It's beginning to feel a lot like Halloween, pumpkins everywhere. Well,
not really, only at the church building. Halloween isn't really a
thing here in Japan, but it certainly makes for fun ward activities!
You know, this was a good week. Yes, it was busy as all get out (I think
there were a couple of times I got back home close to midnight) but we got a
lot done and started really getting into the groove of this transfer
again! So for the mission home the most hectic time is always the last
and the first week of the transfer; incidentally, those occur one after
the other, so we basically have 2 weeks that are just jam-packed!
Everything from new missionaries coming in, to old missionaries
finishing their missions, to conferences for leaders from all over the
mission, to introducing new missionaries to the district, and getting
everybody's stuff to their new area....I think we've got it about
covered now. Usually we have a couple of weeks to get the items that
everybody ordered ready for them to send at zone conference, but there
is no zone conference this transfer, so we had to get everything ready
by the first Tuesday of the transfer, and the day before that we had a
slight car accident in the mission, so everything happened to come on
the same day! I don't think my desk has ever been so messy, with things
just being thrown on it without me knowing! I think it's mostly clean
now... mostly.
But it's all okay! Everybody got the things they need and we even
had time to visit our new investigator who just got out of the
hospital! He was an alcoholic looking for a way out, and was told to
ask for the help of God, and that's when he ran into the missionaries.
Since meeting with the missionaries he's stopped drinking alcohol, but
has various different obstacles left on his path to baptism and a clean
life, but that is his desire and he said he'll do what it takes to be
rid of his addiction! He's one of the more humble people I've met in
the mission, and he's way excited to learn more about Christ and come
closer to him.
Speaking of people coming to Christ, we have a baptism today! He's a
homeless man that we've been working with here in the mission home and
he's finally made all the preparations to come and be ready for the
ordinance of baptism! He's a little older, and he might take a little
longer to understand principles, but he's honest, and is so ready for his baptism today!
The cool thing about Saturdays here in the mission home is that
every week we have people come from all over the mission to go to the
temple upstairs. Today we had members from the Hiroshima stake,
Yamaguchi stake, and Kagoshima district! So we had the whole ward come
over from Yasufuruichi! It was way nostalgic to see all of the members
here. Of the 50 people that came over from Hiroshima stake,
Yasufuruichi still holds the greatest portion at 25 people! It always
nice to see a ward do everything they can to stay active, not only in
the church, but in the gospel as well.
On a slightly lighter note.... I think I've gotten used to driving
in Japan now! I've taken the big ol' vanimal down the tiny streets of
Japan many a time now, and I think I've even gotten used to backing up
between two tight spaces now. I totally understand what Elder Clements
felt when I first came in and he said, "I'm essentially the honbu taxi
driver"..... Well, that spot's been passed down to me now :D At least I
get to see a lot of people!
One of the other investigators that we've been working with, the one
in line to inherit a giant shrine, is doing super well! We had a
dinner appointment with him at a member's house and he always has a great
time with everybody. He was busy over conference weekend so he didn't
have a chance to watch conference, but we got him a DVD of the sessions
and passed them along to him to watch. Hopefully something in the words
of the speakers, or in the spirit of the conference will ring with him
and he'll be able to work out his feelings and come closer to God and
begin his path on the journey back to him!
Speaking of conference ... Normally we all watch it over at the church
building, but President Gustafson had an emergency come up and ended up
having to stay at home, so he called me over to set up the system for
him. Well, it ended up taking a little longer than expected, and we
would have missed some of the conference if we had gone back
to the church, so we just ended up in the Mission President's living room
watching conference with them. For a session it was just the
Gustafsons and Me and Elder Tanaka. It was definitely like watching
Conference back home. Then we had the APs come over and it was the 6 of
us for the last bit of Saturday's Conference. It was a way nice time,
and a really great conference. I encourage everyone to go and see it
again (especially Saturday morning.... that one is just something else!)
Ok, well, we've got to go get ready for the baptismal service and
fix my glasses (I've been wearing my sports specs for the past couple of
days until I can get them fixed....)
Here's some pictures from the Office (I do legit things I promise... it's not all play)
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Transfer Week is a little hectic! 13 Oct 2012
Ben's 21st birthday is coming soon on November 1. More than anything, he would love to get letters from family and friends!
Elder Benjamin C Everett
Japan Fukuoka Mission
9-16 Hirao-josuimachi
Chuo-ku
Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
810-0029
JAPAN
*********************************************************
Ok, so I'm not entirely sure who decided it would be a good idea to schedule a re-wiring for the Honbu's phone and internet system during transfer week, but it's been a bit of a rough week as far as computer use goes. For about a week or so my computer was the only one connected to the internet, and the internal drive for the office, so just about everyone was using my computer this week! But it's all switched out now and all the missionaries are in their new places, and it's all good.
My companion, Elder Yamanashi ended up getting transferred this time around :(, but I have a new companion, Elder Tanaka! He came to Japan the same time I did (well, two days before, but we try not to talk about that too much.....) Elder Tanaka was actually my roommate in the MTC for a couple of days before he ended up moving to another room (a fact that I haven't let him forget since coming to Japan). He's actually been one of the missionaries that I look forward to seeing whenever I get a chance at a zone conference or something like that, so I'm way excited to be his companion this transfer! He came in early like I did to get trained so we had a good week or so of a three man companionship, which lets us visit people that we don't normally have a chance to visit. It was a really good, super fast week!
So, after doing some more digging into the international license, we realized that it's only for people who go traveling so that they can use a rent-a-car in that country; if you actually live in that other country you have to get that country’ license. So I had to take that Japanese Driving test after all. Things I've learned from the experience:
1) I never want to work at a DMV in Japan
2) You are not tested on how well or safe you drive, but on how well you follow the rules of the DMV
3) Japanese DMVs are roughly the size of a small airport with their own test course; they can upkeep such a facility because it costs an arm and a leg to go through the system
4) There are a lot more foreigners in Japan than I thought (I met people from Nepal, India, China, Korea, Ireland, France, A US Consulate....)
5) DMV Dendo works out pretty effectively, and a ton of people are open to hear the gospel while waiting the 3 hours for a chance to drive the course.
6) The DMV in Fukuoka has a really good Udon shop right in front of it, and they all know me there now!
This week was what we would call a bitter-sweet experience. It was way cool to have all of the missionaries come in, fresh out of the MTC with tons of Dendo fire, and to have meals at the mission home again! But with each new wave of missionaries comes a group going home after 1.5 or 2 full years of service. This group had Elder Clements go home, who has been a huge part of my mission. He was my trainer, and set the tone for the rest of my mission, and it was a sad thing to see him go, but exciting to know that the 2 years were well spent. It always hard to see people go that you've grown to know over the past while, but it's good to know that they are in the work of the Lord their whole lives.
The other interesting thing that happens being in the honbu is that whenever things go wrong for transferring missionaries, we become the only source of help for them! This go around there was only one missionary that had a hard time transferring; incidentally, it was Elder Gandy! The connecting bus to Hiroshima ended up not being at the station, and the station manager said that they don't have such a route from that station! Elder Gandy ended up having to go to a payphone and call the APs here and try to get it all figured out. But the APs were out and about, so the call came to me to figure out his route to his new area. After some frantic searches on the internet we finally found a route that would take him there and sent him on his way. But the train he got on ended up taking a lot longer to arrive at the connecting station than planned so once again we had to change the plans. Elder Gandy kept calling from payphones that only last 26 seconds per 10 yen you put in, and I don't think he realized you could put in multiple coins..... But 9 calls later we finally got him on a bullet train, and all is good now! I remember him telling me earlier that he was really worried about transferring because he thought that something might go wrong and he'd have to find his way on his own... well, it happened, but he took it like a champ and survived Japan all on his own! He even was talking to the Station Managers on his own! That's a really cool thing to see.
Ok, well, we are going to see general conference (we watch in a week late here in Japan because they have to translate it and send it out to all of the stakes). I'm really excited to watch conference because I've been hearing rumors of great talks and great things to come to pass!
Here I go to hear the Prophet’s voice, and to have a great time with our investigators hearing the counsel from the Living prophets in our day!
Do cool things,
Elder Everettエベレット長老
My companion, Elder Yamanashi ended up getting transferred this time around :(, but I have a new companion, Elder Tanaka! He came to Japan the same time I did (well, two days before, but we try not to talk about that too much.....) Elder Tanaka was actually my roommate in the MTC for a couple of days before he ended up moving to another room (a fact that I haven't let him forget since coming to Japan). He's actually been one of the missionaries that I look forward to seeing whenever I get a chance at a zone conference or something like that, so I'm way excited to be his companion this transfer! He came in early like I did to get trained so we had a good week or so of a three man companionship, which lets us visit people that we don't normally have a chance to visit. It was a really good, super fast week!
So, after doing some more digging into the international license, we realized that it's only for people who go traveling so that they can use a rent-a-car in that country; if you actually live in that other country you have to get that country’ license. So I had to take that Japanese Driving test after all. Things I've learned from the experience:
1) I never want to work at a DMV in Japan
2) You are not tested on how well or safe you drive, but on how well you follow the rules of the DMV
3) Japanese DMVs are roughly the size of a small airport with their own test course; they can upkeep such a facility because it costs an arm and a leg to go through the system
4) There are a lot more foreigners in Japan than I thought (I met people from Nepal, India, China, Korea, Ireland, France, A US Consulate....)
5) DMV Dendo works out pretty effectively, and a ton of people are open to hear the gospel while waiting the 3 hours for a chance to drive the course.
6) The DMV in Fukuoka has a really good Udon shop right in front of it, and they all know me there now!
This week was what we would call a bitter-sweet experience. It was way cool to have all of the missionaries come in, fresh out of the MTC with tons of Dendo fire, and to have meals at the mission home again! But with each new wave of missionaries comes a group going home after 1.5 or 2 full years of service. This group had Elder Clements go home, who has been a huge part of my mission. He was my trainer, and set the tone for the rest of my mission, and it was a sad thing to see him go, but exciting to know that the 2 years were well spent. It always hard to see people go that you've grown to know over the past while, but it's good to know that they are in the work of the Lord their whole lives.
The other interesting thing that happens being in the honbu is that whenever things go wrong for transferring missionaries, we become the only source of help for them! This go around there was only one missionary that had a hard time transferring; incidentally, it was Elder Gandy! The connecting bus to Hiroshima ended up not being at the station, and the station manager said that they don't have such a route from that station! Elder Gandy ended up having to go to a payphone and call the APs here and try to get it all figured out. But the APs were out and about, so the call came to me to figure out his route to his new area. After some frantic searches on the internet we finally found a route that would take him there and sent him on his way. But the train he got on ended up taking a lot longer to arrive at the connecting station than planned so once again we had to change the plans. Elder Gandy kept calling from payphones that only last 26 seconds per 10 yen you put in, and I don't think he realized you could put in multiple coins..... But 9 calls later we finally got him on a bullet train, and all is good now! I remember him telling me earlier that he was really worried about transferring because he thought that something might go wrong and he'd have to find his way on his own... well, it happened, but he took it like a champ and survived Japan all on his own! He even was talking to the Station Managers on his own! That's a really cool thing to see.
Ok, well, we are going to see general conference (we watch in a week late here in Japan because they have to translate it and send it out to all of the stakes). I'm really excited to watch conference because I've been hearing rumors of great talks and great things to come to pass!
Here I go to hear the Prophet’s voice, and to have a great time with our investigators hearing the counsel from the Living prophets in our day!
Do cool things,
Elder Everettエベレット長老
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