Shima nagashi--island exile! I'm getting transferred to the Tokushima area on the island of Shikoku (the smallest of the 4 main islands of Japan). Never thought I'd be going to the Rock, but I am!
It looks like I'm also going to be the district leader of that district 'til I go home! Tokushima is one of the biggest cities on the Rock! My companion's also transferring and they're closing one of the companionships in Akou altogether. It's just going to be Downing Choro and Reber Choro.
So, on to the stories of the week! It was a pretty good one this week, as well! I'm losing my English...
Last week we had another lesson at the member's house across the area. We prepared ahead of time to get actual teaching material for the English portion and to prepare a lesson. The friend of the daughters loved it! The mom of the member family told us later that week that the friend had tons of fun and her mother as well as a couple other people might start joining in! Best part: I didn't catch a cold this time! Nah, that wasn't the best part, but I was pretty grateful.
The next day we met again with our shigansha and taught him about the last parts of the Plan of Salvation. He thought it was all pretty cool, although not to the extent that our kinjin did. We ended up being a little late for this lesson because earlier in the day we had biked out to Aioi to contact a referral we received and had to hurry back to make the lesson on time. The referral, unfortunately, didn't end up going anywhere.
On Thursday I headed out to Himeji for a kokan. I was with our district leader's trainee, Van Cleave Choro. Since I had to be his surrogate trainer for the day and do the extra study with him, we didn't have much time left over from that and travel to go finding, but we made good use of the time we had. We had a speacil eikaiwa with this group of old people that study English together. Old Japanese people speaking English is very amusing! After the eikaiwa we had a lesson with their shigansha who's baptismal date is set for August 2016! I mostly spoke with him because he's really hard to understand, even for a Nihonjin, and Van Cleave Choro is a first transfer and doesn't know Japanese. We taught him that his body is a gift from God and linked that to the Word of Wisdom.
On Saturday we had a special activity (back in Akou) that we, the missionaries planned. It was America-themed. We made pancakes, sausage, and bacon, and played silly American 'Minute-to-Win-It' type games. The big family that Morin Choro and I had lunch with a couple Saturdays ago came, so the attendance count was actually decently high! The family that the other Choro's found and who came to church last week also came, so the members that were able to come were super excited to see SOOO many non-members! The activity was a huge success and the branch president was sure to praise it several times during church.
Another great week to end the transfer! I'm kind of sad to be leaving, but excited at the same time (since I've been here for a pretty long while, it's been a tough area, and I'm going to the city). I'll email you next week from my island banishment :)--I feel like John the Revelator! Until then, give out my best!
Mom and Dad,
It looks like I'm also going to be the district leader of that district 'til I go home! Tokushima is one of the biggest cities on the Rock! My companion's also transferring and they're closing one of the companionships in Akou altogether. It's just going to be Downing Choro and Reber Choro.
So, on to the stories of the week! It was a pretty good one this week, as well! I'm losing my English...
Last week we had another lesson at the member's house across the area. We prepared ahead of time to get actual teaching material for the English portion and to prepare a lesson. The friend of the daughters loved it! The mom of the member family told us later that week that the friend had tons of fun and her mother as well as a couple other people might start joining in! Best part: I didn't catch a cold this time! Nah, that wasn't the best part, but I was pretty grateful.
The next day we met again with our shigansha and taught him about the last parts of the Plan of Salvation. He thought it was all pretty cool, although not to the extent that our kinjin did. We ended up being a little late for this lesson because earlier in the day we had biked out to Aioi to contact a referral we received and had to hurry back to make the lesson on time. The referral, unfortunately, didn't end up going anywhere.
On Thursday I headed out to Himeji for a kokan. I was with our district leader's trainee, Van Cleave Choro. Since I had to be his surrogate trainer for the day and do the extra study with him, we didn't have much time left over from that and travel to go finding, but we made good use of the time we had. We had a speacil eikaiwa with this group of old people that study English together. Old Japanese people speaking English is very amusing! After the eikaiwa we had a lesson with their shigansha who's baptismal date is set for August 2016! I mostly spoke with him because he's really hard to understand, even for a Nihonjin, and Van Cleave Choro is a first transfer and doesn't know Japanese. We taught him that his body is a gift from God and linked that to the Word of Wisdom.
On Saturday we had a special activity (back in Akou) that we, the missionaries planned. It was America-themed. We made pancakes, sausage, and bacon, and played silly American 'Minute-to-Win-It' type games. The big family that Morin Choro and I had lunch with a couple Saturdays ago came, so the attendance count was actually decently high! The family that the other Choro's found and who came to church last week also came, so the members that were able to come were super excited to see SOOO many non-members! The activity was a huge success and the branch president was sure to praise it several times during church.
Sunday, we had a miracle! It was a small miracle, but I was so grateful for it. This whole transfer, we haven't been able to find even one single new investigator. We worked pretty hard--and of course there was room to work harder since we're not perfect--but we couldn't find one. This last week we still worked hard and prayed harder to get at least one new investigator because neither of us wanted to go a transfer without finding any. Well, Sunday rolled around and there weren't any new people in our pool; BUT! Following church, we got a call from a PI who had been a PI a year ago and he said he wanted to meet us right then! He was in Aioi when he called, but he agreed to basically drop anything and everything and drive halfway across this area to meet us in Akou! He became the new investigator we worked and prayed for! He's a pretty crazy guy--another old person that loves to speak English--and has tons of energy. The two of us were sooo happy to receive that blessing, but we didn't stop there and went out to see if we couldn't find more people. We visited a PI that was found two kokan's ago when I was in Himeji. While we didn't get a lesson or anything, the mom didn't say it was entirely out of the question in the future. We also found a new PI who's way young and seemed way open to meeting in the future! The Gospel is true!
Another great week to end the transfer! I'm kind of sad to be leaving, but excited at the same time (since I've been here for a pretty long while, it's been a tough area, and I'm going to the city). I'll email you next week from my island banishment :)--I feel like John the Revelator! Until then, give out my best!
愛、
～ウィルソン長老
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