This week was sooo good. One of those weeks where everything just works out and goes well. It also went by way fast! It feels like last prep day was a couple days ago! Now we're on the edge of our seats because everyone knows when you have a really good week, God's just giving you a break so you can take what's going to come afterwards. Not too worried, though, we're both experienced and know (to some degree) how to let the unsolvable things fall into the Lord's hands.
So, last week we went to Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion! It was pretty cool to see but there wasn't a whole lot to do there. We got a brochure that has a picture of the inside and now we both really want to go and check out the inside! Nobody's allowed in there, though. There's this one spot where the water in the pond surrounding the temple flows into a stream and it's just close enough to the fence to where you can reach down and touch the water. We also stopped by this import store and I bought a Milky Way, Cherry Dr. Pepper, A&W, and these way good habanero chips. They weren't that spicy, but I gave a little piece to Mineta Choro and he freaked out and rushed to the water fountain.
On Tuesday we went to the Times Square city-like place to street again. There actually weren't a whole lot of people walking down the sidewalk that day. Probably because it was way too hot. So, we took a quick walk over to another part of town (first time over there for me). It was insane. There were soooo many people. Last week or a couple weeks ago I said that dendo'ing in the slightly less city-like part was like dendo'ing in Times Square. I had no idea what I was saying. Doesn't even compare to this spot. It's called Kawaramachi if you want to check it out. So many people. So many buildings. So many floors on each building.
Thursday, Mineta Choro "received revelation" that in a white apartment building in a neighborhood a bit east of our duplex, in room 501, there would be an old lady that would invite us in for a lesson on the spot. He actually "got the revelation" on Wednesday, but we didn't have time to go. So, Thursday we went out there and decided which building it was, then went to room 501. It was actually 2 buildings, but the first one was this young mother who was more interested in Eikaiwa for her kids than the Gospel. The other 501 had an old lady living in it! She wasn't interested, though, but she told us that several of the residents in the apartment building are Christian!
Naturally, The next day we went out and housed it all! A few people were kind of interested and/or talked to us for a little bit, but nobody made any plans to meet. This one room, however, was way funny. We knock and this old guy threw the door open. This itself is weird because Nihonjin always open the door just a crack to peep out and see who's standing there. ....But this guy just threw it open! He was standing there wearing white underwear clothes and nothing else. He grinned at us then invited us to step into his genkan. Long story short: his wife was baptized into a Christian church a while ago, but he wasn't Christian. He talked about a lot of things and we asked him if he would accept a Book of Mormon. That's really all I can explain clearly and quickly.
We also had a taikai on Friday where we all got to meet Welch Kaicho and Shimai. They're both sooo awesome. I was worried that our new mission president wouldn't be as awesome as Zinke Kaicho and Shimai, but they absolutely are up to par. They've been living in Japan the last 16 years because Kaicho got a job offer that was only supposed to be a year. Then on his first day on the job, he got promoted to president of the small business because they had fired the previous guy just that day. So, he's had a lot of work in Japan, met some way famous people, been a bishop, and was president of the Tokyo South (I think) Stake for the last 6 years. Yes, his Japanese is incredible. So is his spirit and testimony. The both of them are really great and are just what this mission needs to continue to grow.
Saturday was the day that made the week even that much better. After lunch we got a call from a PI whose mail slot we left a note in. She called us to have us over for a lesson with her and her friend. He's Catholic and she is some other religion--one of many in Japan--that's very similar to one called Mahikari. I can't possibly explain Mhikari so you'll have to google that one. But, they both are interested in meeting more!
Then we had a lesson with the guy we found on the street. The lesson didn't go very much according to the pla, but ended up going way well. We asked if he believes in God at the end. He said that honestly he doesn't but he really wants to believe us that God exists! We're convinced that he's elect. He even came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it!
After that lesson, we went to the guy in the apartment we randomly housed last week. It was kind of awkward because he wasn't sure exactly what we were expecting and we didn't know what he was expecting, but in the end we ended up walking to a nearby park for the lesson. Again, the lesson didn't go according to plan; in fact, we didn't follow the plan at all. We ended up just talking with him about our families and what not. He opened up a lot to us and told us all about his family and his relationship with them, as well as his desires and dreams in life. Way heartfelt. He, too, said we could come and visit him again. We were blessed with 3 new investigators that one day! Just goes to show what happens when you just work and focus on taking care of the few things you have control over. This is the Lord's work and there are so many things about it that only He has control over. When you just work faithfully and do what you can, He really does make up the difference.
Just a side not: It's funny when you send President Uchtdorf quotes because I can't help but read them in my mind with his voice.
There's my week! Yes, Mineta Choro is watching videos and it's really hard to fight the urge to watch it and continue emailing. But, I'm almost there! Just have to write my letter to Kaicho.
Have a great week! Give out my best!
愛、
～ウィルソン長老
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