If I
were better at e-mailing every week I could confidently call this the 104th
installment of the 'Beverett's on a Mission' blog, but I think this might
actually end up being number 100 or so.... which in and of itself is quite a
crazy idea.
Ok, so I'm e-mailing
late this week because of a couple of different reasons. On transfer week
P-day goes from Monday to Tuesday so that if you are transferring you
can have plenty of time to pack and get ready. However due to a series of
events we wound up in Hiroshima on both Monday and Tuesday leaving today,
Wednesday, as the final e-mail day in Japan!?
Ok, so this was a
pretty intense week. Tuesday was our last district meeting so I had to
come up with something to make it good. We talked about the importance of
the basics, and just how 不可欠 indispensable (I had to look up the
English word......) the foundation for anything is. Imagine playing
Tennis without knowing the basic forehand, backhand, or anything else... but
even further than that, even more basic, imagine Tennis without a net, or
racket..... These things are the bare minimum to at least make it Tennis,
everything else is then added on that to make the sport something amazing to
behold. Missionary work is very much the same. There are bare minimums
that have to be present for it to be the Lord's work. Prayer, Scripture
Study, Hearing the good word of God..... can you even imagine trying to come to
know God, or even living without these basics? It's not only a truly
daunting task, it's literally impossible. When you ignore the basics, the
thing in and of itself ceases to be. I'm not sure if that translated so
well in English... In Japanese I said 基本を無視したら、そのものじゃなくなる。 (good luck you Japanese speakers out
there)
Working on the basics
we had a junkai (companion exchange) with the Kure elders this week. I
was working with Elder Coelho, a new 18 year old missionary from Brazil, which
was an awesome opportunity. It was interesting, having a missionary at
the very beginning of his mission and me at the very end, with less than a week
left, going and doing the same work. It doesn't matter how 'old' you are
or what your experience is, a missionary is a missionary, and now, as I've come
to realize more and more, a disciple of God is a disciple of God, there are
things that you need to do, and everything else will fall into place.
Even if almost everyone we went to visit that day ended up not being
home, that's okay, good things always happen when you go about doing the Lord's
work. (And sometimes you get an awesome reward at the end, such as being
driven up to the top of a mountain to see the night view of Hiroshima! Oh
my goodness that was a beautiful sight to behold.... Everywhere as far as the
eye could see, lights, cars, movement, and just....it's crazy!)
Saturday, Sunday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday morning all ended up being farewell parties! It's
so cool to see everyone that I've come to love this past couple of months here
in Mihara. We had Tako-yaki (Octopus in fried dough!) parfait sundaes (toppings
were received based on of how many scripture mastery scriptures you could
recite), yaki-soba (stir fried noodles) home-made cheese cake (seriously, they
milked the cow and everything!) All over the various parties!
My last P-day we were
in Hiroshima and went to a bowling alley called Round-1. It was my first
time bowling in quite a while, so I was a little bit worried about how it would
turn out, but the very first game I end with 7 strikes in a row to get 247!!!!!
TAKE THAT! I was so excited, I
wound up with an average of 181 over 6 games! We also went to eat at an
Indian Curry restaurant around the bowling Alley, which ended up being a
miraculous place. Working at the restaurant was a less-active member from
Yasufuruichi that I had worked with over a year ago. I worked mostly with
her father and had been trying to get in contact with him since I came back to
Hiroshima, but never really could. But here, on my last p-day in Japan
(which just happened to be pushed back a day, if we had been the day before it
was her day off!) I was able to meet with his daughter, share my calling card,
and let them know that they still have people thinking about them and hoping
for their well-being! (The logistics of God has got to be absolutely
ridiculous)
Well, tomorrow is the
day... I get on a train at 7:40, and head off for the last time to the Fukuoka
Honbu. I've come to realize that 2 years does not feel like 2 years,
learning a new language is a beast, Japan is absolutely beautiful, and
that the Lord is really in everything. Never forget that. Even if
we don't realize it, that doesn't stop the Lord from loving us. How much
better it is when we do realize it, and accept the love and help in our lives.
Have a great week,
I'll see you all soon.
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
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