Wednesday, April 27, 2016

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

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