Hello everyone!
Is it that time of the week already?
火曜日
We woke up way early and got dressed then bikes to Kitano Eki to get
on the train to go to the temple. There we met up the sisters and
began our journey. Elder Gailey was the leader since he has served in
the area the longest. We had a good idea of how to get there. This
included Shibuya Eki. If you have ever seen a video of japan and they
showcase the busy cross walk, it is Shibuya, it is a massive Eki, and
there were thousands of people. We were literally shoved into a train,
I have never been that close to my companion and the sister
missionaries, nor have I ever wanted to be that close. When we got off
the train I felt sick from all the bodies, it was the first time in my
life I have ever gotten claustrophobic sickness. The temple was
wonderful, I really enjoyed the session. After we went to Burger
Mania, an American hamburger shop near the temple. It seems like there
are always good places to eat near the temples. Coincidence? I think
not. I ordered a bacon cheese burger. Wow, let me tell you, it has
been a while since I have had a real American hamburger. After that
slice of heaven, we got on the train to get back home. Once back at
Kitano we went to mode-off, or a clothes store recycle shop. There I
found two suits for 20 bucks! I was quite pleased, they arent the
prettiest looking suits, but they only have to last about a year or
so. We then went to giomes, my companion got the wild idea to buy a
fish. So now we have a salmon in our freezer. Why we have a salmon, I
don't know. We then went to the church so my companion could work more
on his college essays, during which I downloaded more BYU devotionals.
They are always a good mental break during lunch. At 6 Tomo came for a
lesson. We talked about hope, and how during our trials we can have
home. We read Ether 12 with him, it was a good lesson. After we
emailed and my companion continued to work on his essays. He really
wants to get into BYU.
水曜日
We awoke, and went to the church to have a lesson with Adam. It was an
okay lesson, he didn't really understand what we were saying. The next
Lesson we will need a Chinese speaking member. After studies they had
me prepare the salmon we bought yesterday. Well I've never cooked
fish, but i figure you can't go wrong with olive oil, salt, pepper,
lemon juice, and basil. It turned out really good! We then went to the
church to contact since it was raining. We invited over 100 people
through the phone to various activities. As well as set up a lesson on
Sunday with a man from Nepal, referred another man to the missionaries
in Hong Kong, and we're able to set up an appointment with another man
for other elders in our mission! It was a lot of contacting! After we
set up for ekaiwa, it was pretty quick. Then we went out to find
measuring cups, however we found a fabric store instead. It had some
cool Japanese fabrics, and relaxing Yoga music. We then walks home and
talked to a few people here and there. Then ate dinner and went to
ekaiwa. It was a really fun ekaiwa. The sisters, whom we normally
teach with,weren't there since they weren't feeling well. We talked
about everything to Ferraris and Lamborghini's to American weather
patterns. It was a fun conversation.
木曜日
We woke up had studies, then went to indo curry. I don't know of o
have ever completely explained what indo curry is. It is curry made
using spices from India and Nepal, and almost always made by Indian or
Nepalese people. The dish is usually served with nan (or a flatbread)
which is usually unlimited. To eat it you rip the nan and dip it in
the curry. They also include usually a drink called lassi, which is a
yogurt milk drink. It is super delicious, the place we went to had the
option of a two curry lunch set. So I got the chicken and mutton
curries, they were amazing. After our trip to Nepal we came back home
in the rain to weekly plan. We usually write up things about our
investigators on a giant wipe board, however the marker we used was
permanent so that made for an interesting cleaning job. During weekly
planning we both had the feeling to visit a man named Ito. We visited
him last week and did some service at his house. Since last Saturday
he has come to church, and English class! It was such a cool miracle,
he has never come to either before, and now he has a desire to come to
both. On our way over to his house we talked to a few people on the
street, no one had any super awesome interest, which just meant that
we needed to get their sooner. We arrived and knocked on his door. He
was so surprised to see us and so happy too! We asked how we could
help him so he took us up stairs. I'll tell you what, I have never
seen dust so thick in my life. He enjoys collecting things...well more
like everything. We helped him move some boxes downstairs so he could
go through them. We found some really cool things as we were helping
him. I felt like I was in the T.V. show "American Pickers" only in
this case "Japanese Pickers". He had magnetic tape for music, like the
predecessor to the cassette tape! He tried to give my companion a
massive Japanese dictionary it was huge! Like library's in America
have smaller dictionaries than this thing. My companion kindly
declined, and we continued searching. We were brought into a
back-almost attic-room in the house. There he tried to give us a
telescope and a pair of skis, I would have loved to take them, however
the usefulness of them is very limited. We continued searching and I
found a box with the words "brother" on it. Thinking I had heard the
name before I asked. Ito responded by saying that it was machine.
Which confused me since it looked like a mini fridge. I then asked if
I could open it. We moved some things out of the way and opened it. I
then realized what it was. It was a sowing machine case. He said he
had the sowing machine somewhere, but who knows where that it. However
behind it were a few tennis rackets. Two of them were almost brand
new, he then handed them to us and asked us to take them. We have
talked about finding tennis rackets so we could play with potential
investigators. It was a cool little tender mercy and gift. It was fun
serving him, he is really lonely so we are the only communication he
has sometimes. After helping him we left for the church so we could
make it to our lesson on time. My companion got some dinner and I took
a nap in a chair for 20 min. We then taught Takeyama, or waterfall
mountain. It was a wonderful lesson! We taught the entire restoration
in half English half Japanese. Most people we teach like that only
like the lessons for English practice however he was different, he
wanted to know all of the gospel words. He even asked us questions
about how baptism works and how we can stay clean! It was so good!
After we went to Alps to buy a few groceries we forgot, and to buy
measuring supplies.
金曜日
After studies, I took a rest, I was absolutely exhausted, I have
noticed rain makes me feel tired. After my rest we went into the rain
ready for our long day. It was pouring and didn't show any remote
signs of stopping. We decided to house a specific area, so with our
umbrellas we walked, and walked, and walked! The first house we
knocked on had an old man at the door. He was really nice, and thanked
us as Americans for setting Japan free. It was a little confusing. We
continued to house around, no one was interested in listening to the
two white men with shirts and ties, soaking wet, and teaching about
Jesus. One woman asked if we could do her a favor. We said sure! What
is it? Leave came her response. Welp...we gave her an opportunity, and
who knows maybe she was having a rough day, and doesn't like the rain.
At another apartment complex we knocked on a door and the door across
the way moved a little, then the handle moved a little more. Then a
little head poked out! It was a little boy! We asked him where his
parents were then his mom popped out the corner and said hello! It was
pretty funny! A little while later we knocked on another door, I
noticed out of the corner of my eye the mail box move and a little
finger pop out, then the door opened and a woman came out holding a
child. The girl looked younger than me, so that worried us a little
bit. My companion and I were then able to teach her the plan of
salvation, and set up a return appointment. My companion and I then
asked how old she was because she was either really interested, or had
the hots for us. It turns out she is 16, however she said we could
teach her family...so we are hoping it is true intent. We continued
housing a bunch of houses, then walked back to the apartment to change
shoes we were soaked! We found boots in the apartment and went to the
train station to try to meet another man we tried to set up a meeting
with. He stood us up which was a little sad. We both felt the need to
go to a certain place for dinner, which is an interesting thought. We
thought it was a certain area, however it was over a kilometer away.
In the rain, not ignoring the prompting we continued forward. We only
talked to three men on the way there, and none of them had this
miraculous interest we were expecting. However we had hope that it was
preparing someone for us. After dinner we went the church in the rain,
and waited for our lesson however he stood us up too. It was pretty
sad, so we went to go buy vanilla so we could make cinnamon rolls for
Sister Wilsons birthday the next day. Elder Rockwood was on splits
with Elder Eaton so he slept over at our apartment. Elder Rockwood and
I were up until almost 2 talking, he has a lot of neat experience, it
was pretty exhausting though.
土曜日
During part of our normal studies I made cinnamon rolls for district
meeting. It was fun, I was surprised how much of the recipe I could
remember/do with only milliliters. It opened a new world in cooking.
After lunch we went to district meeting. Everyone seemed dead, I tried
to count the smiling people in district meeting and it was really sad.
So I proposed that our district make it a goal to smile more because
we have the chance of a lifetime, literally! There is no reason that
we can't try and crack a smile. If Satan can get us discouraged this
work tanks, so I choose to smile and stick it to him. After district
meeting elder Gailey and I went on splits and headed to Machida for
scouts ekaiwa! It was so much fun this time! I took more of the lead
role and had a blast with it. We played games and sang songs. The more
I go there the closer I get to our little scouts! After Elder Gailey
and I went to get some Raman! It was delicious, and huge! It hurt to
eat. After we came home and felt the need to take a longer way home,
there we found a man walking his dog, he was really nice, however he
tried to explain to us that there are many paths, but only one right
one and the rest are parallel. It didn't make much since, logically
the restored gospel makes sense, we tried to explain but he tired to
use age as an excuse. Well we will all have our opportunity at some
point or another.
日曜日
We woke up and got ready, i had to tailor my pants before church, I am
getting pretty good at that for how often I have done it. After we
went to church, it was really good. During sacrament we decided to
split up so we could sit next to more members, I sat next to Kuroki
Kyodai! He is a great older man, who usually sits by himself. After we
came home, and ate lunch, but I felt more tired than hungry so I
slept. After we studied then went to go visit the girl that we met on
Friday. However when we got to the church, we forgot our bikes so we
planned to use the sisters. As we were climbing a big hill, the bike I
was using slipped, and the chain slid off. It turns out the bike is
unable to handle the last two gears very well. So we took the bikes
back to the church, and got it figured out. Then we streeted around
for a little bit. We talked to a man by the laundry mat, he wasn't
interested at all, but he had met missionaries before which is great!
The next man we talked to gave us a really strange feeling. He kept
saying, I want to learn. However he wouldn't accept any of our
invitations to learn. Well you won't learn anything if you don't
accept! We then went to the church to meet Misu Kyodai so he could
take us to the shokogi at the Bishops in-laws house! It was delicious!
He has 4 daughters, two of them are under 10, they are really silly.
They reminded me of how the boys get when we have the sisters over for
dinner. We played games as with the family, it was so much fun! We
then came home and sang hymns on Misu Kyodai's car.
Another Fast Week in Japan!
Big Hearts Everyone!
Elder Dunn
No comments:
Post a Comment