Alright, it's the second day of April so no more foolin' around right? Surprisingly, more people in Japan knew about April Fools’ Day than I thought would. They're just too nice to do anything with it though.
Anyway, let’s see, where do I start? This was a good week. Tuesday we headed out to one of the other cities in our area (we have like 4 or 5) which took a nice hour bike ride to get to, it's a really pretty ride though right next to the shore! We went to visit one of our investigators and her recent convert daughter who live at the top of one of the mountains over in the next city. So we took our bikes up this huge mountain.... I'm not sure if my legs could ever take that kind of a beating again, but to show how massive this was, coming down, it took 15 minutes going max speed the whole way! Now just take that image, and flip it backwards going up!? We got a really good lesson out of it though!
From there we made the journey up to APU where Naoya is (it's another 30 minute bus ride from where we went before). Right now is when all of the schools in Japan are starting their new school year, so with his new job as an RA he is super busy. All day long he had people coming in and out, having to show them around the campus and prepare for the welcome party. We only ended up talking for a couple of minutes but we did get to hand over a Book of Mormon. (The one he has that we gave him before, he had left at his Parents’ house.... oops) He's way busy right now, but maybe in a week or two we can meet with him again!
Then we had yet another appointment that Tuesday. We went to go visit one of our investigators, who just got Baptized YESTERDAY! We got the whole ward to come out early to the Baptism on Sunday morning (We didn't have General Conference, that's not until next week when they get it all translated) before Sacrament meeting! Brother Ito found the church this past January (he looked it up online and everything) and has just been a champ with all the lessons and commitments. He quit smoking, comes to church every week, reads The Book of Mormon every day, and is planning on going with the ward to the Temple in May! This guy is amazing, and I can't wait to see him keep progressing from here!
So we had a jam packed Tuesday, which, I hoped would be a shadow for the week, but most of this week was people either not being home, or straight out rejections from those we had met before. We did get a good meeting with our Ward Mission Leader, over a nice dinner at a Hamakatsu restaurant. (A Japanese dish that I highly approve of!) Apparently the missionaries haven't been meeting with him for a while, and he has been struggling to come to church, so it was a really good meeting and I hope that it'll help him come back to the church.
This past week, as well, we finally got in contact with one of our new investigators. We asked her if we could meet with her this past week to answer any questions she might have from The Book of Mormon we passed over to her last week. That's just kind of the usual way that we ask to meet with people, and I've come to expect the answer "Oh sorry, I haven't really read any of it, I've been really busy." So you can imagine our surprise when she answered, 4 days after we first met her, "Sorry, I've only read about 100 pages, so I don't really know much yet." WHOA! We're trying to meet with her at least once a week (maybe twice) now and working with her and her son. She has a great concern for her son, who has a very strong stutter, and is really excited to see if this church can help him acclimate to social life, and normal friends. Right now the only big problem with accepting the Gospel is a big anti-church pressure from her husband. We'll see where it goes from here!
Then on Saturday we had a meeting with one of our part-member families. The husband has been around the church for several decades now, but still remains aloof. He's actually the Bishop's father, and we're trying to work with him more. We ended up meeting over a meal at their house. I'm not sure how Sister Goto picked what she would make for dinner but, somehow she hit on all of my favorite foods. For one example, dessert was Banana Pudding cake! BANANA PUDDING CAKE! I had not thought that I would ever have banana pudding here in Japan, everyone I've tried to explain it to could never really grasp the concept, but, here it came up! I tried to tell myself that I would take it easy, but by the end of the meal, with several refills from the couple, I ended up eating half of the dessert. The wife told us she was counting calories and gave me her piece, then the husband put another one on my plate after I finished, and by the time it was the end of the meeting there was one piece left which somehow made it onto my plate. I don't feel guilty whatsoever, just wholly satisfied!
Well, this next week looks to be pretty busy. We have a Zone Conference on Tuesday so we're headed out to Kumamoto today. Oita is so far away from any other area that we never get to actually see any other missionaries, so it's always a special event when we do. This is quite a change from the weekly meetings with 14 other missionaries in Hiroshima. Well, Oita is crazy good in other ways, I'm sure it'll make up for it.
I love you all and wish you the best this next week!
Elder Everett
Anyway, let’s see, where do I start? This was a good week. Tuesday we headed out to one of the other cities in our area (we have like 4 or 5) which took a nice hour bike ride to get to, it's a really pretty ride though right next to the shore! We went to visit one of our investigators and her recent convert daughter who live at the top of one of the mountains over in the next city. So we took our bikes up this huge mountain.... I'm not sure if my legs could ever take that kind of a beating again, but to show how massive this was, coming down, it took 15 minutes going max speed the whole way! Now just take that image, and flip it backwards going up!? We got a really good lesson out of it though!
From there we made the journey up to APU where Naoya is (it's another 30 minute bus ride from where we went before). Right now is when all of the schools in Japan are starting their new school year, so with his new job as an RA he is super busy. All day long he had people coming in and out, having to show them around the campus and prepare for the welcome party. We only ended up talking for a couple of minutes but we did get to hand over a Book of Mormon. (The one he has that we gave him before, he had left at his Parents’ house.... oops) He's way busy right now, but maybe in a week or two we can meet with him again!
Then we had yet another appointment that Tuesday. We went to go visit one of our investigators, who just got Baptized YESTERDAY! We got the whole ward to come out early to the Baptism on Sunday morning (We didn't have General Conference, that's not until next week when they get it all translated) before Sacrament meeting! Brother Ito found the church this past January (he looked it up online and everything) and has just been a champ with all the lessons and commitments. He quit smoking, comes to church every week, reads The Book of Mormon every day, and is planning on going with the ward to the Temple in May! This guy is amazing, and I can't wait to see him keep progressing from here!
So we had a jam packed Tuesday, which, I hoped would be a shadow for the week, but most of this week was people either not being home, or straight out rejections from those we had met before. We did get a good meeting with our Ward Mission Leader, over a nice dinner at a Hamakatsu restaurant. (A Japanese dish that I highly approve of!) Apparently the missionaries haven't been meeting with him for a while, and he has been struggling to come to church, so it was a really good meeting and I hope that it'll help him come back to the church.
This past week, as well, we finally got in contact with one of our new investigators. We asked her if we could meet with her this past week to answer any questions she might have from The Book of Mormon we passed over to her last week. That's just kind of the usual way that we ask to meet with people, and I've come to expect the answer "Oh sorry, I haven't really read any of it, I've been really busy." So you can imagine our surprise when she answered, 4 days after we first met her, "Sorry, I've only read about 100 pages, so I don't really know much yet." WHOA! We're trying to meet with her at least once a week (maybe twice) now and working with her and her son. She has a great concern for her son, who has a very strong stutter, and is really excited to see if this church can help him acclimate to social life, and normal friends. Right now the only big problem with accepting the Gospel is a big anti-church pressure from her husband. We'll see where it goes from here!
Then on Saturday we had a meeting with one of our part-member families. The husband has been around the church for several decades now, but still remains aloof. He's actually the Bishop's father, and we're trying to work with him more. We ended up meeting over a meal at their house. I'm not sure how Sister Goto picked what she would make for dinner but, somehow she hit on all of my favorite foods. For one example, dessert was Banana Pudding cake! BANANA PUDDING CAKE! I had not thought that I would ever have banana pudding here in Japan, everyone I've tried to explain it to could never really grasp the concept, but, here it came up! I tried to tell myself that I would take it easy, but by the end of the meal, with several refills from the couple, I ended up eating half of the dessert. The wife told us she was counting calories and gave me her piece, then the husband put another one on my plate after I finished, and by the time it was the end of the meeting there was one piece left which somehow made it onto my plate. I don't feel guilty whatsoever, just wholly satisfied!
Well, this next week looks to be pretty busy. We have a Zone Conference on Tuesday so we're headed out to Kumamoto today. Oita is so far away from any other area that we never get to actually see any other missionaries, so it's always a special event when we do. This is quite a change from the weekly meetings with 14 other missionaries in Hiroshima. Well, Oita is crazy good in other ways, I'm sure it'll make up for it.
I love you all and wish you the best this next week!
Elder Everett
NOTE:
Ben LOVES to get letters and e-mails. He cannot respond to emails and rarely writes letters, but he loves to receive them!
Elder Benjamin Everett
Japan Fukuoka Mission
9-16 Hirao-josuimachi
Chuo-ku
Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
810-0029
JAPAN
benjamin.everett@myldsmail.net
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