Hellooooooooooo family,
What's
cookin'? Lots of stuff is cooking in Higashiku. Including pots. We were
getting ready to make lunch and we put a pot on with some oil in it.
Then we started chopping up veggies when suddenly the inside of the pot
caught on fire and here was a crazy fire ball. Turns out there was a
hole in the pot (thanks elders) and so the flame went through the hole
and caught all the oil on fire. It was exciting to say the least.
Well,
on to this week. It was a crazy stressful week. Lots of not knowing
what's going on. Because of whitewashing [neither Emma or her companion being in the area previously]. Because me and my companion
are from different countries with very different cultures. Because we
don't know the area at all. Because all the people who we contacted
previously are male (and guy Japanese is so much harder than female
Japanese). But despite all the "I don't knows" we still saw miracles. I
am so grateful this is the Lord's work and not mine.
Fire
flowers: on Saturday we were talking to a lady on the street and she
told us there would be fire works (which are called fire flowers in
Japanese) that night over the river. We really wanted to go but we got
told in the early afternoon so by the time evening swung around we had
forgotten. By the time we remembered we assumed they were over. So we
went and started knocking doors. Then we heard the sound of fire works.
We sprinted back to our bikes and started biking toward the sound as
fast as we could. And we found them! We got to watch them from a bridge
for 5-10 minutes get lit off over a river. It was beautiful. Afterwards
we still had a little time left to dendo but we didn't know where we
should go. So we prayed to know where to go and I felt like we should go
to this one apartment that seemed to have a lot of lights on. So we
went over and knock on the first door and this really chill guy answers
the door and we just casual talk about Jesus with him. He was way nice
and even though he didn't want to learn more I know we went there to
meet him.
Phone
dendo: one of the days this week when my back wasn't too happy, we
called people on the phone who had met with missionaries before. A
surprising amount of people answered and lots of them were willing to
chat on the phone. Two guys said they had interest but were too busy
because of work. One guy said that he was grateful that missionaries were
here trying to help people in Japan. That phone call made me feel
better. Then I called a guy named Andy who turns out to be British.
Yeah. That was confusing. I had like, a normal English conversation with
him. Weird. It's been so long. Like actually, I haven't spoken normal
English in about a year. Phone calls are so different in English!
Voting:
so I voted for the first time. For the president of the United States.
From Japan. While eating food. With chop sticks. While explaining to my
Japanese companion in Japanese what I was doing. It was a strange
moment. Especially to see the options listed in English and Spanish.
Like who even speaks Spanish? Everyone speaks Japanese!
Enrique:
our Peruvian recent convert. He was baptized 2 months ago. It's
hilarious because we teach him in Japanese but he acts and speaks very
much like a Latino. Too bad I forgot ALL my Spanish since learning
Japanese. He is so humble it's unbelievable. All he wants to do is
follow Jesus Christ. And he'll do anything he has to to follow Him. It's
cool because his brother's wife is a member (they live in Peru). And his
brother recently converted. He found out his brother had converted and
met the missionaries on the street soon after. Man. God has a plan. For
everyone. It's so cool!
Zone
training meeting: I met so many missionaries that I haven't seen in
forever. People from Okinawa, the MTC. And then I realized how old I am.
I got to talk with the Chikushino missionaries and they caught me up on
all my people in the Chikushino ward. There's one Eikaiwa student that
me and my companion saw all over Chikushino. So one day we casually
invited him to church and he came. Then I transferred but apparently he's
been attending church and is preparing to be baptized in November! And
my recent convert- T shimai- got married!!!!! Now she has to convert
him. Lol. So I can go to their temple sealing.
J:
she's the Vietnamese girl we met last week on the wrong train. She
spent 3 hours trying to find the church. But because she can't read or
speak Japanese and because I don't know the city of Fukuoka, we couldn't
help. She showed up at the end and we gave her a BoM. We plan on
meeting on Wednesday as a dinner date/lesson and then go to Eikaiwa
together after. It was cool to see how her desire to go to church
continued through 3 hours of being lost in a foreign county. Satan can't
stop her!
The
Elder who reminds me of my cousin, Kellen Cribbs: if you haven't met my
cousin Kellen Cribbs, I suggest you fly out to Washington state and meet
him. He's a chill dude. Anyway, there's this new Elder in Fukuoka. He
arrived from the MTC 2 weeks ago. Fantastic guy. I've chatted with him a
time or two. The reason I bring him up is because he gave me a
priesthood blessing on Sunday. My back had been hurting and crazy stuff,
you know. So I asked for a blessing. Well, of course they let the
newbie do it but the coolest part was to see him prepare to give the
blessing. He stepped of to the side and said a prayer. And then he gave
me a blessing. And it was one of the most powerful blessings I've
received. And I think I really came to understood how we can use God's
power. All worthy men over the age of 12 hold the priesthood. And women
have power from God too. But there's a difference between using that
power and exercising that power. Both get the job done. But when we
exercise that power, opposed to just using it, we can do so much more
than we could ever think of doing on our own. And how do we exercise
power? Prayer (if you listened to conference, it talks all about it)!
It was a cool "aha!" moment. I don't know about you guys but I'm going
to start praying to exercise my power.
Bike home: in the pouring rain ☔️.
Despite it being chillier and cold rain it was fun. Add to the fact we
didn't know where we were going was fun. But there's something
liberating about biking in a skirt on a bike in the pouring rain. Like
"if I can do this I can do anything" sort of liberating.
Fukuoka
Ward: is huge. There's 18 missionaries in the ward (I miss counted last
time). The ward is 8 times larger than my last area of 30 members. It's
split into 5 areas so members and missionaries can actually work
together. It was a little overwhelming. Also, since its right next to
the mission office and all the office missionaries and people go there,
it is run very different than a tiny ward in Kumamoto. But is fun. O shimai's (my former Japanese companion) older brothers family lives in
the ward. I hope she comes down for a temple trip and stays with her
older brother and then maybe I can see her!
This
will be a good week. Also, just found out there's a Costco in my area
so it has to be a good week. Y'all have a good week too!!
Love love love,
ăăąăăłć§ćŠč
Sent from my iPad
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