Don't say the t-word. Do you mean Transfers?
So for those of you reading this, transfers may not seem like a big deal, but for missionaries this is pretty much tier life. We work hard with someone for 6 weeks or more and then at the end of those six weeks we wait by the phone for an hour or so to get a call from the Mission office. If you don't get a call, then nothing is changing, but that hasn't really happened to me much. Only twice on my mission have I not got a call on transfer weekend, and those were second transfers with my trainer and when I trained. So if that spoils anything for this week's letter I'm sorry. The details will come later in this letter. Monday ~ So it was p-day (preparation day). We had a morning appointment and after that it was pretty much clean so we could pass cleaning checks and all sorts of things like that. We emailed, shopped, and did all of that fun stuff, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Tuesday ~ We had service at the mentally handicapped hospital which is always fun. We played lots of games with them and the workers are always so nice. After that we went home and changed and then went to visit an investigator. He was kind of down on himself because he has lots of problems keeping him from being baptized, i.e. word of wisdom and law of chastity issues. He is pretty much in the final stretch of overcoming them, but he was feeling kind of discouraged. So we helped him shift his views to the celestial kingdom, but he thought that was still way impossible, but he accepted the fact that God can help him overcome. After that we went to an appointment at a restaurant, but the guy was a no show, so we just ate curry and went home. Wednesday ~ We did our studies and then ran to a member appointment that was about an hour bike ride away. Then we started to rush home because the 痲(f迂fu) [means couple missionaries] were coming to check our apartment. While rushing home they drive past us and told us to hurry up, jokingly. So while they inspected the apartment which was spotless, I made everyone a big dinner and it was great. We got high marks and positive remarks, and the Sister missionary was especially happy and pleased with our bathroom; shout out to my mom for grilling me on how to clean a bathroom for 12 or so years. It was all good and we then cleaned up dinner and all went to Eikaiwa to finish the night. Thursday ~ So we had two baptism scheduled for the coming Saturday, so this day was set apart specifically for the district leader to come and interview the candidates. So the first one happened at 3 o'clock-ish and she, Sister Hayashi, passed with flying colors. Then our next person, Brother Higashimoto, went in and also passed with flying colors. They were both cleared for baptism for Saturday. We were all way excited, so we went out to celebrate the occasion with food. All in all, it was a really good day. Friday ~ First off we had DTM (district training meeting) in our district leaders area of Tsu. Then we made our way home and while we were eating some leftovers our ward mission leader called us and wanted to take us out to deliver all of the baptismal invitations. It was way nice so we jumped on that offer and he came and picked us up 15 minutes later. After delivering the invitations, we also visited 2 investigators and 1 less active family. It was way nice, and it was definitely only possible with his car. Bikes would have taken too much time because when he dropped us off it was already time for us to call it a day. But later that night we got a call from a member. So the man who was supposed to be baptized, Brother Higashimoto, visited a member who proceeded to call us and explain that Higashimoto’s boss, like the big boss the #1 boss man, told him that he needed to go to a project out towards Tokyo and that it would start Saturday morning, and so he had to leave immediately. He couldn't say no or else he would lose his job, but he was way sorry and said that once he's finished he will come back and be baptized as soon as possible. We were kind of flustered, but it was all good. And that was pretty much our night. Saturday ~ So this is the morning of transfer calls and as I made brownies for the upcoming baptismal program we received a call from the Mission office. And when I answered the phone, it was my old companion/trainer Elder Coleman calling me one to tell me all of our transfer information and then to also let me know that he is now stuck in the office as the new Assistant to the President of our mission. He hates it, but loves it all at the same time. So Elder Coleman let us know that I would be staying in Ise and be getting a new companion by the name of Elder Pope, and Elder Adams would be transferred out to a place called Seto. After we received the call and the brownies finished cooking, we had to run to the baptismal service. From there the service started and after the talks we all loaded up into cars and drove out to a river that the church owns, and preformed the baptism in the river. It was way awesome. Hayashi Shimai (Sister) was so awesome and it was a beautiful day, see the picture below. After that we returned to the church to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost and then we had a luncheon with everyone there. It was definitely a great day. After that we went home and Elder Adams packed and I figured out all the trains he would need to take to get places. After most everything was packed we went to visit some investigators to let them know he was leaving. After all of that we began the journey home just to find a random festival going on with a fireworks show, so we stayed for the show and then we finished our journey home. Sunday ~ So we didn't have regular church. Instead we had the temple dedication for the Japan Sapporo Temple, up in Hokkaido. We didn't go all the way to Hokkaido, but we got a ride to the nearest broadcasting location, which was a church building about 2 hours away by car. It was definitely a long ride, but worth it in the end. We then made the return trip home and then had a lesson with an investigator. She fed us dinner, but when it came down to it she is not willing to accept the fact that the Book of Mormon is scripture because she loves the Bible so much. Anyways, it's always nice to talk to her, but she is pretty set. All we can do is keep trying though. If anyone has any ideas to help crack a tough cookie like this don't hesitate, I'm open to ideas. And that was our night. Well that's the week. The thought of the week is sometimes we might not understand why something is happening or why God would let something like that happen, but we just need to trust Him and keep pushing. Always trying to be better because that's all we can do sometimes. Anyways keep going. Keep trying. And never give up. Love, Elder Williams 愛している、 ウィリアムズ長老
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MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
July 2017
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