Welcome to your weekly update from the fourth largest city in Japan.
NAGOYA! But today our thoughts will be mostly directed to a quaint
little section of the city known as Nonami, or as we like to call it,
'Nam. This week definitely had it's ups and downs and ended on a high
note. So let's get started!
This week everyday has been long. Since there are hardly anyone we can
talk to on the street during the day so we spend most of the morning
and afternoon looking for older members who don't make to church very
often. A lot of the records are wrong so we are the ones to check and
see if the addresses are correct. We have met a lot of cool less
actives who have really strong testimonies and love the church, but
due to work or health issues that can make it out to the church very
often. Two of these members have been really cool to work with. Both
are Filipino named Rose and Marian and were converted in Japan. They
have such big hearts and love the missionaries. We visited them last
night with a Filipino convert, named Roberto, who was baptized last
transfer. He is getting the priesthood soon so we wanted him to see a
little home teaching and priesthood blessing. We first visited Marian
who gave us and Roberto tons of meat which she got for free from the
store she works at. We talked for a while and it was good for Roberto
to have another Filipino friend who is a member. After that we went to
give Rose a blessing because she has an illness that fighting for years.
A little before we talked a bit about the
priesthood and about priesthood blessings. When we gave Rose the
blessing Roberto was so awestruck and you could tell he felt the
Spirit. It was a way good experience for him and it was a great
evening.
One random occurrence this week was while we were trying to visit less
actives and had tried all we planned for and none were home. Since we
had no more options, Tommy wanted to show me a good ramen shop in the
area. After we got into the area he remembered a house at was just
down the road where a Canadian guy was living that the missionaries we
replace were supposed to do a service project for. So we went to the
house and met Dave. He has a thick Canadian accent. We have an
appointment to help him build a deck on his roof and BBQ with him this
week, so we'll see what happens. He is an interesting guy. Most
foreigners in Japan are kind of strange and he's been here for 20
years so I hope it hasn't made him go too crazy.
Speaking of crazy people another "investigator" went crazy on us this
week. We went and visited and he invited us in and started showing us
this video about the Sendai tsunami and just talked and talked. We
didn't have much time and when we brought the gospel he got all crazy
and telling us that we need to not worry so much about religion. We
explained to him that our sole purpose for being in Japan was to share
a religious message. He then proceeded to tell us that we are too
young to teach people about God because we're only 20 years old. He
kept telling us that we don't have the life experience to teach
others. We tried explaining that life experience isn't what we share,
but spiritual experiences are what are most important, but he wouldn't
listen to us. This both made Tommy and I slightly peeved because we
both dislike when people try telling me that my personal spiritual
experiences count for nothing. It reminds me of a scripture in 1
Timothy 4:12 "Let no man adespise thy youth; but be thou an example of
the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in
faith, in purity." I am younger than everyone I teach, but I have an
important message to share and it benefits people of all ages.
We saved the best for last. So our best investigator came to church on
Sunday! Her name is Matsumoto and we met with her earlier in the the
week and talked about faith and how important church is and she came
with her son. It was her first time and the members were so nice to
her and she really enjoyed it. Her son participated in primary and
told his mom he wanted to come back. Matsumoto herself asked if church
was every week and said that she wants to keep coming. Tommy set a
baptismal date with her last transfer and she is looking like she will
be baptized next month. She is so nice and we are working with her
children as well and it is so good to work with them!
That's about it for the week! I heard USAFA beat USU, which is rare so
GO ZOOMIES⚡️!
had no more options, Tommy wanted to show me a good ramen shop in the
area. After we got into the area he remembered a house at was just
down the road where a Canadian guy was living that the missionaries we
replace were supposed to do a service project for. So we went to the
house and met Dave. He has a thick Canadian accent. We have an
appointment to help him build a deck on his roof and BBQ with him this
week, so we'll see what happens. He is an interesting guy. Most
foreigners in Japan are kind of strange and he's been here for 20
years so I hope it hasn't made him go too crazy.
Speaking of crazy people another "investigator" went crazy on us this
week. We went and visited and he invited us in and started showing us
this video about the Sendai tsunami and just talked and talked. We
didn't have much time and when we brought the gospel he got all crazy
and telling us that we need to not worry so much about religion. We
explained to him that our sole purpose for being in Japan was to share
a religious message. He then proceeded to tell us that we are too
young to teach people about God because we're only 20 years old. He
kept telling us that we don't have the life experience to teach
others. We tried explaining that life experience isn't what we share,
but spiritual experiences are what are most important, but he wouldn't
listen to us. This both made Tommy and I slightly peeved because we
both dislike when people try telling me that my personal spiritual
experiences count for nothing. It reminds me of a scripture in 1
Timothy 4:12 "Let no man adespise thy youth; but be thou an example of
the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in
faith, in purity." I am younger than everyone I teach, but I have an
important message to share and it benefits people of all ages.
We saved the best for last. So our best investigator came to church on
Sunday! Her name is Matsumoto and we met with her earlier in the the
week and talked about faith and how important church is and she came
with her son. It was her first time and the members were so nice to
her and she really enjoyed it. Her son participated in primary and
told his mom he wanted to come back. Matsumoto herself asked if church
was every week and said that she wants to keep coming. Tommy set a
baptismal date with her last transfer and she is looking like she will
be baptized next month. She is so nice and we are working with her
children as well and it is so good to work with them!
That's about it for the week! I heard USAFA beat USU, which is rare so
GO ZOOMIES⚡️!
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