2016.4.24 I'm still in Sumoto, and so is Yamamoto Chōrō

I'm not training yet, which is sad for me but probably best for the new missionaries XD

I have had a native Japanese companion every transfer since I have been in the field; I feel very blessed. Recently we have been speaking mostly in Japanese which has been good for my language development. I'm definitely learning a lot from him and I hope to continue this pace. I have a 501 Verbs book I got from the MTC that I am going through and asking about how to use them. It's really, REALLY, helping.

Right now we are trying to figure out how best to dendo this island that is our area. It takes hours to get to either end and even to the closer groups of inhabitants takes about an hour. It's hard because we are on bikes so it takes time to get places. And not many people are walking on the streets in between cities so it's not like we can stop people on the way. It's hard to travel long distances without wasting so much time. So yeah, that's a struggle. But on the bike rides I see so much natural Japan beauty! It's amazing how much is out here on Sumoto! :D

So after all of our glorious Preparation a Day stuff we went out to visit a less-active family with a member, but they were not home. But the member brought us pizza which was nice! After that we headed to a progressing investigator who lives close by. He has been progressing, but is really struggling on a few things. There is only so much one can do as a missionary, let alone a human being. Each person has their own agency to choose what they will. It's just sad because you know how much happiness they can have if they take that next step. We taught the Atonement of Christ. Our next lesson with him will be a member lesson which will be SWEET!!!

Tuesday said, "HELLO", with big, blue skies and warm air to boot! After study and lunch we headed out to see a new investigator, but he wasn't home. One of his friends, who is also a new investigator, answered the door though. We talked with her about how she is doing and she said she is free to be contacted anytime so that's good! After that we visited a progressing investigator. We gave her a talk from President Monson that she has been wanting for a few weeks but we just kept forgetting XD She is a great person, I'm excited to see her progress. After that we visited a new investigator. He owns a watch shop so sometimes customers will come in and disturb the lesson, but he really likes us so he enjoys our visits. He always has lots of questions about our church and us as missionaries. But he also brought up repentance which was a turn I was not expecting. We explained how repentance is something we can, and should, so every day. It's a change of heart towards God. Trying our best to become better. We all need to repent because we are all imperfect. After that we had Eikaiwa and ended our day.

I love it when I'm studying Japanese and my iPad gives me example sentences like: "I want to play a game where a nobel, female, knight with the nickname of 'light-speed' freely manipulates gravity." The weird things I will be able to say when I get home XD

On Wednesday we set out to visit a potential investigator who we were very excited to see. It took about 30 minutes to get out there, but when we got there he wasn't home. However, one of his friends answered the door so we were able to talk to her. She is also a potential investigator and she asked us to call her to set up an appointment so that was a pleasant surprise! After that we tried to visit a couple of other potential investigators but none of them were home either. So we went to the day cares enter to get mauled by five and six year olds XD It was fun, I am still alive. Children's Japanese and adult Japanese is definitely different. And some of those kids have a future in the voice-acting business because the way they were talking made me feel like I was living in an anime XD The kids took Yamamoto Chōrō's Eikaiwa flyers and we're giving them to everyone and hiding them all around the rooms. So yeah, kid dendo is effective ;) After the day care center we had dinner then game night at the church. But no one showed up. About 30 minutes into it we went next-door to get takoyaki XD It was very good! After game night we came home and ended our day.

Thursday was our weekly planning session which took up a big chunk of our day. Afterwards we had a member lesson for one of our progressing investigators. We wanted to teach the Plan of Salvation. I tried to teach the pre-earth life section, but it proved to be difficult, especially since the investigator was having trouble understanding. He seems really set on believing that there is nothing before this life and nothing after. Yeah, he was having a hard time understanding. But is was good for building the relationship between the member and our investigator. And he committed to be baptized on the 22nd of May which is awesome! So yeah, after that we ended our day.

We started Friday by getting our committed investigator a white shirt and tie because he doesn't have one. When we went to his house we tried to finish teaching the Plan of Salvation. It was still a little rough though. After the lesson we gave him the white shirt and tie and he really didn't want to accept it. We had to leave the house before he could give it back to us XD After that we tried to visit a few potential investigators but none of them were home. Then we did some tracting, but no one was interested. Then we visited another investigator. We talked with her about our church. She wanted to send . So the friend request from Pippi Yamada is her. She speaks English really well so you should be able to communicate with her. Then we helpers her with her English class. After that we headed home to end our day.

Saturday was the bomb yo! The ENTIRE day was service so we were in street clothes the whole time which felt way strange XD We started by helping set up vendors for a two-day festival Sumoto was  having. After set up, Yamamoto Chōrō and another young man got dressed up in character costumes to walk around the festival! The other young man was a yellow bird, and Yamamoto Chōrō was Sumoto Castle! XD I carried a big banner as we walked through the streets and alleyways. So many people were taking pictures with them, it was so great. And we even got on television a couple of times XD The thing was, it was kind of warm that day and we were having direct sunlight so they got pretty hot in those costumes. Like, way hot. By the time they took off their costumes they were both just absolutely DRENCHED in sweat. It was so nasty!!! We got them some Pocari Sweat and tried to get them cooled off. Then, right after that, we biked over to a part-member family to help them harvest onions. Apparently this island is very well known for its agricultural items like onions, fish, and beef. Yep, that's right, Kobe beef comes from his island! Anyway, we helped the family for about five hours. Yamamoto Chōrō was pretty worn out by the time we were done. The family then treated us to McDonalds. They are a nice family. It was way good! After that we sped back to the apartment to change into church clothes for branch presidency meeting. After the meeting we went home, planned, and then Yamamoto Chōrō sacked out at around 8:40. He really needed that rest.

Sunday morning we fasted for those affected by the earthquake in the Fukuoka mission. Our investigator with a baptismal dat didn't come to church so that's something that needs to change. But another one of our investigators came to church to that was great! After church we visited an investigator at their home to see how they were doing since we hadn't been able to see them for a couple of weeks. They were doing well, bust with work and all. Ok, side note time. Flippn', the bane of missionaries in Japan is that SO MANY PEOPLE work on Sunday. It's not even ok! Anyways, after that we had lunch then headed to the investigator who attended church. She liked it and she had a good time with the members. After that we went to see an investigating family. They are absolutely full of energy, the kids, the mother, everyone. Everyone except the husband, who was chilling in front of the television. We were there for a bit talking about our families and the church. She said that they will try to come to Eikaiwa this week so that's awesome! After that we tried to visit another investigating family, but they were all resting so they told us to come back another time. After that we went to the church to fill out our baptismal record form stuff. Then we tried to visit a less-active member, but he want home. Then we tried to visit an investigator who lives close by, but they weren't home either. So after that we ended our day.

Today we are planning on shopping after emailing. We cleaned the apartment a bit this morning after study (which was awesome because I beat my futon which is always good). Then, if the weather is good enough, we will go to Sumoto Castle. Other than that not much else for Preparation Day stuff. Later on tonight we are going to visit a new investigator and try to teach him about Jesus Christ and invite him to church. Then we will try to contact the same less-active member as Sunday night. Then try to visit the same investigator who lives close by. So yeah, it will be a good day :)

I want to share a scripture with you guys. It's from Mosiah 2. This is the beginning of King Benjamin's address to his people. He accounts the fairness, equity, and righteousness of his reign. He exhorts the people to serve one another. He says many more things, but I want to focus on serving others. If your efforts, work, and goals aren't helping someone else or making someone else's life better than you are wasting time. In all that we do let us strive to serve our fellow man who are our brothers and sisters. As we do so we will bring about much more good in this world than we could imagine.

Fight the good fight and never give up!

あいきてるよ!

Elder Peacock

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2016.4.17 26 Weeks. LEVEL UP!!!

New ability: cannot crash while on bike...like that's gonna work ;)

The days are getting steadily warmer, and the nights too! I'm so looking forward to 'dying' this summer, at least that's what everyone keeps telling me I'm going to do XD I like rain and cool temperatures a little more than the average person, but even so, I want summer. Short-sleeve season come to papa!

Things have been going fine here in Sumoto. This week brings transfer calls so we will see what happens to me and Yamamoto Chōrō this week. I wouldn't mind spending more time here in Sumoto, but I also wouldn't mind being moved. I will be glad to go anywhere the Lord needs me.

The senior couple has left the hospital and is headed back to their hometown to see their personal doctor. We all really want them to be well, I hope things will get figured out.

I want to train soooooooooooo bad! When we had interviews with President Welch a couple of weeks ago I told Sister Welch I wanted to train. I don't know why, but a few days before interviews I was like, "you know what, I want to train...I want to train super bad!" So I hope I will be able to train soon. I'm glad I had Tsuchia Chōrō as my trainer, he really shaped my mission. There are many things I learned from him that I will be anxious to apply to training (and to dendo in general).

So, after all of our Preparation-Day stuff we went to an investigator's home to help teach English. I told her to look up Mom on Facebook. I think you would both like to be friends, she has a lot of questions and she enjoys seeing LDS stuff on Facebook. So yeah, I kind of threw you under the bus Mom XD Anyways, as we were leaving she gave us a loaf of homemade bread! Now, in Japan, it's extremely unusual to have a full-size oven in the kitchen. Like, I haven't seen a Japanese home with one yet. But they have something comparable to an oven, so they make bread all the time. It was so beautiful (and scrumptious)! We talked a lot about IKEA because there is one within an hour drive from Sumoto. They invited us to go with them on Thursday (my heart was screaming, "YES, TAKE ME WITH YOU") but of course we didn't. After that we headed home.

Tuesday greeted us with clear skies and mild temperatures. After study and lunch we headed to the church because Yamamoto Chōrō had to help another missionary over the phone with a tech problem. That took about an hour, after which we went to the senior center for service. We did some exercises, drank hot water while everyone else drank hot tea XD, and sang traditional Japanese songs about apples and spring. Yay! After that we visited an elderly member. We were going to help her do some yard work but she had changed her mind, so we didn't. We talked about General Conference and how important to follow the prophet. She is such a sweet woman, and she has the cutest laugh that makes her seem so young XD Whenever we visit she feeds us tons of bread, hot chocolate, and assorted cookie stuff (it's always a bonus when members feed you). We then visited a progressing investigator. He has been reading from The Book of Mormon and praying so that's great! And we asked him if he watched General Conference on his computer and he said he did for a little bit! びくりした (very surprised)! It was a little difficult for him to understand, but he said he liked it. He doesn't really have anything to do with his days since he doesn't work or do anything, so he really enjoys when we visit. He has also been doing research on Oregon since I met him. He said he is going to visit Oregon, I don't know if he actually will, but if he does there you go. After him we had Eikaiwa. We talked about the weather. Yay! Such funzies! One of the students brought Saltines and homemade strawberry jam! Soooooo good!! He even gave us a pack of Saltines and a jar of jam to take home, やさしい (so nice)!!! After that we ended our day.

Wednesday greeted us with rain, but warm temperatures. The rain lasted all throughout the day, varying in strength and density so it was pretty interesting. We visited a few potential investigators. We also did some finding in the shopping district. There were a lot of people we were able to talk to, and it was good shelter from the rain. We bought some fruit as a goodbye gift for the senior couple because they are heading out of town for who knows how long. After that we headed to the day care center to do service. Really all we do is play with kids. I totally understand why missionaries normally don't do stuff at day care centers because those kids can be scary. And there are lots of things that could be misunderstood, it's kind of sketchy. But it's fine. Anyways, after the day care we had dinner and then game night.  But no one came so half way through we just did language study. You all need to be the missionary's best friend and do game/sports night with them. They will love you. I promise.

On Thursday we tried to visit some investigators before our weekly planning session, but none of them were home. Then we went out to visit a potential investigator who WAS home. It was a long bike ride out there, and the sun and humidity made it quite warm. It was a gorgeous ride though. He is way cool, he loves English, and he wants to read The Book of Mormon. We are going to visit him next week to see if he actually will. I hope so! After that we decided to visit a progressing investigator before weekly planning as opposed to our original plan for after planning. It was a good visit. After that we did our weekly planning. That took us almost all the way to dinner. We had some time so we tried to visit some neighbors, but none of them answered :( We made a few calls to less-actives to try and meet with them but they said they couldn't this week. Why do you be less-active people?! After that we ended our day.

We had district meeting on Friday. After language class we talked about General Conference, and the importance of member missionary work. Specifically how we are going to take what we learn out here in the field into our wards at home. How we will bring others unto Christ as members. It was way good! Members have so much power, but often times we don't realize it. That is something I want to get better at after the mission. After district meeting we visited a less-active member who was super nice. They like the missionaries, and they showed us many pictures of past missionaries. After that we tried to do some finding around the island college. We were able to talk to a group of high school boys for a little bit which was good. After that we headed home.

On Saturday we went to the mall to get Yamamoto Chōrō's bike fixed. Well, I say fixed. He lost the key to his lock so we had to get it taken off since it was a mounted lock. After that we taught Japanese at a volunteer building. This building is the same building where we visit the elderly, do the day care, and teach Japanese. This time though, because there weren't as many people, I was able to be taught a little bit. It was really only conversation, but that's great practice. After that we went out to see a potential investigator, but the address was wrong. So we headed back. By the time we got back it was time for branch presidency meeting. The branch president brought us dinner from Costco! Chicken, sandwiches, salad, rolls, and dessert bread! It was so good. They also gave us a giant bag of granola. Yus! After that we ended our day.

Saturday night was filled with wind. All of Saturday was windy, but by the time we got home thick clouds had rolled in. Several times I was woken up in the night to the sound of the wind ripping across trees and buildings. When we woke up Sunday morning the wind was still super strong, but rain was added to the mix. It was being thrown straight toward the ground at high speed, spraying off rooftops and cascading down rain gutters. It was quite a sight. Getting to church was way fun ;) I ended up teaching the lesson in Priesthood. It went fine actually, I was able to teach about spreading the gospel to all the world in a decent fashion. After church we went to the branch president's house for home teaching and they fed us macaroni and cheese with rolls and Sprite! It was Yamamoto Chōrō's first time eating macaroni and cheese. He liked it, and I loved it XD We talked with them about the area plan and how we can help them with missionary work. After that we went to another member's home for dinner. So much food! But I'm definitely not complaining XD After dinner we ended our
day.

Today we are planning on groceries, a haircut for me, and the Sumoto Castle. Besides that nothing. Depending on transfer info things might get shaken up a bit. If I am training they will call me today to let me know. I really, really, really want to train! We'll see.

So, on Sunday I talked with one of my zone leaders because every week on Sunday we can call to talk about anything concerning dendo. I wanted to talk to him about his experiences with working with members and training. He told me that he has learned that being himself is paramount. Also, being humble is one of the greatest assets we can have as missionaries. I believe that to be true. I have had very good examples of humility in my life and I want to develop those traits. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the ultimate example of humility. He was humble all the way to the cross. And he was humble thereafter. We need to follow Him as we strive to become humble. I testify that Jesus is the Christ. I know He lives, and I know He loves us with an infinite love. And I do so in the name of Jesus Christ.

あいしています!
Elder Peacock

Sent from my iPad

2016.4.10 President Welch Interviews+General Conference!!!

A lot of fun stuff happened this week!

After all of our Preparation Day stuff we visited the woman who runs an English class out of her home. She was sweet. She loves the missionaries and the sacrifice they make to be away from family and their homelands. She and I talked a lot about the feelings she is struggling with concerning her current religion. Basically she really likes the belief, but she really doesn't like the authorities of her church. She wants her family to be happy, but she can't tell them the church is good when the family also sees the authorities and how they aren't doing good things. She really respects our church for their good work and management. She has visited LDS.org many times so she has been learning that way. So we talked a lot about that. And it was a way good discussion too, she definitely has potential, along with all of her family. She was the only person we met with on Monday.

After study on Tuesday we went to pick up Yamamoto Chōrō's watch. The repair man is a new investigator and has met with the missionaries before. He really likes us which is good. He had a friend there who had also met with the missionaries. This was news to us and the repair man XD They were very busy so we weren't able to teach a lesson, but we invited them both to church. Then we went to the church building so Yamamoto Chōrō could do tech training because he is a tech elder. Good stuff there, but we still don't have Facebook :( One day. After tech training we did some yard work service for a grandmother in the ward. It was way fun, she has such a beautiful yard. And it was good to finally do some yard work service! Then we visited a progression investigator to teach about prophets. We wanted to commit him to come watch General Conference with us. Hopefully he will come. After that we ended our day.

We headed out Wednesday morning for Interviews. We got to the Akashi church building around 10:30 and my appointment was at 11:30. We got a lot of time to talk with Welch Shimai and other missionaries. For lunch we went to a ramen shop that does a tomato and cheese ramen. Basically, it's like Italyand Japan had a baby in the form of ramen...if that even makes sense. It was way good though! Right after that we had a kōkan with the district leaders. It was good, nothing spectacular. We weren't able to use the bikes so we walked. But no one was really out on the streets. We tried to contact but no one stopped. Sometimes that happens and you just keep plugin' along. We all met up for dinner at a pizza buffet which was good. It really made me miss your pizza Dad. Like, REALLY miss your pizza. That is something I really look forward to XD After dinner we headed home and ended our day.

Thursday greeted us with stormy weather. It was bad enough that the busses weren't operating. Therefore we couldn't get home to Sumoto, because there are no train lines that run through the Kobe Bridge. So we ended up staying an extra day in Kagogawa with the District Leader. After having study and lunch we did our Weekly Planning Session. It lasted for most of the day. Yeah, that's all we did on Thursday.

On Friday we traveled with he District Leader to Zone Training Meeting. We held it at the mission home which was kinda cool. We didn't see the President though, he is still out doing interviews. We talked a lot about how to properly record teaching and profiles in the Area Book App. Apparently there have been a lot of legal issues that have made inputting info into the Area Book App difficult. So, we talked a lot about that. After Zone Training Meeting we ate with a dying missionary. He was my Zone Leader while I was in Matsue so I knew him only for a little bit. But we have had good times together and it was sad to say goodbye to him. After parting we headed home. We got back around 5:30 and unpacked. After that, well, I don't really remember what we did XD

Saturday was just General Conference. After doing some cleaning at the church building we waited for about an hour for a couple of members to come, but they ended up not being able to come. So we started around 12:30. It was a way good day! My favorites were:

I Am a Child of God by Elder Donald L. Hailstrom
To the Rescue: We Can Do it by Elder Mervyn B. Arnold
Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins by Elder David A. Bednar
Family Councils by Elder M. Russell Ballard

And from Priesthood session my favorite was probably:
A Sacred Trust by President Thomas S. Monson

There were many others I liked, but these were my tops for Saturday.

Before we went to church on Sunday we stopped at an investigator's home to try and bring him to church, but he wasn't coming. So, after we realized he wasn't going to come we told him he can watch it on his computer on LDS.org. There were about five other members that watched with us at the church building. After  conference we headed out to visit a few potential investigators, but none of hem were home. Then we went to the hospital to see an elderly member. She is doing well which was good to see. After her we set out to visit an investigating family but they weren't home either. Then we tried to visit a few investigators close to home but none of them were home either...yeah, it gets old after a while XD After that we hent home and ended our day.

Today we cleaned, studied, ate, and are now emailing. After this we are planning on shopping and heading home for some down time. It's been cloudy, cold, and windy today. A bit of a change from the warm days we've had this past week. This next week looks like a mix of warmer and cooler days. I hope that soon I can start wearing short-sleeved shirts without being to cold. I'm excited for the coming summer! I can't believe that I am going to hit my six-month mark as a missionary this Thursday! It's gone by so fast. Transfers are next week, it felt like just last week I started in Sekime. Since being on my mission I have begun looking at time not as a strict, linear, cause and effect kind of way. But more like a big, wibboly-wobbly, timely-wimey ball of...stuff ;)

I want to testify that those who spoke at General Conference are called men of God. If we follow them we will not go astray from God. We will be able to know the will of God for His children here on earth. I'm grateful for the words they spoke. There were many that were just for me. And I know I am not the only one who feels this way.

いつもあいしています (always with love),
Elder Peacock

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2016.4.3. Special boss level unlocked: Sumoto XD

[Sorry for the delay in posting David's letters to his blog.  His mother has been out of town for 5 weeks due to family vacation and for the birth of David's new niece and nephew.]

This week was pretty normal. It was all pretty normal UNTIL I FLIPPN' BECAME AN UNCLE YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!! TOTALLY WAS THE ONLY THING I COULD THINK ABOUT FOR THE REST OF SUNDAY XD

But wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let me backtrack a bit XD…

After emailing on Monday, we got groceries, stuff, and visited the couple missionaries. The husband is still in the hospital, but hopefully he will be released soon. Apparently Japanese people will go to the hospital for colds and low fevers. They freak out a bit if they even think they are getting sick. They do the whole mask thing if they cough twice I swear. After Preparation Day time we went out a ways to visit a potential investigator. She is from Singapore but speaks fluent English. She teaches English out of her home. She is way nice and loves the missionaries, just not when they move. She told me about the time she got really upset with a particular missionary because he had been in Sumoto for seven and a half months and then got transferred XD We weren't able to talk with her much before her English class, but we shared the #Hallelujah church video and invited her to look on lds.org to learn more about Easter. We helped her teach English then headed home to end our day.

So, little side note:  Many of the cars over here have similar, or the same, body styles as those of their American counterparts. However, almost all of them go under a different name. Either that or they will be sold under a different brand--so all of the Scion and Infiniti cars are sold under Toyota and Nissan respectively. So the Scion XB is sold under Toyota and the Infiniti M is sold under Nissan. And I lied when I said Daughtsun is a thing here, turns out what I thought was Daughtsun (I have no idea how to spell it) is actually Daihatsu. And Suzuki is a much bigger brand here than in America. Here, Suzuki is comparable to Hyundai on popularity.

I can't really remember what happened on Tuesday (that's what happens when I don't write throughout the week). And looking in the Area Book doesn't help because my companion writes everything in Japanese XD I know we did service at a care center and the old people couldn't get over how big I am. I also know we did Eikaiwa. That was good--we talked about body parts and stuff. I felt really awkward because the class wasn’t all that responsive XD But it was good.

Wednesday was good. By the way, it's been mild this whole week--partly sunny with warm winds. Yesterday was the star of some rain which has continued into today. But yeah, Wednesday was good. We did service at a day care center. The White Handbook says we can't to stuff at day care centers, but apparently we have special permission from Welch Kaicho. So we played with kids for a couple of hours. I tried to teach one of the kids how to say, "What’s up". I tried to explain that it's a combination of hello and how are you. He didn't get it XD After that we went out to see the bishop. He wasn't home, but we were able to teach his wife in the geinkan. We taught about the importance of following prophets, especially with General Conference this weekend (for us in Japan). Then she gave us doughnuts! やった (yes)!

Thursday was super busy. We visited the couple missionaries in the hospital. Then we had lunch with a member and then celebrated her birthday with cake. Then we tried to do Weekly Planning in 45 minutes and it didn't work XD We tried to visit a lot of potential investigators but a lot of them weren't home. We met a grandma and grandpa with their grandson running a mochi cart. We talked to them about the church and they thought what we’re doing is great. They gave us a lot of free mochi which was great! Yep, I don’t remember the rest of the day, but I know it was good.

So, the Sumoto Castle looks like it's the smallest castle in Japan. I'll send pictures when I visit. But, to give you kind of an idea: Matsue Castle is the second-largest in Japan, and Sumoto Castle looks like it is 1/4 that size. Buts it has a beautiful location atop the neighboring hill, I bet it's a beautiful view from there.

Friday we woke up early to travel to District Meeting. We cross the Kobe Bridge every time for District and Zone meetings. We discussed preparing spiritually. With General Conference coming up it has been on the minds of many missionaries. After District Meeting we had kōkans with the district leaders. We did service for one of the members, a lot of yard work which I loved because no one has given us opportunities to do manual labor service yet. Then they fed us a ton of snacks. After that, I went with the district leader to visit two members. One a less-active and one a recent convert. Both have strong testimonies and both are good people. After that we went back to their apartment to end our day.

We woke up normal time on Saturday to head home. We got back in time to change for more service. We were helping an Amerika-Jin member move stuff from his friend's old apartment to his friend's new apartment. It was great, the member is awesome. He wants to have an eternal family with his wife, but it's a little bit of a struggle. He likes us, and so does the family. Be he has told us that it needs to be taken slowly. It was good service! After that we visited the couple missionaries to talk with them about branch presidency meeting, since he was in the hospital. The husband is the first counselor and my companion, Yamamoto Chōrō, is the second counselor. After that we had dinner before branch presidency meeting. Then they had branch presidency meeting. I tried to follow along, but he branch president uses very informal Japanese so I wasn't able to follow along very well. After that we ended our day.

Sunday was good, as always. Our Branch President was able to come so that was nice. Like I said before, all of our meetings are halved because of our small size so we were done by 11:30-12:00. We took the sacrament to a couple of members because they are confined to their homes. I tried to say the sacrament prayer in Japanese and it didn't work. XD In the MTC they have the prayers written out in Romaji, so you are reading English characters. But here it's written in Hiragana and Kanji which means I took forever trying to say that we will always have the spirit of sweet bean paste to be with us, rather than the spirit of Christ...yeah XD Gotta love it. After taking the sacrament we visited a progressing investigator. Right now he is really struggling with feelings of worthiness. We taught the Atonement of Christ and tried to help him with these feelings. I hope and pray that he will find resolution. After him we had dinner with a member--the same member that we had Easter dinner with. She made us awesome beef stew, salad, pasta, and rice. It was really good, but my stomach was not doing well. At first I just thought it was hunger pains when it started after our visit with the progressing investigator. But by the time we started dinner it had grown a bit. By the time I was done with dinner it was kind of severe. I couldn't focus on the conversation so I just tried to blend into the wall while I dealt with the pain. But about 30 minutes later the pain disappeared. Completely gone, in the turn of a second. It was very strange. The thing is, I had a similar stomach pain two months before, in February, that occurred on Fast Sunday. It might be a pattern, I'll keep an eye on it next Fast Sunday.

Today we cleaned, studied, good stuff. After mailing we are planning to do shopping and such. Yay! It's still rainy so we aren't doing much outside for Preparation Day. After our preparation time we are planning on visiting the woman who teaches English. We want to invite her to watch General Conference so we will see how that goes.

I want to testify to you guys that I know God is literally our Father in Heaven. He loves us so much. Never forget that.

いつもあいしています (always with love)!
Elder Peacock

P.S.
I'M FREAKING AN UNCLE!!!

XD


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