2016.5.8 Golden Week!

みなさんこんにちわ (hello everyone)!

So Golden Week is basically everyone's favorite holiday here. In the first week of May a lot of people get about a week of work off. Not quite everyone, but a ton of people. So a lot of people are home which is great for us missionaries! It's been great!

After all of our Preparation Day stuff we tried to visit a progressing investigator, but she wasn't home so that didn't happen. Then we visited our shigansha (investigator with a baptismal date) to teach him about the Word of Wisdom. He doesn't really have any problems with it...except coffee. We knew this, that's why we taught it. He said he will read the pamphlet we gave him and that he will do his best. After that we came home to end our day.

We woke up Tuesday to some wild wind. The clouds were big and dark, moving fast. There wasn't a lot of rain. We started our proselyting time by visiting a couple of our investigators. One didn't have time and another one wasn't home so that worked well XD We visited our shigansha (investigator with a baptismal date) and taught him the Law of Chastity. The Law of Chastity is always fun to teach, right ;) He doesn't have any problems with it, and he agrees that pornography is bad. He said that basically half of anime, manga, music, and movies are all porn. So yeah, he really doesn't like it. After that discussion we visited one of our less-active families. They actually live quite close but they are very busy and their schedule is all skiwampus so it's hard for them to say when we can come over. We were able to talk with the father who is an American so I got to speak English (YAY). It's a delicate situation but it was a good talk. After that we came back to the apartment for dinner then headed off to Eikaiwa. By this time the wind had really grown in strength. We weren't sure if anyone would come to Eikaiwa, and, sure enough, no one came. While we were at the church building our phone set off and a carrier-wide weather warning was broadcasted. Strong winds, be careful...really now (yes, lots of sarcasm)!? When we headed home the wind was pushing so hard against our bikes and the rain was really smoking down now. That was pretty fun XD I woke up a few times to the wind howling which I liked.

However, we woke up Wednesday morning to absolutely, perfectly, 100% clear skies. Blue, sun, clear, yus. We went out to visit our shigansha win one of the members. We wanted to go over church, prayer, and reading but the whole plan just went out the window because the member and the shigansha just got talking. The member tried to redirect the conversation multiple times, but it just wasn't working. So, basically, they just talked about random stuff and I didn't understand half of it. So yeah, we will try to meet him to actually do our lesson later. After him we tried to visit a few investigators but none of them were home because of Golden Week. Right now I don't like Golden Week because people are gone. I'm sure I would really like it if I wasn't a missionary, but right now I'm a missionary, so I really don't like it. We were able to teach the Plan of Salvation to our next-door neighbor and we left her a copy of The Book of Mormon. After that we had game night. Again, no one came. So we ended up playing piano/violin, watching Mormon Messages, language study, and a little bit of ping-pong. After that we came home, had dinner, and ended our day.

Thursday morning I woke up sick. Yay. The previous day I was feeling unusually low on energy, and that was probably why. Stuffy nose, head cold, no coughing though. But, it was a very sunny day so that helped lift my spirits a bit. We headed to the church after our study to do our weekly planning. We were only able to do a couple of hours at first because we had an appointment with a member. We studied The Book of Mormon with her then helped her with some things around the house. She has a pretty garden and we sometimes help her pull weeds from the garden. After that we headed back to the church, but by this time I was way low on energy and really needed to rest so we stopped by the church to do iPad inventory then went to the apartment. Yamamoto Chōrō made me rest for the remainder of the day XD I took some NyQuil and conked out pretty fast.

The next morning I woke up feeling a little bit better, but still sick. We had Zone Training Meeting that day so we woke up and headed to the mission home in Kobe where we have all of our zone meetings. After business we talked about the Atonement of Christ and charity. For me, the Atonement of Christ is the perfect example of charity. If you take five or ten minutes to think about what our elder brother did for us it can really impress upon you the love He has for us. I am very grateful that He did what He did. Then we discussed how we should think of ourselves, first and foremost, as children of God. When we see ourselves, and others, in this light, the whole world changes. We treat everyone differently, including ourselves. After the meeting I bought a few items from the mission home: Skippy peanut butter, Quaker granola cereal, and a couple of boxes of Kraft mac'n'cheese. After that a few of us had lunch together. We went to Sukiya which is well known for its gyudon. There is an off-menu option called "king size" and it is basically like what McDonalds used to do with supersize. I got their king-size cheese gyudon and it was soooooo good and sooooooooooooooooo much. The king-size gyudon from Sukiya is kind of like a rite of passage for missionaries in Japan. And since I hadn't done it yet it was about time XD After that we headed back to Sumoto. We finished the day with the rest of our weekly planning.

We wanted to do ‘heart attacks’ on Saturday since Sunday was Mother’s Day. There were three people we wanted to do it to which included investigators and members. We got red, pink, and off-pink paper for the hearts. I would say we cut out about 30-40 hearts per door we were planning on doing. After cutting out the hearts we went to Japanese Class were we met with one of our investigators. We weren't able to teach a lesson but he told us he was going to come to church so that's awesome! Then we visited an investigator and set up an appointment with him to meet outside of his clock shop so we can actually teach him lessons without customers interrupting us. After him we went to another investigator, but she wasn't home. So we visited our shigansha. Honestly, some lessons with him just feel like he is intentionally being impossible. He changes topics like nobody's business and he asks the most random questions in the middle of explaining a question he just asked. I can feel Yamamoto Chōrō trying not to explode on this guy XD I definitely don't blame him. But we were just following up on his commitments so it wasn't a principle or doctrine we were trying to teach. After him we went to the church for branch presidency meeting. I don't really take part in it because I'm not a member of the presidency. But I listen and give input once in a while when it is needed. After that we came home, had dinner, and hit the hay.

On Sunday we had the Kobe stake president come and visit which was great for  us! He brought his son who had finished his mission in Tokyo South just a couple of months before. We had one of our investigators come which was awesome. He is Philippino and is here for work so he is studying Japanese. He likes the missionaries, and so does his wife, so he comes to church as after as he can. It's just hard to meet with him because he is so busy with work. After church we went to visit an investigator and we taught her the importance of The Book of Mormon. She is reading each day, but it is difficult for her to understand sometimes. After her we went to the senior missionary's apartment to clean it because they have been out of town for a little more than a month. We were there for about an hour. Their apartment is way newer than ours and they have a couch so we were saying the whole time that we need to get that apartment XD Totally kidding though. After that we filled out our shigansha report and then went to do heart attacks because we weren't able to on Saturday. It was great, hard to see, and we were very sneaky. I think they underestimated the sneakiness ;) after that we came home and ended our day.

Today we studied, cleaned, and did awesome laundry. Today I am FaceTiming you guys [immediate family] so I am WAAAAAAAAAAYY looking forward to that. DEFINITELY the highlight of my day/week/month/transfer. After FaceTime we are going to drop our suits off to get dry-cleaned for the Elder Stevenson conference in a couple of weeks. Then we will do grocery shopping and I will send my voting ballot in the mail on the fastest delivery service. I hope it will get there in time. After that we are just planning on being around the apartment relaxing. I will probably be thinking about you guys all day, and probably for a few days after. But, of course, you guys are never far from my thoughts. After that we will visit with our shigansha to teach about the Holy Ghost and the Law of Chastity. Good stuff. We are pretty sure that lesson will take time so that will be the end of our day. It's been raining continuously since last night, but it is warm. The next week should be mostly rainy with a little sun. I'm pretty sure we are entering rainy season here in Japan so that's great. I'm an Oregonian, bring it on!

Yep, it's been a good week. From here on out we will be out of our area for about half of the remainder of the transfer. With exchanges, district and zone meetings/conferences, the Elder Stevenson conference, and some stake leadership meetings that Elder Yamamoto has to attend because he is a member of the branch presidency, we will be gone a lot. That will make it difficult to work with our investigators and planning for them, but we will do our best. Next Monday we are planning on biking the whole of Awaji Island. We will get up early and be biking the ENTIRE day! It should be fun. Please pray for our safety XD あいしてるよ!

けいぐ (sincerely),
Elder Peacock

Sent from my iPad

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

Sent from my iPad

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

Sent from my iPad

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


Sent from my iPad

Plot twist, emergency transfer! New area: Sumoto!

2016.3.27

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*!!!💥💫☄💥💥

First Week in Sekime

2016.3.20 [Sorry this was delayed due to David's family being on Spring Break vacation.]

こんにちはかぞく! (Kon'nichiwa kazoku)

How are my peeps? XD I now have one week under my belt of my new area. I've been all over
the place but I still can't seem to find my way around anywhere except to the church. There is so much big city in the Sekime area! I have really been enjoying it though. There is no shortage of shops, people, or sight-seeing attractions. I'm really looking forward to my time here in Sekime.

Well, after emailing last Monday we didn't do a whole lot. We got groceries, got our bikes tuned up, made a post office run, watched videos from lds.org, then wiped down our bikes (which was way nice). Once we started dendo at 6:00 we tried to visit a few people. Only one of them was home, but he was sick and you could tell it was really affecting him so we weren't able to teach a lesson. So, after all of those visits we went to the big park across the street and talked with a couple of people. It was pretty cold so not many people were out. After that we stopped at this food stand on the way home to get takoyaki. Takoyaki is a ball of dough with octopus that isn't really cooked all the way because that's how Japanese people like it. And because it isn't cooked all the way the dough is super hot. So, if you’re not careful, you could end up putting a lava ball in your mouth. That's kind of like what I did XD It was good though.

Tuesday greeted us with blue sky and puffy, white clouds. It was still chilly, but much better than the previous day. We started our day by going to the Osaka Castle park to try and find people to talk to. Unfortunately we forgot to take into account that is was White Day. White Day is basically another Valentine’s Day. So there were tons of people there, but many of them were not from Osaka. But, something very interesting happened. We had been there for about 20 minutes and were walking down a wide path when we saw two women smiling very big at us. It kind of startled me to be honest XD There was an awkward moment of us both thinking, "are they going to stop us, are we going to stop them, who's going to..." But we ended up stopping them. They were there to talk about their religion, which was Buddhism. They were very forward and tried to get us to go to their temple, but we didn't have time to. We wouldn't have been able to anyways because they were women and we can't ride in cars with only women. So, we didn't right then, but we set up an appointment for Wednesday afternoon to visit them and to teach each other. We talked with them about how all religions have some truth and how many religions teach great things. They really like this because they felt the same way. We also talked about how many Japanese people do not want religion, especially Jesus Christ. Anyways, it should be interesting. Hopefully they won't attack us or do anything weird XD After the park we went to another park where we tried to talk to some skaters because Racker Chōrō usually tried to talk to skaters. It was a pretty park with lots of cool stuff. They have a dinosaur and a pirate ship on the playground. They have a skate park and dirt bike track. And lots of room for fishing. And, for some reason, lots of cats *shrug*. We were able to talk to an older man who landscapes the park and apparently he has met with the missionaries before and would be willing to meet with them again sometime, but not right now. After that we made our way home for dinner. At this point Racker Chōrō's stomach was acting up a bit so we were taking it slow. After dinner he started feeling better. I was worried he would have to stay home. But, that was not the case, so we were able to head back out. We travelled to Jeikaiwa at a school in town. Since it was my first time I had to fill out paperwork and introduce myself. I got to the part where I say my favorite foods and I started listing off Japanese foods and they all start oohing and it's funny and stuff. After Jeikaiwa we headed home to end our day.

So, we were very excited to wake up Wednesday morning knowing we were going to visit a Buddhist church later that day XD It was the first thing on our list of things to do that day, so after lunch we headed out. They greeted us outside their church building very kindly. They were very kind throughout the whole visit. We started by going to the top of their building to their Chapel of sorts. And on the way up we passed a woman coming down and add I passed her she stopped me and put 1000 yen bill in my hand and told me something but I couldn't understand her. So I don't know if I was supposed to do something with it, or if she was trying to bribe me to convert, or something. I have no idea. Like, what the heck just happened? They had about ten pews in the room. At the front was a very ornate set of tables and chandelier things that were leafed in gold. It was all very pretty. We didn't have to pray to anything which was good...but we did end up doing some chants XD I was totally freaking out in my head like, "what the heck is going on". And every time we passed a door they both bowed to it. It felt a little strange XD We then went to a private room where a purist came in to talk to us about why we were there. We told him we wanted to learn more about the Buddhist religion because every time we meet someone who claims to be Buddhist we ask them what they believe and they never really know. They just use it as a scapegoat most of the time. Usually because their family is Buddhist they will claim to be Buddhist. So, he began to explain where Buddhism came from and what they believe. I didn't get most of it though because he was using a lot of old Japanese. They were really friendly the whole time. They weren't aggressive at all. Even when they asked us about how we are spreading Christianity as missionaries. After we headed out Racker Chōrō explained everything that was spoken to me. Apparently there are many Buddhas. However, the first Buddha, the original Buddha, is a Father figure who watches over all of humanity. Then there is another Buddha that protects us. They believe that we are supposed to continually gain knowledge throughout life. And as we do this we can reach enlightenment. When we reach enlightenment we have the opportunity to live with the original Buddha forever, which is the greatest desire of this life. Then, as we reach enlightenment we can become Buddhas as well, like the original Buddha...the similarities are crazy!! We believe that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he watches over us continually. We believe that the Holy Ghost protects and guides us. We want to live with God again. We believe in continually gaining knowledge in this life to benefit us in the next. We believe that we can become gods like our Heavenly Father. So, yeah, or religions are super similar! Isn't it amazing how connected everything is!? It was way cool. We are planning on visiting one more time in a week or two. After that visit we tried to visit The Man but he wasn't home. After that we went to the park to try to talk to people and do some finding. Then we headed back to our apartment for dinner. Then we had Eikaiwa for the rest of the night. I got to meet more members and friends which was nice. I was struggling to teach because many of them are not good at English. It was fun though. Trying to explain English things in Japanese is a struggle XD

Thursday was taken up mostly by our Weekly Planning Session. After planning we headed to a big dome thing to do finding and just to find out what it was because we had passed it many times and it really made us curious. Turns out the dome is part of a sport complex and the done itself is an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Yeah, it's away cool structure. After that we tried to visit a progressing investigator named Honbo. Unfortunately she wasn't home so we ended up putting in lessons because we aren't very good about doing it every day XD Then  we went to the park because we had about 30 minutes left. We rode around for about five minutes when I felt super prompted to park our bikes, so we did. Looked around and saw a middle-aged man smoking on a bench. I knew we needed to talk to him. We walked over and introduced ourselves and he asked if we were Christians. We said we were and he said he was too! He went on to tell us that he attended a Christian church as a kid. Then he got involved in not good stuff, but he had always wanted to go back. He has kept the good feeling from church in his heart all these years. He said he has been feeling like he's needed to go back to church recently and then we came. He seemed to think it was more than coincidence. I know it wasn't. We invited him to church and I think he will come. He was open to meeting again. So, hopefully he will come to church. After that we headed back to our apartment and ended our day.

Friday morning we woke up at 4:30 for, you guessed it, early morning seminary! Good stuff. Most of that class period was for memorization. After that we rode our bikes to district meeting. We had doughnuts for breakfast which was great! We talked about how our Atonement study is
going. Then we talked about working with members and getting people to church. Afterwards we had sushi for lunch. Then we began companion exchanges. I was with the district leader while Racker Chōrō was with the other companion. We did a lot of biking that day. We biked an hour south to meet with an investigator to whom we extended a baptismal invitation, and he accepted it! It will be later in April so that is way awesome! After that visit we were on our way to another investigator when my bike decided to freak out. I was riding on even pavement, I didn't bump against our run over anything when it happened. At first it felt like my rear tire popped. But upon closer inspection we discovered that one of the wheel spokes had snapped. And because the spoke snapped the wheel became all wonky therefore unridable. We had to walk about 30 minutes to the closest bike shop to get it fixed. It only took 10 minutes and less than 20 dollars before we were able to ride back out. We decided to do some finding by a nearby eki. We did that for about 45 minutes before we had to make the now hour+ ride back to their apartment. After we got back we dried off from the rain that started while we were at the eki. Then we made burritos!

After breakfast, study, and lunch we headed back to our area and apartment. During Friday and all of Saturday we were experiencing rain, but it was still super warm. It was very interesting, but
apparently the summer is like 10X worse XD after we got back to our apartment we unpacked and headed out to Umeda to meet a referral that we had met the previous week. The mother was there and we had only talked a few minutes when she invited us in to talk to her son on Skype. The son is in Arizona so it was like 12:30 at night for him. His English is literally perfect, accent and everything. It kind of messed with me a lot XD We invited him to attend church and he accepted. We will meet with them again next week. After that we traveled back for dinner. After dinner we headed to the park to talk to people. We met four older men playing aboard game called Shogi, which is kind of like a mix of checkers and chess. So, basically, it's kind of like Shogi XD Then, on our way out, we ran into a member so I got to meet her. After the park we ended our day.

Sunday was pretty normal. We had someone walk in off the street again though so that was cool. He said he had been to our church a few times over the years. We taught a recent-convert lesson during second hour. After church we were supposed to have a meeting but it got moved so we went home for lunch. One member have us a ton of American chips like Lay's, Ruffles, and Doritos! We studied then headed out to visit less-active members and invite them to Useman Kyōdai's FHE. Every Sunday Brother Useman had a giant meal and FHE at his home. He always brings lots of friends and members. After that we headed home to end our day.

Today we cleaned after study. Then we headed out to do some shopping. It's sunny and mild right now. We are at the church cleaning our bikes and shining our shoes while we email. We are planning on having a meal with a member around 5:00. It had been a very good preparation day so far.

As we near Easter I think about the great opportunity we have to listen to our prophets and apostles twice a year. I wait with anticipation for their guidance. I know they are chosen men of God who have great faith in Christ. We must cherish their council because their words are the words of God. I love you all! Fight the good fight and never give up!

あいしてるよ!
Pikoku Chōrō