Transfer 8, Week 4
Hey, how's it going? Not much here. Apparently it hasn't been as hot as usual or as rainy as usual, so people are worried there is going to be a big burst of rain. That or the whole rainy season is delayed.
The Typhoon was a bust. Absolutely nothing happened! (it turned from Kumamoto down South or something and then died). So after a usual planning session we went out and dendo-ed like we usually do.
So far we haven't really found any investigators yet, but in the past week we have really made our goals bigger and been able to find some new people. Goals are super important in progressing as a missionary and really in anything. Lately I haven't really worked as hard as I could in Language Study time, but I decided that I want to be able to translate in Sacrament Meeting which will mean I have to work a lot harder and get a lot better at Japanese. But with that goal I think I will be able to improve my Japanese a lot.
We have been able to make some good friendships in the ward and I think we can work with members more from here on out. We got to meet with the Bishop last Friday and it was really good. He said he really appreciated how we went around and shook hands and introduced ourselves before church and sacrament meeting. He said his parents really enjoyed it and asked us to continue. I have found that on Sunday, more than any other day, you have to be super pro-active. It is a great opportunity to build your reputation as a missionary (something that is very necessary in hastening God's work) and building good relationships with everybody. I have now been able to learn most of the members names and by the end of the transfer I think the opposite will be true as well. One great thing I have noticed is although I don't really like to talk to people and am not all that good at Japanese or small talk, Heavenly Father has really given me the gift of tongues and the ability to make friends. My mind has been hastened and I have found ideas that I could never have thought of on my own. I am so grateful to see His hand so powerfully in my life.
I have also discovered that members want to be involved in dendo. More than that they want to help the missionaries. This means that instead of trying not to annoy them, I have realized I need to start looking for ways to involve them, or ask for their help.
I had two very American missionary like experiences in the past couple of days. The first is when we were riding our bikes and tried to stop a guy who promptly told us to "shut up" in English. We rode off and when we stopped at a light my companion and I looked at each other and were like, "did he just say shut up in English?". It was super funny. I have never had that happen before.
The next was the same day on our way home. We were stopping at a light and I smiled to this guy as we passed him on our way through the intersection and I thought he smiled back. I got a feeling we should stop and talk to him so we waited until he came through the intersection after us. As I tried to start talking to him, I looked away for one second and he rammed me with his bike (he wasn't riding it, just walking beside it). It didn't hurt, but it was so unexpected that I jumped. Then he started yelling at us all super mad. I had never had this happen before (people have gotten mad at me before, but not enough to hit me). We promptly got on our bikes and rode off before he could hit me again.
Moral of the story is people get really angry at us for no good reason no matter where you are in the world.
Love you guys and hope you have a good week.
Iain
Elder Lee
PS I would also like to onegai you for something (ask a favor=onegai shimasu). Could you each send me your testimony with an experience you have had in which you testimony was strengthened? I would really appreciate that.
No comments:
Post a Comment