saturday ~ So I looked forward to this day all week as I was getting a special treat from an investigator but that will come later. So we first went to our mission leader’s house to meet up with him so I could go on splits with him and Coleman could go on splits with the mission leader’s dad. So with my new companion we met up with our investigator and he took us to a rugby game! It was awesome! One of the players that was playing was Japan's national team captain. It was so cool. After that we met back up and Coleman had a great time visiting members and stuff. Then we had a little mini lesson with the family we went on splits with and visited some of our other investigators and called them all to try to get them to church because I was leaving. In the end we called practically everyone, or visited them to try to get them to church. After that we were so tired we hit the sack. Sunday ~ Well it was my last Sunday in Fukuroi so I had to speak and I didn't prepare anything, cuz I'm me. And so I just went and bore my testimony and how grateful I was for the branch. And it was really nice people gave me some nice presents and all in all we had 6 investigators at church. Everyone was so nice and it's a bit sad to leave but it comes with the life of a missionary. Well that's all from Japan. Next time I'll be in Takabata, closer to Nagoya City. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老 Well things here are good and this season is really pretty here in Japan. There are times it is bad but when the weather is good, it's beautiful. The area I am in doesn't really get snow, because we are on the coast. But because we are on the coast, the wind can get pretty brutal and we've actually started to lay our bikes down instead of having them on kickstands. Well enough about the weather. On to the week:
Monday ~ So that night we had plans for two lessons and they both canceled, so we went out with our dendo shunin (ward mission leader) Maito and because he is brand new we discussed what his vision is and what we need to be doing to help his vision. It was really nice and we started to formulate what we want to see in the future. Tuesday ~ We had a Kokan (companion exchange) and I stayed in Fukuroi and guided a transfer bean (new missionary) around. It was great. We scheduled all of our Portuguese investigators on this day, cuz the bean missionary is Brazilian and I “no falo Portuguese”, (don’t speak Portuguese). So I spent most of the day telling him what to say, and it was good. We went housing and found some investigators and it was cool. And there isn't much else to say about the Kokan. Wednesday ~ The Kokan ended and we decided to ride the train all the way to Kakegawa City and dendo (tract) there. It was cool. We found a guy there who took us to lunch and then we invited him to church and he came, it was awesome. After that we came back to Fukuroi and hustled to a member appointment. After that because it was so far away that was all we did. Thursday ~ We visited a member that day but all of our other appointments cancelled so it was kind of lame. But Eikaiwa is always fun. And we taught about holidays. Friday We had DTM (District Training Meeting) and stuff and after that we went and looked for a less active, but we didn't find him. We did however find two investigators and that was cool. After that we had a member appointment. Also ran into another mahikari. And yeah not a good fuinki (feeling). Saturday ~ We went to our favorite language benkyou (study) place, FIFA, and found some of our old investigators and found some new ones. After that it was a bit frustrating as we tried visiting people to get them to church as our mission president was coming to our church, and it got way frustrating as no one answered the door Sunday ~ The Ishii's (Mission President and his wife) visited and it was awesome. Only two investigators came, but it's all good. We had interviews and stuff with Ishii Kaicho (President) it was awesome. After that we just visited some investigators. Monday ~ So we went to a shrine/temple and it was way cool (check out the picture below). After that we went to Hamamatsu City for district activity and it was cool. We visited a music museum and it was cool. Not much else to report on. Love Elder Williams 愛 ウィリアムズ長老 へエロ (Herro or Hello):
Hello family and friends. Compared to last week there wasn't as much crazy, exciting stuff that happened. But it was still a fun week. So I'll start from the beginning. Monday ~ So after P-day was done and over with, we had two lessons. One with our investigator who couldn't get baptized cuz he's not married and that's no good. So recently we have just reviewed all the lessons to help him solidify his testimony and persevere till after he's married. So this time was the commandments and I was in charge of the lesson. So I had him list off all the commandments he knew and after he wrote one down he would explain it. After he got through all the ones he remembered I taught tithing and fasting through the member who was there. At the time he was fasting so he explained why he was doing it. And because he was a convert and can understand most of my English/broken Japanese he explained tithing so it doesn't sound so scary or demanding. And that went over pretty well. Then we had Paulo next and this is our favorite Brazilian friend who started taking the lessons to get extra English practice but he has lots of questions so English practice usually turns into us talking about the church and stuff, which is fine with us. Anyway, it's kind of hard cuz he really doesn't believe in God, but it's all good. Tuesday ~ We had a lot of appointments in Kakegawa City and it's far so we went with a member and when we asked if he was ok on time he said he was “eien na daijobu”, or in other words “he's fine for eternity” to drive us around so we proceeded to spend 4 hours with him, got 2 new investigators and visited some LA’s (less actives). It was awesome and that was pretty much our day. Wednesday ~ We prepared all morning and then went way south to visit some members. There we worked with part member families and I was a bit ojama (rude), by persistently asking some people to stay and listen. It was the daughter of one of the members, and ther mom was behind me so it was all ok. Thursday ~ So we had a lesson with a recent convert and then we spent the rest of the day preparing for our special Eikaiwa class. As it was thanksgiving we had a shokujikai, pretty much a “meeting with food”. And we cooked some ham and mashed potatoes. It was awesome. Everybody brought food and it turned awesome. And there was so much food and there were 35 people in attendance. The biggest Eikaiwa any of us missionaries have ever seen. That was awesome! Friday ~ We had DTM (District Training Meeting) with the zone leaders and we did a case study about some less actives and our Kaicho (Branch President), because our Kaicho offended someone and didn't really know it and then the person went inactive and has been for 3 years. We got some ideas and it lead to Sunday but that's later. Then that night we went caroling again with an investigator and some ward members and it was a hit everyone loved it. By the way, my singing is improving according to my companion, and he's a choir boy who knows. Saturday ~ We went on a bus tour of Fukuroi City for free, and that included tabehodai (all you can eat lunch). It was awesome and we got to tour some cool stuff and some shrines and the beach. And we even got to meet the Governor it was awesome. We met tons of people and it was awesome. After that we had a chanto (fast) thanksgiving dinner at American barbecue restaurant and it was nice. Sunday ~ We had church and stuff, but instead of 2nd and 3rd hour we watched “Meet the Mormons”. It was good and then afterwards we took our Kaicho (Branch President) to visit some Las (less actives), including the one he offended. He sat down with her and talked to her and her husband, a non member. They listed all of their problems to him and then tore into him, but he, for the most part, took it like a champ and was humble and apologized for everything. And then 2 hours later we had gone through all of her problems. And she now feels like she could come to church, but she's busy, so yeah. Really close. Love, Williams Choro ウィリアムズ長老 |
MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
July 2017
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