Surprises all around! I'll start from the beginning of the week.
So, after doing all of our shopping and stuff we had a meal with a member family. It was at their home, which was a good 30 min bike ride through the maze of squashed homes of Osaka. It was actually more of a goodbye party for Crystal Shimai who will be returning to America in a couple of weeks. She has been working at Universal Studios Japan for the past two years in Harry Potter World. She can sing really well which is what she does at USJ. Anyway, there was tons of takoyaki, sushi salad, meat, and ice cream. It was way good. And there were three huge families there which packed the house. After that meal we traveled home to end our day.
On Tuesday we worked a lot on our iPads because we had to download an update which took almost two hours. Then we had to take a language assessment which took another 30 minutes. So after all of that was done we tried to visit some less-active members but none of them were home. We were able to talk to some people in between house visits though which was good. Then, after dinner, we went to Japanese Class. Is about am hour and a half, but we have to duck out a little bit early so we can get home in time for planning and such. It was good, I'm just working on my casual conversation skills because I want to be able to carry on a normal conversation as well as a gospel conversation. After Jeikaiwa we headed home and ended our day.
Wednesday was a very warm day. We woke up early for seminary to clear skies and mild temperatures. After seminary we had study back at the apartment. We finished our study and reaffirmed our plans for the day. We had plans for a doseki lesson with one of the bishopric members. The lesson was going to be with a former shigansha who still wanted to meet with us, she has just been really busy. This is a shigansha I inherited by coming to Sekime. We talked with her about what she remembers from her last lesson with the missionaries (which we found out ended up being a year and a half ago). She knows she has felt the Holy Ghost and she has the Book of Mormon she gave them. We were able to talk about feasting on the scriptures. The lesson went super smooth and was very good. After that lesson we tried to visit one of the ward missionaries, but he wasn't home. So we went to the Osaka Castle Park. There weren't very many people to talk to there so after a while we left. We talked to people on the way home. After dinner we headed to the church for Eikaiwa. There were a lot of new faces at Eikaiwa which was really cool to see. After Eikaiwa we headed home, planned, and ended our day.
Thursday was the transfer call day. After we had prepared for the day and gotten through personal study we got the call. It was in the middle of companion study. It was the office elders I think, but I'm not sure. First they talked to Racker Chōrō, then they talked to me. Racker Chōrō is staying in Sekime while I am going to Sumoto. Sumoto is connected to Kobe by, guess what, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge. Yep, the Kobe Bridge! It's kind of in my new area. The Sumoto area is the entire island that the Kobe Bridge goes to so its a pretty big area. It's the only island-area in our mission, I get the whole island to myself XD In order of smallest to biggest areas so far it is Sekime, Matsue, and Sumoto. So, we got he call around 9:30 and I packed from that time on. We got my suitcases off around 3:00 and then cleaned up the apartment a bit. We had planned to do weekly planning, but here was no way that was going to happen, even if we wanted to. Plus there was going to be a new elder, so doing weekly planning with me wouldn't make much sense. We got Dominoes Pizza around 4:30 and then waited for more phone calls. We weren't able to do anything more that day because there was a lot of other stuff going on, and because of he short notice we had to be here so we could get done whatever needed to be done for the transfer. So we were stuck at our apartment the rest of the day XD
We were originally going to have district meeting at the Sekime church building, as opposed to the Higashi Osaka building, because of the sudden transfer. In district meeting we each taught a section from chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel which is about improving teaching skills. I taught the section on Helping People Resolving Their Concerns. The main point I emphasized was how we need to make sure we address the source, or root, of the problem instead of the problems that come from the main problem. The visual of an iceberg is good because most of the time we only see a small portion of a problem a person is facing. The large part we can't see is something that takes love and time to discover. Then, once we discover the source problem, we can help them overcome this problem. I only had five or so minutes to teach so I had to be brief. It was really good though. After district meeting we went to get curry for lunch. After that I made my way from Higashi Osaka, to Osaka, to Akashi, then to Sumoto. At Akashi I met my new companion, Yamamoto Chōrō. We then hopped on a bus on the Kobe Bridge and made our way to the apartment. Sumoto is right next to the ocean so we can see as we walk through downtown. This place is way more rural than Matsue. At night you can see the stars! Our apartment is in the hills which is way different than Matsue or Sekime. Trees surround our building and we have a couple of ponds where people fish in the evening right next door. We are on the top floor so the view out is pretty great! Anyway, after we got to the apartment we had dinner and waited for my suitcases to come. We tried to do a little bit of weekly planning, even though my area book is still set to Sekime. After my suitcases came I unpacked them and then ended the day.
Saturday was my fist full day in Sumoto. After study and everything we went to go visit the couple missionaries at the hospital. The husband apparently got a fierce fever the other day so he went in. The thing is, this couple was in Matsue district my first transfer. I saw them at the Christmas Day district meeting so they are in the picture I sent home. Once I told them that recognized me XD We gave the husband a blessing for the sick and they really appreciated it. After the hospital we went to pick up our bikes and went to a place where we apparently teach Japanese...yeah, I don't know how well that's going to go XD But that time I just talked with a member who was there. We were there for about an hour and then left to get a helmet from the apartment because my bike haven't come yet. For now, until my bike gets here, I am using one of the church's bikes. We went to visit a few members and potential investigators. They were all home and very kind. It was warm in the middle of the day so I shed some layers when we went back to the apartment but I ended up regretting that decision XD It got cold quickly XD After that we got home, planned, ate, and ended our day.
Sunday was interesting, in a good way. There were only eight people there besides Yamamoto Chōrō and I. Yamamoto Chōrō is the second counselor in the presidency, the senior couple husband is the first counselor, and the president is less active XD The only reason he is "less-active" is because his work schedule doesn't allow him to attend church. And since the senior couple husband was in the hospital, Yamamoto Chōrō conducted the meeting, conducted the music, blessed the sacrament, gave one of the talks, taught gospel doctoring class, and taught priesthood XD What a guy. And church is only two hours for us because sacrament is one hour, then the classes are 30 minutes each. After church we had a lunch that the members provided. It was way good. After that we prepared for a dinner appointment with another member. The member's sister was their so we planned around teaching her. We shared the hallelujah Easter video and talked about how, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can return to live with God again and live with our families forever. It went really well, and I got to know a few members, win-win! After that we headed home for the normal routine and ended our day.
Today we studied and cleaned. We are planning on shopping after a bit of emailing. Then we are heading back to the apartment for some extra down time. It is sunny today, promising some warmer weather to come this week. At least that's what Yahoo Weather is telling me XD The church just came out with a new mobile app called "JustServe". You can find service opportunities around your area with the app. It doesn't work for my area right now so I can't really use it. But I thought I would let you guys know about it.
There is a talk from 1971 General Conference called, "The Law of Abundance". I read it a couple of weeks ago and have been thinking about it a lot since. Even during my mission I can see how it applies to me. I highly recommend reading it. No matter where we are in life we can be generous with our monetary means, our time, our effort and energy, etc. Right now, in Sumoto, Japan. I will be generous with the love and light of Christ. I will show others how to live in the light of our Father in Heaven. We can all do this. Begin now.
You guys are never far from my thoughts. Whenever I learn, whenever I grow, I think about how you guys taught me. Then I think about how I am going to live from here on because of you. Thank you guys! I love you!
あいしています!
Elder Peacock
P.S.
I'm going to be an uncle any week now...*insert classic David freak out sounds*!!!💥💫☄💥💥
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