Well, it seems like I'm not
going to have a ton of time to make an e-mail this week so here we go - it's
speed typin' time!
Little did we know, but this week was our 'have a ton of exchanges' week! We ended up being on an exchange Tuesday and Thursday, and had no idea about either until the day before! I think it turned out all good though, we ended up getting a lot done!
Let's start at the beginning, Monday. Ok, so we had our lunch with Naoya which was really cool, and we talked about the plan of salvation and what it means, really what it is, and he was like "wow, I've never thought of things like this before, so it'll take a little getting used to" but he seems to be doing really good! He couldn't make it to church today but that's just because he was in China! He'll be there for a week :) and then he'll be back for Summer Break and hopefully we can talk more then!
Also on Monday we were trying to figure out what in the world we were going to do that evening after p-day, and somehow we decided to move our Friday night plans to Monday night, and see what happens. So we get out there and we stop by to get a drink (because it is very hot in Oita) and when we came out we got flagged down by this one lady that was standing outside. She turned out to be this one investigator who randomly showed up at church a couple of months ago looking to learn some more, but that we haven't been able to get in contact with since. We've been trying to call or talk to them for 3 months now, so it was really a miracle that she saw us, recognized us, and flagged us down at a random convenience store on the outskirts of Oita! Something that I've noticed recently, is that whenever we run into times where it's hard, or we don't seem to know what we are doing, or what to do, the Lord is always waiting to put a miracle, or your own personal pick-me-up in your path; it's a pattern that I've seen time and time again in the mission!
Tuesday we had one of our exchanges over in Beppu (the second area in Oita that's soon to be a branch...hopefully!) We were kind of having a rough time as far as finding people who would listen goes, and we decided to take a break on a park bench in the middle of Beppu Park. After sitting there for a little bit, and collecting our thoughts, we were approached by this guy in a business suit. I totally thought he was going to try and sell us something but the first thing that he said was, in English by the way, "Are you two missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?"...... I can honestly say that that is the FIRST time in my mission that I have EVER been asked that question! It turns out that he was an old Eikaiwa student that was looking for more information on times and locations for Eikaiwa. He started to learn English when he was in College about 20 years ago, and he has been excited to learn more, and hopefully will come to Eikaiwa! The Lord works in mysterious ways!
Thursday had our other junkai, this time with the Elders from Kumamoto. I got to go on a split with Elder Stirland, who I haven't seen since the MTC, and Elder Gandy had a good time with Elder Hoffman. It was really cool because Elder Stirland and I ended up visiting a family in the ward that I haven't visited yet in Oita, and it was awesome. It really is great to go and visit members around the ward because they always have a great spirit about them, and while they re-energize us to get out and do more work, they also get a spiritual boost to press on throughout the week! It's a win-win for all!
The biggest thing that happened this week though was this past Sunday when we had a special visit from the Mission President! We've been planning this visit for about a month now, so it's been a good rallying point for getting people to church! We ended up having 4 investigators to church (the most I have ever seen at a church meeting) 3 less-actives, and about 90 in all came to the meeting! It was awesome! Now the goal is to see if we can get these investigators continuing to come to church and if we'll see some more miracles here in Oita. The mission president found time to talk to each and every one of our investigators. I think it was a great experience for all involved, and hopefully, it was the right kick-start that this ward needs to just explode! But you know, in a good, get a lot of work done sort of way. :D
Ok, so time is up, I'm kind of getting really hungry, and my mind is still fresh with images from the sweet fireworks show from last night (who knew you could make so many shapes out of explosives?) So have a good week and do lots of cool things.
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
Little did we know, but this week was our 'have a ton of exchanges' week! We ended up being on an exchange Tuesday and Thursday, and had no idea about either until the day before! I think it turned out all good though, we ended up getting a lot done!
Let's start at the beginning, Monday. Ok, so we had our lunch with Naoya which was really cool, and we talked about the plan of salvation and what it means, really what it is, and he was like "wow, I've never thought of things like this before, so it'll take a little getting used to" but he seems to be doing really good! He couldn't make it to church today but that's just because he was in China! He'll be there for a week :) and then he'll be back for Summer Break and hopefully we can talk more then!
Also on Monday we were trying to figure out what in the world we were going to do that evening after p-day, and somehow we decided to move our Friday night plans to Monday night, and see what happens. So we get out there and we stop by to get a drink (because it is very hot in Oita) and when we came out we got flagged down by this one lady that was standing outside. She turned out to be this one investigator who randomly showed up at church a couple of months ago looking to learn some more, but that we haven't been able to get in contact with since. We've been trying to call or talk to them for 3 months now, so it was really a miracle that she saw us, recognized us, and flagged us down at a random convenience store on the outskirts of Oita! Something that I've noticed recently, is that whenever we run into times where it's hard, or we don't seem to know what we are doing, or what to do, the Lord is always waiting to put a miracle, or your own personal pick-me-up in your path; it's a pattern that I've seen time and time again in the mission!
Tuesday we had one of our exchanges over in Beppu (the second area in Oita that's soon to be a branch...hopefully!) We were kind of having a rough time as far as finding people who would listen goes, and we decided to take a break on a park bench in the middle of Beppu Park. After sitting there for a little bit, and collecting our thoughts, we were approached by this guy in a business suit. I totally thought he was going to try and sell us something but the first thing that he said was, in English by the way, "Are you two missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?"...... I can honestly say that that is the FIRST time in my mission that I have EVER been asked that question! It turns out that he was an old Eikaiwa student that was looking for more information on times and locations for Eikaiwa. He started to learn English when he was in College about 20 years ago, and he has been excited to learn more, and hopefully will come to Eikaiwa! The Lord works in mysterious ways!
Thursday had our other junkai, this time with the Elders from Kumamoto. I got to go on a split with Elder Stirland, who I haven't seen since the MTC, and Elder Gandy had a good time with Elder Hoffman. It was really cool because Elder Stirland and I ended up visiting a family in the ward that I haven't visited yet in Oita, and it was awesome. It really is great to go and visit members around the ward because they always have a great spirit about them, and while they re-energize us to get out and do more work, they also get a spiritual boost to press on throughout the week! It's a win-win for all!
The biggest thing that happened this week though was this past Sunday when we had a special visit from the Mission President! We've been planning this visit for about a month now, so it's been a good rallying point for getting people to church! We ended up having 4 investigators to church (the most I have ever seen at a church meeting) 3 less-actives, and about 90 in all came to the meeting! It was awesome! Now the goal is to see if we can get these investigators continuing to come to church and if we'll see some more miracles here in Oita. The mission president found time to talk to each and every one of our investigators. I think it was a great experience for all involved, and hopefully, it was the right kick-start that this ward needs to just explode! But you know, in a good, get a lot of work done sort of way. :D
Ok, so time is up, I'm kind of getting really hungry, and my mind is still fresh with images from the sweet fireworks show from last night (who knew you could make so many shapes out of explosives?) So have a good week and do lots of cool things.
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
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