Hey everyone,
I sympathize with you dad. I have no idea where the time goes. We only have two weeks left in this transfer--it's nuts. First off a little business, so my birthday is like two days after transfer calls, and I may leave...or I may stay. You know how it is, they make it a surprise. So please send anything you want early or wait for me to get back to you on whether or not I am still in Kamagaya. Kinda tai hen (terrible) so sorry about that. Dad, the nihongo word is jisho. I won't name names, but messaging me via Facebook to ask what I want for my birthday prooobably isn't in line with the rules haha. I had to un-follow everyone in the family for my mission. So please keep that in mind.
I have come to learn that in a country as humid as Japan "wrinkle free" means diddly squat. Needless to say my ironing skills have drastically improved as a result. Basically have to do it every night to stay ahead of things.
Also, I think that convenience store bathrooms in Japan could be considered for the eighth wonder of the world. They have music, air fresheners, heated seats, background noise, are immaculately clean, and very private. If every convenience store in the world had a bathroom like the ones in Japan, world peace would be attainable.
So this week...dad I do keep a detailed journal, but we write at the church and it doesn't fit in my bag so I can't use it to refer to as I write. I'll try to remember everything that has happened so far.
Early this week we tried several different methods for finding, but unfortunately they haven't really panned out. The whole mission is struggling right now to find people willing to be taught, so every district, area, and zone is focusing on creative finding. Also this past week was Obone season. It's when everyone goes to the temple the one time out of the year to throw money to monks who sit all day and chant Buddha's name. It's a pretty big family holiday, and people return to their hometowns for it. Because we live next to so many universities, there is now only old people left here in Kamagaya. So finding was difficult. Old people never want to talk with us hahaha. Anyway, we did manage to find a few people by calling about a hundred names from the area book. One lives in another area so we referred him to the elders there, and the other we set up to meet him on Tuesday so that was cool. We had district meeting on Thursday, and the leaders all focused on a topic that was perfect for what we are going through right now. A huge chunk of it was centered on companionship unity and love. Everyone knows that when life gets crazy, it becomes more difficult to have a smooth relationship, and if anything is going to help us get through this slump, it is unity with our companions. They talked about showing love, and patience, and all the other Christlike attributes associated with being a disciple of him, and tied them to the companionship. I thought it was really cool. I was surprised at one point when our companionship got singled out. Every night while Tsuchida does his call in report I iron a shirt for him and for me. Didn't really think much of it at the time but he told the zone leaders about it the other day, and they brought it up in zone meeting as an example. It was pretty humbling and a little embarrassing. I'm just happy to be able to help in some small way. He helps me so much in so many ways, ironing a shirt is just a tiny way to show my thanks.
The next day we returned to Matsudou again for mission president interviews. President and sister Nagano are so kind and loving. The Budges were more powerful and commanding, still nice, but different. The Naganos are so different but they are exactly what we need right now. Unfortunately president Nagano was running late for our interviews, so they were only about fifteen minutes long. There was so much more we wanted to talk about, but it's all good. There are plenty of other missionaries who need his help and council more I think. Talking with Nagano Shimai was wonderful. She is such a gentle, nurturing woman. You really feel the love she has as you talk to her. And of course the chocolate brownies with cream cheese frosting were deleicious. I think elder Tsuchida really was able to hear things he needed to. He puts so much pressure on himself and they both helped him to relax and be confident in what we are doing. They both had things to say about us that put a lot of fears to rest. Feelings of inadequacy, feeling like we aren't working hard enough, wondering why we aren't seeing 'success' like past elders. All that stuff was pretty much put to rest. So that was good.
One really cool thing that happened was the sisters got a baptismal date this past week. Tsuchida choro and I were sitting in priesthood one day when we got a phone call from some young Filipino woman who said she wanted to come to church and asked all kinds of questions about when and where. She lives in Chiba, which is an hour away, but insists that she needs to come to Kamagaya. Somehow at a far away Eki (train station) she was handed a Kamagaya area pamphlet. How, we do not know. But we referred her to the sisters. She came to church that next week, and met with them and agreed to be baptized in the next two weeks. She is basically a kinjin, golden investigator, and went to church with friends in the Philippines. She lives out of our area, but the sisters have permission to teach her because she requested it. Kind of funky, but apparently she is way solid. So that was really cool to see.
We met with our skype man again. He really is the only investigator who is regular. We taught him the plan of salvation, which he learned already, which he had forgotten, which he loved. He loved it because it is exactly like Buddhism....only it is absolutely NOTHING like Buddhism. These people love the gospel. They love the idea of a LOVING God, and a plan for happiness, but they are so darn rigid and traditional, they trick themselves into believing that the religions are the same and they don't need to change. So far this man has accepted everything he has been taught over the last seven months except prayer and baptism. He knows if he prays he will feel the spirit so he refuses to and says he is not worthy. He refuses to meet with us in person because he knows he will feel the spirit. He refuses to agree to baptism because he knows he will have to act and to feel the spirit. Soooooo we have no idea what to do with him. Nice guy though. Talks in circles and shows off his English a lot, but a nice man.
Other than thaaaaat I don't remember much of this week.sorry about that. Had another earthquake, that was fun. It's cooled off some this past week which has been nice. Still very hot and humid though.
Sounds like everyone is having a blast back at home. Keep doin the things you love!
I love you all,
Kiwotsukete ne (be careful)
Viehweg Choro
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