Mom and Dad,
So it's only been a couple days in Tokushima, but there's already sooo much to say about it that I will probably just wait to tell it all over the next little while or when we have our Mothers' Day call!
Where to begin!?
So, we had another eikaiwa/Gospel lesson at the one family's house last prep day. They were all pretty sad that both of us were leaving. We also took the opportunity to give the father, who's not entirely active, a tie. The wife was telling us that the other day he was upset he didn't have any new/good ties to wear!
The next couple of days we spent biking out to visit investigators and members and tell them we'd be leaving. We were kept pretty busy during those two days! Many were pretty disappointed we'd both be leaving, but we assured them the other two missionaries would drop by.
On Wednesday, though, we were able to squeeze in a lesson with the inquisitive Methodist man. We actually had all four of us in that lesson so he could get to know the other two and be willing to meet with them following our departure. Then, later that night, one of the families in the branch who are really good friends with the missionaries had us over following eikaiwa to have one last shokuji with them. They were pretty disappointed, but they understood since the parents both served missions recently. I was in Ako for a long while but all the goodbyes made it much harder to have to transfer.
The next day--off to the Rock! We actually had to wait for our phone to come to Okayama from Kobe, then head down the bridge to the Rock, so we had to wait quite a while 'til we could finally go. It ended up taking all day but we got to chill with the other missionaries that had to wait awhile, and I found white chocolate Tim Tams! WE got to Tokushima and found that it's actually a pretty decent city! Probably one of the biggest on the island! I'd guess it's comparable to Eugene, even! We were pretty excited. Oh, and my companion, Roylance Choro, is a 14th transfer (one behind me) missionary from Boise, Idaho. As of yet I don't know too much about him except he and I have had two or three of the same companions.
Friday we really got to work! Well, as much as we could without knowing the area or our investigators. We did weekly planning and really looked through all the notes the last choros left for us. Friday night is game night at the church so we went to that. Sooo many people came! At least, compared to past areas. This branch is apparently 108 active members strong! It's just a branch because there is no stake to put it in. Remember that project last year to get a stake on Shikoku? Yeah, Church HQ didn't approve it, so there's still work to do. Tokushima is pretty set, though! At game night, there were also several nonmembers in addition to the several members, so it was even better!
The next day we went out to house in this neighborhood pretty far away. It actually shouldn't take that long to get to, but since we didn't know anything except the path from the eki and apartment, and the church and apartment path, it took a while. We got some good housing out there. There was a section raised literally three stories above the rest of the neighborhood that had a wall and a gate built up. It wasn't a gated community but still pretty awesome!
That night we also had a volleyball activity with some members and non members! Even more fun! And I love volleyball! When our team wasn't in a match-up, Royland Choro, another choro, Lamb Choro, and I played basketball on the side and we noticed a huge group of grade-schoolers pressing up to the doors watching the gaijin play basketball. It was definitely a pretty eventful night!
At church, I found more responsibility than just being a DL. There's a girl in the military stationed in these boundaries, so I needed to translate Sacrament Meeting for her. I'll probably be having to do that every week that she comes. The members said that since I'm just as good as a Japanese person when it comes to speaking Japanese--based on my introduction and testimony--that I got called to give a talk already! Goodness!
So, now, here I am emailing you all while indulging in unlimited soft serve vanilla ice cream and unlimited fountain drinks. This is a pretty awesome!
Okay, that's my story for this week! These last dozen or so weeks look like they'll be pretty exciting, so get ready!
愛、
～ウィルソン長老
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