Well, this has been a pretty good week for finally getting done several of the small projects that seem to pile up here. I finally got all of the proofs sent in and finalized for the Christmas card and the new Temple Recommend holders. I'm not sure how I got roped into designing both of them but I think they turned out pretty well. Now if I can just finish up some of the other projects that pile up on my desk, that will be perfect. It's always a good feeling when you can look at something that you made and can be like, "Yeah, I made that, and now it's all done and I don't have to worry about it anymore."
This week we had the Zone Leader Conference here in the Honbu, which had a whole other set of preparation leading up to it. One of the things that I have to do is create the Newsletter at the start of every transfer. However, this transfer our printer went down right as Tokyo left their office, and we ended up being without a printer for quite a while! I finally found a place around Fukuoka with the right parts and Elder Tanaka and I ended up buying them during the conference and then made a mad dash to get everything printed before it was over! We ended up printing out the last couple of pages just as they all came pouring into the office. A good thing about having an army of missionaries flood your office, they all want to help, so we put them all to work folding the newsletters and sorting them out. I'm pretty sure that was the fastest I ever saw the FM news get out, but it was just a little bit of an ordeal. But that's all good now and I've started to get really good at making split second decisions for problems as they arise. I guess those critical thinking questions they had us do throughout school end up being of more value than I ever gave them credit for....
That's something that I've noticed recently too. Everything in our lives seems to prepare you for whatever is ahead of you. In just about every challenge I've run into I can think back to an experience where I was prepared to answer that specific problem. I'm sure that that pattern will continue throughout my life as well. And if I ever wanted a crock-pot of experiences to prepare me for later, I can think of no better place than the mission!
This past week one of our investigators was in Tokyo touring the church's headquarters over there. I'm still not sure how he gets over to places like that, but somehow he manages it. He made it back this past Thursday but we still haven't been able to meet with him to see how it went. However, one of our other investigators finally got a day off of work (well, a lunch anyway) so we're going to meet up with him and have a nice lunch with him. I'm very excited for this chance because he's been swamped with work 7AM-10PM every day! We were talking about the importance of personal relationships with God and how we can always pray or read the scriptures even if we can't go to church, and he said that it's already been a great strength to him in the past weeks. Every Sunday that he hasn't made it to church, he's been thinking about what all of his church friends are doing, and right around 10AM, whatever he's doing at work, he'll take time to pray because he knows that that's where and what he should be doing. Even in the midst of all his work, stress, everything working against him, he still remembers what's important. I'm absolutely positive that I'm learning more about what it means to be a true latter-day saint from working with this man, than I would ever have learned on my own. He's definitely someone that everyone needs to learn from!
Things are going great in Japan, the weather is getting colder (I'm already wearing sweaters and scarfs and gloves!) but it's still beautiful. Even if we do get the occasional murder of crows spreading trash all over the front entrance, it's still beautiful outside. I've also started decorating the Honbu with Christmas decorations, so soon it will really be the Christmas season, even in the office! I've already been playing Christmas music the past couple of days while we've been working, but now I feel like I can go all out.
I hope you all have a great week and a wonderful Christmas season!
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
PS:
It would be cool to get a bunch of cards, letters, and pictures for Christmas!
Elder Benjamin Charles Everett
Japan Fukuoka Mission
9-16 Hirao-Josuimachi
Chuo-ku
Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
810-0029
JAPAN
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