Week 22

Mon

We decided to take it easy on P-Day and spend it indoors taking naps and writing letters and such. Then we went out to visit some Inactives. We finally met an inactive that we've been trying to reach since I got here. She was really nice and gave us some corn on the cob. She said she's not interested in hearing church talk, but she likes sister missionaries, so we hope to do some service for her or something to help build up a relationship. Then we went to visit a couple. When we answered the door the wife said oh my husband is sick so you can't stay long, but then she went and got us lemonade. There was a little bit of small talk as we drank our lemonade and then when I asked if we could say a prayer, she began acting as if she was about to barf. I'm not sure if she and her husband really were sick or if they were faking to avoid the missionaries...

Tue

We called a Less Active and it turns out she's been reading the Book of Mormon every day. She said that she reads it to find the places where the translation is different from the Book of Mormon that she had when she first converted. (Recently, like within the last 10 years or so a new translation of the Book of Mormon has come out in Japanese that is more understandable than the previous version. In the previous translation it would probably be called something like the Tome of Mormon or something like that.) Nevertheless, she is reading. She particularly likes 3 Nephi. I testified rather strongly that only through Jesus Christ can we be saved, through no other path. She said that it was mean to say who would be saved or not and then quickly hung up the phone. I felt a little bad, not because I wanted to take back what I said but that I could have said it with a little more love. I texted her an apology and the next morning we got a reply saying why are you worried, I didn't think a thing of it. It strikes me that the Lord really does justify the words of His servants.

Wed

We went and did some service for a recent convert because we love her and because her health isn't that great. We swept and mopped floors and we hope to go back and help her clean the bathroom.

Thu

We went to our investigator's Eikaiwa class again as volunteers. We were both dreading going up there because it's an hour and a half by bike in very hot and humid weather. We missed the turn off for the normal route we take so we went up a different way. Turns out, that way is SO much easier! No mountains or big hills, very easy to find our way, so from now on we will probably take that road. We felt like our prayers were answered in helping us not die of heatstroke biking up there. While there, we got to eat dinner with her husband and daughter. I really want them to become investigators as well!

Fri

Zone Training Meeting, the first with instruction from Yamashita Kaicho. Most things are staying the same, just that Yamashita Kaicho uses different vocabulary than Baird Kaicho. Then we got back and met a less active we haven't been able to get a hold of for a month in the middle of the street. It was definitely God answering our prayers for her. We asked if she would come to church and she said she'd come. Yay! We visited a Less Active that came to church the week before and she gave us 8L of bottled water. Our bikes were very heavy coming back.

Sat

Transfer calls. We got a text the day before saying that from now on transfer calls will be on Saturdays. Sister Vincent and I...are staying the same. The elders are getting a bean-chan so Yokkaichi is becoming a 6-person ward/area. We visited a Less Active and she promised to come to church the next day. We got a text from our investigator canceling our lesson, so we were a bit disappointed, but we sent her a text back saying can you come to church tomorrow and...

Sun

...she did! The Less Active, our investigator, and the Less Active we called on Tuesday came to church. In fact, the less active from Tuesdaybrought her husband with her! We were very suprised. One of the members came up to me during sacrament meeting and said that there was a call for me on the church phone. I went to see and it was this LA asking when church was and that she and her husband would like to come. I was wholly suprised. She and her husband showed up 3/4 of the way through Sunday School, stayed for the third hour and for the baptism afterward (the elder's investigator). We got a dinner appointment with the two of them for this week. Her husband tried to give both Sister Vincent and I hugs and we had to do some quick footwork to turn it into a sort of armpit/shoulder/side hug. We will have to go over the gender rule with him I think. We went out later that day to find a less active that doesn't have a record in the area book. While we were walking up the street to that person's address, someone called out hello from a passing car. The car then pulled over by us and the man inside started up a conversation with us. He is from Turkey and in Japan for business. He saw us and really wanted to speak English for a change because he can't really speak Japanese. I'm not sure if that was his real purpose or not, but I didn't get a creepy feeling from him. I said that we were missionaries and he said oh really, where's the church, do you have something I could look at and I said yes and gave him a flyer for our Eikaiwa class which has a map of where the church is. He said that he would come to church next Sunday. I kind of hope he does and (if his intentions were not all together pure) I kind of hope he doesn't.

Love ya,

Leah