Well, last week was transfer calls right, so I'm sure everybody wants to know what happened, at least I do! So the APs call on Wednesday and tell us that the new elder coming to Tokuyama is Kwon 長老 (the Korean that was in the MTC with me and was my roommate for a couple of days there) and I got really excited, just to find out that Koyama is not the one transferring but I am. That brings me to my third transfer, third area, third companion, third zone; it's crazy. Now I'm up in Hiroshima 「広島」 in Yasufuruichi「安古市」 (say that 5 times fast) with Beckstrand 長老. He's on his 5th transfer so we're a pretty young couple of missionaries. And this area is HUGE! So I get to the apartment and I look at our map in the study room, and I think, well, this is pretty big but not bad at all. Then I go to the kitchen and see the "full" map (I say "full" because even it has missing portions) and it takes up one of the walls. That big ol' map I saw in the study room maybe takes up the size of my hand on that map. We've got members clear out 2 hours away by train (and those just cut through the mountains (of which we have plenty)) and we have at least 2 colleges and probably more things that I can't even know. Oh man this'll be an interesting transfer!
So the start of last week was spent going around to everybody we had worked with that transfer and having them all give Koyama their last good-bye (everyone was convinced he was leaving) and some extreme success at finding. In the first 2 days we found 7 people who invited us to come back again and we started teaching another one of our English students the gospel. (Which reminds me, Kwon and Koyama both don't speak English, so Eikaiwa just became very interesting in Tokuyama. It's still going on (we have 4 investigators attend) and I wish them good luck there.) At the last Eikaiwa we talked about nature and I talked about camping (imagine that!) and it was a super good Eikaiwa. Then I dropped the announcement that I was leaving. Hiro-kun, the 14 year old investigator, had come to Eikaiwa for the first time because he didn't have cram school that day. He didn't even know about transfers and when he heard it just about started crying. When we met after class and gave each other a big hug he straight up broke down on my shoulder. Oh man, I about died at that point, but I couldn't let him be super sad. He knows that this gospel is true, and this may be just what he needs, the perfect first trial for him, so hopefully, without his gaijin (foreigner) friend there he'll still come to church and learn all he can. I have nothing but faith that he'll do just that.
Most of Wednesday wasn't spent packing as I had expected, (I finished by about 1:30) but was taken mostly for writing letters on my meishi 名詞 (business card) for everyone in the area. A little bit sad, but I think it was way good for everybody there. Thursday I left at 8 to head up to Hiroshima. I'm now at the second northernmost part of the mission just in time for the weather to go cold. This'll be interesting. We met up with everybody transferring in the Zone at the Hiroshima train station and all went out to eat at this sweet Indian Curry restaurant with all-you-can-eat nan! (And not just the flimsy bread pieces I've had before, but they were about the size of my torso; it reached from my neck to my waistline!). Shoot, I'm going to get fat this transfer.
Beckstrand 長老 is from Utah and is so good. He just loves everyone and has no trouble saying it. He's just way nice and it's a really good atmosphere in the Apartment. We have a lot of work to do making it clean (oh man, I've been working on making every apartment I've been in cleaner, I've overhauled 3 apartments now, but none as much as this one). This transfer seems that we are going to be focusing on Less active members in our ward (we've got a somewhere in the hundreds). We were talking about it while planning for this week and tried to understand how they all could have felt the gospel, the love of Christ so strongly and then just give it all up because it stopped being convenient. It really is because they give themselves just a little edge, they think one day that if they feel a little sick or anything, that going to church is just too 面倒くさい troublesome, and don't come again for the next 5 years. That isn't an exaggeration, either; it describes most of our ward and the most common problem I've seen thus far. If you know it's true, and you want to have the blessings, know that you HAVE to go to church. Every time you feel like you don't want to, every doubt you have, every time church just seems too far away, too strange, too troublesome, just know that Satan is working on you something hard and that he is doing all he can to deny you the privilege and the blessings from something as simple as church attendance. Don't give up on yourself, don't give Satan that edge over you, because the moment you do, that's when he wins, and it's that much harder to come back. All you have to do is come. I'm not sure all of the exact details, what will happen for/to you or what, but everything will fall into place, if you do so faithfully. So just try it, put that promise to the test, and prove it now herewith if God will not pour you out blessings that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
I have to say, right now it feels a little odd to be writing my missionary post. The only computers open to us here is a comic cafe (the libraries are all closed on Monday) and it smells like a bowling alley. We're surrounded by comics, video games, and just about everything that could tempt a pair of 19-year-olds in Japan. (I don't include the free drink bar in the temptations, that's just cool [I think I've had 5 cups of Melon Soda now]) But, it's good, because no matter where we are or what we're doing (as long as it is missionary related), we will be led and guided and protected wherever we are. That's something I've definitely developed so far on the mission, it's the ability to step in and perform whatever role I'm assigned, whether it's teaching the youth Sunday school class, being told on the planning day that you're in charge of planning the Halloween party, a surprise call from a former investigator asking for the lessons again, organizing an apartment, setting an area in order … no matter what it is that you have to do, as long as you do it, and try to accomplish it for the benefit of others, you'll find success. That's an awesome promise and has given me great confidence so far in my mission; and there is absolutely no reason why it won't translate everywhere else.
The Gospel is true, the Lord lives and guides the church today. The Prophet and all of the Apostles are called of God and their words, the words freshly given at General Conference are true and for us in this day. I have another week before I can hear them here in Japan (and it'll probably be in Japanese) but no matter the situation, I know that they are speaking the words of Christ, because that is what we do. We speak of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we live like Christ (yeah, I changed it a bit) and that's amazing. Good luck!
Some great quotes from the week.
"I hope you forget English." (Member in Yasufuruichi)
"If you can read Preach My Gospel, you can read Harry Potter." (Koyama 長老）
"You're from North Carolina, do you know Zaxbys, Bojangles, Pulled Pork Barbecue and Hush Puppies?" (Elder Rushing in the Zone, he's from Greensboro)
"KFC? That's Christmas food!" (Branch President in Yasufuruichi)
"I haven't felt the spirit that strong in over 5 years." (Less Active Member in Yasufuruichi)
がんばって
エベレット長老
Love from the Land of Festivals and Vending Machines
Elder Everett
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