こんにちは友達と家族へ！
This week has been busy, and exciting!
月曜日
We woke up at 4:30 to go play table tennis. However when I woke up I was not feeling it, so I told Elder Clark that we should wake up at 5:15 instead. It was pretty exhaustive. We started our studies early so we could have somewhat of a p day. After studies we cleaned then went to a recycle shop in the area. I found some cool old ties for a dollar so that was wonderful. We then came back to the apartment and packed our bags. However my bike didn't fit in the bag! So I borrowed Elder Clarks. Then Elder Sawyer and I headed off with our bikes and carry ones to the eki. There the sisters surprised us to say goodbye! That was a fun surprise. We then got on the train and got going. I got off at the first eki, and then boom. Alone. One of the weirdest feelings there truly is as a missionary. I walked alone to the next platform then got on the train and headed off to my area. When I arrived there I met Elder Coggins and Elder Gaily. We had to wait for Elder Gaily's companion before we could leave. He missed one train which caused him to be over a half hour late. As we were waiting there a member stopped us and started talking to us. He is a friend of basically all the members. While I was getting to know him my companion was stopped by a woman who then spoke to him and I for over 45 minutes. We were both very confused at what she was trying to get at, I had the feeling she was trying to confuse us. After we left that conversation we went to the church and planned for the rest of the day. We then bought groceries and headed back to the church, then to a drug store for sunscreen and soap. After that we began talking to people. We stopped a lot of people and talked to them. You can talk to a lot more people with two gaigen more that with nehongen. We were able to pray with a high school student and testify to him as well. After we talked to a few people we went to the apartment where the member who found us in the eki helped us take our stuff to the apartment. We then changed and went to a near by school to play this German game which is a cross between badminton and volleyball with some investigators. It was kind of complex but a lot of fun.
火曜日
We woke up and had studies. Then after studies we ate lunch and got to know everyone. Elder Eaton is from Springdale Utah, and Elder Gailey is from Seattle, Washington. It was neat to hear about everyone's families. We then went to the church to email, (sorry to everyone that thought I emailed a different day). After we went back to the apartment because we forgot the phone. Then back again to get my companions belt, then back again for chirashi. It was a funny way to start the day. We then went to the train station, however we got lost because my companion hadn't remembered how to get to the area. We finally figured it out and toke the train. Then went to go and find a member to pray with, on our way we were able to talk to a few people, some of the, were decently excited. But most weren't excited to see us. When we got to the members house we found out that they weren't the home. So we wrote a note. Then a man on a scooter came by, we thought it was the member so we started talking to him. Turns out he wasnt but he wanted to speak English so we invited him and he speed off before we could talk anymore. We then tried to find another member but we got lost. (I am starting to believe that this transfer will be a lot of being lost). We took a picture off to the side with a fantastic view of Hachioji! We the. Walked back to the train station after talking to some people. At the station we met a man from the United Adam emirates! He was really nice and even promised I he had time to come to church! Way nice guy. We then found these punk kids who wanted to talk to us in all the English they knew. Which was hilarious, because my companion who is from the south just used a thick accent and confused them. It was pretty funny, when we were leaving my companion called one of them Tom Cruise and they looked shocked it was pretty funny. We then went on our way home for dinner. However we ran into a college student and taught him a 45 minute lesson and were able to pray with him! It was so good! However we didn't have time for dinner so we got on the bikes to go meet with another potential investigator. It was busy! He wasn't there so went to a combini grabbed something quick and went to the church to eat and to teach a lesson to one of the recent members. We taught the law of chastity it was a great lesson! We then went back to the kitchen, finished dinner and came home.
水曜日
Some days I wonder how much is able to happen in one day, today was no exception! We woke up and had to cut studies off early to go to the eki to meet the Tama elders who had a referral for us! He is from China but living in Hachioji! We took him with us to the church where we were able to give him a church tour and show him around then we were able to set up another appointment with him around dinner time. It was a cool little miracle we had. Then Mise Kyodai came to the church as we were about to leave and asked if he could take us out to lunch. "Well er courze you can misser" as my companion said. We called the other elders and invited them as well. He took us to a hole in the wall catsudon shop, or fried pork! It was delicious! I have been told it is one of the most delicious ones in all of Tokyo! After lunch, we walked to the Assistants/Zone leaders apartment to help one of the missionaries who will be going home tomorrow. We went to the church so he could take his bike apart. It was kind of a strange experience to see, I feel like I still have a ton of time and in reality I have a decent amount however seeing a missionary come to the realization that his mission is ending is very bittersweet. After we helped him we walked back to their apartment and talked to a few people along the way. After we dropped him off we went to go walk to our apartment to get a notebook that my companion needed for our lesson that night. We had the prompting to go to the park, there we saw a guy in a cowboy hat. Here is the experience in my companions own words, "well yer see, me and Elder Dunn was walkin' though park an saw dis here man wit a funky hat on. What does Elder Dunn do? I'll tell yal what he did. He goes up to 'em and says "mighty fine hat sir" he responds thank yer. Den Elder Dunn notices that he done got a Native American necklace on. So what does he say? "Hey you like native Americans? Yeah, well here we got this here book that talks all about 'em. See here (flips to the introduction and finds where it talks about native Americans)." My companion has a thick southern accent, however his Japanese has none whatsoever, unless it is a new word then it is there. We were able to then teach him for over an hour and pray with him, and set up a return appointment. My companion turned to me after as we were walking away and said that shouldn't have worked as well as it just did. I guess he needed to hear about the American Indians to have an interest in the gospel. We then walked to the Eki, however our Chinese friend who we set an appointment with that morning never showed up. So we talked to another guy on a park bench and were able to pray and set another return appointment with him for Saturday! Since our other appointment fell through we went to 7-eleven for dinner. This transfer I will more than likely tasted all the combini food japan has to offer. Then to the church for our lesson before Eaikiwa. The lesson was going great until we brought up baptism. Then it tanked really badly, like there have been few lessons I have seen go that south, it was really sad. It ended up taking the whole Eaikiwa time. Which was about 2 hours. Afterwards we went upstairs and discussed the lesson and found out that the kid who we had just talked to at the eki talked with his parents and they told him he couldn't meet with us anymore. That was kind of sad. After Eaikiwa I was able to stop a man who was on his way out. We talked for a little while, he thought I was 30! It is happening with more frequency now. We talked about all kinds of things, however he wasn't interested in hearing about our special message, it was too bad. But I gave him the opportunity to learn more, that is what matters. We then went home and planned for the next day!
木曜日
We awoke and were able to have normal studies! We then went to the church for a lesson with the guy we met at the park. He didn't come. It was kind of sad. We couldn't even get ahold of him. We then came back to the apartment for weekly planning. On our way home we stopped at a combini and bought some snacks, before that though we were able to pray with a man! It was long but enjoyable we were able to talk about a lot of our investigators. We had the feeling in the middle of planning to go to a Chinese investigators house and leave him a note. He wasn't home but we left the note anyways. Then came home did a little bit more then ate dinner, we then went to the church to go on splits with the Zone leaders for a lesson. I went with Elder Rockwood and we taught the restoration to one of the most prepared people I have ever met. It was an amazing lesson. We were able to set a date with him for the 20th of next month. It was a neat miracle! We then went to go visit a family of which the father was just recently baptized! He is an old man, he was kind of grumpy, but really funny! We invited the family to take lessons however they declined for the time being. We the ran to the Eki to split back with our companions than we sprinted home to make it on time. During planning our investigator from China called us, who we left the note with earlier in the day, asking if we could have a lesson tomorrow! Uh...yes!
金曜日
We woke up early so we could study for a lesson that we had at 8 in the morning. We then got dressed, ran to the church. The lesson ended a little early sadly because he had to go to Japanese class. We were just getting started too, it was a little frustrating. After the lesson we went out to lunch at Go Go Curry, their mascot is the Gorilla, and the curry was delicious. We then began on a journey that would encompass our following 6 hours. We planned to walk to a less active members house and talk to people along the way. We set up a few appointments with people along the way. We have been trying to focus on praying with people as we meet them. I love the responses we get from different people when we ask if they have ever prayed. Usually it is a no, or yes I pray to myself. Huh, I wonder how that has blessed your life. We met a guy named Honda on a road with literally no one on it working on his motor bike! We talked with him for an hour and were able to teach the first lesson and pray with him. It was awesome! When we got to the less actives house, the wife who is not a member, was not happy to see us at all and told us to take his name off the list. We told him we couldn't do that. It was kind of frustrating with how far we walked for, but it's okay. We talked to the other people we needed to. After we then talked to a man for a few kilometers, sadly he had no interest. We walked by the church and I had a feeling we had to go to the apartment that myself and another Elder had found last Transfer. My companion said that he has visited them 5 times now with no answer. We visited them and they were home! We were able to talk to them and kind of set up a return appointment. When we made it back to the apartment we couldn't find anything good to eat, so we decided to walk to sushi. It was delicious! Then we walked home and were able to talk to a few more people.
土曜日
We awoke and worked out hard, like exhausted ourselves. It is nice to have a companion so willing to work out in the morning. During companionship study we realized something very important...neither of us can sing to save our lives. After studies we had district meeting. It was good, every district is a little different, this one is no acceptation. I am the youngest elder in the district, there is a brand new nehongen sister though. We had to leave early to go on splits in order to get to scouts in machida. Scouts was fun, we played games and talked about hobbies! Afterwards we went out for ramen, it was pretty good! Then to Takao to split back with our original companions. We split back then only had enough time to come home. It was a really quick day.
日曜日
We awoke, got ready and went to the church for DCS, there we were able to talk about our investigators. During it the insoles in my shoes burst, probably from all the walking. This caused my brown shoes to look really interesting. So we had to go back to the apartment before Priesthood while we were there we found out that we left our phone. We went back, during priesthood I was able to read along in the liahona. My reading in improving a lot, however writing and speaking are still coming along slowly. The rest of church was really good, we were surprised that one of our investigators came to church after working an all night shift because he was curious! The Ward secretary came and talked to him afterwards, it was a great experience for him. We also were able to set up a return appointment with him. After church we took a picture as a district, minus the zone leaders. Then mise kyodai and I took a picture together because we were matching. We then came home from church, changed, ate lunch then went out to find the guy who I talked about American Indians with. We couldn't find him, but decided to go and visit a less active instead. It took us 3 hours by foot to get there with all the people we talked to. One man invited us golfing, and another gave a Book of Mormon out to. Then we arrived at the rock and roll guys house (my companion calls him rock n' roll so I don't know his name). He was a nice guy however he told my companion that his Japanese is terrible, and to bring back someone who could eat better. He took it pretty hard, I mean who wouldn't, he studies like no one I have seen and for the most part can speak really well, but his southern drawl can interfere sometimes. Most of the time he has no accent at all though. We left his house, after a frustrating conversation. We ran into a man who loves scuba diving and invited us to come with him sometime! Too bad we can't swim! We then went home, with sore feet from all the walking and ate dinner. Then off to the church to work on area books and put all the lessons in.
Well that was our week in a nutshell!
Love Ya'll!
Elder Dunn
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