They see us rollin'
So we are officially rolling around with 4 Elders in Ise. It's way fun and has led to lots of adventures so far. Anyways to start these weekly adventures, I will begin with Monday. Monday ~ So it was Elder Lyman's last p-day here, so went around and did the things he wanted to do. Then that night we ate out with Tou, a recent convert, and we traveled all over looking for a good restaurant. Finally we settled on one and we enjoy a good dinner. After that we went home and caught some sleep so we could get up for early train to Nagoya Tuesday ~ So we got on the early train and we rode up to Nagoya where I said farewell to Elder Lyman and began the hunt for Elder Handley. He had missed a train and so he was going to show up late but thankfully I ran into an old friend in Nagoya who hung out with me. After a good chat, my friend had to go home, and I went on my way to find Handley. After a while I found him and we set of for Ise. Once here we started getting him situated and then got his bags and did all the good stuff. We then went to practice hand bells for the Christmas party and then we capped of our night with a trip to the store with a member to buy decorations. Wednesday ~ So it was still just two of us today, so we got up did the study routine and then proceeded to invite our entire neighborhood to the Christmas Party. Invitations took a while and by the time we finished we ran to the church set up Eikaiwa and then went to pick up the two new guys from the station. After that we ran home and I made a quick dinner as it looks like I'm the one with the cooking skills and we then ran to teach Eikaiwa. It was a good night and we topped it all off with our Eikaiwa choir practice. Thursday ~ So we did our studies and then headed out to lunch the four of us together. From there we went to buy Elder Brown, the new greenie elder, a bike. So all four of walked to the very far away bike shop. Once there we got a good bike and all the good gear and after all our bikes were serviced we headed out. We then hit a full neighborhood of houses and invited them all to the Christmas Party. From there Elder Handley and I left and went for more hand bell practice, and that was the rest of our night. Friday ~ After studies we went out to replenish the quickly diminishing stash of food. So we headed out to the nearest grocery store and bought just enough to survive for the next few days. From there Handley and I had to ride to the far away Gyomu supermarket to buy peanut butter, so I could make my famous Oreo balls for the Christmas Party. Once we returned from buying all the needed ingredients we spent the rest of the night prepping the Oreo balls. That evening we went to the church for our kids English class. Most couldn't come because they all randomly caught colds, but it's ok. We still had lots of fun. Back home we finished making Oreo balls, and wrapped up the night. Saturday ~ So all morning we set up decorations for the Christmas Party. It took a long time, but it turned out great. Then in the afternoon while we were making our final preparations for the party we had a guest arrive. Someone I had completely forgotten was coming, Elder Tokuzawa, of the quorum of the seventy. Right when he walked in, I remembered. We proceeded to have a nice conversation as he helped put the finishing touches on the party. Then with fifteen minutes till go time, the outlook was pretty bleak. It did not look like people were going to show up, but before long lots of people came and we had a great night. Elder Tokuzawa gave a nice presentation and little old me had to follow him. Wow, it was a lot of pressure, but according to many it was an amazing sermon? Talk? Show? Whatever I did, they said it was good. After the party ended, we all were part of the clean-up crew and that was the end of our night. Sunday ~ We had a good sacrament meeting. All of the new elders gave talks and it was a good meeting. Then in second hour seeing that there was an open room I took the young men into it and we had a young men's meeting. It was way good and I've got them working on becoming more Christ like. After church, we had a luncheon with all the leftovers from the party. I then proceeded to do lots of tithing settlement interviews, and take care of reimbursements and all the good leader stuff that leaves me physically and mentally drained. After all of that, we returned to the apartment for dinner and then headed out to teach a lesson to one of our investigators, which went pretty well. On our way back home we stopped to visit some other people including one of our investigators. We had a nice chat with her and set up another appointment. So all in all, it was a pretty productive week. As always it seems when I am only running on fumes the Lord helps those fumes last and sustains me through the hard stuff, but I know that this isn't special just to me because He wants everyone to receive those kind of blessings. All it takes is asking in faith and then relying on the Lord to carry us through. Anyway, I love all you guys and I hope everyone has a great week. From, Elder Williams 心より、 ウィリアムズ長老
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Did someone say 4 missionaries in Ise?
Hello so more on the subject line later. But yeah, it’s going to get crazy around here. So I'll start this crazy rap up. Monday ~ So we had a district activity where we went to Meioto-Iwa. Or translated directly means “married couple rocks”. Yeah kind of weird but it is two rocks that symbolize the marriage of the two biggest shrines here in Ise. Yeah, welcome to Japanese mythology/religion. Anyways, we then went to eat at one of my favorite restaurants. After that we wished the Elders from Tsu a safe trip home and then we ran to do all of our other activities. Later we went to the church and began calling to confirm appointments and make Christmas Party flyers. After talking with my second counselor for an hour or so and after another hour or so of changes we had an acceptable flyer and he said he would get color copies for us. So we ran home because it was getting late. Tuesday ~ We had service with the mentally handicapped day service and it was way fun. After we had finished our service, I got a call from the zone leaders asking questions about my job as branch president and about how much time it takes me to do the stuff for the calling. They also asked if I thought it was appropriate for us to have 4 missionaries in Ise, something I had discussed with our mission President before. After that long conversation with them, my companion and I decided it was time for dinner so we went to eat karage don (breaded chicken). It was way good. Then we made it home in time to change and head to the church for our hand bell practice. While practicing I got a call from the mission home asking more about having 4 missionaries in our apartment in Ise and those types of logistics. We then finished up with our practice. Wednesday ~ So we went out in the morning to teach our newest Eikaiwa class at a hotel. Yeah. It was awesome and they treated us like royalty. They shuttled us there and then provided us with refreshments and anything we asked for when it came time for us to teach. We then returned and ate lunch and then began our planning session, so not too exciting. Then we had our regular Eikaiwa class and that rounded out our night. Thursday ~ I went Tsu for companion exchanges. We had a good time and we had some really good visits and a good lesson, and for me another night of Eikaiwa. Friday ~ We ended the exchange at DTM (District Training Meeting) and then we all went out to lunch with the Salmon couple for lunch, it was way fun. We then went to the church and did some last minute preparations for kids Eikaiwa. After that we went to Toba, a nearby city, and sought out a few less actives out there. It was a good trip. We confirmed one was there and found one that had moved. We then rushed back to the church for kids Eikaiwa. Afterwards I had a branch presidency meeting, and that took the rest of the night. Saturday ~ So the transfer announcements came and I'm staying and Elder Lyman is headed to Suwa city in Nagano. And in his place my new comp will be Elder Handely and he will be accompanied by two additional elders who will be living with us. So we will now have four missionaries down here. So, for Elder Lyman's last day, a member took us out to dinner and then we had more hand bell practice. Sunday ~ So we had a good meeting but the speakers didn't take all the time. Like 20 minutes were left, so I provided the filler with a 20 minute talk on the spot. Not bad, for no prep and having to do it in a different language, if I don't say so myself. After wards I had meetings and after that more hand bell practice. After a small snack we had a member appointment followed by an investigator lesson backed up to another investigator lesson. So I felt a bit run tired after all that. And that was my week. We had fun, and got really tired, but that's in the job description. See y'all next week. Elder Williams ウィリアムズ長老 Did someone say that a less active lives 20 miles away?! Guess I'll go check on them!
So where to start? On a mission, either a week feels like an eternity or it feels like two days. It's the missionary paradox. Anyways back to last Monday. Monday ~ It was a simple P-day (preparation day) buying groceries, cleaning, the norms. Then we went to the church and began calling and setting up all of our appointments for the week and making sure that certain visits were ok. In all it was a good night of making calls and setting our schedule for the week. Tuesday ~ So we had to skip service so we could go out to Toba to meet one of our Eikaiwa student’s boss, to discuss an English program for her hotel. It was way fun and we setup a schedule to go there every Wednesday and teach her and her employees English. From there we came home and then decided to ride way far away and visit a less active. I can't believe the distances I've been going on a bike, like literally over mountains. After visiting and looking for the less active we trekked back home and stopped at one of our favorite ramen shops and then proceeded to the church to do a meeting with my branch presidency. We got a lot of good things done and planned. It was really nice. After that we went home and passed out. Wednesday ~ So we started some paper work, which always kills me. I have got to just get used to that part about my life as a missionary. Then we went to dinner with one of the members. We made the mistake of saying we could eat the biggest dish they had, but once they brought it out we had to double guess our choice. With some work we made our way through the dish and we surprised everyone, including ourselves, at what we had done. From there we went and setup and taught our Eikaiwa class and then ran home so we weren't late. Thursday ~ So planning pretty much took the entire day, as we were figuring lots of things out. We then went to Japanese class. There are always mixed results when I go there. I either get completely destroyed by their teachers and they say I have lots of room to improve or they will listen to me and ask what I'm doing in their class and that I'm already really good. Nothing in the middle and this week they thought I was immaculate. Yeah it's always an interesting trip to the class. Friday ~ So we went to Tsu for DTM (District Training Meeting) and it was way good. We then started a koukan (companion exchange) and me and Elder Delia had lots of fun. We headed out to visit some really far away less actives, but this time we trained part of the way and then walked and walked the rest. I'm luck for no blisters, but my feet were pretty sore. After visiting them we also stopped by and visited a member. From here we went home, where I thoroughly enjoyed the other elder's foot massage machine. It kind of hurt, but it was a good hurt. Saturday ~ We ended the koukan in the morning and then I had to prepare for the branch FHE (Family Home Evening). I was giving the lesson. Yeah it was an interesting idea. The lesson ended up going pretty smoothly and the members are on board with the activity we proposed and it is way awesome. After that we went and helped a member with their Christmas shopping. And then we all went to dinner together. And that was our night. Sunday ~ Today was a good Sabbath Day. We had a full three hours of church and then we cleaned. After all of that, we had a planning meeting for our Christmas party. Let's just say, a 20 year old missionary/branch president vs. a very active and opinionated 50 year old member. It took more effort than I was expecting to keep the entire group focused. Man I have more respect for my leaders. It was a struggle but it finally got planned. After that we went home to break our fast. We then had some dinner and rushed out the door to do a lesson and then on to visit a member that couldn't come to church. Well that was my week. How was yours? I would love to hear from all you guys if you get a chance to drop me an email. I can be reached at [email protected]. Love, Elder Williams 心より ウィリアムズ長老 |
MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
July 2017
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