Guess who just got companion number 10! Earlier this week we had transfer calls and Mihara got hit by the transfer wagon. Tuesday we had lunch with a member (we told him that transfer calls were coming soon and he wanted to have a 'possible last lunch' in case somebody left) and got the call right as we finished eating. I couldn't very well put it on speaker phone because we were in the middle of a katsudon restaurant, so we didn't get as much of the hoopla and theatrics that the APs usually try to throw in whenever somebody transfers, but here are the results. Elder Urakami got transferred to a place called Hofu in Yamaguchi Prefecture (which just so happens to have the location that they are going to have the 2015 World Scout Jamboree) about 3 hours from Mihara, so not a very long transfer for his first one, but he didn't get to ride a shinkansen.
My new companion is Elder Swasey, another half-japanese elder, who for some reason prefers to speak English rather than Japanese in the apartment (That's two fake Japanese people in a row, but I guess it’s good to help me not forget English). He's on transfer 12 so he's been out for a good while, 15 months or so, tying the record for my oldest companion so far. If ever there were more opposites in personality than Elder Urakami and Elder Swasey, I would be surprised. Elder Urakami would only eat frozen food, spam, or instant noodles, and Elder Swasey came in with a suitcase full of organic foods, spices, and his own organic beet sugar. I feel like there's a good chance my diet is about to have a total overhaul. I'm not sure how it will turn out, I'm still kind of at the "I don't really care too much about what I eat as long as I get the 5 food groups" category.
Elder Swasey is from Tottori prefecture, which is in Okayam Stake, right next door to Hiroshima Stake. Mihara used to be in Okayama stake but moved over about 2 years ago, so everybody in Mihara knows the Swasey family. There were people at church that recognized him as a Swasey before he even introduced himself! Hopefully this will help us gain some leverage to help out the less-actives here in Mihara.
Speaking of working with the less-actives ... This past Sunday we had an interesting experience of going around and helping out with a Visiting Teaching route. The branch president drove us around with the 2 sisters and we visited everybody on their route. It was really cool because everybody they visited were people that I've been working with for the past month or so, so I was able to give them updated information, tell them a little more about their situation, and work with them on finding the best way to work with them from here. I love visiting members with other members, it’s always a great time! Most of the sisters we visited, by the way, are almost impossible to get a hold of most days. It’s normally a hit or miss with 3 of them and for some reason we got 2 hits in a row! It was great!
Around that same time we also found a new investigator, a 16 year old high-schooler, and started teaching him this week. He and his family had met with the Jehovah's Witnesses (they are all over Japan by the way) several years ago, and believe in God and in Christ, but they never officially joined a specific church. Now we are working with them and trying to teach them as a family. That, I think, is one of the best times in missionary work when you get to work with a family. Sadly most of the time we teach only 1 or 2 people from a family, and it ends up putting strain on the family relationships, but wherever we go, and whoever we teach, our prime goal is to strengthen the family and help them prepare to be an eternal family. That task is much more difficult than I had previously thought.
Mihara is doing great (it's cold and rainy but that’s ok) we have people to visit, food to eat (even if some of it looks like it’s for a rabbit) and as always the beautiful countryside of Japan all around us!
I hope you all have a great week there with the crazy weather. Go do something hard!
Elder Everett
エベレット長老
No comments:
Post a Comment