Soccer, biking, more soccer, more biking, and dendo
This week was another exciting week as a missionary. We biked, we played soccer, and we dendoed (tracted). Well there's the weekly report see you next time, Just Kidding. Let's start from where we left off. Monday ~ So after emailing we did the normal stuff like shopping, cleaning, etc. then that night we went to go visit a LA and either they weren't home, or they were asleep or we were in the wrong place. But after that we headed down towards the ocean because we figured there would be more people down that way and there were a few more people down that way. But then I realized that we were way close to another member’s house and we decided to try to visit them. And it worked out that they had gotten off work early and that they were home. It was way cool. Shared a good message with them and then we headed home because it was getting late. Tuesday ~ So the day before my shoulder bag's strap had ripped and I was going to have to buy a new bag but I decided to call the Shimai and see if either of them could fix it or if they knew a member who could help me out. And they said they would take a look at it to see what they could do. Well when we gave them the bag we also dropped off Oreo balls, a snack that I make to give to people like members. Then we headed out to visit an investigator who had been postponing his visit for at least a month by telling us each time we visit that it was "だめ" (pronounced da-me, means “no good”). So we headed over and this time we got on the door, but we were unable to stay and give the full message as he wants us to come back on a different day. After that we headed out to a nearby soccer facility to see if we could find some people but it was just a bunch of little kids, which was way cute but not allowed to proselyte to 8/9 year olds in less their parents are there. So we talked to some staff and they said that the adults who play would be there at night so we decided to make a return trip to see if it would be worth it to come there in the future. From there we raced home and handed out the rest of the Oreo balls to members we had had appointments with and a less active member who we want to have come back to church. After that we raced to the soccer place and were sadly disappointed that the guys there were way serious and only wanted to talk/play soccer so it wasn't very effective so we headed home and that was our day. Wednesday ~ So there is this famed place, at least in our records, called Kyūban Danchi, 9番団地, which literally means 9 danchi’s. Danchi’s are huge apartment buildings that have anywhere from 50 to 500 apartments per building or more, one we saw had 700. But anyways I have been unable to find this place because I can't read Japanese, but with my new Japanese companion we were able to find it and this place is huge and full of people. Lots of Brazilians and foreigners and lots with Christian backgrounds. It's kind of cool. They also have this way legit store that has all of my favorite Brazilian food and Mtn. Dew and Root Beer and other good stuff. We also found some way cool investigators from there and one said he would even try to come to church in two weeks. The thing that made my comp way happy was that we found some Brazilians to play soccer with. And they wanted to take us the next day. So we got some information about it but not really to specific but my comp was all for playing with Brazilians so we planed on it. From there we went and taught Hayashi San and he enjoyed his lesson and after that we had Eikaiwa, which I practically run by myself because my comp doesn't think he's good enough at English to teach, but he is so good. But after that we were done for the day. Thursday ~ One of the people, Shane who is from Myanmar(also known as Burma), we had found the day before at Kyūban Danchi wanted to meet this day so we had a good first lesson that covered everything from Word of Wisdom to prophets to the law of chastity to the restoration. It was all over the place but he kept asking questions that had to be answered by explaining other things. So it was a fun time and he wants to meet again and come to church especially because we said that church costs no money at all. After that we did weekly planning and had dinner. Then we headed out to meet our Brazilian friends who wanted to take us to soccer. Well there was some Mia communication as to where the place was and what time things would end and by the time we realized we were going to be leaving our area it was too late and we were out of area and stuck with no way back on time. So we called the zone leaders and apologized profusely and told them it got lost somewhere in translation, which it did in kind of a different way than usual. But they said be safe and return as soon as possible, which we did after some awesome indoor soccer. And we made some sweet friends who understand we are missionaries but also normal people. One kid was just happy to talk to an American, that's me, and ask his millions of questions about America. But all in all it was a good night. Friday ~ We had a few lessons, but I'll start with Takagi (one of our investigators). Last time we blew his mind with God and Jesus Christ and stuff. This time we proceeded a little slower and ended up taking like an hour and a half but now he knows who God is he understands what Christ did and comprehends the restoration and the role of prophets. Like I pulled out all the tatoes (object lessons) that I had and just rolled and it was very awesome. After that we had Ryo (another investigator) and as always we started with English because he wants to stay fluent. So we taught what I taught in Eikaiwa, which happened to be health and since he wanted to know about how his life would change if he were to be baptized we were planning on teaching commandments and the fact we taught about health flowed so naturally into talking about the Word of Wisdom. It was awesome. After we talked a bit about health we read D&C 89 together and I have little things that have pictures of what is good and bad and as we read what each thing I put its respective picture down on the table. He only has a problem with the strong drinks part of the Word of Wisdom but already follows the other parts. After that we had dinner and one of our friends, almost an investigator, told us of a place to play indoor soccer and that he would probably go there so we decided to go to and play with him. He never showed, but it was fun anyways and we talked to lots of people mostly about soccer, soccer, and more soccer, so not too effective. But I had fun, in the first game I played I scored twice and assisted once and that was all three of our goals. The rest of the night was a bit different as people started marking me harder, but I still scored once more and assisted once more for a total of 3 goals and 2 assists, so not too bad for three ten minute games. Anyways, it was getting late and cold so we went home. Saturday ~ It was way cold this day and as of lately people are getting the flu apparently. So to start of the day we went to visit our investigator Fabian but he was sick. Then we went and tried to go Dendo a college but everyone was in a test so it was against the rules to go in then just tried talking to people and everyone was either busy or way against the church one girl even came up to me as I was talking to her friend in a casual manner, like not even talking about the gospel yet, and told him that I was dangerous. And then she pointed at my tag, but right when he looked the wind, which is freezing cold, lifted my tie in front of it and she then proceeded to grab the tie push it to the side and just tap my awesome tag. She then repeated that I was dangerous. I asked how saying that I was a normal human and that I may be larger than them but I wasn't going to try and harm them but she was persistent and I wasn't going to get worked up about it so I said have a nice day and went on my way. After that we went and had dinner and headed out to visit a member. During the visit we shared a scripture and she was very touched by it as she has been struggling because her husband is slowly going LA (less active), and her sons aren't into church at all and she just needed some comfort. It was way awesome. From there we went back to Kyūban Danchi to thank the guys who took us to soccer but tell them we wouldn't be able to go next time. They were cool with it and thanked us for coming. While we were there we started talking to this group of obviously drunk guys and they told us to go inside the little restaurant to say hi to their friend, the owner. After that they asked if we wanted anything and neither of us had money with us so we said that we couldn't and they proceeded to sit us down and order us a Brazilian style burger that was way good. After that whole excursion we headed home. Sunday ~ So we had church as always and I know Fabian was sick and I thin Ryo got sick, or his one of his family members, because neither came to church. But we had a good meeting and after all of that we headed home broke our fast, ate food and then headed out to visit some members and a LA. We ended up only having time for the LA and a member. But it was all good. The member we visited hasn't come in a while, 2 weeks, and we learned that both her kids got the flu just a bit staggered so they haven't been able to come. After that we went and visited the LA family they had us in for some dinner, which was some noodle dish. After we started talking we learned that the dad served his mission in Osaka from, wait for it, 1989-1991, the same years as my dad. He was like, wait “what's your name again?” and I told him and he thought for a second and said the name was familiar and asked if I had a picture of my dad when he was young. I didn't but he definitely thinks he knows him. Wow small world but other than that not much else happened. Love, Elder Williams 愛、 ウィリアムズ長老
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MissionCalled to Serve in the Japan Nagoya Mission.. Archives
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