Hello from Japan everyone!! :D
Terribly sorry about last week's
email... Darn ward activities stealing my email time! How dare missionary work
do that! ;) It was great, the ward mochitsuki. It was our new years party, and
we made mochi! Which is a special kind of rice, that you smash with a wooden
hammer, and it turns into the consistency of chewed gum! And then you eat it
with mashed beans and all sorts of other good stuff! We had an investigator
show up, Riku Kun, whom we hadn't invited! He is actually a former
investigator, and I had never met him before, he's 16. I don't know how he knew
about it, but he came and had a great time! He also came to church this week
and so we went to young men's with him, haven't been in a YM's class room in
awhile. And it was just like I remembered it was. ;) HAHA!! It was great, and
Riku Kun really liked it, said he wanted to come again next week! O.O What a
kid! Love it! Hopefully we can pick up the lessons from where he left off and
get him on his way to baptism!
So this week was a solid week to end the
transfer on. We didn't have anything too spectacular happen, it was just a good
week. :) We had our lesson with Sato San, and that was I think the highlight of
this week for me. Last time we saw her we taught lesson 3 in the PMG (Preach My Gospel), which is
all about faith, repentance, baptism, enduring to the end, all that jazz. And we
also talked a little about the Word of Wisdom since she asked us what kinds of
things we can't eat or drink. So this time we decided to teach the Word of
Wisdom. The word of wisdom is always a hard one for Japanese people to accept.
Tea in particular they have a REALLY hard time accepting. They don't understand
why it's wrong, and it's SUCH a huge thing culturally that they just don't want
to give it up. So needless to say, I was more than just a little worried about
our lesson. I was REALLY hoping that Sato San would feel the Spirit, and then
be willing to follow this commandment. I really didn't want it to be a problem
for her, and I was praying like mad. We got Brother and Sister Okuda to come
team up teach with us. They both are the first converts in their families, and
so we thought they'd be able to be a great help in sharing why they follow the
word of wisdom. And man did they slay it! They bore some amazing testimony, and
really were able to relate to Sato San, which was PERFECT! So we taught the lesson,
and I shared some experiences from High School about friends and people I knew
who didn't keep the word of wisdom and the spiritual stumbling block it was
for them, and it went really well. We really wanted to stress the spiritual
blessings of the word of wisdom since Sato San LOVES the spirit, and always
wants to feel it. At the end of the lesson we straight up asked her if she
wanted to keep this commandment, and she said yes!! :D :D She also told us how since she started meeting with the missionaries and getting taught every week,
her desire to use those substances has gone away, almost entirely. Even
drinking or whatever with friends and family, she's already given those things
up!! O.O How sweet a miracle is that!!! We also found out that her favorite
kind of tea, is OK to drink, since it's herbal, so that's a win win there! :D
She is so rocking awesome, I really hope that I get to see her baptism! I might
be here, who knows! If I'm here for three I'll see it, if she doesn't get
baptized sooner. Keep praying for her!
We also had our singing in sacrament this week!
And we killed it! We did very well, and the ward was way blown away. Everyone
was like, oh man! It was just like general conference! Or it was like watching
amazing opera, and they were all way shocked that we could sing like we did. It
was great. :) The sister who was kind of our 'vocal coach' / general helper
lady, was very impressed with my singing. She teaches vocal lessons, and really
knows her stuff when it comes to music, and she said that I can definitely
sing. Maybe just being nice, but it made me happy. :)
So that was my week, just a solid week of
dendo, hard work, miracles, and music! This has been a great transfer, I've
learned a lot, and I've grown a lot, and it's been great.
I can't believe tomorrow is transfer calls!!
That's nuts! I'll never understand this whole mission time thing. Never ever
ever.
I love you all dearly, I pray for and think about you
all the time! LOVE YOU !!
愛している！
Mike
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